Latest News - Page 2774

Baidu maps used on desktops, laptops and mobile devices will be powered by the Nokia Here service outside of China, with an aim to help Chinese travelers. The deal, which will impact Baidu's desktop versions, Google Android and Apple iOS mobile mapping apps, will roll out in Taiwan - with other countries to be included in the future.

"Every day, millions of people count on HERE to explore the world and discover new places whether at home or on the go," said Bruno Bourguet, SVP and Head of Sales for the HERE program, in a press statement. "Together with Baidu, a new customer for us, we want to help the growing number of Chinese tourists get the most from their travels."

Nokia wants to compete with Google, OpenStreetMap and TomTom in the online mapping department, as the company continues to revamp itself. Here is available on Microsoft Windows Phone and Android already, with an iOS release expected sometime in early 2015. Nokia has worked with Microsoft, Amazon, Garmin, Moreover and Yahoo in the past, while also offering its services to BMW, Mercedes, and other automakers.

Early this morning, local time, news was spread by the mainstream media on a hostage siege taking place in Sydney's inner CBD involving 'Muslim Extremists' laying claim to an unknown number of hostages. If you're unaware of what's going on, one of the reputable news sources covering this unfortunate news (News.com.au) released a very simply laid out 'what we know' on the matter.

In light of local business evacuations and people rushing away from this threat, users began noticing that popular rideshare app Uber was charging users around the CBD a $100 AU to flee safely to their homes, this is said to be a "result of automatic surge pricing meant to get more drivers online" as according to News.com.au.

Mashable first reported on this issue, being sent screenshots of Uber's iOS application charging a $4/minute, $9.59/KM, $100 minimum cost, being clearly labeled in bold writing as "4.0X the normal fare".

The Guardians of Peace hacker group, which has taken credit for compromising Sony Pictures Entertainment, has offered to withhold compromising data: employees only need to email them their name and business title to be spared. The unique correspondence comes ahead of another promised round of published email correspondence between SPE employees.

Here is what the group said in an email: "Message to SPE staffers. We have a plan to release emails and privacy of the Sony Pictures employees. If you don't want your privacy to be released, tell us your name and business title to take off your data."

The message also has an ominous warning to SPE executives: "The sooner SPE accept our demands, the better, of course. The farther time goes by, the worse state SPE will be put into and we will have Sony go bankrupt in the end."

DARPA has developed something that is quite amazing: a self-guided, mid-flight-changing .50 cal projectile. This allows snipers to hide behind cover, and still hit their target with accuracy - even if they move.

The project comes from DARPA's "Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordinance" (EXACTO), with the team having the job of "developing more accurate military artillery that will enable greater firing range, minimize the time required to engage with targets, and also help reduce missed shots that can give away the troops' location".

A few months ago now, DARPA tested the .50 cal bullet at a distance of 1.2 miles, with the projectile using optical sensors on its nose to pull in-flight information. It also featured an internal electronic system that controls the fins on the projectile, which fling out in-flight, as they can't be seen in EXACTO photos. The video above shows a live testing of DARPA's impressive guided bullet, with the rifle intentionally aimed to the right of the target. The video shows that the projectile finds its target, changes its flight path on-the-fly, and then connects. DARPA's EXACTO team recently conduced the first successful live-fire tests using the in-flight guidance of .50-caliber bullets, which means it could be close to being used by snipers in the field.

There was a very brief error on Amazon UK's site that saw thousands of sales of third-party goods that were sold for just $0.01, with the glitch originating from Amazon Marketplace's Repricer Express between 7-8PM GMT on December 12.

Amazon issued a statement about the problem to Sky News shortly after the error took place, saying "we are aware that a number of Marketplace sellers listed incorrect prices for a short period of time as a result of the third party software they use to price their items on Amazon.co.uk". The retail giant has announced that most of the orders that were placed, have since been cancelled.

The piece of software in question is a subscription service that monitors Amazon pricing continuously for the lowest price, and then sets sale prices on items that a user sets as something they're after. Up to 60,000 item prices can be changed per hour, with the constant re-pricing there to maintain the lowest prices to give a seller the best change of being in Amazon's prized "More Buying Choices" box.

4A Games has released both the Linux and SteamOS versions of its Metro 2033 Redux and Metro: Last Light Redux games, with both versions featuring Steam Play support. This means that if you've already bought them, the Linux and SteamOS versions are automatically added to your Steam Library.

4A Games' Chief Technical Officer Oles Shishkovstov said: "Thanks to huge advances in driver support, the Metro Redux titles were developed for Linux using OpenGL 4.0. This has allowed us to deliver an experience that rivals the DX11 version for Windows in terms of graphical fidelity and performance - something that was just not possible when we ported the original Metro: Last Light to Linux a year ago".

Linux gamers will receive all of the graphical bells and whistles that the Windows version supports, something that includes SSAA, Motion Blur, NVIDIA's PhsyX technology, and more. 4A Games will be releasing an Open GL 4.0 version of the game that will be released for the Mac later this month. What will you need to run the game on Linux? Here are the minimum and recommended requirements:

Sony Pictures Entertainment is still trying to recover from a nasty data breach, and now the company's attorneys are taking aim at the media. Hackers have released eight rounds of data, much of it embarrassing, as SPE's attorneys want journalists and bloggers to stop publicizing leaked data.

