Apple reportedly wants to become the Netflix of magazines via Apple News

Malarie Gokey/Digital Trends

Apple is planning on updating its News app with a premium subscription-based option that would give users access to a number of digital magazines and news sources.

If that sounds familiar to iOS users, that’s because it’s the basic schtick of the app Texture, which was purchased by Apple for an undisclosed amount back in March. If you’re not familiar with Texture, it was a subscription-based service that gave access to over 200 magazines for the sum of $10 a month. Twenty of the hundred-strong team at Texture have been let go following the acquisition, with the rest having been integrated into the Apple News team.

At this time, it seems that development of Texture will cease as the team blends into Apple’s own. We have reached out to Texture to confirm whether this is the case.

According to Bloomberg’s sources, the upgraded version of Apple News is expected to launch within the year, with a portion of the subscription revenue being offered to the magazines involved in the deal. It’s currently unknown whether the price will stay the same as Texture’s $10 a month, but a similar price seems likely given Apple Music’s monthly subscription cost of $10.

This isn’t the first time that Apple has sought to expand its news offerings. The tech giant originally had an iOS news app named Newsstand, which also offered subscriptions to specific publications, though these were offered on a singular basis, not the group subscription that Texture offers. Newsstand was replaced by Apple News in 2015, but still has those same subscription options included within the app.

This would not be Apple’s first instance of growth through acquisition — Apple Music is based off the purchase of Beats Music and associated tech in 2014, and has risen to become one of the key players in the music streaming sphere with a subscriber base of 40 million.

Apple is one of the companies currently in the running to become the world’s first company valued at $1 trillion, and is apparently looking to increase its annual service revenue to $50 billion by 2021, so we can probably expect to see more expansion efforts from Apple in the coming months.

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Intel digs deep into its security-first promise with new safeguards for its CPUs

Intel introduced its new silicon-level Threat Detection Technology platform during the RSA security conference in San Francisco. The first component revealed during the show, Accelerated Memory Scanning, pulls the taxing burden of scanning for threats stored in memory off the processor’s cores and onto the chip’s integrated graphics. This shift reduces the impact on performance typically caused by scanning memory and supposedly lowers power consumption. 

According to Intel, Microsoft is already integrating this component into the antivirus aspect of Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection. Microsoft will release this updated version of its Windows 10 security application for sixth, seventh, and eighth-generation Intel Core processors before the end of April. 

Another component introduced during the conference is Intel Advanced Platform Telemetry. This feature will reside in data centers and make its initial appearance in the Cisco Tetration platform, which provides cloud workload protection and data center security. This component combines platform telemetry with machine learning algorithms to reduce false positives, improve threat detection, and minimize performance reduction. 

But that’s not all. Intel also introduced its new Intel Security Essentials platform for its Core, Xeon, and Atom processors. Baked directly into the CPU silicon, it’s packed with “platform integrity technologies” to protect applications while they’re running using hardware-based protections, accelerated cryptography, trusted execution enclaves, and a highly secure system boot. 

“This standard set of capabilities will accelerate trusted computing as customers build solutions rooted in hardware-based protections,” Intel says. “Further, these capabilities, directly integrated into Intel silicon, are designed to improve the security posture of computing, lower the cost of deploying security solutions and minimize the impact of security on performance.” 

Finally, Intel wants to beef up the cybersecurity community by strengthening knowledge and relationships. The first new step in that direction is the “Design for Security” badge certification program at Purdue University for students and professionals. Four courses will launch the collaboration this August focused on designing security solutions for current and future demands. 

“[The program] will cover design for security principles from the physical secure design of the infrastructure, to the security of the hardware and software that underlie the infrastructure, and then to the technical constraints and processes in place to support operational security,” Purdue states. “It will introduce security principles that are required to design a system that supports and enforces the necessary authentication, authorization, confidentiality, data integrity, accountability, availability, and non-repudiation requirements, even when the system is under attack.” 

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich made his “security first” pledge in January after the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities went public. The flaws are on a hardware level, allowing hackers to gain access to sensitive data through a method all CPUs utilize to predict the path of a current task to find the shortest route to completion. Intel released multiple updates since the disclosure, and integrated fixes in the company’s newer chips. But Krzanich said the security assurance won’t just stop with a patch but will include continuing commitments such as funding academic and independent research. 

