You don’t hear the words “industrial espionage” get tossed around too liberally at a show like CES. But Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan invoked them yesterday in a post about a pair of the company’s crazy new laptop prototypes that apparently flew the coop from its booth, at the tail end of the event on Sunday afternoon.
Tan said in a Facebook post that Razer has been working with CES and law enforcement officials to find out how the pair of Project Valerie models vanished from the show floor,
The Valerie is one of the more ambitious pieces of hardware from the company, bringing a trio of 17.3-inch 4K displays to the laptop for a more immersive gaming experience. It was an impressive showing that helped make Razer one of the focal points of the Vegas event.
We reached out to the company to ask how someone could have walked off with not one, but two, of the high-profile products, given the level of security at an event like this. Razer didn’t respond to that question directly, but did reach out with the promise of a fairly large reward for information on the theft.
Here’s the response, in part,
The company added that, thankfully, that those were not the sole two prototypes of the device.

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Ever since Microsoft launched Windows 10, concerns have been raised over the company’s approach to how it collects and stores users‘ data from the OS. Microsoft is now attempting to address some of those privacy concerns with new measures aimed at offering users „more control over your data“.
It’s approaching these concerns with new efforts on two fronts. The first is being introduced today, as the company’s Terry Myerson explained : „Today, we’re taking a step forward in supporting our privacy principle of transparency with the introduction of a new Microsoft privacy dashboard on the web that lets you easily see and manage your activity data. “
The new privacy dashboard allows users to review and delete their browsing history and associated data, including search history, location activity and Cortana’s Notebook. Microsoft says that it will „continue to add more functionality and categories of data over time“.
Its second wave of efforts will come as part of the Windows 10 Creators Update, which is due to be released in April. Previews of the Creators Update are already being tested by those on the Windows Insider Program.
The update will include a new setup experience to help users choose the appropriate level of data that they’re comfortable sharing with Microsoft.
„This experience,“ Myerson said, „which replaces Express Settings, will look slightly different depending on the version of Windows you are using. “ He added:
There will also be two levels of diagnostic data collection in the Creators Update, down from the current three levels; users will instead be given the option of ‚Basic‘ or ‚Full‘ data collection. Those who opt for the Basic level in the Creators Update will find that the amount of data collected is reduced compared with earlier Windows 10 versions. Myerson said that the Basic level will continue to include „data that is vital to the operation of Windows“, explaining:
The new privacy setup experience for Windows 10 is shown below:
This new privacy setup experience will be previewed in an upcoming Windows 10 Insider Preview build „soon“. Microsoft said that this experience will also include voice interaction capabilities to help those users who rely on assistive technologies, but noted that voice data used during that process „remains on the device“, suggesting that it will not be shared with Microsoft or stored on its servers.
The setup experience will also actively inform users of the consequences of their choices as they toggle through the options. Switching off the option to share location data, for example, will tell users that their experience will be more limited when using certain types of app, like those for maps or weather:
All of these settings can be adjusted later, as required, under Settings.
In a not-so-subtle dig at Google, Myerson also stressed that Microsoft „will not use the contents of your email, chat, files or pictures to targets ads to you. “
Source: Microsoft

