Tag Archives: New Technology

Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

SpaceX Starlink Satellite Getting Closer To Providing Service

How would you like to get your internet signal from outer space? You can! Elon Musk’s SpaceX company has moved another step closer to offering internet connectivity via its Starlink service. However, at the moment, there’s an important catch and caveat.

Starlink has recently emailed fans to get their home addresses in anticipation of the company’s third beta test.

Elon Musk has commented that setting up a Starlink terminal is easy, but, given that this is a beta test, he also warned that the testers themselves are liable for anything that goes wrong. They are held liable for any damaged caused by setting up the terminals and using the experimental service.

Starlink Terminals have been described as looking a bit like a UFO on a stick. They don’t require the presence of a professional installer. All the user has to do is plug the device in and give it a clear view of the sky. Assuming that’s true, the terminal will scan the sky for the satellite offering the best signal and connect automatically, giving the user internet access.

If you’re interested in participating in the open beta, be aware that initially, although the service quality will be high, the connectivity itself will be spotty in the early stages. As such, it may support streaming video with buffering but would not be suitable for things like online gaming.

Also be aware that Starlink will require you to sign a non-disclosure agreement so you will not be able to share details of your Starlink experience online.

Finally, per the company’s instructions to its beta testers:

“You are responsible for installing the Starlink Kit. Do not allow third parties, or those not associated with SpaceX, to access or install the Starlink Kit unless you obtain approval from SpaceX.”

“Do not install the Starlink Kit at your home if you do not have the authority to do so. It is your responsibility to ensure compliance with all applicable zoning, ordinances, covenants, conditions, restrictions, lease obligations and landlord/owner approvals related to the installation location.”

Even with all the caveats and conditions, you have to admit, it’s going to be a really cool thing to be a part of.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

New Image Format Will Soon Get Browser Support

In 2015, a new image format was born of a collaboration between Cisco, Google, and Xiph.org. Dubbed AVIF, the format is based on the Av1 video codec.

It is royalty-free and widely regarded as the most highly optimized image format to be developed to date, superior to old standbys BPEG, PNG, and even the newer WebP.

Netflix rolled out support for the AV1 video format in 2018, even before the new standard was formally approved in February 2019. Microsoft gave the format another significant boost in May 2019 when it incorporated support for the AV1 format into Windows 10 and made it available in a video codec on the Microsoft store.

Taken together, these companies’ ready acceptance of the new format prompted companies that make a variety of video playback software to follow suit, setting the stage for easy acceptance of a new image format with a similar pedigree.

Not long after the AVIF format was finalized, Mozilla began work almost at once to incorporate support for the new image format into their Firefox browser. Their original plan was for Firefox 76, to be rolled out in May 2020, to support the new format.

Unfortunately, the development process hit a number of snags, mostly related to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of now, support for the image format still isn’t in place, but the company is expecting it to be incorporated as of Firefox 80, in August.

As it turns out, Google is also planning to incorporate AVIF support in Chrome 85, also slated for release in August of this year. Microsoft is set to add support for the new image format by the end of the year, 2020 for Chromium Edge, which will see support for the new format extend through to all of the major browsers on the web.

There’s nothing you need to do to prepare, but by next year, you’ll be able to use even more highly compressed images on your webpages, which will result in faster load times.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Bandwidth Limits For Updates Coming To Windows 10 Soon

Some Windows 10 updates are big. Most of them range in size from 200-500MB, but some are even larger. This month’s, for example (May 2020), is more than 2GB in size, which is big enough that downloading and installing it can hog all the bandwidth you’ve got. That can easily bring your system to a grinding halt, keeping you from getting anything done until the updates have finished installing.

Under normal circumstances, this might not be that big a deal, but these are not normal times. With so many people working from home right now, getting a big update in the middle of trying to get something done for work can be a genuine pain.

Microsoft has heard the growing chorus of user complaints and has done something about that. Since the Fall Creators Update (Windows 10, 1709), the OS includes a little advertised Delivery Optimization feature that allows users to specify a percentage of the available bandwidth to use when installing updates.

