Turn the iPhone 13 Pro around and look at the back, and you’re sure to notice that the three camera lenses protrude farther from the back than they did in the previous model. They also take up more space, which means your iPhone 12 Pro case won’t fit the new phone even though they look a lot alike.

Storage and Faster Processor

As is always the case, there’s a lot more to an iPhone Pro than what you see in the first impression. For example, the new iPhone Pro can now have up to one terabyte of storage, which is twice as much as the iPhone 12 Pro. It’s got a faster processor in the A15 Bionic chip which features a 6-core CPU, a 5-core GPU and a 16-core neural engine.

Apple also sells the iPhone 13 Pro Max, which has a 6.7-inch screen compared to the 6.1-inch screen of the iPhone 13 Pro. Other than the larger size of the iPhone 13 Pro Max, and the corresponding larger battery, the two iPhones are the same. You’ll certainly notice that the notch at the top of the screen is still there. The notch contains cameras for facial recognition as well as for pictures and video. Apple said it’s about 20 percent smaller.

In use, you’re likely to notice that the screen scrolls more smoothly due to the adaptive refresh rate that goes up to 120 Hz. The adaptive screen refresh rate means that the phone can change the screen refresh rate to meet the needs at the time. When looking at fairly static screens, for example, the refresh rate can be as slow as 10 Hz. This helps the phone save power, which in turn helps preserve battery life.

The design of the A15 processor also helps reduce power use. It has 2 performance cores with 4 efficiency cores. Likewise it can reduce the brightness of the screen as needed. Apple says that the iPhone 13 Pro  has 1.5 more hours of battery life, with 2.5 more hours on the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

My experience bore this out. I noticed that the phone never reached the halfway point on battery use by the time it was ready to be charged each night. Like its predecessors, the iPhone 13 supports wireless charging as well as allowing a plug-in charger through its Lightening port.

Bigger Sensors, Better Lenses

As you can tell from the prominence of the cameras, these are where Apple (ahem) focused its efforts. The new cameras have bigger sensors, better lenses and better software than previous iPhones. Serious photographers won’t mistake the iPhone images for something from a professional grade SLR, but the cameras on the iPhone 13 Pro are very good. What’s more, Apple has improved the already good low-light capability and the stabilization.

The three cameras are a telephoto, wide angle and ultra wide angle, all with 12 megapixel sensors. The wide angle camera also supports macro photography. The macro photography mode happens automatically when the camera is asked to focus on something very close. There’s also a 12 megapixel camera on the front of the iPhone 13 Pro which is used for facial recognition and for photos and video.

All of the cameras will support 4K video recording as well as full high definition. Apple has introduced a feature called Cinematic Mode, which can record video with a shallow depth of field, similar to how Portrait Mode worked in the iPhone 12.

Those photos and videos will benefit from the iPhone 13’s support for 5G communications. Depending on your carrier of choice and your location, you may find fast 5G in your area. Tests in the Washington, DC, Metro area showed that the iPhone 13 Pro could reach speeds of just under a gigabit per second using T-Mobile’s 5G network. Similar speeds can be reached with WiFi 6 which the iPhone 13 also supports. The difference compared to the iPhone 12 is that the iPhone 13 supports more 5G bands, but you’re still at the mercy of your phone carrier whether you’ll be able to use them.

The iPhone 13 Pro costs the same as the iPhone 12 Pro did last year, starting at $999.00. However carriers are offering huge discounts in return for a contract. This year, the Pro line comes in four colors with gold and Sierra Blue being added. If you’ve already got an iPhone 12 Pro, the only reason to upgrade is if you really need one of the new features. Otherwise you might want to wait.

This is my last column for eWEEK. It’s been a pleasure and a privilege to write for you over all of these years. When I wrote my first story in what was then PC Week in 1983, I never would have guessed that I’d still be here in 2021. Thanks for reading.

(Editors note: Thank you Wayne! You are a pro!) 

The post The iPhone 13 Pro is Mostly About the Camera appeared first on eWEEK.

The lawsuit details a series of charges alleging that Facebook conducted a series of anti-competitive practices, including buying companies that threatened its dominance and then shutting them down, or hiring talented developers and then, after having them sign a series of highly restrictive contracts, forcing them to leave the company. The FTC complaint also details how when Facebook was threatened by two successful startups, Instagram and WhatsApp, they bought the companies at highly inflated prices so that they could control them.

The FTC said that these practices took hold after Facebook’s dominance in 2008 and 2009 was challenged by a new round of mobile applications with which the company found it could not compete.

