Wednesday Newsbytes: Passwordless Password Manager, Windows 11 Restore Apps Feature, BestBuy Salespeople, 5G Myths & More
Every day we scan the tech world for news that affects all of us who use Windows computers. Every Wednesday, we feature some of the news articles that grabbed our attention over the past week. We hope you find this week’s “Wednesday Newsbytes” informative and interesting!
LastPass launches passwordless password manager
For a company whose business is to protect passwords, going passwordless might seem a bit self-defeating, but stick with us, because there is method in this madness.
LastPass is announcing that its customers can now access their vault, and all sites stored in it, with a simple and secure passwordless login using the LastPass Authenticator.
This is aimed at bringing both individuals and businesses instant access to the applications and credentials they need in a seamless, simple and secure way.
‘On the heels of tech giants and identity providers unveiling their plans to enable passwordless across their operating systems, web browsers, devices and applications, LastPass is excited to be the first solution and only password manager to allow users to securely and effortlessly login, manage their account credentials and get instant access to the accounts used every day — without ever having to enter a password,’ says Chris Hoff, chief secure technology officer at LastPass. ‘While broad implementation and adoption of passwordless is the industry’s ultimate goal, it will likely take years before people experience an end-to-end passwordless login across all applications, but LastPass helps get you there sooner.’
Current and future passwordless login options replace the need for the master password as the primary method of authenticating a user upon logging in to a LastPass vault…
Windows 11 ‘Restore Apps’ feature will make it easier to set up new PCs
Microsoft is working on a new ‘Restore Apps’ feature for Windows 11 that will allow users to quickly reinstall all of their previously installed apps from the Microsoft Store on a new or freshly installed PC.
One of the most time-consuming tasks for setting up a new Windows installation is restoring all your previously installed applications.
While desktop applications will still need to be installed manually, the new Windows 11 feature will allow you to install all the Microsoft Store apps tied to your account by clicking a single button.
“To make it easier for customers to transition to their new PCs quickly and seamlessly, we will soon test a new feature in the Windows Insider channel that helps customers automatically restore their apps, previously installed from the Microsoft Store, to their new Windows device,” Microsoft Giorgio Sardo explained in a blog post about the Microsoft Store.
“This will also help developers retain their customers without having to remind customers to re-download their app.”
Microsoft has not released too many details regarding this upcoming feature, but we can get more information from a shared screenshot…
Read the rest at Bleeping Computer.
Popular 5G myths you need to stop believing
As more and more people depend on technology to get things done, the curiosity around the latest tech trends, particularly 5G, is growing. However, 5G is still not as widespread as predicted, leaving people with more expectations than experiences.
Myth No. 1: The rollout of 5G is taking forever
Myth No. 2: You can’t use 5G at the airport
Myth No. 3: 5G is going to replace Wi-Fi
Myth No. 4: The “5G E” signal on my phone means I can access 5G networks. Yay!Combine this with the abundance of online information, and you get lots of harmful advice and misinformation about 5G posted by unverified sources. We asked 5G experts to break down four myths and uncover the truth behind how 5G works. Here’s what we learned.
Myth No. 1: The rollout of 5G is taking forever
The first 5G devices and networks entered the market over two years ago, yet many populations don’t have access to 5G today. Is the 5G rollout that slow?
Truth: “Marketing around 5G and 5G phones created hype early and raised expectations that communications providers are still catching up to, but when you look at the technology deployment timelines, 5G is actually rolling out faster than 4G,” says Shawn Carpenter, program director, 5G & Space, for Ansys. “The U.S. has lagged many of the progressive Asian and European markets in delivering new C-band services that will enable the long-expected increased bandwidths, but 2022 will see marked progress in tower service deployments.”
Yet, despite these hindrances, more than 41 million people were subscribed to 5G mobile phone service last year, and the number is growing rapidly. ‘If you have a phone capable of C-band 5G service, you should see elevated service in most U.S. cities during 2022,” Carpenter said, adding that “a few 5G handset users in select downtown city locations may be able to access the new mmWave ultrawide bandwidth service at 28 GHz.’
Read the rest at DigitalTrends.
I asked a Best Buy salesman for the best Windows laptop. He had no doubts
When a salesperson has no doubts, should you doubt them?
It’s been hard to forget.
Several years ago, I went to Best Buy on one of my regular missions to see what salespeople tell customers, and I asked a question that has often perplexed me: What’s the best Windows laptop?
The answer was twofold: first, the salesman took me over to the HP display. The Spectre 15 was his suggestion.
But as we got talking, he confessed that, though he wasn’t an Apple fanperson — his phone was Samsung — the best Windows laptop in his truly honest view was the 15-inch MacBook Pro.
Alright, I was amused. I’m all MacBook Air, you see. My wife, on the other hand, is Windows. A scientist, that’s what her employers provide, and it can sometimes be painful to witness.
She’s graduated from a very heavy Dell — the XPS 15 — to an appreciably lighter one.
Also: New MacBook Air and refreshed MacBook Pro Launch with Apple’s new M2 chip
I never get the impression, however, that she cherishes her laptop with consummate reverence.
Off I went, then, this time back to Best Buy with the idea that life had changed. With a different salesperson, I might be enlightened in a different manner…
This 1963 newspaper article has a photo of a mobile phone prototype
An article from the April 18, 1963 edition of the Massfield News-Journal promised ‘You’ll be able to carry a phone in pocket in future.’
Right now, it’s a laboratory development and it’s workable, allowing the carrier to make and answer calls wherever he may be.
Other telephones of the future includes a kitchen loud speaking telephone, and a visual image telephone.
The kitchen instrument can be used as regular telephone, a loudspeaking phone if the housewife happens to be busy preparing a meal, or as an intercom station for the home.
The visual image telephone allows the parties to converse by way of a microphone and loud speaker while a miniature television camera transmits the image. The “TV phone” also will have a writer signature transmission system and a conversation tape recorder.
The above article is from BoingBoing – read it here.
Thanks for reading this week’s Wednesday Newbytes. We hope you found these articles useful, informative, interesting, fun, and/or helpful. Darcy & TC