Fitbit goes after new wrists with less expensive $159 Versa Lite smartwatch

Fitbit wants more users on its platform—that means devices at many price points.

Instead of doubling down and trying to make the next best Apple Watch killer, Fitbit is focusing on potential users and prices. Today, the company launched the new $159 Versa Lite smartwatch, a pared-down version of the $199 wearable it came out with last year. It will also bring the newly announced Inspire and Inspire HR fitness trackers, priced from $69 to $99, to all consumers.

Apple no longer refuses to fix iPhones with third-party batteries

Now Genius Bars and Authorized Service Providers won't turn these iPhones away.

Apple has reportedly updated the rules of its strict repair program to be a bit more lenient toward iPhones with aftermarket batteries. Internal company documents reportedly instruct its Genius Bars and Apple Authorized Service Providers to repair iPhones with third-party batteries, something that the iPhone maker has never allowed before.

Microsoft is first major cloud provider to open African data centers

Cape Town, Johannesburg cloud regions now available.

First announced in 2017, the company originally intended to open its facilities—South Africa West in Cape Town and South Africa North in Johannesburg—in 2018. Even with the delays, Microsoft has still beaten Amazon to the punch; an AWS datacenter is to open in Cape Town in 2020. As well as offering Azure services, Microsoft is going to use the facilities for hosting Office 365 from the third quarter of the year and Dynamics 365 from the fourth quarter.

calc.exe is now open source; there’s surprising depth in its ancient code

The actual calculation engine is more than 20 years old.

The repository shows Calculator's surprisingly long history. Although it is in some regards one of the most modern Windows applications—it's an early adopter of Fluent Design and has been used to showcase a number of design elements—core parts of the codebase date all the way back to 1995.

Disney to close “vault” for good as it moves film library to streaming service

Exclusive streaming rights to titles like Frozen will encourage subscriptions.

Disney is rapidly preparing to launch its own streaming service, dubbed Disney+, later this year. While the debut date is still unknown, we now know that the service will include the entire Disney movie library shortly after the service launches. According to a report in Polygon, Disney CEO Bob Iger explained the strategy to investors at a meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, pointing at the retirement of Disney's longstanding "vault."

The Galaxy S10’s face unlock fooled by pictures, siblings

2D image sensor gets fooled by 2D images.

Here's another friendly reminder that, if your Android phone doesn't have some kind of special hardware for face unlock, the feature probably isn't very secure. The latest phone to implement face unlock with nothing but the normal front camera is the Galaxy S10, and users across the web are reporting that the feature is easily confused or defeated.

Steam Link Anywhere lets you take your PC gaming with you

Move comes as Google, Sony expand game streaming options.

The only requirements for today's "early beta" release, according to the announcement, are that "your computer has good upload speed and your Steam Link device has a good network connection." Those are imprecise terms, of course, but Steam's in-home streaming has previously shown a pretty good ability to scale visual quality up and down based on network conditions.

Youtube Video

Google jumps into gaming with Google Stadia streaming service, coming “in 2019”

Google CEO: "We're building a game platform for everyone."

Google Stadia will run a selection of existing PC games on Google's centralized servers, taking in controller inputs and sending back video and audio using Google's network of low latency data centers. The company revealed a new Google-produced controller, which includes a "play now" button. Press this, and gameplay will begin "in as quick as five seconds" in a web browser "with no download, no patch, no update, and no install."

Air India files complaint as MP boasts of beating steward
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39365932

“Severe” ransomware attack cripples big aluminum producer

Infection that started in the US shuts down network worldwide; company scrambles to recover.

Norsk Hydro of Norway said the malware first hit computers in the United States on Monday night. By Tuesday morning, the infection had spread to other parts of the company, which operates in 40 countries. Company officials responded by isolating plants to prevent further spreading. Some plants were temporarily stopped, while others, which had to be kept running continuously, were switched to manual mode when possible. The company’s 35,000 employees were instructed to keep computers turned off but were allowed to use phones and tablets to check email.

At the playground downtown. Lots of people out for the evening walks. Might take the kids out for ice cream.

Apple’s updated AirPods are here, cost $199 with new wireless charging case

Existing AirPod owners can buy the wireless charging case for $79, too.

After announcing new iPads and iMacs earlier this week, Apple has released details about its next-generation AirPods. The new wireless earbuds, which are available for preorder today starting at $159, come with an updated, Apple-designed chip, more battery life, and "Hey Siri" voice-command support. Apple also debuted a new wireless charging case for AirPods that can be charged with any Qi wireless charger.