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Experiencing Poor Phone Battery Life?

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Have you been experiencing reduced battery life on your phone recently?

Unsuspecting mobile phone owners may be left with flat batteries after they update their handsets, despite technology companies promising longer life and better performance from the new software.

It was recently discovered that when iPhones or Android phones are updated to the latest version of their operating systems, their battery life can fall by as much as three hours.

A two-year-old iPhone 6 lost 38 minutes of battery life when it was updated to the latest version of Apple’s iOS software, iOS 10. A Google Nexus 6P phone went from 12 to nine hours of battery life when the most recent version of Android was installed.

Both the iPhone and Android software claim that features in the latest versions improve battery life, rather than hurting it.

Mobile phone companies typically release major software updates every year as well as adding smaller changes throughout the year. When an update is released, users are sent notifications urging them to upgrade and are often given no way to revert to the previous operating system, meaning they are stuck with the new software even if they suffer from worse performance.

It was recently stated that software updates can also mean the memory of tablets and phones falling dramatically due to the extra capacity taken up by more advanced software. A Microsoft Surface Pro 3 tablet lost 30 gigabytes of storage when upgrading to the latest version of Windows – enough for thousands of photos.

The updates often include new features and important security changes that protect users from being tracked or having their details stolen, but early versions can be loaded with bugs.

It’s also been said that mobile phone companies should do more to warn users of the side effects of updating, and allow them to revert to older software if they wish.

It was found that battery life and storage were improved in some cases. Updating an iPad Air to the latest software improved battery life by two hours and updating a Samsung Galaxy tablet improved it by four and a half hours.

Richard Headland from ‘Which?’ said “Given how much we rely on mobile devices, companies should do more to tell us about the possible downsides of updates, as well as the benefits,”

Apple and Google declined to comment.

This year, Microsoft was forced to pay a travel agent (£8,000) after an unwanted automatic upgrade to her computer left it slow and prone to crashing.

 

If you found this article interesting, check out our ‘Latest Industry News’ page for more Technology insights. You can view it by clicking on this link!

– James Titcomb

Software Dev Feature: Should I learn .NET or PHP?

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Discover the different aspects of .NET & PHP and which may be most suited to you before you start your journey as a software developer!

If you’re a software developer, there simply isn’t enough time in the world to learn every single technology, language and platform you might need for work, or to land a better job; at some point, you’re going to have to decide in what direction you want to expand your knowledge base.

The choices you make in that regard will have a huge impact on your life. If you devote too much time to learning a technology that’s on the verge of obsolescence, it could make future employment a problematic affair. Fortunately, there are lots of technologies that will continue to grow and prove useful to the world for the next several years—but how do you choose between those?

With all that in mind, let’s look at .NET and PHP, two software programming platforms that enjoy broad bases of support. PHP is a general-purpose scripting language that many people rely upon for Web development (hundreds of millions of websites leverage it today) while .NET is a framework built by Microsoft for Windows-related Web work. While it’s certainly possible to learn the intricacies of both platforms, is there one worth tackling more than the other?

 

What’s the Difference?

As mentioned above, PHP is an open-source software programming language primarily used for developing Web-based applications. There are a few tools out there that allow you to use it to write desktop applications, but the majority of apps written in PHP run on a Web server such as Apache server or Microsoft IIS.

PHP is a language, but .NET is a whole platform comprising a few different technologies. There are two main languages you can use with .NET to create either desktop or Web applications: VB.NET and C# (others exist, of course, but those are the main two). As with PHP, .NET requires a Web server (specifically Microsoft IIS) to create Web applications (it also requires ASP.NET, a technology that’s part of .NET’s broader platform).

While .NET is built into Microsoft Windows, you can run .NET desktop applications on Linux using a free and open source product called Mono. PHP sometimes comes pre-installed on Linux, and if not, it’s quick and easy to install. But to develop with either platform, you need some free tools: for .NET, you’ll want one of the free Visual Studio Express products from Microsoft; For PHP, there are several options—one popular choice is Eclipse.

There are benefits to learning either PHP or .NET. Should you learn both? If you’re new to software programming then you best just focus on one to start off with. At an early stage in your career, you need to focus your energy on getting very good at one thing, which will translate into higher-paying jobs down the road. If you try to go to broad, you will stretch yourself thin and not master anything. Pick one thing and be great at it!

 

Which Should I Pick?

So which do you pick? You could take a look at the entry-level jobs for PHP and .NET in the area, and use that data to influence your decision. But that research will only tell you about today: What about five years from now?

