Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween to all!

MSFT: We're Number Two!

Microsoft has once again asserted that 1.5 billion PCs

around the world run on Windows.

It posts the figure in its newly updated Microsoft by the

Numbers website, which also shows off that Cortana has

been asked 18 billion questions, facts about the company's

artificial-intelligence activities, donations, and its carbon

Footprint.

The number is consistent with figures that Microsoft has

previously set out about Windows adoption. Apple has

about 1.3 billion active iOS devices, while Google reports

about two billion active Android devices.

Microsoft in July said just under 700 million PCs are running

Windows 10, up from 500 million in May. Last week, the

company boasted that more than half of Windows devices in

the enterprise are running Windows 10.

Microsoft's own app data statistics report shows that, as of

September, 76 percent of all Windows PCs are running the

Windows 10 April 2018 Update, version 1803, with the

remainder on some earlier version.

Missing from the new By the Numbers report is a mention

of Office. Previously it stated that Office apps have had been

downloaded over 100 million times on Android and iOS, as

Neowin reported when Microsoft's site launched in 2015.

Samsung Overhaul

Samsung Electronics Co. is overhauling its line-up of

premium phones for next year, preparing to launch its

first 5G-capable smartphone, a cheaper flagship model

and a foldable-screen device to challenge Apple Inc.

and stay ahead of Chinese rivals, people familiar with

the matter said.

The Suwon, South Korea-based company is in talks with

Verizon Communications Inc. to launch its Galaxy S10 in

the U.S. with a fifth-generation wireless chipset, said the

people, asking not to be identified because products are

still under development. The goal is to secure support from

the biggest U.S. carrier to popularize the technology, which

is designed to transfer data dozens of times faster than the

fourth-generation networks in use now.

Samsung has embedded a fingerprint sensor under the

display of its S10, overcoming years-long challenges of

mass-producing such a device, the people said. The world’s

biggest phone maker will launch three versions of the

flagship model, including a more affordable version to appeal

to the widest range of consumers, they said.

While Samsung already has a line-up of cheaper “A” models,

the move signals the company shares Apple’s concern over

Chinese rivals such as Huawei Technologies Co. and Oppo

that continue to win customers by offering premium models

at lower prices. Samsung is also rushing to complete devel-

opment of a bendable device that it hopes will let it dominate

a niche market with potential to grow.

“If you think about how Samsung can differentiate itself and

compete in this market, it’s with hardware,” said Cliff Maldonado,

an analyst at BayStreet Research in San Francisco. “That’s what

their forte is, and their foldable phone is about positioning and

Branding.”

The standard S10, codenamed “Beyond,” features an OLED

screen curved on both sides, round-shaped corners and almost

no bezel at the top and bottom, the people said. It will be about

the same size as the current 5.8-inch S9 model. The S10 has

triple cameras on the back while the front camera is visible and

tucked under the screen, the people said. Samsung also plans

a bigger “plus” version for next year.

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Here Comes Apple TV (again)

Apple’s streaming television service, which is said to

resemble Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, will launch

in the first half of next year, according to a report today

from The Information. The service, which may exist as

a standalone app or within the existing TV app, will

launch in the US first and become available in more than

100 countries after a few months of availability, the report

says. It will feature a mix of original programming, access

to third-party services, and the ability to subscribe directly

to channel packages offered by network and cable

providers, similar to Amazon’s Channels feature.

For years, Apple has been trying to crack streaming like

it did digital media and smartphone apps. But due to

complex licensing deals and media conglomerates’ tight

control on pricing and bundling, the iPhone maker has

been less successful than competitors like Amazon and

Netflix, both of which have built strong ecosystems mixing

licensed content and original programming. And although

Apple has sold its own set-top box since 2006, the device

has largely remained a conduit for other companies’ media,

and it lags behind Amazon and Roku hardware in market

share.

Apple appears ready to try and change that with the launch

of its official streaming TV service, which will be free for iOS

device owners and exist as the home interface of its Apple

TV line, reports The Information. One snag is that Apple

doesn’t appear willing to let the software exist outside its

own hardware, which may limit its ability to expand. Both

Amazon, through its Prime Video app, and Netflix exist as

mobile apps, built-in native smart TV apps, and streaming

set-top box apps. In the case of Amazon, which produces

the Fire TV line, its software is the entire home interface

on its devices. That means consumers have numerous

access points to Prime Video and Netflix, while Apple will

necessarily limit its own service’s reach.

Qualcomm to Join With Amazon

Microchip firm Qualcomm  is joining Amazon.com to

spread the use of Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant in

wireless headphones, the companies said on Monday.

Under the deal, Qualcomm will release a set of chips

that any maker of Bluetooth headphones can use to

embed Alexa directly into the device. When the head-

phones are paired to a phone with the Alexa app on it,

users will be able to talk to the voice assistant by tapping

a button on the headphones.

The functionality would be similar to Apple AirPods wireless

earbuds, which enable users can tap the devices to talk to

Apple’s virtual assistant, Siri.

