Apple just made upgrading to an iPhone 7 a philanthropic decision by adding a red special edition to the lineup. The new red aluminum finish, which is available to order for both iPhone 7 and 7 Plus in-store and online on March 24, is a fundraising effort for the Global Fund. Apple will contribute a portion of red iPhone sales to the fight against AIDS and HIV.
The two new red iPhones will come in 128GB and 256GB storage variations and start at $749 in the U.S. Apple will sell the special editions in more than 40 countries by the end of March, with Brazil, Chile, Colombia, India, and Turkey to come in April. If you live in the U.S., U.K., or China and are part of the iPhone Upgrade Program, you’ll be able to snag an unlocked red iPhone with AppleCare+. In the U.S., the 128GB iPhone 7 will start at $37 a month with the ability to upgrade every year.
Apple has a long-standing relationship with the Global Fund and has a variety of products in its red lineup, including iPod’s, cases, headphones, and speakers. Last December, Apple celebrated its decade-long partnership with the Global Fund by donating proceeds from in-app purchases, exclusive downloads, and newly launched accessories to the nonprofit. The company has so far donated more than $130 million to the Global Fund, making it the organizations’s largest corporate donor.
You can snag a flashy new red iPhone 7 on March 24, starting at $749.
iPhone SE gets a bump, too
Apple hasn’t forgotten about the littlest phone in its lineup, the iPhone SE. The company just doubled the 4-inch phone’s storage to 32GB and 128GB, up from 16GB and 64GB. Those models will be phased out and the roomier new options will start at $399 beginning March 24.
While the flashy new color and iPhone SE upgrade aren’t the biggest iPhone news of the year—that will come in September with the 10th anniversary iPhone 8—it’s nice to see Apple add a little something extra to both its existing flagship and its entry-level phones.
If your mobile connection keeps cutting out, this update should fix it.
Apple on Monday released iOS 10.0.3, an update for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. To install the update, open the Settings app and tap General > Software Update. The update can also be installed by connecting your iPhone 7 to your Mac and using the iTunes app.
iOS 10.0.3 addresses an issue that could cause the iPhone 7 to “temporarily lose cellular connectivity.” The workaround to the issue before the update was to turn off Voice over LTE.
Since the 10.0.3 update addresses an issue specifically for the iPhone 7, the update is not seen by other iPhone models. For now, the iPhones in Apple’s current lineup are on different iOS versions. When Apple releases the iOS 10.1 update, which includes the Portrait mode camera feature, the iPhones will probably be back in iOS version alignment.
Tip:Before updating your iPhone 7, be sure to back up your data.
5 things to do before giving an old iPhone or iPad to your kid
Don’t hand over an aging iOS device to your eager youngster before doing a little kid-proofing first.
Like it or not, little kids love iPhones and iPads. They love to look at them, they love to tap and swipe the screen, they love playing iPhone games, and most of all, they love watching videos on them. (“Curious George” is my daughter’s favorite—for this week at least.)Giving your little ones a hand-me-down iOS device is an easy way to satisfy their desire for a screen of their own—my kid is the proud owner of an iPhone 3GS and a third-generation iPad.That said, you shouldn’t hand over your old iPhone or iPad without doing some kid-proofing first. Read on for five ways to prep an aging iPhone or iPad for your youngster, from wiping your data and setting up a child’s iCloud account to blocking web access and keeping her from racking up in-app charges on your credit card.
Wipe your old data
Before you hand over your old iPhone to your kids, you’ll want to make sure any and all of your personal data has been wiped clean. The best way to do so is to perform a “factory” reset, which wipes the iPhone’s storage and returns it to its factory settings.
Make sure to back up and then wipe your data before handing over your old iPhone to your child.
Naturally, you should first make sure you’ve backed up any old iPhone or iPad data you want to preserve. You may already have taken care of this step if you’ve previously upgraded to a new iPhone or iPad and restored your data from iCloud. If not, tap Settings, tap your iCloud profile, then tap iCloud > Backup > Back Up Now. You can also back up your old iPhone or iPad by connecting it to your Mac or PC and syncing it with iTunes.
Once you’re satisfied that your data is safe and sound, go ahead and wipe the device. Tap Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. Once the reset is complete, your old iPhone or iPad will return to its factory settings, just like the day it came out of the box.
Create a child’s iCloud account
While it may seem a little soon to, say, create an Apple ID for a toddler, take it from me: it won’t be long before your onesie-clad cutie is walking, talking and pleading for an iPhone upgrade—and when that happens, it’ll be easier to migrate her data and apps if she already has her own iCloud account.
Just because your child is under 13 doesn’t mean she can’t have her own iCloud account and Apple ID.
Even if your kid is younger than 13 years old, she can still have her own iCloud account and Apple ID. All you need to do is create the account under iOS’s “Family Sharing” umbrella. With her iCloud account, your child will be able to sign in to an old iPhone or iPad, download apps, and even purchase items from the App Store—only with your approval, of course.
Also, keep in mind that just because she has an iCloud account, your daughter or son won’t be able to start web surfing, tweeting, or posting selfies on Instagram without your say-so. (More on iOS’s parental controls in a moment.)
You can create a child’s iCloud account directly on your own iPhone or iPad. Just tap Settings, tap your iCloud username, then tap Family Sharing > Add Family Member > Create an Apple ID for a child.