Editors’ Recommendations

• Intel CEO reveals hardware plans for addressing Meltdown, Spectre exploits
• Intel requests hardware partners to halt Meltdown patches due to reboot issue
• Updates addressing Meltdown security issue are causing a number of PC reboots
• Apple protects MacOS Sierra, El Capitan from Meltdown, lists Google bugs
• Intel opens bug hunt to all security researchers, offers possible $250K payout

Want more AR masks? Snap’s Lens Studio now supports custom face filters

Snapchat’s custom augmented reality lenses are no longer limited to just objects. On Tuesday, April 17, Snap Inc. opened Lens Studio to face filters, expanding on earlier options that allowed artists and developers to build their own World Lenses. The platform now also supports adding GIFs to the custom lenses through a Giphy integration.

The update brings several new templates designed for use with facial recognition to achieve proper placement of the virtual masks. While Create Your Lens is designed for users without 3D design experience, the Lens Studio is designed for developers and graphic artists. Now, the platform is expanding to include templates for the AR masks, including a baseball cap and face painting.

Snap is also allowing users to add pre-made GIFs to the Lenses. The Giphy library is now integrated into Lens Studio. The templates and GIFs also mix with the ability to import 3D objects created inside other programs.

For Snapchatters who want to use — rather than create — those custom filters, the social network will add public filters to Our Story, allowing users to find new filters. The Discover tab will also house some of those custom lenses for users to discover. Inside Our Story — or another user’s Story — a swipe up will allow access to the custom filter, provided the filter was shared publicly. At launch, the lenses were shared through Snapcodes.

Today’s launch also comes with a new Official Creator Program, which, according to The Verge, will allow the top creators on the platform to be among the first to unlock new features along with additional promotion and support.

Since Snap launched Lens Studio at the end of 2017, users have generated over 30,000 custom lenses that generated a billion views — and occupied Snapchatters for a collective two million hours. 

Snap says that Lens Studio will only grow from here — including incorporating feedback from users. “We created Snapchat because we believed that the smartphone camera is the fastest and most expressive way to share your unique point of view,” the company wrote in a blog post. “With the camera, you could express yourself not just with words, but with images, stickers, videos, doodles, and more — redefining communication in a world that sometimes feels less connected than ever.”

Lens Studio is available as a free download.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Snapchat now lets you create custom, wacky AR Lenses with new fee-based tool
• Photo FOMO: Faster memory cards, color-neutral filters, and ‘Adventury’ bags
• Snapchat now uses the iPhone X’s TrueDepth Camera to make better filters
• For that lopsided look, add an SLR lens to a smartphone with this accessory
• 7 hidden Snapchat features for chatting with friends

How to stream on Twitch

Streaming video games is a great way to interact with members of the gaming community, make new friends, and show off your skills. With Twitch, viewers have an easy-to-use platform for viewing content from all around the world. Getting started with the streaming platform can be daunting at first, however, especially if you’ve never put much time into making online videos. Thankfully, with a few simple steps, you’ll be ready to stream your gameplay in no time.

Creating a Twitch account

Before you begin streaming your gameplay, you’re going to have to create a Twitch account. Navigate to Twitch’s official website, click the purple Sign Up link in the upper-right corner, and enter your desired login credentials before clicking the purple Sign Up button at the bottom. Afterward, click your username in the top-right corner.

Before you start streaming, head over to the Twitch community guidelines page to read up on rule violations. These include promoting racist, homophobic, and ageist views, as well as making disparaging remarks about military veterans and those with disabilities. Nudity on stream is also forbidden, and you are expected to do your best to prevent your viewers from engaging in hateful speech and harassment, as well.

Tech companies pledge to not help governments pull off cyberattacks

Any government or state agency — domestic or foreign — wishing to carry out a cyberattack will not be getting any help from Facebook, Microsoft, and a slew of 32 other technology companies that have signed the Cybersecurity Tech Accord. Instead, these firms pledge to design products to protect users against cyberattacks.

Although considered a watershed agreement because of the number of signatories, there are still a few notable tech companies absent from the list, including Apple, Google, and Amazon.

