Latest News - Page 2995

Microsoft is dropping some pretty serious hints that the Surface Pro could see itself being charged via accessories in the future thanks to an upgraded accessory spine. During the Surface AMA on Reddit, Microsoft dropped hints that the extra contact point could be used to attach accessories with batteries at a future point in time.

"At launch we talked about the 'accessory spine' and hinted at future peripherals that can click in and do more," says a Surface spokesperson. "Those connectors look like can carry more current than the pogo pins, don't they?" A further post in the AMA says that an external battery accessory would "require extending the design of the accessory spine to include some way to transfer higher current between the peripheral and the main battery. Which we did..."

As you can see, it's pretty clear that Microsoft is planning accessories that would charge the Surface Pro. Whether these will take the form of a thicker keyboard with an integrated battery or simply an extra battery, only time will tell. Until then, you can rest assured that the Surface Pro will support accessories like these.

While some hard-core Star Wars fans might be upset by Disney's announcement, others will certainly be pleased. Disney has confirmed that there will be at least two spinoffs that focus on individual Star Wars characters. These movies will be in addition to the upcoming episodes, the first of which--Episode VII--will be directed by J.J. Abrams.

Basically, Disney is trying to make as much money as possible from their $4 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm. Nothing has been said about which characters these spinoffs will focus on, though rumors suggest that Yoda or Jabba the Hutt could be the potential stars.

Apple hasn't upgraded the Mac Pro in a significant way since 2010. The case is still the original aluminum design that the Intel Mac Pro launched with back in 2006. Many professional users have felt a bit left out since Apple normally updates their systems yearly. These lack of updates have even sparked rumors that Apple is planning to discontinue the Mac Pro line of systems.

However, Tim Cook has continued to say that a new Mac Pro will be coming later this year. Apple is unable to continue selling the current version of the Mac Pro in Europe as it doesn't meet new regulatory standards for safety. One French retailer has said that Apple pointed them towards a spring launch of a new Mac Pro design.

Spring will officially end on June 20, meaning Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference, which runs June 11-15, is within that time frame. If a new Mac Pro is to be launched this spring, the Worldwide Developers Conference is the most likely suspect for when and where it will be launched.

If you are anything closely related to a science geek, space nerd, casual star gazer or hard core astronomer, you have most likely heard of Comet ISON. NASA has just released awesome video of the comet streaking through space. ISON could prove to be the largest comet the Earth has seen in recorded history later this fall.

Later this year, Comet ISON will make a close pass to Earth and as it approaches the sun, its tail will glow as well as grow. Many leading authorities believe that ISON will be the largest comet ever witnessed from Earth's surface. At its peak it could be brighter than the full moon, and its tail could stretch the width of 96 full moons.

Chances are high that ISON might even be bright enough to be visible during the daytime, which is virtually unheard of. I for one have set aside several days in November and December to photograph and observe the great comet, which is believed to have originated in the Oort Cloud and has an orbit of several hundred thousand years.

3D printers are huge right now, where we're not only looking towards the world's first 3D-printed building, but we have the European Space Agency talking about a 3D-printed base... on the Moon. The latest 3D printing news is scientists working with 3D-printed embryonic stem cells that could one day lead us toward lab-made organ transplants.

A team at the Heriot-Watt University of Edinburgh, Scotland are the ones who have developed a method for 3D printing clusters of human embryonic stem cells in various sizes. Researchers have previously, and successfully printed 3D cells before, but this is the first time that embryonic cell cultures have been build in 3D.

With human embryonic stem cells capable of replicating pretty much any type of tissue in the human body, this is huge news. The scientists at the Heriot-Watt believe that lab-made versions could one day found their way into organ transplants, making donors unnecessary.

I'm sure some of you have seen that I'm personally excited about Microsoft's Surface Pro, but Microsoft aren't working with us to provide me with a sample to review unfortunately. So I'm waiting until it's released and shelling out $999 to buy it personally.

There are a few reviews of the Surface Pro floating out now, where we've listed a few below. The reviews are mostly positive, which is a great first step for Microsoft. I really think the second-generation Surface Pro's are going to be where the money is, so we'll have to wait and see how the Surface Pro does in the market first. On to the reviews:

The Verge

ORIGIN has announced a new way to contact their customer support. The new method is a bit different than most companies and should help users reach technical support in the most convenient way possible. ORIGIN's Nexus client will allow users to chat with technical support while in-game or on the desktop.

