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Total 100 articles, created at 2016-03-16 06:04 1 Night Dive shows off a first look at its System Shock remake Late last year, we reported on the upcoming System Shock 3. It so happens that the original System Shock game from 1994 is being fully remade by Night Dive Studios , too.

(2.00/3) The first video footage of the new-old title has just been released. Take a look: Methinks that looks... 2016-03-16 00:25 2KB techreport.com 2 Microsoft tempts Oracle customers with free SQL Server 2016 licences

(2.00/3) Microsoft says firms can save by switching, but they must be signed up for Software Assurance licensing,Applications,Licensing,Big Data and Analytics ,Microsoft,Oracle,SQL Server,databases,SQL,licence 2016-03-16 00:00 4KB www.computing.co.uk 3 'Indiana Jones' flick set for 2019, as Harrison Ford 2.0 rolls along The fifth film in the series will bring Ford and director Steven Spielberg together again to (2.00/3) see what movie magic can still be made with an aging archaeologist. 2016-03-15 23:55 1KB www.cnet.com 4 Sony PlayStation VR launches in October for $399, cheaper than competitors The PlayStation VR needs a $60 camera that is not in the bundle. 2016-03-15 21:24 1KB (2.00/3) www.zdnet.com 5 CW@50: The heyday of British computing - how the Brits ruled IT We investigate how the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s became an age of great innovation for the British computer industry. 2016-03-16 06:02 2KB www.computerweekly.com 6 CW@50: 1966 - Computer Weekly goes to bat for the British computer industry Launched in 1966 as part of a modernising wave to change British society, Computer Weekly battled for the nation’s industry against the US, and saw IT as an entry ticket to the Common Market 2016-03-16 06:02 2KB www.computerweekly.com 7 Samsung wants you to feel, not just see, VR with these headphones The Entrim 4D, a prototype from the Korean electronic giant's Creative Lab, tries to make virtual reality more immersive by sending an electronic signal to your inner ear. 2016-03-16 02:14 2KB www.cnet.com 8 Pigeons wearing tiny backpacks tweet about air pollution Equipped with little backpack sensors, a group of London pigeons are flying around the city measuring and live-tweeting air pollution levels. Because birds of a feather...tweet together? (Sorry, we had to.) 2016-03-16 05:30 1KB www.cnet.com 9 Here's which state posts the nastiest tweets Technically Incorrect: An analysis of millions of tweets shows which places emit the nastiest, the most racist, and the most sexist messages on Twitter. You might be surprised. 2016-03-16 01:51 2KB www.cnet.com 10 Apple News opens the floodgates Authors, local newspapers and even bloggers can now reportedly publish content to Apple's news apps. 2016-03-16 04:30 1KB www.cnet.com

11 Hacker who stole celebrities' nude photos will plead guilty Using phishing emails and guesswork, the Pennsylvania man rummaged through actresses' iCloud accounts. He's not accused of sharing the photos. 2016-03-16 03:21 1KB www.cnet.com 12 Comcast makes good on promise of super-speedy broadband The cable company is launching its new service in Atlanta, which now has three providers offering Internet speeds of 1 gigabit per second. 2016-03-15 23:55 2KB www.cnet.com 13 PlayStation VR is $399, but here's how much you'll really pay If you buy a PlayStation VR and plug it into your PlayStation 4, it won't do anything without a PlayStation Eye. And many games also need PlayStation Move controllers. Want it all? Better have another $150 ready. 2016-03-16 03:21 1KB www.cnet.com 14 Crazy ninja action dominates final 'Daredevil' season 2 trailer Swords, fists and mysterious masked combatants fly through the last trailer before "Daredevil" returns to Netflix. 2016-03-15 23:55 1KB www.cnet.com 15 Budget 2016: Experts weigh-in on leaks suggesting contractor clampdown Accountants, law firms and contractor representatives speak out on the Chancellor's leaked tax plans for contractors,Leadership ,tax,Budget,George Osborne,IR35 2016-03-16 00:00 4KB www.computing.co.uk 16 You'll never be a captain of industry with Computer Science, says MP Conservative MP David Davis says Computer Science will only get you so far, but those with degrees in PPE get right to the top,Careers and Skills,Security ,Leadership,skills,Education,CIO,GCHQ 2016-03-16 00:00 3KB www.computing.co.uk 17 Rural Payments Agency chief: GDS and Defra didn't listen to warnings that CAP project was failing 'I was not in a position to have my opinion prevail,' says RPA's Mark Grimshaw,Government,Leadership ,Government,Agriculture,Public sector 2016-03-16 00:00 2KB www.computing.co.uk 18 Osborne to green light driverless-car motorway trials In 2017, the car in front may well be driverless,Big Data and Analytics,Internet of Things ,Driverless cars,Big Data,Internet of Things 2016-03-16 00:00 2KB www.v3.co.uk 19 Accenture wins £86m Met Police application management deal Accenture becomes third big-name IT provider to become part of Met Police's SIAM/tower contract ,Government,Services and Outsourcing ,outsourcing 2016-03-16 00:00 3KB www.computing.co.uk 20 Post Office to hire a 'head of IT vendor management’ Post Office wants someone with strong negotiation, relationship and inter-personal skills for newly created role,Leadership,Careers and Skills ,CIO 2016-03-16 00:00 2KB www.computing.co.uk 21 Opera to add native ad blocker to desktop web browser Need for speed? Opera's web browser will come with a built-in speedometer ,Software,Internet,Internet of Things,Cloud and Infrastructure ,Opera,Opera Software,Browsers 2016-03-16 00:00 2KB www.theinquirer.net

22 Five things to expect from Apple's imminent iPhone launch All the rumours about Apple's 21 March launch in one handy place,Hardware,Mobile Phones,Communications ,Apple,iPhone 2016-03-16 00:00 2KB www.v3.co.uk 23 If you have less than a petabyte of data you don't need Hadoop 'Use it when you need it but when you don't, don't bother,' says Vincent de Lagabbe, CTO of bitcoin analysis firm Kaiko ,Big Data and Analytics ,Cassandra,Apache Software,Apache Spark,Hadoop,Bitcoin 2016-03-16 00:00 3KB www.computing.co.uk 24 60 per cent of government spend with SMEs is via larger contractors – NAO report Departments rely on goodwill of large suppliers to report spending accurately to the Crown Commercial Service,Government ,SMB Spotlight,smb-services 2016-03-16 00:00 4KB www.computing.co.uk 25 Google releases Android N developer preview - adds split- screen support and Doze improvements Nexus owner? Sign-up and download it now,Mobile,Mobile Phones,Internet of Things ,Google,Mobile,Android 2016-03-16 00:00 2KB www.theinquirer.net 26 Government to review its contracts with Atos after IT failure Cabinet Office to probe Atos outsourcing deals ,Government,Public Sector,Supplier,Services and Outsourcing ,Atos,Cabinet Office,GDS 2016-03-16 00:00 3KB www.computing.co.uk 27 Hundreds of cloud companies still vulnerable to DROWN security flaw Companies ignoring threat posed by DROWN SSL vulnerability – as well as FREAK, Logjam, OpenSSL and Poodle,Security,Internet ,Heartbleed,security,Cloud and Infrastructure,Cloud Computing,Skyhigh Networks 2016-03-16 00:00 3KB www.computing.co.uk 28 Microsoft accused of bundling new Windows 10 nagware into latest Patch Tuesday updates More Windows 10 nagware being sneaked into Microsoft updates,Operating Systems,Software,Security ,Microsoft,operating system,Windows Update,security,patch Tuesday 2016-03-16 00:00 3KB www.theinquirer.net 29 CityFibre CEO Greg Mensch's ambitious plan to bring FTTP to 100 UK towns and cities - and beat BT in the process Firm's £90m acquisition of Kcom in December has made it a force to be reckoned with in the broadband space,Telecoms ,BT 2016-03-16 00:00 749Bytes www.v3.co.uk 30 Microsoft releases 13 security bulletins in latest Patch Tuesday Patch now or be vulnerable as hackers get to work on coding exploits,Security ,Microsoft,patch Tuesday 2016-03-16 00:00 2KB www.theinquirer.net 31 Intel shoots for 3D broadcasting with Replay Technologies acquisition The acquisition is indicative of growing digital transformation across industries ,Strategy,Hardware,Business Software ,Intel,Data,IBM,Digital 2016-03-16 00:00 2KB www.computing.co.uk 32 YOOX Net-a-Porter Group picks IBM for 'game-changing' post-merger tech platform confirms CIO “Multi-brand”, “omni-channel” and a lot of other buzz phrases,Leadership ,CRM,ecommerce 2016-03-16 00:00 2KB www.computing.co.uk 33 Nine out of 10 UK CIOs 'concerned' about EU's new data protection laws Organisations face fines of up to four per cent of global turnover under new EU data protection laws,Leadership,Legislation and Regulation,Security ,CIO,GDPR 2016-03-16 00:00 2KB www.computing.co.uk 34 'Go back to your training schedule' to educate users and cut down phishing attacks, says Mimecast Policy and governance tips to be revealed in next Wednesday’s web seminar,Leadership,Security ,Mimecast,Cyber security,phishing,Spear Phishing 2016-03-16 00:00 2KB www.computing.co.uk 35 Disney Infinity devs 'always looking for way to expand on characters' We talk to Jeff Bunker, VP of art direction for Avalanche Software, on the new Marvel Disney Infinity figures. 2016-03-15 23:55 4KB www.gamespot.com 36 To get 4 million views in one day, pick up your friend and drop her Technically Incorrect: A video of a former gymnast lifting her friend and then dropping her enchants the world. 2016-03-15 23:55 2KB www.cnet.com 37 Gears of War 4 multiplayer co-developed by Quake Wars, Brink Studio Splash Damage named as key strategic partner for Gears of War 4 developer The Coalition. 2016-03-15 23:55 1KB www.gamespot.com 38 The WPC-725F, powered by Intel chips and running on Windows, Linux and other OSes, also is designed to withstand chemicals, dust and dirt. The WPC-725F, powered by Intel chips and running on Windows, Linux and other OSes, also is designed to withstand chemicals, dust and dirt. 2016-03-15 22:01 2KB www.eweek.com 39 Forza Meguiar's Car Pack brings old and new metal to Xbox One (pictures) Whether you're looking for something old, something new, something turbo or something blue, Forza Motorsport 6's latest monthly car pack includes plenty of lustworthy metal. The best part is, you can smash one into a guardrail and not feel sorry at all! 2016-03-15 23:55 948Bytes www.cnet.com 40 Anonymous goes negative on Trump... again The network of hackers renews its efforts to inflict Internet woe on the Republican presidential front-runner. 2016-03-16 01:03 2KB www.cnet.com 41 Apple says Constitution 'forbids' what FBI is asking In its latest filing in the battle over unlocking an iPhone, Apple says the All Writs Act "cannot be stretched to fit this case. " 2016-03-16 01:03 3KB www.cnet.com 42 8 tips to stay ahead of the top 2016 data protection trends Data protection has never been more in the forefront, as information increasingly is the lifeblood and differentiator in a constantly changing world. 2016-03-15 21:19 1KB www.itworldcanada.com

