Latest News - Page 2823

Microsoft and Opera Software have teamed up so Nokia's Xpress browser will be replaced by Opera Mini on Microsoft's struggling line of feature phones. The deal is focused on the Series 30+, Series 40 and Ashwa software platforms, and Opera Mini is currently used by about 250 million users - including 100 million Google Android users.

As more Internet users, especially in emerging markets, relying on phones to access the Internet, ensuring Opera Mini is on as many devices as possible makes sense. Meanwhile, Microsoft's feature phones and Windows Phone-powered smartphones struggle against Apple and Google - but this is still a strong partnership for Opera.

"This is a great opportunity to spread the benefits of Opera Mini to millions more consumers in our core markets," said Lars Boilesen, Opera Software CEO, in a press statement. "There are still massive numbers of people who have not moved to smartphones, but Opera Mini can provide them with an amazing browsing experience right now."

U.S. universities face a bigger threat of security data breaches than the retail and healthcare sectors, according to a recent study published by BitSight. As the school year begins again, hackers are preparing to target universities once again, the report said.

Using data based on major athletic conferences, including the Pacific-12, Big 10, Big 12, Southeastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference and Ivy League from July 2013 to June 2014, all divisions saw a drop in cybersecurity performance.

"From Social Security and credit card numbers to health records and intellectual property produced by research departments, colleges and universities house a vast amount of sensitive data," said Stephen Boyer, BitSight co-founder and CTO, in a statement to FierceCIO. "While not surprising given the unique challenges universities face securing open campus networks, it's concerning to see that they are rating so far below other industries that we've seen plagued by recent security problems."

Acer today announced its Chromebox CXI line of PCs for low-budget consumers, designed for education, small to medium businesses and budget-conscious users.

The system is powered by an Intel Celeron 2957U dual-core 1.4GHz CPU, 16GB solid state drive, 2GB or 4GB RAM, and should boot in just 8 seconds. Chromebox CXI also includes 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet and Bluetooth 4.0, one HDMI port, combination audio jack for microphones and headsets.

"The Acer Chromebook CXI is an excellent fit for schools and any other institution or business where conserving costs and space are high priorities," said Simon Hwang, Acer President of Stationary Computing and Display Business Group, in a press statement. "Due to the ease of management, the Chromebox can significantly reduce technical support and consequently lower the total cost of ownership."

An interesting new game has jumped onto Kickstarter, with Sienna Storm having Sheldon Pacotti, who wrote the first two Deus Ex games. Sienna Storm puts you in "The Game", with the game being espionage. Sienna Storm will feature "stunning hand-drawn environments let the action span the globe" with "2D animations bring to life infiltrations, evasions, fights, and also other influential characters as you mark targets, meet assets, go black or drop heat".

The gameplay of Sienna Storm sounds intriguing, where it is a departure from the games we know and love today. The Kickstarter page for Sienna Storm explains the gameplay: "Sienna Storm is a unique interactive comic-style video game. Every scene is a hand drawn, animated work of art and there are multiple actions points the player may select to progress the game. Dialogues are rich and non-linear, and choices you make throughout the game not only have consequences, but also influence your standings with certain characters and involved parties".

The page continues: "There is a fair amount of challenges to resolve such as combat, hacking computers, and tailing an enemies. When you enter these challenges, you play a short strategic card game using a customizable deck. At the start of each card match, you can modify your deck to best suit the situation, even adding in new cards you've earned over the course of the game. This allows you to pick a strategy - trickery, gadgetry, or straight-up violence - that works best for the mission and your personal play style. But watch out! The matches are dynamic and based on the story, so you never know what new enemies, old allies, or dramatic plot twists are in the cards to keep you on your toes!"

It wasn't even a month ago that Star Citizen had reached its $48 million funding goal, but now it hasn't just broken through $50 million, but it is half way through $51 million sitting at $21,523,485 at the time of writing.

The $50 million milestone unlocked Alien Languages, which will see Star Citizen gamers enjoying alien languages in the game. RSI explains: "Do you speak Banu? We will work with real-world linguists to create distinctive and realistic alien languages for Star Citizen's three biggest alien races, the Vanduul, the Xi'An and the Banu. No universal translators, no garbled animal noises: Star Citizen's aliens will be speaking their own authentic languages!"

