Yesterday, Microsoft announced the availability of Office 2019 to volume licensing customers, promising general retail availability in the coming weeks. Unless you’re a business customer looking to upgrade and you’re not ready to move your Office life to the cloud, this probably won’t matter to you.

What is Office 2019?

Office 2019 is the stand-alone, perpetual license version of Office. It’s just like Office was in the days before the subscription-based Office 365 was in play. You make a one time purchase, and you get to keep on using it as long as you want—on one PC or Mac. The consumer version, Office Home & Business 2019, isn’t available yet, but Microsoft has announced the price—$249.

That sounds okay. Why not avoid a subscription fee for Office 365 and buy a perpetual license? Well, there are a few reasons.

Microsoft Is Clearly Downplaying Office 2019

That screenshot above is from Microsoft’s Office 2019 landing page, and it starts right off with equivocating language: “For customers who aren’t ready for the cloud” is partly straight talk and partly subtle dark pattern manipulation. Microsoft clearly designed Office 2019 as a stop gap for companies that aren’t ready to move to a subscription-based model. Fair enough. But it also starts digging at you a little bit and making it clear that you’re missing out if you’re not going with Office 365.

Scroll down a bit past two whole feature points (“create with ease” and “simplify your work”), and you get to this:

:

Not trying real hard to sell us on the whole Office 2019 deal, are they?

The truth is that back in May, Microsoft decided to freeze the code for Office 365—a continually updated subscription version of Office—and issue that as Office 2019. It doesn’t even have all the features that Office 356 has right now, just a subset of those features.

It’s pretty clear that going forward, Microsoft is considering Office 365 the real version and Office 2019 pretty much an afterthought required for customers that have resisted the subscription model.

Office 365 Still Offers More Features and Is Probably a Better Deal

So let’s talk a bit about Office 365. Yes, it might sound like a pain to pay yet another subscription fee, but believe it or not, it’s a pretty great deal.

Take the Office 365 Home subscription, for example. It runs $99 per year, and this is what you get with it:

Six different users can install the full desktop version of Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, and so on) on however many devices they want. The only restriction is that each person can only use Office on one of their devices at a time—not a big deal. They also get access to the mobile and online apps.

Each of those six users gets a full terabyte of OneDrive space all to themselves.

Honestly, it’s hard to find that good a deal just on that much storage space, let alone access to the Office apps. We’ve done a full write up of why Office 365 is such a great deal, so we won’t go into full detail here. But do the math. If you’ve got five or six people who need access to Office on some different PCs, you’re looking at over $1,000 for Office 2019 licenses (a bit less if some of them qualify for the education edition). That’s a solid ten years of Office 365 subscription goodness.

RELATED: Why Microsoft’s Office 365 is a Great Deal

Plus, let’s take a look at how Office 365 compares to Office 2019. Office 2019 is a buy it once, and you’re done until you buy another version deal. You’ll get security updates, but no big feature updates. Office 365, on the other hand, gets updated regularly with new features.

Oh, and one other thing. Office 2019 will only run on Windows 10 and on whatever are the three most recent versions of macOS. Yes, the macOS requirement shifts for some reason. According to Microsoft: “When a new version of macOS is released, the Office 2019 for Mac Operating System requirement becomes the then-current three most recent versions: the new version of macOS and the previous versions.” It’s a little strange.

Office 365, on the other hand, currently works with Windows 7, 8, and 10, but also uses that three-version shifting scheme for macOS.

How Does Office 2019 Compare to Office 2016?

Office 2019 does offer some of the new features incorporated into Office 365 since the release of Office 2016. This includes features like the following:

1. Improved inking in all the Office apps
2. A PowerPoint Morph transition that lets you create the appearance of movement between similar slides
3. Some new chart types in Excel
4. A Focus Mode in Word that hides onscreen window elements to help minimize distraction.
5. A Focused Inbox in Outlook that keeps your important messages separate from all the less important ones
6. Some better integration with the newer Microsoft servers and services (like Teams)

There are some more features we didn’t list, but it’s not much, honestly. Businesses might be interested in upgrading, especially if they’re using some of those services and need better integration. But for home and small business users, there’s nothing that compelling there. If you’ve already got Office 2016 and it’s working well for you, there’s not much reason to upgrade.

If you’re sporting an older version like 2013 or 2010, then yes, there’s a lot of interesting stuff in the newer versions. But still, subscribing to Office 365 is probably the better bet. You’ll get better support, more features, and a cheaper price tag in the long run.