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Apple has earned the title of greenest tech company in the world for the third year in a row, according to a new report from environmental organization Greenpeace. In a new report, “Clicking Clean: Who is Winning the Race to Build a Green Internet,” Apple lead the pack with an “A” grade and a clean energy index score of 83 percent.
Facebook and Google also did well, with scores of 67 and 56 percent, respectively, along with data center provider Switch, which scored 100 percent. However, Netflix, Amazon Web Services and Samsung were found to be lagging.
Greenpeace’s clean energy index accounts for how much clean energy the companies use from renewable resources, as well as other factors, such as their willingness to make their energy consumption publicly available, and their commitment to powering their data centers with renewable energy, for example.
Because of these companies’ size, they have the power to influence others in the industry when it comes to the use of clean energy. As the report noted, Apple plays a “catalytic role within its IT supply chain, pushing other IT data centers and cloud operators who help deliver pieces of Apple’s corner of the internet to follow their lead in powering their operations with renewable energy.”
Facebook also received accolades for being the first major internet company to commit to be 100 percent renewably powered, and it continues to play a leadership role in the sector. Its five latest data centers were renewably powered, Greenpeace pointed out.
Google, too, has been taking steps toward a renewably powered Google Cloud, and is improving its deployment of renewable energy in new markets, but was dinged for being less transparent than others, including Apple, Facebook and Switch, in terms of providing facility level energy demand data.
The report called out major tech companies Netflix, Amazon, Samsung, and others. It also for the first time analyzed Asian tech giants, like Tencent, Baidu, Alibaba and Naver, which are expanding to become global businesses.
That region is “well behind the U. S. market in renewable commitments,” said Greenpeace, citing fewer clean energy options from monopoly utilities.
This is of particular concern for environmental organization, given these companies’ ongoing growth and expansion.
“We must see East Asian internet companies exhibiting the will to commit to 100 percent renewable energy, particularly as they expand to markets around the world,” said Greenpeace East Asia Senior Climate and Energy Campaigner Jude Lee, in a statement.
“Leading IT companies in the United States have already shown that the majority of the industry recognizes that clean power is both good for the environment and good for business. East Asian companies must step up to embrace that reality as well,” Lee added.
Meanwhile, Netflix, which accounts for one-third of North America’s internet traffic and contributes to data demand worldwide, had announced in 2015 it planned to fully offset its carbon footprint. However, Greenpeace said that it’s likely that it’s turning to carbon offsets or unbundled renewable energy credits, which “do little” in terms of increasing the company’s renewable energy investment.
“Like Apple, Facebook, and Google, Netflix is one of the biggest drivers of the online world and has a critical say in how it is powered. Netflix must embrace the responsibility to make sure its growth is powered by renewables, not fossil fuels and it must show its leadership here,” said Greenpeace USA Senior IT Analyst, Gary Cook, also in a statement.
The company earned “F’s” in energy transparency, renewable energy commitment and advocacy.
Amazon’s overall Clean Energy Index percentage fell from last year, thanks in part to its nearly doubling of its data center capacity in Virginia – a region with little to no renewable energy options, the organization said – which outstripped Amazon’s addition of renewable energy capacity.
Amazon was also awarded an “F” for its energy transparency.
“Amazon continues to talk a good game on renewables but is keeping its customers in the dark on its energy decisions. This is concerning, particularly as Amazon expands into markets served by dirty energy,” said Cook.
However, Greenpeace did give it a nod for its increased clean energy and climate advocacy over the past year. Amazon’s advocacy with both policymakers and utility companies saw it supporting tax credits for clean energy, pushing for repeal of laws that restrict wind development, and negotiating an innovative energy management deal in Virginia, which saw the Dominion Virginia Power agreeing to integrate energy produced by Amazon’s wind and solar farm projects on the grid serving its AWS data centers.
Greenpeace noted that nearly 20 internet companies have now committed to 100 percent renewable energy. But the fight isn’t over, as the sector itself continues to rapidly expand.
“Thanks to the leadership and advocacy of companies like Apple, Google, Facebook, and Switch, we are seeing the tech industry make major strides toward powering the internet with clean energy,” said Cook.

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Last month, Consumer Reports came up with some interesting battery test results with the latest MacBook Pro models. Results ranged from 3.75 hours to 19.5 hours. Many in the Apple community thought that something was off, either a software bug or a benchmarking issue — it turns out it was both.
Apple worked with Consumer Reports over the holidays to find out why the battery test results varied so much. It’s hard to get the exact same battery life every time. That’s why benchmark lovers run a test multiple times to find the average result.
And yet, battery life shouldn’t vary from 1x to 5x. Many early buyers have already been complaining about the battery life of the new MacBook Pro. That’s why Apple removed the “battery time remaining” estimate in a macOS update.
But it doesn’t explain Consumer Reports’ benchmark. It turns out that Consumer Reports turns off Safari’s local cache for their browsing test. It means that the browser will fetch a website’s data from the internet every time. When the cache is on, Safari stores images on your hard drive so that you don’t have to load them up every time.
“Consumer Reports uses a hidden Safari setting for developing web sites which turns off the browser cache. This is not a setting used by customers and does not reflect real-world usage,” Apple said in a statement.
This seems deliberate, and Consumer Reports explains why in a new post today. The publication turns off the cache settings on the default browser for all laptops — not just Mac laptops. This way, it’s like Consumer Reports is browsing thousands of different websites, and not just the same ten websites over and over again.
Apple has also discovered that there was a bug in Safari affecting icon fetching. This bug has been fixed — this should improve benchmarks.
But it makes you think about Consumer Reports’ methodology here. Using web browsing for battery benchmarks seems like a great idea. It imitates real life usage as most people use their computer to browse the internet, play music, write documents and spreadsheets and play movies. But deactivating default settings that positively affect battery life seems curious. Maybe Consumer Reports should consider leaving the cache on for future Mac and PC laptop benchmarks.
Apple sent the following statement to TechCrunch:

