As expected, Apple released a new version of their mobile operating system at WWDC earlier this week. However, they also announced another mobile operating system, solely meant for iPad.
Apple has been trying to convince customers for a long time now that iPad is actually going to replace PCs. Not many Apple commercials are as controversial at the one where a kid using an iPad asks "What's a computer?"
Not only is iPad a computer but also it is nowhere near replacing a proper one. You know, one with a file system and I/O support worth anything.
Now Apple has unveiled the new iPadOS. Starting in iOS 13, also announced at WWDC, iPhone and iPad software aren't exactly alike anymore.
Unfortunately iPadOS is still a fork of iOS and shares almost everything with iPhone's operating system. It's definitely not yet a computer operating system with aforementioned features.
However, there are some improvements that take it more to that direction. Multitasking has been improved, which means that you can make multiple instances of the same app and use them in separate Spaces. Also, while file system is still crippled by iOS DNA, file management is better thanks to improved Files app with support for USB storage and SD cards.
Apple's this years WWDC is now behind us with all it's impressive, or less impressive, product launches and fresh updates.
One of the most anticipated was of course the new version of iOS. Apple's mobile operating system was updated to version 13, and it bring a few very welcome new features.
Clearly one of the top features is the new dark mode, which finally turns the entire OS into a darker version of itself. This was already leaked a few days ahead the official announcement of course.
Dark mode is of course good for your eyes in the dark, but it also has battery saving qualities on OLED screens. OLED screens can be found on iPhone X and iPhone XS for example.
Many of the other new features in iOS 13 have to do with performance. Apple has continued the theme of iOS 12, improving performance, to the most current update. This time around app packaging has been improved, making them 50% smaller. Also updates are said to be more efficiently packed and they are an average of 60 percent smaller.
Not only are you saving space and download time, you'll see a performance improvement in app start times. According to Apple you can expect as much as twice faster loading speeds.
Next week's World Wide Developer Conference is bound to be a premiere for some new Apple services and software, but according to new information it'll also be the deathbed of one of the longest running brands within Apple.
Apple's annual developer conference starts next Monday, and we expect at least macOS, iOS, and watchOS updates. In addition, we'll see a change in terms of apps.
Rumors have it that the company is on its way to combine iOS and macOS app platforms which would allow same codebase to serve both platforms. Rumors also suggest that this means iTunes is going to be broken apart.
According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is going to replace iTunes on Mac at WWDC with three separate and more specific apps. These include Music, TV, and Podcasts, which are the same apps available for iOS.
Apple has been bloating iTunes for years, and it has become a place for not only music, but movies, podcasts, as well as managing your iDevices. The update is going to bring more cohesion between iOS and macOS, and means that we are also step closer to iOS apps on Macs.
Huawei is one of the most influential Chinese companies around, and while it's still unclear whether the government indeed influences the company, they sure have been targeted like that is a fact.
After US blacklisting Huawei and disallowing American companies to continue business with them, at least after the initial 90 day delay, the company has been trying to both fight the ban in the courts and trying to minimize the damage to its brand.
They've also expressed publicly that they do not wish similar reaction from the Chinese governement and rather fight the ban in the US court of law, where it argues that the ban in unconstitutional.
Whether this is just posturing or what they actual believe, is only known by inside the company, and perhaps the Chinese government if what US has suggested for years is true.
Nevertheless, Chinese governement seems to be ready to strike back. Report from Bloomberg tells us that China is planning to determine a list of "unrealiable" entities that could be thousands of companies that aren't working with Huawei.
Google announced in January that it will be blocking extensions from using a specific API that was commonly used to block ads. Even after a fairly sizable brouhaha from the ad blocker community, Google has decided to put the new policy in place.
Google is providing a new declarativeNetRequest API within Chrome for ad blockers and other extensions but it is not as extensive as the previously used webRequest interface.
While ad blockers do have to go through a few hoops to provide similar experience to customers as before, it is not going to entirely change the landscape of ad blockers on Chrome.
Essentially extensions like uBlock Origin and Ghostery have to adopt the AdBlock Plus', arguable less effective, model.
However, Google hasn't blocked even the previous one entirely.
The Enterprise version of Google Chrome will still be allowed to use webRequest for blocking ads. This is likely so that companies don't have to change their internal extensions because of the change.
According to Google, not allowing the public use of webRequest API is done to expand on user privacy and ensure a safe user experience. Ad blockers might contest that making it harder to block ads is very convenient for the largest ad provider in the world.
Microsoft has revealed that it intends to release the console gaming subscription service to PC as well. At this point we don't have a lot of details about the upcoming extension to PC games, but fortunately E3 is just around the corner.