43 Chia vest puts a wearable green garden on your chest A designer's thought-provoking fashion collection includes a sprouted vest, a dress made from hot-melt glue and a jacket that says "moo. " 2016-03-16 01:03 1KB www.cnet.com 44 This action movie was shot almost entirely with a GoPro "Hardcore Henry," which had its US premier at the South By Southwest festival, is the first point-of-view action feature film. Which is both innovative and nauseating. (Warning: some mild spoilers ahead.) 2016-03-16 01:03 3KB www.cnet.com 45 Top 5 pitfalls to avoid in your data protection strategy As you navigate the new digital age, your data protection strategy needs to be more than just the basics of backup and 2016-03-15 23:53 944Bytes www.itworldcanada.com 46 Virtual reality to 'eclipse' phones in your digital life Virtual and augmented reality will be used in all manner of activities, not just games, according to gaming software maker Unity. But first we have to cross the "gap of disappointment. " 2016-03-15 23:55 1KB www.cnet.com 47 The Division dev says Dark Zone balancing 'definitely a priority' Ubisoft is "looking at all of those things at the moment," developer says. 2016-03-15 23:55 1KB www.gamespot.com 48 TouchTunes is now the biggest 'in-venue' streaming service Jukebox manufacturer TouchTunes has announced its newest smartphone app, which the company says is more intuitive than previous versions and will also sync with your Spotify library. 2016-03-15 23:55 1KB www.cnet.com 49 Yahoo email gets fix to nix sender-spoofing trickery The flaw allowed attackers to send their intended scamming victims email from Yahoo addresses that seemed legit. 2016-03-15 23:55 1KB www.zdnet.com 50 University of Michigan's anti-ice coating would be perfect for cars A clear, spray-on coating could completely prevent ice from building up on surfaces, which could make all manner of devices more efficient, vehicles included. 2016-03-15 23:55 1KB www.cnet.com 51 Instagram will begin testing an algorithmic timeline similar to Facebook Instagram is making a huge change to how you will view photos and videos. 2016-03-15 21:57 1KB www.zdnet.com 52 Groupon stands behind the daily deal, rolls out new merchant app, web tools Today's announcement comes at a rocky time for the Chicago-based company, which was once the darling of the formerly red-hot daily deals space. 2016-03-15 21:40 2KB www.zdnet.com 53 Scientists invent glass that can turn from clear to opaque in less than a second The glass, developed at Harvard, can transition between transparent, translucent and opaque with the application of an electric current. 2016-03-15 23:55 2KB www.cnet.com 54 Uber's food delivery app starts carting cuisine in the US At least in some cities 2016-03-15 21:35 1KB www.techradar.com

55 The future of online shopping: Pay by selfie Amazon files a patent to allow customers to pay with a selfie, and it's not the first to try this concept. Also, eBay makes selling easier with free packing services by Shyp, and iRobot unveils its cheapest cleaning robot yet: a tiny mopping bot. 2016-03-15 23:55 905Bytes www.cnet.com 56 PlayStation VR UK release date, price, specs, games and videos: Sony annouces PlayStation VR UK pricing and release date at GDC 2016 Sony will today make a PlayStation VR announcement at GDC 2016, and with no PlayStation VR live stream to watch we bring you real-time commentary in our PlayStation VR live blog. Plus, everything we know and think we know so far about the PlayStation VR UK release date, price and... 2016-03-15 21:32 11KB www.pcadvisor.co.uk 57 Dual camera for iPhone 7 Plus allegedly revealed A series of photos from Taiwan claim to show the dual-camera modules reportedly destined for Apple's next big-screened iPhone. 2016-03-15 23:55 1KB www.cnet.com 58 Hortonworks Connected Data Platforms: More Than Sum of Parts Hortonworks integrates Hortonworks Data Platform (Hadoop) and Hortonworks DataFlow (streaming data) platforms to offer a cohesive approach to analyzing data in motion and data at rest. Here's how they fit together. 2016-03-15 21:16 4KB www.zdnet.com 59 Hitman PS4 patch removes content, fix on the way A new patch arrives for the PlayStation 4 version, but it's not exactly going to plan. 2016-03-15 23:55 1KB www.gamespot.com 60 PlayStation VR price revealed! Sony announces the headset's cost at GDC Maybe it's time to sell that Xbox One 2016-03-15 21:11 2KB www.techradar.com 61 Oracle's Q3 mixed, cloud grows, but software, hardware don't On-premise software and hardware sales fell, but cloud revenue surged with the exception of infrastructure-as-a-service. 2016-03-15 20:23 3KB www.zdnet.com 62 Does the iPhone 7 come with dual cameras, and no home button? Could these sketchy images offer a glimpse of Apple's next iPhone? Sources in China are claiming so. Caution: Rumors ahead. 2016-03-15 20:02 1KB www.zdnet.com 63 Cooler Master's new mechanical keyboards offer macro management at micro prices Both full-size and tenkeyless variants light up, too 2016-03-15 19:31 2KB www.techradar.com 64 Fossil debuts two new smartwatches with Android Wear, a bit of style The smartwatches, dubbed the Q Marshal and Q Wander, will be priced starting at $275 with a touchscreen display and wireless charging. 2016-03-15 19:18 1KB www.zdnet.com 65 Google's HTTPS encryption efforts now on display in Transparency Report Google says more than 75 percent of requests to its own servers are now using encrypted connections. 2016-03-15 18:55 1KB www.zdnet.com

66 Newegg Daily Deals: LG 29-Inch UltraWide Monitor, AMD FX-8350, and More! It's time to put that big, bulky CRT monitor out of its misery. You hear it wheezing when you turn it on, and you also see it struggling to hold a steady picture. Hey, it was a fantastic monitor back in the day, but that was forever ago. And now?... 2016-03-15 18:47 1KB www.maximumpc.com 67 AMD Reveals $1,500 Dual-GPU Radeon Pro Duo for VR Content Creators AMD announced the Radeon Pro Duo, a dual-GPU graphics card that costs $1,500. 2016-03-15 18:36 2KB www.maximumpc.com 68 Consolidate Your Business Functions to Save Money When business owners hear a technical expert talk about virtual business phone systems, their first two thoughts center around security and flexibility. Business owners get those same questions in their heads when they talk about cloud computing and third- party data hosting. The technologies in place today, such as a virtual... 2016-03-15 18:17 5KB pctechmag.com 69 Devolo dLAN 550 WiFi Powerline Starter Kit review: improve Wi-Fi speed and wired connections The Devolo dLAN 550 WiFi Starter Kit is a set of Powerline adapters that will boost your home network and your wireless reception. 2016-03-15 17:59 7KB www.pcadvisor.co.uk 70 Razer Sharpens 14-Inch Blade with Upgraded CPU and GPU Razer upgraded its Blade laptop with Skylake and a GeForce GTX 970M GPU with 6GB of RAM. 2016-03-15 17:32 2KB www.maximumpc.com 71 HTC 10's latest tease focuses on its mystery camera(s) Our 'pie in the sky' thoughts on HTC's latest tweet 2016-03-15 17:30 2KB www.techradar.com 72 VRScore provides hardware-independent test for VR readiness Basemark and Crytek have announced VRScore , a tool to evaluate PC readiness for a variety of virtual reality head mounted displays (or HMDs). The tool can currently test the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Open Source Virtual Reality (OSVR) headsets. The test suite includes tests for interactive VR gaming,... 2016-03-15 17:24 2KB techreport.com 73 First look: Sulon Q, the first tether-less VR headset Welcome to the future of mixed and virtual reality 2016-03-15 17:24 2KB www.techradar.com 74 AT&T wants the world to see its software for spinning up services AT&T has revealed details of a software platform that makes it easier for customers to order new services, and the company may release the code as open source for other service providers to use. 2016-03-15 17:18 4KB www.itworld.com 75 The wearable that's ringing in changes for contactless payments This is the payment power ring 2016-03-15 17:17 2KB www.techradar.com 76 Amazon, Microsoft Launch Full-Court Press To Steal Oracle's Database Customers Amazon Web Services and Microsoft are both touting new database offerings and trying to attract Oracle customers who might be looking for lower-cost alternatives. 2016-03-15 17:16 3KB www.crn.com

77 HTC teases 'world class' cameras for next HTC 10 flagship ahead of rumored April launch Is HTC talking about the HTC 10's rumored laser focus? 2016-03-15 17:06 1KB www.zdnet.com 78 Best PS4 deals UK: The cheapest PS4 deals, best PS4 discounts & PS4 offers in the UK We help you choose the best place to a PS4 console or bundle from UK retailers with the cheapest deals of March 2016. 2016-03-15 17:03 2KB www.pcadvisor.co.uk 79 Symantec SSL certificates now free, reflecting true value It's a PKI race to the bottom in 2016. Advances in web site authentication have been rare and nothing inspiring is in the offing. 2016-03-15 17:02 4KB www.zdnet.com 80 How to encrypt your Android smartphone or tablet According to estimates, less than 10 percent of the 1.4 billion or so Android devices out in the wild are encrypted, compared to over 95 percent of iPhones. Here's how to encrypt your smartphone or tablet. 2016-03-15 16:55 1KB www.zdnet.com 81 Want to be a game maker? Unity certification can upgrade your resume for cheap Unity wants to take you from gamer to game designer ASAP 2016-03-15 16:51 2KB www.techradar.com 82 Unity engine adds support for Nvidia VRWorks SDK Nvidia is adding another notch to its VR belt. Unity Technologies is adding support for the Nvidia VRWorks SDK (née GameWorks VR) to its cross-platform Unity engine. VRWorks is Nvidia's software development kit (SDK) targeted at VR application developers and headset makers. According to Nvidia, this move should allow Unity... 2016-03-15 16:33 2KB techreport.com 83 Snoopers' Charter: IP Bill set to breeze through parliament despite protests Surveillance bill is likely to pass through the Commons without a hitch 2016-03-15 16:26 4KB www.theinquirer.net 84 Amazon files a pay-by-selfie patent while Microsoft's own face authentication languishes Amazon files for a patent allowing people to buy stuff with their face. Microsoft has this technology in place, but has yet to turn it on. 2016-03-15 16:13 1KB www.pcworld.com 85 We may have found the unexpected killer app for augmented reality... opera Augmented reality is finding homes in clever areas 2016-03-15 16:11 5KB www.techradar.com 86 Siri Fails To Help In A Crisis Conversational agents such as Siri, Google Now, and S Voice haven't quite figured out how to handle crisis situations. 2016-03-15 16:06 4KB www.informationweek.com