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Google’s somewhat aging VoIP calling service, Google Voice, is preparing to roll out a significant update, the company has confirmed. Several Google Voice users this week reported seeing an upgrade link touting “the new Google Voice” on the web version of the service, along with a link that would let them try it out. Clearly, the message was posted too early because the upgrade didn’t come through when the link was clicked.
However, its existence has been an encouraging sign for Google Voice customers, many of whom have felt as if the service has been abandoned in favor of Google’s many newer efforts in the communications space, including Hangouts, and more recently, messaging apps like Allo and Duo.
According to the Droid Life blog , which was one of the first to see the upgrade link appear, the banner popped up at the top of the screen when they logged into their account, with a message that read: “The new Google Voice is here. TRY NOW.” But when they tried it, the page just refreshed and they remained on the current user interface.
Google Voice hasn’t been updated in some time, making the product feel a bit been abandoned. Many are saying it hasn’t had any attention in years, but that’s not entirely true. It didn’t receive much attention in 2016, but before that, the last notable updates have included things like Google Hangouts’ integration with Google Voice back in fall 2014, and 2015’s update which improved Google Voice’s voicemail transcriptions.
Still, its updates have been few and far between, despite the usefulness of the service and its potential. Google’s failure to continue investing in the space has allowed other voice calling apps the ability to gain ground. Not only are voice messaging apps a popular category today, the idea to give users the ability share a public phone number that can ring them anywhere, on a line that has its own voicemail and filtering options, is now something other startups, like Burner or newcomer Listen , are handling instead.
These Google Voice rivals have succeeded in part by focusing on mobile users – an area where Google Voice has fallen behind, having not updated its iOS and Android apps since the first half of last year.
After the flood of reports, Google confirmed that it’s working on some updates to Google Voice, but declined to give us further details ahead of the launch.
Google’s strategy with regards to its communications apps has been messy, so it will be interesting to see what the new Google Voice entails. The company has a number of communication products, which seem to be in a constant state of flux.
Hangouts, for example, has just seen its API shut down, which will effectively shutter the app ecosystem on the platform for most developers. The apps that were allowed to remain have an enterprise focus instead, as Google explained to developers in an email that it’s moving away from its consumer focus.
Image Credit: Droid Life

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Today is the second Tuesday of the month, making it Patch Tuesday. This means that almost all versions of Windows 10 are receiving cumulative updates, including the Anniversary Update for PC and Mobile, as well as 1511 and 1507 for PCs.
The new build number for those on the Anniversary Update is 14393.693. It seems to be available to all phones that are already on build 14393, rather than just unlocked ones, which is sometimes the case.
The new build follows 14393.594, which was offered to the Release Preview ring a week ago , but the last one to show up for all users was 14393.576 .
As usual, the changelog combines the updates for both PC and Mobile, and the changes noted apply almost exclusively to PCs. Here’s what’s new:
Version 1511 (build 10586) also received an update to 10586.753. Some businesses still use the November Update, and believe it or not, some PCs haven’t even received the Anniversary Update yet, such as HP’s 2016 model of the Spectre x360. Here’s what’s new:
Finally, there’s an update for the original version of Windows 10, which is now called version 1507. The changelog in build 10240.17236 is the same as its 1511 counterpart:
These updates follow yesterday’s release of the latest Windows 10 Insider Preview for PCs in the Fast ring. Preview build 15002 brings a huge range of new features , including improvements to the Edge browser , enhancements to Cortana, additions to improve accessibility, new Settings features – such as Theme Management and blue light adjustment – and more.

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