You’ll need to enter your kid’s birthday, agree to some disclosures and legalese, choose a payment method for App Store purchases (which, again, you can control and/or block), then choose an Apple ID username and password.
By default, your kid’s new iCloud account won’t let her make App Store purchases without your consent. To double-check the “Ask to Buy” setting, tap Settings, tap your iCloud account name, then tap Family Sharing and your kid’s name.
Control what your kid can—and can’t—do on her iPhone or iPad
Once you’ve got your old iPhone or iPad set up with your child’s new iCloud account, it’s time to make some decisions on which iOS features will be fair game for your kid, and which will be off-limits.
Don’t want your child surfing the web or snapping photos on her hand-me-down iPhone? You can block those activities in iOS’s Restrictions settings.
Tap Settings > General > Restrictions > Enable Restrictions, then create a Restrictions passcode.
Next, scroll down and disable all the iOS features that you’d rather your kid not mess with. You’ll probably want to disable Safari and the iTunes store right away. You may also want to block your child from installing apps, and if you don’t want your little one snapping a million photos of their crib, you might want to nix the Camera app, too.
In the “Allowed Content” section, make sure to disable in-app purchases, as well as block music with explicit music and any grown-up movies, TV shows and books.
In the Privacy section, you can control which apps can access location services, contacts, the microphone, and more on your kid’s iPhone.
At the bottom of the Restrictions screen, you can also disable access to multiplayer games, friend adding, and screen recording for any Game Center-ready games.
Hide Settings, Mail, and other Apple apps
Even after you’ve thoroughly managed all of iOS’s Restrictions settings, you may still see some home-screen icons on your kid’s iPhone or iPad that you’d rather she not mess with. For example, the Settings icon should probably stay out of her hands, as well as the Mail app, Game Center, and the App Store.
You can hide the Mail, App Store, and other Apple apps in a folder, preferably on its own home screen in the back.
Here’s what I did before I gave my daughter my old iPhone: I hid all those various Apple apps in a “Hidden” folder in the very last iOS home screen. To create a home screen folder, drag one app icon on top of another, name the folder, then start dragging other app icons into the newly created folder.
Naturally, older kids who are a bit more iOS savvy may quickly sniff out the “Hidden” folder. My five-year-old, for example, knows exactly where I’ve tucked away the Settings icon, but she doesn’t really care—probably because tapping Settings won’t get her any closer to Curious George.
Turn on Airplane mode
One way to make sure your little one doesn’t wander into a grown-up corner of the Internet on her iPhone is to cut off Internet access altogether, and the easiest way to do that is to turn on Airplane mode. (Of course, you can kiss Airplane mode goodbye once your children start clamoring for the streaming PBS Kids video app, which they’ll do once they hit about 3 or so.)
Just tap Settings, then flip on the Airplane Mode switch.
Turning on Airplane mode is an easy way to keep tiny iPhone users off the Internet.
If your old iPhone or iPad is running on iOS 6 or later, you may also want to disable home-screen and in-app access to Control Center, the flip-up control panel that includes an Airplane Mode button, To do so, tap Settings > Control Center, then switch off the Access on Lock Screen and Access Within Apps settings. That won’t completely disable Control Center, but at least it’ll make it a tad more challenging to find.
For the fourth generation Apple TV, the possibilities are endless
Update: The new Apple TV is finally here and available to buy right now in all Apple Stores. Here’s the final pricing: $149 and $199 pricing for the 32GB and 64GB versions in the US respectively, £129 and £169 in the UK, while in Australia the cost is AU$269 and AU$349 for the different versions.
Original story below…
Three years of waiting for a major upgrade and six months of rumors have lead to this point: the new Apple TV, announced earlier in September at the company’s iPhone 6S event.
When it came time to think about the upgrade to the Cupertino company’s seminal streamer, it seems one Steve Jobs-ian point made it through the chopping board: the new Apple TV needs to be just as smart if its predecessor and just as easy to use. It needs to offer a slew of contemporary features but still remain relatively clean looking.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the new Apple TV is all of those things.
Now, before you go down into the comments and leave a nasty retort, we know that “new Apple TV” is a fairly confusing name. But Apple bows to no numerical and/or logic system, and since the Apple TV has yet to see a true sequel until now, instead receiving iteration after iteration of internal upgrades, this is just the way the Apple peels.
It’s been about two years since the last minor change to the Apple TV and three since the last major one. Which, for a company that’s bound and determined to release a new iPhone every 12 months, seems a little strange that Apple’s popular streamer has been MIA since the iPhone 5.
But our patience has been rewarded, and Apple has delivered the next iteration of a great streaming device. It packs a faster processor than its predecessor, a great-looking UI, too. It has an all-new remote that comes with a built-in microphone and works with Siri, not to mention the fact that it doubles as a Wii-like motion game controller.
It has a sharp new OS – a hybrid of OSX and iOS – and comes with a loaded app store that Tim Cook says will usher in a new age of television. It’s ostentatious and bold vision packed into a tiny box. But that’s Apple for you.