For more information howtogeek

Mozilla has been on a tear for data security and privacy lately, and we applaud that. Keeping your information safe from the prying eyes (and hacks) of others should be at the top of your mind every time you sign up for a new service or mess around on the web. And it’s refreshing to see good news about browsers and new security initiatives, unlike other companies’ efforts lately.

Even though the brand-new “Firefox Monitor” tool Mozilla released yesterday is just a skin of “Have I Been Pwned,” that’s fine. Both services are an excellent way to figure out whether any of your online accounts have been compromised: You type in your email address, and you get a list of associated security breaches (and what data was compromised).

It’s great to see Have I Been Pwned get more mainstream recognition, as plenty of people might be familiar with Firefox, but unaware of Have I Been Pwned’s big security database. And whether you’re a newbie or you’ve previously looked yourself up, it’s worth hitting up the Firefox Monitor (or Have I been Pwned, we suppose) and typing in your email addresses to check for new ways your data has been leaked around the web.

More importantly, Mozilla’s Firefox Monitor joins a pretty packed family of software and services designed to keep your data secure and your online privacy intact. Mozilla doesn’t have a perfect score on this front, thanks to that one time it decided to insert weird messages into your browser as part of a cross-promotion for the Mr. Robot show, but its many offerings are worth checking out:

Cross-site tracking blocking (via Firefox Nightly, for now)

1. Firefox Lockbox — iOS password management app
2. Send — Encrypted file storage that saves up to 1GB of files for 1 download or 24 hours before deleting everything.
3. Facebook Container — Prevent Facebook from tracking everything you do around the web
4. Firefox Multi-Account Containers — Separate your browsing into special color-coded tabs. Cookies from one container can’t affect the contents of another.
5. Mozilla’s recommended browser extensions for privacy — Mozilla didn’t make all of these, but its list of 13 different extensions you can use to secure your browsing experience is solid. (We especially love “Bloody Vikings!”

For more information lifehacker

Ford, Uber, Lyft and the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) announced Wednesday that they're teaming up with SharedStreets to better understand how city streets are being used, and to find ways to make them safer, smarter and more efficient.

SharedStreets is an organization that gives municipalities and private companies tools to accurately map the way that they use public roads, as well as the effect that use has on people in a given area. The end goal is to reduce traffic collisions and improve efficiency, both in terms of vehicle emissions and in terms of traffic density.

The partnerships between NACTO, Ford, Lyft, Uber and SharedStreets all have different facets and goals. For example, in its partnership with Ford, SharedStreets says it will work to develop a universal data standard that can be used to show real-time curb space demand and availability. With Uber, the partnership will focus on a global dataset of driving speeds to understand better where and when drivers are speeding. Lyft will also provide data to this end.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for business and government to work together to rethink transportation," Jim Hackett, Ford Motor Company president and CEO, said in a statement. "Collaborating through initiatives such as SharedStreets will enable us to use vehicles, road systems and data together to create a new roadmap for mobility. We are working toward a future where all cities are smart, and curb space is actively managed, increasing efficiency and safety while reducing driver stress and pollution."

Both Lyft and Uber will work with SharedStreets to provide anonymized aggregated data on passenger pickups and drop-offs. This would let city planners and transportation officials know where the most popular spots are for ride-hailing pickups and adjust traffic control devices to reduce congestion in these areas.

"Code is the new concrete for 21st-century cities, and we need a digital infrastructure to share data and create safer and more sustainable streets," Janette Sadik-Khan, chairperson of NACTO, said in a statement. "The SharedStreets platform offers cities and private sector players a powerful new data sharing tool to make that future possible."

For more information cnet

Ever struggle with a Rubik's Cube? Then this video probably won't help your anxiety. 

A Japanese YouTuber by the username Human Creator has created a modified version of the famous cubed puzzle that will automatically solve itself. 

The video, posted to YouTube last week, has already accumulated over 250,000 views.

In a linked post to a Japanese blog, the unnamed YouTuber posts pictures of his work including the outfitting of the sensors and the code used for the computer to solve the cube. While the code is impressive, the engineering to fit the technology into what appears to be a traditional, standard Rubik's Cube is equally noteworthy. 

It is unclear how long the creator was working on the Rubik's Cube project, but a video posted to his YouTube account last year shows a much larger, earlier prototype. The latest version can solve itself even while being held with just a few fingers (or if you want to be freaked out further, by leaving it alone on a desk as seen in the video above).

