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Windows 10 Insider Preview Redstone Build 14279 arrives on the Fast ring, with a few noteworthy changes

Publié: mars 4, 2016, 7:59pm CET par Wayne Williams

Windows-10 key

After tweeting that Microsoft tends to avoid releasing new Insider Preview builds on a Friday so the team doesn’t have to work over the weekend dealing with potential issues, Microsoft’s Gabe Aul pushed the button to release a new Windows 10 build on a Friday.

Fast ring releases sometimes have a lot of new features and changes, but can often just deliver a few internal tweaks. Insider Preview Redstone Build 14279 falls into the former camp, with improvements to Cortana, logon, and apps.

First up, Cortana. Microsoft’s personal assistant is now available in more languages, including Spanish (Mexico), Portuguese (Brazil) and French (Canada).

Interestingly, Cortana changes based on where you access her.

Aul explains "For each new market and language, the Cortana Team works to develop a custom experience that is relevant in each individual market and language. For instance, in Brazil -- Cortana is fond of pasteis which is a common food found in many regions across Brazil. And in Mexico, we added local flavor to reflect the accent and language of the country".

Cortana also now remembers things for you, like the name of a book you want to read, or a to-do task without a set due date. Aul notes in "future builds Cortana will be able to retrieve these upon request, just like a real personal assistant would".

The logon experience has been updated in this new build -- a single background image now appears on both the logon and Lock screens. Unless you're using Windows Spotlight. That will be handled in a future build.

Other changes include Sway integration with the Photos app and March updates for the Xbox app for Windows 10.

This build fixes the following issues:

An issue where Microsoft Edge and Cortana were crashing for users with roaming profiles.
An issue where Cortana would continue to show reminders that have been completed.
An issue where items copied/moved to the desktop would not display until the desktop is manually refreshed by right-clicking on the desktop and choosing "Refresh" or pressing F5.
An issue where downloading certain drivers from Windows Update was causing some PCs to bluescreen.

But, because it’s a Fast ring release, there are several known issues to be aware of.

An issue in which some Surface Pro 3, Surface Pro 4, and Surface Book devices experience a freeze or hang and all input such as keyboard/trackpad and touch do not work. The workaround is to hold down the power button to force the device to hard-reboot.
Some PCs will freeze or bluescreen when resuming from hibernation. Disabling hibernation is a workaround in some cases until this is fixed.
If you have Kaspersky Anti-Virus, Internet Security, or the Kaspersky Total Security Suite installed on your PC there is a known driver bug that prevents these programs from working as expected in builds from the Development Branch. Microsoft is partnering with Kaspersky to fix this issue for a future release, but at this time there are no known workarounds. While this issue is present, Microsoft recommends using Windows Defender or another third party anti-virus product of your choice to remain protected.
Turning on the "always show all icons in the notification area" setting disrupts the layout of the notification area ("systray"). Your notification area will look out of alignment.
Apps such as QQ crashing due to an OS reliability issue. Microsoft is currently investigating. This bug is also impacting older apps such as Windows Live Mail and Expression Encoder 4.

Photo credit: charnsitr / Shutterstock

Want to score 50 percent off a Google Play movie rental? You need to act fast

Publié: mars 4, 2016, 7:23pm CET par Brian Fagioli

tv couple with remote

It is snowing once again in New York today -- won't the winter madness ever end? This dreary weather has largely kept me indoors; reading magazines, watching TV, and enjoying the occasional movie. Nothing's better than getting cozy on your couch with a warm blanket and cup of tea to watch a good film.

With that said, this weekend is looking like a good candidate for some movie watching. Unfortunately, picking a movie can be daunting -- there are so many to choose from. Even worse, paying to rent a movie that ends up being bad can make you feel like you've been robbed. If you share my concerns, I have good news -- you can score a Google Play movie rental for 50 percent off. It is a limited offer, however, so you must act fast.

"For a limited time, get 50 percent off the store price of any one movie rental of your choice, including the collection below. Redeem your offer by March 17, 2016 on Google Play from compatible Internet connected devices using a Google account. Your discount will be applied at checkout. Once you rent a movie, you'll have 30 days to watch it before it expires".

The movies "below" that Google references can be found on this page. Keep in mind, you are not limited to this list. These are merely suggestions by the search-giant.

Of course, there is some additional "fine print" to the offer as seen below. While not all countries are eligible, many are.

Limit 1 per user. Nontransferable. No cash value. Valid in US, CA, AU, BR, MX, UK, DE, FR, RU, IT, SE, NO, DK, FI, and ZA. Cannot be used in conjunction with other offers or discounts, except Google Play Credits. Age restrictions apply.

What movie will you rent from Google Play? Tell me in the comments.

Image Credit: ArtFamily / Shutterstock

Google to use geolocation data to block Right To Be Forgotten links around the world

Publié: mars 4, 2016, 7:00pm CET par Mark Wilson

google_search

Google is updating its approach to delisting search results in Europe under the Right To Be Forgotten. At the moment, people are able to request that search results do not link to articles that are "inadequate, irrelevant, no longer relevant or excessive, and not in the public interest" but there have been ways for searchers to bypass these delistings.

While Google may remove a search result from all European Google domains, there's nothing to stop people from using non-European versions of the search engine to access otherwise-hidden data. Starting next week, Google is going to start using geolocation data to crack down on this practice.

Google says that it has been engaged in discussions with regulators since the Right To Be Forgotten ruling. The company believes that its new approach will enable it to comply with the letter of the law in Europe while not standing in the way of people in other parts of the world to access information through searches.

