Android 8.1 Oreo goes final, rolling out now to Pixel and Nexus devices

After two developer previews, Android 8.1 Oreo is ready for the masses. Google announced that the new OS is rolling out now and is posting system images for the  Pixel 2 and 2 XL , the Pixel 1 and 1 XL, the Pixel C tablet, and the Nexus 6P and 5X. The Android Open Source Project (AOSP) code drop should be happening now, too. Android 8.1 Oreo is a minor maintenance release after the major update of Android 8.0 . The biggest feature in 8.1 is a new ” Neural Networks API ” (NNAPI), which is designed for running machine learning operations on mobile devices. Phones with specialized machine learning hardware can hardware accelerate this API, while older devices can use a CPU fallback mode. The API provides a base layer higher-level machine-learning framework to plug into, like Google’s TensorFlow Lite. Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Android 8.1 Oreo goes final, rolling out now to Pixel and Nexus devices

MacOS High Sierra is well worth the upgrade

MacOS High Sierra was never meant to be truly transformative. As we covered in our preview of Apple’s new desktop OS , it’s mostly focused on refining its predecessor, last year’s Sierra . At the same time, it also lays the groundwork for bigger changes down the line. Since there’s not much you’ll actually notice, and barely anything has changed since we published our extensive preview, we won’t be doing a full review of the new OS. But with High Sierra officially launching today , it’s worth highlighting the handful of notable features. A better Safari Apple claims that Safari 11 in High Sierra is the world’s fastest web browser. My testing with the JetStream benchmark confirmed that it was faster than both Chrome and Firefox on my MacBook Air. Safari clocked in with a score of 176.8, while the other two browsers came in around 129 (and yes, higher is better). Even so, I still found myself relying on the other browsers most of the time. Some of Google’s services, like Hangouts, only work on Chrome. And Firefox is typically the browser I use for dealing with anything related to work (it’s helpful having two browsers open at once for managing multiple Google accounts). While Safari tended to load some sites faster, that wasn’t enough to make me switch over. As for other tweaks, Safari 11 mutes auto-playing web videos by default, which should help bring some peace as more sites push unwanted video on their readers. You can also enable the cleaner “Reader” mode automatically for specific sites, or have it automatically turn on for every website that supports the feature. That’s something you can only do with Chrome through settings hacks, or by installing third-party extensions. Apple also claims Safari will let you browse the web for two hours longer than the other two browsers, as well as watch Netflix for four hours longer. Photos upgrades As we covered in our preview piece, the Photos app got a slew of tweaks. But after testing the OS for the past few months, I ended up appreciating the new Live Photos capabilities the most. Just like in iOS 11, you can now turn Live Photos into short animated clips that resemble GIFs. You can choose from Loop, which just repeats the clip; Bounce, which moves it back and forth in time; and Long Exposure, a unique effect that mimics the dreamy photos you can get by manipulating exposure settings on bigger cameras. They’re not groundbreaking effects, but they finally make Live Photos seem useful, rather than a waste of space. All of other Photos upgrades from iOS 11 also show up in High Sierra. That includes smarter people recognition (which can sync across all of your iCloud-connected devices), more automatic Memories options, and a wider assortment of photo filters. Another helpful upgrade: Third-party companies can now create extensions for Photos, which allows you to do things like prepare photo books without leaving the app. VR support Thanks to Metal 2, Apple’s updated graphics API, MacOS can finally handle virtual reality. Right now, it’s limited to the HTC Vive using SteamVR — sorry, Oculus Rift fans. And, just like with typical games, not every title supports Macs yet. Sure, it’s very much early days for VR on Macs, but at least it’s possible now with High Sierra. We didn’t have any beefy Macs to test out the OS’s VR capabilities, unfortunately. As we’ve noted before, figuring out which Macs can actually support VR is surprisingly confusing. But at least High Sierra also brings support for external GPU docks, which means you can conceivably upgrade any Thunderbolt-equipped Mac with faster graphics capabilities. Metal 2 should also make High Sierra more efficient at rendering windows and typical UI elements, especially if you have a decent dedicated GPU. I didn’t notice much of a difference on my 2014 MacBook Air as I tested the new OS over the past few months. Wrapping up A few other points worth noting: Apple made a big deal about its upgraded Apple File System when it first announced High Sierra, but I didn’t notice much of a difference as I was testing the OS. Surprisingly, the company also dropped support for APFS on hybrid Fusion drives — at this point it only works on SSDs. Siri brings over its improved voice and DJ abilities that we first saw in iOS 11. You can now check on your airline flight status right from the Spotlight search bar. We always knew High Sierra was going to be an iterative update for Apple, but I’m surprised by how few visible changes there are. It’s tough to tell you’ve even upgraded from Sierra unless you peek at your system’s settings. Together with a similarly humdrum iOS 11 update (unless you’re on an iPad), it seems like Apple was more focused on its new hardware this year than its software.

