The Rising Photographer Finally Stepping Out From Behind The Camera

We might always hear about the male gaze, but photographer Lumia Nocito is hoping to change that. As a student at the International Center of Photography, photo assistant to photographer Petra Collins, and all-around It girl, this teen is on the rise to becoming the next big thing.

About <20

< 20 is a real and raw look at an emerging creative class of musicians, artists and activists all less than two decades-old, making their own rules and redefining youth culture in New York City. Told through the eyes of 19-year-old video artist Lily Ives, these stories look behind the curtain to provide intimate access to her creative community.

Source: The Rising Photographer Finally Stepping Out From Behind The Camera

Microsoft's Windows Phone failure handcuffs NYPD officers with obsolete technology

Windows Phone isn't just an embarrassment to Microsoft, it has also been a waste of time and money for consumers that were saddled with a poor experience. A lack of apps and unconvincing tile-based user interface meant Windows Phone never really had a chance -- it was pretty much dead on arrival. So, this year, Microsoft abandoned it, leaving many users without support and, ultimately, forcing them to buy new devices.

Unfortunately, not only did Microsoft's failed mobile experiment hurt the average consumer, but businesses and organizations too. One of the saddest cases is the NYPD, which trusted Microsoft and equipped its officers with Windows Phones -- the Lumia 830 and the Lumia 640XL. These brave men and women deserve the best technology and equipment, yet when it came to smartphones, they were given some of the worst. So, now, its officers are effectively handcuffed by obsolete and unsupported tech. Thankfully, according to the NY Post, the department is finally looking to replace these Lumia devices -- at the taxpayers' expense of course. Thanks, Microsoft!

Looking back, NYPD clearly made a mistake when it decided to buy these Lumia devices, but it's hard to blame it for trusting in the Microsoft brand. After all, for most other things, such as Windows on the desktop and Office 365, the company's products are a wise buy. Windows Phone, on the other hand, has proved to be disastrous.

Of course, there is already finger-pointing going on, and apparently the decision to go with Windows Phone was made by an individual person -- not a committee or panel. I wouldn't blame that individual, however. After all, Microsoft is actually the one that produced and abandoned a product that many people -- such as police officers -- rely on.

Quite frankly, Microsoft needs to do something here, like buying back the 36,000 Lumia devices or making a donation. After all, why should the New York City taxpayers have to pay for Microsoft's blunder? Oh well, at least the NYPD will soon have iPhones -- which actually get updates and support. These heroes deserve it.

Do you think Microsoft has a responsibility to reimburse the NYPD? Tell me in the comments below.

Source: Microsoft's Windows Phone failure handcuffs NYPD officers with obsolete technology

NYPD: Whoops, Turns Out Our New Windows Phones Are Now Worthless

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, and NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Information Technology Jessica Tisch. Photo: AP

It's been roughly two years since Microsoft released a new Windows Phone, and it looks like the company has basically decided its awful, single-digit market share warrants a reimagined approach which might not come for some time. So it's a little strange the NYPD, which is so much larger and well equipped than any other police force in the country it's won ominous comparisons to a full-size army, decided to equip its officers with Microsoft mobile devices.

No longer, though. Per the New York Post—an admittedly notorious NYC tabloid—the NYPD has decided approximately 36,000 Windows Phones it bought in the past two years are already obsolete, cannot be upgraded and will need to replaced with iPhones.

The decision to go with the Microsoft phones was part of a $160 million NYPD mobility initiative, the Post reported. According to Digital Trends, the NYPD bought both Nokia Lumia 830 and Lumia 640X models, which were released in 2014 and 2015 respectively, because deputy commissioner of IT Jessica Tisch believed the phones were more cost-effective and had "better security features and remote management."

Microsoft apparently worked with the NYPD to develop a series of seven apps for law enforcement use, including one which automatically directed officers to 911 calls instead of having them routed through traditional dispatchers. But the phones and apps ran on Microsoft's Windows 8.1, which has since been discontinued, so yeah. There goes the whole thing.

The good news, as MacRumors noted and the Post did not, is that the NYPD says its contracts actually procured the phones themselves for free and allowed for them to replace them after two years with any devices of their choice. As a result, the NYPD says it came in at 45 percent under budget.

[New York Post, Digital Trends]

Source: NYPD: Whoops, Turns Out Our New Windows Phones Are Now Worthless

SteamVR, Minecraft on Windows Mixed Realty are even more impressive than you think

Can Microsoft's Mixed Reality platform mainstream the virtual? There's a lot to like about it, even if significant questions remain.

Last week, I strolled into the Microsoft flagship store in New York City. The plan was to be briefed on what Microsoft was doing with its Windows Mixed Reality initiative – a catch-all phrase for things spanning from holograms to full-on virtual reality (VR) with occluding headsets.

After learning about the big changes coming this holiday season – including running Mixed Reality on non-premium gaming hardware – I was taken to a room to experience it all myself. It was pretty impressive.

SteamVR is exactly what you expect

Currently, if you want to play any games on SteamVR you either have to have an HTC Vive or Oculus Rift VR kit. While the pricing has come down, the setup is still a bit clumsy – at least compared to Windows Mixed Reality. Moreover, those systems are not interchangeable. While many developers make the games available on both platforms, that's not guaranteed. Additionally, those platforms don't necessarily allow cross-play.

Windows Mixed Reality wants to remove these obstacles. First, pricing is cut down to just $399 for the head-mounted display (HMD) and dual hand-motion controllers. Setup is also easier with just two plugs – HDMI and USB 3.0 – for the PC and no wall sensors. Finally, it doesn't matter if you get a Dell, Lenovo, Acer, or HP headset – they will all play well with each other because it's just Windows.

Back to New York City. Over 30 minutes I tried four games that fall into the Windows Mixed Reality Ultra PC category. The testing rig was my favorite Razer Blade Pro but such crazy hardware is not required, and the games were:

All the games utilized the new motion controllers, which are fantastic. With multiple triggers, D-pads, and thumb sticks, they let you navigate, shoot, and move in these games. Once in the game, you can "see" your hands, which for obvious gameplay reasons is important. While there is a learning curve, I imagine building up muscle memory is very doable. There is even a dedicated and familiar Windows key that brings you back to the Windows Mixed Reality "home" at a quick push of the button.

Motion controllers for Windows Mixed Reality.

Back to the games. Space Pirate Trainer involves you standing on a platform while battling drone bots attacking you from various angles. In one of your hands is a gun. Reaching behind your back with your non-gun hand lets you grab a shield. From there, it's moving target practice in space with slow-motion effects, dodging, blocking, and returning fire. It is glorious.

Superhot VR is a spinoff of the popular console and PC game. Again, using the hand-controllers, you can grab guns, bottles, shuriken, or just throw a punch.

Arizona Sunshine is a zombie game where you explore a vast post-apocalypse world. With the motion controllers, you can shoot zombies, walk around, explore, and fend off various attacks. The pacing was a bit intense but comfortable, too. To load your gun, you physically move your hand and motion controller to your hip to grab your clips. Aiming can be done with a pistol's three-dot sight, which speaks to the accuracy and physics in the game.

Rec Room is described as a "VR social club" free-play multiplayer experience. You can create virtual avatars of yourself, hang with friends, play games, and more. While not quite exciting, the ability to have virtual hangouts is enticing especially when you can go and play paintball, Frisbee, high-five your friends, play basketball or just waste time.

Overall, the games gave a glimpse into a world of VR that has existed for some time with the key difference that this was not on Oculus Rift or HTC Vive. While the games had a few bugs and quirks, I was hooked. This leads me to the Minecraft experience.

Minecraft VR is a whole different experience

Being "an old," I don't quite get the appeal of Microsoft's Minecraft. While I understand it at cerebral level – these are like virtual LEGOs – when it comes to things I want to "play," it's not at the top of my list.

The future Minecraft VR expansion changes this significantly. There are two modes to play the game, and it works even on a basic Ultrabook PC (I played it on the HP Spectre x360). Those two modes are:

Virtual display – You're in a virtual reality "house" where there's a giant TV you can play Minecraft on.

Full VR - In this mode, you go into the TV and play Minecraft in full 3D, virtual reality.