For more information usatoday

In a surprise move, the two founders of Instagram announced on Monday (Sept. 24) that they were stepping down, and leaving Facebook, which bought their photo sharing app in 2012. With Facebook’s aging user base and storm of controversies, Instagram has increasingly been seen as the future of the company. With its two visionaries gone, Instagram’s own future is thrown into question.

In their announcement, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger said they were “planning on taking some time off to explore our curiosity and creativity again.” The tone of the letter, its timing, and accounts from insider sources reported in several outlets hint that Systrom and Krieger left because of tensions with Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook’s leadership. The initial announcement notably doesn’t even mention Zuckerberg’s name (a later Instagram post does give a shout out to Zuckerberg, along with other top executives).

As Instagram keeps winning, it’s likely Facebook’s leadership wants the main app to share in the glory, leading them to bring the photo-sharing app under tighter control. Reporting from Recode’s Kurt Wagner says Instagram insiders felt as though Facebook had increasingly been meddling with their product, and that Systrom and Krieger were growing frustrated.

Instagram recently hit 1 billion users. Many of them still describe it as “fun”—something Facebook hasn’t been able to claim for a long time. It’s hugely popular among teens, whereas Facebook’s young users are disappearing (with some exceptions), as quickly as their moms comment on every photo ever posted. It has largely (although certainly not entirely) avoided Facebook’s woes: constant partisan bickering, abusive behavior, and the unending barrage of fake news.

What helped Instagram avoid this fate was the app’s character: it’s hard to share links, or re-share content, which curbs the spread of inflammatory or false items. There have been rumors recently that Instagram is testing a re-sharing feature, something that Systrom long resisted. Will we see this kind of functionality with new leadership, significantly altering user behavior and, some fear, ruining the platform? 

Some early reports suggest that the tension was over pressure to more tightly integrate Instagram and Facebook, erasing the boundaries between the two. Facebook, for example, recently removed the label that indicated a photo was shared to Facebook from Instagram. It also started testing notifications within Instagram designed to redirect people back to Facebook. We could see Facebook have a more prominent presence in the app in the future, and vice versa. 

At the same time, while grappling with all of its recent crises and slowing user growth, Facebook has been mentioning Instagram more and more on its earnings calls, emphasizing the smaller app’s potential. Analysts have tended to agree. Advertising on the hugely popular Instagram stories is still in its early days, and it hasn’t even started on IGTV, the long-form video app (although the latter has had a rocky start). Instagram is investing in shopping features, and even reportedly building a standalone app specifically for this purpose.

Knowing Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg’s relentless quest for growth, we could also see more ads packed into every corner of Instagram. The pursuit to monetize WhatsApp was in part what drove away Jan Koum, the platform’s founder, who left Facebook earlier this year. For now, this doesn’t appear to be a center of tension with Instagram, but it’s notable that Facebook’s marquee acquisitions have seen their leaders leave when talk of monetization ramped up or started taking center stage. That’s when Zuckerberg and Sandberg come in, and their vision takes over.

Of course, without that drive from Facebook’s leadership, Instagram wouldn’t be the behemoth it is today. Facebook’s social graph allowed it to reach 1 billion users, and its powerful ad machine to achieve its enormous value—recently estimated to be $100 billion. One of the people who helped Facebook become a powerhouse, the former head of News Feed Adam Mosseri, is expected to take over at Instagram. Mosseri is a longtime Zuckerberg lieutenant, suggesting a further “Facebook-ification” of Instagram.

Part of the tension between the leadership of Facebook and Instagram was competition for ad dollars and users’ attention. Facebook is still ahead in terms of ad prices, but Instagram is commanding more and more user attention, and that’s something that’s hard to share.

For more information qz

Apple’s computers are usually less receptive to malicious software, but extra protection can provide more security on several levels.

What is the best antivirus software for a Mac laptop?

 Macs, with built-in protections and fewer users than Windows systems, have traditionally been less of a target for virus makers — but these factors do not make Apple’s computers invulnerable. Macs have been targeted by ransomware and other malware before, and bad browser extensions, phishing sites and socially engineered fraud schemes are cross-platform problems.

Given the general security features of the operating system, Wirecutter, a product review and testing site owned by The New York Times, recommends Malwarebytes Premium ($40 a year) to shore up the Mac’s own defenses against malicious software. Some security programs can slow down your system, but Malwarebytes Premium was selected for its effectiveness while being relatively nonintrusive.

In addition to its Premium version, which monitors your Mac in real time, Malwarebytes for Mac is available in a free edition that scans for any malware already on your system. When you download the free version, you get a complimentary 30-day trial of the Premium product so you can give it a test run before getting out the credit card.

