Windows Holographic debuts alongside standalone Microsoft HoloLens headset:- MICROSOFT @ WAR TECH

The last thing Microsoft had to present to the world today has to do with augmented reality. Following a growing trend in the tech world, the company has announced its own entry into the VR headset space, which is called HoloLens. And it comes with some additional features compared to its competitors.

The HoloLens, which you can see above, has see-through holographic lenses that superimpose “holograms” onto the world that’s actually around you, combining the physical with the digital.

It also touts spatial sound, so you can hear when holograms are behind you. It’s actually its own computer, not needing to be tethered to a secondary device, be that a phone or a PC. It has a high-end CPU and GPU, and even something Microsoft dubs an HPU, which stands for “holographic processing unit”.

It’s powered by the new Windows Holographic, and developers are said to already be working on apps for this platform. Holographic apps are Windows 10 universal apps, so it should be rather easy for developers to create them.

Microsoft showcased the power of Windows Holographic paired with the HoloLens on stage today, where someone used the HoloStudio app to build a virtual 3D quadrocopter, which employed some finger pointing, and the use of voice commands. Afterwards the finished project could be 3D printed if you happen to have a 3D printer around – Microsoft did, and so we saw the real world version of the digital
3D creation too. Apparently you can use HoloStudio as a sort of ‘print preview’ for 3D printing.

Clearly though, more apps should make the platform even more interesting in the future. Unfortunately an exact release date for Windows Holographic and the HoloLens hasn’t been given, with Microsoft execs simply saying the headset should be on sale “in the Windows 10 time-frame”, whatever that may mean.

Say goodbye to the Google Glass you know (but probably don’t love)

In the past few months the phrase “Google Glass is Dead” has gone from hyperbole to an increasingly, and depressingly, accurate description of the state of Google’s ambitious wearable technology. While some keep on hoping, things got bleaker for the Glass faithful today when Google announced it will stop selling the $1,500 Google Glass Explorer Editions, essentially halting the product for developers and users alike.

This is the latest in a long line of recent setbacks for the project. Key team members have departed, like main creative force Babak Parviz, apps likes Twitter have dropped support, the Explorer Editions users have gotten their eyes on seem iffy at best, and the full launch once planned for late last year remains in flux. And on top of all that, the Oculus Rift came along and stole Glass’s thunder as the cool new thing to strap to your face and change your perception of reality.

But this doesn’t mean Glass is dead forever. Google says future versions of Glass will be developed not by Google X but by a new team headed by Nest co-founder Tony Fadell. Recently discovered patents show this updated model might look like. While the basic shape of the smart glasses is the same, these drawings suggest a slimmer, sleeker form factor with the electronics more elegantly compacted. If Google Glass wants to be an actual consumer device, and dispel the dreaded “Glasshole” stigma, it has to look like something people would actually wear in public. These modified designs, with their headset influences, are definitely a step in that direction.

This news also follows recent Wall Street Journal reports of a Google Glass upgrade coming next year featuring Intel processors. Maybe this is all part of the same big overhaul, better parts inside a more beautiful package. The shift away from old Texas Instrument processors could also open the door for new software to come to the platform, as well as the return of old ones. But Google still plans on aiding companies supporting previous versions of Glass as well.

Google hasn’t been shy about the fact that Glass is essentially in public beta. That means we’ve gotten to see more failures of its development than with your typical gadget. But if it ever does finally come out, Google declined to share any timetables, at least we’ll know what it took to get there.

Or maybe Google Cardboard will just come out of nowhere and dominate everything.

iPhone 6S to feature Apple Watch’s Force Touch display and 2GB of RAM

If Apple sticks to their once-yearly update cycle, we’ll see a new iPhone in seven or eight months. If a new rumor proves accurate, this one might finally join numerous top-tier Androids in shipping with 2GB of RAM.

For those keeping score, if the iPhone 6S does indeed ship with 2GB it’ll be nearly 40 months behind the first Android phone to do it. LG’s Optimus LTE 2 launched with two gigs all the way back in May of 2012. There have also already been Lumia phones with 2GB, and, heck, even the lowly BlackBerry Z10 came with 2GB when it hit store shelves in January 2013.

