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Microsoft cites familiarity as a reason to upgrade to Windows 10

Publié: juillet 19, 2015, 7:44pm CEST par Mark Wilson

With just ten days to go to the launch of Windows 10, Microsoft has released a video highlighting reasons to upgrade. Entitled '10 Reasons to Upgrade to Windows 10: IT’S FAMILIAR' (Microsoft's caps), the video is a mere 46 seconds long.

Rather than waxing lyrical about super-exciting features, the video focuses on the fact that anyone moving from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 is going to feel at home. 'Familiar' is a word that crops up again and again. Microsoft wants you to feel that Windows 10 is a comfortable old pair of slippers ready for you to slip into.

What does Microsoft choose to highlight? The return of the Start menu. The addition of Live Tiles. The fact that Windows 10 is free. Throughout the course of the 46 seconds, you start to get the impression that Microsoft was struggling for content slightly. The video's description neither gives much away, nor explodes with enthusiasm:

Discover why Windows 10 is the best combination of the Windows you already know, plus lots of great improvements you’ll love having. And all of your stuff comes with you, so you’ll be ready to do great things from the get-go.

If you're still sitting on the fence, is the video below enough to push you one way or the other?
Windows 10 has a secret screen recording tool -- here's how to use it

Publié: juillet 19, 2015, 6:28pm CEST par Mark Wilson

Windows 10 has not even been released yet, but that's a perfect reason to start unearthing a few secrets. Over the coming weeks and months there will undoubtedly be an endless stream of tips, tricks, and tweaks to try out, but how's this for starters? Windows 10 has a secret screen recording tool that can be used to capture on-screen activity as a video file.

Taking a static screenshot is very simple. You can either hit the Print Screen key, use the Snipping Tool, or turn to one of the countless screen capture tools out there -- many of which are free. When it comes to capturing video, however, it's something of a different story. Before you splash out on a dedicated tool such as Camtasia, you might want to try out Windows 10's hidden tool. It's designed for gamers really, but anyone can use it.

The Game bar is a toolbar which Microsoft meant for gamers to use to capture screenshots of their high scores, as well as video footage of their gaming skills. Despite the name, it is not limited to use within games, and you would be forgiven for having missed it as you browsed through the latest version of the operating system -- you're not going to stumble across it by accident.

Hit the Windows key and G, and a popup will appear asking if you would like to open Game bar -- there are no Yes and No buttons, but check the 'Yes, this is a game' box (you will have to do this the first time you access the screen recorder in any application).

Things are pretty self-explanatory here -- just hit the standard record button to start capturing footage. Hit the button again to stop recording, or you can use the Windows key + Alt + R keyboard shortcut. The Settings button can be used to place a limit on the length of videos that can be recorded -- this helps you to avoid filling up your hard drive if you forget to stop a recording. Videos are saved in MP4 format in the Videos\Captures folder.

You may or may not have realized that this tool is part of Windows 10's Xbox app, and this is where you need to head to adjust more settings. Go to the Game DVR section (the fifth icon from the bottom) and you can access the videos you've recorded, as well as use a basic trim tool to get rid of unwanted sections from the beginning and end.

Give it a try and see what you think!
Apple Music, Neil Young, and Taylor Swift will drive honest people to piracy

Publié: juillet 19, 2015, 5:00pm CEST par Brian Fagioli

Nowadays, most people don't buy physical media; they pay their little $10 a month for Spotify premium, or similar service, to support the music industry. Apple's exclusivity approach, however, won't just disrupt the streaming market, it will severely harm consumers and lead to piracy. Hell, it could kill streaming music altogether.

Piracy is a really heinous crime. It causes artists to lose money, and make no mistake, it is stealing. With that said, more people will be doing it because of Apple Music. Exclusives from Dr. Dre, Pharell and Taylor Swift may lead to increased torrent downloads. Sadly, the artists have no one to blame but themselves.

Don't get me wrong, I can live without Dr. Dre's "The Chronic" -- an album which is streaming exclusively on Apple Music. Sure, it is a classic album, but it is not something I have been checking for lately. But tell me that I can't have it, and now I want it. In other words, I can see how it could drive people to pirate that damn album for the principle of the thing.

