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Microsoft is banking on Windows on ARM to be the next big thing and previously launched the Arm Advisory Service for developers in 2023. Now, it’s expanding support to developers worldwide to assist them in building apps and devices for ARM.

The new announcement explains that the service now supports English, Chinese (simplified, traditional), and Japanese languages. In addition, it will be available during business hours in any local time zone.

This program intends to encourage developers to build new apps and transition existing apps for Windows ARM devices. Microsoft considers Windows on ARM an excellent opportunity, and the App Assure team can help developers iron out the kinks and make apps work.

Microsoft also said that interest in the new ARM processors has risen sharply, and “many across the industry consider Windows on ARM devices as the future of computing, with unparalleled speed, battery life, and connectivity.”

Along with the extended support, Microsoft shared that a new series of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite-powered laptops from major manufacturers will hit the market in 2024. These processors will pack a dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU) to handle AI tasks natively on the device.

Microsoft plans to bring multiple NPU-based features in Windows 11 settings and apps, including an AI upscaling feature, AI Explorer, Paint, and more. It already launched the new Surface Laptop 6 and Surface Pro 10 laptops with Intel Core Ultra processors with NPU.


Image Courtesy: Intel

But the Snapdragon X Elite performance benchmarks are extremely promising and overshadow previous-gen Apple M-chips.

Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chips will power the upcoming ARM devices.

Previously, Windows Latest spotted the Snapdragon X Elite’s Geekbench scores, which looked very impressive. With a single-core score of 2574 and a multi-core score of 12562, it is hard to overlook the impressive power of the new Snapdragon X Elite processors.


Snapdragon X Elite benchmark | Image Courtesy: Geekbench / WindowsLatest.com

A recent leak revealed that there would be four variants of the Snapdragon X Elite processors, each suited for a specific use case. Moreover, the leak also shed light on the Snapdragon X Plus series processors, which are somewhat inferior to the Elite series.

Windows ARM devices, at least the current-gen ones, are costly, but a moderate-performance processor would appeal to a broader segment of laptop users. Microsoft considers ARM devices to be a perfect blend of performance and efficiency, thereby extending the battery life of a portable computer.

However, it has already onboarded multiple manufacturers (Lenovo, DELL, HP) who plan to release new devices. Moreover, app brands like NordVPN, SurfShark, and Foxit have joined Microsoft’s ARM endeavors.

If you are a developer curious to build apps for ARM devices or are looking for support, you can use the form to contact the App Assure team.

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March 2024 driver updates are now available for Windows 11 or 10 from Intel, AMD, and Nvidia. These updates are designed to fix bugs and help some games run better on your devices. Important driver updates will be offered via Windows Update, so you don’t need to rush for drivers when you don’t need these fixes.

Let’s first take a closer look at Intel’s updated GPU drivers. According to release notes, Intel has released an update for its graphics drivers, which support a range of hardware, including Arc, Iris Xe, and Core Ultra. Intel GPU driver version 31.0.101.5379 optimizes several popular games, such as Diablo IV and The Legend of the Condor Heroes.

Notably, games like Sons of the Forest and Granblue Fantasy: Relink see performance boosts ranging from 5% to 174%. Intel published the graphics driver 31.0.101.5379 version on March 20, and you can grab the offline installer (gfx_win_101.5379.exe) on the company’s website.


Screenshot of Intel’s website
But we strongly recommend using Intel’s support assistant app, which is a web-based installer that quickly updates drivers. Also, you’ll find it in your system tray, so you can check for updates anytime.

Here’s a full list of key fixes you’d see after the update:

• Intel Arc users might encounter crashes with games like Counter-Strike 2 and DOTA 2.

• Core Ultra with Intel Arc users may see crashes in applications like Serif Affinity Photo 2.

However, watch out for some known issues. Intel warns some of you may experience increased loading times for Horizon Forbidden West and potential crashes.

One more thing: If you use Arc Pro Series workstation graphics, there’s also a new update for your gig, which increases the version to 31.0.101.5319 (WHQL), adds certifications for new software, and improves DirectX API optimizations.

This update is especially beneficial for users of Autodesk 2024 software, and you can grab the offline installer from Intel’s website.

AMD Adrenalin Edition 24.3.1

AMD’s March 2024 driver release brings Adrenalin Edition 24.3.1, which fixes several issues, including micro stutter in games when AMD Fluid Motion Frames are enabled.

There are also improvements for games like HELLDIVERS 2. Finally, some may notice World of Warcraft opens faster after the update. You can get the updated drivers directly on AMD’s website.

Also, there’s an AMD chipset driver version 6.02.07.2300, which is available on the company’s website (installer now works) with minor fixes, but watch out for these issues:

• The uninstall summary might incorrectly show a “Failed” status.

• Ryzen PPKG installation or update issues may occur.

Nvidia Game Ready and Studio Driver


Nvidia GeForce version 551.86 downloaded using the new Nvidia app | Image Courtesy: WindowsLatest.com
Nvidia GeForce version 551.86 brings support for Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition with DLSS 3 technology, as well as the following changes:

• Fixes for issues such as notebook wake-up problems and stuttering in Hitman 3 on Optimus notebooks.

