Microsoft Windows 10 Anniversary Update: New features, release date and everything you need to know

It’s almost anniversary time.

During its annual Build developer conference last March, Microsoft demoed the first major update to Windows 10. The company branded the update “Anniversary Update” (because it marks the 1-year anniversary of Windows 10’s release) and said it would arrive this summer.

It now looks like Microsoft is getting ready to announce an official release date for the software update. To get you ready, Pocket-lint has detailed everything you need to know about Windows 10 Anniversary Update, including when it’s due, what it features, how much it costs, and everything else you need to know. Make sure you check back here for the latest information, as we plan to update this piece over time.

W10 Anniversary Update: What is it?

Just 8 months after Microsoft released Windows 10, it announced an “Anniversary Update” to the software that would rollout this summer. Windows 10 boasts over 300 millions users and has over 500 different device designs, and soon, it’ll get loads of new features, Microsoft said, thanks to the upcoming update, which was previously dubbed Redstone.

The software is set to bring new features that focus on Windows Ink and improving stylus-use. It’ll also bring extensions for Edge and upgrades for Hello and Cortona, among other things.

W10 Anniversary Update: What does it feature?

The Anniversary Update will bring a number of new features to Windows 10. Here’s a list of some of the most noteworthy changes:

Windows Ink

We live in a world that is rapidly changing when it comes to technology. No sooner have you bought the latest smartphone, a newer, shinier and more advanced comes out.Windows 10 will get a dedicated Ink apps workspace that is accessible from the desktop or lock screen. It will let you quickly access your “pen-friendly” apps. The whole idea behind this new feature and others is to better integrate Pen with everyday use of the device, including your fingers. That includes everything from using Pen with a ruler controlled by multi-touch or on a map in Bing to determine distances.

Giving more power to Pen, many apps across the platform will get new Windows Ink tools and capabilities – including the ability for users to edit documents in Word by crossing things out with Windows Ink, or using stencils in Adobe apps, letting you add perfect curves in designs.

Windows Hello

Microsoft

The company confirmed that Windows Hello, a feature that enables you to sign into your device, will now allow users to unlock devices, apps, and protected sites in its Microsoft Edge browser without a password but rather a fingerprint. Microsoft said it is the “first and only browser to natively support biometrics, with supporting sites”. It’s not yet known which sites will support the update.

Cortana

Microsoft

Microsoft is also announcing that Cortana, its Siri-like assistant, is getting more features, such as the ability to make suggestions throughout the day, like offering to arrange transportation. Cortana will also be available on the lockscreen, so that you won’t have to unlock yourPC to use the feature. Microsoft will even launch a Cortana Collection in the Windows Store to make easier to find apps that support Cortana.

The Anniversary Update is not only rolling out to PCs but also Xbox One, bringing a universal store, Cortana, and other much-requested features, according to Microsoft, such as background music on the console. It’ll also come to Microsoft HoloLens, which has just begun shipping.

Microsoft Edge

Microsoft | YouTube

While Microsoft has already delivered on the promise to bring extension support for Microsoft Edge, there are other features that the company announced during its Build developer conference and the Microsoft Edge Web Summit. Microsoft is expected to ad Windows Hello biometric authentication, allowing you to sign-in to websites using your thumbprint or your face.

Microsoft Edge will also get web notifications in Action Center. You will also be able to better customise the main tab page, re-arrange top site tiles, and right-click on a website link to save the site for later viewing in Reading mode. Additionally, Microsoft said that it will include a native content translator in Edge, rather than have you manually install the Translator extension.

W10 Anniversary Update: When will it release?

The Anniversary Update’s exact release date hasn’t been announced yet. Windows 10 was officially released on 29 July 2015 – but that doesn’t mean the Anniversary Update, which is meant to celebrate the operating system’s initial launch last summer, will rollout on that date in 2016.

