Intel to close its New Devices Group, signaling a retreat from wearables

Daven Mathies/Digital Trends

Unnamed sources claim that Intel will close its New Devices Group despite sinking several hundred million dollars into the division. Originally launched in 2013, this section of Intel dealt with wearables such as smart glasses and fitness trackers. But the devices reportedly never made an impact on the wearables market, and much like Intel’s failed attempt at streaming TV, the company may be bailing out of the wearables business altogether. 

Insiders say that layoffs from the Group may be possible. Around 200 people worked in the wearables division in early 2018, which was valued at $350 million as of February. That’s a steep drop from the 800-people crew that was reported in 2016. The remaining 200 employees will either transition to other positions within the company, or face layoffs. 

A former Intel executive suggests that the company is simply having trouble moving outside of its comfort zone of processors. After all, Intel resides at the top of the processor market with its Core, Xeon, and Atom chips for desktops, servers, workstations, and mobile. McAfee is a good example of its comfort zone woes: Intel purchased the security firm for more than $7.6 billion in 2011 and then sold a majority of the division (51 percent) to buyout firm TPG for $4.2 billion in 2016. 

The New Devices Group was originally spearheaded by Michael Bell, corporate vice president and general manager of the Mobile and Communications Group for Intel. He previously worked at Apple from 1991 to 2007, and then moved on to serve as senior vice president of product development at Palm from 2007 to 2010. According to Bell, his new group would “really push to make the wearables dream become a reality.” Bell departed from Intel in 2015. 

Intel’s wearables success seemed guaranteed. Intel Capital division invested in heads-up displays for sports maker Recon Instruments in September 2013, and then outright bought the company in June 2015. Intel also teamed up with Oakley to fuse premium, luxury, and sports eyewear with smart technology. Let’s not forget Nixie, the first wearable camera that can fly. 

But in June 2016, Intel was forced to recall its Basis Peak watches due to overheating. Intel initially distributed a software update to address the problem, but ultimately couldn’t fix the unfixable, issuing a recall. That was a major setback after acquiring Basis Science, creator of the Basis band, in March 2014. The purchase was to accelerate Intel’s wearables products focus. 

By November 2016, Intel insiders claimed that the company planned to let go of a large portion of its New Devices Group workforce, and perhaps even close the division altogether. Eventually, workers were apparently either moved to other departments or let go from the company. Many projects were shut down around June 2017 while Intel finally relocated the majority of its smartglasses developers during the last several months. 

“Intel is continuously working on new technologies and experiences. Not all of these develop into a product we choose to take to market. The Superlight project is a great example where Intel developed truly differentiated, consumer augmented reality glasses,” a spokesperson said. “We are going to take a disciplined approach as we keep inventing and exploring new technologies, which will sometimes require tough choices when market dynamics don’t support further investment.” 

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Microsoft gives OneNote Windows 10 a promotion, kills off OneNote 2016

Microsoft OneNote is one of the oldest and most popular note-taking apps on the market. It is also one of the most feature-complete, it works on every important platform, and it integrates well with Microsoft’s Office productivity suite. There are two versions of OneNote, though, and Microsoft has announced that it’s making the Windows 10 version of OneNote the official option going forward.

This decision might disappoint some OneNote users who have been using the desktop application that Microsoft included in the Office suite and that currently stands at Office 2016. That’s the version of OneNote that has been around the longest, going all the way back to 2002 when OneNote 2003 was released. As of Office 2019, though, OneNote 2016 will no longer be automatically installed (although the existing installations won’t be deleted).

This move shouldn’t come as an actual shock, though, as Microsoft has been focusing on updating the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) version of OneNote for several months, adding new features to it and leaving out the OneNote 2016 application. In fact, OneNote 2016 will receive no new functionality at all, and will instead migrate to maintenance mode and receive support, bug fixes, and security updates through October 2020.