• Known problems include video display issues in the Edge browser, and potential PC freezes when certain features are enabled.

As shown in the above screenshot captured by Windows Latest, you can grab the update using the Nvidia GeForce app or the new unified app called Nvidia. Of course, if you’re looking for offline installers, you can get them directly from Nvidia (DCH).

Remember, when you install any of these drivers, your screen could flash or turn black for a while, but that’s an expected behavior.

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With devices like Valve's Steam Deck selling well, and major PC makers launching Windows 11-based portable gaming PCs this year like the ASUS Rog Ally and the Lenovo Legion Go, many people are wondering if Microsoft would launch its similar device. Recent rumors suggest that the company may work on a native handheld gaming device.

Microsoft's goal is to expand the Xbox ecosystem beyond traditional home consoles. According to Xbox insider Jez Corden, the tech giant currently has internal prototypes for a "fully native" handheld device that does not rely on cloud gaming.

While prototypes don't guarantee a commercial product, pursuing a handheld makes strategic sense for Xbox. The Nintendo Switch has massively expanded the handheld market since 2017, selling over 100 million units. Meanwhile, the Valve Steam Deck and other PC handhelds like the Aya Neo show consumer demand.

Phil Spencer, CEO of Xbox and Microsoft Gaming, hinted that Xbox's next projects will be "unique and powerful". Microsoft Xbox President Sarah Bond also implied at new hardware announcements this holiday season and an ambitious new console generation in the works.

In September, The Verge reported on a handheld Xbox cloud gaming device. "Microsoft has developed a lightweight version of the Xbox user interface that can run on handheld devices, dedicated cloud consoles, and TVs," the report said.

The article didn't offer any details on when this Xbox cloud gaming handheld was in development, nor when the company decided to end the project. So, Microsoft may have given up on its cloud-based handheld plans.

If developed, an Xbox handheld would likely run its games natively without streaming limitations, rather than relying on cloud gaming like the recently rumored products. It will allow gaming on the go. Whether this business plan will be accepted by PC gamers remains to be seen.

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There’s a new note-taking tablet in town — it just wandered in — and its name is Nomad. Like its name and brand suggest, the Ratta Supernote Nomad is an Android tablet designed for writing notes on the go. With this feature in mind, it rivals the likes of the reMarkable 2, and its compact dimensions make it all the easier to tote along.

The focus on writing does leave it lacking in reading capabilities, so it doesn’t challenge the best e-readers. Its limited software leaves a lot of room for Onyx’s many Boox tablets to swoop in with more flexibility. But as far as writing goes, there’s so much to like about the Supernote Nomad that we’ve already gushed about its capabilities.

Price, availability, and accessories

A somewhat pricey start, with important accessories sold separately

The Supernote Nomad is available from Supernote for $299. Unfortunately, this price does not include essential or helpful extras. Supernote sells its styluses as add-ons, going for $59 and up — the stylus included for review was the premium Heart of Metal Pen 2 (Samurai version), a $75 option. The tablet’s special folio covers cost an additional $49 for a canvas model or $69 for the vegan leather option tested here.

Since the Supernote Nomad supports generic EMR styluses, you could buy just the tablet if you already have a stylus you like. And giving you stylus options at checkout means you won’t end up with an extra stylus you don’t want if you choose one of the higher-end options. But, you’re realistically looking at $358 for the tablet and stylus at a minimum.



Design

Clearly classy



The Supernote Nomad has fairly simple looks. It situates its E Ink display front and center with modest side bezels and thicker top and bottom bezels. The side bezels house capacitive controls that react to swipes and multi-finger touches. The tablet comes with either a white plastic shell or a clear shell, as seen here in the Crystal Edition. This clear shell shows through to the internal components, like the replaceable battery and the microSD slot, and it certainly looks slick.

The rear plate is held on by 18 small screws. This removable cover provides access to a battery that users can swap out should it ever die, which is a thoughtful feature for a product users could be using for many years, which is the point. Unfortunately, the numerous screws also make accessing the microSD slot something of a task.

The top edge of the Supernote Nomad has a USB-C port and a power button at opposite corners. That’s it for exterior hardware; there are no mics, speakers, or cameras on this tablet. It is designed with a purpose that is palpable while using it.



The rear of the tablet includes two magnetic anchors at the top and bottom where the first-party folio cover can attach. The link is reasonably firm and not prone to accidental disconnections. Disappointingly, the folio cover doesn’t have any magnetic or physical clasp to keep it from flapping open, so while it offers some protection to the display while held snugly in a bag, it won’t necessarily protect against a fall.

The display might also cycle between sleeping and awake if the cover flops. The design may be more akin to an actual paper notebook, but plenty of paper notebooks include clasps or straps, and the lack here leaves something to be desired in practice.

As fun as the exterior plastic looks, it feels like a cheaper plastic that could get roughed up easily, which tends to be the case for clear plastics. This is a device you’ll probably want to treat with care.