Microsoft is promising more information at E3 which starts in less that two weeks. At this point we know that Xbox Game Pass will bring over 100 games from 75 different developers, which unsurprisingly includes few Microsoft-owned studios.
The third-party contributors includes giants like Bethesda and Sega but also lesser known studios like Deep Silver and Devolver Digital. Deep Silver is a German game publisher known for games like Metro Exodus and upcoming Shenmue III.
Devolver Digital on the other hand has recently worked with more mobile gaming, like Reigns: Game of Thrones and other Nintendo Switch titles.
In addition to over 100 free games, Xbox Game Pass subscribers get a 20 percent discount on other games in the Microsoft Store.
For further information about things like pricing and compatibility with Xbox Game Pass on console, we'll have to wait until E3.
One thing that isn't only related to the Game Pass, but in Microsoft Store in general. Microsoft has confirmed that the store will soon support native Win32 software. This means that game developers can submit the exact same file on Microsoft's store as they do on say Steam or other competitors.
After Supreme Court's ruling earlier this month, Apple's standing as an untouchable money making machine, thanks to App Store, has become under threat.
Supreme Court ruled that Apple's 30 percent commission in the App Store makes it a participant, and perhaps a monopoly at that, in the transaction, and therefore customers are able to sue them under antitrust legislation.
Apple obviously views their part completely differently, and has expressed this in a new website, titled Principle and Practices, dedicated to App Store policies.
According to Apple, they are not participating in the selling of apps to consumers. Instead they only work with app developers that are also the ones Apple gets their 30 percent cut from.
Furthermore, even when the case goes to court, their view is that the company is not restricting the sales, since the app developer can determine the price themselves, even when there is no alternative store on iOS.
This price can be zero dollars, which means Apple won't get a dime, and 84 percent of apps do just that. They also remind that they do let developers to compete against Apple's own default apps in the App Store.
Google has announced that they are bringing some of the more important features of Waze to Google Maps. The company has already brought them to some markets, including in the US, but now a worldwide launch will extend that to more than 40 countries.
Waze is a navigation and commute app that helps especially with traffic related issue submitted largely by the community, such as congestion, speed traps, and speed limits. It was acquired by Google in 2013.
The list of countries includes now many in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Middle East and even Africa.
According to TechCrunch, the update is coming to both Android and iOS, although only the former will be able to report mobile and stationary speed cameras.
Speed limits are shown in the bottom left side of the screen and speed cameras appear as orange bubbles on the route.
While users will get speed limits and speed cameras on their Google Maps UI now, there will still be plenty of Waze exclusive features that might keep you interested in the standalone app.
Finally, here's the full list of countries supported by the new Google Maps features:
Apple is going to reveal their newest version of iOS next week. The mobile operating system gets announced an update at the annual Worldwide Developer Conference, as usual.
The new iOS 13 will be unveiled first time officially on WWDC keynote on June 3 by Tim Cook et al. While there have been rumors of what updates the new version will bring along, Apple still keeps secrets fairly well.
One thing that has definitely been rumored is a iOS-wide dark mode. Now we've also got some evidence in form of pictures to prove it.
Leaked pictures that 9to5Mac managed to get their hands on show the darker than normal iOS, but according to these pictures there isn't a drastic change. On the left side picture, the bottom Dock seems to be a tad darker, but changing the wallpaper would do a lot to make it darker.
Dark mode gets better use inside apps, like in the Music app where OLED displays will save battery more efficiently thanks to the black backgrounds. The same darker smoked glass effect seen in the Dock is in use in other bottom and top bars too.
9to5Mac also notes that on the right side picture we can see the new annotation tools Apple has implemented in the updated screenshot feature.
Virtual Reality is an amazing experience everyone needs to try out. However, there are clear limitations to what can be achieved with the hardware we have available.
Either you'll need a separate computer or the quality will be reduced, and there's also problems with wires. HP belives that it's newest invention has both of these problems covered.
Say hello to the HP VR Backpack!
This is no joke. When Oculus comes up with new standalone headsets like the Oculus Quest, HP has decided to go the other route.
HP obviously doesn't want you to compromise when it comes to the fidelity of the experience, but you might have harder time moving with a full-blown PC on your back.
The backpack PC includes a 8th gen Core i7 processor, Nvidia's new GeForce RTX 2080 GPU as well as 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB SSD storage. There's also a large battery that means you won't need to be tethered to anything.
As it is just a regular PC inside the backpack, it supports all the traditional VR headsets that would be used with a PC. HP, however, would love if you would use their own Reverb headset.
Then we come to the price of this amazingly original innovation. To have your own VR backpack you'll have to shell out $3300. It's not exactly cheap, is it?
