Want an original working Apple-1? Then check out the auction in May

Why it matters to you

If you have a few hundred thousands dollars to spare, then can bid on this this original working Apple-1.

Apple has come a long way from its roots when Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak collaborated on the design and sale of the company’s very first computer. The Apple-1 was one of the most important early machines and not only kicked off one of the most successful companies in history but also helped kick-start the nascent PC industry.

There aren’t many Apple-1 machines remaining, given that only 175 were originally sold at the ominous-sounding price of $666.66 in 1976. In fact, at most, there are 60 left, of which only eight are thought to still be in working condition, and one of them will be available for purchase in May, Macrumors reports.

More: Rare Apple-1 computer built by Jobs and Wozniak in 1976 sells for $815,000

The Apple-1 in question is owned by Auction Team Breker, a German auctioneer, and the sale includes all of the original documentation including the user manual. If that is not enough to entice prospective buyers, the auction also includes the motherboard and cassette recorder’s original sales receipt, along with a paper record of phone conversations with both Apple founders.

Breker

Judging by past auctions of Apple-1 machines, this iteration could bring a middle to high six-digit bid. For example, Sotheby’s auctioned a working Apple-1 in 2012 and netted a cool $374,500, while Breker successfully moved another machine in May 2013 for $671,400. The record, however, was an Apple-1 auctioned off by Bonhams that brought $905,000.

If you have a few hundred thousand dollars to put down on an original and functional Apple-1, then note that you will be getting only the rare “NTI” motherboard and cassette recorder. The machine never did get an official case from Apple and other necessary parts, such as the keyboard, monitor, and power supply, were also up to buyers to procure. Breker has made things a little easier this time around, though, for anyone with upward of a million dollars to spend.

RIP Windows Vista: Microsoft is ending support on April 11

Why it matters to you

Vista still exists but Microsoft has now decided to end support for the unpopular OS once and for all.

Microsoft is ending support for Windows Vista in a month’s time, on April 11, so anyone who is actually still using the much-maligned operating system will need to finally make the upgrade.

Should you continue to use Windows Vista after April 11, you’ll be much more susceptible to security threats, especially as Internet Explorer 9 is no longer supported either.

“Also, as more software and hardware manufacturers continue to optimize for more recent versions of Windows, you can expect to encounter more apps and devices that do not work with Windows Vista,” said Microsoft in its announcement. Vista’s antivirus suite Microsoft Security Essentials will only have “limited effectiveness,” it added.

The latest figures on operating system market share show that Vista has just 0.78 percent of the pie. And while that may barely be a blip on the screen, if you’re one of those users, you have about a month to get updated and secured.

More: Windows 10 appears to be poised to hit 24 percent market share by end of 2016

Vista was released in 2007 as the follow-up to Windows XP. Although it was a long time coming, it failed to meet expectations, and suffered from buggy features. Instead of replacing XP it did the exact opposite and encouraged more users to stick with the predecessor. Windows XP’s market share remained strong for many years.

This led Microsoft to work away at Windows 7 and 8 to try and get people to move away from the now unsupported XP.

Despite this history, Vista has still been receiving critical updates all these years. That’s all about to change.

Windows 10 is of course Microsoft’s pride and joy these days and unsurprisingly, the firm is pushing the last remaining Vista users to update to the flagship OS. Microsoft is gradually ending support for its older operating systems so that Windows 10 eventually becomes all that’s left.

A new Windows 10 Creators Update build is available, but it’s just bug fixes

Why it matters to you

If you’re a Windows Insider, you can download the latest preview build to fix a few nagging bugs.

Windows 10 has an important update coming soon, with the Creators Update scheduled for release for PCs on April 11, 2017. While the latest update isn’t as massive as last summer’s Anniversary Update, it’s still going to bring some new features that will be welcome to Windows 10 users.

If you’re a Windows Insider, then you’re well aware of what’s coming. In fact, you’ve likely noticed that Windows 10 Creators Update is feature complete at this point, with the latest Insider builds bringing mainly bug fixes. That’s definitely the case with Build 15058, released today on the Fast Ring.