Cut to the chase What is it? The next generation of Apple’s set-top box, the Apple TV When is it out? Monday October 26 2015 in over 80 countries worldwide How much does it cost? The 32GB version will cost $149 (£129, AU$269) while the 64GB version will come in at $199 (£169, AU$349) Why is it better? It has a faster processor, better interface, more apps, a Wii-esque remote and has voice search functionality
When WWDC 2015 came and went without an Apple TV announcement, we were a little disappointed. But when rumors started to circulate about the Cupertino company’s September 9 event, our hopes and dreams for a brand-new set-top box started to solidify into reality. It turns out it wasn’t all wishful thinking, either. Rumors of Apple’s next set-top box practically boiled over until most, if not all, of the Apple’s big secrets saw the light of day before the 9th. (You can find the key points highlighted in bold!)
New Apple TV user interface
User interfaces are absolutely crucial, and Apple built its reputation on putting together some of the sleekest, most easy-to-use pieces of software on the market. The new Apple TV harnesses that long tradition of doing things right and wildly improves the old model’s layout into something more modern.
The new UI is purposefully flat, with top-level boxes for music and movies on the iTunes store, your most used apps like Netflix and Hulu, as well as the recently added App Store – which is like to pack TV-optimized games alongside Apple Music and its music-streaming kin.
It’s all built on top of a new OS called tvOS that works like a hybrid of iOS and OSX. There are 11 million developers on the platform according to Apple senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, Eddy Cue, which means you can expect a ton of third-party apps available on the first day.
tvOS will support Siri and include universal search results that enable searches across multiple streaming video services as well as Apple’s iTunes Store. That means instead of searching for a movie on each individual app, you’ll be able to see a select number of services in every search (think Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video, Hulu, YouTube, Vimeo, etc).
New Apple TV remote
Also, we know that the New Apple TV will include an updated remote control (goodbye, boring aluminum IR remote) that operates over Bluetooth and features a mix of physical buttons and a touchpad.
Inside the remote, Apple looks to be packing in some Wii-esque motion sensors, which would make playing games on the App Store that require tilt easy. Speaking of Bluetooth, we’ve heard whispers that you might be able to connect any console-style controller made for iOS to the Apple TV if the new remote doesn’t do it for you.
Of course the remote will include an internal microphone so you can chat withSiri, meaning that the new Apple TV might be fully operable just with your voice.
Apps shown off so far that use the remote are a new-and-improved Crossy Road, Beats Sports – a Wii-like game from the Rock Band developers, MLB At Bat andApple Music. And for fans of the old-fashioned Home Shopping Network, Gilt will allow you to shop for deals from the comfort of your couch.
There are thousands more apps in the works, and techradar has confirmed with a handful of developers that even though the store looks sparse, many more apps are right around the corner.
New Apple TV hardware
But like my mama always said, it’s what’s on the inside that counts. And inside the New Apple TV is packing a 64-bit A8 processor, currently found in the iPhone 6 Plus. It’s several times more powerful than the current Apple TV, and gives it the necessary horsepower to truck through the latest wave of graphically intense games. Does this mean that your Apple TV will become the premier spot to play the latest Call of Duty or Madden game? Most likely not. But for fans of casual or semi-casual gaming, the New Apple TV will be a pretty mean gaming machine.
It will support Bluetooth 4.0 (necessary to work with the all-new Siri remote),802.11ac WiFi with MIMO and come with either 32GB or 64GB of internal flash storage. None of this, however, is going to come cheap.
New Apple TV price
As expected, the 32GB will cost $149 (£129, AU$269) while the 64GB version will come in at $199 (£169, AU$349). It’s about three times the cost of the current Apple set-top box, but that price feels justified with all the new bells and whistles.
The only thing that would’ve sweetened the deal? A subscription to the purported cable alternative Apple has been working on for the past few months. This feature is likely to be coming, but we can now confirm that it missed the Apple TV announcement on September 9.
New Apple TV release date
So when can you get it? Apple launched the new Apple TV in over 80 countries on Monday October 26, and will expand to over 100 by the end of 2015.
New Apple TV competition
Looks like the new Apple TV isn’t the only shiny new set-top box on the market this holiday season. Recently Amazon launched a 4K version of the Amazon Fire TV, while Google has recently shipped out a Chromecast 2.
Finally, after techradar caught wind of the new Roku 4 thanks to a filing with the FCC in late September, Roku launched its stellar new streaming box at the tail end of October.
So far the consensus among reviewers is that the Chromecast 2 offers a faster response time and extremely affordable price tag if you can stand living without a user interface, while the the 4K Amazon Fire TV is great, but ultimately too dependent on a Prime subscription to do much good.
Conversely, the Roku 4 brings one of the best operating systems and universal search functions to the table, however the unit is noticeably louder and hotter than the Roku 3.
The first rumors of an Apple owned and operated cable service was given life on the web around the same time Sling TV made a splash in the US. The only problem with this plan is that Apple would need a lot of partners – FOX, NBC, ABC, Viacom, etc… – within a short time period.
The potential package in question would have a number of channels you know and love from cable but streamed over your Internet service for a lower monthly cost than traditional vendors like Sky, Virgin, Verizon or Time Warner Cable.
A service like that, exclusive to Apple TV, could be a huge differentiator and killer app for Cupertino. Whether Apple’s TV streaming dreams come to fruition – or actually exist at all – however, remains to be seen.
Apple pulls the plug on TV
After 10 years of research and development, Apple has officially stopped working on the fabled Apple television set, according to The Wall Street Journal.