The Supernote Nomad is quite slim, at just under 7mm thick, which makes it very travel-friendly. It weighs little more than most large-screen smartphones. That’s good news for handheld reading, though you’ll likely want to do your notetaking with the Nomad resting on a stable surface.

The 7.8-inch display doesn’t provide much room to rest your hands while writing on it with a stylus, so the display's thin design is all the more handy. It lets you rest your hand on a table while still comfortably reaching the screen with a stylus.

Display and stylus

It's like they were made for each other



Supernote has used a sharp, 7.8-inch ePaper display that provides a crisp 300 ppi that’s well suited for notes and books alike. It also displays grayscale content well with decent contrast. Beyond that, it’s not a very special panel.

The display refresh is slow like you might be used to from similar E Ink devices, and while this doesn’t lend itself well to animations (like the Kindle app’s default page slide), it does result in minimal ghosting after a transition — something competing E Ink displays tend to incorporate through software so users can speed up or slow down full refreshes. The flip side is that the slow refresh makes zooming in and out in documents and the drawing app somewhat sloppy.

That said, the display’s surface finish is something special. Writing on it feels fantastic. I’ve been extremely pleased while taking notes on Onyx tablets, but the Supernote Nomad has the edge here. There’s little parallax separating the tip of the pen from where the ink shows up on the display, and the sharp ceramic nib paired with the textured display cover feels much more like writing on paper than glass. The inking is exceptionally responsive as well. I couldn’t detect much penning latency.



The stylus itself, Supernote’s Heart of Metal Pen 2 Samurai, is excellent. It’s thick enough that my hand didn’t quickly cramp while squeezing it, and it has an elegant design. It has a cap like you’d find on a decent pen, and it serves as on-the-go protection for the ceramic nib. That nib might never wear down on the display, but a drop could be fatal, so protection is important.

Beyond the writing feel, though, there’s not much exceptional about the Supernote Nomad’s display. Plenty of other writing tablets and e-readers are offering 300ppi displays. The “white” of the display is still fairly gray, and that only further holds it back next to something like the Onyx Boox Nova Air, which looks brighter at a baseline and can boost that even further with its built-in reading lights.

The Nomad also lacks its own lighting, which means you’ll need an external light source if you want to do any reading or writing in the dark. Some users may appreciate the lack of lighting, which makes the experience much closer to using real paper books and notepads, which does appear to be Ratta’s goal: digital stationery.

I found the lack of lighting an inconvenience for reading, as I had to turn on a lamp while my partner slept rather than reading by the soft lighting I could get from many other similar devices.

Software

Barebones Android with limitations



The Supernote Nomad perhaps sets itself apart most in the software department, for better or worse. Like the Onyx Boox lineup for tablets, the Supernote Nomad runs a specialized version of Android. In this case, it’s a custom build of Android 11 that Supernote dubs Chauvet, and it’s incredibly trimmed down.

While a company like Onyx’s fuller implementation of Android provides access to a wealth of Android apps — some that work well enough with the E Ink display and many more that don’t — the Supernote version of Android has just a few stock apps for taking notes, reading, drawing, browsing files, and accessing emails.

The only third-party application on deck is the Kindle app, which provides a handy way to tap into reading more content and makes up for the somewhat limited support for different file types. Unfortunately, the Nomad’s software is built around special navigation, removing the common Android nav buttons that the Kindle app expects.

This can prevent some navigation using the app, as I ran into during the sign-in process when I tried to do something as simple as going back to the prior screen. This led me to a dead-end that took a half-hour to get out of. It will probably be a fringe issue, but it is something the company should prepare for ahead of any additional third-party app support.

It’s best to approach this product as a note-taking device, and to that end, Supernote has built effective software. Its Note app is straightforward for diving right in but also fairly rich for taking notes to a higher level. It has a handful of templates, which are useful if you prefer writing on lined or gridded paper. You can add headings, keywords, and stars to your notes for organization, and you can use character recognition to turn handwritten notes into searchable text. While the stylus doesn’t include a dedicated eraser, holding two fingers on the left sidebar (by default for right-handed users) turns the stylus into a lasso eraser.



In addition to the notes you can create yourself, the Nomad allows you to add notes to documents you’re reading in the reader app, such as books and PDFs. If there’s no space for your notes on a document, you can surround text with brackets, and the app will create an embedded comment. You can search through books to easily see where you’ve made markups and export the files with your notes.

The device is really built around the writing experience, with a UI that provides quick access to making new notes, opening recent notes, or jumping back to the most recent document you were reading. The tablet doesn’t even turn itself off after a set time, instead electing to use a bit more battery to always remain in a ready state so you can start jotting down your thoughts in as little time as possible.

As capable as the note-taking abilities of the software, there’s still room for improvement. For one, there’s some inconsistency. The embedded comments work in epub books but not in PDFs. Searching a document for your notes will turn up all annotations but not those comments — you can only find them in a separate “Digest” tool. If any of that starts to get confusing, bear in mind there’s also so much depth to the product that it requires a 162-page manual to grasp everything it can do.

