There’s a lot happening this week in the tech world. Apple will unveil new Macs ,iMacs and who knows what else on Thursday, plus it’s the 15th anniversary of the iPod, so maybe a cool retro iPod surprise? Yeah, we doubt it too. One thing we are fairly sure about it that Apple MacBook refresh will include a configurable touch strip of some sort where the F keys lived previously, along with faster CPUs of course.
However, one day before Tim Cook takes the stage, Microsoft will have their own dog and pony show for their Surface line of PCs. Redmond has taken aim squarely at Cupertino as of late in their advertising for its Surface rigs, which feature detachable keyboards and touchscreens. Following positive earnings and sales reports for the Surface Pro 4, it seems to be working. Now, we may see a desktop Surface PC that will compete with Apple’s popular iMac.
Also possible: an update to the Hololens augmented reality system, and perhaps a homebot product with Cortana AI that will compete with the Amazon Echo and friends. So, yeah, a big week ahead and we’ll have all the details as they are announced.
Internet of apparently very unsecured things
Last week, millions of computer users found they could not load popular websites like Twitter, Reddit, Netflix, Spotify, The New York Times and Digital Trends. Yes, even we here at DT HQ had trouble accessing our own site due to the massive DDoS attack on internet server giant Dyn.
But the real story about the outage is how is was executed; not with a botnet of zombie PCs as in days past, but with data flowing from thousands of simple but internet-connected devices, like baby monitors, online home security cameras, routers, and other seemingly once-innocuous gadgets that have quickly incorporated more and more powerful computers – and are now linked to the Internet.
It’s a wake-up call for the “internet of things” segment of our connected world and we hope companies are working hard to make them more secure, because eventually, there will be many more of these connected “things” sharing internet space than all the phones, tablets and computers in the world combined.
Things are back to normal for now, but unless security becomes a top priority for anyone putting a computer chip in anything, these DNS takedowns are going to happen again and again.
An all-time rebranding challenge
We said last week that Samsung would be crazy to continue to make Note-series smartphones after the exploding Note 7 debacle. Well, guess what: Samsung, you are so crazy.
According to Reuters, Samsung is offering Note 7 users an S7 smartphone in trade, plus a Note 8 phone at half-off when it comes out next year. That’s right, there is going to be a Galaxy Note 8. Smart move? Time will tell but we’re having a hard time envisioning an ad series for the Note 8 following the fiery 6-billion dollar Note 7 disaster. Got an idea for a Note 8 slogan or tagline? Post your ideas in the comments below.
