Apple Music's Lossless audio will come to the HomePod in a software update

Apple

A future update will bring Apple Music's Lossless audio to both the HomePod and HomePod mini. According to a newly published Apple Support document, the speakers won't get the feature at launch. Still, they will get Spatial Audio at launch, a Dolby Atmos feature that offers an immersive, three-dimensional experience that makes it seem like music is all around the listener. 

Apple Music Lossless will come in two tiers and will be free for subscribers. The "Standard" Lossless tier has audio up to 48kHz, while the "Hi-Ress Lossless" has audio between 48kHz and 192kHz. The latter requires external equipment like a USB digital-to-analog converter. 

Source: MacRumors

Spotify on the Apple Watch gets offline music downloads

Spotify

Spotify has plans to bring offline music downloads to Google Wear soon. But that isn't coming out yet. iOS users, though, are getting the feature first. Spotify will let Apple Watch users download playlists, albums, and podcasts and play these offline, meaning you can listen to your favourite audio content without bringing a phone with you. 

Back in November, Spotify added the option to stream music using the Apple Watch, but it only worked as a remote for the streaming service. Now, the offline feature will be available on the Apple Watch Series 3 or later, running WatchOS 6.0 later, with WatchOS 7.1 and up recommended. You will also need a Spotify Premium subscription for the feature to work.

Source: The Verge

Microsoft will finally pull the plug on Internet Explorer in June 2022

Microsoft is now ready to kill off Internet Explorer. The IE 11 desktop app will be retired on June 15, 2022, for most versions of Windows 10. Microsoft Edge still has a built-in Internet Explorer mode for websites that still need IE and those organizations that still use old apps and sites that don't work with modern browsers. The company plans to support Edge's IE mode until the end of 2029, giving these organizations a few more years to transition these old web apps.

Microsoft 365 and other apps will stop supporting IE 11 on August 17. The only versions of IE that won't be affected include the Windows 10 Long-Term Servicing Channel, which is used for devices that stay the same over time (like air traffic control systems and MRI machines), and the Server Internet Explorer 11 desktop applications or the MSHTML (Trident) engine.

Source: Engadget

Google Assistant with Duplex helps you automatically change stolen passwords in Chrome

Google

Google plans to use both Assistant and Duplex to make it easier to change stolen passwords on Chrome. Duplex is technology designed to handle tedious, multi-step processes on your behalf (like making a phone reservation). There's a version of this tech that can help you through online forms.

Now, Google Assistant and Duplex will make it easier to change compromised passwords on Chrome for Android. When you get warned about this issue on the mobile browser, an Assistant logo will show up next to the blue "Change password" button.

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