Nokia 2 hands-on: It's all about the battery

The Nokia 2 offers two-day battery life along with the promise of timely updates.

HMD Global launched three budget devices this year — the Nokia 3, 5, and 6 — and its latest handset is its most affordable yet. The Nokia 2 will retail for €99, and is aimed at first-time buyers looking to make the switch from feature phones.

At the outset, the Nokia 2 has a lot going for it. The phone shares a similar design aesthetic as other Nokia-branded phones, including a metal frame milled out of series 6000 aluminum. The design and build quality make the Nokia 2 stand tall in this category, and it's great to see HMD lavish such attention to detail on a budget phone.

While the frame of the phone is metal, the back itself is made out of polycarbonate, and the matte finish improves the grip. The 5-inch form factor makes the device ideal for one-handed usage. The 720p panel is also one of the better screens in the budget segment, and it's protected by Gorilla Glass 3.

That said, it's been a while since I've seen a device with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage. I didn't notice any slowdowns in the few minutes I used the phone, but the demo units weren't loaded down with apps. HMD says it optimized the phone to work on the hardware, and that it will intelligently monitor background apps to ensure sufficient memory is available at all times.

Internal storage is going to be an area where the Nokia 2 is on the backfoot. Accounting for the OS, you're left with a paltry 4.67GB of free space for your content. While you can extend storage with the microSD slot, the lack of adequate internal memory is an issue.

The Snapdragon 212 is a chipset Nokia has used in the past, albeit during its Windows Phone days in the Lumia 650. You're not going to get the same amount of performance as the Snapdragon 430/435, but HMD isn't targeting that audience. The Finnish manufacturer has been in this field for some time now, and it knows what its customers want. As the Nokia 2 is targeted at users who are primarily mobile-first, battery life takes center stage.

The Nokia 2 is a battery monster.

With a 4100mAh battery under the hood, you'll easily get two days' worth of battery life, accounting for around five hours of screen-on-time a day on average. The Snapdragon 212 chipset doesn't offer Quick Charge, so you'll be looking at anywhere between two to two-and-a-half hours when charging the battery on the Nokia 2.

On the bright side, you won't have to charge the phone as much. Elsewhere, you get a microUSB charging port, 3.5mm headphone jack at the top, Bluetooth 4.0, and WiFi 802.11 b/g/n.

The Nokia 2 has an 8MP camera at the back, and the few images I took came out looking decent.

The phone comes with Android 7.1.2 Nougat out of the box along with the September security patch, and HMD says it'll roll out the Oreo update shortly. The manufacturer isn't committing to a timeline, but thus far it has managed to deliver on its word.

An increasing portfolio creates an added strain on engineering resources, so it'll be interesting to see if HMD can continue to roll out monthly updates for its phones.

If the Redmi 4 and 4A have shown anything, it's that there's a huge market for entry-level devices. Both phones are two of the best-selling devices in India this year, and were integral to Xiaomi's meteoric rise.

HMD Global is now looking to emulate that success with the Nokia 2. The phone doesn't have the same hardware prowess as Xiaomi's devices, but the fact that it isn't running a heavily themed user interface will make things easier.

The Nokia 2 will be going up for sale in mid-November for €99. There are better alternatives available at that price, but HMD is betting on the promise of timely updates and class-leading battery life as the differentiator.

Source: Nokia 2 hands-on: It's all about the battery

Camera app on Nokia phones to receive an update, bring Lumia Camera UI features

HMD has confirmed that the camera app on Nokia phones will receive an update. The confirmation came from the company's Chief Product Officer Juho Sarvikas.

Not only that, he also dropped hints that the update may also bring along some features from the Lumia Camera UI, which is considered as one of the best camera UIs by many.

It's worth mentioning that the UI was originally developed by 'old' Nokia for Windows phones after Microsoft acquired the Finnish company's smartphone division. The design patent for that UI is now owned by HMD Global.

Coming back to the update, there's currently no information on when the roll out would begin. It can't be too far away now that the company is officially teasing it, though.

Source

Source: Camera app on Nokia phones to receive an update, bring Lumia Camera UI features

Nokia Android Phones may get Nokia Camera UI soon, hints HMD

Bringing back Nokia (Lumia) Camera UI to Nokia Android smartphones have been a long-standing demand by Nokia fans. In fact, HMD owns the design trademark for this innovative and powerful camera UI that has become standard camera UI on all versions of Windows 10 too.

HMD CPO Juho Sarvikas has hinted at considering to fulfill this demand many times in past and even two of his latest tweets re-confirm it.

Yep!

— Juho Sarvikas (@sarvikas) October 30, 2017

I agree with your assesment 😎

— Juho Sarvikas (@sarvikas) October 30, 2017

The Nokia Camera UI was first created to power devices like Nokia 808 PureView and later other camera flagships like Lumia 1020. In fact, its intuitiveness coupled with the power to unleash the pro mode with utter ease made it the default UI on all Nokia Lumia and later Microsoft Lumia phones. Microsoft loved it so much that it ported this UI to Windows 10 making it the default.

Microsoft has the license to use Nokia IPR and technology in its products but HMD is the rightful owner of these as per the agreement between HMD, Microsoft, Foxconn, and Nokia.

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Source: Nokia Android Phones may get Nokia Camera UI soon, hints HMD

Microsoft Will Keep Releasing Windows 10 Mobile Builds

Microsoft has already confirmed that Windows 10 Mobile won't be getting new features or hardware anytime soon, but despite this, the company doesn't see this as reason enough to abandon the Windows Insider program for phones.

As a result, the firm will continue rolling out new Windows 10 Mobile builds even after the release of the Fall Creators Update, which according to all the speculation should happen very soon.

Microsoft's Brandon LeBlanc confirmed on Twitter earlier this month that "we plan to keep releasing new builds for Mobile," while Joe Belfiore added that "we'll continue to support the platform, bug fixes, security updates etc. But building new features and hardware aren't the focus."

New builds, but no new features

In other words, yes, Windows 10 Mobile builds will continue to be shipped to devices enrolled in the program, but they won't be bringing anything too exciting, other than bug fixes and improvements here and there. New features will rarely be provided, and when they are, the focus will be on enterprises, which makes Windows 10 Mobile less of a choice for consumers.

In the meantime, it's being speculated that Microsoft is working on a new mobile device, though this won't be a smartphone per se, but more of a digital journey similar to the original Courier project.

Previously, it was believed that Microsoft was developing a Surface Phone that would innovate in terms of features and form factor, but with the focus on Windows 10 Mobile being dramatically reduced, the future when it comes to mobile appears to be entirely built around Windows 10 on ARM.

As for the new builds coming to Windows 10 Mobile devices, expect them to start shipping shortly after the launch of the Fall Creators Update sometime soon.

Only a few devices will continue to be supported for the next version of Windows 10 Mobile, and these include the Lumia 950 and 950 XL, which are the company's latest flagships.

Source: Microsoft Will Keep Releasing Windows 10 Mobile Builds

Luke Johns scores career-high 5 goals to power Wyoming Seminary into district semis

KINGSTON — Talk about a playoff debut.

Wyoming Seminary striker Luke Johns continued his impressive freshman campaign for the Blue Knights Thursday night, but turned it up a notch in his first-ever postseason match.

It didn't take long for Johns to put his stamp on the game. He scored his first of five goals just 22 minutes into the match, giving the Blue Knights a lead they would never relinquish.

No. 4 Wyoming Seminary used four first-half goals to take down No. 12 Nanticoke, 7-0, in the District 2 Class 2A quarterfinals, setting up a rematch from last year's district final against top-seeded Scranton Prep on Monday.

"I had fantastic balls given by Edge Miller and Reggie (Grayek) and Duncan (Lumia) and Colin (Sung) — they played fantastic. And our defensive corps really stood firm," said Johns, who scored five goals for the first time in his career. "I was just relaxed the whole game, took my time and made good passes.

"It was a good day today. I had a good day in school. I had a good lunch. It was a good day."

Wyoming Seminary head coach Rev. Charles Carrick can't help but admit how impressed he's been with his freshman.

He wasn't expecting Johns to make such a large impact so early into his career — finishing the regular season with double-digit goals — but as Johns progressed throughout the fall he became more involved in the offense. Then the five-goal effort to power the Blue Knights into the semifinals was icing on the cake.