The first mode may sound weird if you have never done VR. The idea is in a virtual world you can play Minecraft on a giant display that "feels" like you have a 60-inch TV. This experience is good if you get motion sickness.

Full virtual reality Minecraft is exactly what it sounds like. You walk around the world, and with the HMD and hand controllers, you feel like you are "in" this Minecraft world. It's a bit freaky. It's also awesome, as suddenly I saw Minecraft from a whole new perspective. It felt much more real.

Having said that, at just 60 frames per second (FPS) versus 90 FPS on a high-end machine when combined with some of the jerkiness, I found myself getting a bit sea sick in Minecraft. Nonetheless, it was intriguing, and I can see many avenues of exploration opening up around Minecraft VR.

Windows Mixed Reality has potential

After around 30 minutes of trials and demos of Microsoft's Mixed Reality platform (the build I tried is not yet public even for Windows Insiders), I came away impressed.

It should be no surprise that gaming is the easiest pathway for Microsoft to VR and reaching consumers. What changes this time is that the hardware is becoming easier to setup and more affordable. Microsoft's partners can make sure that someone in a remote, non-U.S. country can get a headset too.

Dell's forthcoming Mixed Reality HMD.

Playing those various games, I can see how people will want to pick one of these VR kits up at the store. For $400, you can get a VR controller and HMD that works on any PC. Nor will you have to worry about cross-platform play – another huge win.

Beyond that, of course, Windows Mixed Reality faces the same uphill battle as its competition. That is, how to move beyond just gaming or silly social experiences. At least there, Microsoft has "Cliff's house" – the virtual home that you roam around in – and you can run any app from the Windows Store since it's all just the Universal Windows Platform (UWP). I think we may also be seeing where Windows Mixed Reality and Xbox eventually meet later in 2018.

I'm still not 100-percent convinced that virtual or mixed reality is not just another novelty in 2017, but at least Microsoft's approach removes some of the pain-points to trying it out. Lower pricing, seamless setup, regular PC hardware, and the same games already out on SteamVR plus Minecraft? That is upping the ante while also leveling the playing field.

There may be something to this VR stuff after all ...

Source: SteamVR, Minecraft on Windows Mixed Realty are even more impressive than you think

NYPD To Replace 36,000 Windows Phones With iPhones By End Of 2017

By Oliver Haslam | August 29th, 2017

Interesting news coming out of the New York Post has the New York Police Department ready to ditch 36,000 Windows Phone smartphones, replacing them with Apple's iPhones.

This comes less than a year after the Windows Phone devices were rolled out to employees, marking quite the turnaround. The rollout is anticipated to take place before 2017 draws to a close.

The report does not go into specifics about whether the NYPD would be opting for Apple's latest and greatest iPhones or a more budget friendly option such as the iPhone 5s or iPhone 6, but with Apple expected to announce the iPhone 8, 7s and 7s Plus in a couple of weeks, we do doubt that such high-end and ultimately highly priced devices will be finding their ways into the hands of New York's finest any time soon. That goes doubly for the iPhone 8, with its expected $1,000 entry price point.

The smartphones that were rolled out to the NYPD were Nokia's Lumia 830 and Lumia 640 XL, which were released in October 2014 and March 2015 respectively. Those devices are no longer in production and run a now unsupported version of Microsoft's mobile operating system, Windows Phone 8.1. Such a consideration is not something the force will need to worry too much about given Apple's long history of supporting older iPhones for a considerable length of time following their release.

If you are wondering what a police officer might use a smartphone for during his or her job, it allows them expanded search capabilities, including access to the majority of NYPD databases. Couple that with an ability to perform a wide range of checks from the field in a timelier manner and the need for a reliable, speedy device makes plenty of sense.

The smartphones also provide real-time 911 call data, the department said in 2014.

(Source: New York Post)

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Source: NYPD To Replace 36,000 Windows Phones With iPhones By End Of 2017

Windows 10's My People: Microsoft makes it easy to just wave hello

Windows 10's My People feature addresses a need some of us have, at least some of the time: a simple reminder that our friends are thinking about us.

My People is a feature we expect to see in Windows 10's Fall Creators Update. (Note: We've tested it as part of Windows 10's Insider Program, so Microsoft may still be ironing out any small bugs we experienced.) It allows you to select your three best friends and symbolically place them near you, via icons in the taskbar. Just as you might stop by for a chat, My People allows you to quickly Skype or email them—and just them—all from a single button on your taskbar. And the best feature is how they can respond: "Shoulder taps" pop up emoji right from your taskbar, so that your friend can wave hello. 

Think of My People as Skype and Mail, turned on their heads. With Mail, you can send email to anyone in the world, or chat via Skype with its millions of users. My People focuses those apps on just three friends. It's a great concept, though only partially realized. Ideally, My People would collect all the different ways of reaching your friends and put them all under your thumb, but that's a future that hasn't yet arrived.

Mark Hachman / IDG

My People's icon lives on your Windows 10 taskbar.

My People's setup is complicated

Microsoft formally launched My People as part of Windows 10 Insider Build 16184, at the end of April. (Remember that it was one of the features originally slated for this spring's Creators Update, though it missed its deadline.) To use it, you'll either need to download an Insider build, or just wait for the Fall Creators Update to drop around September.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Click the button to begin the My People setup process.

Microsoft formally refers to My People as an "experience," because it simply focuses the existing People, Mail and Skype apps into a unified interface. Before you begin, make sure to update all three apps if you haven't already, via the Windows Store.

The My People experience begins by clicking the People icon on your Taskbar, down in the lower right-hand corner, and next to the upward-facing caret that hides some of your other, less-important taskbar icons.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Microsoft picked my five most popular contacts, some of which I've obscured for privacy's sake.

When you click the My People icon for the first time, Windows will begin the setup process, listing what it thinks are your top five most popular contacts. (Though My People initially selects five contacts, you can pin only three.) It just so happens that I email myself links to news stories and other things of interest when I'm on my phone, so my own email accounts were the most popular suggestions. If you can't immediately find the friend you were looking for, you can search for that friend in the search box below.

It all sounds simple enough, but consider these important caveats:

Remember that these are the most popular contacts in the Windows ecosystem, so your close friends on other platforms, such as Facebook, might not be included. It's possible that you might have to open the Windows 10 People app, add a new contact, then search for that person within My People.

Keep in mind that these are personal contacts, not professional ones. You can certainly select a professional colleague as a My People friend, and exchange Mail with her professional email address. However, My People uses the Skype UWP app within Windows, not the Skype for Business app some businesses use. 

You'll probably need to ask your friend for their Skype username—good luck hunting down the right "Michael Brown" within Skype's massive list. Once you have the right contact, make sure to send them an invitation within Skype to add you as a contact.

Sometimes, after adding a Skype contact, you'll need to close and reopen the My People app to ensure the data has been correctly handed off.

If you need to add a contact, you'll need to open the separate People app within Windows 10, then either edit the existing contact, or create an entirely new one from scratch. I found, somewhat ironically, that if I added my personal Gmail account to Mail, then imported those contacts, some of the imported data (including profile pictures) was richer than what I had included for my Microsoft contacts.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Combining accounts is an easier way of collating all the data.

While this all sounds terrifically complicated, there's one shortcut. Try clicking the message at the bottom of the My People screen: Missing an app? Try linking contacts. That brings up a list of all of the contacts Windows has for a given person, including Skype. You can then "link" the profiles to compile all of the information under the person's name. That can save some time!

Once you've selected and pinned your first three contacts, you'll see their icons show up in your taskbar, next to the My People app. Their names will be indicated by either an icon with their initials, or a small profile picture if they've included one.

Mark Hachman / IDG

You can always search the People app for your favorite contacts.

Technically, you can actually pin more than three contacts—the additional contacts are stored within the My People app itself, and show up when you open the People tab. This all probably assumes that at some point you'll be able to choose how many My People contacts Windows allows.

Mark Hachman / IDG

My People works best when you enable all three communication options. 

You'll notice that the main My People page includes two tabs: People, which you've just selected; and Apps. If you've successfully added Mail and Skype profiles for your friends, you should see this section populated with People, Mail, and Skype buttons, which will (finally!) trigger directed conversations with your friends. Unfortunately, Windows doesn't reveal how many ways it has to connect with your friends, nor does it even bother pushing other services it owns, such as LinkedIn. More importantly, if you've never connected with a friend on Skype, it won't even show up as an option. 

