Windows 10 Is About to Get More Secure, Easier to Use

Microsoft is poised to roll out its Windows 10 Anniversary Update on Tuesday. The free update includes two security innovations for individual customers: Windows Hello for apps and websites; and Windows Defender. Enterprises will get Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection, which detects, investigates and responds to advanced malicious attacks on networks; and Windows Information Protection, or WIP. Microsoft "has done a very creditable and admirable job of paying attention to security," said tech analyst Laura DiDio.

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Uber Sees the Cartography on the Wall

With an eye on its future, Uber last week announced it was increasing its investment in mapping. "The ongoing need for maps tailored to the Uber experience is why we're doubling down on our investment in mapping," said Brian McClendon, Uber's vice president of advanced technologies. McClendon didn't reveal how much Uber will invest in its mapping initiative, but news reports have pegged the figure at $500 million. Uber began putting mapping cars on the road last year, and this summer it expanded the program to Mexico.

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Clinton Campaign Latest Target of Hackers Linked to Russia

The campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is the latest possible victim of a series of hack attacks some cybersecurity experts have linked to the Russian government. Campaign officials reportedly acknowledged that an analytics program it uses, which is maintained by the DNC, was accessed in a breach discovered earlier this month. However, its internal systems apparently were not compromised. The FBI is investigating the Clinton campaign hack along with a related cyberbreach at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, according to reports.

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KeySniffer Follows the Scent of Cheap Wireless Keyboards

A vulnerability in inexpensive wireless keyboards lets hackers steal private data, Bastille reported this week. The vulnerability lets hackers use a new attack the firm dubbed "KeySniffer" to eavesdrop on and capture every keystroke typed from up to 250 feet away. The stolen data is rendered in clear text. It lets hackers search for victims' credit card information, bank account usernames and passwords, answers to security questions, network access passwords, and any data typed into a document or email.

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Homegrown Budgie Desktop Shows Off the Beauty - and Beastliness - of Solus Simplicity

The Solus Project version 1.2, released last month, shows considerable maturity in the homegrown Budgie desktop. Solus 1.2 is the second minor release in the Shannon series, built around a custom Budgie desktop developed in-house and the eopkg package manager forked from PiSi. Solus is a Linux distribution built from scratch. The Budgie desktop can be set to emulate the look and feel of the GNOME 2 desktop, but it is a different flavor from the GNOME 2-0 retread, MATE. It is tightly integrated with the GNOME stack.

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Trump Tries to Walk Back Comments on Clinton Emails

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Thursday attempted to walk back some of his remarks at a Wednesday morning press briefing during the Democratic National Convention, including his suggestion that Russian intelligence services should look for more than 30,000 deleted emails belonging to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and reveal them to the world. "Russia, if you're listening, I hope you'll be able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing," Trump said. "I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press."

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Xiaomi Unveils Budget-Friendly MacBook Air Rival

Xiaomi on Wednesday unveiled the Mi Notebook Air, its challenger to the MacBook Air. The 13.3-inch model is priced at about $750, compared to the MacBook Air's $1,050 price tag in China. The device is also available in a 12.5-inch version. The Mi Notebook Air offers a number of features that aren't available in a MacBook Air. "This is Xiaomi's way of saying, 'Let's not let Apple, Lenovo, or the bigger manufacturers from Taiwan, like Acer and Asus, take this opportunity from us," said Jeff Orr, a senior practice director at ABI Research.

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BlackBerry Offers Android Users a Secure New Smartphone

BlackBerry on Tuesday made a play for security-conscious Android users with the announcement of its new DTEK50. Running Android 6.0 Marshmallow and BlackBerry security software, the new unit is the "most secure Android smartphone" in the world, the company claimed. Many Android users have concerns about the their phone's security, according to BlackBerry's April survey of 8,000 consumers between the ages of 34 and 54. Fifty percent of the respondents felt their phones were only somewhat secure, and only one in six knew about security patches.

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New Office 365 Features Help Build a Better Research Paper

Microsoft on Tuesday announced a slew of cloud-powered intelligent services in Office 365 apps that aim to assist research and writing efforts. Researcher lets users access the Bing Knowledge Graph to find and incorporate sources and content for research papers without leaving Word. Editor uses machine learning and national language processing, combined with input from Microsoft's linguists, to make proofing and editing suggestions designed to help users improve their writing.

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Google Beefs Up Phone App's Spam-Fighting Skills

Google on Tuesday released an updated version of its Phone app for Android with a new spam protection feature that warns users when an incoming call is likely to be spam. It also lets them block numbers and report spam. The app is available on Google Play. The spam warning feature works on Nexus and AndroidOne devices on the T-Mobile USA, Project Fi and Orange France networks. "For me, mobile spam calls are a nightmare," remarked Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

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Gadget Ogling: Pretty Printers, Bargain Smartwatches, and Font Finders

Paper, designed by Ludwig Rensch, is sadly a concept for now. It holds a ream of paper to make loading the printing material easier than shuffling with a stack of loose leafs. It can scan documents and send them to your phone if you desire. It can make copies. There's a string of LEDs to show how much ink is left for each color, and there's even a handle on top to make the compact printer easy to move. At first glance, it seems abundantly easy to use. The design is clean, though I'm a little disappointed there are no anthropomorphic elements.

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Aquila Test Flight Carries Facebook's Internet Ambitions Aloft

Facebook has carried out the first full-scale test flight of Aquila, a high-altitude solar-powered unmanned aircraft designed to provide Internet access to remote regions. The company had flown a one-fifth scale version of the airplane for several months. The full-sized craft has the wingspan of a Boeing 737 but reportedly weighs less than 900 pounds fully laden, thanks to the carbon fiber materials used in its construction. The goal of last week's test flight was to verify Facebook's operational models and the overall aircraft design.

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FBI Launches Probe Into DNC Email Hack

The FBI on Monday confirmed it has opened an investigation into claims that the Wikileaks email dump of nearly 20,000 DNC emails over the weekend might be linked to the Russian government. Hackers connected to Russian intelligence agencies allegedly have been working to help tilt the U.S. presidential election. Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, Robby Mook, made a bombshell allegation on Sunday, claiming that the hack of thousands of DNC emails that revealed efforts to undermine the Bernie Sanders campaign was the work of Russian intelligence.

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Windows RIP: Thankfully It Died With Windows 8

As we approach the end of the free Windows 10 upgrades this month and get used to the anniversary edition, it suddenly hit me the Windows we knew died with Windows 8 -- what we got with Windows 10 really isn't what we've come to know as Windows. Hell, looking at Microsoft's latest financials, Microsoft really isn't Microsoft any more, either. Both are so different from what they were just last decade, they are like a brand new product and company. We're on the eve of big Windows changes.

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Android, Chromebook Make a Sweet Couple

Chrome OS and Android Apps now run together on some Chromebooks. Many, but not all, Chromebook models will get the operating system update that allows it as fall approaches. The Asus Chromebook Flip C100P -- the first Chromebook to get the upgrade -- is an impressive example of what will come with the hybrid integration of Chrome OS and Android apps. The performance is not flawless, but many of the apps work well enough to offer a nonplussed working experience.

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Snapchat's Curious About-Face

Fleeting memories will be a thing of the past with a new Snapchat feature currently rolling out. "Memories," introduced earlier this month, allows users to save photos and photo stories to their phones, as well as share them with friends. Finding snaps or stories can be done with a simple text search. Protecting snaps and stories on a phone is easy, too. Items can be moved in and out of "My Eyes Only" mode with a few taps. Unlike most Snapchat content, content stored in Memories or sent to My Eyes Only is backed up to the app's servers.

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