arewa rss

Patrice Désilets’ Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is coming along just nicely and promises to be a unique and interesting experience, and that's evident if we take a look at the videos released regularly by the developers. Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is a game developed by Panache Digital Games and Private Division, and aims to explore the beginnings of the human race. From what we’ve seen until now, the game looks like a survival game, but the action takes place more than 10 million years. As the name suggests, it’s a game about the ancestors of humans, not about humans themselves. As you can imagine, life in Neogene Africa is not going to be an easy one, if you want to survive. It’s all about climbing Since climbing is a big part of being an ape, it stands to reason that it’s also an integral part of Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey. The developers are saying that the levels are in no way limiting to players, which means that they can bas... ( read more )

Microsoft contractors tasked with analyzing data collected by a series of services are said to be provided with access to private user chats that could include confidential information and sexual encounters. Earlier this month, it was revealed that Apple contractors were listening to user recordings made by Siri. While the purpose was to help improve the AI behind Siri, the recordings often included very private details that shouldn’t otherwise be available when reviewing the audio samples. In the case of Microsoft, the revealing was made by someone with knowledge of the process who agreed to share the info with Motherboard . The audio snippets come from services like the Skype Translator engine and Cortana, which co... ( read more )

Apple officially abandoned the AirPower this year in March, but the company still hasn’t given up on the idea of allowing its customers to wirelessly charge more than one device at the same time. So what Apple is trying to do is bring third-party multi-device wireless chargers in its stores, with the first one to hit the shelves as soon as the next week. Mark Gurman of Bloomberg revealed on Twitter that Morphie will be the first brand to make its way to the Apple Store with wireless multi-device chargers, and at least two different models are expected to go on sale. Product pages already live First of all, there’s the Morphie Dual Charging Base which allows users to charge two devices simultaneously, while a separate USB-A port makes it possible to connect a third device... ( read more )

Back in December 2018 when it announced it would move Microsoft Edge browser to the Chromium engine, Microsoft promised it would retain the familiar look and feel of the Windows 10 application. This involves keeping as many features as possible in an attempt to provide users, who sooner or later would be required to make the switch to the new browser, with added consistency. Now that the Chromium Edge is in preview stage and Canary and Dev builds are up for grabs, we can already take a glimpse into how Microsoft wants to achieve that. The latest Edge Canary update, for instance, includes new evidence of Microsoft’s efforts of retaining the familiar factor of the native Windows 10 browser. Microsoft has added the super-popular favorites button to the toolbar in Canary build 78.0.243.0, making it work just like in the original Edge. Gradual rollout While this might not sound like one major update for some, it’s actually one very requested feature... ( read more )

Samsung is one of the companies that rushed to mock Apple several years ago when the Cupertino-based tech giant removed the headphone jack from the iPhone. At that time, Samsung rolled out an ad called “Growing up” and showing what they claimed to be a smartphone user frustrated with all the changes made by Apple, including how he was forced to use a dongle because the iPhone no longer featured a headphone jack. The ad was funny, there’s no doubt about that, especially as the whole world was angry with Apple getting rid of the 3.5mm audio connector, and it was seen as a promise Samsung would retain this feature in the long term. But fast forward to 2019 and here’s Samsung doing pretty much the same thing on the Galaxy Note10, the company’s latest and greatest which no longer features a headphone jack either. Looking back at the November 2017 ad, everything looks embarrassing now, doesn’t it? Samsung obviously tight-lipped And because Samsung ob... ( read more )

Microsoft has released new builds for Windows 10 19H2 insiders, and this time the company has embraced a different approach, with two separate builds released. This is because Microsoft tries to introduce new features gradually, so the builds released today, which ship as part of cumulative updates published on Patch Tuesday, show up with different numbers for insiders. For example, if you are currently running Windows 10 build 18362.10005 what you’re going to get is build 18362.10012, which comes with the new features turned off by default. On the other hand, if the device is on Windows 10 18362.10006, Windows Update should serve you build 18362.10013 and all features are enabled. What’s new in this build? As for what the new features include, they are mostly smaller improvements that Microsoft originally introduced in Windows 10 20H1 and which the company is now backporting to 19H2. For example, you can now create new calendar entries straigh... ( read more )

