Technology - Google News

Apple Park partially evacuated after envelope with white powder substance was discovered - The Verge
Microsoft slides ads into Windows Insiders' File Explorer - The Register
Google says Steam is coming to 'select' Chromebooks - Engadget

Apple Park partially evacuated after envelope with white powder substance was discovered - The Verge

Posted: 15 Mar 2022 02:56 PM PDT

Part of the Apple Park campus in Cupertino was evacuated after first responders discovered an envelope containing a white powder substance, NBC Bay Area reports. The Santa Clara County Fire Department's incident report shows there was a fire alarm and hazmat response at Apple's headquarters just after noon local time.

Emergency personnel since have determined that the situation is under control, and employees apparently have been allowed to go back inside, according to the publication. It's unclear what the substance may have been.

Apple did not immediately reply to a request for comment about what might be going on. After rescheduling return-to-office plans for its employees several times, Apple will start a "phased approach" to its hybrid work pilot in April.

Update March, 15th 7:19PM ET: Added incident report info from SCCFD.

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Microsoft slides ads into Windows Insiders' File Explorer - The Register

Posted: 15 Mar 2022 07:30 AM PDT

Updated Microsoft appears to be experimenting with more adverts in Windows 11 after eagle-eyed Insider users spotted helpful hints turning up in File Explorer.

Windows Insider Florian posted a screenshot of the ads, and other unpaid testers said they noticed similar hints lurking in the Dev Channel build, with one ad suggesting users visit Microsoft's Office website to look at PowerPoint templates.

Our sacrificial Dev Channel machine (currently running 22572.201 – yet another servicing pipeline test) does not show the messages, suggesting that Microsoft is performing some sort of A/B testing and we're simply not on the list.

Some people will go mad if Microsoft starts adding ads in explorer. pic.twitter.com/rusnyrYyX2
— Florian (@flobo09) March 12, 2022

The ad that was spotted by Florian suggests that perhaps the user might fancy using Microsoft Editor.

There was no mention of the helpful tips in the release notes for the latest Windows Insider build, although Microsoft does have form when it comes to crowbarring ads for its own services into its operating systems.

Microsoft also infamously tried to stick third-party advertising into its Mail client during the heyday of Windows 10.

Unsurprisingly, the reaction thus far has been universally negative with some jokesters suggesting that the team responsible had "lost their damn minds." Others muttered darkly that the change from "My Computer" to "This PC" (which, to be fair, happened long before Windows 11) was a symptom of a greater malaise.

The attempt to ad sell services is not entirely new; we regularly see ads for Microsoft products popping up in all manner of locations – the Windows 10 Start Menu on this author's PC, for example, insists that our online shopping would be safer with Microsoft OneDrive. Then there is the the way Microsoft has forced its new Edge browser on not-always-willing customers.

However, making use of File Explorer in this way could well be a step too far for many users. There are, after all, plenty of File Explorer alternatives out there, and if you prefer to keep using your own PC hardware without the messaging from Redmond, Windows is no longer the essential it once was.

The Register contacted Microsoft to learn more about its plans and will update should the Windows behemoth respond.

In the meantime, the ads thus far appear limited to the Dev Channel, meaning that this particular method of directing the user to the company's services might never see the light of day. ®

Updated to add at 1705 UTC on March 15

Brandon LeBlanc, a senior product manager on the Windows team, told The Register in a statement: "This was an experimental banner that was not intended to be published externally and was turned off."

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Google says Steam is coming to 'select' Chromebooks - Engadget

Posted: 15 Mar 2022 12:04 PM PDT

The rumors of Steam coming to Chromebooks were true. As 9to5Google reports, Google mentioned in its Games Developer Summit keynote that a Steam alpha test for Chrome OS will be available for "select" Chromebooks. Details weren't available as of this writing, but Google pointed would-be players to a (currently unavailable) Chromebook community forum post. We've asked the company for more information.

A February leak at 9to5 may have revealed the initially supported hardware. At the time, Steam would only run on a trio of Acer Chromebooks (including the Spin 713), ASUS' Chromebook CX9 and Flip CX5, HP's Pro c640 G2 and an unnamed Lenovo model. You might be limited to models with at least an 11th-gen Core i5 and 7GB of RAM, too. This wouldn't be shocking given the demands of many Steam games, but it might rule out many entry-level laptops and well-known models like the Galaxy Chromebook 2.

This will be an alpha, and there are already hints Google will widen support. The bigger question might surround gaming. Which titles will work? Will Steam developers need to optimize games for Chromebooks? All the same, it might be welcome for gamers who've wanted a Chromebook but wanted more to play than Android games and cloud services could offer.

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