Google Announces 97 Percent of YouTube Traffic is Now Encrypted
Google yesterday posted an entry on its YouTube Engineering and Developers Blog, detailing the increased encryption achieved by the company for its video streaming site. Over the past few months, Google has slowly bolstered the encryption for YouTube, and now 97 percent of the service’s traffic is encrypted using HTTPS.
The encryption-enforcing protocol provides “critical security and data integrity” for any website that uses it, and all of its visitors. YouTube said that three reasons it took the company so long to reach this high level of encryption was because of the heavy traffic the site receives daily, the breadth of devices that HTTPS needs to work on due to YouTube’s ubiquity, and “mixed content” that leads to lots of potentially non-secure requests.
We’re also proud to be using HTTP Secure Transport Security (HSTS) on youtube.com to cut down on HTTP to HTTPS redirects. This improves both security and latency for end users. Our HSTS lifetime is one year, and we hope to preload this soon in web browsers.
In the real world, we know that any non-secure HTTP traffic could be vulnerable to attackers. All websites and apps should be protected with HTTPS.
The company also pointed out that its website isn’t at a full 100 percent encryption rate yet because “some devices do not fully support modern HTTPS.” It’s doing its best to support the widest number of smartphones, tablets, and browsers with the new security protocol, but admitted that down the line, to ensure the safety of all its users, it plans to “gradually phase out insecure connections.”
Tags: Google, YouTube
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LG UH8500 series review – CNET
The Good With support for both Dolby Vision and HDR10 formats, the UH8500 can access more high dynamic range content than other TVs. Color accuracy and bright-room performance are solid. The design is attractive, and the motion remote is one of the best available.
The Bad Similarly-priced TVs perform much better.
The Bottom Line An attractive design and cutting-edge compatibility add the LG’s UH8500’s appeal on paper, but in person its image can’t beat competitors.
There’s a lot of ingredients that contribute to the picture quality you see on your TV at home, but the two most important are the quality of the source and the quality of the display.
High dynamic range (HDR) video, whether from streaming sources like Netflix and Amazon, or 4K Blu-ray discs, is the best source you can watch at home today. LG deserves credit for being the first TV maker to support both types of HDR content, Dolby Vision and HDR10, with its 2016 TVs. Today at least, that means TVs like the UH8500 can access more HDR TV shows and movies than other devices.
That leaves the display part of the equation, which is where the UH8500 comes up short. At CES I called out LG’s “Super UHD” marketing term, denoting its best non-OLED TVs, as openly derivative of rival Samsung’s SUHD brand. Now that I’ve had a chance to compare both TV directly, side-by-side, it’s clear that the LG UH8500 is the least “super” of the two.
LG’s OLED TVs, on the other hand, really are super. In fact, the 55-inch member of the UH8500 series costs just as much as the 55EG9100, LG’s cheapest OLED. In terms of source compatibility and cutting-edge features, the UH8500 is superior. But for pure picture quality, the lowly non-4K, non-HDR curved OLED is much better. It’s not even close.
LG UH8500 series (pictures)
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Series information: I performed a hands-on evaluation of the 55-inch 55UH8500, but this review also applies to the other screen sizes in the series. All sizes have identical specifications and according to the manufacturer should provide very similar picture quality.
LG also makes a couple of other related series grouped under the Super moniker, the UH7700 and UH9500 series. Both have similar picture quality to the UH8500 reviewed here, according to LG. The only image quality difference the company specified was in color gamut; the more-expensive 8500 and 9500 models cover 90% of the DCI/P3 color space, and the 7700 about 84% (see below for more). The 8500 and 9500 also have 3D while the 7700 does not. Between the 8500 and 9500, the only difference is styling; the 9500 has an “Ultra Slim design with 4-sided even bezel” according to LG.
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Metallic TV, motion remote
TVs today look basically the same, with thin frames and more or less-thin cabinets, so the major external difference often comes down to color: black or silver? The quietly attractive LG UH8500 goes the mostly-silver route with its metallic finish, leaving just a thin strip of black butting up against the screen. LG also continues its recent quirk of coloring the back of the TV white.