HTML is often colloquially understood as the grounds which the internet is built upon. The language of the net, Hyper Text Markup Language, and its standardized use has been maintained over the years by World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), but no longer that is the case.
W3C has decided to abandon the maintenance of HTML and DOM standards and has handed the torch to a organization called WHATWG. WHATWG, or Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group, has been around since 2004 and been an integral part of HTML standard development.
The group includes representatives from most of the largest web browser developers, inluding Apple, Google, Mozilla, and Microsoft. Alongside these behemoths there are hundreds of other members.
Previously WHATWG has done some of the hard lifting in determining future specs of web standards before the standardization process was completed by W3C.
Up until early last year, W3C and WHATWG worked together fairly seamlessly, but problems arose around W3C's implementation of DOM standard v4.1 some of which influential WHATWG members objected to.
Now after a year of back and forth, W3C has decided to hand the reins to WHATWG when it comes to HTML and DOM standard implementation.
Many people prefer to go to sleep while listening to soothing music. To help with this, Spotify has finally added a sleep timer to its Android app. Such feature has been a standard option for most music players for ages now, but the biggest of them all, Spotify, hasn't bothered with the feature until now.
To activate the feature, use the three-dot menu in top corner in "Now Playing" mode. Now, a menu appears. There, you can spot the Sleep Timer option. User can choose between 5, 10, 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes. Alternatively, you can choose to end playing after the currently playing track.
As you might imagine, here's nothing more to it. A simple, yet quite useful new feature to the most popular streaming music app there is. Screenshots below highlight where to find the feature:
An artist has sold an old laptop infected with six of the most financially-damaging pieces of malware in history at auction for more than $1.34 million.
'The Persistence of Chaos' is the name given to this art project. It consists physically of a Samsung NC10-14GB 10.2-Inch Blue Netbook, running Windows XP SP3, that just happens to be infected with some of the most damaging pieces of malicious software that has spread around the world over the years.
In total, there are six pieces of malware running havoc on this system. ILOVEYOU is a virus that was spread via e-mail and file sharing, which caused over $15 billion in damages as it infected more than half a million systems. MyDoom was a rapidly spreading worm, and is estimated to have caused over $38 billion in damages.
SoBig is a worm/trojan that circulated through e-mail, affecting hundreds of thousands of systems and causing around $37 billion in damages. WannaCry is a piece of ransomware that affected at least 200,000 systems in 120 countries a couple of years back, causing an estimated $4 billion in damages. This malware was responsible for disruption to the UK's National Health Service.
DarkTequilla was a piece of malware that stole banking credentials and other data, mainly targeting Latin America. Finally, BlackEnergy is a cyber-weapon that was used in an attack that caused a widespread blackout in Ukraine in 2015.
Poland has made a complaint to the European Union's top court against controversial new copyright reforms that were approved and adopted by the bloc in April.
There was considerable push-back over the past year against proposed European Union copyright reforms. Two articles in particular provoked the ire of silicon valley and digital rights campaigners alike. One article would result in a search and news service provider like Google potentially having to pay for tiny snippets and links to news websites, while another more controversial article could force the use of upload filters and automatic removal of content it deems infringing.
Opposition on grounds that the new rules would push out new start-ups that couldn't afford such filters, or could harm the Internet's meme and mix-and-match culture, has been vocalized many times before and so won't be repeated here. Instead, the focus of Poland's complaint is fears about censorship.
Censorship is forbidden in the national constitution of Poland itself, but the government fears that enforcement of new EU rules (which would have to be adoped by each member state in their own way) could lay the foundation for effective censorship.
SpaceX has launched the first 60 satellites that will be part of its broadband service, beaming Internet access from 2,000km above the Earth.
Elon Musk, chief executive officer at SpaceX, eyes the Starlink project as a potential source of revenue to help fund SpaceX' lofty goals in space transport and exploration. The Starlink network will provide high-speed broadcast access to customers starting in the United States for a fee, potentially providing high speed options for those stuck in rural areas.
The first array of satellites launched by SpaceX flew atop a Falcon 9 rocket. At 500lb a piece, the total payload is the heaviest carried by the private rocket firm to date. The first stage / booster that carried the rockets had flown two previous SpaceX missions and successfully landed for a third time to potentially fly again soon. That's good news considering that the ultimate goal of SpaceX' Starlink is to have 12,000 working broadband satellites in orbit.
Providing high-speed Internet access from satellites in low-Earth orbit is an idea not exclusive to SpaceX. Amazon is also eyeing its own 3,200-satellite array that would provide Internet access services, dubbed Project Kuiper, and will undoubtedly be helped by founder and CEO Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin rocket firm.