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• Google just made some major changes to Android Auto
• The introduction of Gemini allows for easy conversational voice prompts
• But tweaks to media controls have frustrated some

Google has introduced a number of updates recently, including bringing its AI-powered assistant Gemini to smartwatches, televisions and into the vehicle environment through updates to Android Auto.

Software update 14.4, which is available now in the beta testing program, has made a number of subtle tweaks to its so-called ‘Coolwalk screen’, which essentially offers a number of applications in one, easy-to-navigate interface on Android Auto-compatible vehicle head units and vehicles running the Android Automotive OS.

The main issue lies with the media playback controls, which have been shuffled around just to annoy those that have formed enough muscle memory to play, pause and rewind without having to even look at the infotainment display.

Auto Evolution reported that the play/pause button is now aligned to the left off the screen on left-hand-drive vehicles, placing it closer to the driver but switching it with where the rewind/previous button used to reside.

However, seeing as the updates are currently only available in the beta testing program, the search giant still has plenty of time to listen to user feedback and make further changes if it deems them necessary.

Gemini jumps in on the road trip

Google is pushing its AI assistant to a number of smart devices, including watches, headphones and smart glasses, allowing users to receive recommendations and answers to common questions using conversational voice prompts.

The feature is also upgrading the current Google Assistant voice commands that feature in Android Auto infotainment systems and those cars running a native Android Automotive operating system.

This means that both drivers and passengers can request specific locations along the route, such as service stations that are good for walking dogs or locating the fastest charging stations in the vicinity.

When users connect their favoured messaging app, Google says that Gemini can summarize any messages received and even go so far as translating them into another language before sending – should you have lots of bilingual buddies.

Gemini looks set to take away some of the awkward app shuffling that motorists are tasked with, thanks to the ability to now ask the AI assistant to summarize the news headlines (with or without sports) and even answer those difficult questions that kids inevitably pose on a long journey.

Google says Gemini will be available on Android Auto in the "coming months", followed by those cars running the native Android Automotive OS.

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Imperium Hosting is a veteran-owned game server host which caters for a wide range of games. We focused on its place among the best Minecraft server hosting, but if you can think of a game with an online community, Imperium probably has a server plan for it.

For Minecraft, Imperium Hosting focuses on a range of configurable options rather than specific plan names which means a lot of variety. Besides game server hosting, Imperium also provides web hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated servers. Potentially a good option for someone seeking the best dedicated server hosting, we’ve specifically looked at Imperium Hosting’s dedicated Minecraft server hosting options. Here’s what we found during our time with Imperium.

Plans and pricing

Unlike other game server host providers, Imperium Hosting doesn’t use dedicated names for its plans. Instead, you pick your game then configure the options you need.

For Minecraft, that means you can adjust the memory allocation between 2GB and 20GB, and the disk space between 50GB and 200GB. Additionally, there are options like a superior CPU and other add-ons as needed.

It’s great to have such flexibility but if you’re new to game server hosting, some guidance as to what plan works best for your situation would help.

All plans offer DDoS protection, global server locations, extensive customer support, and one-click mod pack installation.

Refreshingly, while Imperium Hosting offers some add-ons during sign up, like migration, everything is opt-in. As standard, you’re provided with the cheapest plan with Minecraft plans starting from $2.99 for a basic 2GB RAM/50GB disk space plan (you’ll need more RAM in most scenarios). It’s laid out well so you know what you’re getting.

The cheapest plan starts at $2.99 with the price rising to $72 for the maxed out 20GB RAM/200GB disk space/RealTime CPU plan. There’s no extra fee for any of the server location with servers based in Washington, California, Virginia, the UK, France, and Canada. Payment is accepted via PayPal or credit/debit card.

Ease of use

A screenshot of the Imperium Hosting control panel (Image credit: Imperium)

As mentioned, the sign up process on the Imperium website doesn’t involve clicking on specific plan names. Instead, you pick the memory and disk space you need along with the CPU priority you would like. It’s not as clearly laid out as other hosting options (and I never could find full details on concrete differences between the CPU options), but it does give you plenty of control.

In a similar vein, once signed up, the dashboard and control panel aren’t as clearly laid out as others either but there’s all you need once you dig around. Log in and you can dive into the MySQL manager (1 database comes as standard), or the game service manager. The latter is where you’ll be spending much of your time with clearly laid options for adding mods, checking logs, or scheduling tasks? Attractive to look at? Not in the slightest but it gets the job done.

There are many modpacks available as well as the option to switch between Spigot and Paper, or Vanilla. If you’re completely new to setting up a Minecraft server, Imperium Hosting can be a little intimidating but it’s as powerful as you need it to be.

My favorite highlight is how easy it is to add sub users as not every game server host makes that as obviously simple as this. Just go to Create a Sub User and you can easily get set up.

Speed and experience

Adding a user to your Imperium Hosting plan. (Image credit: Imperium)

Imperium Hosting has servers located around the world. These include three within the US, one in Canada, one in the UK, and one in France. When signing up, your options are a little more restricted to Western America, Eastern America, or Western Europe.

