PC Pro November 2015

THE SCENE: A BAR. The date: a weekday evening, summer 2015. The occasion: two old university friends, in their mid-40s, catching up. And, as usual, arguing. One of them was me. “I still don’t see the point.” He was unimpressed as I showed off my new smartwatch. “Well, what was the point of the mobile phone? The laptop? The computer? No-one sees the point at first, do they? And then they can’t live without it.” He eyed me with deep suspicion over his pint of Peroni. “So you wouldn’t be able to function without your watch? You’d run into your burning house, ignoring the children, and grab your watch, clutching it to your heart.” “Don’t be stupid,” I laughed, “I’d be wearing it. No need to dash back into the house.” For a second I can…

AT LEAST 95% of British households will have access to fibre broadband within the next 18 months, but the battle for better broadband isn’t over. While the government is crowing about hitting its revised target of getting 95% of the UK onto superfast connections by 2017, questions remain about how the final 1.5 million properties will get faster networks. Rural communities continue to suffer from slow broadband and even London MPs complain that key areas of the capital aren’t yet up to speed. Questions are being directed to Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), the government body tasked with upgrading British infrastructure. All of its grants have been handed to BT, and its practices have been criticised by both the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee of MPs. Final 5% Assuming the 2017…

IS MICROSOFT TRYING to snoop on users with Windows 10? That’s the accusation being levelled at the company by some customers. For example, Cortana isn’t new, but the voice-enabled smart assistant can now use your microphone to eavesdrop and learn your speech patterns. Then there’s the diagnostic tool, which can collect more data from crashes, and may even send snippets of your personal files back to Microsoft. That’s not to mention the extension of personalised advertising into apps, with Windows 10 studying your behaviour to decide which ads to display. Finally, there’s WiFi Sense, which lets you share your network with anyone in your contact list, without sharing the login details. While that can protect your privacy, it also automatically offers to share your Wi-Fi with everyone in your contact list –…

Forget self-driving cars and internet balloons, Google’s latest surprise is less about gadgetry and more about business innovation. Co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have unveiled a new company called Alphabet. Google will become a subsidiary of Alphabet, which will refocus on its core businesses of search and online services, while “moonshot” projects and other tech innovations will be managed by the Alphabet team. Here’s what it means for users and the future of tech. Can I still use Google as a verb meaning “to search” Yes, Google isn’t going anywhere. There’s little real change for users: you’ll still Google your searches, check your Gmail, and gaze at Google Maps when lost. However, Google will be wholly owned by a holding company called Alphabet. What will Alphabet do? Google will still own its…

FROM THE FIRST convertibles to prototype laptops with a transparent chassis, the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) has traditionally showcased the latest computing innovations – and the processors that go inside them. Yet, even with the release of Windows 10 still fresh in the mind, there was little focus on laptops and PCs at this year’s IDF in San Francisco. Instead, Intel’s execs couldn’t stop talking about the cloud and the Internet of Things (IoT). “I look at all the opportunities, and one thing is clear: computing is everywhere. It’s in our bags, our homes, our cars,” said Intel CEO Brian Krzanich during his opening keynote speech. Industry watchers claim that Intel’s emphasis on IoT shows it’s determined not to miss out on the emerging market in the same way it did with…

Google’s making a renewed bid to take control of tomorrow’s smart homes with the launch of its own router. It’s pitching the OnHub – produced by TP-Link – as the router to fix routers. Most routers are ugly, but the OnHub has its dozen antennae tucked inside a sleek chassis, making it more likely to find a home on a shelf than be tucked behind furniture, where its signal might be diminished. Google’s also making the router easy to manage. Rather than logging in to an obscure admin panel, the OnHub can be managed via a mobile app, complete with troubleshooting tools for when the Wi-Fi falls over. Unlike most routers, which don’t receive security updates despite being full of vulnerabilities, the OnHub will receive patches automatically. The real target of Google’s OnHub,…