88 Google's AlphaGo Wins 5-Game Go Match Google's AlphaGo has beaten the world champion Go player in a five-game match, delivering a monumental victory for artificial intelligence -- and a win for human intelligence, too. 2016-03-15 15:06 4KB www.informationweek.com 89 Game Developers Conference: Game development still lags behind enterprise When it comes to life-cycle tooling, the world of game development is largely behind the world of enterprise software 2016-03-15 15:04 2KB sdtimes.com 90 If I Were in the Driver’s Seat at EMC Just a couple of weeks ago EMC announced the release of DSSD and an all-flash VMAX (VMAX AF). If there’s anything to be learned from the ‘All flash’ market space, it is that confusion and complexity won’t be tolerated. 2016-03-15 14:56 4KB www.computerworld.com 91 The Muse is a brain-sensing headband that helps you meditate The answer to stress and over-connectedness is always to add more technology to the equation. 2016-03-15 14:45 3KB www.macworld.com 92 IDC: Cyber Insurance Will Be Commonplace In The Future IDC is advising insurers faced with a mature market to consider offering cyber insurance. Cybercrimes, it says, have cost the global economy $445 billion. 2016-03-15 14:06 3KB www.informationweek.com 93 Act-On vs. Hubspot vs. Marketo: 3 top marketing automation tools compared What do enterprise users really think about these top marketing automation tools? Here they give a nod to favorite features and offer suggestions for improvement. 2016-03-15 13:51 2KB www.cio.com 94 Rumor: Razer Core graphics dock will cost $500 and ship in April Razer's Core external graphics add-on is one of the hottest new pieces of hardware to surface this year. The company hasn't revealed how much the external graphics enclosure will cost yet or when consumers can buy one, though. Now, we may have both those puzzle pieces. VentureBeat seems to have... 2016-03-15 13:49 1KB techreport.com 95 AMD open to making graphics chips for mobile devices AMD is open to making a graphics processor for mobile devices based on its Radeon product line, but only in select circumstances. 2016-03-15 13:40 2KB www.computerworld.com 96 The Week in Mac Apps: Keep your day streamlined with LightArrow's functional Organizer This week roundup of new Mac Apps helps you remember your appointments, keep your e-mail private, improve your working habits, and much more. 2016-03-15 13:37 4KB www.macworld.com 97 Lyft, GM start short-term car rental program, aim for self- driving car network The new Express Drive short-term rental program will rent cars starting at $99 to Lyft drivers, a price that includes insurance and maintenance. 2016-03-15 13:23 4KB www.itworld.com 98 AlphaGo wins last match of Go, Amazon wants to patent paying by selfie, and CloudBees’ new Jenkins certification— news digest: March 15, 2016 AlphaGo wins the final match against the Lee Sedol; Amazon wants to patent paying by selfie for safer transactions; CloudBees has a new Jenkins certification for engineers 2016-03-15 13:13 2KB sdtimes.com

99 Crytek reveals pay-what-you-want CryEngine V, new virtual reality benchmarking tool Crytek's making bold moves with its new pay-what-you-want CryEngine V. 2016-03-15 13:11 1KB www.pcworld.com 100 Microsoft shows how HoloLens Actiongrams can have you watching TV with a zombie pal By mixing video and virtual objects, the HoloLens Actiongram app is capable of creating some genuinely great content. 2016-03-15 13:09 2KB www.pcworld.com Articles

Total 100 articles, created at 2016-03-16 06:04

1 Night Dive shows off a first look at its System Shock remake (2.00/3) Late last year, we reported on the upcoming System Shock 3. It so happens that the original System Shock game from 1994 is being fully remade by Night Dive Studios , too. The first video footage of the new-old title has just been released. Take a look: Methinks that looks creepy enough, in keeping with the atmosphere of the series. In an interview with Polygon , Night Dive Studios said it wants the player to feel even more isolated and alienated than in the 1994 original. The team says that '90s technology limited the immersion factor of the original game, and it wants to use today's technology to fix that perceived shortcoming. Night Dive has also reached out to the systemshock.org modding community for feedback on the new title. The studio tells Polygon it's drawing inspiration from Dead Space and BioShock, and it's also working closely with Robb Waters, the concept artist for the original System Shock. In addition to the visual remastering, the game's user interface is undergoing a major overhaul to make it less of a point of contention than it was in the 1994 original. Don't fret about major storyline changes, though—the studio says the System Shock remake will follow the same plot as its forebear. The studio has yet to make a decision on publishers and funding options for System Shock , although it's reportedly working with Microsoft to bring the remake to the Xbox One. The voice of SHODAN is expected to come to life again in 2017. gamespot.com 2016-03-16 00:25 by Bruno techreport.com

2 Microsoft tempts Oracle customers with free SQL Server 2016 licences (2.00/3) Microsoft is hoping to convince enterprise firms to migrate from other database platforms to SQL Server 2016 by offering free licenses as part of a new promotion. The catch is that they need to be signed up to Microsoft's Software Assurance licensing scheme to qualify. The new programme was disclosed at the firm's Data Driven event in New York this week, which kicked off a series of activities intended to build customer interest around SQL Server 2016 ahead of its general availability sometime later this year. Microsoft's new scheme, which aims to help more customers adopt SQL Server 2016, is billed as a programme for organisations currently running applications or workloads on 'non-Microsoft paid commercial relational database management systems' but is clearly targeted at Oracle database customers. The web page where customers can claim their free licences is headed "Break free from Oracle" and invites organisations to "Follow the leader and migrate from Oracle to SQL Server - with free licenses". On the surface, this could be a tempting proposal for many organisations, with Microsoft offering support services to kick-start their migration, plus access to its SQL Server Essentials for the Oracle Database Administrator training. Oracle's licensing has long been a bone of contention for many of its customers, not just because of high costs but with some customers claiming that licensing is often so complex that it is difficult to understand how many licenses they require. The firm is also often accused of strong-arm tactics, with Specsavers global CIO describing it as a "gun-to-the-head methodology". However, firms considering such a migration need to carefully weigh up the implications before signing up. Microsoft is making a condition of the offer that organisations must have signed up for its Software Assurance subscription licensing, under which customers pay an annual fee in exchange for the rights to new software releases and support services. Software Assurance has itself been criticised for offering poor value in some cases, especially as Microsoft does not guarantee that new versions of products will be delivered in the period covered by the subscription agreement. There are also additional restrictions, with Microsoft warning that to qualify for this offer, customers must have an SCE (Server and Cloud Enrollment) license for SQL Server. In other words, any customer that meets the criteria for free SQL Server licences will be an organisation that is already deeply committed to volume licensing of Microsoft products. It is also questionable whether the licenses are really 'free' in this case, although customers with Oracle license agreements may be able to save by switching. Meanwhile, SQL Server 2016 is expected to be a significant upgrade, bringing capabilities such as always encrypted data, expanded support for in-memory database operation, and the ability to take advantage of the increasing prevalence of cloud services in today's IT environment. "We built SQL Server 2016 for this new world, and to help businesses get ahead of today's disruptions," said the corporate vice president of Microsoft's Data Group Joseph Sirosh. "It supports hybrid transactional/analytical processing, advanced analytics and machine learning, mobile BI, data integration, always encrypted query processing capabilities and in-memory transactions with persistence. It is also perhaps the world's only relational database to be ‘born cloud-first,' with the majority of features first deployed and tested in Azure, across 22 global data centres and billions of requests per day. It is customer tested and battle ready," he added. Microsoft also disclosed this week that it is developing a version of SQL Server for Linux. This is due for availability sometime next year, after SQL Server 2016 for Windows ships. v3.co.uk 2016-03-16 00:00 www.computing.co.uk

3 'Indiana Jones' flick set for 2019, as Harrison Ford 2.0 rolls along (2.00/3) It's time to have a serious discussion about whether Harrison Ford is immortal. After all, news broke Tuesday that the actor will star in a fifth "Indiana Jones" movie, set for release in 2019. Disney says the first four films in the franchise have brought in a total of $2 billion at the box office, going back to the original "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in 1981. Being tied to that kind of success, not to mention "Star Wars," Ford clearly has the Midas touch, so why not bring back all his old roles? Let's send him to the White House so he can take another flight on "Air Force One. " Heck, maybe it's even worth considering a sequel to "Cowboys and Aliens. " OK, maybe that's taking it too far. What other roles would you like to see the man reprise? Since the tough-as-nails actor doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon, he should be able to get to them all. techradar.com 2016-03-15 23:55 Eric Mack www.cnet.com

4 Sony PlayStation VR launches in October for $399, cheaper than competitors (2.00/3) Sony has announced its PlayStation VR headset will be available in October for $399, cheaper than the Oculus Rift priced at $599 and HTC Vive priced at $799 -- its main competitors. The announcement came at the Games Developer Conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, where the company showed off the consumer version of the headset. Most notably, Sony revealed "Social Screen", a local multiplayer mode that incorporates both the VR headset and your television so your friends aren't just watching you with a big headset covering your eyes. Sony also revealed the official specifications for the headset: Sony said the PlayStation VR headset will work with roughly 50 games at launch and will have a cinematic mode for viewing movies and television shows. Unlike its competitors, the PlayStation VR won't require an expensive PC build to run. It will only need a PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Camera to work, currently available for $60. Sony says the PlayStation Camera will be required -- so the PlayStation VR is really $460. The company says it wasn't included in the $399 price, because it believes most of its customers already have the accessory. itnews.com 2016-03-15 21:24 Jake Smith www.zdnet.com

5 CW@50: The heyday of British computing - how the Brits ruled IT Computer Weekly is marking its 50th anniversary this year with a series of articles celebrating 50 years of British technology innovation. In this article, we look back at the years before 1966, when Computer Weekly was first published. The story of modern computing is tied intricately to wartime technology. In fact, one of the seminal papers, First draft of a report on the EDVAC, which set in concrete the definition of a modern computer, was written by mathematician John von Neumann , who worked on a way to process the vast numbers of calculations for the Manhattan project in Los Alamos, which was needed to design an atomic bomb. In the UK, putting aside Colossus, Bletchley Park’s ingenious cypher-breaking machine that was bound for many years by the Official Secrets Act, there was plenty coming out of wartime technology. “A lot of wartime tech put us on the road to computing,” says computer scientist Andrew Herbert, a trustee at The National Museum of Computing. Much of this work came from British wartime effort on radar. As Simon Lavington, author and digital archivist at the Computer Conservation Society , explains: “During World War Two, high-speed pulse electronics had been developed to a high state of expertise for radar.” Many of those working on radar had studied maths or physics degrees before the Second World War, and went back to their universities afterwards, which enabled the technology developed in wartime to be utilised in academia. The big issue was how to design memory. “They didn’t know how to store data economically ,” says Andrew Herbert, leader of the EDSAC reconstruction project at The National Museum of Computing. “For the first decade of computing, memory was the Achilles heel. It takes five to six valves to store just one bit.”