“Facebook lacked the business acumen and technical talent to survive the transition to mobile,” said Holly Vedova, FTC Bureau of Competition Acting Director, in a statement. “After failing to compete with new innovators, Facebook illegally bought or buried them when their popularity became an existential threat.”

“This conduct is no less anticompetitive than if Facebook had bribed emerging app competitors not to compete,” Vedova explained. “The antitrust laws were enacted to prevent precisely this type of illegal activity by monopolists. Facebook’s actions have suppressed innovation and product quality improvements. And they have degraded the social network experience, subjecting users to lower levels of privacy and data protections and more intrusive ads.”

One practice highlighted in the complaint is Facebook’s creation of the Facebook Platform. With that, the FTC alleges, the company would attract talented developers, provide them with useful development tools, and presented its Platform as an open access environment that anyone could use. Then, the suit says, Facebook abruptly reversed course and required developers already using the Platform to agree to prevented successful apps from challenging Facebook.

“By pulling this bait and switch on developers, Facebook insulated itself from competition during a critical period of technological change. Developers that had relied on Facebook’s open-access policies were crushed by new limits on their ability to interoperate,” the FTC said in a statement accompanying the lawsuit.

The Commission was not unanimous in its decision to refile its antitrust action against Facebook. Commissioner Christine Wilson dissented, saying that it was wrong for the FTC to approve the mergers between Facebook and Instagram and WhatsApp, and then change direction. “I believe it is bad policy to undermine the integrity of the premerger notification process established by Congress and the repose that it provides to merging parties that have faithfully complied with its requirements,” Wilson said in her dissent.

If the FTC is successful in this antitrust action, Facebook may be forced to divest itself of WhatsApp and Instagram, and to cease its activities that the agency feels are anti-competitive.

Facebook’s Response

For its part, Facebook released a statement during the previous antitrust case pointing out that the mergers with Instagram and WhatsApp were approved unanimously by the FTC, as well as by regulators in the EU and elsewhere.

“Now, many years later, with seemingly no regard for settled law or the consequences to innovation and investment, the agency is saying it got it wrong and wants a do-over. In addition to being revisionist history, this is simply not how the antitrust laws are supposed to work,” said Facebook VP and general counsel Jennifer Newstead. “Now the agency has announced that no sale will ever be final, no matter the resulting harm to consumers or the chilling effect on innovation.”

No dates have been set for hearings on the FTC’s antitrust lawsuit, however, legal observers have mixed opinions on what many see as the government’s latest effort to rein in big tech.

The post FTC Refiles Antitrust Suit Against Facebook Charging Monopoly appeared first on eWEEK.

One of the things I discovered when Microsoft announced Windows 11 is that my three-year-old Lenovo T-Series laptop will not be able to run the new operating system. According to Microsoft’s minimum system requirements, you’ll need to have enough memory and storage as well as a Trusted Platform Module version 2.0 and a compatible processor. Microsoft has a list of compatible Intel and AMD processors.

If your computer doesn’t meet some of the requirements such as storage or memory, you can fix that. But chances are, you’re not going to be able to add a TPM or a new compatible processor. If your computer doesn’t meet those requirements, the only real way to upgrade to Windows 11 is to get a new computer. Of course, you can stay with Windows 10, which Microsoft ways will be supported until late 2025.

Fortunately, Microsoft has provided links to stores with compatible computers along with the minimum system requirements. To simplify your choices, I took a look at a Windows 11 compatible laptop from each of the top three laptop makers. These are premium laptops of the kind used in business, but there are many less expensive computers that also run Windows 11. If you buy one of these now, it’ll come with Windows 10, but will receive a free upgrade when the new version is available for that machine.

Windows 11 Laptop Testing

When the laptops arrived at our Northern Virginia testing location, each was unboxed and turned on so that I could run the initial Windows 10 setup. They were connected to the 5 GHz signal of an Asus WiFi 6 router, after which I ran Windows Update. All of them required updating, and doing so would mean that they were all running the same version of Windows 10.

Once the updates were done, I installed Ookla Speed Test from the Microsoft Store, and Geekbench 4 and Geekbench 5 from Primate Labs. Geekbench 5 is the latest benchmarking software from the company, but I also ran Geekbench 4 because that’s the version that I’ve used for all previous eWEEK tests, so I could compare the results.

The Ookla Speed Test does not provide useful benchmarking because the results depend on factors outside of the test environment and can vary widely regardless of the machine they’re running on. But the test does confirm that each of these machines can communicate at nearly gigabit speeds using WiFi 6. Access to the Internet used a symmetrical gigabit fiber connection from Verizon FiOS. Maximum WiFi speeds for all three laptops reached 850 megabits per second for both uploads and downloads.

