Despite developing an operating system that’s used on a variety of devices and computers, Google has practically snubbed anything other than a smartphone. It’s notorious for having a love-hate relationship with tablets, for example, so it was a bit of a surprise that Google would launch its own foldable device. Perhaps even more surprising is how it might actually release a second-gen foldable phone. Given its pedigree, the next Google foldable is definitely going to pique people’s curiosity, whether it will be called the Pixel Fold 2 or the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Judging from what we’ve been hearing so far, this foldable phone will be undergoing several significant changes, though not all of them might appeal to Pixel fans and onlookers alike.

Designer: Google (renders courtesy of Smartprix, @OnLeaks)

Google Pixel Fold 2: Design

For three generations since the Pixel 6 in 2021, Google seemed to have settled on a signature design that, unusual as it may have been, gave its phones a unique personality. It seems, however, that Google has gotten tired of that look and will be moving to a different design for the Pixel 9 series. For better or for worse, that change is apparently happening to the foldable version of the Pixel as well, but not in the same way as leaks and renders would have it.

The camera bump, which was a horizontal bar across the width of the Pixel Fold’s “back,” has now been reduced to a more conventional rectangle. But unlike the ones you’d see on other smartphones, Google opted for an odd horizontal layout, with black pill-shaped markings that hold the actual camera lenses. It’s definitely an unusual design, but unlike the current “visor” shape, many might find it visually unappealing.

Fortunately, there will be even more important design changes in store for the Pixel Fold 2 (or Pixel 9 Pro Fold), though they might be a bit more subtle. According to rumors and at least one leaked prototype, the next Google foldable will have an outer screen that is taller than its predecessor, yielding an unfolded shape that is more square than the first Pixel Fold as well. Whereas the Pixel Fold had a rectangular shape that resembled a small notebook, the Pixel Fold 2 could be more like a minuscule iPad mini.

This change in screen aspect ratios isn’t just cosmetic and will have important usability implications. It won’t be as tall and narrow as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, which is notorious for being almost unusable as a regular phone, but it could make it a bit more awkward to use the Pixel Fold 2 in folded form, at least with a single hand. Those who loved the current wider design of the Pixel Fold might be disappointed, but those who missed using a 16:9 phone will welcome this change.

Google Pixel Fold 2: Specs and Software

With the change in screen aspect ratios come changes in screen sizes as well, and everyone will probably love what’s rumored so far. The Pixel Fold 2/Pixel 9 Pro Fold is expected to have bigger screens on both sides, though there is some agreement on the exact sizes. Some claim that the external Cover Screen will be 6.4 inches and the main foldable screen will be 7.9 inches, while another source uses 6.29 inches and 8.02 inches for those same screens, respectively. Either way, it will still be a significant size boost compared to the current Pixel Fold’s 5.8-inch exterior and 7.6-inch interior displays.

As far as the hardware is concerned, Google might debut a new Tensor G4 on the Pixel Fold 2, a very big leap from the Tensor G2 on the OG Pixel Fold. Details on this new processor are still extremely slim at this point, but you can expect significant performance improvements, especially on Google’s favorite AI features. Uncharacteristically, Google might also be extra generous and give the Pixel Fold 2 as much as 16GB of RAM, something that even the Galaxy Z Fold 6 isn’t expected to have.

There seems to be some disagreement on which version of Android the Pixel Fold 2 will ship with, but that mostly depends on when the foldable device will actually launch. It could go with Android 14, which is the current version in circulation, or it could delay it to coincide with the release of Android 15. Pushing the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s launch to the end of the year might sound unreasonable, but there might be one very good reason for doing so. Android 15 betas have revealed that Google implemented improvements to the behavior of apps on foldable phones, something that its Pixel Fold badly needed.

Google Pixel Fold 2: Cameras

It’s a bit surprising that there hasn’t been any news on the kind of cameras that the Pixel Fold 2 will bear. The new camera design on the back may look like Google was making room for an additional camera, but the lack of news in that department suggests otherwise. In short, the new Pixel Fold may still be using the exact same three sensors as the current model, with some additional lenses for focusing or maybe a thermal sensor for taking temperatures. It wouldn’t be unheard of for Google, since it prefers to rely on software solutions to improve image quality.

Another big camera design change will be the internal selfie camera which used to sit on the Pixel Fold’s ugly thick bezels. According to leaks and renders, the Pixel Fold 2 will do away with those atrocities, which means there’s a need to move the camera to a different place. The consensus is that it will take the form of an under-display camera similar to the Galaxy Z Fold, but it’s also possible Google will opt for a simpler solution that has a traditional punch-hole cutout for the camera.

