All-New iPad Air With Advanced A14 Bionic Chip

Apple Bytes: 

The most powerful, versatile, and colorful iPad Air ever is here. Apple made the  all-new iPad Air available beginning Friday, October 23. Offered in five gorgeous finishes, iPad Air features an all-screen design with a larger 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display, camera and audio upgrades, a new integrated Touch ID sensor in the top button, and the powerful A14 Bionic for a massive boost in performance, making this by far the most powerful and capable iPad Air ever made.

iPad Air features a completely new thin and light design in five gorgeous finishes: silver, space gray, rose gold, green, and sky blue. The new all-screen design brings a larger 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display for a stunning visual experience, with 3.8 million pixels and advanced technologies, including full lamination, P3 wide color support, True Tone, and an anti-reflective coating. To allow the display to extend on all sides, a next-generation Touch ID sensor is integrated into the top button, providing the same fast, easy, and secure way to unlock iPad Air, log in to apps, or use Apple Pay. iPad Air is compatible with Magic Keyboard and its floating design with built-in trackpad, the Smart Keyboard Folio, and new Smart Folio covers, as well as Apple Pencil (2nd generation), which attaches magnetically to the side of iPad for easy pairing, charging, and storing.

iPad Air delivers a massive boost in performance with Apple’s most advanced chip ever made, A14 Bionic. Handling even the most demanding apps, A14 Bionic makes iPad Air even better for editing 4K video, creating gorgeous works of art, playing immersive games, and more. Using breakthrough 5-nanometer process technology, A14 Bionic is packed with 11.8 billion transistors for increased performance and power efficiency in nearly every part of the chip. This latest-generation A-series chip features a new 6-core design for a 40 percent boost in CPU performance, and a new 4-core graphics architecture for a 30 percent improvement in graphics.

To deliver breakthrough machine learning capabilities, A14 Bionic includes a new 16-core Neural Engine that is twice as fast, and capable of performing up to 11 trillion operations per second, taking machine learning apps to a whole new level. A14 Bionic also includes second-generation machine learning accelerators in the CPU for 10 times faster machine learning calculations. This combination of the new Neural Engine, CPU machine learning accelerators, and high-performance GPU enables powerful on-device experiences for image recognition, natural language learning, analyzing motion, and more.

iPad Air includes a 7MP front-facing FaceTime HD camera and now features the same 12MP rear camera used in iPad Pro for higher resolution photos and 4K video capture. The new design of iPad Air features stereo speakers in landscape mode, elevating the audio experience so users can enjoy wider stereo sound while watching video. A USB-C port comes to iPad Air for up to 5Gbps data transfer, which is 10 times faster, for connecting to cameras, hard drives, and external monitors up to 4K. With Wi-Fi 6 performance and 60 percent faster LTE connectivity, along with A14 Bionic, this is by far the most powerful iPad Air ever.

Read the complete news release with pricing and more > HERE.

Tesla Quietly Killed Its 'No Questions Asked' 7-Day Return Policy

The policy was intended as a display of confidence in the quality of its cars. Recent quality control issues might be to blame for the change.

Tesla has stopped offering its "no questions asked" 7-day return policy. CEO Elon Musk had touted the unique guarantee as a show of confidence in the quality of his company's products, but the change in policy comes at a time when the automaker is dealing with mounting complaints about the quality of some of its recent cars. The move does the exact opposite of instilling confidence.

The company's policy previously stated the following:

“Owning a Tesla vehicle means you are driving one of the most advanced, best performing and safest vehicles available. We are confident that you will feel great about your new vehicle, and so are giving you time to experience and enjoy your new Tesla. Subject to the terms and conditions of this policy, if you are unhappy with your vehicle, you may return it to us within seven (7) calendar days.”

There was always the caveat that the car must be returned with no damage and less than 1,000 miles on the odometer to get a full refund, so it wasn't exactly possible to do a coast-to-coast Cannonball Run with one of the cars anyway, if that's an idea you ever had.

According to Electrek, there isn't a new stated policy to replace the 7-day offer, and dissatisfied buyers will be referred to Tesla's service department if they want to return a vehicle. Tesla knows what it's selling, so why does it feel the need to walk back its generosity and bravado now?

Where's the confidence? Tesla has been running into a lot of quality-control issues with the new Model Y, including problems with the exterior paint and misaligned doors, not to mention the incident when the sunroof flew off one owner's car while he was driving down a highway. It's possible that the company hopes it can dissuade nervous customers from returning their vehicles for a refund when they have to actually speak to an employee.

The 7-day return policy was appreciated by customers exactly because of those issues, it can take multiple days of driving to actually identify problems like leaking windows. The company often identifies issues in its first cars to roll off the line and then fixes its manufacturing process to remedy them in later vehicles.

