Lost creator says the show isn't done yet, a return is 'inevitable'

Anthony Garreffa | Celebrities & Entertainment | Oct 3, 2014 3:30 AM CDT

It has been ten years since Lost premiered, and with the controversial finale four years ago, the Executive Producer behind the show has said that the return of Lost is simply, in the words of Agent Smith, "inevitable".

Carton Cuse talked with Digital Spy, where he said: "Disney owns the franchise, it made them a lot of money, it's hard to imagine it will just sit there idly forever. Damon (Lindelof) and I told our story in that world and I assume someone will come along, hopefully having been inspired by our story, or our version of the story, and want to tell their own story".

"It's like the Narnia chronicles. There are seven books, they were all written by CS Lewis, but they all visit Narnia at different times and different configurations and different ways", he continued. Cuse added: "Someone is going to come up with a way to tell another Lost story. I think it's inevitable. I don't know what it is or how it would work, but I can't imagine something else won't be done with the franchise".

Continue reading: Lost creator says the show isn't done yet, a return is 'inevitable' (full post)

Apple's upcoming A9 processor to be made by Samsung on 14nm

Now that the new iPhones are here, the talk about the next iPhone has begun. Samsung is reportedly being tapped by Apple to make its A9 processor, the successor to the A8 found in the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Samsung is expected to use its 14nm process, which the company should surely handle since it made 30% of all A8 processors, sharing manufacturing work with TSMC. Samsung is offering up Apple's next processor built on 14nm FinFet technology, which should provide 15% smaller space compared to the current 20nm, as well as providing 20% more power, and 35% more power efficiency.

We should hear more about the A9 processor soon, but who would be surprised with a new iPhone announcement in the next six months?

Continue reading: Apple's upcoming A9 processor to be made by Samsung on 14nm (full post)

Tesla's next car will 'probably be 90 percent capable of autopilot'

Anthony Garreffa | Electric Vehicles & Cars | Oct 2, 2014 7:47 PM CDT

Most are expecting self-driving cars to be something real before the end of the decade, but 2020 is too far away for Tesla. During a recent interview with CNNMoney, Tesla Motors' boss and real-life Tony Stark, Elon Musk, has teased that an autonomous car from the company is only months away from retail.

Musk said: "Autonomous cars will definitely be a reality. A Tesla car next year will probably be 90 percent capable of autopilot. Like, so 90 percent of your miles can be on auto. For sure highway travel. How's that going to happen? With a combination of various sensors. You combine cameras with image recognition with radar and long-range ultrasonics, that'll do it. Other car companies will follow. But you guys are going to be the leader? Of course. I mean, Tesla's a Silicon Valley company. If we're not the leader, shame on us".

Tesla Motors has an announcement ready for October 9, inviting media and promising to unveil "the D and something else". A self-driving car is a total surprise at this point, and could be the catalyst Tesla requires to become the undisputed new big thing in vehicles not only in the US, but the world. Cheap to run, high-quality, safe, autonomous cars? Sure, they might be expensive at first, but with the new Gigafactory, we could be looking at cheaper, mid-range autonomous cars being the norm by 2020, instead of the first one rolling off the production line.

Continue reading: Tesla's next car will 'probably be 90 percent capable of autopilot' (full post)

US setting aside some nuclear weapons to combat asteroids

The United States military has slowed down efforts to dismantle some of its aging nuclear warheads, just in case they are needed for use against asteroids that threaten the Earth. Until an evaluation is conducted to determine "their use in planetary defense against earth-bound asteroids," according to officials.

Nuclear weapons could be used to strike asteroids to either knock them off course - or detonate asteroids to create smaller fragments - that would no longer pose a threat to the planet. Of course, such controversial research has garnered some criticism, including the idea that this is just an excuse for the U.S. military to keep a functional nuclear arsenal.

NASA previously outlined its interest in trying to capture an asteroid which could be used by researchers for further studies. The U.S. space agency will test capabilities by 2030 as part of the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM), and it could also be used to help manned missions reach Mars.

Continue reading: US setting aside some nuclear weapons to combat asteroids (full post)

Over 1.3 million gamers tuned into NVIDIA's GAME24 event

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Oct 2, 2014 12:56 PM CDT

It wasn't long ago that NVIDIA used its GAME24 event to officially unveil its new second-generation Maxwell-based GPUs, the GeForce GTX 980 and GTX 970, but also celebrated PC gaming for 24 hours across the world.

NVIDIA had over 1.3 million gamers from over 120 countries jump into the live stream for the various streams NVIDIA had going, from a 24-hour modding competition, to the Maxwell launch itself, to a DotA 2 tournament, and more. 1.3 million gamers tuning in over 24 hours show that NVIDIA pulled something popular here, so it'll be interesting to see another event in the near future from the company.

Continue reading: Over 1.3 million gamers tuned into NVIDIA's GAME24 event (full post)

Netflix secures the next Adam Sandler movies as an exclusive

Anthony Garreffa | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Oct 2, 2014 5:25 AM CDT

Netflix has announced a new deal it has struck with Adam Sandler, the star of The Wedding Singer and Happy Gilmore, with his next four feature films as an exclusive. With Sandler's movies grossing over $3 billion at the global box office, this could be an interesting move.