Microsoft President Brad Smith views the agreement as a digital Geneva Convention, according to The New York Times.

“We will strive to protect all our users and customers from cyberattacks — whether an individual, organization or government — irrespective of their technical acumen, culture or location, or the motives of the attacker, whether criminal or geopolitical,” the companies said. Additionally, they also strive to oppose cyberattacks, empower users to strengthen cybersecurity protection, and collaborate to enhance cybersecurity.

Also absent from the Cybersecurity Tech Accord are companies from nations that have been responsible for some of the most “devastating attacks of the past year,” Smith said in his interview with the Times, including Russia, North Korea, Iran, and China.

Because American companies are often the first responders to cyberattack issues — Microsoft was seen as an instrumental force in taking down WannaCry, an attack that targeted the British health system — Smith argued that the U.S. has to take leadership. “We need to approach this in a principled way, and if we expect to get governments to do that, we have to start with some principles ourselves.”

“Over the last two years, the accelerating cost of cybercrime means that it is now 23 percent more than last year and is costing organizations, on average, $11.7 million,” Accenture reported. In fact, the number of ransomware — like WannaCry and NotPetya — has also doubled from the year prior.

The accord pledges to “protect against tampering with and exploitation of technology products and services during their development, design, distribution and use.” This is seen as a pushback by the technology industry after former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden revealed that the United States government may be intercepting computer hardware and injecting software to collect data.

With elections, power grids, and institutions like universities and hospitals vulnerable, state-sponsored cyberattacks remain a national security concern. The U.S. and U.K. governments released a joint warning earlier this week that Russian hackers are planning an attack on routers around the world for a future cyberattack.

Smith said that the Trump administration has been briefed on the accord.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Alphabet’s new cybersecurity unit focuses on faster threat responses
• Intel teams with Microsoft to bring advanced memory scanning to Windows Defender
• Intel warned Chinese tech firms of security flaws before telling U.S. government
• ZTE and Huawei respond to intelligence agency warnings over security risks
• American companies are banned from selling to Chinese smartphone maker ZTE

Google makes it even easier to get into A.I. with Raspberry Pi bundles

If you’ve been wanting to dig into artificial intelligence on a personal level, then you have probably been considering one of Google’s AIY kits. These allow STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) audiences to engage in simple projects with a relatively low investment. Now, Google has made things even easier by creating bundles that include the requisite Raspberry Pi single-board computers.

The AIY products have two versions aimed at two A.I. applications. There is the AIY Vision Kit that allows experimenting with image recognition and neural networks and the AIY Voice Kit that combines voice recognition and the Google Assistant. Both kits have always included the necessary software and the required hardware, including a camera for the Vision Kit and a microphone and speaker for the Voice Kit.

The newest kits are a bit more expensive than before, with the Vision Kit at $90 and the Voice Kit at $50. This time, though, each kit includes a Raspberry Pi Zero WH, a minimal version of the single board computer that includes wireless networking and pre-soldered headers that make it easier to connect external components like the AIY kit hardware. The minimalist computer runs $14 by itself, meaning that total investment is roughly equivalent to the previous versions.

Google has also introduced an AIY companion app Android, which you can download from Google Play. The app lets users set up and configure the kits wirelessly, although both of the kits can also be used with a traditional monitor, keyboard, and mouse. The company will be making iOS and Chrome OS apps available in the near future.

If you are interested in learning more about how to use the AIY kits to learn about and experiment with A.I., then you can check out the AIY website for updated information. There, you will be learning about the kits themselves, along with accessing a showcase of neural networks that have been tailor-made for the kits. Once you have decided on either or both, you can pick up the AIY Voice Kit for $50 and AIY Vision Kit for $90 at Target. The kits will be available globally at other retailers.

Editors’ Recommendations

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Huawei to refocus its efforts on other markets in the face of U.S. roadblocks

Huawei hasn’t exactly had it easy in the United States. The U.S. government has long considered it and other Chinese companies security threat — so much so that the government reportedly convinced the likes of AT&T and Verizon to end potential deals with the company, and last month news broke that Best Buy would stop selling Huawei phones. Now, the company may stop pursuing the U.S. market, and instead refocus its efforts on markets in which it already exists.