The Windows 11 Laptops: HP, Dell, Lenovo

I looked at three laptops, an HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8, a Dell Latitude 9420 and a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9.

At first glance, there were, as we might say here in the South, as alike as peas in a pod. They were thin, they were intuitive to use, and their benchmark results using Geekbench 4 and 5 were close enough that you’d never see a difference in real-world use.

However, there are important differences that might impact some users. For those who like mysterious black monoliths, the X1 Carbon is a sure choice, especially considering its unique (and a little creepy) human presence detection feature. Yes, this laptop knows whether you’re looking at it, and it responds accordingly.

All three laptops are Intel Evo certified, which includes fast charging, long battery life, instant wake and WiFi 6 and Thunderbolt 4. They all use USB 3.1 Type C charging, and have additional Type C ports. Choosing any one of these will give you a fast, well-built business laptop that will slide into your briefcase easily, last through even long flights on battery and survive the insults of travel.

Dell Latitude 9420 2-in-1

The new Latitude features a 14-inch screen with the new 16:10 aspect ratio. This gives you more screen real estate than the previous 16:9 widescreen aspect ratios that were a little cramped when doing actual work. The Dell’s 2560 x 1600 touchscreen display is clear and bright, and the screen uses Corning’s Gorilla Glass, meaning luggage handlers will have to try extra hard to break it.

While Dell doesn’t claim the human presence detection that Lenovo has, its front camera can detect when you sit down in front of it, and automatically log you in. Along the top of the screen the webcam is protected with Dell’s SafeShutter, which is an automatic privacy shutter. According to Dell, the shutter knows when to open for conference calls. When I tried it with a Zoom call, it worked.

Dell clearly realized that office life had devolved into a never-ending series of Zoom calls, and installed four noise-cancelling microphones in a directional array to provide clear audio. The speakers are top-firing to make audio clearer.

In addition to the four USB Type C ports, there’s an HDMI and two Thunderbolt ports, a memory card reader, a USB Type A port and an audio jack. You can order a SIM slot and a fingerprint reader. This 2-in-1 laptop weighs 3.2 pounds. There’s also a laptop (non 2-in-1) version that’s slightly lighter.

The Dell Latitude 9420

HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8

The first thing I noticed about the HP EliteBook: it doesn’t have a touch screen. I found this annoying on a laptop where your fingers are usually close enough to the screen where using a touch sensitive screen can be very convenient.

There is a touch screen available with a different display, however. Both available 14-inch screens are full high-definition in the older 16:9 format. The graphics card will support UHD on an external monitor, which is accessible through one of the USB Type C ports or the HDMI port. There’s also a headphone port and a space for an optional SIM card. This laptop weighs in at 2.496 pounds.

The keyboard includes a pointing device in the center along with the touch pad on the front of the keyboard surface. The keys are the flat “Chicklet” type, and I found the center pointing device slow to respond. The spacebar on the keyboard is recessed below the surrounding surface, making this laptop the least useful for typing, at least for fast touch-typers.

HP stresses the security of this laptop, and with the HP Sure Start feature, along with tamper detection, embedded re-imaging, and a long list of other security features, it certainly has the full range. However, the privacy shutter is optional, and was not present on the unit I looked at. Like the other laptops, the HP EliteBook supports WiFi 6 and has Thunderbolt ports, and you can get an optional 4G/5G wireless network card.

HP has included two front facing microphones and one that it calls “world facing” that’s used to detect ambient noise so that it can cancel out background noise including voices during conference calls. The company notes that its audio system is designed by Bang & Olufsen with upward firing speakers for clarity. But despite the prestigious designer, one quick listen to some random Mozart will make it clear that there’s more to good audio quality than a name.

The HP Elite 840

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9

You walk past the X1 Carbon and glance in its direction, and it briefly flashes the Windows Hello eyeball and turns on, ready to use. You don’t have to sit down in front of it to make this happen. What’s happening is that Lenovo has developed a radar-based means of detecting your presence.

The screen features the new 16:10 aspect ratio, which delivers additional screen real estate over the 16:9 ratio on prior laptops. That may not sound like much, but in use that extra height adds a lot. At the top of the screen, the webcam includes a standard manually operated privacy shutter.

Lenovo joins in the war of high-end sound designers with a Dolby Atmos speaker system. I tried the Mozart test with this computer, and while it sounds slightly better than the HP, you’ll never confuse the sound that emanates from a laptop speaker with high fidelity. The Dolby Atmos speaker system is part of what Lenovo calls Dolby Access, which includes Dolby Vision and Dolby Voice. The sounds system includes two downward firing woofers, with the rest of the speakers firing upwards.

