News6 30 August – 12 September 2023 • Issue 665
WHAT WE THINK
but not this…
A UK woman lost £40,000 in ‘Martin Lewis
scam’ (www.snipca.com/47292)
You’ll like this…
Watchdog calls for an end to “harmful”
cookie pop-ups (www.snipca.com/47336)
Microsoft to let you remove
more Windows 11 apps
(see www.snipca.com/47332).
They join an ever-growing
list of apps that Microsoft now
lets you remove (see box
below). This includes the
voice assistant Cortana,
though Microsoft has already
discontinued the tool.
If you try to launch Cortana
now, you’ll see a message
saying it’s been “deprecated”.
Microsoft uses this term to
describe features it intends
to remove, though might
continue to support with
security updates.
Microsoft’s decision to let
users uninstall these apps
shows it recognises that
some people think Windows
11 comes with too many
tools built in. Programs that
come installed on computers
advance of releasing them in
the final version of Windows
11, and so advises that only
“highly technical users” sign
up to it.
Microsoft is planning to
release its next big ‘Moments’
update to Windows 11 in
September. It’s expected to
add new keyboard shortcuts
to File Explorer, more voice
commands, a new Settings
home page and support for
RAR and 7-Zip files.
To remove an app from
Windows 10 or 11, find it in
the Start menu, then right-
click and select Uninstall. We
did this with Feedback Hub in
screenshot 1 .
Alternatively, if you just
want to remove an app pinned
to your Start menu, right-click
it then select ‘Unpin from
Start’ (see screenshot 2 ). This
won’t uninstall the app from
Windows, but it will remove
it from your Start menu,
making it feel less cluttered.
For more detailed instructions
on removing apps read Issue
663’s Cover Feature: ‘Make
Windows Great Again’. Buy it
from www.snipca.com/47334.
Microsoft will soon let
you remove more of
its apps that come
built into Windows 11.
A new preview version of the
operating system adds the
option to uninstall Photos,
People and Remote Desktop.
The company calls
pre-installed tools “inbox
apps” and has previously said
they were “essential to the
overall Windows experience” are often called “bloatware”
by users because they “bloat”
devices with what they regard
as unnecessary features.
The option to uninstall the
apps is part of Windows 11
Insider Preview Build 25931
(www.snipca.com/47333),
released on the Canary
Channel. This is where
Microsoft tests features well in
1
Bloat gets our goat, so we’re
pleased Microsoft has finally
got the message that users
want complete control over
their computers, especially
when deciding which apps
to use. But this doesn’t go
far enough. Microsoft should
make it possible to remove
every pre-installed app. If
it can’t do so for a technical
reason, it should explain this
in clear language. Better
still, it should slash the
number of apps that come
built into Windows, or give
users an easy way to block
them when installing the
operating system.
• People (new)
• Photos (new)
• Remote
Desktop (new)
• Calculator
• Calendar
• Camera
• Clock
• Cortana
• Family
• Feedback Hub
• Mail
• Maps
• Media Player
• Microsoft 365
• Microsoft
Clipchamp
• Microsoft To Do
• Movies & TV
• News
• Notepad
• Paint
• Quick Assist
• Snipping Tool
• Sound
Recorder
• Terminal
Tips
• Weather
• Xbox
EVERY APP YOU CAN REMOVE FROM WINDOWS 11
2
7IN BRIEF
TOMORROW’S
WORLD
BBC shows to appear on iPlayer
sooner after broadcast
technical upgrades, it has
reduced this by 20 seconds,
meaning iPlayer viewers
should now be around 60
seconds behind the TV
broadcast.
“Reliability of viewing
experience has always
been and remains our top
priority,” the BBC said, but
added that it hopes to make
more improvements to reduce
this 60-second delay further.
Read more on the BBC’s
site: www.snipca.com/47270.
BBC TV shows will be made
available on iPlayer much
sooner after they’ve been
broadcast, as part of a major
technical upgrade to the
on-demand service.
The BBC said that previously
there was a “significant delay”
before a programme became
available to watch because it
took time to convert the
shows into a quality high
enough for iPlayer. The longer
the programme, the longer
this process took.
Strictly Come Dancing and
Match of the Day are two
shows where viewers have
been frustrated that episodes
aren’t available immediately
after broadcast, it said.
It’s now using new
technology called ‘pseudo
VOD’ which reuses segments
of a show as it’s broadcast live
on iPlayer. It said this creates a
“temporary on demand video”
that “plugs the gap” while it
works on creating the higher-
quality video as before.
A second major upgrade
reduces the delay – or ‘latency’
– when watching live streams
on iPlayer, such as sporting
events.