Starting next week, in addition to our existing practice, we will also use geolocation signals (like IP addresses) to restrict access to the delisted URL on all Google Search domains, including google.com, when accessed from the country of the person requesting the removal. We’ll apply the change retrospectively, to all delistings that we have already done under the European Court ruling.

So for example, let’s say we delist a URL as a result of a request from John Smith in the United Kingdom. Users in the UK would not see the URL in search results for queries containing [john smith] when searching on any Google Search domain, including google.com. Users outside of the UK could see the URL in search results when they search for [john smith] on any non-European Google Search domain.

The Right To Be Forgotten ruling has proved controversial in a number of ways. Those opposed to it say that access to information should be unrestricted while supporters have complained that it does not go far enough to protect the privacy of individuals. The latest announcement should go some way to calming the concerns of those who fall into the latter camp.

Photo credit: Evan Lorne / Shutterstock

How would a Brexit impact UK's tech sector?

Publié: mars 4, 2016, 6:58pm CET par Jon Snade

With the UK’s EU referendum less than four months away, the UK’s thriving economy of fast-growth, tech, and digital business are weighing up the pros and cons of leaving the EU and what a Brexit would mean for the sector.

Without doubt, the main fear of the UK tech and digital sector, if the result of 23 June is to leave the EU, is the adverse impact this would have on the ability to recruit and retain tech talent from within the EU.

In particular, if the free movement of workers within the Union ends, the concern is that this would negatively affect the ability of UK tech and digital businesses to access developers and engineers with the right skill sets from abroad.

The UK’s home grown tech talent pool is seen as limited, with supply being outstripped by demand. The recent Tech Nation 2016 report highlighted that a significant proportion of tech and digital businesses across the UK’s key cities for innovation still see the "limited talent supply" as one of the key challenges they face.

The relative ease with which UK tech businesses, particularly in London, have to date been able to recruit EU engineers has undoubtedly been one of the cornerstones to the UK’s success in establishing itself at the very forefront of the European tech economy.

Another view is that if the outcome of the vote on B-Day is to leave the EU, then this would present the UK with an opportunity to agree a new framework of specific, tailored immigration laws, designed to ensure that the attraction of overseas talent from within the EU is facilitated.

However, such measures would take time to implement, and any visa application processes to be made by UK the businesses and European tech workers would take time and cost money to follow. Time and money are two assets which emerging, boot-strapped tech startups, already competing against the larger tech corporations for these workers, do not possess in abundance.

Lack of an International Perspective

The benefit of being able to attract talent from across the EU is not just limited to plugging a skills gap in the fields of engineering and product development. With a population of around 500 million people in the EU and with just 23 miles of the English Channel separating the UK from the mainland continent, the UK has had physical and economic access to a huge market of businesses and consumers.

Understanding these markets is crucial to the success and growth of UK tech businesses operating within Europe. The UK’s melting pot of internationally-aware founders, employees, investors, consultants, mentors and advisers from those EU jurisdictions, who can bring their perspectives, expertise and cultural and market insights to the fore, has certainly been another factor in the rise of the UK’s tech and digital business sector.

Fundraising

Many also fear that a Brexit could impact on the attractiveness of the UK as a go-to country for tech businesses wishing to raise vital early-stage investment. A trend over recent years has been the increased interest in early stage, UK tech businesses from overseas investors, not only from domestic UK VC firms, but also from Europe the US.

UK-based tech companies have realized for some time that, in a sector that is inherently global and cross-border in nature, accessing investment from overseas can be a way to accelerate penetration into new international markets.

Overseas investors have been attracted by the innovative and disruptive business ideas being incubated in the UK. However, VCs do not just invest in commercial propositions but in the teams of individuals who are driving them forward.

Restricting a substantial and internationally aware part of the technology demographic from which the UK has benefited to date could deflect the investment focus away from London and the regional tech hubs across the country to other cities who have their eyes on the European technology capital crown, such as Berlin, Lisbon, Dublin, and Barcelona.

Whatever the outcome on June 23, what is clear is that the current, and resounding, opinion of the UK’s fast-growth tech and digital economy is that the future success of the sector depends on remaining in the EU. A survey reported by City:AM last November revealed that only nine percent of the UK’s tech business were in favor of the UK leaving the EU.

More recently, a survey by Tech London Advocates showed that 87 percent of London’s tech community were in favor of remaining an EU member. In February, Russ Shaw, Founder of Tech London Advocates wrote in The Telegraph that "We hope that representatives from other industries will follow the lead of the tech sector and speak out about the benefits associated with EU membership".

But as within any other sector or constituent group, the views within the tech sector in the UK do differ and most notably, Boris Johnson, himself a champion of London’s tech economy, has voiced strong opinions in favor of leaving the EU.

As the weeks ahead unfold, key politicians and business leaders will continue to make arguments in favor of both options. In the meantime, the effect of the nervousness and uncertainty which the Brexit question is causing amongst the tech and business communities in the UK and globally is perhaps going to be in itself one of the biggest areas of impact resulting from the referendum.

Jon Snade is a corporate partner at Thomas Eggar, part of Irwin Mitchell LLP.

Photo Credit: JMiks/Shutterstock

Developer criticizes Microsoft's 'monopolizing' approach to apps and gaming in Windows 10

Publié: mars 4, 2016, 6:21pm CET par Mark Wilson

furious_man

A walled-garden approach to apps for operating system is something we've become used to in the mobile world. Apple, in particular, has been incredibly successful in creating a closed-off eco-system that ensures it remains -- broadly speaking -- in control of what hits the App Store. With Windows 10, Microsoft is trying to blur the boundaries between mobile and non-mobile, and developers -- especially game developers -- are not happy.

