OneNote gets better password support and more for Windows 10 Insiders

Why it matters to you

The update makes all of your sensitive notes more secure, along with a bevy of other new features.

Microsoft’s OneNote has emerged as one of the most powerful note-taking apps available for any platform. OneNote is great for typing and handwriting notes, clipping web pages, and generally organizing all of your various content in one location that can be accessed from anywhere.

OneNote is available on just about every platform, including Windows 10, iOS, and Android, with in desktop and mobile versions. If you’re a Windows Insider, then you will be receiving a new version of the Windows 10 OneNote app, OneNote Central reports on Twitter.

More: Evernote vs OneNote: Battle of the note-taking apps

Just in: splendid update of #OneNote for #Windows10, now on the #WindowsInsider Fast Ring (17.7830.*):https://t.co/USVMDglHHIby @OneNoteC pic.twitter.com/tVHj4m0q7R

— OneNote Central (@OneNoteC) February 4, 2017

OneNote version 17.7830.10001, available now for Windows Insider Fast Ring participants, has a number of new features and enhancements. Here are some of the highlights:

• Password protection: You can now create passwords and apply them to sections, change passwords, unlock sections secured in other OneNote clients.
• Page creation: You can now create a new page directly underneath the current page, rather than just creating a page at the end of a section.
• Bullet lists: There is a new bullet gallery to make it easier to select a specific bullet to assign to lists.
• Rename section groups: You can now rename section groups via a pop-up menu.
• Table tool menu: There is a new tablet tool menu that provides access to most table options, with the exception of Hide Borders and Header Row.
• Save-as support: You can now use the “Save As” command for attached files in notes, to make it easier to select where files will be saved. Images can also be right-clicked and then “Save As” can be used to save to specific locations.

As always, to gain access to the latest preview version of the app, you will need to be signed up as Windows Insider and be fully updated in the Fast Ring. If that is you, then open the Windows Store app, go to “Downloads and updates,” and hit the “Check for updates” button.

Refugees need computers, and The Global Good Project ensures they get them

You may have seen some very colorful ads from Cotopaxi pop-up in your social feeds if you have recently searched for a new coat or pack. Those ads usually include some smiling adventurer wearing sunnies in some amazing landscape wearing a vibrant jacket with a llama logo. At first glance it may seem like a brand catering to nostalgic color-blocking of the 80s and 90s, but if you scratch through the surface, Cotopaxi is more than an apparel company. It wants to be a force of good.

For starts, Cotopaxi is a benefit corporation. It “creates innovative outdoor products and experiences that fund sustainable poverty alleviation, move people to do good, and inspire adventure.” It does this by donating 2 percent of all revenue to “high-impact organizations that build sustainable solutions in collaboration with local communities.” It also selects the organizations themselves, does research, and quantifies the impact together with its partners.

“We hope this program will reduce the discomfort that families feel when faced with such an abundance of new technologies.”

This year, Cotopaxi is rolling out a new joint initiative in partnership with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) of Salt Lake City, and the Utah Open Source Foundation, that combines some of its previous initiatives and focuses on the immediate needs of their community.

Called the Global Good Project, it’s a multi-part program comprised of a home mentoring initiative called Tech Mentors, and a computer science education model called the Coding Project. The Global Good Project also engages with the Utah Open Source Foundation to support “open philanthropy,” which is a term they coined to define the process of engaging the open source community in the development of effective tech solutions for the social sector. Project SAFE, an Android app that helps those new to the United States feel safe and when needed connect with 911 Emergency Services, is the first project to come out.

Global Good Project

Global Good Project

Global Good Project

Global Good Project

The Coding Project is an existing program that helps train refugees with computer science skills while also preparing them for jobs that fit their new skill set. Meanwhile, Tech Mentors lays the foundation for the Coding Project by installing computers in the homes of refugees and pairing them with skilled volunteers to serve as mentors, equipping the whole family with computer dexterity and literacy training.

Digital Trends spoke with Cotopaxi’s Chief Impact Officer Lindsey Kneuven about the undertaking of the Global Good Project, how it came about, and what you can do to be a part of it.

The Coding Project

“One of the biggest hurdles for New Americans integrating into the community is their ability to access meaningful pathways to employment, particularly those that provide a sustainable income,” says Kneuven.

“The Coding Program grew out of our mapping these jobs and the needs in the community.”

Cotopaxi saw an opportunity to engage the thriving tech community in Utah with the local refugee community through skills-based volunteerism to develop valuable mentorships, meet the growing need for tech talent, and promote digital inclusion.