Apple’s never felt the need to match its competition on the spec sheet, though, so it’s not really a surprise that it’s taking them so long to upgrade the iPhone’s RAM. It’s also debatable whether or not previous versions of the iPhone would have seen enough benefit from 2GB for Apple to bother cutting further into to their generous profit margins.

Extra RAM may give the iPhone 6S a slightly longer lifespan than some previous models. You may have seen the ill effects the iOS 8 upgrade had on older iPhones and iPods. That would certainly be a good thing.

One other interesting rumor that’s making the rounds now is that Apple is planning to inject a bit of tech from the Apple Watch into the iPhone 6s. The Watch features a “Force Touch” display which can (you guessed it) distinguish between different levels of pressure applied by a finger to the screen. It’s sort of like what Wacom’s digitizers can do, but no fancy stylus is required.

Force Touch could make its way to the 2015 iPhone and would make it possible for the updated version of iOS that ships on the iPhone 6S to introduce a revamped UX, similar to the one you may have seen demonstrated on the Apple Watch. We’ll just have to wait for an event later this year to find out if that’s really what Apple is working on.

Apple Loop: iOS 9 Leaks Online, Hating The iPhone 6 Plus, iTunes Killing Free Music

Taking a look back at another week of news from Cupertino, this week’s Apple Loop covers the first signs of iOS 9, a potential dual-lens camera in the iPhone 6S, Apple and GoPro, the no-poaching antitrust case, changes to the iTunes store for kids and free singles, eight years of iPhones, and how to smuggle ninety-four smartphones before getting caught.

Apple Loop is here to remind you of a few of the very many discussions that have happened around Apple over the last seven days
iOS 9 Visiting Various Websites Around The World.

It should be no surprise that Apple is working on the next version of iOS. After the Christmas and New Year break and the return of the staff at Cupertino, a number of eagle-eyed webmasters have spotted iOS 9 popping up in their referral logs. Forbes’ Gordon Kelly:

As always Apple does not comment on leaks and it is possible these iOS 9 devices could be fakes designed to fool Google. That said it would seem a pretty left field way of going about it and Apple would be in big trouble if it didn’t have working iOS 9 betas at this stage.

And here’s Apple Insider on the same topic:

Traffic data from AppleInsider shows that visits from devices that appear to be running early builds of iOS 9 have been steadily increasing over the last month. Traffic from iOS 9 devices peaked last week and has grown every week.

Given the current one year cycle of iOS releases, it should be no surprise that iOS 9 is already on a range of test devices in Cupertino. Expect to see iOS 9 debut at this summer’s WWDC.

Take Two Camera Lenses Into Your Smartphone?

Along with iOS 9 showing up, more details on the next iPhone are also around the web this week. One interesting rumor concerns the camera of the potential iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus. The new handsets will be equipped with dual camera lenses, providing improved low-light performance and the potential addition of optical zoom.

An additional benefit of dual-lens setups is improved low light performance – perhaps the one area iPhone rivals like the Note 4 and Nexus 6 have started to outperform Apple – and faster HDR photography.

That said perhaps the biggest benefit optical zoom would make in an iPhone 6s / iPhone 6s Plus would be the elimination of digital zoom, a horribly outdated technology which merely zooms into the screen.
Can You Love And Hate The iPhone 6 Plus?

Not every phone is perfect, and if you can live with the problems and love the features that work, you have a winning combination. Does the iPhone 6 Plus have enough bouquets to overcome Gordon Kelly’s brickbats?

I’ve had the iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 6 since their September launch and moving to the massive iPhone 6 Plus is not something to take lightly. Several major issues will be deal breakers for many and they need to be weighed up against you own personal circumstance.