"He showed great skill in the beginning of the season, but he's just made very, very nice progress," Carrick said. "It's been just a beautiful learning curve for a freshman. Nice composure."

The turning point in the game came with just over seven minutes remaining in the first half.

Fresh off a Trojans turnover in front of their own net, which led to Johns' second goal of the game, Wyoming Seminary was deep in the Nanticoke zone once again. This time it was Sem's leading scorer, Edge Miller, with the ball.

Miller was dribbling through the box only to get tripped, leading to a penalty kick. He converted.

Sporting a 3-0 lead with 7:34 remaining in the half, the Blue Knights quickly got the ball back after Nanticoke's kickoff. And who else but Johns ended up with the ball.

The freshman scored on a breakaway to complete his first-half hat trick and give the Blue Knights a 4-0 lead with 7:14 remaining in the period.

"We talk about taking the wind out of the sails of another team and I think that was the moment. Especially in the postseason, you just want to keep playing and keep playing hard," Carrick said. "Right now we're setting up and now we wiped that away and now we get ready for Prep on Monday."

Thursday night's impressive win got Wyoming Seminary back on track just in time.

Coming off a 2-1 loss to Meyers in the regular-season final, the Blue Knights were able to work some kinks out the last two games, posting a pair of shutout wins to open the postseason. The last time Wyoming Seminary faced Scranton Prep, it was in the 2016 district championship, a game the Blue Knights lost in overtime.

Now they'll get a chance to even the score, on the road once again. Gametime is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. on Monday.

"I'm pumped for this game," Johns said of Monday's semifinal." I'm really looking for to it. I just want to beat them, you know? Just get there. Get to the finals."

DISTRICT 2 CLASS 2A TOURNAMNET

Wyoming Seminary 7, Nanticoke 0

Nanticoke`0`0`—`0

Wyoming Seminary`4`3`—`7

First half — 1. WS, Luke Johns (Edge Miller), 17:52; 2. WS, Johns, 10:08; 3. WS, Miller (penalty kick), 7:34; 4. WS, Johns (Reggie Grayek), 7:14. Second half — 5. WS, Miller (33:22); 6. WS, Johns (Colan), 26:12; 7. WS, Johns (Miller), 13:51.

Shots — NAN 3; WS 21. Saves — NAN 9 (Trahjan Krupinski); WS 2 (Ryan Anderson). Corner kicks — NAN 2; WS 3.

Wyoming Seminary midfielder Luke Johns drives toward the Nanticoke goal, with Trojans goalie Trahjan Krupinski ready to defend. Johns scored on the play.

http://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_ws_nan1_faa.jpgWyoming Seminary midfielder Luke Johns drives toward the Nanticoke goal, with Trojans goalie Trahjan Krupinski ready to defend. Johns scored on the play. Fred Adams | For Times Leader

Wyoming Seminary forward Jack Davis sends his shot over the goal as Nanticoke goalie Trahjan Krupinski looks on.

http://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_ws_nan2_faa.jpgWyoming Seminary forward Jack Davis sends his shot over the goal as Nanticoke goalie Trahjan Krupinski looks on. Fred Adams | For Times Leader

Wyoming Seminary striker Luke Johns reacts with a smile after scoring his fifth goal of the game.

http://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_ws_nan3_faa.jpgWyoming Seminary striker Luke Johns reacts with a smile after scoring his fifth goal of the game. Fred Adams | For Times Leader

Nanticoke goalie Trahjan Krupinski looks on after Wyoming Seminary midfielder Edge Miller converts a penalty kick.

http://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_ws_nan5_faa.jpgNanticoke goalie Trahjan Krupinski looks on after Wyoming Seminary midfielder Edge Miller converts a penalty kick. Fred Adams | For Times Leader

Wyoming Seminary striker Luke Johns takes a shot during the District 2 Class 2A quarterfinal against Nanticoke at Nesbitt Stadium in Kingston Thursday. The freshman scored a career-high five goals.

http://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_ws_nan4_faa.jpgWyoming Seminary striker Luke Johns takes a shot during the District 2 Class 2A quarterfinal against Nanticoke at Nesbitt Stadium in Kingston Thursday. The freshman scored a career-high five goals. Fred Adams | For Times Leader

Johns' career night powers Sem to semis

Source: Luke Johns scores career-high 5 goals to power Wyoming Seminary into district semis

How to Use Windows 10’s “Continue on PC” Feature With an iPhone or Android Phone

Microsoft wants your PC and phone to work well together, even if you have an iPhone or Android phone. In the Fall Creators Update, new "Continue on PC" features allow you to quickly send links from your phone to your computer.

This is just the start of Microsoft's phone-to-PC integration plans. They showed off some fascinating Timeline features that may arrive next update, but the Timeline isn't here yet.

How to Install the App

To get started, open the Settings app on your PC and click the "Phone" icon.

If you don't see the Phone option in Settings, your PC hasn't been upgraded to the Fall Creators Update yet.

Click the "Add a phone" link here. Once you've installed the app and used it, your connected phone will appear here below "Add a phone".

You'll be prompted to enter your mobile phone number. Microsoft will text you a download link. If your cell phone plan charges you to receive a text, you may pay a fee to receive the message.

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You'll receive a text message with a link to download the app on your PC. Depending on whether you have an iPhone or Android phone, this link will open in either Apple's App Store or the Google Play Store. Install the app on your phone.

On an iPhone, Microsoft will point you to the Continue on PC app.

  

On an Android phone, the link will point you to the Microsoft Launcher app.

After you install the Microsoft Launcher, Android will prompt you to choose your launcher when you press the Home button. You can continue using your current launcher and you don't have to switch to the Microsoft Launcher if you don't want to. This feature will function even if the Microsoft Launcher isn't your default launcher.

How to Use "Continue on This PC"

Once you have the app installed, you can share a link using the share menu.

On an iPhone, tap the "Share" button in the Safari browser or any other app with a Share button. Scroll to the right in the top row of icons and tap the "More" button.

 

Scroll down in the list of available app activities and enable the "Continue to PC" option. You can also drag it up or down to rearrange the list.

Once you've enabled this option once, you'll see the "Continue on PC" icon whenever you tap the Share button in an app. Tap it to share the link with your PC.

 

On an Android phone, you can just tap the "Share" option in any app. For example, in the Chrome app, tap the menu button and then tap "Share". You'll see the "Continue on PC" option in the list without having to enable it first.

The first time you do this, you'll be prompted to sign in with your Microsoft account. Use the same Microsoft account you sign into your Windows 10 PC with.

Once you've signed in, you'll see a list of all the PCs linked with your Microsoft account. Tap the name of a PC to send the link there immediately. You can also tap "Continue later" to get a notification on all your PCs, allowing you to open the Action Center, click the notification, and resume from any of your PCs.

If you have several PCs and they don't have very descriptive names, you may want to rename them. We show you how to rename them below.

 

If you tap the name of a PC, the link will immediately open in the Microsoft Edge browser on the specific PC you chose. (Yes, unfortunately it always opens in Microsoft Edge, no matter what you've set as your default browser. If you want features like this in Chrome, though, you have options.)

If you tap the "Continue Later" option, the link will be sent to the Action Center on all your PCs. You'll see it as a notification popup asking you to "Resume browsing a page from phone".

Even after this notification popup goes away, it will remain in the Action Center like other notifications. Just click the Action Center button—that's the one at the right side of your taskbar, to the right of the clock—and click the notification to open the page in Edge.

How to Identify and Rename Your PCs

The names you see in the Continue on PC popup may not be particularly helpful. That's because Windows automatically creates PC names when it's installed. If you haven't changed the names on your own and you have several PCs, you may see several PCs with names like "DESKTOP-SDS2J26" and "DESKTOP-LKQ8A95".

To rename a PC, first access the Windows desktop on that PC. Head to Settings > System > About. Scroll down and you'll see the PC's name displayed to the right of "Device name" under "Device specifications". Click the "Rename this PC" button here to rename your PC. You'll be prompted to enter a new name and you'll have to restart your PC for the changes to take effect afterwards.

Repeat this process for each PC you want to rename.

This feature is now integrated into the Cortana app for iPhone and Android, too. If you're viewing a web page in Cortana, you can tap the floating "Continue on PC" button at the bottom right corner of the screen to send the link to a PC. Of course, you can use the Share feature to send a link to your PC from any app on your phone, so there's no reason to use Cortana for this.

