Fall Creators Update already on more than half of all Windows 10 PCs
Microsoft releases two big feature updates a year for Windows 10. 2017 saw the arrival of the Creators Update in April, followed by the Fall Creators Update in October.
The Creators Update was a slow and at times problematic release. A quarter of Windows 10 users still didn’t have it by the time its successor rolled out. Thankfully, Microsoft seems to have learned some important lessons, and the Fall Creators Update is being installed at a much faster rate.
Kodi warns users to update their software and addons for safer streaming
Using Kodi is not without risk. While crazy scaremongering attacks might (and indeed should) have you rolling your eyes at the people making the outlandish claims, the truth is there are legitimate issues to be aware of. You could be hacked, or spied upon.
The developers behind Kodi have announced that users should update to the latest version of the media center software immediately "to improve security and reduce possible risks."
New Windows 10 Redstone 4 build causing multiple, major problems for users
It took Microsoft a month to get Windows 10 Insider Build 17063 ready for release, as some pesky bugs kept getting in the way. This is an important build for the software giant as it’s chock full of new features -- including Timeline and Sets -- as well as numerous improvements throughout.
However, despite all the time Microsoft put into getting the build ready for release, it seems some pretty nasty bugs slipped through the gaps, as Insiders are discovering.
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Magic Leap unveils its long-awaited augmented reality system
Magic Leap is a secretive company that has received a lot of coverage in the media, mainly due to the amount of funding it’s received, including a sizeable investment from Google.
The firm has been working on augmented/mixed reality for years now, but so far without a physical product to show for it. Today that finally changes, as the company takes the wraps off the Magic Leap One: Creator Edition.
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Microsoft releases action-packed Windows 10 Redstone 4 build, with new Timeline and Sets features
It’s been a whopping four weeks since Microsoft flighted a new Windows 10 Insider build. Given the software giant normally rolls out new builds on a weekly basis, it’s been a long wait for Build 17063 to arrive, but a wait that’s definitely been worth it.
Microsoft said this was an important build, and one it wanted to get right. It’s easy to see why. There are new features, and big changes galore throughout.
Sphero BB-8: The app-enabled Star Wars droid you're looking for [Review]
Star Wars fever is once again high as The Last Jedi arrives in cinemas around the world. Sphero offers a range of Star Wars droids -- R2-D2, R2-Q5, BB-8 and BB-9E -- which you can control via an app, and which also interact with one another.
The BB-8 model I’ve been testing for a few weeks now is a perfect scaled down version of the orange and white droid first introduced in The Force Awakens. Like most of Sphero’s robots, it’s a gyroscopic ball that rolls around, but with a dome on top that moves independently.
While you're watching streaming video, your browser is secretly mining cryptocurrency
There’s a cryptocurrency goldrush on at the moment. People are investing insane sums, and also making good money -- Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin are all doing phenomenally well.
However, some sites are turning to mining cryptocurrency as a way to supplement falling ad revenue, and a new report from security firm Adguard has found that almost a billion monthly visitors to four popular streaming sites have unknowingly been mining Monero currency while watching videos.
You can now pre-order apps for your Apple devices
In an effort to build up hype, and also gauge demand, developers can now make their future apps available for pre-order on the Apple App Store.
If you’re excitedly awaiting the arrival of a new app from your favorite developer, you can now buy it up to 90 days in advance, and it will be downloaded automatically once released.
Microsoft unveils the first Always Connected ARM-powered Windows 10 PCs
Today, at the Qualcomm Snapdragon Tech Summit, Microsoft and Qualcomm officially unveiled the first ARM-powered Windows 10 laptops.
These devices, referred to as Always Connected PCs, are always on, always connected (via LTE), and promise "incredible" battery life. How incredible? Well, depending on how much you use them, you could see around 22 hours of active use/a month of standby between charges.
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Back from the dead: Unofficial Kodi add-on provider TVAddons now has 12 million monthly active users
TVAddons has had a tough year. The site, which provides access to unofficial Kodi add-ons, and for a time had a custom build of Kodi called FreeTelly, has been sued, had its site closed down and its domains and social media accounts seized.
On top of that, it’s also had a number of run-ins with Team Kodi, which called for the site to be permanently shut down, claiming it brings "nothing but misery to everyone."
Vivaldi browser now available for Raspberry Pi and other ARM based Linux devices
Vivaldi, the new web browser from Jon S. von Tetzchner, the former co-founder of Opera, is already available for Windows, macOS and Linux (x86/x86_64), but from today you can now run it on ARM based Linux devices, including Raspberry Pi.
The speedy browser offers useful built-in functionality such as tab grouping, screenshot capture, and ability to take notes. Part of Vivaldi’s appeal is it’s highly customizable, and the experimental new build offers even more options for tinkerers.
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Wayne's Bio
Wayne Williams is BetaNews' managing editor. He has been writing about computers, technology, and the web for over 20 years now. He’s written for most of the UK’s PC magazines, and launched, edited and published a fair few of them in his time also. If you like what you read, you can Buy Me a Coffee!
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