More: Windows 10 users will reportedly receive the Creators Update on April 11

One of the more notable bug fixes in the latest build is that the Windows Store will now update apps. You might have noticed that updates failed in the previous build, including the Windows Store app itself, which was a bit of a pain.

Here’s are some other fixes:

• The Settings app will no longer crash when accessing Wi-Fi settings.
• UWP apps should no longer show the app package name rather than the app name in the title bar.
• Edge should now stop navigating back when its windows is snapped to smaller than half screen.
• You should stop losing the mouse pointer when watching fullscreen video in Microsoft Edge.
• If your machine is set to lock on sleep, the current desktop session should no longer crash after locking, leaving users with a “Can’t log in: The number of connections to this computer is limited and all connections are in use” error.

As usual, there are a few known issues remaining in this build — although only a few, as can be expected with so little time remaining until Creators Update will officially release. Here are a few highlights:

• If you’re running Build 15002 or higher, your PC may fail to update and display a “SYSTEM_PTE_MISUSE” error.
• For new user accounts created on Build 15031, some apps and games may crash due to a problem with the configuration of advertising ID from a prior build. If you’re comfortable working with the Windows 10 registry, then you can delete this registry key: HKCUSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionAdvertisingInfo.

If you want to check out all of the details on what’s been fixed and what remains broken in Build 15058, then you can check out Microsoft’s blog post. The Windows 10 Creators Update is coming soon, and if this list of bugs and fixes is any guide, the update is close to being ready to roll out.

Chrome 57 will help your laptop battery last a bit longer

It’s no secret that Chrome can be a very power-hungry browser on a laptop.

Google is constantly evolving Chrome to be less power hungry while also offering increased performance, and the latest development arriving in Chrome 57 focuses on power savings from further background tab management. With the latest version, tabs open but not currently in use will be more aggressively throttled to save power.

Chrome will accomplish this by more aggressively limiting the rate at which timers in the pages can fire when it notices that those particular tabs are consuming more power than they should. Chrome 57 will delay timers to keep average CPU load under 1% of a core in order to save power. Of course if a tab is playing audio or has a real-time connection like a video call it won’t be limited.

In Google’s testing, Chrome 57’s new policies on background tabs has initially led to 25% fewer busy background tabs. Ideally, the Chrome team hopes that webpage developers will adjust their behavior to rely on new APIs for service workers to do background tasks rather than simply forcing a tab to stay active.

The end result, both in the short- and long-term, is longer battery life when using Chrome on your laptop. And all you have to do is keep your Chrome browser up to date.

Google’s Pixel 2 codenames may have been revealed — and yes, they’re still fish

Apparently, the company still loves fish.

The codenames for Google’s next two flagship smartphones may have been revealed in official documentation. According to some sleuthing from Android Police, “Walleye” and “Muskie” may be the monikers used to refer to Google’s next two Pixel devices (the different names denote different sizes), carrying on a long tradition of marine-themed codenames.

Only the name Walleye has been mentioned in the Android Open Source Project’s gerrit, or code repository. Muskie has yet to make a debut officially.

For the uninitiated, Google typically employs the names of water-dwelling creatures as aliases for its upcoming smartphones and tablets. For instance, the original Pixel was referred to as Sailfish. Beyond this, there’s not much more information about what’s coming from Google’s next phone debut.

But we can certainly infer that Google will continue this tried-and-true tradition of naming its devices after varying underwater species — at least internally.

Google Pixel + Pixel XL

• Google Pixel and Pixel XL review
• Google Pixel XL review: A U.S. perspective
• Google Pixel FAQ: Should you upgrade?
• Pixel + Pixel XL specs
• Understanding Android 7.1 Nougat
• Join the discussion in the forums!

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Snapchat Widget: How to add Bitmoji chat shortcuts to your home screen

Snapchat has updated to allow users to create shortcuts of their best friends’ Bitmoji and add them to their home screen.

These nifty shortcuts appear in a new Snapchat Widget that’s rolling out. If you tap a shortcut, it will immediately open a text chat with that friend. Here’s how the new feature works, including how to set it up.

What is Bitmoji on Snapchat?

Bitmoji allows you to create your own emoji that look like you. Snapchat bought Bitstrips, the startup behind Bitmoji, a couple years ago. The acquisition was worth a reported $100 million, but it was unclear at the time how the product would be integrated into Snapchat. Since then, Snapchat has begun letting users customise Bitmoji and send them each other.

