Microsoft details new privacy options, pledges data-collection transparency

Why it matters to you

Microsoft is being proactive about user privacy, offering up tools and information as part of the Creators Update that could be a major benefit to all PC users.

In the wake of President Donald Trump’s decision to repeal privacy laws preventing ISPs from collecting and sharing user data without consent, Microsoft has detailed new privacy options coming to Windows 10. These enhancements are set to be introduced to the operating system via the Creators Update, which is scheduled to release on April 11.

First off, the update will introduce more information to help users educate themselves about their privacy. Privacy settings will accompanied by short descriptions of what various options mean, with a “Learn More” button linking to more detailed documentation.

The Microsoft privacy statement is also being updated, with more information on how the company collects data, and what it’s used for. There are also plans to release more information about the kind of data that’s collected for diagnostic purposes.

More: Here’s how you can start using the Windows 10 Creators Update today

There are also some changes being applied to the way that Microsoft collects data for diagnostics. Windows 10 users can choose between two levels of reporting; Basic, which only supplies the company with enough information to keep a user’s device secure and up to date, and Full, which shares information that could be used to improve Windows 10 for all users.

Apparently, Microsoft has made a major effort to ensure that the Basic level of diagnostic reporting only collects the bare minimum of data. As a result, the volume of data collected at the Basic level has been reduced by about a half, according to a post on the Windows blog.

Users who are already working with Windows 10 will receive a prompt to adjust their privacy settings when they schedule a time to install the Creators Update. Going forward, users setting up a new device or performing a clean install of Windows 10 will have access to these settings during the welcome process.

Early Ryzen 5 1600 test results suggest AMD could be on to a winner

Why it matters to you

The Ryzen 5 1600 should be an excellent midrange CPU for just about everything, especially once some more optimizations are made to supporting hardware.

Early performance tests for AMD’s upcoming Ryzen 5 1600 CPU have appeared on a Spanish review site, after the site posted its full review before AMD gave it the OK to do so. Although not necessarily indicative of final results, the review suggested that the 1600 is almost as capable as its faster brethren, though once again it lags a little behind Intel when it comes to gaming.

Typically review sites are sent hardware before an official release, so that those publications can have a review ready for launch day. In most cases though, they are forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement that makes them liable if they leak any information early. In this case, Spanish site El Chapuzas (via Guru3D) claims it never had to sign one, so it’s off the hook and we get to learn about the 1600 chip a little earlier than expected.

ElChapuzas

ElChapuzas

ElChapuzas

Testing using an MSI X370 XPower Gaming Titanium motherboard, G.Skill TridentZ DDR4 memory running at 2,400MHz, and a GTX 1070 graphics card, the results the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 put out were rather impressive. It was able to hold its own against comparable and higher-clocked Intel hardware and in many cases was only a few points behind the higher-specced Ryzen 7 1700X.

More: AMD: Ryzen CPU gaming performance inhibited by lack of optimization

One area where it did fall behind the Intel i7-6700K was in some gaming tests. Although games like Battlefield 1 and Doom (especially using the Vulkan API) showed comparable performance, other games like Rise of the Tomb Raider and specifically Total War: Warhammer, gave a distinct lead to the Intel hardware.

Those differences were far smaller at higher resolutions, however.

Memory test AIDA also saw the Ryzen hardware fall behind a variety of Intel offerings. However, it should be noted that EL Chapuza’s early release testing did mean that optimizations and proper firmware were not available for the MSI motherboard, which meant operating the RAM at a maximum of 2,400MHz, rather than the 3,600MHz it is rated at.

Regardless of that drawback, however, the results are still impressive. The Ryzen 5 1600 is far from a top-of-the-line product and will retail for around $220 when it launches on April 11, which undercuts many of the Intel chips it was compared against here. When you factor in the future where more optimizations will be made to the design, and where we’ll see a predominance of higher-resolution game and benchmark testing, the 1600 could be one of the most attractive Ryzen chips AMD puts up for sale.

Look out for our more complete review in the coming week.

Apple says it is still not considering adding touchscreen capabilities to Macs

Why it matters to you

If you want a big, powerful touchscreen all-in-one, your best bet for now is the Microsoft Surface Studio.