The remote is basically the same as last year, and I’m a fan. LG kept its trademark motion control, which allows you to whip around the menus with a responsive cursor rather than a plodding directional keypad. That keypad is still available too, if you want it, along with a slick rubberized scroll wheel.
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The clicker is bigger than many and relies more on buttons than the menu system, but since they’re logically placed and easy to differentiate by feel, I don’t mind. Cable box control is prominent, although control for other devices isn’t nearly as advanced as Samsung’s system, and unfortunately the motion doesn’t work on every app and menu.
Web OS is OK, but not as good as other Smart TVs
I prefer the competing 2016 Smart TV systems from Samsung, Sony (Android TV) and especially Roku TV over LG’s latest incarnation of its Web OS smart TV system. I appreciate that LG’s menus are snappier and easier to use than before, and the new “focus zoom” to magnify on-screen selections is cool, but they seem more cluttered–especially now that there’s an ad on the home page–and less intuitive than the others.
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4K streaming with Dolby Vision HDR is available from Netflix, Amazon and Vudu, which outpaces the HDR selection of Samsung (which lacks Vudu’s HDR) and Vizio (which lacks Amazon’s) and matches Sony’s. 4K-capable apps include YouTube and Xfinity’s lame 4K sampler, formerly exclusive to Samsung, which only works for Comcast subscribers.
Other apps are hit or miss. You get Hulu, Crackle, MLB TV, Plex, Google Play Movies and TV, Spotify and Pandora, for example, but LG’s system is missing both HBOs (Go and Now), Showtime (or Anytime), Pluto TV, Sling TV, Watch ESPN, CBS All Access, PBS, PBS Kids, and more. Roku and Android TV have all of those, and many more niche apps too, while Samsung’s selection is about the same, give or take a few services.
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To browse new apps you’ll visit the LG Content Store, which also lists TV shows and movies from different streaming services. It’s a frustrating way new stuff to watch. The suggestions are sort of a hodgepodge, menu design is less than intuitive, and pricing from Amazon isn’t listed until you click through. You can also search TV shows and movies via voice or text, but results are presented in a confusing way, and again less satisfying than Roku, Samsung or Android TV, despite decent voice recognition.
In the end LG’s system is good enough to get the job done, but today’s external streaming devices, and many competitive Smart TV systems, are superior.
Key TV features
| LED LCD |
| Edge-lit with local dimming |
| 4K |
| HDR10 and Dolby Vision |
| Flat |
| Web OS 2.0 |
| Motion |
| Passive |
Features and connectivity
The big standout here is compatibility with both types of HDR format, but even beyond that the UH8500 is well-equipped. Its edge-lit backlight uses local dimming, although since it has an IPS-style panel, its overall contrast is still limited (see Picture Quality for more). Like most 4K LCD sets the UH8500 has a 120Hz refresh rate; its “TruMotion 240Hz” specification is so much hooey.
LG’s web site lists “LG IPS 4K quantum display” as a feature, but don’t confuse that with actual quantum dots, like those found in Samsung’s SUHD TVs. Instead, according to LG, it refers to general improvements made to the panel (color gamut, screen brightness and contrast). There’s also a “Tru Black Panel” feature that “reduces stray light from being emitted in order to create a deeper black level” according to the company. Not deep enough, according to me.
The UH8500 is one of the few TVs available today to include 3D, a particularly notable feature since Samsung canned that feature in 2016. The combination of LG’s passive 3D and 4K resolution should warm the hearts of third-dimension fans everywhere. LG includes two pair of 3D glasses (I didn’t test 3D performance for this review, and don’t plan to do so unless there’s a revolt in the comments section).
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- 3x HDMI inputs with HDMI 2.0a, HDCP 2.2
- 3x USB ports
- 1x component video input
- 1x composite video input (shared with component)
- Ethernet (LAN) port
- Optical digital audio output
- RF (antenna) input
- Remote (RS-232) port (minijack)
Most competitors offer four HDMI but the UH8500 makes do with three, although all are state-of-the-art. Unlike many of Samsung’s sets, this one actually has an analog video input for legacy (non-HDMI) devices.
