Latest News - Page 2760

Known for being rather small and light, Chromebooks generally contain screen sizes of 11.6 or 13.3 inches, however Acer have just announced their super-size Chromebook addition - featuring Intel's new Broadwell chip and NVIDIA's Tegra K1 to help boost performance. With the price starting at $249.99, it's not too much of a burden on the bank either.

Weighing only 4.8 pounds, this Acer Chromebook offering comes fully loaded with support for up to 4GB of DRAM and 32GB of SSD storage, an inbuilt webcam, 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. As for further storage and connection, expect it to feature USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports, an SD card reader and a single HDMI output.

As with all Chromebooks, this laptop will feature Chrome OS. Chrome OS requires an internet connection for many of its applications to function and will also update its in-built security measures regularly. Said to be paired well with Intel's new Broadwell chips - you can expect Chromebooks in general to become faster and with a longer battery-life.

CES 2015 - Green Project-owned GP3D will show off its $549 Sprout 3D printer during the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), as the company tries to gain interest via Kickstarter.

Sprout is 11.7" x 8.7" x 15.9" and is designed to be ideal for a compact desktop printing environment - using PLA plastic filament, able to print at 0.18mm resolution. The printer unit will be ready to ship "in a few months," with additional details released during CES.

"Our focus is to make an affordable and high-quality 3D printer for everyone," said Joseph Wu, president of Green Project.

CES 2015 - FitLinxx has taken its AMpStrip fitness wearable for athletes to Indiegogo, trying to raise funds for the wearable device. Financial support on Indiegogo ranges from $25 up to $10,000, with different level of support based on monetary contributions.

The waterproof, sensor-filled device is able to monitor heart rate, respiration, skin temperature and posture around the clock, able to stick to the wearer's torso.

"This is our first foray into direct-to-consumer products and we want to do it right," said Dave Monahan, president and CEO of FitLinxx. "We're excited to share our product on Indiegogo and get feedback from athletes. We know having them as part of our AmpStrip team will make our product that much better."

CES 2015 - Electronics manufacturer Visteon plans to show off new software, services and connectivity during the 2015 Consumers Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The company will unveil more than 60 different displays and innovation concepts to attendees that visit its booth in the Las Vegas Convention Center Central Plaza (booth #20).

The company will also have an autonomous driving simulator to show how autonomous driving technology continues to evolve and mature at a rapid rate. The technology makes use of Visteon's human machine interaction (HMI) interface, a major research effort that the company has developed over years of tinkering.

"As one of the leading cockpit electronics suppliers, we are now turning our focus to designing connectivity into all our products utilizing cloud-based technology and over-the-air connections - creating a truly connected driving experience," said Martin Thall, EVP and president of the Visteon electronics division. "Whether on the open road, in a garage or at a body and assembly plant, Visteon has service offerings to unlock the value of connectivity."

CES 2015 - Tablet manufacturer E FUN is expanding its Nextbook Android tablets during CES, with four new models running Google Android 5.0 Lollipop.

The 8" tablet will run a quad-core ARM Cortex A7 1.3GHz processor, with 1GB DDR3 RAM, 16GB storage, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS module, mini-HDMI, microSD, and front-facing and rear-facing cameras. The 8L 8" model with 4G/LTE will run the Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad-core ARM Cortex A53 1.2GHz CPU, 1GB DDR3 RAM, 16GB storage, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS module, 2-megapixel front-facing and rear-facing cameras, mini-HDMI, microSD, and micro USB.

The 10.1" 2-in-1 4G/LTE model utilizes the Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad-core ARM Cortex A53 1.2GHz CPU, 1GB DDR3 RAM, 16GB storage, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS module, 2-megapixel front-facing and rear-facing cameras, mini-HDMI, microSD, and microUSB.

CES 2015-Escort Radar plans to show off its Passport and Passport Max2 radar detectors during the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), featuring Bluetooth-equipped products tied to the Escort Live ticket protection app.

