Wednesday Newsbytes: PC Price Cuts Coming, Google Adds @tabs Feature to Chrome, Windows 11 Not Winning Popularity Contest, Grandma Sues Cops, Wash Your Hands…and more!
Every day we scan the tech world for interesting news in the world of technology and sometimes from outside the world of technology. Every Wednesday, we feature some news articles that grabbed our attention over the past week. We hope you find this week’s ‘Wednesday Newsbytes’ informative and interesting!
OUR CYBERWEEK SALE IS EXTENDED THROUGH DECEMBER 11, 2022!
PC price cuts are coming as manufacturers rethink their portfolios
Economic uncertainty and decreased consumer demand are taking a toll on the tablet and PC markets. The silver lining for buyers is that excess inventory is forcing manufacturers to heavily discount prices.
According to a recent IDC forecast, the PC and tablet markets are expected to shrink. Shipments for tablets and PCs will decline almost 12% in 2022, the research firm reported, and are expected to decline further in 2023. But excess inventory is already forcing suppliers to heavily discount products and shift from the premium segment to more mid-range products, the analysts said.
On the other hand, the report states that tablet and PC shipments will continue to remain above pre-pandemic levels. But uncertain economic conditions will threaten inventory and increase market saturation next year…
Google Adds @Tabs, @Bookmarks, @History Search Shortcuts to Chrome
When you know you have something open in a tab, but there’s so many tabs open you can’t find it.
Google is making it much easier to quickly find an open tab, a bookmark, or a website visited weeks or months ago with the introduction of @ shortcuts in Chrome’s address bar.
In the latest version of the Chrome browser for desktop (v108), Google has added the ability to search for local content using @tabs, @bookmarks, and @history shortcuts. Simply type one of those three shortcuts into the address bar followed by a search term to quickly find an open tab, one of your bookmarks, or a website you’ve visited in the past.
It’s also possible to simply type “@” in the address bar, press the space bar, and Chrome will display clickable options for searching your tabs, bookmarks, or history. Once clicked, you can type in a search term and hopefully find what you’re looking for in just a few seconds…
Windows 11 still not winning the OS popularity contest
Microsoft releases out of box experience update to simplify and speed up migrations
Microsoft has released an out-of-band update to nudge laggards toward Windows 11 amid a migration pace that company executives would undoubtedly prefer is rather faster.
The software giant is offering an option of upgrading to Windows 11 as an out of box experience to its Windows 10 22H2 installed base, the main aim being to smooth their path forward to the latest operating system.
“On November 30, 2022, an out-of-band update was released to improve the Windows 10, version 2004, 20H2, 21H1, 21H2, and 22H2 out-of-box experience (OOBE). It provides eligible devices with the option to upgrade to Windows 11 as part of the OOBE process. This update will be available only when an OOBE update is installed.”
The update, KB5020683, applies only to Windows 10 Home and Professional versions 2004, 20H2, 21H1, 22H2. There are some pre-requisites that Microsoft has listed here. The update, KB5020683, applies only to Windows 10 Home and Professional versions 2004, 20H2, 21H1, 22H2. There are some pre-requisites that Microsoft has listed here before users can make the move to Windows 11…
Grandmother sues cop who wrongly targeted her home using “Find My” app
Denver Police Department vows to train officers on how “Find My” app works.
In January, Colorado police officers confined a 77-year-old grandmother named Ruby Johnson for hours in a squad car without even offering a glass of water during a time when she was due to take her daily medications—why?
Nobody told Johnson what was going on when she opened her front door to a SWAT team assembled on her lawn. Much later, she found out about a stolen truck—reportedly with six guns and an iPhone stashed inside—wrongly believed to be parked in her garage based on no evidence other than her home being located within a wide blue circle drawn by a “Find My” iPhone app. Now she’s suing a Denver cop for conducting what she believes was an illegal search of her home based on what her legal team describes as either an intentionally or recklessly defective application for a search warrant that was “wholly devoid of probable cause.” Because of the allegedly improper raid, the retired US Postal Service worker had to “endure an unreasonable search and seizure, unlawful police confinement, and severe physical and emotional distress.”
“This illegal search has destroyed Ms. Johnson’s sense of safety and security in the home that has been her castle for 40 years,” Johnson’s complaint reads.
Police had been tipped off to raid Johnson’s home by a truck theft victim…
Google Search brings continuous scrolling to desktop
Google’s search results on desktop will load in a continuous scroll instead of dividing into pages, the company has announced. The move follows a similar change made on mobile in October last year, but isn’t quite an “infinite” scroll. Instead, Google will load six pages of results into a single scroll before offering users a “See more” button to show more results.
Google says the change is rolling out first for English searches in the US, but judging by the rollout of the feature on mobile it seems safe to expect to see additional markets and languages added over time…
The change mirrors the design of most social media feeds, where new content is continuously loaded as you scroll down a page rather than asking users to click or tap for more posts. Ideally, it will make searching quicker, and should make it less important for websites to be on the first page of search results. Google previously said that “most people who want additional information” will typically “browse up to four pages of search results…”
WASH YOUR HANDS! Self-service checkout screens, keyboards crawling with fecal matter
LONDON — Health experts are warning shoppers to wash their hands regularly after a study found both feces and vomit-inducing bugs crawling on self-service checkout screens. The investigation by British scientists, involving swabs taken from several everyday objects touched by multiple people, reveals thousands of bacteria on the ubiquitous payment machines.
E.coli, which causes vomiting, was present on nearly all the surfaces. Fecal bacteria and microbes that lead to urinary tract infections (UTIs) were found on self-service screens. A bug commonly found in the vagina, mouth, throat and gut called Candida albicans, which can cause yeast infections, was also discovered on an escalator handrail.
And shoppers may also be at risk if they share their desk with others at work, as intestinal microbes that can cause a range of infections, including UTIs, were found on computer keyboards. The findings were confirmed by scientists at the Infection Innovation Consortium (iiCON) in Liverpool, England, which led the study.
Dr. Adam Roberts, chief researcher with the agency, reports self-checkouts had a particularly high viral load…
Thanks for reading this week’s Wednesday Newbytes. We hope you found these articles informative, interesting, fun, and/or helpful. Merry Christmas! Darcy & TC
WASH YOUR HANDS! Self-service checkout screens, keyboards crawling with fecal matter:
If you have ever had to use a public restroom before you would not be surprised at this. The number of people that walks out that door I have seen without washing their hands is amazing. I’m not sure if it is a habit (not thinking), laziness or they were just not taught better.
I’m not sure why we thought things had changed.
Personally I consider The latest OS Windows 11 super. Cleaner, faster and very user friendly!