QPad 8K Laser Gaming Mouse

QPad follows up the legendary 5K Laser with a new 8K gaming mouse

My experience, for what it's worth, has shown me that a gaming mouse can be either the very best control device, or the absolute worst. It largely depends on who is using it. However, QPad has tried very hard to make its 8K Laser something that most players (right handed ones, at least) will generally adore. Essentially, this is an updated and enhanced version of the excellent 5K model from last year. Qpad has bounced the sensitivity to 8200 counts per inch, so it now registers seismic events caused by moles digging, and given the mouse an uprated ARM processor, 128KB of memory and RGB controllable LEDs.

Minix Neo Z64 Windows 8.1

A small PC packed with plenty of potential

We've seen a number of small-form factor PCs recently, from the more traditional Shuttle-looking chassis models through to the newer PC on a stick examples. Clearly there's a need for ultra-small PCs, whether it's for media centres or super-small desktops attached to the backs of a monitors.

The Neo Z64 is the newest entry in the small PC range and comes from Minix. This is an extremely capable unit that features an Intel Z3735F 64-bit processor running at 1.3GHz, 2GB DDR3L memory and 32GB eMMC of flash storage, onto which Minix has pre-installed a copy of Windows 8.1 Bing Edition. The processor used is the same Z3735F that Intel is currently trialling inside its Compute Stick system. It's an energy efficient CPU that delivers a decent amount of processing for normal, day-to-day computing duties. The graphics are handled by an Intel Bay Trail, which runs at 311 MHz with a boost frequency of 646MHz.

13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display

The Force Touch is strong with this one

Apple has received a lot of criticism over the years for describing its products as “magical”, or some variant of it, and it probably is fair to say that we should be impressed by very smart technological advances for what they are – ingenious constructions – rather than feeling the need to couch them in terms of mysticism or suggesting that the impossible has been achieved (when what has been achieved was, evidently, possible).

The App Store fakers

Lurking in the App Store are countless apps comprising stolen assets, trying to trick users into buying them. We speak to affected developers and reveal how to avoid being hoodwinked by fakes. by Craig Grannell

The App Store is often described as the Wild West of software: oft-uncharted territory where hardy pioneers battle it out in a stern, frequently brutal survival of the fittest. In recent years, though, corners of the App Store have become murkier and without any semblance of honour, akin to a bootlegger's paradise. Rather than striving for innovation and quality, certain developers instead resort to outright trickery, stealing icons, names, artwork, App Store descriptions and even the codebase of entire apps or games, and then try to make a fast buck selling the results to unsuspecting iPhone and iPad owners.

Toshiba Canvio Desktop

It feels like an age since a Toshiba external hard drive was available for testing, as the company appears to be winding down the external drive production in favour of consumer home entertainment electronics. Obviously, that's not the case here.

The Canvio Desktop is a part of Toshiba's Store.E range of drives, which offer a cloud backup solution through the included version of NTI Backup Now EZ - which we assume covers the .E part of the title. The drive itself comes in various capacities, from a single terabyte through to an extremely capable 6TB In this instance we managed to get our hands on the 3TB black-and-white model.