Installing the Atelier drawing app was bugged, and the first download button in the UI didn’t work. Instead, you had to click through on the name of the app to get to a functional download button. This is a disappointing bug, considering Supernote is only working with two apps in its “app store.”

You can access e-mail via the built-in client, which can link to Gmail, Microsoft Exchange, Outlook/Hotmail, or others that use IMAP. It’s a little slow, but it works. You can even use it to pen e-mail that will show your handwriting, an enjoyable novelty for sure.

Performance and battery life

Fast enough, lasts enough



There is very little to say about the performance of the Supernote Nomad. It’s not a fast machine, but it doesn’t have any tasks that require speed. Opening documents and scribbling down thoughts are fast enough, and without access to more involved apps and games that you might play on a typical Android tablet, you won’t miss out on having the latest Qualcomm SoCs loaded with memory.

That said, sometimes the Nomad doesn’t seem as responsive as it could be. I can’t tell whether it’s missing touches because of the display sensitivity or because it was a little too slow to respond, but now and then, an interaction goes completely unnoticed by the tablet, something that should be familiar to any E Ink users out there. I’d tap on things and get no reaction, and because the UI doesn’t always clearly indicate what is and isn’t a button, I’m left wondering if I’m at fault or not.

With limited performance generally comes long battery life, and that’s the case here. I got in plenty of reading, and a bit of notetaking, and my Nomad easily ran for more than a week. Even on its small 2700mAh battery and without ever powering down, the Nomad can go the distance. It’s helped along by the lack of backlighting, the minimal processing behind the scenes, and the largely static nature of its display. Again, it’s a device with a purpose, and it isn’t shy about it.

Competition

In the viable alternatives danger zone



The Supernote Nomad is far from alone in the digital notebook space. It runs up against the larger-screen, note-focused reMarkable 2, which starts at $279 but is effectively $360 with a stylus, as well as the $399 Onyx Boox Note Air3 (we tested the Note Air3 C model that includes a color E Ink display and costs $100 more).

Both are larger tablets, providing more screen real estate for taking notes and viewing PDFs better. The reMarkable 2 offers an excellent writing experience and focused note-taking features like the Nomad, but Supernote’s tablet is more portable thanks to its smaller size. The Nomad also has the benefit of access to the Kindle app, making it easy to load up books to read.



The Onyx Boox Note Air3 is more of a threat. It’s a little more expensive, but that price includes the stylus and (at the time of writing, anyway) a magnetic folio cover. The writing experience isn’t quite on the same level, but it’s close. And where Supernote locks its OS down, Boox opens it wide open with Android 12 and the Google Play Store, letting you go beyond the stock reading app to include Kobo, Libby, and Kindle — take your pick. Not all apps work well, and most third-party apps are laggy with the stylus, but the flexibility is there.

Should you buy it?



The Supernote Nomad fits into a niche within a niche. Where E Ink tablets are a specialty, those almost entirely dedicated to writing and annotation are another class entirely. Because of its limited software and app ecosystem, it really doesn’t compete well in the wider E Ink tablet space that devices from Onyx have carved out so nicely for themselves.

That said, the pen-on-paper-like feel of the Nomad is so brilliant that there’s certainly something for the dedicated journal-keepers. The operating system is also designed around the experience, so you’re less likely to get distracted by other things or wait for the system to start and your notes to load. While it might seem pricey for such a limited role, a nice Moleskin notebook with similar dimensions can cost well over $20, and you can very likely fit more notes in the Nomad than you can in 200 of those notebooks.

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A mock-up of the Xbox Series X 'Brooklin' refresh'. (Image source: FTC - edited)
Microsoft has been rumored since September 2023 to be working on Xbox Series S and Series X refreshes. Now, signs that Microsoft is readying itself to distribute a new Xbox Development Kit to developers have surfaced online.

Xbox News for Koreans has noticed a new regulatory document that could relate to a future Xbox console of some sort. As the screenshot below shows, the National Radio Research Agency (NRRA) has certified a Microsoft Corporation XDK Console for use in South Korea. For reference, XDK means 'Xbox Development Kit' in this context.

Please note that this NRRA certification is not a sign of Microsoft's intention to release a device called 'XDK Console'. However, a new XDK Console certification precedes an Xbox console release later the same year. For example, Windows Central demonstrated that Microsoft made equivalent regulatory filings for the Xbox Series S|X in mid-2020. Unfortunately, the NRRA does not show many other details about Microsoft's XDK Console, other than revealing its '2089' model number.

With that being said, Microsoft is expected to present refreshed Xbox Series S and Series X consoles in late June, a month after an updated controller codenamed 'Sebile' arrives. Supposedly, these Series S and Series X refreshes will not launch until late August and October 2024, respectively. Incidentally, Microsoft recently confirmed that it would introduce new consumer Surface products in May, full details of which we have covered separately. As for the company's Xbox refreshes, the leaked FTC slides from last September may have already outlined what to expect from both upcoming consoles and their accompanying controllers.