The recognized brand of credit and debit cards MasterCard with Google created an alliance in order to track the various purchases made by its users reported the American software company, Bloomberg.

The agreement allowed advertisers to access a powerful tool to track whether the ads they published online ended up in a sale in a physical store, according to Telesur.

What will the tracking process be like?

The user tracking process will start when the user logs into their Google account (by clicking on a technology ad and browsing a particular item, the moment is recorded).

Then, if the customer uses MasterCard to buy the item of their choice in a physical store within 30 days, Google sends the advertiser a report on that product and the effectiveness of their ads.

"This agreement was closed after four years of negotiations where details were finalized to carry out the various processes," stressed the authorities of both companies.

Also, this half review on its website that Google paid millions of dollars to MasterCard for the data. If this agreement is real, the two multinationals agreed to share the income generated by the advertising exposed to the users.

"Before launching this beta product last year, we created a new double-encryption technology that prevents both Google and our partners from seeing the personally identifiable information of our respective users," said a Google spokesperson.

He also stated that Google does not have any information people from the credit and debit cards of its partners. "We also do not share any personal information with our partners," the spokesperson said.

Through a tweet, Jeff Bezos explained, in a long letter, the creation of this fund that will help finance a network of preschools, where donations will also be made to organizations that help people and families without homes. That is, we have two initiatives: 'Day 1 Families Fund' and 'Day 1 Academies Fund'.

According to Bezos, the 'Day 1 Academies Fund' will be responsible for launching and financing a new network of preschool schools. These new schools will be free, will be located in areas of low resources and will be inspired by the Montessori method.


While the 'Day 1 Families Fund' will consist in granting "annual leadership awards to organizations and civil groups that perform compassionate jobs that help provide shelter and support in order to meet the immediate needs of young families living on the street" .

This latest initiative is curious, since Amazon was the first and largest opposition to a bill in Seattle that sought to create a tax to finance shelters for the homeless and housing for low-income people. Amazon was adamantly opposed as this would cost $ 500 per year for each of its employees in Seattle.

Can Facebook, or Anybody, Solve the Internet’s Misinformation Problem?

In theory, Facebook’s announcement on Tuesday that it had discovered and shut down a wide-ranging Iranian misinformation campaign should make you feel better.
The social network was slow to recognize such campaigns as threats before the 2016 presidential election, and it surely deserves some credit for what Mark Zuckerberg, its chief executive, described as the company’s shift from “reactive to proactive detection” of coordinated propaganda operations.
But it was not just Iran, and not just Facebook.
YouTube also said that it had removed content linked to the Iranian campaign. So did Twitter. And Facebook said that it had also removed pages stemming from a Russian propaganda operation that was unrelated to the Iranian campaign.

And there’s more: Microsoft announced this week that it had discovered a Russian hacking campaign aimed at conservative think tanks in the United States. And on Wednesday there was news that hackers had this week tried to penetrate the Democratic National Committee’s voter database.
All that in three days. (And Facebook took down another influence campaign last month that was of uncertain origin, but might have been operated by Russians.)
Feeling better yet? Yeah, me neither.

These drip-by-drip revelations inspire something like the opposite of confidence. Find one cockroach in the kitchen and you might feel better for having caught the sucker. Find another, and then another, and pretty soon you start to wonder if you should burn your house down.
And these revelations of mischief underscore the novelty of the threats we are dealing with — and how unprepared we might be to handle them.

Some of these disclosures are about actual criminal activity. But others, like the Iranian campaign, describe a more fuzzy kind of misbehavior, one that is not obviously illegal, and whose tactics amount to something that lots of people do everyday : Lying on the internet.
Given the gray area some of these activities occupy, figuring out what to make of each revelation — how to assess its potential impact and our collective capacity to respond to it — is going to be the next great task of digital society. And the task is far bigger than any of us realize now.

What are some easy ways to sidestep stalker ads?

Here are a few simple steps you can take if you are being pestered by an ad and want that to end:

• Periodically, clear your cookies. Ad trackers will have a tougher time following you around if you delete your cookies on each of your devices. Apple, Google and Microsoft have published instructions on how to clear data for their browsers Safari, Chrome and Edge. (Click the links for instructions.)

• Reset your advertising ID. In addition to cookies, Android and Apple phones use a so-called advertising ID to help marketers track you. You can reset it whenever you want. On Android devices, you can find the reset button in the ads menu inside the Google settings app, and on iPhones, you can find the reset button inside the settings app in the privacy menu, under advertising.

