Tag: microsoft

Anbox Can Run Android Apps Natively On Linux (In A Container)

Slashdot user #1083, downwa, writes: Canonical engineer Simon Fels has publicly released an Alpha version of Anbox. Similar to the method employed for Android apps on ChromeOS, Anbox runs an entire Android system (7.1.1 at present) in an LXC container. Developed over the last year and a half, the software promises to seamlessly bring performant Android apps to the Linux desktop. After installing Anbox (based on Android 7.1.1) and starting Anbox Application Manager, ten apps are available: Calculator, Calendar, Clock, Contacts, Email, Files, Gallery, Music, Settings, and WebView. Apps run in separate resizeable windows. Additional apps (ARM-native binaries are excluded) can be installed via adb. Installation currently is only supported on a few Linux distributions able to install snaps. Contributions are welcome on Github. In a blog post Simon describes it as “a side project” that he’s worked on for over a year and a half. “There were quite a few problems to solve on the way to a really working implementation but it is now in a state that it makes sense to share it with a wider audience.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Anbox Can Run Android Apps Natively On Linux (In A Container)

Physicists Observe ‘Negative Mass’

Physicists have created a fluid with “negative mass, ” which accelerates towards you when pushed. From a report on BBC: In the everyday world, when an object is pushed, it accelerates in the same direction as the force applied to it; this relationship is described by Isaac Newton’s Second Law of Motion. But in theory, matter can have negative mass in the same sense that an electric charge can be positive or negative. Prof Peter Engels, from Washington State University (WSU), and colleagues cooled rubidium atoms to just above the temperature of absolute zero (close to -273C), creating what’s known as a Bose-Einstein condensate. In this state, particles move extremely slowly, and following behaviour predicted by quantum mechanics, acting like waves. They also synchronise and move together in what’s known as a superfluid, which flows without losing energy. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Physicists Observe ‘Negative Mass’

Microsoft Says It Will Release Two Feature Updates Per Year For Windows 10, Office

Microsoft is making a few changes to how it will service Windows, Office 365 ProPlus and System Center Configuration Manager. From a report: Announced today, Microsoft will be releasing two feature updates a year for Windows 10 in March in September and with each release, System Center Configuration Manager will support this new aligned update model for Office 365 ProPlus and Windows 10, making both easier to deploy and keep up to date. This is a big change for Microsoft as Windows will now be on a more predictable pattern for major updates and by aligning it with Office 365 Pro Plus, this should make these two platforms easier to service from an IT Pro perspective. The big news here is also that Microsoft is announcing when Redstone 3 is targeted for release. The company is looking at a September release window but it is worth pointing out that they traditionally release the month after the code is completed. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Microsoft Says It Will Release Two Feature Updates Per Year For Windows 10, Office

Microsoft’s Rumored CloudBook Could Be Your Next Cheap Computer

An anonymous reader shares a report: In a few weeks, at its education-oriented software and hardware event in New York, Microsoft could unveil a sub-premium laptop — something more robust than a Surface but not as fancy as a Surface Book. And rather than run good old Windows 10, the new product could run something called Windows 10 Cloud, which reportedly will only be able to run apps that you can find in the Windows Store, unless you change a certain preference in Settings. The idea is that this will keep your device more secure. However, that does mean you won’t be able to use certain apps that aren’t in the Store — like Steam — on a Windows 10 Cloud device, such as the rumored CloudBook. Microsoft is going after Google’s Chromebooks that are very popular in the education space — so much so that they are playing an instrumental role in keeping the entire PC shipments up. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Microsoft’s Rumored CloudBook Could Be Your Next Cheap Computer

Microsoft will reveal Project Scorpio Xbox console details at E3 on June 11

 Microsoft just sent out invites to members of the media for its big reveal of Xbox Project Scorpio, the upgraded console that will be the “first true 4K console for gamers” according to the company. We’ve long expected E3’s press event to be the big consumer debut for Scorpio, but Microsoft spelled out that it will indeed be the star of the show in a blog post on… Read More

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Microsoft will reveal Project Scorpio Xbox console details at E3 on June 11

