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In this month of July 2021, the TIOBE index celebrates its 20th anniversary. It was in July 2001 that it published for the first time the ranking of the most used programming languages. 20 years ago, Java dominated this ranking by far, followed by C and C++. Python was then in seventh position, far behind.

Python aims for the top, PHP rises, and TypeScript takes off

Next are C++, C#, and Visual Basic, which are all down except for C++, which continues to follow Python closely with a nice 1.80% increase. In seventh place, JavaScript tries painfully to climb back up the rankings with an increase of 0.23%. As you may have noticed, PHP used by giants like Facebook or WordPress, does not appear in this top 7. For the simple reason that it occupies the 8th place. This is rather promising for this ever so popular language which was in 9th place in 2020.

In conclusion, Python has been gaining ground in the last few months and could quickly consider taking the top spot in this ranking. Python is particularly widespread in the scientific world, and has many optimized libraries for numerical computation. This language is also considered a good entry point into the world of web development for beginners to understand the logic of programming.

We can also notice an interesting change on the TypeScript side, which moves from the 45th position to the 37th. TypeScript is a strict syntax superset of JavaScript that was created by Microsoft. Its purpose is to improve and secure the production of JavaScript code. Many developers who are comfortable with JavaScript are gradually switching to TypeScript.

Remote monitoring of a large number of an individual’s bio-vital parameters that can be transmitted, intelligently, thanks to 5G. This is the goal of YouCARE, a service announced by ZTE at MWC2021, which opened its doors today in Barcelona.

A “wearable” technology, easy to use, which involves the use of a t-shirt without metal components and with textile polymeric sensors (“E-Textile”), imperceptible, natively “immersed” in the washable fabric, which allow the detection of the electrical activity of the heart, the analysis of respiratory acts and components of sweat, muscle effort and body temperature.

All these data can be recorded and transmitted through a miniaturized control unit that converts them into digital format and sends them, thanks to ZTE’s 5G connection to a bidirectional platform that in turn transmits them to the user’s smartphone or smartwatch and to a remote unit that analyzes the values thanks to medical software.

Windows 11 will likely be available starting in November, but the free upgrade for PCs running Windows 10 is scheduled for 2022 – roughly by June. So there remains the unknown of whether your personal computer will be compatible and technologically adequate to meet the demands of the new operating system.

Minimum requirements for Windows 11

Microsoft has communicated the basic requirements to install Windows 11 on a PC. Specifically it requires:

What is the Trusted Platform Module (TPM)?

Windows 11’s minimum hardware requirements, minus the acronyms, acronyms and gibberish, are met by most PCs in circulation over the past five years. The only criticality is in that “Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0” that probably only engineers and a few enthusiasts know about. It’s a small hardware component on PC and laptop boards that takes care of computer security. In practice, it is present in all products designed for businesses, in all consumer computers of the last four years and in all computers equipped with at least 8th generation Intel or AMD Ryzen 2000 processors. If you have assembled your own PC or if you have relied on a retailer to do so, you will have to check for its presence on the components or in the data sheets: usually the TMP is integrated in the processor or it is a chip on the motherboard. Finally, it must be remembered that the module may be present but without the correct activation that is done by intervening on the BIOS parameters of your computer.

For “smart” users

A U.S. developer has published on his official page of the GitHub community a software, called WhyNotWin11, which allows you to verify the hardware compatibility of your PC with the future Windows 11. Just download it and run it to get the response and identify any critical issues. Obviously this is not an official tool and you should proceed with caution. Anyway, online users are appreciating its qualities. A simple method to check the presence or status of TMP on your PC is to type the term “tmp” in the Windows search string. At that point a page will appear where you can simply click on the “Security processor” entry to get every informative detail about the mounted version.

The specialized site HotHardware chose to carry out its tests on two Galaxy Book S, equipped with Lakefield processors, with their famous hybrid architecture. The only difference between the two machines is that the first one runs Windows 10 (21H1), while the second one proudly displays the leaked version of Windows 11 (21996.1). Both have been subjected to a wide range of benchmarks. The objective: to test the raw power as well as the performance in real conditions. And the result will certainly make engineers in Redmond purr, since Windows 11 got a higher score in almost all the tests performed.

Let’s start with the only (fake) bad news. To test the graphics part, HotHardware chose 3DMark, one of the references of the genre. Verdict: on the NightRaid test, Windows 11 is very slightly behind, with 4266 points… against 4286, that is less than 1% difference. A very small margin, which has very little value since this new version of Windows 11 was running with Windows 10 drivers. Not only is the compatibility there, but we can expect a performance gain once the drivers are updated. Especially on Cinebench, a similar test but less dependent on drivers, Windows 11 wins with 8.2% margin.