"We are writing to ensure that you are aware that SPE does not consent to your possession, review, copying, dissemination, publication, uploading, downloading or making any use of the stolen information," according to a letter written by attorney David Boies, and sent to several tech media outlets.

The Supreme Court previously found a radio not liable for broadcasting an illegally recorded conversation, as the station was a third-party and didn't participate in actively making the audio recording. It would seem unlikely the SPE can make any legal demands of journalists for posting the data - and outlets will continue to air SPE's dirty laundry in public.

"Bodies are 3-dimensional but clothing is traditionally made from flat material that is cut and painstakingly pieced together" says Nervous Systems, the creators of this 3D-printed dress, further commenting that "In contrast, Kinematics garments are created in 3D, directly from body scans, and require absolutely no assembly." This futuristic looking dress looks like something out of a futuristic sci-Fi feature film, however it's a very real thing - and you can own one too.

The dress in question has been labeled as 4D rather than the expected 3D, this is common practice when 3D-printed objects are "designed to change over time in response to their environment" as according to CNET.

This dress was designed by Kinematics and is constructed using 2,279 rigid, interlocking triangles which are connected to 3,316 hinges printed in a single piece. The hinges mean that the dress can conform to a human body, much as seen through regular clothing - allowing it to flow and move like fabric would.

The roads leading into France's capital city may be in jeopardy this Monday, as Parisian taxi drivers are vowing to block major highways to protest the rise of Uber's ride-sharing service application - adding to yet another countries Taxi demographic unhappy with the company's offering.

The court has refused a ban on the urban ride share service application Uber, seeing French cabbies threaten massive retaliation against the service that they claim is promoting unfair competition of their services.

UberPOP has a claimed 160,000 French users, with people being able to use their personal cars to transport passengers around at low rates. Taxi drivers are fed up with the recent rise in popularity of these services, bidding to the French commercial court to make a new law ot ensure Uber drivers have a harder time soliciting businesses. However, last Friday this law could not be enforced "until the government had published full details of the restrictions", as according to Business Insider.

Bungie issued a release this week, stating that "something else that deserves mention is that the BanHammer has been a-swingin'. A review of the bans applied over the last week shows that all of the affected accounts had logged into Destiny on a modified console at some point", asking their customers to "play nice! And use the boxes that your favorite retailer 'gave' you."

Given this quote they didn't outright tell consumers to only use non-modified consoles, but it's certainly heavily implied. They made sure to mention this console issue after commenting on their BanHammer, saying that "ninja Justice is always swift and final".

There have been multiple recorded cases online of in-game cheats being used through the utilization of modded consoles and it seems like Bungie have had enough. If you're running a custom previous, or next gen console, you might want to steer clear of this game.

Google Android might have a significantly higher market share than Android iOS, but it appears iOS users take security and privacy a bit more seriously, according to iDrive. iOS users are more likely to keep data backed up, with 33 percent more photos and 20 percent more videos backed up when compared to Android users. Furthermore, iOS users also are 25 percent more likely to keep data secure with encryption.

"iOS and Android both have users that land between 'Does not care at all' and 'Cares deeply' on the security and privacy awareness spectrum, but it's no coincidence that iOS users seem to rank higher," noted Patrick Nielsen, Kaspersky Lab Senior Security Researcher, in a statement published by PCWorld.

Both companies are taking mobile security seriously, but must now relay its importance down to users - especially with smartphone theft and cloud security remaining significant concerns.

Before Sony Pictures Entertainment was compromised in a significant cyberattack that crippled its computer systems and led to large amounts of data stolen, the company was warned of lapses in cybersecurity. SPE's firewall and at least 100 other devices were being monitored by the studio's in-house team instead of Sony's corporate security team, according to an audit done by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

"Security incidents impacting these network or infrastructure devices may not be detected or resolved [in a] timely [manner]," according to a PrincewaterhouseCoopers confidential report available in September. Re/code received a copy of the report and indicated SPE knew of significant security problems, but had a slow reaction time before trying to resolve problems.

Hollywood studios and other major corporations have the opportunity to learn from SPE's significant data breach, at Sony's expense.

The Microsoft Windows 10 leaked consumer build (9901) indicates users will be able to enjoy an Xbox app, giving them access to friends list, Store, activity feeds, achievements, and additional features. Microsoft previously promised increased gaming integration into the Windows 10 OS, and this early build shows what the company has in mind.

Meanwhile, Cortana in Windows 10 closely resembles the same orientation as Windows Phone, revealing Microsoft is serious about its efforts to make Windows similar across all platforms. Cortana was shown in early Windows 10 builds, but has been refined and looks significantly better in 9901, according to reports.