Microsoft does offer some useful features you can only get via the Cortana app on your phone, however. For example, you can set reminders on your PC and get them as push notifications via the Cortana app on your phone.

Source: How to Use Windows 10's "Continue on PC" Feature With an iPhone or Android Phone

Nearly 3 in 4 Windows Phones Aren’t Getting Any Updates

Statistics published by AdDuplex for the month of October reveal that no less than 73.8 percent of the Windows phones currently in use are running Windows Phone 8.1, a version of Microsoft's mobile operating system that's no longer getting updates since July this year.

This means that nearly 3 in 4 Windows phones out there aren't getting any updates, and these include not only new features or bug fixes, but also security patches that could help users remain protected against recently-discovered vulnerabilities.

Microsoft itself said recently that Windows 10 Mobile was in development mode, with no new features or hardware on the radar, but at the same time, the firm also emphasized on its Windows Phone 8.1 support page that sticking with this version is a risky call because it could expose devices and stored data to attacks.

On the good side, Windows 10 Mobile is running on 20.9 percent of the phones, while Windows Phone 8.0 is surprisingly still powering 4.1 percent.

En-masse transition to iPhone and Android

AdDuplex admits that users are now switching to Android and iOS, pointing out that the transition takes place from all versions of Windows Phone, not just 8.1 or Windows 10 Mobile.

"With nothing to wait for in the Windows mobile space, users are gradually switching to other platforms. What's interesting though, is that overall OS version share numbers didn't change much since June. This probably means that the "exodus" is happening in equal parts from both Windows Phone 8.x as well as Windows 10 Mobile," the stats read.

Lumia 535 continues to be the top Windows phone on the market with a share of 13 percent, followed by Lumia 640 and Lumia 630 with 10.2 percent and 8.2 percent, respectively. Microsoft's flagship Lumia 950 is no longer included in the top 10, as most owners have probably already switched to alternatives running a rival mobile operating system.

What's worse, none of the devices in the top 10 launched with Windows 10 Mobile, but were upgraded from Windows Phone 8.1, and this shows that Microsoft's latest mobile OS version is collapsing as well.

No native Windows 10 Mobile device included in the top 10

Source: Nearly 3 in 4 Windows Phones Aren't Getting Any Updates

Kinect, Xbox and Windows 10: Why accessibility matters

Kinect is either Microsoft's biggest success or biggest failure, depending on how you look at it.

Kinect brought voice control to the living room long before Alexa or Google Home. It's also just been cancelled -- at least as a separate product.

The problem is perhaps that for gamers, and maybe developers, Kinect games never felt as much like the Star Trek Holodeck as we thought it was going to (not least because living rooms aren't that big outside a few places in the US) and somehow there was never quite the momentum behind it.

So what does this mean for other novel ways of interacting with our devices? Will we use the amazing ARKit apps we've seen demoed for iPhone every day once the novelty wears off? I'll measure the length of a table or the size of a box maybe once or twice a year and it will be handy to do it on a phone rather than getting out a tape measure, but beyond the industrial uses for HoloLens and the gaming VR headsets, I'm on the fence about how big VR and AR and mixed reality are actually going to be.

Maybe it's the next iPhone -- and maybe it's the next 3D TV.

For me, the big secret of Xbox is that more people use it for entertainment than games, but gamers make a lot more noise and get a lot more attention from Microsoft. Take the original vision for Xbox One -- an entertainment system that also played games, that would be as useful in the boardroom for Skype calls as in the gaming room for Halo -- and look how that got walked back.

The backwards compatibility of Xbox One means gamers get to play their Xbox 360 games on the new hardware -- but it never worked for the media apps like Sky TV. If you saw Xbox as a great way to have Skype and Sky and Netflix and entertainment that wasn't games on your TV, you had to wait until those developers created new apps for Xbox One.

Along with Kinect going away, there's another change to the way you can control Xbox. If those apps aren't UWP, as of Fall Creators Update, they no longer have voice control.

Microsoft has been asking developers to move to UWP for Xbox apps since early 2016, and legacy apps are now losing some features, like voice control. (I haven't been able to work out if this is for security, to improve performance, or just as an added incentive to get developers to upgrade their applications.)

Netflix already removed voice control from its Xbox app last year, which was bad news for anyone with a disability (or an elderly relative who finds remote controls difficult to use) and who liked being able to control their media by talking to their Xbox.

This month, it's Plex, which has switched to Alexa for voice control instead of writing a UWP app, so I can no longer pick what I want to watch from the other side of the room where my sewing machine is, or pause the video as I run out of the room with my arms full. Because the 'Xbox, select' and 'Cortana, select' keywords no longer work in 'legacy' apps, there's no way to navigate around the screen in the app.

It's been great to see Microsoft embrace the broad concept of accessibility over the last couple of years. It's just good business sense; if you have a disability and you can use Windows or Xbox to make your life better, you're another potential customer. That's not the only benefit either; if you design for partially sighted users, the same non-visual cues make that app more useful in the car where drivers need to keep their eyes on the road.

Accessibility is being built into Windows 10 at a really fundamental level to make it more powerful. The first versions of this have been rather basic and developers have to switch to the new accessibility system as it develops, but there's a clear commitment to make this work well for a whole range of areas and cases and abilities. But with the Xbox emphasis now being so squarely on gaming, Xbox accessibility seems to be switching to be about gaming accessibility.

With Kinect going out of production, the only way to get voice control of Xbox will be by wearing a headset -- which gamers do and people who are just watching TV and videos don't.

So perhaps it hardly matters that media applications are losing voice control like this, because unless Microsoft builds the microphone right into the console or everyone starts plugging in a webcam, the long-term future of Xbox only has voice control for gaming.

And that's a big loss for the rest of us, because I was hoping that Xbox and Kinect would be the first step towards ambient, speech-centric, AI-enabled computing where we wouldn't have to pull out a phone to interact with technology in a natural and friendly way.

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Read more on Microsoft
Source: Kinect, Xbox and Windows 10: Why accessibility matters

Luke Johns scores career-high 5 goals to power Wyoming Seminary into district semis

KINGSTON — Talk about a playoff debut.

Wyoming Seminary striker Luke Johns continued his impressive freshman campaign for the Blue Knights Thursday night, but turned it up a notch in his first-ever postseason match.

It didn't take long for Johns to put his stamp on the game. He scored his first of five goals just 22 minutes into the match, giving the Blue Knights a lead they would never relinquish.

No. 4 Wyoming Seminary used four first-half goals to take down No. 12 Nanticoke, 7-0, in the District 2 Class 2A quarterfinals, setting up a rematch from last year's district final against top-seeded Scranton Prep on Monday.

"I had fantastic balls given by Edge Miller and Reggie (Grayek) and Duncan (Lumia) and Colin (Sung) — they played fantastic. And our defensive corps really stood firm," said Johns, who scored five goals for the first time in his career. "I was just relaxed the whole game, took my time and made good passes.

"It was a good day today. I had a good day in school. I had a good lunch. It was a good day."

Wyoming Seminary head coach Rev. Charles Carrick can't help but admit how impressed he's been with his freshman.

He wasn't expecting Johns to make such a large impact so early into his career — finishing the regular season with double-digit goals — but as Johns progressed throughout the fall he became more involved in the offense. Then the five-goal effort to power the Blue Knights into the semifinals was icing on the cake.

"He showed great skill in the beginning of the season, but he's just made very, very nice progress," Carrick said. "It's been just a beautiful learning curve for a freshman. Nice composure."

The turning point in the game came with just over seven minutes remaining in the first half.

Fresh off a Trojans turnover in front of their own net, which led to Johns' second goal of the game, Wyoming Seminary was deep in the Nanticoke zone once again. This time it was Sem's leading scorer, Edge Miller, with the ball.

Miller was dribbling through the box only to get tripped, leading to a penalty kick. He converted.

Sporting a 3-0 lead with 7:34 remaining in the half, the Blue Knights quickly got the ball back after Nanticoke's kickoff. And who else but Johns ended up with the ball.

The freshman scored on a breakaway to complete his first-half hat trick and give the Blue Knights a 4-0 lead with 7:14 remaining in the period.

