Latest News - Page 2780

Steve Jobs was said to begin his Apple enterprise in his parents garage, located in Los Altos, California. This 'birthplace' of Apple was conducted throughout the spring of 1976. However, Apple's original co-founder Steve Wozniak has just let slip a little more truth to this claim, stating that it's not exactly 100% correct that this dingy garage location was where the Apple I and Apple II products were designed, developed and eventually presented to the world.

In a chat with Bloomberg Businessweek, he told Brandon Lisy that "The garage is a bit of a myth", further commenting that "We did no designs there, no bread boarding, no prototyping, no planning of products" and "We did no manufacturing there. The garage didn't serve much purpose, except it was something for us to feel was our home".

Commenting on why garage start-ups are legendary in Silicon Valley and why they were such a necessity in the 70's and onward, he stated "We had no money. You have to work out of your home when you have no money".

The hack against Sony has been all over the news for a couple of weeks now, but it has reportedly all been tracked back to a single, posh hotel in Bangkok. North Korea has stepped up saying that it was not responsible for the hack, which had people thinking the country had attacked Sony over its movie "The Interview" with Seth Rogen and James Franco.

The hackers were traced back to St. Regis Bangkok, which is a 4.5-star resort where even the most basic rooms cost over $400 per night. We don't know if the hack was done from inside of one of these hotels, or outside in a public area of the hotel, but we do know they came from the St. Regis Bangkok. The investigations into the breach of Sony Pictures Entertainment servers took place on December 2, at 12:25AM local time.

Pro-North Korean hackers could be responsible for a cyberattack that crippled Sony Pictures, according to a statement broadcasted on a state-run television channel. The successful breach will likely cost SPE millions from interrupted business operations, data theft, and screener versions of the movie that have leaked online.

The KCNA news agency said that the "hacking into Sony Pictures Entertainment might be a righteous deed of the supporters and sympathizers with the DPRK in response to its appeal."

There are digital fingerprints that point towards North Korea, and cybersecurity experts and the FBI are helping SPE investigate the incident. Despite extreme poverty that most of the country's citizens endure, the controlling government has reportedly invested a great deal into developing hackers with developed cyberattack capabilities.

Microsoft has said that it wants to see its next generation desktop operating system, Windows 10, on "billions of devices". Kevin Turner, the Chief Operating Officer of Microsoft said: "Our goal is to have Windows 10 run across billions of devices" at the Credit Suisse 18th Annual Technology Conference.

He continued: "Being able to tap into that entire ecosystem from Internet-of-Things all the way up, as I said, to the TV, is an important element and an important opportunity for us". With Microsoft designing Windows 10 from the ground up to be run on countless devices, and not just personal computers, Microsoft could truly see Windows 10 on "billions of devices".

Turner wasn't finished, where he added: "The thing that I want to tell you about Windows 10 is that it is very unique from any operating system we have ever built and any operating system that exists today. We have actually taken those four OSes ... and built that single kernel across all of those entities. One experience on every device for everything in your life is the promise that we are delivering on Windows 10. It is going to be a very good opportunity for us to reinvigorate the entire Windows ecosystem around that".

Foxtel and Channel Seven (Seven West Media) are teaming up to support a Netflix-competitor option, Presto. We've recently broken the news that Netflix is looking to launch down under early in 2015, set to provide competitively-priced online streaming of popular movies and TV shows - this news comes to light as local offerings show a desperate need to 'keep up with the times', continue generating profit and maintain their market share.

In response to Netflix's coming, popular Australian cable company Foxtel have teamed up with 'Free TV' Channel Seven to provide their content on top of the library already offered by Presto. There haven't been any TV shows officially announced for this new service yet, however according to their release they will provide a "broad range of locally commissioned and internationally acquired content including drama, comedy, factual and entertainment programming."

Presto will currently set users back $9.99 per month, with speculation hinting that this pricing will not fluctuate once this partnership is underway. Also set for a launch around March 2015, which service are you more likely to operate with?

Surrounded by a Steam-like frenzy, Australian game and accessory retailer EB Games has launched their 'Mad Monday' sales to a mixed reception.