Tesla is obliged to fix faulty cars, but it's notoriously slow at completing such repairs and doesn't authorize third-party shops to fix its vehicles. Owners have reported waiting months or even up to a year for Tesla to complete requested repairs.

By offering a generous policy, customers were more willing to forgive Tesla for any issues. The company is lucky that other automakers have been so far behind in electric, but it can't afford to continue this way as they start to catch up.

Credit: inputmag.com

Also: Tesla previously offered a two- to four-year warranty on used Model S and X vehicles, but now only offers a warranty of one year or 10,000 miles over the original policy.

New Streaming Gadget ~ Great Alternative To Roku Or Fire TV

The new $50 Chromecast with Google TV is Google's first real rival to Roku and Amazon Fire TV.

It brings a lot of features that never existed on a Chromecast before, such as a full remote and brand-new Google TV software that makes it easier to find movies and TV shows. And it ties into all sorts of services, such as Hulu, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+.

Previously, the Chromecast let you play content on your computer, but you had to select content on your phone. Now it has a whole new software experience, which makes it feel a lot more like a Roku, an Amazon Fire TV or an Apple TV. It means Google might finally be able to take some market share away from leaders Amazon and Roku.

What's good about the Chromecast with Google TV

The new Chromecast is super simple to use. You just plug it in to your TV's HDMI port, every modern TV has one, and turn it on. The Google TV software has seven menu options at the top of the screen that are really straightforward: Search, For You, Live, Movies, Shows, Apps and Library. I like that the "For You" page pulls in movies and TV shows from subscriptions you pay for, such as Hulu or Netflix, and that you don't have to open those apps to see what might be popular in any of them.

It also makes recommendations based on shows or movies you've watched. Best of all, it doesn't have any ads, like Roku and Amazon do.

All of this is easy to navigate with the remote. There's a button to search by voice, a home key, a back key, an omnidirectional circular bar for moving through apps, and dedicated buttons to launch YouTube and Netflix. You can also change TV inputs or adjust the volume from the remote.

Many really like that voice button since it syncs right into Google Assistant, much like a Fire TV can tap into Amazon Alexa. So, you can ask for the weather and your TV will show you the forecast. Or, if you have a Google Nest camera, you can pull up a video feed on your screen. Google Assistant can tap into all sorts of stuff, such as Maps to show you where the nearest coffee shop is. Unlike Amazon Fire TV, however, you can't shop for stuff from the voice remote.

The "Live TV" page is great if you subscribe to YouTube TV, since it shows a traditional menu of shows that looks very similar to what you'd find on a cable box. And you can record unlimited shows with a YouTube TV subscription and pull them up on your TV or any device with the YouTube TV app.

There are other things some people will care about, too, such as 4K support and Dolby Atmos for better surround sound, which are great to have in a device that costs $50.

What's bad about the Chromecast with Google TV

There are a bunch of apps you can download for Google TV, but you really have to know what you're looking for because there's no dedicated "store" to browse through them all in one place. Instead, you have to browse through popular apps by category, such as "entertainment "or lifestyle." But, this can be kind of hard if you just want to download the Peloton app, for example. Many will wish it had a more traditional store.

Similarly, the "Library" tab is laid out really weird. If you've bought a bunch of movies through the Google Play Movies store, now simply called Google TV, on an Android phone, those all appear. But it's just a long horizontal list of what you own. You would probably prefer a full page of movies and TV shows presented in alphabetical order. This could easily be fixed with software changes.

Finally, the Chromecast with Google TV doesn't officially support Google's Stadia game streaming service yet. You can get it to work by fiddling around, but it's not quite there yet. Google is working to add this sometime next year.

Should you buy the Chromecast with Google TV

If you're looking for a new streaming TV, you really can't go wrong here. It's affordable, it ties into all sorts of services really well, it has a great remote, and it's easy to use. You'll benefit even more if you use the Google TV app on a phone to add movies and TV shows to your watchlist, which then sync to your TV. And you'll especially like it if you use YouTube TV.

If you already have and like Amazon Fire TV or Roku, those are still great platforms with their own strengths. But if you've been looking for something different, the new Chromecast with Google TV is awesome.

Credit: cnbc.com

Boom Supersonic's Faster-Than-Sound Demonstrator Aircraft

Boom Supersonic is closer than ever to its goal of introducing supersonic commercial aviation back to the global stage, the Colorado-based startup unveiled the final design of its XB-1 demonstrator aircraft on 10-7-20. This is a fully functional prototype airplane, which will help the company test out the flight capabilities and systems that will eventually make its Overture supersonic commercial passenger aircraft a reality.