"We talk about taking the wind out of the sails of another team and I think that was the moment. Especially in the postseason, you just want to keep playing and keep playing hard," Carrick said. "Right now we're setting up and now we wiped that away and now we get ready for Prep on Monday."

Thursday night's impressive win got Wyoming Seminary back on track just in time.

Coming off a 2-1 loss to Meyers in the regular-season final, the Blue Knights were able to work some kinks out the last two games, posting a pair of shutout wins to open the postseason. The last time Wyoming Seminary faced Scranton Prep, it was in the 2016 district championship, a game the Blue Knights lost in overtime.

Now they'll get a chance to even the score, on the road once again. Gametime is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. on Monday.

"I'm pumped for this game," Johns said of Monday's semifinal." I'm really looking for to it. I just want to beat them, you know? Just get there. Get to the finals."

DISTRICT 2 CLASS 2A TOURNAMNET

Wyoming Seminary 7, Nanticoke 0

Nanticoke`0`0`—`0

Wyoming Seminary`4`3`—`7

First half — 1. WS, Luke Johns (Edge Miller), 17:52; 2. WS, Johns, 10:08; 3. WS, Miller (penalty kick), 7:34; 4. WS, Johns (Reggie Grayek), 7:14. Second half — 5. WS, Miller (33:22); 6. WS, Johns (Colan), 26:12; 7. WS, Johns (Miller), 13:51.

Shots — NAN 3; WS 21. Saves — NAN 9 (Trahjan Krupinski); WS 2 (Ryan Anderson). Corner kicks — NAN 2; WS 3.

Wyoming Seminary midfielder Luke Johns drives toward the Nanticoke goal, with Trojans goalie Trahjan Krupinski ready to defend. Johns scored on the play.

http://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_ws_nan1_faa.jpgWyoming Seminary midfielder Luke Johns drives toward the Nanticoke goal, with Trojans goalie Trahjan Krupinski ready to defend. Johns scored on the play. Fred Adams | For Times Leader

Wyoming Seminary forward Jack Davis sends his shot over the goal as Nanticoke goalie Trahjan Krupinski looks on.

http://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_ws_nan2_faa.jpgWyoming Seminary forward Jack Davis sends his shot over the goal as Nanticoke goalie Trahjan Krupinski looks on. Fred Adams | For Times Leader

Wyoming Seminary striker Luke Johns reacts with a smile after scoring his fifth goal of the game.

http://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_ws_nan3_faa.jpgWyoming Seminary striker Luke Johns reacts with a smile after scoring his fifth goal of the game. Fred Adams | For Times Leader

Nanticoke goalie Trahjan Krupinski looks on after Wyoming Seminary midfielder Edge Miller converts a penalty kick.

http://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_ws_nan5_faa.jpgNanticoke goalie Trahjan Krupinski looks on after Wyoming Seminary midfielder Edge Miller converts a penalty kick. Fred Adams | For Times Leader

Wyoming Seminary striker Luke Johns takes a shot during the District 2 Class 2A quarterfinal against Nanticoke at Nesbitt Stadium in Kingston Thursday. The freshman scored a career-high five goals.

http://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_ws_nan4_faa.jpgWyoming Seminary striker Luke Johns takes a shot during the District 2 Class 2A quarterfinal against Nanticoke at Nesbitt Stadium in Kingston Thursday. The freshman scored a career-high five goals. Fred Adams | For Times Leader

Johns' career night powers Sem to semis

Source: Luke Johns scores career-high 5 goals to power Wyoming Seminary into district semis

Windows Phone- the long goodbye

The end of Microsoft's billion-dollar foray into mobile phone manufacture and software came not with a whimper but a Tweet

Not many of us get through life without being haunted by the memory of some ill-advised faux pas. Fortunately not all of us suffer the ignominy and embarrassment preserved for all time on the Internet and served up for the amusement of the world's population until the end of time.

So spare a thought for Microsoft co-founder Steve Ballmer whose various moments of madness are there for your amusement and delight on YouTube. There are too many to recall.

Although fans of executive WTF moments could do worse than start with a YouTube search of "Ballmer+Monkey+Dance".

My personal favourite is "Ballmer+Laughs+iPhone". In which the great man can barely contain his amusement at Apple's attempt 10 years ago to produce a phone without a keypad.

How he chuckled. Which is as good an example of "he who laughs last laughs longest" as Microsoft last week confirmed its great mobile phone experiment was over, finished, gone to meet its maker.

The multi-billiondollar adventure with the acquisition of Nokia and the development of Windows Phone ended not with a bang but a subdued whimper – in a Tweet from senior Microsoft developer Joe Belfiore who quietly let the cat out of the bag with this Tweet: "We'll continue to support the platform .. but building new features/hw aren't the focus".

Ecosystem 

Belfiore touched on the real reason for Windows phone's termination. There is no ecosystem. Developers aren't interested in it. "We have tried very hard to incentivise app developers… but volume of users is too low for most companies to invest".

Thus was the most powerful software company in the world forced to eat lashings of humble pie.

I'm usually last in the queue when the Microsoft sympathy medals are being handed out. I've always regarded Microsoft as an organisation that built it fortune on the lowest common denominator of software design.

To this day I take to a PC with its continual need to install security updates like a duck takes to a fan oven. Mac OS all the way for me.

Source: Windows Phone- the long goodbye

Microsoft confirms support for Windows 10 Mobile until Dec 2019, 'may be extended'

Published by Steve Litchfield at 19:48 UTC, October 24th 2017

Nawzil Nejeeb is a senior manager at Microsoft and very techy - he's a great source of information online on all things Windows and, in this case, he's been updating a particular Facebook status page for the last few years - and there's a lot of official data there for Windows 10 Mobile users, right up to and including the Facll Creators Update (FCU). So I've quoted the relevant bit below.

From Nawzil's official post:

Windows 10 Mobile Support Lifecycle

Support for Windows 10 Mobile is almost the same as other editions of Windows 10, but the support duration is slightly longer. Each version of Windows 10 Mobile is supported for around 26 months (2 years and 2 months) from the date of release.

End of support dates for each version of Windows 10 Mobile:

Windows 10 Mobile version 1511 build 10586 / Initial Release: January 9, 2018Windows 10 Mobile version 1607 build 14393 / Anniversary Update: October 9, 2018Windows 10 Mobile version 1703 build 15063 / Creators Update: June 11, 2019Windows 10 Mobile version 1709 build 15254 / Fall Creators Update: December 10, 2019 *

* Tentative dates, support may be extended. The exact date will be announced within 1 year of these dates.

Lumia Support Lifecycle

Lumia phones are supported for 2 years from the date they are launched. This means they get Feature Updates during those 2 years. Each Feature Update is supported for around 26 months. The last Feature Update that a Lumia phone gets at the end of the 2 years will be supported for around 2 years, so the total support period for a Lumia phone is around 4 years from the date it is launched. 

In short, a Lumia phone will get F eature Updates for 2 years and it will get Cumulative Updates for the last Feature Update for 2 more years.

We already knew about most of this, but it's great to see the dates so clearly laid out.

Phones then that are FCU-compatible may well be officially supported with fixes and security updates into 2020, which would be quite something! The rest of the mainstream Lumias (I'm thinking Lumia 735, 640, 830, 930, etc.) will end their days on the Anniversary Update (AU), if they've never been part of the Insider programme, or the Creators Update (CU), which rolled out a few months ago and which was obtainable for months (is it still?) via a little Insiders programme 'dance'. 

In all cases, phones with each branch installed will receive updates for that branch until the end of support dates listed above.

Right, all clear now?

Source / Credit: Facebook

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Source: Microsoft confirms support for Windows 10 Mobile until Dec 2019, 'may be extended'

Microsoft has had Apple's new face-scanning feature for years, and it works great

Apple introduced FaceID, the facial recognition software debuting with the iPhone X, at a launch event in September 2017. Apple

Some people are worried about how well FaceID, a key feature of the iPhone X will work.

But facial recognition, the technology underlying FaceID, isn't new.

Windows Hello, Microsoft's facial recognition system that's similar to FaceID, has been around for years and works well.

There's a lot of angst right now over FaceID, Apple's new facial recognition system that's a core feature of the upcoming iPhone X.

Besides the obvious privacy concerns, some people are worried that FaceID won't be fast enough or reliable. 

I think those fears are overblown.