Fortunately, after all of the setup has been completed, actually using My People is a snap.

How to use My People

Each time you click your friend's taskbar icon, a small vertical window opens, about the size and shape of the window that opens when you click the Cortana search bar. Once you open My People, the app will remember the last way in which you communicated. If you sent an email message, Mail will automatically open.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Tap the My People contact on the taskbar,  and you're instantly into whatever app your friend prefers.

Given the complexity of the setup, the efficiency of My People may seem like a bit of a letdown. Essentially, My People's strength is as a conduit to a specific person, with minimal effort.

Unlike the full-fledged Mail app, My People's version of Mail will simply show the emails you and your friend have sent back and forth. Skype defaults to a chat interface, again between you and your friend. (You can place voice and video calls, too.) The People app will simply list the interactions you and your friend have had. If it sounds simple, it is: Click the contact, select the app (if necessary) and chat.

For some reasons, My People uses both the "hamburger" menu (three horizontal lines) and the "ellipsis" menu (three dots) for additional options. Click the hamburger icon within an app, and My People will take you back to the Mail/People/Skype screen. Click the ellipsis menu, and you'll receive the option to launch the app in a standalone window, unpin the contact, or edit the contact. (There's also a "back" button to take you back out of the app, which seems redundant.)

At this point, My People is still a bit buggy. I've been able to open Skype within my People with some contacts, and not with others. Mail works efficiently, however.

Shoulder Taps are just plain fun

You can see how My People could become truly enjoyable with what Microsoft calls "shoulder taps." Not surprisingly, whenever you receive a notification, the Action Center or Mail icon displays an overlay highlighting the number of unread messages. My People does the same. 

Mark Hachman / IDG

With a My People "shoulder tap," your friends can wave hello.

When one of your My People friends sends you an emoji, however, it won't just show up as a numerical indicator: it will actually "pop up" on your taskbar, showing off the emoji right on your screen. It can occasionally be confusing—"what is she laughing at?"—but it's still a nice way to convey attention, regardless of any particular reason.

For now, however, Shoulder Taps have a limited range. Skype currently includes a list of small GIFs, complete with sounds, from popular shows like Sherlock or Fawlty Towers, which you can send within the app itself. If you try to send those as a Shoulder Tap, though, they don't work—they merely act as another Skype message.

The best thing about My People isn't My People

What limits the appeal of My People, obviously, is its limited number of apps. MyPeople essentially remains little more than Skype or email. If you connect with friends via Facebook, or WhatsApp, or Allo, Snapchat, Telegram, or Line—well, you're out of luck. Even LinkedIn, which Microsoft owns, isn't currently supported. The Twitter app? Nope. This may be because Microsoft sees My People as a personal network, rather than a quick connection to colleagues. Still, the distinction feels slightly forced. 

I will say, though, that My People has potential. Right now, My People defaults to the last app you used with your friend as your "preferred app" for connecting with that person. My People could be slightly improved by selecting a default app for an individual, so that your weekly Skype call with Aunt Sally wouldn't be disrupted because you happened to email her yesterday. 

Ideally, My People would be a funnel through which you'd communicate with all of your friends via their platform of choice, whatever it might be. We already live in a world where some friends prefer to communicate via Twitter, some via Facebook, and some on other app platforms entirely. Unfortunately, Windows 10 lacks the basic capabilities to get that dream off the ground. Windows 10's People app (not My People) lacks fields for inputting Twitter handles and Facebook names, even though there are dedicated Twitter and Facebook apps. Line? Snapchat? Forget it.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Right now, even the Windows 10 People app doesn't reflect the complex reality of the messaging world.

It's not all Microsoft's fault, though. Until app providers enable My People support, they can't connect, either.

Think about it, though: we all have preferred ways of communicating: phone, SMS, text, email, Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Snapchat. The list goes on and on. Do you check all of your social networks, every moment? Of course not. But wouldn't it be fantastic to have a unified messaging interface to reach all of your friends, whatever the platform, whenever you want, without thinking about what network or app they're currently using? That's the basic premise of My People. And that's a dream to get behind.

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Source: Windows 10's My People: Microsoft makes it easy to just wave hello

Latest Windows 10 Mobile Build Breaks Down Fingerprint Readers on Windows Phones

Microsoft rolled out Windows 10 Mobile build 15245 with a series of fixes and improvements, and while some known bugs are also listed, there's at least one issue that the company should add to the release notes.

It appears that this latest build breaks down the fingerprint sensor on the only two Windows phones that do come with such a feature, with several insiders complaining on Twitter that unlocking their devices with the fingerprint no longer works unless the screen is on.

The HP Elite X3 and the Alcatel IDOL 4S are the two Windows phones boasting a fingerprint reader, and unlike the Lumia 950 XL which uses iris recognition and requires a quick press of the lock button, users can unlock these devices by simply having their fingerprint scanned regardless of the current state of the screen.

This means that display can be on or off and the phone still gets unlocked, a behavior that's currently available on Android and iOS as well.

Microsoft currently investigating

But after installing Windows 10 Mobile build 15245 this feature no longer works correctly, and owners of the two phones need to first press the power button to wake up the device and only then scan their fingerprints to get access to the phone.

Dona Sarkar, head of the Windows Insider program, said on Twitter that the Windows team received several reports of broken fingerprint readers in the latest builds, so they are currently investigating, with a build most likely to be shipped with the next mobile build.

It goes without saying that the company cannot be blamed for anything this time since the build is shipped as part of the Windows Insider program, though it's a little unexpected to see bugs like this going live at a time when Microsoft should finalize development of the next OS update.

It remains to be seen when the next build goes live, but if everything goes as planned, it should land in just a few days next week.

Source: Latest Windows 10 Mobile Build Breaks Down Fingerprint Readers on Windows Phones

Microsoft needs to clarify Windows Mixed Reality's purpose if it's going to succeed

What will it take for Windows Mixed Reality to be a hit? Here are some thoughts about where we are and where we need to be.

Over the last couple of weeks, I've been toying with the new Mixed Reality headsets from HP and Acer. For context, both headsets are "developer editions," meaning they're not finalized hardware for consumers, nor is the underlying Windows Mixed Reality platform (even on Windows Insider builds) near finished.

Nonetheless, I have some impressions and thoughts about virtual reality (VR) and specifically Windows Mixed Reality that I want to share.

A reason to exist

Perhaps the toughest part about any innovative technology is seeing the immediate value for everyday life. Sometimes it's obvious (pedometers for counting steps), other times less so (trends in full-blown smartwatches or smart kitchen appliances).

Microsoft's Mixed Reality – which spans everything from HoloLens (more physical, less digital) to virtual reality (all digital, almost no physical) is one of those technologies that is in the very early stages of development. There are also the tethered (very powerful hardware) versus non-tethered (weaker hardware) experiences that vary significantly.

The goal, of course, is to make all such distinctions moot. Someday, you will have just a pair of glasses that switch between visible and occluded experiences but is still able to run serious software without being linked to a PC. We're far from that reality, but there is rapid progress being made.

Strapping on a head-mounted display (HMD) to do any task versus just looking at a 2D computer screen is not my favorite mode of interaction. The headsets are not heavy, but not light either, and it feels like a process to engage. Do I see myself waking up in the morning and putting on an HMD to start my day versus glancing at my smartphone? Definitely not. Yet, that is exactly what's needed for this field to take off.

The concepts behind Mixed Reality are ahead of where the hardware is today. That's not an insurmountable issue, and in fact, I expect aggressive investment and advancement in wearable display technology over the next decade.

There's something to VR and mixed reality, we just don't know what it is yet or how it can improve our daily experiences. Sure, it's "cool," but it needs to be more than that. Harking back to 2006, smartphones had a ton of potential, but they did very little. Without things like GPS, 4G networks, all-day battery life, and good cameras, smartphones were just theoretically ground breaking. Most consumers did not see the value of checking email on the go.

I think the same needs to happen for Windows Mixed Reality. Microsoft needs to do something that is truly groundbreaking, useful, and convenient. We haven't seen that yet. Right now, playing with some Windows apps in a virtual space or playing some video games is not very disruptive.

