Microsoft is making Windows 10 security easier

It’s easy to mock bad passwords and phishing scam victims, but PC security is hard to grok for the average user. That’s why Microsoft is introducing the Windows Defender Security Center as part of the Windows 10 Creators Update coming in April. Within a central hub, you’ll be able to see settings for threat protection, performance and more at a glance. The other aim with the new hub, says Microsoft, is to ensure that “you are protected by default and continuously protected.”

The security center’s home screen shows actions you may need to take at a glance and the “five pillars” of protection. “Virus & threat protection” is the area where you access your anti-malware app, whether it be Windows Defender or a third-party app. “Device & performance heath” shows all your latest updates, drivers, storage capacity and battery life. Microsoft also puts its “refresh Windows” program there, letting you do a clean install while keeping all your settings and files.

“Firewall & network protection” helps you see and troubleshoot network issues, while “Family options” is the spot where you can control and see reports on your kids’ online activities. Finally, there’s the “App & browser control” area that warns you of “potential malicious sites, downloads and unrecognized apps and files from the internet,” according to the article.

Microsoft is also erring on the side of safety with new default antivirus settings. If your third-party anti-virus app expires with the Creators Update, Windows Defender will automatically start protecting you until you renew or replace it.

The Windows Defender Security Center and many, many other new Creators Update features are, as mentioned, set to arrive in April this year. It’s also up on the Windows Insider Preview “fast ring,” so you can now grab it if you can’t wait until then.

Source: Microsoft

Google announces the five Lunar Xprize finalists

Google’s Lunar Xprize is finally on the home stretch almost a decade after it was first announced. The contest organizers have revealed the five teams that got into the final phase of the competition by securing launch contracts before 2016 ended. First is team SpaceIL, an Israeli non-profit developing a dishwasher-sized spacecraft (see the image above) that can explore the moon by taking big hops instead of driving around like a rover. They’ve secured a space aboard one of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket’s future launches.

Next is Moon Express from the US, a promising contender with two milestone prizes under its belt that want to use the moon’s resources for humanity. It signed a three-launch contract with Rocket Lab USA for 2020. The next team, Synergy Moon, is made up of people from various parts of the globe who plan to send a lander and a rover to Earth’s faithful companion aboard an Interorbital Systems rocket. Team Indus from India, another milestone prize winner, plan to launch theirs with the help of Indian Space Research Organization’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. Finally, team HAKUTO from Japan signed a rideshare deal with Team Indus to take its two-rover system to the moon.

Google Lunar Xprize challenged space lovers to create and land a privately funded spacecraft on the lunar surface. The spacecraft has to be able to travel over 1,640 feet and to beam back HD videos and images from its location to win its creators the grand prize worth $20 million. Google has been giving out millions in milestone prizes for years now, however, including its most recent Diversity prize. The company awarded the prize to 16 teams (who’ll have to split the $1 million reward) for proving that “you don’t have to be a government superpower to send a mission to the moon.”

Source: Google Lunas Xprize

The Future IRL: Our Jetsons future has arrived

Fictional housekeeping robots and the flying smart cars in The Fifth Element have inspired technologists to keep pushing the bounds of electronics for years, which is how we’ve gotten video chatting and bluetooth in our cars. But pop culture has also served up many warnings. Who among you doesn’t remember Hal, the calmly murderous computer from A Space Odyssey, without shuddering in horror?

If you haven’t realized it yet, the technology these fictional stories foretold is being constructed in the real world right now. The reality can be awe inspiring or frightening, but either way, should be carefully watched.

Engadget’s new video series, The Future IRL, will take on the big stories in tech and explore how companies are turning sci-fi concepts into everyday reality.

The first episode focuses on self-driving cars, with engineers from Ford and Delphi explaining what challenges still lie ahead.

We’ll bring you a new episode twice a month so please, enjoy the ride.

Former ‘Grand Theft Auto’ lead starts his own VR studio

Until 2014, Leslie Benzies was head of Rockstar North, responsible for hits like the Grand Theft Auto series and Red Dead Redemption. After an acrimonious split with his former employer and some time away, Benzies looks to be coming back to the game world. An investigation by The Scotsman reveals that the executive has registered a company — VR-Chitect Limited — with the aim of building VR headsets and equipment.

The paper also found a series of other companies that Benzies has put his name to, including Starship Group and Everywhere Game Limited. Another, Royal Circus Games, has also trademarked the phrase Time for a New World, although that could just be a company slogan rather than anything more substantial. The fact that such an influential — and successful — figure in the games industry is striking out on his own is interesting. We’ll wait and see what he’s able to develop in the following months and years.

Via: UploadVR

Source: The Scotsman

Apple Working on ‘Enhanced Siri’ Capabilities for Next-Generation iPhones

A collection of the world’s top-selling smartphone makers, including Apple, Samsung, Huawei, LG, and Xiaomi, are all planning to double down on artificial intelligence features on handsets launching this year, and beyond.

