PC Pro May 2016

EVERYONE WHO READSPC Pro will be familiar with Moore’s law; less known is how hard the semiconductor industry, with Intel at its high-frequency heart, has worked to ensure it remained true. And now, like a grumpy toddler who can’t fit the triangle through the square hole, it’s scrunching Moore’s law into a ball and throwing it away. I’ll admit my toddler analogy is flawed. Our infant would be over 50 years old and rival South Africa’s GDP for income – global semiconductor sales topped $335 billion in 2015. That’s even more than Kim Kardashian’s worth. Something the semiconductor industry shares with toddlers, though, is one heck of an appetite. If we look at Intel in its early 1970s years, it grew at a phenomenal rate. First, it feasted on memory and then,…

Mark Newton Intrigued by a version of Windows 10 for IoT devices, Mark decided to put it to the test. Find out what he discovered on p116 David Nield Virtual reality is poised to revolutionise gaming, but what about film? David interviewed a selection of cinematic visionaries. See inside their minds on p46 Jon Honeyball Never mind Error 53: Jon had a problem of a different scale when Apple changed a setting and his tape library disappeared. For his solution, see p110 Dave Stevenson Dave’s mission: to discover why real-life simulators are popular. Crashing a few virtual trucks along the way, he spoke to an expert to find out. See p42…

NOT CONTENT TO leave parents in charge of what their children view on the internet, the government has announced proposals to force porn sites to implement “robust” age verification. No longer will children be able to view pornography by ticking a box to falsely confirm their adulthood – instead, visitors will be forced to part with credit-card details or verify their age in another, unspecified manner. Can the government realistically hope to put all internet pornography beyond the eyes of curious children? Or are the proposals little more than a box ticked on the government’s election manifesto? The German model The government’s proposals – laid out in a 44-page consultation document – are both hugely ambitious and laughably weak. The government plans to follow Germany’s lead and demand that all “commercial” pornography providers…

Although ISPs aren’t yet being asked to block sites that don’t show age verification, there is a line in the government’s consultation paper that will give cause for concern for Britain’s smaller providers. So far, only the big six providers have been required to implement content filters, but the paper states that the government “will continue to discuss with ISPs (including smaller providers) the potential for driving up the provision, effectiveness and usability” of the filters. Adrian Kennard, owner of AAISP, told PC Pro it would be a “very short conversation” if the government did come asking for filters to be switched on at his company. “Our job is to shift packets of data impartially in accordance with net-neutrality principles,” he said. “We do not look at, or censor, what passes…

Tech companies have long been accused of paying little corporation tax in the UK – often using legal but circuitous systems to move or reduce taxable profits. Even when tech giants do agree to pay tax, it’s often well below the going rate for smaller businesses. Google’s recent deal with HM Revenue and Customs is a case in point - the company agreed to pay £130 million in back taxes covering more than a decade, which has been estimated as an effective rate of 2.5%. Google is by no means alone. The figures below highlight just how little companies such as Facebook, Apple and Netflix pay on their UK earnings. The tax authorities are apparently trying to close the loopholes – the “double Irish” system used by many tech companies will be killed…

1 Apple fights the feds on iPhone encryption Appleissuedanextraordinarypublicrebuke totheFBIaftertheagencydemandedthat AppleprovideaspecialversionofiOSthat couldcircumventencryptiononthedeviceof aterrorist.TheFBIissuedcourtdocuments requiringAppletocreateanewsystem informationfilethatwouldallowthefeds toforcetheirwaypastApple’sencryption andnotriskautomaticdeletionofdatafrom failedpasscodeattempts.Inapublicletter postedonitswebsite,CEOTimCooksaidthe companywouldfightthecourtorder,saying suchsoftwarewouldcompromiseevery iPhoneuser’ssecurity. “Inthephysicalworld, itwouldbethe equivalentofa masterkey, capableof opening hundreds ofmillions oflocks,” wroteCook. “Noreasonable personwouldfind thatacceptable.” 2 Microsoft finally reveals what’s going into Windows 10 updates Havingsteadfastlyrefusedtodivulgewhat’s goingintothenowmandatoryupdatesto Windows10,Microsofthaspublisheda newwebpagecoveringwhat’sactuallybeen fixedoraddedtotheoperatingsystem. “Afterlisteningtofeedbackregardingthe levelofdisclosureforWindows10updates, wedecidedtoimplementanewsystem forcommunicatingupdatestotheoperating system,”aMicrosoftspokespersontold TheRegister. “Todaywearerollingout theWindows10updatehistorysite,ahub forthereleasenotesthatwillaccompany eachupdateandserveasahistorical recordofpriorreleasenotes.”Toview thefulllistofhistoricalupgradesand changestoWindows10,visitthefollowing link:pcpro.link/259updatehistory. 3 Error 53 bricks repaired iPhones It’snotonlylawenforcementApplehas beenshuttingoutthismonth,butitsown customers.AniOSupdateeffectively brickedthehandsetsofcustomers whohadtheirhomebuttons replacedbyindependentrepair shops,withthescreensimply displayingError53.WithApple chargingmorethan£250to replacethehomebutton, manycustomersoptedfor third-partyreplacements. Anexpensiveoptionif Applehadstucktoitsguns. Havingfirstclaimedthat disablinghandsetswas necessarytoprotect theintegrityofTouch ID,however,Apple laterapologisedand rolledoutanupdatetoiOS thatfixedError53.(see DarienGraham-Smith’s columnonp22formore). 4 Torvalds: “I’m not a people person” Thefamouslyprickly creatoroftheLinux kernel,Linus Torvalds,gavea brutallyfrankTED talkinwhichhe openlyconfessed todislikingmanyof hisfellowopensourcecollaborators. “WhatIloveaboutopen sourceisthatitreallyallows differentpeopletoworktogether,”hesaid. “Wedon’thavetolikeeachother.And sometimes,wereallydon’tlikeeachother.” Torvaldsadmittedhewasn’t“apeople person”andwasbaffledbytherowsthat eruptoversoftware.“Codeeitherworks oritdoesn’t,”hesaid.“There’slessroom forargument,andyetwehavearguments despitethis.” Torvaldsalsorevealedhehastoworkin completesilence.“Ifthecatcomesupandit sitsinmylap,Iwanttohearthesoundofthe catpurring,notthefansofthecomputer.” 5 Nextbit Robin: the cloud smartphone Fedupofrunning outofstorageon yoursmartphone? Anindependent startupfrontedby formerGoogleand HTCexecutivesclaims tohavetheanswer.The NextbitRobincomeswith32GBofbuilt-in…