From nowhere to somewhere

The biggest hurdle Microsoft will face this holiday season with Mixed Reality is purpose. Microsoft is rightly taking a hands-off approach, giving developers the hardware and software to go out and create the future of Windows Mixed Reality so that the platform natural evolves. The tough part will be the journey to get there.

Some of these pain-points will be alleviated by having big titles that merge the familiar with the new to ease people into it. Another will be the lower entry point for investment, with Windows Mixed Reality headsets being a few hundred dollars less than the popular HTC Vive or Oculus Rift – not to mention the much simpler setup (around 10 minutes for Mixed Reality).

But to be more than a novelty, at some point Windows Mixed Reality will have to get a killer experience. I don't think that will come from just having some VR-type games, but perhaps the idea of a virtual Windows 10 akin to the "Cliffs room" experience today could get us there.

I think the other breakthrough that is desperately needed will be light, portable HMDs. Google Glass, despite all its flaws, had the basic concept down as to what a wearable computer should look like. The problem for Google was the creepy camera and recording feature, which should have never been there or – at the very least – buried in the feature list.

Putting the privacy issue aside, the idea of a HoloLens that is analogous to wearing sunglasses is very enticing. The idea of augmenting reality with the digital to feed information, identify objects, calculate distances, cloud and local-based artificial intelligence, the ability to instantly recall information, and more are compelling concepts. But it is going to take many iterations to achieve that experience.

I'm not sure how Microsoft plans to advertise, market, or position Windows Mixed Reality later this year, but it will be crucial. Perhaps the biggest blunder the company could make is overselling it. Luckily, so far, Microsoft seems to be doing the opposite with a very cautious approach.

With a low price point, the ability to run all Universal Windows Apps (UWA), multiple manufacturing partners (including Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Asus) I think Microsoft has the right ingredients to make something happen with Mixed Reality. But it will need the right leadership and message to make it the next big thing.

What do you think will be the catalyst that takes mixed reality mainstream? What's the missing piece of the puzzle? Let us know in comments.

Source: Microsoft needs to clarify Windows Mixed Reality's purpose if it's going to succeed

Microsoft releases Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 16275 for PC and Build 15245 for Mobile

Windows 10 Mobile is dead -- everyone knows it. Well, everyone except a small number of delusional people clutching their precious Lumia devices. Sigh. One day these unfortunate folks will switch to Android or iPhone so they can experience happiness.

For now, Microsoft is still keeping hope alive for these few loyal Windows Phone fans. In fact, today, the company released a new Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build, version 15245. More importantly, the company released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 16275 for PC -- yes, yet another such build for the desktop operating system. Don't get too excited, however, as both of these builds are primarily bug fixes.

"Today we are releasing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 16275 for PC to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring only (not Skip Ahead). Note that if you joined Skip Ahead and leave it to take this build, you will be unable to re-join Skip Ahead. As we mentioned in the blog post for our flight on Wednesday, we are now at the point of the development cycle for the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update where our focus is now on stabilization for release to the world. This means that we intend to release new builds to Insiders more quickly and that these builds will include mostly bug fixes. You'll notice that this build includes a bunch of good bug fixes Insiders will enjoy. We are also releasing Windows 10 Mobile Insider Preview Build 15245 to Insiders in the Fast ring," says Dona Sarkar, Windows Insiders Program, Microsoft.

Sarkar shares the following changes in both the PC and Mobile builds below.

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC

We fixed an issue resulting in Asphalt 8 not accepting input in recent flights.

We fixed an issue from recent flights where when Slideshow was enabled resuming from sleep a second time might place the Lock screen in a state where it couldn't be dismissed without pressing Ctrl + Alt + Del.

We fixed an issue that caused minimized per-monitor DPI aware windows to miss DPI changes and end up with a mix of DPI scaling upon restoring.

We fixed an issue in XAML resulting in text animations appearing slightly blurry in the last flight until the animation had stopped (for example, when loading the main page of Settings).

We fixed an issue resulting in progress wheels on certain websites in Microsoft Edge unexpectedly moving out of place during their rotation.

We fixed an issue resulting in an unexpected change in mouse sensitivity in the last flight for PCs using non-default display scaling.

We fixed an issue resulting in the taskbar being unexpectedly thick if you booted up the PC while plugged in to an external monitor with a different DPI.

General changes, improvements, and fixes for Mobile

This build also includes all the improvements from KB4034674.

We fixed an issue where the MTP service would sometimes crash when you disconnected your phone while a file transfer is in progress.

We fixed a spin loop that was occasionally triggered by deleting a VPN profile.

We fixed an issue where apps which call into the firewall (such as Microsoft Edge) have the potential of becoming deadlocked and the app hangs until you reboot your phone.

We fixed an issue in the routing engine used by apps like Maps where the initial direction was always set to North which could result in unnecessary route segments.

We fixed an issue where Silverlight apps that use GPS would either not start or crash.

We fixed an issue where a non-default Messaging app (e.g. Skype) would crash with an Access Denied error when changing Download messages settings.

We fixed an issue where the new Privacy Consent popup would block loading of apps which used the activity detection and pedometer sensors.

We fixed an issue where turning on/off Reset Protection could cause the phone to reboot.

Photo credit: charnsitr / Shutterstock

Source: Microsoft releases Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 16275 for PC and Build 15245 for Mobile

Forget the iPhone, Microsoft Releases New Emoji to More Windows Phones

Oh, the irony… it hurts. Microsoft has nearly abandoned Windows phones and while users still sticking with the platform won't get the Fall Creators Update, as it's the case of PCs, their devices will receive a so-called feature2 update that comes mostly with bug fixes and just a couple of new features.

And one of the new features is an improved set of emoji that supports the latest Unicode updates, and starting today, more Windows phone users can give them a try.

Previously exclusively available for users in the Fast ring as part of the Windows Insider program with build 15240, the new pack of emoji can now be tried out by devices in the Slow ring as well, as Microsoft has released the same build to this channel too.

No announcement has been made, but this isn't too surprising given that Microsoft itself is reducing the focus on mobile, though you'd expect such releases to at least be revealed publicly.

Same emoji pack from PCs

Getting back to build 15240, the updated emoji pack comes with new snacks, dinosaurs, actions, and fantasy, all of which have already been released to PCs earlier this year.

"They're all accessible via both the touch keyboard and the Emoji Panel. We've tweaked some of our original emoji designs based on your feedback and to improve consistency with how the emoji is displayed on other platforms (while maintaining our Windows style)," Microsoft explained when releasing the build to the Fast ring.

Additionally, the same build also adds support for the Chinese Lunar calendar, which now works on both PCs and smartphones.

At this point, it's not known exactly when the feature2 update could be released to phones in the production ring, but the original plan was to synchronize PC and mobile updates. This means Microsoft initially wanted to release new updates, like the Fall Creators Update, to all devices at about the same time, but with the phone focus scaling down substantially, nobody knows the plan at the moment.

Source: Forget the iPhone, Microsoft Releases New Emoji to More Windows Phones

Microsoft removes the Lumia channel from YouTube

Reviews, News, CPU, GPU, Articles, Columns, Other

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Accessory, AMD, Android, Apple, ARM, Bay Trail, Bristol Ridge / Stoney Ridge, Broadwell, Business, Charts, Chinese Tech, Chromebook, Convertible / 2-in-1, Cyberlaw, Deal, Desktop, Fail, Galaxy Note, Galaxy S, Gamecheck, Gaming, Geforce, Google Nexus / Pixel, How To, iPad Pro, iPhone, iPhone 7, iPhone 8, Kaby Lake, Linux / Unix, MacBook, Monitor, MSI, Notebook, OnePlus Two, Phablet, Rumor, Ryzen (Zen), Security, Skylake, Smartphone, Smartwatch, Software, Storage, Surface Pro 4, Tablet, Touchscreen, Ultrabook, Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR), Wearable, Windows, Workstation, XPS, Zen

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Source: Microsoft removes the Lumia channel from YouTube

Just Like Microsoft, Wells Fargo Abandons Windows Phone

It's no longer a surprise that app developers abandon Windows phones, but it's still painful news whenever an important company decides to do it.