According to a source familiar to the situation, because it was unable to add anything new to the world of flat-panels and 4K Ultra-HD TVs, Apple has thrown in the towel once and for all.
Apple is still expected to release both an updated version of the traditional set-top box as well as an over-the-top streaming service like Sling TV at its World Wide Developers Conference which starts on June 8.
The history of Apple TV
The first Apple TV launched back in 2006 and stuck out from the crowd by boasting its own hard drive and composite cables to hook up to then-new SD TV sets. It had a measly Intel Crofton Premium M processor and 256MB of DDR2 memory.
Version 2 ditched the internal storage for a better 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi antenna, upgraded Apple A4 processor and favored streaming media over anything stored on physical drives. While some lamented the disappearance of a HDD, some appreciated the Apple TV’s smaller size as a result of the change.
Launching in 2012, Apple TV Version 3, the latest version of the Apple TV, didn’t offer much of an upgrade over its predecessor. It still streamed media and had a streamlined user-interface based on iOS (at that time it was iOS7). Of course the processor got a bump to the A5 to handle 1080p video and it finally doubled down on RAM to a solid 512MB.
Starting on March 9, 2015, the currently available Apple TV will drop to $69 (about £45, AU$90) and has first-dibs on HBO’s new standalone streaming service, HBO Now.
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Prepare for removal of PPTP VPN before you upgrade to iOS 10 and macOS Sierra
System administrators preparing for iOS 10 and macOS Sierra should stop using PPTP connections for VPN. Learn about alternatives you can use to protect your data.
If you’ve set up a PPTP VPN server, iOS 10 and macOS Sierra users won’t be able to connect to it. iOS 10 and macOS Sierra will remove PPTP connections from any VPN profile when a user upgrades their device.
Even though PPTP protocol is still available on iOS 9 and earlier or OS X El Capitan and earlier, we don’t recommend that you use it for secure, private communication.
Alternatives to PPTP connections for VPN
Try one of these other VPN protocols for user-based authentication that are more secure:
L2TP/IPSec
IKEv2/IPSec
Cisco IPSec
SSL VPN clients on the App Store such as those from AirWatch, Aruba, Check Point, Cisco, F5 Networks, MobileIron, NetMotion, Open VPN, Palo Alto Networks, Pulse Secure, and SonicWall
The 10 best features you won’t be able to live without
Ready for some new iPhone and iPad features? iOS 11 is now out of beta and ready for the public. Here are the best features that came with it.
Get ready to back up your iPhone and iPad: iOS 11 is here. Apple released the latest version of its mobile operating system on Tuesday, introducing us to a handful of brand-new features. In fact, this version of iOS feels like the most ambitious version of iOS that Apple has launched in a while. Here are the best new features that we already can’t live without.
Siri’s new tricks
Siri is one of those features that keeps getting better with each software upgrade, and iOS 11 is no exception. This time, Siri gets a new voice, plus a super-helpful visual interface that lets you even edit your voice request with text input. And now, Siri is able to translate phrases for you—it can process English to Chinese, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Apple said that it will add more languages in the months to come.
Customizable Control Center
Currently, Control Center in iOS 10 takes up two panels, so you have to navigate to the second panel to access volume controls. However, iOS 11 brings everything back to a single screen and relies more on 3D Touch. Not only that, but you can also customize which controls you’d like to have on there. You can add new controls to quickly access your Wallet, turn on Low Power Mode, and even start Screen Recording—an all-new feature for iOS.
New Live Photo effects
Apple has given us more reasons to want to take Live Photos, those GIF-like moving images. In iOS 11, you can add effects to your Live Photos after you take them. Find a Live Photo on your camera roll and then swipe up. You will be able to add a looping effect to your photo or make it “bounce” back-and-forth, similar to an Instagram Boomerang. You can also make it a long exposure shot for better photos of low-lit scenarios.
Drag-and-drop on iPad
iOS 11 makes for better multitasking on iPad. Now you can drag-and-drop images, links, and files between apps that are open side-by-side, either in Split View or Side Bar mode. In fact, you can drag-and-drop an app from Dock onto Side Bar mode, and drag that secondary app from the right to the left side of the screen.
Markup your screenshots
Everytime you take a screenshot in iOS 11, it will automatically remain floating on the lower left. You can swipe it offscreen to save it to your camera roll as per usual, or you can tap on it to go into Markup. So now, you can add handwritten notes or comments either with your finger or with your Apple Pencil if you’re using an iPad Pro.
Social profiles in Apple Music
Apple Music gets social in iOS 11. Taking a page from Spotify, Apple Music members now have a profile on the streaming app. You can use your profile page to showcase your favorite playlists, as well as the albums you’ve recently listened to. You can also follow friends on Apple Music, and their profile photo will show up next to the albums they’ve listened to. However, there is currently no way to listen to music on private or secret mode, so be ready for your Apple Music followers to get a glimpse at all your guilty pleasures.
Do Not Disturb While Driving
This feature could be a real life-saver. iOS 11 also introduces “Do Not Disturb While Driving” so that the screen goes totally dark when you’re on the road. You can activate this mode manually via Control Center or have it turn on automatically whenever you’re connected to CarPlay or a car’s Bluetooth. In addition, you can go into your Do Not Disturb Settings to setup an automatic response to all your incoming texts to alert people that you’re driving and will get back to them as soon as you arrive.
