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Submission + - Microsoft Teams Passes 115 million Daily Active Users

An anonymous reader writes: Microsoft Teams is continuing to ride the remote work and learning wave kicked off by the coronavirus pandemic. During Microsoft's Q1 2021 earnings call, CEO Satya Nadella shared that Microsoft Teams has passed 115 million daily active users. That's up 53% from the 75 million daily active users in April. Some 15 months ago, Microsoft Teams had just 13 million daily active users. "Teams now has more than 115 million daily active users," Nadella said. "We are seeing increased usage and intensity as people communicate, collaborate, and coauthor content across work, life, and learning. Microsoft 365 users generated more than 30 billion collaboration minutes in a single day this quarter."

Submission + - Kite Expands Its AI Code Completions From 2 To 13 Programming Languages

An anonymous reader writes: Kite, which suggests code snippets for developers in real time, today added support for 11 more programming languages, bringing its total to 13. In addition to Python and JavaScript, Kite’s AI-powered code completions now support TypeScript, Java, HTML, CSS, Go, C, C#, C++, Objective C, Kotlin, and Scala. (The team chose the 11 languages by triangulating the StackOverflow developer survey, Redmonk's language rankings, and its own developer submissions.)

AI that helps developers is growing in popularity, with startups like DeepCode offering AI-powered code reviews and tech giants like Microsoft trying to apply AI to the entire application developer cycle. Kite stands out from the pack with 350,000 monthly developers using its AI developer tool.

Submission + - Chrome 86 Brings Password Protections For Android And iOS, VP9 For MacOS Big Sur

An anonymous reader writes: Google today launched Chrome 86 for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. Chrome 86 brings password protections for Android and iOS, VP9 for macOS Big Sur, autoupgrades for insecure forms, focus indicator improvements, and a slew of developer features. You can update to the latest version now using Chrome's built-in updater or download it directly from google.com/chrome.

With over 1 billion users, Chrome is both a browser and a major platform that web developers must consider. In fact, with Chrome's regular additions and changes, developers have to stay on top of everything available — as well as what has been deprecated or removed. Chrome 86, for example, deprecates support for FTP URLs, starting with 1% of users and ramping up to 100% by Chrome 88.

Submission + - Microsoft Is Bringing Edge To Linux Developers (venturebeat.com)

Krystalo writes: Edge is finally coming to Linux. At Ignite 2020 today, Microsoft announced that Edge for Linux will be available in the Dev preview channel starting in October. Linux users will be able to download the preview from the Microsoft Edge Insider website or from their native Linux package manager. Microsoft will start with the Ubuntu and Debian distributions, with support for Fedora and openSUSE coming afterwards.

âoeLinux stands out in that, while it has a relatively small desktop population in terms of what you might call typical consumer or end user, developers are often overrepresented in that population, and especially in areas like test automation, or CI/CD workloads for their web apps,â Pflug told VentureBeat. âoeEdge on Linux is a natural part of our strategy to reduce fragmentation and test overhead for web developers. By providing the same rendering behavior and tools across platforms, developers can build and test sites and web apps in their preferred environment and be confident in the experience their customers will have.â

Submission + - Boston Dynamics CEO Talks Profitability And The Company's Next Robots

An anonymous reader writes: Founded in 1992, Boston Dynamics is arguably the best-known robot company around, in part because its demonstration videos tend to go viral. Now it is attempting to transform from an R&D company to a robotics business, with an eye on profitability for the first time.

When we interviewed Boston Dynamics founder and former CEO Marc Raibert in November 2019, we discussed the company’s customers, potential applications, AI, simulation, and those viral videos. But it turns out Raibert was transitioning out of the CEO role at the time — current CEO Robert Playter told us in an interview this month that he took the helm in November. We sat down to discuss Playter’s first year as CEO; profitability; Spot, Pick, Handle, and Atlas; and the company’s broader roadmap, including which robots are next.

Submission + - Firefox Daylight For Android Arrives With Enhanced Tracking Protection, New UI

An anonymous reader writes: After more than a year of development, Mozilla today launched Firefox 79 for Android, branded Firefox Daylight. Like with Firefox 57 Quantum, Firefox Daylight gets its own name as it marks “a new beginning for our Android browser.” The new version is “an entirely overhauled, faster, and more convenient product.” Firefox Daylight includes Enhanced Tracking Protection on by default, a new user interface, Mozilla’s own mobile browser engine GeckoView, and a slew of new features. Mozilla is rolling out the new Firefox for Android globally, starting in Germany, France, and the U.K. today, and North America starting August 27.

Submission + - Chrome For Android Will Show 'Fast page' Labels Based On Web Vitals

An anonymous reader writes: Google today announced Chrome for Android's context menu will show "Fast page" labels for webpages deemed to have good performance. The label will be determined using Google's Web Vitals, an initiative the company announced in May to provide web developers and website owners with a unified set of metrics for building websites with user experience and performance in mind. Core Web Vitals, Google's attempt to spell out the metrics it considers critical for all web experiences, will measure a webpage's responsiveness and visual stability.

