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.