Document scanner in Notes
There’s no reason to run to the office scanner anymore, thanks to iOS 11. Using the Notes app you can now press the plus (+) sign to access an all-new document scanner. You can scan several documents at once and apply different filters. The scans can be saved inside your Notes, and you can also export them as PDF files that are Markup-friendly, so you can add your signature and send it back.
Search for handwritten Notes
Another cool feature that iOS 11 brings to Notes is the ability to search for things you’ve written our by hand. If you prefer to take notes using your finger or your Apple Pencil on iPad Pro, they are now searchable.
QuickType keyboard improvements
iOS 11 also makes significant improvements to the software keyboard. On iPhone, you can press-down on the globe icon and choose one-handed mode. This will bring all the keys closer to either the left or right side of the screen to make it easier to type with one hand. You can also make one-handed mode your default keyboard by going into Settings. For iPad, you can now type numbers, symbols, and punctuation marks without switching to a secondary keyboard. Simply flick down on the key to insert the character you need.
What we’re still waiting for
Apple previewed a lot of new features for iOS 11, but not all of them are yet available. Here’s a quick look at what’s to come later this fall.
1. Apple Pay Cash for sending or receiving cash within Messages
2. Indoor maps for Apple Maps to help you navigate popular shopping centers and major airports worldwide.
The one Surface product that fans have been clamoring over for years, a straight up Surface Laptop, is finally here. But, in taking design cues from both the Surface Pro and Surface Book lines, Microsoft has set lofty expectations for its first dedicated laptop device.
Priced at $999 (about £770, AU$1,330), the Surface Laptop clearly aims to chip at the MacBook and MacBook Air models that dominate college campuses practically worldwide. In fact, Microsoft claims that its cheaper (and larger) Surface Laptop can last far longer on a charge than Apple’s 12-inch MacBook: 14.5 hours.
However, every Surface Laptop shipped will come with Windows 10 S installed, Microsoft’s new version of Windows 10 that only accepts app installs downloaded from the Windows Store.
With the ability to switch from Windows 10 S to the 100% open Windows 10 Pro for $49 if you miss the chance in 2017 for free, should you need an app outside of the Windows Store that badly (spoiler: you probably will).
Regardless, at that price, can Microsoft garner enough interest from college students (or more likely their parents), who are often already strapped from the cost of an education?
The Surface Laptop in traditional ‘Platinum’
Design
Clearly, part of Microsoft’s plan is to lure those folks in with an incredibly gorgeous, and potentially trendsetting, design. The 13.5-inch Surface Laptop may very well be Microsoft’s most attractive computing product yet.
And, with four colors to choose from – Burgundy, Platinum, Cobalt Blue and Graphite Gold – there’s bound to be one that appeals to you.
A full aluminum lid and base wrap the laptop in much the same way it does a Surface Book, but ditches the aluminum in the keyboard deck for a Alcantara fabric that surrounds every plastic key and meets with the aluminum base in a seemingly airtight seal.
The fabric, according to Microsoft, is imported from Italy and laser cut to fit every Surface Laptop. Now, while many of the design elements are the same, the 13.5-inch (2,256 x 1,504) PixelSense touch display, the smooth glass-coated Precision touchpad, the chrome logo centered on the aluminum lid, we’re told that very few parts from previous parts are found within the Surface Laptop.
That much is obvious in the nature of the felt used for this keyboard deck compared against that which the Type Covers from Microsoft utilize. It’s smoother and more plush than those Type Covers, and we’re told it’s spill resistant.
The Surface Laptop’s keyboard deck is awfully comfortable
Plus, the additional height afforded by this traditional laptop design allowed Microsoft to equip the keyboard with 1.5mm of travel, and the difference in typing between that and the Surface Pro 4 is night and day. Finally, Microsoft devised a speaker system beneath the keyboard that radiates sound through the spaces between the keys and the keyboard deck.
The result isn’t much better audio than you’d find in a MacBook Air, perhaps a bit fuller, but at least it’s consistently in an uninterrupted position. Naturally, the audio gets a bit muffled when typing, but since the sound radiates throughout the laptop base, there isn’t a major loss in audio detail.
That leaves the side of the laptop base to house Microsoft’s proprietary power and docking port found on other Surface devices, as well as a USB 3.0 and Mini DisplayPort, not to mention an audio jack. If you’re already asking, “where’s the USB-C,” we’ve already been there.
Microsoft tells us that it intends for its own port to handle concerns of connectivity expansion via the Surface Connect port and its Surface Dock, while refraining from alienating customers that have yet to completely update to USB-C.
A fine explanation, but that doesn’t tell us why USB 3.0 and not USB 3.1 at least, as you’re missing out on some major data transfer speed improvements there.
Those strange strips of plastic on the base? They’re Wi-Fi antennae
Performance and battery life
Microsoft can pack the Surface Laptop with the latest Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processors (Kaby Lake), up to 512GB of PCIe solid-state storage (SSD) and as much as 16GB of RAM.
That’s a mighty powerful laptop on paper, likely stronger than either the MacBook Air or 12-inch MacBook, while rising above even the latest 13-inch MacBook Pro that still utilizes Skylake processors.
(The $999 model comes packing a 128GB SSD and 4GB of RAM with the Intel Core i5.)