Picture quality
Despite the fancy-sounding features and cutting-edge compatibility, the UH8500 is not among the best-performing TVs available. It shows some strengths, including accurate color and the excellent bright-room qualities of high light output and an effective anti-reflective screen. But washed-out black levels and excessive blooming, especially evident with HDR material (regardless of format) resign its overall picture quality to a level below most peers.
Click the image at the right to see the picture settings used in the review and to read more about how this TV’s picture controls worked during calibration.
Comparison Models
- Insignia NS-50DR710NA17 (50-inch 4K LED LCD)
- LG 55EG9100 (55-inch 1080p OLED)
- Samsung UN65KS8000 (65-inch 4K LED LCD)
- Sony XBR-65X850D (65-inch 4K LED LCD)
- Vizio P65-C1 (65-inch 4K LED LCD)
Dim lighting: Although better than the Sony in a dark room environment, the UH8500 still fell a good deal short of the Samsung, the Vizio and the OLED in this important category, and didn’t look much better than the Insignia. As usual the difference was best revealed during some difficult dark scenes, including the evening and nighttime shots during Chapter 4 of The Revenant. The letterbox bars, shadows and other dark areas of the LG’s were relatively light, making the overall image appear much less contrasty and impactful than the three superior sets.
Windows 10 Anniversary Update: What does the Settings app offer?
There are a bunch of small changes in the new Settings app, thanks to the new Anniversary Update to Windows 10 that’s rolling out now, but one of the more visually-pleasing changes is the new Dark mode.
The Settings app is now more user-friendly and makes finding what you’re looking for easier than ever before. With the Anniversary Update, many things are now customisable, giving you the ability to change which buttons, shortcuts, colours, and notifications you want to see. For example, you can now edit the importance of notifications from each app and how many of those notifications you want to see at a time in the Action Center.
There are more opportunities to customise your Windows 10 device, and it is much easier to do so with the new layout of the settings menu. The layout, which gives you the name of each settings section and customisation options for each, makes finding what you’re looking for simple. Once you open a section, such as Personalisation, which is for “background, lock screen, colours”, there is a left side panel that shows all the options available.
Here is a round-up of more major changes in the new Settings app.
Pocket-lint
Dark Mode
In the Anniversary Update, there are now multiple ways to change the colours for your windows. The biggest of such change is the introduction of Dark Mode. In the “Choose your app mode” section, you can choose from the default “light mode” or the new “Dark mode” that gives certain apps and windows a black background instead of white. Some of the apps this affects are Settings, Alarms and Clocks, Calculator, and Groove Music. To find this and other colour settings, go to Settings > Personalization > and Colours. Other apps like Edge and Skype can also be viewed in Dark Mode by just going to that app’s personal settings. Edge’s Dark Mode can be turned on by choosing More (three dots in top-right corner) > Settings > Choose theme > and Dark.
Pocket-lint
You also have 49 different options as an accent colour – the colour that shows up in many of your windows, like in Settings, and most of the lettering and logos can get a new accent colour, too. You can also choose for the new accent colour to appear in the taskbar, Start menu, Action Center, and title bar. If you want this colour to mirror your background, and there isn’t an option you like in the field to choose from, you can select a colour from your background.
Pocket-lint
Notifications
By going to Settings > System > and Notifications and Actions, you can change how you receive and see notifications – their priority, in other words – in the Action Center. Some notifications from certain apps may be more important than others, so you can change which apps’ notifications appear before the rest, raising the level of priority between normal, high, and top. You also have the option of changing how many notifications are visible for one app, with the default being three, though you can go as high as 20.
Pocket-lint
Each app can be edited, and so can the way you see the Action Center with the Quick Action Menu. You can move each of the tiles around to where you prefer them, too, and toggle them on or off (including having all of them off).
Active hours
It can be frustrating when you go to turn your device on and then you’re hit with 20 minutes of updates, or while you’re working, your computer needs to stop and update. Well, with the ability to set active hours, you can change the times you are usually using the device, so when a restart is needed to finish an update, it won’t do so during those hours. You can also set a time when you want a restart to take place. To make these changes, go to Settings > Update and security > and Windows update.