To activate and configure it, here’s all you need to do:

  • Go to “Settings”
  • From there, click on “Update and Security,” and then “Windows Update”
  • Once that page opens, click on the “Advanced Options” tab
  • At the bottom of that window, you’ll see “Delivery Optimization”
  • You’ll find another “Advanced Options” tab here. Click that and put a checkmark in the “Limit how much bandwidth is used for downloading updates in the background”

Doing the above allows you to adjust the sliders for both of those options. Just set the sliders to indicate the amount of bandwidth you want to allocate for that purpose, and when you have them where you want them, close the settings window and you’re all set.

While it does take a bit of hoop jumping to actually get to the screen, kudos to Microsoft for making the option available.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Google Added A Video Conferencing Tool For Users

Google Meet is a video conferencing tool the company originally designed for Enterprise users.

There are serious security issues with some of the more popular free or low-cost options available for the masses.

So, Google made the decision to make Meet free to anyone with an email address.

The rollout took two weeks to complete, but is now available to all. It can be yours simply by heading to meet.google.com, or by paying a visit to the Google Play or Apple App store.

Since the global pandemic forced so many people to work from home, Google has seen a huge surge in demand for the service. Last month alone, Meet added an average of 3 million new users a day. Seeking to further capitalize on the increased demand, the company is taking steps to make their offering even more attractive. They are among other things, adding a new feature that makes it directly accessible from Gmail.

Google isn’t alone in the rush to capture an increasing percentage of this burgeoning new market. Last month, Facebook announced a whole raft of new video products, including Messenger Rooms. Rooms are consumer-focused video conferencing solutions that leverage the company’s well-established technology.

Even with the rush of competition into this sphere, however, Google is well-positioned to utterly dominate the market. The G-Suite is incredibly popular among Enterprise users. By opening Meet’s features up to the general public, the company should be able to capture a significant portion of the new demand for home video conferencing services.

Even after the pandemic is behind us, industry experts are predicting that there won’t be much of a decline in demand, and that video conferencing will come to increasingly define the way the world works. Only time will tell. Meanwhile, if you’re a fan of the Google ecosystem, you can get your hands on a new, high value video conferencing tool for free.

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Posted on Author Atlantic Computer Services Categories Blog

Microsoft Edge Update Will Benefit Security And Remote Workers

Microsoft is working hard to improve its Edge browser, and the latest beta build (Dev version 84.0.495.2) has a lot to be excited about.

Most of the benefits are aimed at security and remote employees. There are three new updates, and they involve a security improvement, ease with profile switching, and a few miscellaneous improvements.

Here’s a quick peek under the hood:

SmartScreen Improvements – Edge’s SmartScreen is a feature that keeps your surfing safe, preventing you from venturing onto websites and downloading files that are associated with the web’s bad actors.

Every time you type in a URL, click a link, or try to download a file, SmartScreen is working behind the scenes, comparing your destination or the file you’re trying to download against Microsoft’s massive database. If the file doesn’t match any of the known offenders, you’ll proceed to the site or download the file in question. If it does match an offender, the browser will shut it down automatically.

Multiple Profile Improvements – Currently, Edge offers multiple profiles, but the feature isn’t as robust as it could be. The latest build means to change that with the addition of an ‘Automatic Profile Switching’ feature. The feature will automatically switch you to your work profile when you navigate to a website you use for work, then switch you back again when you leave it.

This seamless approach will enhance both security and efficiency. Work-related sites can be auto-authenticated by your work profile, which keeps the user from having to hunt down his or her password and manually enter it when navigating to a work-related site to log in.

A Raft Of Miscellaneous improvements – In addition to the two big items mentioned above, the latest build also includes things like:

  • New features that allow administrators to debug instances of Edge that are running in “headless” mode.
  • A “guided switch” option that walks the user through switching profiles (asking before proceeding), especially which switching away from your work or school profile and back to your personal profile
  • A new keyboard shortcut (Alt+Shift+R) that displays the options bar in Immersive Reader.

The best part? You won’t have to wait long to see these changes for yourself. They’re coming soon to a browser near you.

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