XB-1 is a scaled down version of what Overture will be, lacking the passenger cabin that will offer business-class style amenities to commercial passengers. It does have a cockpit for the test pilots who will help Boom put its design through its paces beginning in 2021. It measures 71-feet long, and its propulsion is provided by three GE-made J85-15 engines that together provide 12,000 lbs of thrust. There are standard cockpit windows, but because of the extreme angle of the nose required for aerodynamics, there’s also an HD video camera and cockpit display to provide pilots with a virtual view out the front of the plane for maximum visibility.

The frame of the XB-1 is made up of carbon-composite, which is designed for light weight while also offering very high tensile strength and rigidity, as well as an ability to withstand the high temperatures generated by traveling at supersonic speeds (even in the relatively friction-free environs of higher altitudes). Boom also kept pilot comfort in mind when creating the XB-1, optimizing for ergonomics via user testing spanning “hundreds of hours.”

Boom plans to test XB-1 at Mojave Air and Space Port, located in Mojave, California. As mentioned, the goal now is to get that underway next year – but Boom will begin on its ground testing program immediately. Meanwhile, Boom will continue developing Overture simultaneously, working on wind tunnel tests and other elements of aircraft validation in order to help move towards the target of getting that commercial jet in the air for 2025.

Credit: techcrunch.com (with 10 more photos)
See also: boomsupersonic.com

Apple Introduces Four iPhone 12 Models

Apple Bytes: 

On Tuesday, 10-13-20, Apple unveiled iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini with 5G technology, ushering in a new era for the world’s best smartphone. The newly designed iPhone 12 models feature expansive edge-to-edge Super Retina XDR displays for a brighter, more immersive viewing experience, and a new Ceramic Shield front cover, providing the biggest jump in durability ever on iPhone.

The Apple-designed A14 Bionic, the fastest chip in a smartphone, powers every experience on iPhone 12, and coupled with an advanced dual-camera system, delivers meaningful new computational photography features and the highest quality video in a smartphone. iPhone 12 models also introduce MagSafe, offering high-powered wireless charging and an all-new ecosystem of accessories that easily attach to iPhone.

Read the complete news release with pricing and more > HERE.

Also on Tuesday, 10-13-20, Apple announced iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max, introducing a powerful 5G experience and advanced technologies that push the boundaries of innovation for users who want the most out of iPhone. iPhone 12 Pro models feature a new design and edge-to-edge Super Retina XDR displays, the largest ever on iPhone, protected by the all-new Ceramic Shield front cover, which provides the biggest jump in durability ever on iPhone. The Apple-designed A14 Bionic chip, the fastest chip in a smartphone, powers impressive computational photography features including the all-new Apple ProRAW for more creative control in photos, and enables the first end-to-end Dolby Vision video experience, up to 60 fps.

The reimagined pro camera systems include an expansive Ultra Wide camera, a Telephoto camera with an even longer focal length on iPhone 12 Pro Max, and new Wide cameras to capture beautiful professional-quality images and video in bright and low-light environments. iPhone 12 Pro models also introduce a new LiDAR Scanner for immersive augmented reality (AR) experiences and MagSafe, which offers high-powered wireless charging and an all-new ecosystem of accessories that easily attach to iPhone. 

Read the complete news release with pricing and more > HERE.

Winstall Now Lets You Quickly Install Packs Of Apps

Bulk installing apps onto Windows is now easier than ever.

• Winstall now allows you to install packs of apps.
• Winstall allows you to easily install Windows Package Manager apps.
• You can create your own packs of apps or install apps from featured lists.

Winstall is a tool that allows you to easily install Windows Package Manager apps. The tool came out in the first half of 2020 and has gained a handy new ability today, the ability to install packs of apps. When browsing through Winstall, you can look through featured packs of apps or create your own packs to quickly install apps in bulk.

Packs can be used to create collections of apps, such as apps for working from home or keeping yourself entertained. Winstall has several featured collections, including packs for school, gaming, and for developing apps.

When browsing through a featured pack, you don't have to install every app within it. Instead, you can select five or more applications to install. For example, if you performed a clean install on your PC, you could jump into the "Get work done from home" pack and select to install Microsoft Teams, Slack, ShareX, Microsoft Edge, and Discord. To install your selected apps, you can run a PowerShell script or download a .bat file.

If you create your own pack of apps that you like, you can share it with the community.

Credit: windowscentral.com

Executive Board Minutes

Computer Technology Club, Inc. – Executive Board Minutes
October 9, 2020

The Board meeting was cancelled by COVID-19 venue closures.