Microsoft has offered a similar feature since 2015, and it works great! I can't guarantee FaceID will work just as well when Apple releases its new $999 phone next month, but Microsoft's success offers a good sign. 

Microsoft's face recognition feature, which debuted on the Surface Pro 4, is called Windows Hello. Like FaceID, it allows you to log into your device — in this case, a Windows computer — with just your face.

Setting up Windows Hello takes about a minute. The system asks you to stare directly at your camera for a bit while it scans your face. If you'd like, you can repeat the process to improve its ability to recognize you. When setting up a new Windows computer, I usually have it scan my face twice, first with my glasses on and next without.

After that, Window Hello generally just works. Typically, I barely have to glance at the Surface computer I'm using before it unlocks.

Because the camera Windows Hello uses relies on infrared light, it works in the dark. When the feature fails, which isn't often, you can unlock your computer by typing in a PIN code or a password. It's reassuring to know your computer is both secure and poised for quick action.

The Microsoft Surface Studio lets you log in with Windows Hello, a facial recognition system. Darren Weaver/Business Insider

Windows Hello wasn't always as good as it is today. I didn't keep close track, but when the Surface Pro 4 launched, the feature seemed to fail to recognize my face about one in every ten tries. On the current model of Surface Pro, released earlier this year, Windows Hello's failure rate is more like one in a hundred. 

Security-wise, Windows Hello seems to be on solid footing. Tests by tech experts found the system was able to distinguish between identical twins, meaning it's not as easy to fool as some previous facial recognition technologies.

And since Windows Hello debuted, there's been no evidence that the security of the system itself has been compromised. Indeed, the system was designed with security in mind. Importantly, it doesn't store pictures of your face on your PC; instead, it just keeps a log of the data it expects to see when you look at the camera. Apple says it's taking a similar approach with FaceID. 

The Surface Book 2, launching in November 2017, will be the next Microsoft device with Windows Hello built in. Matt Weinberger/Business Insider

There are some clear differences between Windows Hello and FaceID. Most notably, a laptop sitting on your table is different from a phone you whip out of your pocket. With the latter, it's not clear if face recognition will be faster or more convenient than using a fingerprint sensor.

Still, if you're wondering whether FaceID, because it's such a new technology, will work reliably or even at all, just know that facial recognition is not all that new and it's already been done well. 

Meanwhile, it could be galling to Apple that Microsoft got there first. 

Get the latest Microsoft stock price here.

SEE ALSO: The best part of the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is logging in with my face NOW WATCH: Apple got rid of the home button on the iPhone X — but you can use your face to unlock it
Source: Microsoft has had Apple's new face-scanning feature for years, and it works great

Delta is Switching Over 37,000 Pilots and Flight Attendants to iPhone and iPad From Nokia Lumia and Microsoft Surface

Delta is switching its over 37,000 pilots and flight attendants to iPhone and iPad from the Nokia Lumia.

Mac OS Ken recently shared what has been confirmed to be a legitimate internal post regarding the change.

-----Delta to transition to Apple devices for flight crewsPublished Date 10/18/2017 5:00 PMBy Staff Writer

Beginning early 2018, Delta will equip its more than 23,000 flight attendants and 14,000 pilots with Apple iPhones and Apple iPad Pros, respectively, as the airline transitions to its next generation of flight crew devices.

The iPhone 7 Plus will replace existing Nokia Lumia 1520 phablets, which flight attendants first began using in 2014, as an in-flight point of sale and onboard customer service tool. The new iOS device will continue to feature the Guest Service Tool which allows flight attendants to provide more personalized service and recognize high-value customers on each flight. Flight attendants can also provide customers with the status of dow n-line flights and connecting gate information. The device also brings Delta in line with its Joint Venture partners at Aeromexico, Air France, KLM and Virgin Atlantic.

For Delta's pilots, Apple's iPad Pro will replace the Surface tablets that have been used in the flight deck as an electronic flight bag since 2014. With the transition, Delta will join many other airlines, including key global partners, in leveraging the iOS platform to provide a high degree of synergy and cooperation in the continued development and enhancement of aviation applications. Similar to the current device, the new iPad Pro tablets will feature Delta's suite of tools for pilots including the Jeppesen Flight Deck Pro for flight planning, the latest version of Delta's turbulence app — Flight Weather Viewer Plus, and a content library containing detailed aircraft and procedural manuals.

The airline continues to maintain a strong and positive partnership with Microsoft, and some of the applicati ons used on the iPhone 7 Plus aimed at enhancing customer and employee engagement are powered by Microsoft Dynamics.

Delta will begin jointly rolling out the iPads to pilots and iPhones to flight attendants early next year.-----

The news is a big blow to Microsoft's mobile hardware efforts and comes just as the company launched its new Surface Book 2 which it touts as being twice as powerful as the new MacBook Pro.

Source: Delta is Switching Over 37,000 Pilots and Flight Attendants to iPhone and iPad From Nokia Lumia and Microsoft Surface

Microsoft : has a new tool to bring your Windows phones up to date

Microsofts Windows phone may be commercially dead, but the firm is still pushing out security updates and bug fixes for users who remain with their Lumias and other miscellaneous Windows phones.

The software maker has released a new tool for enterprising Windows phone users and fans which lets them bring up their phones to the latest version of the operating system Over the Cableupdater.

Normally when updating a Windows phone, either from Windows Phone 8.1 or Windows 10 Mobile, a user has to download and install each and every individual update until they get up to date. Obviously, as the backlog piles up. updating Windows phones will get more and more tedious, and some users might even opt out of updating.

The app, OTC updater, does exactly what it says on the tin, updating Windows phones which are plugged in directly to any Windows PC with this app installed.

Previously, the Windows device recovery tool could serve this function, allowing users to jump straight to the newest update, Microsoft altered the functionality of the app so that it now restores users to the Windows version that they originally shipped with. This makes the new app OTC Updater the only way for a user to jump straight to the latest supported build of WIndows 10 Mobile for their device.

(c) All Rights Reserved - Mubasher Info 2005 - 2017 Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info)., source Middle East & North African Newspapers

Source: Microsoft : has a new tool to bring your Windows phones up to date

Delta To Move Away From Surface and Windows Mobile for iOS Devices

A few years ago, when Delta announced that they would be using Surfaces and Windows Mobile devices on their planes, it was a big win for Microsoft. As we all now know, Windows Mobile and the Lumia line are effectively dead which puts Delta in a tough spot.

To little surprise, Delta is moving away from Microsoft's hardware and is joining the many other airlines who use iPads and iPhones on their flights. The company sent out an internal email announcing the changes which will start taking place in 2018.

Delta's move to a digital flight bag started back in 2011 with a fleet-wide rollout occurring in 2013. These devices help cut the weight of the paper forms previously used that could weight up to 40 pounds.

While the loss of Delta using Microsoft's mobile devices is not unexpected, losing the Surface device contract has a much bigger impact. Microsoft has tried relentlessly to position its Surface Pro brand as the premium alternative to the iPad but in this case, Apple's ecosystem proved to be superior to what Microsoft could offer.

This move for Delta is another example of how Microsoft no longer having a mobile platform is hurting the company's business objectives. If Windows Mobile would have been able to grab even modest market share and become a mainstream option, I don't think I would be writing this post today.

For Microsoft, the loss of sales of Surface hardware is one thing but the other, larger factor, is that the company needs to develop a mobile offering for clients that prefer a single vendor provide the entire hardware solution for their operations.

Tagged with Apple, iOS, iPad, Microsoft, Windows Phone

Source: Delta To Move Away From Surface and Windows Mobile for iOS Devices

5 reasons to use Edge in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

With Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, Microsoft has added a handful of new features and tweaks to its Edge browser. I doubt they will be enough to pry you away from your browser of choice, but the Edge browser continues to trend in the right direction. Here are the five big improvements Microsoft has made to Edge with its most recent Windows update.

Pin pages to the taskbar

Not seen since Windows 8, you can once again pin websites to the taskbar. To do so, click the triple-dot button along the Edge window's right edge and choose Pin this page to the taskbar.

You can put your favorite websites on your taskbar for fast access.

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET True full-screen mode

Edge finally has a true, full-screen mode where you lose the browser's menus and tabs at the top. Hit F11 to toggle in and out of full-screen mode or click the triple-dot button and then click the diagonal double-arrow button to the right of the zoom controls.