On 28 June, Microsoft mistakenly announced its Anniversary Update would become available 2 August. Microsoft published a blog post early Tuesday to reveal the news, with the headline “Microsoft announcesWindows 10 Anniversary Update available Aug. 2”, but the full post was pulled down just moments later, leading many eagle-eye fans to believe the post must’ve been published by accident.

You can see a web archive version of the original blog post from here. It’s unclear if Microsoft posted the wrong information or simply hit the publish button early, but we can expect the Redmond-based company to make an official announcement sooner rather than later. We’re also assuming that the information in the now-deleted headline is correct: Windows 10’s Anniversary Update will arrive this August.

W10 Anniversary Update: How can you get it?

When it is ready, the Anniversary Update will be delivered via Windows Update. (For information about how Windows Update works, check out Microsoft’s FAQ page that explains how to keep your PC up to date.) That means it will install automatically. There are no manual tasks involved.

W10 Anniversary Update: How much does it cost?

The Anniversary Update will be free to anyone with a device already running Windows 10. If you’re updating from an older version of Windows, you’ll have to pay $119 for a full install.

W10 Anniversary Update: What about beta-testing?

You can start testing some of the new Anniversary Update features, including the new dark theme and some new tweaks, by updating your computer to the latest Windows 10 via the Fast ring of updates. You must be apart of Microsoft’s Windows Insider program in order to get your hands on an Insider preview build, which is basically a beta.

To become a Windows Insider, all you need is a Microsoft account and a PC running Windows 10. If you have both those, you’re able to join the Insider program whenever you’re ready. Just go to Microsoft’s Windows Insider website, sign into your Microsoft account, and click Get Started. Read the Program Agreement, and join the program.

In Windows 10, open the Settings app, click Update & Security, then Windows Update. From there, select Advanced Options. Under the Get Insider Preview builds section, select Get started. One you’ve joined the Windows Insider program, you can choose from various levels (rings) of preview builds, ranging from most stable with few new features to least stable with many, rapid changes.

By default, you’re assigned to the Release Preview ring, but you can switch rings at any time. Simply go to the Windows Update menu in Windows Settings, then select Advanced Options, and adjust the slider.

W10 Anniversary Update: Want to know more?

Check out Microsoft’s Anniversary Update page for more details about upcoming features.

Twitter scooped up a former Apple designer to lead its VR/AR plans

Not to be outdone by other tech giants, it looks like Twitter now plans to jump into virtual reality and augmented reality.

Just one week after acquiring the machine-learning firm Magic Pony, Twitter has acquired the music VR experience startup IXOMOXI. It also hired the startup’s CEO, Alessandro Sabatelli, to serve as Twitter’s director of AR and VR. We know this because Sabatelli confirmed the news via Twitter, naturally. Prior to IXOMOXI, he spent more than five years at Apple working on interface design for the company’s mobile products.

Sabatelli will now work for Twitter Cortex, a division that houses engineers, data scientists, and researchers dedicated to “developing state-of-the-art machine learning capabilities to refine and transform [Twitter’s] products.” The team at Magic Pony, which creates technology that could be applied to some AR and VR applications, has also transitioned to Cortex.

Twitter has acquired IXOMOXI & today is my first day as Director of AR & VR!! So excited to get to work with @qevni and the Cortex team!

— Alessandro Sabatelli (@s4l4x) June 28, 2016

Twitter hasn’t detailed what exactly it’s doing in the VR/AR space, nor what it plans to do with its new acquisitions, so it’ll be interesting to see what Sabatelli and his startup end up developing alongside Magic Pony. Earlier this year, IXOMOXI released a Gear VR app, called Lucy, that basically serves up Snapchat-like filters that you can view through the VR headset.

We don’t know about you, but it would be cool to see an immersive Twitter app that floats tweets in front of your face. We’re not sure how practical such an app would be, though the thought of the unknown has us all excited about Twitter’s future.