How To Use A USB Drive With iPhone Or iPad

Apple Bytes: 

The world is full of USB drives, from portable thumbdrives to full external SSDs. Happily, you’re not closed off from these just because you use an iPhone or iPad. All you need is the right adapter.

And you’ll have full read/write access to everything on the drive. You won’t even need to install any software, as the app you need comes preinstalled on your device.

Some might be confused because iPhones and USB drives couldn’t really work together for far too many years. You could get around the limitation, but it took effort and money. That all changed with iOS 13/iPadOS 13.

iPhone and iPad users need a Lightning-to-USB adapter

The drives you want to connect with have a USB-A connector. Your iPhone or basic iPad has a Lightning port, so you’ll need an adapter. Fortunately, Apple makes just the one you need.

Plug the Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter ($39) into your device, then plug the USB drive into the USB-A port.

Many drives take more power than your iPhone or iPad alone can provide, but Apple’s adapter also includes a Lighting port. Plug a charging cable into it, and it’ll provide all the power the drive needs. As a bonus, it’ll also charge your handset or tablet.

iPad Pro users a need a USB-C-to-USB adapter

iPad Pro uses have it even easier. This tablet has a USB-C port, and you can get a drive that uses that same format. That extends from thumbdrives all the way to external SSDs.

But that doesn’t help with all the legacy drives out there with larger USB-A ports. You’ll need an adapter. Fortunately, there are a plethora. The iPad Pro can use almost any USB-C accessory designed for laptops, and that includes multi-port hubs with USB-A ports.

Take a simple example, the Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter ($69). Plug this into your iPad and then plug the drive and you can read the contents of the drive.

But there are so many other options. One is Sanho’s HyperDrive iPad Pro ($89.99), but you might also like the Satechi Slim Aluminum Type-C Multi-Port Adapter V2 ($69.99), which can be used with your iPad Pro and your MacBook.

HyperDrive iPad Pro offers 3.5mm headset jack, a USB-A port,
microSD and SD card readers, a USB-C port, and an HDMI port.

The Apple Files app is all you need

Whether you have an iPhone, iPad or iPad Pro, the only software you’ll need to access the contents of USB drives is the Apple Files application. Plug in the drive (with the appropriate adapter) and it’ll appear in this app, which comes pre-installed on every iOS and iPadOS device.

If you’ve accessed a drive on your Mac then you should be familiar with this process. To see the contents of the drive, go to the Browse screen in the Files application. In a list of available drives, like your local iPhone or iPad, you’ll see the name of the USB drive you’re trying to access. Tap on it and you’ll open a window with all the files and folders.

From there, you can do whatever you want. Open files. Move them around. Put them on your iPhone or iPad. Or copy files from your device to the drive.

How accessing a USB drive with iPhone or iPad is useful

Even in the world of iCloud, there are still plenty of reasons to use USB drives. If you want to carry around a couple of terabytes of pictures, work files, movies, etc., and be sure you always have access to them, get an external dive and connect it to your iPad, iPhone or both.

With your files stored locally, you don’t have to worry about the vagaries of internet access. Even on a plane, you can always pop in the drive and access your files. Plus, a thumbdrive can hold proprietary files that you don’t want to risk sharing with anyone else.

And consider removable memory cards. Apple won’t build SD or microSD card slots into its devices, but card readers all use the USB format. If you have a drone, it probably has an SD card full of images. You can easily move these pictures over to your iPhone or iPad.

Credit: cultofmac.com

Windows 10 October 2020 Update Review: Subtle, But Necessary

UI enhancements, a new browser, and more.

Microsoft's next big Windows 10 feature update is almost here, packing several notable changes and enhancements. This release is known as the October 2020 Update, version 20H2, and is the second big Windows 10 update to hit in 2020, after version 2004 which released earlier this year in May. This release is very much a continuation of version 2004, adding a few final touches and subtle design tweaks, cleaning up the UI.

20H2 will be delivered as a free cumulative update that sits on top of version 2004, meaning the update will only be a few hundred megabytes and won't take long to install. If you're on version 1909 or below, version 20H2 will be delivered as a free full OS upgrade.

The Start menu on Windows 10 is the area that has seen the biggest changes, even if rather subtle. In fact, you may not notice anything has changed, unless pointed out. With version 20H2, Microsoft has started tidying up the Windows 10 UI.

The live tile interface is now system theme aware, with tiles no longer following your chosen accent color. This introduces a minor change that's designed to keep the Start menu interface looking minimalist. Instead of following your accent color, the live tile interface now matches your system theme. So, if you're using Windows 10 in light mode, the tile interface will reflect that.

Read the complete, informative article at: windowscentral