Projecting
You now have the ability to project your devices from other Windows devices such as Windows phones and computers. This allows for a Windows phone, for example, to access your mouse and keyboard using the Connect app. To enable this or choose when it is allowed, go to Settings > System > and Projecting to this PC.
Search
In the Settings app, under each section, there is a search bar that is more convenient to use than in the past. Now, when searching, a drop-down bar appears as you type, giving you instant results to choose from instead of automatically bringing you to some result/place. In the Settings app, the search bar is in the middle of the screen, just above the nine settings sections. In each of the sections, the search bar is moved to the top-left above the tabs.
Here are some of the wallpapers from this year’s Nexus phones
We’re still awaiting concrete information regarding this year’s Nexus phones, but the folks at Android Police have managed to obtain some of the wallpapers that will be debuting on the handsets.
The HTC-made Nexuses are codenamed Marlin and Sailfish, and as such we’re treated to a lot of aquatic-themed imagery. Android Police also made full-size versions of the wallpapers available for download. If you want to get started with using the wallpapers on your current phone, hit up this link.
Windows 10 Anniversary Update: How has the taskbar changed?
There are a few tweaks in the taskbar, and many of these improvements will make working on your device much easier, as you’ll no longer have to dig for anything, with much of what you need being a mouse-click away.
Here’s what’s new in the taskbar, thanks to the Anniversary Update.
Pocket-lint
Notifications
With the new update, all Windows Store apps now have a badge. This makes it so those apps can display the number of notifications you have, like from Facebook and Twitter, and it’s meant to give you the ability to see your notifications and alerts at a glance.
This is one of the few new features that comes enabled with the update, but you can always disable it if you don’t like the numbers cluttering your taskbar. To do this, along with any other changes you want to make to your taskbar, go to Settings > Personalisation > and taskbar. Another way of getting there is by right-clicking on the taskbar and selecting settings.
Pocket-lint
Customisation
Even though the taskbar doesn’t have a different look, there are a few features that you have the ability to change. You can always pin and unpin apps from your taskbar, but a new feature now lets you hide the taskbar when entering tablet mode. You can also hide the taskbar in desktop mode. To enable either of these features, just go to the taskbar Settings page.
You can also change the colour of your taskbar, which will also change the colour of your Start menu and Action Center. The colour you choose as your accent colour will be the one that shows up on all three of these, along with many other windows throughout your device.
Pocket-lint
Action Center
As part of the taskbar, the Action Center also received a number of updates. It was moved to the end of the taskbar – in the right corner of the screen next to the time and date.
With how you receive notifications from apps now, the Action Center takes them all and puts them in one place to view. Also, the Anniversary Update introduces app badges for notifications, and you can view these in the Action Center as well as across the system. The notifications and alerts from apps, such as Facebook, Twitter, Outlook, and other Windows Store apps, all go to the Action Center, along with the notifications from other things you have enabled on your device, like alerts from your phone or other devices connected through Cortana.
Pocket-lint
Audio source
In the past, if you wanted to change the source of your audio output, it was a pain finding the buried setting. Now, all it takes is clicking the volume button and choosing from the devices you have connected.
Pocket-lint
Clock and calendar
The Windows 10 Anniversary Update makes setting appointments and reminders much quicker and richer, and it’s also much easier to see what you have going on during a particular day. To look at today’s schedule, select the time and date, and that’ll open up the calendar with the day’s scheduled events. If you don’t want to see your agenda, you can choose the “Hide agenda” button.
How to upgrade your Xbox One storage by 2TB and more: That’s up to 100 additional games
It cannot be disputed that the new generation of gaming has been an outstanding success, with more consoles shifted than ever before and more games in the first couple of years after launch than many could have dreamed of. However, there is one issue we’ve had with our current gen machines that we’re sure many others will also have experienced already; neither has a big enough hard drive.
In an age where digital downloads are replacing disc media and even physical games require installation to the hard drive by default, 500GB – the size of the HDD on both the standard Xbox One and PS4 consoles – is just not enough. You could opt for a 1TB version or even the 2TB Xbox One S that’s now available, but considering that some games are around 46GB to 58GB (yep, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, we’re looking at you), you will fill up even that internal drive eventually. And, with games of that size taking an absolute age to download over broadband, even with a 100Mbps connection or more, it’s not ideal to have to delete games to make room for new ones.