Along with contacting support, the client will allow users to chat with friends, take screenshots and video, and live broadcast gameplay. A nice feature of being able to contact support in-game is the ability to be looking at exactly what isn't working while talking to support. This allows you to get the best description of the problem.

Kevin Wasielewski, CEO and co-founder of ORIGIN PC:

It's widely known that we will be seeing a debut of Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie at Google's annual Developer's Conference in May. However, before Key Lime Pie hits our phones and tablets, Google will be releasing at least one more update to the 4.2 branch of Android.

Android 4.2.2 is more of a very minor update that includes a number of security updates, bug fixes and some performance improvements. The Nexus 7 will also see improvement in its Bluetooth streaming with the new update. We can expect 4.2.2 to launch as early as next week, but it could release as late as mid-March.

Key Lime Pie is reportedly already being tested on Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 devices by Google employees and there is supposed screenshots floating out in the wild. As an Android user from the start, I am quite excited to get my hands on a device running Key Lime Pie. What about you? Leave us your thoughts on a new Android version in the comments.

It never fails, just when you are finally getting comfortable with your new Apple device, the company releases an upgraded model that you just have to have. That just may be the case for iPad owners across the US today as Apple has just released the 128GB version of its latest tablet.

The new 128GB iPad is the company's most expensive yet with the WiFi model costing a hefty $799. If you want the LTE capable version, you will need to add $130 to the price tag, bringing you to $929 total. The new device is available for purchase now at the Apple Store online with the WiFi version making it to your house within three days.

Apple, as well as its fan boys, has stated that the 128GB iPad could be a true laptop killer. While I think that some users will inevitably switch over, I feel that for the most part, laptop users will continue to augment their PC usage with a tablet. This is mainly because neither the iPad nor any Android tablet out there has the functionality to fully take over the duties of a notebook at this point. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

Dyson's latest and greatest invention is an update to their Airblade line of hand dryers, the Airblade Tap. Dyson's Airblade Tap integrates the drying functionality directly into the faucet itself, thanks to some great size reductions in the technology required to integrate the drying functionality into the faucet. Sir James Dyson, founder of Dyson said:

Dyson's Airblade Tap sports a smaller 1600W motor that is capable of drying hands in under 12 seconds as it's capable of pushing air out at an incredible 420mph. The hand dryer also cleans the air before blowing it onto your hands, with Dyson stating that it makes it much more convenient to use than regular hand dryers. The included HEPA filters reportedly pick up 99.9% of bacteria and viruses in the bathroom air, too.

Markus 'Notch' Persson, the guy behind Minecraft made approximately $100 million last year, not bad for what most people consider an "indie" game. Making $100 million pits him directly against mode huge games, and even nipping on the heels of AAA titles.

Notch was answering some questions through a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything), where readers unearthed (geddit?) some information on him, and how he was able to acquire so much cash, so quickly. Notch isn't too sure what to do with it all, as would most people that aren't born into money, but he'd like to provide for his family and finally get his drivers license and maybe buy a car, but he's still a bit uneasy about it all, he wrote:

Google and Mozilla are pushing WebRTC as the future of software-independent video and voice chat. To show off the capabilities, Mozilla called up Google from Firefox to Chrome to demonstrate the cross-browser functionality that is available via WebRTC. Of course, to do this, you'll need the latest builds of both browsers.

Mozilla's blog post talks up the new technology and open source:

Facebook is reportedly developing an application that would track users, according to sources familiar with the company. Bloomberg is reporting that Facebook is working on an app that would help friends discover nearby friends by constantly tracking users' locations, even when the app isn't open.

This presents potential privacy risks, as well as possible data mines for federal and state officials. None of the plans have been confirmed by Facebook. When asked, a Facebook spokesman declined to comment on the report. This new app could be part of Zuckerberg's call to focus on mobile:

"A lot of what we had to do last year was simply to improve our mobile development process," Zuckerberg said. "The next thing we're going to do is get really good at building new mobile-first experiences."

It would appear that detailed specifications of the Xbox 720's GPU have been leaked online. While there is no guarantee that these specifications are authentic, they are along the lines of what we would expect from the next-generation console. Couple that with the fact we are only a few months away from the expected announcement and these specifications get a bit more credence.