Already, some features are only available in the OneNote UWP app, such as being able to share notes easily using the Windows 10 sharing functionality, view notes sorted by update order, see Notification Center updates, use the Researcher to find quotes and citable sources, and enjoy the Immersive Reading view. OneNote UWP will also be receiving faster and more reliable syncing across all platforms and the ability to see live previews of embedded Office files.

At the same time, a few features are OneNote 2016-only, such as the ability to create Outlook Tasks in notes, pin commands to the toolbar, record video, and utilize third-party add-ins. Perhaps most important, OneNote 2016 also allows saving notes locally, while OneNote UWP can only save notes in the OneDrive cloud. Notably, two OneNote 2016 features, tags and tag search, will be making their way to OneNote UWP “soon.”

In many ways, OneNote UWP is already a better app, with superior ink effects, better ink-to-text capabilities, and improved battery life and performance as some examples. Windows 10 already ships with the app pre-installed and it’s the version that is most similar to OneNote for iOS, OneNote for Android, and OneNote’s web version. All of that should make the transition to OneNote UWP a bit less painful, even for people who have been using the desktop application for well over a decade.

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A sensor-packed exosuit lets you fly a drone by pretending to be one

“Don’t just fly the drone; be the drone” sounds like the kind of quasi-philosophical line you would hear in one of The Matrix or Star Wars movies. In fact, it perfectly encapsulates a new project developed by researchers at Switzerland’s École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). They created a new drone control system which allows users to pilot drones by, essentially, pretending to be one.

OK, so stretching out your arms like wings and pitching or rolling your body may be a little bit embarrassing in public, but this could make drone piloting more intuitive than ever.

“In order to enhance the interaction between human and drone by making their control more natural and intuitive, we developed an exosuit, called the FlyJacket, which allows user to control a drone with upper body movements,” Carine Rognon, a researcher on the project from EPFL’s Laboratory of Intelligent Systems, told Digital Trends. “The user is wearing [an] exosuit and virtual reality goggles. The torso inclination, recorded with an inertial measurement unit embedded in the exosuit, is translated into drone command. As people tend to intuitively fly with the arm spread out, we included a passive arm support to the exosuit to prevent arm fatigue.”

EPFL

The FlyJacket experience begins when a person puts on the superhero-style suit. Once they are wearing it, Rognon says that most users quickly grasp the relationship between their own body and control of the drone.

“As the drone control is very intuitive, the user is directly immersed in the flight and can directly start to explore the environment,” she said. “You quickly feel as if you are the drone. The immersion is deepened by the fact that the interaction with the drone is direct as is doesn’t pass through a physical tool, such as when using a joystick. In addition, as people use their full upper body and not only their fingertips, they have kinesthetic and vestibular feedback due to their change of upper-body position.”

While this is still a research project at present, the team (led by EPFL’s Professor Dario Floreano) hope to turn the exosuit into a commercially available product. Currently, they are working to improve the immersion of the experience by implementing tactile feedback inside the FlyJacket to render the sensation of flying. This is being carried out in collaboration with the Collaborative Haptics and Robotics in Medicine (CHARM) Lab at Stanford University, a laboratory specializing in haptics rendering.

A paper describing the project was recently published in the IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters journal.

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Hackers modify ransomware to deliver a Coinhive cryptocurrency-mining payload

Trend Micro recently discovered that hackers repurposed the XiaoBa ransomware to carry a cryptocurrency miner payload. Typically, XiaoBa infects a PC, encrypts its files, and holds those files hostage until the victim delivers a payment to hackers. But in this case, the new payload injects the Coinhive mining script into HTM and HTML files used by the infected PC. 

Coinhive is a JavaScript-based component that is injected into webpages. It uses a visiting PC’s processor to mine digital coins in the background although computers take a noticeable performance hit during the process. Typically, the mining ends once you leave the Coinhive-infested page, bringing your processor’s performance back up to speed. But Coinhive can also secretly reside in browser extensions, making an escape from the grueling process impossible while the browser remains open. 