Offering up some crazy discounts like last-gen consoles including the PS3 for $198 AUD with 8 pre-owned games, all the way to a massive $70 AUD discount on one model of Audio-Technica headphones throughout their one day sale, set to help you kick off your working week.

Overall these discounts were quite hefty and seemingly widespread through many different products, however there are quite a few consumers who aren't exactly pleased with the 'crazy deals' that EB Games have on offer. Taking a look through their #MadMonday trend on Twitter, some of these 'deals' aren't really deals at all.

The Sony PlayStation 4 has largely dominated the Microsoft Xbox One throughout 2014, but a recent price cut - and unbundling the Xbox One from the Kinect - has helped generate more interest in the Xbox One. The price cut helped spur sales for the Xbox One, with Microsoft trying to build on a strong end of 2014 leading into the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in early 2015.

The Xbox One snatched up 53 percent of console sales on Black Friday, while the PS4 trailed with 31 percent - and both companies likely saw strong sales on Cyber Monday - as sales continue leading up to Christmas.

Microsoft added this tidbit: "Since the new Xbox One offering launched on June 9, we've seen sales of Xbox One more than double in the U.S., compared to sales in May."

To celebrate this week's release of 'Expendables 3' on Blu-ray HD and DVD, we have ten copies of the Blu-ray extended cut to give away to readers, thanks to our friends at Village Roadshow Home Entertainment.

In the latest 'Expendables' mission, Barney (Sylvester Stallone), Christmas (Jason Statham) and the rest of the team comes face-to-face with Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson), who years ago co-founded The Expendables with Barney. Stonebanks subsequently became a ruthless arms trader and someone who Barney was forced to kill ... or so he thought. Stonebanks, who eluded death once before, now is making it his mission to end The Expendables -- but Barney has other plans. The fight becomes a clash of classic old-school style versus high-tech expertise in the Expendables' most personal battle yet.

To go into the running to take a Blu-ray home, simply correctly answer the following question:

Some sad news today, with news of the death of video game figurehead Ralph Baer, aged 92.

Often referred to as the 'Father of Video Games', Baer was a pioneer of what became a multi billion dollar industry, when in 1966 he developed the world's first video game console, known as the "Brown Box" which was sold to the Magnavox company, and marketed as the Magnavox Oddyssey. The success of the console drew attention by competitors, including Nolan Bushnell's Atari, who took Baer's table tennis game and reconfigured into 'Pong'.

Baer also developed the very first video game peripheral; a light gun for the Maganavox, which was bundled with the 'Shooting Gallery' game for the Odyssey. A prolific inventor, Baer held over 150 video game related patents at the time of his death.

Intel continues to invest billions of dollars into mobile hardware development, with a specific focus on smartphones and tablets. ARM is enjoying success in mobile as the US and global markets are saturated with countless products - and while Intel is essentially late to the game - hopes to spend some money and try to get back into the competition.

The company also has diversified its efforts in the mobile hardware market, creating business relationships with Chinese companies to manufacture new CPUs for mobile products. Intel is investing $1.6 billion spread over the next 15 years for a new manufacturing facility in China that will focus on mobile chip production.

Intel also hopes that its facility can be used by third-parties, such as Apple: "It makes sense because Intel likes to make manufacturing facilities in technically sophisticated markets, which China is," noted Dean McCarron, Mercury Research principal analyst. "If someone like Apple were to approach Intel and say we want this custom phone part, it's obvious Intel will build it."

Several high-profile cyberattacks launched against Apple have revealed OS X and iOS aren't as secure anymore, with criminals trying to compromise both operating systems. Enterprise workers are at risk because of Apple taking a "whack-a-mole" approach to security, which is a major threat with sophisticated spear-phishing attacks.

"Apple's responses to the WireLurker and Masque Attack operations illustrate that iOS is entering the 'whack-a-mole' era of malware defense, similar to that experienced during the last decade with PCs," said Dave Jevans, Marble Security founder and CTO. "Being proactive rather than reactive is essential in preventing these ioS vulnerabilities and exploits from affecting enterprise networks, and implementing mobile device security solutions is a huge step in achieving this."

