Apple is out of touch

Apple special event October 2016 new MacBook Pro

I am not an Apple fanboy, but I have defended the company's decisions and philosophy more times than I can remember. And for good reason. But, looking at the new MacBook Pro line, I am finding it hard to see where that "touch of genius" is. What exactly makes its latest laptops anything more than glorified MacBooks?

Apple has never been afraid to take risks and innovate. But with the new MacBook Pros it has failed to improve upon their "Pro" status. It wrongfully applied the same approach it has used over and over again in the consumer space without considering that prosumers, the folks who MacBook Pros used to be designed for, have a different set of needs than the average Joe who buys a MacBook Air to go on Facebook at Starbucks. As a result, the new MacBook Pros, while different than before, are not evolved enough for this day and age. The so-called "touch of genius" tagline is proof that Apple has lost touch with the real world.

Continue reading

Office 2013 can now block macros to prevent infection -- here's how to enable it

office-200x175

If someone sends you a document, modern versions of Microsoft Office will automatically open it in Protected View, to keep you safe from malware. If you need to edit it, you can do so, but it's at your own risk.

Office 2016 also gives administrators the ability to prevent users from running macros in Office documents that originated from the Internet, adding further protection. Frustratingly, this feature wasn’t made available in Office 2013, leaving users of the older suite at risk.

Continue reading

Try Microsoft Paint 3D now -- no need to wait for Windows 10 Creators Update!

paint-3d-preview

At yesterday's event in New York, Microsoft revealed Windows 10 Creators Update. Due to launch in the spring of 2017, this next update to Windows 10 sees Microsoft shifting some of its focus to 3D.

Earlier in the year we learned about the updated Paint app thanks to a leak, but now Microsoft has decided to make a preview version of the app available for anyone to try out. In order to test out Paint 3D Preview you will need to be a Windows Insider with Build 14800 or greater installed, and then you can try out the 3D capabilities of the app for yourself.

Continue reading

Surface Dial accessory is all about productivity and control

Microsoft Surface Studio with Surface Dial

Alongside an updated Surface Book and the all-new Surface Studio, at its event today Microsoft also presented an interesting accessory for its Surface line that is designed to help users be more productive while using their device -- and make it easier to control.

It's called Surface Dial and what it does is enable Surface Studio, Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 adopters to handle content, access various and functions, and use various features on their device. But how does it work exactly?

Continue reading

Microsoft's new Surface Studio is an impressive but pricey all-in-one PC

Microsoft Surface Studio

At its Surface event, Microsoft today introduced not only an updated Surface Book but also an all-new all in one PC called Surface Studio. With a 28-inch screen, impressive specs and clever design, it is probably the closest and most appealing rival to Apple's mighty 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display.

The Surface Studio is aimed at prosumers, featuring a hinged stand that enables users to adjust the angle of the display -- which can be used upright, tilted back or almost flat on the desk. That is, without a doubt, one of the most impressive things about it. And, of course, it is a touchscreen. The name of the hinge is pretty cool, as Microsoft refers to it as the Zero Gravity Hinge.

Continue reading

Microsoft's updated Surface Book i7 delivers twice the graphics performance, keeps weird hinge

Surface Book i7

At its big event in New York, Microsoft has already introduced the next version of Windows 10, called Creators Update, and it has some hardware designed to run it on.

Last Year’s Surface Book divided opinion, with its rather weird, unsightly hinge, but it’s not a problem for Microsoft, which has decided to keep that look in its 2016 update.

Continue reading

Windows 10 'Creators Update' arriving next spring, and it's (mostly) all about 3D

IMG_3907 (1)

https://youtu.be/zdJBurRbT4o

At Microsoft’s Windows 10 event in New York, the software giant has lifted the wraps off the next big update of Windows 10, which it’s calling the Creators Update.

Continue reading

Live from New York, it's the BetaNews live blog of the Microsoft Windows 10 event

Imagine

Today is finally the day -- Microsoft's annual Surface event. This year is quite different, however, as rather than new portable machines, the company is rumored to unveil a new Surface-branded all-in-one desktop.