As more devices, especially inside of vehicles, continue to include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and mobile apps, Escort wants to make sure its products provide the same connectivity. The company will unveil its Air Patrol and Intelligent Speed Traps social app, able to alert drivers to aircraft and "intelligent speed traps" that are located in the area.

If you're attending CES, Escort will first demo the solution tomorrow during the CES Unveiled Show in the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.

CES 2015 - Tablet maker E FUN will add new models to its growing 2-in-1 Nextbook lineup running Microsoft Windows 8.1, as a 10.1", 11.6" and 12.5" models will be shown off during the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

The devices have a quad-core Intel Atom CPU, dual camera, 2GB DDR3L RAM, 32GB/64GB internal storage, Bluetooth 4.0, 2-megapixel front-facing and rear-facing cameras, micro USB port, mini-HDMI port, audio jack, and a removable magnetic POGO keyboard.

"We are extremely excited to build on the great success we had launching our first tablets with Windows in the fourth quarter of last year," said Jason Liszewski, managing director and VP of sales for E FUN, in a press statement. "Our first 2-in-1 tablet with Windows and powered by Intel was one of the best selling devices by volume throughout the holiday season."

"The Interview" might prove to be popular among Western movie watchers, but is no laughing matter for defectors that successfully escaped North Korea.

Following Sony's decision to release the movie after all, the community of 20,000+ North Korean defectors living in South Korea were quick to watch it. However, they seemed unimpressed with the crude humor that is laced throughout the movie, despite mentions of concentration camps, rampant starvation, and an overly-controlling government regime.

"Every defector I know has seen the movie," said Kim Sung-Min, a defector that created the anti-Pyongyang Free North Korea Radio Station, in a statement to the media. "We've talked a lot about this flick over the past week, and we simply did not understand why it gives foreigners laughs."

Arbor Solution will publicly unveil the Gladius 10 tablet during CES 2015, with the octa-core Cortex A7-powerede device designed to withstand a beating. The mobile device will have a $1,030 MSRP, but certainly wasn't created towards consumers.

The device has a 10.1" TFT high-definition LCD display (1280x800), integrated barcode scanner, quad-core ARM Mali 3D GPU, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, 2-megapixel front-facing camera and 13-megapixel rear-facing camera. The tablet also includes GPS, assisted GPS and e-compass navigational systems, micro-USB, microSD, mini-HDMI port and two SIM card slots.

"Mobile technology is quickly changing the way work and business is conducted today," said Brian Yurkiw, vice president of Arbor Solution, in a press statement. "The key to success, along with a smaller design and advanced features, is durability and connectivity. Our new Gladius 10 rugged tablet is especially designed to withstand drops, vibrations, dirt, and water and can operate across a very wide temperature range. In other words, it is durable and ready for whatever it encounters in a mobile work application."

Cybersecurity experts believe 2015 will be another busy year, as sophisticated attacks against users and businesses continue. Criminals will rely on working attacks to compromise victims, while also working to advance their weapons, making them harder to spot.

"Hackers are a diverse bunch, from lone wolves, to nation-state cyber warriors and organized cybercrime rings," said Joe Caruso, founder, CEO and CTO of the cybersecurity Global Digital Forensics (GDF) firm, in a press release. "But one thing they all have in common is they are more than willing to let it ride on a winning horse until it quits paying off. SO expect the favorites, phishing and spear-pshing, RATs (Remote Access Tools), ransomware, watering hole attacks and other third-party compromises, to keep getting ridden hard in 2015."

Numerous point-of-sale (POS) data breaches and the cyberattack against Sony Pictures should serve as painful reminders as to the importance of proper cybersecurity - but won't lead to decision makers acting urgently enough, many security specialists warn. As such, companies need to become proactive in conducting cybersecurity audits, and then following through to improve security protocols - in an attempt to make it more difficult for successful attacks to occur.

The outside world doesn't know what type of computer hardware and software is used in North Korea, but there have been recent glimpses of what the reclusive government utilizes. Former Google executive Will Scott visited the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, and purchased a copy of the "Red Star 3" desktop operating system.