(Image source: National Radio Research Agency)


(Image source: National Radio Research Agency via Windows Central)

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Several new games are headed to Xbox Game Pass, including Blizzard Entertainment's Diablo 4.


(Image credit: Microsoft)

What you need to know

• Several more games are headed to Xbox Game Pass through the remainder of March 2024.

• Additions to the subscription service include Ark: Survival Ascended, Diablo 4, The Quarry, and the upcoming title Open Roads.

• A couple of games are leaving Xbox Game Pass at the end of the month, including MLB The Show 23.



More games are on the way to play.

Xbox Game Pass subscribers can look forward to several more games coming to Microsoft's gaming subscription service throughout the remaining days of March 2024, per Xbox Wire.

As previously confirmed, Activision Blizzard games are starting to be added to the library after the company was acquired by Microsoft, with Diablo 4 being the first game to be added post-acquisition. There's also a bevy of titles like Ark: Survival Ascended, The Quarry, and the upcoming adventure title Open Roads. You can check out the full list of games (and the date they arrive) below.

Today

• Lightyear Frontier (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC)

•MLB The Show 24 (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming)

March 20

• The Quarry (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming)

March 21

• Evil West (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC)

March 26

• Terra Invicta (Windows PC)

March 28

• Diablo 4 (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC)

• Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 - Turbocharged (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC)

• Open Roads (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC)

April 1

• Ark: Survival Ascended (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC)

April 2

• F1 23 (Xbox Cloud Gaming)

• Superhot: Mind Control Delete (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC)

Leaving on March 31

As usual, a couple of games are leaving Xbox Game Pass at the end of the month. If you want to keep playing these games, you'll need to purchase them. Buying a game while it's still in the service will net a 20% discount, so it's always better to buy something before it leaves rather than after. Here's the games that are leaving on March 31:

• Hot Wheels Unleashed

• Infinite Guitars

• MLB The Show 23

Analysis: A great month, new and old

There's a fair bit of variety this time around! If anyone hasn't played The Quarry yet, I highly recommend reading our review and then checking it out. My friend and former colleague Miles Dompier wrote that "The Quarry elevates the blueprint popularized by previous titles like Until Dawn while showcasing gorgeous visuals, fantastic character performances, and an engaging overarching narrative. This is a well-crafted modern love letter to classic campy horror."

Elsewhere, Diablo 4's arrival will be perfect for anyone that's held off on playing until now, and hopefully we won't be waiting too much longer to see further Activision Blizzard games added to the library. I'm also particularly keen on checking out the upcoming Open Roads, which is a narrative-driven adventure being published by Annapurna Interactive.

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Apple / US sues Apple in landmark iPhone monopoly lawsuit
« Last post by javajolt on March 21, 2024, 11:53:47 PM »


US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the federal government
is filing an antitrust lawsuit against Apple.

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Windows 11 users will soon be able to use their Android phones as webcams for video calls, an exciting development for people who don’t want to spend money on a webcam or work on the go and need one in a pinch.

Earlier this month we reported on the feature being available to just a few select groups (referred to as ‘channels’) in the Windows Insider Program, Microsoft’s community for Windows enthusiasts who want to get early access to potential new features and Windows versions. The feature has had an expanded rollout to all Insider Channels, making it much easier to try it out for yourself.

Members of the Windows Insider Program can give feedback ahead of a more widespread rollout. So, the fact that Microsoft is opening this feature up to more channels in the program suggests that it’s already taken feedback and improved upon the feature enough to allow more people to give it a try.

Normally, a new feature being released across all Insider channels strongly suggests that we may see an imminent public release, which is an exciting development for those of us who have been waiting for the feature to drop.

Give it a go!

If you’re not already in the Windows Insider Program, you’ll have to sign up first. It’s free to join, and all you have to do is make sure you’ll be using it on a PC that’s running Windows 10 or Windows 11.

Once you’ve signed up you’ll need to install the latest preview build, and then make sure your phone is set up and ready to go. Your phone should be running Android 9.0 or later, with the Link to Windows app installed.

Before you can get video calling, you’ll need to quickly hop into your settings and make sure your phone is set as the desired streaming device. This means you’ll need to go to:

Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mobile devices

From there hit the ‘Manage Devices’ options and link your Android phone to your PC. You’ll be prompted to download a Cross-Device Experience Host update from the Microsoft Store and you should be ready to go!

Overall this feature should be very useful in the long term, whether you have one of the best webcams on the market or not. When I’m working on the commute or hot-desking it can be such a hassle to find an external webcam and carry it around with me - or having to resort to using the built-in webcam of a laptop, which sometimes isn’t very good quality, especially on older devices. The alternative is just using your phone to join meetings, which is fine, but does mean you have a rather small screen to look at. Of course, sometimes you just want to pick the camera up to show your team something cute your cat is doing, and this feature will be perfect for that as well.

MSPoweruser complete guide on making your Android device your webcam with alternative options as well.

More here.

