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AfterDawn: News

Mozilla has released a major update to Firefox

Written by Matti Robinson @ 11 May 2018 11:35

Mozilla has released a major update to Firefox Mozilla has today announced a new version of their web browser, one which was once considered one of the greats. Firefox's new version number suggests that it might be one of the bigger updates in recent history.

Firefox v60 does bring some new features alongside more general updates to security, privacy, and obviously stability.

According to the company, though, the security and privacy aspects are one of the more important updates in this iteration. And many of you would probably agree in that these days it seems to be integral to provide strong protection against all ilks of privacy and security infractions.

There aren't a lot of eye candy in this update, and you won't see revamped UI either.

The new version will, however, include new features such as redesigned Cookies and Site Storage settings, Web Authentication API supporting USB tokens, enhancements to New Tab and Firefox Home, application of faster Quantum CSS engine, and improved camera privacy indicators.

You can read more about the update here.

You can download Firefox v60 from our download section or from Mozilla




AfterDawn: News

One of Windows' most long-standing issues was finally fixed

Written by Matti Robinson @ 10 May 2018 1:14

One of Windows' most long-standing issues was finally fixed Microsoft's own developer conference Build 2018 ended yesterday, and while there were a myriad of updates to different tools within Windows, one of the updates that had the crowd cheering the most had to do with the little text editor called Notepad.

For years and years, actually a total of 33 years, Windows Notepad has been a pain in the behind for developers, and there's really one reason for it. It doesn't support the Linux operating system's line feed, that is it doesn't recognize when line is changed in the text.

Since 1985, that is the first version of Windows, the Notepad has served all sorts of users for taking notes and obviously even coding. However, never has it played well with other types of line feeds, including the ones Linux text editors use.

This means that in the worst case you'll just have one endless line, and everyone knows, or can imagine, how frustrating that is to edit.

While this seems like a minor problem, as the Microsoft presenter below notes (no pun intended), it's often the little things that matter the most. And thus, after decades of frustration from developers, Microsoft has fixed the Notepad and it finally supports Linux line feed.

You'll find the new, fixed and improved, Notepad in the upcoming updates of Windows 10.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

WATCH: Google Assistant makes phone calls for users

Written by James Delahunty @ 08 May 2018 7:38

WATCH: Google Assistant makes phone calls for users Google Duplex enables Googles Assistant to make phone calls and book appointments, make reservations and more.

Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Google, said that it will launch as an experiment over the coming weeks. It will make phone calls in the background at the request of user's to book appointments, make reservations and more. To accomplish this task, the Google Assistant need to interact with humans over the phone and hold a seemingly natural conservation.

Pre-recorded demonstrations were shown at the Google IO conference today showing how natural the AI voice sounded, prompting some gasps from the audience. Rather than sounding robotic and artificial, the AI voice even uttered "um" and "um-humm" making the conversation appear natural.

At no point does the Assistant reveal itself as AI.

Here's a video showing the upcoming feature in action making an appointment for a haircut:

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Google reveals what a smarter Android P brings along

Written by Matti Robinson @ 08 May 2018 2:59

Google reveals what a smarter Android P brings along Google's annual I/O conference is at hand, and Sundar Pichai et al are talking in front of a crowd to reveal what new their upcoming Android operating has to offer. We already had an idea about a few of the updates, both major and minor, but now we have little more details.

Android P brings along updates that refresh the look and feel of Android, and even changes some major navigational elements. Google has decided to get rid of the app switcher button, but worry not, multitasking view hasn't been deleted. Now you access the multitasking view, which now shows cards horizontally, by swiping up from the home screen.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Some of the Android P secrets revealed: Bye-bye third button, welcome new battery saver options, ..

Written by Petteri Pyyny @ 08 May 2018 10:34

Some of the Android P secrets revealed: Bye-bye third button, welcome new battery saver options, .. Google's annual developer conference Google I/O is about to start soon. Google usually reveals most of the new features coming to its next Android version at this event.

However, this time around it seems that at least some of those secrets have been revealed already - by a Philippines-based Google+ user who has shared tons of screenshots of the upcoming Android P Developer Preview 2 operating system version.

Bye-bye app switcher button



Most obvious change that will come with Android P is the disappearance of the third navigation button. The app switcher button ("the square") will disappear and will be replaced by home button ("the circle") gestures.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

AfterDawn's own Android app updated: Night mode added, bugs fixed

Written by Petteri Pyyny @ 08 May 2018 7:34

AfterDawn's own Android app updated: Night mode added, bugs fixed AfterDawn's official Android app has been updated. The new version, v1.50, now has the most-requested new feature: night mode (aka dark theme) for those of us who like to read news when it is way past the bedtime.

