For the unfamiliar, tardigrades are some of the most resilient creatures on earth (and possibly the moon). The eight-legged micro-animals have ancestors as far as 530 million years ago. They have survived all five mass extinction events, can survive in temperatures above 150 Celcius, and can go without food or water for thirty years. Microsoft’s reference to the tardigrade outlines its goals for Azure to survive in several non-ideal conditions....

“Our cell phone-based approach has enabled us to ship augmented reality experiences to a significant number of users in a very short amount of time,” says Andrew Ng, chief scientist at Baidu, in a press release. “There is an appetite for this technology; we are seeing rapid adoption by our partners in a range of industries.” In a breathtaking experience, Baidu has showed off an AR tour of Beijing’s nine ancient city gates, which have been demolished or renovated beyond recognition....

The tech businessman turned philanthropist says he is giving away free copies of one of his favorite books of 2018. In fact, Bill Gates says he is giving away one free copy to all new graduates of US universities and colleges. The book in question is “Factfulness” and was written by Swedish statistician Hans Rosling. He died last year from pancreatic cancer, but the book was completed by his son Ola and daughter-in-law Anna....

Indeed, a new study points to the currency being influenced by public sentiment. Researchers found positive comments on social media were able to change the prospects of Bitcoin. Over the last four years, Bitcoin has enjoyed massive growth. In 2014 the value of a single bitcoin stood at around $400, but during last year it soared to over $15,000. Valuations have normalized since then, but a single coin is still work $6,000....

Azure Cognitive Services is a platform that allows developers to tap into APIs and add them to apps leverage speech, search, and other AI tools. Importantly, developers can tap into the service without needing to learn master machine learning abilities. Looking at the new features, Document Translation does exactly what it says in the tin. Users can translate documents without losing the format. This tool was first introduced in preview for Azure Translator back in February....

That means full LTE capabilities on the 2-in-1, as well as a significant boost to battery life. The Miix 630 offers a completely detachable keyboard and a kickstand, making it a solid device for professionals. The device comes with a 12.3-inch WUXGA+ 1080p touchscreen display with a 4 or 8GB of RAM. It’s paired with up to 256GB of storage, Windows Hello compatibility, a MicroSD slot, and one USB-C port....

It’s a strange option, but one that has many advantages. Windows 10 is a powerhouse for productivity, while Android is a natural option for regular web browsing and exclusive apps. However, there is one caveat. The Hi8 will run Android 5.1 Lollipop, which is almost three years old. This means users won’t be getting the most premium Android experience, but there’s really nothing wrong with the older version. It still uses Material Design, has improved notifications, and has good performance and battery life....

If you are unfamiliar with Crackdown 3, it is a first-party title developed by Microsoft Studios. It is a game nearly 9 years in the making as Crackdown 2 was released way back in 2010. For users unable to wait until next week’s launch, the Insider preview specifically features Wrecking Zone. This is an online multiplayer mode on Crackdown 3. Microsoft described Wrecking Zone as ‘the fully-destructible Azure cloud-powered multiplayer mode’....

Proofpoint’s Wombat Security division has published its 2018 User Risk Report, which surveyed 6,000 working adults. The study was conducted in the US, UK, Australia, Italy, France, and Germany. Participants were tested on their knowledge of cyber-security and if they know end-user actions to protect data and systems. The results show 64 per cent of respondents do not know what ransomware is. Participants were asked about their understanding on phishing, Wi-Fi security, social media, passwords, and more....

However, thanks to VentureBeat, we can get an idea of its design before then. As you can see above, the simply named ‘Surface Pro’ will look a lot like its predecessor. The device will pair with a number of multicolored accessories, including a type cover, Surface Pen, and Surface Mouse. This seems to align with the recent Surface Laptop announcement, with colors of black, blue, silver, and red. Surface Pro Specification Rumors Other than that, it’s all pretty standard....

But even though it is incredible to experience a full-day battery of a new MacBook, nothing lasts forever, and MacBook’s battery is no different. If you do not take the right steps to take care of it, it will start draining out faster and faster until you will find yourself unable to use your computer without a charger plugged in. To troubleshoot this problem that occurs to many people, you just need to know what kind of maintenance work you need to perform to prolong your MacBook’s battery lifespan....

Most criticism was focused on Article 13 and Article 11 of the amendment. The former would have made content like memes and remixes becoming illegal. For example, memes often use content from somewhere else and add to it. Some European lawmakers argued this infringes copyright. As for Article 11, it would have introduced a link tax into European law. Major companies like Microsoft and Google would have to pay publishers when they link content....

Business Insider yesterday reported Facebook has uploaded the contact lists without permission when users signed up for the service since May 2016. The activity was spotted by a security research who noted Facebook wanted users to enter their email password when creating a new account. If the user agreed, the network would notify with a “importing your contacts”. There was no way to opt out from this stage. Worse, it seems Facebook was doing this on purpose....

Over 87 million users had their data accessed by third-parties and Facebook rightly faced criticism. According to a report from TechCrunch, the social network also paid users, including youngsters, per month to be given complete access to their device data. Facebook paid people aged between 13 and 35 up to $20 per month to mine their smartphones. This happened through the “Facebook Research” VPN across Android and iOS. This app could be downloaded through beta services and wouldn’t have been available on the App Store or Google Play....

These days I stumbled over a nasty fake page that promises to offer a download for Garageband for Windows as a ported version. The professional design of this website really struck me and I am sure quite some people stepped into that trap already. When you want to download Garageband for PC there you will get nothing but instead create ad-income for the website owner who forces you to do online surveys....

1 AMP on Gmail2 Microsoft AMP is a software technology that allows webpages to function significantly more quickly on mobile clients. For email services, AMPHTML is a format that uses AMP components to create a more interactive email experience, hence the term dynamic email. It makes sense that Google is ahead in this development considering the AMP technology is its own.The company launched AMP pages in 2015 and the first websites adopting the technology arrive in early 2016....

To ensure users know about the closure and to have time to find an alternative, Google has published an update on the plugin’s download page. Launched four years ago, the Google Drive Plugin is now obsolete. Google is instead updating its Drive File stream service in Outlook by adding in the functionality of the Google Drive plugin. Essentially, Drive File Stream will now save and open cloud files in its normal interface, removing the need for a separate plugin....

Google has sold Duo on its ease of use. A simple interface allows users to pick the app up and start using it quickly. So far it has paid off with Duo receiving good reviews on iOS and Google Play. That ease of use has been transferred to the web version. Google Duo again removes the need to setup anything, just allowing users to get started quickly. For example, Google does not ask for any phone number authentication, which it does on many other services....

If you are unfamiliar with Flutter, it is a framework solution to create a single UI experience across Google services cross-platform. That means users would eventually see the same design language on Chrome, Android, iOS, and elsewhere. It is a similar situation to Microsoft’s increasingly unified UI experience. Through version 1.2, Google has added support for Android App Bundles. This is the company’s newest solution for packaging Android applications, allowing dev’s to create instant apps....

This article was contributed by Cynthia Madison who works as an author at SmallBizClub. The legal industry has been clinging to traditional methods for way too long. Professionals working in the legal field can’t remain oblivious to the tech advances that surround us at every step and the prevalence of digital solutions that have transformed nearly every aspect of our lives. It’s more than obvious that the future online and law firms have to adapt to the new normal....