The BBC adds this latency
to ensure live streams aren’t
interrupted, but it typically
means delays of between 80
and 120 seconds.
It says that thanks to
Plans to let you switch
broadband quickly with
just ‘one touch’ have been
delayed by nearly one year
until March 2024.
The One Touch Switching
Company (TOTSCo, https://
totsco.org.uk), which is in
charge of implementing the
new ‘one touch’ process, says
it’s aiming to get the system
working by 14 March 2024.
In 2021, Ofcom set a
deadline of 3 April 2023 for
internet companies to
introduce a system that starts
the process of switching as
soon as you’ve contacted your
new provider.
But Ofcom postponed this
when providers admitted
they weren’t ready for the
change. It said the delay was
“extremely disappointing and
frustrating” and accused
Under the new scheme,
your new provider will handle
every aspect of your switch,
including asking your old
provider for your final bill.
This process already works
when moving between
providers that are on the
Openreach network, such as
BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Zen.
But Ofcom wants to make it
easier to switch providers that
are on different networks,
such as from BT to Virgin
Media – or vice versa.
An Ofcom spokesperson
said that broadband firms
“must now hit the new target
it has set itself without fail,
and we will continue to hold
them to account to make sure
this happens”.
providers of letting down
their customers.
TOTSCo said that the new
date of next March “strikes the
right balance” between the
need to act quickly and taking
the time to make sure the new
system works properly (see
www.snipca.com/47275).
Switch broadband in ‘one
touch’ delayed to March 2024
How easy have you found it to
switch broadband? Let us
know: <PRESIDIO_ANONYMIZED_EMAIL_ADDRESS>
LENOVO RELEASES 5G
TABLET FOR £349
Lenovo has released a
5G version of its Tab M10
Android tablet (pictured).
Priced £349, it has a 2K
screen, and comes with
128GB of storage and 4GB
of RAM. There’s also a ‘Plus’
edition priced £399 that
comes with a digital pen
for writing on screen. Read
more and buy at www.
snipca.com/47285.
NETFLIX LAUNCHES
TV GAMES IN UK
Netflix has launched a trial
service of games to play on
TVs, available to a “small
number of members” in
Canada and the UK. Players
can control the games using
their phone. Netflix will also
soon start testing games
on PCs and Macs to play
through www.netflix.com.
Read more at www.snipca.
com/47281. Netflix added
games to phones and tablets
in 2021 (see www.snipca.
com/47282).
Issue 665 • 30 August – 12 September 2023
Robots can walk, run, jump
and beat us at chess. Now
they can attach themselves
to walls and
crawl up. Built by
scientists at China’s
Nanjing University,
this “robotic insect”
is able to land
and take off from
glass, wooden
doors, marble, tree
bark, elastic cloth,
lime wall and painted iron
sheet. What does that leave?
Plasticine? Watch at www.
snipca.com/47274.
News8IN B RIEF
THE W ORLD’S
GONE MAD!
Texting while walking
increases the risk of
accidents. That’s the earth-
shattering conclusion from a
study run by the University
of New South Wales in
Australia in which students
stepped across a walkway
that had one loose tile while
staring at their phone. Watch
them lose their footing at
www.snipca.com/47177.
DISNEY+ LAUNCHES ‘AD
TIER’ AND HIKES PRICES
Disney+ will launch a service
with adverts priced £4.99
a month on 1 November.
Existing subscribers paying
£7.99 a month (£79.90
annually) will be moved to
the new ‘Disney+ Premium’
plan and pay £10.99
(£109.90) – though they
will be able to switch to the
Standard package to keep
the prices they’re currently
paying, or the new, cheaper
‘Standard with Adverts’ tier.
VIRGIN LAUNCHES PHONE
OVERPAYMENT CHECK
Virgin Media O2 has launched
a new ‘overpayment
calculator’ that it claims
can work out whether
you’re paying too much for
your phone. It’s part of the
company’s campaign against
contracts that continue to
charge for the phone after
the minimum term has
ended. It claims this costs
UK customers £530m a
year. Visit www.snipca.
com/47228 and type your
details.
AI hackers can ‘hear’ your
passwords
for Cyber Security said that
each key on a keyboard has a
unique sound that can be
decoded.
In previous research Toreini
recorded the sounds from the
keyboards on the Enigma
machine used by the Nazis to
transmit coded messages
during World War 2. He found
that British codebreakers
would have been able to use
audio to crack Enigma
messages with a 70-per-cent
accuracy.
He suggested that to thwart
hacks Apple could inject
random noises into keystrokes,
and that Zoom should
compress its audio more.
Your password can be
hacked by analysing the
sound your keyboard makes
when you type it, British
scientists have said.
