Microsoft's new patent reveals 'Surface Phone' features...to Challenge IPHONE 8 and GALAXY NOTE 8

Even though Microsoft has reported a fall in Surface PC line and Windows phones revenues, the Redmond-based tech giant is aiming for new devices called "Surface Phones" and has made its patent public. 

According to a report in Forbes on Monday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has confirmed that Microsoft will "make more phones, but they will not look like phones that are there today." 

Earlier this year, Nadella declared that 2017 would see Microsoft launch the ultimate mobile device saying, "We will continue to be in the phone market not as defined by today's market leaders, but by what it is that we can uniquely do in what is the most ultimate mobile device." 

On July 21, Microsoft reported that the Windows Surface revenue decreased two per cent -- mainly due to product lifecycle transitions. Phone revenues were effectively zero as with the previous quarter. 

Even after these results, the company has now published patent on smartphones. 

Titled 'Wireless Communications Device', the patent talks about a bendable smartphone with antenna, battery, SIM card holders and screen connectors split over a hinge to create a dual-winged device. Although the device is just titled “Wireless Communications Device,” the patent describes a bendable smartphone with an antenna, battery, SIM card holders, and screen connectors split on a hinge that creates a dual-screened device. Many are assuming that this is the new Surface Phone, especially since the patent describes some earlier rumors of the phone.

On the consumer side of things, Microsoft will continue to build up its cloud based activities that drove exponential growth and helped it report much better profits than expected for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017, which ended on June 30.

Microsoft’s Surface Phone has pretty much been a myth based on some strong rumors for the past year. There was especially a lot of excitement when a couple of months back, Tech Times reported that the mysterious phone would indeed be announced at a Microsoft event on May 23.

Unfortunately (or fortunately for fans of Microsoft’s laptop/tablet hybrid), the new Surface Pro, rather than the Surface Phone, was announced. However, some new information verifying the existence of a Surface Phone revealed today has excited smartphone lovers.

According to most rumors, the Surface Phone is likely to run Microsoft’s mobile ARM processor, which Microsoft just demonstrated running desktop apps on. This will make using apps such as Photoshop painfully slow, but it’s doubtful that anyone will be purchasing a Surface Phone to use specifically as a photo editing device.

There has been no date set yet for the Surface Phone, but many believe it will be available during the fourth quarter of 2017. Microsoft will certainly have a lot of competition. Around the same time, the much-hyped iPhone 8 will hit the market.

As MacRumors notes, at least one version of the device will have a 5.8-inch edge-to-edge OLED screen with an increased pixel resolution, an advanced A11 processor, and a glass body. There allegedly won’t even be a need for a physical home button, and there are strong rumors that Apple has perfected facial recognition so much that there will be no need for Touch ID. And finally, Apple is set to add wireless charging capabilities to the iPhone—something Samsung has done with its phones since 2014.

Speaking the Galaxy Note 8, Tom’s Guide reports that Samsung’s large device will likely be worth the wait. The large smartphone is said to have a 6.3-inch Super AMOLED screen that could have a 4K resolution, which would be great for using it in the Gear VR. However, a 4K screen could also eat up a lot of battery life.

The Note 8 will likely also have a whopping 6GB of RAM, a dual 13MP camera with 3X optical zoom, and an advanced Snapdragon processor. It will look very much like the Samsung Galaxy S8+, which isn’t a bad thing according to most.

Based on all the rumors, which smartphone are consumers looking forward to the most? Is it the Microsoft Surface Phone, the iPhone 8, or the Galaxy Note 8? 

Desktop Metal gets $115 million in funding to deliver metal 3D printing

Desktop Metal has already earned a number of fans with its 3D printed metal technology — Lowe’s, Caterpillar and BMW were all among its earliest clients. As first noted by CNBC, the Massachusetts-based startup is also getting some healthy monetary support, adding $115 million of venture funds to its coffers this week. The Series D features a number of high profile names, including New Enterprise Associates, GV (formerly Google Ventures), GE Ventures, Future Fund and Techtronic Industries, the holdings company that owns Hoover U.S. and Dirt Devil.