The new XiaoBa variant appears to have a worm-style component, meaning it could spread from PC to PC connected to a local network, thus increasing the hackers’ financial gains. But that is not the worst-case scenario: This variant is also highly destructive. The revised code infects legitimate binary files (exe, com, scr, pif) to deliver the payload but destroys these files in the process. 

“The malware will prepend itself to any file with the above extension,” the security firm states. “That is the only criteria checked before infection, unlike other malware that typically look for certain conditions or markers before infecting the file. It also traverses all directories. It will not avoid critical system files and can render the system critically unstable if it is not dealt with properly.” 

Trend Micro says the malware infects files of all sizes and does not leave any markers on the infected file, allowing for multiple infections — 10 as shown in one example — on a single PC. Thus, not only is the processor bogged down from the mining aspect, but the “stacked” infections consume large amounts of memory and likely a big chunk of disk space, too. 

Trend Micro currently knows of only two versions of the XiaoBa variant, both of which carry the Coinhive payload. Both will disable Windows User Account Control notifications while only one deletes Norton Ghost images, disk media images (ISO), and blocks access to anti-virus and forensic-related websites. Presumably, both inject the Coinhive script into webpages as they are downloaded and cached locally on the PC’s storage device. 

What is not clear is how PCs obtain the XiaoBa variants in the first place. Malware is typically spread through email and social network scams, requiring victims to click a link that downloads the malicious file. According to Trend Micro, one of the two variants propagates by using removable drives, like a USB-based storage stick.  

XiaoBa was first reported by MalwareHunter Team at the end of 2017. Once it lands on a PC, it disguises itself as system files, disables the firewall, and blocks security-focused websites. It also modifies the PC’s registry and allows other viruses to infect the system. That doesn’t even cover the ransomware aspect, which encrypts files until victims pay a ransom. 

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20 million Chrome users are fooled into downloading fake ad blockers

Google removed a number of fake ad blockers from its Chrome store after an AdGuard researcher discovered that these extensions concealed malicious scripts. The code hidden within these fake ad blocking extensions was used to collect information about a user’s browsing session and to change the browser’s behavior.

Some of these extensions were popular, with one fake ad blocker garnering as many as 10 million downloads. Even the least popular extension, Webutation, had 30,000 downloads.

These malicious ad-blocking extensions merely copied the legitimate ad blocking code from real ad blockers and added its own harmful one.

“All the extensions I’ve highlighted are simple rip-offs with a few lines of code and some analytics code added by the ‘authors,’” AdGuard’s Andrew Meshkov wrote. “Instead of using tricky names they now spam keywords in the extension description trying to make to the top search results.”

Given that most casual users don’t really pay attention to the name of an extension as long as it was somewhere near the top of their search results, it’s easy to deceive a large number of Chrome users to download fake ad blockers. Combined, all five of the flagged — and now removed — ad blockers generated 20 million downloads, according to AdGuard.

“Basically, this is a botnet composed of browsers infected with the fake adblock extensions. The browser will do whatever the command center server owner orders it to do,” he wrote.

The malicious code sends the data it collects, including your browsing information, to a remote server. The server then sends a command to an extension that is concealed inside an innocent image, and the commands are executed as scripts to change the way your browser behaves.

To protect yourself, AdGuard recommends that you only download browser extensions from trusted authors and companies. If you don’t know the author, Meshkov recommends skipping the extension. Even if the extension comes from a trusted author, the software could be sold to another party in the future, which could then change the intended use or behavior of the extension.

If you’re looking for an ad block, be sure to check out our list of recommendations for some of the best ad blocking extensions.

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Apple’s first-generation MacBook is Amazon’s Deal of the Day

cheap macbook deals

If you’re in the market for an Apple laptop, Apple’s first-generation MacBook, with its 12-inch Retina Display, is now on sale on Amazon. Although you’ll have to settle for a refurbished model, rather than a new edition, the laptop’s starting price of $779 today makes it a solid buy.

At that price, you’ll be getting 8GB RAM and a 256GB solid-state drive for storage. Apple also throws in a 90-day warranty, as TechRadar points out.

