Software & Apps News - Page 63

The latest and most important Software & Apps news - Page 63.

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Apple changes App Store guidelines, template apps available

Jak Connor | Dec 22, 2017 3:47 AM CST

Apple has announced today that they have revised the old guidelines of the App Store and have amended the policy of not being able to post template created apps. Earlier this year the company changed their guidelines to not allowing template created apps on the App store, soon after Apple realized that their effort of trying to prevent low-quality apps and spam affected more people than intended.

Apple changes App Store guidelines, template apps available

Apple's policy change of not allowing template based apps on the App Store meant that custom apps would have to be made to fit the companies guidelines. Small businesses, restaurants, nonprofits, organizations and clubs suffered from this new rule as most people don't have the funds to create custom apps or don't have any prior knowledge in app development.

Apple has revised the previous guidelines and reversed the standard to allow for templates to be used it but it has come with a catch. Instead of having middleman app developers publishing small businesses Apple requires "Apps created from a commercialized template or app generation service will be rejected unless they are submitted directly by the provider of the app's content."

Continue reading: Apple changes App Store guidelines, template apps available (full post)

Chrome will acquire a built-in ad blocker from Google

Jak Connor | Dec 20, 2017 5:14 AM CST

Google is set out to rid the annoying ads from its web service, upgrading Google Chrome with a new built-in ad blocker which will be designed to remove any annoying ads that ruin Chrome's web experience.

Chrome will acquire a built-in ad blocker from Google

This new built-in ad blocker will not be blocking all ads across the internet but will instead mainly concentrate on the ones that are super-annoying which is any that are influencing the users experience. What is good to know though is that if the website has a intrusive amount of ads the new ad blocker will instead of blocking just a few, it will remove all ads on the site even if the other ones meet the required standard.

Google assures owners of websites that it has been working very closely with publishers to ensure that the new feature is agreed upon before going live. Google also hopes that since Chrome will have it's own built-in ad blocker that people will stop using third-party software to block ads.

Continue reading: Chrome will acquire a built-in ad blocker from Google (full post)

Reddit will have its content integrated into Bing

Jak Connor | Dec 15, 2017 2:48 AM CST

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has announced at an AI event that Reddit will be partnering with Microsoft to create AI tools which will integrate Reddit's content into searches on Bing.

Reddit will have its content integrated into Bing

This new integration is a combined goal to develop a feature that is called Intelligent Search, the feature is designed to make the user of Bing feel more at home with the browser by answering questions quickly and promptly.

Intelligent Search will take the comprehensive information regarding your search question and compile all information into one refined answer, the source name for a answer is labeled "Consolidated from multiple sources."

Continue reading: Reddit will have its content integrated into Bing (full post)

Twitch is now featured as an Alexa Echo Skill

Jak Connor | Dec 14, 2017 4:36 AM CST

Amazon has officially launched a Alexa skill that will allow for users of Alexa to control Twitch using their voice. This new Alexa skill has numerous uses such as asking for specific channel activity and a list of popular game being viewed.

Twitch is now featured as an Alexa Echo Skill

This is not a surprise for Amazon to integrate Twitch into their Alexa skills as Amazon own Twitch, buying the streaming giant back in 2014 for $1 billion. The Twitch Alexa skill is designed to complement gamers that use Twitch regularly, Twitch has done this by giving users the option to enable notifications of their favorite channels going live.

Twitch has provided a full list of the features that their Alexa skill will include, they can be found below.

Continue reading: Twitch is now featured as an Alexa Echo Skill (full post)

Amazon launches full service in Australia

Jak Connor | Dec 5, 2017 3:36 AM CST

Amazon have been planning on their full release in Australia for quite some time now and while local retailers have been preparing for the American retailer super-giant their time has run out, Amazon is fully open and operational. The plan of becoming open for business just before Christmas seems to of gone right ahead as Amazon have already been selling Kindle e-reader devices and audio books.

Amazon launches full service in Australia

Now that the American retailer has been fully activated in Australia there is suspicion to what Amazon's game plan might be, known for sacrificing profits on sales through extremely low prices just to greater it's presence is something that would put local retailers under a huge threat. Australia is already home to many technology retail giants such as Harvey Norman, JB Hi Fi and The Good Guys, all of which are expected to take a considerable hit to their profits once Amazon becomes the social norm for purchasing technology upgrades or gifts.

Morgan Stanely analysts have warned that Kmart and Targets parent company Wesfarmers could take a huge loss of $400m in annual earnings by 2026. Wesfarmers may be afraid of the huge American retailer but Harvey Norman owner and director Gerry Harvey is quite the opposite, saying that him and his company are here and ready to take Amazon on if they have fair pricing.