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iPhone | iApps / Apple’s Surprise Update Just Made iPhone More Like Android
« Last post by javajolt on March 21, 2024, 01:51:56 PM »
Apple’s surprise news this week signals a huge shift for iPhone—it almost doesn’t matter what happens next, it looks like everything has already changed…


Apple has just made its iPhone much more like Samsung’s GalaxyGETTY
It’s the smartphone news of the week—Apple is reportedly talking to Google about a blockbuster deal to adopt Gemini for iPhone. According to Bloomberg, which broke the story, this “blockbuster agreement would shake up the AI industry.”

This news is—of course—far from certain and unconfirmed, and currently relies on “people who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private.” But it’s an update that has set the tech world alight at just what this could mean.

In reality, it doesn’t matter whether this consummates or not—something on Apple’s side has changed and this is the real update for iPhone users. Outside its ecosystem, the generative AI world is dominated by Google with Gemini (née Bard) and OpenAI with ChatGPT, co-opted by Microsoft. It’s therefore unsurprising that “Apple also recently held discussions with OpenAI and has considered using its model.”

Apple has teased that its forthcoming iOS 18, due as ever in the fall, will be the “biggest” update ever—cue loud music and applause. And that’s all about on-device AI coming to iPhone. According to reports some weeks ago, Apple has been testing its own on-device large language models against OpenAI—and others—to ensure it’s commensurate with cloud offerings while maintaining its edge focus.

But the news that there might be a deal with Google—or OpenAI—suggests that either Apple is not as well progressed as thought, or—perhaps more likely—that there are intrinsic limitations for on-device generative AI versus what can be done in the cloud.

The suggestion is that Apple may split its AI offering, with privacy-centric capabilities device-side—maybe using Gemini Nano, and heavier lift actions such as writing or analyzing long form documents, or conducting detailed research, in the the cloud.

Over to Samsung. The Android handset giant has focused its marketing machine on Galaxy AI this year, as it takes on both Google and iPhone in the high-profile and soon to be high-growth AI handset market. It had seemed that Apple’s in-house, on-device focus would differentiate to Samsung’s hybrid device/cloud model, both for its own offerings as well as those it takes from Google under the Android umbrella.

“When integrated into phones, AI is, to put it simply, a revolution,” Samsung’s MX lead said ahead of MWC. “It’s also important to raise the standards of security and privacy in this new era of data-intensive mobile experiences. That is one of the reasons we’ve taken a hybrid approach that combines on-device and cloud-based AI. Besides ensuring seamless usability, this lets users limit some features to function entirely on-device, giving them greater control over what they do with their data.”

At the time, this seemed to signal a difference to where Apple would head. But now, if the new reports are correct, then not so much. The very fact Apple is exploring the same hybrid approach is a significant indicator as to where this all goes next.

The issue for Samsung’s AI offerings has always been that mix and match between its own capabilities and Google’s. But again, these reports suggest this might replicate the approach Apple takes, narrowing the iPhone/Android gap even further.

With little performance differences between top-end flagships from Apple and Samsung—which account for the top selling premium handsets globally, and the sales driver AI is seen as becoming, this could be the closest the two ecosystems have ever been, as Samsung becomes more like Apple, and Apple does the same.

But Apple—more than Samsung—has a key challenge. AI is the next privacy battlefield. We are already seeing reports that generative AI prompts can be hacked and it’s seen as when not if we see major breaches.

Some companies regularly scan personal information in the cloud,” Apple said last month, “to monetize the information of their users. Apple does not. We have chosen a very different path—one that prioritizes the security and privacy of our users.” That was seen as a likely barb at Google and its cloud offerings versus Apple’s own.

Tools of mass surveillance,” Apple further warned in its response to proposed surveillance legislation in Australia, “have widespread negative implications for freedom of opinion and expression and, by extension, democracy as a whole. For example, awareness that the government may compel a provider to watch what people are doing raises the serious risk of chilling legitimate associational, expressive, political freedoms, and economic activity.”

This has implications for cloud versus on-device AI, especially given that anything sent to AI in the cloud cannot—by its very nature—be end-to-end encrypted. That means it’s open to storage and retrieval and to legislation and law enforcement. We have seen this issue with Google Messages becoming a UI for Gemini, but with a warning that it’s outside the platform’s usual full encryption.

The dividing lines between on-device and cloud AI, and how Apple’s approach differs to its rivals, is about to become critical. In some ways, this update just mirrors current search arrangements, where Google is already the default across iPhone and Android. But we all know AI is different and those lines will blur. As Apple potentially narrows the gap to Samsung and Google, it will need to tread very carefully.

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Huawei / Operation O-RAN: The US plan to neutralize Huawei (and why it will work)
« Last post by javajolt on March 19, 2024, 06:11:12 PM »
The US has a devastating not-secret plan to beat Huawei once and for all.

The US and China are fighting for control of the global telecommunications architecture that underlies all mobile communications, including the Internet. Each superpower has selected its prizefighter in the battle for cyberspace.

In a contest for the control of the internet, China is backing RAN (Radio Access Network) architecture, the traditional radio element of a cellular network. The US is putting its money behind a low-key emerging architecture called O-RAN (Open Radio Access Network).

