Czech World of Warcraft fans donned costumes on Saturday to bring the massively popular online game to life, pushing ahead with a scaled-back festival after the coronavirus pandemic postponed the annual event earlier this year
First launched all the way back in 2001, Microsoft’s long-defunct Windows XP operating system is still alive and kicking among some pockets of users, according to data from NetMarketShare.
As of last month, 1.26% of all laptops and desktop computers worldwide were still running on the 19-year-old OS. That’s a greater proportion than much younger operating systems Windows 8 (0.57%), ChromeOS (0.42%) and Windows Vista (0.12%).
Windows XP officially reached end of life on April 14 2014, meaning Microsoft has not provided important technical and security updates for the OS for more than six years.
Estimates suggest there are now more than two billion computers in circulation worldwide which, if accurate, would mean that 25.2 million PCs continue to run on the highly insecure Windows XP.
Windows 10 market share
Windows 10, meanwhile, is now in use across more than 60% of all computers worldwide - up from just over 50% twelve months ago.
The figures highlight Microsoft’s enduring market dominance, despite the high profile of Apple Mac computers. The closest non-Microsoft rival by market share is Mac OS X 10.15 with 3.49%, followed by Mac OS X 10.14 (2.96%) and 10.13 (1.44%).
The creeping rise of Windows 10 mirrors an equivalent decline in the percentage of machines running Windows 7, which fell from 31.53% to 22.31% over the course of the last year.
With Windows 7 having reached end of life in January, it’s important that users upgrade to Microsoft’s newest OS in order to shield against unpatched vulnerabilities.
Safe in the knowledge that Microsoft will no longer deliver security patches for outdated operating systems, cybercriminals can dedicate resources to developing malware designed specifically to exploit older flaws.
Given the significant pool of computers that still run on unsupported operating systems, the potential scope of attacks remains significant.
The advice for users hoping to remain as secure as possible is to update to the latest Windows, Mac or Linux OS and to protect their devices with a modern antivirus solution.
Czech World of Warcraft fans donned costumes on Saturday to bring the massively popular online game to life, pushing ahead with a scaled-back festival after the coronavirus pandemic postponed the annual event earlier this year
SoftBank Group is taking a direct role in managing its virus-hit hospitality startup Oyo's operations in Latin America through a joint venture which will control all hotels in the region, the head of Oyo Brazil told Reuters in an interview on Friday.
India's ban on mobile apps with a Chinese connection spawned replicas by the dozen, as we have reported in the past. However, nCore Games, the Bangalore-based game developer says its new multiplayer mobile game FAU-G (Fearless and United: Guards) isn't a response to the federal government's ban of PUBG and 117 other games.
For starters, the company claims that FAU-G was in the works as early as May 2020 and will launch within a month's time. Also, unlike PUBG, where players scout for weapons and kill each other, their game associates players with major military events of India. The first episode would replicate India's recent clash with Chinese army at the Galwan Valley in Ladakh.
While PUBG mobile has been banned in India, the game is still available on the PCs. This is so because Tencent Holdings is connected with the mobile version of the game, which was actually developed by a South Korean gaming company Bluehole.
A report in the Indian Express quotes nCore co-founder Vishal Gondal as saying that the ban on PUBG was coincidental and that the nCore team had been working on FAU-G since May while preparing for a launch in October. In fact, it was part of three games that they were working on, of which one is a cricket game and the other associated with music.
It's not just FAU-G
He further revealed that the music game would be out in September as would the cricket game, which may coincide with the IPL, India's highly popular franchise cricket tournament. This year's edition is being played from the 19th of September in the UAE, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Gondal says nCore's decision to focus on these games began several months earlier and was based on the misplaced belief that Indian game developers cannot produce quality games. He says that the company is out to prove that this was not so and Indian games can compete with the global brands and are capable of developing games better than PUBG.
Earlier this year, Quentin Staes-Polet, general manager at Epic Games and in-charge of India and southeast Asia had said that the gaming market continues to be nascent with the developer community yet to discover the gaming behaviour of enthusiasts in this part of the world.
What do we know about FAU-G?
The nCore team said their first episode on FAU-G would aim to educate players about the crucial military incidents of the country and mirror the actual one at Galwan Valley on June 15 this year that saw heightened tensions between India and China. The company also said that 20 percent of all revenues from the game would be donated to the Bharat Ke Veer trust.
Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar has actively campaigned for contributions to this charity initiated by India's ministry of Internal Affairs for providing monetary relief to Bravehearts of the Indian defence forces and paramilitary forces. The actor also volunteered to mentor the mobile game FAU-G as parts of his charity efforts.
At this point in time, all we know is that the new game would provide players with a third-person shooting experience. Watch this space as we will update you with more information as and when they become available.
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It might be worth a reminder that Yahoo, which is now part of sprawling conglomerate Verizon, is offering web hosting services for small businesses based in the US.
The firm is currently running an offer (ending December 31) that includes a free website, free domain name and five business email accounts for a whole year, to help businesses navigate the pandemic.
You also get access to a website builder with more than 150 templates, email inboxes with a total capacity of 1TB, a private domain registration, a business plan creator and much more.
You will need to create a Business Maker account and use the code PAYITFORWARD at checkout. After the first year, expect to pay a little less than $800, which includes a one-off legal package charge and additional state filing fee.
An interesting feature of Yahoo’s Business Maker package is that it includes hardware and software for in-person customer payments, something that may or may not be relevant depending on your line of business.
Rounding off the package is a local business directory feature that acts like a local SEO tool to help businesses raise their profiles within their community. Alternatives exist at a much lower price, but with a very minimal feature set.
