1 844.742.7448

Email Us

Remote Support

Contact

Posts tagged "we’ll"

  1. Home
  2. Posts tagged we’ll

New macOS Sonoma update is reportedly taking down printers as well as USB hubs
  • No Comments

Not content with playing havoc with USB hubs in some scenarios, it appears the latest update for macOS Sonoma is also a troublemaker for printers, too.

Indeed, according to various reports online as flagged up by Apple Insider, the macOS Sonoma 14.4 update is breaking printers in some cases. In other cases, there appears to be a more limited impact, in that the printer still works, but selecting page sizes doesn’t.

It seems Sonoma 14.4 is either stripping out, or messing up, printer drivers in Apple’s operating system, rendering the devices non-functional, at least for the time being in many of these reported cases.

There are users complaining about printer functionality going very wonky on Reddit and Apple’s support forums – however, there does appear to be a solution.

Namely, as stated in the above Apple post, you need to head to System Settings, and ‘Privacy & Security’ and then ‘Full Disk Access’ to grant full disk access to ‘com.microsoft.dlp’ – and that might sort the issue.

This isn’t guaranteed, mind, but there are a number of users giving the thumbs-up and saying this move did get their printer (or printers) working in macOS again.

Analysis: A cocktail of possible causes?

Seemingly the issue pertains to Microsoft Defender (which is what the above disk access change relates to), and/or JAMF mobile device management software, and possibly some other factors. It’s difficult to know exactly what, but the most prominent commonality seems to be Defender.

The good news is that this doesn’t seem to be affecting too many macOS Sonoma 14.4 users, as while there are a number of reports, they aren’t too widespread. And they appear to relate to particular configurations, too, mainly in office scenarios.

Given that, hopefully your average user at home isn’t seeing this problem – or only in rare cases. In short, you’re probably pretty unlucky if you hit this snag outside of a business network setting – but it seems that there are isolated incidents of this occuring with individual Macs.

You might also like

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

Read More

We’ll likely get our first look at Android 15 this week – here’s what to expect
  • No Comments

The first preview version of Android 15 may launch on Thursday, February 15 if a recently discovered developer comment is to be believed.

It was originally posted to Google’s Android Open Source Project website on February 13, although the page hosting the message has since been deleted. If you go to the page right now, you’ll be greeted with an error message. Fortunately, 9To5Google has a screenshot of the comment and it states, in no uncertain terms, that the “first Developer preview is scheduled for Feb 15”. They even refer to it as “Android V” which the publication explains is a reference to the system’s codename, “Vanilla Ice Cream”. 

Early Android builds are typically exclusive to Pixel devices and 9To5Google believes this will be the case with the preview. Because it is meant primarily for developers, the build probably won’t see a public release due to software instability. That said, we do expect to see people crack open the preview and spill all of its contents onto the internet, revealing what Android 15 is capable of.

It’s unknown what this early version of the OS will bring; however, we can look at previous reports to give you an idea of what may be arriving.

Features to expect

Back in December 2023, three features were found hidden in the files of a then-recent Android 14 beta that could appear to be for Android 15.

The first one is called Communal Space which lets users add widgets to the lock screen. At the time of the initial report, only Google Calendar, Google Clock, and the main Google App could be added, but we believe there's a good chance more will be supported at launch. The second is the introduction of a battery health percentage read-out akin to what the iPhone 15 has. It’ll offer a crystal clear indication “of how much your phone’s battery has degraded” compared to when it was fresh out of the box.  

Communal Space on Pixel tablet

(Image credit: Mishaal Rahman/Android Authority)

The third feature is called Private Space and, according to Android Police, may be Google’s take on Samsung’s Secure Folder. It hides apps on your smartphone away from prying eyes. This can be especially helpful if you happen to share a device with others. 

Then in January, more news came out claiming Android 15 might have a feature allowing users to effortlessly share wireless audio streams. On the surface, it sounds similar to Bluetooth Auracast, a unique form of Bluetooth LE Audio for transmitting content. We wouldn’t be surprised if it was Bluetooth Auracast considering it has yet to be widely adopted by smartphone manufacturers. 