First, download the Bitmoji app and link it with your Snapchat account (follow on-screen prompts). You’ll need the latest versions of both apps installed. If you and a friend have set up Bitmoji in Snapchat, you’ll both see “friendmojis” (aka stickers) that include the two of you. You can send them in a chat or snap. Go here to learn more about how Bitmoji works in Snapchat.

What are Bitmoji shortcuts?

Ever create a shortcut to a webpage on your mobile device? The Snapchat Widget works the same way. You can add a shortcut to a friend in your Snapchat Widget on the Today screen (iOS) or home screen (Android), depending on the device you use. The idea is that, if you constantly send someone chats or snaps in Snapchat, you can tap his or her shortcut to easily begin chatting with them.

How does the Snapchat Widget work?

Only best friends with Bitmoji will show up in the Snapchat Widget, so make sure that they have a Bitmoji account active and linked to Snapchat. Also, if you have an iOS device, the Snapchat Widget will only display on the Today screen, but if you have an Android, you can put it wherever you want on the home screen. Got it? Cool.

Now, follow these steps:

iOS

• Swipe right from your home screen to bring up your Today view.
• Scroll down to the bottom, and tap the Edit button.
• Tap the + button next to the Snapchat Widget to add it to your Today view.
• All your Best Friends with Bitmoji will automatically be placed in the widget.
• Just tap a friend’s Bitmoji shortcut to chat.

Android

• Press and hold on an empty space on your home screen.
• Tap Widgets, then select the Snapchat Widget.
• Chose whether to place just one friend or several.
• Place the widget wherever you want.
• Just tap a friend’s Bitmoji shortcut to chat.

What are ‘Best friends’ in Snapchat?

Best Friends are the friends you send snaps and chats to most frequently. You’ll see Best Friends in the My Friends screen, and also in the Send To screen you see before sending a snap. Nobody but you can see your list of Best Friends, which is refreshed regularly.

When will Snapchat Widget be available?

Snapchat is updating now for all Android and iOS users, so expect the feature to appear soon.

Want to know more?

Check out Snapchat’s Help hub for more tips. Also, if you need more details on Snapchat, Pocket-lint has this guide:

• What’s the point of Snapchat and how does it work?

Will Samsung finally show its Galaxy X foldable smartphone at IFA 2017?

Samsung’s long-rumoured foldable smartphone might soon debut. 

Information about the phone, often dubbed the Galaxy X, has been slowly leaking out over the past couple years, with the latest reports indicating that the company is developing a version that is able to fold out and transform into a 7-inch tablet. Now, a new report from ET News said Samsung is planning to start production of a prototype of the foldable smartphone, with the goal of launching it soon after.

The Korean media is claiming Samsung will have it ready for show in Q3, around the time that an OLED iPhone 8 may be announced. Samsung will be monitoring the quality of the prototypes internally before producing a consumer version of the phone, which could launch sometime toward the end of 2018. That means the prototype may show up at IFA 2017, which is set to kick off in early September. 

• Best smartphones 2017: The best phones available to buy today

However, previous rumors said a commercial model would release in the third quarter of the year. The Korea Herald even Samsung may roll out more than “100,000 units of fold-out devices” later on this year. It’s unclear when the finished model will actually debut, but keep in mind it is not uncommon for Samsung to demo tech first. For instance, it first showed off a flexible OLED screen at SID 2016.

Before being known as the Galaxy X, Samsung’s folding phone had the code name Project Valley.

Netflix will help finish Orson Welles’ last film

Netflix is normally focused on landing rights for hot upcoming projects. However, its latest coup is decidedly different — it’s a movie that’s four decades overdue. The streaming service has acquired the rights to The Other Side of the Wind, an Orson Welles movie that has been stuck in production limbo since the 1970s. Two members of the original crew, star Peter Bogdanovich and production manager Frank Marshall, will help oversee the creative side of things alongside producer Filip Jan Rymsza. Netflix, as you might guess, is mainly around to finance and distribute the movie worldwide.