Canonical released today the third maintenance update to their latest long-term supported Ubuntu operating system series, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver). Coming six months after the Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS release, which shipped with the hardware enablement (HWE) kernel from the not deprecated Ubuntu 18.10 (Cosmic Cuttlefish) operating system, Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS here as the third point release in the Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) series with up-to-date components. Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS includes all the latest software and security fixes that have been published on the official repositories of the Ubuntu 18.04 LTS release since February 14th, 2019, when Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS hit the streets. It also ships with updated kernel and graphics stacks from Ubuntu 19.04 (Disco Dingo), such as Linux kernel 5.0. Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS is now available for all official flavors The Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS release comes in the usual Desktop and Server flavors with installati... ( read more )

The struggle to get as many views as possible on YouTube involves all kinds of tricks that several uploaders turn to, including some that are often considered by many as “clickbaity.” For example, many YouTubers use a different thumbnail for their videos, and there are cases when this photo doesn’t necessarily reflect what you actually find in the clip, but is only supposed to trick you into clicking the play button. Because Google allows this approach, there wasn’t much you could do about it, regardless of the browser or device you were using. Until today, that is, as an extension for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox promises to fix the whole thing for you. Simply called Clickbait remover for YouTube, this little extension tackles the problem I described above with a rather simple approach. First of all, it replaces the thumbnail of the video with an actual frame that it imports from the clip. In other words, the thumbnail will become a screenshot from the vid... ( read mor...

The best thing about Microsoft pushing its browser to Chromium is that the software giant can bring a major contribution to the development of this engine, helping build new features that would eventually make their way to all apps using it. Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome are two of the browsers benefiting from the efforts of all companies investing in the Chromium engine, and the Find on page tool is living proof of how something can advance from idea to actual feature. As you probably know already, the majority of browsers come with a built-in feature to search for text on a page. Most often, such capabilities can be invoked by pressing Ctrl + F , but this hotkey can be different from one browser to another. Basically, what this feature does is allow you to find a certain word or phrase on a website, so you have to manually provide the keyword or keywords that you want to look for. Results are typically displayed instantly and you can... ( read more )

Microsoft has officially announced that the MSDN Magazine would be retired later this year, more than three decades after the first issue saw daylight. MSDN Magazine originally debuted as two different magazines called Microsoft Systems Journal and Microsoft Internet Developer, with the merge into its current name completing back in 2000. While Microsoft hasn’t provided too many details regarding the reasons it would retire the MSDN Magazine, the company does say that it’s making this decision because its services expanded substantially lately. Refunds to be issued to existing subscribers All the content that developers need is now available on docs.microsoft.com, and Microsoft recommends everyone looking for info to check out this large collection of documents. “As Microsoft products and services expanded exponentially over the years, MSDN Magazine has gone through its own evolution, as well. We realized that it is time to retire MSDN Magazine ... ( read more )

The Document Foundation released today the LibreOffice 6.3 open-source and cross-platform office suite for Linux, Mac, and Windows platforms. The third major, feature-full update to the latest LibreOffice 6 office suite series, LibreOffice 6.3, comes exactly six months after the LibreOffice 6.2 release to add better performance, enhanced interoperability with proprietary document formats, as well as a set of new features and other improvements. The LibreOffice 6.3 office suite will be supported for the next ten months with smaller maintenance updates until May 29, 2020. The Document Foundation has planned a total of six point releases for LibreOffice 6.3, but currently recommends users the LibreOffice 6.2 series for extra stability in production environments. What's new in LibreOffice 6.3 New features of the LibreOffice 6.3 office suite release include a Tabbed Compact version of the NotebookBar user interface for Writer, Calc, Draw, and Impress,... ( read more )

Russia’s competition watchdog has officially started an investigation on American giant Apple following a complaint received in March from security vendor Kaspersky. Back then, Kaspersky accused Apple of abusing its dominant position in the mobile market and creating a monopoly around its apps, all of which have a major impact on the other developers releasing apps in the App Store. Kaspersky complained that Apple removed its Sake Kids app from the App Store three years after its launch mostly because the company bundled similar functionality in iOS called Screen Time. The Russian security vendor was required to remove two key features from Kaspersky Safe Kids, namely app control and Safari browser blocking, due to alleged violation of the App Store guidelines. “From our point of view, Apple appears to be using its ... ( read more )