North Korea previously relied on Microsoft Windows for desktop PCs, but developed its own Red Star 3 OS. The OS looks strikingly similar to the Apple Mac OS X operating system - past versions of North Korean-made software closely mimicked Windows.

As the world begins to learn more about Bureau 121, the elite North Korean cyber hacking unit, there is still very little known about technology usage in the country. Internet use is heavily restricted, and is aimed towards military and government use - and for the elite of the country.

Sony Pictures Entertainment was compromised in a big way by the Guardians of Peace hacker group, and there is uncertainty if the hackers were properly removed from the company's network. SPE could be back to enjoying a fully operational network within the next two months if security holds, but would face lingering problems if hackers still have backdoors into the network.

"It took me 24 or 36 hours to fully understand that this was not something we were going to be able to recover from in the next week or two," Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton said in a statement published by the Wall Street Journal. The company began using an old fleet of BlackBerry smartphones to communicate and conduct day-to-day business, following the data breach.

Since being released on Christmas, "The Interview" has collected more than $18 million in digital and box-office revenue - and has proven popular among Internet pirates. However, Lynton and other executives continue to apologize to movie actors and other industry bigwigs following leaked email conversations.

It's been a tough few months of connection and lag issues for Blizzard. If you're trying to login to their Battle.Net service to play any game they have on offer, it might be worth giving it a few hours.

As confirmed on their Customer Service Twitter account, Blizzard's login servers are experiencing connection issues and are developing long queues for users. Even more unfortunate for them was commenting on a time they expect the servers to be operational - four hours ago they stated a 90-minute wait, followed by a Tweet two hours ago claiming only 60 minutes until the servers are operational.

As you can see, their latest Tweets simply tells everyone to stay posted for updates, here's hoping they will be fixed soon.

Young South African director Neill Blomkamp, whose vision has bought to life the edgy science fiction films 'District 9' and 'Elysium' and who was attached to directed the mooted 'Halo film has released via his Instagram account some spectacular concept art for a presumably abandoned 'Alien' sequel. Whilst the account is unverified, there's little doubt that the page is not genuine as it also shared via his Twitter account, which has been active for five years.

In two separate annotated posts, Blomkamp is keen to distance rights holder Twentieth Century Fox from his efforts, saying "this has nothing to do with the studio. I just feel like I might do something else instead. In which case why not show some work.. they didn't really even know I was working on it ha", but the concept art, which includes some tantalising looks at an appropriately aged and battle weary Ripley and Hicks from James Cameron's 'Aliens', and an alien morphed Ripley wouldn't have been a fascinating project indeed. If you continue in his account you'll even see Blomkamp with Sigourney Weaver herself, in an image posted at the start of last year. Interesting...

If you're reading this Fox - give this man another look. I'm sure that the 'Prometheus' universe can co-exist with the Alien universe, especially since Ridley Scott has indicated he will move even further away from it in the sequel.

The Osterhout Design Group (ODG) has unveiled a consumer-oriented version of its Smart Glasses system, providing a lighter and smaller version than its military-grade counterpart. The headset will be unveiled later this year and should have a retail price tag less than $1,000.

However, the headset will still be able to show high-definition video, record video, utilize a 3D graphics overlay, and provide line-of-sight directions for wearers. The headset runs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 CPU, Wi-Fi, global navigation satellite system, Bluetooth, and custom-built orientation sensors.

"Our Smart Glasses are proving their worth in some of the world's toughest environments and we look forward to bringing our innovative technology closer to everyday customers," said Ralph Osterhout, Ostherout Design Group founder and CEO, in a press statement. "At ODG, we're working to change the world of computing by changing the way we interact, connect, and explore information, and I am happy to introduce the next step on this journey."

The United States has issued new economic sanctions against North Korea, as Pres. Obama and lawmakers look for methods to retaliate against North Korea. Even with increasing pressure stating otherwise, the FBI and Obama Administration still believes North Korea is directly involved in bringing down Sony Pictures, ahead of the launch of "The Interview."