Like the other laptops in this review, Lenovo has included features designed to make video calls sound better. In this case, it’s four 360 degree far-field microphones. These microphones can help in noise suppression and in focusing on the sounds of the people speaking in a group setting.

Lenovo does not make security as much of a selling point as does HP, but it does include some advanced security features such as its self-healing BIOS, which can restore the computer after a malware attack or events such as a failed update. The X1 Carbon includes a feature called Privacy Guard, which can narrow the viewing angle of the screen when needed.

Lenovo ThinkPads are legendary for their toughness. They meet 12 military-grade certification methods and over 20 procedures of MIL-STD 810G. My personal experience includes having a ThinkPad survive an “emergency landing” while on assignment for eWEEK. A ThinkPad was the only electronic device in my briefcase to survive undamaged. Note that we did not apply this test to these laptops because of a shortage of airliners we could crash-land.

One important usability difference featured by the X1 Carbon is the keyboard. Lenovo employs a lifting mechanism beneath the keyboard that lifts the keys when the lid is opened. This added height, plus the sculpted shape of the keys, makes the X1 Carbon much more useful for typing.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1

Choosing a Laptop for Windows 11

Each of these laptops has its strengths. The right choice will depend on secondary factors that matter to you. For example, Dell’s high resolution touchscreen and its use of Gorilla Glass aren’t available with the other laptops. HP’s security is a level above the others, while Lenovo’s toughness and human presence sensing are important points.

It’s worth noting that none of these laptops is cheap. In fact, if you go through the custom configuration process and make the right choices, you could spend nearly $4,000.00 on any of these laptops. But these are meant to be critical business tools that will keep running when lesser machines might give up. They are all excellent machines, and sometime later this year or early in 2022, they will all run Windows 11.

The post Three Top Laptops Compatible with Windows 11 appeared first on eWEEK.

Then, a few days later, another update came out with little fanfare from Apple. Fortunately, plenty of other sources on the Internet noticed it, and started calling it an emergency update. The advice from everywhere was to stop whatever you were doing, and run the new update bringing iOS and iPadOS up to 14.7.1, and MacOS to Big Sur 11.5.1.

The reason it was considered an emergency is because the flaw allowed attackers to penetrate the machine and take it over. Once they did that, the attacker had full access to everything on the device. Worse, it was actively being exploited, meaning that cyber criminals were already breaking into machines.

This security vulnerability is considered a “zero-day” because it was in the operating system when it was released by Apple, and could be exploited immediately. Because the attackers were penetrating machines as quickly as they could find them, it was indeed an emergency. Ironically, the vulnerability was originally found by a Microsoft employee, who didn’t get around to reporting it at once.

Apple’s ‘Worry Free’ Past

Apple was once considered a secure platform to the point that users frequently didn’t bother to install anti-malware software. But as the company’s devices have become more widespread, criminals have focused on them. For that matter, so have other types of bad guys, including an Israeli company that publishes the Pegasus spyware. Apple still hasn’t patched its iMessage software, which has a zero-day flaw Pegasus uses to install itself into iOS devices.

But Apple is by no means unique in suffering zero-day attacks. Google has just patched a zero-day vulnerability in its Chrome browser that runs on Windows, MacOS and Linux platforms. That exploit required convincing a user to visit a website that had code that can allow access to the computer. Once that happens, the criminals can take over the computer.

And of course Microsoft Windows has had its own problems with zero-day attacks, recently through an attack called PrintNightmare.

Challenge of Zero-Day 

The problem with zero-day attacks is that they frequently happen before most anti-malware software can be updated to recognize them. But the good news is that patches are usually released quickly, as was the case with the Apple vulnerability. But to be useful, those patches must be installed on the target systems immediately. Waiting around only increases your chances of being attacked and suffering a data loss.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of excuses for not updating and patching systems immediately. The update might break an application. It’s too time consuming. You don’t have enough staff. You want to check the bug reports. Your system isn’t on the Internet. We’ve heard them all, but none of those is a good reason.

If your applications are being broken by updates, then it’s time to find another vendor. It’s not nearly as time consuming as recovering from a ransomware attack. There’s never enough staff, but other companies do it anyway. By the time you see the bug reports, it’s too late. And not being on the Internet doesn’t protect you – the safety of air-gapped systems is a myth.

What needs to happen instead is that you plan for updates and patches, and name someone in your organization to be the one to make sure they’re applied in a timely manner.

What you don’t want to see is the report, when it comes out on the news, that your company suffered an attack because your systems were unpatched. Imagine how your board will like that.

The post Why Zero-Day Ransomware Attacks Mean You Can’t Delay Patches appeared first on eWEEK.