A class-action lawsuit filed in Northern California accuses Apple of violating users’ privacy and accessing confidential communications without consent as part of Siri data analysis. Last week, it was revealed that a series of Apple contractors had access to private data like medical information and recordings of people having sex as part of an analysis of the data collected by digital assistant Siri. The contractors, who were tasked with analyzing interactions with Siri for further tuning, could listen to “doctors and patients, business deals, seemingly criminal dealings, sexual encounters and so on,” as per a report from The Guardian . Apple “recording users without consent” The l... ( read more )

Apple has activated what is being described as a “dormant software lock” in the latest version of iOS in order to discourage battery servicing that is performed using aftermarket parts or repairs. In other words, what the Cupertino-based tech giant is willing to obtain is full control over your battery, as it would only allow battery repairs to be performed in its shops or authorized service centers and only using genuine Apple batteries. Repair specialists IFixit discovered that after replacing and iPhone battery with an aftermarket unit or after doing the whole thing in a non-Apple service center, the device displays a warning under Settings > Battery. “Important Battery Message: Unable to verify this iPhone has a genuine Apple battery. Health information not available for this battery,” this warning reads. Performance not affected The warning appears if you re... ( read more )

Microsoft has released an updated version of Edge Dev for Windows and Mac, and the changelog includes both new features and fixes for the found bugs. Microsoft Edge Dev 77.0.235.4 adds the ability to never translate pages in a specific language, as you’re now provided with an option that lets you block this translation from running. Also, there’s a keyboard shortcut for the menu on Macs, as well as a button to maximize the feedback screenshot editor window and options to resize it. For enterprise users, this version comes with group policies to allow SmartScreen management. The list of fixes is pretty huge, and you can check it in full in the box after the jump, but worth highlighting are the improvements that address first-run crashes and other issues causing the browser to close unexpectedly when typing in the address bar or using the built-in translator. Improved stability and reliability on Mac Mac users are getting a bunch of refinements of... ( read more )

With foldable phones becoming the next big things in the mobile industry, it makes sense for Apple to want to be part of this. And according to UBS analysts, the Cupertino-based tech giant could join the foldable phone party in the next couple of years, albeit Apple’s plans isn’t exactly as you’d expect it to be. Plus, the company has a series of challenges to resolve down the road, they think. First of all, Apple’s foldable device strategy will begin with the iPad, which according to UBS could get this upgrade and see daylight as soon as 2020. As far as the iPhone, a foldable version is morel likely to land in 2021, one year after the major overhaul planned for the next year when features like 5G are expected to be added. Even more expensive iPhones Meanwhile, Cupertino is struggling to deal with the high selling price of foldable smartphones. As with everything Apple, the foldable iPhone would be more expensive than its rivals, and this could ... ( read more )

Microsoft has released Windows 10 build 18956 for Windows insiders enrolled in the Fast ring. This new build comes with a series of welcome improvements, including a redesigned Network Status page in Settings. This refreshed look provides a quick look at active connections and data usage, a feature that comes in handy especially when trying to configure bandwidth limits. “We now show all available connection interfaces on the Status page, so you can quickly see what is connected and view and change properties as needed. If you have multiple connections, only one will be used for internet connectivity at a time, and that one is still shown in the Status diagram at the top of the page,” Dona Sarkar, chief of the Windows Insider program, explains in the release notes of this build. Revamped Calculator Additionally, Windows insiders are now provided with the notification updates that were announced recently and which include a direct link to notifica... ( read more )

Samsung took the wraps off the Galaxy Note10 a few hours ago, and one of the highlights of this announcement is an expanded collaboration with software giant Microsoft. Previous Samsung smartphones already came with pre-installed Microsoft apps, but beginning with the Galaxy Note10, the two are pushing this collaboration to a completely new level. One of the first changes is an enhanced Outlook experience on the Note10, as the device will feature with a tweaked version of the email client that is specifically optimizing to take advantage of its features, including the S Pen. “Galaxy Note10 features an optimized and integrated Outlook app, which enhances work and personal communications as well as time management. The enhanced S Pen with the Galaxy Note10 allows users to get short previews when hovering over emails, calendar even... ( read more )