What’s new in the Windows 10 Creators Update

New innovations in the Windows 10 Creators Update include 3D in Windows 10, built-in game broadcasting, new tab management features and more in Microsoft Edge, and enhanced security features such as a new Microsoft privacy dashboard.

Here’s a more detailed what’s new in the Windows 10 Creators Update

3D in Windows 10 comes to life in the Creators Update to allow anyone to experience, create, and share in a new dimension. With 3D, we can communicate ideas and express ourselves better, and learn faster, because it’s much more representative of the world we live in.
you have a new app called Paint 3D and access to an online creative community at Remix3D.com. The all-new Paint 3D allows you to create or modify 3D objects, easily change color or texture, or turn 2D images into 3D works of art.  

Remix3D.com lets you connect with other creators, find new ideas, and get instant access to a library of 3D objects to customize, remix, and share with the creative community.

With the Creators Update, built-in game streaming with Beam is the easiest and most interactive way to stream your gameplay on Windows 10. Pressing Windows key + G while playing your game will bring up the Game bar, where you’ll find we’ve added a broadcast icon to launch Beam – no extra software required.

New features for Windows 10 PC gamers: gamers can share their passion by connecting, streaming and playing together

And with Beam’s low-latency technology, viewers experience less than a second of delay, enabling broadcasters to engage and interact with their viewers in near real-time. This low-latency technology enables Beam broadcasters to incorporate interactive features, such as animation and sound triggers, right into their streams.

Microsoft Edge is the faster, more secure browser built for Windows 10, and with the Creators Update, Microsoft Edge is faster than Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox and offers longer battery life. When unplugged and on-the-go, you can stream video and browse longer. 

Microsoft Edge streams video up to 3 hours longer than Google Chrome and up to 5 hours longer than Mozilla Firefox, letting you binge watch your favorite show longer without needing a charge. You can also browse nearly a full hour longer with Microsoft Edge when compared to Google Chrome, and nearly two hours longer when compared to Mozilla Firefox.

Microsoft Edge gets even better with a whole new suite of tab management features, new extensions, and a new bookstore and reading experience

  A new digital category in the Windows Store called books (US only) joining games, apps, movies/TV, and music. With books in the Windows Store, you can discover and read e-books from your favorite authors across genres you love – from sci-fi to thrillers, to children’s books, and everything in between.

Once you’ve purchased a book from the Windows Store, you can start reading immediately with Microsoft Edge, which supports offline reading without an internet connection. What’s more, in Microsoft Edge you can easily personalize your reading experience with custom font sizes, layouts, and themes. Cortana  integration pulls information from the web right into your reading experience. 

Once you’ve purchased a book from the Windows Store, you can start reading immediately with Microsoft Edge, which supports offline reading without an internet connection.

Microsoft Edge has integrated Learning Tools accessibility features like Read Aloud and text spacing to make it easier for everyone to read, including people with learning differences like dyslexia and English Language Learners. Books is available across Windows 10 devices, from laptops to 2-in-1s, desktops, and mobile.

Cortana is your personal digital assistant, there for you wherever you need her, helping make sure nothing slips through the cracks. With Cortana, it is easier to stay on top of your schedule, your commitments, and all the important things you need to remember to keep your day running smoothly.

A digital assistant that works across devices can now do even more to help you stay on top of everything.

Built-in experiences including Windows Photos, Windows Maps, Groove Music, and Movies & TV take advantage of the best capabilities of Windows 10 to help you capture ideas and express yourself.

– Use Windows Ink to draw on pictures and videos in the Photos app to make them your own. Have fun, express yourself, and create something new with videos and photos that feature your personal touch.

 – Draw on a 2D or 3D map in the Maps app and make it yours with Windows Ink. Create routes with turn-by-turn directions, measure the distance between any two points, add notes, and mark places to visit.

– With Groove, you can upload music from your PC to OneDrive to play your own tunes and make a playlist once for all your devices including Windows, Xbox, Android, iOS, and Sonos.

