Hello again,
Welcome to another edition of Technology News, May 2015.
Microsoft
Update: 7:30pm 01/06/2015
That’s right! Windows 10 will be released July 29th. Reserve your copy today by clicking the Start Button looking Icon to the very right of your taskbar. Don’t have it? Do a Windows Update now to get it activated.
Welcome to Windows 10!
Microsoft have continued their path to a new Windows Platform through its Windows 10 Operating System for PC & Mobile.
Here is the expected versions to come out for Windows 10:
Windows 10 Home: The consumer-focused desktop edition. This will include the core Windows 10 features, such as the Edge browser, Continuum for 2 in 1’s; Cortana integration; free Photos, Maps, Mail, Calendar; Music and Video apps; and Windows Hello face-recognition/iris/fingerprint log-in for devices that support those technologies. On devices with screen sizes of 10.1 inches or less, users also will get Universal Office apps for free, once they are available.
Windows 10 Mobile: This is the version for Windows Phones and small Intel- and ARM-based tablets. This edition will include the core Windows 10 features; free Universal Office apps once they are available; and support for Continuum for Phone, allowing customers to use phones as PCs connected to larger screens (but only on new devices supporting certain screen resolutions).
Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise: This is a version of Windows 10 Mobile for volume licensing customers only. This version incorporates the latest security and feature updates to Windows 10 once they are available. There’s no word on whether users will be able to delay these updates in order to test/stagger their delivery, which is offered under Windows Update for Business.
Windows 10 Pro: A desktop version of Windows 10 for mobile workers, tech enthusiasts and other power users. This version is one of at least two – the other being Windows 10 Enterprise – that will allow users to opt for Windows Update for Business. Windows Update for Business will allow admins to opt to not receive all feature and security updates from Microsoft immediately after they are available.
Windows 10 Enterprise: This is the enterprise version of Windows 10 that is available to volume-licensing customers. This version is not part of Microsoft’s first-year-free upgrade offer, but volume-licensing Software Assurance customers will be able to move to this version as part of their licensing terms. The Enterprise version customers get access to the Long Term Servicing branch of Windows 10 – which allows them to opt to receive security fixes only and no new features as Microsoft rolls them out.
Windows 10 Education: This is the version for staff, administrators, students and teachers, and will be available through academic Volume Licensing. Microsoft officials say there will be paths for schools and students to upgrade from Windows 10 Home and Pro, but don’t yet provide details on that front, nor what happens after you finish school as a student.
On the embedded-device front, Microsoft also is planning to deliver Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise versions of the operating system for handheld terminals, ATMs, point-of-sale and other similar devices, as well as a Windows 10 IoT Core for small footprint, low-cost devices.
As you can see above, Windows Phone seems to be continually be confirmed as dead, resurrecting “Mobile” from the past, when you could do smartphone stuff before Apple made the Windows Mobile concept colourful and put their twist on it as “Home User Friendly… iPhone”.
Check back through our past articles about Microsoft aswell as checking out our Windows 10 Preview for Windows 10 on PC and Mobile.
Apple
Starting off is a recent breakdown of the Apple Watch. Research company IHS Technology has taken apart the Apple Watches to see the hardware inside. They found out that the profits from the retail sale is huge, with most being around 20% of the cost of the Watch, giving Apple roughly 80% in profit.
This sits on par with other devices Apple sell which sit between 29-38% of the retail price.
Now before you jump onto us and start yelling at the screen, we say this as a point on price vs usability compared to competitors, The function you get from a Mac is the same as some average to higher end Windows PC’s for near double the price on some devices! This affectively means, if you change the devices to say, a fork, then if you have a Sony Fork and a Apple Fork, they are used to do the same thing, eat, but if Sony sell their Fork for $5 and say “its great”, Apple sell theirs for $10-25 and also say “its great”.
You will notice the Mac’s with a premium price are not because the hardware is built better than competitors, but the “Free” Operating System is really in the price.
Moving on,
Apple Watch also had some issues, one being that tattoo’s affected the sensors in the watch.
Basically, In order to measure a person’s heart rate, Apple Watch has a sensor built into its underside that sits directly above the top of the wrist. When users are looking for their heart rate, the sensor beams green-colored and infrared LEDs at the wrist. That sensor, which flashes the lights hundreds of times per second, uses green light because blood absorbs that color and reflects red. Each time the heart beats, blood flows through the wrist and the light is absorbed. If the heart rate is off beat, the green light absorption is lesser. By measuring light absorption with the sensor, Apple Watch can therefore determine a person’s heart rate. If a tattoo is present, it might change the colouration and absorption thus rendering the sensor, useless.
The Watch got an update which helped improve its overall performance.
A security concern for Apple Watch is the fact that it is sooo simple to reset and use on another iPhone. You can reset the Watch to factory settings from your phone and directly on the device. This is common use for those who forget their passcode or have issues that are best to hard reset. This reset however, won’t block thieves from using the device. Your personal data is safe but if it gets stolen, bye bye money. People comment “you don’t need a security feature on your “normal” watch, so why does Apple Watch need it?”, the answer is a question, “Why not!?”.
Talks of the new iPhone 6S versions are on the plate as we are closer to the usual 1 year upgrade release of iPhones. iPhone 6/6Plus were released back on September 19 2014 with the Phablet 6Plus making a lot of excited noise. If they continue the upgrade trend, then we should see another phone or phones inside September. Let’s wait and see.
iOS 9 has also been leaked and talked about. It should be unveiled on June 8th with the Worldwide Developers Conference running from June 8 through June 12 in San Francisco.
Siri is said to be upgraded, especially now that Cortana takes the cake in the Assistance sector. Cortana is also planned to move to iOS to help out users with tasks that Siri isn’t cut out for. Some analysts say it could convince Apple users to have a go of Windows Phone, where Cortana can have better functionality. That alone cannot forfeit Apple users to move to Windows Phone, but then again, Windows 10 has been going well, and if it brings strong features, could start kicking butt against its competitors.
Lastly, iPhone was hit again with another flaw, this time its text from a text message or other messaging apps. Read more from our Text Bug Article.
Check back through our past articles about Apple.
First up on Google News is Google Hangouts. It turns out that HangOut chats are not encrypted, meaning it is vulnerable to be snatched and read by hackers or courts can issue court orders to retrieve the chat logs.
It took just 1 day for Google’s anti-phishing Chrome extension to become victim to the very threat it’s trying to avoid.
Paul Moore, an information security consultant, uploaded a video to YouTube showing how Google’s new Password Alert system can fail by adding just seven lines of code to a website. Password Alert is a free extension for Google’s Chrome Web browser. The tool is designed to alert users if they’ve landed on a malicious site that’s pretending to be Google in order to steal private information, also known as phishing.
“In short, anyone looking to launch a phishing attack against a Google account simply needs to add those seven lines to render the Password Alert protection useless,” Moore told Forbes in an interview. “It’s an embarrassment really.”
Soon after Moore exploited the extension, Google’s Drew Hintz reported on his Twitter that the flaw was “fixed” and that users could update the extension to safeguard themselves from the issue.
Finally,
Google had their I/O Event on the 28th (US Time) that ran for 2 days. Check out our highlights, new products & features on our I/O 2015 article.
Check back through our past articles about Google.
That’s it for Technology News. Hope you enjoyed it.
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See you next month!