Although Apple’s iPhone helped popularize the idea of a touchscreen smartphone, it still doesn’t want to bring the technology to its Mac desktop systems. It has also made it clear to questioning journalists, it has no plans to swap out Intel hardware for ARM processors.

These questions came to light during a recent roundtable discussion Apple had with a number of journalists it invited out to its Cupertino, California, headquarters. During the chat, several reporters asked whether Apple had any plans to add touchscreen functionality to its Macs, in a similar manner to Microsoft’s all-in-one Surface Studio products.It was also asked whether there was any possibility of dropping Intel CPUs from its Macs. On both accounts, the answer was a resounding no. However, Apple did purportedly say that there was a chance it would make more use of ARM chips in future as a secondary processor, much in the way it did in the MacBook Pros to run the Touch Bar, according to Axios.

More: MacBook Pro 13-inch with Touch Bar review

Apple marketing head Phil Schiller apologized for the time it was taking in upgrading the Mac Pro and claimed there was something new in the works.

“We’re going to come up with something great to replace it,” he said. It also plans a small performance update for existing Mac Pros soon, to help tide users over in the mean time.

Schiller also reiterated Apple’s commitment to professional users of its Mac hardware and said it was continuing to develop software like Final Cut and Logic and will introduce new versions of iMac hardware later in 2017.

One move we do know Apple is making with its hardware, though, is ditching Imagination Technologies graphics chips from its mobile hardware. There is even the suggestion that those processors will be switched out for Apple’s own design in the coming years.

Could this electric-car Charging Tower mean the end of gas stations?

Why it matters to you

This urban development concept by Ennead Lab is a cool futuristic alternative to traditional gas stations, but can the infrastructure keep pace with the electric car?

If this architecture firm has its way, the gas stations of the future will look very different indeed.

The Charging Tower is a concept created for a new urban development in Shanghai by Ennead Lab, the research arm of New York-based Ennead Architects. It’s an idea of what will replace current gas stations in a future where electric cars are more popular. Ennead calls it a “roadside beacon for electric cars.”

With its multiple levels housing stacked electric cars, the Charging Tower resembles a parking structure more than a gas station, which is the whole point. Charging an electric car takes a lot longer than pumping a tank of gas, but Ennead hopes to use that as an advantage. The tower has a relatively small footprint, allowing it to fit into dense urban areas. That gives drivers plenty to do while they wait for their cars to charge.

More: Hyundai’s Genesis luxury brand has Tesla in its sights

The Charging Tower can accommodate drivers who are in more of a hurry, too. It includes options for both standard charging and a faster “super charge” (a name Tesla probably isn’t too happy with). Analogous to DC fast-charging stations like Tesla’s Superchargers, these stations are located on the ground level so cars can get in out quickly. The slower charging stations are housed on the tower’s upper levels.

With two charging speeds, the Charging Tower can accommodate drivers making a brief stop on a long trip, or those traveling locally, Ennead says. Local drivers may be able to afford to wait longer, killing time while running errands, eating, or shopping. Long-distance drivers will likely use the Charging Tower more like a traditional gas station, stopping just long enough to top up with energy before continuing on.

While it’s unclear if the cities of the future will be dotted with towers full of charging electric cars, a switch away form internal combustion will almost certainly have a major impact on infrastructure. Charging stations can be placed anywhere electric lines are located, and usage patterns may differ from gas stations.

Xiaomi’s Mi Pad 3 upgrades for a faster processor, more RAM, and bigger battery

Why it matters to you

Provided you can get your hands on it, Xiaomi’s Mi Pad 3 continues to offer respectable hardware for a bargain compared to most tablets.

After almost two years off, Xiaomi finally unveiled a successor to its second-generation Mi Pad. It’s called the Mi Pad 3 and for this iteration, the company kept the changes mostly under the hood.

The new tablet boasts the same exterior as its predecessor — an unassuming slab of metal that, aside from the navigation buttons, could easily pass for an iPad Mini. So, too, could the 7.9-inch 2048 x 1536 display, which is still identical to the iPad Mini 4’s.

More: Xiaomi Mi 6 news and rumors

So what has Xiaomi changed? The processor, for starters. The Mi Pad 2 featured Intel’s Atom X5-Z8500 chipset, allowing the tablet to run the MIUI flavor of Android as well as Windows 10. It was a useful, important distinction that set the Mi Pad 2 apart from other iPad clones.