Originally launched in 2015, the MacBook is listed as Amazon’s Deal of the Day, and the internet retailer is also selling other configurations of the Apple’s first generation 12-inch laptop. The highest configuration that’s part of Amazon’s Deal of the Day comes with 512GB storage and a slightly faster Intel Core M processor for $969.

Intel’s Core M processor architecture at the time allowed Apple to build the MacBook with its ultrathin frame. The processor’s low power consumption allowed the notebook to remain cool, but you’ll also trade off a fair amount of processing power compared to Intel’s more mainstream Core i-series processors that are found in Apple’s premium MacBook Pro lineup. Another trade-off you’ll make with Apple’s MacBook is the keyboard. The MacBook keys utilize Apple’s first-generation butterfly switches, which comes with more shallow key travel. The danger here is that dirt could get trapped under the keys and render them inoperable until it gets dislodged, so you may want to also order a can of compressed air just in case.

The MacBook is currently in its second-generation. The latest model comes with a newer Core M processor that utilizes Intel’s seventh-generation Kaby Lake architecture for better power. When configured with a similar 256GB storage capacity and 8GB RAM, the current model retails for $1,299 on Apple’s website, compared to Amazon’s $779 deal for the first generation edition.

The biggest compromise, however, with Apple’s MacBook series is that they exclusively rely on a USB Type-C port, which means you’ll need adapters if you need to plug in any legacy peripherals, including connecting monitors, printers, memory cards, flash drives, and external storage drives. You may also want to pick up some USB Type-C adapters, hubs, or dongles if you’re buying this laptop.

If you need to do a bit more research before you make your decision, be sure to give our guide to the best laptops a read. If you want to stay exclusively within Apple’s ecosystem, we also have a guide to the best MacBooks, which takes a look at Apple’s entire mobile computing range.

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Rock stars wear them, and so should you: A review of earplugs for concertgoers

Ears are extraordinary organs. They’ve evolved over many millions of years to give voice to the vibrating world around us.

But like most parts of the human body, our ears aren’t built for the modern world. They’re designed to detect subtleties in speech and creatures in the night — not conversations over the din in a bar.

I’ll be honest, I subject my ears to a lot of stress. My exercise route takes me right alongside a busy boulevard, where my footsteps are accompanied by sounds of traffic — engines, rattling chassises, the audible ca-clunks of passing trucks. I’ve been known to eat an entire bag of pretzels while watching a movie, turning up the volume to compensate my chewing along the way. And most worryingly, I’ve logged over a hundred live music listening hours.

All that is to admit that I should do more to protect my ears. And I’m clearly not alone. Nearly a quarter of all American adults suffer from noise-induced hearing loss, according to a 2017 report by the Center for Disease Control.

Nearly a quarter of all American adults suffer from noise-induced hearing loss

The problem is that not all hazardous noises hurt. Noise pollution isn’t exactly painful but it’s been shown to have serious health consequences. (At 85 decibels, busy city traffic is safe to hear for about eight hours.) DIYers don’t always wear hearing protection while working with power tools but, at 98 decibels, a hand drill is safe for less than half an hour. And the auditory impact of live music is usually only noticed after the event, even though less than thirty minutes at an average concert (~100 dB) is enough to do irreversible damage.

In an effort to better care for my ears, I tried out a range of universal earplugs designed specifically for musicians and live music listeners, to see if I could make one of my favorite activities a bit less destructive to my future self. There are a few different approaches manufacturers take to attenuate dBs without distorting sounds. Here’s our non-exhaustive look at a few earplug options for live music.

A few things to know before buying music earplugs

First, if you’ve ever tried wearing normal foam earplugs at a concert, you know how much they can detract from the experience. Standard plugs are designed to block out as much sound as possible, making music sound muffled and flat as a result. Music earplugs differ from standard plugs in that they’re built to let in softer sounds while blocking louder sounds, in an effort to maintain the nuances in the music. While many professional musicians go with custom earplugs, we tried universal fits, which are more practical and affordable for the average listener.

