O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: 2011

  • Microsoft announces Office 2024 for the Mac to be released later this year, will be available via either subscription-based plan or one-time payment

    Microsoft announces Office 2024 for the Mac to be released later this year, will be available via either subscription-based plan or one-time payment

    The next version of Microsoft Office, Office 2024, will be available both as a subscription-based product as well as something that can be bought with a single payment.

    Microsoft on Wednesday released several important details about its upcoming Office 2024 suite.

    The commercial preview of Office LTSC 2024, Microsoft said in a blog post, will be released in April ahead of a general release later in 2024. Office LTSC, or Long-Term Servicing Channel, represents the version of Office intended for commercial and government use in specialist and niche uses where devices may not be able to access the internet, or where software updates are not desired: in manufacturing or medical testing labs, for example. It is not sold in stores and is only available for volume purchases.

    Microsoft’s blog post confirmed that Office 2024 will arrive alongside the Windows version, and will be available as a “device-based ‘perpetual’ license, supported for five years.” This will allow users to buy Office for Mac 2024 and the related individual apps for a one-time flat fee and get updates until 2029.

    Microsoft has had a somewhat inconsistent Office release schedule over the past 13 years, its recent versions debuting in 2011, 2016, 2019, and 2021.

    While the LTSC versions of Office will see price hikes “up to 10 percent at the time of general availability,” the consumer versions are expected to stay the same, currently $150/£119 (Home and Student) and $250/£249 (Home and Business) for Microsoft Office 2021. Microsoft has not guaranteed the same pricing, and has stated that “We do not plan to change the price for these products at the time of the release.”)

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via Macworld and techcommunity.microsoft.com

  • Rumor: iPhone 15 models could be easier to repair than previous iPhone generations

    Rumor: iPhone 15 models could be easier to repair than previous iPhone generations

    Similar to the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus, the upcoming iPhone 15 is rumored to have a redesigned chassis that is “easier to repair,” according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

    The change could result in the iPhone 15 Pro units having removable back glasses. With its own chassis redesign, the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus handsets became the first iPhone models that can be opened from both the front and back sides of the device since the iPhone 4S in 2011. The internal redesign did not extend to the iPhone 14 Pro models, which can still only be opened from the display side, at least for authorized repairs.

    A removable back glass system could lead to significantly lower repair fees for iPhone 15 Pro units with cracked back glass for customers without AppleCare+ coverage. As of now, Apple’s out-of-warranty fees for the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus with back glass damage range from $169 to $199, compared to $499 to $549 for iPhone 14 Pro models.

    Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 15 lineup in September. Current rumors have speculated that the devices will be equipped with a USB-C port and the Dynamic Island. Gurman has also noted that he expects the Pro models to feature a titanium frame, thinner bezels around the display, a faster chip manufactured with TSMC’s 3nm process, a customizable Action button, and more. Finally, Gurman has also stated that he believes price increases are possible in some countries, at least for the Pro models.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via MacRumors and Bloomberg

  • Rumor: Apple to include upgraded U1 chip in iPhone 15, will work to integrate handset with Vision Pro platform

    Rumor: Apple to include upgraded U1 chip in iPhone 15, will work to integrate handset with Vision Pro platform

    Following Apple’s announcement of its Vision Pro platform at WWDC this month with a release date of “early 2024,” reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has issued a report detailing Apple’s plans to better integrate the iPhone with the Vision Pro ecosystem, starting with the iPhone 15 later this year.

    Per Kuo’s tweet, Apple will “aggressively upgrade hardware specifications” of the iPhone as part of its effort to build a competitive ecosystem surrounding Vision Pro. “The ecosystem is one of the key success factors for Vision Pro, including the integration with other Apple hardware products, and related main hardware specifications are Wi-Fi and UWB,” Kuo wrote.

    Kuo stated that the first step in the process will be an upgrade to the Ultra Wideband chip found in the upcoming iPhone 15. Kuo cited that the upgraded U1 chip will be more efficient and more reliable.

    “iPhone 15 will likely see a specification upgrade of UWB, with the production process moving from 16nm to more advanced 7nm, allowing for improved performance or reduced power consumption for nearby Interactions,” Kuo says.