Microsoft will continue to promote its Windows 10 OS, as consumers and business users never truly jumped onboard the Windows 8/8.1 bandwagon.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to explode in popularity in coming years, but trying to keep a growing number of connected devices secure from cybercriminals remains a major effort. To help get a step ahead of malicious criminals, companies are embracing white hat hackers specialized in finding and exploiting potential security loopholes - and then sharing details with the company.

"Source code analysis, integrating security testing into the normal test cycle, and penetration testing at the end," said Michael Murray, director of GE Healthcare cybersecurity consulting and assessment, in a statement published by Dark Reading. "I'm [still] breaking lots of stuff. I'm just breaking it before it gets to the customer to make sure bad things don't happen to people out in the world."

Connected devices are increasing to vehicles, our homes and apartments, medical devices, and virtually everywhere else - but keeping consumers and users secure is a major effort.

Japanese company Mamiya-OP plans to begin selling a pricey robotic lawn mower that will be able to autonomously take care of golf courses. Mamiya-OP partnered with Jacobsen, a company that manufacturers golf course lawn mowing products, to create the "Robot Mower for Five Successive Fairways."

Mamiya-OP said customers could be able to pay off purchasing one unit within three years, as the robot mower is able to travel up to 6 m.p.h. along a preset route. Utilizing a GPS, three-axis gyroscope and encoder, the robot mower has sensors so it is able to spot - and avoid - humans and other obstacles on the course.

The lawn mower utilizes a custom autonomous driving system and each unit will cost between $70,000 and $90,000.

The US Navy is progressing in its Silent NEMO Rapid Innovation Cell (CRIC), with the GhostSwimmer unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), an underwater craft that is 5-feet in length and weighs almost 100 pounds. Silent Nemo can operate in water as shallow as 10 inches down to depths of 300-feet, providing additional low-visibility intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) to keep ships safe - and to conduct hull inspections.

Silent Nemo is able to mimic the same swim motion as a regular fish, oscillating its tail back and forth, according to developers.

"GhostSwimmer will allow the Navy to have success on more types of missions, while keeping divers and sailors safe," said Michael Rufo, Boston Engineering director of the Advanced Systems Group program. "The unit is a combination of unmanned systems engineering and unique propulsion and control capabilities."

Despite major ramifications from its data breach suffered last month, with Sony still seeing bulk amounts of information leaked online, the company must continue moving forward. However, hopefully some people in the movie industry can now appreciate that public figures will remain a target of interest among hackers.

Agents, actors and movie studios in Hollywood can certainly learn from Sony's glaring mistakes, understanding that those emails with snide marks about others - which they expect to be confidential - shouldn't be sent, in fear potentially being leaked.

"[T]here's going to be consequences for senior people at the studio," said Sharon Waxman, founder and editor-in-chief of TheWrap, speaking to CNBC. "The studio has to go on with its business and it's drip drip drip everyday of an unknown damage hitting the studio - and embarrassment, another piece of information."

Chinese cybercriminals are finding success using social engineering attacks to easily compromise companies, with an increased focus on universities, financial institutions, defense contractors, and critical infrastructure. Likely state-sponsored cyberattackers were able to breach the Canadian National Research Council, searching around for scientific research information and possible trade secrets.

A spear-phishing attack, with the email including an attached piece of malicious code, found its way onto the organization's network. The Canadian government didn't disclose what type of information could have been compromised from the breach, which took place earlier in 2014.

It is also unclear as to whether any personal information has been compromised," said Tobi Cohen, a privacy commissioner spokeswoman, as noted by the CBC. "We are satisfied that the organization took appropriate steps to notify employees and other parties about the cyber-intrusion and that efforts are underway to update [information technology] systems and security procedures to prevent this from happening again."

According to a press release issued yesterday, TomTom's navigation technology will be featured in the 'Uconnect' infotainment systems installed in new Fiat 500X cars being sold throughout Europe, starting early 2015.

These Uconnect systems will come pre-installed with TomTom software including their traffic, speed camera, weather and 'places' services. TomTom will also see their navigation systems featured in these new production models, reportedly offering highly accurate traffic services, which are said to receive over 100 million kilometers of real-time traffic measurements daily.

TomTom's Vice President of Automotive, Jan-Maarten de Vries, commented that "We [TomTom] are delighted to extend our relationship with Fiat," further stating that "by adding TomTom's LIVE services and software including accurate traffic information, the latest road closure information and better routes, Fiat empowers drivers with more advanced knowledge of the road ahead, to help make journeys faster."

The Guardians of Peace released more information stolen from Sony, and promised a large "Christmas gift" of additional data taken in a breach Sony suffered that started late last month. The leaked content reportedly contained more email correspondence and information related to Crackle, the online video website.

Here is part of the post from hackers (via Pastebin): "We are preparing for you a Christmas gift. The gift will be larger quantities of data. And it will be more interesting. The gift will surely give you much more pleasure and put Sony Pictures into the worst state."

The cybercriminals behind the Sony breach have released seven waves of stolen data and movies to the Internet, and will continue to do so. The FBI and cybersecurity companies are helping Sony clean up the mess, but the damage has clearly already been done.