Founded in 2013 by four MIT professors, Desktop Metal isn’t the first company to bring metal 3D printing to market, but it’s probably the most efficient. By its own measure, the company’s machines are able to print objects at up to 100-times the speed of their competitors. That’s good news for those clients using Studio, the prototyping machine the company announced last year — but even more useful for those planning to use the upcoming Production, a system designed to bring the technology to manufacturing.

Speed has been of the main bottlenecks in mainstreaming 3D printing for manufacturing — metal or otherwise. The Production system isn’t going to replace wide scale manufacturing any time soon, but it will make it a more realistic possibility for smaller speciality parts, with its ability to print 500 cubic inches of metal per hour. According to CEO Ric Fulop, that works out to millions of parts per year for a given machine.

“You don’t need tooling,” he tells TechCrunch. “You can make short runs of production with basically no tooling costs. You can change your design and iterate very fast. And now you can make shapes you couldn’t make any other way, so now you can lightweight a part and work with alloys that are very, very hard, with very extreme properties.”

The list of companies that have embraced the $50,000+ Surface is pretty diverse. Automakers like BMW are using it to prototype products, and the local robotics community has also been extremely excited about the device’s ability to print in a broad range of alloys. For smaller companies without access to big machining warehouses, prototyping with metal is a pretty big pain point.

“One of the benefits for this technology for robotics is that you’re able to do lots of turns,” says Fulop. “Unless you’re iRobot with the Roomba, you’re making a lot of one-off changes to your product.”

Desktop Metal is still pretty small, at around 150 people — mostly engineers, according to Fulop. Along with R&D, this latest funding round will go a ways toward increasing that staff and reach, with plans to extend to more markets, including Europe and Asia.

Ubuntu® 16.10 version reaches end of life…even as Ubuntu debuts on Windows Store

For those still running Ubuntu 16.10, which was released last October, it’s time to upgrade. Also known as 'Yakkety Yak', it was released on October 13, 2016, and as per short-term release lifespans, has petered out its nine-month support cycle. If you’re still running 16.10, then it’s time to upgrade to Ubuntu 17.04 which will be supported until the start of 2018.

Once a release, such as Ubuntu 16.10, reaches its end of life, it no longer receives any maintenance updates, critical security patches, or updated packages. The long-term support releases are better suited for people who don’t enjoy upgrading their system every six to nine months.

The current long-term support release is Ubuntu 16.04, which will continue to receive updates until spring 2021. In the meantime, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS will be released in April 2018; that release will be given life until April 2023.

According to a statement from Ubuntu, in order to find out the support status of your system, open the terminal and type: ubuntu-support-status. “If you’re on an unsupported release you should be able to open the update manager and be offered an upgrade to a newer version. Doing system upgrades on Ubuntu is usually problem-free, but depending on how much tinkering you’ve done to your system, you may experience problems” said the statement.

In a related development, Microsoft has announced at its Build 2017 developer conference earlier this year that Ubuntu would be heading to the Windows Store, and now the popular Linux distro is available to download.

Ubuntu — like SUSE Linux and Fedora, the other two forthcoming Linux distros heading to the store — runs in a sandbox alongside Windows 10, and offers regular command-line utilities as a standalone installation, with shared access to files and hardware with Windows 10.

In order to install Ubuntu, users will have to navigate to Control Panel (not the newer Windows 10 Settings app) and select the "Turn Windows features on or off" menu. There, you’ll be able to select the "Windows Subsystem for Linux," which will allow Ubuntu to work following a reboot.

New Whatsapp update now allows users attach any file

In its latest update, Whatsapp has upgraded a few of its capabilities. For starters, while its initial roll out of document attachments last year was limited to PDFs, users can now share any file type. Shared files are limited to 100MB according to In its latest update, Whatsapp has upgraded a few of its capabilities. For starters, while its initial roll out of document attachments last year was limited to PDFs, users can now share any file type. Shared files are limited to 100MB according to WhatsApp's website, but there are reports that iPhone users can send slightly larger files.

Additionally, you'll be able to see all of your pictures and videos in the in-app camera by swiping up and if you're sending lots of photos at once, they'll now be grouped into a gallery that only displays five images with the last thumbnail displaying how many additional photos have been sent. WhatsApp will also stop compressing photos, allowing your original quality to remain intact. And to easily bold, italicize or strikethrough your text, you'll just have to tap and hold the text to select it.