• Periodically purge your Google ad history. Google offers the My Activity tool, myactivity.google.com, where you can take a deep look at the data that Google has stored about you, including the history of ads you have loaded, and choose the data you want to delete.

If possible, hide the annoying ad. On some web ads, like those served by Google and Facebook, there is a tiny button in the top-right corner that you can click on to hide the ad.

Can I bring that up a notch?

There are more extreme methods to take if you want to prevent targeted ads from ever following you around. But this isn’t for the faint of heart: In my experience, you have to take all, not just some, of these steps to get the pesky ads to leave you alone forever.

• Install an ad blocker. For your web browser, you can install add-ons that block ads. My favorite one for computer browsers is uBlock Origin, and on iPhones I recommend 1Blocker X. (For Android users, Google banned many ad blockers from its official Play app store, so the simplest way to block ads is by using a private web browser.)

• On mobile devices, use a private browser. Firefox Focus, DuckDuckGoand Ghostery Privacy Browser are privacy-centric mobile browsers that include built-in ad and tracker blocking. These are handy when you want to do a discreet web search. (They can be impractical to use as everyday browsers because the built-in blockers can break important parts of websites.)

• Install a tracker blocker. Tracker blockers detect snoopy code on websites and prevent them from loading. My favorite tracker blocker for desktop and mobile systems is Disconnect.me.

• Wherever you can, opt out of interest-based advertising. Tech companies including Google, Facebook, Twitter and Apple offer instructions on opting out of receiving ads based on your interests.

It will probably take you a couple of hours to set yourself up to prevent ads from haunting you. I gradually made all these changes to my devices and internet accounts over the last few years and only recently stopped seeing targeted ads. It was a grueling process.

But I’ve been happy with the results. Those wristwatch ads that once followed me are gone. And recently, I was served an ad for 7-11 on Instagram.

Was that ad irrelevant to me? Yes. But was it a sign that I was no longer being well tracked? Also yes. I confess I was pretty happy to see it.

Microsoft has settled into a semi-annual release schedule for Windows 10 ($99 at Amazon.com), with major updates coming in the spring and fall. Following Windows 10 April 2018 Update this spring, Microsoft is set to release the next big features update -- Windows 10 October 2018 Update (aka Windows 10, version 1809) -- in the coming weeks.

I've been using a beta version of Windows 10 October 2018 Update so some things might change between now and the final release, but here are the biggest changes and best new features headed to your PC. There is, however, no need to wait; the impatient and curious can install Windows 10 October 2018 Update right now. The more cautious among us can delay the update, but I recommend updating sooner or later.

Clipboard history and cloud sync

With Windows 10 October 2018 Update, you will want to learn a fourth keyboard shortcut for your cutting, copying and pasting needs. In addition to Ctrl-X, Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V, you will need to work Windows key + V into your worklfow. That's because Windows 10 October 2018 Update supercharges the clipboard in two important ways. First, it can now save your cut and copied items so you can access more than just the most recent. Second, you can sync your clipboard across your other Windows devices. I'm not sure how useful the sync feature will end up being, but clipboard history is fantastic right off the bat. Hit the Windows key and the V key to see your clipboard history, where you can paste any of the items or pin them or delete them. Super useful.

To enable clipboard history and sync, go to Settings > System > Clipboard and toggle on Clipboard history and Sync across devices.

Dark mode for Microsoft apps

Similar to dark mode with the upcoming MacOS Mojave, Windows 10 gets its own dark mode with Windows 10 October 2018 Update. You can turn Microsoft's apps including File Explorer, Settings and the App Store black. Head to Settings > Personalization > Colors, scroll to the bottom and for Choose your default app mode, choose Dark. It doesn't effect Edge, however, which has its own dark mode setting.

SwiftKey keyboard

I have a non-touch Windows desktop, so the SwiftKey keyboard coming to Windows doesn't make my own personal list, but it's probably tops for touchscreen Windows users. And it could lead to some crazy-looking dual-screen laptops soon.

New and (potentially) improved screenshot tool

Windows 10 October 2018 Update introduces a new way to take screenshots. Snipping Tool is out. Snip & Sketch is in. (Actually, the Snipping Tool is sticking around for at least this next Windows release but Microsoft is pushing the new Snip & Sketch utility.)

