Month: August 2016

Enlarge / "Say... that's a nice e-mail you're writing." (credit: HP)

I have a dirty secret: I am an inveterate reader of other people's screens. It's a compulsion. I've tried to quit. But I can't. They're invariably more fascinating than my own, so if I'm sitting next to you on the plane I'll be checking out your e-mails, reading your presentations, and tutting at your use of Comic Sans in your documents. As such, I'm not a fan of HP's new Sure View screens—but I certainly understand the justification.

The EliteBook 840, showing its off-axis visibility with the privacy mode enabled.

The Sure View option is being offered on the HP EliteBook 1040 and the EliteBook 840; with one press of a button the screens flip from regular wide viewing angle mode into private mode, slashing the off-axis visibility of the devices.

The effect is pretty significant. On-axis visibility drops a little, as the screen gets dimmer, but off-axis visibility drops substantially. It's definitely enough to stop nosy row-mates on your cattle class flight from being able to read your e-mails, and even the people in the row behind are going to struggle to see what you're working on.

(credit: Wikipedia)

With the imminent release of Windows Server 2016, due to be launched some time in September with its new per-core licensing, Microsoft is making a concerted effort to win over VMware users and get them to switch to Hyper-V.

Accordingly, the company is running a time-limited promotion: switch from VMware to Hyper-V and the company will give you "free" licenses to Windows Server Datacenter. The catch is that you'll need to buy a Software Assurance subscription too, so it's not really free. But it should save some of the costs of migrating.

To help persuade companies to switch, Microsoft has offered a TCO calculator to show off the big savings (Microsoft hopes) that can be had from making the switch.

Enlarge (credit: McDonald's)

McDonald’s food isn't exactly the healthiest choice for kids—and apparently the same can be said of the restaurant’s fitness trackers.

The wristband toys given away in the fast food chain’s signature Happy Meals were intended to help get kids moving. Instead, the toys have gotten company officials racing to issue a recall after the devices were found to burn and irritate kids’ skin. So far, there have been 70 reports of injuries from the colorful gadgets, including seven reports of blistering burns.

On Tuesday, McDonald’s issued a voluntary recall of millions of its “Step It” fitness trackers.

Enlarge / Wanna get more in-game currency, weapons, and experience-point boosts in the new Deus Ex game? Pay up, suckers. (credit: Square Enix)

My review of the stellar cyberpunk stealth-adventure game Deus Ex: Mankind Divided was based on a retail version, which means it had received a "day-one" patch and contained all of the game's content... with one exception. The microtransaction system hadn't yet gone live.

At the time, this shop was limited to DX:MD's "Breach" mode, which combines arcade-style challenges and a "card-unlock" system for beefing your character up. This system works similarly to games like Hearthstone, in that you earn new cards and perks through normal gameplay, but since their rewards are random, you may feel compelled to pay money for more random-card unlocks. Also, because you can only equip so many perks at a time, and normal gameplay unlocks a ton of content, you don't really need to pay into this system to get the full game experience.

It's not ideal, but I ruled that this kind of microtransaction system was all in all tolerable for what was essentially a free bonus mode on top of an already-huge campaign in the retail package. Looks like Eidos Montreal had other ideas, however.

Today Google Fiber began taking signups in Salt Lake City, Utah, the gigabit ISP's seventh metro area.

Hello, Salt Lake City. #googlefiber has arrived. Sign-ups start today. Check your address: https://t.co/PgHKNIJ72Y pic.twitter.com/XfXmpwsYmm

— Google Fiber (@googlefiber) August 24, 2016

Gigabit Internet will be available for $70 a month and 100Mbps will cost $50 a month. Gigabit Internet with TV service is $140 a month. There are no data caps on any of the tiers. Phone service can be added for $10.

The initial deployment "will cover roughly 112 blocks from 100 South to 800 South between 400 West and 1300 East," The Salt Lake Tribune reported today. Assuming demand is high, installations "could take a week or more after customers apply." Google Fiber said that other parts of the city will get the service within months but offered no more specific timeline.