2016-03-16 06:02 Cliff Saran www.computerweekly.com

6 CW@50: 1966 - Computer Weekly goes to bat for the British computer industry Computer Weekly is marking its 50th anniversary this year with a series of articles celebrating 50 years of British technology innovation. In this article, we look back to 1966 when the first issue was published, to give the technology and cultural context that led to the launch of the world's first weekly technology newspaper. The year 1966 saw England win the World Cup, Eleanor Rigby pick up the rice where a wedding had been, and the launch of Computer Weekly. Looking back at those England footballers – with their short haircuts and blazers – it is tempting to think of the period as a black and white time steeped in nostalgia. And indeed the working class and provincial footballers of the time do look like throwbacks to 1950s “austerity Britain” – to borrow historian David Kynaston’s term. In the World Cup final, England played what was back then a modern 4-4-2 formation and secured a victory that would be echoed by the European Cup-winning exploits of Celtic in 1967 and Manchester United in 1968. In those days, British football teams were too modern and fit – thanks to a wartime diet free of junk food – for their hitherto dominant Latin opponents. It was, though, only a brief period of relative success for native footballers. British pop music enjoyed an international prominence that still continues. The Beatles and the Stones incarnated a musical revolution that was part of a youth rebellion that would encompass the anti-Vietnam war campaign , the May 68 civil strife that shook France and the sexual permissiveness of Swinging London. Rarely was one generation so sharply differentiated from another as in the 1960s. And what of Computer Weekly, first published in that year of “they think it’s all over – it is now”?

2016-03-16 06:02 Brian McKenna www.computerweekly.com

7 Samsung wants you to feel, not just see, VR with these headphones Virtual reality can make you think you're racing down a speedway in a zooming car. But if you can see the scene all around you, why can't you feel it as well, taking in the motion as you hug the turns? Unlike most headphones, the main purpose of the Entrim 4D is not to pump out sound (though it does that too). Instead, the marquee feature is that it sends an electrical signal to the nerve of your ear, which regulates balance and motion. That tricks your brain into thinking you're moving. "Most VR demos, you're in a chair," Steve Jung, the 32-year-old head of the project, said in an interview Tuesday. His point is that motion usually isn't part of the VR experience. If he can make it work, it could add a crucial element to VR, making an already immersive experience even more sensory. In fact, Entrim, is a shortening of "enter the immersive world," said Jung. Anything that can add to the experience is key, given Silicon Valley's recent obsession with the medium. Google, HTC and Facebook -- which Samsung partnered with for its Gear VR headset through Oculus, the social network's VR company -- all have their own efforts in the works. When he asks me how it felt, I told him I feel a little dizzy. Yoon Chiyuh, the project's hardware engineer, said the sensation is realistic. "When you're in a car, you feel dizzy," he said. "It's the same. " Jung said he got the idea from a friend, an emergency medical technician, who told him about vestibular signals to the ear. Samsung says it's safe. Jung explains the same methods are used to train pilots and help restore balance to stroke patients. He said the team tested the product on 1,500 people to hone the experience developed 30 different movement patterns. He also added you can adjust the level of the motion to make the feeling less intense.

2016-03-16 02:14 Richard Nieva www.cnet.com

8 Pigeons wearing tiny backpacks tweet about air pollution Tweeting has returned to its rightful owners: the birds. These birds come with a cause, too, hoping to make you more environmentally aware. "Air pollution is a huge environmental health issue, killing 10,000 people every year in London alone," said Plume Labs CEO Romain Lacombe in a statement. "Putting air sensors on the back of pigeons goes beyond raising awareness of this problem and helps Londoners understand the impact of pollution in an accessible, tangible and immediate way. " The patrol isn't permanent, as the pigeons will only spend a total of three days flying around London on their mission to engage people with the topic of air pollution. "Air pollution isn't sexy and people don't engage with it. So the heart of our idea was to make air pollution more accessible and relevant to people," said DigitasLBi creative director Pierre Duquesnoy. "The Pigeon Air Patrol is a perfect example of how data combined with creative storytelling can raise awareness of a serious health and environmental issue. "

2016-03-16 05:30 Michelle Starr www.cnet.com

9 Here's which state posts the nastiest tweets Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives. We're enjoying a little Golden Age in America currently. I'm sorry. I mean, a Golden Rage. Our political system has rarely been more divided and divisive. Conveniently, we have the glories of social media upon which to emit every milliliter of our inner bile. I've stumbled upon an analysis that sought to discover which states post the nastiest, most racist and most sexist tweets. I can feel you perking up, ready to post a tweet aimed at the nastiest state in America. That state was Louisiana. I cannot confirm whether the derogatory language was aimed at particular individuals or, indeed, at the government. I can confirm that the next most abusively tweeting state was Nevada at 929 tweets per 100,000. The home of freewheeling behavior was closely followed by Texas, Maryland, Delaware, Ohio and California. Who were the nice guys, those whose tweets were free of nastiness? Welcome, Wyoming, with merely 120 nasty tweets per 100,000. It just pipped Montana. A considerable way behind were Vermont, South Dakota, Idaho and Arkansas. The figures were broken down further. The most anti-black tweets? West Virginia. The most anti- Hispanic tweets? Why, supremely tolerant California. What about the most sexist tweets? When it comes to derogatory language against women, Louisiana comes out on top again. Texas and Maryland stand next in line. However, if you exclude the word "bitch," Nevada leaps to the top. As for anti-gay tweets, the researchers analyzed the results only by city. Buffalo, New York, please go stand in the corner. Arlington, Texas, go too. You're almost as bad, as are two Californian cities -- Riverside and Fontana. As you watch the results of primaries and caucuses and as you follow issues that are dear to your heart, you might now focus more intently not only on the most disgraceful tweets, but where they come from. I wonder if the governors of some of these states will try to clean them up, Twitter-wise. Governors can't resist any excuse to pat themselves on the back. Perhaps they're motivated by all the Twitter abuse they get.

2016-03-16 01:51 Chris Matyszczyk www.cnet.com

10 Apple News opens the floodgates Now you have another reason to be glued to your phone. Apple is rolling out new tools for its imaginatively named Apple News news app to local newspapers, independent publishers and even bloggers, expanding the amount of content you'll be able to read on your iPhone, according to media reports on Tuesday. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Apple is also promising to make it easier for publishers to see how articles are performing in the News app, according to the reports. In October, CEO Tim Cook said around 40 million people were using Apple News. However, the company later admitted it didn't know exactly how many people were reading articles on the app.

2016-03-16 04:30 Carrie Mihalcik www.cnet.com

11 Hacker who stole celebrities' nude photos will plead guilty Remember "Celebgate," when a hacker got into actresses' iCloud accounts and grabbed their nude photos? The photos were spread widely on Web forums like Reddit and 4chan. Collins is not charged with leaking the photos after taking them. "Investigators have not uncovered any evidence linking Collins to the actual leaks or that Collins shared or uploaded the information he obtained," the Justice Department said in its statement. Collins, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, accessed the women's accounts through one of two methods: He sent emails that looked like they came Apple or Google representative, or he guessed their passwords by brute force. He faces up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines, plus potential restitution owed to the victims. "By illegally accessing intimate details of his victims' personal lives, Mr. Collins violated their privacy and left many to contend with lasting emotional distress, embarrassment and feelings of insecurity," David Bowdich, the assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office, said in a statement. " The Justice Department said in its statement that the investigation continues.

2016-03-16 03:21 Laura Hautala www.cnet.com

12 Comcast makes good on promise of super-speedy broadband Talk about an embarrassment of riches. Atlanta will soon have not two, but three companies delivering superfast broadband, defined as 1 gigabit per second, or fast enough to stream all seven "Star Wars" films in ultra high definition without a stutter. Comcast on Tuesday said it would test its new super-speedy broadband service to a limited number of "early adopters" in several neighborhoods in Atlanta, which promise speeds that are 50 to 100 times faster than what you're likely getting. It marks the first city that the nation's largest cable provider will offer a gigabit connection. Demand for high-speed Internet has heated up in recent years thanks to Google and AT&T and an ever-increasing appetite for more bandwidth by consumers and businesses. Comcast's leap to gigabit speeds is a departure from the broadband industry's history of gradually increasing speeds, even if the technology was capable of delivering more. Pricing for the service will be $139 per month without a contract or $70 per month with a three- year contract, although Comcast says more pricing options will come with the broader roll out. Google, which was first to market with a gigabit service in Kansas City, charges $70 for its gigabit broadband service. In February, the Philadelphia-based cable giant announced it would start delivering the 1 gigabit per second broadband over its existing cable infrastructure to five cities by the end of the year. Nashville, which has planned gigabit networks from AT&T and Google, is next on Comcast's list. It will follow with deployments in Chicago, Detroit and Miami. The company also expects to continue rolling out service throughout its 40-state territory with the potential to reach 55 million customers within the next two years. The gigabit trend kicked off five years ago when Google Fiber launched in Kansas City. AT&T followed in 2014. While Comcast may not be first to market with this new service, the company is likely to be able to deploy the service to more customers more quickly than either AT&T or Google. That's because Comcast is using its existing cable infrastructure rather than laying down new fiber- optic lines like Google or AT&T. New and current Comcast customers in Atlanta can check the Xfinity.com/gig website to see if they qualify for the trial.

