Google to automatically enable two-factor authentication on certain accounts

Google has announced that it will soon enable two-factor authentication by default on select user accounts. The company said the change is meant to protect users from online security threats, even if those users have a password that’s considered secure.

“Soon we’ll start automatically enrolling users in 2SV if their accounts are appropriately configured,” said Mark Risher, Director of Product Management, Identity and User Security, Google. “(You can check the status of your account in our Security Checkup).”

Google said that two-factor authentication is one of the best ways to protect your account, whether your password has been breached or not. A second form of verification — usually confirmed in an app or by SMS — gives users the opportunity to confirm they’re really the one logging in. If you do use two-factor authentication, might I suggest using an authenticator app, as SMS messages can be intercepted.

You should also consider using a password manager to help create unique, complicated passwords for your many different logins. I currently use 1Password, which offers password management features and authentication features. For accounts that offer two-factor authentication, 1Password (and authenticator apps) will create a six-digit code that is changed every 30 seconds or so.

Of course, you could also use an actual physical security key, which Google sells in its store. The search giant sells security key called Titan. Meanwhile, Google also added an option for Android smartphones to serve as a security key, and rolled the same feature out to iPhones.

Google said that searches for “how strong is my password” increased by 300% in 2020, highlighting how important online security is for users. Unfortunately, the search giant said 66% or Americans admit to using the same password across multiple sites, which is highly discouraged. So, take this as a reminder that if you reuse passwords, audit your passwords to create something unique for all of your accounts — and don’t forget to use two-factor authentication where it’s offered.

Google Authenticator (Free, Google Play) →

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AT&T’s data-only 5G plan for tablets and laptops just got cheaper

Mobile network plans that only offer cellular data, without the usual phone number and messaging services, started becoming more popular a few years ago. They’re still not incredibly common, but they can be a cheaper method of adding LTE or 5G to a tablet or PC. AT&T is one carrier that has offered data-only plans for a while, and now the company is updating them with higher data caps and lower monthly bills.

AT&T previously sold two ‘DataConnect’ post-paid plans: 15GB for $60/mo, or 35GB for $85/mo. The prices were reduced by $10 when you signed up for AutoPay and paperless billing, but you would also be charged $10 for every 2GB used over the limit. Pre-paid customers had the option of 3GB for $25/mo, 10GB for $50/mo, or 18GB for $75/mo. The pre-paid plans had no international support.

The post-paid plans have been replaced with two new tiers: 25GB for $50/mo, or 40GB for $75/mo. That’s significantly less expensive, and tethering is allowed “with compatible devices.” AT&T is also enabling 5G access on the plans, though you’ll need a hotspot or tablet that can connect to 5G (which are still not commonplace), and AT&T’s 5G network still isn’t widely available. The pre-paid data-only plans remain at the same prices.

AT&T didn’t mention why it reduced prices, though it could be the result of low customer demand for the older plans — $60 for 15GB was a tough pill to swallow, even if tethering and other functionality was available. The updated plans could also be in preparation for more 5G-connected laptops and tablets, like the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Book Go. HP also released a laptop earlier this year with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 chipset and 5G compatibility, and 5G is one of the selling points for Apple’s new iPad Pro.

Featured image: 2021 Apple iPad Pro

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OnePlus phones will get a theme store with the Android 12 update

When OnePlus releases Android 12, the company will add a feature it said is “highly requested:” a theme store. By including a Theme Store in OxygenOS, OnePlus owners will have the opportunity to easily customize the look and feel of their device.

OnePlus announced the news in a forum post on Thursday, saying it plans to hold another online Open Ears Forum on May 18 to discuss the upcoming feature.

“Our wishes of having offline OEF have to be postponed until it’s 100% secure outside,” OnePlus said. “While waiting for that day to come, we’re bringing back the online OEF with a brand new topic — Theme Store. This may not be an unfamiliar topic for you, as you might have tried some custom themes or wallpapers downloaded from other theme stores before. In fact, this is a highly-requested feature.”

