PC Pro January 2018

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO i’ve been reading The Power by Naomi Alderman these past two weeks. She’s an interesting author for techies, not least because she also co-created the fitness app Zombies, Run! In The Power, it isn’t zombies that half the world needs to be afraid of: it’s women, now imbued with the power to zap others with powerful electronic shocks via “skeins”. Cue a major reversal in each sex’s fortunes. While I was reading, Harvey Weinstein’s reputation hit dirt as dozens of actresses came out in the wake of a New York Times article to say they had been sexually assaulted by the legendary Hollywood producer. So, you’re probably wondering, what has this got to do with a tech magazine? A fair question, but bear with me. The obvious first connection…

Unveiled The hottest hardware releases, including translation earbuds p12 ISPs spurn Of com code Smaller ISPs are sceptical over plans to help consumers p13 PC Probe Why do we pay so much for SSD upgrades in laptops? p14 web giants are under pressure from the UK government with a series of proposed clampdowns on areas as diverse as online safety, fake news and extremist material. Officials from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) have released plans to make the web companies pay for creating a safer online environment. As part of the Internet Safety Strategy Green Paper, the government claimed it wanted to make Britain “the safest place in the world to be online” and said it would impose a levy on the technology industry to pay for…

1 AR not ready for the big time, claims Cook Apple boss Tim Cook claimed artificial reality hardware was not yet good enough to kickstart a smartphone-like rush of new applications, despite admitting that the companywasstill pushing investment into the arena. Although Apple rivals–suchas Facebook with the Oculus Rift–have pushed head sets onto the virtual reality market, he feels that early offerings have been underwhelming, telling The Independent:“The technology it self doesn’t exist to do that in a quality way–there are huge challenges with that.” 2 Microsoft tight-lipped on vulnerability database theft Microsoft came under fire for failing to reveal the extent of a 2013 breach that reports claim allowed hackers to access a database of known, but unpatched, vulnerabilitiesacross the Windows platform. Such weaknesses are seen as a goldmine…

The key details of this month’s hot hardware releases Lenovo ThinkPad 25 The ThinkPad has come a long way since its introduction in 1992, with more than 100 million laptops sold. Those nostalgic for the early days of IBM design might appreciate this retrospective tribute. Although the internals of the 25th anniversary special edition bear little similarity to early machines, the ThinkPad 25 has several throwback elements of the black corporate classic, including the seven-row keyboard that some believe makes typing and input more efficient. The keyboard also features older style mechanical keys as opposed to the chiclet, isolated keys more common in current ThinkPads. The keys are backlit, which may disappoint those hoping for a flashback to the ThinkLight, which illuminated old ThinkPads from an LED in the top…

@PCPRO FACEBOOK.COM/PCPRO small isps have reacted with scepticism to proposals from regulator Ofcom that are designed to improve information and recourse for consumers that suffer from lowerthan- expected broadband speeds. The regulator has set out plans that it says will make it clearer what speeds customers should achieve throughout the day, as well as setting a 30-day resolution deadline. The proposals are laid out in changes to the voluntary code of conduct, which would come into effect next year and enable customers to leave a new contract after 30 days without penalty if the ISP couldn’t fix inadequate lines. But there is uncertainty over how affected lines will be judged, whether the timeline is too short and how lines should be monitored. Under the proposal – which extends existing buyer…

security experts say the KRACK Wi-Fi vulnerability may never be completely resolved due to the sheer breadth and age of the systems affected by the threat. KRACK, short for Key Reinstallation Attack, exploits a fundamental weakness in the WPA2 protocol that supposedly locks down wireless networks. Mathy Vanhoef of imec-DistriNet, who found the weakness, said “attackers can use this novel attack technique to read information that was previously assumed to be safely encrypted”. Software vendors moved quickly, with Microsoft and Apple releasing updates and Google promising an Android patch, but any devices that are no longer supported will remain vulnerable. “It’s not a single vulnerability – in some levels this will be resolved pretty quickly from the major OS vendors, and on some levels it will never be resolved,” said…