Here is what White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest noted in a press statement: "This (executive order) is a response to the Government of North Korea's ongoing provocative, destabilizing, and repressive actions and policies, particularly its destructive and coercive cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment."

This reportedly is the first step by the Obama Administration, though could be nothing more than a symbolic effort - North Korea endures heavy sanctions, so any additional sanctions could end up being meaningless. However, the newest sanctions will target the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation, Reconnaissance General Bureau and Korea Tangun Trading Corporation, in an effort to hurt the government's intelligence and arms dealing sectors.

The FBI wants skilled and qualified cybersecurity experts to help lend a hand in cyber-based investigations. Interested candidates must be skilled in computer science and similar fields, while also passing a fitness test, medical exam, extended background check and a polygraph test, according to the FBI.

A brief look at the FBI Cyber Careers page indicates a number jobs for cyber special agents, computer science specialists, information technology forensic examiners, and qualified candidates for cyber internships. The FBI is increasingly helping companies following major data breaches, cyberattacks from hacker groups and suspected foreign states, cyber forensics, and other roles following a major incident.

"Cyber agents will be integrated into all the different violations that we work," said Robert Anderson Jr., FBI cyber crimes branch executive assistant director, in a recruitment video. "So whether it's a counterterrorism or counterintelligence investigation, they could be the lead agent in the case."

A New Zealand man suspected of fighting for ISIS in Syria accidentally revealed his location, because he simply forgot to turn off geotagging. Mark John Taylor, also known as Abu Abdul Rahman or Mohammad Daniel, realized his mistakes and turned off Twitter location services - while also deleting 45 tweets - but screenshots were already captured. The account in question, @M_Taylor_Kiwi, has been suspended.

Using Taylor's own tweets, iBrabo, a Canadian open source intelligence research firm, was able to track the militant's locations from Kafar Roma, into the desert, and into the Al Tabqah ISIS safe haven. As Taylor posted messages such as: "I've abandoned all international laws and only practice Islamic shariah laws! NZ laws are the worst of time. Sorry Johny, here to stay in IS," he was also revealing what house he was staying in.

"Taylor eager for the fame of being a violent jihadist took to Twitter to get attention for his exploits," iBrabo noted in a statement. "His statements and Twitter missteps have solidified his involvement with ISIS and will provide the evidence should he ever try to return to New Zealand."

Just a few days before the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, a new website at mynewpalm.com indicates the company could be ready for a new emergence in the smartphone market. The website teases "coming soon," and "smart move," when a user visits the website.

The company was eventually acquired by Hewlett-Packard and essentially disappeared from the public world - but there are reported links to Alcatel, a Google Android phone manufacturer, behind the new Palm website. It would be a curious move if HP decided to quietly sell the brand to Alcatel, as the company apparently wants to try new marketing techniques to win over Android users.

Considering the ongoing struggles that BlackBerry - a longtime smartphone king - has endured trying to claw back into the smartphone market, it seems hard to believe Palm will be able to have much success.

Used for displaying in-design automobile models, Chevrolet's affectionately named "Power Wall" consists of a 240 square-foot, read projected glass screen matched up with two Christie Mirage 4K25 DLP3D projectors - creating a 2D or 3D image for viewing.

In previous years, car manufacturers would build their carve their upcoming models out of wood or clay, sometimes even constructing a metal object - now it's simply beamed onto this massive wall for all to see quickly and easily. The images displayed on this screen are rendered thanks to eight workstations, of which are assisted by two external video processors - this whole ordeal requires five people to operate the beast, consisting of three visualization specialists, an IT technician and a Christie hardware engineer.

Joe Guzman is Chevrolet's group manager for Global Virtual Design Process & Operations, in a press statement he said "that's the beauty of this kind of high definition. Using the maths data, we can render the vehicle as the customer will see it in the 'as manufactured state. Designers and engineers can then scrutinize every detail to make sure they are spot on."