The first couple of weeks of 2018 have provided a series of revelations. It started with Apple finally confirming that they have been throttling the performance of their older phones. The official line is that they do this to ensure that as the batteries degrade, the retarding of performance ensures that their devices won't overheat. Some people weren't buying what Apple was shovelling, and there is a series of class-action lawsuits in the making.
Apple has also conceded that this issue will affect even the latest Apple X, with a reduction in video playback frame rates and audio volume, and an increase in app launch times, as some of the expected problems for all users as the batteries start to fade after a year or two. In unrelated news, the price of battery replacement for an iPhone has dramatically dropped. Apple also has the new iOS 11.2.5 coming out soon. It is expected to be very important, but no one knows what it will contain, a bit like the next iPhone models. One addition will probably be better battery diagnostic and management tools.
Intel has also had problems with the discovery of the Meltdown and Spectre attacks that can affect most of their modern CPUs. You know things are not going well when the CEO sells the majority of his shares. Some of the problems will require a redesign of the hardware; others can be resolved with software fixes. It turns out that some AMD and some ARM cores are subject to the Spectre variant 1 and 2 attacks, respectively. Apple didn't escape either, as their ARM-compatible CPUs are also subject to attacks from both vectors. The fixes will exact a performance hit on CPUs ranging from 5-30%. Google has already noticed some performance drop on their servers after the updates, but they are not saying just how much. Based on early reports, not all fixes have been working as well as hoped, so this could take a while to sort out. I was thinking of upgrading my PC, but I might hold off on that a while longer.
In the latest news, Microsoft's fix for the Meltdown and Spectre bugs may be bricking AMD-powered PCs. At the time of writing, there have been a number of incidents wherein the Security Update for Windows KB4056892, being the Meltdown/Spectre patch, leaves some users with the Win 7/10 start-up logo and that's about it. Until this issue has been reported as resolved, be wary if you have an AMD CPU in your machine. Google also has an Android patch for Meltdown and Spectre out this month, but when you get it will depend on your mobile provider and maker. Microsoft also has a new patch release with 56 flaws being patched, including those in Edge, IE, Office and a few other applications.
In the good-news category, some clever scientists in Illinois have published a paper on a new battery design for mobile devices and even electric vehicles that may reduce costs and improve performance by up to 800%. The new technology is based on lithium, iron and oxygen ions to transfer the charge. In the past, this was not practical, but they say they have cracked it. Before you get too excited, so far this has all be done using computer simulations, so we will need to see if it works in the real world and if airplanes will ever let you carry a device containing the technology. Figure five to 10 years before it goes commercial, if it works.
As Twitter continues to block all and sundry whose politics they don't like, many are starting to move to the more open Gab, found here gab.ai. I predict this will be but the first of many, as users on the current big-name platforms face the same issues and restrictions, driving users to more open and free platforms.
Windows 10 users can expect at least two updates this year as Microsoft tries to move their platform as close as possible to Windows as a service technology. For those keeping score, according to Netmarketshare, 45% of PCs still run Windows 7, with just over 27% of them using Windows 10. Another site, Statcounter, has the two about equal, with around 42%, Windows 7 still just in the lead.
It won't be all that long before they will be able to 3D-print just about anything, with the right printer. The latest is an explosive used in air bags. The team at Purdue University, also a source of some great videos, have used a technique called additive manufacturing to make and mix an explosive printed with the equivalent of an inkjet printer. The printer deposits nano-thermite, based on copper oxide and aluminium, that uses an overlaying pattern to build up the small charge.
James Hein is an IT professional of over 30 years' standing. You can contact him at jclhein@gmail.com.