It ’s Sunday , which means it ’s time for us to decide on this week ’s achiever and loser .
This workweek kicked off with a innkeeper of annunciation from the floor atMobile World Congress 2023 , including new phone from the like of Xiaomi , Honor and Nokia , a tablet from OnePlus , a smartwatch from Huawei and a pair of AR glasses from Oppo . However , none of these companies will be the centering of this edition of winners and nonstarter .
Keep reading to find out why Microsoft swept up our winner form of address this workweek along with how Ring became our failure .
Winner: Microsoft
This week ’s winner is Microsoft after the Windows maker confirmed it would be launchinga version of its Phone Link software specifically for iOS gimmick .
With Phone Link , anyone using a Windows 11 machine can get at subject matter and calls from their iPhone on their PC .
The two devices sync using Bluetooth , allowing Phone Link to extend basic support for beam and receiving call , messages and liaison from an iPhone on a PC . unluckily , reinforcement does not presently extend to group messages or metier , meaning you wo n’t be able-bodied to send photos and video to friends and kinfolk from your laptop .
Phone Link was antecedently restricted to Android machine , but now iPhone substance abuser will be able to reach the same benefits as those using Pixel , Galaxy and OnePlus devices ( among many others ) .
This is just one of many steps Microsoft has taken to break down the divide between the Windows and iOS platforms – despite Apple itself not appearing entirely on board with the plan .
Phone Link for iOS is presently available only to Windows Insiders in its early preview stage , but hopefully we ’ll see the app pluck out for the rest of us in the approximate futurity .
Loser: Ring
Our unsuccessful person this calendar week is Ring after the company foretell that it would soon be shoving a bit ofpreviously costless in - app features behind a paywall .
Affected characteristic include the Home and Away Modes and the in - app Amazon Alexa voice check .
The Home Mode ensures television camera are n’t triggered when you ’re wandering around your own house , while the Away Mode does the opponent , set aside you to keep an center on your home while you ’re out .
Alexa funding is pretty ego - explanatory – without this , you wo n’t be able to control the gimmick with your voice .
Starting March 29 , users will need to buy a Ring Protect Plan monthly subscription to access either of these features . This means that Ring user will be force to give extra money to access features that were marketed to them as free when they first bought their camera or doorbell – and people are intelligibly disordered .
This move from Ring serves as a awful reminder that party can sometimes pull and release app features after you buy their gimmick . If you were considering blame up a Ring doorbell , the update might make you think twice before choosing the make .