Latest News - Page 2887

If you are a user of Windows 8.1 on a computer that lacks a touchscreen, you may be very frustrated at the user experience that the OS has offered so far. One of the things that Microsoft has promised to address with the first update for Windows 8.1 is making it easier for people not on touch PCs.

We mentioned last week that rumors pegged the launch of the update for Windows 8.1 to happen on April 8. That also happens to be the same day that Windows XP reaches the end of support date. Word has surfaced from sources who claim to be familiar with the goings on at Microsoft that the update has reached Release to Manufacturing or RTM.

That is a significant milestone for software and means that the update is officially ready to ship. The source also claims that Update 1 for Windows 8.1 has also been shared with PC makers and partners. The final update is said to have been compiled on February 21.

Logitech has been making its line of Harmony universal remote controls for a number of years. These remotes are notable because they all have macro buttons that make changing multiple inputs on your home theater system as easy as pushing a single button. Logitech has rolled out a new Harmony product called the Harmony Smart Keyboard.

The device is exactly what you think it is, a keyboard that can be used as a universal remote. The device is compatible with set top boxes like the Apple TV, Roku, Xbox 360, and PS3 consoles. It will also work with the Xbox One, but support for the PS4 isn't mentioned.

The QWERTY keyboard lets you easily type searches or chat. The keyboard also has the buttons you expect for controlling media and has a guide button. The keyboard also ships with the Harmony Hub that launched last summer as a standalone device.

Researchers have discovered a large number of comprised small office and home wireless routers. Hackers attacked more than 300,000 wireless router devices manufactured by D-Link, Micronet, Tenda, TP-Link and more. This discovery was made by researchers from a security firm 'Team Cymru' who has also disclosed a cross-site request forgery (CSRF) where attackers can access TP-Link routers using a blank password.

The idea is that hackers use multiple techniques to take over the wireless routers. Once the hackers get access, they change the domain name system (DNS) servers that's used to translate 'human-friendly' domain names into IP addresses for computers to track down web servers. The router re-directs to a fake website via the DNS where the unsuspecting victims insert login credentials. Once the credentials are inserted, the attackers use it to log into victims' accounts and uses socially engineering sms to induce the victim to unknowingly approve a transfer of funds to the attackers online banking account.

The hackers have attacked more than 300,000 routers located in multiple countries such as Vietnam, India, Colombia, etc. These compromised devices can now re-direct all of its end users to a malicious website to steal banking passwords. There is also a series of attacks that targets bank customers in Poland. It was found that fake DNS was used on the home and small office router which redirect computers, tablets and smartphones to a website made to collect online banking credentials from unsuspecting customers.

Back in late February, Sony offered up some details on the PS4 game console and the number of units sold globally since it launched. The numbers showed that as of February 18, the console had sold 5.3 million units globally. Sales in Japan have helped that number grow significantly in short order.

Sony announced yesterday that the PS4 game console has now reached 6 million units sold globally. That is a gain of around 700,000 units sold in only a couple weeks. Sony also detailed some other interesting items about the console.

There have been more than 3.6 million live broadcasts and 56 million spectate sessions via Twitch and Ustream from the PS4. Sony notes that PS4 gamers account for almost 20% of all daily broadcasts on Twitch. Another interesting tidbit is that the share button on the PS4 controller has been pressed over 10 million times.

Watchdogs is one of the most highly anticipated games arriving on Sony's PlayStation 4 this year, but up until now, Sony has kept quiet about its launch date. We first got a glimpse of Watchdogs during PS4's launch event last year, and the game wowed us with its new style and ideas, but since then we have heard very little about the game other than a few features and specifications.

Today Sony accidentally let the release date for Watchdogs slip when it published the games launch date on its website. The leak says that Watchdogs will release on June 30, 2014, as well as showing a retail price of $59.99, and that 608 people have already rated it... This leak is most likely the result of a website developer testing functionality, and all the information could be false filler, that was entered for testing purposes.

One of the greatest benefits for Toshiba when they purchased OCZ was their access to PCIe technology. Toshiba has a strong stable of enterprise SSDs, but they did lack the PCIe component. The release of the new OCZ Storage Solutions Z-Drive 4500 is a good example of the benefits of the acquisition in action. The access to Toshiba flash will also allow for more competitive pricing and a solid product supply for OCZ.

The Z-Drive 4500 features 8 SF-2582 processors in conjunction with Toshiba 19nm MLC NAND and the VCA (Virtualized Controller Architecture) technology to deliver some impressive specifications. The drive delivers maximum read bandwidth of up to 2,900 MB/s, maximum write bandwidth of up to 2,200 MB/s, random 4K block read throughput of up to 252,000 input/output operations per second (IOPS) and random 4K block write throughput of up to 76,000 IOPS.