The film, which pokes fun at an avantgarde director who plans a comeback, was mainly held back by shifting movie rights and the resulting changes in creative priorities. No one agreed on how to finish it, to put it bluntly. Things didn’t start truly moving until 2014, when Bogdanovich, Marshall and Rymsza bought the rights to the footage. While they didn’t get very far with a crowdfunding campaign to finish the movie on their own terms, that’s when Netflix came in to save the day.

There’s no mention of a release date for Other Side, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Rymsza tells the New York Times that Netflix saves his team from having to rush the effort. And regardless of when the title comes out, it could prove to be a useful experiment for Netflix. Most of its larger deals for classic content involve reboots or follow-ups. This wouldn’t just gauge the market for offering other big-name vintage movies — it could raise the possibility of snapping up all kinds of productions that wouldn’t otherwise get a second chance.

Source: Allison Willmore (Twitter), New York Times

Trump to sign sweeping rollback of Obama-era climate change rules

Donald Trump is poised to sign an executive order that will dramatically reduce the role that climate change has in governmental decision-making. The order could impact everything from energy policy to appliance standards.

The order is specifically targeting the former president’s climate policy. It will have Trump’s cabinet rewrite carbon emission rules for new and existing power plants and restart federal coal leasing (wherein energy companies are sold the rights to mine for coal on federal lands). It will also effectively prevent the impact on climate change from being considered in federal actions as part of the government’s National Environmental Policy Act reviews, such as for the Keystone XL oil pipeline. The “social cost of carbon”, a metric used by the Obama administration that takes into account societal impacts of global warming, will also be repealed.

Fossil fuel advocates are, unsurprisingly, overjoyed at the prospect of these repeals. “President Obama created such a labyrinth of rules and orders and regulations to cement his agenda across practically every agency,” Tom Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance, told Bloomberg. “It was designed to put into the mission of the agencies climate change first and make the rest of their mission second. This was a constraint deliberately set up by the previous administration to make it difficult to utilize coal, oil and natural gas.”

Scientists and environmental groups are, conversely, deeply troubled by the news. “While it’s painful to watch a rollback of standards that took significant effort and input to put in place, the Trump administration will need to follow laws and regulations such as the Clean Air Act and Administrative Procedure Act before knocking down regulations,” Vicki Arroyo, executive director of the Georgetown University Climate Center, told the Washington Post. “It’s not as simple as kicking over toy building blocks.”

This news comes days after the Trump administration vowed to slash EPA funding and the agency’s head, Scott Pruitt, claimed without an iota of evidence that carbon has no effect on global warming. There’s no word on when exactly Trump will sign the EO, though it could be as early as this week and, as Arroyo pointed out, there’s no set date for these changes to occur once it is signed. Some changes, like the federal coal leasing, will likely take effect immediately while the more sweeping rule changes will take a couple years to complete.

Via: Washington Post

Source: Bloomberg

‘Parappa The Rapper Remastered’ comes to PS4 on April 4th

Downloading games from digital platforms is one of the great boons of our internet-equipped future, but holiday sales ramp up their value to a whole other level. But they also periodically run small flash sales to highlight overlooked titles. ‘Play Collective’ is a new promotion giving discounts on a handpicked selection of games coming into the PlayStation Store. PS Plus members knock 20 percent off the sticker price of six titles, including a couple remastered old friends from gaming days past: Parappa The Rapper and the LucasArts classic Full Throttle.

If digging into text adventure and rap rhythm gems of yore isn’t your thing, the other games in the promotion sample other genres. Everything is a long-awaited reality sim letting players inhabit, well, everything in the game. Rain World follows a slugcat’s treacherous journey plumbing subterranea to find its lost family. Cosmic Star Heroine is a 16-bit RPG throwback following a space-roaming spy uncovering a conspiracy to end life in the cosmos. The last, What Remains of Edith Finch, puts players in the titular Edith’s first-person shoes as she explores her cursed family’s Washington home and discover why she’s the last of her name.

Since ‘Play Collective’ is more a curated Editor’s Pick list than a batch sale, titles will slowly launch over a six-week rollout, starting with Everything on March 21st and ending with Edith Finch on April 25th. Just remember that the discount only applies to preorders, so lock those in before each game goes live.

Source: PlayStation Blog