2016-03-15 23:55 Marguerite Reardon www.cnet.com

13 PlayStation VR is $399, but here's how much you'll really pay The fight to be the VR platform of choice is getting very hot, and now the three major VR players have placed their cards on the table. The big question is whether price, content or ease of installation will win the day, or whether the mass market will hold fire until cheaper options become available in future generations. But the constant add-ons and extras to even get off the ground could keep people from pulling the trigger on getting VR up and running in their living rooms. 2016-03-16 03:21 Seamus Byrne www.cnet.com

14 Crazy ninja action dominates final 'Daredevil' season 2 trailer

We don't know all the details yet, but we have a pretty good idea of what to expect from season 2 of "Daredevil" on Netflix. Our hero, aka lawyer Matt Murdock (played by Charlie Cox), is going to have his hands busy with old flame Elektra (Élodie Yung) and ultra-violent avenger The Punisher (Jon Bernthal). The final trailer, released Tuesday, glosses over any sense of subtlety and goes straight for the action jugular with a series of ninja fights. The trailer kicks off with a very serious Scott Glenn opining on a coming war. We get an explosion, a gun in Punisher's hands and Glenn whipping out a vicious-looking katana. Glenn first appeared as "Stick," a blind swordsman and Murdock's early mentor, in season 1. What follows is a fiesta of blood-spitting, masked ninjas, screaming, sword fights, more explosions, and a little bit of sexy time thrown in to balance things out. Daredevil tries to battle evil without inflicting a flood of fatalities, but he's going to have some challenges ahead with Elektra and Punisher and their different code of ethics. And that army of ninjas might pose some problems. We'll get to see it all unfold March 18 when the new season debuts on Netflix.

2016-03-15 23:55 Amanda Kooser www.cnet.com

15 Budget 2016: Experts weigh-in on leaks suggesting contractor clampdown Experts have weighed in on leaked Budget proposals to clamp down on the use of personal- service firms by contractors - proposals that come just a year after a Budget that restricted tax relief for travel and subsistence costs for contractors. "The leaked proposal will mean that public sector bodies, such as government departments and wholly public sector owned organisations (for example, Channel 4) must deduct PAYE and employer's National Insurance contributions where a contractor's representative is undertaking a defined role instead of providing a business to business service," said Martyn Valentine, an adviser at the Law Place, an IR35 employment consultancy that works in conjunction with Weaver Rose Solicitors. He added: "While the precise details are as yet unknown, the responsibility for ascertaining a contractor's tax status may shift to the public sector body thereby creating unwanted uncertainty for a contractor. " However, at this stage it is uncertain whether the Chancellor, George Osborne, will try to target specific roles where abuses of contractor status and personal service companies are believed to have been particularly egregious, or will try to implement across the whole public sector - with the fear that they will be applied to the private sector too at some point in the near future. "If the Chancellor adopts the latter approach IT contractors will be affected unless they can show that the engagement in question genuinely constitutes self-employment. That is to say, the work is entirely project based, there is no equivalent job within the public sector body, the individual does not hold a job title, the individual is not subject to or under a right of supervision, direction or control as to the method of undertaking the work and there is an enforceable right to substitute the individual," said Valentine. As a result, contractors could find themselves tied up in bureaucracy. "Unfortunately, where recruiters and multi-disciplinary consultancies are involved in the recruitment process establishing self-employment can be a difficult process for IT contractors without legal representation due to the endemic practice of defining the services to be provided as a role," adds Valentine. He continued: "The existing legal position is that a contractor cannot be self-employed if the work is defined by reference to a job title and this is likely to be aggressively applied by the Chancellor in the forthcoming Budget without amending the IR35 legislation. " The association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed (IPSE) has branded rumoured changes as "short sighted", pointing out that Osborne had been appointed Chancellor in 2010 with a brief to cut bureaucracy. Making the public sector client decide the employment status of freelance workers, IPSE adds, will lead to confusion among workers and add costs for the taxpayer. "Independent professionals in the public sector are not employees, and attempting to change their employment status will lead to confusion for the workers and added cost to the taxpayer," said IPSE chief executive Chris Bryce. "Once you label a freelance business owner an employee, he or she will expect holiday pay, sick leave and other employee benefits which will have to be paid for by the taxpayer. " [Page two: "The contractors who should be caught currently by the IR35 rules, but are ignoring them, will be the ones who are likely to suffer. "] computing.co.uk 2016-03-16 00:00 www.computing.co.uk

16 You'll never be a captain of industry with Computer Science, says MP Even the best computer science graduates can forget about one day heading up GCHQ, or a large technology firm if they remain in the UK, a prominent Conservative MP has told Computing. Instead, the qualification most likely to land the top management roles even in the technology industry is Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE), said David Davis, MP for Haltemprice and Howden. Davis explained that these concerns were voiced by Ross Anderson, Professor of Security Engineering at the Computer Laboratory, Cambridge University, as he gave evidence to the committee for the original Snoopers' Charter (the Draft Communications Data Bill , much of which now forms part of the current Investigatory Powers Bill). "The committee asked him what he thought of GCHQ. He said they're all right, but that when his PhD students graduate, they have two choices. They can go to California and get paid a couple of hundred thousand dollars a year. Or they can go to GCHQ and get paid £25,000 per year. "But that isn't the reason the best ones don't go to GCHQ. The reason the best ones go to California, is because there they can end up running or owning the company. In GCHQ they've got the wrong qualifications to run it. That will be done by somebody with PPE. " Davis argued that it's part of the British mentality that those with "liberal arts degrees", as Davis put it, get to the top, irrespective of the function of the organisation. He explained that this creates problems in that leaders even at organisations like GCHQ and the FBI can be misled by technical experts who may have their own agenda. Davis added that the plea from FBI director James Comey in July 2015 to stop or limit commercially available encryption is a symptom of this trend. "It's idiotic," said Davis, of the idea that intelligence agencies are thoroughly defeated by encryption. "I expect the FBI head was a liberal arts specialist who'd been told this [that encryption in uncrackable] by someone who wanted to make a point. It's a demonstration of the weakness of our system of education in the West and of our promotion systems. " He continued: "They don't understand some of the problems they're dealing with. Some of the technicians will, but the heads won't necessarily in great detail. The problem is you can't just write a half-baked summary for the boss and expect him to understand it, because it actually involves understanding a whole series of things, like the mathematics of how databases work, and how search and sift routines work. "

2016-03-16 00:00 www.computing.co.uk

17 Rural Payments Agency chief: GDS and Defra didn't listen to warnings that CAP project was failing The chief executive of the Rural Payments Agency (RPA), Mark Grimshaw, has suggested that senior chiefs at the Government Digital Service (GDS) and Defra did not listen to his fears about failings in its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) programme. The CAP programme was aimed at developing new systems and processes to support the implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy in England. It was established in 2012 to address previous failings in how CAP payments were delivered by the Agency. Earlier this month, MPs slammed senior leaders at the RPA, GDS and Defra for what they described as a "childish turf war" , which involved "dysfunctional and inappropriate behaviours" that were "inexcusable and deeply damaging" to the £154m programme. It led Public Accounts Committee chair Meg Hillier to say that it was "frankly embarrassing to learn of senior and highly paid civil servants arguing to the detriment of hard-pressed farmers". RPA chief Grimshaw gave evidence on the scheme to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee. He suggested that there was an element of truth in the PAC report, but claimed that the language used had been sensationalised. "I am certainly not in the position of accusing the committee of being inaccurate and if those are the words I used then I will recant them here and now," he said. Grimshaw said he regretted being unable "to get over to the programme the requirements of the business from a delivery and functional perspective" - claiming that this was "a concern that will live for me for many years". "As a personal failing I was not able to communicate, and not able to get senior people to recognise, that the programme was in difficulty," he said. "I was not in a position to have my opinion prevail," he added. Grimshaw suggested that "all four senior officers" who had been given responsibility for the programme should share the blame for its failings. He also claimed that "almost all" outstanding 2015 payments will be made by the end of the month.

2016-03-16 00:00 www.computing.co.uk

18 Osborne to green light driverless-car motorway trials The government is to back trials of driverless cars on UK motorways as early as next year, in a bid to make the UK a centre of driverless car research and technology. Chancellor George Osborne is expected to announce where and when driverless cars will hit the motorway network in his Budget speech this week. “Driverless cars could represent the most fundamental change to transport since the invention of the internal combustion engine. Naturally, we need to ensure safety and that’s what the trials we are introducing will test,” said Osborne. Clearly, Osborne has his eye on securing a slice of the driverless car market, which has been estimated will be worth about £51bn in overall social and economic benefits by 2030, as well as having the potential to provide 320,000 new jobs by the same date . For some time the government has been championing driverless cars, with trials on public roads given the go-ahead last year. Trials have been happening in Bristol, Greenwich, Milton Keynes and Coventry, with the government also announcing plans to trial driverless lorries on UK roads as well. Earlier in the year the government committed £20m to research communication between vehicles and infrastructure , after announcing a similar sum for research last year. So it comes as little surprise that the Chancellor is to reinforced the government’s commitment to the technology. The UK is in a good position to advance driverless car technology, particularly given it is the home of Jaguar Land Rover, a company at the forefront of high-tech motoring. The car maker recently revealed it wants to create driverless cars that behave like human-controlled vehicles as part of its research into understanding how people drive cars. However, before 'autonomous vehicles' can start to fill Britain's roads, the government will need to address several challenges, such as the safety, liability and licensing of driverless cars . Computing's Internet of Things Business Summit 2016 takes place on 12 May. Hear experts from across British industry reveal the latest technology and research - places are free to qualifying end users

2016-03-16 00:00 www.v3.co.uk

19 Accenture wins £86m Met Police application management deal Accenture has been selected by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) to deliver application management services to the Met, in a five year deal with a potential value reaching £86m. Accenture is the third big-name IT provider to become part of the Met Police's SIAM/Tower model, under its Total Technology Programme. It follows the Service Integration & Management (SIAM) contract awarded to Atos , and the £250m end-user computing and hosting towers won by CSC. Under the terms of the agreement, Accenture said it would help the MPS to manage its core IT applications, including enhancing them and "rationalising the application portfolio". In addition, Accenture will aim to increase the use of digital technology by the service, implement new mobile and analytics solutions, and increase digital interaction between police and citizens. According to Chris Naylor, digital policing lead at the Met Police, Accenture will help the service to "move to a more modern, flexible IT environment", which in turn will enable it to reduce costs and improve the technology available to help its officers service the public. The five-year contract has options for one-year extensions, and Accenture claims that 60 new technology roles will be created in Newcastle as a result. Accenture will be expected to work with Atos, which was awarded the SIAM contract in November. The Met Police decided to press ahead with the SIAM tower model despite a blog by Alex Holmes , deputy director of the Government Digital Service (GDS), suggesting that the tower approach was not in line with government policy and is "not condoned". While many other public sector bodies, such as the Ministry of Justice and Transport for London (TfL), are in the middle of a SIAM implementation and would therefore find it near impossible to change their strategies midway through, with a fresh contract the Met Police could feasibly have taken a different approach. However, Computing has questioned the suggestion that the tower model is "no longer condoned" by government , as it had been working for the Tri-Borough council. Failures may be more to do with the implementation than the model itself. TfL CIO Steve Townsend recently told Computing that some public sector organisations were dressing up old outsourcing methods as the tower model - and that's why they were likely to fail. However, he declined to name the public sector bodies he thought were doing this.