New version also fixes bunch of various little bugs and should stabilize the app quite a lot.

Through our app, you can access our news archives to all the way back to the 1999 when our site was founded. And of course, the app is completely free - and it doesn't require any suspicious permissions or anything like that.

So, go ahead and give it a try:

AfterDawn's official Android app


Currently our app's rating is pretty decent 4.6/5.0 stars, so you guys seem to genuinely like it. If you have any ideas on how to improve, let us know.




AfterDawn: News

Single message will freeze your WhatsApp - or even your entire phone

Written by Petteri Pyyny @ 07 May 2018 4:18

Single message will freeze your WhatsApp - or even your entire phone There's a nasty, malicious WhatsApp message spreading across the World that can freeze WhatsApp - or even your entire phone.

One of these messages is masked as a challenge and reads "If you touch the black point then your whatsapp will hang" - and if you do touch the black spot, your WhatsApp does exactly what the message "promises" it will.

The other message says "This is very interesting" and has a cry/laugh emoji. Tapping that message will have similar consequences.

Why such messages crash WhatsApp?



The message itself might seem short, but in reality, it consists thousands and thousands of encoded character in it that are just hidden, as they're mostly text directionality symbols, instructing which way to output the text. Thus, opening up such message will simply cause a memory leak in WhatsApp - and in some cases, with your phone.

So, never trust weird WhatsApp messages from people you don't know about.




AfterDawn: News

Serious vulnerability found in 7-Zip - update now!

Written by Petteri Pyyny @ 04 May 2018 5:14

Serious vulnerability found in 7-Zip - update now! Center for Internet Security has found a serious vulnerability in popular open-source (de-)compression tool, 7-Zip.

The vulnerability allows execution of malicious code, access to computer's files and user profiles. Further details of the vulnerability are listed on Center for Internet Security's website.

The good news is that there's already an update available for 7-Zip that will patch the vulnerability. Versions v18.05 and above are safe and patched.

You can download the latest, patched version of 7-Zip from our download servers:

7-Zip (64-bit Windows)
7-Zip (32-bit Windows)

...or through /-Zip's homepage.




AfterDawn: News

Twitter: Change your password immediately! Over 300M accounts at risk

Written by Petteri Pyyny @ 04 May 2018 3:18

Twitter: Change your password immediately! Over 300M accounts at risk Twitter has found a bug in its systems that logged users' passwords in plain text format to its log files. As web services should never store passwords in human-readable format, but instead, use "hashed with salt" approach to store them, the finding is significant.

Now Twitter asks all its users to change their passwords as soon as possible. According to Twitter, there are no signs whatsoever that the passwords have actually leaked, but as such a possibility cannot be totally ruled out, it is recommended to change the passwords.

Obviously the problem is even worse if user uses the same email address / password combination on other services. Nowadays users are strongly urged to use unique passwords for all different services, but as people are lazy, it is still very common to use same login details across many services.

In such a case, one should change passwords on all such web sites and services.

We encourage users to use password managers - they'll recommend good passwords for you and will also remember all your passwords and keep them in strongly encrypted password lockers. One good (and free) such tool is KeePass.




AfterDawn: News

Samsung intros PRO Endurance SD cards suitable for intensive video tasks

Written by James Delahunty @ 03 May 2018 7:56

Samsung intros PRO Endurance SD cards suitable for intensive video tasks The new Samsung PRO Endurance microSDHC/microSDXC card is suitable for continuous recording application, supporting up to 43,800 hours of recordings.

The are suitable for surveillance cameras, security cameras, for body cameras and dash cameras (basically any task that requires long continuous recording), providing read speeds of up to 100MB/s and write speed up to 30MB/s.

Available in capacities of 32GB, 64GB and 128GB, the Samsung PRO Endurance are built to withstand harsh environments and features Samsung's 4-Proof protection, making them water, temperature, magnetic and x-ray-proof.

The PRO Endurance memory cards are now available for purchase with manufacturer's suggested retail prices starting at $89.99 for 128GB, $44.99 for 64GB and $24.99 for 32GB.

The 128GB card comes with a new industry-leading limited warranty of five years (three years for 64GB, two years for 32GB).




AfterDawn: News

WATCH: Rockstar drops latest Red Dead Redemption 2 trailer

Written by James Delahunty @ 03 May 2018 6:53

WATCH: Rockstar drops latest Red Dead Redemption 2 trailer Rockstar Games is whetting our appetite again with the release of the third official trailer for Red Dead Redemption 2, coming later this year.

