The Google two-factor authentication (2FA) security system was updated with a new security key. This system is also called 2SV, or 2-Step Verification. Before now, users were given the option to use a physical security key (USB), or via a Google Prompt notification (via the Google or Gmail app)*. Now Google also allows users to use a smartphone with Android running the Chrome web browser app.
Apple will soon move another MacBook to the official "obsolete" list, a list where old Apple products go out to pasture. Once a device has been added to the obsolete list, Apple no longer offers support at their official Apple Store repair desk. Older devices that'll soon be moved to the list of obsolete hardware can still be fixed now - until that day comes.
This week Valve made clear they're not in a position where it makes sense to continue supporting Apple's OSX for their SteamVR platform at this time. They've suggested that the SteamVR platform will continue to receive support, but all support will be focused on Windows and Linux. Users of Apple computers, running OSX, will need to use use "legacy builds" from this point forward.
Photoshop CC's most magical feature is about to get a big update. That's Content-Aware Fill, and it is easily the most important feature added to the software in the past half-decade. I use this feature constantly - especially when it comes to editing photos of gear for review. (Gotta get that dust and hair out of there before it hits the home screen.) Now it's getting much, much more versatile.
In an announcement that surprises no one, Adobe has released an update to their Flash Player. Updates to Adobe's Flash suite seem to come rather frequently, mostly because new vulnerabilities are continually being found. This time, the bug being patched is one that allows someone to take over your computer and hold your data for ransom.
As time goes on, gamers are slowly getting the ability to play their games where and how they want. Currently, Xbox One owners can play their games on their TV, or they can boot up a computer somewhere in the house and stream their favorite games to their desktop or laptop. PS4 owners haven't been able to enjoy this particular feature. But soon, that will be changing.
Over the weekend, a very nasty bug hit the Mac version of the Adobe Creative Cloud suite. Bugs that cause constant app crashes are annoying, and can drive a person mad after a while. However, when your software starts deleting files that you've spent minutes or even hours crafting, it's a serious issue. And that's exactly what started happening to users.
Disappointed that Apple didn't give due attention to OS X at its big keynote event? Well, be the green eyed monster no longer, because Apple is actually launching something that users, at least developers and beta testers, can actually get their hands on today. The Golden Master or GM version of OS X 10.11 El Capitan is now available for this select group of very early adopters, giving confidence that Apple will indeed meet its September 30 deadline for releasing the software to the general public.
Square Enix may have just launched its biggest update to Final Fantasy XIV, but what could have been an almost perfect release has been marred by performance issues on a single platform: Macs. Now while this may sound almost like the situation with Warner Bros. and Batman: Arkham Knight for PCs, Square Enix is doing something differently and, to its credit, perhaps more satisfying. Producer Naoki Yoshida has provided a rather detailed account of the blunder that happened and, unusual in this business, has taken sole responsibility for the fiasco.
Leonard Nimoy's Spock has always had a place in our hearts. After his recent passing, people around the world exchanged Vulcan salutes in his honor. Soon, you'll be able to send a Star Trek inspired signal to a friend with Apple's latest emoji. Apple's upcoming iOS updates are due to include a Spock emoji! So, you send a Vulcan salute and tell all of your friends to "live long and prosper."
Macs and OS X have a reputation of being the preferred hardware and platform of designers, but quite ironically, there is not a single official Apple computer that comes with an integrated Wacom display. Perhaps Apple considers it unnecessary because Wacom's Cintiq displays work perfectly with Macs anyway. But there is still a class of people that want to get the best of both worlds, like this latest hack that puts Apple's latest operating system inside a Cintiq Companion 2 tablet, though not everything is fine and dandy just yet.
It seems that even the somewhat "traditional" North Korean tech aesthetics is getting an update. Thanks to a former lecturer at Pyongyang, we are getting a glimpse of what the officially sanctioned operating system of North Korea, Red Star Linux, now looks like, almost half a decade since the OS was first leaked outside the secretive regime. Apparently, like the rest of the tech world, the Linux-based OS has moved away from a Windows 7, nay Window XP even, look towards a more stylish OS X.