Former Fijian journalist and sports administrator Charlie Charters was released on bail after appearing in the Suva Magistrates court on charges laid by Fiji`s anti-coprruption. Read...

Sports journalist Sam McClure takes us through how he arrived at his 31 A-Graders list this year. Read...

In a letter to parents, Northcote College said it had been told to close by the Ministry of Education and specialist contractors Read...

Smoke can be seen from the Harbour Bridge amid the fire at Northcote College`s sports pavilion. Read...

After months of build-up, YouTube TV’s new Sports and genre plans feel underwhelming. YouTube started hyping up these plans in December, promising cheaper bundles with fewer channels you don’t care about. Sports fans, for instance, can get a package without news or entertainment channels, while sports haters can finally stop subsidizing expensive channels like ESPN. But while the new plans could save you some money, they’re not much different from other skinny bundles that DirecTV and Fubo offer already. In some cases, they might even be worse. False start First, a disclaimer: You probably can’t sign up for YouTube TV’s new plans yet. While they technically launched last week, YouTube says it’s “rolling these plans out slowly to ensure the best possible experience.” They may not be broadly available for several weeks. In the meantime, YouTube TV is still withholding some basic information. While it’s promising more than 10 genre plans in total, so far it’s only announced five of them: Sports Plan ($65/mo.): Local broadcast channels and national sports channels such as ESPN, FS1/FS2, TBS/TNT, NBC (including regional NBC Sports in select markets), Golf, NFL Network, and NBA TV, with ESPN Unlimited to be added in the fall. Sports + News Plan ($72/mo.): The above plan, plus CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, CSPAN, and business news channels. Entertainment Plan ($55/mo.): Local broadcast channels and general entertainment channels such as Hallmark, Comedy Central, HGTV, and Bravo. News + Entertainment + Family Plan ($70/mo.): Basically everything except sports, including kids channels such as Disney and Nickelodeon. Sports + News + Entertainment ($78 per month): Nearly the full YouTube TV package, but without kids channels. YouTube TV’s base plan, with more channels than any of the above options, remains available for $83 per month. Note that YouTube hasn’t released full channel lists for most of these packages (though Deadline got a channel list for the Sports package). It’s also unclear whether we’ll see any additional genre packages, or if the remaining five-plus options will just be different combinations of the Sports, News, Entertainment, and Family plans that YouTube has announced already. How YouTube TV’s Sports package compares Even with incomplete information, we can start to compare YouTube TV’s genre plans with the competition. The Sports plan, for instance, will be the cheapest way to combine local broadcasts and national sports channels if that’s all you want from a live TV service. At $65 per month, it’s $5 per month cheaper than DirecTV’s MySports plan, which launched last year, and $18 per month cheaper than YouTube TV’s standard plan. YouTube’s case gets stronger in the handful of markets that carry regional NBC Sports Networks. They’re included with YouTube TV’s Sports plan, but not DirecTV’s MySports package. (YouTube’s plans don’t include any other regional sports networks, while DirecTV offers a $20 per month MyHome Team add-on in select markets.) But if you want cable news, DirecTV’s MySports plan has an edge at $70 per month, versus $72 per month for YouTube TV’s Sports + News option. It also includes MLB Network and NHL TV, which YouTube’s bundle lacks. Jared Newman / Foundry (Click to enlarge or view on Google Sheets) YouTube TV’s Sports + News + Entertainment plan is interesting, in that it cuts out kids channels such as Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, and Cartoon Network. It’s only $5 per month cheaper than YouTube TV’s standard package, but that’s better than nothing for channels you might never watch. Those who want more price flexibility could look to Fubo Sports instead. At $56 per month, it’s cheaper than YouTube TV’s Sports plan, but it does not include NBC, TNT, TBS, or any regional sports channels. These bundles aren’t the only way to slice and dice sports coverage. You could also opt for some combination of ESPN Unlimited, Fox One, Peacock for NBC, Paramount+ for CBS, and HBO Max for TNT/TBS. But if you’re going to pay for all of those at the same time, you’re better off picking a bundle that includes all of their corresponding TV channels. YouTube TV’s non-sports plans YouTube TV’s other genre plans are a bit different from what DirecTV offers, at least from what we’ve seen so far. The $55 per month Entertainment plan, for instance, caters to folks who have no interest in sports but don’t want to give up local broadcast stations or general entertainment channels. Same goes for the $70 per month News + Entertainment + Family Plan. No other streaming TV packages like these exist on the market today. But as more kids tune into Netflix and YouTube, and as cable’s entertainment channels become bereft of original programming, the appeal may be limited. With its new genre plans, YouTube TV missed an opportunity to start bundling streaming services alongside traditional cable channels. That’s what DirecTV is doing with its $35 per month MyEntertainment package, which offers many of the same channels as YouTube’s Entertainment plan along with Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max. And while DirecTV’s MyEntertainment doesn’t carry local channels, you can combine it with DirecTV MyNews for $75 per month total. That gets you local channels, cable news, entertainment, and a trio of streaming services. It’s a more compelling package than any of YouTube’s non-sports offerings. Slice and dice Given YouTube TV’s status as the largest live TV streaming service—one that might become bigger than major companies soon—I thought its bargaining power would result in packages that are clearly better than the competition. The reality is more nuanced. The new YouTube TV genre plans can save you money, but you’ll still have to carefully consider the alternatives and choose wisely. Sign up for Jared’s Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter for more streaming TV advice. Read...