Elsewhere in the world, you may find this a little limiting but based in Western Europe, I achieved a steady ping under 40 at all times. While there could be more varied servers, the core market is covered with North America and Western Europe.

As with all Minecraft server plans, aim high if you want to install any mods. Checking out the most basic plan and installing a couple of mods soon maxed out the memory usage. That’s typical when managing any Minecraft server but bear in mind that it’s a smart move to research what you need for your plans as Imperium Hosting doesn’t provide any recommendations.

Support

When it comes to support, it’s a benefit that Imperium Hosting is fairly small. Support is friendly and well-respected by many users. There’s Live Chat, a Discord server, as well as a more typical ticketing system. There’s also a Knowledgebase which covers most queries.

A YouTube channel would round things up nicely but like a lot of the service, Imperium is all about function over form and it still works reasonably well.

Imperium doesn't provide insight into its uptime on the site so there are no statistics to compare with other hosting providers. However, in my experience using the server, there was no downtime.

Final Verdict

Imperium Hosting isn’t the prettiest or most novice friendly of game server hosts, but it deserves some attention. If you’re keen to back a smaller game server hosting service, you’ll gain a decent pricing structure and good customer service.

There’s no chance of paying for features you don’t need here as Imperium Hosting keeps it simply laid out even if it isn’t ideal for newbies. Similarly, while you won’t be regaling Minecraft buddies with tales of how good looking the control panel is, it gets the job done.

Simple yet effective in all the right ways, I’d still recommend Imperium Hosting even if it could be a little more refined in places.

Empower Servers might not be a major name in Minecraft game server hosting but it’s been around since 2018 and offers some key services.

It isn’t quite of the standard to feature among the very best Minecraft server hosting but its choice of standard or premium plans and a sliding scale all ensure it’s well suited for novices and experienced server admins alike.

We focused on our time with its Minecraft server but Empower provides hosting for many of the most popular games including Palworld and Rust. It also offers Discord bots and website hosting if you have wider plans in mind. If you’re looking for some of the best Palworld server hosting, this could be a good option for that as well as Minecraft. There are also options to rival the best Rust server hosting. Here’s how we found the dedicated Minecraft server hosting options within Empower.

Plans and pricing

Pick the game you want a server for and you’re presented with configuration options relating to that game. With Minecraft, that means a choice of tiers between standard and high performance, and the ability to adjust how much RAM you need. Predictably then, there’s a lot of flexibility here.

Once you’ve picked the basics, it’s also possible to pay extra for daily backups, a dedicated IP, plugin and mod install, and a domain registration, As standard, all the Empower plans promise 20GB of NVMe storage, a free subdomain, full mod and plugin support, no player limit, and unmetered bandwidth. Premium plans offer a dedicated IP, daily backups, and unlimited NVMe storage as part of the bundle.

Empower uses a mixture of AMD Ryzen 3900X, Intel i9-11900K, and Xeon-E 2286G CPUs. It’s not possible to pick the specific CPU your server uses if you’re keen for that level of control.

All plans have a 48 hour refund policy which is a little brief compared to the competition which typically offers 72 hours, but should still be sufficient for giving you enough time to figure out if you like how Empower does things.

Ease of use

The Empower dashboard console mid update. (Image credit: Future)

Empower Servers focuses on a simplified process when signing up which continues throughout use. Sign up is simple enough with you picking the game then working out what extras you want to pay for. It’s clearly laid out.

Once set up, the control panel is similarly obvious. It takes seconds to find the console, find plugins or modpacks to add, and all the other essentials you need.

It’s simple enough that you don’t need exactly how to set up a Minecraft server as Empower takes out most of the hard work. In particular, it’s great to see how easy it is to install extras without needing expert knowledge. You can also easily add files via the file manager so it’s not like you’re held back either if you know what you’re doing.

One neat addition is that you can easily add other admins with Empower laying out exactly what each option does via a series of tick boxes. That’s particularly useful for anyone figuring out the basics behind server hosting.

Speed and experience

The Empower dashboard showing all plugins available to install. (Image credit: Future)

Empower has servers located in eight locations. These include Canada, Germany, New Zealand, United States, Netherlands, UK, Australia, and Singapore.

While signing up, you can choose the location. I picked the UK one and had a steady ping of around 40 throughout use. Empower promises 100% network uptime.

Unusually, I did have brief downtime with my server crashing and restarting. However, I suspect that was because of a configuration issue rather than a fault on Empower’s end. I’d installed an out-of-date plugin which was causing connection issues. I think that ultimately led to the server rebooting.

It’s possible to sign up for a 2GB RAM plan but it’s not advisable. Empower suggests that such a minimal plan is only suitable for the Bedrock edition and in my experience, 4GB RAM at minimum is best for small server aims.

Once you install a few mods and plugins, less RAM can really negatively affect performance. Fortunately, Empower’s dashboard shows at a glance how your CPU and memory usage is being affected at all times.

Support

Empower offers quite a few different ways to reach out for support. At its simplest, it has an extensive knowledge base which covers a wide range of the most common issues you might come across.

When you need more assistance, there’s also a Discord for more direct help or general advice. Alternatively, there’s a live chat facility with AI assistance at first leading into human help. If it’s not too urgent, you can also email Empower.