There is a solution though. You can always add to or replace the hard drive. And on the Xbox One or Xbox One S that’s a doddle. It doesn’t even require a screwdriver.
Unlike the PS4, which can only be upgraded by removing and replacing the original drive, since an update earlier this year the Xbox One recognises external hard drives, as long as they have a USB 3.0 connection. And once installed they can be used in exactly the same way as the existing internal HDD.
We’ve done it ourselves in fact, expanding our own Xbox One hard drive by a further 2TB, which is enough for anywhere up to an estimated 100 games (on an average of 20 – 25GB per game). And what’s more, it runs as smoothly, if not faster than the internal drive that came with the machine. Here’s how…
The drive
First choice you need to make is which external drive you will use. We chose the WD My Passport Ultra 2TB Metal Edition. It’s USB 3.0, doesn’t require an external power source so doesn’t take up an additional socket under our AV cabinet, and its aluminium finish suits the decals on the Xbox One well (even though it will mainly be out of sight in our case). At around £85 for 2TB it’s also good value. Even better value is the conventional version of the WD My Passport Ultra 2TB external drive, which is currently £80 on Amazon.co.uk.
You can pay a bit more and opt for a 7200 RPM drive instead (the My Passport Ultra is 5400 RPM) but we’ve gone for convenience, no noise and price. And after all, the Xbox One internal drive is 5400 RPM too, so the performance will at least match it.
You can also opt for a lager capacity drive. We’re not sure if there’s a maximum (just a minimum of 256GB) but suspect not. Of course, it all boils down to price in that case. Alternatively, you could add multiple drives – after all there are three USB 3.0 ports on the Xbox One. You can’t daisy chain additional drives though as the console will only accept up to three external drives in total.
READ: Xbox One: One year on, how the underdog recovered from painful beginnings
The set-up
Once you have your drive to hand, set-up is simple. Plug it into one of the three USB 3.0 ports (two on the rear, one on the side) when the Xbox One is on. A message will pop up on screen to show it recognises that the drive has been connected.
You can either go to the settings through interaction with the pop-up or head there manually and enter the “System” settings.
In there you will see the “storage” icon. Select it and the next page will show your existing external hard drive alongside the new one.
In all likelihood the drive will need to be formatted before it can be used for anything other than storing video, picture and music files, especially if it’s come straight out of the packaging. The Xbox One needs to do that itself. So choose the new drive and scroll down to the option “Format”. Select “Format storage device” and a new screen will pop up with a keyboard to select the drive’s name.
We kept the default name “External” and chose to install new games and apps to the new drive when asked.
Formatting the drive takes no more than five or six seconds and you’re good to go.
On your main games and apps screen you will now see that the entire storage available, both internally and externally, is accumulated into one statistic.
We also recommend you completely shut down your Xbox One and reboot. We did and the drive worked very well straight after.
READ: 5 reasons why the Xbox One is better than the PS4 one year on
Moving games and performance
In our primary tests we found a slight difference in in-game performance between games stored on the external WD drive and the internal one, specifically in initial loading speeds which seemed a touch faster.
As USB 3.0 is capable of shifting data at speeds of up to 5Gbps, that’s much faster than broadband speeds so you’ll notice no difference in download times in comparison to the Xbox One normally. But it’s considerably faster than SATA II, the connection the Xbox One has with the internal drive, so that might even prove decisive in data transmission for games stored on the external drive.
We also decided to move a few across from drive to drive to see how long it takes and discovered that to move Halo: The Master Chief Collection’s mammoth 58GB took just over 40 minutes in total.
One benefit of moving games from the internal to the external drive is that you will be able to play your downloaded titles on a friend’s Xbox One by just connecting the hard drive to his or her console and signing into your profile. You don’t then need to redownload any games you wish to play. That’s another good reason for opting for a more portable USB 3.0 drive like the WD My Passport Ultra.
