So you’re thinking about PS4 Pro deals or maybe a bundle? Well we can help you out there. Maybe you’re upgrading from your older PS4 so you can dive into 4K gaming. Or maybe you’ve never had a PS4 and are thinking you may as well start with the best. All solid choices, especially if you’re already set with a 4K TV, even better if it has HDR too. If today’s deals are a bit over-budget for you, you might have better luck on the upcoming Amazon Prime Day.

There are some fantastic-looking games out now to really make a PS4 Pro shine, with this year alone rocking with God of War and Detroit: Become Human and things are looking bright later on too with Red Dead Redemption 2, The Last of Us Part 2 and more set to drop jaws around the world once again.

You’ll find all of the latest and best PS4 Pro prices from the big name stores in our comparison chart below. There’s not too much difference in price between retailers at this time of year, but we’re constantly on the lookout for the latest deals and bundles. Looking to buy in Australia? You’ll want to take a look at our AU page.

If you’d prefer a standard PS4, then check out our PS4 bundles page. Don’t forget to top up your subscription with one of our discounted PlayStation Plus deals too.

So keep this page bookmarked to stay informed of the latest PS4 Pro bundles when they arrive. If you’re looking for more information on the PS4 Pro, take a look at our handy Q&A below the bundles.

PS4 Pro bundle deals (USA)

PS4 Pro bundle deals (UK)

Need an extra controller on the cheap? Take a look at the best DualShock 4 deals. We also have a guide to the best PlayStation VR deals too.

Cheap PlayStation Plus deals

If you’re buying a PS4 Pro, you’ll probably need a cheap PlayStation Plus deal too. PlayStation Plus (aka PS Plus or PS+) allows you to play PS4 games online, along with access to the Instant Game Collection, a bunch of free games for PS4, PS3 and Vita each month. The default price for a year is £40. We’ve shopped around for you though and found a range of prices. So check out our guide of you want the best PlayStation Plus deals.

What is the PS4 Pro?

Essentially, the PS4 Pro is an upgrade of the PS4, rather than a ‘next-gen’ console. The keywords to take in from the PS4 Pro are 4K and HDR. The new machine will allow game developers to include 4K options in their games, so expect the like of Uncharted 4, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Days Gone, Horizon: Zero Dawn and more to look even better on a 4K TV.

HDR, or High Dynamic Range is the other buzzword to be excited about as the PS4 Pro will allow for extra detail to be seen on a range of games and also a wider range of colors not usually displayed by traditional HD TVs.

Will my old PS4 games work on PS4 Pro?

Absolutely. If you’re planning on upgrading to a PS4 Pro from an older PS4, all of your games will still work. Not every title will be patched to take advantage of the new 4K/HDR capabilities, but the default upscaling (if you have a 4K TV) will more than likely see some improvement to the visuals and the improved console power may give the frame-rate a boost on some titles.

What else can I watch in 4K/HDR on PS4 Pro?

The PS4 Pro is compatible with 4K and HDR, and the content options for both are increasing all the time on services like Amazon Prime Instant Video and Netflix. Sony has already confirmed there will be hundreds of hours of 4K Netflix content at launch. There’s a lot of free 4K content on the YouTube app too.

Does the PS4 Pro support 4K Blu-rays?

No. This was a surprise if we’re honest, especially as the new Xbox One S console does. It’s a bit of a gamble for Sony, but at the same time, 4K Blu-rays are very expensive for now and many consumers look to digital services to provide their 4K movies and TV content.

Do I need a 4K TV to run a PS4 Pro?

No, the PS4 Pro will still work on a regular 1080p TV, you won’t get the benefits of upscaling or HDR though. You may see a slim amount of extra detail, or frame-rate boost, but we wouldn’t expect a massive leap.

If you are thinking of buying a 4K TV soon, then it’s probably a good idea to splash out on the PS4 Pro instead of the regular or new PS4 Slim as it’ll future proof you for a while. Be sure to look out for a TV that supports HDR too, in order to take full advantage of the PS4 Pro’s capabilities.

Will PlayStation VR be better on the PS4 Pro?

Early reports say yes. The PlayStation VR frame-rate is better on PS4 Pro and the resolution gets a bit of a bump too. PlayStation VR will certainly work on the older PS4s, you don’t need a PS4 Pro to get involved there.

Does the PS4 Pro have optical audio support?

Yes! The optical audio output has been removed from the PS4 Slim though, which is a massive shame. PS4 Pro owners though will still be able to use optical connections for their soundbars and sound systems.

What are the best games on PS4 Pro?

We’ve dived through our back catalog of PS4 games that have received a PS4 Pro update patch to see which ones look the best and have a noticeable difference. Take a look at our extensive feature – The best PS4 Pro games.

http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/consoles/ps4-pro-deals-1328247

YouTube TV is the shake-up the industry has desperately needed. For too long have we been upcharged by cable companies trying to hose us with equipment rental fees and HD service when those things should just be free of charge. Too long have we been locked into cable contracts that penalize us if we so much as look at another cable option. 