The 67 to 32 vote is important, because it meant that 17 Republicans along with all of the Democrats supported the measure, despite several days of threats from former President Donald Trump. The proposal includes $550 billion in new spending, however there will be more work being done before the Senate takes its August recess on the 10^th.

Final passage of the proposed bill is not assured because a significant amount of the legislation still needs to be written. Once that happens, there will a series of amendments offered, each of which must be voted on, before a final version of the Senate bill is sent to the House of Representatives. Assuming it passes in something resembling the current outlines, President Joe Biden has said he’ll sign the legislation.

Fast, Affordable, Reliable Internet Service

A draft version of the broadband portion of the infrastructure bill has been circulating in the House. There, the proposed language promises to provide fast, affordable and reliable internet throughout the United States, including Puerto Rico and all US territories. It sets standards for performance, requiring currently unserved areas to have broadband of 25 megabits per second download speeds ad 3 mbps upload speeds. Underserved areas would need to feature 100 mbps downloads and 25 mbps uploads.

The stated goal of the broadband legislation is to eliminate the so-called “digital divide” in which useable internet service is not available to users because of cost or geography. The bill would help cover the cost of providing broadband internet in rural areas where it’s currently unavailable or where it doesn’t meet the standards required in the act.

It would also help pay for broadband access in urban areas where the cost is beyond the reach of residents. It’s unclear whether the broadband infrastructure bill would help pay for computers or other devices required to consumer internet services.

Determining the Need for Broadband Internet

A key part of determining the need for broadband internet has been released by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration in the form of an interactive map that shows the level of broadband need on a county-by-county basis. The data compiled by NTIA is also a significant component to the proposed Digital Equity Act, which companion legislation to the infrastructure bill.

The Digital Equity Act covers more than just individual internet users. The bill also specifically includes small businesses and educational institutions. The infrastructure bill would provide the money for broadband, and the other legislation would provide the means for the federal government and the states to make use of the money.

It’s worth noting that the bipartisan infrastructure bill, if passed and signed into law, is only part of the picture. There’s also what the administration calls a human infrastructure bill, which is unlikely to draw significant support from the Republicans. This bill would go through Congress as part of a budget reconciliation bill that doesn’t require a 60-vote majority. Currently it’s not clear whether the Democrats in Congress have enough votes to pass that, since it requires a majority, which they may not have.

Light on Details

While it’s possible to see the general outline of the broadband portion of the bill, there are few details. Those are still being worked on by the group of Senators that moved the bill forward, but details aren’t expected to be known until just before the legislation is voted on. By that point, there will have been several proposed amendments, some of which may have no relation to infrastructure, which need to be voted on first.

At this point, it’s also not clear whether the House will pass its version in essentially the same form that it gets from the Senate, but the President has made it clear that he wants it passed, which may help it along.

However, there’s no real opposition to the bill, which many Senators see as important to their states. This, and the fact that the bill was advanced with strong support from both parties, likely means that the bill will pass, and with it, a widespread implementation of broadband internet.

The post What the Proposed Senate Infrastructure Bill Means for Broadband appeared first on eWEEK.

The original announcement has already run into some headwinds. On June 28, 2021, Microsoft’s Windows team issued an update regarding the minimum system requirements for Windows and explaining in more detail what those requirements mean. In addition, the team announced that it has withdrawn the PC Health Check app that was supposed to tell you whether your systems could run Windows 11.

In addition, Microsoft has released a preview version of Windows 11 so that you can start getting ready for the new OS. The preview edition does NOT include the mandatory security features including requirements for Secure Boot or the requirement for Trusted Platform Module v.2.0. According to Microsoft, you can run the preview version of Windows 11 on any seventh generation Intel processor.

However, when Windows 11 is released, it will require both the TPM and Secure Boot, so the first thing you should do is conduct an inventory of your Windows machines and see which meet the Windows minimum requirements and which don’t. An easy way to check for the TPM is to right-click on the Windows start button, then click on Device Manager. Find Security Devices, and if the computer has a TPM that meets requirements, you’ll see an entry that says “Trusted Platform Manager 2.0” listed.

Confirming UEFI Secure Boot is implemented may take some time, as it may be different for different computers. Normally, the existence of this security feature will be disclosed on the specifications from your original purchase, but you may need to enter the setup menu for your specific PC to find out. There’s no one way to do this as different makers used different methods, so you’ll need to confirm with the manufacturer.

Normally, Microsoft’s now-removed PC Health Check app would have been an easy and quick method of checking your organization’s computers, but there were some issues with it, which is why Microsoft says the app was removed until later this year. One thing I did find in testing the app is that it provided what appear to be false negatives, meaning that it would say a computer doesn’t meet the minimum requirements when it in fact does. I tested in on two fairly new machines that meet all of the requirements, and the app said that both failed the test.