These changes are the latest tweaks to the app. Last year, WhatsApp launched video calling and earlier this year, two-step verification was rolled out to all of its users. Those were followed by Snapchat-style status updates, Siri integration and photo filters.

The new update is rolling out for Android and iOS now WhatsApp’s website, but there are reports that iPhone users can send slightly larger files.

Additionally, you'll be able to see all of your pictures and videos in the in-app camera by swiping up and if you're sending lots of photos at once, they'll now be grouped into a gallery that only displays five images with the last thumbnail displaying how many additional photos have been sent. WhatsApp will also stop compressing photos, allowing your original quality to remain intact. And to easily bold, italicize or strikethrough your text, you'll just have to tap and hold the text to select it.

These changes are the latest tweaks to the app. Last year, WhatsApp launched video calling and earlier this year, two-step verification was rolled out to all of its users. Those were followed by Snapchat-style status updates, Siri integration and photo filters.

The new update is rolling out for Android and iOS now.

Navegante Introduce “Casino Doctors” brand to track live-gaming

Navegante Game Technologies has announced the offering of a new product line under their “Casino Doctors” brand. By using the latest artificial intelligence merged with cloud technology the product will concentrate on increasing casino player participation by tracking live-view stream of gaming activity with targeted triggered communication for instantaneous customer/host response.

Casino Doctors’ new “ReFLEX” prodcut is a digital communication platform with patented technology, revolutionizing with AI the interaction between a casino player and casino host and floor operations, the company announced. ReFLEX analyzes real time card-in player data and instantly triggers individualized SMS text and email offers, games and communications to players, hosts, and employees.

Navegante reported the “BounceBack” product improves loyalty marketing programs with automated direct mail marketing proven to increase casino revenues by 10 percent, spontaneous and without human input.

“Working with The Navegante Group over the years, who have been involved with over 70 gaming and resort clients, we have had the opportunity to test to perfection the best on-floor customer communication systems and taking casino marketing into a new era of real time automated technology,” said Robert Watson, chief technology officer at Casino Doctors.

Casino Doctors, powered by Navegante Game Technologies, will be offering a variety of other software systems, including an analytic tool and mail compiler, and “humanizing player cards” with an online account manager program. All software can be multi-formatted to PC and Mobile Use for gaming departments, and are fully compatible with all the major Casino Management Systems.

“As the name suggests, Casino Doctors is offering a full diagnostic review of a casinos’ internal player interface management system, and providing the cure. We believe we can improve a casino’s gaming revenues by several percentage points via our new AI technology marketing software programs. That’s big bucks,” stated Watson.

Windows Phone 8.1 is officially Dead as Microsoft end support for platform

Microsoft said yesterday that it was ending support for Windows Phone 8.1, one of the more notable updates to its troubled mobile operating system.

The writing has been on the wall for a while for Windows Phone, which hasn't gotten a meaningful update or any new products in two years. While Microsoft continues to support the successor to 8.1, Windows 10 Mobile, the move marks another sad chapter in the company's desperate struggle to gain relevancy in the smartphone market at a time when iPhones and phones running on Google's Android software dominate the world.

Windows Phone 8.1 was the fourth iteration of the mobile operating system and introduced the Cortana digital assistant to the phone. High-end devices like the Lumia 930 sported the then new software, and companies like HTC, Acer and Alcatel offered products using the platform.

But there was a lack of app support for phones running on the OS, which offered a unique tile-based user interface similar to the PC version of Windows, and consumers weren't interested either. The Windows 10 mobile update hasn't fared much better, and there's minimal support from device makers.

It’s not unusual to see companies pull the plug on software and hardware when it gets tired and old, and that exact thing is happening this week, as Microsoft says goodbye to devices that didn’t quite make the cut to Windows 10.

While the resurgence of Windows Phone didn’t quite take over the world the way Microsoft had hoped, Nokia, HTC, and a few other companies that offered quite a range of solid mobile devices over its time a few years back, including the very excellent and very experimental Lumia 1020, the phone with a 41 megapixel camera inside that would zoom into an image based on cropping the picture down, providing what was effectively a good compromise on digital zoom.

