Software & Apps - Page 82

Twitch made an announcement recently that they've released its mobile software development kit which will allow developers to add livestreaming and screen capture functionality in its mobile games. This will allow mobile gamers to livestream their mobile game online via Twitch and even capture screenshots.

"Our vision is to provide the Twitch community with the ability not only to view, but to broadcast live video game content wherever they are, whether they're on the go or in the living room," VP for marketing Matthew DiPietro said. "We've achieved that with our PC and console integrations, so the trifecta will soon be complete with our deep and concerted foray into mobile broadcasting."

Twitch said that its is already installed in more than 10 million times for Android and iOS. The SDK will allow mobile game developers to build this as an inbuilt functionality.

One of the cool things about Dish Network is that with its Hopper Whole home DVR system you can watch your favorite shows from anywhere using apps. The apps let you catch up with shows you miss on the road and were previously offered for Android and iOS devices only.

Dish has announced that it is now supporting another popular platform with a new Dish Anywhere app that has just launched. The app is now available for the Kindle Fire HDX line of tablets. The app is available now on the Amazon Appstore.

The app gives Kindle Fire HDX tablet users the ability to watch their DVR recordings, TV programs, and on demand titles away from home. The app only works with the Hoppe DVR that has Sling built-in. The app will work when the table is connected to Wi-Fi or mobile broadband.

About 95% of U.S. banks are using Windows XP for ATMs. That could be troubling as Microsoft plans to shut down tech support for this operating system on April 8. Microsoft will no longer provide security updates for Windows XP.

U.S. Banks and ATM experts are taking this seriously. If banks are unable to complete upgrading all of its ATMs with the newer Windows OS by April, customers might be at risk of being exposed to any kinds of patch holes if any security flaw was found after Microsoft axes its support. This will be a good opportunity for hackers to exploit many ATMs, so its a race against time for a majority of banks.

For now, U.S. banks are trying to make a deal with Microsoft to get OS support extension for Windows XP, till the time they are done migrating all ATMs to the new Windows platform. JPMorgan one-year extension package and plan to start upgrading ATMs to Windows 7 by July. Citibank and Wells Fargo will also be upgrading its ATMs as well.

XMBC recently made an announcement about its BETA 1 edition of the new media center software: V13.0 codenamed "Gotham". The team says that they have worked hard on this project and made improvements since the release of the older 12.0 release.

The new XMBC interface comes with a lot of features based on the user's feedback and requests. Some of those features are Android Hardware Decoding, Rasberry Pi and Android speed improvements, Stereoscopic 3D Rendering better touchscreen support, better audio engines and other setting improvements. The team assured that this version of XMBC should run on Android 4.0 and higher for ARM and x86 architectures. Users required this software to run smoothly on Rasberry Pi and Android, of which the team was able to work on it and make improvements. More specifically: opening and browsing libraries, loading images and initial starting of videos. For 3D lovers, XMBC now supports SBS, TAB, anaglyph and interlaced.

However, XMBC wasn't able to provide support for 3D Blueray and provide hardware acceleration for FullSBS/TAB movies.

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.

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.

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.

I can type much quicker than I read, so anything that helps me read faster, is great. Spritz, a Boston-based startup, is working on an incredible text streaming technology, that will see people reading pages of text much faster than they've ever previously thought possible.

The way this is possible, is that Spritz has crafted a technology that stops you from you having your eyes moving from word to word, by removing the page altogether. With Spritz, all you need is 13 characters to show all of your content, with fast streaming coming in and changing this all up. Spritz's technology is capable of being pushed into photos, maps, videos, and websites for much faster, more effective communication.

The way Spritz does this is instead of you reading in a line, it has the words appear in front of you, positioned much differently - something the startup calls the "Optimal Recognition Point", or ORP. The ORP is the "fixation point" which stays still, while the words flash through it. ORP is displayed in red, which saves a lot of recognition time in your brain when reading.

Tor Foundation is currently working on a concept called 'Tor Instant Messaging Bundle' (TIMB) where people can use instant messaging service in real-time while being anonymous to evade any surveillance. Tor's chat servers will be concealed in its hidden array of network.

This project was funded by an anonymous organization which was originally called as 'Attentive Otter'. TIMB will be a tool that will force IM traffic through Tor network irrespective whether its mean to go through TOR servers or not. Tor was trying to decide which open source based IM to use for this concept: Pidgin or InstantBird. Pidgin was ruled out because it required a lot effort to audit and maintain the library and certain security concerns.