Better integration with your phone

Edge promises to let you start an article on your phone and then pick it where you left off on your PC, but you'll need to use a preview version of Edge for iOS or Android or the Cortana app for iOS or Android to try it out. And you'll need to connect your phone to your PC in the new Phone section of the Settings app, which you'll find on the main page of Settings. I tried it out by installing the Cortana app on my iPhone ($1,079.00 at Apple). I opened a news article and tapped the blue button to continue reading on my PC. It worked seamlessly; as soon as I tapped the button on my phone, a new tab opened on Edge on m y PC.

Heading home? Send the article you are reading on your phone to your PC.

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET Better bookmarking

Click the star button in Edge (or hit Control-D) and you'll see Edge's bookmark menu got a design refresh and better illustrates the folder hierarchy for your favorites, making it quicker and easier to find a folder to plop a new favorite. And on the Favorites hub itself, you'll find two new items on the right-click menu -- Sort by name and Edit URL. The former lets you arrange a list of favorites alphabetically and the latter lets you quickly edit a favorite's URL.

Better PDF and eBook reader

Microsoft added a few tools to make Edge more capable with PDFs and eBooks for touchscren PCs. With PDFs, you can now click the Add Notes button to the right of the URL bar to ink on the PDF, from signing your name and highlighting lines to adding comments and copying text. It's particularly useful for signing documents -- no longer will you need to add a weird electronic signature or, worse, print, sign and scan a PDF in order to send back a signed copy.

You can add highlights and notes to eBooks as well as PDF files.

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

For eBooks, students (and habitual notetakers) will rejoice at being able to mark up eBooks as you read them. Just highlight some text and a small menu will appear that lets you highlight the text, underline it, add a comment, copy it or open a Cortana panel along the Edge window's right edge without leaving the page you are on.

Read more: The 10 best new features of Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

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Source: 5 reasons to use Edge in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

Delta allegedly switching flight crew hardware from Surface to iPad in early 2018

  Airline Delta is allegedly in the process of switching its staff from Windows-based devices to iOS, with flight attendants set to replace Nokia handsets with the iPhone 7 Plus in early 2018, while pilots will apparently see their Microsoft Surface tablets exchanged for the 10.5-inch iPad Pro.

An email alleged to have been sent to Delta employees on October 18 advises of upcoming changes to devices provided to its flight crews. Received by MacOSKen, the email mentions the change will allegedly affect "more than 23,000 flight attendants and 14,000 pilots," with all receiving Apple hardware "as the airline transitions to its next generation of flight crew devices."

It is said the iPhone 7 Plus will replace existing Nokia Lumia 1520 phablets, which are used by attendants as an onboard customer service tool and an in-flight point of sale system. The change apparently brings Delta "in line with its Joint Venture partners at Aeromexico, Air France, KLM, and Virgin Atlantic."

"The new iOS device will continue to feature the Guest Service Tool which allows flight attendants to provide more personalized service and recognize high-value customers on each flight," the email states. "Flight attendants can also provide customers with the status of down-line flights and c onnecting gate information."

Pilots will apparently be provided an iPad Pro to replace their Surface tablets, used as an electronic flight bag. The iPad Pro will be loaded with Delta's suite of tools for pilots, "including the Jeppesen Flight Deck Pro for flight planning, the latest version of Delta's turbulence app - Flight Weather View Plus, and a content library containing detailed aircraft and procedural manuals."

Delta is said to "join many other airlines, including key global partners, in leveraging the iOS platform to provide a high degree of synergy and cooperation in the continued development and enhancement of aviation applications."

Despite supposedly moving away from Microsoft's hardware, Delta will apparently continue to "maintain a strong an positive partnership" with the company, noting that some of the customer service-oriented apps are "powered by Microsoft Dynamics."

The email advises "Delta will begin jointly rolling out the iPads to pilots and iPhones to flight attendants early next year."

While the email is credited to "Staff Writer" and there is no issued PR relating to the change thus far, it is worth noting MacOSKen received two messages from two individuals about the hardware update. While one provided the email in its entirety, the other message from a different individual provided a brief summary of the changes.

AppleInsider has also confirmed the story with a source within Delta not authorized to speak for the company.

Delta started testing the use of electronic flight bags on domestic flights in 2011, before committing to the scheme in 2013 by rolling out the Microsoft Surface 2 to pilots. At around the same time, Delta had closed a deal to equip its flight attendants with the Nokia Lumia 820 smartphone for customer service tasks.

The use of a tablet as an electronic flight bag is intended to be a space and cost-saving measure, replacing the paper manuals and other required flight doc umentation that can weigh as much as 40 pounds. The iPad was approved for such use by the Federal Aviation Authority in 2011, and was also in use by American Airlines and Alaska Airlines shortly after approval was granted.

At the time of the full rollout, a pilot working for Delta claimed to AppleInsider that flight crews "fought hard for iPad," suggesting the deal with Microsoft was about money, travel contracts, and Delta's Information Technology staff historically being "in bed" with Microsoft.

Source: Delta allegedly switching flight crew hardware from Surface to iPad in early 2018

Ouch: Delta to Give Up on Windows Phone, Surface for Apple’s iPhone and iPad

Delta Air Lines is informing staff that it's going to be replacing Microsoft's devices, including here Windows phones and Surface tablets, with Apple products because of an obvious reason.

In a private email that reached the web this week, Delta says the transition will begin in early 2018 when all its 23,000 flight attendants and 14,000 pilots will have to give up on their Windows phones and Surface tablets, but instead be provided with Apple iPhones and iPad Pros.

As for the iPhone models they're going to choose, Delta won't pick the new iPhone 8, but the iPhone 7 Plus, which will replace the already outdated Lumia 1520 that were purchased in 2014.

"The new iOS device will continue to feature the Guest Service Tool which allows flight attendants to provide more personalized service and recognize high-value customers on each flight. Flight attendants can also provide customers with the status of down-line flights and connecting gate information. The device also brings Delta in line with its Joint Venture partners at Aeromexico, Air France, KLM and Virgin Atlantic," Delta explained in the email (which you can read in full below).

The Windows 10 Mobile demise

As for the Surface, Delta says the iPad Pro will become the electronic flight bag and will continue to feature the entire suite of tools for pilots, like the Jeppesen Flight Deck Pro for flight planning, the latest version of Delta's turbulence app — Flight Weather Viewer Plus, and a content library containing detailed aircraft and procedural manuals.

Microsoft has recently announced that Windows 10 Mobile is only in maintenance mode, with no new features and hardware on the radar, choosing instead to focus on enterprise.

Unfortunately for the software giant though, the lack of a mobile platform seems to be leading to major losses, especially among partners that are fully committed to one ecosystem, as it's the case of Delta.

The airline wants to use smartphones and tablets from the same company and running the same operating system for consistency and sync, so without a mobile platform, Microsoft cannot be considered a potential solution right now.

Source: Ouch: Delta to Give Up on Windows Phone, Surface for Apple's iPhone and iPad

SCED congratulates film director Wong Kar-wai on receiving Lumière Award

  SCED congratulates film director Wong Kar-wai on receiving Lumière Award

Hong Kong (HKSAR) -      The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Edward Yau, today (October 21) congratulated renowned Hong Kong film director Wong Kar-wai for receiving the Lumière Award at the Lumière Festival 2017 in Lyon, France. Wong is the first Hong Kong filmmaker to be bestowed the honour.

     "The award is an international recognition of the exceptional contribution of Wong to the film industry worldwide. We applaud his achievement in successfully demonstrating to the international audience the quality and stylistic work of our Hong Kong filmmakers," Mr Yau said.

     Created in 2009 by the Institut Lumière, the festival has become one of the largest international festivals of classic cinema.

Previous awardees have included directors Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino and Clint Eastwood.

     Mr Yau said the numerous international awards scooped by Hong Kong filmmakers in recent years is an encouraging sign that their q uality work has been well received in the international film arena. The Government will continue to work with the Film Development Council to support the film industry in Hong Kong on various fronts with a view to promoting its sustainable development. 

Published on: 2017-10-21

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Source: SCED congratulates film director Wong Kar-wai on receiving Lumière Award

RIP Windows Phones? Not Quite

The Surface Phone is dead? Nope. Microsoft needs mobile to survive.