As nice as that phone was (even though it lacked expandable storage), it seems doomed to just being nice hardware with a severely outdated operating system, as Microsoft this week pulls the plug on Windows Phone 8.1, the operating system it ran.

Unfortunately, it did not make the cut of devices that could update to Windows 10, because while the Lumia 1520 is there, alongside devices like the Lumia 930, 640, 640XL, 730, 735, 830, and even budget 535 and 540, older models that boasted the Nokia name over that of Microsoft will not see a move to the new generation of Windows.

That’s bad news for the few Windows Phone users holding out for Microsoft to drive an update forward, letting them keep their hardware and still get the best of both worlds, and could potentially push them into the arms of Apple’s iOS or Google’s Android, if they haven’t made that jump already.

It’s been quite a while between releases here, and while the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950XL were all acceptable devices, they’re now almost two years old, and the app availability isn’t exactly strong on the Windows platform. The last company to release a Windows Phone was HP, and we didn’t hear much about the positives on that one, either.

Sadly, as strong as Windows is on the desktop and laptop side, not to mention the hybridisation of the tablet world, Windows Phone appears to be putting itself to bed. It remains to see what else may happen, but for now, it’s time to move on, folks.

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IBM to Train 5m Nigerians, 25 Million Africans to Build capacity for digital jobs

Global ICT solutions provider, IBM is ramping up its digital-skills training program to accommodate as many as 25 million Africans in the next five years, looking toward building a future workforce on the continent.

The U.S. tech giant plans to make an initial investment of $70 million to roll out the training initiative in South Africa, a country where 31 percent of people between 15 and 24 are unemployed, according to Statistics South Africa. Other countries set to benefit in this program include Nigeria, Kenya, Morocco and Egypt, enabling the expansion of the project across the continent.

“Africa will have the largest workforce by 2040 and IBM wants to lay the foundation blocks to build a digital workforce,’’ Juan Pablo Napoli, head of IBM Skills Academy, said by phone from Dubai. “We will be providing a free cloud-based learning platform able to train people from basic computer skills to high-end app development.”

The move may help bring and keep digital jobs in Africa instead of losing them to India, said Hamilton Ratshefola, IBM’s country manager for South Africa. As many as 50,000 such jobs are currently farmed out from Africa, predominantly to India, Ratshefola said. “If the program is implemented successfully over the five-year period all these jobs can be moved to Africa, where people will be equipped with the right set of skills,” he said.

Mr. Dipo Falkner, country general manager, IBM West Africa, also disclosed that the company would be training five million Nigerians over the next two years on information and communications technology skills required to enhance the small and medium enterprises (SME) business entrepreneurs.

He made this known during the Nigeria International Technology Exhibition and Conference (NITEC 2017) held in Lagos last week. According to him, plans have been made to start up the programme tagged “Digital Nations Africa” in the last quarter of 2017.

In addition, he disclosed that another mandate of IBM is to help in improving the skill level of technology in Nigeria by training and partnering with Nigerian Universities. “We partner with Nigerian universities. It’s an ongoing exercise whereby we make available a set of  solutions to the universities and both the university students and their faculties can get trained and certified on these solutions”, he said.

The company has partnered with the United Nations in extending the initiative throughout Africa. IBM is also talking to a number of other potential partners, including mobile-phone companies, to further scale the program, Ratshefola said. In South Africa, IBM already is working with phone carrier Vodacom Group Ltd., he said.

iPhone 8 may ditch fingerprint sensor for face scanner

Apple's upcoming iPhone 8 could feature a revamped security system in which owners unlock the device using their face rather than fingerprint.  The tenth-anniversary iPhone is expected to have a drastic redesign, which could include a security system that can scan users' faces to check who is using it.

The 3D scanning system could replace Touch ID as a way to verify payments, log in to apps and unlock the phone, according to Bloomberg. It can work at different angles, so the iPhone can be unlocked by looking at it if it is flat on the table as well as held up right.