Google Pixel Fold 2: Price and Release Date

Although the Pixel Fold 2, or Pixel 9 Pro Fold, will be advertised as an upgrade, it doesn’t seem like a huge generational leap if not for the difference in design and the new Tensor G4 processor. As such, it’s probably only reasonable to expect that the price tag won’t go higher than the $1,800 that the first Pixel Fold launched with. At the same time, it’s also not expected to go lower than that either.

As for its launch date, that could depend on whether Google wants to delay it to sync with Android 15’s release. If it’s fine with having it run Android 14 out of the box, it could follow the same schedule last year that saw the Pixel Fold hit shelves in June. Otherwise, we might be looking at an October date after Android 15 goes gold. Either way, we’ll definitely find out more next month when Google reveals the real deal at I/O 2024.

Google Pixel Fold 2: Final Thoughts

The first Pixel Fold was definitely a surprise for Google fans. It managed to carry some of the personality of the Pixel design language to a foldable phone, along with Google’s blessed flavor of the Android user experience. At the same time, however, it really failed to stand up to other options in the market, and its very thick bezels were a big turn-off for more design-conscious consumers.

Fortunately, the Pixel Fold 2 will be improving on those pain points, but it raises the question of whether it’s actually enough or if they’re the right changes to make. The screens will be larger and have thinner bezels, but Google is also moving away from an aspect ratio that was praised by some reviewers as one of its winning traits. The camera design will definitely be divisive, especially if it doesn’t bring significant improvements to the camera system anyway. While the Pixel Fold 2, or Pixel 9 Pro Fold, will catch the attention of Pixel fans and market watchers, it might not end up being the big hit that Google wants it to be, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy of low sales that will lead to the early demise of Google’s foldable phone line.

The post Google Pixel Fold 2: News, Rumors, Price, and Release Date first appeared on Yanko Design.

Google is updating the client-side encryption mechanism for Google Meet to allow external participants, including those without Google accounts, to join encrypted calls. [...]

Tech giants weigh in on how they try to mitigate the effects of generative AI on power and water resources.

Oxford University researchers used an approach dubbed “blind quantum computing” to connect two quantum computing entities in a way that is completely secure.

Mateusz Jurczyk, un nom qui ne vous dit peut-être rien, mais retenez-le bien, car le bonhomme est fort. Ce chercheur en sécurité bien intentionné bosse pour Google Project Zero, une équipe de choc qui traque les failles dans tous les recoins depuis des années déjà. Et pendant quasi 2 ans, de mai 2022 à décembre 2023, il s’est lancé le défi d’ausculter un des organes les plus vitaux de Windows : sa base de registre.

Pour ceux qui débarquent, le registre, c’est un peu le cerveau de Windows. Une méga base de données qui stocke tous les réglages, options et préférences du système et des applis, organisés de manière hiérarchique avec des clés, des sous-clés et des valeurs. Bref, un truc super sensible et stratégique. Si un pirate arrive à mettre ses mains là dedans, bonjour les dégâts !

Mais notre Mateusz, c’est pas le genre à se dégonfler. Armé de ses outils et de ses connaissances en reverse engineering, il a plongé dans les millions de lignes de code de ce monolithe vieux de 30 ans et croyez-moi, il a frappé fort : pas moins de 50 failles critiques déterrées, dont 39 qui permettent une élévation de privilèges ! En gros, la totale pour passer de simple clampin à admin suprême sur une machine.

La force de son taf, c’est d’avoir exploré des endroits de la base de registres que personne n’avait vu avant. Des trucs bien planqués comme la récupération des transactions avortées, le chargement de ruches extraites ou les bails de virtualisation du registre (une fonctionnalité qui permet aux vieilles applis de tourner sans broncher sur les Windows récents). Bref, un vrai boulot de fourmi avec une grosse dose de persévérance.

Et le plus flippant, c’est que la moitié de ces failles seraient plutôt faciles à exploiter notamment via des techniques de corruption de mémoire ou de cassage des garanties de sécurité comme les ACL (les listes qui contrôlent qui a le droit de faire quoi dans le registre). Pour vous donner une idée, Mateusz a même créé des exploits de démo pour deux vulnérabilités, montrant comment détourner le registre à son avantage.

Heureusement, c’est un White Hat avec un grand cœur et toutes ses trouvailles ont été balancées en temps et en heure à Microsoft via le programme de divulgation responsable de Project Zero. Les ingés de Redmond ont évidemment remédié au boxon en patchant, avec des délais moyens de correction de 80 jours. Vous pouvez donc souffler !

