Software & Apps News - Page 73

Microsoft is working on a new all-cloud operating system, something unearthed by Brad Sams on Thurrott, with the new OS referred to as Windows Cloud.

Windows Cloud looks identical to Windows 10, except that it works completely differently - as it is capable of running UWP apps only. This means that non-UWP apps do not work at all, and an error message will display that says 'The app you're trying to run isn't designed for this version of Windows'.

Inside, the new all-cloud OS is going to be an interesting future for Microsoft - as it will be exclusive to UWP applications. Sams got Windows Cloud from a "third-party and not directly from Microsoft" - adding that it "is possible that this is a hacked together build but we won't know until we get our hands-on an official release".

The push into the cloud is taking more shape, with Google teasing the future with their announcement of the testing of Instant Apps - a feature that will run select Android apps, without needing to install them.

Google makes Instant Apps work by being a smaller version of their native Android apps that run as soon as you tap their URL, without an installation. Once you've closed the app, it will disappear from your phone with no memory of icons on your desktop, but stays in your phone cache for a few hours if you open the link again.

A few applications work with Instant Apps, including Buzzfeed, Wish, Periscope, and Viki. Google Play software engineer Aurash Mahbod explains: "By collecting user feedback and iterating on the product, we'll be able to expand the experience to more apps and more users".

Microsoft has been making some very stupid changes to Windows 10, with their latest update breaking triple-monitor gaming for both AMD and NVIDIA gamers.

Their latest update doesn't sound so bad, with the latest builds of Windows 10 including something the company called Dynamic Lock - which Microsoft reportedly refers to as "Windows Goodbye" internally, reports Windows Central. Microsoft uses special Windows Hello-capable cameras that let Windows 10 owners log into their PCs with facial recognition.

Instead of quickly locking your PC with pressing the Windows key and 'L' at the same time, the new Dynamic Lock will do it automatically - at least for some users. We don't yet know how Microsoft will know that users have walked away from their PCs, but they could leverage their Windows Hello feature - by using the camera to constantly detect your face in front of the PC, and when you walk away it would lock it.

Microsoft has just released its new Cumulative Update for Windows 10 (KB3213986) which has broken multi-screen gaming, with the company noting that there are "known issues".

This means gamers that are running triple-display setups with AMD EyeFinity and NVIDIA Surround Sound will experiencing stuttering or clipped screens when running a game, but it should be fine in 2D applications. There's a workaround for this issue, with Microsoft adding that gamers can run their 3D apps in non-fullscreen mode - either in window-maximized, or just windowed modes.

But it gets better. Microsoft suggests that gamers disconnect their other displays, leaving just a single display connected to the PC for the game to work. Because, you know - that's why you spend thousands of dollars for the bleeding edge of high-end gaming, to disconnect those expensive LCDs.

CyanogenMod is shutting down, bringing an end to an era of Android operating system goodness. For those who don't know what or who CyanogenMod is, it's an aftermarket custom ROM that had everything Android had to offer, but some great improvements and tweaks.

Unfortunately, the company has been going through troubles - with its CEO being booted, its original founder leaving, and different choices that have led CyanogenMod to close down on December 31, 2016. The company explains: "As part of the ongoing consolidation of Cyanogen, all services and Cyanogen-supported nightly builds will be discontinued no later than 12/31/16. The open source project and source code will remain available for anyone who wants to build CyanogenMod personally".

Keeping the OS in open source is a nice touch, so developers can grab the latest version of CyanogenMod code, and keep developing it personally if they wanted to. Nothing much from there, which is sad to see over the holidays.

Just last week, Facebook introduced a new camera feature in their Messenger that lets you add special effects and art on your photos and videos. Now, they have launched another feature - Group Video Chat in Messenger.

Group Video Chat is rolling out to Android and iOS devices and the desktop version of Messenger, worldwide.

You can see up to six people at a time, but up to 50 people can join in and choose just to listen in and join via voice, or be on camera. Once more than six people are on the call, just the dominant speaker is shown to all participants.

Your music preference is your thing; there is no reason to debate the music taste. So, whether you like it or not - Drake made history with his song 'One Dance'.

Billboard announced that Drake became the first artist to reach one billion plays on Spotify for a single track with his song 'One Dance'. The Canadian singer also dominated Apple Music's year-end charts.

The 'One Dance' track was released in April, and it became the most streamed song ever on Spotify.

Instagram recently added a new feature Stories, which is a clear copy of Snapchat. Now, Facebook introduced a new camera feature in their Messenger that lets you add special effects and art on your photos and videos. Sounds familiar?

On their official blog, Facebook says that users send over 2.5 billion emojis, photos, stickers and videos every day on Messenger, and they expressed hope that this new feature will enable even more visual messaging.

In some ways the camera is now replacing the keyboard. As more people use Messenger in their everyday lives, we wanted to make it faster, simpler and more fun to send photos and videos - so we built the new Messenger camera.

Back in October, Facebook launched a standalone app for events. Initially, the app was available only for iOS users, but Facebook has now released it for Android users as well and you can get it on Play Store.

Facebook events app is perfect for users who like to have a better overview of their upcoming events, but Facebook doesn't require you to download the app to be able to use Events in your Facebook app, at least not for now.

When you open Events, you can see the events your Facebook friends are interested in, recently-announced events by the pages you like, and updates from events you're already connected to. You can also browse events based on your interests or location. Events app features an interactive map that will help you browse trough the events easier, something that the Events feature in Facebook's main app doesn't have. Facebook also added a calendar in the app so you can keep track of the events you are attending.

Apple's iOS 10, launched back in September, was mainly praised, but with the recent release of the 10.1.1 update, many users reported issues with battery life. The main point of the 10.1.1 update was to fix some of the camera issues that users were experiencing with the new iPhone 7 Plus dual camera.

The iPhone users who installed 10.1.1 update are reporting that the battery life of their devices lasts much shorter and even that their phones are shutting down with at least 30-50% charge left.