“There are currently over 4,500 open jobs in computing across the state of Utah,” Kneuven adds. “I believe programs like these can harness the passion and expertise of the corporate sector through meaningful volunteer engagement while providing New Americans with the opportunity and tools needed to explore a rapidly evolving and exciting sector.”

“The Coding Program grew out of our mapping these jobs and the needs in the community,” says Kneuven. But they also mapped the skill sets and passions of the Cotopaxi team. “Utah is home to over 60,000 refugees – a number that surprises many people. At Cotopaxi, we are intent on promoting an inclusive community, and believe we can make a measurable difference in Salt Lake by connecting the tech community to New Americans in need of job readiness training, technical mentorship, and exposure to the variety of roles that exist within the sector.”

Cotopaxi’s Chief Impact Officer Lindsey Kneuven

Cotopaxi ran this program with great success in 2016 and is moving it to the IRC to help accommodate its growth.

Tech Mentors

Soon to launch in February 2017 is the Tech Mentors program. “Tech Mentors provides rehabilitated computer equipment and in-home technical training for recently resettled refugee families in Salt Lake City. It is designed to repurpose donated or retired computer equipment to meet an important need, and harness skilled volunteers to transfer knowledge in a way that empowers their mentees,” Kneuven says.

The IRC will pair each family with a tech mentor (from the Cotopaxi community and beyond), who will go into their mentee’s home and help set up the computers. Program participants will learn computer literacy, internet safety, and navigational skills over the course of several weeks with their mentor.

“We hope this program will reduce the discomfort that families feel when faced with such an abundance of new technologies. We believe that empowering families with the knowledge and tools needed to navigate these machines will improve their access to resources, communication and knowledge,” states Kneuven.

If you are interested in learning more, volunteering, or donating equipment and funds, read more on the website and use this link to email Cotopaxi’s partner, the International Rescue Committee.

User manuals and photos of LG’s upcoming Android Wear watches leak ahead of announcement

See the LG Watch Style and check out the features for both new watches, because today is a leaky day!

LG has removed the links to the user manuals, so you’ll have to find a copy from one of the folks who downloaded them. Ahem, (1), (2).

Everyone who is interested already knows we’re going to see a couple of new watches from LG on February 9th. Special watches, because they will be the first to launch with the new Android Wear 2.0 update that makes everything better and they’re Google products — the Nexus Watches that have been talked about for months.

The LG Watch Style. Click or tap for a larger view

So we’re not surprised in the least that LG has posted the actual user manuals online or that photos from an unknown Best Buy location have appeared at GSM Arena.

We get a good look at the front face of the LG Watch Style from the pictures leaked to GSM Arena, as well as a few pictures of the box it comes in. And nothing we see is a big surprise.

A round design with a moderate bezel and standard lugs means it should be easy to change out the band if you come across something you like better than what LG supplies, and a sizeable button or crown at three o’clock hints at the navigation features that come with Android Wear 2.0

Fans of Android Wear as a platform and LG’s watches, in particular, should like what they see here as there has been no drift from LG’s tried and true design language for Android Wear.

But photos aren’t all we get to see today. LG has also posted the user manual for both the LG Watch Style and the LG Watch Sport on their support site.

LG Watch Style manual

LG Watch Sport

LG Watch Sport overview

A look throughout the manuals confirms some things we all suspected: The button(s) are indeed rotating crowns that will aid in navigation through the features and settings on both watches. The LG Watch Sport will also have two additional buttons that look to be used on a per-app or user-defined basis.

Google Fit is prominently featured on both devices, with sections of the manual going over how to get it set up and how to use Google Fit on your new watch. The LG Watch Sport’s manual also mentions NFC and Android Pay, but both are absent in the LG Watch Style manual, so we assume the Style is lacking NFC.

There’s also a section about call forwarding from a CDMA phone (Verizon and Sprint) in the LG Watch Sport’s manual, mixed in with the sections that explain its stand-alone GSM calling abilities.

It looks like LG is presenting these as two different types of watches with two different markets, just as the rumor mill has suggested. The Sport will be a standalone device with NFC and we assume a bigger price tag, while the Style seems to lack any cellular abilities and NFC. We’ll know everything there is to know very soon.

Sprint customers used 5TB of data at the 2017 Super Bowl

That’s a lot of data!

Sprint dropped a press release about customer data usage at the big game and the ways they were able to provide enough of it.

