Tech News, Rumors and Announcements
I would like to thank all those customers who gave such positive feedback about last month’s newsletter on “Five things to consider when changing from a PC to a Mac”.
This month we are dedicating June's newsletter to some of the latest "Tech News, Rumours and Announcements". Apple have recently announced iOS 10 update and Microsoft have ambitious plans to bring VR (virtual reality) to the masses. The cost of VR is also expected to come down in price after leading hardware manufacturer AMD have announced their budget RX 480 graphic card.
There are some new game consoles on the horizon from Sony and Microsoft and we thought we would also highlight additional news from the world of tech.
As always, I hope you enjoy this newsletter and find it informative. If you would like to satisfy your need for more tech news, please look no further than our blog: www.pcpal.co.uk/blog
iOS 10 for Your iPhone and iPad
This month Apple had their Worldwide Developers Conference where they announced iOS 10. iOS 10 is a huge update for your iPhones and iPads with hundreds of improvements and extra features.
Siri and Maps have been enormously improved as well as being opened up to 3rd party developers allowing them to incorporate additional features into the services. Small improvements like "Raise to Wake" feature, faster Face Time connection and the ability to remove those pesky native apps you never use e.g. 'Stocks'.
iMessage has also had a big overhaul with emoji improvements, bubble effects and improvements to media and link attachments. This brings iMessage to the same level as other messaging apps like Facebook and Whatsapp.
Microsoft Holographic and Windows 10 Redstone Update
Holographic and HoloLens
This is part of Microsoft's ambitious vision of the future involving a mixture of virtual and augmented reality. Microsoft's vision is to integrate your digital life by projecting holograms onto your world and allow you to interact with them using hand gestures.
The software that makes this possible is called Holographic and all this is currently achieved by wearing a bulky headset which is called the holoLens. However Microsoft have recently opened up the Holographic API which will allow other VR manufactures to support the holographic system on their devices like the HTC, Vive and Oculus Rift.
If your would like to learn more about Holographic and HoloLens please follow this link : https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/en-us
Windows 10 Redstone
Also in the news, Microsoft is developing the next big Windows 10 Update called Redstone. It will offer mobile integration allowing users to send messages and make calls from their Computer via a supported Windows Phone.
Other features will introduce major improvements for touch devices, voice control, edge browser improvements, native Linux support and the messaging and phone support mentioned earlier. Redstone is due for release later on this year (Quarter 3 of 2016).
AMD Announces the RX 480 VR Ready Graphics Card
AMD and NVIDIA have recently announced their latest range of graphics cards. Normally we wouldn't bother our customers with news of graphics cards but what is exciting about the AMD's RX 480 card is a that it is VR (virtual reality) ready at a price point within most people's budget.
The AMD RX 480, once released, will market at around $200 (about £160) making it possibly the cheapest VR-capable graphics card on the market. This is hopefully a step in the right direction for bringing VR into the mainstream.
If this graphics card lives up the the hype then it's going to be great for consumers. The AMD RX 480 is also powerful outside the world of VR, with early benchmarks from AMD claiming that two of these cards has similar performance to NVIDIA's 1080GTX which is a £600 product.
There is also more coming from AMD and NVIDIA as they prepare to release their premium and most powerful products later on this year.
The Next Gen Game Consoles
Xbox One S and Scorpio
Microsoft is to release an updated Xbox One in August this year and has confirmed to be working on another console set to be released in 2017.
The new Xbox One S will be 40% smaller with an integrated power supply and will come with 2TB of storage, support for 4K Ultra HD TVs and HDR to enhance colour.
Microsoft has also made improvements to the Xbox wireless controllers. They've added textured grip, increased range as well as Bluetooth support. This will make it possible to use your new Controller on a PC, Tablet and Phone.
Looking at bit further into the future, Microsoft is working on a more powerful version of the Xbox One console called "Project Scorpio" to be launch in 2017. Even though the Xbox One S supports 4K TVs, it's still not possible to actually play games at that resolution because it doesn't have any additional performance power. Project Scorpio will address this limitation with additional power to play native 4K games and will also support VR headsets.
PlayStation Neo and VR
Sony have confirmed at this year's E3 show that they will be releasing the PlayStation VR headset. The Headset will be release later this year for a price of £400 and will be compatible with all PS4 devices.
Games like Batman Arkham VR, Resident Evil VII VR, and Star Wars:Battlefront have already been announced and we're sure console fans will be very excited to see the world of VR coming to their homes soon.
Also Sony are planning on releasing their upgraded version of the PS4 called the PS Neo. It's been rumored to have increased graphics power to deliver 4K support and improve the Sony VR experience.
Also in the News
Paperless Driving Licence
The UK's Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is working on a Smartphone version of its driving licence. Smartphones are already being used to store boarding passes as well as credit, debit, gift and discount cards. Security has taken a significant step forward to support digital payments on Smartphones, so the framework is in place for other secure applications, such as a digital driving licence. Digital driving licences could be making an appearance in 2018.
Anti-Drone Devices
A UK-developed system capable of jamming signals to small drones is to be trialled by the US Aviation Authority. This may not come as a surprise with the large numbers of drones being purchased and the number of incidents involving planes and drones. The technology works by jamming signals to drones, making them unresponsive. The technology will be tested at several airports to be selected by the FAA.
