Microsoft’s latest Windows 10 experiment: Running apps in tabs

When it comes to multitasking, few UI upgrades were as helpful as browser tabs. Instead of juggling dozens of windows on your computer, they let you place multiple websites in a single pane. It’s the sort of thing we take for granted today — especially if you don’t remember the pre-tab dark ages.

With its latest feature in Windows 10, currently dubbed “Sets,” Microsoft has taken some major cues from what browser makers learned years ago. Basically, it lets you group together Windows apps in tabs. That might sound simplistic, but Sets (which isn’t the final name yet) could fundamentally change the way we work in Microsoft’s OS.

If you’ve seen the way the Edge browser handles tabs, you’ve already got a handle on Sets. You open a new tab within a window by clicking the plus button in the title bar. Once you’ve done that, you’ll see a landing page listing your most frequently used apps, recent documents and a search bar for local files and the web. As you’d expect, whatever you end up opening appears right alongside the original app you were using. So, if you started with a Word document, you could easily have a Powerpoint file, web pages and your Mail app sitting alongside it. It feels similar to how Chromebooks handle multitasking, an OS that has an interface almost entirely made up of browser tabs.

Conceptually, Sets goes hand-in-hand with the upcoming Windows Timeline, which lets you jump backwards to continue working on past projects. While the two features were conceived separately, according to Microsoft, they could make for a powerful combination. It’s easier for the OS to tell that a collection of tabs within a single window are related to one project. For example, if you were making a presentation on South American rain forests, you could have a Word document taking notes, several web pages with relevant research, and a Powerpoint file all in the same window. That also makes it simpler for Timeline to get you back up and running when you switch devices. Additionally, Windows will be able to open up the Set you typically use with a particular document.

While Sets might seem like an obvious UI evolution for Windows, it’s still a significant move for Microsoft. For one, it marks the biggest change we’ve seen to the title bar since Windows 95. Even the drastic UI overhaul in Windows 8 didn’t affect that much. Perhaps that’s why Microsoft is clearly positioning it as an experiment. Initially, only a handful of Windows Insider participants will get access to it. The company will also perform a controlled study on how people use the feature. While Microsoft says everyone in the Insider Program will eventually have access, it’ll likely be a while before that happens.

Initially, Sets will work with Universal Windows apps like Mail, Calendar and Edge. After that, the company will work on bringing simpler apps like Notepad onboard, and it’s also developing a Sets-compatible version of office. Supporting more complex apps, like Photoshop and Premiere, will take even longer. You’ll eventually be able to access Sets in Microsoft’s mobile apps, as well. And if none of this sounds compelling, you’ll be able to turn off Sets (or whatever it ends up being called) in your Control Panel. Microsoft also plans to offer granular control for the feature, allowing you to turn it off for specific apps.

What’s most interesting about Sets is how Microsoft is carefully rolling it out. Unlike Windows 8, which dramatically killed off the Start Menu and replaced it with something slower and clunkier, the company is taking care not to disrupt how we normally work in its OS. It’s a humbling admission by Microsoft that it might not always know what’s best for its users. But this time, at least, it’s prepared to learn.

Windows 10’s ‘Timeline’ continuity tool arrives soon for Insiders

If you were bummed that this fall’s Creators Update for Windows 10 didn’t include Microsoft’s version of Handoff, we feel you. But if you’re a Windows Insider Program member, there’s good news: Timeline will soon be available to folks in the Fast Ring. Cool, right?

The feature was first shown off at Build back in May and its tools for resuming work from where you left off, regardless of the device you were using at the time, seemed incredibly ambitious. It was so ambitious that they wouldn’t make it in time for September’s big update. In July, Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore said that the feature wouldn’t launch until sometime after the seasonal patch.

And that brings us back to today; closing the loop if you will. Timeline isn’t nearly as flashy as the other new feature that’s out soon — Sets — but it’s still pretty useful.

Judge grants Waymo trial delay because Uber withheld evidence

Waymo, Alphabet’s self-driving unit, sued Uber earlier this year over the alleged theft of self driving tech. The latest bit of drama comes today as a US judge granted a request from Alphabet to delay the trial, which was scheduled to start December 4th. This is apparently because Uber and its attorneys may have withheld evidence, and Waymo has requested time to investigate, according to Reuters.

The lawsuit revolves around Anthony Levandowski, who is a former Google employee. He left the company to form Otto, a self-driving truck startup. Uber later acquired Otto, and with it (according to Alphabet), proprietary files from Waymo about the self-driving unit’s tech that Levandowski downloaded six weeks before his departure. Waymo is now seeking $2.6 billion from Uber for the alleged theft of trade secrets.