The new Snip & Sketch tool is easier to access and makes it easier to share screenshots, but it lacks two important features that are keeping me on Team Snipping Tool. For one, it does not offer any way to capture a screenshot of a window (it offers only rectangular, free-form and full-screen snips). For another, there is no way to delay a screen capture. In addition to the old screenshot keyboard shortcut Windows key-Shift-S, it adds two more ways to initiate a screen capture: you can set the PntScn button to open screen snipping (Settings > Ease of Access > Keyboard) and you'll find a new Screen snip button in the Action Center. Lastly, the new Snip & Sketch tool automatically adds your screenshot to the clipboard, which can streamline your screenshot-sharing process.

(Potentially) fewer annoying restarts for updates

The seemingly endless stream of Windows updates is an endless source of frustration. Microsoft has been trying to be less annoying with its updates and is making new efforts to ease your pain by getting better at predicting when you are at a point in your day where installing an update won't have your hurling your laptop through the nearest window. Windows will try to distinguish the difference between getting up from your desk for a few hours or the night vs. going to grab a coffee or a quick chat with a coworker to try to choose the best time to restart and update your PC.

I have no evidence yet that Microsoft's new predictive model for scheduling updates is working, but I also have no evidence to the contrary. So far with the beta, my system has not updated itself against my will.

Your Phone app

The Your Phone app is available now from the App Store, but Windows 10 October 2018 Update will plop it on your PC. It lets Android users view their phone's photos on their PC and access them with drag-and-drop ease. No more emailing photos to yourself or involving a cloud service as a way-station. Setup is confusing for Android users and very limited for those in the iPhone ($916 at Amazon Marketplace) camp at the moment. iPhone users can't access their phone's photos; you can send only links from the Edge iOS app to open on Edge on your PC. You can also send a notification of a link to your PC, which I think could be a useful read-later reminder. And the app promises that "additional features for iPhone are being considered for future releases."

Separate font size slider

Windows 10's scaling options are hugely useful for making text, icons and apps easier to read on a high-resolution display makes everything look incredibly crisp but also incredibly tiny. You've been able to increase the size of the elements on your display with scaling so you can keep your display at its native resolution where things look their best and also be able to read text and identify icons without squinting. Now, you have even more control because Windows 10 October 2018 Updates adds a separate control for scaling the size on fonts, but it's not quite where you'd expect to find it in Settings. It's not on the Settings > System > Display page where the Scale and layout tools are located (or even on the Advanced scaling settings page). Instead, you need to go to Settings > Ease of Access > Display to Make text bigger.

For more information visit cnet

If you missed out on getting Tesla's wireless phone charger when it was first released, you may want to head over to the company's website ASAP. The automaker has relisted the device for sale, and it even costs $16 less than before. From $65, the Qi-certified charger will now set you back $49 -- still more expensive than alternatives with similar specs, but a lot of Tesla fans probably wouldn't mind paying that much. The wireless device comes in a glossy case and has a 6000mAh battery that can charge at 5W.

Simply set a Qi-enabled phone on top of the device to start charging. You can also use it as a regular portable charger using its USB-A port or its integrated USB-C cable, though. According to The Verge, Tesla sent out emails to customers who purchased the charger when it was first released, telling them that they'll receive a $16 refund to make up for the price difference. The company explained that it's now able to sell the wireless charger at a lower price, because it's now manufacturing it in bigger quantities. You can now buy the glossy gadget from Tesla's website.

For more information visit engadget

Just like in previous years, Google will unveil the next Pixel series in October, but Google is doing things a little different. Not only is Google hosting the press conference at a later date than expected, but the event was also moved to New York. On top of that, Google just sent out invites for a similar event in Paris, for the same date, which suggests Google has big plans for its Pixel 3 phones.

A few days ago, Google issued Pixel 3 invites to the media, revealing the keynote will be delivered in New York this year. Then, a day before Apple’s 2018 iPhone presser, Google sent out invites to French media:

The invite contains a similar GIF file as the one Google sent out to US media. It says “I <3 Paris” instead of “I <3 NY,” and comes in different colors.

According to Google, the Parisian event is likely intended for the whole continent, not just France. Whether it’s France of all of Europe, Google’s decision to host a press conference in Paris at the same time with the New York event suggests that Google is ready for bigger things for the Pixel phone — and not only.

Yes, the Pixel 3 represents the main focus of the press conference, but Google is bound to unveil other hardware, including new Pixelbooks, as well as new Chromecast and Home products. And Google may be interested in making its new products available in more European markets earlier than in previous years.

The Pixel 3, however, isn’t a secret anymore, thanks to ample leaks last month. However, there is one crazy conspiracy theory that says the massive Pixel 3 XL leak campaign is a Google ploy meant to keep the actual phone secret. Whatever the case, we’ll learn everything about this Pixel phones and Google’s other hardware products in just a few weeks.