Another option is to watch the Empower YouTube channel which offers some great tutorials on how to complete many tasks.

I found the service across the board pretty efficient and also helpful. Having so many choices means you shouldn't feel stuck with any issue or query you might have.

Final Verdict

Empower is good for everyone but its strength lies with being fairly user friendly. It doesn’t dig too deep into the details at first glance unless you want to go looking for it. Instead, it’s welcoming and ensures its control panel and dashboard make logical sense with clearly laid out terms that don’t require as much prior knowledge as you would expect.

The best option with Empower is a premium plan but you can still get good value from money from a standard plan. It all comes down to your needs. For someone looking to host a few friends, a standard plan will suffice, while those looking to create a community may wish to go for the premium plan.

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Minefort is a dark horse of a game server hosting company. That’s because its initial focus is on how it provides free plans. It isn’t a perfect service which is why one of the best Minecraft server hosting providers is likely to be better suited for many needs, but for a quick hit, there’s appeal here.

Besides the free plan, there are premium options too. As the name suggests, Minefort exclusively caters for Minecraft players so others may prefer to use the best dedicated server hosting instead if you have bigger plans. Simpler than the best VPS hosting, here’s how we found Minefort for Minecraft server hosting.

Plans and pricing

Minefort offers five plans each named after a type of accommodation. The free plan is named Hut while there’s also Cottage, House, Mansion, and Fort. The free plan is only online when in use and goes into hibernation mode until you restart it. The others are all available 24/7.

There’s no insight into what CPUs are used for each server plan but you’re provided with the essentials -- RAM, max players, backup slots, and storage limits. The free plan starts things off with 10 player slots at most.

Unlike bigger hosts, Minefort doesn’t lead the way with suggestions or even with a sliding scale to adjust plans, but the basics are here. There’s also DDoS protection and support for all plans. The two priciest plans offer ‘Advanced’ and ‘Premium’ DDoS protection but again, details are pretty non-existent as to what that entails. Consider Minefort simple in both good and potentially frustrating ways for micro managers.

Ease of use

A screenshot of the Minefort control panel (Image credit: Future)

Signing up to Minefort takes mere moments. It leans heavily into its free offering so there’s no need to enter card details until you get to the upgrade screen. A clearly laid out control panel is instantly accessible. Head to appearances to get things personalized while there’s one-click plugin installation for many different mods.

It’s also possible to quickly add another admin, create backups, and connect via FTP. That goes for the free plan as well as paid servers too.

On the free plan, you'll need to remember that the server can go into hibernation mode easily when not in use. Also, while you can set up many free servers, only one can be actively online at any one time.

Still, Minefort offers much of what you need from a paid plan while never feeling like you miss out on much when pursuing the free plan too. This is a service that’s appropriate for anyone new to knowing how to set up a Minecraft server as well as more experienced admins.

Speed and experience

Minefort general server options (Image credit: Future)

Unlike other hosts, Minefort doesn’t explain where its servers are located. You can’t choose the location but a dig around confirms they’re based in Canada. That means if you’re based in Europe like me, ping can be a little higher than average. In my case, it was around 150ish which isn’t too awkward. Certainly not for something a little more forgiving (most of the time) like Minecraft.

The lack of location options feels more of an issue when paying for a plan than it does with the free plan. Your mileage will vary here as obviously, it’s good to have plenty of control when paying a lot, but less relevant on cheaper plans.

Understandably, performance similarly varies depending on what you’re paying. Scant details are provided regarding CPUs and RAM, but the basic free plan lives up to its name which means it’s best just for a few players and not too many mods. It only offers 1GB RAM which is pretty low for most Minecraft installs. Upgrade and you can change things up between 35 players right up to 200. As with other Minecraft server hosts, you get what you pay for.

For any long term plans, aim for the most premium package (or potentially something from the best premium game server hosting).

Support

Minefort has fairly limited support on the free plan with 24/7 access for paid plans. On a free plan, your main route of support is a chatbot until support is available or the knowledge base. The chatbot is reasonably helpful for basic queries while the FAQ also covers many commonly asked questions. There’s also a Discord – an increasingly popular way to solve queries fast by crowdsourcing help in some cases.

It’s not as feature rich as competitors and the lack of a YouTube channel is a missed opportunity. Still, if you know what you’re doing, you may not need support very often.

Final Verdict

Minefort’s strength is in its free offerings. It’s refreshing to find a seemingly catch-free way of enjoying a free server with a few friends. After all, you don’t even need to enter card details. That free server may not offer much power but it’s still sufficient for a quick few sessions with a couple of buddies.

Where it gets trickier to recommend is when it comes to its paid plans. The lack of location choice and the limited details about hardware won’t appeal to experienced server admins and understandably so. It’s well priced but competitors do a better job of explaining all before you commit to anything.

Because of that, Minefort is best suited for anyone who needs an inexpensive or free plan for a short period of time. Something to tide them over rather than if they have plans for a community-driven server.

There’s a place for that kind of service which is why Minefort is worth acknowledging and checking out. Just make sure to temper your expectations. If you know what you’re doing and what you need, there are better alternatives around.

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