Second, for earplugs to work properly, they have to fit right. That might mean changing out tips to find one that’s the right size or wiggling them around a bit to make sure they’re snug. Either way, if you wear earplugs in any setting, make sure you wear them right.

Third, be prepared to regularly clean your plugs to avoid irritation and infection.

Lastly, the Environmental Protection Agency requires that all earplugs include a Noise Reduction Ration (NRR), which represents the number of decibels (dB) that are reduced (or attenuated) when the plugs are worn properly. Since music earplugs are designed to let some frequencies in, many manufacturers consider the NRR to be “outdated” and less relevant for their products. For that reason, we dealt more specifically with the average number of dB attenuated at hazardous levels.

Alpine Hearing Protection

When it comes to discreet, affordable concert earplugs, it’s hard to beat the PartyPlug from Alpine Hearing Protection. The $17.50 plugs fit in the ear so snugly that the company provides a cylindrical tool to help fish them out. (It’s less difficult than it sounds, though it does take some getting used to.) They come in four colors — white, black, grey, and transparent — but, honestly, they’re so discreet that the colors will hardly ever be seen.

The PartyPlugs are good choice for the average concert and festival goer. They’re the most comfortable plugs I tested. Alpine boasts that they’re silicone-free, which they say make them less itchy and irritating to the ear. (Indeed, they didn’t itch or irritate, but neither did the other earplugs I tried.) The PartyPlugs come with a “one size fits all” tip that’s made out of a thermo-responsive material that shapes to the ear canal as it warms.

Once they burrowed into my ear canal, I struggled to get them out using my fingers alone.

But the greatest strength of the PartyPlugs is also its greatest weakness. With the tool handy, it’s easy — if a bit awkward — to get them out. But once they burrowed into my ear canal, I struggled to get them out using my fingers alone. The plugs come a hardshell carrying case, which the tool can attach to.

Inside the earplugs a small filter protects from up to 25 dB at some frequencies with slight distortion, since more decibels are attenuated at higher frequencies than lower ones.

As a step up from the PartyPlugs, Alpine offers the PartyPlug Pro Naturals, which boast higher dB protection and more balanced attenuation across frequencies without distorting sounds. At $39.95, the Pro Naturals come with a soft carrying case, cleaning spray, and flexible cord that tethers the two plugs together, making them easier to remove and hold on to, but more noticeable to wear. The cord also creates some residual sound effects as it bounces around and tugs on the plugs, which you might find distracting if you’re a heavy dancer.

Etymotic Research

Etymotic’s Music Pro Electronic Earplugs are for the music purist who doesn’t want to miss a beat, note, or chord while at a show, and doesn’t mind dropping a good bit of cash to make that happen. The $299 price tag is hard to swallow, but these earplugs aren’t meant for the average audience member. They’re a high-end product for active listeners who want to protect their hearing without missing out on the subtleties of live music and interspersed conversation. They come with seven interchangeable tips, a chord, ten batteries, cleaning tools, and a hardshell carrying case.

These earplugs aren’t meant for the average audience member.

Powered by small 1.45 vault batteries, the Music Pro has two modes that give wearers a bit of listening flexibility. The 9 dB automatic reduction mode enhances soft sounds by 6 dB and kicks in to decrease 9 dB when sounds are above safe levels. In the 15 dB mode, the earplugs cut 15 dB when sounds exceed safe levels. In both modes, the Music Pros don’t attenuate any dB as long as environmental sound are at safe levels. Changing between modes is as easy as flipping a switch on the side of the device. Battery life averages between seven and ten days, but make sure to open the battery port when not in use to save the juice.

Overall, the Music Pros are plugs that work best in dynamic environments, where volumes and sounds regularly change, and where you want to both chat and listen to the music. The Music Pros are not for most people but they’re good for those who live for live music, and for whom money isn’t an issue.