When Star Citizen hit $51 million, it saw the Web-based Known Universe Map unlocked, which is "The platform web team priority will be shifted to making the Known Universe Map available." The $52 million goal will be hit without a problem, where we'll see "The BB-12 is a brand new Manned Maneuvering Unit from Azure Sky Aero. Whether you are engaging in precision mining operations or delicate salvage retrieval, the BB-12 is capable of EVA operation for six uninterrupted hours. This new model features twenty-four precision nozzle thrusters and two redesigned heavy-duty tanks of gaseous nitrogen propellant, capable of being hot-swapped while on the drift or refueled back on the ship. With the BB-12, Azure Sky has once again cemented their place as the premier EVA tech provider."

NVIDIA's new Tegra K1-powered Shield tablet is now available in the select markets, with the company announcing that it has unveiled new Tegra K1-exclusive effects to two of Valve's most popular titles: Half-Life 2 and Portal.

These new Tegra K1-exclusive effects bring the mobile versions of the game to be "just as visually rich as the full PC editions of the game". NVIDIA says that these new effects include "render-to-texture shadows, bump mapping, specular highlights, motion blur, and higher-quality texture filtering".

Both of the new Tegra K1-powered titles are optimized to play well on the new Shield tablet, thanks to its optional ultra-low-latency Wi-Fi Direct Shield wireless controller.

During an event in New York City overnight, Sharp unveiled its new Aquos Crystal smartphone, which will hit Sprint and its pre-paid Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile brands. It's a mid-range smartphone with some slightly redeeming features, such as its barely there bezel.

The Sharp Aquos Crystal has a 5-inch 1280x720 - or 720p - display, with barely any bezels at the top and sides. Inside, we have a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1.5GB of RAM, 8GB of flash storage, and a 2040mAh battery. On the back and front we have an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, and 1.2-megapixel camera up front. For the software side of things, we have Android 4.4.2 KitKat.

Sharp has also provided Harman's LiveStage, which "adds dimension to the sound" according to Android Central, who went hands-on with the device in NYC. There's also Clari-Fi technology which "improves digital sound quality by restoring all types of compressed digital music". If you want to get your hands-on the Sharp Aquos Crystal, it'll cost you $0 down on a 24-month contract of $10 on Sprint Easy Pay. Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile will be offering the smartphone for $149.99 plus tax.

With only nine months on the market, Sony has sold over 10 million PlayStation 4 consoles - a number that is far beyond most people's predictions on Sony's fourth-generation console. Sony's Worldwide Studios for Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., Shuhei Yoshida, sat down with Eurogamer for a chat, where he had some interesting things to say.

Yoshida was asked about the 10 million PS4s sold milestone, where he said: "The 10m sell through in the first nine months is well beyond what we had hoped for. As you know, we have struggled to keep up with demand of PS4 for so many months. It was hard to find and purchase PS4. Now we are able to supply units so in every territory I believe you can find PS4. So we just managed to catch up with demand".

"It's just beyond our imagination. We are so happy. But I for one am a bit nervous because we do not completely understand what's happening. You need to understand why your products are selling well so you can plan for the future, right? It defied the conventional thinking. Lots of people thought the dedicated game hardware might not be needed going forward, but still lots of people are very excited. When you see the new games coming out and being announced this E3 and Gamescom, I think there's a good enough reason for a gamer to believe this is something worth investing in."

The bitcoin cryptocurrency has surged among consumers and businesses, but volatility has concerned many investors - and with values dropping almost 12 percent, from $492.95 down to $435.60 on Monday, there might be rightful concern.

What happened on Monday was considered highly unusual, as values started at almost $500 on Monday morning. However, the BTC-e platform bitcoin value slump trended downward, there were three trades that occurred at $309, but there were more than a thousand transactions valued from $309 to $400.

"We have seen crashes like this before and they follow a certain pattern, namely a sharp drop followed by a swift rebound to about a bit less than the previous level," said Raffael Danielli, Matlab Trading margin trading critic, in a statement to CoinDesk.

While 3D printing is evolving and maturing at a rapid rate, it's mainly businesses that are utilizing the breakthroughs, with consumer 3D printing at least five years away, according to research firm Gartner. The short term outlook indicates business and medical practices, interested in embracing 3D for functional purposes, will benefit from using 3D technology.