Here are some questions to help you work through a possible decision:

  • First, do you want to create desktop applications on Windows? Then .NET is a great way to go.
  • What about Web applications on Windows?Again, .NET is an excellent choice. However, you can do PHP on Windows (although it’s probably more commonly used on Linux).
  • Do you love Linux and want to focus on it?Then go for PHP if you’re doing Web development. While .NET can run on Linux with the help of Mono, it’s more suited to desktop and not Web.
  • So what about desktop apps on Linux, then?In that case, you probably want to move away from both PHP and .NET and study other languages and technologies, such as C++ and Gtk+, or perhaps wxWidgets combined with a language such as C++ or Python. While Mono works on Linux, it’s a bit too narrow in terms of entry-level job opportunities.
  • What if you want to do both Windows and Linux?That’s moving away from what was mentioned earlier about focusing; focus on one or the other early in your career. Later on, you can start to think about things like cross-platform development. But for learning a new technology and landing an entry-level job, please stay focused—with one caveat: If you’re going to go for Web development, don’t forget the client side. Also learn some JavaScript
  • If you’re going to go for Windows, do you choose C# or VB.NET?This is a potentially contentious question, with strong opinions on either side. One thing to bear in mind is that they’re actually very similar languages underneath, just with different syntax; you can accomplish the same thing with either. For a beginner, the best route to go down is the C# route. Reason being, things become contentious: VB.NET has a bit of stigma attached to it as an “amateur” language (even though it’s not). As a result, advanced programmers are more likely to choose C# when starting a new project.

Conclusion

As your programming knowledge becomes more advanced, you’ll find it’s easier to pick up new languages. Many of the popular languages today share similar syntax that has its roots in the original C programming language. (Such as C++, Java, C#, PHP and JavaScript.) That makes it easy to learn them later, and multiple languages may indeed lie in your future—but for now, stay focused. And most importantly: Have fun!

 

Are you already knowledgeable in the field of .NET and C#? If the answer is yes, check out our latest Software Developer vacancy by clicking on this link!

 

– Jeff Cogswell

An Introduction to C#

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What is C#?

C# is an object oriented programming language developed by Microsoft. The C# language is designed to be platform independent, and borrows its syntax heavily from both Java and C++ (so any experience of those languages will help those starting out). The name comes from the musical notation, and indicates a progression or incremental version of C++.

The language is part of the wider Microsoft .NET Framework. The .NET framework is a set of libraries and standards that can be used across a variety of languages (including C#). The framework offers support for a number of user interface, data access and web application libraries and is the primary means of creating modern Windows applications.

 

Why use C#?

C# has become the goto language for Windows application developers for a number of reasons. Firstly it is heavily promoted in this way by Microsoft, and they offer a strong suite of tools to support it – Visual Studio being the most obvious example.

C# is also a popular language for projects involving the .NET Framework. The .NET Framework is included in most Windows operating platforms and has been adopted as somewhat of a standard for applications on the platforms too.

The .NET framework has been implemented on other platforms (such as Linux), by the Mono Project, so those wanting to develop away from Windows have option to do so. Xamarin also offer a number of products that allow developers to create mobile applications in C#. Microsoft recently unveiled news of a new open source compiler for .NET called Roslyn with which they are plotting the future of both Visual Basic and C#.

Performance wise, the language was never designed to challenge other languages like C or C++, running as it does on top of a ‘Just In Time’ (JIT) compiler (Languages like C++ are compiled for specific platforms). Its design goals are centred more around sound object oriented principles, and providing resilience and relatively easy debugging. That said for hardware independent projects, it is a more than capable modern language. Rosyln is part of a wider project by Microsoft to open source a lot of its development technologies, which many expect will help improve both compatibility and performance in the future.

 

Best starting tool to use

Visual Studio is the obvious tool for anyone wanting to get serious about C# development. As well as offering the features you would expect (syntax highlight, intelligence, integration with other Microsoft tools and technologies) it is also extremely well supported by the wider development community.

There are however many additional tools out there for you to explore along your journey of learning this excellent programming language!

 

Do you already have experience in working with C#? Check out our latest job vacancy on our website by following this link. It may be just right for you!

– Infragistics

Why Every Software Programmer should learn C#

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C# is a general-purpose programming language designed originally by Microsoft in order to be used for application development within the Microsoft Platform.

C# is an extremely popular language because of its easy and well-designed usability. For any developers looking to start building applications for the Microsoft platform, C# is a must-know language!

 

Beginner Friendliness

Simple to Get Started With

C# was designed to be simple and easy to use. Since C# is a high level language, it reads somewhat closer to English. In addition, C# abstracts away (i.e. handles for you) most of the complex details of the machine (computer) so you can focus on programming instead of worrying about the little details many consider both tedious and difficult.