2016-03-16 00:00 www.computing.co.uk

20 Post Office to hire a 'head of IT vendor management’ The Post Office is looking for a head of IT vendor management to develop, formalise and direct relationships with IT vendors. The new role has been created as a part of the Post Office's 2020 strategic vision, which will transform every aspect of the organisation - people, systems, infrastructure, processes and customers, the Post Office claims in its job ad . The successful candidate will have to establish internal policies and approve external policies, standards, processes and templates for working with IT vendors. They will facilitate and maintain relationships between vendors and internal resources, including IT stakeholders and executive leadership. He or she will also have to develop a framework for interactions between vendors and the business. The head of IT vendor management will have to develop and lead an IT vendor management strategy, and ensure that IT vendors deliver maximum value. They will have to understand IT vendor spending by category, cost centre and SIAM tower, while managing staff that are part of the vendor-management team. The Post Office is looking for someone with strong negotiation, relationship and interpersonal skills, as well as basic understanding of the technology or services delivered by IT vendors. The right candidate will have to understand internal decision making and the decision making that occurs among vendors; understanding their motivations, strategic plans and market challenges. In addition, he or she will have to have strong dispute resolution and mediation skills, knowledge of market trends in contract and pricing models, service delivery and performance management, and the ability to bridge communication between IT and the business. According to the job ad, the head of IT vendor management will report to the IT service director and be located in London. Computing has filed questions with the Post Office to get more information and will update the story in due course.

2016-03-16 00:00 www.computing.co.uk

21 Opera to add native ad blocker to desktop web browser Opera Software - currently the subject of a $1.2bn takeover bid by a consortium of Chinese investors - is including an ad blocker in the latest version of its desktop web browser that, it claims, will speed-up page loading times by up to 90 per cent. The browser pioneer presented a series of comparisons with other ad blocker and browser combinations, finding that even the next best result, Firefox with Adblock Plus enabled, is still 21 per cent slower than Opera's integrated offering. “Advertising fuels the internet, allowing many services to be free for users. But, as our new research shows, most web pages today are significantly slowed down by bloated ads and heavy tracking. We don’t accept it. We want the web to be a better place for us all as users,” said Krystian Kolondra, senior vice president of engineering at the company and head of Opera for computers. The speed boost is achievable because ads are blocked at a web-engine level, meaning that it's the browser itself that controls page loading without having to make outside calls to plug-ins or extensions for each element. To really rub it in, Opera also includes a benchmarking tool to show users and developers just how much difference the tool makes. The debate over ad blocking is currently raging as people sick of unwieldy and performance- reducing advertisements are flocking to block, leaving webmasters struggling to find a business model that works. Ad blocking has increased 41 per cent year on year worldwide, and 98 per cent of blockers are used on PCs. Three announced recently that it is to become the first UK carrier to block adverts at a network level, while Apple has allowed ad blocker apps in the App Store for a year. Opera announced a new version of its mobile browser earlier this week that brings many of the Chromium 49 features, such as physical beacon recognition and Bluetooth interaction, bringing it into line with the current Chrome mobile edition.

2016-03-16 00:00 www.theinquirer.net

22 Five things to expect from Apple's imminent iPhone launch On 21 March Apple is expected to launch its long-rumoured iPhone 5SE - as well as unveiling a host of other new products and product updates. Taking place at a grand unveiling in Cupertino, California, not far from the technology giant's HQ, there's also expected to be a new iPad and refreshed Apple Watch models on offer, following months of speculation surrounding Apple's rumoured smaller, cheaper iPhone. We've rounded up five features you can expect from the incoming handset. Metal design Apple's last 'mid-range' iPhone, the iPhone 5C, was encased in brightly coloured plastic, but the iPhone 5SE is expected to look more like the iPhone 5S. It'll also have a bit of iPhone 6S about it, according to leaks showing that the iPhone 5SE will feature a curved glass front similar to that seen on Apple's latest smartphones. Apple's event invitation ( above ) also suggests that the handset will be available in the same colour options as the iPhone 6S. Four-inch screen Of course, the iPhone 5SE's standout feature will be a pint-sized 4in display, similar to that seen on the iPhone 5C before it. There's no word yet as to whether it will feature a boost in resolution, but speculation points to a "2.5D" display with curved edges that improves the tactile sensitivity of finger swipes. However, it apparently won't offer 3D Touch functionality. A9 processor Early rumours pointed to the iPhone 5SE having an A8 processor, but more recent leaks suggest that it will have the same A9 internals as the iPhone 6S. This means, in theory, that the smartphone will support Apple's Live Photos feature, and should match the firm's flagship devices when it comes to overall performance. Beefy battery The iPhone 5C had a fairly lacklustre 1,500mAh battery, but the iPhone 5SE will reportedly up the ante with a 1,715mAh unit. Affordable-ish price Apple will never make a cheap smartphone, but the iPhone 5SE, much like the iPhone 5C, will be more affordable than its iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus siblings. Prices for the iPhone 5SE will start at $450 for a 16GB model, the same as the iPhone 5, according to reports.

2016-03-16 00:00 www.v3.co.uk

23 If you have less than a petabyte of data you don't need Hadoop Hadoop is unnecessary for smaller projects, and most firms should avoid using it unless they have to. That's according to Vincent de Lagabbe, CTO of Kaiko, a company that offers real-time tracking of bitcoin exchanges. "Considering the volume that we are dealing with Hadoop would be overkill. It was fancy technology for the time and people started using it for everything, but most things you can do without it. From experience, it's better to try to do without Hadoop - I mean use it when you need it but when you don't, don't bother," he said. Kaiko pulls in transaction data from the Bitcoin blockchain and also monitors the major exchanges to see who is buying the crypto-currency in order to track its price in real-time and provide additional information about the market. While speed and being able to handle unstructured data is important, volume is less of an issue for the firm. "If you've got less that a petabyte of data Hadoop is probably overkill," de Lagabbe said. Instead of Hadoop, the company is deploying DataStax Enterprise (DSE), a commercial distribution of the Apache Cassandra NoSQL database, to perform storage duties. "We didn't know what we were going to be putting into the database and we wanted something that could be flexible. Cassandra seemed like a pretty good solution to our requirements. We tried several other things but they weren't as stable for our usage. So Cassandra is our main data store. We store everything in it - blockchain data, exchanges data, everything else. " So why not opt for the free community version? "We chose DSE because we found it was more stable than the version we were using before, maybe because the builds are more carefully monitored, but I don't know," de Lagabbe said. "Then there's the extensibility, so you can easily have a Spark cluster on it to do further analysis. We have not deployed such cluster yet but we plan to do that for real-time streaming and in- memory map reduce jobs. "The support from DataStax has been helpful," he added. Recent research from Computing has found that Spark is catching up with Hadoop as a primary general-purpose big data platform - although the two are most frequently used together. Join us for Computing's Big Data & Analytics Summit on March 17th. Attendance is free to qualifying end-users, so book your place now before they all go

2016-03-16 00:00 www.computing.co.uk

24 60 per cent of government spend with SMEs is via larger contractors – NAO report Sixty per cent of government spend with SMEs was via another, larger contractor with SMEs in their supply chain, according to a National Audit Office (NAO) report released today. In 2010, the government set a target for 25 per cent of procurement spending to reach SMEs by 2015 and, according to an estimate by the Cabinet Office, it met this target in 2013-14 and surpassed it by two percentage points in 2014- 15. However, the NAO said that it could not be certain that the amount government spends with SMEs has increased over the last parliament because the data it has used is not directly comparable, year-on-year, as a result of numerous changes in the way it calculates SME spend. Alarmingly, the 27 per cent figure for 2014-15 is made up of both direct spend with SMEs - which amounts to £4.9bn or 10.9 per cent of overall spend - in addition to indirect spend, in which SMEs are appointed as subcontractors in the supply chain in a public sector contract with a larger provider. Indirect spend amounts to £7.3bn in 2014-15 and is 16.2 per cent of overall government spend, or 60 per cent of overall SME spending. However, according to the NAO, the government's understanding of its indirect spending with SMEs is "incomplete". "Departments told us that they rely on the goodwill of large suppliers to report spending accurately to the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) as departments usually have no way to verify the accuracy of the figures," claims the NAO. "Suppliers may only have data on their spending with the next tier of their supply chain, so may not report spending with SMEs in lower tiers. Furthermore, suppliers may have different approaches to collecting and validating data, and identifying SMEs, leading to inconsistent measurement," it adds. Improving access for SMEs The NAO states that the government currently bases its approach on the assumption that more SMEs will win work with government if there are fewer barriers to SMEs being able to bid. However, it states that wider trends in government contracting mean that, although SMEs can bid for work, they are often not suitable to deliver it. According to former HMRC CIO Phil Pavitt, more and more SMEs are providing IT services, but the procurement teams within government have processes that eliminate them from consideration. "It is not uncommon for politicians and IT leaders in government wanting the right thing but procurement officers stop that," he told Computing . Last year Pavitt, who is now global CIO at Specsavers, suggested that procurement teams were the "biggest enemy" to SMEs breaking in to government. The NAO suggested that the government needed to make a more concerted effort not only to remove barriers to bidding, but also to ensure that the way in which government procurement is done can achieve the desired benefits of using SMEs. It added that the government should also balance its aspirations for using SMEs with other potentially conflicting priorities such as pressures on departments to make savings. Among its recommendations, the NAO said that the government should stop changing its basis for estimating SME spending and start to identify areas of government where different providers can bring the most benefits. It said that the government needed to identify where it ought to have oversight of the relationship between primary contractors and their subcontractors, and emphasised the need for greater visibility and transparency of government procurement. It suggested that the CCS should work with the Cabinet Office and Government Digital Service (GDS) to assess the feasibility of an integrated cross-government procurement platform to support its commercial strategy. On the back of another NAO report into government spend, Computing looked into what the government could do to ensure that spend on consultancy and temporary staff did not spiral out of control .

