Samuel Roan

When it comes to surfing on the internet, you will find tons of sites which are going to give everything else except the information which you want. There are many spammy sites on Google’s index, which are trying to get the data of users, but Google has brought an excellent way to deal with thee sites. Accordingly, you can now use an extension which will help you to report those types of spammy websites. The tech giant is trying to make its platform cleaner for users so that they can surf on google without any worry. The company has launched an extension named “Suspicious Site explorer” which helps you to determine the status of the website you are visiting.

It will tell you whether the site is functional, well or suspicious after examining it thoroughly. It adds flag next to other extensions if you are visiting any faulty webpage. If you are the type of guy who is more interested in their privacy, then this extension is made for you. Google has taken care of everything like if you click on the report button, then it will send the website’s information to Google, and the algorithm is going to check all those webpages. Regular users might not use it because Google said that they had launched this extension for “power users” who take things like privacy on google seriously. Google is trying to improve Chrome, and that’s why they are rolling out more such type of features.

A report shows that there will be a new feature which is going to be added on Chrome, which will prevent you from loading any deceptive sites. For example, if you are trying to access gogole.com instead of normal Google.com, then it will stop you right there. Even if these features haven’t been rolled out officially, one thing is sure that Google is taking now privacy issues more seriously.

Google is already facing outrage from the community for trying to tighten the ropes around the Adblocker extensions. With the change in API and other things, Google indicated that the Ad Blocker extensions have no place on the Google Chrome Browser. But now, the company has said that they are not against the Ad Blocker extensions and are not blocking the same from Google Chrome. Devlin Cronin wrote a post on Google Security Blog explaining the stance of the company on this controversy.

According to the post published on the Security Blog, Google is working with the developers to improve the ad-blocking extensions and not blocking it. Google is encouraging the developers to create new ad blocker extensions for the platform. To protect the privacy of the users, the company is supporting the ad-blocker extensions. Back in the last year, Google announced that they are working to improve the Chrome browser extensions system. With the introduction of Manifest v3, the developers were unhappy to notice that the Manifest v3 would severely affect the Adblocker extensions. Everyone thought that Google is hurting the adblocker extensions with the Manifest V3.

The Manifest V3 is the component that is developed to improve the performance, privacy, and security of the extensions. But the part restricts the extensions from accessing specific information from the web pages, which the adblockers need to function correctly. In the blog post, Google confirmed that there are a lot of misconceptions about the component in the system. The company the segment is expected to improve the performance and not to cripple the ad blocker extensions. According to the company, Manifest V3 component is still in the development, and more of the additions to the part will be made in the future, which will ensure smooth functioning of the ad blockers.

Google has developed a video game called Game Builder that enables you to craft simple Minecraft-style games for yourself and others to play through. The game lets you drag and drop characters and scenery into an empty sandbox to develop your world. The developer can then use preset commands to string together how things interact. Besides, it’s free to play and available on both Windows and macOS. Through these steps, anyone with or without coding knowledge can create platforms, scoreboards, cars, and more. Although, those with the technical expertise can opt to use JavaScript and twist the existing application programming interface (API). An API is a series of tools and definitions used to connect software.

The game also has the potential to become a mutual effort. Developers can invite friends to assist design the game with them or even play it together. Additionally, one can have friends play the game while the creator is developing it. Even more, players can further their creative options in the game by using 3D models from Google Poly. It is a website that allows creators to share and access one another’s 3D creations. Game Builder has a co-op mode so that multiple people can design a game together at a time. One can also share your creations and browse through the games made by others while the whole idea of the game is to allow people to start designing without having any expertise in coding.

The game also allows people to get more advanced as their interest grows. The interaction system works with “if this then that” logic and players can make their interactions with JavaScript if they have a precise knowledge of the language. Google didn’t reveal any plans around when Game Builder might arrive in the market. It seems like Google is taking games pretty seriously these days. Reportedly, nowadays it is getting ready to launch its Stadia game streaming service in the current year. Maybe the tech giant will roll out Game Builder on Stadia.

Windows is infamous for having bugs and vulnerabilities, but the Microsoft team is fast enough to patch the bugs and vulnerabilities faster than any other OS. Recently, Microsoft said that the older versions of Windows do have a critical vulnerability, that helped Wanna Cry ransomware to activate on the computer. As this is a critical vulnerability that may affect millions of computers, Microsoft is asking the users to update to the latest versions as soon as possible to prevent any malware or ransomware attacks. The vulnerability is named as CVE-2019-0708 and is present in the Remote Desktop Service protocol in Windows.

