V. I. K. I.

What if people in India could soon use Skype as an authentication service? According to a report from Indian Express, Microsoft is currently working with the Indian government to link Skype with the national ID database Aadhaar to see if the service can be used to enable authenticated communications with government institutions. Aadhaar is a unique 12-digit identity number affected to Indian residents and linked to centralised government database collecting biometric and demographic data. It’s currently voluntary and not mandatory, but because of the privacy concerns some Indian civil liberty groups have opposed what could be one of the world’s largest national identification number project. However, Microsoft’s President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith told Indian Express that the company has embraced the universal ID system: We have been pursuing work, initially on a pilot basis, to use this specific technology and integrate it with Skype. We see Skype evolving in a way that ...

If Microsoft has enough patience to stick with it, Windows Phone could be a much more successful platform within a few years. The future is the mobile web. They're all piling on after the bad Windows Phone news, pointing their thumbs down and predicting that Emperor Satya will do the same. I think Microsoft is more patient than that, but clearly times are tough for Windows 10 Mobile (née Windows Phone). There are many reasons I could cite for why Windows Phone still might have a future, but I'll focus on two. The first is the more important one: The build-out of the mobile web will diminish the significance of native apps. I recently wrote a large feature on this in Ars Technica, but here are the highlights: HTML/JS/DOM standards for web browsers are advancing rapidly to the point nearly everything you'd want to do in a native app you'll be able to do on a mobile web site. This is not the way things are right now; many of the standards are not implemented yet,...

Physicists working with a powerful observatory on Earth announced Thursday that they have finally detected ripples in space and time created by two colliding black holes, confirming a prediction made by Albert Einstein 100 years ago.  These ripples in the fabric of space-time, called gravitational waves, were created by the merger of two massive black holes 1.3 billion years ago. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) on Earth detected them on Sept. 14, 2015, and scientists evaluated their findings and put them through the peer review process before publicly disclosing the landmark discovery today. While this finding potentially opens a up a new way to learn more about how the universe works, there's one question in particular non-scientists seem to want answered: Can we finally travel through time now? First of all, it's not a bad question.  Think about space-time as a fabric that stretches through the universe and is affected by matter like...

Microsoft may not have a strong presence in the smartphone market as a vendor, but the software giant is trying to make a splash in a different way, by partnering with other players to make its mobile apps available on as many devices as possible. And it stands a very good chance of making serious inroads. Microsoft has so far teamed up with 74 companies, in 25 countries, to ship its apps on their Android smartphones and tablets. The latest major player to partner with Microsoft is Acer, which will preload some of the software giant's most-prominent Android apps. The focus is on cloud services and Office, as Acer's customers can expect to find Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive, OneNote, Outlook, Skype and Word on their new Android devices. Microsoft says that these apps are already preloaded on smartphones and tablets like LG G Pad 2 and Samsung Galaxy S6, and that "specific offerings may vary by device". This agreement will bear fruits starting in the second half of...

Windows 3.1 was the first version of Windows I ever used. The Internet Archive, which has over the past couple of years made it possible to play classic DOS games and console games in your browser, has just added over 1,000 Windows 3.1 programs to its catalog. These include games, utilities and business software, and each can be run in your browser just by clicking on them. Obviously, with over 1,000 titles to choose from, you’re going to be struggling to find the really good ones to try without a bit of help, but fortunately the Internet Archive has curated some of the best here. Highlights of the Windows 3.x Showcase include a Windows 95 demo (something to look forward to!), Merlin: The Quest for the Wand, Election 92, Windows Adventure (a GUI edition of the classic Crowther and Woods' game), Taipei, and WinTrek. If you prefer, you can browse the complete software library here.

They are too easy to lose, just like every thumbdrive I've ever owned Computers are getting smaller and smaller, but what I really want them to do is disappear entirely. I’d be happy if the “computer” as we know it was just a voice command away, something so ubiquitous and useful, we never had to think about charge cables, processor speeds or upgrading to the latest 4K monitor. They would just "work" all around us, on touchscreens and in the car. I want computing that’s so pervasive and obvious it works more like the electricity in your home or office and “turns on” like a light switch. Basically, computing would become completely invisible. When Lenovo announced its Ideacentre Stick 300 last week, my first thought was: Oh good, another small gadget I will lose almost immediately. It’s about the size of two index fingers, which is a sign that mobile computing has passed the point of no return. Granted, I test hundreds of gadgets per year (I’m keeping my local Fed...

Intel Compute Stick ($160) Intel launched the first iteration of the Compute Stick back in March of 2015, and ever since, a number of other stick PCs have picked up on the Intel’s standard specs and carried them. The most recent version of the Compute Stick is powered by a quad-core Intel Atom x5-Z8300 processor and 2GB of RAM, with 32GB of eMMC storage. As for connectivity, it attaches to a TV or monitor via HDMI, and utilizes a pair of USB ports — one 2.0 and one 3.0 — a MicroSD slot, and a micro-USB for power. It also features Bluetooth 4.0 for keyboard and mouse support, and 802.11ac Wi-Fi. There’s also an older model, which is currently more readily available than the new one. It has an Intel Atom Z3735 processor, which offers compute performance similar to the Z8300, but slower integrated graphics. The old model also has one less USB port and only 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi. It’s probably wise to wait for the new edition, unless you can grab the old one at a bargain price. Asus Ch...

Lenovo ideacentre Stick 300, the compact PC stick, running full Windows, is now available in India for Rs. 9999. The Stick 300 is available for order via Lenovo’s official e-store, shipping starts on September 25. The Lenovo Stick PC 300 was announced back in June and is similar to the Intel Compute Stick that will let users transform their TV or monitor with a HDMI port into a full-fledged PC. The Stick is powered by a 1.33GHz quad-core Intel Atom Z3735F processor and is just 15mm thick and comes with 2 GB of memory and can be expanded up to 32GB with a micro card slot. The Lenovo Stick 300 comes with Windows 8.1 and can be upgraded to Windows 10. Other features of the new PC-on-a-stick device from Lenovo include WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, 1 HDMI, 1 Micro USB2.0 port for power via bundled adapter, 1 USB 2.0 Host port for external USB devices. Earlier this year Intel launched the Compute Stick priced at $149.99 (approximately Rs. 9,000), that came with Windows 8.1 pre-ins...