As for how Microsoft fit that kind of power a laptop just 0.57 inches (14.48mm) thin, a brand new, proprietary vapor chamber cooling system helps a whole lot. The system changes the physical state of the heat as it’s taken in through the center of a fan vent in the rear of the laptop base and spits it out of the sides of that same vent.
While we obviously weren’t able to stress-test the Surface Laptop, we were able to test out how it feels to use. For starters, at just 2.76 pounds (1.25kg), this thing is super light, which is all the more impressive considering it’s a 13.5-inch, Gorilla Glass 3 touchscreen you’re looking at.
Note the Surface Connect dock port – Microsoft’s answer to USB-C
Microsoft chalks this up to, in part, the thinnest LCD touch module ever used in a laptop design. This, in turn, helps the lid to lift with just one finger. However, perhaps the hinge design needs refinement.
While you can open the display with just a finger, that slightness in the hinge is felt when the screen bounces with every tap of the touchscreen. It’s the very reason we question the inclusion of touchscreens in traditional laptops to begin with. Unfortunately, it seems Microsoft hasn’t found a better solution here.
That said, typing on the keyboard is the best time we’ve had doing such on a Surface product yet, and the portability of the whole thing is right there with Apple’s best.
As for battery life, Microsoft is, again, claiming 14.5 hours on a single charge. Microsoft later clarified for us that this number was achieved via local video playback with all radios but Wi-Fi disabled.
That testing environment sounds very similar to how TechRadar tests for battery life, so we might see battery life results in a full review fall much closer to this claim. If so, then Surface Laptop will be very tough to beat in longevity and be a potentially major driver for sales.
This is the Surface Laptop in Cobalt Blue
Early verdict
The fact that the Surface Laptop ships with a limited – sorry, “streamlined” – operating system and costs more than some previous Surface systems that come with full fat Windows 10 cannot go unnoticed – regardless of the free upgrade through this year. Unless Microsoft changes its tune come 2018, folks buying one of these with holiday gift money at the turn of the year would be wise to tack 50 bucks on top of whichever configuration they choose to get Windows 10 Pro.
While this switch will be free for any Surface Laptops bought in the education sector, that won’t help the Surface Laptop’s target audience come 2018: late high school and college students.
That said, the Surface Laptop’s incredible, potentially trendsetting design cannot go unnoticed either. Frankly, this is a laptop that appears to outclass the MacBook Air and 12-inch MacBook – and possibly even the 13-inch MacBook Pro – for hundreds less.
Save for a questionable platform versus pricing decision, the Surface Laptop has all the makings of yet another winning piece of hardware from Microsoft.
Who said you needed to install something to control your mobile data use? Your iOS and Android devices come with all the tools you need to stay below your data cap. It takes a few taps to turn them on and configure them, which is exactly what we’re going to help you with.
Easy in Android
Tracking and limiting your data usage is easy on an Android device. There are a number of options available to stop yourself from going over the data limit.
The simplest solution is to activate two options under the Data Usage menu in your phone’s Settings app: Limit Mobile Data Usage and Alert Me About Data Usage. Toggle these two switches to on and your phone will turn off cell data once you reach a certain point, as well as warn you when you start getting close. Adjusting those thresholds is as simple as dragging a little line up or down.
Control data use per app
Scroll a bit further down in the Data Usage menu and you’ll find a list of apps sorted by how much mobile data they use. Click on one of those apps and you’ll see a few more options. Toggling Restrict Background Data on will stop the app from doing anything in the background, unless you’re connected to Wi-Fi.
App-specific options
Turning the Background Data Restriction on brings you face to face with a popup warning you that doing so might mess with the app’s performance. It also directs you to the View App Settings button, where you can change the settings right in the app.
In my experience going into the app hasn’t been necessary—just toggle the data restriction option on, but know that your weather, email, Twitter feed, and other apps that require a constant connection might not update without your telling them to (provided you’re not on Wi-Fi).
Other Android tips
There are two other nifty things you can do on Android to save data: use the Chrome Data Saver and store frequently used Google Maps locations offline.
Chrome Data Saver is turned on by opening Settings in Chrome. Swipe down to the bottom of the menu and you’ll see Data Saver. Open that menu and turn it on—that’s it! Data Saver compresses incoming web traffic to save space, and it really doesn’t have that much effect on your experience.
Google Maps offline
Storing map data offline is a good idea whether you want to save data or not. It makes your commute smoother, and longer trips will never leave you without a map in unfamiliar territory. It’s easy to do, too.
Open the menu in Google Maps. You’ll see Offline Areas right in the first few options—that’s what you want to select. From there click the plus sign and you’ll see a map highlighted with a blue circle. Pinch to zoom in or out, tap download, and it will download anything inside the square.
Managing data on an iPhone
iOS users aren’t nearly as fortunate as Android users when it comes to built-in data capping options. There are still a few ways to track and limit your data use, but if you’re hoping for an Android-like option that terminates data once you near your cap you’re out of luck.
Controlling background data
It’s simple to disable background app data in iOS. Open up the Settings app, and tap Cellular. Once you’re there, scroll down a bit and you’ll see a list of every single app you have installed. Tap to turn off the ones you want to stop from using cell data—that’s it!
