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Apple's latest update, iOS 12 has already hit a milestone barely 3 weeks of launch, as it surpasses the predecessor, iOS 11 and now running on 47% of all iOS devices; with iOS 11 stuck at a little over 42%, according to Mixpanel report.

The new software boosts of some nifty features: like, group FaceTime chats, Screen Time (Tracks device use), New Emojis, Smarter Notifications and Siri Enhancements.

And it is designed to be faster, among other features, with some particularly positive reviews and given that the timing of its release is most expedient, with the myriads of shortcomings associated with the later update.

While the new software made debut on September 17, it is already running on 47% of iOS devices; this uptake rate is quite similar to iOS 10, which recorded 48% installments on devices after barely two weeks of launch.

Albeit, the overall uptake record is still that of iOS 9 launched on September 16, 2015 - which in 10 days, garnered 50% of iOS device installment base, and a month after, clocked 62% of all devices, against iOS 8 uptake of 29.65% in the same period.

In comparison, it almost took iOS 11 two months when it launched in 2017 to reach a 50% adoption rate.

Apple’s latest software, iOS 12 surpasses the immediate predecessor in less than 3 weeks



Google officially announced WebP in September 2010, as an alternative image format with significant bytes savings of about 30% - 80% compared to JPEG and PNG. While Mozilla initially did not buy into the image format, citing insufficient improvement over the more widely used formats like JPEG and PNG.

Now, Mozilla after seriously evaluating the WebP image format, has formerly endorsed it for Firefox in it's effort to speed up the web with a better image technology.

The new image format was successfully implemented across Google's social networking platforms, including Google+ Android App, and a host of other web service companies like Facebook have already joined the WebP bandwagon.

WebP's unique features includes ability to render transparent sections of an image with lossless compression as in the case of PNG and lossy as in JPEG (Lossy compression is shrinking of file with data losses, while Lossless compression retains original image).

Also, Microsoft had earlier announced the support for WebP on Edge browser, which arrived with the new version of Windows 10 introduced by the company.

The compatibility problems with websites that had relied on WebP without any fallback to JPEG or PNG have been significantly reduced with the more widely adoption of the new image technology, with Microsoft's Edge and Mozilla's Firefox haven joined the party.

Albeit, it's not yet uhuru, as Apple's Safari still don't support WebP and every iPhone/iPad relies on Apple's browser technology, as such Apple's choice carries a lot of weight in the mobile ecosystem.

Google's WebP image format gets Mozilla's nod; support on Firefox for faster web experience



Amazon has added a new Alexa capability called "Skill Connections" to avail developers the functionality of another skill in their own skillset with minimal code changes.

The new skill connections will enable developers to do more for their customers, by using the functionality already available on other skills, thus customers will not have to invoke the other skills, as they've made it possible with only minimal code changes in their own skills.

According to Amazon, when you use skill connections, you can pass useful information to the other skill with the request. For instance, if your skill sells last-minute show tickets, you can pass the theatre address and show time as part of the taxi reservation request.

The company have provided the developer preview, with printing skill from HP, food reservations provided by OpenTable, and taxi reservations provided by Uber. While Epson and Canon are planning to provide for print related services.

And if you'd like to take advantage of services provided by other skills, or if you'd like to provide services for other skills to use, you can apply to participate in the preview by filling in the short survey here. Once you are accepted into the preview, you can send requests for any of these actions from within your skill, and Alexa will automatically route the request to the right service provider.

The overriding idea behind the Connection is to allow less-popular skills tap into the near-universal Alexa functionalities, making it a more capable and frictionless assistant in the process.

Alexa "Skill Connections" to avail developers the functionality of another skill with minimal coding



The Wi-Fi Alliance have bowed to the call for a more easy nomenclature for the technology, which hitherto have followed the age long 802.11 brand moniker, with the latest version designated as 802.11ax.

While the differentiation of the generations of WiFi technology has failed to resonate with the public, making it rather too difficult to understand what offerings are the current versions to guide potential router buyers.

But now, all of this gibberish will be vastly simplified with a new naming pattern and better means of informing users of the different generation of the Wi-Fi technologies, according to the Wi-Fi Alliance in a press release.

Starting with the introduction of Wi-Fi 6, the new industry designation for products and networks that support the next generation of Wi-Fi based on 802.11ax technology.

The new naming approach by Wi-Fi Alliance is an easy-to-understand designation based on the Wi-Fi technology supported by a device and used in connection with a Wi-Fi network. It identifies Wi-Fi generations by a numerical sequence which correspond to the major advancements in the technology.