Windows 10's Universal Windows Platform (UWP) is described by Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney as a "closed platform-within-a-platform". More than this, Sweeney says that it is the "most aggressive move Microsoft has ever made", warning that the company is trying to monopolize app distribution to the detriment of consumers and the entire PC industry. Writing for the Guardian, Sweeney bellows out a call to arms saying that UWP "can, should, must, and will die".

The pioneering developer pulls no punches in laying into Microsoft in a strongly-worded editorial piece in the Guardian. He says that Microsoft is cutting off a line of communication between developers and users, and competes unfairly with rival games stores such as those operated by Steam and other developers.

Microsoft has launched new PC Windows features exclusively in UWP, and is effectively telling developers you can use these Windows features only if you submit to the control of our locked-down UWP ecosystem. They're curtailing users' freedom to install full-featured PC software, and subverting the rights of developers and publishers to maintain a direct relationship with their customers.

Sweeney expresses concern that Microsoft appears to be looking to control the entire process of distributing, downloading, and updating apps. While not 'impossible' as Sweeney suggests, the Windows Store certainly makes it hard for the average user to make use of UWP apps outside of the store. Side-loading is possible, but "this is a feature Microsoft can revoke at any time using Windows 10’s forced-update process".

These are legitimate concerns and Sweeney uses his editorial to call on Microsoft to open up the UWP platform in the same way as the currently-used Win32 API. He suggests a trio of advantages that this would bring:

That any PC Windows user can download and install a UWP application from the web, just as we can do now with win32 applications. No new hassle, no insidious warnings about venturing outside of Microsoft’s walled garden, and no change to Windows’ default settings required.

That any company can operate a store for PC Windows games and apps in UWP format -- as Valve, Good Old Games, Epic Games, EA, and Ubi Soft do today with the win32 format, and that Windows will not impede or obstruct these apps stores, relegating them to second-class citizenship,

That users, developers, and publishers will always be free to engage in direct commerce with each other, without Microsoft forcing everyone into its formative in-app commerce monopoly and taking a 30 percent cut.

Microsoft is accused of following Google's lead in "technically exposing, but practically burying, options that let users escape from its force-bundled services. If you've tried to change your Windows 10 search engine, web browser, or movie player, or to turn off their invasive new lock-screen ads, Windows search bar Bing spam, and invasive "analytics", you know what I’m talking about. It's a deliberately anti-customer experience: the options are there, but good luck finding them.

The ultimate danger here is that Microsoft continually improves UWP while neglecting and even degrading win32, over time making it harder for developers and publishers to escape from Microsoft’s new UWP commerce monopoly. Ultimately, the open win32 Windows experience could be relegated to Enterprise and Developer editions of Windows.

Sweeney points to the content of the Microsoft Store as evidence of how misguided an approach the company has taken. The likes of Photoshop, Grand Theft Auto V and Fifa 2016 are notable by their absence. As with much of Windows 10, Microsoft is accused of hiding UWP behind PR bluster, using tricksy language and careful wording to avoid difficult questions -- this is something Microsoft needs to address, and quickly.

At the moment things remain within Microsoft's hands, but there is a groundswell of disapproval. If the company is not careful it could find itself with another antitrust case to deal with as developers and publishers rally together to defend their corner of the market.

Photo credit: rangizzz / Shutterstock

NooG is a compact web search bar for your PC desktop

Publié: mars 4, 2016, 5:13pm CET par Mike Williams

Noog

NooG is a lightweight internet search bar for the Windows desktop.

We watched the installation process closely, because this is just the kind of app to trash your system with a pile of adware, but no -- the entire program is under 2MB in size, nothing intrusive at all.

The interface is just as compact, a tiny 452 x 35-pixel search bar which remains on top of other desktop windows for easy access.

Basic operations work as you expect. Type a keyword or two into the search bar, press Enter or hit the Search button, and your default browser should appear with the results of a Google search.

Run another search and a new tab appears in the same window, with the relevant results.

If you don’t want to use Google, clicking the right-hand Menu button followed by "Search Engine" gives you three options: Google, Bing or Wikipedia.

Alternatively, disable the "Compact" display and the interface provides the option to select a different engine for every search.

The interface is a little odd, in places. That down arrow to the right of the address bar doesn’t display a list of recent searches, for instance, as you’d expect: instead it opens an Advanced Search dialog.

Still, these extra settings do give you vastly more control over the search, with options covering language, file type, time period, country, site-specific searching, even the browser you’d like to use to view the results.

These more sophisticated searches can also be saved for reuse later.

The program also supports a History dialog, which lists all your search queries in full, along with their date and time of use. (This can be disabled if you think it’s a privacy risk.)

This looked great, but is poorly implemented. You can find an old search, for example, but double-clicking doesn’t run it again. Instead it closes the History window -- annoying if you’re not finished with it -- and transfers your search term to the main bar, which means it takes another click to view the results.

There are various other elements we didn’t understand. You’re able to multi-select history items, and there’s a Run button which you might think would run these old searches in parallel, but no… Whatever we chose to "run", the history window just disappeared and nothing else happened at all.

NooG is still a likable tool. It’s compact, uses minimal resources, carries out simple searches with ease, and can handle more sophisticated advanced searches when necessary.

OK, the History feature needs work (it just doesn’t feel finished). Some documentation would be useful, we’d like more keyboard shortcuts for different actions, and there seemed to be occasional issues with browser state (sometimes searches wouldn’t launch at all).

Despite that, there’s the basis of a handy search tool here, and we’ll be interested to see how it develops in future.

NooG is a freeware application for Windows XP and later.