Bluetooth Auracast being shared by two children, on over-ear wireless headphones

(Image credit: Bluetooth SIG)

The last update came in early February revealing Android 15 may soon require all apps on the Google Play Store to support an edge-to-edge mode making it a mandatory setting. The presumed goal here is to better enable full-screen viewing. Edge-to-edge is typically only seen on certain types of apps like video games. Navigation bars and thick black stripes at the top of screens could become a thing of the past as Google establishes a new optimized standard for landscape viewing on Android.

That's currently all we know about Android 15. Hopefully, that one developer's slip-up is just the start of Android 15 reveals. While we have you check out TechRadar's list of the best Android phones for 2024.

You might also like

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

Read More

New Windows 11 update fixes a whole lot of things – but breaks some as well
  • No Comments

Windows 11 users who are installing the latest update are having some serious issues, from many accounts.

Windows Latest reported that there are bugs in the preview update – so yes, this is an optional update, not something you have to install – that are causing major problems with Windows 11’s interface in one way or another.

For starters, with patch KB5034204, some users are apparently experiencing a glitch where File Explorer – the folders and files on the desktop – is becoming unresponsive. This can lead to the whole desktop going blank (all folders and icons disappearing) for a while, before returning to normal, we’re told. Others are reporting File Explorer crashing while shutting down their PC.

Windows Latest further details reports of icons like the Recycle Bin vanishing, taskbar icons not working, and even the Windows 11 taskbar itself going missing, as complained about on Reddit (plus this is a problem the tech site encountered itself).

The other issue folks seem to be experiencing with KB5034204 is that the update fails to install. There are complaints on Microsoft’s Feedback Hub that the installation process reaches 100%, so looks like it has finished, but then crashes out with a message mentioning missing files. Stop code errors (like ‘0x8007000d’) are also in evidence with these installation mishaps.

Analysis: Out of the frying pan…

Clearly, we need to take into account that this is a preview update, meaning that it’s still officially in testing, and optional patches like this aren’t installed unless you specifically ask for them. As with any pre-release software, you can expect problems, in other words.

Even so, you might want an optional update because it provides a fix for a bug you’re suffering with, and in the case of KB5034204, it resolves a couple of notable issues disrupting video chats and streaming audio (and a misbehaving Start menu, too, plus more besides).

However, in this case, you might swap one problem for another when installing this optional update, and possibly a worse glitch (the wonkiness caused with the Windows 11 interface outlined above seems pretty nasty).

That said, there is a solution (kind of) for the missing taskbar at least, which is to press the Windows key + X – apparently, that sees the bar come back, but its behavior may still be odd going by the various reports around this particular bug.

It’s disappointing to see installation failures popping up again with this preview update, mainly because this was a flaw in evidence with the January cumulative update. It seems that Microsoft hasn’t resolved this yet, then, and the fear is that it might still be present in the February update for Windows 11 (which this preview is an advance version of, as you may realize).

You might also like…

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

Read More

We’re amazed at how well Windows 11 runs with 176MB of RAM – but don’t try this at home
  • No Comments

Windows 11 running with a tiny amount of system RAM is something we’ve seen before, but this is a new low for the OS (in a good way).

NTDEV, the developer responsible for the stripped-back version of Windows 11 called Tiny11, has got Microsoft’s operating system functioning in a PC with only 176MB of system memory.

How is this possible? By removing pretty much everything the dev could, and using an “extensive trial and error” process to see which services and drivers Windows 11 required to boot (then getting rid of everything else).

Tiny11 has previously been run in as little as 196MB of RAM, the catch with that being that the OS was incredibly slow. You could do things, just about, but at glacial speeds.

With NTDEV’s successful attempt at firing up Windows 11 in just 176MB, the system runs relatively responsively, and for example Task Manager is brought up in just a few seconds. (No, that isn’t snappy, but compare it to the 15-minute wait for Task Manager to appear with the 196MB demonstration).

It’s an eye-opening difference, for sure, but there’s a big catch here, which we’ll discuss next.

Analysis: An impressive feat with a twist of a cheat

The cheat NTDEV has used to do this is that they’ve trimmed Tiny11 down even further and removed a major element – File Explorer – allowing Windows 11 to run faster because it doesn’t have to bring up the desktop.