Under the CARES Act, about 4 million people got stimulus money in the form of a prepaid Economic Impact Payment debit card. Here's how to find out if you could get an EIP card in a potential second round of payments, and how you'd use it.
In an unprecedented move for the company, Apple confirmed back in July that it has a new iPhone coming in 2020. It's not all good news though; the company also confirmed it'll be out later in the year than it has previously "launched" its flagship phones.
If the company's was sticking to normal release dates, we would have been likely seeing the iPhone 12 on Tuesday, September 8. Instead, the wait seems to be longer for this year's new iPhone... and it may even extend into October.
When will you be able to buy yourself a brand new iPhone? Plus, when will the company be unveiling its new devices? Those are two different things, and below we're going to try and give you the best answers to those questions with the information we have so far.
When would we normally see a new iPhone?
September 8 was originally our best guess for the iPhone 12 announcement. That was leaked by an established tipster called ihacktu, and it matches what we’ve previously seen from the company in other years.
Typically, Apple announces its new iPhone on a Tuesday at the start of September. It's usually the first or second week of the year. It then often puts the device on sale 10 days after that, with pre-orders happening in that period between announcement and on sale.
That has been the case for almost every iPhone since the iPhone 5. Here's a few examples:
iPhone launch dates
Tue Sept 8, 2020: iPhone 12???
Tue Sept 10, 2019: iPhone 11/11 Pro/11 Pro Max
Wed Sept 12, 2018: iPhone XS/XS Max/XR
Tue Sept 12, 2017: iPhone X/9/9 Plus
Wed Sept 7, 2016: iPhone 7/7 Plus
Wed Sept 9, 2015: iPhone 6S/6S Plus
Tue Sept 9, 2014: iPhone 6/6 Plus
Tue Sept 10, 2013: iPhone 5S/5C
Wed Sept 12, 2012: iPhone 5
Tue Oct 4, 2011: iPhone 4S
Mon June 7, 2010: iPhone 4
Mon June 8, 2009: iPhone 3GS
Mon June 9, 2008: iPhone 3G
Tue Jan 9, 2007: iPhone
All of this said, Apple hasn't specifically told us when the event will be and typically the company gives us at least a two week heads up on when to expect the new iPhone announcement.
There's a slim chance Apple could unveil the new handset on September 8 without a teaser for the event, but that's very unlikely as the company is sure to want lots of attention for its event.
Plus, the company has officially confirmed that there would be a delay in 2020. So what has Apple publicly said?
What has Apple said?
During Apple’s Q3 2020 earning call, Apple CFO Luca Maestri specifically referred to a new iPhone and clarified that the company is expecting its launch to be delayed in 2020 when compared to previous years.
Maestri said, “As you know, last year we started selling iPhones in late September. This year, we expect supply to be available a few weeks later.”
This is unheard of as Apple has never previously commented on the existence of a new iPhone, but the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the company’s financials – and future financials with an iPhone 12 delay on the horizon – have changed things a little.
Later, Maestri clarified “I said in my remarks that a year ago we launched new iPhone in late September. And I said that this year, the supply of the new product will be a few weeks later than that.”
Apple didn’t specifically call the device the iPhone 12, but this has essentially confirmed the new iPhone range we expected to launch around now will be delayed until at least some point later in 2020.
At first, we believed this may be very specific terminology chosen by Apple. We believed it wouldn't impact the time that you get to see the company unveil the iPhone 12 range announced on stage and is instead about when you can buy the phone.
That doesn't seem to be the case though, and we're going to have a bit longer to wait to see the phones unveiled.
When do we now expect the iPhone 12?
The iPhone 11 Pro Max from 2019(Image credit: Future)
A variety of rumors have suggested October 2020 is when we're likely to see the new iPhones. We've previously expected that we would see the devices announced in September, but that seems less and less likely now.
Maestri’s terminology of “a few” weeks suggests that is pushed back by at least three weeks. That likely means you won’t be able to buy the phone until at least mid-October (the iPhone 11 series was released on September 20 last year).
It's difficult to predict an exact date as these are unprecedented times and they don't match Apple's usual schedule. One report from Bloomberg has suggested that Apple may also stagger the release date of its products after revealing them.
New, adjusted Apple dates!Apple Watch & iPad- Via press release- Week 37 w/c Sep 7iPhone 12 event- Week 42 w/c Oct 12iPhone 12 devices - Preorders week 42 w/c Oct 12- Shipping week 43 w/c Oct 19iPhone 12 Pro devices- Preorder and shipping in Nov (no exact date yet)August 12, 2020
Leaker Jon Prosser who has been accurate on product announcement dates for the iPhone SE, iPad Pro and a few other Apple products has said he believes we'll be seeing the event on the week of October 12.
If that's true, we'd expect it to be October 13 as Apple often hosts its launches on a Tuesday. MacOtakara believes an event is set to take place toward the end of October.
Prosser also believes pre-orders for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Max will open that same week. We'd estimate that Apple would follow its usual format of opening pre-orders on the Friday after announcement, so that'd be October 16.
Prosser's information also claims the products will begin shipping the week of October 19, while pre-order and shipping dates for the iPhone 12 Pro are set for some point in November.
How certain is any of this?
None of this is certain. This is all conjecture that we’re able to suggest based on previous iPhone launches, a variety of leaks and Apple's specific way of announcing this, but these are strange times with the world trying to cope with Covid-19.
Things may even have changed within Apple HQ since the July announcement so there may even be a longer delay than first expected. We won't know anything for certain until we hear directly from Apple on its plans for an event.
If it does happen, we'll be sure to be one of the first to let you know.
An Indian firm is set to launch a battle royale mobile video game in partnership with Bollywood star Akshay Kumar, capitalising on the void left by a ban on Chinese tech firm Tencent's popular PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG).