Sandler's movies also rank as the most-viewed by Netflix members in the US, Brazil, the UK and more. Netflix's Chief Content Officer, Ted Sarandos said: "People love Adam's films on Netflix and often watch them again and again. His appeal spans across viewers of all ages -- everybody has a favorite movie, everyone has a favorite line -- not just in the US but all over the world".

Sandler had something a little different to say: "When these fine people came to me with an offer to make four movies for them, I immediately said yes for one reason and one reason only... Netflix rhymes with Wet Chicks. Let the streaming begin!!!!" The deal sees Sandler's Happy Madison Productions working with Netflix to develop the four movies that will see Adam Sandler starring and producing in, to premiere exclusively to member's in over close to 50 countries that Netflix operates in.

Continue reading: Netflix secures the next Adam Sandler movies as an exclusive (full post)

Star Citizen enters the Guinness Book of World Records

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Oct 2, 2014 12:50 AM CDT

Star Citizen has raked in over $55 million in crowdfunding since it went live last year, which has seen the game enter the Guinness Book of World Records "not as the largest crowdfunded game of all time, but as the largest crowdfunded anything of all time", according to Roberts Space Industries' founder and Wing Commander's father, Chris Roberts.

Funding for the space simulation game began last November, with a $6 million Kickstarter project. When Star Citizen reached $50 million in funding, Roberts said: "Ship sales and new members of our community are the two main fund raising sources". Roberts talked about the success of Star Citizen, and its seemingly endless campaign which just isn't running out of steam, he reiterated to fans that "there is no venture capitalist wanting a massive return in three years".

This is great news for gamers and fans of the game, as well as backers and funders of the game, as the profits aren't all for RSI, but Roberts said that his "intention is for all the money we bring in before launch to be spent on development". RSI now has a team of over 280 people, with Roberts adding: "It is the community, from the existing backers who continue to support the game, to new members who join every day who are setting the level of ambition and budget for Star Citizen".

Continue reading: Star Citizen enters the Guinness Book of World Records (full post)

Qualcomm unveils LTE Direct, the next-gen of wireless technology

Qualcomm has just teased the next generation of wireless technology with its new LTE Direct technology, something the company has been working on for close to a decade. LTE Direct is built upon the foundations of the LTE protocol, which allows LTE Direct-powered devices to communicate with one another without requiring a cell tower.

LTE Direct will also work at distances greater than 500 yards, which means we have signal ranges that far exceed that of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Better yet, LTE Direct uses very little energy, meaning a device can be on the look out for another LTE Direct signal without draining the battery. Then there's the other side of the LTE Direct coin: it's not just limited to handsets, as beacons can be set up to communicate directly with anything nearby.

Mahesh Makhijani from Qualcomm has said that this is somewhat of a sixth sense, which is constantly aware of the environment around you. With the world filled with information, LTE Direct can help people use their phones to better their lives. But, with retailers jumping on board, and you being blasted directly in places where you'd normally not get cell signal, it could get annoying, fast.

Continue reading: Qualcomm unveils LTE Direct, the next-gen of wireless technology (full post)

iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus demand sees Foxconn hiring even more staff

Within the next four months, Apple would've launched its new iPhone into 115 countries and regions, but in order to meet the insane demand of its new flagship smartphone, Foxconn is having to hire even more workers at its Chinese plants to keep up with demand.

The news is coming from DigiTimes, with Foxconn not commenting on the report, but supply chain sources have told DigiTimes that Foxconn is "aggressively recruiting workers" to work on the new iPhones. Considering Apple have sold over 10 million iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones in the first three days alone, we should expect there to be tens of millions sold before the holidays.

In just three weeks time, on October 17, Apple will open up sales of the new iPhone in China, which is the world's largest market. This will be a big test not only for Apple, but for Foxconn and China itself. Foxconn has reportedly been having issues employing more staff after all of the negative press the company receives from its various issues, which has forced the company to host hiring events to keep up with the demand of its manufacturing.

Continue reading: iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus demand sees Foxconn hiring even more staff (full post)

Self-destructing SSDs can be remotely destroyed from an SMS

Anthony Garreffa | Storage | Oct 1, 2014 12:30 AM CDT

In something that feels like it's right out of Hollywood, we now have self-destructing SSDs. SecureDrives has the technology, with four different SSDs on offer that provide 256-bit AES CBC hardware encryption, two-factor authentication, GSM command over encryption key flipping and physical fracturing of the NAND flash itself.

This kind of technology might not seem like something you or I might use, but for those with super-sensitive information on their notebooks that might get left behind, or stolen, this is perfect. The SecureDrive SSDs have a self-destruct mechanism which happens if someone attempts to physically open the drive, which will initiate the physical fracturing of the NAND flash.

Better yet, you can configure the SSD to self-destruct if it's removed from your SATA II connector. Other options include self-destruction if the internal battery runs completely empty, and the convenient ability to destroy the drive if an an SMS is sent from any phone.

Continue reading: Self-destructing SSDs can be remotely destroyed from an SMS (full post)