If you’re planning to get into C# game development, then Unity is also designed to be easy to get started with as well.

Slightly More Complex

As a lower level language than very high level languages such as Python, it may take time to learn everything about C#, and sometimes it may take a bit more code to get some working prototype. However, as you get a hang of things, C# will become easier.

 

Scalability

Easy to Maintain

A statically-typed language, which means your code will be checked for errors before it gets built into an app. Errors will be easier to track down, and since statically-typed languages are also more strict with how you code something, the codebase in general will be more consistent and thus easier to maintain as it grows in size and complexity.

Fast

As a statically typed language, C# is faster than dynamically typed languages because things are more clearly defined. Thus, when the app is running, your machine’s resources will not be wasted on checking the definition of something in your code.

Community

First of all, community size is important, because the larger a programming language community is, the more support you’d be likely to get. As you step into the programming world, you’ll soon understand how vital support is, as the developer community is all about giving and receiving help. Moreover, the larger a community, the more people will be building useful tools to make development in that particular language easier. As of now, there are over 600 notable programming languages world-wide.

So, with that context in mind, let’s get into the details of the C# community size.

Meetup Communities

At meetups, you can generally network and learn from fellow developers in real life. Meetups often offer mentorship to those who want it as well. There are hundreds of groups dedicated to the programming language which you can join online. In terms of programming languages, C# has the 7th largest Meetup community.

What’s more, Unity is the most popular game engine that is cross-platform compatible, and it has a very large community with over 4.5 million registered developers and the greatest global market share in terms of game engines (45% so far). The Unity forum is extremely active, so if you want to develop games or virtual reality apps, Unity is a great choice where you’d easily be able to get support and also have access to tools built by fellow Unity developers.

Endless Career Opportunities

16% of the top 100 million websites are powered by the ASP.NET framework, of which many might be using C#, so there are some opportunities in enterprise-level backend development. However, tech giants mainly use Java for its better portability and tools. Nonetheless, if you know already C#, it shouldn’t be too hard to pick up Java if push comes to shove.

With the rise of indie game development, C# developers are likely to have better opportunity, since Unity has pretty much become the de facto game engine for indie game development.

Future

As C# was developed by Microsoft to build apps on the Microsoft platform, Microsoft will likely make sure to keep C# relevant and updated.

A programming language’s ability to stay relevant and survive also depends on whether the language is getting new blood. In terms of search volume according to Google Adwords, C# has a healthy number of search volume and is the 5th place in terms of the programming language people are most interested in learning.

Interest in learning the programming language grew by 22.2 ％ in 2015 and continues to rise every year!

Virtual Reality will likely continue to be a big thing, and independent game development will continue to grow in popularity. Since Unity is a major player in VR/game development, C# has a pretty optimistic future.

 

If you found this article interesting, be sure to check out our latest job vacancy by following this link. It may be just right for you!

 

– Bestprogramminglanguagefor.me

ERP Feature: Take a look at the new capabilities of Dynamics AX

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ERP: An insight on the new capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics AX

If you’re an IT employee at a large company, chances are you grapple with a host of different user login names and passwords, all while ensuring the right people see the right things at the right time. It’s no easy task—and accidentally granting access to the wrong person or relying on multiple passwords and usernames can add up to serious security vulnerabilities. This is where ERP Security comes in.

Security is a core tenant of any good ERP system, which is why the latest version of Dynamics AX incorporates design enhancements to safeguard permissions, privacy and security of access, making your job easier and your work secure. These enhancements include single sign-on and web only identities, both made possible through a painless deployment process.

 

Single Sign-On in the Cloud 

Dynamics AX resolves the issue of multiple sign-on profiles through its integration with Azure Active Directory, Microsoft’s multi-tenant cloud-based directory and identity management service. Now customers and partners can use a single identity to access the full Dynamics AX system using web-only IDs. With identities managed in the cloud, users can log on to Microsoft applications anywhere, and access multiple Microsoft services—including SharePoint Online, Power BI and Azure SQL—in one seamless experience.

The Azure Active Directory integration also offers financial benefits to enterprise customers who have already invested in on-premises active directory solutions. Instead of replacing the entire system, they can use Active Directories to extend their on-premises directory to the cloud. The single sign-on feature also reduces time and money spent on IT management organisation-wide by safeguarding identities in Azure, Microsoft’s secure cloud environment.

