The Angular team has announced support for Cloud Firestore in AngularFire. Cloud Firestore was released into public beta this week by the Google Firebase team. It features querying; real-time data synchronization; iOS, Android and web SDKs with offline data access; and multi-region data replication.

AngularFire is the official Angular library for Firebase. “AngularFire combines the power of Angular, Firebase, and RxJS to act as your serverless backend. It includes modules for the Realtime Database, Firebase Authentication, and now we’ve added Cloud Firestore to that list,” according to an Angular blog post. 

With Cloud Firestore, AngularFire now features improved querying and offline data.

Samsung announces Windows mixed reality headset
Samsung, in conjunction with Microsoft, has announced a new Windows Mixed Reality headset called the Samsung HMD Odyssey. The headset has dual 3.5-inch AMOLED displays, a 110-degree field of view, and built-in AKG headphones. According to the company, these features combined provide users with more lifelike experiences.

“We’re excited to welcome the Samsung HMD Odyssey to the Windows Mixed Reality family of devices. This is an incredible product and another important step for the mixed reality journey we are on at Microsoft.  With the Samsung HMD Odyssey, the team at Samsung has developed a Windows Mixed Reality headset that will delight our fans looking to immerse themselves in the world of mixed reality this holiday,” said Alex Kipman, technical fellow at Microsoft.

npm announces two-factor authentication and read-only authentication tokens
Software registry company npm announced new security features for npm and npm Registry. They will be providing two-factor authentication and read-only authentication tokens. Two-factor authentication provides an extra layer of security for developers by preventing external parties from gaining access to their npm account by obtaining their password, according to the company. The read-only authentication tokens will allow users to read npm code, but not make changes to it. This feature can be configured to only allow work from specific IP addresses. “Developers and companies depend on us to add new, stronger barriers to protect the npm Registry and ensure the integrity of open source software so they can build amazing things,” said CJ Silverio, CTO at npm.

Microsoft Azure adds support for Java in Azure Functions
Microsoft Azure announced the preview of Java support in Azure Functions. The company announced recently the ability to run Azure Functions on .NET Core, and are beginning to add broadened support for different programming languages, Java being the first. This new Java runtime will have the same features as Azure Functions and will allow Java developers to develop using Azure Functions without needing any additional tools. Azure Functions can be developed and debugged locally using many of the popular IDEs, including Eclipse.

TIBCO to acquire Cisco’s Data Virtualization business
Software company TIBCO announced today that it is in the process of acquiring Cisco’s Data Virtualization business. This acquisition will enable TIBCO users to improve data agility, reduce data complexity, and drive better business insights. Cisco’s technology allows for the creation of a “virtual” data layer without disturbing the source data, which will allow for faster analysis of data.

“Data Virtualization helps knowledge workers to quickly discover and access their own views of corporate data in an automated, intelligent way,” said Mark Palmer, senior VP of analytics at TIBCO.