As you can see in the picture above, the GPU is said to have an 800MHz clock speed. The GPU reportedly features 32MB of embedded ESRAM, similar to the EDSRAM on the 360. However, this ESRAM is said to be free of some of the many restrictions placed on the 360's ESDRAM.

The GPU is also reportedly able to do 2x, 4s, and 8x MSAA antaliasing, which means picture quality should be vastly improved in games. The Xbox 720 is widely expected to be announced by Microsoft in June at E3, which is a couple of months after Sony is expected to announce the PlayStation 4.

A new rumor is placing the next iPad mini with a Retina display that outputs a resolution of 2048x1536. That puts the pixel per inch count at 324, or near double that of the current iPad mini's 163. The Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD both come with PPI's of 216, so the new iPad mini would blow them away if this rumor proves true.

Many slammed Apple for releasing the iPad mini with such a low-resolution screen. However, the Retina display is more power hungry and costs more, so it was a sacrifice that Apple had to make in order to keep the device thin, light, and cheap. This rumor may prove to be true, however, as it goes along with an earlier rumor that Apple has picked AU Optronics to make the HD Retina panel for the next iPad mini.

We likely won't see a new mini until at least August. When that time rolls around, we should hopefully know more about the device.

You might have read a story I did a few days ago on a class action lawsuit settlement in which Facebook admitted to using its users images in "Sponsored Posts". The settlement was agreed upon with $20 million being set aside to compensate affected parties.

This morning I received my settlement notice even though I had no idea that I was one of the affected parties. The notice does say that I could be entitled to up to $10, but if the number of claims exceeded a financially feasible number, then all the money will be donated to charity. Other than that, it is full of legalese, but it does state a few interesting things which I have quoted below.

As an avid Spotify user - heck, I'm listening to music on Spotify right now, Black Eyed Peas to be precise - this news comes as a bit of a shock. The House of Representatives has slapped a ban on the use of music streaming and subscription service, Spotify.

The House has a longstanding ban on peer-to-peer technology, and while Spotify isn't exactly a P2P program, it has still been banned. The ban on peer-to-peer software was made to stop illegal file-sharing and to prevent infections on computers with malware. A spokesman for the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer told Politico:

After 21 years in the limelight (well, until the iPod was unveiled) Sony's MiniDisc player has been discontinued. Sony are just finishing off the MiniDisc, where the last units will leave the assembly line next month.

Debuting back in 1992, Sony's MiniDisc player was heralded as the next big step in portable music players, where it was capable of cram a bunch of music onto a small optical disc, which at the time was about half the size of a compact disc. This made it easier to take your music with you, enjoying a nice 80 minutes of listening, but it never really took off with US consumers for a few reasons.

Pricing on the format was expensive and didn't slide down to acceptable levels for years, and there weren't many new releases dumped onto the format. Japan was the place to be for the MiniDisc, but elsewhere? Not so much.

BLU Products' latest smartphone creations have been announced, with their Quattro line of smartphones all based on NVIDIA's Tegra 3 SoC and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

The first of which is the entry-level Quattro 4.5, featuring a 4.5-inch qHD display, 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, 4GB of internal memory expandable by up to 32GB with an external memory card, and 1GB of RAM. The Quattro 4.5 will be available in the coming days at $249.99 unlocked through various websites in the US.

Next up we have the Quattro 4.5 HD which sports an Advanced Super View 4.5-inch HD 326ppi display which is protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass. We find an 8-megapixel rear-facing snapper on the Quattro 4.5 HD which also features an f/2.4 large aperture lens, 16GB of internal storage and 1GB of RAM. The Quattro 4.5 HD will be available in the first week of this month at $349.99.

I'm sure there are some of you out there, like me, who remember the class adventure series from Sierra, Police Quest. Well, the creator of Police Quest, Jim Walls, was interviewed by Chris Pope, the Executive Producer of Guys from Andromedia LLC where he had something interesting to announce.

Walls announced that he is to soon join some of his ex-Sierra buddies, where they'll begin a new Kickstarter project where they hope to raise enough funds to start a new Police Quest-like game. We won't see a proper Police Quest game as Activision own the rights to it, but something like Police Quest would still be great.

Walls is asking for help, and would like people who are interested in helping to contact him through his website, but still has full intentions of starting a new Kickstarter-funded project sometime this year.