 

Controlled Access: What You See is What You Get

The overall design of Dynamics AX has been changed to ensure system users only view content to which they have been granted access. Now, what you see is truly what you get. For example, if a designer intends for a certain artefact within the system to only be read by a certain user, Microsoft can now ensure that’s going to be the case. This simplification is appreciated by Microsoft partners who notice it makes development faster and debugging easier.

 

Deployment Made Simple

Even with all of these new security developments, setting up an ERP system can be daunting. Fortunately, Dynamics AX also offers the flexibility for companies to scale at their own pace, taking some of the complexity out of the customer experience. This simplified, flexible approach is empowered by Dynamics AX’s cloud availability. Servers are deployed in Azure by Microsoft, and setup prerequisites are installed by Microsoft, so it’s almost as easy as clicking a button.

Users will find as Dynamics AX moves to the cloud, so does the Microsoft development team. As Azure continues to develop, the Microsoft development team are working to constantly update features and simplify deployments in order to better serve AX users.

 

Are you already familiar with ERP Systems and Microsoft Dynamics AX? Be sure to check out our latest job vacancy which is primarily focused on the management and maintenance of an ERP System within an established manufacturing firm. You can view it by following this link!

– Umran Hasan

5 Major Tech Giants collaborate in Future of AI

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The world’s biggest technology companies are joining forces to consider the future of artificial intelligence (AI).

Amazon, Google’s DeepMind, Facebook, IBM and Microsoft will work together on issues such as privacy, safety and the collaboration between people and AI.

Dubbed the Partnership on Artificial Intelligence, it will include external experts.

One said he hoped the group would address “legitimate concerns”.

“We’ve seen a very fast development in AI over a very short period of time,” said Prof Yoshua Bengio, from the University of Montreal.

“The field brings exciting opportunities for companies and public organisations. And yet, it raises legitimate questions about the way these developments will be conducted.”

Bringing the key players together would be the “best way to ensure we all share the same values and overall objectives to serve the common good”, he added.

One notable absentee from the consortium is Apple. It has been in discussions with the group and may join the partnership “soon”, according to one member.

The group will have an equal share of corporate and non-corporate members and is in discussions with organisations such as the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence and the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence.

It stressed that it had no plans to “lobby government or other policy-making bodies”.

“AI has tremendous potential to improve many aspects of life, ranging from healthcare, education and manufacturing to home automation and transport and the founding members… hope to maximise this potential and ensure it benefits as many people as possible,” it said.

It will conduct research under an open licence in the following areas:

  • ethics, fairness and inclusivity
  • transparency
  • privacy and interoperability (how AI works with people)
  • trustworthiness, reliability and robustness

Microsoft’s managing director of research hailed the partnership as a “historic collaboration on AI and its influences on people and society”, while IBM’s ethics researcher Francesca Rossi said it would provide “a vital voice in the advancement of the defining technology of this century”.

Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of Google’s artificial intelligence division, DeepMind, said he hoped the group would be able to “break down barriers for AI teams to share best practice and research ways to maximise societal benefits and tackle ethical concerns”.

And Amazon’s director of machine learning, Ralf Herbrich, said the time was ripe for such a collaboration.

“We’re in a golden age of machine learning and AI,” he said.

“As a scientific community, we are still a long way from being able to do things the way humans do things, but we’re solving unbelievably complex problems every day and making incredibly rapid progress.”

Artificial intelligence is beginning to find roles in the real world – from the basic AI used in smartphone voice assistants and web chatbots to AI agents that can take on data analysis to significant breakthroughs such as DeepMind’s victory over champion Go player Lee Sedol.

The win – in one of the world’s most complex board games – was hailed as a defining moment for AI, with experts saying it had come a decade earlier than anyone had predicted.

DeepMind now has 250 scientists at its King’s Cross headquarters, working on a variety of projects, including several tie-ins with the NHS to analyse medical records.

In a lecture at the Royal Academy of Engineering, founder Dr Demis Hassabis revealed the team was now working on creating an artificial hippocampus, an area of the brain regarded by neuroscientists as responsible for emotion, creativity, memory and other human attributes.

But as AI has developed, so have concerns about where the technology is heading.

One of the most vocal and high-profile naysayers is Tesla’s chief executive, Elon Musk, who has tweeted the technology is “potentially more dangerous than nukes [nuclear weapons]” and expressed concerns humans were “just the biological boot loader for digital super-intelligence”.

In order to combat this fear, Google are developing their own AI kill switch which will always allow humans to maintain control over AI machines.

Last year, Mr Musk set up his own non-profit AI group, OpenAI.

It is not, at this stage, part of the Partnership on AI.

If you found this article interesting, check out more similar content by visiting our latest industry news page. You can access it by following this link!

 

– Jane Wakefield

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