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MacOS High Sierra is well worth the upgrade

Linux Kernel 4.11 Officially Released

prisoninmate quotes Softpedia: Linux kernel 4.11 has been in development for the past two months, since very early March, when the first Release Candidate arrived for public testing. Eight RCs later, we’re now able to download and compile the final release of Linux 4.11 on our favorite GNU/Linux distributions and enjoy its new features. Prominent ones include scalable swapping for SSDs, a brand new perf ftrace tool, support for OPAL drives, support for the SMC-R (Shared Memory Communications-RDMA) protocol, journalling support for MD RAID5, all new statx() system call to replace stat(2), and persistent scrollback buffers for VGA consoles… The Linux 4.11 kernel also introduces initial support for Intel Gemini Lake chips, which is an Atom-based, low-cost computer processor family developed using Intel’s 14-nanometer technology, and better power management for AMD Radeon GPUs when the AMDGPU open-source graphics driver is used. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Linux Kernel 4.11 Officially Released

Attacks On WordPress Sites Intensify As Hackers Deface Over 1.5 Million Pages

An anonymous reader writes: “Attacks on WordPress sites using a vulnerability in the REST API, patched in WordPress version 4.7.2, have intensified over the past two days, as attackers have now defaced over 1.5 million pages, spread across 39, 000 unique domains, ” reports BleepingComputer. “Initial attacks using the WordPress REST API flaw were reported on Monday by web security firm Sucuri, who said four groups of attackers defaced over 67, 000 pages. The number grew to over 100, 000 pages the next day, but according to a report from fellow web security firm WordFence, these numbers have skyrocketed today to over 1.5 million pages, as there are now 20 hacking groups involved in a defacement turf war.” Making matters worse, over the weekend Google’s Search Console service, formerly known as Google Webmaster, was sending out security alerts to people it shouldn’t. Google attempted to send security alerts to all WordPress 4.7.0 and 4.7.1 website owners (vulnerable to the REST API flaw), but some emails reached WordPress 4.7.2 owners. Some of which misinterpreted the email and panicked, fearing their site might lose search engine ranking. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Attacks On WordPress Sites Intensify As Hackers Deface Over 1.5 Million Pages

Apps that rely on Google Hangouts won’t work after April 25th

When Google launched Allo and Duo last year, it recast hangouts as a cross-platform chat app for enterprise customers. Now it’s making changes to help ensure that fate. A quiet update to the Google Hangouts FAQ reveals that the sun will set on the platform’s API in late April. Effectively, this means any consumer app that integrates with Google Hangouts will be dead in a matter of months. “At the Google Horizon event in September 2016, we previewed a new experience for Hangouts focused on meetings, ” The updated FAQ reads. “In order to streamline our efforts furhter, we will be retiring the Google+ Hangouts API.” According to Google, the integration simply isn’t needed anymore. “Hangouts is now turning to focus on enterprise use cases.” This is hardly a surprise — Google outlined its vision for Hangouts’ new market early last year — but it is a bummer for apps that rely on the platform like PingPong Hangouts, Draw with your Face and Roll20 . Still, some apps will still have access to Hangouts, but only if they qualify as enterprise communication tools, like Slack. Bummer. Source: Techcrunch