Well, for the Mi Pad 3, it appears the company has done away with the dual platform strategy. The tablet features MediaTek’s hexa-core MT8176 processor, which lacks the x86 compatibility of Intel’s silicon — meaning it runs Android and only Android. Xiaomi has also doubled the RAM from 2GB to 4GB.

The 8- and 4-megapixel cameras that flanked the rear and front of the Mi Pad 2 have likewise been improved, to 13- and 5-megapixels, respectively. It’s a bit unusual for Xiaomi to have lavished this kind of attention on upgrading the cameras on a tablet, especially considering so much of the rest of the device has remained unchanged.

Users will likely be more appreciative of the new battery, which is surprisingly larger than the outgoing model, despite being contained in the same sized chassis. The Mi Pad 3’s 6,600mAh battery is reportedly good for about 870 hours in standby mode and 12 hours of media use. For reference, its predecessor’s was rated at 6,190mAh.

In terms of storage, thankfully Xiaomi appears to have retired the 16GB option that it offered with the Mi Pad 2, meaning there is now only one 64GB configuration. The device will go on sale in China on Thursday and retail for the equivalent of $220.

The Honor 8 Pro is Huawei’s new flagship killer

Why it matters to you

Want a high-end smartphone but you’re not enthused about paying big bucks for the privilege? The Honor 8 Pro may be the answer.

Chinese brand Huawei’s phones occupy every hue of the pricing spectrum. On the high end, there’s the cutting-edge, top-of-the-line P10 with Leica-certified lenses, and on the low end is the $250 Honor 6X, which eschews a lot of the former’s bells and whistles in favor of bargain basement pricing.

Huawei’s new Honor 8 Pro, which the company announced on Wednesday, sits somewhere in the middle.

It’s the latest addition to Huawei’s Honor sub-brand, which maintains a careful balancing act between competitive hardware and palatable pricing. The Honor 8 Pro launched in China as the V9 earlier this year, and begins shipping to Europe in April of this year for 549 euros. And unsurprisingly, it’s an improvement upon its predecessor (last year’s Honor 8) in almost every respect.

More: Huawei P10 and P10 Plus review

That’s evident right away. The Honor 8 Pro eschews the Honor 8’s all-glass design for a curvy aluminum, navy blue unibody (black, gold, and other colors with launch later this year). Gone is its predecessor’s textured back panel, replaced with a minimalist matte finish. Just like its predecessor, the Honor 8 Pro is slim, sleek, and easy on the eyes.

A Gorilla Glass 3 shields the Honor 8 Pro’s 5.7-inch Quad HD (2,560 x 1,400 pixels) display and conceals Huawei’s homegrown Kirin 960, which packs four cores humming away at 2.4GHz and four low-power cores that operate at 1.8GHz. It’s paired with a whopping 6GB of RAM (up from 4GB), 64GB of internal storage expandable via MicroSD slot, and a 4,000mAh (up from 3,000mAh) battery that supports fast charging. Huawei said it’ll last two full days of light use.

There’s more to the Honor 8 Pro than meets the eye. It’s running the latest version of Huawei’s proprietary Emotion UI (5.1), which uses machine learning to optimize performance — it can predict when you’re going to update the Facebook app, for example, so it loads faster than it otherwise would. Huawei said a special mix of algorithms and automatic storage-cleaning will keep the Honor 8 Pro at 80-percent efficiency (or better) after 500 days of use. There’s a new blue light filter, and Highlights, a camera feature co-developed with GoPro that creates video stories from pics and clips in the Honor 8 Pro’s gallery.

More: With two main cameras, Huawei’s Honor 8 looks like an alien doubling as a phone

Huawei is heavily emphasizing virtual reality this time around. The Honor 8 Pro’s box transforms into a cardboard viewer, and the phone comes pre-installed with the Jaunt VR app.

If there’s anything the Honor 8 Pro skimps on, it’s in the camera department. It trades the Huawei P10’s shooters for dual, f/2.2 aperture 12-megapixel sensors with a wide aperture mode that captures bokeh and a black-and-white monochrome filter. The front camera is an 8-megapixel model.

There is some stiff competition at the Honor 8 Pro’s price point. It’s contending with the Axon 7 and OnePlus 3T, both of which come in under the Honor 8 Pro’s asking price. But considering the next step up is (the P10) premium, it’s not a bad compromise.