That’s right, as you can see in the video clip above, there is no desktop, with the system booting to a command line. You then have to type manual commands (in text) to run different apps and functions, which is hardly ideal. Indeed, it’s a very clunky way of operating, but it does allow for the OS to be much faster.

To put this achievement in perspective, normally Window 11 requires 4GB of RAM to run, which is 4096MB. That’s 23x the amount the OS is seen running in here.

What’s the point of this? Well, it’s a fun exercise and nothing more, as nobody sane would want to operate Windows 11 in this manner. Much like huge overclocks on GPUs and CPUs that are completely impractical – and happen for seconds, only thanks to exotic cooling with say, liquid nitrogen – these are feats undertaken just to prove it can be done. Although in this case, the goal isn’t big numbers, but small ones – as tiny as possible.

Is 176MB a world-record low for running Windows 11 (functionally)? We think it could be, but then, technically, are you running Windows if there’s no desktop? There are still windows, of course – brought up via the command line – but without a desktop and icons, the core graphical interface, this isn’t really Windows, is it?

Still, hats off to NTDEV for what remains an impressive achievement.

Via Tom's Hardware

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

Read More

Want to hook up your iPhone with Windows 11? Well now you can
  • No Comments

Windows 11 users who have an iPhone will be pleased to know that they can now benefit from Phone Link for iOS, as the feature has finished rolling out to the entire user base.

Microsoft began the rollout a few weeks back, noting that it would take some time, but the company has just updated the announcement blog post to let us know that it’s now out for everyone who wants a piece of the action.

Microsoft said: “We are pleased to announce that Phone Link for iOS is now available to all Windows 11 customers.”

If you want to install Phone Link for iOS, just search for the app (in the Windows 11 taskbar, search box), and fire it up – you’ll then see the option to install it for iPhone (as well as Android, of course).

Analysis: Bang on time

Phone Link has long been available for Android, and it has been a very long wait for iPhone owners to get their own take on the app. Still, it’s here now, and fully rolled out on schedule.

Bang on Microsoft’s intended schedule, actually. Back when Phone Link for iOS started rolling out in April, we were promised the process would be finished by mid-May, and that has come to pass as predicted.

That’s good news, as it seems Microsoft hasn’t run into any major bugs with the feature to hold things up. That’s always a possibility with any new piece of functionality, of course, but Microsoft specifically said it was taking a conservative and slow approach to the rollout here, which hinted at a degree of trepidation. There was no need to worry, though, it seems.

It is worth noting that Phone Link for iOS is more limited than its Android sibling. With the iPhone version, you only get the basics of receiving calls and messages through to the desktop, as well as notifications. But there is also iMessage support, too, which is a major boon, albeit that experience is limited too (there’s no message history, for example).

Even so, when you’re working at your PC and don’t want to keep looking at your iPhone, Phone Link represents a really convenient way of fielding all the basics and engaging somewhat with iMessage.

Via Neowin

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

Read More

Microsoft claims ChatGPT 4 will be able to make videos, and this won’t end well
  • No Comments

ChatGPT 4 is coming as early as next week and will likely go with a new and potentially dreadful feature: video. 

Currently, ChatGPT and Microsoft’s updated Bing search engine are powered by ChatGPT 3.5 large language models, which allows them to respond to questions in a human-like way. But both AI implementations have had their fair share of problems so far, so what can we expect, or at least hope to see, with a new version on the horizon? 

According to Microsoft Germany’s CTO, Andreas Braun (as reported by Neowin), the company “will introduce GPT 4 next week, where we will have multimodal models that will offer completely different possibilities – for example, videos.” Braun made the comments during an event titled ‘AI in Focus – Digital Kickoff’. 

Essentially, AI is definitely not going away anytime soon. In its current state, we can interact with OpenAI's chatbot strictly through text, providing inputs and controls and getting conversational, mostly helpful, answers.

So the idea of having ChatGPT-powered chatbots, like the one in Bing, being able to reply in other mediums other than plain text is certainly exciting – but it also fills me with a bit of dread.