The game follows the exploits of the Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde gang as they flee the law following a botched robbery in the western town of Blackwater. Federal officers and skilled bounty hunters are in pursuit as the gang rob, steal and fight their way across the heartland of America.

During the turmoil, Arthur must decide between his own ideals and his loyalty to the gang as growing divisions among the members threaten their survival.

Red Dead Redemption 2 has been dated for release on October 26, for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. PC Gamers unfortunately are still in the dark on plans (if any) to release it on their platform.

Here's the trailer:

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

PlayStation 2 classics come to PS Now

Written by James Delahunty @ 02 May 2018 8:14

PlayStation 2 classics come to PS Now Sony's cloud-gaming PSN platform has its first batch of PlayStation 2 classic titles.

Most of us who owned a PlayStaion 2 during that generation of gaming consoles tend to remember it fondly. Of course, it had very limited network abilities later in its life cycle compared to the typically always-connected consoles we have now. Even it's major rival - Microsoft's original Xbox - arrived later with several advantages over it, and of course the graphics are what you'd expect from two generations ago. All that considered, the PS2 still was fun and had a lot of excellent games to choose from.

Those who had a PS2 and now have a PS4 and PS Now subscription will be happy to know that PS2 classics will be rolling out on the service to compliment the 650+ titles available.

Initially, PS Now will offer the following PS2 titles:

  • Ape Escape 2
  • Dark Cloud 2
  • Hot Shots Tennis
  • Limbo
  • Metal Slug 3
  • Mystery Chronicle: One Way Heroics
  • Sine Mora EX
  • Siren
  • The Last Blade 2

Here is Ape Escape 2 running on PS Now.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

WhatsApp to get group video calls soon

Written by James Delahunty @ 02 May 2018 6:58

WhatsApp to get group video calls soon It has been revealed that WhatsApp will soon have a coveted group video calls feature at the Facebook Developer Conference (F8 2018) in San Jose.

Having had video chat available for users of WhatsApp for a couple of years now, the absence of a group video calls feature has been noticed. It is particularly puzzling given that WhatsApp's Groups are very popular and a key strength of its service. For those who wanted to turn their Group communication to video, they would need to switch to another service.

At F8 2018, Mubarik Imam, head of growth and partnerships for WhatsApp, revealed that WhatsApp will have Group video calls within a few months time. WhatsApp will also get Stickers soon.

Not much was revealed about Group video calls except that from the images shown it appears to support at least four participants.




AfterDawn: News

Nintendo Switch being investigated for alleged patent infringement

Written by James Delahunty @ 02 May 2018 6:45

Nintendo Switch being investigated for alleged patent infringement The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has opened an investigation into Nintendo over alleged patent infringement following a complaint from Gamevice.

Gamevice manufactures the Wikipad and a selection of snap-on controllers for mobile gaming devices. It sued Nintendo last year for alleged patent infringement, but the lawsuit was later dropped. However, the U.S. International Trade Commission is investigating Nintendo's Swtich after a complaint from Gamevice.

The Wikipad manufacturer is requesting a cease and desist order against Nintendo to block the import of Swtich hardware into the United States.

According to the ITC website, the body has made no ruling on the validity of the complaint and will conduct an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Nintendo is in violation of the Tariff Act of 1930.

"The complaint alleges violations of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 in the importation into the United States and sale of certain portable gaming console systems with attachable handheld controllers and components thereof that infringe patents asserted by the complainant," the ITC press release reads.

"The complainant requests that the USITC issue a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders."

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Windows 10 gets an update with new Timeline feature

Written by Matti Robinson @ 28 Apr 2018 12:03

Windows 10 gets an update with new Timeline feature Microsoft has revealed that they are releasing the next update for Windows 10 soon. In fact, the update simply called April 2018 update is available starting on Monday, the last day of April.

Obviously the update comes with loads of smaller bugfixes and optimizations but there's also one big, entirely new feature. Microsoft calls the new feature Timeline, and according to the company it "helps you easily find what matters to you across your devices".

You might ask what does this exactly mean? Well, with Timeline, you can go back up to 30 days to find whatever you are looking for. The feature lists the files and other content you've been using in the past month by activity.

It also allows catching up to your work on the go whether you are using and iOS or Android device, as long as you use Microsoft Edge or Office 365.

Other major changes include a mute tab option in Edge browser as well as Focus Assist feature that allows you to silence social media and other notifications while you are trying to be productive.

There's also an improved Dictation feature that works with any text field within Windows 10 or any app.

You can read more about the update here.

Read more...



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