I know what you are thinking -- what principle could possibly justify theft?

Think of it this way, streaming services only work if they are like an all you can eat Chinese buffet. You pay a little money, and you get to eat all you want. What if, however, there were ten buffet-style restaurants in a row, and the only way to get full was to eat at every single one. Well, it is not financially feasible to visit every restaurant and pay each entry charge. Quite frankly, there will be a lot of overlap too.

If every streaming service has its own exclusives, the customer experience at all of them suffers. It is silly to expect consumers to subscribe to multiple services, but that is exactly what Apple's antics will lead to. Sure, Apple's goal is to force most users to its service exclusively, but that will not happen. Instead, the fragmentation could be the demise of the Music Industry's best chance at staying financially viable.

Taylor Swift famously pulled her music from Spotify. She then fought Apple Music over royalty payments -- or a lack thereof -- during the initial 3 month free trial. Her public stance was successful, getting Apple to reverse course. Now, her wildly popular album "1989" is an Apple Music streaming exclusive. What are Spotify and Groove Music users to do? Pirate?

After the events of this week, I've decided to put 1989 on Apple Music...and happily so.

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 25, 2015

One of my favorite musicians, Neil Young, has decided to pull his music from all streaming services. Coincidentally -- or not -- Mr. Young has a financial interest in competing music service Pono. While not a streaming service, Pono aims to sell music downloads with the angle that the sound quality is better.

streaming ends for me today... [https:]

— Neil Young (@Neilyoung) July 15, 2015

"I don't need my music to be devalued by the worst quality in the history of broadcasting or any other form of distribution. I don't feel right allowing this to be sold to my fans. It's bad for my music. For me, It's about making and distributing music people can really hear and feel. I stand for that. When the quality is back, I'll give it another look. Never say never", says Neil Young on Facebook.

Mr. Young is totally within his rights to pull his music from streaming services -- it is his art, after all. Still, for many fans, myself included, the Spotify quality is more than fine. I've never been listening to "The Needle and the Damage Done" in my backyard on Spotify and thought anything was lacking. It was just as beautiful as always. He is crazy to think that I will subscribe to a music service, but then spend more to buy his albums -- I want it all in one place at one price.

So here is my plan. I am going to stick with Spotify. If something I want to hear is an Apple Music exclusive, or not available on streaming, I just won't listen to it. With that said, I am sure many other people will choose to download it illegally from The Pirate Bay or an FTP site. While I do not condone it, I understand it.

Dear BetaNews readers, do you think exclusives will be the demise of streaming services? Please sound off in the comments.

Photo Credit: Nomad_Soul/Shutterstock
Hacking Team leak shows how to sneak malicious apps into Google Play

Publié: juillet 19, 2015, 9:53am CEST par Mark Wilson

Italian security and surveillance company Hacking Team was most famed for supplying monitoring tools to governments around the world, but a recent security breach revealed the inner workings of the outfit. Sifting through the leaked data revealed not only spying tools and Flash vulnerabilities, but also Android apps with backdoors.

Security experts from Trend Micro found that spyware from Hacking Team was released to Google Play, bypassing checks that are usually performed. BeNews was a fake news apps -- now removed from the store -- that could be used to download remote access software to Android devices running anything from Froyo to KitKat.

Trend Micro reports that the app was designed with the express intention of circumventing Google's malware filtering and checking. The app was even downloaded a few times before removal on July 7. The malicious app exploits a vulnerability to escalate local privileges to install malware and remote access tools. The way the apps makes it into Google Play is rather sneaky.

Apps are vetted on, amongst other things, the permissions they need in order to run. To ensure easy passage into the store, BeNews requested just three permissions. Once installed, the app then used what Trend Micro calls 'dynamic loading technology' to download additional, malicious code, transforming it into a different beast altogether.

The cache of leaked data from Hacking Team not only includes the source code required to build other apps, but also handy how-to guide. While it seems that BeNews was not installed by many people -- perhaps as few as 50 -- the worry is that the source code is now out in the open so it may not be long until copycat apps appear. Hacking Team itself has warned that its tools have ended up in the hands of terrorists.

Photo credit: Maksim Kabakou / Shutterstock