    The U1 chip first debuted in the iPhone 11, and has been present in each iPhone model since then. The U1 chip is also present in Apple’s AirTag item tracker, the Apple Watch Series 6 and newer, the HomePod mini, the second-generation full-size HomePod, and the latest-generation AirPods Pro charging case.

    The U1 chip handles a number of tasks, including Find My features, Handoff, Precision Finding, AirDrop, and more.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via 9to5Mac and @mingchikuo

  • Oculus founder tweets effusive-but-cryptic praise regarding Apple’s mixed reality headset

    Oculus founder tweets effusive-but-cryptic praise regarding Apple’s mixed reality headset

    Apple’s forthcoming mixed reality headset just earned copious-if-vague praise from the founder of Oculus.

    In a cryptic post on Twitter on Sunday night, Palmer Luckey simply tweeted: “The Apple headset is so good.”

    Luckey’s comments come after testers have reportedly been left “blown away” by the product in early demos.

    Luckey founder Oculus, one of the earliest startups to gain mainstream success in the AR/VR headset space. Oculus was later acquired by Facebook in 2014 for $2 billion. Operating as a division of Facebook at that point, he launched the Oculus Rift in 2016. Luckey helped engineer and design Oculus Rift, with the work dating back as far as 2011.

    Following Luckey’s departure from Facebook in March 2017, Luckey founded Anduril Industries in partnership with a number of former Oculus executives. Anduril Industries focuses on developing autonomous system technology for defense purposes and has secured billions in funding from investors and billions in defense contracts.

    In a follow-up comment to his noted tweet, he said there’s high confidence inside Apple for the headset’s launch. Luckey has not responded to any other questioning on what exactly he’s basing his comments.

    It’s unknown whether Luckey has actually seen of used the Apple headset, and he may have received a private demo of the unit. It’s also likely that he communicated with someone inside Apple regarding the headset. It’s also possible that he’s spoken to developers that are working with Apple. The company has been privately working with third-party developers on software for the headset for at least several months.

    Apple is rumored to officially announce the headset at WWDC on June 5. The product is thought to feature bleeding-edge specifications, such as advanced hand and eye tracking, ultra-high-resolution displays, and Apple’s M2 chip, as well as house over a dozen cameras and sensors in the headset chassis. The product is expected to be expensive, priced at around $3,000.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via 9to5Mac and @PalmerLuckey

  • Facebook shuttering Facial Recognition technology, will delete data and tags for over one billion users

    Facebook shuttering Facial Recognition technology, will delete data and tags for over one billion users

    Sometimes you have to do things to win back the public’s trust.

    Facebook announced through its parent company Meta on Tuesday that the company

    is shutting down its Face Recognition system and will delete the facial data of more than 1 billion of its users.

    People who opted in to Face Recognition will no longer be automatically recognized in photos and videos, and their facial recognition templates will be deleted.

    Per Facebook VP of Artificial Intelligence Jerome Pesenti, Facebook is making this change because it needs to weigh the positive use cases for facial recognition against growing societal concerns” as regulators “have yet to provide clear rules.”

    The facial recognition feature has been available since 2011, and when it debuted, the feature was turned on automatically for more than 500 million people. The option, known as “Tag Recognition” at the time, was designed to recognize Facebook users in photos and videos posted by other users, tagging all of the people in the photo.

    Following immediate privacy concerns that came with the launch of the feature, Facebook in December 2017 introduced an expanded Face Recognition feature and with it, an opt-out option.

    The company has stated that more than a third of Facebook’s daily active users have facial recognition enabled, and that the change required “careful consideration.” It also stated that an Automatic Alt Text feature for blind users that automatically provided the names of people in photos.

    Facebook also stated that it will continue to work on its facial recognition technologies, and offered the following comments:

    Looking ahead, we still see facial recognition technology as a powerful tool, for example, for people needing to verify their identity, or to prevent fraud and impersonation. We believe facial recognition can help for products like these with privacy, transparency and control in place, so you decide if and how your face is used. We will continue working on these technologies and engaging outside experts.

    But the many specific instances where facial recognition can be helpful need to be weighed against growing concerns about the use of this technology as a whole. There are many concerns about the place of facial recognition technology in society, and regulators are still in the process of providing a clear set of rules governing its use. Amid this ongoing uncertainty, we believe that limiting the use of facial recognition to a narrow set of use cases is appropriate.

    Via MacRumors and about.fb.com