The PC Pro Podcast

The pandemic has hammered home the importance of connectivity for workers wherever they are in the country. In this special podcast in association with O2, Tim Danton, Jon Honeyball and O2's Ant Morse cover the lessons learned so far and look ahead to the future - including the role of 5G and the steps we need to take to connect the whole of Britain.

The team discusses Android apps on Windows, the acquisition of Slack by business giant SalesForce and the rise of Spotify as a podcasting platform. Our Hot Hardware contender is actually a piece of software this week, namely the latest version of Pixelmator Pro, a powerful but affordable image editor.

The team discusses online bots snapping up Black Friday bargains, a row over royalties paid to musicians by streaming services, the hidden risks of smart doorbells and a disappointing government U-turn on broadband targets. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Alcatel 1, a bona fide smartphone costing less than £30.

Apple halves its App Store cut to 15% for smaller publishers, Google Pay gets a big update and "free speech" social network Parler continues to grow. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the new Apple MacBook Air, the first computer we've seen built on the Apple M1 processor.

And finally, two Radio 4 programmes, mentioned during our discussion of Parler, that address the challenge of discourse across ideological divides:

Across The Red Line: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09m2bj1
Sweet Reason: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bclfsr

The team discusses Apple's new ARM-based Macs, looks into Android app security and asks how AI is affecting our spending habits. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Raspberry Pi 400, a new variant of the Pi that comes in a classic-style keyboard casing.

The team discusses a huge leak of user credentials from across the web, the influence of social media on the US election, confidential data being recovered from second-hand USB flash drives and Intel's new foray into world of discrete GPUs. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the 2020 iPad Air, a tablet offering much of the cachet of an iPad Pro at a slightly lower price.

The team discusses the end of the road for Flash on Windows, the latest updates to the NHS Covid-19 app, an online hoax that proclaimed the return of defunct high-street giant Woolworths and the rise of the right-to-repair movement. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the DJI OM 4, a magnetic gimbal that helps you capture professional-grade video on your smartphone.

Check out the mobile phone compatibility list for the OM 4 at https://pcpro.link/podom4

The team discusses the latest update to Windows 10, the arrival of Windows apps on Chrome OS, new AI-powered tools in Adobe Photoshop and a warning over malicious ad-blocking tools. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Honor Router 3, a Wi-Fi 6-compatible router costing just £72.

eng||The team discusses Apple's new iPhone and Homepod models, Amazon's apparent evasion of a new UK tax, the future for Google Chrome and an update for the pocket-sized micro:bit computer. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Pixel 5, Google's latest own-brand Android smartphone.

The team discusses PHE's Excel-based coronavirus cock-up, new features in Slack and Google Workspace, Nvidia's AI-based upgrade to videoconferencing and the latest breakthroughs in RAM and battery technologies. Our Hot Hardware candidate is the Huawei Matebook 14 2020, a £950 laptop with an AMD Ryzen 7 processor.

Watch the virtual PC Pro Awards ceremony at https://www.pcproawards.co.uk