Amazon values encryption so much that it drops support on Kindle Fire tablets

Publié: mars 4, 2016, 3:46pm CET par Mihăiță Bamburic

Businessman Suit Fingers Crossed Swear

Amazon has came out in support of encryption, following Apple's recent legal battles with the US government, saying that it "plays a very, very important role" in protecting customer data.

But you might be surprised to learn that Amazon has also decided to quietly drop support for full disk encryption on its Android-based Kindle Fire tablets. Since it is portraying itself as an encryption and consumer advocate, its decision to go in the opposite direction strikes me as sheer hypocrisy.

Amazon says that the reason why full disk encryption is no longer supported on its Kindle Fire tablets is that few customers were taking advantage of this feature. As you may know, full disk encryption is not enforced by default, but users who want the extra protection can turn it on easily from the Android's settings menu. The average user probably does not even know it exists, but power users are obviously more knowledgeable and more willing to go the extra mile.

Amazon wants to look good in the eyes of privacy advocates and its own customers, but it no longer seems to want to deal with any of the implications that encryption support entails: added costs. And I am not talking just about maintaining the software.

The hardware can most likely handle full disk encryption, because, after all, this feature was available until recently. But, if users have issues, support teams have to take their complaints, testers have to investigate those problems, and, finally, developers have to create patches. This all takes time and resources, which ultimately costs Amazon money. Meanwhile, if the US government needs access to Amazon's customers' data, its agencies will be able to easily extract that information from Kindle Fire devices -- and, just like that, Amazon avoids any costly legal battles.

But, in doing that, Amazon has created a new problem: its decision to drop encryption support is backfiring. Normally, this would not be such a big issue, but considering all the talk surrounding encryption and privacy coupled with Amazon's public stance, you can understand why this is "stupid", as cryptologist Bruce Schneier put it.

"Removing device encryption due to lack of customer use is an incredibly poor excuse for weakening the security of those customers that did use the feature", explains Jeremy Gillula, Electronic Frontier Foundation staff technologist. "Given that the information stored on a tablet can be just as sensitive as that stored on a phone or on a computer, Amazon should instead be pushing to make device encryption the default -- not removing it".

Amazon's CTO seems to share the same opinion, as Werner Vogels says that "encrypting your data... of your customers is mandatory. It is not only mandatory from a business point or in the cloud, but also on premise. You should be encrypting your data".

"So we are very strong believers that encryption should be in the hands of our customers and they should be the ones who decide who has access to the data and nobody else", Vogels adds. I suspect that after this whole fiasco Amazon will learn that you cannot say one thing and do another, if it inconveniences you in any way.

Photo Credit: mikute/Shutterstock

Yahoo joins the club, throws its support behind Apple against the FBI

Publié: mars 4, 2016, 3:13pm CET par Alan Buckingham

Secure your Apple iCloud account by enabling two-step verification

For the past couple of weeks the tech news has circled around Apple versus the FBI, after the iPhone maker refused to comply with a court order to unlock a phone used by one of the terrorists in the San Bernardino shootings. That handset may or may not hold data relevant to the case or perhaps reveal plans for future attacks.

We'll possibly never know, given the agency changed the Apple ID and there are claims that even the iPhone maker cannot now get into it. The FBI, for its part, has acknowledged that it made a mistake in changing that ID.

Since all of this began swirling a steady stream of tech companies, including the likes of Microsoft and Google have thrown their support behind a company that they would generally consider a rival in business. It's become a united front -- stand together or risk falling separately.

The latest to join this coalition is Yahoo, as the search company announces it too is standing behind the Cupertino-based company.

Ron Bell, general counsel at Yahoo, states "This case isn’t simply about letting the FBI pick the lock to a dead terrorist’s phone. It’s about whether governments can conscript private companies to disable security features built into their devices. Should the U.S. government prevail in its arguments, the All Writs Act -- statute enacted 50 years before the telegraph -- could be used to compel companies to write code to defeat their own security protocols. Once courts open that door, as FBI Director James Comey said just days ago, the case would become 'potentially precedential'. More is at stake than a single iPhone".

Most people in the industry are in agreement with that statement, including security guru Brian Krebs, who quoted Nicholas Weaver of International Computer Science Institute, saying "Almost immediately, the National Security Agency is going to secretly request the same authority through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC). How many honestly believe the FISC wouldn't rule in the NSA’s favor after the FBI succeeds in getting the authority?"

Yahoo's Bell concludes "Our interest in this case is clear. More than 1 billion users entrust their personal information to Yahoo. We have built these relationships over our more than 20 years in the business, and the security of our users’ information is of paramount importance to them and to our company. This case will set critical precedents, and we’ll continue to lend our voice to the debate".

While there is consensus among the tech crowd, there also seems to be consensus on the other side, with politicians with little or no knowledge of the technical aspects of this, not to mention little interest in finding out, using this as a campaign platform, playing on the average person's fears.

A New York court recently ruled in Apple's favor on a separate similar case, but whether this will be an indicator of success in the San Bernardino case remains to be seen.

Photo credit: SynthManiac / Shutterstock

Why does Oculus Rift not support Macs?

Publié: mars 4, 2016, 2:25pm CET par Mihăiță Bamburic

Oculus-Rift

To be on the cutting edge of technology you sometimes need to make some hard decisions. If you are a Mac user who is interested in Oculus Rift, you will have to choose between your love of Apple's computers and enjoying the virtual reality headset. That is because the two do not go hand in hand, as Oculus Rift only supports Windows PCs. Ouch!

Your Mac is not held back by Windows per se, because it can be easily installed via Boot Camp or Parallels -- and you get pretty much the same user experience as a PC user. The reason why Mac support is currently out of the question boils down to hardware limitations.

