Bluetooth 5 Spec to Be Announced

In an email sent by the Bluetooth SIG Executive Director, the Bluetooth 5 spec has been planned to be announced on June 16, and promises to improve in many aspects over existing Bluetooth technologies. Not much is known about what will be included in the new spec aside from a few broad, yet exciting, promises such as quadrupled range and twice as fast speed.

One of the most interesting promises made, though, is that they are now increasing the “data broadcasting capacity” of devices by 800%. This broadcasting was initially intended for unpaired devices to be able to tell each other what names they have been given, making it easier to choose the right device to pair with. However, this extra space can now be used for more arbitrary information, allowing devices to have more meaningful conversations with each other without the need to pair.

From a security standpoint, this is can be somewhat worrying, as you will have to be more careful about what information your devices will be willing to give out. Still, seeing as how the Internet of Things continues to be pushed as being “the next big thing,” this can certainly be seen as a step in the right direction, since it lets devices communicate with each other without the need of a middle man.

Deal of the Week: Promier Cordless Light-Switch

The Promier Cordless Light is a traditional looking light switch with 2 COB panels that produce 200 lumens of light. Installs in seconds either by drywall screw holes, magnetic mounts, or hook and loop double-sided tape. The perfect light switch for anywhere. Use in your closet, garage, or anywhere dark. Put one in your backpack or purse and be prepared in case of a power outage. Installs almost anywhere or can even be used portably. No electrician needed and comes with 3 AAA batteries so you’re ready to go. You can keep it for yourself, or use it as a gift for a friend.

Quick Tip: How Do I Clean Up and Optimize My PC Using CCleaner?

CCleaner is one of the best and free PC cleanup and optimization tools around. Clean up your system’s temporary files, Internet temp file, and cache files. Also, see how you can utilize the System Registry cleaner as well as managing your system Start-Up programs. Plus, I’ll show you how to disable unwanted Internet browser plugins. I highly recommend you run CCleaner after your install a new program or after you uninstall a program from your system to keep it fresh and clean. This is true for the Cleaner and the Registry sections of CCleaner.

Watch my short video tutorial to see more!

CCleaner by Piriform can be freely downloaded here.

Metal Gear Solid V

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is a third person, open world, action-adventure stealth game by Kojima Productions. Running on the Fox Engine, the game’s graphics tends to range from very pretty to occasionally beautiful (although what triple-a game doesn’t seem to these days). It’s also just a very good, very satisfying stealth game, aided by its very unique tone that has been present throughout the Metal Gear Solid series.

That said, the game isn’t exactly perfect. For example, many of the missions, while fun, can become overly repetitive at times. This isn’t helped by the fact that, while the game is generally bug-free, it has some core game design flaws that you’ll occasionally die to, which it then further punishes you for by forcing you to either restart the mission all over again, or load a checkpoint and lose a bonus.

Unfortunately, the game does come with microtransactions, but luckily they only apply to the game’s multiplayer components (which we don’t really recommend, anyway).

Overall, though, we feel this game still has a lot going for it and is worth your time. If you’re interested, the game is available for purchase here.

Release Calendar: July 2016

This week in Computer History

July 20, 1976 – First Robot Viking I Lands on Mars

Viking I landed on Mars to explore the surface of the Red Planet. The first robots on Mars, Viking I and its successor gave scientists their first information about the planet’s surface, including information they hoped would allow people to walk there. Although the Viking probes found no evidence of life on Mars, they returned detailed pictures of the planet and information about the soil’s composition.