Launched last year, Microsoft’s Windows Mixed Reality platform was accompanied by OEM-built HMDs. Over their first year of availability, Windows Mixed Reality headsets have sold solid numbers. Not spectacular, but Microsoft knew this was a slow burner in a nascent market that may explode. Heading into the second generation of devices, OEMs will seek to streamline the hardware. On the software front, Microsoft will continue to develop Windows Mixed Reality to entice both developers and users....

Adobe leveraged Microsoft’s AI expertise to help create Intelligent Agents, which works within the company’s Document Cloud software. While the prototype is unlikely to be available just yet, Adobe has given a full break down of its capabilities at Sneaks, an event that shows what software the company is working on. While Intelligent Agents seems functional, Adobe is non-committal on a release date. However, it seems a surefire developmental tool that will one day be available on Document Cloud....

The only caveat is you will need to have an Adobe account to access Photoshop for free on the web. This free-to-use model is currently in preview so Adobe can test the situation. That trial is only available in Canada, but the company says it may extend to our countries. If the trial is successful, the free web Photoshop will roll out everywhere. As for having an Adobe account, it is worth noting a free account is all that is needed to enjoy Photoshop at no cost....

Certainly, last month was a busy one in terms of patches for the platform. On August Patch Tuesday, Microsoft managed to cause issues for Visual Basic, Visual Basic for Applications, and VBScript. The company has since sent out solutions for all those bugs, although the patches arrive sporadically over August. The good news is August patches can now be downloaded safely without these Visual Basic problem. Looking specifically at Windows 10 and more specifically at Windows 10 version 1903....

When compared to Intel’s Core i9 family, the new Ryzen CPUs will have discounts of up to $1,000, and will likely hit the market first. We now know the following: A 16-core, 32-thread 3.4GHz Threadripper 1950X will retail at $999 A 12-core, 24-thread 3.5 GHz Threadripper 1920X will retail at $799 When you compare Intel’s 16-core, 32-thread option, that’s a whole $700 less, and the 12-core i9-7920X is $400 extra....

If you’re unfamiliar with the Arden SOC, it is the CPU that powers Microsoft’s upcoming Xbox Series X console. According to AMD, it received contact by an anonymous person who said they had test files for current and upcoming GPUs. Those stolen files have recently been leaked online. However, they are no longer available after AMD successfully had them removed. In a statement, the company confirmed the theft but claims it wasn’t a serious leak of information....

In other words, users are no longer able to fix their own Mac. Apple says not running the new software after a repair will make the device “inoperative”. Most other companies would make this software available for download. Apple is different. This software is only available to authorized repair partners, including its own stores. Independent computer repairers who do general hardware fixes are unable to fix Mac devices with the T2 chip....

USB Restricted mode rejects USB connections through the Lightning port if the iPhone has not been unlocked in the last hour. At its core, this means hackers, data thieves, or even prying authorities from unlocking a device by connecting it to a PC. Just this week Apple talked up the ability of Restricted mode to protect people from law enforcement and thieves. However, the company wanted to clarify it is not trying to make life difficult for police forces: “At Apple, we put the customer at the center of everything we design....

Avocor, a major player in collaboration displays debuted its Windows Collaboration Display. The device comes with 4K resolutions and runs at 60 Hertz. Avocor says its display will connect to any Windows 10 PC through a USB-C cable. Other specifications include 20-point touch support to enhance same-screen collaboration. Inking is fully supported for those who would interact with and use Windows Ink. Integrated cameras, far field microphones, and stereo speakers complete the multimedia picture....

“Azure Databricks is designed in collaboration with Databricks whose founders started the Spark research project at UC Berkeley, which later became Apache Spark,” explains Rohan Kumar, corporate vice president, Azure Data. “Our goal with Azure Databricks is to help customers accelerate innovation and simplify the process of building Big Data & AI solutions by combining the best of Databricks and Azure.” According to Kumar, Microsoft developed Databricks with three main design principles....

However, while the company lost its recognition as a household name, much has been happening behind the scenes. CEO John Chen took the reigns in late 2013, confronted with dwindling handset sales and a company that no longer had a solid direction. Slowly and methodically, Chen has been making strategic investments, and they’re starting to pay off. Over the past few years, BlackBerry has acquired Secusmart, Morvirtu, WatchDox, AtHoc, Good Technology, and Encryption....

The Azure Applied AI Services are Azure Video Analyzer, Azure Metrics Advisor, Azure Bot Service, Azure Cognitive Search, Azure Form Recognizer and Azure Immersive Reader. Microsoft says the tools help organizations accelerate the creation of AI models that target specific scenarios: “With Azure Bot Service, developers can create sophisticated bots using a new integrated development experience. Azure Bot Service now offers a visual authoring canvas with extensible open-source tools, enabling developers to add speech and telephony capabilities and to test, debug and publish bots to multiple channels with minimal code changes....

Last June, we saw GTX 1070 prices spike to up to $700 thanks to cryptocurrency mining, and history is repeating itself. Polygon reports that stock shortages are causing price hikes of up to 80%, mostly in mid-range cards. Nvidia’s GTX 1050 and 1060 graphics cards are also affected, as well as AMD’s RX 570, 580, Vega 64, and more. If it’s anything like last time, gamers will have to wait at least a few weeks before it boils over....

And so we move to Signal, which has been locked in a battle with Facebook. The argument is over WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned messaging app that has largely escaped the same dim reputation as its parent. Specifically, Signal is challenging Facebook over banning it from running ads on the social network that highlight how Facebook uses data. WhatsApp fits into the equation because in 2019 Facebook unified the backend across its services....

The Windows 10 laptop is a solid buy and Flipkart says it is targeting college students and first-time PC buyers with the price reduction. The 36-month EMI payment option is being offered in collaboration with ICICI Bank and CitiBank: Amitesh Jha, Vice President, Electronic Devices at Flipkart, called the deal a first of its kind: “With Flipkart’s wide market reach combined with an industry-first affordable 36-month EMI option, we are certain that this offering is a winning combination and will strike a chord with our customers reinforcing our undisputed position as laptop market-leaders in the country....

Research firm Gartner has reported the decline last year was not a one-off event. In its latest smartphone shipment report, the company says global handset sales dipped 2.7% during Q1 2019. The company says the reason for the decline is the rising price of premium flagship devices. Companies such as Apple and Samsung are now charging around $1,000 for their flagship devices. In other words, company’s may be selling less but also making less....

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Those employees are the team of former Redmond employees who formed PerceptiveIO. We discussed the departure of several key Microsoft figures in 2016, who left to form the start-up. That group included Jeff Han, the former head of Surface Hub, and former HoloLens researcher Shahram Izadi. It looks like Google has acquired PerceptiveIO sometime during the last few months. There has been no official confirmation form the company, but there is plenty of evidence....

Google has been working on branching the feature to Windows 10 for some time. It has been in development on Chrome for Android. With this feature, users can share files and phones across devices more easily. It is worth noting the tool only works with other Google-connected products. In other words, you’ll need to have either the company’s Pixel smartphone or a Chromebook. Still, if you do and want to check out Nearby Sharing in Chrome on Windows, follow these steps:...

In an effort to be more in line with GDPR, Google says it will move its data service locations to Ireland. The company today announced a change to its terms of service that highlighted the move. In a blog post, Google says users in the European Economic Area and Switzerland, Google Ireland Limited will be the service provider. At the moment, the company’s U.S. Company’s European headquarters in Dublin manage services....