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Apps that rely on Google Hangouts won’t work after April 25th

Steam will soon natively support PlayStation 4 controllers

While it’s been possible to link a DualShock 4 to a PC to play Steam games, the functionality has been provided by third-party apps, not the companies themselves. Luckily, that will soon change, after Valve’s Jeff Bellinghausen confirmed to Gamasutra that the game company is working to include native support for other gamepads, starting with the PlayStation 4 controller. “Believe it or not, when you use the PS4 Controller through the Steam API, it’s exactly the same as a Steam Controller. Not only is it a really nice, high quality controller, but it’s also got a gyro and a touchpad.” says Bellinghausen. “Existing native support for the PS4 controller on the PC is a bit weak; in this case Steam itself is communicating directly with the device so everything that’s nice and reliable.” In the past, Steam users have relied on apps like DS4Windows to connect DualShock controllers to their PC. However, with native Steam support and the new DualShock 4 USB Wireless Adaptor , which already helps PC users play PlayStation Now games on their desktop, it won’t be long before Sony’s gamepad can be fully utilized — touchpad and all — without any additional customization. Via: Polygon Source: Gamasutra

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Steam will soon natively support PlayStation 4 controllers

Google Rebrands ‘Apps for Work’ To ‘G Suite,’ Adds New Features

Google has renamed “Apps for Work” to “G Suite” to “help people everywhere work and innovate together, so businesses can move faster and go bigger.” They have also added a bunch of new features, such as a “Quick Access” section for Google Drive for Android that uses machine learning to predict what files you’re going to need when you open up the app, based off your previous behavior. Calendar will automatically pick times to set up meetings through the use of machine intelligence. Sheets is also using AI “to turn your layman English requests into formulas through its ‘Explore’ feature, ” reports The Next Web. “In Slides, Explore uses machine learning to dynamically suggest and apply design ideas, while in Docs, it will suggest backup research and images you can use in your musings, as well as help you insert files from your Drive account. Throughout Docs, Sheets, and Slides, you can now recover deleted files on Android from a new ‘Trash’ option in the side/hamburger menu.” Google’s cloud services will now fall under a new “Google Cloud” brand, which includes G Suite, Google Cloud Platform, new machine learning tools and APIs, and Google’s various devices that access the cloud. Slashdot reader wjcofkc adds: I just received the following email from Google. When I saw the title, my first thought was that there was malware lying at the end — further inspection proved it to be real. Is this the dumbest name change in the history of name changes? Google of all companies does not have to try so hard. “Hello Google Apps Customer, We created Google Apps to help people everywhere work and innovate together, so that your organization can move faster and achieve more. Today, we’re introducing a new name that better reflects this mission: G Suite. Over the coming weeks, you’ll see our new name and logo appear in familiar places, including the Admin console, Help Center, and on your invoice. G Suite is still the same all-in-one solution that you use every day, with the same powerful tools — Gmail, Docs, Drive, and Calendar. Thanks for being part of the journey that led us to G Suite. We’re always improving our technology so it learns and grows with your team. Visit our official blog post to learn more.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Google Rebrands ‘Apps for Work’ To ‘G Suite,’ Adds New Features

CERN Physicists Have Discovered a Batch of New Exotic Particles

Scientists working at CERN have found four new “tetraquark” particles comprised of the same four subatomic building blocks. These exotic particles don’t last very long, and they probably don’t play an important cosmological role, but the discovery reveals the surprising diversity of the tetraquark family. Read more…

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CERN Physicists Have Discovered a Batch of New Exotic Particles

How to Shoot 360-Degree Photos With Your Smartphone

Flat, two-dimensional photos are old news. The future is 360-degree photos that let you look around in any direction from a single standing position. You can share 360-degree photos everywhere from Facebook to Street View, and unlike 360 video, they can be easily snapped using the phone you’ve already got. Here’s how to get started. Read more…

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How to Shoot 360-Degree Photos With Your Smartphone