Virgin Galactic gets its spaceship license
Virgin Galactic is one step closer to making us all space tourists: it just received its operator license from the US Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (FAA-AST). To get the paperwork, which allows Virgin Galactic to use its ship for commercial operations. THE FAA looked into the vehicle’s system design, safety features and flight trajectory analysis. Virgin Galactic’s Senior VP of Operations Mike Moses said: “The granting of our operator license is an important milestone for Virgin Galactic, as is our first taxi test for our new spaceship. While we still have much work ahead to fully test this spaceship in flight, I am confident that our world-class team is up to the challenge.”
As Moses mentioned, the company also took its SpaceShipTwo (the VSS Unity) for a brief taxi test across the tarmac. There’s still plenty more tests and work to be done — fully-powered, independent flights won’t start until some time next year.
Source: Virgin Galactic
‘Pokémon Go’ makers explain why they blocked third-party apps
Gotta catch ’em all. It’s the itch you just can’t stop scratching — and one where a wave of unofficial Pokémon Go apps and web-based maps helped clue you in on exactly where those Jynx were hiding. Unfortunately, alongside an app update last weekend, the team behind the app shut down data access to third-party services like PokeVision. It released a statement to users on its Facebook page, saying these services were “interfering with our ability to maintain quality of service for our users and to bring Pokémon Go to users around the world.” It added that the huge number of users has had an effect on its roll-out plans.
The company says it’s removed its “3-step” Pokémon detection legend “in order to improve upon the underlying design”. The team is working to improve the feature, which means it should find its way back into the app at some point. Niantic also apologized for not tweeting so much during the roll-out of the app, saying that it’ll try to do better in communicating what’s going down in the future.
Source: Pokemon Go (Facebook)
Logitech Releases CREATE Keyboard Case for 9.7-Inch iPad Pro
Logitech today announced that it is expanding its CREATE Keyboard Case with Smart Connector to the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, making the keyboard available for both of Apple’s iPad Pro models.
As on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, the CREATE case for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro connects to the three-dot Smart Connector on the tablet, allowing for both power and data transfer. Because it’s powered via the iPad, the CREATE case does not need to charge and it does not need to connect to an iPad using Bluetooth.
The CREATE Keyboard Case for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro features backlit keys, a protective case that protects the iPad when it isn’t in use, iPad-specific function keys, and an integrated holder for the Apple Pencil. It is available in black and blue.
“CREATE is like the Swiss Army Knife of keyboard cases,” said Michele Hermann, vice president of tablet accessories at Logitech. “It puts all the tools you need at your fingertips, and the keyboard charges through the Smart Connector so you can just set your iPad Pro into a typing position and go. It brings typing on the iPad Pro to a whole new level.”
When the 12.9-inch iPad Pro launched, Logitech was the sole company to introduce a keyboard case that’s able to use the Smart Connector on the tablet, and it continues to be the only company that offers a third-party Smart Connector keyboard solution.
We went hands-on with the CREATE case for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro when it was released. We loved the backlit keys and the general key feel, but felt like it added too much bulk to Apple’s thin and light ultra powerful tablet.
The CREATE keyboard case for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro can be purchased starting today from the Logitech website, the online Apple Store, and Apple retail stores. It is priced at $129.99.
Tag: Logitech
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2016 Nexus phones may feature a significantly redesigned launcher
It looks like Google is set to radically alter the look and feel of the launcher on this year’s Nexus phones. The updated launcher was obtained by Android Police, giving us a look at some of the key changes.
A notable difference is the lack of an app drawer icon. To access the app drawer, you’ll have to swipe up from the bottom of the screen, or tap the arrow located above the bottom row of the home screen. You can close the app drawer by swiping down anywhere on the screen, or hitting the back button.
Another key change is the lack of a Search widget on the home screen, with a calendar widget taking up its place. There is a G button next to the widget that you can tap to start searching. The changes are likely to integrate Google Assistant into the launcher, and the screenshots suggest that the redesign is a work in progress. There’s no mention if the launcher will be available widely, but it looks like will be offered initially on this year’s Nexuses.
What do you guys make of the changes?
AIVAnet 