TIMB will be using Instantbird as its foundation. for its anonymous chatroom service. Instantbird is an open source based IM tool which uses Mozilla XULrunner cross-platform runtime environment. Tor and Instantbird team have started working on this project and have removed libpurple. They're also working to provide a pure JavaScript platform.

Rumors are circling that Microsoft is working on a new version of Windows 8.1 that the company would release for free in an effort to introduce more people to the company's flagship operating system. The free version is reportedly called "Windows 8.1 with Bing," and will include several key apps from the Redmond software giant that have been limited in functionality in an effort to promote sales of the higher tier versions of the OS.

Microsoft could introduce the free version as an upgrade from current Windows 7 customers, which could significantly boost Windows 8.1's adoption numbers. The free version of Windows 8.1 would also most likely push Microsoft's subscription-based cloud services as a way of generating revenue from the free OS. Many see the free version of Windows 8.1 as a way for Microsoft to combat Google's Chrome OS as well as the growing popularity of Linux-based OS such as Ubuntu. Additional rumors suggest that Microsoft is also using this initiative as a way to push integration of Windows RT and Windows Phone into a single low-cost mobile OS, which could entice more OEMs into releasing Windows-based smartphones.

The number of mobile gamers out there that use smartphones and tablets is booming. Many of these mobile gamers are kids that download freemium apps that are supported by in-app purchases. The problem is that many of these apps don't clearly let players know that things in the game cost real-world money.

This often leads to accidental purchases by kids and adults alike. Officials from the European Union have announced that they are meeting with Apple, Google, and others on how developers are representing in-app purchases to consumers in Europe. The officials want to set regulations that will force app developers to be more transparent.

The ultimate goal is to prevent children from making accidental purchases. The EU justice commission says that the new rules will help to make customers aware of exactly what they are buying when they make purchases in-app.

Dish Network is one of the most popular satellite TV providers in the US. The company has a slick Hopper whole home DVR system that will shoot recorded shows out to any TV in the home. That DVR system can also be controlled using an app running on the iPad.

The app for iPad users is called Dish Explorer. Dish has announced that it has made some updates to the Dish Explorer app that users of the system will appreciate. The updates include the addition of new controls for volume and power. The ability to control TV volume and power was missed by many users of the app in its last iterations.

Along with the new controls, the app also gets new personalized program recommendations. The program recommendations are based on your previous viewing habits. The Dish Explorer app is a second screen app that gives viewers a way to integrate social networking with their viewing.

The Game Developer's Conference 2014 is being held next month, where Microsoft will be hosting a session called "DirectX: Evolving Microsoft's Graphics Platform". The session is being hosted by Anuj Gosalia, Developement Manager for Windows Graphics. The session is described as:

"For nearly 20 years, DirectX has been the platform used by game developers to create the fastest, most visually impressive games on the planet.

However, you asked us to do more. You asked us to bring you even closer to the metal and to do so on an unparalleled assortment of hardware. You also asked us for better tools so that you can squeeze every last drop of performance out of your PC, tablet, phone and console.

I'm sure a bunch of people out there are wondering if they need glasses right about now. The problem for many people is that going to the eye doctor is expensive and takes a lot of time. A new service has turned up online called Opternative that will give you an online eye test and a legit prescription for glasses or contacts.

Once you get that prescription, you can take it wherever you want to have the glasses or contacts made. The test takes about ten minutes and costs about $35. The only potential drawback is that you need to pay for the test whether or not you end up needing glasses.

This is a real test according to the co-founder of the company, Dr. Steven Lee. Lee is an optometrist and he says that the Opternative test given uses a series of images that is able to tell what sort of eye problems you might have.

If you work in an office often the only time you can get out before closing time is when you head out for lunch. The problem is that much of the time lunch break isn't long enough to go to a restaurant, order, eat, and get back. That means you need a quick and easy way to order your food and get it back to the office on time.

If you are familiar with Square, the company that makes the mobile credit card readers and operates a mobile payment system, you might be interested in Squares latest offering. The new offering is an app called Square Pickup and it lets you order food from any eatery that takes Square payments.

The app lets you view the full menu offered for all participating restaurants, choose what you want, order, and pay in one place. That means all you need to do is drive over, get your food, and get back before the boss misses you at your desk.