Sophisticated cyberattacks target most major technology companies, but Apple previously was left relatively unscathed from most malicious code. However, cybercriminals want to find strategies to steal information and conduct data breaches, with a specific focus on compromising iPhones and iPads in the workplace.

Sony has shown off the first gameplay footage to Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, which is an exclusive to the PlayStation 4, at its own PlayStation Experience event. The footage can be viewed in the video below.

As you can see, or might have noticed, it is running at Full HD (1920x1080, or 1080p) at a fluid 60FPS. There's an increase in visual effects and detail, such as Nathan Drake rustling up the foliage as he walks past it, or through it, and dust being flicked up when bullets start smashing into rocks and other parts of the environment.

Naughty Dog did promise us 1080p at 60FPS a little while ago, so it's good to see them mostly hitting the target here with Uncharted 4 on the PS4. For now, enjoy that nice, long 15-minute video of Uncharted 4 on the PlayStation 4.

The latest rumors about the Apple Watch are surfacing, where some are suggesting Apple will launch the new iPhone 6S alongside its first wearable when it launches early next year. This would break its tradition, where it launches flagship iPhones each September.

We've heard that Apple wants to cut down its smarpthone update cycle next year, which hints toward the company preparing the release of a single handset, so in this case the iPhone 6. Six months or so later, the company would launch its true flagship, the iPhone 7. So if the iPhone 6S does see the light of day with Watch, it could be a tweaked iPhone 6 Plus, which makes sense.

The Mail Online reports: "The new schedule is expected to stagger the releases of two devices in 2015 to capitalise on sales. Apple could release the iPhone 6S to people who want to upgrade to a slightly cheaper model, before announcing its flagship iPhone 7 in the autumn". I don't see why the iPhone 6S would be the "cheaper model", as it could start offering multiple handsets like its competitors do. When it comes to the iPhone 7 though, I think we'll see some changes, big ones.

Sony is not having a good week, with the hacking scandal reaching Sony Pictures Entertainment employees, and their families. Employees of the company have received e-mails from these hackers, directly threatening their families. Sony has reportedly told these employees to turn off their smartphones after receiving the e-mail.

It has been two weeks since the company was hacked, with hackers releasing passwords, e-mails, details on cast and crew members of Sony's productions, business documents that included salaries, and media files from employees' computers, and much more. A poorly-written e-mail was sent to Sony Pictures Entertainment employees, saying: "Please sign your name to object the false of the company at the email address below. If you don't, not only you but your family will be in danger".

The "Guardians of the Peace", or GOP, are the hackers behind the scandal, but we don't know their identities yet. North Korea has been a suspect for a while now, with the malware that broke into Sony's network looking like malware used in an attack in Seoul last year, as well as the Shamoon "wiper" malware.

According to a new leak, the Samsung Galaxy S6 might feature an 8-core processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of flash storage, a 20-megapixel rear-facing camera, 5-megapixel front-facing camera and Android 5.0 Lollipop.

The rumors are coming from a leaked AnTuTu benchmark, displaying the "SM-G925F" handset, that should be the Galaxy S6. Samsung is reportedly designing the Galaxy S6 from scratch, after the not-so-great seller that is the Galaxy S5. There should be two versions of the Galaxy S6 on offer, one that features the aforementioned 8-core processor that Samsung will build in-house, while the other Galaxy S6 will feature a Qualcomm processor.

If Samsung wants to gain back missing customers, or sell a boatload more Galaxy S6 handsets, I think we need more than just pure hardware. Offering stock Android handsets would be a big start, as they'd secure the Nexus crowd, and some radical new technology and features wouldn't go astray, either.

Google has removed The Pirate Bay Proxy, The Pirate Bay Mirror, PirateApp, and The Pirate Bay Premium from the Google Play Store, e-mailing the respective developers behind the apps telling them their precious applications had been removed.

Torrent Freak reported: "Another drastic move came today when Google began removing many Pirate Bay related apps from its Play store. The apps in question include "The Pirate Bay Proxy," "The Pirate Bay Premium," "The Pirate Bay Mirror" and "PirateApp"." The reason for the removal of these apps is a bit tricky, as there were not any DMCA takedown notices.