When asked whether Mac support will ever be introduced, Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey said that "That is up to Apple. If they ever release a good computer, we will do it". And by "good", Luckey means fast enough to handle an Oculus Rift.

Looking at the recommended PC specifications for Oculus VR, Macs come up short in a single area, and that is the GPU. Other than that, it is possible to get a Mac with an Intel Core i5-4590 processor or a faster one, at least 8 GB of RAM, HDMI 1.3 compatibility, three USB 3.0 ports and a USB 2.0 port, and, of course, Windows 7 Service Pack 1 64-bit or newer.

However, Oculus VR also needs at least an Nvidia GTX 970 or AMD R9 290 graphics card, and no Mac can currently offer similar levels of performance at this time. No, not even a Mac Pro, as Luckey explains.

"It just boils down to the fact that Apple doesn’t prioritize high-end GPUs. You can buy a $6,000 Mac Pro with the top of the line AMD FirePro D700, and it still doesn’t match our recommended specs. So if they prioritize higher-end GPUs like they used to for a while back in the day, we’d love to support Mac. But right now, there’s just not a single machine out there that supports it".

Luckey is obviously right, because most Macs come with laptop-grade graphics, and most do not even have a dedicated card as an option. You can find that on Mac Pro and the pricier 15.4-inch Retina MacBook Pros, but not on a MacBook Air or any 13.3-inch MacBook Pro. And, apparently, even when Apple offers a dedicated graphics card, it is not powerful enough to handle an Oculus Rift.

Fact of the matter is, Apple has not designed Macs so that they can handle virtual reality headsets as resource-heavy as Oculus Rift. The recommended hardware specifications listed by Oculus VR are hard to meet by the vast majority of PCs, because of that graphics card requirement alone. It is a new technology, after all, so that is to be expected.

But, considering that Apple CEO Tim Cook believes that virtual reality is "really cool and has some interesting applications", we could see Apple introducing faster GPUs in the near future, at least for its Mac Pro line. In the meantime, if you are a Mac user who really wants to use Oculus VR, just get a PC.

popSLATE 2 adds a smart second screen to your iPhone -- and it looks amazing

Publié: mars 4, 2016, 1:59pm CET par Wayne Williams

PopSlateGif

At BetaNews we get bombarded with Indiegogo and Kickstarter campaigns on a daily basis, the vast majority of which we never cover. Occasionally though, we see something that really makes us sit up and pay attention. popSLATE 2 is such a project.

popSLATE 2 puts a second shatterproof E-Ink screen on the back of your phone, so you can view the time, news headlines, sports scores, stock quotes and the like without having to unlock your phone. You can read a book on it, use the screen to display discount, loyalty and gift cards, and although it’s always-on it won’t drain your battery life because the case also doubles as a battery pack.

The creators say the case will give your phone an additional nine hours of talk time and four hours of web browsing, and customizable dashboards let you choose everything you want to display on the second screen.

It delivers real-time smart alerts, and the 200 DPI resolution and anti-glare screen mean it should be a comfortable read. You navigate around using the capacitive buttons on the bottom.

The case only adds 0.16" to the thickness of your device, and you can use your existing Lightning cable to charge your iPhone and the popSLATE 2 battery pack at the same time.

Available for iPhone 6, 6s, 6 Plus and 6s Plus, there are choice of two case styles -- black text on a white background, or white text on a black background.

As for costs, pledging $69 will get you one popSLATE 2 ($80 off the MSRP), with free US shipping. Backers in Canada will have to add $10 for delivery, and if you’re anywhere else in the world, you’ll need to add $20.

Although I rarely back Indiegogo or Kickstarter campaigns, I’ve backed this and can’t wait for July to roll around as that’s when it’s estimated shipping will start.

Check out the campaign here.

Only half of businesses believe eCommerce maximizes profits

Publié: mars 4, 2016, 1:46pm CET par Sead Fadilpašić

eCommerce global

A recent poll into the state of eCommerce has unveiled that half of businesses believe their eCommerce sites help them be as profitable as possible.

The results were released late last week in the 2016 State of the Digital Commerce report, published by Salesforce eCommerce integration company CloudCraze.

The report surveyed 340 IT and marketing professionals across business to business, as well as business to consumer industries. The goal was to reveal any opportunities and challenges digital brands and legacy commerce system users are facing today.

Besides saying that half of the businesses believe eCommerce helps them be profitable, it was also unveiled that 70 percent of companies have spent more than $1 million (£710,000) on their website. Moreover, 30 percent have spent more than $2 million (£1.42 million).

For almost a half (44 percent), it took more than a year to implement the current site.

The final point of the report is that quickly updating evolving needs, scaling to the changing market and getting a holistic view of the customer are the top three pain points for brands.

The full report can be accessed via this link.

While you’re at it, you can also take a look at the seven handy tips on how to boost your eCommerce business.

Photo Credit: Nonnakrit/Shutterstock

How APIs are key to digital success

Publié: mars 4, 2016, 12:25pm CET par Ian Barker

Intelligent APIs

In the digital world it's increasingly APIs that hold everything together, allowing information to be easily shared between applications.

A new study from SmartBear Software gathered responses from over 2,300 software professionals around the world to paint a picture of the current state of the API industry.

Among the findings are that demand for APIs is still growing, one in five respondents only began developing APIs in the last two years. They're being used by a wide spectrum of enterprises too, with 70 percent of financial organizations and 59 percent of government bodies saying they’re developing APIs. Much of this growth is driven by demand for mobile and Internet of Things access, 54 percent of API providers expect mobile to drive the most growth with 44 percent expecting it to be the IoT.