2016-03-16 00:00 www.computing.co.uk

25 Google releases Android N developer preview - adds split- screen support and Doze improvements Google has released a developer preview of the next version of Android for Nexus devices, codenamed 'N'. Google typically waits until its annual I/O conference, which will kick-off on 18 May this year, to make developer previews available, but the company has decided to do things a little differently this year. Those with a compatible device, such as a Nexus 5X or Nexus 6P , can sign up for the Android N preview which will be available to download as an over-the-air update. Naturally, Google doesn't recommend that regular consumers use the preview as it is "not intended for daily use or consumer use". This change, which echoes Apple's iOS public beta system, sees Google ensuring that all bugs are ironed out before the software is officially rolled out, and could also mean that devices start getting Android updates more quickly. "By releasing a 'work in progress' build earlier in development we have more time to incorporate developer feedback," Google claimed in a blog post. "Also, the earlier preview allows us to hand off the final N release to device makers this summer so they can get their hands on the latest version of Android earlier than ever. " Android N's stand-out addition in terms of features is split-screen multitasking, which makes Android phones and tablets capable of running two apps side by side. Google said that developers will need to opt-in to the split-screen mode, as well as a new ‘picture-in-picture’ mode also debuting in Android N. The next version of Android also brings iOS-style direct-reply notifications, which means users will be able to reply to texts and Facebook messages, for example, from the notification panel, along with a new bundled notifications feature. Android N has improvements to Google's battery-saving Doze mode, which will now save power whenever the screen is switched off, and better support for the Java 8 language. The full list of devices that can give Android N a spin is the Nexus 6, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus Player, Nexus 9 and Google Pixel C. However, Google hasn't yet revealed what the next version of Android will be called. ..

2016-03-16 00:00 www.theinquirer.net

26 Government to review its contracts with Atos after IT failure The government has committed to review £500m worth of contracts with controversial outsourcing company Atos, following a major IT failure. The Guardian reports that the Cabinet Office said the government will undertake a full review of every contract worth over £10m that has been carried out with Atos. The move indicates that the government is frustrated with the performance of the French outsourcing firm, which has been blighted by numerous project failures. One of the most prominent issues encountered by Atos was the exit of its healthcare division from a contract under which it carried out the Work Capability Assessments, which checks if benefits claimants are fit for work. Atos’s latest fiasco concerns its role in the implementation of the General Practice Extraction Service (GPES), an IT system designed for NHS organisations to extract data from all GP practice computer systems in England. The investigation stems from the National Audit Office (NAO) discovering a botched planning and procurement process leading to costs for the project escalating from £14m to £20m. Atos had a key role in delivering a tool to manage data extraction but according to the NAO is had fundamental flaws and did not work. This prompted the public accounts committee to investigate Atos' role in the project and said it did not show an “appropriate duty of care to the taxpayer” and acted only within its own short- term interests. Atos has defended itself against such accusations saying it was not able to see the entire project it was contracted to work on. An Atos spokeswoman also told V3 that it was unable to test its part of the system in a live environment because it did not have access to components provided by other organisations. The company Atos claims the system delivers 40 extractions per year, but the NAO noted only NHS England has received data from the GPES. Regardless, as a result of the failure, the committee urged the government to probe Atos' relationship with the UK public sector as its major supplier, with the goal of ensuring such mistakes do not happen again. While it is rare for the Cabinet Office to probe a single supplier, its plan to investigate all Atos’ contracts with the government could spell further bad news for the company, given it is currently working HM Revenues & Customs, the Department of Health, the Ministry of Justice and NHS Scotland. However, Atos appears to be willing to submit to probing from the Cabinet Office, judging by a spokeswoman’s comment to The Guardian . “We look forward to working with the Cabinet Office with whom we have a transparent and open relationship and we look forward to maintaining our green rating for delivery across Whitehall,” she said. While Atos is in the Cabinet Office’s sights, it is not likely to be the only major IT supplier and outsourcing form with government contracts likely to come under scrutiny. The government’s supposed ambitions to move away from major deals with large enterprises and its goal to bring more development ad support of digital services in-house, is all part of the efforts of the Government Digital Service to drive more digital services in Whitehall and reduce its IT costs and inefficient projects .

2016-03-16 00:00 www.computing.co.uk

27 Hundreds of cloud companies still vulnerable to DROWN security flaw One week after critical security flaws in SSL/TLS security were uncovered, some 620 cloud services remain vulnerable to DROWN - with just a handful having taken action over the past seven days. That is the warning of security company Skyhigh Networks, which follows an analysis of cloud services. Other cloud security companies have warned that many providers still remain unpatched against a slew of other security flaws. " Skyhigh Cloud Security Labs has found that 620 cloud services remain vulnerable to [DROWN] compromise. That's not much lower than the 653 services that were vulnerable a week ago," claimed Skyhigh Networks' co-founder and vice president of engineering Sekhar Sarukkai. He continued: "What's troubling about this critical vulnerability is how slow cloud providers have been in responding to patch their services against DROWN [simply] by disabling SSLv2 support. While more cloud services overall were vulnerable to Heartbleed compared with DROWN, cloud providers quickly patched their systems to close their Heartbleed vulnerabilities. " He added: "That's bad news for the 98.9 per cent of enterprises who use at least one vulnerable service. As of today, the average organisation uses 56 vulnerable services. " Researchers at another security vendor, cloud access security broker Netskope, has drawn similar conclusions. " We have been monitoring SaaS apps to check whether they are vulnerable to DROWN. As part of our research, we have identified 676 software-as-a-service (SaaS) apps that are vulnerable to the attack," warned Swapnil Pathak, a member of technical staff at Netskope. According to Netskope, 676 software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications are vulnerable to DROWN. Two of those apps are considered as "high" risk in Netskope's "Cloud Confidence Index", 42 apps are rated "medium" and the remainder "low". Netskope also claimed that a number of the cloud SaaS applications that it monitors also remain vulnerable to a slew of other recent critical security flaws: 73 apps are still vulnerable to FREAK attack; 42 apps to Logjam; 38 apps to OpenSSL CCS attack; and, seven apps remain vulnerable to Poodle. Netskope accused SaaS application providers of poor patch-management practices, which could leave clients' data at risk. DROWN, which stands for "Decrypting RSA with Obsolete and Weakened eNcryption", is a cross-protocol vulnerability that affects any server that supports obsolete SSLv2 connections, as well as any other servers (including SMTP and IMAP) that share the same certificate with an SSLv2 server. Computing 's Enterprise Security & Risk Management Summit 2016 will be on 24 November 2016 in Central London. It is free to attend for qualified end users. The Cloud & Infrastructure Summit from Computing 's sister title V3 will be held from April 20-21 online .

2016-03-16 00:00 www.computing.co.uk

28 Microsoft accused of bundling new Windows 10 nagware into latest Patch Tuesday updates Microsoft has been accused of sneaking new Windows 10 nagware into its latest slew of Patch Tuesday updates. First discovered by Woody Leonhard at InfoWorld , this month's KB3139929 security fix issued as part of Patch Tuesday has an unexpected surprise inside - KB3146449 - under the rather vague explanation of "several non- security-related fixes for Internet Explorer". It is the lastest in a growing number of updates from Microsoft masquerading as security patches, but which in reality amount to little more than nagware intended to badger users into upgrading to Windows 10 . The latest Windows-10-related update makes Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser display a blue banner on the new tab page, which says: 'Microsoft recommends upgrading to Windows 10'. What makes it even more worrying, especially from a security point of view, is that it is not separated from a genuine Internet Explorer security patch - users have no choice except to uninstall the security patch or keep the ad-generating payload. Furthermore, KB3146449 doesn't appear in users' update history. The only way users can tell if they have got it is the banner appearing on IE and the only way of preventing it is not to install the security patch. However, only home users are affected. Corporate licences are exempt from the latest Windows 10 nagware. When Windows 10 was launched, with the offer of a free upgrade to users of existing Microsoft operating systems from Windows 7 and later, some commentators questioned the business model. Indeed, they labelled it "unsettling and Orwellian". In addition to bundling Windows 10 software and nagware into updates for Windows 7, 8 and 8.1, the company has also increasingly failed to disclose to users the nature of its patches and updates. Instead, it has provided only vague and, often, inaccurate summaries. Windows 10 itself also sends back vastly more telemetry data on users' PCs back to Microsoft. The company claims that it is anonymised, used purely for technical purposes and that no personal data is disclosed. However, many suspect that it is part of the business model for Windows 10. Computing has asked Microsoft for comment and will update the story accordingly when we get a response. Computing 's Enterprise Security & Risk Management Summit 2016 will be on 24 November 2016 in Central London. It is free to attend for qualified end users. The Cloud & Infrastructure Summit from Computing 's sister title V3 will be held from April 20-21 online .

2016-03-16 00:00 www.theinquirer.net

29 CityFibre CEO Greg Mensch's ambitious plan to bring FTTP to 100 UK towns and cities - and beat BT in the process The telecoms landscape has been dominated in the past few months by calls from the likes of Sky, TalkTalk and Vodafone for Ofcom to force BT to turn its wholesale Openreach division into a separate entity....

2016-03-16 00:00 www.v3.co.uk

30 Microsoft releases 13 security bulletins in latest Patch Tuesday Microsoft has released a total of 13 security bulletins in its latest slew of Patch Tuesday updates. The good news is that there are no obvious exploits or vulnerabilities in the wild at this stage, according to security company Shavlik. Product manager Chris Goettl suggests that this month is much like previous months, including a lot of updates, but nothing targeting widely publicised critical vulnerabilities. "March Patch Tuesday has a great deal of updates, but no public disclosures or exploited vulnerabilities as yet. Let's start with what we know for sure: Microsoft has released 13 bulletins, five of which are 'critical' and eight 'important'. With these bulletins, Microsoft is resolving 39 vulnerabilities this month," said Goettl. "On the non-Microsoft front, Adobe is releasing two bulletins, rated as Priority 2 and 3, that resolve four vulnerabilities. Additionally, Mozilla Firefox 45 has been released and is rated 'critical' as it resolves 22 vulnerabilities. " Goettl is not the only one quick off the mark with advice. Qualys CTO Wolfgang Kandek said in a blog post that Apple joins the party with a fix for the Transmission bug, and that Microsoft and Adobe are providing fixes for (yet more) PDF flaws. Although there are no exploits for these security flaws currently known about in the wild, they will inevitably come soon. "Apple has a first this month. The popular bit-torrent client Transmission was Trojaned with a ransomware version. Fortunately, it was available for download for less than 12 hours and Apple quickly revoked its signing certificate and updated the signatures in xprotect. Nevertheless, check for Transmission 2.90 in your network and isolate it if found," said Kandek. "That's it for March. No zero-days or immediately exploitable vulnerabilities this month, but apply these patches as quickly as possible anyway. We have seen attackers convert vulnerabilities into exploits quickly, particularly on Adobe Flash. " Adobe has issued a new version of Acrobat Reader with three critical fixes , which Kandek reckons you should consider a priority. To hear more about security challenges, the threats they pose and how to combat them, sign up for Computing's Enterprise Security and Risk Management conference , taking place in November. Attendance is free for qualifying end-users, so sign-up early.