Huawei’s Honor wants you to test out its latest hardware and software

Why it matters to you

You could help shape the future of Honor’s smartphone business and try out next-gen tech in the process.

Are you interested in trying out new phones and phone software before they are available? Honor wants you! The Huawei-owned company has announced a new beta program targeted specifically at those that live in the U.S. — however, only a select few will be a part of the program.

The program is being facilitated through a new Honor Beta Facebook page and as part of the program, you will be required to give feedback on current hardware, as well as software launches up to two years before they could officially launch. Honor is specifically looking for people with a good general knowledge in the tech space and who are capable of giving constructive feedback.

More: Honor teases new phone with talk of extra dimensions, speed-of-light performance

To sign up for yourself, you can fill out this form — though you may also want to join the Facebook group to keep up to date with the latest details surrounding the program. If you’re selected to be a part of the program, you will be notified throughout the year. However, there is no word yet on exactly when applicants will be notified.

“Honor Beta is about exploring the smartphone experience you want,” the company said in a statement on its Facebook page. “What do you like, what don’t you like, what is actually useful, or downright annoying? What have you ever wished your phone would do?”

We don’t know exactly what devices members of the program will test but with the Honor Pro 8 reviews hitting the net, it’s possible that the company is looking toward its next flagship device. Perhaps applicants will even get their hands on the Honor 9.

It is interesting to see Honor placing a heavier emphasis on U.S. customers and we will have to see what comes of the program and how it influences future phones and future software.

Netflix’s new ratings system gets a thumbs-up

Netflix has a new ratings system, and it’s all about simplicity.

Netflix has rolled out its new ratings system and recommendation engine, replacing the five star-based option for the simpler, more participation-friendly “thumbs-up, thumbs-down.”

Netflix has had star ratings for much of our history, but we’ve learned through over a year of testing that while we’ve used stars to help you personalize your suggestions, many of our members are confused about what they do.

That’s because we’ve all gotten used to star ratings on e-commerce and review apps, where rating contributes to an overall average, and the star rating shown next to a restaurant or a pair of shoes is an average of all the reviewers. On those apps, being a reviewer can be fun and helpful to others, but the primary goal isn’t always to help you get better suggestions.

In contrast, when people see thumbs, they know that they are used to teach the system about their tastes with the goal of finding more great content. That’s why when we tested replacing stars with thumbs we saw an astounding 200% increase in ratings activity.

That 200% increase in ratings activity, according to the company, should lead to more accurate recommendations, since an increasing number of Netflix’s near-100 million user base is going to be participating in the program, improving the algorithm for everyone.

Netflix is doubling streaming quality without increasing bandwidth

How to stream your PC desktop to your Gear VR

How do I mirror my desktop on my Gear VR?

It might sound crazy, but streaming your PC’s desktop to your Gear VR is quite possible thanks to a couple of free apps for your phone and your PC. Why stream to your Gear VR? Using your desktop in VR is an incredible experience, whether you’re watching a movie or playing a game. That’s right — any games on your PC can be played on an enormous screen within Gear VR.

Ready to get started? Here’s what you need to download and how to get everything working together.

Read the full article at VR Heads!

AT&T’s excellent-but-expensive unlimited plan now comes with free HBO

Get some Game of Thrones on the go with AT&T’s new deal.

AT&T is giving away HBO with its unlimited plan as a response to fervent competition from T-Mobile and Verizon, and its increasingly close ties with its mobile and DirecTV divisions.

The company has announced that all AT&T Unlimited Plus customers will get access to HBO wherever it is available — through DirecTV Now or HBO Go — and that existing subscribers to the service through DirecTV will begin receiving it for free.

Customers who have Unlimited Plus but not HBO on DirecTV get a $25 monthly credit that can be put towards the service.

The move comes after both T-Mobile and Verizon have begun making it easier to watch content through wireless networks, either by zero-rating services like Verizon’s Fios TV for mobile subscribers or, in the case of T-Mobile, zero-rating all video streams.

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AT&T’s unlimited wireless plan is currently the most expensive among the Big Four carriers, with one line beginning at $90 per month and two rounding up to $145 (with $20/month increases thereafter), but the company hopes that this HBO tie-in will bring more people into the fold.

More: Which unlimited plan should you buy?

See at AT&T