The vulnerability is marked as critical by Microsoft team as it is said to be “Wormable.” Which means if one computer gets infected due to this vulnerability, the same can spread to other computers connected to the network. By exploiting the vulnerability, the hackers and attackers can quickly get access to tons of computers connected to the same network. That is why it is advised to update the Windows to the latest version, as it will install the required patch on your computer. According to Microsoft, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2008 are the vulnerable operating systems. Also, Microsoft’s long gone Windows XP is one of the vulnerable operating systems.

Simon Pope, Director of Incident Response at Microsoft Security Response Center said in a blog post that the vulnerability is so critical, that an infected computer connected to the corporate network may spread the virus and infect the entire network. Those companies who have not completely updated the internal systems are at high risks, as Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2008 are commonly used in corporate companies. Microsoft has already released the vulnerability patch for all of the infected operating system users.

Google is not good at social messaging applications like Google Allo but is good with video calling app Google Duo. With the increasing popularity day by day, Google Duo now comes with the support for group video calls with up to Eight people. The new feature was introduced yesterday by Google, and the users can update the app from the Google Play Store to access the new group calling feature. Google Duo is a video calling and chatting application that is gaining popularity from a wide range of people who want a reliable calling app, as WhatsApp Video calling feature is not good enough yet.

From the last few weeks, Google was expected to release the group calling feature. And finally, they’ve done the same for iOS and Android operating systems. All of the users of the Google Duo app on iOS and Android should update to the latest version from the respective App store to receive the update. The group calling feature is supported on the most recent version and not the older versions. Unfortunately, the Web Client for Chromebook devices hasn’t received the update so the users would have to use the smartphone for group video calling.

To start video calling to up to Eight people, the users need to tap on “Create group,” add Eight people and start the video call. The group call will begin immediately when you tap on the “Call” button. The space is currently limited for eight people, and the screen is divided as more and more people join the group call. As eight people fill up the entire screen and calling that many people is not advised on smartphones, the users can opt for Google Hangouts for better video calling experience. Nonetheless, this is an exciting addition to the Google Duo app, which will help the users to call more than one people quickly.

Server Chip producers Super Micro is planning to move out the CHip production factory out of China amidst the allegations of spying for the Chinese government. The company is moving out to ensure the United States based customers that the company is not involved in any government spying program. Although the independent tests of the Super Microchips are negative as there is no evidence found of spying for the Chinese government, the company is still firm on the decision of moving out of the country.

Super Micro is also planning to expand the in-house production and not to depend on the suppliers, whose factories are mostly located in China. The company spokesperson announced that the company is reducing the dependency on China-based outsourcing partners. Super Micro faced the allegations last year when a major US telecom company claimed that they had found the hardware that was modified for Spying in the Super Micro’s servers. According to the security analyst and researcher Yossi Applebaum, Super Micro is the victim of aggressive spying strategy of the Chinese government by modifying the hardware produced in the country’s territory.

Apple and Amazon are major companies that use the hardware manufactured by Super Micro. Both the companies waited for the independent audit of the equipment from Super Micro, and when it came out clean, they stood behind the company. Although the hardware audit proved nothing, Super Micro decided to leave the Chip production in China and move out to other location. Increasing security concerns for the companies operating in China is one of the primary reasons why they are moving out the production base. Super Micro is the third-largest server equipment manufacturer in the world after HP and Dell, and they are taking every possible step to protect the customers and its brand image.

HMD Global’s new smartphone with Nokia brand is available for pre-ordering for $189. Nokia started accepting the pre-orders for Nokia 4.2 smartphone which bears the price tag of $189. Being the mid-range Android One smartphone, the people with low-budget will find it useful and suitable for the needs. Nokia announced the 4.2 in Mobile World Congress 2019 and is now available for ordering. The company said that they would start the actual delivery of the smartphone to US-based customers from 14th of May.

Nokia 4.2 smartphone is one of the two Android One based devices announced at the Mobile World Congress 2019. This smartphone has a 5.71-inch display, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and a Snapdragon 439 chipset. Also, the body construction is full-glass, comes with sensitive Fingerprint Sensor, Face recognition and many other features. The Face Recognition feature is called “TrueRecognition,” which is supposed to be faster enough to unlock the phone within a few milliseconds. As Android One powers the device, it comes with Android 9 Pie version and a dedicated Google Assistant wakeup button, to summon Google Voice Assistant at your service. The button works just like Pixel’s Active Edge feature and also doubles up as the notification blink light.