Capacities of 800GB, 1.6TB and 3.2TB deliver endurance ratings of 680, 1300, and 2500 TBW, respectively. The drive features power capacitors for data protection and a new full height-half length design. A new casing is designed to cool components, and the addition of thermal throttling protects the SSD from overheating. Support for VXL Virtualization Software is baked in, and this is all wrapped up with a five-year warranty.

Microsoft's answer to Apple's personal digital assistant, Siri, is coming with Windows Phone 8.1. Cortana has been teased by Microsoft to The Verge, where it will go head-to-head with Google Now and Apple's Siri.

Windows Phone 8.1's built-in search functionality which usually leans on Bing, will be shifted over to Cortana. Cortana will appear as a circular animated icon instead of the female character in Halo, with the diital voice assistant animating when it's speaking or thinking. This makes Cortana a much more personal experience versus the invisible, and sometimes helpful Siri.

Cortana will allow Windows Phone users to customize the assistant to their liking, where users can call people by their name, or set nicknames to their BFFs. Cortana is also capable of saving information and data in a Notebook system, which allows Cortana to access information such as location data, behaviors, personal information, reminders, and contact information.

In preparation for the May theatrical release of the Godzilla reboot, Sony Pictures has announced the upcoming Blu-ray release of the much lambasted (but ultimately financially successful) 1998 Godzilla, which was directed by Roland Emmerich, produced by Dean Devlin (of Independence Day fame) and starred Matthew Broderick playing second fiddle to the computer generated colossus himself.

Godzilla 1998 is scheduled to come to Blu-ray on May 1st and whilst Sony Pictures have yet to detail the discs features, it should feature an audio commentary, featurettes and a Wallflowers music video, along with 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and UltraViolet digital copy.

Godzilla 2014 starring Bryan Cranston and Aaron Taylor-Johnson and directed by Gareth Edward will hit Australian cinemas two weeks later on May 15th from Warner and Legendary Pictures.

There's a new phishing scheme which involves Netflix and using the fear of having your account suspended unless you call the company's 'tech support'. Jerome Segura of Malwarebytes Unpacked uncovered 'Tech Support' scammers where they try to use Netflix account suspicion scare to steal its victims' photos, name, address, passwords and even credit cards.

Segura said that the error from Netflix urged him to call the 1-800 number on the screen, which was not the official support number and therefore prompted deeper investigation. Upon contacting the fake tech support, the representative made him download a 'Netflix Support Software' which turned out to be Teamviewer. After the remote connection was made, the scammer said that his account was suspended because of 'illegal activity' and showed 'proof' using a 'Foreign IP Tracer' which was a custom-made Windows batch script.

What was strange is that the tech support scammer advised him to connect with a Microsoft Certified technician. He also went ahead and transferred the call to a certified technician (fake, of course) who already had Teamviewer access. The fake support explained the issue and drafted a bill for installing network firewall, AVG antivirus cleanup followed by a $50 fake Netflix discount coupon and offered a discount. What was later found out that the scammer was trying to buy time and distract the victim. In the meantime, the scammer was going through his personal files and stealing data of his interest, as found in TeamViewer file transfer eventlog.

Meetup is one of those websites that almost everyone has used at some point, and with more than 12 years of an online presence it is no surprise that many have grown to depend on the service for spreading the word about their meetings. Unfortunately for the last several days, Meetup has been experiencing a massive Distributed Denial of Service attack (DDoS) that has crippled its servers and rendered the service unusable.

While the attack lessens from time to time, I have only noticed the service up twice over the last 4 days with it being back down within an hour of it coming back online. The attack is non political, and is purely designed to extort money from the company behind Meetup. An email arrived in CEO, Scott Heiferman's, inbox shortly after the attack began that read; "A competitor asked me to perform a DDoS attack on your website. I can stop the attack for $300 USD. Let me know if you are interested in my offer."

Meetup chose not to pay the extortionist even though the amount demanded was extremely small as it has a policy not to negotiate with criminals. At the time of this writing Meetup was back up, but has been down on and off for most of the day. The company says that it is working on restoring stability, and hopes that things will return to normal shortly.

Today Kickstarter announced that it has surpassed over $1 billion in crowd-funding pledges since the site first launched on the 28th April of 2009. Speaking of that date, users pledged a mere $1084 to just 7 featured projects in the first 24 hours the site was live. Fast forward to March 13th, 2013, just 4 years later, and more than 54,187 backers committed to more than $4,029,585 to 1,985 projects in a single day.

