Apple's making 64-bit support mandatory, and it should make for faster apps

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Good news, though hardly surprising

Apple started making 64-bit smartphones last year with the iPhone 5S, but to date we've seen few tangible improvements as a result, with many developers still building 32-bit apps.

That's all about to change though, as Apple has mandated that from February all new iOS apps must include 64-bit support and be built with the iOS 8 SDK.

That includes any updates to existing apps, though apps that are currently available won't be removed. We imagine that not all developers will be happy about this change but it should be beneficial to users.

Using 64-bit architecture can lead to faster performance both in terms of speed and graphics and could also be beneficial to specialist applications such as those used by designers, artists and musicians which may require extra computing power.

But even if developers don't initially tap into the full capabilities of the 64-bit architecture, an environment where only 64-bit support is needed, rather than both 32 and 64-bit, will likely lead to slicker performance all round.

In the short term, apps will still support 32-bit hardware as well, but with the latest two generations of Apple hardware now on 64-bit it's likely that Apple will drop 32-bit support altogether before long and then we might see the real benefits of its 64-bit chips.

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The iPhone 6 is Apple's latest 64-bit phone.

The Nexus 9 is rocking 64-bit power.

Samsung's announced a 64-bit processor of its own.

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HTC invite teases 'world's first' octa-core 64-bit smartphone

HTC leaps into 64-bit (credit: Weibo)

Never mind the fact that Apple lobbed the opening 64-bit smartphone salvo nearly a year ago with the iPhone 5S - HTC plans to stake claim to a first of its own next week with a presumed successor to its Desire line.

HTC revealed plans to introduce what it calls the "world's first" Android smartphone powered by an octa-core, 64-bit processor in Berlin next week.

Judging from an official teaser posted on HTC's Weibo page, the event will take place a day before the annual IFA consumer electronics event kicks off on September 5, where many of the company's rivals are expect to also hold new product launches.

Aside from the September 4 media event and the "world's first" claim, little else is known about the mystery HTC handset, although it's not hard to connect the dots and come to a few logical conclusions about what the smartphone maker could be up to.

In a previous Weibo posting late last week, HTC more or less confirmed plans to introduce a new device codenamed 820, which sounds more than a little like a followup to the company's Desire 816 handset.

The same post confirmed all the requisite 820 specs, including a 1080p display with UltraPixel and Duo Camera 3D technologies on board. The phone could be bound for emerging markets, if the GSM and WiMAX 4G connectivity are any indication.

Needless to say, emerging markets typically nab less expensive, underpowered handsets, so it's a bit of a mystery why HTC would be touting an octa-core 64-bit chipset for a handset like the 820.

We only have a little over a week to ponder what this all means, but HTC's bold claims should be worth paying attention to in the hours leading up to IFA 2014, so check back for all the details on September 4.

Find out what the Sony Xperia T3 has up its sleeve in our full review!Via The Next Web

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Google promises speed, security with 64-bit Chrome on Windows

Only those who specifically download the 64-bit Chrome version will get it. Stephen Shankland/CNET

Google on Tuesday pushed its Chrome browser into the 64-bit software era -- on Windows, at least, and only for those who specifically download it.

The new version, Chrome 37, takes advantage of the transition over the last decade to PCs with 64-bit processors, which can handle vastly larger amounts of memory and that offer more data-storage slots called registers that can improve performance. Because of plug-in compatibility problems, though, only those who specifically download the 64-bit Chrome version will get it. And 64-bit Chrome for Macs remains a work in progress.

The new Chrome is 15 percent faster at decoding HD videos on YouTube as a result, said Chrome team programmer Will Harris in a blog post.

It also is less prone to crashes in the renderer -- the core part of the browser that interprets Web site programming instructions and paints the appropriate pixels on a screen. And the software can thwart some types of hack attacks.

Faster browsers are important -- people watch more videos, buy more products, and spend more time on Web sites -- so performance is a top Chrome priority along with security and ease of use. The recipe has worked so far: Chrome has seen steadily increasing usage since its launch nearly six years ago.

The new version, though, drops support for 32-bit plug-ins -- software like Microsoft's Silverlight or Adobe Systems' Flash Player that extend a browser's abilities. Chrome has its own version of Adobe's Flash Player built in, which means the most-used plug-in isn't a problem, but others won't work. And the plug-in problem is mitigated by the fact that Chrome is scrapping support for most of them anyway by ditching the older NPAPI interface in favor its the company's own newer PPAPI.

Chrome 37 also brings a substantial change to text display, adopting Windows' DirectWrite technology that permits higher image quality and hardware-accelerated rendering. And another thing for Windows users: support for HiDPI, which means screens such as Apple's Retina models that have high pixel density, measured in dots per inch. It's increasingly common to find Windows machines that use this technology for crisp images and text, but adding support has been more complicated than it was for Macs, which feature a narrower range of models and simply quadrupled the number of pixels during the transition to simplify programming challenges.

And Chrome 37 also closes several security holes -- work for which Google paid $51,000 in bounties to security testers. More than half of that -- $30,000 -- was "a special reward to lokihardt@asrt for a combination of bugs" that could let an attacker run software that evades Chrome's protective "sandbox" system. It was a complicated attack though, using several Chrome subsystems: the V8 JavaScript engine, interprocess communications, the tool for synchronizing personal settings, and Chrome's extensions system.

Updated at 10:41 p.m. PT to add that HiDPI support also has arrived for Windows.

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