Mais l’histoire est loin d’être finie. Il a tellement kiffé son voyage dans les méandres du registre, qu’il prévoit d’en faire une série de posts de blog pour partager son savoir. Au menu, des analyses bien poussées des bugs, des techniques d’exploit et plein de tips pour mieux protéger nos bécanes, comme :

• Toujours avoir une sauvegarde du registre avant d’installer un nouveau soft : regedit.exe /e sauvegarde.reg
• Scanner régulièrement le registre avec des outils comme CCleaner Registry Cleaner, Wise Registry Cleaner ou Glarysoft Registry Repair.
• Se méfier des applis louches qui veulent mettre leur nez dans le registre et les virer en cas de doute.
• Garder son Windows et ses drivers à jour pour bénéficier des derniers patchs de sécurité.
• Utiliser les outils de monitoring comme l’Observateur d’événements ou les Performances Windows pour garder un œil sur l’activité du registre.

J’ai hâte de dévorer tout ça !

Source + Source

Google is synonymous with web search. The search market share of Google commands is incomparable to that of other search engines. Google leads over others by a huge margin, whereas other search engines together do not have a quarter of the market share that Google has. Google search is now seeing drops in searches, whereas […]

The post Google Search share drops; Bing increases appeared first on TheWindowsClub News.

Google has started automatically blocking emails sent by bulk senders who don't meet stricter spam thresholds and authenticate their messages as required by new guidelines to strengthen defenses against spam and phishing attacks. [...]

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Ça y est, la vague Rust déferle sur la Silicon Valley et même le géant Google n’y échappe pas ! Le langage de programmation qui monte, qui monte, s’installe peu à peu dans les couloirs de la firme de Mountain View et visiblement, il fait des ravages… mais dans le bon sens du terme !

Lors de la récente conférence Rust Nation UK, Lars Bergstrom, directeur de l’ingénierie chez Google, a lâché une petite bombe : les équipes de dev qui sont passées à Rust ont vu leur productivité doubler par rapport à celles qui utilisent encore C++ !

On savait déjà que Rust était prometteur, avec sa gestion de la mémoire ultra safe et son système de « ownership » qui évite les erreurs de segmentation. Mais de là à imaginer des gains de productivité pareils, personne n’osait en rêver !

Et pourtant, c’est bien réel puisque quand une équipe Google migre un projet C++ vers Rust, elle divise par deux le temps nécessaire pour le développer et le maintenir. C’est énorme ! Surtout quand on sait à quel point le développement en C++ peut être chronophage et complexe. Mais alors comment expliquer un tel boost de performance ?

D’après Lars Bergstrom, c’est très simple : Rust inspire confiance. Les développeurs se sentent plus sereins quand ils codent en Rust, car ils savent que le compilateur va les aider à éviter toute une classe de bugs vicieux liés à la gestion de la mémoire. Résultat, ils passent moins de temps à débugger et plus de temps à ajouter des fonctionnalités. Et ça, c’est bon pour le moral des troupes et pour la vélocité des projets !

Autre avantage de Rust : sa courbe d’apprentissage. Contrairement à ce qu’on pourrait penser, les développeurs Google ne mettent pas des mois à être opérationnels en Rust. En moyenne, il leur faut environ 2 mois pour se sentir à l’aise et 4 mois pour retrouver leur niveau de productivité C++.

C’est sûr, Rust n’est pas le langage le plus simple à prendre en main, avec ses concepts de ownership et de borrowing qui peuvent paraître abstraits au début. Mais une fois franchie cette étape, on découvre un langage puissant, expressif et fiable. Et puis, il faut bien l’avouer, il y a un petit côté « hype » à coder en Rust en ce moment. C’est un langage qui a le vent en poupe et tout le monde en parle !

Source

Developers can now take advantage of NVIDIA NIM packages to deploy enterprise generative AI, said NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang.

"The job of the computer is to not require C++ to be useful," said Huang at NVIDIA GTC 2024.

Microsoft is once again harassing Google Chrome users on Windows 10 and Windows 11 with popup desktop advertisements promoting Bing and its GPT-4 Bing Chat platform. [...]

Open a presentation in Chrome, then record with video inset as you present for up to 30 minutes.

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Carbon, an experimental programming language, entered TIOBE's top 100 ranking in February.

Google has redesigned the Chrome Web Store inspired by the Material You language, which gives the store a new look, color palette, tabs, and navigation. The entire UI is redesigned so that it fits other Google products using the Material You design-inspired looks.  Google redesigns the Chrome Web Store Inspired by our Material You design language, the […]

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Get up and running with ChatGPT with this comprehensive cheat sheet. Learn everything from how to sign up for free to enterprise use cases, and start using ChatGPT quickly and effectively.

Le groupe Alphabet, la maison-mère de Google, invite ses employés à la vigilance lors de l'utilisation de chatbots comme ChatGPT-4 et même Bard. Pourquoi ? Par crainte de voir ses IA récupérer et partager des informations confidentielles. A l'image de...