Today, Wells Fargo started notifying customers that the Windows phone version of its mobile app would be pulled in October, as the company no longer plans to support the platform. No reasons were given, but it's not hard to figure out that it's all happening because not even Microsoft seems to be investing in mobile, and developers and users alike are migrating to Android and iOS.

Just like everyone else waving goodbye to Windows phones, Wells Fargo recommends users to turn to their browsers and point them to the official website, which has already been optimized for mobile devices and can provide an experience similar to the one offered by the app.

"To focus on delivering exceptional digital experiences that our clients use the most, starting October 24, 2017, we will no longer support the Wells Fargo Mobile App for Windows phone. We regret any inconvenience this may cause," the company says in its message for customers.

"For fast and easy access to your accounts, you can continue to visit wellsfargo.com from your smartphone's browser. Wellsfargo.com is optimized for use on your smartphone and provides a mobile-friendly experience."

What's next for Windows phones?

As for the future of Windows phones, nothing is certain right now, but all signs seem to point to a demise of the platform, despite Microsoft expressing its commitment to mobile on every single occasion.

While Windows 10 PCs are projected to receive a major update next month when Microsoft releases the Fall Creators Update, Windows 10 Mobile devices would only get a so-called feature2 update, which includes only small improvements and general fixes, with almost no new feature.

What happens after this point is yet to be determined, but more news in this regard should be provided in the coming weeks after Microsoft finalizes the feature2 update.

Source: Just Like Microsoft, Wells Fargo Abandons Windows Phone

Review: Nokia 6 with Amazon Prime Exclusive Ads

HMD Global's first significant handset is the Android-powered Nokia 6. This device straddles the border between entry-level and mid-range smartphones thanks to its refined design but outdated specs. Consumers can pick it up from Amazon for $50 under retail as long as they agree to view lock screen ads. Here are Phone Scoop's thoughts on the Nokia 6 from HMD Global.

Is It Your Type?

The Nokia 6 is an elegant slab that represents a tentative first step in Nokia's long road to rebirth. It is an unlocked, inexpensive Android smartphone that might be a good option for travelers or those pining for the days when Nokia was the cellphone king. The Amazon Prime Exclusive variant, which we reviewed, has a lower price tag thanks to some Amazon tie-ins.

Body

Simplicity has virtue. As much as I appreciate the high design of curvy handsets such as the Samsung Galaxy S8, there's something to be said for the clean lines that form the Nokia 6. It's a metal and glass slab from (essentially) an upstart company that puts some seasoned phone makers to shame.

The Nokia 6 is not designed nor is it made by Nokia, at least not the company you remember. A small Finnish company called HMD Global — launched by former Nokia employees — designed the phone. It's manufactured by a Chinese company. HMD Global is the sole licensee of the Nokia brand. I point this out because I want it to be clear that the Nokia 6 is nothing like the Lumia series devices from the old Nokia; it's an entirely new endeavor. HMD hopes to capitalize on the Nokia brand name in regions where it was popular, particularly across Europe and Asia.

The phone has a fine aluminum frame that's paired with a metal rear plate and a 2.5D curved glass panel. The frame is painted dark gray, but polished chamfers along the edges give it some chrome-y sparkle. The rear panel is mostly flat and tucks into the frame with slight curves that mirror those of the opposing piece of glass on front. I like the flat-edged design of the outer metal frame, which gives the Nokia 6 a sharp profile. The chamfers really help define the phone's shape.

It's a tall piece of hardware. At more than 6 inches long and 3 inches wide, it'll be a handful for those with smaller hands. I could just barely get away with using the phone one-handed; my guess is many people will need both hands to really operate the Nokia 6 comfortably. It's slender at just 7.8mm thick, but the metal build puts the weight at a hefty 6 ounces. The flat rear panel and flat edges do make the phone less comfortable to grip than a handset with a more rounded design. The phone will fit in most pockets, but the sharp edges dig into your leg from time to time. It may wear out your pocket lining quickly.

HMD Global and its manufacturing partner did an excellent job selecting materials and assembling the phone. The metal construction is far classier than anything Nokia itself produced under the Lumia brand. All of the components are fitted together perfectly, all the seams are tight, and the phone conveys a feeling of quality and strength.

Nokia 6  

The Nokia 6's face is stark simplicity. A huge piece of glass covers the entirety of the front with subtle curves sloping into the frame. The large slit for the earpiece is the most visible element of the phone's face. The Nokia logo, painted under the glass, is just barely visible to the right of the earpiece. HMD was able to keep the side bezels in check, but the forehead and chin bezels are each thicker than I care to see.

The chin holds a slim fingerprint reader that doubles as a home button. It is indented ever-so-slightly which helps your thumb find it by feel. The capacitive back and app-switcher buttons flank it on either side. All three are positioned about as close to the bottom edge of the phone as possible, which sometimes makes them awkward to reach.

You'll find the SIM card tray near the top of the phone's left edge. The tray accommodates one SIM card and one microSD memory card, or two SIM cards. HMD stuck the screen lock button and volume toggle on the phone's right edge. The screen lock button is the lower of the two. It's small, but it has a really good profile and excellent travel and feedback. The volume toggle also has a good profile and feedback. Both buttons have a smooth texture.

The 3.5mm headset jack is on top and the microUSB port is on the bottom. I'm disappointed to see microUSB rather than USB-C, though I'm not all that surprised. Many budget phone makers have so far eschewed USB-C. Two small slits in the bottom edge signify the location of the speakerphone.

Black paint covers the rear metal panel. The paint has a matte, gritty look to it that I rather like. The blue color option is really appealing. Other than the camera module, the rear panel is mostly a blank slate. The camera module is a long, raised oval with the lens at one end and the LED flash at the other. The module is framed by a chrome finish that sets it apart visually. The Nokia logo is etched into the metal and coated with a glossy black paint so it stands out a bit. The rear cover (and battery) cannot be removed.

The phone is not rugged, waterproof, nor water resistant at all.

HMD Global designed and manufactured a fine piece of hardware in the Nokia 6. It's not for everyone, and it doesn't necessarily have the presence of Nokia's Lumia handsets, but this no-frills phone is a breath of fresh air.

Screen

The Nokia 6 has a fairly typical screen. It measures 5.5 inches across the diagonal and offers full HD (1080p) resolution. It's an LCD panel and sticks to the traditional 16:9 aspect ratio. The pixel density is good enough that spotting individual pixels is more or less impossible, but it wouldn't be great for VR. Text, graphics, and icons on the display are smooth around the edges. The LCD panel pushes out a significant amount of light. You won't have any trouble using the phone indoors or out, at least as far as luminosity is concerned. The display is prone to collecting fingerprints, which obscure the screen under a sunny sky. Viewing angles are good for an LCD, with only a small amount of obvious blue shift when the phone is tilted to and fro.

Signal

Here's where things start to get a little dicey. The Nokia 6 supports LTE Bands 2, 3, 4, 7, 12, 17, and 28. The important ones here are Bands 2, 4, and 12, which are used by AT&T and T-Mobile in the U.S. While it's good that the Nokia 6 supports these bands, it provides limited service from both carriers as it ignores their newer LTE bands, such as 5, 29, 30, and 66.

I tested the phone on AT&T's network in the NYC area and wasn't that impressed. To start, the phone stayed on AT&T's HSPA 3.5G network most of the time. In fact, I can't remember a moment when it displayed the "4G" or "LTE" indicators on the screen. This means slow data speeds when out and about. It was noticeably slower than branded AT&T phones tested in the same areas. The Nokia 6 was fine for syncing email and checking Twitter, but Facebook and Instagram performed sluggishly. Streaming music or video over the network was not a great experience.

As for voice calls, the Nokia 6 did fairly well. It connected the majority of calls on the first dial. It held onto calls at highway speeds, dropping only one over a course of 20 miles. The Nokia 6 did not miss any calls while I reviewed it.

Sound

The Nokia 6 is a solid voice phone. I was generally pleased with voice quality across the board as tested on AT&T's network. The earpiece puts out plenty of sound, of that there's no doubt. I had no trouble hearing calls via the Nokia 6 in noisy coffee shops, busy shopping malls, and of course at home or in the car. Quality is very good. I didn't notice any distortion at high volumes, and voices typically had a warm timbre. Those I spoke to through the Nokia 6 said I sounded "right next door."

