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Following an apparent leak of Cortana for the Android platform, Microsoft released comment indicating that it is in fact testing its digital assistant for the Google platform, and will cut it live in short order.

The full quote is as follows:

In the spirit of the Windows Insider Program, we’re testing the Cortana for Android beta with a limited number of users in the U.S. and China before releasing the beta publicly in the next few weeks.

So all that cross-platform talk wasn’t a charade. Expect Cortana to land on Android and, later, iOS.

Cortana is a key component of Windows 10, competing head-to-head with Google’s Now service, and Apple’s Siri tool. Each works to accept voice input from users, converting it into actions, reminders, searches and the like. All three are nascent, but promising. In the ever-glorious platform wars, we’ve broached another front.

Microsoft’s comment that the code will drop inside the next month is notable, as that is roughly in keeping with the launch date of Windows 10 itself, where Cortana has most recently found a new home; the software firm has worked to integrate Cortana across its various Windows brand endpoints.

It will be controversial among the Windows faithful that something built originally for them will find beachhead on rival platforms — if you share all that is unique, are you still a special butterfly? But as we’ve argued at TechCrunch recently, Microsoft is pursuing a two-prong mobile strategy, including endless work to build out its own mobile platform, while also ensuring that it finds home via apps on the two other key on-the-go operating systems.

So, Cortana for Android. Not surprising, but still interesting.

Microsoft intends to update its software. That it said it would update. That it said it would update on a continuous basis. Because it’s trying to build and release Windows 10 as a service. So it’s going to push new code.

LOSE YOUR SHIT.

Kidding. But really, I’m slightly confused. I had to spend the morning on trains to meet an unelected political official, so I’m late to this, but I couldn’t make the following up if I tried:






New terms in Windows 10, as the aforelinked post notes, include the following:

The Software periodically checks for system and app updates, and downloads and installs them for you.

You may obtain updates only from Microsoft or authorised sources, and Microsoft may need to update your system to provide you with those updates.

By accepting this agreement, you agree to receive these types of automatic updates without any additional notice.

This should surprise absolutely no one. Microsoft cannot push updates to enterprise-level customers, as they are tetchy bastards who wish Windows XP still worked. Microsoft can and will push updates to consumers to ensure that their operating system is secure, and full of the latest doodads that it hopes will grow the userbase of its services.

When the company dropped the most recent build of Windows 10, it said the following:

This is going to be an exciting couple of weeks, but it is also only the beginning.Windows as a service means that we’ll continue to keep Windows up to date with improvements and features, and our Windows Insider Program will continue so you can get early builds and share your feedback with us.

So, there’s that.

And I don’t think that we have to be too worried about Big Windows taking down our PCs with updates, since we’ve seen how the company has comported itself thus far in the Windows 10 saga. Have the new versions of Windows 10 been horrific debacles, fraught with bugs and generally lessening code quality?

Not really. Keep in mind that this is not iTunes that we are talking about.

Beefed up and slimmed down, the new 1TB PlayStation 4 Ultimate Player Edition (UPE) is scheduled to arrive in Japan before this month concludes and then launch in the UK in the middle of July, Sony announced on Sunday.

The revised console, bearing twice the storage capacity of its predecessor, will arrive in the U.S. somewhere inside of the two weeks that follow its July 15 launch in the UK.

Along with doubling the storage capacity of the original PlayStation 4, the Ultimate Player Edition of the console is about 10 percent lighter and consumes about 8 percent less power.


Costs and Cuts

The lighter, roomier PlayStation 4 UPE, with its sleeker chassis, serves as Sony's answer to the 1TB edition of Microsoft's 2015 model year Xbox console, which rolled out earlier this month. With the launch of the 1TB version of its latest console, Microsoft slashed the MSRP of the original Xbox One to US$349.

Sony hasn't offered any pricing details for the original or UPE PlayStation 4, deferring to local retailers, which affects the "competitive situation with Xbox one," according to George T. Chronis, director of Qualitative Analysis at DFC Intelligence.
"At face value, double the storage is very welcome as more console consumers embrace digital title purchases," he told TechNewsWorld.

Price cuts and game bundles typically have been the leading competitive strategies for Microsoft's XBox One.

"If both consoles are priced the same, will consumers choose the Xbox One instead? That has not been the case so far," Chronis said. " Halo 5 is the kind of title that can add significant value to the Xbox One -- but is that enough?

Anything You Can Do...

The Ultimate Player Edition of the PlayStation 4 effectively levels the playing field between the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, noted Matt Woodley, a partner at Tenshi Partners.

"We don't know the commercial details yet, so this can only be seen as positive move," he told TechNewsWorld.

It's always nice to see refined versions of consoles, with minor improvements and sleeker form factors. The purchase of either console, however, will be based on price, content, brand loyalty, user experience and functionality, said Woodley.

The "important thing is that the functionality is proven to work for gamers and developers, so there is no need to change other aspects right now," he pointed out. "The memory is enough. It is keeping the console fresh and cutting-edge."