Once you’re separated the machines that can’t run Windows 11, you’ll know that those machines need to be put on the list for early replacement. In the meantime, Microsoft plans to continue updating Windows 10 until 2025, so you’ve got plenty of time. Remember those machines are probably already old, and adding another four years to their life is probably not financially responsible.

In addition, that four years gives you time to confirm that the applications you currently use will run on the new version of Windows, and get them updated if they don’t. Meanwhile, if your current computers do meet the Windows 11 minimum requirements, you can set Windows 10 to take advantage of them.

While the upgrade process to Windows 11 is going to be expensive for some, and annoying for others, the fact is that Microsoft is taking a big step towards making Windows significantly more secure than it has been. Right now, Windows is a favorite target for hackers, malware purveyors and other band guys, and without the hardware security support offered by modern PC platform, there’s only so much Microsoft can do.

For your company, this is one required step for protecting your data and your users, and while it’ll certainly be expensive, it’s a lot less expensive than a ransomware attack. It’s also a lot less annoying that explaining to your board and your stockholders why you didn’t take the steps necessary to protect yourself when they were made available well in advance.

The post Why You Need to Start Getting Ready for Windows 11 Now appeared first on eWEEK.

If you watch Microsoft’s product announcement, you’ll see how the new windows in Windows now have a softer look with rounded corners, translucent backgrounds and a start button in the center of the taskbar instead of the lower left corner.

You’ll also find out that Windows 11 will start rolling out in late 2021 and into 2022. According to Microsoft, the new version of Windows will be more efficient, more adaptable to tablets, have faster updates using smaller file sizes, and will have some new features including the ability to run Android apps, which it will get from the Amazon app store.

Beyond the Windows 11 Interface

Unfortunately, most of the announcement was about the user interface, which, while cool, leaves a lot unsaid. And it’s those items that weren’t mentioned that may affect your IT staff the most. The reason is that there are specific hardware requirements that must be met for any computer that is to run Windows 11. Fortunately many computers that currently run Windows 10 will work just fine, but some machines may need upgrades or replacement.

Probably more important are specific processor and security requirements that some older machines won’t be able to meet. They include support for UEFI (unified extensible firmware interface) that’s capable of Secure Boot. The UEFI has replaced the BIOS in newer computers, but many older computers don’t support it. Windows 10 still worked with BIOS-based machines, but there’s no indication from Microsoft whether that will be possible with Windows 11.

There’s also a requirement for a Trusted Platform Module, version 2.0. The TPM is a standard part of newer computers, but doesn’t exist in older computers that run Windows 10. Again, there’s no word whether Windows 11 will run on machines without it. Microsoft lists the minimum system requirements on the Windows 11 page, where you can also find an app that will check your machine for Windows 11 compatibility. For machines that can’t run Windows 11 (like the Lenovo ThinkPad that this is being written on) Microsoft will continue to support Windows 10 until 2025.

Late 2021 Windows 11 Rollout

For those with computers that will work with Windows 11, the update will start rolling out around the end of 2021. It appears that the roll-out will work a lot like how Windows 10 was rolled out. Compatible machines will get the chance to upgrade when the software is ready for their machine. As has been the case with updates to Windows 10, some will be delayed while specific drivers are made ready.

Some factors that may cause the requirements app to say a computer can’t run Windows 11 can be fixed, such as by installing a compatible graphics card. But others, such as the requirement for two cores in the processor may not be so easy. But the reality is that the cost of anything more than minor hardware upgrades is simply not worth it. In the time between the roll-out of Windows 11 and the end or support for Windows 10, most organizations will have replaced their computers anyway.

One big difference when compared to the Windows 10 update from Windows 7 and 8 is that far fewer computers will be able to run the new operating system. Even some relatively new computers may not make the cut, so it’s important to run the Windows Health Check app on the Windows 11 page to see which computers need to be replaced. Fortunately, Microsoft has already begun telling enterprise customers that extended support for Windows 10 will be available.

Like the Windows 10 update a few years ago, the Windows 11 update will be free, but only for so long. And it will also be optional only for so long. By the end of 2025, Windows 10 support will slowly vanish, and like Windows 7 users today, they will be on their own when it comes to support and security. But fortunately, it appears that security is becoming an important part of Windows 11, and for that, it’s about time.

The post Microsoft’s Windows 11 Could Mean More Work for your IT Staff appeared first on eWEEK.