Huawei asserted its focus on existing markets at an annual event in Shenzhen, according to a report from The New York Times. It marks a pretty big change for the company, which has been aggressively going after new markets over the past few years. The Times’ report notes that Huawei recently laid off five of its high-level U.S. employees, including William B. Plummer, who was leading the attempts to smooth over its ties with the U.S. government.

What little business Huawei has in the States could also be on the ropes. The Federal Communications Commission is set to vote on a new law that would block federally subsidized telecommunications companies from working with companies that have been deemed to be a threat to national security.

Huawei isn’t the only company that has been targeted by the federal government. American companies were recently banned from selling components to ZTE, another major Chinese smartphone manufacturer. And, last month, it was announced that the White House would impose tariffs on as much as $60 billion worth of Chinese goods. The tariffs were largely targeted at Chinese tech.

The company’s U.S. woes first started in 2012, when a congressional report noted that its equipment could be used to spy on American citizens or even on the government. As The New York Times notes, Huawei spent $1.2 million on lobbying that year — though in 2017, it only spent $60,000. Since then, things have only gotten worse for the company — and when it began looking for partnerships with U.S. carriers, the government’s stance on Huawei seems to have played a large role in those deals falling through.

Smaller U.S. companies could be affected by Huawei’s refocus towards other markets too. Huawei is a major supplier of telecommunications equipment, and many smaller carriers may use its equipment, meaning they may soon need to find a new supplier.

Editors’ Recommendations

• White House reportedly seeks tariffs of $60 billion on Chinese technology goods
• U.K. cybersecurity agency warns against using ZTE telecom equipment
• New tariffs pushed on foreign washing machines and solar panels
• ZTE and Huawei respond to intelligence agency warnings over security risks
• Report: Best Buy has broken ties with Huawei and will no longer sell its phones

Ad-free Facebook access could cost as much as $168 a year

We’re willing to pay $8 per month for Hulu, $10 a month for Spotify Premium, and $11 per month for Netflix to consume media, but how much would you be willing to pay to stay in touch with friends in an ad-free Facebook world? If you shun ads and want to view Facebook distraction-free, it may cost as much as $11 to $14 per month for that privilege, according to an analysis by TechCrunch.

During his testimony on the Cambridge Analytica scandal amid data privacy concerns, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed that the company doesn’t “offer an option today for people to pay to not show ads,” leading some to speculate that a subscription tier may be in the works. “Even though some people don’t like ads, people really don’t like ads that aren’t relevant,” he added.

In order for a subscription model to work, its price must offset Facebook’s ad revenues, and TechCrunch hypothesizes that number to be at least $7 per month given that Facebook earned $19.9 billion last year from 239 million users.

However, Facebook remains committed to giving everyone access to its services, so the company may offer a premium tier for those who want a safer way to access their social network and a free tier for those who can’t afford to pay.

“Overall, I think that the ads experience is going to be the best one. I think in general, people like not having to pay for a service,” Zuckerberg clarified. “A lot of people can’t afford to pay for a service around the world, and this aligns with our mission the best.”

While Facebook’s floor for an ad-free business model may be $7, a subscription model could come in as high as $11 to $14 per month or $168 per year. According to TechCrunch’s analysis, Facebook earns more for serving ads to U.S. and Canadian users than those in other parts of the world because they have more wealth and disposable income.

“But those willing and able to pay are probably richer than the average user, so luxury businesses pay more to advertise to them, and [they] probably spend more time browsing Facebook than the average user, so they see more of those ads,” the publication said.

However, unless Facebook adds more features to a subscription tier, even those who could afford the price may not be willing to pay. With Spotify, opting for a paid subscription allows you to play the songs in your playlist however you like, and Hulu offers a higher price tier for interruption-free streaming without ads. It’s unlikely that Facebook would create a paywall to keep free users out of new features.

By creating a subscription model with rates as low as $7 and as high as $14, Facebook may best achieve its intended goal — that the company does deliver a valuable and meaningful service, and ads help to make this service available to everyone to use without a fee. Essentially, the sticker shock may drive more people to appreciate Facebook’s free model.