– Fully immerse yourself in 360° videos and watch hit movies and TV shows in 4K or HD with the Movies & TV app. You can go directly from playing videos from your own collection to renting or buying hit movies and commercial-free TV shows to watch at home or on the go on your Windows PC or Xbox. And with the Creators Update, you can now explore new immersive 360° video content for the first time from partners like GoPro, Baobab Studios, SLIVER.tv, LIFE VR, and NextVR.

Have more fun with improvements across a suite of built-in apps for music, maps, and photos that will work across Xbox and Windows Mixed Reality

A new Microsoft privacy dashboard will let you see and manage your activity data across multiple services, as well as changes to how Windows 10 privacy settings will be designed and featured for customers in the upcoming Creators Update.

The Creators Update includes the best Skype ever for Windows PCs. This next-generation version of Skype was built for Windows 10 and includes exclusive features such as mini view, SMS relay for Windows Phone, and Skype Translator for calls to mobile phones and landlines. It is easy to use with keyboard shortcuts, conversation search, and a redesigned group video calling view that brings everyone even closer together. 

Be more productive on your PC and collaborate over Skype – share screens, photos, videos, documents, and files (up to 300MB). Say “hello” with an instant message, voice or video call, all for free, no matter what device you use Skype on.

Facebook Messenger Gets M, an AI-Based Assistant

Facebook on Thursday launched its digital assistant named “M” for US users of its Messenger application, ramping up the social network’s efforts in artificial intelligence.
The move is seen as the first step in a broader launch of the digital assistant to compete against services from Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple and Samsung, which is launching its new assistant with its newest smartphone.

The  power of M’s AI technology to support and enhance the Messenger experience and make it more useful, personal and seamless.

With M, Facebook Messenger users can simplify tasks such as sending money to friends, sharing location or obtaining a ride-share.

They’re designed to surface all the features buried inside Messenger as it strives to become more than just an SMS replacement. Beyond stickers and payments, M Suggestions also can recommend location sharing, timed reminders, group chat polls and ridesharing options from Lyft and Uber.

 

Facebook’s first personal assistant at scale

M Suggestions will open Facebook’s AI to a much wider audience. With the new Messenger composer redesign, many of the buttons for its different features have been collapsed inside an expandable menu, but M Suggestions will help you fish them out.

And rather than apply the same experience to everyone, M will learn individual users’ habits and personalize itself for them. If you always ignore the M Suggestions, you’ll see less of them. Or if you never use its payments feature but constantly send stickers, it’ll just suggest you use the latter.

And if you really hate M, you can use the Messenger settings to mute it entirely or turn off certain kinds of recommendations. Even though it’s only an AI, not a human, some people might be a bit freaked out by Facebook scanning the content of their messages to provide these suggestions.

 For now, M Suggestions are focused on Messenger’s internal features. But the inclusion of the Lyft and Uber ride-hailing option signal it could have bigger ambitions for recommending outside developer services.

 Facebook currently has a big issue with bot discovery, having launched the automated messaging agents last year without an easy way to find ones to use. M Suggestions could potentially evolve to recommend bots for you to pull into your conversations.

While there are plenty of problems M could one day help you solve, for now it’s dealing with one of Facebook’s longest-running issues: There are more features than you know what to do with.

WhatsApp planning to launch UPI-based payment system in India

Facebook-owned WhatsApp seems to be planning to enter into the mobile payments segment in India.A WhatsApp move into digital payments in India, its biggest market that is home to 200 million of its billion plus global users, would replicate similar moves by messaging apps like Tencent Holdings Ltd’s WeChat in China.

The popular messaging app is reportedly planning to introduce a peer-to-peer payment system in the country, which is likely to be based on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform.
If launched, it will be first such offering globally from the social networking giant. According to a report in The Ken website, citing unnamed sources, WhatsApp is working to launch person-to-person payment system in India in the next six months. 

A job advertisement on WhatsApp’s website said it was looking for a candidate with a technical and financial background – who understands India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and the BHIM payments app that enable money transfers and merchant payments using mobile numbers – to be its digital transactions lead for the country.