Nokia listed this smartphone on online marketplace sites like Amazon and Nokia official site for pre-orders. The price tag of $189 for a fully-unlocked smartphone with mid-range specifications is pretty good. As the smartphone comes fully-unlocked, it supports all of the GSM network carriers like AT&T, T-Mobile, and many others. Amazon, Best Buy and Nokia’s official websites are accepting the pre-orders, and the shipping will start from 14th May for all of the customers in the United States of America. Even though Nokia Pureview 9 was a failure as it didn’t catch much attention from the media and customers, the Nokia 4.2 won’t be a failure as it’s a mid-range device suitable for low-end users.

Spotify announced that they had achieved the milestone of 100 million paid subscribers. This is one of the most significant milestones for the company, as Spotify is the only service with 100 million paid subscribers, with Apple Music standing in the second place. Including the free subscribers, Spotify now serves more than 217 million users. The growth of 32 percent year-on-year was noted in the number of paid subscribers, which is impressive. Also, the numbers include the paid users from India, where the company launched just before a few months.

The nearest competitor of Spotify, which is Apple Music has half of what Spotify has. Currently, Apple Music has nearly 50 million paid users worldwide on all of the platforms. Although, Apple Music is a fan favorite in the United States, where the service is surpassing Spotify by nearly 2 million paid users. Apple Music has 28 million paid users in the United States, and Spotify has 26 million paid users. Majority of the paid subscribers are from the non-English countries like the European and Asian countries. Recently, Spotify started the podcasts, which allowed the company to tap the new audience and reach the 100 million mark faster than the competitors.

With the acquisition of Gimlet Media for podcasting division, the company’s aim of targetting the untapped audience unveiled. With the current growth rate, Spotify is expected to have 107 to 110 million paid subscribers by the end of this quarter and 227 million in total users. Even though the subscriber’s count is increasing, Spotify is encountering the financial losses. Last fiscal quarter, Spotify reported the losses of $158.3 million. The aggressive promotion of the services with freebies like Google Home Speaker for Family Account subscribers and the acquisition of the companies is forcing the company to encounter the losses.

It’s not a long time since Facebook’s mishap with password storage unearthed. In a recent series of events, Facebook admitted that the issues with the encryption system caused the passwords of millions of Facebook users to be stored on the servers in plain text. Almost all of the employees of Facebook had access to the stored passwords of 540 million users. Now, Facebook has admitted that the 540 million passwords included the passwords of Instagram users too. As Facebook owns Instagram, the company employees had access to the passwords of Instagram users in plain text for over a month.

This is another major security fiasco for Facebook as they are facing a lot of problems with security. Recently, Facebook imported and uploaded email contacts from new users. The issue was with the encryption system, which failed and stored the data unintentionally in unencrypted mode. After security agency “Krebs on Security” unearthed the secret, Facebook admitted the blunder and decided to delete the plain text files and inform users to change the password. On March 21, Facebook shared a blog post with the details about plain text password storage fiasco. The admission has been updated in the same blog post.

In the blog post update, Facebook said that the engineers inspected the servers and found additional logs of Instagram passwords saved in the readable format. The company said they’ve checked if the stored passwords are used by an internal member or misused by any means and found that they were safe. Still, the millions of users will get the notification to change the passwords for safety reasons. Finding the logs of stored passwords after a month is considered as the significant loss for Facebook, as the critical safety issues should not go unnoticed from the system and the eyes of security engineers.

After testing the pilot phase for nearly four months, T-Mobile officially launched the Money Banking app for smartphones in the United States of America. With the Money Banking application, the users will be able to access all of the banking features from a single app. To the subscribers of T-Mobile, the Mobile-first Checking account will come with additional perks. The best thing about this is that the T-Mobile subscribers will get four percent Annual Percentage Yield (APY) on the savings up to $3,000 and above that, one percent flat APY.

To avail all of the features, the users should have valid T-Mobile ID and must deposit at least $200 each month to keep the account active. If the customers follow the minimum balance most of the times, then they can avail the overdraft option, which provides emergency $50 overdraft. The app allows the users to transfer money, make mobile check deposits, pay bills, send checks and also to make payment with third-party payment wallet apps like Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Not just these, but the customers get access to the T-Mobile Mastercard Debit card which can be used to make purchases and withdrawals at more than 55,000 ATM points.

