Much of the encryption world today depends on the challenge of factoring large numbers, but scientists now say they’ve created the first five-atom quantum computer with the potential to crack the security of traditional encryption schemes. In traditional computing, numbers are represented by either 0s or 1s, but quantum computing relies on atomic-scale units, or “qubits,” that can be simultaneously 0 and 1—a state known as a superposition that’s far more efficient. It typically takes about 12 qubits to factor the number 15, but researchers at MIT and the University of Innsbruck in Austria have found a way to pare that down to five qubits, each represented by a single atom, they said this week.
Microsoft is bringing its virtual assistant Cortana to Brazil, Mexico, and French-speaking Canadians with a major update to the Windows 10 beta The new build will allow people in those countries to take Cortana for a spin and test not only the virtual assistant’s voice recognition but also its grasp of local culture. For example, the new Mexican Spanish Cortana has an accent to match the local dialect. These localizations of Microsoft’s virtual assistant are just the beginning, and feedback from Windows Insider program members will dictate future changes before they’re fully launched, the company says.
Ah, Leap Years—where the universe conspires to make the worst month of the year just a This week, Six Flags announced new virtual reality roller coasters, Bethesda sort-of fixed Epic’s MOBA/shooter hybrid
Check out the Play Store's most interesting new app and game releases.
PC enthusiasts prefer either AMD or Intel chips—there’s often no middle ground. But AMD believes its upcoming Zen chips will have crossover appeal for even the Intel faithful. AMD is betting its future on the upcoming Zen chips, which are based on a new architecture built from scratch. Zen wipes out inefficiencies that hurt older chips, which performed poorly and damaged AMD’s reputation as an innovative chip maker. There are still AMD enthusiasts, though many have moved on to Intel, whose chips are considered to be more advanced. But AMD is now catching up with Intel on processor technology and manufacturing process, said Mark Papermaster, the chief technology officer at AMD, speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference this week.
Anyone who’s ever shaken their head over the utterances coming out of Donald Trump’s mouth will surely be glad to know that they’re now being improved with deep learning. The only catch: It’s not Trump doing the learning, but rather a
Valve's considerable efforts on behalf of Linux-based gaming just aren't paying off. Valve and its hardware partners released the first The evidence comes from Valve’s
A prominent game developer is sounding the alarm over Microsoft’s Windows Store and what it could mean for the future of PC gaming. Tim Sweeney, co-founder and CEO of Epic Games,
The onslaught of tech information is relentless. Stay on top of the latest with PCWorld’s Digital Edition. Available as single copies or as a yearlong subscription, it highlights the best content from PCWorld.com—the most important news, the key product reviews, and the most useful features and how-to stories—in a curated Enhanced Edition for Android and iOS, as well as in a Replica Edition. The Enhanced Edition includes videos and other interactive features—all designed for consuming on your tablet. The Replica Edition is a PDF-like version that’s enabled for your mobile device’s touchscreen. We tell you all about Microsoft's strong-arm Windows 10 upgrade tactics. Will you upgrade? Plus, reviews of the two best ultrabooks on the market: the Dell XPS13 and ASUS Zenbook UX305.
Microsoft is building deeper ties between Once it’s done, all the photos will be ready and waiting in Sway, with each one assigned to its own card. Then you can add captions and any other elements you want in your Sway project.
Of course they are. Laptops are cool. They’re a status symbol. You can take them anywhere. Top executives all have laptops. Desktops, on the other hand, look clunky and old-fashioned. No one wants a desktop anymore. But that doesn’t mean that laptops are the smartest choice for everyone in the company.
Amazon caught flack on Wednesday for disabling the encryption capabilities of its Fire phones and tablets with a software update. The company says its reasoning was simple: people didn’t use it. “In the fall when we released Fire OS 5, we removed some enterprise features that we found customers weren’t using,” Amazon spokeswoman Robin Handaly wrote in an email. Those “enterprise features” included one that allowed users to encrypt their entire device with a PIN that would erase all their data if not entered correctly 30 times in a row. The issue surfaced recently because Amazon just allowed older tablets—the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 and the Fire HD 6/7—to upgrade from Fire OS 4, the previous version of the company’s Android fork.
Your smartphone is killing you, and it’s your own fault.
It’s easy to forget why online privacy is important until something salacious, like last year’s Your web browsing habits reveal a lot about you, and the trail you leave through your history and cookies can be easily exploited by a ne’er-do-well. Your first stop, therefore, should be Tor, or The Onion Router. This browser directs all internet traffic through a network of computers, or “nodes,” encrypting data along the way, which obscures your browsing habits.
You can stream one of this week’s picks for the low, low price of free. All you need is a library card.
Whether you’re an emerging Twitch broadcaster or simply a gamer who wants to share your epic gaming highlights with pals, recording your video gameplay is all the rage these days. But which recording solution should you use if you’re just dipping your toes into capturing gaming videos? There’s no shortage of video recording tools out there vying for your attention, many with unique hooks or features. We played with five of the most popular free gameplay capture tools around—Open Broadcast Software, Nvidia’s ShadowPlay, Raptr, MSI Afterburner, and Plays.tv—to try and answer that question. Each serves a different purpose, such as recording and sharing highlight clips, broadcasting your gameplay to the world, or creating a complete archive of your favorite game. This guide will point you toward the best recording software for your needs.
The district attorney of San Bernardino County, Michael Ramos, has raised concerns about the possibility of a “dormant cyber pathogen” in the iPhone 5c used by a terrorist in attacks in the county on Dec. 2. Security experts are questioning whether such a thing as a cyber pathogen at all exists. The submission was made in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Eastern Division, which recently ordered Apple to help the FBI unlock by brute force the iPhone used by terrorist Syed Rizwan Farook. Apple has
HP wants to drive the “next industrial revolution” and spark a change in the way products are manufactured with its new 3D printers. The company’s first 3D printers will ship later this year, said Cathie Lesjak, chief financial officer for HP, speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference this week. HP first announced 3D printers in 2014, and is now preparing for the big launch. HP is looking to
New wireless technology makes it possible for monkeys to control a robotic wheelchair using just their thoughts, without the need for EEG electrodes on the scalp or wires connecting to an external computer. Developed by neuroscientists at Duke University, the new brain-machine interface relies instead on hair-thin microfilaments implanted in two regions of the monkeys’ brains. Using those microfilaments, the wireless BMI—a device that gets affixed to the monkey’s head—simultaneously records signals from hundreds of neurons in both regions. As the monkeys think about moving toward their goal, computers translate their brain activity into real-time operation of the wheelchair.