Windows 10 Blue Screen of Death Now Shows a QR Code

Microsoft for the first time since Windows 8 has updated its Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) interface that shows up when the operating system crashes due to a critical error. The updated screen now shows QR codes to help technicians identify error codes in the blue screens.

It is worth mentioning that until now, the Windows 'stop code' stayed visible only for a few seconds during a Blue Screen, making it difficult to note, research, and fix the specific. However, now that's not the case. Now users can scan the QR code from their handsets to find an encoded URL with specific troubleshooting information for the problem and related support articles. Nonetheless, the sad ASCII smiley that was introduced with Windows 8 will still be there on the blue screen. Prior to Windows 8, Microsoft used to display more detailed information about the crash.

These QR codes were found by testers in the latest preview version of Windows 10, so it is yet to reach all the users. The QR codes in the Blue Screen of Death will be debuting this summer as a part of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update.

Microsoft last week released a preview of Windows 10, build 14316, for Insiders on Fast Ring, with a range of features including cross-device Cortana, and a new Universal Skype app. Some of the features in Windows 10 build 14316 include low battery notifications, and cross-device Cortana sync. With the new update, Cortana will be able to work across different platforms in a much more efficient way.

The build also brings with it Skype Universal Windows Platform Preview app. The Skype UWP Preview app comes with several of Skype's basic functionalities. Along with it, Microsoft is also bringing some improvements to Action Center, allowing users to manage the notification settings for individual apps.

Flexible Camera Developed That Can Be Wrapped Around Objects

A team led by an Indian-origin professor at Columbia University has created a novel sheet camera that can be wrapped around everyday objects to capture images that cannot be taken with one or more conventional cameras. "Cameras today capture the world from essentially a single point in space. While the camera industry has made remarkable progress in shrinking the camera to a tiny device with ever increasing imaging quality, we are exploring a radically different approach to imaging," said Shree K Nayar, computer science professor at Columbia University. "We believe there are numerous applications for cameras that are large in format but very thin and highly flexible," added Nayar who graduated from the Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, in 1984. Nayar's team designed and fabricated a flexible lens array that adapts its optical properties when the sheet camera is bent. This optical adaptation enables the device to produce high quality images over a wide ...

Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, Yahoo back Apple in its fight over encryption with FBI

The nation's leading tech companies joined security experts, independent programmers and civil liberties advocates who filed court papers backing Apple in its fight with the FBI over an encrypted iPhone used by an extremist killer. Several law enforcement groups, meanwhile, filed briefs in support of federal authorities who are seeking Apple's help in hacking an encrypted iPhone used by Syed Farook, one of the San Bernardino mass shooters. These "friend of the court" briefs come in advance of a March 22 hearing in which Apple is asking U.S. Magistrate Sheri Pym to reverse an order requiring Apple to create a software program that overrides iPhone security features. That program would let authorities try to unlock Farook's phone by guessing its passcode; Apple says it would make all other iPhones more vulnerable to future attacks. Relatives of five people who were killed, along with one survivor of the December 2 attack, also filed a brief saying the FBI's ...

BlackBerry updates BBM with enhanced privacy, more content control

Canadian mobile manufacturing company BlackBerry on Monday launched a new BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) update that will provide users enhanced privacy and control over messages and content. The update, rolled for iOS, Android and BlackBerry smartphones, is available without any subscription fees. "The new release provides unmatched level of privacy and control to BBM users without any subscription fees. Keeping control over the messages and content that they share, BBM users can be ensured that what they share is always theirs to control," Matthew Talbot, senior vice president (BBM) at BlackBerry, said in a statement.

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