To celebrate this milestone in Kickstarter's history, the company released a nifty micro-site that unveils some interesting facts about the crowd-funding websites biggest and best days as well as its most popular backers. Wednesday has been the most popular day of the week to back a project with more than $160 million pledged. Sunday seems to be the least popular day to back projects with just over $100 million pledged. $619 million of the $1 billion was pledged by returning backers, and 1,689,979 people have backed more than one project. Interestingly enough 15,932 people have backed more than 50 projects on Kickstarter.

As far as countries go, the United States leads the pack with the most funding with $663,316,496 in pledges. The United Kingdom comes in second with $54,427,475, while Canada and Australia round out the top five with $44,913,678 and $31,776,566 pledged respectively. Another interesting insight is that the majority of the $1 billion milestone was pledged in the last 12 months alone. As for myself I have managed to back a total of 16 projects and while I wont give an exact figure, it is close to $1500 in pledges made to open source projects over the last 3 years.

When Samsung first introduced its $250 Chromebook, there were some who thought it would never make it to revision 2, but despite the naysayers, the Chromebook was a major success. Today the Samsung is once again banking on the success of a cheap, but high quality internet only device and has unveiled its all new Chromebook 2 in both 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch form factors.

The 13.3-inch Chromebook features a full HD 1920x1080 display, 4GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage space. The device is powered by Samsung's latest Exynos 5 Octa SoC and boast 8.5-hours of battery life thanks to the chips new low-power design. Weighing in at just over three pounds the 13.3-inch Chromebook 2 is one of the most high-end Chromebooks ever made. Its 11.6-inch little brother features a 1366x768 resolution display as well as a slower processor. 4GB of RAM remains as does the battery life, and number of USB ports. Both models feature a stitched leather back similar to that featured on Samsung's Galaxy Note devices, with the larger model sporting both black and white trim while the smaller version only comes in grey. The 13.3-inch Chromebook 2 retails for $399.99 with its smaller counterpart arriving at a pricing point of $319.99.

Microsoft plans to notify current Windows XP users of the April 8 end of support by onscreen pop-up notifications starting on Saturday. XP is almost 13 years old and has proven to be a great success, but Microsoft wants users to upgrade to newer OSes, which are more secure - and provide easier integration and compliance.

Microsoft is using the PCmover Express service designed to copy data and settings from XP machines to a newer version of Windows. There are a number of different software tools available that should help make switching easier, though businesses hopefully have some type of migration plans of some sort in place.

Users either refusing - or are unable - to upgrade from XP to Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 face an even higher number of potential security threats.

Research into remote mind-control took another step forward this week when scientist from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute managed to use a laser beam to convince a fly to mate with a ball of wax. The experiment, dubbed Fly Mind-Alternating Device (FlyMAD for short), utilizes a laser beam which is projected onto the fly's head and stimulates the fly's brain which has been altered with heat-activated proteins.

By using FluMAD to warm the fly's brain, researchers were able to cause the fly to instantly court the closest object nearby and then proceed to mate with it. The study says that the effects of the laser were so effective that it took an entire quarter of an hour for the fly to calm back down and return to normal. A similar study took place with mice and used normal white light to stimulate neurons in the rodent's brains, but the white light was ineffective on flys as it is unable to penetrate the insects exoskeleton.

Despite what you may think (I'm Looking at you Anthony), this research is not being conducted to bring forth mind control, but rather is being used to help researchers determine what happens when two neurons of opposing effects are activated simultaneously. This will help researchers map how the brain prioritizes neuron traffic, as well as finally understand how decision making parts of the brain function in different people, animals, and insects.

PC and mobile users are under constant threat from increasingly advanced types of malware, with attack servers handing out malware attack commands in 206 countries across the world, according to security company FireEye.

The United States, South Korea, Canada, Japan, and United Kingdom lead all countries targeted with advanced persistent threats (APTs). The government, services/consulting, and technology verticals most targeted, as cyberattacks are increasingly used to spy on rivals and steal information.

"The increasing frequency at which cyber attacks are happening illustrates the allure of malware to those with malicious intentions," said Dr. Ken Geers, FireEye senior global threat analyst, in a press statement. "Across the board, we are seeing a global expansion of APTs, malware, CnC infrastructure, and the use of publically available tools to facilitate the attack process. The global scale of threat has put cyber defenders in the very difficult position of not having any clue where the next attack will come from."

Forbes has just released its annual report that list the richest people in the world. If everyone is accounted for, the list shows that there are 1,565 people on Earth with a net-worth of $1 billion or more, with the entirety of the list totaling $6.4 trillion. In 2011, The Atlantic reported that the combined wealth of the world was a staggering $200 trillion, meaning that this list from Forbes accounts for about 3.2-percent of the entire world's wealth.