Amazon and Alphabet’s Google, whose voice assistants

have most often been found in their respective smart

speakers for the home, are rushing to partner with headphone

Makers.

Models from Bose and Jabra feature Alexa built in, and Sony

said earlier this year that a software update will make some of

its headphone models work with Alexa. Google Assistant can

be used on headphones from Bose, JBL and Sony, along with

Google’s own Pixel Buds.

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New Google Smart Hub

The latest entry to the Google Home ecosystem is

called the Google Home Hub. The Home Hub marries

a screen with the Google Assistant-powered voice

command system, allowing users to call up recipes,

utilize smart home controls, or watch YouTube videos.

We've seen this software before—there's presently

a whole device category out there known as "Google

Smart Displays." Just like with Android, Google makes

the software, and a number of OEMs then load the

software onto their devices. Google Smart Display

devices have thus far been made by LG and JBL, and

we did a full review of the Lenovo Smart Display.

Unlike Android, Google currently has full control of the

Smart Display software no matter who manufactures

the hardware. This means every device pretty much has

the exact same UI and capabilities, aside from the usual

technology treadmill of new features exclusive to new

Devices.

But with Google launching its own version of the Google Smart

Display hardware, this is definitely the unit to buy if you're in

the market. The Home Hub happens to be cheaper—just

$150—and better looking than any of the third-party devices.

Plus, it has an awesome new display feature

Online Gaming

here's a specific kind of frustration associated with crappy

game-streaming services. It's all about the buildup: You

find a game, whether it's something brand new or a long-

lost childhood favorite, and boot it up. It takes forever to load.

The title screen stutters and your heart drops, but it's easy to

convince yourself it was just a bout of preliminary jitters.

And then the game begins. And stops. And starts up again.

And stops. The dialogue is chopped, animations are discon-

nected and any type of action scene is impossible to control.

Your character is killed five times in 10 minutes, and you're

simultaneously filled with rage and an acute sense of loss.

You exit out of the streaming service and spend the night

playing Fortnite again.

That's been the story with so many streaming services over

the years, from OnLive to GeForce Now. However, this entire

ecosystem is poised to change. After years of impossible

promises and half-baked public trials in an incomplete online

ecosystem, streaming services are finally viable, and major

companies like Google and Microsoft are teasing the future

of the industry.

Gen Z Voters

Filmmaker Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, Requiem

for a Dream) has teamed up with Generation Z activists

from all over the country to find out why they are voting,

in order to get young people to the polls on November 6.

Aronofsky queried his subjects, who are calling on their

peers to vote in the midterm elections, in a short film for

the Sierra Club Voter Education Fund. Produced by

Aronofsky’s Protozoa Pictures and Chromista, the video

features people active in movements for indigenous rights,

gun control, rights for the disabled, immigrant rights,

climate justice and transgender equality, among others,

passionately advocating for participation in this November’s

Election.

“First-time voters have the power to make a massive impact

in the upcoming midterm elections, but 18-20-year-olds are

part of a demographic that has historically failed to participate

in national elections. It’s time to change that,” said Aronofsky

in a release. “We are working with a dynamic group of activists

from all over the country, who care about an array of causes,

including Delaney Tarr, David Hogg, Chella Man, Xiuhtezcatl

Martinez, and Gavin Grimm, and filmed them speaking about

what issues will be most important when casting their votes

next month.”

The film crew traveled across the country to capture the

messages from the activists included in the video.

“The passion these activists share about their causes is

contagious. All of them are between the ages of 18-20. None

of them were eligible to vote in 2016. But now they can be heard,

and all of them are passionate about voting,” Aronofsky said.

“We hope their activism inspires Generation Z to get to the polls

on November 6 and speak up for the issues that are important to

all of us.”

Paul Allen Dies

Microsoft co-founder and former Charter Communications

chairman Paul Allen died Monday in Seattle. He was 65

years old and the cause was complications of non-Hogdkin's

lymphoma.

This was Allen’s third battle with cancer. He retired from

Microsoft in 1982 after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's

lymphoma, from which he later recovered. In 2009, Allen

said he had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, which he later beat

after chemotherapy treatment. But on Oct. 1, Allen said

the disease had returned.

He burst on the cable scene in 1998, purchasing Marcus

Cable and then Charter Communications, deals that laid

the groundwork for Allen’s “Wired World” strategy. What

followed was a flurry of transactions – among them Bresnan

Communications, Falcon Cable and Avalon Cable – that

vaulted Charter to the upper echelons among cable

operators across the country.

But those deals significantly increased Charter’s debt load

– at one point it was among the highest leveraged operators

in the industry. Allen stepped down as chairman in 2009,

shortly after the company emerged from bankruptcy

protection.

He stepped further back from Charter in 2011, reducing his

holdings in the cable company and focusing on his other

tech holdings via his personal investment vehicle Vulcan Inc.,

and interests including ownership of the NFL Seattle

Seahawks and the NBA Portland Trailblazers.