This week Microsoft hwld an event where they made a few announcments, a massive scale hardware hack by the Chinese, California’s new tech related laws. There were also a few new devices announced this week. Nintendo is reportedly going to release a new early next year. Google’s Project Stream gets a game,
Microsoft Event
Surface
On Tuesday Microsoft held their Fall 2018 Surface event. They refreshed their line of Surfaces, but announced the Surface Headphones. The Headphones will have 13 levels of noise cancellation, 4 beam forming mics, 4 active noise cancellation mics and cortana intigration.
All The Specs*
| Surface Laptop 2 | Surface Pro 6 | Surface Studio 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storage | 128GB | 128GB | 1TB |
| Display | 13.5”(201 PPI) | 12.3” (267 PPI) | 28” (192 PPI) |
| Battery life | Up to 14.5 hours | Up to 13.5 hours | Desktop |
| Memory | 8GB | 8GB | 8GB |
| Graphics | Intel® UHD Graphics 620 (i5) | Intel® UHD Graphics 620 (i5) | 16GB (DDR4) |
| Processor | Intel® Core™ 8th Gen i5 | Intel® Core™ 8th Gen i5 | Intel® Core™ i7-7820HQ |
| Wireless |
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| Connections |
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| Cameras, video, and audio |
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Windows Hello face authentication camera (front-facing) 5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video, Dual microphones Stereo 2.1 speakers with Dolby® Audio™ Premium |
| Graphics | Intel® UHD Graphics 620 (i5) | Intel® UHD Graphics 620 (i5) | NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 6GB GDDR5 memory |
| Price | CAD $1,299.00 | CAD $1,179.00 | CAD $4,599.00 |
*starting specs
Windows
The October 2018 Windows update is now out to the public, It adds a few features, but now has been pulled do to isolated reports of users losing data during the update.
Everything Else
China
On Thursday Bloomburg Reported that Motherboard producer Super Micro put a chip into their motherboards. ָAfter an investiagtion it was determined that the chip “creates a stealth doorway” in networks that these devices are on. People familar with the matter say that an investigation found that the chips were inserted in the factories of the subcontractor in China. Bloonburg eventually got statments on the matter from Apple, Amazon and, Super Micro.
California’s New Internet Laws
Net Neutrality
On last Sunday California Governor Jerry Brown signen a state wide net neutrality bill. The bill prevent service providers from prioritizing certin types of services or charging websites or apps to provide faster service. The feds are trying to block it. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said “states do not regulate interstate commerce — the federal government does.” and in a court fileing requesting an injunction the DOJ said companies “cannot realistically comply with one set of standards in this area for California and another for the rest of the nation — especially when Internet communications frequently cross multiple jurisdictions.” The law will go into effect Jannuary 1st.
IOT Security
On friday it was announced that the state of California is going to require IOT and WiFi router manufacturers from pre-installed and hard-coding default passwords. The regulation mandates that the devices require to set a password when you first intract with the device. The law comes into effect January 1, 2020.
New Devices announced this week
This week Dell Ailenware, Nokia, Amazon and Kobo made announcments of new products.
Nokia annaouned the Nokia 71. The 71 has a Snapdragon 636 processor and runs Android One. It comes in two varients one that has 3GB of RAM/32GB of storage and 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The 3/32 version is the only one coming to the United States. The phone will have a 5.84-inch LCD screen and supports HDR10. It has a dual camera setup with a 12 and 5MP back camera. It has a all-glass design with a 5.84-inch display. It launches with Android Oreo and will get an update to Android Pie by November. You can preorder it now and it releases October 28, it will cost $349 US.
On Wendsday Amazon anncounced a 4k varient of their Fire TV Sitck. It will support Dolby Vision HDR, HDR10, HDR10+, and Dolby Atmos surround sound. You can order it and it ships October 31st for $49.99
And finnaly in announcments, Kobo announced the Kobo Forma. It havs a 8-inch E-Ink Carta display with 300 pixels per inch and is IPX8 waterproof, it will cost $280 and is available to pre-order in black from October 16th and will land in stores on October 23rd, initially in Canada, the US, the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Japan, and Spain. It will then rollout to Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Sweden, and Turkey later this year, and Mexico in early 2019.
Gaming
Nintendo Switch
On Thursday The Wall Street Journal reported that there will be a nodel of the Nintendo Switch citing suppliers and other anonymous sources. A better screen is the expeted upgrade, but an OLED screen would be really expencive, The new Switch is expected to come out next year and the Joutnal said “as early as summer)”.
Google Project Stream
Assassins Creed is coming to Google;s Project Stream. Project Stream is a game streaming service within Google Chrome