Trying to embrace 3D printing is still a relatively expensive endeavor at the moment, and end users might be interested in following the market - but aren't in a big hurry to invest in 3D printers and filaments to make their own 3D-printed creations. Over the next two to five years, there will be an increase in enterprise 3D printing, as 3D print creation software, scanners and printing services rise in the near future.

"Consumer 3D printing is around five to 10 years away from mainstream adoption," said Pete Basiliere, Gartner Research VP, in a statement. "Today, approximately 40 manufacturers sell the 3D printers most commonly used in businesses, and over 200 startups worldwide are developing and selling consumer-oriented 3D printers, priced from just a few hundred dollars. However, even this price is too high for mainstream consumers at this time, despite broad awareness of the technology and considerable media interest."

Police officers in the UK have been warned about proper social media etiquette, so they should not tweet while naked or after drinking, and should even avoid sharing updates on social media if they are eating doughnuts. Some UK police officers have been found sharing racist and homophobic comments on Twitter, along with reckless pictures in which they are posing with weapons.

If police are reckless with social media, it's likely that someone will notice - and tweets will be re-tweeted and Facebook status updates will be shared. There have been 828 cases of online-related incidents in the UK from 2009 until February 2014, according to Freedom of Information requests. Officers receive written warnings when found being inappropriate on social media, and punishments can escalate depending on a case-by-case basis.

"Social media is a key tool for us in having conversations with communities, using it not only to pass information but to receive information about crime and incidents, help people make informed choices," said Ian Hopkins, Greater Manchester Police Deputy Chief Constable, in a UK media statement. "So staff must act with integrity, with fairness, with honesty, openness, and regardless of whether they are tweeting as John Smith or Joanna Smith, if they are recognizable as a PC or a member of police staff, then they have to be taking into account the code of ethics."

Pro-Syrian hackers are using WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube and Viber to share malware that is aimed at activists fighting for a regime change in Syria. In addition to Syrian Internet users, people were also targeted in the United States, France, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Palestine, Israel, Morocco and Lebanon, security researchers noted.

The malware is using remote access tools (RATs) and being shared to groups that support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The RAT technology are able to compromise PCs and systems in which they are installed, with attackers stealing credentials, remotely turning on microphones and video cameras, and controlling the infected PCs.

"Total Network Monitor (which is a legitimate application) is inside another sample found, being used with embedded malware for spying purposes," according to Kaspersky Lab researchers. "Offering security applications to protect against surveillance is one of the many techniques used by malware writing groups to get users desperate for privacy to execute these dubious programs."

The Islamic State (IS) has been booted off Twitter multiple times, and is finding other social media platforms to share its propaganda - while fighting in Iraq and Syria intensifies. Previously known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), the terror group is facing U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and desperately wants to keep its social media recruitment effort underway.

Backup IS accounts were removed from Twitter last week, but the group is focusing more on Diaspora, a community-run, distributed social network. The IS Diaspora accounts first began to appear about one month ago, after the group's main media account and the al-Hayat Media Center, the IS multilingual media branch heading from Twitter to Diaspora.

IS quickly being bounced from Twitter is a significant problem for the propaganda wing of the group, especially with the terrorist group enjoying the opportunity to taunt western leaders, but messages, images, and videos can still be shared to the public.

Sandisk today announced the company's first consumer SSD with 3-bits per cell (TLC) flash technology. The new Ultra II is the successor to the award winning Ultra Plus SSD we first tested in January of 2013.

Sandisk calls the comapany's special flavor of TLC flash X3 NAND Flash Technology. The Ultra II also progresses Sandisk's nCache technology, now up to version 2.0 after the original nCache found on the Ultra Plus and nCache Pro found on the Extreme PRO.

Sandisk's Dashboard tool for SSDs is progressing nicely. The software will feature anti-virus, cloning and even theft recovery by the time the Ultra II comes to market.

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer wrote a letter addressed to current CEO Satya Nadella, stating he is stepping down as a Microsoft board member. Ballmer retired almost six months ago and Microsoft picked Nadella to try to steer the company into a mobile, cloud-connected world.

"I bleed Microsoft - have for 34 years and I always will," Ballmer wrote in the letter. "I continue to love discussing the company's future. I love trying new products and sending feedback. I love reading about what is going on at the company. Count on me to keep ideas and inputs flowing. The company will move to higher heights. I will be proud, and I will benefit through my share ownership. I promise to support and encourage boldness by management in my role as a shareholder in any way I can."

