Microsoft did a whoopsy -- previous announcement about dropping Bitcoin was a mistake
Earlier today we reported that Microsoft was no longer accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment. It turns out that this is not true. Microsoft made a mistake.
Despite making a very clear change to its support pages that said "Microsoft Store doesn't accept Bitcoin" the company will in fact continue to support the cryptocurrency. This is not a change of heart, it was nothing more than a slip up, but Microsoft has not offered much of an explanation as to how it came about.
What are the differences between AR and VR?
Now that HTC Vive has become available, we seem to have moved past virtual reality that gives you motion sickness and we can really start to grasp its impact on various business sectors. From reinventing tourism and the music industry to changing marketing and shopping behaviors, businesses are already starting to integrate VR solutions into their strategies and plans.
But with Mark Zuckerberg recently saying he thinks VR is still ten years away from being mainstream, it’s worth examining why.
DVR capabilities are on their way to Xbox One
Although the Xbox One is undoubtedly a games console at heart, Microsoft wants it to be so much more. It's part of the reason for the blurring of boundaries between Windows 10 on the desktop and the Xbox One's version of the operating system, and there are already a number of media center features to be found. But things are on the verge of improving. A lot.
It's one thing to be able to watch OTA TV broadcasts on your console, but we've all become used to the notion of time-shifted viewing. DVR functionality -- the ability to pause and record shows as they are broadcast -- has been promised for some time, and now it's undergoing internal testing at Microsoft, strongly suggesting that a public release is not too far away.
Animated GIF creator Instagiffer gets a big Mac update
Freeware animated GIF builder Instagiffer has finally seen its long-awaited full Mac update.
This may not be the end of any problems -- the release notes say "fonts and captions should now work in newer OSX versions", and "it’s been tested on Mavericks and Yosemite only" -- but it’s a fun program and worth a try.
Cross-platform support means Xbox One gamers will be able to play PS4 opponents
Microsoft has announced that cross-network play is coming to Xbox One. This means that as well as being able to play against other Xbox One owners and those running Windows 10, gamers will also be able to play against people who are using a PlayStation 4.
This is the announcement that Xbox Live subscribers have been waiting for, and it's something that gamers have been begging for for years. It's not something that's going to happen overnight however. Microsoft may have got the ball rolling, but it's going to need support from Sony as well as game developers -- although it's hard to imagine that they won't give it.
Google doubles top Chrome Reward Program payout to $100,000
Many people look at hackers as bad guys, and yeah, some are. However, some of these people are actually good -- their work is beneficial for security. When they discover exploits, and report them, it can result in more secure software -- if companies listen, that is.
Google is a huge proponent of for-good hacking, and it even has its own Chrome Reward Program aimed at motivating these people. Basically, Google will pay hackers to find and report security issues in its Chrome software. Today, the company is upping the ante by increasing how much it will pay out.
Most IT pros are unprepared for data migration failure
Among businesses, data migration seems to be a much bigger issue than previously thought. Those are the results of a new report by Vision Solutions, entitled 2016 State of Resilience.
It gathered responses from more than 2,000 CTOs, CIOs and other IT leaders all around the world, from North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and looked at various data trends including migration, HA/DR, cloud and data sharing.
Microsoft Project AIX is an open source Minecraft-based artificial intelligence solution
Many people fear artificial intelligence, and the reasons range from sensible to science-fiction. Some people are worried it could lead to a loss of jobs, while others fear a robot-fueled apocalypse, such as in the Terminator films. Me? I'm not worried, but excited. Don't fear progress, y'all.
Today, Microsoft announces a new artificial intelligence solution, called Project AIX. It is quite intriguing, and should excite millennials, as it is based on the wildly-popular Minecraft video game. The really interesting aspect, however, is that Microsoft is making it an open source project.
Some of the best adventure games ever are now playable on Raspberry Pi
It’s Pi Day, so naturally the Raspberry Pi Foundation has a little gift for Raspberry Pi owners. No, it’s not new hardware, but rather news that you can now play some of the all-time best point and click adventure games on the diminutive board.
The popular adventure game emulator ScummVM has now been ported over to the Raspberry Pi, allowing users to enjoy some of the greatest games from the early 1990s.
Explaining the struggles of Apple Pay and mobile payments
Apple Pay was introduced 18 months ago to rave reviews from the press and technology analysts. It was billed as an example of "mobile payments done right" -- simple, intuitive and painless. And yet, its impact has been muted at best, even in key western markets. According to a recent survey, 80 percent of iPhone 6 users had never used the service and just 3 percent used it regularly. Customer satisfaction among Apple Pay users remains high, but word-of-mouth appears to have had no impact on adoption. What is the cause of this divergence?
Looking at these figures, it appears that Apple Pay is struggling to "cross the chasm" between early adopters and mainstream consumers. Early adopters genuinely looking for a mobile payment solution would have no doubt been delighted by Apple Pay's implementation. However, most "normals" aren't specifically looking for a mobile payment solution. Any substitute to existing payment solutions has to be superior enough to existing offerings to break long established habits (in this case, pulling out a credit card). And it is here that Apple Pay, and mobile payment solutions in general, face a key challenge.
Peer deep inside .NET files with PExe
PExe is a tiny free tool for identifying and disassembling .NET executables.
This could be useful for basic troubleshooting (is this a .NET program?), looking inside an application before you run it, detecting signs of malware, and more.
Microsoft celebrates Pi Day with a Dell laptop sale
The bad news is that today is Monday. The good news is that it is not just another Monday. March 14 is also Pi Day and, to help celebrate it, Microsoft is holding a sale on select Dell laptops, offering a major discount on XPS 13, Inspiron 13 and Inspiron 15 devices.
Fortunately, the discount in question does not match Pi's (approximate) value, as 3.14 percent wouldn't have impressed anyone. Instead, Microsoft has settled for a 31.4 percent discount, which translates into savings of hundreds of dollars.
Save up to $650 off a Surface Pro 4 as Microsoft launches new trade-in program
If the price of a Surface Pro 4 has been putting you off upgrading, Microsoft's new 'Trade in, trade up' could be just what you’ve been waiting for. Apple is famous for running trade-in programs to encourage people to upgrade to the latest devices, and Microsoft has also got in on the action more recently.
The latest deal means you can ditch your old MacBook, PC or Surface and receive up to $650 back to put towards your Surface Pro 4. There are conditions, and you might find that it makes more sense to sell your old device privately, but it's certainly well worth checking out to see if it could work in your favor.
DRaaS vs backup: Which is best for your business?
According to a report by one of the big four auditors, KPMG, more than 40 percent of companies that suffer a major business disruption are unable to recover from the long-term impact of the failure, and go out of business within two years.
To avoid this fate, organizations must have a solid disaster recovery strategy in place.
Encrypt all the things! Facebook, Google and WhatsApp to increase privacy and encryption
Privacy and security has always been a hot topic, but never more so than in recent months. The Apple/FBI case has really brought things to a head, enlivening the debate between privacy and security advocates, and those who side with the government. As Apple fights to prevent the FBI from accessing the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone, Facebook, Google and others are looking to increase encryption and lockdown user data even further.
The Guardian has learned that a number of Silicon Valley companies are working on ultra-secure encrypted messaging systems. With President Obama having made a sideways reference to supporting the inclusion of backdoors for government, Facebook is planning to not only bring encryption to Whatsapp's voice messages, but also to bolster the security of Facebook Messenger.
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