And the generation sequence can be used to identify the current Wi-Fi technology a device supports, and for OS vendors to identify the generation of Wi-Fi connection between a device and network and by service providers to identify the capabilities of a Wi-Fi network.

This new designation will help the networking ecosystem to better understand the different generations of Wi-Fi technologies in future releases.

The Wi-Fi new nomenclatures eliminate the requirements for 802.11 brand



Jigsaw is the name given to Google's cyber security unit, which unit has been saddled with the task of developing bespoke privacy applications, with the likes of Project Shield and Intra privacy app among their creation.

The company has launched several technology products to help in the fight against government censorship, such products includes: Project Shield (which protects websites against DDoS attacks), Digital Attack Map (live data visualization that maps DDoS attacks) and uProxy (new browser extension that allows contacts share trusted pathway to the web).

The latest offering from their stable is Intra, an anti-censorship and privacy app used in checkmating hostile government regimes from censoring the internet and manipulating traffic.

Intra app is designed to thwart common techniques employed by governments in censoring the internet, and has been in testing with activists in Venezuela, as Google had wanted to keep the trial to a small group.

It effectively takes on Domain Name System (DNS) manipulation, also the most common technique employed in the spread of malware, by creating an encrypted connection between your smartphone and the DNS servers, which makes it more difficult to intercept the traffic.

And Intra will automatically point the device to Google's DNS server, but you can change it to some other servers like Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 via the settings.

Albeit, this encrypted connection comes by default on Android 9 Pie, but Google wants the other millions of users on Android that don't have the latest software to have that same protection by releasing the app.

The app is said to be compatible with about 99 percent of Android phones, which is quite comforting since over 80 percent of Android's users are still stuck with the old version of the mobile operating system.

Google releases Jigsaw's Intra privacy and security app to the public



Wasmjit is a portable WebAssembly runtime that primarily targets Linux kernel module, and currently supports x86_64, running a subset of Emscripten-generated module within the Linux kernel as a kernel module.

It comes with host environment for running user-space on POSIX systems, which will allow the running of WebAssembly modules without requiring to run entire browser.

Wasmjit is written in C90, and with improved performance to run WebAssembly modules in kernel-space (ring 0), which provide access to system calls as normal function calls, and eliminates user-kernel transition overhead.

It's principal aim is to serve as a portable and embeddable runtime to power WebAssembly just as SQLite powers embedded databases, allowing developers to easily embed Wasmjit instead of building their own runtime.



And the Provision of a kernel-mode runtime for WebAssembly will in turn help to increase performance for system-call heavy loads, which would translate to savings for companies with heavily trafficked websites.

There is a plan to eventually include Wasmjit in the mainline Linux kernel, though it can function as an out-of-tree module.

Albeit, Wasmjit is still in the early stage, the task now is to make it capable of running “real” programs, such as production-grade servers, and the integration of a runtime in the kernel could alter the direction of the computer industry for good, thus allowing simplified distribution for closed-source applications.

If you wish to give it a spin, Wasmjit is now available for download from the project’s GitHub page, with detailed setup instructions and requirements.

The Embeddable WebAssembly runtime, Wasmjit targets the Linux kernel module



The emerging technology, robots are growing at an alarming rate, with statistics pointing to over 1.2 million of these machines coming to factories worldwide by 2018; Microsoft wants to be part of this growth with the announcement of an experimental Robot Operating System (ROS) for Windows.

While robots have been saddled with cases of incessant poor software protection, including outdated software, and exposed IP addresses which poses a higher risk for hackers gaining easy access to the machines.

The case of ABB robots which were reported to have been remotely programmed by reversely-engineering the RobotWare program and the RobotStudio software, allowing the machine's network to be hacked and switching the robot to draw a straight line, is a pointer.

These findings raised serious concerns about the more general automations of the future. Albeit ABB has since fixed the flaws in its robot's software; the advancement of robots calls for the development of tools infused with artificial intelligence technology to augment human abilities in the machines.

ROS for Windows consist of libraries and tools to help in the building of complex robots: both industrial and personal, which are ready for deployments around the world with the cutting-edge robotic projects.

These advanced robots will complement our lives, in the home and at the office. For instance, warehouse robots have made it possible for online shoppers to get next-day deliveries, and many homes are turning to robotic vacuum cleaners to keep their floors clean.

With ROS for Windows, developers will be able to use a set of toolset along with rich AI and cloud capabilities to bring intelligent edge to robotics with advanced features like hardware-accelerated Machine Learning, computer vision, and other Microsoft technologies.