It's not a surprise to hear Ballmer has stepped down from the board, especially as his focus turns more towards the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team. In addition to owning the NBA franchise, Ballmer has stayed active in the non-profit community, teaching and studying, which is "taking a lot of time."

A Silicon Valley resident purchased a 1.4-acre home site near Lake Tahoe, a popular Northern California tourist destination, for $1.6 million in bitcoins. It was the first time the Martis Camp real estate company handled a transaction in bitcoins, but enjoyed a pleasurable experience this time around. The deal closed on August 6 and serves as a significant real estate transaction using bitcoins, with many companies still seeking cold, hard cash.

"We didn't know much about (Bitcoin)," said Brian Hull, Martis Camp sales director, in a statement to the media. "We actually closed in the quickest time frame that we've ever closed on a developer lot transaction."

Earlier in the year, the Sacramento Kings NBA team became the first professional sports team to begin accepting bitcoins - as more businesses embrace the sometimes volatile cryptocurrency. Meanwhile, Overstock.com estimates $6 million to $8 million in bitcoin sales during 2014, with the popular e-tailer serving as a major business early adopter.

Anyone who has ever handed the keys to their car over to a valet at an event or restaurant has felt the fear at wondering what the valet will do to your car while you are gone. People with nice cars like the new Corvette Stingray may feel a bit more fear than others. Valets are known to be rather hard on some cars.

GM has announced that the 2015 Corvette fitted with the Performance Data Recorder option will have a slick Valet mode that will record the antics of the Valet while you are inside eating. GM says that the system is rather like a baby monitor for your car.

In addition to turning on the recorder, the valet mode will also lock the storage bin behind the center stack display, lock the glove box, and disable the radio and infotainment system. The Data recorder in the car records video for the front of the car overlaid with speed, engine RPM, gear, and g-force.

When was the last time you purchased a game for your PC from an actual retailer? If you're like me, every game you purchase is digital - either through Steam, Origin or even a service like GOG.com. Well, according to DFC Intelligence, 92% of PC game sales for last year were digital, leaving just 8% to physical copies.

Payday 2 publisher Starbreeze saw 80% of its first-month sales of 1.58 million copies being digital. But then titles like DotA 2 and DayZ were completely digital, adding to that huge 92%. Rewinding back to 2010, digital PC sales made up 48% of all PC sales, so we've seen a huge increase of 44% over the last three years.

But then powerhouse publisher EA has only seen 20% of its total sales being digital, but EA have titles on virtually every platform available to gamers, with games in both physical, and digital form.

Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden would "volunteer" for prison but only under the right circumstances, he said in a recent interview with Wired Magazine. Considering he faces charges that include conveying classified information to an unauthorized party, theft of government property and disclosing communications intelligence information, he would likely face significant prison time if convicted.

"I told the government I'd volunteer for prison, as long as it served the right purpose," Snowden told Wired earlier this month. "I care more about the country than what happens to me. But we can't allow the law to become a political weapon or agree to scare people away from standing up for their rights, no matter how good the deal is. I'm not going to be part of that."

Earlier in the month, Russian officials announced Snowden's asylum was extended for an additional three years - allowing him to remain in a safe location as he tries to figure out what to do long-term. Most U.S. politicians have been less than kind when describing Snowden's actions, and it seems unlikely he would receive a fair trial if he returns back to the United States. However, they are still keen to see him return home, because they certainly seem to have a lot of questions they would like him to answer.

If you spend much time on Facebook, you have seen people share content from sites like The Onion and others. Many of us know that the content from The Onion and similar sites is satire, meaning it's fake. The problem for some folks is that they think the content is real. The upside for those of us that know the content is satire is that we get to point out their mistake, and make fun of them for it.

Facebook is said to be testing a new satire tag for content in your newsfeed. At first glance it sounds like that will take away all the fun of tricking people into thinking these often outlandish satire stories are true. Facebook is reportedly only marking the content with the satire tag in user's newsfeeds after they click the article to read it.

That means at first glance, someone unfamiliar might think it's real. Facebook told Mashable, "We are running a small test which shows the text "[Satire]" in front of links to satirical articles in the related articles unit in News Feed. This is because we received feedback that people wanted a clearer way to distinguish satirical articles from others in these units."