Alessandro Sabatelli (LinkedIn)

Combat AI beats the Air Force’s top tactical experts

A new artificial intelligence flight combat system dubbed ALPHA has taken on one of the Air Force’s top tactical experts and won. Retired USAF Colonel Gene Lee — an experienced combat instructor with “considerable fighter aircraft expertise” — was repeatedly shot down during engagements with ALPHA in a high-fidelity air combat simulation. Lee called his computerized opponent “the most aggressive, responsive, dynamic and credible AI I’ve seen to date.”

The details of Col. Lee’s showdown were published in University of Cincinnati Magazine and the ALPHA AI itself was developed by UC offshoot Psibernetix, Inc. as an autonomous wingman to a human pilot. After ALPHA shot down a range of other AI opponents, Col. Lee jumped into the simulator against a “mature” version of the ALPHA code last October. Lee, who has trained thousands of Air Force pilots and has been taking on AI opponents since the early 80s, was unable to score a single kill against ALPHA on multiple tries. In fact, he was shot down every time.

“I was surprised at how aware and reactive it was,” Lee told UC Magazine. “It seemed to be aware of my intentions and reacting instantly to my changes in flight and my missile deployment. It knew how to defeat the shot I was taking. It moved instantly between defensive and offensive actions as needed.”

Even when the researchers placed ALPHA at a severe disadvantage by limiting the speed, turning, and weapons and sensor capabilities of its simulated aircraft, the AI pilot was able to beat out other expert human pilots. According to UC Magazine, ALPHA’s AI is fast and robust enough to actually coordinate a tactical plan in a combat situation “over 250 times faster than ALPHA’s human opponents could blink.” Going beyond current AI-Human combat teams, ALPHA will eventually be able to control a squad of Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles flying in support of a human pilot, constantly learning and adapting to opponents in the heat of battle.

“ALPHA would be an extremely easy AI to cooperate with and have as a teammate,” UC researcher Kelly Cohen explained. “ALPHA could continuously determine the optimal ways to perform tasks commanded by its manned wingman, as well as provide tactical and situational advice to the rest of its flight.”

Almost as impressive as ALPHA’s piloting skills: the AI’s algorithms actually require very little processing power to execute. According to UC researchers, the system was trained and tested on a $500 consumer-grade PC, but it could run on something as simple as a $35 Raspberry Pi machine. It does this using what’s called a “Genetic Fuzzy Tree” system that distills data into key language-based variables and makes decisions the same way a human might. The difference, to make the inevitable Top Gun reference, is ALPHA flies “ice cold, no mistakes.”

Mozilla made a game to teach you the basics of encryption

Sure, people will tell you that encryption is important to maintaining your online privacy, but how do you wrap your head around the concept? Mozilla wants to help. It’s introducing a web-based game, Codemoji, that illustrates how ciphers work through emoji. Type in a phrase and Codemoji will both shift the letters and replace them with emoji. The challenge, as you might guess, comes when you get your friends to guess the meaning without turning to the Codemoji website. Mozilla stresses that you shouldn’t use this as an honest-to-goodness secure communication system (it isn’t). However, it should illustrate just why you’d want to protect your chats — if your friends can’t easily read your data, spies and thieves can’t either.

Source: Codemoji, Mozilla Blog

Curiosity finds evidence that Mars was once rich in oxygen

Mars may have had a much more Earth-like atmosphere rich in oxygen, according to JPL’s Curiosity team. Using its laser-firing instrument in the Gale Crater, the intrepid rover found rocks with manganese oxide, which requires oxygen to form. On Earth, such minerals marked a period when our atmosphere became much more oxygen-rich, largely because of microbes. “Now we’re seeing manganese oxides on Mars, and we’re wondering how the heck these could have formed,” says Los Alamos scientist Nina Lanza.