Researchers from Durham,
Surrey and Royal Holloway
universities recorded the noise
made by an Apple MacBook
keyboard, then used artificial
intelligence (AI) to convert it
into a password.
They then placed an iPhone
17 centimetres away from the
MacBook to record someone
typing, and worked out the
password 95 per cent of the
time. This dropped to 93 per
cent when using Zoom to
record the typing.
They wanted to show how
advances in AI combined with
the rise in devices with
microphones have left people
vulnerable to sophisticated
cyber-attacks.
Their research suggests
that hackers could potentially
steal passwords by recording
people typing in public, or
when talking to them in
video calls.
Dr Ehsan Toreini from the
University of Surrey’s Centre
YouTube shows blank page if history
is switched off
YouTube is starting to
remove recommended
videos from your home page
if you’ve switched off your
‘watch history’.
When activated, this feature
makes it easy to find videos
you’ve recently watched. Sign
into YouTube then click the
three horizontal lines at the
top left, followed by History.
Now scroll down and you’ll
see videos you watched
listed by day.
It also allows YouTube to
recommend videos you might
like based on what you’ve
previously watched.
However, many
users regard these
recommendations
as clutter, and
prefer to search for
content. Google,
which owns YouTube, said it
wanted these users to have a
more “streamlined” home
page (see www.snipca.
com/47217).
It added that the change is
being rolled out over the next
few months. Some users have
already seen it and posted
screenshots of the new design
(see www.snipca.com/47263).
To turn off your history, visit
https://myactivity.google.com
then click YouTube History,
followed by the ‘Turn off’
button (see screenshot).
Follow Google’s instructions
for more ways to control your
YouTube history: www.snipca.
com/47219.
30 August – 12 September 2023 • Issue 665
WHAT WE THINK
Scammers will already be
working out how to replicate
these results for their own
criminal ends. This terrifying
prospect is another reminder
that we need to move on
from passwords. It’s much
safer now to use passkeys,
though there’s still a lot
of uncertainty about how
they work. We’ll explain
everything you need to
know in a forthcoming Cover
Feature.
9IN BRIEF
CHROME TO GET
WEEKLY SECURITY FIXES
Chrome is now receiving
security updates weekly
rather than fortnightly in
order to fix vulnerabilities
faster. These are installed
automatically by default,
so you won’t need to do
anything to get them. The
updates appear in between
monthly “milestone”
releases of Chrome, which
add new features. Read more
on Google’s blog: www.
snipca.com/47300.
PLUSNET AXES LANDLINE
FROM BROADBAND
Plusnet is ditching the
landline it offers with
broadband packages, starting
with its ‘Fibre’ package
(www.snipca.com/47304).
This is ahead of the 2025
landline switch-off. The
fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC)
deal is priced at £24.99 a
month for two years, and
offers speeds of up to
50Mbps. Plusnet still doesn’t
yet offer a digital phone
service instead of a landline,
as some rival ISPs like Zen do.
AMAZON HIKES PRICES
FOR MUSIC UNLIMITED
Amazon is raising the price
of Music Unlimited for
individual Prime members to
£9.99 a month, and £17.99
for families. The changes
apply to existing customers
from 19 September. Amazon
previously raised prices for
Prime members in May
2022, from £7.99 to £8.99.
Non-Prime subscribers will
continue to pay £10.99 a
month. For details visit
www.snipca.com/47309.
The Advertising Standards
Agency (ASA) has
reprimanded broadband
provider 6G Internet for
“misleadingly implying that
a sixth-generation mobile
network existed”.
It said 6G Internet’s name
alone suggests customers
can use a sixth-generation
broadband network, and that
this is compounded by the
firm’s claims of “full fibre
speeds at affordable prices” in
adverts and on its website
(www.6ginternet.com).
The ASA said that customers
are aware that technology is
named after each generation
and therefore “would make a
connection to mobile
technology when
they saw the
company name”.
Its ruling (www.
snipca.com/47308)
bans the adverts in
their current form,
and forbids the company
from suggesting that a
“sixth-generation mobile
network existed and was able
to be used by consumers”.
The company, which is
based in Blackburn,
Lancashire, and has offered
internet services since 2013,
said it’s “not aware” of
complaints from customers
over its name. When the
company formed, 4G
networks were widespread in
the UK, with 5G launching
only within the past four
years.
6G is still in development,
with no fixed launch date,
although the first commercial
networks are expected to
arrive by 2030.
Research suggests it could
be up to 100 times faster than
current 5G speeds, which
average around 150–200Mbps
in the UK and have a theoretical
maximum of 10Gbps.
Make a very quick summary of all the individual topics.