Security is cited as the number one challenge API providers want to see solved, cited by 41 percent of respondents. Quality is a key factor too, with 85 percent of respondents saying that API quality is either very important or extremely important to their organization. Performance matters too, with 61 percent of API providers saying they regularly do performance testing to ensure the quality of their output.

The full report is available from the SmartBear website and there's also a summary of the findings in infographic form below.

SmartBear API infographic

Image Credit: totallyPic.com / Shutterstock

Best Windows apps this week

Publié: mars 4, 2016, 12:04pm CET par Martin Brinkmann

One-hundred and seventy in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days.

Several interesting games and apps were released this week including this week's "app of the week" Tap Tap Legion, and Gears of War: Ultimate Edition (a Windows 10 Store exclusive).

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

The following discounts are provided by Red Stripe Deals, a weekly changing list of offers, and the Deals Hub application.

The following is this week's selection:

Leo's Fortune, a platform adventure game for $1.99
The Last Door: Collector's Edition,a point and click horror adventure game for $1.49
Sparkle Unleashed, an arcade game for $2.99
Gro Garden, organic gardening edutainment game for $1.49
The Great Unknown: Houdini's Castle (Full), an adventure game for $1.49
Color by Numbers: Animals, a painting app for children for $0.99
Weather Radar Pro for $1.49
KnowledgeBase Builder for $0.99
Sticky Notes Pro for $3.99
Token2Shell/MD, SSH client for $2.99

App of the week

Tap Tap Legions

tap

Tap Tap Legions is a free to play game in which you summon troops that battle it out with onrushing enemy hordes.

The goal of the game is to beat the enemy troops and destroy their defenses to proceed to the next level.

You earn gold while playing the game, get access to new troops, and can purchase upgrades to make your army more powerful.

A random selection of cards, depicting the available unit types and special effects, are available in battles. Unit cards summon the depicted units to battle, while special effects have positive or negative effects such as bombing the enemy or yourself.

You can summon a limited number of cards per battle stage, and need to do so before time runs out as you won't be able to throw more troops or use special effects afterwards.

The upgrade system allows you to improve specific types of units, for instance by improving their attacks, health or defense, changing the odds that negative effect cards appear in battles, or improve the health of your king.

Other apps

Perfect Weather Universal

perfect

The new universal weather application for Windows 10 displays the current weather, and a 9-day weather forecast for the selected location.

Information that it provides includes a detailed forecast for the day, sunset, sunrise, moonrise and moonset time, information about wind, pressure and day length, and more.

It features landscape templates and live tile support to display weather information on the operating system's start page.

Four Seasons Journey

four

Cover as much distance as possible with your raccoon by carefully accelerating downhill, switching lanes, avoiding other animals that block the way, and collecting extras.

The game features an upgrade system that is linked to in-app purchases. You pay with berries that you collect throughout the game or purchase in the store to speed things up.

The Games Database

games

The Games Database offers information about upcoming, current and classic video games.

You can use the search to find games of interest, or browse the coming soon listing instead.

Each game is listed with a release data, a description, screenshots and video footage (if available).

#IDARB

idarb

The game requires an Xbox Live account and Xbox Controller. It is a crowdsourced, retro-style team-based sports game in which both teams try to score goals.

The game features online and local play, a single player campaign, and a hashbomb system that, when sent via Twitch or Twitter, will change the game dynamically.

Kodi.Remote ($2.49, free trial)

kodi

Browse, view, play and stream Kodi media from any Windows 10 device using Kodi.Remote.

It enables you to control your Kodi/XBMC systems, sync playlists and data, and stream media to Windows 10 devices, Microsoft Play-To devices, Miracast receivers, and connected Kodi devices.

Please note that some functionality, offline access for instance, are available as in-app purchases.

Patchwork ($2.99, no free trial)

patchwork

Patchwork is an adaption of the boardgame by Uwe Rosenberg in which players try to create the best quilt to win the game.

It is a two-player game featuring local and online play, and games against computer opponents.

Gears of War: Ultimate Edition for Windows 10 ($29.99)

gears

One of the first games released exclusively on Windows Store for PC. It is a remastered edition of the original Gears of War game that supports 4K resolutions and new content including new campaigns, bonus multiplayer characters and a "deluxe" weapon skin pack.

The game supports gamepads and keyboard controls, and requires a video card that is DirectX 12 compatible.

Notable updates

Music streaming app Deezer has been released as a universal application for Windows 10.

A King of Thieves update introduces a new character, unique gems and costumes to the game.

Sage Reader, a popular 4chan/8chan image boards browser, now supports thread monitoring, live tiles and Continuum support for Windows 10 Mobile.

Trakter, a TV show tracker, it is no longer available for Windows 8.x. It is only available as a universal application.

Facebook set to pay millions in UK tax

Publié: mars 4, 2016, 11:12am CET par Mark Wilson

tax_wooden_blocks

Tax restructuring at Facebook means the company is due to pay millions of pounds in tax in 2017. The social network famously paid just £4,327 in corporation tax in 2014, but this bill is about to get much larger as advertising revenue is set to be routed through the UK rather than the tax haven of Ireland. A wide-scaled restructuring means advertising sales will now be booked in Britain and subject to UK tax.

Tech companies such as Amazon, eBay and Google have been criticized for their use of tax avoidance schemes, although Google recently agreed to pay back £130 million in tax. Not everyone was happy with Google's 'sweetheart' deal and there has been increased pressure on other companies to pay their fair share.

Facebook's restructuring will take place in April this year -- the start of the tax year. This means that the company's first larger tax bill will be issued in 2017, and it's set to run into the millions. The restructuring is not quite as extensive as some people might have hoped.