The service is now made available on the official website for computer users, and the separate application is launched on Google Play Store and Apple App Store for Android and iOS devices respectively. Any resident of any of the 50 states in the country can start using this service. The customers will have to use the valid social security number and must have attained 18 years of age. The only catch here is the user must have an active T-Mobile connection to start using the service. As of now, it is available in the United States of America, but soon it will be made available in Puerto Rico.

Apple and Qualcomm were once the partners in business, but now they are not. With the disagreements on almost every topic, they do not have the best relationship as of now, as the battle between these two companies is now in the San Diego court. The global struggle of two tech giants is taking a wrong turn as the ball is in San Diego’s courts. A special hearing on the battle of Apple and Qualcomm is scheduled one week later, so the tensions between these two companies are at highest levels.

Both of the companies are fighting the war in three continents with prestigious legal teams. Next week, the federal court of San Diego will address the lawsuit filed by Apple and counterclaims by Qualcomm. As this is the high-profile lawsuit, the chief executives of the respective companies will share their stand in the courts. Whatever the result of this lawsuit is, the result is going to affect the smartphone market and ultimately the customers. According to the lawsuit filed by Apple and four other manufacturers from Asia, the companies have paid $9 billion in excess for royalties to Qualcomm. If we consider the antitrust claims, the amount will reach $27 billion in total.

Apple claimed that Qualcomm had charged excess of $3.1 billion for the patents that they have no rights. Also, the company is asking the refund of excess $3.1 billion that they have paid. Qualcomm has already lost the preliminary rulings, in which it is ruled that they should pay $1 billion to Apple. In return, Qualcomm is asking for $7.5 billion from Four other Asian companies in the unpaid royalties, and Apple, the amount would be double, $15 billion. Currently, Qualcomm is not in good form as they are under scrutiny from Chinese and South Korean government authorities for suspicious business practices.

Apple is facing the antitrust investigation in Europe over two of its services, Apple Music and Apple News respectively. The antitrust inquiry is initiated after receiving complaints that the company is preferring its apps and services instead of neutrally promoting the apps and services from other developers. The trust complaint currently included only two services from Apple, but might also include other services in coming days. Also, the complaint may be filed in the European courts for Google Play Store discrimination for other Google’s services and apps.

The Spotify has filed the antitrust complaint against Apple for preferring Apple Music over Spotify in the Apple App Store. After this complaint, The Netherlands’ Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM) will investigate Apple and will examine if the company is favouring its services on the App Store platform over the apps from other developers. It’s not just about the Apple Music, but a Dutch News app has filed the complaint which claimed the similar treatment for their app over Apple News. So, the Apple News and Apple Music are under scrutiny from the Netherlands’ Authority of Consumers and Markets.

According to the report published by ACM, the iOS ecosystem is so close, that there is no alternative for the App Store and that is bottlenecking the potential of the operating system and helping Apple to retain the Monopoly over its eco-system. Also, the 30% (first year) or 15% (renewal) commissions structure for Apple App Store developers might disrupt the competitive environment, ultimately favouring Apple’s Apps in the long run. According to the ACM, the number of complaints about the monopolistic practices of Apple is enough for launching a formal investigation since the company is doing it for a long time. This is not the first time Apple has been framed for following monopolistic practices, as many of the critics started objecting about Apple iTunes dominance from 2007.

Amazon will allow third-parties to create specialised apps to its employees to give a personalised touch. With this decision, the company will allow the use of voice skills of Alexa to the businesses for internal use, which will not be revealed to the world. This is the initiative taken under Alexa for Business to help multinational companies or big companies to create personalised commands and apps to automate the office environment. The participant members of the Alexa for Business program will receive the blueprints, which will allow the companies to personalise the commands and use them at the offices without needing to code a single line.

The business blueprints do have some very commonly asked questions related to the business. Most of them are very common like “What’s the Wifi password?”, “Turn on Conference Room Air Conditioning” and many others. The companies can use these blueprints as it is or even slightly modify them according to their needs. But the only catch here is that the company should be a part of Alexa for Business program. With these commands, the companies can program Alexa to broadcast pre-recorded messages to the customers or employees regularly.

This is another effort taken by Amazon to connect to the customer more efficiently and provide customizability. Last year, Amazon started providing blueprints to the individual customers to customise the user experience and create personalised commands for Alexa. As the customisation according to the usage pattern could take anywhere between two to three months, using the Blueprints to add new controls became more comfortable for the users. Thousands of users are using the templates as of now, and they are serving some real usage to the customers of Alexa, who use the voice assistant frequently.