Uber has long maintained that it had nothing to do with Levandowski’s downloading of files, and has not used them any way in its own technology. However, in Waymo’s lawsuit, the unit claims that it was inadvertently copied on an email from one of its component vendors to Uber. Uber’s tech looked strikingly similar to Waymo’s proprietary designs.

The revelation that Uber may have withheld information that is pertinent to the investigation doesn’t look good for the company. It’s the latest in an endless string of setbacks for the ride sharing company, which often finds itself in hot water due to its own toxic company culture and policies.

Via: Twitter

Source: Reuters

Huawei says it can do better than Apple’s Face ID

Huawei has a history of trying to beat Apple at its own game (it unveiled a “Force Touch” phone days before the iPhone 6s launch), and that’s truer than ever now that the iPhone X is in town. At the end of a presentation for the Honor V10, the company teased a depth-sensing camera system that’s clearly meant to take on Apple’s TrueDepth face detection technology. It too uses a combination of infrared and a projector to create a 3D map of your face, but it can capture 300,000 points in 10 seconds — that’s 10 times as many as the iPhone X captures.

It’s secure enough to be used for payments (unlike the OnePlus 5T), and almost as quick to sign you in as the company’s fingerprint readers at 400 milliseconds. Even the silly applications of the tech promise to be better. The company showed off a not-so-subtle Animoji clone that could tell when you were sticking out your tongue in addition to tracking the usual facial expressions.

There’s one major catch to this system: it’s not actually part of a product yet. Huawei’s Honor team showed the system without mentioning what phones would use it, let alone when they would ship. This was a spec announcement to show that Huawei would eventually have an answer to Apple’s 3D face detection, not something tangible you could buy in the near future.

Source: WinFuture (translated)

Apple’s YouTube videos can help with dad’s inane iOS questions

If spending a Saturday morning at an Apple store with a family member is your idea of Hell, then playing tech support for your relatives while you’re home for the holidays is probably a lengthy stretch of the road to perdition. Well, Apple Support remembered YouTube exists and has uploaded a series of videos answering simple questions like how to send and save GIFs on an iPhone, how to update iOS, change the wallpaper and how to mute or leave a group conversation, among others.

It’s all pretty basic stuff, sure, but if you bookmark the page in your browser it’ll save you from explaining it yourself. And really, wouldn’t you rather save that breath for something that really matters, like asking for seconds of candied yams? Or talking politics with your uncle? What’s conspicuously absent is a how-to on dealing with one of the buggiest versions of iOS in recent memory.

Via: 9to5Mac

Source: Apple Support (YouTube)

‘Yooka-Laylee’ arrives on Nintendo Switch December 14th

The wait is almost over: The whimsical, N64-styled retro platformer Yooka-Laylee will arrive on Nintendo Switch this December 14th. While versions for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were released in April, the game seems custom-tailored for Nintendo’s hybrid home/portable console. After all, the game was made by former Rare Ware employees (which existed more or less as a second-party studio since the NES’ hey-day) and its pick-up-and-play platforming is perfect for quick sessions on the go.

If you’ve already cleared Super Mario Odyssey and still have an itch for an old-school 3D platformer, Yooka-Laylee could be just the ticket for you. The team at Playtonic promises single JoyCon play for all eight multiplayer modes and that they had help optimizing the game for the Switch from Nintendo and engine-maker Unity (the toolset the game runs on).

“We believe we’re delivering a version Nintendo fans can be proud of,” the developer writes. You can be the judge of that yourself, and see if Playtonic scrapping the Wii U version was worthwhile, in a few short weeks.

Via: Polygon

Source: Playtonic

Apple Seeds Fifth Beta of iOS 11.2 to Developers

Apple today seeded the fifth beta of an upcoming iOS 11.2 update to developers, more than a week after releasing the fourth iOS 11.2 beta, a month after releasing the first major iOS 11 update, iOS 11.1, and a week and a half after releasing the iOS 11.1.2 update.

Registered developers can download the new iOS 11.2 beta from Apple’s Developer Center or over-the-air once the proper configuration profile has been installed from the Developer Center.

iOS 11.2 introduces Apple Pay Cash, Apple’s new peer-to-peer payments service. Apple Pay Cash works through the Messages app and is designed to allow for quick person-to-person money transfers. It’s available as a dedicated iMessage app in Messages, with cash transferred through the app.

Cash can be sent from a linked debit or credit card, while received cash is stored in an Apple Pay Cash card in Wallet that can be used for purchases or sent to a bank account.

On the iPhone X, iOS 11.2 adds a small bar underneath the icons located at the upper right side of the device on the Lock screen, which is designed to make the location of the Control Center gesture more clear. On the iPhone X, Control Center is accessed by swiping down from the top of the device.

