Privacy: Microsoft wants to (sneakily) collect more data from users via Office
Launch Word, Excel, PowerPoint or some other Microsoft Office app on your computer, and you'll be greeted by a dialog entitled "Your data, controlled by you". You'll then be invited to review your privacy settings to determine how much telemetry data Microsoft is able to collect through Office.
Earlier this month, Microsoft made reference to privacy and user feedback in its office suite, saying that "Office is built on trust". Now, the company is using a popup dialog to give users a chance to control the data they share; or, looked more cynically, to trick them into agreeing to share more data.
Urban Armor Gear (UAG) 'Scout Series' is a rugged case for Apple iPad Pro and Smart Keyboard Folio
Apple's iPad Pro is the best tablet on the market, and believe it or not, it can be a fairly useful "laptop" when paired with the Smart Keyboard Folio. Microsoft is simply wrong in its claims about Apple's tablet. You can even expand iPad Pro functionality with USB-C dongles. Without mouse or trackpad support, however, iOS will never be a proper desktop operating system, but I am hopeful that will be added eventually.
If you are someone who owns both the Apple iPad Pro and Smart Keyboard Folio, Urban Armor Gear has a really cool new rugged case you should check out. Called "Scout Series," it protects the tablet without the need to remove the keyboard. In fact, this case requires the keyboard be attached. It even has a useful Apple Pencil holder that allows charging.
Microsoft releases Windows 10 20H1 Build 18895 -- fixes Your Phone app
Development is proceeding well on Windows 10 20H1, even though that feature update isn’t set to be released until the first half of next year.
Microsoft rolled out Build 18894 two days ago, with File Explorer and Accessibility improvements, and today it releases build 18895 with an important fix -- although this flight isn’t available to everyone.
Rock Jaw T5 Ultra Connect wireless earphones [Review]
Previously when we've reviewed earphones from Rock Jaw we've found them to be a good compromise between affordability and performance.
The T5 Ultra Connect is the first wireless product we've seen from the firm, so we were keen to find out how they measure up.
Best Windows 10 apps this week
Three-hundred-and-thirty-four in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps, games and extensions released for Windows 10 on the Microsoft Store in the past seven days.
Will Microsoft retire the Store in the near future? Wayne asked that question recently. I think the Store is here to stay, but Microsoft changed the focus from all-in on UWP to a new strategy that tries to get Win32 developers on-board as well.
Is latency the cloud's Achilles heel? [Q&A]
The cloud is arguably the most transformative enterprise technology in the past two decades. Yet, as powerful as it is, it faces a huge latency problem -- and the big public cloud providers know it.
Their data centers can't be everywhere and close to every end-user, so the big distances created result in unavoidable latency.
Photo storage app Ever is using millions of users' photos to build a facial recognition system
An investigation by NBC News has found that photo memories app Ever has been using billions of images uploaded by people to develop a facial recognition system without making it obvious to users.
Ever is a photo storage app that offers "free, unlimited private backup of all your life's memories". It's not until you delve into the company's privacy policy that you learn that in using the service, users are agreeing not only to have their photos used in facial recognition training, but also for Ever to sell the resulting technology to private companies, law enforcement agencies and the military.
Mozilla promises to delete private data collected by Firefox fix and apologizes for add-on outage
A slip-up by Mozilla stopped Firefox add-ons from working last weekend, and the company issued a fix followed by an update to the browser to get things back to normal. Mozilla has now issued an apology, a detailed explanation about what happened, and made a promise to delete the private data collected by those who used the first fix.
The initial fix that was issued via Firefox's Studies system required users to enable telemetry. Many people have such data-collection options disabled for privacy reasons, and Mozilla says that it will delete any data that it collected for its entire user base.
The 'invisible' USB-C BoltHub adds 3.5mm audio, 4K HDMI, microSD, SD, and USB-A to Apple iPad Pro
Apple's iPad devices are the best tablets on the market -- better than Microsoft's Surface line or any Android tablet. In other words, since the first iPad was released in 2010, no manufacturer has figured out how to best it. Nowadays, Apple has the iPad Pro as well, and the newest versions even have USB Type-C. So yes, you can even add USB-C docks, dongles, and hubs to the latest iPad Pro tablet, enabling it to have increased functionality, such as HDMI or an SD card reader.
Unfortunately, adding such a dongle or multi-purpose hub is not an elegant affair. You will essentially have an unsightly wire hanging off your iPad. A new product called "BoltHub" is aiming to change this. It plugs into the USB-C port on the iPad Pro, and adds 3.5mm audio, 4K HDMI, microSD, SD, and USB-A to the tablet. And yes, it has pass-through USB-C charging.
New privacy regulations mean your company needs better data management now
Do you know how every company you interact with uses your private data? Consider this: In December 2018, The New York Times revealed that tech and marketing companies use seemingly innocuous apps to gain access to users’ locations -- sometimes up to 14,000 times each day.
For example, the Weather Channel app funneled users’ location data to an IBM subsidiary, while Reveal Mobile, a location-based marketing firm, harvested users’ location data from code planted in more than 500 other apps. It’s safe to say that most people trusted the Weather Channel app to make daily decisions about what to wear or whether to take an umbrella. After the news broke, however, the Weather Channel’s status as a trusted institution was less certain.
How the smartest companies use Slack today
When Slack first arrived on the scene in 2013, it was meant to be an amped-up social messaging app that would improve workplace communication and cut down on email. It’s still serving that purpose, but these days it’s also a tool for interacting with customers, simplifying project management workflow, and integrating just about every app known to man in one place.
Slack now has 10 million users and those getting the most out of the app are those turning Slack into major command centers. Slack is the hub through which all their notifications, calendar reminders, project updates, and files flow.
Uncovering the everyday frustrations of cybersecurity professionals
Anyone who has worked in IT knows that it can be a frustrating experience at times. A new survey carried out by network security provider Lastline at RSAC 2019 set out to discover security professionals' attitudes and frustrations towards their jobs.
These come from a number of places, including resources, management and other workers. We all know that there's a skills shortage in security, but funding is often an issue too.
Google announces 'pending transactions' so you can buy apps and games using cash
For the sake of ease, the Google Play store supports the purchase of apps and games using a variety of credit and debit cards, PayPal and other payment options. Now Google has announced a new option -- pending transactions.
This is an option designed for people who don't have cards, or just don't want to use them. It allows Android apps and games -- as well as in-app purchases -- to be paid for using cash, and is ideal for emerging markets
Amazon unveils affordable Blink XT2 security camera with Alexa support
One of the best investments you can make for your home is an internet connected camera. Even if you don’t feel comfortable having them indoors, outdoor variants can be essential for protecting your house. Whether you are home or away, it is nice to know you can always pull out your phone and monitor the perimeter of your property.
Today, Amazon announces the second generation Blink XT camera, which is designed for both indoor and outdoor use. Called “Blink XT2,” it is very affordable, starting at less than $100. Believe it or not, the budget friendly camera features 1080p video, motion detection, and night vision. Best of all, cloud storage is gratis (no monthly fee), making it an extremely inexpensive way to get started with a smart security camera.
Microsoft releases Windows 10 20H1 Build 18894 with File Explorer and Accessibility improvements
Windows 10 19H1 -- aka the May 2019 Update -- is currently undergoing testing in the Release Preview ring, with the aim being to start rolling it out to all by the end of the month.
In the meantime, the software giant is working on builds from the 20H1 branch, the feature update set to be released a whole year from now.
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