Editors’ Recommendations

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• Facebook faces Senate, potential government regulation — and big changes
• Watch Mark Zuckerberg’s second day of congressional grilling here
• Rumored revamp of Spotify’s free mobile service could be a big step up

Dell Inspiron 5680 review

Research Center:

Dell Inspiron Desktop 5680 (2018)

Amidst the rollercoaster of skyrocketing GPU prices, there have always been cheap alternatives to building your own gaming PC. For the past couple of years, our favorite has been the Dell Inspiron 5675 Gaming Desktop, powered by AMD hardware. It performed well at a good value, starting at just $600.

Dell has refreshed the system with updated Intel and Nvidia components, including 8th-gen Core processors, and up to a GTX 1060 graphics card. Our review unit was the top-of-the-line configuration, which will cost you $1,100 for a Core i7-8700, 8GB of RAM, a 128GB SSD, and a 1TB hard drive.

While the price of desktop video cards remains inflated, Dell’s Inspiron 5680 is just affordable enough to make it a great alternative to building a PC from scratch.

Design

The Inspiron 5680 looks nearly identical to the 5675 — and that’s a good thing. It’s not overly flashy like many dedicated gaming systems, but the blue LED lighting is just enough to spice up the aesthetic. Shining through the open vents on the left side, it’s a classy reminder that the system is ready to game

We appreciate that Dell stuck with this more modest appearance rather than going the direction of the Asus G11DF, which looks distinctly like a cheap gaming desktop. The Inspiron 5680 is more confident in what it wants to be. If you want a little more edge, Dell offers an optional clear side panel to highlight the internals. That’ll set you back $50 bucks.

The custom-built chassis also feels sturdy, and the plastic panels have little flex in them. The gaps in between those panels are large, though, which makes it hard to keep the internals clean.

Two port options

The Inspiron 5680 comes in two primary port setups for each configuration – with optical drive, and without optical drive. Having an optical isn’t going to be a selling point for most, but for the few who are dedicated to DVDs and CDs, it’s a nice option to have. However, the optical drive version of the tower also has another perk. A front-facing USB-C port. It costs an extra $50, but it could be worth it to make your system both backward compatible and futureproof. That fifty bucks will also award you the clear side panel as part of a package deal.

It would have been nice to see one more HDMI port in case you want to hook up a monitor and VR headset simultaneously, but you can always use DisplayPort for that.

As for rear ports, you’ll find the standard array of offerings on all models — four USB-A 3.1, two USB-A 2.0, an Ethernet jack, three full-sized DisplayPorts, and an HDMI port. It would have been nice to see one more HDMI port in case you want to hook up a monitor and VR headset simultaneously, but you can always use DisplayPort for that as well. Otherwise, the system comes with a standard 802.11ac Wireless card, and support for Bluetooth 4.1.

Easy to upgrade, within limits

Like the exterior design, not much has changed on the inside of the Inspiron 5680. Removing a couple of screws opens access to the interior. Because of its relatively small size, the components are a bit cramped, though not as squished as something like the XPS 8930. You have a clear view of your RAM and expansion slots, so most upgrades or additions don’t require taking out other components.

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

The graphics card is the biggest obstacle. It’s bracketed down to hold it in place, which prevents damage to the PCIe slot in shipping. That means you’ll have to remove the bracket to swap the GPU and, in certain situations, the added bulk might conflict with another upgrade. It’s certainly not the most convenient for customization, but it’s not surprising to see in a mass-market system.

The primary stumbling block toward upgrading your GPU is the power supply. This tower comes with a 460-watt supply, nicely tucked into the bottom corner of the chassis out of the way. It can handle a GTX 1060 without issue, but a GTX 1070 or 1080 – or AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 – will likely be too much for it. In comparison, even the Acer Aspire GX Gaming Desktop offers a 500-watt supply, which provides a better base to power some better graphics cards.

Processor Performance

Intel’s 8th-gen CPUs are substantial jumps over the previous generation, and you can especially feel it with the Core i7-8700. We ran it through Geekbench and saw some impressive results, especially in multi-core performance. Taking advantage of the six cores and twelve threads, it landed a multi-core score of 19,642. In our testing, it’s only bested by Origin’s beastly gaming desktops using K-series chips. It’s no slouch in single-core performance, either.