A performance gain in real conditions

In some categories, the difference is small but nevertheless significant. Geekbench, one of the leading processor benchmarks, finds an average raw power gain of about 2%. But where the result is interesting is in the tests that are closest to real-world conditions. On BrowserBench Spedometer 2, a benchmark that estimates the smoothness of web browsing, Windows 11 wins with more than 10% margin. Finally, another interesting test is UL PCMark 10, which tests many real applications (video conferencing, video editing, spreadsheets….). On the graphics aspect, same observation as for 3DMark: Windows 10 wins by a hair, for the reasons described above. But on everything else, Windows 11 has a real lead.

What about other architectures?

According to PhonAndroid, Windows 11 will be free for users of versions 7, 8.1 and 10. Should we already be jumping up and down, and expecting a visible performance gain as soon as the update is released? That’s the picture that seems to be emerging, and this new version of Windows shows itself in a rather flattering light. But beware: these tests were specifically carried out on a very recent hybrid processor from Intel. It’s all about optimization: this hardware is certainly better able to take advantage of the new OS than a processor that is already a few years old. Windows 11 will be presented on June 24th; let’s meet on that date to know if this performance gain is general or exclusive to Lakefields!

Rumors about MIUI 13, the new and long-awaited version of Xiaomi’s proprietary interface, are multiplying, so that now they are practically the order of the day.

Just on this last point there are now news: they appeared on the Net the names of the models that should receive MIUI 13 already in August 2021.

MIUI 13 in August 2021: on which Xiaomi and Redmi

According to the latest rumors that we reported, MIUI 13 should be officially announced in August 2021 and the smartphone called to bring it to debut should be the rumored and long-awaited Xiaomi Mi MIX 4.

According to the latest reports coming out of China, already during the month of August the update to MIUI 13 should be made available for the following Xiaomi and Redmi branded models:

Xiaomi Mi 11 5G (here’s our review)

Xiaomi Mi 10 series

Xiaomi Mi 9 series

Redmi K40 series

Redmi K30 series

Redmi Note 10 series

Redmi Note 9 series

Redmi Note 8 series

In addition to this, there is a little curiosity to report: even the old Xiaomi Mi 6 will receive MIUI 13. According to Lei Jun, in fact, there would still be over 2 million users in possession of this terminal and the Chinese manufacturer does not want to disappoint them.

It is very important to point out, however, that this list is neither official nor complete, for example there is no smartphone branded POCO.

A few days ago, Huawei unveiled the final and stable version of HarmonyOS. This final product looks a lot like Android, down to its Easter Eggs. From an interface and code point of view, HarmonyOS is a simple fork of Android, i.e. a new software based on the source code of an existing software. In this case: AOSP (Android Open Source Project).

Moreover, HarmonOS is able to run an application originally developed for Android without any difficulty, confirming the accusations of Huawei’s detractors. In order to defend itself from having simply imitated AOSP, the Chinese group has taken to the skies.

HUAWEI WANTS A SMOOTH TRANSITION FROM ANDROID TO HARMONYOS

Eric Xu, the current president of Huawei, addressed the Chinese developer community in a statement. “In order to protect the digital assets of existing users of Huawei cell phones and tablets, HarmonyOS 2 allows existing Android applications to run on certain devices equipped with the system,” says Eric Xu. In concrete terms, Huawei wants to smooth the transition from Android to HarmonyOS.

Initially, the manufacturer has no choice but to allow Android applications to run on its modular OS. If Huawei had developed an entirely new operating system without relying on the foundations of Android, the range of compatible applications on its devices via AppGallery would have been very meager. In this case, Huawei would have been forced to build up its ecosystem for several more years before it could hope to attract users. In the end, the current approach of the Chinese manufacturer allows to accelerate the transition.

Huawei plans to release the Mate 50 range by the end of 2021. Despite the sanctions against it and the industry-wide chip shortage, the Chinese group wants to do everything it can to stay on its usual schedule.

HUAWEI STAYS THE COURSE

According to indiscretions of PictureFan, Huawei believes it has plenty of time to announce a new generation of Mate after the presentation of the P50, whose arrival would be imminent. The Chinese brand would wait several months between the two announcements. Nevertheless, the release of the Mate 50 should take place before the end of the year. Huawei might slightly shift the launch date of the Mate, usually organized in September or October.

Despite the increasing difficulties since the Trump executive order was issued in May 2019, the Chinese group is determined to do everything in its power to stay on track. According to PictureFan, Huawei executives are in the mindset that “as long as we can get it out, the product will definitely appeal to consumers.”

Being deployed for a few days, Chrome 91 intends to push the optimization further with a browser up to 23% faster depending on the configuration and operating system.

Google continues its quest for performance to make Chrome the fastest and least resource-intensive browser. Started following an increase in criticism of the lack of optimization of the browser, the approach first took shape with Chrome 89, which had reduced the consumption of RAM on macOS and Android as well as a faster launch time on the latter. With Chrome 90, unused tabs were put to sleep, resulting in a decrease in the browser’s CPU load of up to 35%.