Future War

When the Ultimate Player Edition of the PlayStation 4 begins to roll out, some of the original early adopters of Sony's eighth-generation console likely will begin listing their older hardware on eBay, said Woodley -- and that's just another segment in a loop that looks like it will continue to spin forward towards the end of this console cycle.

"The 1TB console will, though, likely become the standard size within a year -- so don't be surprised if we see a 2TB one this time next year," Woodley added. "Expect this machine to be the one pushed to the mass market this holiday season with promotional callouts to the benefits of the space for movies -- as well, of course, as for games."

BlackBerry could be considering equipping an upcoming smartphone with Google's Android operating system, Reuters reported last week. The move would be consistent with BlackBerry's strategy to focus on software and device management instead of handsets.

Such a pivot would take the company away from its current strategy to regain lost market share with a new generation of BlackBerry smartphones. The launch of BlackBerry 10 devices failed to reverse the tide for the once-dominant smartphone maker, whose market share has fallen to just 1 percent.

BlackBerry has not publicly responded to the rumor, except to say that it remains committed to the BlackBerry 10 operating system, which it touted for its security and productivity benefits.

At the Mobile World Congress held earlier this year in Barcelona, BlackBerry unveiled a slider device to be released later this year. The Leap combines a touchscreen with a physical keyboard, which could appeal to some BlackBerry faithful.

However, if this device should be the rumored Android handset, it could be aimed at a broader category of users who prefer a physical keyboard in the touchscreen-dominated Android market.

BES 12 to Save the Day?

BlackBerry previously pegged its hopes on the BlackBerry 10 operating system introduced in early 2013. Although it was well received by reviewers, the devices running the operating system haven't fared well against Android and iOS devices.

It now appears that BlackBerry CEO John Chen is gambling on the new device management system, BES12, to brighten the company's future. It allows corporate and government clients to manage not only BlackBerry devices on internal networks, but also devices running Android, iOS and Microsoft's Windows Phone OS.

By going one step further and introducing a device that runs on Android, BlackBerry could be aiming to prove that BES12 can manage smartphones and tablets powered by rival operating systems while providing greater security.

"This could open the door for more devices that run BES12, and at the same this could allow users to get Android apps on a BlackBerry device," said Ramon Llamas, research manager for wearables and mobile phones at IDC.

"BlackBerry 10 will still have its core users," he told the E-Commerce Times, but "this also shows that the focus for BlackBerry is on software."

That is apparent by the number of recent acquisitions the company has made in the past year, Llamas added.

"Their devices aren't falling by the wayside, and hardware isn't something that BlackBerry is de-emphasizing, but it is clear that software is going to be a bigger part of the company's business," he suggested.

"While BlackBerry 10 is an excellent operating system, it simply does not have the scale and developer support to succeed in the global market against iOS and Android," said Daniel Gleeson, senior analyst for mobile devices and networks at IHS.

"BlackBerry is a fraction of the size of Google or Apple, and the costs of maintaining the BlackBerry 10 software weigh heavily on the company's bottom line," he told the E-Commerce Times. "If BlackBerry does manage to transition 'the BlackBerry experience' to an Android phone successfully, it is high likely it will cease development of BlackBerry 10."

The Move to Android

By moving to Android, BlackBerry might regain some handset business -- but it is unlikely that it could recapture anywhere near the market share it had even five years ago.

Instead, "BlackBerry is clearly now on track to become an enterprise software and services company first, with its devices playing a minor role," observed Gleeson.

"A move to Android is too late to save BlackBerry's mass market ambitions," he noted. "BlackBerry had built a strong position in several emerging markets on the back of its messaging service BBM, but the advent of WhatsApp and other messaging apps removed its key selling point."

Too Many Operating Systems

History also has suggested that mobile phone makers who have tried to develop for multiple operating systems tend to increase their woes.

"I'm very wary of any company that tries a multiple OS strategy," said Llamas.

"This just means there are more resources to manage, and security is another is another issue," he added. "Past attempts have shown that multiple OS is not the way to go. Palm tried with Palm, Windows and webOS; Nokia had Symbian and Windows -- and it didn't help either company. So Android may not be the solution for BlackBerry."

Apple on Thursday released to consumers a preview of the latest versions of its mobile and desktop operating systems -- iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan -- which contain a number of new features, including a revamped two-factor authentication scheme.

The latest release of iOS also contains two new smart folders. One automatically collects any photos captured with the front-facing camera in an iOS device -- which typically is used for selfies -- and the other aggregates any images used for screen shots.

Other new features in beta three of iOS 9:

a setting to enhance the quality of streaming over cellular networks;
display of Siri search results with a down swipe;
display of more apps per folder on an iPad; and
the debut of a News app. When the app is launched, you can select a number of content sources. News from those sources will be displayed on a News Screen.
"Apple is not only expanding functionality in iOS, but also adding significant capabilities," said Brian Blau, a research director at Gartner.