Just a day after releasing a fix for authenticating SSL certificates, there's another security flaw found in iOS that's equally dangerous. It was recently found that iOS allows a malicious apps to keep a track on your keystrokes.

This flaw was found by a security firm called FirmEye. To prove that this flaw exists, the security firm uploaded a dummy app in Apple's app store. The dummy app was able to record touch and keystrokes when changing wallpaper, pressing buttons like home, volume up/down and TouchID buttons. The app then sent the records to a remote server. According to the security company, attackers can use these information for reconstructing every character that the victim uses to access any types of accounts.

It was also pointed out via FireEye's blog post that this exploit works even with the latest apple devices with iOS 7.0.4 non-jailbroken. It was also being found that the same vulnerability was in 6.1.x, 7.0.5 and 7.0.6 versions.

MWC 2014 - AMD has partnered with Bluestacks to unveil a new dual-OS Android solution that has been optimized for AMD APUs at this weeks Mobile World Congress. The new dual OS solution brings a virtualized Android experience to new Microsoft Windows 8-based AMD-based tablets, 2-in-1s, notebooks and desktops and can be found on devices at select retailers across the US now.

"The ability to span two OS ecosystems gives end-users access to both Windows and Android apps, but the key is providing for the seamless integration of entertainment and productivity across those ecosystems," said Steve Belt, corporate vice president, Product Management, at AMD. "Introducing our solution in retail puts AMD and BlueStacks in a unique position to offer in-store customers the option to include access to this great experience at the time of purchase of their new systems."

The retail version of BlueStacks running on a Windows PC powered by select AMD APUs offers:

Today WhatsApp announced a new upcoming feature that most likely played a major role in Facebook's recent acquisition of the company. WhatsApp says that later this year it will be adding voice calling services to the popular text messaging app, a move that will undoubtedly send it rocketing even further past its competition. The new Voice calling feature will arrive on Android and iOS first, with Windows Phone and BlackBerry receiving the new features later down the road.

WhatsApp says that the new voice calling feature will be free initially, but could charge for the service in the future, much like the way its messaging service is free for the first year and then requires a $0.99 per year subscription fee. If the company can keep the new voice calling service in the same $0.99 to $2.99 per year range, I can see almost everyone subscribing at the new rate, which in turn would equate to massive revenue growth for Facebook and WhatsApp.

Additionally, WhatsApp's founder issued an official apology for the downtime the service recently suffered. Jan Koum, WhatsApp co-founder and CEO said that the outage was the app's longest ever, lasting about four hours. As someone who uses WhatsApp almost exclusively for all of his text messaging, the outage was an annoyance, but as a techie myself, I know that these things happen. I do find it refreshing to see a CEO apologize about the outage, something not many other leaders of tech companies do when their services go down.

Microsoft is beginning to finally, kind of, talk about Windows Phone 8.1, but won't utter the words during Mobile World Congress. Microsoft's Joe Belfiore says that the company will "technically" support all existing Windows Phone 8-based devices with the upcoming mobile OS update.

The company says that the update will arrive in spring, with some major changes coming to Microsoft's mobile OS. Microsoft will support on-screen buttons in Windows Phone 8.1, as well as new hardware support for Qualcomm's Snapdragon 200, 400 and 400 LTE chipsets. This will allow device makers to make cheaper devices, as well as devices without physical buttons.

Belfiore says that the changes talked about are designed to "help us get more and more momentum", while allowing phone makers to reuse their existing Windows Phone devices. The new update will also include support for apps to be stored on the microSD card, which will pave the way for cheaper phones with less on-board storage.

The UTorrent dev team released 3.4 version of the client with a promise that it would change the way uTorrent chooses peers and therefore improves the download speeds and preventing DDOS attacks.

Other than the bug fixes and new features, BitTorrent's Adam Kelly explained how the new system works. He said,"If a BitTorrent client chooses poorly, or if there are malicious actors in the swarm, the connections between clients are not well distributed through the swarm, leading to a large number of hops from node to node. That slows down the ability to each client to pass data on to the next."

This method is called as 'Canonical Peer Priority'. The new peer selection method will now start giving more priority to those peers who are closer to you. When uTorrent received maximum number of connections for a torrent download, it will still accept incoming peers with a higher priority. It will accept a new peer by kicking out a low priority peer at the same time. This way it will help peers to get access to faster connections.