What do you need to love and hate about the iPhone 6 Plus? Find out…

GoPro Is Not Going To be Killed By Apple

Lots of chatter about a commercial challenge by Apple to GoPro and its line of action cameras last week, thanks to a patent on remote-controlled cameras coming to light. Unsurprisingly, there’s a bit more to the story than that, and Forbes’ Ryan Mac looks at what’s right, what’s wrong, and why GoPro can relax:

The intellectual property in question here, U.S. Patent No. 8,934,045, which was purchased by Apple from Eastman Kodak in 2012, certainly shows a digital camera that’s controllable by some type of wireless remote. There are diagrams of cameras, mounts and a remote control with a normal-power state, for when it’s on and in-use, and a low-power state, for when its screen is off and not in-use. But does it mean Apple is building a standalone digital camera? No. And more specifically, does it mean Apple will build a point-of-view, action camera that can be controlled by a remote? Certainly not.

Apple files or obtains hundreds of patents a year, some of which go unused in the devices that are actually built for the public. And if Apple were really trying to go after the action camera market, the company would create its own technology, says Apple Insider, not tack on to an existing patent that was previously owned by a now-irrelevant photography company.

More analysis here.

New Proposed Settlement In Non-Poaching Antitrust Case

Apple, along with Google, Intel, and Adobe, have proposed a new settlement in the antitrust case around the ‘no employee poaching’ agreement between the two companies (reports the BBC).

Four of the world’s biggest tech giants – Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe – have agreed to a new settlement of $415m (£273.5m) in an attempt to resolve a lawsuit. The US lawsuit alleged the firms agreed not to poach staff from each other. It claimed the alleged agreement prevented workers from getting better job offers elsewhere.

The 2011 US case had claimed $3bn in damages on behalf of more than 64,000 workers at the four firms. The latest attempt to settle the case for $415m, which was filed in court on Thursday, comes after a US judge rejected a $324.5m settlement offer last year.

The companies will be waiting to hear back from the Judge to see if this settlement will be accepted, and the Forbes Tech Team will bring you that news when it arrives.
No More Free Music From iTunes

Two notable stories around the iTunes Store this week, one for music and one for apps.

Starting with music, Apple has apparently stopped the long-running ‘Single of the Week’ promotion. Started in August 2004, this typically offered a track from a new or ‘unknown’ band or performer for free, giving them exposure to an army of listeners and the promotional spot in the iTunes. Sam Oliver notes the disappearance on Apple Insider and speculates that the involvement of Beats Electronics Jimmy Iovine has led to the demise of this long-standing promotion.

There are posts on Apple’s support forum relaying discussions with Apple that look to confirm the story.

If this is the case, new artists will have lost one of the ‘lottery tickets’ that could get them noticed. In a world with more streaming and recommendations powered by listening pattern, Apple has pulled away one of the lowest rungs of the ladder.

Personally, I’m disappointed if this turns out to be the case.

A Safe Place For Children

The other change is one that I’m pleased to see. Apple has added a ‘Kids App’ section to the app store to offer age-appropriate apps,

To help parents decide what applications are suitable, three age bands are available as sub-categories in the Kids section (under 5s, 6-8, and 9-11 years old). Apple has also provided visible links to more information about the Kids section, a guide to iTunes for parents, and discussion points about in-app purchasing.

Apple’s control over the App Store environment has allowed iOS to be backed by a safe and curated pool of third-party applications. While there are many who will push back against the policies of Cupertino that keep the store ‘locked down and secure’, there is a sense of safety in downloading iOS apps that is not there with Android downloads (especially if you move outside of the Google Play Store environment).

And with a safe place for Kids Apps, developers will feel more comfortable in selling apps in this space, and parents will be more confident in their purchases.
This Is What The iPhone Is Missing

Eight years this week, Apple launched the first iPhone. Business Insider has put together a retrospective, focusing on just how much was missing from that first smartphone compared to our expectations now (and even then):

There’s an important lesson here: People tend to quickly judge products on what they can and cannot do, while failing to account for how the product improves over time. As the iPhone shows, it’s okay to start with limitations and gradually expand the product over the years.
And Finally…

Thanks to the differing prices for electronics between Hong Kong and China, the underground trade in electronics to turn a profit on a handset or two is something border guards are always watching for. But how about bringing ninety-four handsets through? CNN reports:

The man caught the attention of inspectors at the Futian crossing in Shenzhen, a southern Chinese metropolis bordering Hong Kong, when he walked like someone carrying a heavy load despite appearing to travel light…

Photos released by customs authorities show dozens of neatly shrink-wrapped shiny iPhones strapped around the man’s chest, abdomen, crotch and thighs with duct tape.