While the advertising sales for Facebook's larger clients will be routed through the UK. The company's international headquarters will remain in Ireland, and this will handle smaller advertising contracts.

An internal Facebook document seen by the BBC says:

On Monday, we will start notifying large UK customers that from the start of April, they will receive invoices from Facebook UK and not Facebook Ireland. What this means in practice is that UK sales made directly by our UK team will be booked in the UK, not Ireland. Facebook UK will then record the revenue from these sales. In light of changes to tax law in the UK, we felt this change would provide transparency to Facebook's operations in the UK. The new structure is easier to understand and clearly recognises the value our UK organisation adds to our sales through our highly skilled and growing UK sales team.

Photo credit: Andrey_Popov / Shutterstock

German startup has greener data center than Facebook and Google

Publié: mars 4, 2016, 10:24am CET par Sead Fadilpašić

tree-green-environment

You might think Apple or Google have the greenest datacenters, but it’s actually a German startup called Cloud&Heat that takes the crown.

The company said it managed to realize the lowest energy consumption and has "undercut Google’s optimum value by 40 percent".

"The latest results measured in our data centre at Wallotstraße in Dresden undercut the energy values of the most modern and efficient server facilities significantly. Also, those of Google and Facebook", says Nicolas Röhrs, CEO of Cloud&Heat.

Reference values of the measurement methods are the Power Usage Effectiveness value, PUE, and the Energy Reuse Effectiveness value, ERE. "We have achieved a sensational PUE of 1.01* and a ERE of 0.62**, with regard to a year. This is the lowest measured value worldwide. We have not reached this value in cool Scandinavia or Alaska but in our data centre in Dresden, Germany, with a current expansion stage of 60 percent", says Röhrs

This latest server generation will be presented, exclusively, during the CeBIT, March 14 - 18. There, the Dresden, Germany-based start-up will demonstrate a continuous live-measurements of its power usage effectiveness (PUE).

"We verifiably operate the energy- and cost-efficient data centre in the world. Two years ago, nobody has trusted us to achieve this", says founder and physicist Dr. Jens Struckmeier.

The company compares its datacenter with Google’s and Facebook’s: "Our values undercut Google’s PUE about four percent and the ERE about 42 percent. For a company like Google, these four percent already mean an energy saving in the double-digit million".

"With this technology, the carbon dioxide emission could be reduced by several thousand tons -- even without considering reusing the heat. Our system meets all requirements of a sustainable IT landscape and fulfil the standards of data security made in Germany", explains Röhrs.

"The high efficiency can mainly be justified by the used water cooling and the waiver of any cooling systems. Furthermore, the air is pre-cooled according to the needs over an existing underground car park, so that a cooling can take place all year", concludes Röhrs.

Image Credit: potowizard / Shutterstock

One in three laptops will ship with an SSD in 2016

Publié: mars 4, 2016, 9:45am CET par Sead Fadilpašić

SSD

The average contract price of mainstream PC-Client OEM SSDs in Q1 of 2016 has dropped, a new report by TrendForce’s DRAMeXchange suggests.

MLC-based SSDs, as well as their TLC-based counterparts have seen their prices drop 10-12 percent, and seven-12 percent respectively.

The TLC ones are doing slightly better because most SSD makers are just starting to ship the products, the report suggests. That is mostly because the first quarter is traditionally slow season for notebooks.

The price change between different disks will also shrink, the report says. The difference between 128GB SSDs and 500GB HDDs will shrink to less than $3 (£2.13) this year, and the difference between 256GB SSDs and 1TB HDDs will shrink to less than $7 (£4.98).

Overall, this is expected to be a good year for the SSD, as its adoption in notebooks will reach 30 per cent.

Samsung will still be the number one player in the game, however it might focus more on migrating to 3D NAND-Flash products, in order to cut costs. Other SSD manufacturers will play the catch-up game, as they step up shipments of 15nm/16nm TLC products with higher margins.

The overall amount of shipments of Client-SSDs for Q1 of 2016 is expected to drop anywhere between four and six percent, compared to Q4 2015. Notebook shipments, on the other hand, will drop somewhat more.

Senior manager at DRAMeXchange, Alan Chen, said that by taking retail SSD sales into account, the total Client-SSD shipments for Q4 2015 were 22.6 million.

Photo Credit: Imagentle/Shutterstock

Six Flags using Oculus-powered Samsung Gear VR for virtual reality roller coasters

Publié: mars 4, 2016, 5:35am CET par Brian Fagioli

SixFlags_Main_1

Here's the deal folks -- I am scared of some amusement park rides. Put me on an intense roller coaster and I will fill with anxiety and probably weep like a baby. I know I am not alone in this regard -- I see other fearful men and women at these parks.

Today, Samsung announces a partnership with Six Flags that could make some roller coasters even more exciting. You see, Six Flags will be leveraging the Oculus-powered Samsung Gear VR for virtual reality roller coasters. The big question is, will wearing a VR mask while on a roller coaster make it even more scary for those with ride-anxiety, or could it alleviate the problem?

"In partnership with Samsung, Six Flags is taking its signature brand of thrills to the next level and beyond in fully immersive, virtual riding experiences using Samsung Gear VR. Some of Six Flags' most popular coasters will be equipped to allow riders wearing Samsung Gear VR headsets to feel the heart-pumping adrenaline of steep drops, inverted loops and powerful twists and turns as gyros, accelerometers and proximity sensors synchronize all of the action in an incredibly realistic 360-degree virtual reality world", says Samsung.