“India is an important country for WhatsApp, and we’re understanding how we can contribute more to the vision of Digital India,” a WhatsApp spokesman said, referring to a flagship government programme that aims to boost the use of Internet-based services in the country.

“We’re exploring how we might work with companies that share this vision and continuing to listen closely to feedback from our users,” the spokesman said, declining to elaborate further.

Digital transactions in India have surged after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in November 2017.

Apple has rolling out iOS 10.3.1 update for eligible iPhone and iPad

Apple is rolling out the iOS 10.3.1 update to iPhone 5 and later, iPad 4th generation and later, iPod touch 6th generation and later devices. 

It includes a fix for a Wi-Fi vulnerability (CVE-2017-6975) which affected the above devices, and could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code on the Wi-Fi chip. You should be able to see the iOS 10.3.1 update in Settings.

To download the update, ensure that you have good Wi-Fi strength, and your device is charged up to 50 percent at least. Don’t forget to backup your iOS device before you download and install the update. 

To download and install it directly on your iOS device, go to Settings > General > Software Update, and tap Download and Install. 

When the download is complete, tap Install and tap Agree when Apple shows you its Terms and Conditions. Your device will the restart and install the update. 

To download iOS 10 via iTunes, first install iTunes, open it, and then connect your iOS device to your PC or Mac. 

In iTunes select your device’s icon on the top bar, click the Summary tab and then click Check for update. 

Now, click Download and update. At this point, you should follow the simple on-screen instructions to install iOS 10.

“iOS 10.3.1 introduces new features including the ability to locate AirPods using Find My iPhone and more ways to use Siri with payment, ride booking and carmaker apps,” the update reads. Apple Security updates page lists that iOS 10.3.1 is available for iPhone 5 and later, iPad 4th generation and later as well as iPod touch 6th generation and later.

Act Fibernet has announced the launch of the first citywide 1 Gbps broadband access in India.

ACT Fibernet launched 1 Gigabit per second wired broadband internet service in Hyderabad, the first player in the Indian market to offer such a high speed for an entire city. 

Hayai and MTNL provide 10 Gbps plans in some pockets of Mumbai, and Reliance Ultraband offers a 1 Gbps connection in one locality in Mumbai. 

The MTNL plans are not available publicly, whereas Hayai provides 10 Gbps connections with unlimited data use for For Rs 19,999 a month. Act is providing 1 Gbps plans for Rs 5,999 a month, with an FUP of 1 TB.

India is the second largest market globally with internet connectivity reaching over 400 million people. With the government’s efforts to internet enable cities, internet penetration is set to reach over 600 million users by 2020.


ACT Fibernet’s 1 Gbps wired internet service would soon be available in the 11 cities the company has presence in.

How To Know If Your Gmail Has been hacked

The Gooligan malware attack targeting Android devices has infected more than a million Google accounts and growing by 13,000 new users a day. It affects devices running Android 4 (Jelly Bean, KitKat) and Android 5 (Lollipop), according to Check Point.

Gooligan spreads via apps from third-party app stores and malicious links in phishing attack messages. It downloads a rootkit to steal authentication tokens to breach data from Google Play, Gmail, Google Photos, Google Docs, G Suite, Google Drive and other programs. It also installs app that can steal your account information to post fake ratings and reviews to raise the profile of these apps.

Check Point said attackers are enticing victims to download free versions of popular paid Android apps via third-party app stores hosting Gooligan-infected apps such as StopWatch, Flashlight Free, and Pedometer.

“The infection begins when a user downloads and installs a Gooligan-infected app on a vulnerable Android device,” Check Point researchers wrote. “Our research team has found infected apps on third-party app stores, but they could also be downloaded by Android users directly by tapping malicious links in phishing attack messages.”

Vulnerable Android handsets include devices running OS versions 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean, and KitKat) and 5 (Lollipop). Check Point estimates 74 percent of Android devices in use today are vulnerable to the malware. Once a malicious Gooligan app is installed on a vulnerable device, attackers can push either the rootkit VROOT or Towelroot from a command-and-control server.

 Head to the Check Point website and enter your email address. It will immediately let you know if your account has been breached.