Sparkplug: a JavaScript code compiler

Sparkplug is the new JavaScript compiler developed by Google. As a reminder, the speed of execution of JavaScript code is a key element in the smoothness of web browsing. With this compiler, Google wants to make its JavaScript engine more powerful. In addition to Sparkplug, Google has also reduced the number of times Chrome needs to call certain functions and optimized the storage of code with what developers call “built-in calls”. After this update, users should see a significant speed boost.

Chrome 91 should also introduce new designs for form elements such as buttons, radio buttons or calendars. Developed jointly with Microsoft, this aesthetic change is also visible on the latest version of Edge Chromium.

Other optimizations expected in future updates

Google has also confirmed that it is working on other improvements for Chrome. As early as Chrome 92, the firm from Mountain View intends to introduce the “backward-forward cache” which will allow an instant display of previously visited pages when pressing the back arrow or the Back button.

A few weeks ago, Google rolled out the 90th iteration of Chrome. This new update comes with a host of new features, including the ability to name your tabs. On Windows 10, Chrome is also enriched with new security features aimed at protecting computers against computer attacks.

Unfortunately, the latest version of Chrome does not work properly on many machines running Windows 10. According to the testimonies collected by our colleagues from 9to5Google, the Google browser keeps crashing.

WHAT TO DO IF CHROME 90 CRASHES ON WINDOWS 10?

Specifically, all tabs opened by the user stop responding. They then display an empty page entitled “without title”. This is also the case for most extensions installed on Chrome. They become unusable for long minutes. According to some reports, Chrome 90 also regularly refuses to start, even after several restarts.

If you are affected by these bugs, 9to5Google advises you to install the latest beta of Chrome. Aware of some malfunctions, the giant of Mountain View has already integrated a patch to the update. Google should soon propose this patch on the stable channel.

While waiting for this patch, the media also recommends uninstalling and reinstalling Chrome directly from the Google website. Then, activate the synchronization of history, bookmarks and passwords. Close the web browser. Open File Explorer and go to the following address: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data. Then simply delete the “Local Stafe” file.

A researcher has discovered a batch of 12 computer flaws, which he has grouped under the name FragAttacks. Relatively difficult to exploit, these vulnerabilities are still dangerous. That’s why it is highly recommended to update all Wi-Fi devices.

A discovery of 12 vulnerabilities, the oldest of which date back to… 1997. The Belgian researcher Mathy Vanhoef published this May 11 a site dedicated to a whole lot of flaws in the very functioning of Wi-Fi, which he called “FragAttacks”.

For 9 months, he has been working with the Wi-Fi Alliance and the various companies concerned by these vulnerabilities to have them corrected. Ten of them have already published their patches: Microsoft, Intel, Cisco, Eero, Samsung, Nextgear… Users just have to run the updates (as they are advised to do systematically).

“Three of the vulnerabilities discovered are design flaws in the Wi-Fi standard and therefore affect most devices,” said the researcher, as noted by The Record Media. The other vulnerabilities are due to programming errors in the implementation of the Wi-Fi standard in products. “My experiences indicate that every Wi-Fi product is affected by at least one vulnerability and most have more than one,” Vanhoef said.

Properly exploited, FragAttacks allow a wide range of manipulations. In the worst case, the hacker could use it to execute the code (and therefore the program) of his choice on the victim’s device, all remotely. In the jargon, this is called RCE (for Remote Code Execution), and it is the ultimate goal of any hack, a sign that it is dangerous. From a RCE, it is possible to steal confidential information, to steal credentials from private accounts, to hijack transactions…

DANGEROUS VULNERABILITIES, BUT NOT EASY TO EXPLOIT

In his demonstration, the researcher takes advantage of the lack of secure connection on the site of the University of New York to simulate the takeover of a computer:

While FragAttacks are problematic – for proof, the reaction of manufacturers – they remain relatively difficult to exploit. First, the hacker must be within range of the Wi-Fi. Secondly, the exploitation requires user interaction, i.e. clicking on a malicious link or accepting a command for example. In other words, the attack is not sufficient on its own, the perpetrator must first succeed in phishing or another attack to trap the victim.

A simple precaution of navigation allows to avoid any risk: the Internet user must make sure to access the sites by HTTPS connections. The encryption offered by this security standard prevents the hacker from modifying the content of the information sent to the router, and therefore from exploiting the FragAttacks flaws. Today, HTTPS is very widespread, because it is free to set up with Let’s Encrypt, and because browsers try to push – or even force – its use. Mathy Vanhoef had already distinguished himself in 2017 for finding another Wi-Fi vulnerability, named “Krack”.