On one hand, lots of people use facial recognition technology several times a day when they unlock their phones. It’s fast and easy, and it works nearly all of the time. But there are other uses for facial recognition that aren’t nearly as reliable. A good example of facial recognition where it’s problematic is when facial recognition is used to identify people in crowds. This is the reverse of the recognition that takes place on your phone, where the software is comparing your face with one that’s known and stored in the phone’s memory. Facial recognition used to pick people out of crowds is more difficult.

In fact the problem with false positives when using facial recognition is well known, and it’s one reason that the use of such software in body worn cameras is specifically banned in the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021 (H.R. 1280). Currently, the law has been passed by the House of Representatives, but languishes in the Senate because of what may be an insoluble partisan divide. As a result, a patchwork of agencies uses facial recognition technology is a variety of ways with little consistency or guidance.

What’s happening instead is that some makers of facial recognition software have made it a policy to control who can buy their products and how they can be used. For example, Amazon has announced that it will continue indefinitely its ban on sales of its facial recognition software to law enforcement agencies.

Meanwhile, U.S. states and localities are making their own rules. Virginia, for example, placed strict limits on the use of facial recognition software. Those limits were so strict that the entire Washington, DC, region was forced to stop using its own recognition software. In Virginia, each law enforcement agency must receive advance permission from the General Assembly for each use, and because of that, the Washington Council of Governments couldn’t continue its use.

The Washington region gained some notoriety when its facial recognition system was used to identify protesters in Lafayette Square, which is across from the White House, when then-President Donald Trump decided to use the area for a photo op. The states of California and Illinois, and some localities in California have similarly placed restrictions on the use of facial recognition.

The problem with facial recognition and the reason for the pushback is that the AI software behind it is faced with a nearly impossible job. There are significant differences between the recognition process when your phone is recognizing you, and when a security camera is being used to recognize potentially millions of people. When your iPhone does its Face ID registration of your face, it uses an infrared projector to paint your face with thousands of dots in a grid pattern, and uses that pattern to develop a detailed 3D image of your face. This image is then stored in your phone, and is probably the only face it needs to recognize.

When an AI system is trying to compare faces in a crowd, it’s comparing them to millions of flat, low-resolution images of people. In some cases, those are mug shots of people who’ve been arrested. Sometimes those photos are from social media or other sources. There is no 3D image.

To make matters worse, a lot of people look alike, and facial recognition simply doesn’t have enough information in its databases to register fine differences between them. This is like the problem you had at that cocktail party.

Add to these difficulties the fact that facial recognition works best with Caucasian males. It doesn’t work as well on females and it doesn’t work as well on people who aren’t white. There is speculation that this is because the people who develop such software are predominantly white males.

Complicating matters is the use of facial recognition by hundreds of law enforcement agencies with investigators that have little or no training on how to use the technology. One company, Clearview.ai, has been marketing to law enforcement heavily, where it may be the dominant software in use by those agencies. The company has a database of over 3 billion facial images which it got from publicly available sources such as social media and news sites.

The problem with using such images is that they’re frequently not representatives of the actual person, and even if they are, they may not contain sufficient data to be useful for an accurate identification. Yet, some law enforcement agencies will use facial recognition based on those images as if they were definitive, resulting in arrests of innocent people.

For its part, Clearview says that it’s working to train investigators about the ethical use of facial recognition as well as how to figure out the level of accuracy involved. But there’s nothing to prevent a misguided action on the part of law enforcement based on inept usage. And that’s the reason for the laws banning facial recognition, and for the call for laws on a federal level setting standards.

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The most significant announcements were the new version of the iMac and the new iPad Pro. The new iMac joins the growing number of Macintosh computers with Apple’s M1 processor chip. It has a new, much thinner 24-inch 4.5K Retina display, and it’s available in seven colors. The new iMac weights in at under 10 pounds, and has some cool features, including a combined power supply and Ethernet connector in which both power and networking share one magnetically-attached cable.

The new iPad Pro is probably the most substantial product announcement. While both iPad Pro models are getting upgrades, the larger 12.9-inch iPad is transformed. The screen on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro now sports Apple’s XDR technology, formerly only found in Apple’s Pro Display XDR. This new iPad display now includes a new LED backlighting system that has thousands of tiny diodes behind the screen, providing a new level of brightness and dynamic range. The screen features locale dimming sones and 1600 nits peak brightness in XDR mode (the 11-inch iPad has 600 nits).

Both of the new iPad Pro models get Apple’s M1 processor and both include a new 12-megapixel camera system, plus a 10-megapixel ultra wide camera on the rear, and another 12-megapixel ultra wide camera on the front of the iPad which is also use for Apple’s Face ID. The iPad Pros can record 4K and HD video up to 60 frames per second. They support high dynamic range and they have image stabilization.