I am here, live, at a secret location in NYC where I will be live-blogging all the news along with my thoughts -- just keep refreshing. Of course, you can also watch the live video here too.

Continue reading

Watch Microsoft's big Windows 10 event here, live

Windows 10 invite

Microsoft is hosting an event today, Wednesday October 26, in which it intends to reveal what’s next for Windows 10.

Titled "Imagine what you’ll do", the event is expected to reveal some new Windows hardware, although, from what we hear, not new versions of Surface or Surface Pro (although existing devices may get a processor bump). Microsoft watcher Mary Jo Foley says the software giant will reveal an all-in-one Surface PC codenamed "Cardinal" (which may or may not be called Surface Studio) and we expect to see new hardware from other partners too.

Continue reading

Open source Microsoft Cognitive Toolkit democratizes AI and deep learning

machine learning

Like many technology companies, Microsoft is pinning a lot on AI -- including the areas of speech and image recognition. To help speed up development, and to enable others to start working on their own projects, the company has released an updated, open source version of the Microsoft Cognitive Toolkit.

This is a deep learning toolkit, previously known as the Computational Network Toolkit (CNTK), and it's available for anyone to use completely free of charge. The toolkit has applications far beyond speech recognition, and it has already been used in Bing, and the latest version includes support for Python and C++.

Continue reading

Google declares war on Microsoft Surface Hub with 'Jamboard' enterprise whiteboard

Jamboard01

Businesses can never go wrong choosing Microsoft. Between Windows, SharePoint, and Office, a company should see much success in both productivity and collaboration. One place where Microsoft was pretty much unchallenged in the enterprise was with Surface Hub -- its big-screen collaboration device running the wonderful Windows 10. Today, however, this changes, as Google unveils something of a Surface Hub competitor.

Called "Jamboard", the search-giant's digital whiteboard features a beautiful 55-inch 4K display, HD camera, and integrated speakers. Yeah, it seems very impressive. With that said, Google services like G Suite are unproven in the enterprise; an IT decision-maker would be taking a huge risk by spending company funds on Jamboard. After all, it costs $6,000.

Continue reading

Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 14955 for PC and Mobile arrives on the Fast ring

Windows-10 key

Microsoft is hosting a big Windows 10 event tomorrow, which you’ll be able to watch live here. It will be showcasing some new Surface hardware, and also revealing more about the future of the operating system.

In advance of that happening, the software giant has pushed out a new build for Windows Insiders on the Fast ring.

Continue reading

Falling pound forces Microsoft to raise software and cloud prices

Microsoft

The post-Brexit fallout continues. The UK has already seen price hikes from a number of countries across a range of sectors, and the latest announcement comes from Microsoft.

The technology giant warns that starting in January 2017, prices of enterprise software and cloud services will rise for anyone paying in pounds sterling. The UK's decision to leave the EU has seen the value of the pound plummet, and Microsoft is going to increase prices by up to 22 percent to make up for this.

Continue reading

76 percent of all Windows 10 users have installed Windows 10 Anniversary Update

windows_10_bubble

Even after a staggered roll out of Windows 10 Anniversary Update, Microsoft has managed to push the major operating system update to more than three-quarters of Windows 10 users.

The latest figures from AdDuplex show that uptake of Windows 10 Anniversary Update has accelerated dramatically. The latest version of Windows 10 is now installed on no less than 76.6 percent of Windows 10 PCs.

Continue reading

Amnesty International ranks message apps according to privacy -- Facebook wins!

laptop-privacy-settings

Despite a desire to be more connected than ever before, people are simultaneously more concerned than ever about their security and privacy. This is certainly true when it comes to messaging tools, and the privacy features offered by a particular app or service can be what sways your decision to use it one way or the other.

Justice group Amnesty International has spent some time analyzing the privacy and encryption found in a number of popular messaging tools and compiled results in a ranked list. The findings make for interesting reading, not least because Facebook is ranked the most highly.

Continue reading

Load More Articles