Customers used almost 5TB of data inside and directly adjacent to the Houston stadium on February 5. That’s three times as much as the 2016 Super Bowl and eight times more than the 2015 game. And the network speed was nothing to sneeze at, either.

Network speeds varied from 85 Mbps from the stands during overtime to 99 Mbps from the stands during the Lombardi award ceremony to 124 Mbps just outside the Verizon box suite during the fourth quarter. Nice jab at the competition there, Sprint. Let’s hope it doesn’t backfire. We’re given no details on who performed the tests or how they were run.

We are told how Sprint was able to supply enough bandwidth for everyone with plenty to spare. Cell on Wheels (COW) and small cell site deployment was able to boost the capacity in and around NRG Stadium. Also, two- and three- channel aggregation on small cell sites played a role, as devices capable of using LTE-A spectrum bonding had access on wider bandwidth lanes to keep network congestion to a minimum.

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No matter which team you were rooting for last night, if you were a Sprint customer it sounds like you were a winner. If anyone was at last night’s big game, jump into the comments and tell us all about your experience — Sprint or otherwise.

Vizio fined $2.2 million by the FTC for secretly collecting and selling owner information

Vizio did everything wrong when it comes to data collection.

Vizio has been fined $2.2 million by the Federal Trade Commission for “surreptitiously collecting details on viewers’ watching habits.” The company also agreed to delete all the data collected before March 1, 2016, and to get specific consent from users with a new privacy program.

Vizio’s Smart Interactivity technology isn’t much different from what other smart TV manufacturers use to find out exactly what you watch and when you watch it. The difference, according to ProPublica, stems from the way Vizio went about collecting it and what they did with it afterward.

For starters, Smart Interactivity is active and running unless you specifically opt out, and you’re not told it’s there or that opting out is even posible. Oddly enough, the instructions to tell you how to opt out have disappeared from Vizio’s support site and have been replaced by a 404 error page.

While folks were watching TV, Vizio was tracking everything it could about the channels and amount of time viewers spent on them. They also collected your IP address. Standard stuff from the TV industry. But what they did next got them hauled into court by the FTC.

Vizio would work with “data brokers” — companies who only exist to collect data about people, connect it all together, and then sell it. They would use these data brokers to help them connect your IP address with information like your gender, age, income, and interests. They then sold this information to advertisers. The same advertisers other companies use who might already have your IP address from other products.

This makes for a nice tidy way to get a very good profile on who you are and what you do. Frankly, a $2.2 million fine isn’t enough.

Apple’s rumoured AR smart glasses might finally debut this summer

Apple may introduce a lightweight pair of AR glasses soon.

Facebook-owned Oculus VR, Samsung, HTC, Microsoft, Google, and others are all dabbling in virtual reality and augmented reality. But what about Apple? Well, everything from patents to acquisitions and talent poaching suggests the Cupertino-based company has something in the works. Even, Robert Scoble, an industry commentator, recently said that Apple will announce AR smart glasses by summer 2017.

During the “This Week in Tech” show on 5 February, Scoble — citing “many sources” at the “highest levels” — said Apple, in partnership with Carl Zeiss, is developing a pair of smart glasses and will announce the device within the next six months (or, at the very latest, sometime in 2018). The announcement may be in conjunction with an Apple headquarters announcement or the next iPhone.

• Apple AirPods” How to check for and install firmware

Remember, Zeiss already sells the VR One Plus headset, which requires a smartphone, similar to the Samsung Gear VR or Google Daydream headsets. Also, Apple CEO Tim Cook has been dropping hints about Apple’s interest in augmented and virtual reality since at least 2015. In January 2016, The Financial Times claimed Apple had a secret team develop applications and headsets for the two technologies.

Then, in July 2016, Cook said during an earnings call: “We are high on AR for the long run… We think there’s great things for customers and a great commercial opportunity. So we’re investing,” It’s therefore no surprise to learn about insiders making predictions on Apple’s AR plans. In November, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple would unveil a standalone system, but it’s unlikely to debut for another two years.

Furthermore, in 2013, an Apple USPTO patent surfaced that described a “goggle system for providing a personal media viewing experience… may allow the user to move the display generation components for alignment with the user’s eyes… may include data processing circuitry operative to adjust left and right images generated by the optical components to display 3-D media”. The patent was filed in May 2007.

Check out Pocket-lint’s round-up for more leaks and reports about the possibility of an Apple-branded AR headset, including things like release date, features, and pricing.

LG teases LG G6 flagship phone in official MWC 2017 event invite

LG has sent out media invites to the unveiling of its upcoming flagship.