According to industry sources (via DigiTimes), the companies are hoping an improvement to AI assistant capabilities will “ramp up market shares in 2017.”

For Apple, that means the company is gearing up to add in an “enhanced Siri” to next-generation iPhone devices, although it’s unclear whether that means the upcoming 2017 iPhone 8, or another model launching after this year. It’s not specified what exactly an enhanced version of Siri will be able to accomplish, but an overall improvement to voice recognition and better contextual understanding of user requests might be part of the update.

DigiTimes’ report specifically references Apple’s acquisition of machine learning and AI startup Turi last August as a way that the company intends to bolster Siri’s reliability with consumers, “as well as the market share” over other AI assistants like Amazon’s Alexa, Microsoft’s Cortana, and Google Assistant.

Smartphone vendors, including Apple, Samsung Electronics, Huawei, LG Electronics and Xiaomi Technology, are likely to introduce models featuring AI (artificial intelligence) applications as a means to ramp up market shares in 2017, according to industry sources.

Apple acquired Australia-based machine learning startup Turi in August 2016, aiming to further strengthen the functionality, as well as the market share, of its Siri intelligent personal assistant. Meanwhile, market sources have also indicated that Apple’s next-generation iPhone devices are likely to come with enhanced Siri.

In terms of competition, Huawei — as the third-largest smartphone maker in the world — is reportedly ready to battle Apple and Samsung, with AI as a leading feature. Huawei recently launched the Mate 9 in the United States with Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant pre-installed, giving users an easier way to navigate the smartphone, and representing its first move in the fight to overcome Apple and Samsung in the AI space.

Google last year launched its Google Pixel smartphone with Google Assistant, and other smartphone vendors have already been looked at to promote adoption of the Assistant, including Xiaomi. In a comparison video that pitted Siri against Google Assistant, YouTuber Marques Brownlee ultimately discovered that while Siri gave him more information, Google Assistant was the more personable and enjoyable AI experience.

Samsung is believed to be launching the Galaxy S8 sometime in Spring 2017 as an attempt to put the Note7 in the past for good, and the new smartphone is currently rumored to include an AI assistant named Bixby, “which is likely to become a main feature of Samsung’s next-generation flagship model,” according to industry sources.

LG is said to be in talks with both Google and Amazon to leverage each company’s voice assistant in LG products, including the addition of Alexa into a collection of LG home appliances, as well as its upcoming smartphone the LG G6.

AI assistants have become increasingly popular over the past few years, and Apple has only gained competition in the space as Siri remained largely unchanged over the past few iOS updates. The company is rumored to be launching an Echo-like speaker as well, which would place Siri as a constant present in the user’s home and include the ability to play music, get news headlines, and more, without needing to interact with their iPhone. In response, last year it was reported that Amazon is working on an updated Echo with a 7-inch touchscreen to “fend off competition” from Apple and Google Home.

Related Roundup: iPhone 8 (2017)
Tags: Siri, artificial intelligence
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Robotics and Machine Learning Expert Yoky Matsuoka Returning to Nest After Leaving Apple

Last May, Apple hired Nest’s former Vice President of Technology, Yoky Matsuoka, to help run the company’s health initiatives, but she ended up leaving Apple towards the end of 2016. Matsuoka is now joining the Nest team once again as the Alphabet-owed company has re-hired the robotics expert as the Chief Technology Officer for the Nest Learning Thermostat (via Bloomberg).

In her new role, she will “define a long-term technology roadmap” for the smart home accessory company, using her expertise in machine learning.

Matsuoka is also said to be encouraged by Alphabet to identify other companies under the corporate umbrella where Nest might be able to form a beneficial partnership through collaborations “on technology and product development.”

Alphabet Inc. re-hired Yoky Matsuoka to oversee technology at its Nest Labs Inc. smart home unit, snapping up the robotics and artificial intelligence expert after she recently left Apple Inc.

As Chief Technology Officer, Matsuoka will work closely with Nest’s engineering and product teams to define a long-term technology roadmap. She’ll be responsible for identifying important enabling technologies for Nest products and services, such as sensors and machine learning, while partnering with outside companies.

During her time at Apple, Matsuoka worked under the company’s chief operating officer Jeff Williams, who is in charge of Apple’s health initiatives like ResearchKit, HealthKit, and CareKit. Originally at Nest, Matsuoka developed the technology that lets the Nest Learning Thermostat adapt to environmental conditions and learn from past usage. She also co-founded the experimental project lab Google X, which has created Google’s self-driving car and Google Glass.

Matsuoka was part of Nest when it was founded by “iPod father” Tony Fadell in 2010, but Fadell has now left the company, noting in a blog post last summer that it was the right time to “leave the Nest.” Since he left, Fadell has become an advisor to Nest and Alphabet CEO Larry Page. According to Bloomberg, Matsuoka’s return to Nest might help lead to a smoother 2017, following a few years of protracted product releases and recalled devices.

Tags: Nest, health and fitness
Discuss this article in our forums

Nougat update now rolling out to HTC 10 in the UK

Nougat makes its way to European HTC 10 units.