But thankfully, those days are over.

YouTube TV is a cable replacement, full stop, offering live TV to your phone, tablet and streaming device without a costly cable subscription and contract.

It’s a deal that feels too good to be true for those of us bombarded by cable box rental fees, hidden charges and ever-higher cable bills. And while it has some problems of its own, it could one day put cable companies out of business.

The biggest appeal, however, is for the all so-called cord-nevers out there – those of us who have never paid for cable, and likely never will. It’s all the channels we’ve come to expect from our parents house, but at a price we can actually afford.

Are you ready to cancel cable once and for all? Are you ready for dozens of channels streaming live wherever you are without the need for a cable box? If so, then pull up a seat and we’ll give you the 411 on this game-changing new service.

[Update: YouTube TV took a bit of a dive during the England-Croatia World Cup match before returning to full form before overtime hit. YouTube apologized for the outage via Twitter, and recognized that users were frustrated with the timing.]

How to watch YouTube TV

First thing’s first, you’ll need to sign up for a free trial of the service. Once that’s done, you can either tune in on your browser (tv.youtube.com) or find the YouTube TV app on your iOS and Android phone or tablet.

If you’re looking for the old-school sit back experience, YouTube TV is available on Chromecast and Apple TV compatible by casting from your aforementioned phone and tablet or, if you’re the proud owner of an Android TV and/or Roku device, you can find a dedicated app for YouTube TV on their respective channel stores. 

Now, it’s also worth pointing out that to access YouTube TV, not only are you going to need a subscription to the service but also an internet service plan from one of your local ISPs (for most folks, that’s AT&T, Spectrum, Verizon).

This is something most folks pay for already and therefore hasn’t been figured into the cost of YouTube TV – but it’s worth noting nonetheless. 

Why YouTube TV is new, but important

Why is YouTube TV going to be big? Well, while PlayStation Vue and Sling TV had to carve out a new audience for their products, YouTube TV already has one – one billion users that live in 88 countries and speak 76 different languages. 

Sure, both Sony and DISH are large corporations, but do they have one billion people using their products to stream videos every year? Not likely.

OK, so YouTube TV is going to be big, you get that. But what exactly is YouTube TV and why should you care? Let’s talk about it. 

Wait. What is YouTube TV again? 

YouTube TV is a US-exclusive live TV streaming service – think Netflix but instead of on-demand TV shows and movies you’ll see cable channels like ABC, NBC, FOX, ESPN and Disney among many, many more. It’s like cable in the sense that everything is divided by channel and, yes, you’ll have to pay a monthly fee for it, but the difference here is that you’ll be able to take shows whenever and wherever you go. 

Well, sort of. Because YouTube TV has mainstream local stations (NBC, ABC, FOX, etc…), it initially launched in a few cities and then expanded out into other regions – similar to how PlayStation Vue started. 

Loading up the service for the first time, we were recommended shows like Archer, The Big Bang Theory, The Simpsons and many more. We easily found enough content to keep us entertained for the time-being, plus will have plenty to watch next time we log-on thanks to YouTube TV’s stellar Cloud DVR. 

Cloud DVR, if you’ve never heard that term before, allows you to record your favorite shows as they air and save them, well, to the cloud so that you can watch them later. It’s TiVo, but everything’s online. YouTube TV promises unlimited storage for shows for up to nine months – a serious advantage over the competition which usually only offer 28 days of storage.

Also, unlike Sling TV which wants you to buy a more expensive package to allow more than one user to watch TV at a time, YouTube says that its service will allow up to six people in the family to access the service and will allow up to three of them tune into the service simultaneously on the same account – a big advantage when you’re looking to replace cable and you have a big family.

The other thing we know about YouTube TV is its price: $35 a month. For comparison, that’s slightly more expensive than Sling TV’s basic $20-per-month package and a few dollars less than PlayStation Vue’s basic $39 package that includes local stations like CBS, NBC, etc…

Cut to the chase

• What is YouTube TV? A live TV streaming service like Sling TV
• When is it coming out? It’s available right now!
• How much will it cost? $35 per month, unless you get an add-on package
• Where can you watch it? Anywhere in the 83 US markets where it’s available

What channels are included?

First off, all the mainstream local channels are on-board: NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX. That means every NFL game up to and including the Super Bowl, are yours to watch every Sunday. AMC has also signed on, which means you’ll still be able to get your Walking Dead fix on Sundays.

Beyond the local stuff, you’ve got all the channels that fall under the umbrella of those companies – i.e. ESPN, CSN, FOX Sports, USA, FX, Disney, E!, Bravo, SyFy, FXX, National Geographic, MSNBC, FOX News, CNBC and more. 

Here’s the complete picture of every channel so far.