App-specific options
Disabling background use is one thing, but you can save even more data by tweaking options specifically to different apps. In the Settings app, scroll down a bit to see a list of all the apps you have installed. Tap one and you’ll see a list of app-specific options.
You can turn off cellular data for an app, background refresh, and location services, all which will eat up your data bit by bit.
Disable Wi-Fi Assist
iOS devices have the option to hop to their cell networks when Wi-Fi signal is weak. Disabling this can save you a bit of data, but it’s all dependent on how often you have to deal with weak Wi-Fi.
You’ll find the toggle for Wi-Fi Assist at the bottom of the Cellular page.
Good luck saving that data
Seven or eight gigs might seem like a lot, but constant travel, mobile gaming, and video streaming can eat that up before you know it. Hopefully some of these options will help save you megs and bucks!
Popular apps on your smartphone can be convenient and fun, but some also carry malicious software known as malware, which gives hackers easy access to your personal information.
A security firm found that between 75 and 80 percent of the top free apps onAndroid phones or iPhones were breached. The number jumps as high as 97 percent among the top paid apps on those devices.
Whether these apps help advertisers target you or help hackers rip you off, you’ll want to do your homework before downloading apps, reports CBS News correspondent Anna Werner.
California’s Susan Harvey said she was a victim after she used a debit card to download a slot machine game app to her cell phone through a Google Play store account.
“It was something you purchased once, for like $15,” Harvey said.
When she went to reload the game, she found hundreds of purchases had been made — by her math, more than $5,000 worth of transactions.
“My heart sank, I just sat there looking at it… I physically, I was sick, because I didn’t know what they were,” Harvey said.
That story’s no surprise to cybersecurity expert Gary Miliefsky, whose company SnoopWall tracks malware. He said certain apps are designed to steal your personal information.
“What are the consequences for me as a consumer?” Werner asked.
“You’re gonna lose your identity. You’re gonna wonder why there was a transaction. You’re gonna wonder how someone got into your bank account and paid a bill that doesn’t exist,” Miliefsky said.
Milifesky said when you download an app, you also give permission for it to access other parts of your phone, like an alarm clock app that can also track phone calls.
“You think an alarm clock needs all those permissions? Access to the Internet over wifi, your call information, calls you’ve made, call history, your device ID? This to me is not a safe alarm clock,” Miliefsky said.
And there’s the weather and flashlight apps that he says exploit legitimate banking apps to capture information, as he showed us in a demonstration of what could happen when someone takes a photo of a check to send to their bank.
“The flashlight app spies on the camera and noticed the check and grabbed a copy of it. Shipped it off to a server somewhere far away,” Miliefsky said.
Last year the group FireEye discovered 11 malware apps being used on iPhones that gathered users’ sensitive information and send it to a remote server, including text messages, Skype calls, contacts and photos Apple fought back by removing the apps and putting stricter security measures in place.
“They get at your GPS, your contacts list…to build a profile on you,” Miliefsky said.
Some apps are simply collecting information for advertising purposes. In 2014, the Federal Trade Commission settled a lawsuit with a company over its popular Brightest Flashlight app, alleging it transmitted consumers’ personal information to third parties without telling them.
But Miliefsky said he’s found another flashlight app that can do much more troubling things.
“This one turns on your microphone in the background, listens in on you, and sends an encrypted tunnel to a server we discovered in Beijing,” Miliefsky described.
“You’re saying that they’re actually listening to people’s conversations and sending that audio back to Beijing?” Werner asked.
“Yeah, we’ve tracked it. I can show you where it does it,” he said.
Miliefsky said it can be traced to a few blocks from Tiananmen Square on Information Drive in Beijing.
He gave a report on that app to the FBI.
“Because to me, it’s spyware at the nth degree,” Miliefsky said.
His recommendation?
“We really have to look at our phone and say, ‘This is really a personal computer that fits in our pocket. Let’s shut down all the apps we don’t use. Let’s delete apps that don’t make sense and reduce the risk of being spied on,'” Miliefsky said.
The creator of the Brightest Flashlight app settled with the FTC, agreeing to change its policy and delete all the information it had gathered.
Harvey sued Google over her alleged hack, but a judge recently dismissed it, saying she and her attorney filed too late. Google said fewer than one percent of Android devices got bad apps in 2014.
Next year will mark the first full year of release for Microsoft’s new OS. A look at what’s in store for Windows 10 next year.
Windows 10 was described as the “last version of Windows” – an OS that would evolve over time rather than be superceded.
In the few months since Windows 10’s launch Microsoft says it has been installed on more than 110 million devices. But just what lies in store for the OS in 2016, how will it get better and what new devices will it find its way onto?
1. Windows 10 will begin automatically installing on your old machine
Windows 10 is available as a free upgrade to Windows 7 and 8.1 users and Microsoft is getting increasingly aggressive about moving these users to the new OS.
From next year Windows 10 will automatically begin installing on most Windows 7 and 8.1 machines.
Users will still need to confirm the installation manually for it to continue. However, if they choose not to proceed it’s unclear if they can cancel it altogether, with Jeremy Korst, general manager of the Windows and Devices team at Microsoft, saying only that “the customer will have the ability to delay it for some period”.
If users do upgrade but don’t like Windows 10 they will have 31 days to roll back to their previous OS.