Both iPads now support 5G, including millimeter wave in the cellular versions, as well as WiFi 6. They also support Thunderbolt 3 and USB 4. As has been the case in the last couple of models of iPad, the Lightening port is gone replaced with a USB-C port, and it comes with a USB-C charger. Despite Apple’s colorful trends elsewhere, the only colors available for iPad Pro is Space Gray and Silver.

Apple has held the line on pricing for iPad Pro, with the 11-inch WiFi model starting at $799 and the larger model going for $1099. A fully configured 12.9-inch iPad Pro with cellular and 2 terabytes of storage will cost $2399, not including accessories.

The M1 processor is a significant upgrade for iPad Pro. This is the same M1 chip that powers the Macintosh line (except for the remaining Intel-based Macs), and it brings a lot of compute power to this tablet. The M1 is an 8-core chip with four performance cores and four efficiency cores. There’s an eight-core GPU and a 16-core neural engine. Models with one or two terabytes of storage get 16 gigabytes of RAM, while the others get eight gigabytes.

You can order the new iPad Pros on April 30, with availability in the second half of May.

When you take a look at the new iPad Pro tablets, and compare them with the latest MacBook computers, you notice that there is a lot of similarity. The biggest differences, other than the obvious attached keyboard on the MadBook are things like battery life and weight. But the iPads seem to deliver almost everything the MacBook offers for less money and a lower weight.

But the Smaller MacBooks?

Of course the MacBook has longer battery life at 18 hours versus 10 hours for the iPad. But the iPad has a touchscreen and Face ID. The MacBook runs Mac OS, while the iPad runs iPadOS. Even the screen size is similar between the smaller MacBooks and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. You can actually get a better keyboard on the iPad versus the MacBook. And the 12.9-inch iPad has a much better display than the MacBook.

Of course the larger MacBook Pro 16” has a bigger screen, supports far more memory and storage, and costs a lot more. But the smaller MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 13” seem outclassed by the new iPad.

All of this makes one wonder about the continued existence of the smaller MacBooks.

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Fauna, which is billed as a serverless database, attempts to deliver this data-as-a-utility concept from the network edge. Just as you don’t care which of many generators at your electric utility provides the electricity that runs your office, Fauna believes that you shouldn’t need to be concerned where your data is being stored – it should just be available when needed.

For this to work, there must be servers that store the data, but they can be distributed on the edge of the network near where they’re most likely to be needed. They respond to a properly authenticated client with the data that’s requested. But most of the computing takes place on the client, using a web browser. And there can be multiple places where the data you need is stored, with the closest responding with the required data.

Data stores must be synchronized

For this to work properly, the data stores need to be kept synchronized, and there needs to be a means of authentication. Fauna supports a number of third-party authentication providers, such as Auth0 and Okta, to help secure access to the database. Fauna is designed for collaboration within development teams and features a number of security features, including multi-factor authentication and varying access levels.

A key feature for Fauna is its performance. The serverless model helps performance by keeping the data near the user, as well as keeping much of the compute requirements on the user’s browser. Fauna also features what the company calls real-time database streaming, which allows data to move in and out of the database in real time. This avoids latency-inducing polling as found in some other databases.

This focus on serverless data and on performance has its roots in Twitter. Founder Evan Weaver, currently Fauna’s CTO, was employee No. 15 at the social network. Weaver said he worked to scale the site and move to distributed storage. As you can imagine, Twitter depends on performance and reliability to meet the needs of its users, and Weaver brought that understanding to the design of Fauna.

Weaver said that as businesses depend more and more on data, they’ve learned that database workloads are not predictable. Instead, they need to scale to meet the needs of the organization at the time, He said that he saw the need for a data API early as well as the need for a global interface.

Creating a new tech stack

“The serverless movement created a new tech stack,” Weaver said.

The Fauna database is intended to offer developers a data platform that’s reliable and secure while also offering simplicity. Notably, getting started with Fauna is intended to demonstrate that simplicity. The company offers a free signup to get started and free database creation with a security key; it lets prospective users get started from there.

Once you’ve created your database and picked a query language, Fauna replicates your data globally to make sure latency stays low. This also allows the creation of globally dispersed development teams and users. Operation is intended to be easy from the beginning, eliminating most database operations. It supports web-native secure access and the ability to create any number of children and unlimited depth.

If all of this sounds unusual, that’s because Fauna is the first of a new breed of databases. Its serverless nature, its focus on performance and security and its planned ease of use are all unusual when it comes to database operations. While the design of Fauna is definitely new, it’s the serverless environment underneath it all that makes it possible.

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