With a street value of $49,000, that’s a lot of confiscated iPhones.

Source: FORBES

How to prevent your computer from viruses

With millions of computer users browsing the
web at any given time, there are plenty of
targets for malicious coders. While computer
experts don’t always know why coders choose to
build harmful computer programs, the fact is
that it happens all the time. Computer viruses
can steal personal information, interfere with
normal operations, attract spam and even shut
down your computer’s hard drive. Protecting
your computer is critical for browsing success.

Start with the basics
Most computer systems come with security
features already in place. For example, the
Windows operating system is packaged with
Microsoft Windows Security Center. When you
first open, boot up and register a new computer,
you should make sure that this program is
functioning. It will give basic protection against
spyware, viruses and malware. In addition, a
basic firewall is built into this program, providing
additional protection and stops for potentially
harmful programs. Upon activation, don’t be
surprised if your security system needs
immediate updating. Software that protects your
computer needs regular and consistent updating
to stay useful. Viruses are constantly being
generated and the several-month lag between
when your computer was made and when you
first started using it can mean that the database
the security system is loaded with is severely
out-of-date.

Upgrade to meet your needs
Many people operate computers for a long time
with only basic protection in place. However,
heavy computer users or those who have risky
browsing habits can sometimes benefit from
upgrading their virus, spyware and malware
protection, as well as using a fuller-featured
firewall; this is especially important if you use a
networked computer system. Basic or free virus
protection will still scan and update for viruses.
Paid programs, however, offer more features,
including ease-of-use and convenience features.
The most important thing is to verify the
publisher and make sure you are getting what is
promised. Most well-known virus protection
programs, such as AVG and Norton Security,
have reviews available to help you make your
choice.

Learn about spyware risk
Spyware creates risks that many computer users
are not aware of. If you are only protecting
against viruses, you could be leaving your
computer open to damage. Most people are
familiar with spyware that initiates and attracts
annoying ad programs. Spyware, however, can
be much more malicious as well. Your shopping
habits can be tracked by spyware. While not
exactly harmful, some people consider this a
breach of privacy. The worst spyware programs
interfere with normal operations and can even
track what you type, sending personal
information to people who want to steal your
identity. Some spyware redirects your browser to
different web addresses, increasing your risks of
virus infection and fraud.

How viruses work
The main difference between spyware and
viruses is how they are spread. A virus
reproduces itself and attaches to any document
that the computer sends, while spyware can be
stored as a cookie or tracking code. A virus is
most often found traveling with a piece of
computer software, such as a document, picture
or piece of music. When dealing with email, it is
necessary to open an attachment to become
infected, indicating that, in most cases, the
computer user must somehow invite the
malicious software to replicate on their system.
Of course, most people have no idea it is there
or what is happening. Some of the sneakiest and
most harmful viruses actually masquerade as
virus protection software, making them extremely
hard to detect. Because of this, it’s crucial to be
familiar with your particular virus protection
program and know what it looks like and what
the normal scripts and prompts are during
operation. Viruses do some of the same things
that spyware does; they just accomplish it
differently. An active virus can steal personal
information, generate ads or shut down your
system, including the very virus protection
programs that can fix the issue.

Take Steps For Protection
Like anything, the best way to protect against
viruses is to be educated. Become familiar with
what malicious software may look like. If you get
an email or are asked to download a file that you
don’t recognize or looks suspicious, do your
homework. Research virus protection, spyware,
malware and firewall programs and use them to
their fullest capacity. Set the software to update
and scan automatically to make sure that the
system is constantly monitored. In addition,
regularly check on the databases published by
various virus protection services; many will
provide lists of symptoms and risks, as well as
the standard way the file gains access for no
cost to the public.

Source: mrhacker