Danika Mason has apologised for having a drink before an awkward live cross from the Winter Olympics in Italy. Read...

Sports editor Dan Roan analyses the potential fallout of Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe`s comments on immigration. Read...

Milano Cortina 2026 gold medallists Josie Baff and Cooper Woods were both mentored as part of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring Program. Read...

Eileen Guo and Alysa Liu have been thrust into a debate that goes far beyond sports. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Handsome design Magnetic mounting to any suitable surface Up to 4GBps transfers Cons Slowest USB4 SSD we’ve tested 10Gbps speeds during long writes Our Verdict The MSI DataMag 40Gbps offers handsome design, magnetic attachment, and solid Construction. But it’s merely a good, not fantastic, USB4 performer. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: MSI DataMag 40Gbps USB4 SSD Retailer Price Check Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Magnetically attached SSDs can be handy, especially speedy 40Gbps models such as the MSI DataMag 40Gbps reviewed here. They can be fixed in place on any suitable metallic surface. Alas, that doesn’t include my aluminum Macs, but it does include the router right next to them. What are the DataMag 40Gbps’s features? Well, the name and intro give away part of the story — the magnetic ring on the back of the unit (see below) and that the drive is 40Gbs USB4. It measures a little over 2.5-inches across in both directions, is a little under 0.5-inches thick, and has a lanyard opening on the upper right. Weight is 2.8 ounces, which gives a nice solid heft. The back of the DataMag 40Gbps with its magnetic mounting “ring” and Type-C port on the bottom edge. The DataMag 40gbps sports a Phison U21 controller and stacked/layered/3D TLC (Triple-Level Cell/3-bit) NAND. The company warranties the drive for five years, or until the TBW rating is reached. Said rating is 750TBW (terabytes that may be written) per one terabyte of capacity. That’s on the generous side for an external SSD. The norm is three years and 600TBW or less depending on the NAND involved. How much is the MSI DataMag 40Gbps? The DataMag 40Gbps is currently available in 1TB/$170 and 2TB/$296 capacities — those prices come from the company, which also promises that a 4TB version is on the way. Those are a tad pricey for USB4, but not outrageously so. The drive also hasn’t shown up on Amazon as of this writing, so there may be discounts to be had in the near future. How fast is the MSI DataMag 40Gbps? Short answer: plenty fast, though there were areas where the drive didn’t quite match the competition. Part of the issue was undoubtedly that the drive MSI sent us is only 1TB, meaning it had exactly half the NAND to play with as the Adata SE920, and one-quarter the NAND of the top-rated LaCie Rugged SSD4. Less NAND means less secondary cache and dropping to the NAND’s native write rate sooner. That said, the native write rate of around 830MBps will still get the job done in a suitable amount of time in many cases. Less secondary cache or not, the DataMag 40Gbps was in no hurry to get to its native write rate. In fact, it actually delivered an outstanding queued sequential read score in CrystalDiskMark 8 before dropping off the pace. The DataMag 40Gbps actually delivered an outstanding queued read score