The apps themselves are described as providing mobile-optimized access to The Pirate Bay, with some of the applications including a proxy site to get around the various blocks put up by various service providers. Google adds that these apps are in violation of the IP provision of its content policy. One e-mail sent to a developer said: "REASON FOR REMOVAL: Violation of the intellectual property and impersonation or deceptive behavior provisions of the Content Policy. Please refer to the IP infringement and impersonation policy help article for more information".

According to "an insider" at Rockstar Games, there is a sequel in production to Red Dead Redemption 2. What's so special about RDR 2? According to the rumor, it will have a heavy emphasis on cooperative play, which would be a very, very big change.

The insider took to the NeoGAF forums, where they said: "So I spoke to an insider at Rockstar who confirmed that Rockstar is indeed developing a sequel to Red Dead Redemption for PS4/Xbox One. Don't have a lot of concrete details but expect co-op to be integrated and focused on".

We shouldn't be surprised that it is riding onto the Xbox One and PS4, but we should be surprised at the lack of a PC version. Considering the total craziness surrounding the PC version of Grand Theft Auto V, you'd think Rockstar would've learned by now, that the PC audience is huge. Hopefully this changes closer to Red Dead Redemption 2's announcement, and release.

Update: Techland has reportedly updated the PC system requirements for Dying Light, which are much more tame than we reported. Instead of 8GB of RAM being required, and 16GB of RAM recommended, it is 4GB required and 8GB recommended. The GPU side of things is much better - with the required GeForce GTX 560 or Radeon HD 6870 versus the GTX 670 and Radeon HD 7870. The recommended GPU stays the same, with a GTX 780 or R9 290 recommended for Dying Light.

Techland has revealed the PC requirements for its upcoming zombie shooter, Dying Light. Dying Light will have PC gamers needing, at a minimum, an Intel Core i5-2500 at 3.3GHz, or an AMD FX-8320 at 3.5GHz. Not only that, but you'll need 8GB of RAM, 40GB of free HDD space, and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 or AMD Radeon HD 7870.

If you want to run the game with Dying Light's recommended PC specifications, you'll need a Core i5-4670K at 3.4GHz, FX-8350 at 4GHz. Something that is surprising, is that Techland is recommending you have 16GB of RAM which isn't super crazy these days, but it's still a damn steep requirement for something that doesn't feature the most mind-blowing graphics. You'll still need 40GB of HDD space, with the GPU requirements scaling up to a GeForce GTX 780 or Radeon R9 290.

After a hectic week of Grand Theft Auto V being pulled from Target shelves, and then Kmart Australia following through with the same action, Australian gamers are now petitioning to have the Bible banned. Yes, that Bible.

The petition has reached Change.org, where it has secured itself over 35,070 votes, with 14,930 more required. The petition states that the Bible "encourages readers to murder women for entertainment" by "commit(ting) sexual violence against women, then abuse or kill them to proceed or get 'god' points".

It continues, adding: "Target, you pride yourself on being a family company, caring for local communities, and have a strong ethical sourcing policy. How can you do this while contributing to hostile and callous attitudes toward victims of violence and, more broadly, to all women?". The petition finishes by asking: "Please put ethics before profits and make a strong statement that you do not condone sexual violence, sexual exploitation or the abuse of women as 'entertainment'".

Remember the Sony Pictures hack that saw employee's computers compromised and in-cinemas movies be released to the public? Well, according to recent news - this hack is even more in depth that originally thought.

Thanks to Gizmodo we were able to learn some more information regarding the whole ordeal, including various issues that Sony may face in the near future. As according to BuzzFeed, the 40 gigabytes of data released by these hackers contained everything from medical records to unreleased movie scripts - being claimed as one of the worst corporate hacks in history.

Members of the public have been questioning Sony's security and precautions surrounding this event taking place, some asking why Sony would have this information stored on an open network if it is so sensitive. Continuing with the bad news, BuzzFeed confirmed that the Sony leak included "employee criminal background checks, salary negotiations, and doctors' letters explaining the medical rationale for leaves of absence." This came alongside the release of a "script for an unreleased pilot written by Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan to the results of sales meetings with local TV executives."