On top of all those channels shown above, you’ll also get access to YouTube’s own network of shows, YouTube Red Originals. Shows on this ‘network’ (a term we use very lightly here) include Scare PewDiePie and exclusive films that you’ve probably never heard of. This really isn’t a huge draw for most people, but hey, maybe the money that comes in from YouTube TV can be used to crank up the quality of this content to near-Netflix levels.

Now, like Amazon Video, you can actually tack on additional premium stations for an extra fee. Right now the list of premium offerings include FOX Soccer Plus and Showtime, which cost around $10 extra per month. 

OK, so who’s missing so far? To be honest, not many major channels. The service is still missing cable mainstays like Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, in addition to premium channels like HBO, but YouTube is slowly filling in the gaps.

How is it different than YouTube Red?

This can be sort of confusing, so listen up. YouTube Red is an ad-free version of YouTube that has a few fun features like allowing you to keep a video playing even when your phone is turned off. A subscription to YouTube Red also gives you access to the YouTube Red Originals channel that we talked about earlier. 

What YouTube Red won’t allow you to do is watch live TV or cable TV content. For that you’ll need YouTube TV. 

YouTube TV, like YouTube Red, will start as a US-only service and then might possibly expand out into other territories. YouTube wants to roll its Red service out to the UK sometime in 2017, but it’s facing problems doing so. It’s more than likely YouTube TV would follow in that path, unfortunately. 

Is there some crossover potential here between these two services? Absolutely. Maybe a subscription to YouTube TV also nets you a free subscription to Red. But we’ll just have to wait to find out more from YouTube if that’s the case. 

Is YouTube TV a better deal than cable? 

That’s a good question. The answer here is ‘maybe’. Depending on how your cable service provider packages its internet and cable bundles. If you’re already paying for internet service, you can tack on an extra $30 for YouTube TV and maybe a $10-per-month subscription to Netflix and have just as much content as you’d have from a cable TV service that usually run $60-70 per month. 

That being said, if you’re paying for one of those bundles that allows you to package cable, internet and phone service together for a lower price, YouTube TV might not come out to be any less. 

The benefits of going for a streaming service over a cable service are the ability to watch shows wherever you go, the potential to use Cloud DVR to save shows for later and the no-obligations contract that allows you to cancel your account without a termination fee. On top of everything else, you don’t need to rent a cable box from companies like Comcast, Spectrum or AT&T, because the streaming service comes in through whatever device you’re using. 

In short, YouTube TV can offer as many channels as basic cable does, without the need for a cable box and 12-month contract, which is why we consider it a win. It does all that and offers Cloud DVR, is available a plethora of apps for devices like Apple TV and the Xbox One family of consoles and does video-on-demand, making it one of the best streaming services on the planet. (Though, at the time of this writing, YouTube TV is currently NOT supported on PS4 or Roku – so there’s still room for improvement.) 

How soon can you start watching it? Right now. Just head over to tv.youtube.com to start your free trial.

http://www.techradar.com/news/youtube-tv-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-tv-streaming-service

In a possible case of “out with the old and in with the new”, Nikon has quietly killed off the 1-series of cameras, the only mirrorless snappers it had in its catalogue.

According to NikonRumors, the company has discontinued the entire Nikon 1 series by listing them as “old products” and removing them from its official Japanese website, almost a year after rumors of the line’s demise began circulating.

Nikon has confirmed with DPReview via email that “the Nikon 1 series cameras, lenses and accessories are no longer in production”.

RIP Nikon 1

While the early 1-series models didn’t have much in the way of distinguishing features, the latest addition to the range, the Nikon 1 J5 – which debuted way back in 2015 – was one of the fastest mirrorless cameras at the time with a 20 frames per second burst speed. 

That wasn’t all the series had to offer either. The Nikon 1 AW1, which launched in 2013, is still the only interchangeable lens camera that’s entirely waterproof and can be used under water without a housing.

However, Nikon was unable to expand away from its excellent DSLR range to compete with the likes of Sony, Panasonic, Olympus and Fujifilm. One possible reason being the choice of sensor – despite a 1-inch type sensor, it was smaller than what was being used by the competition, who were moving on to full-frame formats.

Add to that a strange nomenclature for the series and a price point that didn’t do justice to its image quality, Nikon’s mirrorless range got left behind.

Shiny new toys

While the discontinuation of the 1-series after a solid seven-year run has sparked rumors that Nikon may give up on mirrorless cameras completely, we find that highly unlikely, given how popular they’ve become with enthusiasts and pros alike.

Rumors have suggested that a new Nikon mirrorless camera could be announced in the current fiscal year (which runs till March 2019 for Nikon), and this was all but confirmed with a verbal slip-up by one of the company’s executives during a TV interview.

Nikon is still making advances in its latest camera line-up, with the D850 currently one of the company’s bestsellers in the high-end range. Nikon also recently announced the Coolpix P1000, with its unbelievable telephoto reach of 3000mm.

http://www.techradar.com/news/nikon-is-ditching-its-only-mirrorless-camera-line-up