In Control Center on all devices, there are two new informational pop-ups that are displayed when using the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth toggles. These pop-ups explain that Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are disabled temporarily rather than permanently when accessed from Control Center.

In iOS 11.2, there’s support for faster 7.5W wireless charging for the iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus. The faster speeds will be available when using third-party wireless chargers that support 7.5W charging or more.

The update also addresses an animation bug in the Calculator app that caused some numbers and symbols to be ignored when entered in rapid succession. The update removes the animations from the calculator app so calculations can be done quickly with no need to pause between entering numbers to obtain the correct result.

In addition to these bug fixes, iOS 11.2 introduces a new Now Playing option for controlling content on the Apple TV in Control Center, redesigned camera emoji, a new loading animation for Live Photos effects, and new Live wallpapers for the iPhone X, plus it adds a feature that lets developers offer new customers discounted introductory pricing for auto-renewable subscriptions on the App Store.

Related Roundup: iOS 11
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Apple Seeds Fifth macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 Beta to Developers

Apple today seeded the fifth beta of an upcoming macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 update to developers, a week and a half after seeding the fourth beta and a month after releasing the macOS High Sierra 10.13.1 update.

The new macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 beta can be downloaded from the Apple Developer Center or through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store with the proper profile installed.

It’s not yet clear what improvements the second major update to macOS High Sierra will bring, but it’s likely to include bug fixes and performance improvements for issues that weren’t addressed in macOS High Sierra 10.13.1.

No significant new features were discovered in the first four betas of macOS High Sierra 10.13.2, but we’ll update this post should notable changes be found in the fifth beta.

The previous update, 10.13.1, introduced fixes for some serious security flaws and brought new emoji to the macOS operating system.

Related Roundup: macOS High Sierra
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Apple Seeds Fifth Beta of tvOS 11.2 to Developers

Apple today seeded the fifth beta of an upcoming tvOS 11.2 update to developers for testing purposes, a week and a half after seeding the fourth tvOS 11.2 update and a month after the launch of tvOS 11.1.

Designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models, the tvOS 11.2 developer beta can be downloaded onto the Apple TV via a profile that’s installed using Xcode.

According to Apple’s release notes, the tvOS 11.2 update enables a new AVDisplayManager feature for developers, designed to allow the device to automatically switch video display modes to match the native frame rate and dynamic range of video content.

The update includes support for switching the Apple TV 4K display output to SDR for apps that are GPU-bound when running in HDR and it re-introduces the Unwatched category in Home Sharing for Movies, TV Shows, and Home Videos.

Apple says tvOS 11.2 also adds new features, bug fixes, and security improvements to the tvOS operating system.

Related Roundup: Apple TVBuyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Buy Now)
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Australian companies may soon be using a national facial recognition database

Your face may soon be up for sale. As per a new report from the Guardian, the Australian government might allow private companies to access the national facial recognition database. Documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws reveal that both “major telecommunications companies” and financial institutions have expressed interest in using the expansive database, which contains photographic data of many Australians.

In their own creation of the database, the Australian government noted that facial recognition can aid in national security, and also has the ability to reduce certain crimes like identity fraud. And while the Attorney General’s Department noted in documents that private companies would only be allowed access to an individual’s face with his or her permission, critics are concerned about the lack of transparency and regulation of facial recognition programs.

“There are questions about whether individuals are able to make voluntary informed decisions and opt out of these schemes, even if they are aware that it is happening,” Monique Mann, a director of the Australian Privacy Foundation and a lecturer at the faculty of law at the Queensland University of Technology, told the Guardian. “If the alternative would be not being able to access important services, like opening a bank account, can you really say that customers are giving their consent freely?” Mann continued, “In practice, this program will effectively encourage private companies to build their own facial recognition databases. Once that data is created, it becomes very difficult for people to know how securely it will be stored, who it will be shared with and what information it will be connected to, and to what end.”

But how would private companies use this database? As per the partially redacted documents, “the [Attorney General’s] Department is currently in exploratory discussions with some of the major telecommunications carriers [redacted] regarding their potential use of the [Face Verification Service (FVS)].” Companies who made use of FVS would take a facial image of a customer, and send it to the “Biometric Interoperability Hub.” The hub would then use the national database to verify that image against an official government record (like a passport or driver’s license).

Companies, of course, would have to pay for each transaction, and government officials noted, “Any private sector organizations using the FVS would need to demonstrate their lawful basis to do so under the Privacy Act, and could only use the FVS where they gain a person’s consent to use their images.”

How exactly this all plays out is yet to be determined, but a privacy debate seems certain to ensue in the coming months.