Apple Turns iPhone And iPad Into A MacBook In Latest Patent

Apple’s patent application, which was originally filed in September, was published by the US Patent and Trademark Office. The patent filing for an electronic accessory device shows a traditional laptop that will not function without a host device. 

Host devices would provide “internal components for portable computing devices having a thin profile.” The host device, in this case an iPhone, will fit into a slot on the laptop and will act as the CPU. Essentially, this would turn it into a iPhone-powered laptop.

Theoretically, the host device could serve a number of purposes to “expand usefulness of a portable device” such as acting an extended storage device, or, in the case of the design above, using the iPhone as a multi-touch trackpad with Force Touch and haptic feedback. Another design shows an iPad acting as touchscreen display for the laptop, fitting into a slot which is usually meant for the laptop screen.

 This certainly looks like a way to achieve a touchscreen MacBook.
It’s worth remembering that most patent filings usually never come to fruition, but this one does offer an insight into what Apple thinks could be the future of its product lineup.

Misfit Vapor Smartwatch With AMOLED Display, Support Android Wear 2.0 and Google Assistant

Misfit Vapor Smartwatch will run the newest Android Wear 2.0 instead of its own OS. Misfit’s first touchscreen smartwatch was unveiled at CES 2017 at a starting price of $199 (roughly Rs. 13,500). The smartwatch will support devices running Android 4.3 or iOS 9 and higher.

The Misfit Vapor features a 1.4-inch circular AMOLED display and is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor. The smartwatch comes with 4GB of storage, built-in GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and promises up to two days of battery life, which is a rarity for smartwatches these days. Notably, the company maintains the two-day battery life promise even on Android Wear 2.0. Additional features include accelerometer, gyroscope, heart rate sensors.

The smartwatch also features a touch-sensitive bezel around the display and a 44mm satin-finished stainless steel casing which will be offered in Rose Gold and Black. Additionally, the Misfit Vapor is water resistant up to 50 meters also includes custom watch faces. Misfit parent company Fossil claims that the addition of Android Wear 2.0 will offer more customisations and features to the smartwatch with a range of third-party apps, watch faces and fitness tracking apps. The bezel and microphone will also support Android Wear 2.0 including Google Assistant.

The Android Wear 2.0 update was launched in February and brings a number of improvements over the first version including improved interface, customised watch faces, Google Assistant and Android Pay Support, among other things. LG’s new Watch Style and Watch Sport, Verizon’s Wear24 and Tag Heuer’s Connected Modular 45 are among the first smartwatches to have been launched with Android Wear 2.0.

WhatsApp, Telegram flaws left accounts vulnerable to hackers

If you use WhatsApp or Telegram on your web browser, you’ll want to shut down the browser and start it up again to keep hackers from taking over your account.

 A group of researchers from cyber security firm Check Point revealed Wednesday that the web browser version of these popular encrypted-messaging apps had flaws that could have let hackers access and alter user accounts.

“This means that attackers could potentially download your photos and or post them online, send messages on your behalf, demand ransom, and even take over your friends’ accounts,” the researchers wrote in a blog post published Wednesday.

  Check Point Discloses Vulnerability that Allowed Hackers to Take over Hundreds of Millions of WhatsApp & Telegram Accounts

The exploitation of this vulnerability starts with the attacker sending an innocent looking file to the victim, which contains malicious code.
The file can be modified to contain attractive content to raise the chances a user will open it. In WhatsApp, once the user clicks to open the image, the malicious file allows the attacker to access the local storage, where user data is stored. In Telegram, the user should click again to open a new tab, in order for the attacker to access local storage. From that point, the attacker can gain full access to the user’s account and account data. 

The attacker can then send the malicious file to the all victim’s contacts, opening a dangerous door to a potentially widespread attack over the WhatsApp and Telegram networks.
Since messages were encrypted without being validated first, WhatsApp and Telegram were blind to the content, thus making them unable to prevent malicious content from being sent.
Check Point disclosed this information to WhatsApp’s and Telegram’s security teams on March 7th. 

