Samsung reveals Galaxy Z Flip in surprise Oscars 2020 ad
There is a resurgence of flip phones at the moment, but rather than old-school clamshells, we're talking about devices with foldable displays. Samsung has already launched the disastrous Galaxy Fold, but at last night's Oscars there was a surprise ad for the upcoming Galaxy Z Flip.
The handset is due to be officially announced at tomorrow's Galaxy Unpacked event, but now we've been given a sneaky glimpse of what's to come. The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip will compete with the likes of the Motorola razr and Microsoft's Surface Duo.
Microsoft releases fix for black desktop bug in Windows 7
With its "last" update for Windows 7, Microsoft managed to introduce a strange bug that left some users staring at a black desktop rather than their preferred background image.
With Windows 7 now at the end of its life, Microsoft initially said that only those who were paying for extended support would get a fix for the bug, but ultimately it relented and said everyone could have it. Now the patch has been released as KB4539602.
Apple fined €25 million for slowing down older iPhones
There is a school of thought that suggests many devices have built-in obsolescence. When updates to iOS started to slow down older iPhones, it seemed Apple was providing evidence to support this beliefe.
Apple said that the throttling of iPhone 6, iPhone SE, and iPhone 7 handsets was an attempt to increase the life of phones with aging -- and therefore less than perfect -- batteries. But many people felt that the move was unreasonable, including the French consumer watchdog Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF) which has just handed out a €25 million ($27 million) fine.
Need to edit PDFs? You may well already have the necessary software installed!
This is not so much news, more of an FYI. Some of you will no doubt roll your eyes and mutter "d'oh, yeah" at the screen, but for anyone who has been looking for a quick and easy way to edit PDF files we have a tip. You may not know that the software you need to edit PDFs could already be sitting on your hard drive.
The humble PDF has become so ubiquitous that there are endless ways to create them from just about any app, and an increasing number of programs support the option to save document in the PDF format. You're probably aware that Microsoft Word can be used to create PDFs, but did you know it can also function as a PDF editor?
Netflix lets you disable autoplaying previews -- here's how
There's a lot to love about Netflix, but it's certainly not without its fault. One of the more irritating features of the streaming service is the way it automatically plays previews.
Now, at long last and after endless complaints from subscribers, Netflix has finally introduced the ability to turn off this feature. Quite why it has taken the company so long to listen to the endless stream of complaints from users about just how annoying autoplaying videos are is not clear, but the fact that it has finally given users a choice is what's important.
New Keyboard Shortcut Manager PowerToy lets Windows 10 users remap their keyboards
Microsoft's PowerToys utilities have always proved popular, and the arrival of a Windows 10 version was met with huge excitement. New utilities have been released over the last few months, and now there is news of a new addition: Keyboard Shortcut Manager.
Despite the name, Keyboard Shortcut Manager does much more than give you control over keyboard shortcuts. On top of this, the PowerToy can be used to remap keys -- something that will be welcomed by power users, developers and people switching from macOS or Linux to Windows.
Serious sudo flaw could be exploited to gain root access to Linux systems
Details of a nine-year-old security vulnerability with the sudo utility found in numerous Unix and Linux based operating systems have been revealed.
The flaw, which affects the likes of Linux Mint and Elementary OS, could be exploited to give users root privileges on a vulnerable system. Sudo versions 1.7.1 to 1.8.30 are at risk if the pwfeedback option is enabled.
Facebook Messenger Kids now lets parents view their kids' chat history and remotely log them out
Facebook has announced a raft of changes to its Messenger Kids service, giving parents more control and oversight over what their children are able to do.
Parents are now about to see 30 days' worth of chat logs as well as details of the types of conversation they are having with different contacts. Other new features include the ability to see images that have been shared, and also to remotely log their child out of chat sessions using the Parent Dashboard.
Google may have shared your videos with strangers
If you used Google Takeout to download an archive of your Google Photos content, there's a chance that someone else may have ended up with your videos.
The company has admitted that for a few days in November last year, "some videos in Google Photos were exported to unrelated users' archives". This means that not only could your videos have ended up on a stranger's computer, but also that you may have received random videos belonging to someone else.
Yet another Windows 10 update is causing problems
Problematic updates for Windows 10 have become pretty common these days, and now it has happened again.
Microsoft released the KB4532695 update last week to address problems with Explorer which were introduced by the November 2019 Update. But this update has itself been found to cause issues, with users complaining of BSoDs, audio problems and more.
Microsoft will let you uninstall Notepad, Paint and WordPad from Windows 10
It is now a couple of weeks since Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Build 19551 to the Fast ring, and it seemed like a fairly unexciting build.
But the release actually gave us an interesting glimpse into Microsoft's future plans to give users more control over the operating system. Specifically, it will soon be possible for Windows 10 users to uninstall the likes of Notepad, Paint and WordPad.
Microsoft cancels launch of Surface Hub 2X compute cartridge
Microsoft has changed its mind about the future of the Surface Hub 2. The company had previously planned to release a processor upgrade in the form of the Surface Hub 2X compute cartridge, but this no longer appears to be the case.
A leaked webinar shows that Microsoft's plans to release a processor- and GPU-enhancing upgrade cartridge have been put on hold, with the company now planning to release a "major software update" for Surface Hub and Surface Hub 2
Microsoft Edge has a new 'unwanted apps' download-blocker -- here's how to enable it
Microsoft has introduced a new feature to its Edge browser that blocks "potentially unwanted apps" from being downloaded.
At the moment, the security feature is available in the beta version of Microsoft Edge, but it will also be making its way to the stable version of Chromium-based Edge later this month. Strangely, Microsoft has chosen not to switch on the feature by default.
Download a free Windows 10 virtual machine to keep using Microsoft Edge Legacy and Internet Explorer 11
Having now embraced the same engine as Chrome, the Chromium-based Edge is now Microsoft's default browser. If you want to keep using Microsoft Edge Legacy and Internet Explorer 11 for some reason, Microsoft has opened up a way to do so -- and to do so safely.
The company has released virtual machine images that include both web browser. Available free of charge, the images are available for a range of virtualization platforms.
Microsoft offers up to $20,000 in Xbox bug bounty
Microsoft is no stranger to using bug bounty programs to track down security problems and other issues with its software and services. Now the company has launched an Xbox bug bounty program, offering payouts of up to $20,000 to anyone finding vulnerabilities.
The particular aim of this bounty program is to find issues with the Xbox Live network and services. Microsoft says the amounts it will pay gamers and security researchers who report problems will depend on the severity and impact of the vulnerability, as well as the quality of the submission.
Sofia Elizabella's Bio
Sofia Wyciślik-Wilson is a queer, transgender journalist based in Poland. She has been writing about technology for more than two decades, and after years working for magazines, her writing moved online. She is fueled by literature, music, nature, and vegetables. You can find her on Bluesky and Mastodon. If you like what you read, you can Buy her a Coffee!
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