The company’s invitation for a 26 February event puts the the LG G6’s big screen front and center — or rather to the left — with words like “Big Screen That Fits” sprawled across the top and a sketch of a large-screen device appearing small enough to fit in a hand placed on the right. We also see grids and dashes all over. The screen, sketch, and grids each indicate the phone should launch with minimal bezels.

We’re sure other clues are embedded in the invitation. There are three parallel diagonal lines going through the phone, and there are circles emphasising the four corners of the phone. It’s unclear what they represent, but feel free to let us know in the comments what you think. One thing is for sure: The LG G6 is officially coming, will debut in Barcelona, and it’ll have a big screen with little to no bezels.

• Mobile World Congress 2017: Nokia, Sony, Huawei, and more
• Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 edge: What’s the story so far?

LG is also expected to ditch the modular strategy it introduced with the LG G5. The new phone will presumably be made of metal and glass and is thought to feature a 5.7-inch display. The LG G6 is also rumored to pack in Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 821, rather than the 835, as Samsung is reportedly hogging all those chipsets for its upcoming Galaxy S8 flagship. Check out Pocket-lint’s round-up for other rumours.

LG’s event will take place at Mobile World Congress, and Pocket-lint CNET will be there to bring you the latest as it happens.

Super Bowl LI commercials were heavy on tech and politics

For people who don’t care about football, watching the Super Bowl is mostly about enjoying the overhyped commercials that happen during the event. (That and the halftime show.) Naturally, tech companies see this as an opportunity to connect with mainstream audiences, leading them to spend millions of dollars on cheesy ads. A good example of that is T-Mobile’s Super Bowl LI spot featuring Justin Bieber, in which he promotes the carrier’s unlimited plans by showing off his “#UnlimitedMoves.” Yup, we know.

Still, that’s not to say all commercials are bad. Airbnb, for instance, had one called “We Accept” that focused on diversity — in what was seemingly a subtle dig at President Donald Trump. And let’s not forget Netflix’s teaser for season two of Stranger Things, or Amazon flashing its Prime Air drone deliveries. There were more than that, though. We’ve put together a roundup of all the tech-oriented ads created for Super Bowl LI.

Anova acquisition could mean a sous vide chicken in every pot

You might see even more smart cooking gadgets at your favorite retail outlet soon thanks to industry giant Electrolux’s purchase of popular sous vide maker Anova.The $250 million acquisition allows the smaller company to continue as a brand with Electrolux’s resources and reach.

Anova makes a connected, wand-like gadget that perches on the side of a pot. As you cook the food in a sealed bag in a water bath, the wand keeps the temperature stable as long as needed. Proponents of this recently-revived slow-cooking style claim that it makes perfectly-cooked food that tastes amazing, while critics downplay the results. The newfangled connected devices, like those made by Anova, let you range a little farther from your kitchen while the meal takes its sweet time to finish.

You can already purchase an Anova sous vide system from places like Amazon, Best Buy and Target, but you might start seeing them at even more big chains like Walmart, Sears and Bed, Bath and Beyond. Don’t be surprised to see prices drop below the $99 entry point and into impulse-buy territory.

The power of a big appliance company goes beyond distribution channels and economies of scale, though. Electrolux promises to help Anova bring more kitchen gadgets to life, creating an entire kitchen full of smart, easy to use devices to fill your home with like Anova’s smart oven coming later this year.

If you haven’t had a chance to slowly cook your food in a bag for hours on end, your time is coming. With the joy of sous vide capturing the attention of massive appliance manufacturers like Electrolux, even non-foodies might pick one up.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Anova

Google makes it easier to share its speedier mobile web links

Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages are great for speeding up the web on your phone, but not so much if you want to share links with friends. Frequently, the only hint at the original link is a brief mention at the top — share the page you’re looking at and you’ll give people Google’s AMP cache, not the actual site. You won’t have to wonder where the original link went for much longer, though. Google is fulfilling a promise by adding a simple way to share the source for an AMP story. When you’re looking at an article you tapped in search results, the AMP header bar will have an anchor button that shows the original link. You can even hold down that button to trigger your browser’s native sharing feature when available.

Just when you’ll see the feature depends on what platform you’re using, and where you’re surfing. People using the Google app on iOS can see it right away. Android users, meanwhile, will see this updated approach through native functions (including the Google app) sometime in the “coming weeks.” It’s a simple addition, but it’ll help shake the notion that Google is hijacking pages and promoting its own technology over the articles you’re reading.

Via: Search Engine Land, Android Central

Source: Google Developers Blog