For more information visit bgr

Nintendo announced the start date for its long-awaited online service: Sept. 18. More details about the Nintendo Switch Online program will come tomorrow, Sept. 13, during the company’s latest Direct presentation.

Although the service offers several subscription tiers, including monthly and yearly, all Switch owners can first try it out free. A one-week trial will launch alongside the service on Sept. 18 and will be accessible through Nintendo Switch eShop.

The Nintendo Switch Online service will be required for console owners to access any internet-enable features, including multiplayer and, most excitingly, cloud saves. It will also grant them the ability to play 20 different Nintendo Entertainment System games at launch, although Nintendo hasn’t revealed the entire lineup yet.

All activity will be managed through the Online app, which is already available to download on iOS and Android devices. 

For more information visit polygon

Well, if you’re going to brand an iPhone as “XS” (which we know a lot of people will pronounce as “excess”) and “Max”, the thing had better come with plenty of storage. And sure enough, this year Apple will once again double the storage in its top-tier iPhone to 512GB. Both sizes of the iPhone XS — 5.8-inch and 6.5-inch — will offer the 512GB capacity. The new details were seen in a premature update to Apple’s sitemap, as outlined here by Steve Troughton-Smith and first uncovered by AllThings.How. The sitemap had already offered direct confirmation of the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR names.

If you don’t need anywhere near that amount of built-in storage, you might be pleased to hear that Apple is seemingly returning to three storage tiers with the 2018 iPhone lineup. Your choices begin with a 64GB storage option for both the XS and XR. From there, the upgrades differ. The next step up for XR is a more modest 128GB (whereas the XS gets 256GB) and then 256GB (compared to the 512GB high-end OLED model).

Apple’s sitemap leak also reveals the colors of each model. As rumored, the XS will come in gold in addition to the black and silver designs introduced with the iPhone X. But the XR is where the flashier choices will be. You’ll be able to pick between six different color options in total.

Here’s a rundown of what we’ve just learned from the last-minute leaks ahead of today’s event.

iPhone XS (5.8-inch OLED screen) and XS Max (6.5-inch OLED screen):

Storage: 64GB, 256GB, 512GB
Colors: Space Gray, Silver, Gold

iPhone XR (6.1-inch LCD screen):
Storage: 64GB, 128GB, 256GB
Colors: Black, White, Red, Yellow, Coral, Blue

For more information visit theverge

The service allows users to send and receive emails for free from anywhere in the world and offers refreshed anti-spam and hack protection software for users. 

Hotmail is connected to a slew of other services, including Windows Live ID, Skype, Xbox Live and other Microsoft services; and was updated to integrate the new Outlook email service in February 2013, giving the interface a whole new look.

Here, the Express.co.uk runs through how to create and log in to your Hotmail account.

How to create a Hotmail or Outlook account

To create a Hotmail or Outlook account you have to create a Microsoft account. To do this, go to and create a new account. 

www.login.live.com 

You will need to input some personal information before you can complete this process. You have to fill in your name, date of birth, location, and username.  You can opt to log in via a new email address or you can use a phone number to sign up and confirm your new account. Either sign in option will work to help you log in.

You must then create a new strong password to protect your account and personal emails. It is recommended to include capital and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters (!@£$%) in your password to make it robust enough. 

Once these steps are complete, you will be required to test your login with your new username and password. Done, you can begin adding contacts and using the email services to send emails and manage your account.

How to protect your Hotmail from being hacked

Hacking and security breaches have become more frequent as criminal sophistication improves. Users will need to make sure their Hotmail account is as secure as possible when they are using it. This can be done in a number of ways: 

1. Use a strong password that is difficult to guess and with lots of variation to make it as secure as possible. 

2. Always connect to your Hotmail account with HTTPS, ensuring that you are on a secure server connection and that any data communication sent between you and the server will not be intercepted by hackers. 

3. You must ensure that your password reset information in your Hotmail account is always up to date so in any case if you forget your password, you’ll always be able to reset your password using the recovery information. To reset your password information, you’ll need to go to Windows Live account 

page.

4. There are times when you’ll need to check your email on a public computer when your own trusted computer is not available. You should always use HTTPS instead of simple HTTP on public computers.

5. Enable two-step verification for your Microsoft account for increased security, either through the Hotmail service or through a third-party app. 

For more information visit express

When it comes to promotions for your ecommerce store, how can you be sure you’re getting it right? Do you struggle for ideas on what you should do and when? We’ve put together a list of 10 popular sales promos to help steer you in the right direction.