The reason behind the US O-RAN push is simple. O-RAN will topple Huawei for good.

The US is orchestrating a campaign at home and abroad to persuade the world to drop RAN in favor of O-RAN. The move would pull the throne from under Huawei, finally ending the company's reign as the world's biggest telecoms equipment vendor.

The Washington Post wrote that US President Biden has appealed to the leaders of India, the Philippines, and Saudi Arabia to adopt O-RAN. The campaign is part of a push to persuade countries to say yes to Open RAN and no to Huawei.

The US Congress appropriated $500 million for the International Technology Security and Innovation (ITSI) Fund for developing O-RAN technology. The country's Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund, authorized under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), added another $1.5 billion to speed up the process.

What on earth is RAN?

A Radio Access Network (RAN) is an essential element of telecommunications infrastructure, facilitating the connection of wireless-enabled devices to various segments of a central public or private network. In essence, the RAN functions as the radio portion of a cellular network.

Given the importance of RAN infrastructure in the functioning of wireless devices, it's easy to see that control over it equates to control over the internet. A monopoly of such infrastructure is a boon for whoever claims it, and a threat for those who do not.

The radio, hardware, and software are proprietary in a conventional RAN setup. This means that most of the equipment originates from a single supplier.

In the RAN framework, operators cannot mix radios from one vendor with hardware and software from another vendor when deploying a network. RAN is the status quo of mobile communication networks.

The current RAN landscape is dominated by a five-company oligopoly. The dominant players include China's Huawei and ZTE, Scandinavia's Ericsson and Nokia, and South Korea's Samsung.

Huawei is the global leader in supplying RAN equipment. This is a headache for the US.

Enter O-RAN

An Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) is an open-source rendition of the Radio Access Network (RAN) infrastructure. It facilitates interoperability among cellular network equipment supplied by various vendors.

The US O-RAN push is based on the rationale that having multiple suppliers offers an alternative to closed end-to-end systems that depend on Chinese equipment. This could end Huawei's dominance of the market.

Huawei as telecoms boogeyman

Fears about using Huawei's equipment relate to the belief that the company is an arm of China's ruling communist party which uses it to gather SIGINT or signals intelligence on the country's western adversaries, including the US. In a 2019 interview with Fox News, then US President Donald Trump said, "We don't want [Huawei's] equipment in the United States because they spy on us."

Suspicion and opposition against Huawei among Western governments and companies began in earnest in 2012 following a series of cyber-attacks against US companies and Western governments. There was a broad consensus within the US government that the attacks were mounted by China.

In 2012, a US congressional committee approved a proposal aimed at identifying and removing technology developed by Chinese telecommunications firms from the U.S. nuclear weapons infrastructure. In the same year, the country's House Intelligence Committee concluded that Huawei and ZTE Inc were national security threats.

However, Digitimes analyst Benson Wu suspects that the official reasons the US gives for choosing not to use the Chinese telecom giant's equipment might be disingenuous. He said that the reasons for the effort to flush the ubiquitous Chinese tech out of the US telecoms system might be economic and protectionist rather than purely related to national security concerns, as US politicians often claim.

Benson said that Huawei has been used in the US for longer than people think. Security was never an issue when Huawei was providing the infrastructure for 2G and 3G communications, he added.

Benson said the argument that the US is preventing Huawei's access to the country for national security reasons does not stand up to reason. Companies from other communist countries such as Vietnam are not subject to similar restrictions, he added.

The Huawei killer

Benson said that O-RAN originally began as a commercial idea. The technology was coopted by US authorities to remove Huawei and China from the US telecommunications nerve system, he added.

Benson said the US hopes to persuade the world to switch from RAN to O-RAN. However the US proposition is not the easiest to sell for various reasons, he added.

When it comes to the Huawei question, Benson said that the world's largest vendors such as Nokia and Ericsson find themselves trapped between a rock and a hard place. They are forced to walk a geopolitical tightrope and balance US and Chinese interests.

In October 2020 Swedish regulators banned the use of Huawei from its 5G networks. In November of the same year, Ericsson's CEO Börje Ekholm criticized the blanket ban.

He argued for a more nuanced response. Sweden should take measures to mitigate risks to its 5G network, he added.

In response to the ban, Gao Feng, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce said "China urges Sweden to immediately correct the mistake, and meet China halfway and find solutions based on preserving China-Sweden economic and trade cooperation." Ericsson's Q12021 sales in China subsequently tanked.

If Sweden did not follow the lead of the US in banning Huawei, Ericsson could have been hit by a limitation on its access to the US market, Benson said. This demonstrates that political and commercial interests are sometimes at odds when it comes to the Huawei question, he added.

Benson said the US rip-and-replace strategy is complicated by the invisible hand of the market. Huawei's equipment is significantly cheaper than that of other vendors, he added.

The rip-and-replace initiative, implemented in 2020, requires American enterprises to remove telecommunications equipment manufactured by Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE. The US warns that equipment from these companies might be exploited by Beijing for espionage purposes and the illicit acquisition of proprietary information.

