Year: 2024

How to “Pin” something to the Dock on Mac

Dan Uff April 4, 2024 0 1

For those who are new to Mac and the Dock, this tip will help you get to know what the Dock can do.

Like Windows 10 and 11, you can pin something to the Mac's Dock for easy access.

Here's how:

Find and open the app you wish to have "pinned" to the Dock.
Hold your mouse over the Dock's icon, press and hold the left mouse button.
Select 'Options'.
Select 'Keep in Dock'.
Now the icon will stay in the Dock.
That's it.

Did you know you can move a pinned Dock icon to another location?

Here's how:

Find the icon in the Dock you wish to move.
Click and then hold the left mouse button.
Now move the icon to the desired location.
That's it.

Report: Apple exploring home robots

CompuScoop Staff April 4, 2024 0 0

Apple is in the early stages of looking into making home robots, a move that appears to be an effort to create its "next big thing" after it killed its self-driving car project earlier this year, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

Engineers are looking into developing a robot that could follow users around their houses, Bloomberg reported. They're also exploring a tabletop at-home device that uses robotics to rotate the display, a more advanced project than the mobile robot.

The idea behind the smart display robot is to mimic a person's head movement, such as reacting during a FaceTime session. It would also include a feature that zooms in on a particular person in a crowd during a video call. This device initially caught the attention of senior Apple executives years ago, though they've disagreed over whether to continue with the project, Bloomberg said.

The report about Apple's new efforts comes after a series of recent blows to the company. Since the start of 2024, Apple has been hit with declining iPhone sales in China, a nearly $2 billion fine from the EU, and an antitrust lawsuit from the DOJ.

It also scrapped its decadeslong, multi-billionaire car effort, Project Titan, earlier this year, shifting its focus to building AI products.Apple has been criticized as lagging behind companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google, which have all released chatbots.

The bet on home robots could be an attempt to regain its new-product mojo eventually. The company reportedly started exploring robotics in 2019. At the time, Doug Field, now an EV executive at Ford, was leading the project and was joined by leaders across the home product space to work on things like quiet indoor drones.

After Field left the company in 2021, Bloomberg says Apple's robotics efforts zeroed in on domestic products. One idea Apple explored was a robot that could do chores like washing dishes and be used for video calls. However, the concept was shelved because of engineering obstacles, according to Bloomberg.

It's not yet clear whether Apple's robots will make it to consumers. But Apple appears to have laid some groundwork. At least one engineer who used to be on the car project's hardware team has been moved to the home and robotics division, according to Bloomberg. Sources also say that SafetyOS, the operating system that would've given the car self-driving capabilities, could technically be repurposed for robots.

Still, home robotics are nothing new. The Roomba, for instance, is a popular autonomous vacuum cleaner created by iRobot that Amazon tried to acquire in 2022. Smart speakers and thermostats are also common in people's homes. Meantime, Apple's latest non-robotic launch, the Vision Pro, has had mixed reviews.

Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider before publication.

Via: Business Insider

How much will Windows 10 be after official support ends?

Dan Uff April 3, 2024 0 0

When Microsoft announced its ending support for Windows 10 late next year, people started wondering if the company will continue supporting the operating system after October 14th, 2025. The short answer is YES, but you will pay for it.

After this date, end users will have to pay a starting price of $61.00 for the first year, and then it’ll double to $122.00 then in 2027, you’ll have to pay $244.00. Yes, that does mean you will have to pay for the privilege to keep Windows 10 on your Desktop computer.

Microsoft typically only offers subscriptions for Extended Security Updates to organizations that need to keep running older versions of Windows. This time around, it’s different, as there are still a large number of people on Windows 10, nearly nine years since its release in 2015.

“Extended Security Updates are not intended to be a long-term solution but rather a temporary bridge,” explains Microsoft in a blog post. “You can purchase ESU licenses for Windows 10 devices that you don’t plan to upgrade to Windows 11 starting in October 2024, one year before the end of support date.”

Microsoft is offering a 25 percent discount to businesses that use a Microsoft cloud-based update solution like Intune or Windows Autopatch. This drops the pricing to $45 per user (up to five devices) for the first year. If you’re using Windows 10 laptops and PCs to connect up to Windows 11 Cloud PCs through Windows 365, then Microsoft is waiving the fees for security updates since licenses are included in the Windows 365 subscription cost.

Schools will get an even bigger discount, with Microsoft offering a $1 license for year one, which then doubles to $2 for year two and $4 for the third year. It doesn’t look like Microsoft is going to offer any special discount pricing for consumers, but we’re still months away from these licenses going on sale, so the company could still offer something for consumers.

Naturally, Microsoft wants consumers to move to Windows 11 instead. Millions of PCs can’t upgrade officially to Windows 11 due to more strict hardware requirements and Microsoft’s security push with its latest OS. Windows 11 is only supported on CPUs released from 2018 onward and with devices that support TPM security chips.

Apple’s new Spatial Personas for Vision Pro are ‘so much better!’

CompuScoop Staff April 3, 2024 0 0

Apple this week released Spatial Personas within the Personas beta for all Vision Pro users running visionOS 1.1. Spatial Personas allow you to move around – say, during a FaceTime call or watching a movie with other Vision Pro users – and interact with digital content, providing a greater sense of presence.

Spatial Personas have a translucent background and include the head, hands, and top part of the torso to provide a more natural feel so that it seems like the people in the conversation are in the same physical room with one another. With Spatial Personas, people can move about in their real world space, and that’s reflected in the virtual setting. Persona location is the same for all people on a call, so if there are five participants, each one has a different location just as they would sitting together in a room.

If you look at or point to someone on the call, the other participants can see where you are looking or pointing. Voices are also directional relative to where each person is at.

Standard Personas show only a person’s face and are limited to a small tile, but spatial Personas have a much more immersive feel.

Via: MacRumors.com