We we ran the CPU through a more difficult task in the form of Handbrake, where we see how quickly a system can encode a 4K video. The Inspiron 5680 nailed a score of 3 minutes and 15 seconds, which is impressive, though it was surprisingly bested by the Core i7-8809G found in Intel’s Hades Canyon NUC.

In day-to-day performance, we found the Inspiron 5680 can handle productivity well, never hesitating or slowing down. Need to have 10 YouTube videos playing while streaming Spotify, multitasking with 25 Chrome tabs, and Photoshop open? This desktop will handle a ridiculous scenario like that just fine.

Storage Performance

While processor options are great across the different configurations, storage options are not quite as fleshed out. This is where Dell is cutting some costs — with a system this cheap, it must somewhere.

It would have been nice to see a 256GB SSD configuration as an option from Dell.

The $600 and $800 configurations come with 1TB of storage, but only in the form of a slow, hard disk drive. It delivered sad read and write scores of under 200 MB/s. The $950 and $1,100 models provide a secondary SDD, but it’s a SATA-connected drive with only 128GB of space. It achieves less than a fourth of the speeds of faster standards like PCIe, which is often used on modern laptops and higher-end desktops.

On the other hand, that would have added some cost to the overall price of the product — and some of the Inspiron 5680’s competitors, like the Acer Aspire GX desktop, doesn’t even include a solid state drive.

We’d like to see at least a 256GB SSD configuration at least listed as an option from Dell. You might not consider storage to be as important, but let’s paint a completely hypothetical situation for you. You’re trying to download a very large game like Battlefield 1 to test it out with a new game system you’re reviewing. Problem? It’s too big to fit on the provided 128GB SSD, so you must rely on that old hard disk drive. You find this out halfway through the install, of course, and must start all over again.

Game-ready for 3D and VR

The Inspiron 5680 is labeled as a “gaming desktop,” so it better be able to play. Don’t worry — it can! The system comes with either a GTX 1050 (with 2GB) at the $600 price point, or the GTX 1060 (with 3GB) starting at $800. Both are capable GPUs, though the 1060 will provide you with a significant increase in framerate. You also have the option of the AMD-powered system, which comes with either the AMD Radeon RX 560 or 570.

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

In 3DMark, you can see how well the GTX 1060 handles 3D rendering of all sorts. It blows 1050-based systems out of the water — and again, picking one up in a system for only $800 is a solid deal. That doesn’t just make it good for games — it can also handle high-resolution photo and video editing, as well as intensive 3D modeling software.

It even had some impressive results in VRMark, which tests how well a system can render in virtual reality. In the Orange Room test, the GTX 1060 exceeded requirements for powering Oculus Rift and HTC Vive VR headsets. Dell calls the system is “VR-ready,” and according to our benchmarks, it should be able to handle most VR experiences at solid framerates, though you may need to turn down a setting here or there.

As for games, you won’t be disappointed with performance. The GTX 1060 has nowhere near the power as something like a GTX 1080, but even at 1440p, most games are can be played at smooth framerates with the settings cranked.

We averaged 50 FPS in 1440p with settings on Epic in Fortnite, whereas bringing it down to High settings will pop it up to over 100 FPS. The same goes for other lighter fare like Rocket League, where it earned 132 FPS at highest graphics settings at 1440p. We couldn’t test it out in 4K, but for lighter games like Rocket League or Fortnite, a GTX 1060 should be more than capable of achieving playable framerates at that resolution — even at medium graphics settings.

But what about some more difficult games? Well — in Battlefield 1, the system effortlessly pushed out 87 FPS on Medium settings and a very solid 59 FPS to match on Ultra. The looked and felt fantastic. A similarly graphic-intensive game like Civilization VI produced a solid 62 FPS on Ultra in 1440p, and a better 107 FPS when bumped down to Medium.

We did manage to stump the Inspiron 5680 though. It was in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided at 1440p with the graphics on Ultra. At 26 FPS it wasn’t quite playable, though turning it down to 1080p solves that problem. The final word? Outside of the most graphic-intensive games, you should be able to play most modern games at respectable framerates, even at higher resolutions and graphics settings.

Our Take

The Inspiron 5680 is not a top-of-the-line gaming desktop, but if you need some respite from the high GPU prices on the market — or are just looking for an affordable gaming desktop you can buy — the Inspiron 5680 is the best you can buy.