The upcoming OEF will take place on May 18 and feature four OnePlus staff members. OnePlus said it will accept applications to participate beginning today until May 12, and will choose 15 global users who can provide feedback about the theme store. Here are the full event details:

• Event time: May 18, 20:00 – 22:00 HKT (17:30 – 19:30 IST, 14:00 – 16:00 CEST, 8:00 – 10:00 EST)
• Application time: May 6 – May 12
• Staff members: @Zed Z. @Zoey Z. @Flora L. @Mio L.
• Users: 15 global users

“We want to discuss it with some of our users, to hear your feedback about this upcoming feature with you, and to get your insights about it,” OnePlus said. “If you’re interested in themes and wallpaper customizations, join us, and let’s co-create a perfect Theme Store for OnePlus.”

Many replies to the news seem excited about the prospect of a theme store coming to OnePlus devices. “A step forward in the right direction,” one reply said. “Looking forward to experiencing the theme store,” said another reply.

It’s unclear when OnePlus will bring Android 12 to its lineup of devices, but Google has already announced plans to release the software at the end of summer, so hopefully we’ll see something before the new year.

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Here’s how you can install Microsoft Edge on Chrome OS, even though it is not supported

If you’re using a Chrome OS machine, you’re probably all-in on Google services. Indeed, the operating system is built around the Chrome browser, Google Drive, and everything else Google-related, and there’s no way to swap this stuff out. If you recently bought a great Chromebook, you probably weren’t thinking about Microsoft Edge.

However, if for some reason you ever wanted to check out another browser, you can install Microsoft Edge if you want. While it’s officially unsupported on Chrome OS, you can install the Linux version that was released in beta recently. Perhaps you want to install Edge for testing purposes, or more importantly, just for fun and to tinker around with things. Whatever the reason, this is how you can do it.

1. Head over to the Microsoft Edge Insider page. It will detect your operating system and give you a message that you’re not supported.
   
2. Click on ‘More platforms and channels’, and you’ll be greeted by an expanded message about how Chrome OS isn’t supported for Microsoft Edge. Scroll down and click the download button under ‘Linux (.deb)’.
   
3. Choose whether you want Edge Beta or Edge Dev (Stable isn’t available yet). Beta is updated every six weeks (it will be every four weeks soon), and Dev is updated weekly.
   
4. Next, head over to Settings -> Advanced -> Developers. In ‘Linux development environment (Beta), click ‘Turn on’.
5. Follow the on-screen instructions to set up the Linux environment.
   
6. Once that’s done, open the Microsoft Edge installation file that you downloaded. The process should be pretty straightforward. Once it’s done, you’ll find it in the app drawer under a ‘Linux apps’ folder.
   
7. If you’d like, you can sign in with a Microsoft account. This will allow you to sync your favorites, history, passwords, and so on.
   

To be clear, this isn’t going to be your default browser or anything like that. If you’re really looking for a primary browser that’s not Chrome, you should probably go out and buy something that has a more open operating system.

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Microsoft has a new Windows 10 build with a refreshed Segoe UI font

Today, Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview build 21376 to the Dev channel. For this week’s build, there’s not a whole lot that’s new.

The key new feature is that Microsoft refreshed the Segoe UI font. Obviously, it’s not the most thrilling of changes. The font is designed for 9pt, so it works well at that size but not as well when it’s larger. There’s a new Segoe UI Variable font that’s meant to work well at all sizes, small or large.

There are also a bunch of minor changes. There are some changes to the drag-and-drop cursor design that you’ll notice. There’s also a new icon for the Connect app, so that should be more in line with all of the other visual changes that we’ve seen in this development cycle. And in other Segoe UI news, Segoe UI Historic now has Bamum Unicode support.

Indeed, it’s a big day for fans of Segoe UI.

Once again, the build comes from the co_release branch, the ‘co’ standing for Cobalt as Microsoft’s codenames align with the periodic table. Next spring’s update will be Nickel.

The reason that the branch is significant is that it typically means that there’s a lull in the development cycle. It usually means that Microsoft is preparing a Windows 10 feature update for release. Of course, being that the last two feature updates have been enablement packages, those ‘release’ branches were meaningless.

The Dev channel in the Windows Insider Program is for those that want to stay on a prerelease branch. That branch is typically rs_prerelease, except for these two times a year when it switches to a release branch. When the build comes from rs_prerelease, we also tend to get a bunch more features.

