Battery for PC Blog

Microsoft has released 4 new free wallpaper theme packs into the Microsoft Store. The packs appear to be centred around the landscapes and the season and include:

SNOWY MOUNTAINS

Peaks glitter under the moon, stars, and Northern Lights. Snowy sweeps reflect sunrise and sunset onto towering cliffs. Take in the views from the warmth of your desktop with this 18-image set, free from Windows 10 Themes.

FROSTY ART

Frozen bubbles, crystalline leaves, and delicate buttercups show off their fragile sparkles in this 20-image set, free for Windows 10 Themes.

FIELD OF POPPIES

Take in the vivid beauty of these symbolic flowers with this free, 16-image set for Windows 10 Themes.

UP IN THE SKY

Seen from above, below, or across a graceful wing, these 16 images of aircraft will send your imagination on a journey with this free Windows 10 Theme.
After downloading the collection, go to Start > Settings > Personalization > Themes and click on the theme you prefer.
To apply and change to the most appropriate colour, based on the current wallpaper, go to Customize > Colors > Automatically select a primary colour from the background.

The dust has barely had time to settle on AMD’s X470 chipset, which launched alongside its second-generation Ryzen processors. Looking ahead, however, X570 is now right around the corner, or so the latest leak says. One thing that’s interesting about the upcoming chipset is that it supposedly will offer PCI Express Gen 4 support.
If the X570 does indeed end up supporting PCIe 4.0, as the latest leak indicates, it will be AMD’s first chipset to do so, and the first consumer platform in general. It also stands to reason that AMD’s upcoming Zen 2 processors (Ryzen 3000 series) will support PCIe 4.0 too.
Whether the leaked information is accurate or not, it’s impossible to say (AMD doesn’t talk about unreleased products, and nothing has been announced yet). This is all based on a slide at Gamer.com.tw. The slide appears to be several months old, as it highlights AMD’s B450 chipset and Athlon 200GE series as being unreleased as well.
According to the slide, AMD will launch its X570 chipset at Computex. That’s still several months away—Computex 2019 gets underway on May 28 and runs through June 1.
While it’s wise to always take leaks and rumors with a generous heaping of salt, it wouldn’t surprise us if Zen 2 (otherwise known as Matisse) ends up supporting PCIe 4.0. AMD appears to be embracing the updated spec—it recently launched Radeon Instinct MI60 accelerator is the world’s first 7-nanometer GPU to boast PCIe 4.0 support, which doubles the bandwidth over PCIe 3.0 solutions.

Microsoft appears to be planning on overhauling its Windows 10 icons alongside its Office suite. The software giant revealed a new icon design for Office 365 earlier this week, and with it teased some Windows changes it has been considering. “It is a huge undertaking to build a common system and design 10 icons at the same time,” explains Jon Friedman, head of Office design at Microsoft. “Now that we have established the system we will start to scale it across all of Microsoft.”
Friedman also revealed, as spotted by Thurrott, that this Office effort is just “the beginning of a cross-company effort to update all icons in the same style.” An early glimpse at just how Windows 10 might be updated was teased as part of Friedman’s blog post. It includes Windows 10 concept images that have updated modern icons for photos, news, mail, and many other built-in apps. The Verge understands these images are simply mockups for now, but that Microsoft is looking at modernizing Windows 10 icons in the long-term.
Windows 10 still includes icons in some parts of the operating system that have existed for more than 10 years. These older icons look very out of place if you ever come across them, despite Microsoft’s efforts to modernize its Windows design and in particular the way you configure settings in the operating system. Microsoft has had numerous design efforts over the years for Windows, but now that the company is focused on a broad single icon design across the entire company it could be what’s needed to finally clear up some ancient examples.

Multiple reports are convinced Apple AAPL -0.53%’s iPhone XS (details), iPhone XS Max (details) and iPhone XR (details) are in serious trouble with the incremental nature of their upgrades failing to excite buyers. Having tried price cuts, a new discovery suggests Apple’s next move is to bring back a much-loved feature to reignite customer interest…
No, not the headphone jack – the other one. Ever-reliable blog Patently Apple writes that supply chain insiders have revealed Apple is seriously considering bringing back the fingerprint reader. And with a modern twist.
The modern twist is the use of in-display fingerprint reader technology and Patently Apple notes that Apple is currently evaluating biometric sensor suppliers O-film, General Interface Solution and TPK Holding. Interestingly, this is said to be for next year’s iPads first but used as a trial ahead of introducing it in new iPhones.
Why iPads first? Apple is looking for a solution to reduce the bezel size and eliminate the home button on the iPad and iPad Mini ranges but avoid the cost of adding Face ID. An in-display fingerprint reader fulfils this job perfectly. It also gives Apple a lower risk product line to vet the technology before adding it into the premium iPhone and iPad Pro ranges.
And there’s a further twist.
Patently Apple says O-film, GIS and TPK Holding are also the suppliers for Samsung’s cutting-edge ‘ultrasonic’ in-display reader which will be used in the Galaxy S10. Ultrasonic readers are said to be as quick and accurate as any physical reader and even more secure. While existing in-display readers are slow, Ultrasonic tech would make for a worthy successor to Touch ID in Apple’s eyes.
Furthermore, this is clearly a win-win scenario. Apple gets to match the headline upgrade of its biggest rival while offering customers a genuinely useful feature. After all, no matter how good Face ID, there are undoubtedly times when it’s more convenient to unlock a device with your fingerprint. For example, when you don’t want to pick it up first.
Apple also patented its own in-display reader back in August, so the thinking has been there for some time.
Beyond this biometrics actually work best in unison. So you could look at your phone while touching the reader for dual authentication. With Apple previously revealing plans for iPhones to replace crucial documentation like passports, this would be a big step towards achieving the necessary device security to do it.
Would Apple face jibes from rivals about reversing its position? Of course, but almost every Apple rival has U-turned about the headphone jack, screen notches and more. The reality is this would be a great move which everyone can get behind…

When Apple effectively scrubbed all mention of its AirPower wireless charging mat when it didn’t show up a year after its unveiling, that raised a question: would the wireless charging case for AirPods meet a similar fate? Not necessarily. Historically accurate analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has claimedthat AirPods with wireless charging support should arrive in the first quarter of 2019. He also suggested that there would be more changes than you might expect. They’d update to a newer Bluetooth spec (presumably Bluetooth 5.0), possibly a new W-series chip, and would include design changes like a more heat-resistant hinge.
The hinge and new internal components will be more expensive to make, Kuo said, although he didn’t say if that would raise the prices. Notably, he also didn’t mention the AirPower mat that was originally meant to launch in tandem with the new AirPods. This doesn’t rule out its debut, but the technical issues that have plagued AirPower could have the upgraded AirPods launching by themselves.
You might have to wait for a more substantial AirPod update, too. Kuo said there was an “all-new design” coming, but not until early 2020. He didn’t offer clues. Past rumors have pointed to Apple working on water-resistant AirPods that would launch in 2019 at the earliest, but it’s not certain if that’s what Kuo is referencing. Whatever happens, you might have to live with Apple’s existing audio candy canes for a while longer.