Submission + - Firefox 79 Clears Redirect Tracking Cookies Every 24 Hours

An anonymous reader writes: Mozilla today started rolling out Enhanced Tracking Protection (ETP) 2.0 in Firefox. While the company technically launched Firefox 79 for Windows, Mac, and Linux last week, it only unveiled its marquee feature today. Firefox 79 by default blocks redirect tracking, also known as bounce tracking, and adds a handful of new developer features. You can download Firefox 79 for desktop now from Firefox.com, and all existing users should be able to upgrade to it automatically. According to Mozilla, Firefox has about 250 million active users, making it a major platform for web developers to consider.

Submission + - Amazon CEO 'Can't Guarantee' Policy Against Using Seller Data Was Violated

An anonymous reader writes: At the “Online Platforms and Market Power” virtual antitrust hearing today, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos spoke about a policy that is meant to prevent the company from using seller specific data to help it determine what products it should manufacture and sell itself. “What I can tell you is, we have a policy against using seller specific data to aid our private label business,” Bezos said. “But I can’t guarantee you that that policy has never been violated.”

Submission + - Chrome 84 Arrives With SameSite Cookie Changes, Web OTP API & Web Animations

An anonymous reader writes: Google today launched Chrome 84 for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. Chrome 84 resumes SameSite cookie changes, includes the Web OTP API and Web Animations API, and removes older Transport Layer Security (TLS) versions. You can update to the latest version now using Chrome’s built-in updater or download it directly from google.com/chrome.

With over 1 billion users, Chrome is both a browser and a major platform that web developers must consider. In fact, with Chrome’s regular additions and changes, developers have to stay on top of everything available — as well as what has been deprecated or removed.

Submission + - Google And Canonical Bring Flutter Apps To Linux And The Snap Store

An anonymous reader writes: Google is partnering with the Ubuntu Desktop team at Canonical to bring Linux support to its open source UI framework Flutter. Today’s Linux alpha announcement also means Flutter developers can now deploy their apps to the Snap Store. Flutter group product manager Tim Sneath argues this is a big milestone because UI frameworks rarely become versatile and powerful enough for an operating system to depend on. He pointed to Windows being written in C++ rather than .NET, even for applets like the Calculator. Sneath also believes this shows Canonical is willing to invest in a first-class way to build apps for Linux, making Flutter on Linux an official part of Ubuntu. Additionally, enterprises can feel confident about picking Flutter — it’s more evidence of its longevity and technical excellence, Sneath said.

Submission + - Sidewalk Labs Plans To Spin Out More Smart City Companies

An anonymous reader writes: Alphabet's Sidewalk Labs plans to spin out some of its smart city ideas into separate companies, CEO Daniel Doctoroff said today at Collision from Home conference. Doctoroff listed three potential companies: mass timber construction, affordable electrification sans fossil fuels, and planning tools optimized with machine learning and computation design. Last month, Sidewalk Labs killed its Toronto smart city project, which envisioned raincoats designed for buildings, heated pavement, and object-classifying cameras. Privacy advocates celebrated that the Google sister company would not be getting invasive power to surveil residents. But as I argued in my column that week, the story was far from over. Sidewalk Labs was using the COVID-19 pandemic as a scapegoat for the Toronto project, but the company wouldn't stay idle.

Submission + - Boston Dynamics Starts Selling Its Spot Robot — For $74,500

An anonymous reader writes: Boston Dynamics today opened commercial sales of Spot, its quadruped robot that can climb stairs and traverse rough terrain. Businesses can purchase the Spot Explorer developer kit for $74,500 at shop.bostondynamics.com. Spot Explorer includes the robot, two batteries, the battery charger, the tablet controller, a robot case, a power case, and Python client packages for Spot APIs. Boston Dynamics will also be selling Spot payloads, and customers will get software updates "when available." The company is offering free shipping for a limited time — the website currently states that Spot Explorer ships in six to eight weeks.

The announcement marks a couple of milestones for the company founded in 1992. It's the first time businesses can purchase a Boston Dynamics robot directly. It's also the company's first online sales offering. Spot is only for sale in the U.S. for commercial and industrial use, but the company hopes to expand internationally this year. "We plan to manufacture around a thousand Spots in the next year but can increase that based on the demand," a Boston Dynamics spokesperson told VentureBeat. "We are exploring opportunities for enabling sales overseas this year." The company was originally planning to finish building 1,000 Spots by mid-2020, but the coronavirus pandemic disrupted that timeline.

Submission + - Firefox 77 Arrives With Faster JavaScript Debugging And Optional Permissions

An anonymous reader writes: Mozilla today launched Firefox 77 for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Firefox 77 includes faster JavaScript debugging, optional permissions for extensions, and Pocket recommendations in the U.K. You can download Firefox 77 for desktop now from Firefox.com, and all existing users should be able to upgrade to it automatically. According to Mozilla, Firefox has about 250 million active users, making it a major platform for web developers to consider.

Submission + - Google Launches Android Studio 4.0 With Motion Editor, Build Analyzer

An anonymous reader writes: Google today launched Android Studio 4.0, the latest version of its integrated development environment (IDE). Android Studio 4.0 is supposed to help developers “code smarter, build faster, and design apps.” The new release comes right before Google’s Android 11 Beta 1 launch next week. Google delayed its Android 11 beta schedule due to the coronavirus.

Android is a massive platform with over 2.5 billion monthly active devices. While developers can use other IDEs to build on Android, the latest features arrive first in Android Studio. Version 4.0 includes a new Motion Editor, a Build Analyzer, and Java 8 language APIs. Google also overhauled the CPU Profiler user interface and improved the Layout Inspector.

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