The speakerphone is decent, but not the best I've encountered. It delivers a good jolt in the volume department, but clarity suffers a bit, particularly at high volumes. It works in the car very well, as long as you don't mind some choppiness.

Ringers are loud enough that they should always get your attention. The vibrate alert was strong enough to make the phone dance its way across my desk.

The Nokia 6 includes stereo speakers and Dolby Atmos sound. The phone doesn't have two front-firing speakers; instead, it uses the earpiece as one speaker and the speakerphone (mounted on the bottom) as the second speaker. Together these produce a full range of sound. When holding the phone sideways, it does create stereo playback when watching videos or listening to music. The earpiece leans towards more treble-y tones and the speakerphone leans towards more bass-y tones. The effect is still better than mono sound.

Battery

HMD Global opted for a 3,000 mAh battery for the Nokia 6 and it does a fine job. I was able to push the Nokia 6 from breakfast to bedtime most days I tested the phone. Only on one occasion did it crap out early, and that was a day I spent a bit too much time watching YouTube TV and other video programs on the phone. Even then, it made it through dinner and well into the evening. My guess is most people will be satisfied with the Nokia 6's battery life.

Like most Android handsets, the Nokia 6 includes the stock battery saver tool. It helps a little.

The Nokia 6 does not include wireless charging, nor does it support rapid charging.

Bluetooth, GPS, NFC, WiFi

I didn't run into any problems with the Nokia 6's ancillary radios. The Bluetooth radio, in particular, worked really well. It paired with headsets and speakers almost instantly. It spoke to my car's hands-free system more fluently than R2D2 could patch into the Death Star. It loaded my call / contact history into my car in a blink, which is many blinks faster than most other phones I've tested recently. Call quality via car or headset was quite good.

The GPS radio performed flawlessly. It pinpointed my location in 1 or 2 seconds, to within 10 feet. More importantly, it kept up during real-time navigation between points in Google Maps.

The Nokia 6 doesn't include NFC, but the WiFi worked really well.

Source: Review: Nokia 6 with Amazon Prime Exclusive Ads

Microsoft releases Windows Server Insider Preview Build 16267, but forgets to add new features

The Windows Insiders program is both cool and annoying. It is cool because it lets enthusiast users experience new Windows features and contribute feedback to make the operating system better. It is a bit annoying, as these testers aren't paid for their volunteer efforts. Even worse, the Insider builds will seemingly never end, meaning some users will forever be using an unstable operating system. Yes, that is their choice, but sometimes people can't help themselves. Hell, it can be argued that their feedback is tainted, as they are maybe never really experiencing the stable releases.

Microsoft has chosen to expand the Insiders program to Windows Server too. Today, the company pushes out Server Preview Build 16267, but there is something weird -- the company forgot to include any new features! In fact, the announcement literally says "There are no new features in build 16267." OK, yes, I am being facetious (and a bit snarky) when I say Microsoft "forgot" to include features, as technically updates and fixes alone are worthy of a new build. Still, for all the effort put in by the testers, a feature or two would be appreciated -- throw em' a friggin' bone!

"Today we are pleased to be releasing Windows Server Insider Preview Build 16267 to Windows Insiders. To obtain the build, registered Insiders may navigate directly to the Windows Server Insider Preview download page. Matching symbols and the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) packages are available on the same page. When installed on a Windows 10 client, RSAT allows a user to remotely manage and administer Insider Preview builds of Windows Server via GUI tools. Valid on Windows 10 client builds greater than 16250. For the best experience, the Windows Server team recommends a clean install," says Dona Sarkar, Insiders Program, Microsoft.

Sarkar shares the following "general scenario highlights" and "known issues."

Developers and Containers:

New base container images (available on Windows Insider Docker Hub repo)

Optimized Nano Server base image (over 70% smaller)

The .NET team is providing a preview image based on Nano Server with .NET Core 2.0

The PowerShell team is providing a preview image based on PowerShell 6.0

Optimized Server Core base image (over 20% smaller)

Support for SMB volume mounting

Infrastructure for Orchestrators

Networking enhancements for ongoing Kubernetes work

Named pipe mapping support

Bug fixes, performance enhancements

Cloud Guest:

IIS

TLS info: administrators can make specific recommendations to default to HTTPS

Disaster Recovery

Storage Replica Test Failover

Guest + Host better together

vPMEM in Guest: Tenants can use and manage PMEM/SCM

Tenant-Aware VM Start Ordering: App Ready / OS Heartbeat for better load balancing

Guest RDMA

Improvement in time accuracy

Azure enlightened clusters – optimized to run on Azure IaaS

Cloud Host:

Software Defined Data Center (SDDC) host

Security

Shielded Linux VM

SDN: Encrypted virtual networks

Secure clusters

SMB 1 disabled by default

Resiliency and Availability

SDN: Reduced downtime for tenant connections through gateways

Spaces Direct: Scoped Spaces to mitigate impact of multi-node loss

Spaces Direct: Marginal drive handling for predictive detection of drive failures

Efficiency

Data Deduplication available for ReFS

New Data Deduplication DataPort API for optimized ingress/egress

Space efficiency with ReFS Compaction

Performant Spaces Direct Multi Resilient Volumes (MRV)

Hyper-converged Scale

Cluster Sets: Significantly increases hyper-converged SDDC cloud scale by grouping multiple clusters into a larger fabric

Hardware support

Support for Storage Class Memory (SCM) in Spaces Direct

Known issues 

Cluster Sets: A couple of key functionalities to enable end-to-end testing of Cluster Sets scenarios are not present in this build, so defer all evaluation of this scenario to a future build.

When a computer runs the Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE) from a local drive, the EFI system partition, which contains the WinPE image (boot.wim), does not have a drive letter assigned. This issue can adversely affect some automation.

Apps that call into the firewall, such apps that use networking, may become unresponsive until the user reboots because of an application hang end-task error (0xCFFFFFFF) in the Windows firewall API library (FirewallAPI.dll), which occurs when the library is blocked on an advanced local procedure call (ALPC) port while attempting to diagnose a connection failure and retrieve information.

A stop error may occur during volume repair in a cluster. The recommended workaround is to restart the computer. No corruption or data loss is expected.

Photo credit: Yiorgos GR / Shutterstock

Source: Microsoft releases Windows Server Insider Preview Build 16267, but forgets to add new features

Nokia 6 review: Performance is a mixed bag

There's a lot resting on Nokia's shoulders. Brand owners HMD Global know the kind of respect the brand still demands. Their comeback was mainly spoken in terms of the iconic 3310 (which we reviewed in June this year). However, Android smartphones are also very much on the radar. You may have seen the recent global unveiling of the Nokia 8 (their flagship). Here, we're talking about a device that looks and feels somewhat similar but is priced at an enticing Rs 15k.

So what do you get for this mid-range price? If you've seen some the Windows powered Nokia Lumia phones, there is a lot of similarity in the design. There's an unmistakable sense of solidity and craftsmanship. This one is all-metal, with flat sides, a lightly curved back, 2.5 D glass and chamfered edges that glint in the light.The solid feel is mostly thanks to the fact that the phone body is milled from a single piece of aluminium. It's a lot more premium than we're used to seeing at this price.

The screen is a full HD IPS LCD with high contrast and excellent viewing angles. We wouldn't expect anything less at this price -the display lends itself well to all kinds of use and works well outdoors too. Looking around the phone, we see the 3.5mm headphone jack on top, volumepower buttons on the right, micro USB port on the bottom and a single speaker grill. They didn't go with the newer USB Type-C port -whether that's good or bad depends on your point of view. On the back, the camera module protrudes slightly but not enough to be an eyesore. You'll also see the antenna bands neatly integrated into the aluminium.

Performance is a mixed bag. We liked the stock Android experience (only the icons are rounded) and the smoothness it delivers as a result. However, there are many things that give away the entry-level nature of the processor -and we're not talking about the benchmark scores. Heavy apps and games take a lot longer to start up and some apps take a fair bit of time to install. This shouldn't be an issue for day-to-day use but performance hungry folk will reach the phone's limits very quickly . Battery life is good but not exceptional: we got a full day of use on most days with 4GVoLTE.

