Technology

Today’s Windows 11 news is all about where Microsoft sees computing going over the next few years, but it’s just as much the story of how Skype has flourished and ebbed since its $8.5 billion acquisition a decade ago. Five years ago, Skype was the big name in internet calling and video, and Microsoft made it an “inbox app” for Windows 10 that was included at installation and launched at startup by default. Now, after a pandemic year that has had more people using their PCs for voice and video than ever before, Skype was nowhere to be seen in the Windows 11 presentation or materials. Instead, Microsoft Teams gets a highlight spot in the new center-aligned taskbar and deep integration into Windows. Windows 11 taskbar – Teams.Image: Microsoft “Skype is no longer an inbox app for new dev...

Supporting local news sources is suddenly something the tech industry worries about, and with Windows 11, Microsoft is adding integration with local news “content creators and authors” front and center. In an expansion on the weather and news taskbar widget it recently added to Windows 10, it not only highlights sources in your areas, but it has a payment feature built right in. As shown in the video stream, you can support people with straight cash donations or Microsoft points, and it shows how many tippers are contributing to each person. For creators and publishers, Widgets also opens new real estate within Windows to deliver personalized content. Our aspiration is to create a vibrant pipeline for global brands and local creators alike, in a way that both consumers and creators can ben...

Microsoft unveiled Windows 11 on Thursday, and its least expensive version Windows 11 Home will now require an internet connection at setup — and a Microsoft account. Previous versions would let you opt out of Microsoft accounts by creating a local account instead, though the company didn’t necessarily make it easy to find and pushed you to use Microsoft’s login instead. It’s possible you’ll still be able to use a local account afterwards. The internet requirement may make sense since Windows 11 will largely be delivered via a Windows Update, like many of the updates to Windows 10, so you’d need an internet connection to install it on your PC. You’ll need to make sure your machine has enough free storage space to install the updates, Microsoft notes in its spec sheet for Windows 11. The mi...

Now that Microsoft has announced Windows 11, you may be wondering what you’ll need to install it. Confirming information pulled from last week’s leak, all you’ll need to run it is a 64-bit CPU (or SoC), 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage, specs that are only slightly higher than Windows 10’s current requirements. This marks the end of Windows support for older 32-bit hardware platforms, even though it will continue to run 32-bit software. The fastest way to find out if your system can handle Windows 11 is to download Microsoft’s PC Health App (click here), which will automatically tell you if your specs and settings are ready for the new OS. The system requirements listed by Microsoft are as follows: Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with 2 or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor ...

My job requires me to set up several Windows PCs per week. That means several times per week, I have to hear the following: “Hi there! I’m Cortana, and I’m here to help. A little sign-in here, a touch of Wi-Fi there, and we’ll have your PC ready for all you plan to do.” I typed that from memory because it is constantly echoing in my head. I cannot escape it. It’s the bane of my existence. I do not want to use Cortana. I do not want Cortana to help me boot up several PCs a week. Please, Cortana, leave me alone. But for years, my complaints have been shouts into the void that Microsoft has not heard. That’s why I’m a bit too excited about one of the tiny announcements that Microsoft just made. If you dig into the company’s Windows 11 Specifications page, you will see one beautiful, glorious ...

Indian tech giant Jio Platforms has collaborated with Google on a new affordable smartphone called the JioPhone Next, Jio’s parent company Reliance announced today. The Next is aimed at helping the roughly 300 million users in India who are currently on 2G networks upgrade to 4G, TechCrunch reports. It will be released in India on September 10th, before coming to other markets at a later date. Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani said the JioPhone Next would be an “ultra-affordable 4G smartphone,” but didn’t reveal exact pricing or full specs for the device. However, the company did say it will include voice assistant support, translation features, and a camera with support for augmented reality. The phone is running on an optimized version of Android OS designed specifically for the device, Go...

