Month: May 2020

Apple’s iPad Pro is a desktop PC, says ex-Microsoft exec

As if Michaelangelo had put it together.


Screenshot by ZDNet

I have uncontrolled admiration, bordering on hysteria, for those who can take a gadget and make it so much more than it appears.

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Even more admiration than I have for Apple, every time it insists that that the iPad Pro is a computer.

Lately, Cupertino seems to have given up on the notion that the iPad Pro will replace your PC. But along comes Microsoft’s former Windows Division head Steven Sinofsky with a consummately contrary view.

He posted visual evidence to Twitter that made many marvel.

Here was an iPad Pro, perched on an almost Ive-ish little stand. On top of it was attached an Apple Pencil. Below it was a Magic Keyboard and a Trackpad 2.

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Major Jabra Elite 75t headset update: Custom button options and personalized sound profiles

Late last year I tested the Jabra Elite 75t Bluetooth wireless earbuds and awarded them a 9.4/10 rating. A few weeks later I was able to try out the fitness focused Elite Active 75t and as part of its CES 2020 reveal Jabra stated a significant update would launch in the second quarter of 2020.

I just checked for updates two days ago and there was a new Jabra Sound+ application update along with a new headset firmware, version 1.31.0, for the Elite 75t and Elite Active 75t. New features include the ability to tailor music to your individual hearing profile and a new Jabra MyControls utility.

Also: Jabra Elite 75t wireless earbuds review: Solid audio and call quality with long battery life

The new Jabra MySound option performs an audio test to optimize the experience for each individual person. We have seen these kinds of audio tests before from

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Windows 10 2004: These are the features we’re deprecating or dropping, says Microsoft

With the Windows 10 May 2020 Update, version 2004, now released, Microsoft has detailed the Windows 10 features it’s no longer developing and features it’s removed. 

Features that are no longer under active development are those that Microsoft might remove in a future update. With every major Windows 10 release, Microsoft details features of the operating system that it stops developing and removes.  

The three features Microsoft is no longer developing in Windows 10 2004 include Companion Device Framework, the legacy Microsoft Edge browser, and Dynamic Disks. 

SEE: Office 365: A guide for tech and business leaders (free PDF)

The Companion Device Framework was restricted to approved developers and was designed to enable IoT devices to be used as an external authentication device for Windows Hello on Windows 10 PCs that lacked, for example, an infrared camera for facial authentication. 

The legacy EdgeHTML Microsoft Edge of course has been

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Powerbeats Pro will come in four bright new colors June 9

The very bright new colors of Powerbeats Pro. 


Beats

Last year, around this time, Beats launched the Powerbeats Pro, a $249 pair of completely wireless earbuds designed for fitness buffs. Since then, we haven’t really heard much about the Powerbeats Pro, outside of some new colors in late 2019. 

On Friday, Beats announced that starting June 9, you can purchase the Powerbeats Pro in four new colors: Spring Yellow, Cloud Pink, Lava Red and Glacier Blue. 

The new colors are bright and vivid and a nice break from rather dark and bleak black, green moss or dark navy blue colors. There’s also an off-white model.

As a refresher, the Powerbeats Pro have up to nine-hour battery life, with a total of 24 hours if you include the extra power provided by the charging case, IPX4 sweat and water resistance and on-ear volume and playback controls. 

Inside the

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Wireless Broadband Alliance calls for single global Wi-Fi network

With Wi-Fi 6E potentially about to create a revolution in networking, the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) has invited all organisations in the Wi-Fi ecosystem to become part of a globally available Wi-Fi federation, WBA OpenRoaming.

The WBA aims to drive “seamless”, interoperable service experiences via Wi-Fi within the global wireless ecosystem and strives to enable collaboration between service providers, technology companies and all other organisations within the wireless ecosystem.

WBA OpenRoaming is designed to offer an automatic and secure connection of billions of devices to millions of Wi-Fi networks, providing a global standards-led approach, removing public-guest Wi-Fi connectivity barriers and bringing greater convenience and security to the wireless ecosystem.

The WBA insists that OpenRoaming can simplify Wi-Fi, much like the cellular roaming experience. It says companies that join WBA OpenRoaming can allow end-users to automatically connect on any Wi-Fi network managed by a federation member. This, it claims, creates

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HP launches new EliteBook laptops, ZBook Firefly mobile workstations

HP ZBook Firefly

In its mixed bag of second quarter results, HP reported flat notebook revenue, which was actually one of the brighter spots. (In comparison, desktop revenue were down 18 percent.) No doubt recent events have kept notebook sales afloat, and HP is looking to capitalize on the telecommuting surge with its announcement of a fleet of new business laptops, including a refresh of its EliteBook lineup and an expansion of the ZBook mobile workstation family.

The EliteBook update comprises a mix of new models and revamped editions of existing systems. In particular, the 13.3-inch EliteBook x360 1030 G7 and 14-inch 1040 G7 convertible laptops receive updates that include a slight reduction in size that results in up to an 89-percent ratio of screen to body, which HP claims is a class-leading figure. Other upgrades are the use of 10th-generation six-core Intel Core vPro processors, and up to

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