Continue reading: Amazon launches full service in Australia (full post)

Windows 10 is now on over 600 million devices

Anthony Garreffa | Nov 29, 2017 9:33 PM CST

It was only earlier this year that Microsoft boasted that there were over 500 million devices powered by Windows 10, but six months later the Redmond-based giant has added another 100 million users bringing the total to a whopping 600 million.

Windows 10 is now on over 600 million devices

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced the new figures during Microsoft's annual shareholders meeting today, missing the mark that they planned on reaching by 2018. Originally, Microsoft expected to have Windows 10 running on 1 billion devices, but is now 400 million - or 40%, short of that number.

The Verge report that Microsoft revised its numbers for Windows 10 installations, targeting 550 million active Windows 10 devices by the end of June, and 575 million by the end of September. This means reaching 600 million by the end of November is falling into line, but will there ever be 1 billion Windows 10 devices? If so, it won't be in 2018 at this rate.

Continue reading: Windows 10 is now on over 600 million devices (full post)

Discord introduces Verified Servers

Shaun Grimley | Oct 16, 2017 4:44 AM CDT

Discord have recently announce that their free VoIP application will include Verified Servers. Verified Servers allows for game developers and publishers to help promote their product, distrubtion of official news, showcase their server in-game, custom branding for discord.gg link and other methods of expanding the game's community.

Discord introduces Verified Servers

Discord Verified Servers will be indicated via a checkbox next to the game server name, similar to how Twitch indicate their verified accounts. The verification process is fairly straight forward- a server must be owned and moderated by the game developer or publisher that meets Discord's requirements, and follow Discord's community guidelines that includes enabling explicit content filter to remove illegal or malicious content.

The advantages of Discord's Verified Servers is obvious but it remains to be seen how many developers will take advantage of the program other than for social interaction.

Continue reading: Discord introduces Verified Servers (full post)

Windows 10 data collection breaks Dutch privacy laws

Anthony Garreffa | Oct 15, 2017 6:10 PM CDT

We all know Windows 10 sucks all of our data and sends it to the Illuminati, but now Microsoft is facing a growing threat from the Netherlands' Data Protection Authority, where Windows 10 violates the country's data protection law.

Windows 10 data collection breaks Dutch privacy laws

This is even after the changes Microsoft made to Windows 10 with the Creators Update, but Microsoft doesn't "clearly inform" users of the type of data that they're collecting, and the reason why they need it. Officials think that Windows' default settings stop users from truly consenting to the data collection, which is a really big problem.

The DPA has said that during the installation process, Windows 10 defaults to full data sharing, encouraging you to accept those terms. Accepting these terms doesn't mean you gave permission, says the Data Protection Authority. The regulator has also said that the Creators Update didn't honor some users' previous privacy settings, and that Microsoft doesn't make it clear that their Edge browser is continuously sucking down all of your app and browsing data when you've got the default privacy settings enabled.

Continue reading: Windows 10 data collection breaks Dutch privacy laws (full post)

AMD release Radeon Software Crimson ReLive 17.10.1

Shaun Grimley | Oct 11, 2017 7:16 AM CDT

AMD have today released released Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition 17.10.1 drivers. These beta drivers add optimizations for upcoming releases such Middle-Earth: Shadows of War and The Evil Within 2, including Radeon Chill support for both releases.

AMD release Radeon Software Crimson ReLive 17.10.1

The drivers also include fixes for some common issues including where bezel compensation in mixed-mode cannot be applied using Eyefinity setups and rare flickering for DiRT 4 with certain multi-GPU configurations. AMD have updated the common issues to include two new concerns- freeze/crash when using Windows 7 and upgrading Radeon Software with multi-GPU Vega configurations and corrupted graphics on certain HDR displays in Forza Motorsport 7 when HDR is enabled in-game.

You can view the official release notes here and upgrade your drivers here

Continue reading: AMD release Radeon Software Crimson ReLive 17.10.1 (full post)

AOL Instant Messenger to shut down on December 15

Shaun Grimley | Oct 9, 2017 3:26 AM CDT

Remember when you'd log on to the internet with your 56k modem, wait patiently for AIM start-up and log in? There's probably some people who do (hopefully without the 56k modem). Unfortunately Verizon, owner of AOL, have announced that on December 15, the long-running instant messenger service will be shut down.

AOL Instant Messenger to shut down on December 15

"AIM tapped into new digital technologies and ignited a cultural shift, but the way in which we communicate with each other has profoundly changed," writes Michael Albers, communications products VP at Oath.

AIM is one of the last 90's IM services to shut down, with MSN Messenger shutting down in 2014 and Yahoo Messenger pulling the plug last year. The social landscape has changed towards social media and social apps over the past 15 years, with the introduction of Smartphones we've seen Facebook, Snapchat and Skype revolutionising the digital social scene.

Continue reading: AOL Instant Messenger to shut down on December 15 (full post)