1. Discounted products

Adding a discount to your products is possibly the most popular type of promotion. Customers love to grab a bargain, so it makes sense to offer discounts every now and then. When it comes to deciding the way you choose to promote - % vs $ - think about what will look more attractive to the buyer. Always consider your bottom line and be sure to not constantly have a sale, as people will just come to expect this as the norm.

Make sure your discount is attractive

Consider your bottom line

Don’t do it too often

2. Free Shipping/Free Returns

According to this WalkerSands infographic, 80% of consumers would be more tempted to buy from Amazon if they were offered free shipping. 66% would buy if they were offered next-day delivery and 64% said they would buy if they were offered free returns. Free shipping and returns gives the customer a sense of security that they wont lose out if they wanted to send the product back.

If you are worried about your margins then you can always incorporate the shipping cost into your product, or think about offering free shipping when a customer spends over a certain amount.

Free shipping/free returns creates customer security

Makes it hassle free

Incorporate shipping cost into your product

3. Flash Sale

A flash sale is basically an offer that only lasts for a limited time and it’s a great way to create a sense of urgency for the customer to buy. Many retailers are now adopting this strategy as a way to sell more products and get rid of surplus stock. Monetate found that 56% of businesses agree that flash-sale campaigns are better received than regular campaigns. The more successful flash sales are ones that don’t last very long and 50% of purchases occur during the first hour of a flash sale.

Market your flash sale with a recognizable visual

Put a shorter duration on your sale

Promote via email and on social

4. Buy More, Save More

This kind of deal entices the customer to buy more of your stock, so it’s kind of a win, win. There will be plenty of potential customers visiting your store that want to buy, but feel guilty because of the price. Giving them a discount if they spend more, may just give them a little shove in the right direction. You don’t have to offer a huge discount, but make sure it’s attractive enough to convert visitors.

Entices the customer

Takes away the guilt of spending more money

Helps to sell more stock

5. Product Giveaways/Branded Gifts

Not only does it give potential customers the chance to test out your product, but also it entices people to buy your stuff! If your product isn’t something that you can giveaway, then think about creating some useful branded gifts that you can offer with each purchase. Think along the lines of keychains, bumper stickers, magnets, pens etc. Customers will appreciate the gesture and will think of you whenever they see their branded gift.

Lets customers test your product

Makes your brand memorable

Provides value and a reason to buy

6. Loyalty Points

Rewarding your customers will help you build a solid base of loyal fans and it will entice people to shop more at your online store. Providing great customer service is so important to the success of your business, and offering a loyalty point system is a popular promotion. You could think about setting up a virtual card: The customer can gain points every time they buy and then use their points to get money off future purchases, or if they buy 9 items, they get the 10 th free.

Builds a loyal customer base

Provides better customer satisfaction

Provide them with a loyalty system to keep coming back

7. Coupon Giveaway

This is a different way of promoting discounts. Sending your customers virtual coupons will make the promotion seem more exclusive and will give the customer more of a push to visit your online store. Think about sending coupons to loyal customers that have spent over a certain amount. You could also consider sending coupons to visitors that have experienced bad customer service, to try and convert them back to happy customers!

Makes the promotion seem exclusive

Keeps the customer happy

Offers a great way to win back disgruntled customers

8. Competitions

The great thing about running a competition is that you only have to give away one thing, but you gain so much – making it a popular type of promotion! It will not only help raise your profile, but every person that enters, will then become an email contact that you can try and convert into a sale. If they’re entering your competition, chances are they are interested in your products, so running a competition is a great idea – particularly for start-ups.

Great way to gain email sign ups

Helps you raise your profile

It will create a buzz on social media

9. Price Match Promise

Price match promise has fast become one of the most popular ways to promote your brand, particularly if you have a lot of competitors out there. It allows your customers to shop with you and will be safe in the knowledge that if they can get it cheaper somewhere else, you’ll refund the difference. There’s nothing to lose for them and it means that you still get to keep a solid customer base.

Helps you stay ahead of the competition

Provides a no lose situation for the customer

It’s a bold move that will build loyal customers

10. Holiday Promotions

There is a reason that holiday promotions are so successful. Customers always like to spend more around the holidays, making it the perfect opportunity for you to get your brand out there and sell more products. You don’t have to go too crazy on your offers, but enticing customers with slight discounts will always work in your favor. It’s also the perfect time to get creative with your promotion and use the theme of the holiday, to sell your products.

You don’t need to offer huge discounts

Get creative with your promotions

You will sell more during the holidays

For more information visit americommerce