Etymotic also offers cheaper and more practical music earplugs, which aren’t electronic but do the job well. The ER 20xs ($24.95) are universal plugs that attenuate roughly 20 dB across frequencies. They’re comfortable to wear, relatively discreet, and easy to remove thanks to a little tag on the stem. They come with a soft case, interchangeable tips, and a chord.

Loop

Loops are like the fashionistas earplugs. Where the PartyPlugs are discreet and the Music Pros bring music to life, Loops standout as something of a fashion statement. They cost $29.95, come in eight colors (including rose gold, red, and black), with three different tips and a patent leather carrying case.

Loops standout as something of a fashion statement.

The circular shape of these 3D-printed earplugs are designed for more than just show. The hollow acoustic channel is meant to replicate the resonance of the ear canal. Since the ear canal plays such an important role in our hearing, the company insists that we lose the natural effect when we use earplugs. By adding an acoustic channel to the earplugs, Loop attempts to compensate for that loss.

It’s unclear whether that idea has any real world validity — I didn’t notice a difference — but the Loops are nonetheless a good pair of plugs. They’re easy to insert and remove, and once sound makes its way through the acoustic channel, it meets a mesh and fiber filter that attenuates about 20 dB across frequencies.

In it’s marketing material, the company writes, “Loop lets wearers avoid hearing loss without looking like a dork.” We don’t equate safety with dorkiness — hell, wear earmuffs if you have to — but we nonetheless respect their effort to hearing protection more fashionable.

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Mylo vegetarian leather grows from mushroom roots in days

An environmentally sustainable material created from fast-growing mushroom root systems could disrupt the leather clothing business. San Francisco-based Bolt Threads‘ focus on the earth’s urgent need for sustainable fashion resulted in Mylo, a sustainable biomaterial the company claims looks and feels like cowhide.

Leather garments fall in and out of fashion, in part because of how leather is created. Regardless of current styles, when animal advocates and environmentalists sound off on leather clothing and accessories, animal cruelty and atmospheric damage caused by massive quantities of destructive gases are the common themes.

Want the leather look but hold back because you like animals and entertain fond thoughts about our planet?  Don’t turn to faux leather. Plastic-based leather substitutes often look and feel somehow “off.” Typically hot and clammy because they don’t breathe naturally, petroleum-derived fake leather garments raise environmentalists’ ire as well.

Mylo follows Bolt Thread’s earlier success with Microsilk, a synthetic spider silk. The company produces Microsilk with a process Forbes described as “oddly similar to making beer.” Synthetic leather was the next challenge and Mylo is the result.

Mylo vegetarian leather grows quickly according to Bolt Threads. The key ingredient is mycelium, the mushroom underground root structure. When mushrooms grow in forests in the wild, massive networks of tiny threads form beneath the forest floor.

“We developed Mylo from mycelium cells by creating optimal growing conditions for it to self-assemble into a supple, sustainable material that looks and feels remarkably like animal leather,” according to the company website. “Mylo can be produced in days versus years, without the material waste of using animal hides.”

Bolt Threads grows mycelium cells in beds of corn stalks with carefully controlled temperature and humidity. After the company adds unspecified additional nutrients billions of cells develop. The cells form thick 3D-interconnected networks. The next steps in the process include compressing the 3D-network structure and then tanning and dyeing the much thinner material.

Mylo isn’t leather because it is not made of animal hides. However, according to Bolt Threads, Mylo is soft, supple and has a warm feel. The company also claims the material is strong and abrasion-resistant.

Bolt Threads introduced Mylo at the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Fashioned from Nature exhibition in April with sample material and the Mylo Falabella Prototype One, a bag designed by Stella McCartney. With additional technology optimization, Bolt Threads plans to market Mylo commercially.

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Low-cost Ghost AR headset promises MacOS multitasking on steroids

Everyone up to Apple CEO Tim Cook, head of one of the world’s most valuable companies, thinks that augmented reality is going to be big. However, it’s not quite there yet. Two reasons for this are the high price of AR headsets and the fact that if you’re not willing to spend those kind of big bucks, you’re stuck using AR on your tiny smartphone screen. But Los Angeles-based creative director Jean Helfenstein thinks he’s come up with a solution in the form of a new AR headset, called Ghost, that boasts a more affordable price tag.