Chances of getting toxic players while playing online multiplayer games is very high when you are queuing up as a solo player. This was the biggest problem in Overwatch game, but the developer Activision Blizzard has introduced the Endorsement system and Team queuing, which allowed them to reduce toxic matchmaking by up to 40%. Activision Blizzard’s Natasha Miller said that the toxic matchmaking reports are down by 40% after introduction of Endorsement systems. This is a positive sign, as the toxicity was one of the most significant problems for Overwatch players.

Most of the toxic players used slangs while playing, opposed the teammates and prematurely quit the game leaving others alone in the game. But, now with the endorsement system, all of these actions will affect the ratings of the player. The player with low scores would get other low rating players playing with them. Also, the high rating player will receive top rating player with or against him. Similar to the Matchmaking feature in Valve games like Counter Strike Global Offensive and DotA 2, the endorsement system works in similar ways. It’s been nine months since the introduction of the Endorsement system and other features, which operated positively for the game.

The overwatch is encouraging the players to team up with other friends and play together. This way, the rate of abandoning the match mid-game, toxic behaviour has been reduced, and the teamwork is getting perfect between the team of friends. Although not all of the toxic players are out of the game, the 40% decrease in toxicity is a great thing for the game. But, with this reduction, most of the players can now notice the differences in gameplay. Not just this, but the improvement in legit and calm players shows us how other game developers should implement the system to reduce toxicity and make the multiplayer gaming experience better.

The companies participated in GDC 2019 are showing us some incredible addition to its arsenal and the improvements to the current products. We‘ve seen Google and Intel sharing new products and also the upgrades. Now, Valve has come up with the updates with the Steam game library. Valve revealed a design overhaul to the Steam marketplace application for the computers. The game library and the friend’s section is completely changed and looks fantastic in the latest UI change. Valve’s Alden Kroll presented the demonstration of the Design Redesign.

The information-dense dashboard and the Library page will display all of the games that users can purchase, wishlist, downloaded and downloading games and also the games that the user has played recently. All of the games that a user owns are correctly categorized in the Library section. All of the action games, racing games, RPG games, and many others are sorted under the appropriate category. The new addition is the homepage for each steam user. The library section will be served as a homepage for each steam user. List of the games on left side panel, list of online friends on the right side and the top, the users will see the most recently played game.

The individual game page has also got the overhaul. With the page getting more information than ever, the users will be able to read the news and check out important rolled out updates from the same. For example, the homage for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive will show the information about the game and also load up the list of your friends playing the same, news from Counter-Strike blog, Play option, settings, and many other things. As of now, the design overhaul is in the alpha mode and will debut in Beta mode sometime later this year. We are very excited to try out the beta design overhaul as it looks completely refreshing.

Microsoft has officially launched the Windows Defender Anti-virus and Anti-malware software program for Macintosh computers. The company has renamed the Windows Defender to Microsoft Defender after porting the Windows software to Macintosh. Not all people get malware infections on MacOS computers, but its not rare thing. To help the MacOS users with virus and malware infections, the Microsoft Defender is going to help them to remove the infection. This is the new initiative from Microsoft to improve the presence of Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP), which is the platform for identifying and protecting the computers from threats. With the introduction of Microsoft Defender for Mac, the software program has now become cross-platform.

Just like any other Windows computer with Windows Defender pre-installed, the MacOS comes with inbuilt Antivirus and Antimalware. But, the security software is not capable of identifying most of the threats. That is why most of the Apple users opt for third-party antivirus and antimalware software program. Microsoft is targeting such people, and that’s why released the Microsoft defender with Defender Advanced Threat Protection (DATP) technology. With this software, corporate as well as Individual users will get full protection from virus and malware, notifications on quarantine and latest updates with antivirus definitions.

As the first preview of the Microsoft Defender is launched, it will only support the signature-based threat identification. But, Microsoft has promised to integrate ATP Cloud service, which will fetch the data from the cloud to identify the threats lying in the MacOS environment. The ATP cloud service automatically analyses if the ransomware or malware is modifying the system file without scanning the computer, and notify the system administrator to take appropriate action. Microsoft is quite serious about the Defender platform but didn’t share any information about the next platform to receive the defender. Most likely, it’s the Linux OS as it is the only remaining operating system environment with a good number of users.