As I mentioned earlier, ChatGPT’s early days were marked with some strange and controversial responses that the chatbots gave to users. The one in Bing, for example, not only gave out incorrect information, but it then argued with the user who pointed out its mistakes, causing Microsoft to hastily intervene and limit the amount of responses it can provide in a single chat (and which Microsoft is only now slowly increasing again).

If we start seeing a similar streak of weirdness with videos, there could be even more concerning repercussions.

Ethics of AI

In a world where AI-generated ‘deepfake’ videos are an increasing concern for many people, especially those who unwittingly find themselves starring in those movies, the idea of ChatGPT dipping its toes into video creation is a bit worrying.

If people could ask ChatGPT to create a video starring a famous person, that celebrity would likely feel violated. While I’m sure many companies using ChatGPT 4, such as Microsoft, will try to limit or ban pornographic or violent requests, the fact that the ChatGPT code is easily available could mean more unscrupulous users could still abuse it.

There’s also the matter of copyright infringement. AI generated art has come under close scrutiny over where it is taking its samples from, and this will likely be the case with videos as well. Content creators, directors and streamers will likely take a dim view of their works being used in AI generated videos, especially if those videos are controversial or harmful.

AI, especially ChatGPT, which only launched a few months ago, is still in its infancy, and while its potential has yet to be fully realised, so too have the moral implications of what it can achieve. So, while Microsoft’s boasts about video coming soon to ChatGPT is impressive and exciting, the company also needs to be careful and make sure both users and original content creators are looked after.

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

Read More

PS5 games reveal live blog: we’ll be reporting live on Sony’s The Future of Gaming event
  • No Comments

The PS5 games reveal is imminent, and we're running a live blog throughout today's event, which Sony is calling The Future of Gaming. Starting at 1PM PDT / 9PM BST / 4PM EDT, we'll get our first look at PS5 games coming to the console at launch and likely beyond. Here's how to watch the PS5 games reveal live stream, so you can follow along. 

During this event, we expect to see an array of new game announcements and reveals, with PS5 exclusives debuted for the first time, among other games from third-party publishers and developers. The Future of Gaming will run slightly longer than an hour, Sony has confirmed. 

What's being revealed is still a total mystery. Even with a week's delay from the original intended date of June 4, seemingly nothing has leaked from what we're going to see today. We don't expect to see the console itself today, or to learn the PS5 price, but for the focus to instead be on games.

Below, we'll be live blogging the PS5 games reveal event all day, up until the end of the live stream. 

PS5 games reveal live blog

All times in Pacific Daylight time (PDT).

09.00 – Which games will be revealed today? In terms of Sony's own developers, logic points towards Horizon Zero Dawn 2, since the first game is more than three years old, it sold a bucketload of copies and has theoretically had enough time for a sequel to be made. Guerrilla has a reputation for being a developer that showcases PlayStation technology at its best. We think it's still slightly too early for God of War 2 and Spider-Man 2, but we're willing to be surprised. A new Gran Turismo is rumored based on a recent trademark filing. 

A Demon's Souls remake from port specialists BluePoint Games is also expected. Other, wilder rumors point towards a new Silent Hill game, and possibly Resident Evil 8, too.

08.33 – For context, the PS4 was greeted with game reveals from both Sony and third-party publishers and developers when the console was unveiled in 2013. They included games like Killzone: Shadow Fall, Knack and Driveclub, and key titles from other publishers like Destiny and Watch Dogs. 

It's likely we'll see a similar mix here, as publishers use this platform to get people excited about what they have planned for these new consoles. 

07.55 – Hello there! Today is the day of the PS5 games reveal. The Future of Gaming is a 'digital showcase' that Sony has said "will run for a bit more than an hour". While the livestream today will be broadcast in 1080p 30fps to ease the production process for Sony's staff, a lot of whom are still working from home, it's pointed out the games will look far superior on 4K TVs.

This is arguably the most exciting reveal in the next-gen console wars, and we're hoping that Sony doesn't pull any punches with revealing its biggest upcoming projects. Microsoft, of course, did its first gameplay reveal last month, and it was a little too lean for some of those watching at home, with bigger Xbox Series X games being saved for a separate reveal in July.

We predict Sony will counter-program that, and bring a lot of big guns to the fore, both from its own developers and publishers it's partnered up with.

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

Read More