Are there any alternatives?

If you want to save a little cash and are willing to compromise some gaming performance, the AMD-based Inspiron 5675 isn’t a bad alternative. On the other hand, Dell’s XPS 8930 is similarly-priced with a stealthier, office-friendly design.

You can find solutions by other desktop manufacturers, like the Asus G11DF or Acer Aspire GX Gaming Desktop, but they often don’t give you as much bang for your buck. The upcoming HP Pavilion Gaming lineup offers a strong set of configurations, but it doesn’t offer a GTX 1060 for as little as $850.

How long will it last?

The Inspiron 5680 sets you up for future component swaps and upgrades well. The lack of USB-C on some configurations may come to bite you in the future.

Should you buy it?

Yes. It won’t satisfy people looking for a high-end system, but if you want to do some PC gaming on a budget, the Inspiron 5680 is for you.

Dell Inspiron Desktop 5680 (2018) Compared To

Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK

Alienware Alpha R2

Origin Chronos (2016)

iBuyPower Revolt 2 Pro

Maingear X-Cube Z170

Velocity Micro Raptor Z40

Origin Chronos (2015)

Digital Storm Eclipse

Falcon Northwest Tiki-Z

Syber Vapor I

iBuyPower SBX

Maingear Torq

Falcon Northwest FragBox

HP Firebird 802

Maingear Dash

Microsoft wants to stuff Linux, not Windows 10, into Internet of Things devices

Microsoft introduced Azure Sphere during the RSA security conference in San Francisco. It’s essentially a platform connecting microcontroller units (MCU) within Internet of Thing devices to the cloud. What’s notable about this announcement is that the operating system installed on the MCUs aren’t based on Windows 10 as you would expect, but rather a custom build of the open-source Linux operating system. That’s a first for Microsoft. 

At the foundation of Microsoft’s new Azure Sphere platform is a new microcontroller unit from Microsoft that promises five times the performance of standard MCUs. The chip includes the company’s Pluton security subsystem, built-in network connectivity, a real-time processor, an application processor, memory, flash, and more. It’s a “crossover” chip that combines the benefits of ARM-based Cortex-A and Cortex-M processor cores. 

Controlling this chip is Microsoft’s new Linux-based Azure Sphere operating system. It’s a four-layer platform with a security monitor on the deepest level followed by the custom Linux kernel, on-chip connectivity services, and secured application containers. This software is backed by Microsoft’s Azure Sphere Security Service in the cloud, guaranteeing certificate-based authentication, genuine software, automated updates, and so on. 

But there’s a key reason why Microsoft likely went with Linux instead of its in-house baked Windows 10: Open source. According to Microsoft, Azure Sphere is “open to additional software innovation” by the open source community. It’s also open to work with any cloud, not just Microsoft’s Azure-branded platform. Even more, the chip design can be used by any manufacturer absolutely free. 

“In short, it represents a critical new step for Microsoft by integrating innovation across every aspect of technology and by working with every part of the technology ecosystem, including our competitors,” says Brad Smith, Microsoft president and chief legal officer. “We believe this holistic solution will bring to IoT devices better security, resilience and developer agility than anything on the market today.” 

Azure Sphere arrives after the Mirai botnet attack at the end of 2016. Hackers exploited the weak security defenses of Internet of Things devices, such as usernames and passwords that were never changed from the factory default, to install the Mirai malware. The hackers then used around 100,000 compromised internet-connected devices to flood DNS provider Dyn with overwhelming fake traffic, bringing the internet to a standstill for an entire day on the east coast. 

“Routers, DVRs, CCTV cameras, and any other ‘smart’, internet-connected appliances are at risk of attack,” Symantec said at the time. “Webcams were the primary devices exploited in the Dyn attack. Additionally, many IoT devices take advantage of a feature known as Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) which opens a port on the router to allow them to be accessible from the internet.” 

Thus, enter Azure Sphere: a secure, end-to-end “holistic” solution for Internet of Things devices. Dimplex plans to integrate Azure Sphere into its portfolio of products later this year, which includes electric fireplaces, electric heating, renewable energy solutions, residential heaters, thermostats, and more. Other device manufacturers are “enthused” over Azure Sphere as well, including Sub-Zero.  

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