Items tagged with Software
Apple has rolled out the very first public beta of its upcoming iOS 12 software for iPads and iPhones. This marks the first time that people outside the Apple developers community have had access to iOS 12. Apple fans can download the new software and use it now. Naturally, with the word "beta" attached to the software, there are caveats to it with the big one being that there will be plenty of bugs present. That is the purpose of a beta; to let users find bugs that Apple can squash. Among known bugs in iOS 12 as a beta product are incorrect data in Map and other apps, CarPlay crashes when side...
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Nintendo has been selling the Switch about as fast as it can build them resulting in some bountiful profits for the company. The Switch has been the subject of some hacks with all the consoles on the market suffering from an unpatchable exploit thanks to the NVIDIA Tegra chip inside. Hackers have been able to leverage that exploit to do things like install Linux on the device. The ability to load unauthorized software led to concerns of piracy for Nintendo. The exploit may be something that Nintendo can’t fix but it can most certainly tell if you are running pirated software. Nintendo is...
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Microsoft has announced that it has acquired Flipgrid, a social learning platform, and intends to leverage it to bring social learning to students around the globe. Flipgrid currently boasts users in over 180 countries with over 20 million pre-kindergarten to PH.D. level educators, students, and families using the service. Microsoft says that it plans to make Flipgrid free for schools to use, just as it does Office 365 Education software. For those who previously paid for use of Flipgrid, Microsoft says that it will be giving a prorated refund. "We’re thrilled to see the impact Flipgrid has...
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There are two major camps in the PC world that most consumer types fall into- Windows or Mac. Windows users sometimes scoff at Mac fans due to the premium Apple commands for its computers, even though the hardware inside the machines is often dated compared to similarly priced Windows machines. Mac fans sometimes scoff at Windows users over build quality, design, software, security, and lots of other points. Clearly, both platforms have their pros and cons. However, especially as of late, it's undeniable that Apple has really been trailing in base technology of its Mac platform. As such,...
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Microsoft decided to file criminal charges against an e-waste recycler named Eric Lundgren. The case against Lundgren originally went to court months ago, but the man remained free as his appeal worked its way through the court system. A federal appeals court has now upheld the original ruling, meaning that Lundgren will serve a 15-month prison sentence and will be forced to pay a $50,000 fine. What led to this harsh prison sentence? Lundgren had taken to downloading free software that Microsoft offers to Windows users commonly called restore disks. Lundgren's idea was to make these discs available...
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Nintendo Switch gamers have a new system update that is available for download right now. The update brings the Switch to version 5.0.0 and should have downloaded automatically, and is probably ready to install on your console. If the update didn't download automatically, Nintendo reminds that you can apply the update manually by following the steps outlined here. Before you apply the update, you might be wondering what exactly changes in the new software. One of the improvement has to do with social media accounts. If you have your Facebook and Twitter accounts linked in the Switch menus, you...
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Microsoft this week announced that it has integrated some new tricks into Windows Defender to help prevent users from being bullied to buy upgraded versions of free software. According to Microsoft, there has been a big uptick in free versions of programs that claim to scan a user's computer and find a litany of errors. The software then uses coercive messaging to scare users into buying upgrades to license premium versions of the software to fix the errors. Microsoft notes that the premium version of these programs are often called cleaner or optimizer applications and claim to fix the...
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There are a number of ways to tell if your computer is vulnerable to the Spectre or Meltdown security exploits that have been making rounds over the last several weeks. For instance, Microsoft has a tool that will analyze your rig and tell you, but it is a PowerShell script that gives you results that you almost need a computer science degree to understand. A new tool is now available that makes it very easy to test your machine and understand the results, and it is called InSpectre. InSpectre is from Steve Gibson, security researcher, and his tool (download here) delivers easy to...
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Microsoft wasn't always particularly pro-open source. In fact, for much of its history, the software giant was very much focused on its own offerings often to the detriment of anything open source. That isn't the case today with Microsoft contributing to open source projects and developing versions of its popular programs like Skype specifically for Linux. One of Microsoft's bread and butter products is Office, and there is a version of the Office suite that can be used on Linux thanks to Android. Android support is something Microsoft was forced to adopt due to Windows Phone's abysmal market...
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When Microsoft released Windows 10 to the general public at the end of July in 2015, it generously offered free upgrades to Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 users for a full year. Sure, it was in Microsoft's best interest to get as many people as possible to run Windows 10, and at times the company was more than a little bit obnoxious about it, but those who took advantage of the offer benefited from improved security, DirectX 12 support, and many other features. That offer expired around five months ago, but there are still ways to upgrade to Windows 10 at no cost.For people with accessibility needs...
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As most US-based companies have learned by now, it's very difficult to penetrate the Chinese market (just ask Microsoft), with the country's government being at the crux of the issue more so than cultural differences. Apple in particular has had a rough go at feeling comfortable in China, and recently, things have been made more difficult with sliding sales. In the past year, Apple had to mold its products to better-suit the Chinese market, which included getting rid of iTunes Movies and iBooks, and crippling its popular news app. Since then, Apple has invested more in the Chinese market, which...
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Everyone has birthdays and anniversaries, but not everyone considers them to be that significant. However, an occasion that is hard to argue as being anything but notable is the anniversary of the first webpage going live on the World Wide Web (remember when we used to call it that?). This weekend marks the 25th year for the first publicly-accessible webpage. To say we've come a long way since that day on August 6th, 1991 would be an incredible understatement. By the mid-90s, many school computer labs began to gain internet access, and at around the same time, or not long after, home users began...
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Researchers from Purdue University have developed a software tool for Android smartphones that purportedly slows down battery drain when handsets enter a sleep state. With the software tool installed, the researchers claim that smartphone battery life can be extended by nearly 16 percent.Called "HUSH," the software solution was developed in response to what the researchers say is the first large-scale study of smartphone energy drain occurring from everyday use by consumers. The researchers conducted the study in collaboration with Intel and startup mobile company Mobile Enerlytics, who together...
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Apple announced a handful of products yesterday, including a new iPhone, a 12.9-inch iPad Pro that's better suited for productivity than its other iPad tablets, and a refreshed Apple TV set-top box. However, there's one thing that kind of flew under the radar, and that's the impending release of Mac OS X 10.11, otherwise known as El Capitan.The successor to OS X Yosemite was officially unveiled earlier this summer with a developer preview made available to Mac Developer Program members. At the time, Apple said the OS would release sometime "this fall," but didn't offer up a specific date. Now we...
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