The scanning system has reportedly been designed for speed and accuracy, and can scan a users' face and unlock the device in a few hundred milliseconds. As it analyses 3D rather than 2D images it is expected to be able to distinguish between someone's face and a photo of them.

Apple could also use eye scanning technology, currently found in Samsung's Galaxy S8, to bolster the device's security.

The face scanning technology could more secure than Touch ID, first released on the iPhone 5S in 2013, as it draws on more identifiers, Bloomberg reports. Apple claims its fingerprint scanner only has a 1 in 50,000 chance of being unlocked by somebody else's finger.

The iPhone 8 will have an edge-to-edge OLED screen with "the highest screen-to-body ratio of any smartphone currently available", according to Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst with a reliable track record. Apple is expected to remove the Home button and Touch ID scanner to make way for the display.

Kuo predicts Apple will release three new phones in September, the iPhone 8, iPhone 7S and iPhone 7S Plus. The iPhone 8 will feature the most dramatic redesign of the three, with a 5.2-inch screen size housed in a device roughly the same size as the iPhone 7. It will have fewer colour options, and could come with a glass front and back with steel edges.

John Gruber, a well-connected Apple blogger, said the top iPhone could be called the "iPhone Pro" and suggested it could cost $1,500 (£1,160) or higher.

The other two devices will have LCD screens and come in 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch sizes. Similar to the current iPhone 7, these phones are expected to have a Home button and Touch ID.

The three phones could have a Lightning port with an embedded USB-C and come with 64GB or 256GB storage, if Kuo's predictions are correct. They could come with a new chip, currently being tested, that is dedicated to processing artificial intelligence.

Apple is expected to unveil the three iPhones, which will run iOS 11, at an event in September. The iPhone 7S and 7S Plus could be available from later than month, while the iPhone 8 might not ship until later in the year.

Toshiba asks California court to dismiss Western Digital case

Toshiba has asked a US court to dismiss a Western Digital request for an injunction to prevent a sale of the Japanese firm's chip business, saying the court has no jurisdiction and that an injunction would cause irreparable harm.

Western Digital, which jointly runs Toshiba's main semiconductor plant, has claimed that its partner has breached joint venture contracts as it pursues an $18 billion sale of the unit and is seeking an injunction to prevent any deal without its consent.

In its filing with the Superior Court of California, Toshiba argued that their joint venture interests only cover a small portion of its flash memory semiconductor business and that the court has no jurisdiction as its primary place of business was Japan.

Toshiba is scrambling to get a deal done as fast as possible as it needs funds to cover billions in cost overruns at now-bankrupt unit Westinghouse. It is currently negotiating with a preferred bidder consortium that includes Japan government investors and US private equity firm Bain Capital.

"Even if an agreement is reached with a bidder...if Toshiba is prevented from moving forward on implementing that transaction, the harm to an overall deal would be severe - and may well make the implementation of a transaction impossible," said in its filing, which was made on Friday.

Western Digital has tabled its own bid for the chip unit - the world's No. 2 producer of NAND chips - but the offer has gained little traction with Toshiba, which says it raises antitrust concerns. The Japanese firm is also reluctant to engage with Western Digital as its US partner has said in the past it wants to take control of the unit.

Western Digital argues that an injunction will ensure that an international arbitration court will be given an appropriate opportunity to resolve their dispute. The court hearing on the issue is scheduled for July 14 and Western Digital has said it believes a decision could come on the same day.

Western Digital is expected to file a response to Toshiba's opposition before the hearing.

Cisco to train South African youth in cyber security

Networking giant Cisco plans to train 36 South African unemployed youths next year in cyber security, to help address the shortage of skilled workers in the space.

The company says it blocks over 20 billion threats for its clients every day. Cisco says the threats constantly change and evolve as cyber criminals come up with new ways to infiltrate businesses. On top of these challenges, skilled professionals who are able to defend companies are in short supply, says Cisco.

"Cyber crime is now the fourth most reported economic crime in SA, with our economy reportedly losing R1 billion each year due to online criminal activities. Being breached is the new normal," says Cathy Smith, Cisco Southern Africa MD.

"We are also aware that security is a business priority, with many executives feeling overwhelmed by the defender environment and citing certification and talent as two of the biggest constraints to adopting advanced products and solutions." This is why the company has partnered with NIL Learning Africa to launch a cyber security training programme.