Microsoft demonstrated a ROBOTIS Turtlebot 3 robot at ROSCon 2018 in Madrid, Spain, running the ROS release known as Melodic Morenia, that recognizes and steers toward the person closest to the robot.

The Turtlebot 3 robot runs Windows 10 IoT Enterprise on an Intel Coffee Lake NUC using a new node that leverages hardware-accelerated Windows Machine Learning.

The company has scheduled to host Windows builds for ROS1 and shortly ROS2, as well as provide documentation, development and deployment solutions on ROS for Windows. And it's working with Open Robotics and the ROS Industrial Consortium to extend the advancement in ROS to improve the productivity and return on investment of industrial robots.

How Microsoft Robot Operating System (ROS) will help to advance Industrial robots



Google has announced a new technology, dubbed Project Stream, which is to serve as test ground to solve some of the biggest challenges of game streaming, and a big step forward in the efforts to bring blockbuster AAA games to online streaming platforms.

The initial test for Project Stream will involve the streaming of the upcoming premiere of Ubisoft's Assassin’s Creed Odyssey on Chrome for Windows, Linux, Mac and ChromeOS; though only a "limited number of participants" will be able to experience this free game stream starting on October 5, 2018.



According to Google, the test is meant to push the limits with one of the most demanding applications for streaming — a blockbuster video game; while 25Mbps Internet connection is recommended for the test service and Google/Ubisoft accounts sign up.

The streaming of such graphically-rich content requires near-instant interaction between the game controller and the graphics on the screen, which could pose a number of challenges.

And the creativity behind these AAA video games is extraordinary—from incredible detail and life-like movement of the characters, including the skin, clothing, and hair, to the massive scale of the virtual world in which the game unfolds, down to the last blade of grass.

While the streaming of TV or movies may be comfortable with a few seconds of buffering at the start, but the streaming of high-quality games requires latency measured in milliseconds, with no graphic degradation.

As every pixel is powered by an array of real-time rendering technology, artistry, visual effects, animation, simulation, physics and dynamics.

Google is inspired by the creators who have spent years crafting these amazing games: adventures and experiences, and hope to build the technology that will support and empower that creativity.

Chrome Project Stream: Google's inroad to Realtime Game streaming service



Opera has finally launched Touch browser on Apple's platform, with built-in Ad-Blocker and Fast Action Button for quick access to search and recent tabs, while the browser is capable of syncing data to Opera Desktop by the QR code scanner.

The new Opera Touch was build to match the beauty, speed and ease of use of the new iPhone line and its unique features like the Fast Action Button afford users more control of the browser, as the navigation was designed to be usable with just one hand, making it a lot easier for users to browse the Internet.

According to Opera, about 95 percent of iOS users in the US stick to their device's default browser, which is the Apple Safari, and they want to change the norm by encouraging all iPhone users to give the new Opera Touch a try – as it might just be better than their current browser.



The company even went as far as challenging the “allegiance” to the default browser through the shooting of some videos to show the aesthetics of the Opera Touch browser.

Opera Touch also come equipped with built-in ad-blocker with cryptojacking protection, and provides end-to-end encrypted Flow feature that ensure that connected devices and shared images, notes, links and videos are secure.

Additionally, it affords the user access to tabs from the Opera desktop browser on the iPhone's home screen, and the browser "adapts" to usage, which means the popular sites visited will be automatically added to the home screen.

Opera Touch comes to Apple App Store with Action Button and QR Code scanner



Lens was originally for the Photos app, and offers a visual search engine that can recognize what’s in images and scan business cards, among other image processing capabilities.

Now, Google wants to show more context around images, including captions that reveal the title of the webpage where each image is published, and to make this possible it is employing the Lens’ AI technology to analyze the images.

Lens will show relevant images when you select any object using your finger on a mobile device screen and link the image to product pages so you can continue your search or perhaps purchase the item.



It will also let you “draw” on any part of an image, even if it’s not preselected by Lens, to trigger related results and dive even deeper on what’s in the image.

Also, Google has overhauled the Images algorithm to rank results that have both great images and great content on the page, while the authority of a web page is now a more important signal in the ranking.

And the new look is already live on mobile, and Google promises to bring it to desktop where the larger screen makes it expedient for more complex tasks.

These changes, it hopes will make it a lot more easier and visually appealing to traverse the web, find information, and pursue your interests.

Google Images gets Lens support to bolster visual contents for easy information

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