HTC began rolling out the Nougat update to unlocked units of the HTC 10 in the U.S. last November, and the company is now doing the same for UK customers. According to HTC EMEA’s Product and Service Director Graham Wheeler, the Nougat update is now available for HTC 10 users in the UK, and will make its way to other European regions shortly.

HTC 10 Nougat starts rolling out today. UK first more regions to follow soon.

— graham wheeler (@wheelergd) January 24, 2017

If you’re rocking the HTC 10 in the UK, head into your phone’s settings to download the 1.17GB update. Already on Nougat? Let us know how you’re liking the changes.

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Honor 6X debuts in India, sets sights on Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 4

Honor 6X offers dual rear cameras on a budget.

At a media event in New Delhi, Honor launched the budget Honor 6X for the Indian market. The highlight of the phone is the dual camera setup, which sees a 12MP sensor joined by a 2MP secondary sensor that adds depth of field. The Honor 6X will be exclusively sold on Amazon India starting February 2, and will be available in two variants: a model with 3GB of RAM and 32GB storage for ₹12,999 ($190), and a version with 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage for ₹15,999 ($235).

The phone features a 5.5-inch Full HD display with 2.5D curved glass, octa-core Kirin 655 SoC, microSD slot, 8MP camera up front, LTE with VoLTE, and a 3350mAh battery. On the software front, the device runs EMUi 4.1 atop Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, with a Nougat update coming in the month of April.

• More: Honor 6X review
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 review

The Honor 6X goes head to head with Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 4, which recently made its debut in the country. The Redmi Note 4 shares a lot of the characteristics of the Honor 6X, and is available for less, with the model offering 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage retailing for ₹12,999 ($190). Specs don’t tell the whole story, however, and the Honor 6X’s dual cameras give it a slight edge over Xiaomi’s handset in this space.

See at Amazon

How to add a supervised user profile in Chrome 👀

Supervised profiles for Chrome let you decide what your kids will see on the internet.

Got little ones who want to use a Chromebook or surf the web on your MacBook or Surface but aren’t ready for everything on the internet? A supervised profile might be just what you’re looking for.

A supervised account isn’t connected to Google in any way, and the owner of the Chromebook (whoever first signed into it) controls what that account can do. You can block websites, see the full internet history, preinstall extensions and bookmarks, and more. It gives you pretty tight control over what the managed profile can do. Supervised profiles in the Chrome browser on Windows or Mac or Linux only control the browser window and can be created by any other user.

It’s pretty simple to do and everything is right in the settings, so you won’t have to enter any commands or read any confusing help files.

For Chromebooks

• Make sure you’re signed in as the owner of the Chromebook and open the settings.
• Look in the People section to Manage other users and you can make sure supervised users is enabled.
• Log out and on the start page, click More instead of signing in, and you’ll see Add supervised user.
• Click that link and you’ll be asked which account will be the manager. Enter the password for that account.
• Next, choose the name, password, and profile photo for the new account.

For the Chrome browser

• Open the settings and go to the People section.
• Click the Add person button.
• Check the box that says you want to control and view the websites this user visits when you enter the name and password.

Now you can go to the new Supervised users section of your Google account and set up any restrictions you would like to enable.

One last step

If you’re using the Chrome browser on Windows, Mac, or Linux, there’s one last thing you should do to make sure the supervised account isn’t able to switch to your account. Kids are smart. When you shut down, be sure to enable Childlock.

• In the upper right corner you’ll see your name. Click on it.
• Click the Exit and childlock label.

Now you will need to enter your password the next time you want to log into Chrome.

We think everyone should be able to raise their children the way they think is best. That means different things to everyone, so we need tools like these. Like Chrome OS itself, Google has streamlined the process and management of user accounts in Chrome.

Xiaomi sells 250,000 units of Redmi Note 4 in 10 minutes, Nougat beta now available

First flash sale crosses 250,000 sales, Nougat beta ROM based on MIUI 8 now available.

During the launch of the Indian variant of the Redmi Note 4, Xiaomi announced that it will roll out a MIUI build based on Nougat shortly. The company is now making the preview build available for those interested in getting an early look at Nougat.

The news comes on the heels of today’s announcement that Xiaomi sold 250,000 units of the Redmi Note 4 in 10 minutes, breaking yet another record.

With your powers combined, #RedmiNote4 achieved an amazing feat in record time! Thank you for your love & support, hit RT NOW! 💪 pic.twitter.com/06Yw18IZwa

— Mi India (@XiaomiIndia) January 24, 2017

The Nougat build is still based on MIUI 8, and is available for the Snapdragon 625 variant of the Redmi Note 4. The global version of the phone is powered by a MediaTek Helio X20, and as of now there’s no word on if that model will receive a similar preview. As this is a beta build, there are bound to be bugs. If you’re interested in what’s on offer, download the build from the link below.

• Nougat preview build for Redmi Note 4
• More: Redmi Note 4 review