Microsoft's founder and worldwide philanthropist Bill Gates has returned to the top of the list with more than $76 billion in net-worth, while Carlos Slim Helu, Amancio Ortega, Warren Buffet and Larry Ellison round out the top five.Michael Bloomberg, Larry Page, Jeff Bezos, Sergey Brin, and Mark Zuckerberg make up numbers 16, 17, 18, 19, and 21. Carl Icahn, Steve Ballmer, Phil Knight, and Michael Dell made the top 50 with more than $17.5 billion each.

It's been four years since Bill Gates was last listed as the richest man in the world, and when you consider that he has already given away more than $28 billion through The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the staggering amount of wealth Gates has earned in his life is simply mind boggling. To put that into perspective, it would take someone who earns $25 per hour about 1,120,000,000 hours or 46,635,685 days, or 10,647 months, or 127,769 years of hard work before they would even earn the amount of money Bill Gates has given away.

Google Android tablets saw 127 percent growth in 2013 and reached the No. 1 position, as consumers and businesses embrace the mobile technology, according to the Gartner research firm.

Tablet sales saw a 68 percent growth in 2013 when compared to the year before, selling 195.4 million units. Although iOS tablet sales grew during 2013 Q4, Apple's share of the market dropped to 36 percent - and will continue to battle against Android-powered devices.

The tablet market continues to mature, and the emergence of lower-cost models from well-known electronics brands will continue to put pressure on Apple.

Today DICE released an official response to all of the complaints it has been receiving about issues revolving around Battlefield 4's "netcode." While the term netcode is made up by the community, the issues in Battlefield 4 are quite real and very much a nuisance. For some players lag, rubber banding, and pre-mature deaths are causing the game to be unplayable and it all seems to revolve around network connection issues.

DICE says that it is currently working on problems ranging between faulty networking latency compensation, to glitches in the game-play simulation itself. Before DICE went into any of its fixes, it described how the game actually works. "The game receives updates from the game server and displays these to the player using a system called latency compensation - this system makes sure players move around naturally on your screen when network updates arrive. We have found and fixed several issues with latency compensation, and thereby decreased the impressions of "one hit kills" in the game."

DICE has also fixed issues that cause rubber banding in the form of server optimization and is planning several more client-side fixes to reduce packet loss in an upcoming patch. This patch will also fix the Kill Cam animation from popping up prematurely and causing players to think they died before their health was deplenished. Additionally fixes for damage not registering for some users as well as a rare glitch that catapults some players at high speeds across the map resulting in death will be fixed as well.

Keurig's single cup coffee system is one of the hottest trends in both the home and office today, and as a result hundreds of third-party K-Cup refill brands have popped up all over the US and Canada. Much like the inkjet printer market or even gaming consoles, the profit is not in the main system, but is in the refills of coffee, ink, or game licenses. With refill competitors offering refills that are cheaper by up to 25-percent Keurig is not making as much money as it would like.

It appears that Keurig is looking to remedy this problem in a similar way that the software industry has attempted to thwart off piracy. In official documentation from an on-going lawsuit between TreeHouse Foods and Keurig, the plaintiff (TreeHouse Foods) says that Keurig is working on a DRM system that would only allow its K-Cups and officially licensed refills to work with the system. While no information was given on exactly how this DRM system will work, I expect that it will be RFID tag based.

During its quarterly earnings call, Keurig's CEO confirmed that it was working on a system that will not work with unlicensed refill cups, and that the next generation of coffee machines from the company will be "game-changing." Industry analyst suggest that the Keurig 2.0 will launch this fall, and that if a DRM system is introduced customers can expect a rise in price for both the machines and the "official refills." What do you think about this? Is Keurig shooting themselves in the foot, or will officially licensed refill cups make you more apt to buy a Keurig?

Today, Apple officially made an announcement about its brand new iOS specifically made for cars- CarPlay. The company first talked about its car iOS version during the developer conference last year and the cars with this Car specific iOS integration will be shown in an auto show at Geneva. This required partnership with car companies as it requires the manufacturers to provide the suitable hardware/interface setup for the in-car touch panel on the dashboard.

Via a statement, Apple VP Greg Joswiak said,"CarPlay has been designed from the ground up to provide drivers with an incredible experience using their iPhone in the car. Iphone users always want their content at their fingertips and CarPlay lets drivers use their iPhone in the car with minimized distraction. We have an amazing lineup of auto partners rolling out CarPlay, and we're thrilled it will make its debut this week in Geneva."

CarPlay allows drivers to access their iPhone content and maps via the car's entertainment display that's integrated on the car's dashboard. Once your iPhone is connected to the car, you can make and receive calls, message, use Apple maps for navigation, use the inbuilt display or Siri for whatever you require it to do. As of now, CarPlay has limited app integration, but one can easily assume that eventually a lot of apps will be available by the time cars with this iOS version rolls out from its factories.