US operators need to find an alternative to fill the equipment void, Benson said. The problem is that the equipment supplied by trusted vendors such as Ericsson and Nokia is much more expensive than Huawei and ZTE's.

Not all US operators are as big as AT&T Benson explained. Some operators are much smaller and not so wealthy, he added

Benson noted that smaller operators find it difficult to afford alternatives in Huawei's absence. The US government is providing subsidies to companies to help them rip and replace, but they do not come close to the cost-effectiveness of using Huawei's ostracized Chinese tech, he added.

Ericsson plays it smart

Benson said the US$14 billion open RAN deployment deal between US carrier AT&T Ericsson demonstrated the conflicting motives complicating US efforts to promote O-RAN. AT&T's choice of Ericsson was telling, he added.

AT&T's pick of Ericsson for the initial deployment of the carrier's open radio access network (RAN) caused some in the telecom industry to scratch their heads. Ericsson was not regarded as a prominent vendor in the open RAN space and was more associated with the more traditional and financially stable RAN architecture.

Ericsson's offering was unique, Benson said. The deal included deploying O-RAN base stations and traditional closed RAN base stations, he added.

This model allowed Ericsson to adopt a Janus-like position to the US O-RAN push, Benson explained. Ericsson could play ball with the US government's O-RAN promotion while not appearing to be completely behind it, he added.

This is not a cold war

Benson said that the China-US telecommunications standoff should not be considered a tech-cold war. In the Cold War there were competing different ideological standards, he added.

When it comes to telecommunications, there is only one standard, he said. That standard is the 3GPP he added.

The 3GPP consists of seven national or regional telecommunications standards organizations collaborating to develop protocols for mobile telecommunications. The US Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) and China's China Communications Standards Association (CCSA) are 3GPP organizational partners.

Geopolitical tension manifests in telecommunications as a schism in supple chains, Benson said. Once tensions lead to sanctions on equipment from a certain country, then two distinct supply chains form, he added.

No telecom security standards

Benson said there are no international standard operating procedures for assessing the security of wireless communication equipment. Without guidelines operators have no way of measuring potential risks, he added.

Benson said the O-RAN ALLIANCE is an interesting character in this story.

The O-RAN ALLIANCE is a community of mobile network operators, vendors, and research & academic institutions founded by AT&T, China Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, NTT DOCOMO, and Orange in 2018. The organization's mission is to "re-shape the RAN industry towards more intelligent, open, virtualized and fully interoperable mobile networks".

Benson said the US effort to promote O-RAN to topple Huawei puts the O-RAN ALLIANCE in an awkward position. Given that the alliance is made of Chinese vendors such as China Mobile, if it is seen to be promoting O-RAN, Chinese vendors could be seen as shooting themselves in the foot, he added.

Explaining the dilemma facing the O-RAN ALLIANCE, Benson said, "There are some Chinese equipment vendors in it". "How can they promote this industry to replace their products?" he asked.

Better the devil you know

Benson said the US promotion of O-RAN as a solution to fears of built-in backdoors in Huawei's equipment is hypocritical. The US is keenly aware of such threats because it has used similar means to spy on targets, he added.

Benson cited the example of the US National Security Agency (NSA)'s PRISM program. PRISM was a system that enabled the US government to gather user data from corporations such as Microsoft, Google, Apple, Yahoo, and others.

O-RAN can be a risky business

Benson warned that O-RAN is not without its security issues. O-RAN equipment is vulnerable to attack, he added.

The interoperability and the ability to pick and choose equipment from different vendors could be a blessing and a curse, Benson said. O-RAN's increased cost efficiency could come at the price of a larger attack surface for bad actors who would steal information, he added.

Benson explained the security challenge of switching from RAN to O-RAN with a metaphor. A network is like a house, Benson said.

"If my house has one window, it's not easy for a burglar to get inside", he said. "If you increase the number of windows then it increases the risk of your house getting broken into", he added.

Damned if you RAN, damned if you don't

The US argument that O-RAN is safer than using Huawei equipment is paradoxical Benson, said. The choice between RAN and O-RAN architecture means you can either let the Chinese communist party access your personal data via Huawei's equipment, or you can kill Huawei with O-RAN and let everyone hack you, including the US, Benson explained.

Benson said he sees a slow but visible telecommunications shift toward O-RAN. However, this shift is not driven by Washington's will, he added.

Benson said in the short term, vendors will embrace a half-open half half-closed strategy to the O-RAN issue. This is the approach Ericsson took in its deal with AT&T he added.

Telecom operators naturally favor O-RAN because it gives them the freedom to choose whose equipment they use, Benson said. It also allows increased competition and cheaper equipment, he added.

Squeezing Huawei with the invisible hand

Even if the US successfully uses the "Huawei killer" O-RAN to dispatch the Chinese telecom giant, Washington could only be considered an accomplice. The final nail in Huawei's coffin will be hammered in by the invisible hand of the global telecommunications market, not the long arm of Washington.

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