Week in Tech: Cortana, cars, consoles and a really mad Mac

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www.techradar.com Week in Tech Cortana, cars and a really mad Mac We love it when the stuff of sci-fi makes its way into the real world, and that means this week has been particularly cheery: we can pretend to be Master Chief, start saving for our driverless cars and prepare for mind-blowing Mac screens. She has a Halo Microsoft's Cortana, the clever virtual assistant, is finally available in the UK - sort of. As James Rogerson reports, "Cortana is now here for those that want it. But don't pull out the party poppers yet." Cortana is still a developer preview, so getting hold of her may void your warranty and cause a Covenant invasion. Calling K.I.T.T. Cortana isn't the only futuristic tech coming to the UK. Driverless cars are coming too. The UK's Department of Transport is reviewing the law to ensure that self-driving cars can be tested on UK roads, and the first ones should be trundling around early next year. Apple's 4K future and a really mad Mac Apple's preparing a revamped iMac for release later this year, and there's one question every Mac fan wants to know: will it be 4K? Rumours suggest the incoming 27-incher may be just that. Fancy a retina MacBook Pro tablet? Apple won't make you one - or at least, it won't in the foreseeable future - but Modbook will. Read the full story     In this week ■ Week in Tech: Cortana, cars and a really mad Mac ■ Talking points: PlayStation Now beta, coolest gadgets, 3D Blu-ray for Xbox One and PS4, Amazon Fire Phone ■ Competition: WIN! A PS4 and EA Sports UFC with The Expendables III ■ The week's best buys:  Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4, Canon PowerShot SX510 HS, Chromecast UK ■ Top 10: Tablets   Talking points 1 PlayStation Now open beta launches for PS4, Sony spills new details PS Now allows players to stream games to their PS4 with around 100 PS3 titles to pick from. The lack of PS4 backwards compatibility sparked a lot of frustration when the console was announced, so this will appease those disgruntled players. Read more       2 Cool gadgets: The best tech you can buy in 2014 It's our mission at TechRadar to help you find the tech products that are best for you. That's why we review the specific products we do, while offering a veritable smorgasbord of buying guides and product round-ups to help you find the cool gadgets, perfect playthings and workplace wonders. Read more       3 Not to be outdone by Xbox, PS4 will get 3D Blu-ray support next week In this tit-for-tat console war, it's little surprise that moments after Microsoft announced the Xbox One will get 3D Blu-ray support, Sony has revealed the same feature for PS4. 3D Blu-ray support is set to land with the 1.75 update next week.  Read more       4 Is Amazon's foray into the smartphone space a success? The Amazon Fire Phone has finally arrived, and leading up to its debut we've already voiced our opinions about the device. Our initial thoughts included the fact that this might just be a portal to all things Amazon, and that its Firefly and Dynamic Perspective gimmicks are exactly that. Read more       Competition WIN! A PS4 and EA Sports UFC with The Expendables III   The Expendables III blasts into UK cinemas on Thursday August 14 and to celebrate, we’ve got a PS4 and a copy of UFC to give away to one lucky winner! The latest mission becomes a clash of classic old-school style versus high-tech expertise in the Expendables’ most personal battle yet. For your chance to win, just answer one simple question. Enter competition   WIN! A pair of tickets for Reasons to be Creative worth £600 Enter competition       Your tweets this week       The week's best buys Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 By packing a super-sharp display, a powerful processor and a much-improved UI into a compact shell, the Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 is one of the finest tablets the company has ever produced. View offer Read review       Canon PowerShot SX510 HS Even though the zoom range is the clear star of the show, what really shines about the Canon SX510 HS is its flexibility. Pictures are of good quality and although images get a little noisy at higher sensitivity settings, details are retained fairly well. View offer Read review       Chromecast UK Chromecast is a cheap and easy way to get video from iPlayer, Netflix and YouTube onto your TV. We'd like more apps, but this is still great value. View offer Read review       Which side are you on, PlayStation Now or EA Access? @Matt99J Neither, because I'm a gamer, not a child. Both services sound really, really cool and I can't wait to try them.     @strickers66 That's a silly question. I only play 1 or 2 EA games a year. Neither are a good value proposition yet.     @bifjordipz EA Access is not really worth it if you already own three of those titles.       Top   tablets We've made it easy for you and pulled together the top 10 tablets of the moment available in the UK.   iPad Air       Samsung Galaxy Tab S       Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet View top 10           TechRadar Promotion TechRadar Deal: Canon EOS M 18MP under £200 from Argos The EOS M packs in plenty of impressive features, not least an 18mp APS-C sized CMOS sensor, DIGIC 5 processor, a good quality Full HD movie mode with the added bonus of Continuous AF available while shooting, and a very responsive touchscreen. And you can save £100 when you buy it from Argos today. View promotion TechRadar Download: AVG Antivirus Free This AVG AntiVirus Free 2014 download offers smart, free virus protection with a number of useful features. You can search your whole machine for viruses and spyware or just single files, folders and archives. Why pay for an antivirus subscription when there are free applications that will do a good job instead? Download now  New issue out now Virtual reality is here: we explore Project Rift and Oculus Rift. Plus the LG G3, wireless music wonderland, and the rise of smart football. Download now         www.techradar.com

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