But we’ve got a bunch of features from this cycle already. Indeed, this fall’s Windows 10 feature update is set to be a big one. There’s going to be a big visual overhaul, codenamed Sun Valley. If you’re running an Insider Preview right now, you can already see all-new icons, rounded corners, and more. And if you’ve got a Windows on ARM PC, you’ll finally be able to run x64 apps.

Microsoft hasn’t formally announced this update yet though. And since the Dev channel is in a perpetual state of prerelease, these features aren’t officially tied to a Windows 10 release. We’ll just have to wait until something new arrives in the Beta channel. In the meantime, the Beta channel is hosting Windows 10 version 21H1, which you can install right now.

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Jetpack Compose for Web enters preview as a new UI framework for web development

In the past few years, there’s been a pretty big push for cross-platform program development. Frameworks like React and Flutter were created to allow developers to share a single codebase across Android, iOS, desktop, and even the web. Even JetBrains, the company behind some of the most popular IDEs and the Kotlin programming language, has been working on cross-platform development. First with Kotlin Multiplatform but more recently with Jetpack Compose.

A while back, JetBrains ported Jetpack Compose, Google’s declarative design framework for Android, to desktop. This allowed for cross-platform desktop development based around Java’s JVM. Using Jetpack Compose, you can make an app for Android, macOS, Windows, and even Linux, all from one codebase. But besides iOS, there’s a pretty big platform missing from Compose: the web.

That’s about to change, though. JetBrains has released what they call a Technology Preview of Jetpack Compose for Web.

Now, Technology Preview is basically a fancy name for pre-alpha. Compose for Web is nowhere near ready to be used in production. There are no tutorials, very little documentation, and the APIs are nowhere near complete. With that said, let’s see what Compose for Web offers so far.

In the current version, there are two ways you can develop in Compose for Web: using the DOM API, or using the existing Compose widgets, such as Column or Text.

If you use the DOM API, you’ll have API names that represent the different HTML elements, such as p, a, and so on. The big difference between Compose and classic Kotlin JS, though, is that you can use state-based declarative design. This option seems like a bit of a bridge between classic web development and full-on declarative UI development. On top of creating a layout, Compose for Web also lets you create dynamic, state-based stylesheets.

The second option is what will look more familiar to Android and Compose developers. There are pre-made components, like Column, Row, and Slider, which you can use to build a web UI. Right now, these aren’t very complete and styles and options aren’t fully implemented. But it at least gives us an idea of what JetBrains has in store for Compose for Web.

Overall, at the moment, there isn’t really much to Compose for Web. It’s still in its very early days. But it could mean a lot for the future. Personally, as an Android developer, I’ve had trouble getting into browser-based layout frameworks. Basic HTML and CSS can be clunky, and React and Flutter syntaxes are still based around HTML design.

A fully-featured, cross-platform design language that isn’t based on web design principles is pretty exciting. While Jetpack Compose still has a long way to go, what JetBrains has planned could mean a lot for the future of UI design.

If you want to learn more about Compose for Web, check out JetBrains’ announcement. If you’re interested in playing around with the current implementation, head over to the GitHub repository.

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HP Elite Folio first impressions: HP returns to Windows on ARM

It’s been a while since HP released a Windows on ARM PC. It was one of the first companies to do so with the Envy x2, but it wasn’t on board with the next two generations. Now HP is back with the Elite Folio; yes, this time it’s a business PC. In fact, the HP Elite Folio is a premium business PC, meaning that it’s aiming to be one of HP’s best laptops. And now, our review unit has arrived.

The fact that it runs Windows on ARM isn’t all that’s interesting about the HP Elite Folio. It’s also made out of leather. Well, vegan leather. You might recall HP’s Spectre Folio from a few years ago, the company’s first attempt at a leather laptop.

Note that Spectre is a consumer brand and Elite is a business brand. That’s probably why HP went with the more subtle black than the brown that it uses on the Spectre Folio. That’s not the only design change that was made on the HP Elite Folio though.