Marc Mathieu, chief marketing officer at Samsung Electronics America explains, "what makes this partnership so compelling for consumers and the broader tech industry alike is that both companies are committed to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible -- and bringing a VR coaster to life is certainly a new and thrilling proposition. Now, people can be immersed into a totally new universe while riding a roller coaster, powered by Samsung Gear VR virtual reality devices. This transforms the modern roller coaster into a totally new, one of a kind sensorial experience – powered by technology. We are excited to work with the premiere brand in theme parks to bring Samsung’s VR technology to nine Six Flags locations across the U.S."

Samsung shares the following VR coasters and locations.

Shock Wave at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, opening March 10 to Season Pass Holders as a special sneak preview

Dare Devil Dive at Six Flags Over Georgia outside of Atlanta, opening March 12 to Season Pass Holders as a special sneak preview

The New Revolution at Six Flags Magic Mountain near Los Angeles, opening March 26 to Season Pass Holders as a special sneak preview

Ninja at Six Flags St. Louis in Eureka

Steamin' Demon at The Great Escape in Lake George, New York and
Goliath at La Ronde in Montreal

SUPERMAN Krypton Coaster at Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio

SUPERMAN The Ride at Six Flags New England in Agawam, Massachusetts

SUPERMAN Ride of Steel at Six Flags America in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

Believe it or not, I think adding VR to these roller coasters can make it less nerve-racking for those with ride-anxiety. While it won't stop people from feeling the movements, it can enable them to see a more calming environment during the ride.

More importantly, however, it should greatly enhance the experience for those that love the thrill of a wild roller coaster. Potentially, someone could ride the same ride over and over -- while changing the VR imagery each time -- so that it feels like a new and fresh experience every time. That is very clever.

Do you think VR can improve the roller coaster experience, or will it hurt it? Tell me in the comments.

Who are the winners and losers in the current IoT market?

Publié: mars 4, 2016, 3:21am CET par Alan Buckingham

home automation

The Internet of Things, more commonly called simply the IoT, is coming into its own, with an ever-growing array of products and manufacturers. Big players are in this market, with the likes of Samsung, Apple and Google being among them.

But who is leading this push to connect your home devices to one another, the internet and, in some cases, hackers? A new study has some possible revelations and insights into this brave new world of products. Argus Insights took the time to look into this matter, and here is what it found.

After looking at 576,000 devices it seems that Amazon Echo and Amazon Homekit are at the top of the list for consumers. Work with Nest is near the bottom of the list for user interest.

"Consumers enter the Smart Home journey under the premise of creating an intelligent home that anticipates and serves their needs in a delightful, low maintenance manner. Along this journey, after users overcome the hurdles of installation and continued use through often broken app experiences, they are confronted with a mess of protocols as they approach expansion", explains John Feland, CEO, Argus Insights. "Consumers are dismissing Google’s Nest ecosystem play, and we are seeing a real battle between Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa for the voice of the Smart Home. While Apple forces users to rely on iOS devices, Alexa will chat up anyone willing to integrate into the Echo API".

However, customers want more from each product, clamoring for an Apple-connected home and wish that Homekit was compatible with more devices. The same thing was found with Amazon, though consumers raved about the increasing integration with Echo.

Where praise seemed to be heaped was that "Consumers are taking notice that Amazon is choosing a community garden strategy over a walled garden approach favored by Google and Apple", says Dr. Feland.

Rounding out the list of ecosystems were Samsung and "generic" representing all others. Surprisingly products like Insteon and Philips didn't make the list, which can be seen below.

ecosystem-funnel

Photo Credit: bergserg/ Shutterstock

Windows 10 Fast Startup could be detrimental to your computer

Publié: mars 4, 2016, 12:16am CET par Mark Wilson

fast_slow_sign

Faster -- like bigger -- is better, right? Not necessarily. Windows 10 includes a feature called Fast Startup which certainly sounds enticing. Microsoft's description in the Control Panel says, "this helps start your PC faster after shutdown". Who wouldn't want a slice of that pie?

Enabled by default on most clean installations of Windows 10, Fast Startup essentially hibernates the Windows kernel and loaded drivers to help slash startup times. It all sounds great, but Fast Startup may not be quite as good as you think. Not only can it seriously mess up dual-boot systems, it may also interfere with the installation of updates, and could cause problems with encryption software.

Over on How-To Geek, Walter Glenn reveals the pros and cons of this feature of Windows. Everyone's time is important, but you may well decide that the few seconds you can save booting up your computer are just not worth the price you have to pay. One of the more worrying side effects of Fast Startup is that some people have found encrypted drives are automatically mounted after a restart, potentially posing a security risk.

There is also the potential for Fast Startup to get in the way of Windows Updates. While updates will be downloaded for you if you have Automatic Updates enabled, not all of them can be installed without a restart. If you shutdown your computer with Fast Startup enabled, your machine will not perform a complete shutdown, so the installation of updates may not complete. Opt to perform a restart, and this will incorporate a proper shutown and allow updates to be installed -- something to keep in mind if you want to ensure that you keep your copy of Windows 10 fully up to date.

If you're thinking about dual-booting Windows 10 with an older version of Windows or another operating system, you might want to heed How-To Geek's advice:

When you shut down a computer with Fast Startup enabled, Windows locks down the Windows hard disk. You won’t be able to access it from other operating systems if you have your computer configured to dual-boot. Even worse, if you boot into another OS and then access or change anything on the hard disk (or partition) that the hibernating Windows installation uses, it can cause corruption. If you're dual booting, it’s best not to use Fast Startup or Hibernation at all.

Have you experienced problems with Fast Startup, or have you found that it makes a big difference to your computing life?

Photo credit: Gustavo Frazao / Shutterstock

Gregarius » BetaNews.Com » mars 4, 2016

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