"While these preview features are't final," he told TechNewsWorld, "it's good to see that Apple continues to advance their platform to give users more robust access to content, such as with improved streaming quality, and security through two-factor authentication."

Apple Polishes Security

Two-factor authentication typically requires the user to acquire a code either by text message, phone call or email when trying to log into an account from a new device.

Apple's new authentication method will be an improvement over it's existing two-factor verification method, which is less than elegant. With the new system, an Apple ID won't be sufficient to log on to an Apple service from a new device or browser. Users also will need to authenticate their identity with a password and six-digit verification code.









For those who have an Apple device that's already been verified and is running the latest versions of Apple's operating systems, the code automatically will be displayed on that screen. If an Apple device isn't close by, the user can receive the code through a text message or phone call.



After a device has been authenticated, the user won't need an authentication code again unless the device data is wiped, passwords are changed, or the device is removed from the user's approved device list.

A browser can be treated like a device; once a browser is authorized to access an account, the user won't need to obtain a code for subsequent log-ins.

Unlike Apple's existing authentication system, the new one is built into iOS 9 and El Capitan. That allowed Apple to streamline the process and perhaps entice more people to use the security measure.

The new system also gets rid of the 14-character code deployed by the existing scheme, which was difficult to remember for most users, but did come in handy if a password was forgotten and access to an account needed to be regained.

Surprises to Come?

New features for the iPad show that while many tablet makers have embraced the idea of slates as primarily content consumption devices, Apple continues to press the idea that its tablets are content-creation machines.

Features such as multitasking and split-screen view on an iPad Air 2 are all "developments that relate to the use of the iPad as a full-featured computing device," noted Charles Golvin, chief analyst at Abelian Research.

"As is often the case with Apple, many of the features they introduce as 'new' are, in actuality, closing or overcoming gaps between Apple's and competitors's current products," he added.

"In these releases, I would point to the natural language search in Spotlight, the proactivity that Google Now introduced, and the long-missing transit option in Maps that Nokia Here premiered several years ago," Golvin told TechNewsWorld.

"Still missing from Maps," he said, "is the cycling option that Google has offered for some time."

Whenever Apple releases a new beta of its operating systems, the code often is scrutinized for clues to features in future hardware products.

"That can delude people into thinking what's in the release is all that Apple has," said IHS Senior Director Ian Fogg.

"If the new hardware needs new software support, we won't learn about that until a new iPhone model is unveiled," he told TechNewsWorld.

"You have to be very careful when you look at these beaters," he added, "because they don't tell you everything that may be coming. I suspect that there will be software changes that we won't see for the first time until the next iPhone is out there."

SOURCE: TECHNEWSWORLD

Uninstalling Google's Photos app doesn't turn off backup sync, meaning photos taken with Android devices could be saved to the company's cloud storage, even if the user doesn't intend to store them there, Google acknowledged on Tuesday.

The issue came to light last week, when a BizJournals editor reported finding hundreds of family photos he had deleted from his phone stored in Google Photos -- even though he had uninstalled the Google Photos app.

"Some users have uninstalled the Photos app on Android without realizing backup as an Android service is still enabled," Google said in a statement provided to TechNewsWorld by spokesperson Katie Watson. "This is something we are committed to resolving. We are working to make the messaging clearer as well as provide users who uninstall the Photos app an easy way to also disable backup."

Right now, users wanting to shut off backup sync will have to do so manually. To shut down the pipeline between an Android phone and a Google cloud account, users will have to select the Google Photos option from the Google Settings menu and then toggle the "Backup" slider to the "Off" position.
The wide open back door leading from Android to Google Cloud was discovered by David Arnott, an assistant news editor at BizJournals.

Arnott had been was mulling replacements for the Flickr app, so he gave Google's Photos app a try for a few days. He then removed the app, but backup sync just kept on syncing and sharing without his knowledge.

More than a month later, he decided to check out Google Photos one more time and reinstalled the app. Arnott was stunned to find that hundreds of photos he'd taken of family members during the interim had been uploaded and sorted via the company's facial recognition tech.

While no one other than Arnott had access to the cloud-stored images, he was angry that Google had access to the pictures and potentially could use them in its data mining efforts. He found a response from a Google spokesperson disheartening, to say the least.

The backup worked as intended, Arnott was told.

Evil or Nah?

This issue with backup sync seems, at worst, little more than improper communication on the part of Google, said Daniel Castro, a vice president at the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation.

"This seems fairly innocuous," he told TechNewsWorld. "Google said it is going to improve its messaging to users to clear up this confusion, so it seems reasonable to take it at its word that this was just a miscommunication."

Google may be ahead of its time on myriad innovations, and its desire to track the footsteps of users online and offline has led many to mistrust the company.

Fears over Google's backup sync and the features shutoff valve may be an extension of anxieties associated with prompts requesting GPS location data or the sharing of search history to improve the experience of this app or that one.

Those worries are valid, but so is the tech, Castro observed. "I suspect there is at least one user out there who would be happy to discover photos on a lost or stolen phone are still safely backed up."

Source: TECHNEWSWORLD