As you can see, quite a bit is different. While the Spectre Folio was entirely leather-clad, the inside of the Elite Folio is metal. You can also see that the Elite Folio has a bigger screen. Indeed, it’s moved from 16:9 to 3:2, the same aspect ratio as a Microsoft Surface.

The taller screen, which fits into a similarly sized chassis, is better when you might be using the device in tablet mode. It doesn’t look as stretched out if you use it in portrait orientation.

There’s also a brand-new method of pen storage. The pen sits in a garage that’s built into the keyboard. It has three pins, so it’s just charged all the time.

Also hidden on the right side of the pen garage is a nano-SIM slot. HP sent me the 4G model of the Elite Folio, although it comes in a 5G variant with a Snapdragon X55 modem as well. Strangely, there’s also a Wi-Fi-only variant, a rarity for Windows 10 on ARM.

While it’s cool that it’s made of leather and I’m excited to test out the new Snapdragon 8cx chipset, the form factor is a key part of the HP Elite Folio. As you can see from the image above, you can easily prop up the display. This could make it good for watching movies or just drawing with the screen at an angle.

That display can be folded all the way down so it can be used as a tablet. It’s a bit thicker than the Spectre Folio was at 0.63 inches instead of 0.6, but it’s lighter at 2.92 pounds instead of 3.24.

One other thing I want to note about the design is that HP put USB Type-C ports on both sides. This is a rarity in Windows 10 laptops, but I’m hoping it becomes more common. It just makes life a bit easier if you can charge from either side. If not, cables are bound to get in the way and it becomes a pain point. Having charging ports on both sides of the product is actually standard on Chromebooks, though.

Both of the HP Elite Folio’s USB ports are USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C, which means that they get 5Gbps data transfer speeds. I wasn’t expecting Thunderbolt as we had in the Spectre Folio. After all, Thunderbolt is usually reserved for Intel-powered PCs. Still, the 10Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 would have been nice.

As mentioned above, the HP Elite Folio has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 under the hood. Sadly, the Gen 2 part of the name isn’t what it seems. It’s really little more than a regular old Snapdragon 8cx that’s been tweaked a bit. If you’re expecting an Apple M1 competitor from Qualcomm, you’ll have to wait for that.

Geekbench is one of the few benchmarking solutions that runs natively on Windows on ARM. Below, you can see scores from this product, as well as from previous ARM-powered PCs.

	HP Elite Folio Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2	Microsoft Surface Pro X SQ2	Microsoft Surface Pro X SQ1	Samsung Galaxy Book S Snapdragon 8cx	Huawei MateBook E Snapdragon 850	Lenovo Miix 630 Snapdragon 835
Single-core	801	794	766	726	494	378
Multi-core	3,150	3,036	2,946	2,909	2,045	1,553

I’m actually a bit surprised to see that the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 beat out the Microsoft SQ2. Microsoft’s ARM chips that go in the Surface Pro X, one of our favorite 4G LTE laptops, are also tweaked versions of the Snapdragon 8cx. The CPU and GPU are overclocked a bit just like in the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2.

Naturally, app compatibility is going to be an issue. I went to install my Adobe CC apps on this and could only install Photoshop and Lightroom. The choice of native Creative Cloud apps on Windows on ARM is sad when compared to what’s available for Apple Silicon products.

Currently, Windows on ARM only supports native 32- and 64-bit ARM apps, as well as emulated x86 apps. x64 app support is coming soon, but it’s still in preview, so I won’t be testing it as part of this review.

The HP Elite Folio so far feels like an all-around great PC. It has the stellar keyboard that I’ve fallen in love with throughout my usage of various EliteBooks. And as you can see, HP is continuing its partnership with Bang & Olufsen for the audio.

However, it doesn’t have a lot of the features that HP’s EliteBooks are known for, such as Sure Click. The Elite Folio does have Sure View, HP’s privacy display, although it’s not on the model that the company sent me. Sure View prevents people from seeing your screen if they look over your shoulder. It does have HP QuickDrop, which lets you send files between your phone and your PC.

The HP Elite Folio starts at $1,786.88 from HP.com.

HP Elite Folio

The HP Elite Folio has a Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2, a 13.5-inch 3:2 screen, and a vegan leather build

See at Amazon

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