Scientists have zero evidence for past life on Mars, but they do have another theory. At one point in its distant past, Mars had both water and a protective magnetic field, just as Earth does now. However, once the magnetic field disappeared, radiation ionized the water, splitting it into hydrogen and oxygen. Much of the oxygen was absorbed by the planet’s famous red iron-oxide rocks, but manganese-oxide requires a lot more oxygen to form. That has led scientists to believe that in its early history, Mars had more oxygen than they thought.

Curiosity spotted manganese-oxide in the Gale Crater region.

The data could be disappointing for alien-seekers that believe planetary oxygen is a surefire sign of life. “It’s important to note that this idea represents a departure in our understanding for how planetary atmospheres might become oxygenated,” Lanza says. The theory will be hard to prove, but it’s the best one they have for now, unless Curiosity’s next discovery is a Martian bug.

Source: JPL

Artificial intelligence could be used to stop car smugglers

Chances are, you don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the logistics of international shipping — but you shouldn’t be surprised that transportation hubs are ripe for export fraud. Part of the reason for this is that there’s simply too much international cargo moved each month to be manually checked with human eyes. The solution? Teach a computer to inspect that cargo for you.

Okay, automatic, artificial intelligence cargo inspection isn’t actually a thing that’s happening right now, but research at University College London has proven that it’s a viable solution to a very real problem. A team at the school’s Department of Computer Science successfully trained a convolutional neural network to spot automobiles in X-ray images of shipping containers.

The neural network was startlingly accurate — correctly identifying cars 100-percent of the time with very few false alarms. The system even spotted cars in images that were challenging for human observers, finding the vehicles that were intentionally obscured by other objects. It wasn’t a revolutionary study, to be sure, but the project is a great example of how deep learning image recognition will be used to make our lives easier in the future. Check out the source link below for a detailed write-up of the project.

Via: Dave Gershgorn (Twitter)

Source: Arvix

iPhone 7 Again Rumored to Have Flush, Touch-Sensitive Home Button

Apple may be planning to introduce a Force Touch home button on the iPhone 7, according to analysts at Cowen and Company (via Business Insider). Citing supply chain “field checks,” Cowen and Company predicts the iPhone 7 will do away with a physical home button, instead adopting a home button that sits flush with the phone.

Apple’s Force Touch technology will reportedly be built into the home button to provide haptic feedback when pressed, much like the Force Touch trackpad on Apple’s most recent MacBooks. With haptic feedback, iPhone users would still feel the sensation of pressing on the home button even without a button to actually depress.

Cowen and Company has a mixed track record, but it’s worth noting that we’ve heard two other rumors about a redesigned home button on the iPhone 7. In April, DigiTimes said Apple was testing a touch-sensitive home button that fits flush with the phone, and a highly sketchy image of what was said to be an iPhone 7 with a touch-sensitive home button surfaced in mid-June.

Given the unreliability of each of the home button rumors, the information should be viewed with some skepticism until confirmed by a more reliable source, but when viewed alongside rumors of improved waterproofing and the removal of the headphone jack, a flush home button is not a rumor that seems entirely out of the question.

For several months, we’ve heard mixed rumors about the possibility of better water resistance in the iPhone 7, but it appears to be shaping up to be a potential feature. Last week, The Wall Street Journal, often a reliable source, lent credence to the rumor by suggesting the elimination of the headphone jack in the iPhone 7 will improve its water resistance.

At the same time, The Wall Street Journal has said the iPhone 7 will feature only “subtle changes,” a sentiment echoed by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who said the iPhone 7 will be a modest update without “many attractive selling points.” A revamped home button seems like more than a minor change, so we’ll need to wait for additional information to resolve some of the conflicting information we’re hearing about Apple’s next-generation iPhones.

If the physical home button is replaced with a Force Touch home button in the iPhone 7, it will bring Apple one step closer to eliminating the home button all together, something that is rumored for the iPhone 8, coming in 2017. Apple is said to be planning on introducing an edge-to-edge display with built-in Touch ID functionality and no home button.

Related Roundup: iPhone 7
Tag: Cowen and Company
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