in CrystalDiskMark 8 before dropping off the pace. Longer bars are better. The DataMag 40Gbps was also outstanding in the CrystalDiskMark 8 4K tests. Especially with multiple queues in play. Queues are not something a lot of software feature (Windows doesn’t), but… The DataMag 40Gbps was outstanding in the CrystalDiskMark 8 4K tests. Especially with multiple queues in play. Not something a lot of software features. Longer bars are better. It was in our real-world 48GB transfers that the DataMag 40Gbps began to lag a bit more. I wasn’t expecting this to take place with the small file and folder operations; usually a good CrystalDiskMark 8 4K score translates to a good performance with the smaller files and folders. It was in our real-world 48GB transfers that the DataMag 40Gbps began to lag a bit. What we weren’t expecting was that it took place with the small file and folder operations. Usually a good CrystalDiskMark 8 4K score translates to good performance with the smaller files and folders. Shorter bars are better. Being “only” a 1TB drive no doubt hurt the DataMag 40Gbps’s 450GB write time, which was twice that of the competition. Being “only” a 1TB drive no doubt hurt the DataMag 40Gbps’s 450GB write time. Shorter bars are better. Here you can see where the lag in the 450GB write began. About 50GB in, the DataMag 40Gbps’s write speed dropped to USB 10Gbps levels, or around 830MBps. If MSI had sent us the 2TB version of the DataMag 40Gbps, it undoubtedly would’ve done better in the real-world transfer tests. Regardless, it offers a nice boost in sustained throughput over the soon-to-be-reviewed (but already tested) MSI DataMag 20Gbps, and other USB 3.2×2 (20Gbps) SSDs. Should you buy the MSI DataMag 40Gbps? I love the look, like the performance, and appreciate that magnetic attachment. Given competitive pricing I’d give it a nod, but as always — read our other reviews and shop around. How we test Drive tests currently utilize Windows 11 24H2, 64-bit running off of a PCIe 4.0 Samsung 990 Pro in an Asus Z890-Creator WiFi (PCIe 4.0/5.0) motherboard. The CPU is a Core Ultra i5 225 feeding/fed by two Crucial 64GB DDR5 5600MHz modules (128GB of memory total). Both 20Gbps USB and Thunderbolt 5 are integrated into the motherboard and Intel CPU/GPU graphics are used. Internal PCIe 5.0 SSDs involved in testing are mounted in an Asus Hyper M.2 x16 Gen5 adapter card sitting in a PCIe 5.0 slot. We run the CrystalDiskMark 8.04 (and 9), AS SSD 2, and ATTO 4 synthetic benchmarks (to keep article length down, we report only the first) to find the storage device’s potential performance. Then we run a series of 48GB transfer and 450GB write tests using Windows Explorer drag and drop to show what users will see during routine copy operations, as well as the far faster FastCopy run as administrator to show what’s possible. A 25GBps two-SSD RAID 0 array on the aforementioned Asus Hyper M.2 x16 Gen5 is used as the second drive in our transfer tests. Formerly the 48GB tests were done with a RAM disk serving that purpose. Each test is performed on a NTFS-formatted and newly TRIM’d drive so the results are optimal. Note that in normal use, as a drive fills up, performance may decrease due to less NAND for secondary caching, as well as other factors. This issue has abated somewhat with the current crop of SSDs utilizing more mature controllers and far faster, late-generation NAND. Read...