The camera results are excellent for the price. The camera focuses fast between near and far objects and turns up with some great looking photos. It is possible to fool the AF system at times but nothing too serious.Keep expectations in check for low light, because that's when the entry-level nature comes through. There's a manual mode that lets you choose metering, white balance, focus and exposure val ue (but no ISO or shutter speed control). And finally , video recording is good but resolution is capped at 1080p. Remember to hold the phone really steady because there's no optical or electronic stabilisation.

So if not Nokia, what else? There's the very capable Moto G5 Plus at around the same price. LG's new Q6 with the Full Vision display is also the same price. Xiaomi's Redmi Note 4 can't be missed either and is priced lower (the 3GB32GB is substantially lower at `10,999). So there's intense competition here. HMD is relying on the device's premium build quality and the power of brand Nokia to reel in the customers. And that will possibly work, given the legions of loyal fans that are still around.

Source: Nokia 6 review: Performance is a mixed bag

Osram Licht : Apollon creates uniform light windows in rooms

Apollon from Osram is a diverse, VDU-compliant (UGR19) LED luminaire for electrical contractors who place importance on both an intelligent light concept and many extras. The luminaires have the appearance of homogeneous 'windows of light' that can be grouped together to create light ceilings. Luminous flux was increased by 15% to 4,000 lumens compared to its predecessor model. The luminaire is therefore an efficient and economical replacement not only for 3-lamp but even for 4-lamp 4x18W (T8) and 4x14W (T5) louvre luminaires.

Whether as square lay-in luminaires for system ceilings, as surface-mounted luminaires or for suspended mounting, Apollon has highly diverse uses in offices and public buildings and is suitable for computer screen workstations, in conference rooms, foyers and circulation zones. A special feature is its absolutely homogeneous luminous surface without visible light points. The luminaires on the ceiling look like 'windows of light' and provide users with a wide range of design options; with Apollon they can create either light ceilings with individual light windows or large-area light ceilings. Thanks to the high luminous flux, less luminaires are needed for each room and the lighting is compliant to standards. Reflected glare, strong bright-dark contrasts and shadowing are also avoided with the especially uniform distribution of light.

Apollon features a flat design because the control gear is integrated in the luminaire. The high quality white plastic frame is an injection-moulded unit to avoid any disruptive gaps on the smooth surface, and thanks to the well-thought out installation concept, existing luminaires can be replaced directly without complex recabling. The integrated, large-dimensioned connection box enables rapid installation and also through-wiring up to a 2.5 mm wire diameter for all versions.

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OSRAM with headquarters in Munich, Germany is a globally leading light manufacturer with a company history spanning approximately 100 years. The product portfolio contains high-tech applications based on semiconductor technology such as infrared and laser. The products are used in a wide diversity of applications ranging from virtual reality and autonomous driving via mobile phones to networked, intelligent lighting solutions in buildings and cities. The company is global technology and market leader in the automotive lighting technology sector. OSRAM employed around 24,600 people worldwide in the fiscal year 2016 (to 30 September) in its continued business divisions (without Ledvance), and achieved turnover of 3.8 billion euros in this fiscal year. The company is listed at the Frankfurt am Main and Munich stock exchanges under WKN: LED 400 (stock exchange symbol: OSR). Further information can be found on the internet at www.osram.com.

OSRAM Licht AG published this content on 22 August 2017 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 22 August 2017 07:12:02 UTC.

Source: Osram Licht : Apollon creates uniform light windows in rooms

iPhone 8 Without Touch ID May Offer Topnotch Accuracy Through Face ID

The u-shaped top bezel that is expected to arrive on the iPhone 8 is rumored to house a pair of iris sensors. The rumor mill has revealed that both the sensors will work together as 3D face recognition feature. Speculations are rife that this feature will be called Face ID. According to a South Korean publication, the Face ID feature will offer topnotch accuracy that will function at speed of millionths of a second.

The Microsoft Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL smartphones from October 2014 came with iris scanners. However, the Windows 10 powered smartphone did not achieve much popularity. The feature gained recognition when it arrived on Samsung Galaxy series smartphones, but since the speed and accuracy is not up to the mark, these devices come with iris scanners as well as fingerprint readers.

Previous reports have revealed that Apple has been struggling to place the Touch ID sensor under the display of the upcoming iPhone 8. Hence, it seems that the Cupertino company has decided to ditch the Touch ID sensor on the iPhone 8 and instead offer a 3D face recognition feature that functions accurately. If the iPhone 8 will not feature a Touch ID sensor as it is pegged to replace it with Face ID, Apple will have to explain the accuracy and security of the new feature that will be used not only for unlocking the iPhone 8 but also to authenticate payments made through it.

The South Korean publication has claimed that the 3D sensors will be present on the front as well as the backside of the iPhone 8's to support the new augmented reality (AR) platform from Apple. Fresh information suggest that the Cupertino company will be making use of a flat AMOLED screen instead of a curved edge display. An AMOLED screen is slimmer than an LCD panel.

Read More: iPhone 8 Rumors: 7 New Features Include Face ID Apple Pay, OLED Status Bar, Tap to Wake, SmartCam &amp; More

The flat AMOLED screen will be boasting a bezel-less design on all four sides. Rumors have it that the Apple will be holding a launch event in early September to announce three iPhones. Two of them could be the iPhone 7S and iPhone 7S Plus that may arrive as successor models for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. And the third one will be iPhone 8 that will mark the tenth anniversary of Apple iPhones. Also, Apple is also expected to debut an Apple Watch 3 that will carry support for 4G LTE connectivity.

(source)

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Source: iPhone 8 Without Touch ID May Offer Topnotch Accuracy Through Face ID

7 Days: A week of Windows updates, Microsoft's Bing dong, and the sweet taste of Android

7 Days is a weekly roundup of the Editors' picks of what's been happening in the world of technology - written with a dash of humor, a hint of exasperation, and an endless supply of (Irish) coffee.

The sun has set at the end of another exciting week across the tech world, which brought some spicy announcements, juicy rumors, and even a few giggles. As ever, 7 Days is here to guide you skilfully through the snark-infested waters of the week's top tech news.

New to Ubuntu

Canonical recently decided to ditch Unity in favor of switching to GNOME. Ubuntu 17.10 will arrive with the GNOME desktop set to default, and Canonical is working on a new dock that should make Unity users feel a bit more at home.

Fired up

Mozilla has finally made 64-bit Firefox the default version of its browser for those running 64-bit editions of Windows. This really should have happened a long time ago.

Image via University of Sydney A powerful concept

A new breakthrough in battery technology could lead to cheaper and easier-to-manufacture zinc-air batteries powering our devices in the future, with up to five times more charge than Li-ion batteries.

Cold chips

Intel will unveil its 8th-generation 'Coffee Lake' Core processors on August 21, but it's already looking further ahead. Its 9th-generation chips have been designated 'Ice Lake', and will be built on a 10nm+ process.

Cool.

Golden Gates

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates joined Instagram this week, but he also made headlines for a far more important reason. Gates donated $4.6 billion worth of Microsoft shares as part of his massive philanthropic efforts, reducing his stake in the company to just 1.3%.

Supreme takedown

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella condemned the "horrific" violence in the recent attack by white supremacists on protestors in Charlottesville, in which one person was killed, and many more were injured.

Discord responded to the attack by shutting down a server and numerous user accounts that were associated with neo-nazi ideologies.

Meanwhile, Anonymous denied allegations that it had taken down white supremacist site The Daily Stormer, and accused the site of having fabricated a story about its involvement. GoDaddy cancelled The Daily Stormer's domain registration for violating its terms of service, after the site published a vile, appalling article about the woman who was killed in the attack.

Ad sense

Google is finally preparing to give advertisers more control over where their ads appear. Given that mainstream brands have been seeing their ads associated with extremist content, it's astonishing that Google hasn't done this sooner.

Searching high and low

Google is testing a new 'lite' version of its search app for use in parts of the world where connections are slow, and data usage can be expensive.

Meanwhile, the company is believed to be paying around $3 billion a year to Apple, to ensure that Google is the default search engine on its iPhones.