I recently wrote about a rumored Microsoft Surface Phone. Since then, Microsoft exec Joe Belfiore has said the company will no longer focus on new features and/or hardware for Windows Phone.

That might lead you to believe that the subject of my previous column—a complete PC in a phone—will never happen now. But the opposite is clearly true. Microsoft is playing word games and hoping to make a profound impact when it does roll out a Surface Phone.

The first thing to note is the discontinuation of Windows 10 Mobile. Why would the company do this when it spent over two decades on mobile platforms starting with Windows CE in 1996? This is the product that evolved into Windows 10 Mobile. This halt seems abrupt, doesn't it?

I think Microsoft will continue on the mobile path, but with plain ol' Windows 10 running on a phone. Any voice call functionality will come from a Windows 10 app.

The idea of running native Windows on extremely small platforms is not a new idea. Years back, a number of companies tried to sell diminutive sub-laptop computers with full Windows functionality. This was a weird fad that coincidentally also began in 1996 with the debut of the 30-ounce Toshiba Libretto, which was the lightest full-function Windows machine anywhere at the time. This ridiculously small machine spawned other and various miniaturized PCs running actual Windows, not a mobile version. And it continues today with devices like the Intel Compute Stick and the NUC.

Thus, it has been known for 20 years that you could eventually cram a real PC into a miniscule mobile phone-sized package.

Saying that Windows 10 Mobile will no longer be developed only means that Microsoft has determined that it is time to consolidate its mobile OS into its desktop OS.

Everything from Surface Phone onward will run Windows programs or applications. (The "app" concept, which has always sounded idiotic if not juvenile, may finally fall by the wayside.) Then, Microsoft can lord it over the competition by having an actual PC in the handsets of its users.

Let me re-iterate what everyone knows. The mobile device is the future of internet access and has been encroaching on the desktop and laptop for a decade. Microsoft will not sit by and watch as iOS and Android become the general-purpose operating systems of the future.

The best shot Microsoft has is full consolidation of all hardware platforms under one OS. I'm thinking this scheme has been in the works since or before Windows 8. By not allowing any hint of what it had up its sleeve, much like Steve Jobs would have done at Apple, Microsoft can cause a much bigger stir in a surprise announcement.

Imagine the script for this rollout. Satya Nadella roams the stage dressed in black. "Now that we have become leaders in the laptop space with our Surface Pro and leaders with our all-in-one Surface Studio, people have asked 'what about a powerful desktop PC?' A machine that is both powerful and can run all the Windows applications ever written. And which can easily utilize the cloud. Well here it is," he says, pulling out the Surface Phone from his back pocket.

Everyone (especially planted stooges in the audience) goes nuts. Nadella begins a spiel about how long it took to develop, its power, its sexy design, its screen resolution. Then a curtain opens revealing a workstation and docking station. He shoves the phone into the docking station. A huge monster version of the screen lights up over the crowd, showing Windows 10 connecting to the cloud as the phone becomes a full-blown desktop replacement. Boom. Standing ovation.

It will probably drag on after that. The perfect topper would be to give everyone in the audience a phone, then maybe do a balloon drop.

Microsoft already knows that this is exactly what it must do.

Source: RIP Windows Phones? Not Quite

Hiya, a Whitepages spinout, nabs $18M for its smart caller ID technology

Hiya came to life a year ago when it was spun out by Whitepages to take on TrueCaller and others in the world of smart caller ID services. Using machine learning analytics on a vast database of calling data (3.5 billion calls to date), Seattle-based Hiya's mission has been to supercharge the humble phone call — by providing detailed information about who is calling you, whether it's a regular person or an IRS fraudster.

Now a fully independent company, Hiya is today announcing its first outside funding to grow its business: a Series A of $18 million led by Balderton with participation also from Nautilus Venture Partners and Lumia Capital.

Making a phone call is the oldest and possibly most neglected feature of a mobile phone these days, and Alex Algard — a Swede who founded and led Whitepages but left that business to lead and build Hiya — told TechCrunch in an interview that the funding will be used to change that perception by adding in more services to make calls more useful and actionable.

"We recognise that there has been remarkable little innovation on what is the core app of the smartphone, the phone app itself," he said. "We think this is a massive opportunity, and we're partnering with smartphone OEMs and wireless carriers to provide innovation as deeply as possible."

The cash infusion comes after a year of pretty impressive growth for the startup: Hiya already has 20 million users in 196 countries using its services to screen calls and messages, by virtue of the fact that it deep partnerships with carriers like T-Mobile and AT&T, and Samsung and ZTE, two of the world's biggest phone makers.

Companies like these integrate Hiya's technology directly into select models of their phones and diallers; and for those not on those networks and using phones made by those OEMs — namely the iPhone, where Apple keeps the calling experience close — Hiya also has an app.

Hiya's growth comes at an interesting juncture in the mobile world. When it comes to communicating on smartphones in the modern world, a lot of the focus is on messaging apps, where you can better control who you chat with, whether it's via a text-based message or an audio or video call. But there's also a trend in the mobile world where we are seeing some smart tech solutions emerging to evolve some of the more legacy functions of phones into the modern era.

One of the reasons why non-native messaging apps have proven to be so popular is that they have let people control their communications experiences in a better way: for example, with Messenger, you connect with people who are your contacts already, and those who are not can be relegated never to be seen by you.

And you can increasingly use that platform for much more, such as sending money or finding out movie times (or sending stickers). In that regard, SMS and phone calls have been overrun on two fronts: by technology, and by spam and unsolicited inbound contact, often from people you have no interest in hearing from.

That's all changing, however. Just as Google and others have been working on making good old SMS more useful with the development of RCS, and Zipwhip (also based out of Seattle) is building a backend to help businesses manage their SMS usage in a more up-to-date way, Hiya is attempting to bring back some dignity to the neglected phone dialler.

By providing a big infusion of data behind the scenes, the idea is that Hiya's tech gives you a bigger and better picture of what is going on behind each ring of your phone. It's coming not a moment too soon, it seems, as carriers are seeing their core revenues and uses (and subsequent brand loyalty) getting hit every day by "over the top" app providers.

"We are restoring trust in the phone call," Algard says. "There are so many unidentified phone calls coming through and a good portion are unwanted nuisance calls. People are no longer picking up the phone when it rings because of that enormous erosion of trust."

Hiya's first year of business was focused on inbound calls — essentially the data that you see on your phone screen when a call comes in — the startup is now expanding that to also consider the business opportunity of outbound.

It's building a service for businesses so that they can customise how their caller ID looks when they call people, with more details about addresses and other services. These come up not just when a call is being made, but when a user looks at a call log later and needs to follow up on something, such as the location of a business and how to get there. That has a lot of potential for companies and for us as users: imagine seeing your purchasing history and whether an order is ready after you phone in a prescription to your pharmacy.

I asked about how spammers and unwanted calls are identified, and Algard was unequivocal in noting that whatever data the company amasses and parses comes only from the call log data that the company collects by way of its integrations with carriers — not from the content of the calls themselves. (As an example of how this might work: if a particular number is connecting with dozens of people over a short period of time and the calls are not lasting for more than a few seconds, you can start to build a profile of what kind of caller this might be.)

Still, there is a clear opportunity to start to enhance Hiya — as and when people consent to call recordings, such as in cases of customer service calls — to use natural language processing to analyse conversations and use these to also inform the kind of data that the startup provides both to users and companies, and to help build a better picture of what you, the user, might deem an unwanted call.

And there is other evidence that the space of on-phone, native services like calls and SMS is not quite over just yet. Witness the news that Apple recently acquired the team of messaging app Init.ai, and may end up using some of its tech, too — which was based around being able to offer more intelligence around interactions between businesses and their customers, tapping into natural language and voice recognition.

"Voice is at the top of the agenda right now when it comes to the user interface," said Lars Fjeldsoe-Nielsen, Balderton's partner who led its investment in Hiya and is now also joining the board. That trend will be an interesting one to watch as we start to see tech companies tackle old frontiers like phone calls, as well as new ones. 

Hiya is not disclosing its valuation with this round.

Featured Image: Hiya
Source: Hiya, a Whitepages spinout, nabs $18M for its smart caller ID technology

Microsoft Kills Two More Windows Phones

Microsoft has already acknowledged the death of Windows 10 Mobile as a platform, and now the company is making another decision that's likely to cause frustration in the shrinking community of users who haven't yet migrated to Android and iOS.

