Computeractive 635

2021 BACK ISSUE CD NOW ON SALE! p34 We blame neighbours for many things – pinching parking spaces, noisy dogs, blasting music that rattles the walls – but not it seems for slowing our Wi-Fi. A recent survey from Zen Internet (www.snipca.com/42399) shows that only 24 per cent of people realise their neighbour’s signal could be interfering with their own. Using the same channel as your neighbours is mistake number three of seven that we explain in our Cover Feature. So we don’t get accused of fomenting disharmony in the streets and avenues of Britain, it’s only fair to point out that if your signal is being hampered, it’s unlikely to be your neighbour’s fault. You certainly shouldn’t use it as a reason not to return the hedge trimmer that you borrowed…

Google has redesigned its News home page (https://news.google.co.uk) to give more prominence to local stories, and offer more options to choose which subjects to read about. There’s a new section at the top right titled ‘Local news’, showing stories from local newspapers and websites (1 in our main screenshot), as long as you’re signed in with your Google account. Above this heading you’ll see the weather forecast for your area 2, with a link to Weather.com for more details. When you click ‘Local news’, you’ll be asked to add a location which you can do by clicking the ‘filter’ icon (see screenshot below right) then typing your town or postcode. You can add as many locations as you like. Before this redesign, unless you clicked local news in the left-hand tab, you had…

Microsoft is now showing reminders to Windows 8.1 users that it will stop supporting the operating system on 10 January, 2023. When you see the notifications, you can click ‘Learn more’, ‘Remind me later’, or ‘Remind me after the end-of-support date’. After support ends, Microsoft will no longer release security updates for Windows 8.1, nor add new features to it. Also, there won’t be an extended support period for businesses and organisations that want to continue using the system (visit Microsoft’s site for details www.snipca.com/42405). Microsoft released Windows 8.1 in October 2013 as an attempt to address many of the complaints aimed at the poorly received Windows 8, launched a year earlier. Most significantly it brought back the Start button, but that wasn’t enough to make it popular with the public. It never came…

Microsoft has finally banned ‘copycat’ apps from its Store that impersonate popular free apps and charge a fee to use. Such apps have infuriated users for years, and we often expose them in our ‘Named & Shamed’ section (page 21). The ban comes as part of an update to the Store’s policies (www.snipca.com/42395). In paragraph 10.8.7 it says apps must not “attempt to profit from open-source or other software that is otherwise generally available for free”. It means apps won’t be able to use similar names to well-known apps in order to trick users into thinking they’re official apps. Barry Collins, who writes our ‘Named & Shamed’ page, has warned readers about apps that impersonate YouTube, Audacity, GIMP and Kindle ebook readers. Searching for Audacity in the Store, for example, brings up both the official…

The BBC must make more content available online in order to stay relevant in the digital age, Ofcom has said. It has proposed modernising the BBC’s Operating Licence so the broadcaster can “innovate and respond to changing audience needs” while still providing essential services. Currently, the BBC’s remit is too focused on providing TV and radio content, Ofcom said. In future, it wants the corporation to do more to make “important content” easier to find online. It gives examples as regional programming and ‘at-risk’ genres including arts, music and religion. Such changes will reflect the “increasingly important” role apps like BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds play in people’s lives, Ofcom said. Ofcom will now consult with interested parties and expects to make a decision in early 2023, in time for it to take effect…

1.5TB MicroSD CARD IS WORLD’S BIGGEST US storage firm Micron has unveiled the world’s largest microSD card, at 1.5TB. The i400 (pictured) is big enough to hold 350 DVDs, 70 Blu-rays or one million floppy disks, and beats the previous record holder, the C200, which held 1TB. It can store four months of footage, and will be aimed at companies making security video cameras. ALEXA TO MIMIC VOICE OF DEAD RELATIVES Amazon has revealed an experimental feature that allows Alexa to imitate someone’s voice after hearing it for just one minute. Rohit Prasad, an Amazon senior vice president, said it could be used to mimic a loved-one’s voice after they die, in order to “make the memories last”. Watch him demonstrate it at www.snipca.com/42397.…