Watch closer

Apple will soon unveil its new iPhones, but it's reportedly planning to launch a new Watch with integrated 4G LTE connectivity too.

Apple is also believed to be committing $1 billion to produce original entertainment content - but that's still a lot less than the $7 billion that Netflix will spend on content in 2018.

Maxed out

Opera Max is no more. Previously described by Opera as "the leading data management and data saving app for Android", the app has now been pulled from the Google Play Store.

Home improvements

Google announced that users of its Home smart speaker will soon be able to use it to make voice calls. It also launched a new Google Home Preview Program... but don't call it a 'beta'.

Nokia flagship heads into battle

After months of rumors, HMD Global unveiled its new Android range-topper, the Nokia 8. It's HMD's first handset to feature ZEISS camera optics, and it can simultaneously capture photos and videos with its front and rear cameras - so say goodbye to selfies, and hello to "Bothies".

Bleugh.

The Nokia 8 also has a 5.3-inch Quad HD display, with massive top and bottom bezels that really have no place on a 2017 flagship.

Essential reading

Android co-founder Andy Rubin unveiled the Essential Phone in May, hinting at a release within 30 days, but it still hasn't shipped the device. On Wednesday, the company emailed customers telling them it would ship within seven days.

Essential said on Thursday that its handset will get two years of Android OS updates, and three years of security patches - the same as Google's Pixel flagships, but still far less than you'll get if you buy an iPhone.

The sweet taste of Android

On Friday, Google launched a new teaser site, counting down to a big announcement on August 21 related to the next major version of Android. It also appeared to confirm that the Android O update will be named 'Oreo'.

This week brought plenty of news about new Android handsets:

Owners of Google's Nexus 6 have had a dismal experience with Android Nougat. Five months after Google pushed Android 7.0 to phones already on 7.1.1, with disastrous consequences, it's now rolling out the 7.1.1 update to that device again.

Samsung brought the August Android security update to its Galaxy S8 flagships, while data from Strategy Analytics showed that the S8 was the world's most popular Android phone last quarter.

And ahead of its launch next week, a 'dummy' model of the Galaxy Note8 offered the clearest look so far at the new device. Samsung will reportedly be offering some generous freebies with the Note8 to entice buyers.

Windows phonezzZZzz.....

After launching in November for $469, Alcatel's Windows 10 Mobile flagship has dropped in price again. It's now available in the US for just $224.99, including a virtual reality headset.

Meanwhile, if anyone still cares, Microsoft is no longer listing any of its Lumia Windows phones in its US store.

Imagine…

A new concept video offered a glimpse of what Microsoft's much-rumored Surface Phone could look like - and it was one of our most popular articles this week. Perhaps there is still some interest in Windows phones out there after all...

Surface frustration

Yet again, Microsoft pushed several updates to one of its Surface devices without publishing any documentation about their purpose, or their potential impact. It finally did so on Tuesday - three days after the updates rolled out - revealing that they're intended to support Windows 10 S on its Surface Pro tablet.

It beggars belief that a company of Microsoft's stature is still incapable of reliably publishing release notes for updates at the time of their rollout.

Also on Tuesday, with no announcement or fanfare, the Cobalt Blue and Burgundy Core i7 models of its Surface Laptop suddenly became available to buy - but only on the Microsoft Surface section of the company's site; the Microsoft Store still listed them as unavailable. A few hours later, they were back to "coming soon".

Band back together

After a week of users complaining that they couldn't sync their Band 2 wearable devices with its Health platform, Microsoft finally began issuing a fix for the issue on Monday.

Bad branding

Now, this news defies explanation. Microsoft is seriously considering renaming its Photos app in Windows 10 to 'Story Remix', after a new feature that it's planning to introduce. Officially, Microsoft says that it hasn't made a decision, and that it's asking for feedback from its community before it does so - but why on earth is this even being discussed?

Will Microsoft also ask Windows Insiders if the Edge web browser should be renamed 'E-book Reader'? Or if Groove should be rebranded as 'Playlists'? Or if Cortana should be known as 'Reminder Manager'? How could ditching a familiar and easy-to-understand name, in favor of rebranding it after one of its lesser-known features, be considered a good thing for users?

The things that Microsoft wastes its time on, and the silly explanations that it offers to justify doing so, continue to amaze me.

Skype: The next generation

On Thursday, Microsoft brought the redesigned interface of its Skype mobile app to the desktop with its new Skype Preview app. It said that the app is only for "Mac and non-Windows 10 PC users" - but true to its unrivalled ability to complicate even the simplest of things, it turned out that the app is supported on Windows 10 PCs... but not all of them.

I know how you feel, Captain.

OneDrive overhaul

Microsoft released OneDrive 9.1 for iOS, and said that "under the hood, we've completely rewritten the app so we can bring you bug fixes, performance improvements, and new features" more quickly.

Ahead in the cloud

It also announced the upcoming launch of two new Azure regions in Australia, bringing the worldwide total to 42, which it says is "more than any other cloud provider".

Boosting its Big Computer and cloud HPC capabilities on Azure, Microsoft announced its acquisition of Cycle Computing on Tuesday.

Security matters

Microsoft published its latest Security Intelligence Report, detailing the rise of cyberattacks and threats against the firm's software and its customers. But while the number of attacks is increasing, Microsoft has been working hard to strengthen its security efforts.

Windows updates

Microsoft released a new cumulative update for PCs running the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, bringing the build number to 14393.1613.

It also announced new features coming to the Windows Device Portal in its Fall Creators Update, as well as detailing improvements for loading web pages in Microsoft Edge.

But for a second consecutive week, there were no new Windows 10 builds for PCs in the Fast ring - and there won't be any more until an 'installation bug' is squashed.

Xbox updates

While Windows 10 got no new previews, Microsoft did release a new Xbox Insider Preview, build 16262, to the Alpha ring.

It also updated the Xbox app on Windows 10 devices, introducing a new light theme.

Scorpio returns

On August 20, Microsoft will finally announce details of pre-orders for its new Xbox One X console, which was originally developed under the codename 'Project Scorpio'.

But it seems that the codename may return, as details of an 'Xbox One X: Project Scorpio Edition' leaked.

NOBUNAGA

On Thursday, Sony launched its beta program for the next major update heading to its PS4 consoles, and announced full details of what system software update 5.00 will include.

Game on

Following its launch on the Xbox One in April, Cities: Skylines made its way to the PS4 this week.

However, Microsoft confirmed the delay of Crackdown 3 until spring 2018 - quite a disappointment for one of its Xbox One X launch titles.

It's been a busy week across the gaming world - here are just a few highlights:

Meanwhile, Razer unveiled the Atheris, saying that it offers "the world's longest-lasting battery life among mobile productivity mice with gaming-grade features", with up to 350 hours of continuous use from two AA batteries.

And Nintendo introduced new options allowing Switch console buyers to customize their Joy-Con controllers and straps.

Make sure you follow us on Twitter @NeowinGaming to stay up to date on all the latest gaming news and reviews.

…and finally

A penis that appeared on Microsoft's Bing homepage later popped up at British Airways.

Yep, you read that correctly.

Bonus content

Before we wrap things up for another week, let me first highlight a few extra bits around the site that I hope you'll enjoy reading.

Timi Cantisano shared his review of the LG X venture, a rugged and robust new handset with decent performance, solid build, and impressive battery life. It's not quite perfect though.

Rich Woods got his hands on Lenovo's new ThinkPad Yoga 370, a Windows 10 convertible with a 13.3-inch display. Check out his unboxing video, including his first impressions of the device.

Rich also put together an unboxing video of the 15.6-inch Lenovo Flex 5, which has a 360-degree hinge, 7th-gen Intel Core i7 processor, and an Nvidia GeForce 940MX graphics card.

Usama Jawad had some fun reviewing Minecraft: Story Mode - Season Two, Episode Two. It's got plenty of humor, beautiful design, and a rather intriguing twist... but it was far too short!

Usama also took a trip down Memory Lane, fondly reminiscing about Quake, the epic first-person shooter that ultimately had a big influence on online multiplayer gaming. That's definitely worth a read!

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From all of uson the Neowin team,have a great weekend!
Source: 7 Days: A week of Windows updates, Microsoft's Bing dong, and the sweet taste of Android