The automatic installation, the result of Microsoft changing the status of the Windows 10 upgrade to a Recommended update, will be preceded by increasingly insistent nag messages to upgrade. These notices are already being shown to some Windows users and have been criticised for not offering an easy opt-out.
2. Microsoft Edge will get extensions
Windows 10 launched with Microsoft Edge, a new browser that cast off a lot of the legacy code holding Internet Explorer back.
However, while speedy and capable on paper, the browser suffers from its share of bugs and is missing support for extensions, a key feature found in competitors such as Chrome and Firefox.
Microsoft will rectify this omission “early next year” when Korst said it will add extensions to Edge in test builds of Windows 10, ahead of being made generally available.
Extensions are small software programs, typically written using HTML, CSS and JavaScript, that augment the functionality of a browser.
Earlier this month, Microsoft accidentally published a website announcing the introduction of extensions to test builds of Windows 10. The site, which was taken down, referenced extensions for Pinterest and Reddit.
Microsoft originally planned to add support for extensions to Edge this year.
3. Windows 10 will blur the virtual and real world
Microsoft’s Windows 10-powered augmented reality headset HoloLens will ship to developers in the first quarter of 2016.
The augmented reality headset places 3D virtual images in the wearer’s vision so that they appear part of the real world – for instance, a Minecraft landscape sits on a coffee table or a Skype video sits on the wall.
After trying a demo of the headset this week, TechRepublic senior writer Dan Patterson said that though the headset had a limited “field of vision”, “the 3D animations are smooth, easy to interactive with, and result in only marginal eyestrain”.
The HoloLens doesn’t come cheap, with the developer kit priced at $3,000 – although Microsoft says this early release is meant for developers and commercial customers.
Although HoloLens has obvious consumer and gaming uses, Microsoft is stressing its use for business and is working with NASA, AutoDesk, Volvo, Dassault Aviation, Case Western Reserve University, and other large organisations to develop applications for it.
4. More security for enterprise
The coming year will also see some notable new features added to the enterprise version of Windows 10.
Key among these additions is Enterprise Data Protection, which will allow companies to separate work and personal data on devices using containerisation file techniques. It will also encrypt data as it moves around the organisation – helping to ensure that information isn’t accessed by the wrong people.
The feature will be rolled out to people testing Windows under the Insider Program “early next year”.
5. Testers will get a peek at even earlier builds
Those testing early releases of Windows 10 under the Windows Insider Program will be able to get earlier access to new features from January next year.
Those who choose to be in the “fast” ring of the Insider Program will receive builds of Windows 10 more frequently in 2016, according to Microsoft VP Gabe Aul.
The price of testers getting their hands on early builds more regularly will be that this software will likely include more bugs, he said. Those testers who prefer stability to early access should opt for the “slow” ring, he said.
6. Cortana will be everywhere
Microsoft is planning a major upgrade to Windows 10, codenamed Redstone, next year – with reports the upgrade will put Microsoft’s virtual assistant Cortana at the core of the OS.
An unnamed source told The Verge the new Cortana will help users with a much wider range of tasks inside Windows 10, appearing contextually in documents to provide “information and assistance” and giving Cortana control over a wider range of notifications.
The other major upgrade to Cortana will reportedly be an ability to start a task on one device and pick it up on another, for instance if you get a missed call on an Android phone running the Cortana app you could reply from your Windows 10 PC via text.
7. Microsoft doubles down on Windows 10 phones as desktops
A much touted feature of Windows 10 is its ability to run a desktop OS from a phone.
Microsoft’s new Lumia 950 and 950XL handsets can – wirelessly or via a dock – be hooked up to a monitor, mouse and keyboard and used to run a Windows desktop.
The Windows 10 OS can change the look and feel of certain apps, as well as its own appearance, to suit the phone or the desktop, as well as coping with everyday desktop tasks, such as multitasking and copying files from a USB stick.
The expectation is that Microsoft will further commit to this idea of using your phone as a desktop in 2016, with rumours that Panos Panay and the team behind the high-end Surface Book laptop are working on a Surface Phone that will release next year.
8. No more free upgrade
Windows 10 is available as a free upgrade to everyone running Windows 7 or 8.1 but only for a limited time.
The offer of a free upgrade will expire on 29 July 2016 – after which point it seems that users will have to buy a Windows 10 licence.
However, due to the in-your-face tactics that Microsoft is adopting to persuade people to upgrade, it seems unlikely that Windows 7 and 8.1 users will inadvertently miss out on the offer.
9. Windows 10 replaces its predecessors on new PCs
If you’re not a fan of Windows 10 then you should buy a new PC before October.
From the end of October 2016, PC makers will have to sell new machines with Windows 10, rather than Windows 7 or 8.1.
After that point businesses that want to run older Windows versions on new machines will have to rely on downgrade rights or software assurance rights under volume license agreements.
10. Windows 10 Surface Hub arrives
From January 2016 Windows 10 will power another new piece of hardware,Microsoft’s touchscreen computer the Surface Hub.
The successor to its large-screen Perceptive Pixel displays, the Surface Hub will run a custom version of Windows 10 and various apps needed for workplace communication and collaboration, including OneNote, Skype for Business and Office.
The 55-inch, Intel Core i5-based Surface Hub model will sell for $6,999 (estimated retail price), and the Intel Core i7-based 84-inch version for $19,999 ERP.