A bit like Samsung’s Gear VR or Google Cardboard, Ghost keeps the price down by using your smartphone as the main screen. Unlike Gear VR or Cardboard, though, Ghost works by projecting images onto a pair of lenses for a lower-priced Google Glass effect.

“Other devices that use your smartphone exist, but they don’t deliver the same quality experience as Ghost,” Helfenstein told Digital Trends. “Our headset is the only one that can offer a wide and natural 70-degree field of view, a high-resolution OLED display up to 2880 x 1440, the tracking of user’s head movement with 6 degrees of freedom, and the ability to use the device in both AR and VR mode.”

What makes Ghost more ambitious than many AR projects is the fact that, rather than relying on an existing platform like Apple’s ARKit or Google’s ARCore, Helfenstein has gone it alone and developed his own Ghost OS.

It offers a number of impressive applications, including the ability to mirror MacOS applications in their own floating windows, which you can resize and place around you so that they hover in virtual space. Each window is fully interactive and can be used with your computer keyboard and trackpad the same way you would use any ordinary window. It’s a neat idea that promises to let you easily work with multiple applications without resorting to additional monitors.

As with any crowdfunding campaign, we advise caution when it comes to backing Ghost. That’s especially true given the scale of the operation, which places it firmly in adventurous “early adopter” territory. If you do want to get involved, however, head over to Indiegogo to pledge your support.

The headset will apparently work on the iPhone 6s or newer, both generations of the Google Pixel, Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S8 handsets, and possibly other phones still to be announced. Prices start at $79. Provided that it can reach its funding goal, shipping is planned to take place in February 2019.

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Chrome OS notification center redesign borrows from Windows 10 Action Center

Credit: InauspiciousPagan on Reddit InauspiciousPagan on Reddit

Google’s Chrome OS is about get some heavy inspiration from Microsoft that could change how notifications are handled. A Reddit user discovered the Chrome flag that when enabled will allow the system tray and notifications to merge into one menu.

If this sounds familiar, it’s because Microsoft implements something similar with Windows 10. On Microsoft’s desktop operating system, if you open Action Center, a sidebar pops out from the right edge of the screen, giving you access to recent notifications and control of your quick settings.

To enable this unified menu on Chrome, you’d have to navigate to chrome://flags/#enable-system-tray-unified, and according to 9to5 Google, it’s the “same flag [that] enabled an Android P-style system tray on Chrome OS” that was discovered a few weeks ago.

With the unified notifications menu, rather than showing your recent alerts when you click on the bell icon on the lower right edge of your screen, you’ll see recent notifications on top of system settings, like the brightness and volume sliders and toggles for controlling Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Do Not Disturb modes.

Whereas Microsoft implements its Action Center on top of a flat, rectangular layout, Google’s unified notifications will come in boxes with rounded corners. The rounded corners will be part of Google’s design language for Chrome, according to a report from Chrome Story. “You will see more of those in the coming days,” the site noted of the new design.

Some consider the appearance to look like an inverted version of the notification slider in Android P.

The implementation is now found on the Chrome OS Canary channel, so it’s unclear what changes Google will implement to the look and functionality of this unified notification menu when it gets released to the public. Before the changes get released to the stable channel for public use, it will have to go through the dev and beta channels first.

In addition to a unified notifications menu, Google may be working on more planned features for Chrome OS. We reported that Google had enabled an AltOS picker for Chrome OS devices, leading to speculations that Google may support dual-booting a secondary operating system onto its Pixelbook hardware. If true, Google could potentially allow Windows to run on its hardware, or it could allow users to test its unreleased Fuchsia operating system without having to install that OS on top of Chrome. Some speculate that Fuchsia could potentially replace Android and Chrome in the future.

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