Chuwi Hi13 hybrid takes on Microsoft Surface Book
If you can't afford a Microsoft Surface device, chances are there is a pretty interesting alternative out there that does not break the bank. For instance, Chuwi's Hi12 falls in the same category as the Surface Pro 4, but can be had at a fraction of the cost.
Same goes for the new Hi13, which the company is pitching as a rival to the mighty Surface Book. Microsoft's hybrid device is very impressive, featuring high-performance internals, a premium build, and a price to match, so what does the Hi13 bring to the table?
LaCie refreshes 'd2' and 'Rugged' external drives with Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C
LaCie's external drives are iconic -- especially in the Apple community. While the USB storage drives will work with Windows and Linux-based operating systems too, the designs are often more in line with Mac computers.
Last year, Apple released new MacBook Pro laptops which only have USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports. Naturally, LaCie needed to refresh its products to accommodate these modern ports, and it has done so with two of its most popular -- the "d2" and "Rugged".
Windows 10 to get a new look with Project NEON in Redstone 3
The look of Windows has evolved over the years -- some would say at a largely glacial pace -- and with an incremental update to follow Windows 10 Creators Update we're in line for the latest change. Known as Project NEON, this is not a major overhaul of the Metro or MDL2 (Microsoft Design Language 2) look, but it introduces some new ideas in the form of Acrylic.
Some of the features of NEON can already be seen in the latest builds of apps such as Groove Music, and Connected Animations. Acrylic brings blurring effects to apps not only to create a sense of depth, but also to help improve focus and reduce distractions. Leaked images give us a pretty good idea of how things are going to look.
Five common misconceptions about disaster recovery
When disaster strikes, organizations need to be able to recover IT systems as quickly as possible. Not having a disaster recovery plan in place can put the business at risk of high financial costs, reputation loss and even greater risks for its clients, customers and employees.
Despite this, each year business continuity gets cut from the budget and companies continue to fail to invest in DR. Here are five common objections that continue to dominate the disaster recovery budget discussion and why IT leaders need to refute them.
Image to ZX Spec takes your pictures back in time
Image to ZX Spec is a free Java-based application which shows you how your pictures and videos might have looked on the classic old ZX Spectrum home computer.
Never heard the Spectrum? It was released almost 35 years ago so that’s no great surprise, but all you really need to know is its extremely basic graphics specs: a cramped 256×192 resolution, about a 20th of a megapixel, and a palette limited to 7 colors at two levels of brightness each, plus black.
Insurance company replaces claim workers with AI
We keep hearing how artificial intelligence won't leave people jobless, but instead will leave them with more time to tackle more demanding issues. However, if a Japanese insurance company is any indicator, that story doesn't hold water.
Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance Company just announced that it will "replace 34 claim workers with IBM's Watson Explorer". So yeah, 34 white-collar employees got replaced by an AI.
Watch out for Amazon sellers with New Year phishing scams
This is one of the many times of year that retailers have sales, coinciding neatly with the time of year when many people are feeling the pinch after splashing out on food and presents. But if you're scouring Amazon for great deals, watch out for sellers who are actually using low prices to lure you into a phishing scam.
One seller going by the name of (among others) Sc-Elegance uses "used, like new" tech products as bait, ultimately directing buyers to a fraudulent site to make payments. Security experts are warning shoppers to be on their guard.
Best Windows 10 apps this week
Two-hundred-and-thirteen in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on Windows Store in the past seven days.
As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.
US Federal Trade Commission sues D-Link for having terrible security
D-Link is facing a lawsuit brought against it by the US Federal Trade Commission for the poor security of its routers and connected cameras. The FTC says the company failed to take reasonable steps to protect users from hackers.
The FTC is seeking to improve the security of all IoT (internet of things) devices in the wake of compromised devices being used to launch high-profile DDoS attacks such as Marai and Leet Botnet. D-Link argues that the charges brought against it are "unwarranted and baseless" and plans to "vigorously defend itself".
Vine is closing on 17 January -- download your Vines now!
Back in October Twitter announced that it was shuttering Vine, with the promise that more details of the closure would follow. A subsequent announcement narrowed it down to the first month of 2017, and now it has been pinned down to 17 January.
The move sees Twitter morphing the app into a new Vine Camera app, and killing off the Vine website as we know it. It will still exist, but only as an archive of Vines for you to browse. If you want to download your old Vines for posterity, you'll need to do so by the 17th.
Windows 10 makes thirsty drinkers wait while it updates the fridge
Last year we wrote about how Windows 10 ruined a live weather broadcast with an unwanted upgrade, and killed a live pro gaming stream with a badly timed update.
A few days into 2017, and Jackie Stokes, Director of Incident Response at Intel Security, has brightened our day with this image of Windows 10 updating on a fridge, captioned "I just wanted some water…"
Tidal Masters go their own way
During Consumer Electronics Show 2017 yesterday, in licensing partnership with MQA, music streamer Tidal announced the new audio-fidelity tier "Masters", which is available for free to existing HiFi subscribers. Early album selection is extremely limited as is access option: macOS or Windows application. Both will expand in time.
But wow! I tested skeptically, wiring up my studio cans—Audio-Technica ATH-R70x—to 15.4-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar to hear the difference. Hehe, if any. I deliberately started with Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way" from album "Rumors", which released 40 years ago on February 4th. Tidal claims that Masters recordings deliver "an audio experience exactly as the artist intended". The band spent nearly a year painstakingly recording and engineering the disc, making any, or all, the songs great test cases.
Apple paid $20 billion to developers in 2016
Apple users tend to spend a lot of money on apps. That much is obvious by looking at how much App Store developers earned last year. Apple puts the figure at a massive $20 billion, which, after taking into account the fact that it takes a 30 percent cut, would mean that the App Store generated -- at least -- $28.5 billion in revenue in 2016.
The actual revenue is likely to be higher -- though not by much -- because Apple also makes money in other ways, like through ads shown in the App Store's search results or Developer Program subscriptions. It just goes to show why so many major developers like it.
Huawei Mate 9 Android smartphone comes to USA with Amazon Alexa voice support
Huawei has been working very hard to make an impact in the USA, and its efforts are paying off. Its products are well-received, offering elegance and power at affordable prices. Quite frankly, the company's MateBook was my favorite Windows 10 computer in 2016.
Now, the company is bringing its Mate 9 flagship to the USA -- starting tomorrow. While the previously announced 5.9-inch 1080p smartphone looks impressive, there is a software aspect that is arguably more exciting -- support for the Amazon Alexa voice assistant is coming.
Linux Mint 18.1 'Serena' Xfce Edition Beta operating system available for download
Another day, and yet another version of Linux Mint with a different desktop environment. The operating system uses Mate and Cinnamon environments by default, but also offers KDE and Xfce editions as well.
While some people -- such as yours truly -- think the project should redirect its focus by supporting fewer desktop environments, that apparently won't be happening any time soon. Case in point, today, Linux Mint 18.1 'Serena' Xfce Edition reaches Beta status. Will you download it?
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