The academy will be based in the company's Johannesburg office. It will feature in-house training as well as experience within companies. Karen Sharpe, director of the learning division at NIL Learning Africa, says the students will be placed in government and other Cisco partners for a few months to learn on the job, and hopefully be placed within the company after their training is done.

The course is worth between R60 000 and R70 000 per student, and the fees will be fully funded by MICT-SETA. Students will receive a monthly stipend and an internationally recognised certificate upon completion. The "Cisco Certified CCNA Cyber Ops certification" will be valid for three years.

The first intake will be for 36 unemployed youths with a matric certificate with maths and an IT subject. Unemployed candidates who have attended a college and completed a Comptia or similar entry-level IT short course will also be considered.

"South African organisations are looking to improve security engineering capabilities to prevent increasing attacks on their networks. This educational programme will help to address the security ICT skills shortage in the country," says Sharpe.

The cyber security academy will also have an experience centre for public and private sector stakeholders to learn about the latest trends in cyber threats as well as expertise training in how to combat them.

The company says its training in the experience centre will be done in an interactive way using live ethical hacking demos, virtual reality and videos.

Etisalat micro-lending platform, KwikCash takes off even on controversial note

In a move that actualizes a project that started almost one year ago, Etisalat Nigeria, in partnership with Support Microfinance Bank, has made access to loans easier through the launch of its new micro-loan service product KwikCash.

The service, which is currently available only on the Etisalat network, is meant for subscribers who have accounts in some select banks in Nigeria and need to access to small loans to settle urgent financial needs. “It enables customers to get instant loans with ease using their mobile phones,” Etisalat said in a statement recently.

Presently the solution is accessed using a USSD code *561# on the Etisalat network, and only functions for those operating bank accounts in Access, GTBank, and UBA. Loan tenure are for 14days with interest while range is between N500 to N50,000.

The solution has been in the works since November 2016 and has been mired in controversy after an IT service provider, V-Exchange Limited laid claims to ownership of the said product. Demanding N2 billion from Etisalat as compensation for allegedly infringing on its product’s copyright, the company had called a press briefing where the company’s co-founder, Samuel Ajiboyede claimed that he had met with representatives of Etisalat regarding his company’s product and for the purposes of partnering with the same for mutual commercial benefits.

Ajiboyede further alleged that at the meeting, the loan service product was showcased to Etisalat officials who upon being impressed by the demonstration asked to be furnished with more details. He also said he was advised by Etisalat officials to obtain the Nigeria Communications Commission, NCC Short Code being the only thing remaining for a deal to be sealed between the two entities.

He claimed that he subsequently requested for a Memorandum of Understanding from Etisalat to enable his company acquire a Value Added Service (VAS) license to get the Short Code approval from NCC but that the request was never accented to. The company co-founder said he was however shocked when it heard that Etisalat had gone ahead to launch the instant loan service without its approval.

Though Etisalat had repeatedly denied the allegation, the uncertainties surrounding the allegations stalled the launch of the product this now. In one of their defenses, Etisalat via a letter dated February 21, 2017 acknowledged having had discussions with V-Exchange over its product but denied infringement of any patent belonging to the firm.

The letter signed by Vincent Eromosele, Etisalat Head, Legal Operations and Litigation and Chimeka Garricks, Manager, Legal Services claimed that ‘KwikCash’ is owned and operated by a financial institution and that Etisalat followed due process in acquiring the right to use the product on its network. The letter further claimed that KwikCash service was already in existence and operational prior to its meeting with V-Exchange.

In reality, KwikCash is indeed an existing solution that operates in various countries using same name. As a VAS (value added service) infrastructure, it’s actually built for use by Telcos and financial institutions to access customers and offer instant soft loans. In the case of Etisalat, Support Microfinance Bank is said to have obtained the franchise for the solution and engaged Etisalat as preferred channel to r  each the mass market.

Support Microfinance Bank is an Abuja based micro finance owned by Ekaette Umoh. For an institution that had previously run foul of CBN rules in the past, the bank hopes to use the KwikCash product via Etisalat, to regain credibility to customers.