Apple to move away from Intel processors as it shifts to its own ARM architecture

At today's streamed Apple World Wide Developer's Conference (WWDC) Apple announced that it has been looking to move its Mac latops and desktops away from Intel processors and towards its own Apple Silicon. Demos at the pre-recorded event were created on Mac minis running Apple's A12 processors, identical to the ones running on the latest iPad Pros. Apple's last major architecture move was when it moved from PowerPC chips to Intel in 2005, Apple's A processors that have powered iPhones and iPads for the apst decade have shown staggering performance and great battery life. Moving the entire Apple hardware line to a unified ARM-powered architecture opens up a lot of opportunity for users and for developers.

Apple expects the transition to Apple Silicon to take around two years with the first Apple-powered Mac hardware shipping by the end of 2020 as per Tim Cook's on stage announcement. As for the majority of Mac users running on Intel, Apple says it will continue support for the foreseeable future. The advantage of Apple running its software on its own silicon include improved performance and continous upgrade paths without the usual stalling that's happened with companies depending on Intel to iterate.

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Android's AirDrop-like file-sharing might be available beyond mobile

We've known that Android is developing an AirDrop-like sharing feature. But now we learn that Nearby Share (or Nearby Sharing OR Fast Share) might also be coming to Chrome on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chrome OS. The feature will let Android users directly share files, links, and photos with different devices, which is what AirDrop does for Apple devices. We don't know yet when it'll officially launch.

Nearby Share was spotted in the latest build of Chrome OS canary, but it doesn't seem to be working just yet. The feature has reportedly been in development for over a year already. A video released by XDA Developers earlier this year showed Nearby Share baked in the quick settings menu. And that it'll work best if the devices sharing files are within a foot of each other. 

Source: The Verge

Police cars are missing from 'Fortnite'

Epic Games seems to be responding to current events. Gamers are reporting that Epic has taken on police cars from Fortnite. The removal is believed to be a response to the Black Lives Matter protests against police violence. A Wall Street Journal source says the developer isn't making a "political statement." Instead, it's trying to be "sensitive about the issues" players are dealing with. Epic hasn't commented yet about the matter.

While some major game industry players have endorsed the Black Lives Matter cause, Epic seems to take a softer stance. As Engadget points out, it acknowledges the outrage, but it isn't explicitly advocating a cause. Epic has been previously quoted as saying it will not ban players for political speech. This milder approach isn't surprising as these companies are hesitant to take up a cause without alienating buyers with opposing views.

Source: Engadget

Adobe will send a reminder to uninstall Flash by end of 2020

Adobe really wants to remind you not to use Flash anymore. If you haven't uninstalled the plugin yet, the company will send a prompt reminding you to uninstall it "later this year." And in 2021, it will block Flash content from running on its player completely.

Flash has been known to be riddled with security issues, and leaving it unchecked means attackers can exploit vulnerabilities. And now, Adobe wants to remind you that it's time to let it go in the past.

Source: Engadget