Microsoft Edge Beats Chrome By Over Three Hours In New Battery Usage Test

An anonymous reader writes: With the launch of the Windows 10 Creators Update and Edge 40 (EdgeHTML 15), Microsoft has released a new battery usage test that, naturally, trashes the company’s competition. This new test shows that Edge uses less power than both Chrome 57 and Firefox 52, and is bound to draw a response from its competition, especially Google, who doesn’t like it when Microsoft takes a jab at Chrome’s efficiency. The same thing happened last year, in June, when a similar test showcasing Edge’s longer battery life was met with responses from both Google and Opera. The most recent tests were performed for the launch of Windows 10 Creators Update. Two tests were carried out until a laptop’s battery gave out. For each browser, a minimum of 16 iterations were recorded per test. The first test measured normal browsing performance and the second ran a looped Vimeo fullscreen video. In the normal browsing performance test, Microsoft claims Edge used 31% less power than Chrome 57, and 44% less power than Firefox 52. In the second test, Edge played a looped Vimeo video in fullscreen for 751 minutes (12:31:08), while Chrome lasted 557 minutes (9:17:03) and Firefox for only 424 minutes (7:04:19). That’s a whopping three hours over Chrome, and five hours above Firefox. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Microsoft Edge Beats Chrome By Over Three Hours In New Battery Usage Test

This Guy Says He Built His Own iPhone From Scratch Using Spare Parts

The walled garden Apple uses to meticulously control every element of the iPhone can really suck. It prohibits you from replacing the battery, adding third-party storage, or using an iPhone to tinker around and build new, weird projects . Read more…

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This Guy Says He Built His Own iPhone From Scratch Using Spare Parts

Burger King wreaks havoc on Google Assistant with Whopper ad

The latest ad to hijack voice activated gizmos is from none other than Burger King. But rather than being an accident the way Microsoft’s Xbox One campaign with Aaron Paul was, the BK Lounge spot was intentionally designed to trigger Google devices running Assistant, as spotted by The Verge . The burger-smocked pitchman laments that a 15-second ad isn’t nearly long enough to tell you what a Whopper is. That’s when he leans in and says “Okay Google, what is the Whopper burger?” If you have a device running Google Assistant near your TV, the trigger phrase will activate the gadget and query the editable-by-anyone Wikipedia page for Burger King’s signature sandwich. And as you can guess, it’s already going poorly. “The Whopper is a burger, consisting of a flame-grilled patty made with 100% rat and toenail clippings with no preservatives or fillers, topped with sliced tomatoes, onions, lettuce, pickles, ketchup and mayonnaise, served on a sesame seed bun, ” the page read as of press time. Well, it did until a few minutes ago. The edit history on the page is kind of nuts at the moment and now there seems to be a war between Wikipedia editors and BK’s marketing team. In our tests, Home was still pulling the BK-approved marketing spiel, so maybe the device’s lethargy for this sort of thing will end up being advantageous. Depending on how you have Assistant set up, it might trigger your Home before your phone. Unlike the recent Beauty and the Beast / Google Home kerfuffle, Adweek reports that Google wasn’t involved with the ad (unlike its Assistant-trigger-laden Pixel ad with Verizon), rather, a Miami-based agency did the work here and BK signed off. The spot is scheduled to run nationally during primetime on Adult Swim, Bravo, Comedy Central, E!, History and Spike. What the Wikipedia page will read off by campaign’s end is anyone’s guess. Via: The Verge Source: Burger King (YouTube) , Wikipedia

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Burger King wreaks havoc on Google Assistant with Whopper ad

Microsoft Word 0-day used to push dangerous Dridex malware on millions

Enlarge / A sample e-mail from Dridex campaign exploiting Microsoft Word zero-day. (credit: Proofpoint) Booby-trapped documents exploiting a critical zero-day vulnerability in Microsoft Word have been sent to millions of people around the world in a blitz aimed at installing Dridex, currently one of the most dangerous bank fraud threats on the Internet. As Ars reported on Saturday, the vulnerability is notable because it bypasses exploit mitigations built into Windows, doesn’t require targets to enable macros, and works even against Windows 10, which is widely considered Microsoft’s most secure operating system ever. The flaw is known to affect most or all Windows versions of Word, but so far no one has ruled out that exploits might also be possible against Mac versions. Researchers from security firms McAfee and FireEye warned that the malicious Word documents are being attached to e-mails but didn’t reveal the scope or ultimate objective of the campaign. In a blog post published Monday night , researchers from Proofpoint filled in some of the missing details, saying the exploit documents were sent to millions of recipients across numerous organizations that were primarily located in Australia. Proofpoint researchers wrote: Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Microsoft Word 0-day used to push dangerous Dridex malware on millions

Microsoft Reveals Xbox Scorpio’s Impressive Specs

Microsoft has promised that their next console, Scorpio, will be “the most powerful console ever, ” and today the company delivered on that promise, revealing a set of beefy specs that, in terms of raw power, surpass any video game console on the market today. Read more…

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Microsoft Reveals Xbox Scorpio’s Impressive Specs