Microsoft is hosting a special Windows event later today where we’re expecting the company to unveil Windows 11. Microsoft has been teasing a “next generation” of Windows for months, and a leaked copy of Windows 11 suggests we’re going to see a number of changes during Microsoft’s event today. Microsoft is expected to focus on new UI improvements to Windows, including a new Start menu, rounded corners, and more simplifications to using Windows 11. We’re also expecting to hear more about a new Windows store that will offer better access to apps, and some multitasking and gaming improvements to Windows 11. The event should run for around 45 minutes, which gives Microsoft enough time to talk through the important aspects of Windows 11 ahead of a deep dive for developers later today. WHEN DOES...

Pretend, for a moment, that you are the president. This ransomware thing is escalating. Like, hackers screwed with the gas supply on the East Coast — nightmare! You’re going to have to make some policy decisions to make these attacks end because that’s the scale of the thing. Let’s begin with the obvious, uncontested fact: the number of ransomware attacks is going up because companies are paying the ransoms. The number of ransomware attacks is going up because companies are paying the ransoms The Colonial Pipeline hack is a case in point. The company spent $4.3 million to unlock its computers. Ransomware is just extortion, after all. As the DarkSide collective put it in their weirdly corporate apology for shutting down Colonial Pipeline, “Our goal is to make money.” Major cybercrime gang E...

After selling an NFT for $69 million in March, Beeple is making his next big move in the digital art space: he’s launching an NFT platform that’ll sell “iconic” moments in time. The platform, called Wenew, is co-founded by Beeple and some longtime collaborators. They’re also bringing on Ryan Schreiber, the founder of Pitchfork, as Wenew’s editor-in-chief. Schreiber will help curate the moments sold on the platform, which will include highlights from the careers of athletes and artists. “We’re definitely looking at this as sort of immortalizing these moments of human achievement for collectors,” Schreiber told The Verge. Wenew calls the digital displays “physical artifacts.”Image: Wenew Wenew’s first NFT series catalogs Andy Murray’s journey to winning Wimbledon in 2013. You’ll be able to b...

I. Watching Congress debate a package of tech reform bills this week has been sort of like watching a group of people ordered to eat a giant submarine sandwich all at the same time. Everyone has started in a different place, no one agrees on a path forward, and people almost can’t help butting heads. This should be a moment of huge importance in the history of tech and democracy in the United States. The House Judiciary Committee investigated competition in the tech industry for a year. During that time, Congress held 10 hearings. In the end, a 449-page report on the subject was produced. And from that report came a package of bills that, if passed, would reshape the tech industry and probably some other large corporations as well. The bills are rooted in concerns that I have long shared a...

Lenovo has announced a new product called the Go Wireless Charging Kit, which lets you retrofit wireless charging functionality to a wide variety of laptops. It makes use of “Power by Contact” technology from Energy Square, rather than the more common Qi standard. The kit consists of a 3.2mm-thick brushed metal charging mat that you plug into the wall and leave at your desk, as well as a long wireless charging receiver that attaches to the base of your laptop and connects over USB-C. Once set up, Lenovo says it should charge most 13-inch to 14-inch “non-touch notebooks of up to 65W” with efficiency of 93 percent, and it’ll work with both Windows and macOS devices. Wireless charging on laptops is pretty rare. Dell released what it called the world’s first wirelessly charging 2-in-1, the Lat...

One year after OnePlus loudly stepped into the midrange and entry-level phone market with the OnePlus Nord, it’s back with the OnePlus Nord CE 5G. That “CE” at the end of its name stands for “Core Edition.” OnePlus claims the new phone strips back some of its predecessor’s less necessary features to focus on offering its “core” features at a more affordable price, similar to what Samsung offers with its “FE” (fan edition) devices. First and foremost that means the Nord CE comes with a more affordable £299 / €329 starting price, down from £379 / €399 for last year’s phone. It keeps the 1080p 90Hz OLED display, and even adds a headphone jack, but it’s got one fewer camera on both the front and the back, and a less premium design with a plastic rear panel instead of glass. Alongside the £299 ...