The company published the list of devices that continue to receive updates on Windows 10 Mobile, and which should still be supported when the Fall Creators Update (feature2) goes live sometime soon, and two popular models are nowhere to be seen.

Both the Lumia 640 and 640 XL have disappeared completely and by the looks of things, only four different Microsoft Lumia phones continue to be supported, namely the Lumia 550, 650, 950, and 950 XL. Other than that, the list includes non-Microsoft devices like the HP Elite X3, Alcatel IDOL 4S, and VAIO Phone Biz.

Microsoft hasn't said a single thing about pulling support for the Lumia 640 and 640 XL, but given how quiet the company has been lately on Windows phones, this isn't such a big surprise.

Only 13 models still getting updates

Furthermore, it's something that Microsoft uses to do ahead of new OS releases, as the company drops support for specifics Windows phones, shrinking the list of models that are getting updates with every Windows 10 Mobile update. According to this list, only 13 models will continue to receive updates, some of them with a few variations, like the HP Elite X3 which is supported in unlocked versions, at Verizon and Telstra.

As for the release date of the upcoming Windows 10 Mobile update, nothing is known at this point, but it shouldn't take too long before the release goes live. Unfortunately, there's nothing to really be excited about, as the update includes mostly bug fixes and refinements, with only a bunch of new features that are mostly aimed at enterprises.

Below you can find the full list of models that are still being supported by Microsoft for Windows 10 Mobile:

HP Elite X3 (unlocked, Verizon, Telstra) Wileyfox Pro Lumia 550 Lumia 650 Lumia 950 Lumia 950 XL Alcatel IDOL 4S Alcatel IDOL 4S Pro Alcatel OneTouch Fierce XL Softbank 503LV VAIO Phone Biz MouseComputer MADOSMA Q601 Trinity NuAns Neo

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Source: Microsoft Kills Two More Windows Phones

Microsoft Lumia 640 and 640 XL won't receive the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

Microsoft may not be actively developing new features for Windows 10 Mobile anymore, as recently confirmed by an exec, but the company is still supporting some older Windows phones with bug fixes, security updates, and minor improvements here and there. The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, which started rolling out to PCs yesterday, is one such iterative release for smartphones.

However, there are two handsets that will never see this version of the OS making it to them: the Lumia 640 and 640 XL. Microsoft has decided to end software support for the duo with the Fall Creators Update launch.

Microsoft Lumia 640

The phones that will get the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update are: Alcatel Idol 4s, Alcatel OneTouch Fierce XL, HP Elite x3, Microsoft Lumia 550, Lumia 650, Lumia 950, Lumia 950 XL, MouseComputer Madosma Q601, Softbank 503LV, Trinity NuAns Neo, VAIO Phone Biz, and Wileyfox Pro.

The update should go out to these devices any day now, but the full rollout may take several weeks.

Source

Source: Microsoft Lumia 640 and 640 XL won't receive the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

Don't be fooled: Windows Mixed Reality headsets are just VR headsets

On October 17 Microsoft released the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. It adds a ton of new features, but the most important may be Windows Mixed Reality. Timed alongside the Fall Creators Update release is the first slate of Microsoft's Windows Mixed Reality headsets, sourced from third-party manufacturers like Acer, Lenovo, HP, Dell, and more.

Now you might be thinking, "I've heard of Virtual Reality (VR) and I've even heard of Augmented Reality (AR), but what is Mixed Reality (MR)?" And I'll tell you what Windows Mixed Reality is at the moment, at least as far as the first round of headsets is concerned: A misleading buzzword.

[ Further reading: The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update's best new features ]

It's just VR (for now)

Microsoft's use of "Mixed Reality" is aspirational. Future-proofed. It's a catch-all term spanning both the virtual and augmented sides of the reality spectrum. The hope, as I understand it, is eventually to bundle the capabilities of VR and AR headsets into one unit—a true "MR" headset.

That's not where we are today though, and Microsoft's use of "Mixed Reality" to delineate this current batch of headsets invites confusion. They are not "MR" headsets, with dual VR and AR modes. There are no HoloLens-like holograms, no unobstructed view of the world around you. Outside of the HoloLens itself, Mixed Reality's current augmented reality capabilities are limited to software on Windows 10 PCs, like the Paint 3D and the Mixed Reality Viewer apps that let you project digital objects into the real world on your laptop. (And I don't think this qualifies as augmented reality anyway, as you can't interact with those objects—they're just images poorly pasted over your environment).

No, these first "Windows Mixed Reality" devices are VR headsets, plain and simple.

HTC, Oculus, Microsoft

The first Windows Mixed Reality headsets (bottom) are functionally similar to VR headsets like HTC Vive and Oculus Rift (top).

Microsoft's reference design does deviate from the other VR headsets currently on the market. Most notably, Windows Mixed Reality headsets rely on inside-out position tracking by way of cameras mounted on the front of the headset. This allows Microsoft's headsets to be used with minimal setup, whereas the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive require separate base stations to be placed before use.

Mentioned in this article

Microsoft's implementation is superior during setup, but is it superior in performance? Well, you can read my Dell Visor impressions from PAX if you want a deep dive into Microsoft's design, but the short answer is "No." Inside-out tracking solves one problem (base stations) but is less precise, and it also introduces issues with hand-positioning. We'll have a lengthier review in the coming days, once I've spent more time with the release models, though I don't expect my opinion to shift much.

But again, the bigger issue here is that this first batch of Microsoft headsets are simply not "mixed reality" headsets at all. The headsets themselves are completely enclosed and opaque, with a digital world created on the screens inside for you to interact with. This is precisely the same as the Rift and Vive, and I don't hear anyone calling those "MR headsets." Because it's VR.

[ Further reading: HTC Vive vs. Oculus Rift vs. Windows Mixed Reality: What's the difference? ]

"Mixed Reality" confuses consumers IDG / Hayden Dingman

The main function of the cameras on the front of Mixed Reality headsets like this Dell Visor is to track your motion controllers.

Microsoft's usage of the term Mixed Reality is needlessly confusing. I've seen this confusion manifest in friends, in coworkers, even in other tech reporters. There seems to be some promise held in the term, an implication that these headsets do include HoloLens-style augmented reality capabilities. After all, if these don't fit some newfangled genre of device, surely Microsoft would simply call them VR headsets and be done with it, right?

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Yes, they should—but they haven't. I don't know if it's marketing or merely corporate buzzwording gone mad, but we are left with a class of devices that promise something in their name that literally doesn't exist and likely won't exist for many years to come. Hell, HoloLens costs $3,000 for a development kit and still barely functions the way you'd like. We're a long way off from trackerless VR and AR coexisting in the same headset.

The closest I've seen was CastAR, which promised AR by way of proprietary reflective surfaces, plus VR in the same device by attaching what was essentially a fancy cover—but for all I know that was theoretical. I never saw CastAR's VR capabilities demoed, and the company doesn't even exist anymore.

Bottom line

The point is: Don't be duped. If you buy one of Microsoft's new devices expecting a VR headset? Fine. I'm not sure why you would, at least at launch: Microsoft's headsets will only work with the Windows 10 Store for a few months until Steam VR support is patched in, which means you are limited to a subset of a subset of VR experiences. Think Windows Phone levels of support. That's doubly frustrating for anyone who already owns a Vive or Rift, since none of the experiences you've already purchased will work until probably late November or even December at the earliest.

Microsoft

Windows Mixed Reality headsets.

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Oculus Rift's recent price cut to $400 makes Windows Mixed Reality an even tougher sell for Microsoft. At one point Microsoft seemed like it would have a huge advantage on price compared to existing VR headsets, but now these Windows Mixed Reality devices—even the low-end models—cost as much or more than a Rift when bundled with MR controllers.

The Acer model that Microsoft's pushed as its flagship is $399 with controllers on Amazon, and the Lenovo Explorer bundle costs the same. HP and Dell's WMR kits sell for $449, while the Samsung Odyssey will top the list at $499 when it launches November 6. And unlike the Oculus Rift, most Mixed Reality headsets lack integrated audio.

But hey, if you want one over a Rift or Vive, go for it. Just don't expect a "Mixed Reality" experience, or you will be sorely, sorely disappointed.

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Source: Don't be fooled: Windows Mixed Reality headsets are just VR headsets