The Verge | Microsoft’s new Surface Go is finally official after months of rumors and leaks. It’s an inexpensive 10-inch tablet designed to be a smaller and less powerful version of the Surface Pro. While the exterior of the Surface Go makes it look like a baby Surface Pro, Microsoft has changed a lot inside. The base model is priced at $399, but it only ships with 4GB of RAM, 64GB of slower eMMC storage, and a less powerful Intel Pentium Gold processor. Prices quickly jump to over $600 after adding the all important Type Cover, more RAM, a faster SSD, and other Surface add-ons.
PCWorld | Now Microsoft has a strong competitor to Apple’s entry-level $329 iPad. With a $399 price tag and a 10-inch screen, the Surface Go isn’t just Microsoft’s cheapest Surface tablet, it’s one of the most affordable full-featured tablets you can buy. And it just might be a better investment than the 9.7-inch iPad, depending on what you need. Here’s why (and why not), according to PCWorld.
The Verge | Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of TF International Securities has published his research note of predictions for Apple’s fall lineup — and it’s a doozy, via 9to5Mac. Kuo’s note claims that in addition to the three new iPhone models already rumored to launch, Apple will also update almost all of its Mac and MacBook lineup (including the long-suffering Mac mini). He also says that Apple will introduce new bezel-less Face ID iPads, update the Apple Watch with bigger displays, and release a new pair of AirPods and the AirPower wireless charger that were announced last year.
Engadget | "Microsoft Teams is getting a major upgrade, but it's not quite what you might expect. The company is taking a cue from Slack by unveiling a free version of Teams, allowing anyone to use the collaboration software without an Office 365 account. Naturally, Microsoft is hoping for free users to eventually become paying customers -- but even if they don't, they'll still steal away some mind share from its popular competitor."
PCWorld | "Okay, so you forgot your password for logging in to Windows. All is not lost. You can still log in to Windows—even if there is no other administrative account," write Lincoln Spector and Ian Paul. "From a security point of view, this is actually scary news. But there are legitimate reasons to use the tricks in this article, and none of them will let a criminal log in without your knowledge (the password is changed, not revealed) or gain access to encrypted data. (You do encrypt your sensitive files, right?)" The instructions provided are for Windows 7 and 10. Windows 8 users should have no trouble following the Windows 10 instructions.
ZDNet | Want to make sure you have a local or backup copy of all that mission-critical business and personal history in your Gmail archives? David Gewirtz takes you through an array of options.
The Enterprisers Project | "These are the things that CIOs hear often throughout their work day that, while seemingly innocent, just get under their skin. We asked five CIOs to share their personal pet peeve phrase in IT – and why it makes them cringe. If you work with CIOs, listen up," writes Carla Rudder.
Mashable | "IT guys and gals get a bad rap for being grouchy cave people, but everyone knows that offices basically stop functioning without them. That goes quadruple for one of the most notoriously dysfunctional mass transit systems in the world, the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA). Apparently, in the midst of a crisis, the MTA only had one (unreachable) IT guy capable of rebooting the broken ticket vending system," writes Rachel Kraus. #TeamMiguel!
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BetterCloud Monitor | The big news from last week? Microsoft is taking on Slack by unveiling a free version of Teams, its group messaging and collaboration app, that anyone can sign up for and use (no Office 365 subscription necessary). Microsoft also introduced two new features — Workplace Analytics Solutions and MyAnalytics Nudges — to help you work more productively. Google released a new feature in Calendar that uses Google AI to automatically suggest rooms for your meetings based on the locations of the guests. And finally, search seems to be on everyone’s mind: Slack introduced better searching functionality thanks to new, simple search filters, and Box acquired Butter.ai to make search smarter.
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