Both companies have verified and acknowledged the security issue and developed a fix for web clients worldwide soon after. “Thankfully, WhatsApp and Telegram responded quickly and responsibly to deploy the mitigation against exploitation of this issue in all web clients,” said Oded Vanunu. WhatsApp and Telegram web users wishing to ensure that they are using the latest version are advised to restart their browser.

Following the patch of this vulnerability, content is now validated by WhatsApp and Telegram before the encryption, allowing them to block malicious files.

 Security Tips

While WhatsApp & Telegram have patched this vulnerability, as a general practice we recommend the following preventive measures:

1. Periodically clean logged-in computers from your WhatsApp & Telegram. This will allow you to control the devices that are hosting your account, and shut down unwanted activity.
2.  Avoid opening suspicious files and links from unknown users.

Check Point did not specify how many messaging accounts were at risk, but did say the flaw posed a danger to “hundreds of millions” of users accessing the messaging platform from Web browsers in computers, as opposed to mobile applications.

How and why you should use a VPN ?

What is VPN ?

You may know what a VPN , virtual private network  is a network that is constructed using public wires usually the Internet to connect to a private network, such as a company’s internal network. 

There are a number of systems that enable you to create networks using the Internet as the medium for transporting data. It secures the private network as these systems use encryption and other security mechanisms to ensure that only authorized users can access the network and that the data cannot be intercepted.
  

There are three main network protocols for use with VPN tunnels. These protocols are generally incompatible with each other. They include the following:

 IPSec – A set of protocols developed by the IETF to support secure exchange of packets at the IP layer. IPsec has been deployed widely to implement VPNs. IPsec supports two encryption modes: Transport and Tunnel.

PPTP – The Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol is a technology for creating VPNs, developed jointly by Microsoft, U.S. Robotics and several remote access vendor companies, known collectively as the PPTP Forum.

L2TP – Layer Two (2) Tunneling Protocol is an extension to the PPP protocol that enables ISPs to operate Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).

 Why you should use a VPN ?

 A VPN can actually keep your ISP  in the dark about what you’re doing. Take a look  at Microsoft’s diagram: the ISP can see the tunnel but they can’t see what’s going on inside the tunnel.

This also comes in handy at places like a hotel, airport, or coffee shop. You’re putting yourself at risk any time you use their unencrypted public WiFi connections. If you connect to a VPN immediately after, however, you can surf safely.

A VPN connection can also help you get around ISP throttling and protect you from invasive tracking while you surf.
There are other benefits to using a VPN, too, but anonymity is not one of them. Using a VPN enhances your privacy and security, but you should never assume that your activity couldn’t be traced back to you if someone really wanted to do it.

 

How to choose a VPN provider ?

First, let’s get the big question out of the way. The bad news for anyone used to free services is that it pays to pay when it comes to a VPN. There are tons of free options from reputable companies, but these are usually a poor substitute for the paid options.

Free services usually allow a limited amount of bandwidth usage per month or offer a slower service. Tunnel Bear, for example, offers just 500MB of free bandwidth per month, while CyberGhost offers a free service that is significantly slower than its paid service.

 What kind of logging does your VPN provider do & What are the acceptable terms of use for your VPN provider :

All VPNs have to do some kind of logging, but there are VPNs that collect as little data as possible and others that aren’t so minimalist. On top of that, some services discard their logs in a matter of hours or days while other companies hold onto them for months at a time. How much privacy you expect from your VPN-based browsing will greatly influence how long you can stand having your provider maintain your activity logs—and what those logs contain.

Thanks to the popularity of VPNs with torrent users, permissible activity on specific VPNs can vary. Some companies disallow torrents completely, some are totally fine with them, while others won’t stop torrents but officially disallow them. We aren’t here to advise pirates, but anyone looking to use a VPN should understand what is and is not okay to do on their provider’s network. 

 The VPN provider offer their own application that you can download and install? Unless you’re a power user who wants to mess with OpenVPN, a customized VPN program is really the way to go. It’s simple to use and doesn’t require any great technical knowledge or the need to adjust any significant settings.