2016-03-16 00:00 www.theinquirer.net

31 Intel shoots for 3D broadcasting with Replay Technologies acquisition Intel is pushing into digital broadcasting, having acquired Israeli 3D video specialist Replay Technologies. The purchase is a natural extension of Intel's partnership with Replay, which began in 2013, and involved the two working on various 3D video projects. Their most recent project involved 360-degree broadcasts of the NBA All-Star Weekend, specifically in the Slam Dunk contest where basketball players pull off spectacular shots. The company's proprietary freeD 3D video rendering format uses 28 ultra high-definition cameras and computational power from Intel's servers to broadcast the contest in a way that provides a 360-degree view of the dunks. Wendell Brooks, president of Intel Capital, explained that the purchase of Replay will see Intel scale up the use of freeD to create what it call "immersive sports" for broadcasters and fans. "Immersive sports requires the high-performance computing Intel is known for, and it's also data driven, fuelling the continued build out of the cloud. For athletes, coaches, broadcasters and fans, the ability to capture, analyse and share data adds compelling new dimensions to the game," he said. "As part of Intel, the team will focus on growing their existing business and advancing their technology with Intel to deliver faster freeD processing and new features like the ability to manipulate and edit personalised content. " Intel's acquisition of Replay, for an undisclosed sum, is an attempt to further develop 3D broadcasting, and shows how companies are exploring the use of new digital technology and related hardware to provide enhanced services to customers and audiences. 360-degree broadcasts could, for example, provide web broadcasts in documentaries or travel programmes, while companies could showcase products, designs and even financial results in a more interactive and engaging way. The Amba Hotel in London's Marble Arch already does something similar with a virtual reality app and headset that allows potential clients to get an interactive tour of the hotel's facilities even if they are in a different country. IBM is another company exploring the use of cutting-edge digital technologies in traditional industries, and has created a Watson-powered robot concierge for a Hilton hotel .

2016-03-16 00:00 www.computing.co.uk

32 YOOX Net-a-Porter Group picks IBM for 'game-changing' post-merger tech platform confirms CIO YOOX Net-a-Porter has revealed that it's chosen IBM to handle the development of a unified customer technology platform, following last year's merger of YOOX and Net-a-Porter. CIO Alex Alexander called the choice a "game- changing alliance". "This game-changing alliance will benefit our customers and brand partners, allowing us to push our ambitions even further as we continue to create the future of fashion," said Alexander. "The partnership with IBM will enable our exceptionally talented technology team to focus on what it is renowned for: industry-leading innovation, cutting-edge technology and customer- centric solutions. " As the combined companies operate what they're calling "multi-brand proprietary online stories" in addition to "numerous Online Flagship Stores" of leading fashion and luxury brands, the firm decided that pulling together all of YOOX and Net-a-Porter's technology under one umbrella was the best way to proceed. IBM products that Alexander will roll out include IBM Order Management for order fulfilment, as well as IBM WebSphere Commerce for the e-commerce piece. The new group expects the adoption to "expedite and facilitate the post-merger system integration process" while "minimising costs and execution risk" across a global 2.5 million customer base in a business that made €1.7bn in 2015. Alexander has been in the CIO post at Yoox since July 2015, subsequently becoming CIO of the new group after the merger completed in October 2015. Hugh Fahy, who was initially CIO of Net- a-Porter, replacing Richard Lloyd-Williams as CIO back in 2014 , has since moved to the CTO role at notonthehightstreet.com. Lloyd-Williams moved to another e-commerce company, Discover&Deliver, as CEO, but was let go in 2015 by founder Isabel Rutland. Rutland told Computing at the time that she would never hire another ex-CIO in a CEO role , explaining that "CIOs tend to be by nature introverted people" who are better "working in very small groups or on their own". Rutland claimed that being a CEO was "not for him" when discussing Lloyd-Williams, and in future she would seek a CEO with the "right human characteristics and a dynamism" that a CIO "probably wouldn't" possess.

2016-03-16 00:00 www.computing.co.uk

33 Nine out of 10 UK CIOs 'concerned' about EU's new data protection laws A whopping 87 per cent of UK CIOs are concerned that their organisation might be exposed under the upcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a new report has found. The report, commissioned by Egress Software, asked 200 UK CIOs how concerned they are about the new regulations, which will become law in 2018. Only 13 per cent said they were not concerned at all by GDPR, but the majority (61.5 per cent) said that they were ‘a little concerned', and more than a quarter (25.5 per cent) said they were 'very concerned'. The GDPR represents a major change in the way that personal data must be managed for any organisation that does business in, or with, the EU. They will need to make sure they are able to delete all of a consumer's personal data quickly and completely from their systems, on request. There will also be mandatory reporting of serious data breaches and organisations will be expected to know what data might have been affected - within 24 hours, if possible. And organisations found to be in breach of the regulation face hefty fines of up to four per cent of global turnover. The findings from Egress's research chime with the conclusions of a report commissioned by software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider Intralinks at the end of last year. It found that more than half of global companies expected to be fined for non-compliance with GDPR , and that two- thirds of worldwide companies would review their business strategies in EU countries in the next year. Last month, Computing carried out an online poll of about 100 medium-to-large organisations and found that only 20 per cent were well prepared for GDPR, with a further 26 per cent stating that they have just started preparing for the regulation. Surprisingly, a total of 44 per cent were unaware or only vaguely aware of the new rules.

2016-03-16 00:00 www.computing.co.uk

34 'Go back to your training schedule' to educate users and cut down phishing attacks, says Mimecast Testing and training end users regularly on cyber security protocol is key to cutting down phishing - or worse, whaling - attacks in your business, email management and security firm Mimecast has advised. Speaking to Computing ahead of our web seminar entitled "Are you a Phish or a Whale? ", which will take place next Wednesday, 16 March, Mimecast's cyber security specialist Orlando Scott-Cowley - who will be appearing on the panel along with law firm BLM's IT director Abbey Ewen - stressed the supreme importance of education for end users. "Once you've got the technology solved, you need to look at the end users - the policy, the procedure and the people inside the business," observed Scott-Cowley. "Because that's where the attack will happen - the cyber criminals know they can get an email into a user's inbox, and they can socially engineer them into doing things. "So, do you know how your users will react? " asked Scott-Cowley. "Have you trained them? Do you do only induction training at the start of a job, or maybe a six- monthly refresher? Or do you test and train them on a regular basis? "Raising users' understanding on the risks is important, but so also the need to know the true effect on the business. So going back to your training schedule is vital. " At the same time, Scott-Cowley acknowledged that the technology piece is another key part of helping to manage the behaviour of end users. "Gateway controls are the most important - you have to protect our users with some kind of secure email gateway. Attackers will use email to compromise users because it's incredibly easy to drop a malicious link or weaponised attachment," said Scott-Cowley. "So make sure a gateway you have on the perimeter is able to detect that type of traffic, but then also rewrite the URL or sandbox the attachment to make sure there's nothing hiding behind those elements of the message. " To learn more about the topic, and join in with the debate in real time, join us on 16 March for the web seminar. You can easily sign up ahead of time by visiting the seminar's mini-site.

2016-03-16 00:00 www.computing.co.uk

35 Disney Infinity devs 'always looking for way to expand on characters' Disney Infinity is continuing to support the 3.0 platform by releasing more playsets throughout 2016. The latest, Marvel Battlegrounds, features four-person brawler action and is compatible with all your Marvel Disney Infinity figures. The Battlegrounds play set includes a Captain America: The First Avenger figure. With figures based on Ant-Man, Black Panther, Vision, and Black Suit Spider-Man also released, we spoke with Jeff Bunker, VP of art direction for Avalanche Software, about the new figures and what we can expect moving forward. GameSpot: We have four new figures plus Black Suit Spider-Man coming. How was that number determined? Jeff Bunker: It was mainly by what we felt was most relevant. That's obviously currently driven by the films. We knew Vision, Ant-Man and Black Panther were going to be very relevant during this time period. We know we're getting other figures from the other franchises. Will we still see more Marvel figures this year? I'm not sure what we've announced yet, so I don't dare say. Since Ant-Man can change size, was there any challenges in figuring out his design? All the characters like Ant-Man or Tinker Bell, their relative size to the other characters is just tiny. When you make a figure out of them, you obviously don't want to make them tiny. You want to show them off as well as possible. It's always kind of a challenge to figure how we'll handle those characters. With Ant-Man, we went over and over about what kind of thing we could put with him to indicate what his scale was. The thing I was really happy about was we were able to put him in the same environment as the other characters coming out with him, but we made him feel he's at a much smaller scale by having him sitting on top of a screw head. That turned out pretty good. Was having a really small Ant-Man on a regular-size base ever considered? It was actually talked about a little bit. We didn't feel we could do the character justice or the fans might feel ripped off if they just had a little spec on the base. It was discussed. We just dismissed it pretty quickly. From this group, which character has been your favorite to work on? I get asked that quite often. I have to say, quite honestly, I'm not saying this as a PR thing, my favorite is always the character I'm working on right at the time. Each one had challenges that made it hard and made it fun. Ant-Man is a very busy character. Although he's very dark overall, there's a lot of different things going on with his costume -- the piping, the red and the black, and so forth. He was challenging, but he was fun to figure out. With the release of Black Suit Spider-Man, even though we have discs that offer costume changes, what are the chances of seeing other character variants like this? I think we're always looking for ways to expand on the characters. If you're a fan of a character, we want to be able to give you as much value as we can. For the Star Wars figures, we saw light-up lightsabers. Are you exploring other options like this? We're trying to create something for collectors at a reasonable price. We're always looking for ways to expand on the value and make them cooler. We were told new play sets are coming for Star Wars , Disney and Pixar. Can we assume this means more figures for those as well? I think you can assume that. The figures are the character unlock. That's how you get the figures into the game. Do you guys work on each brand one at a time or are they all being worked on in various stages? They're all worked on together. It's a fun mash-up in the studio. We're constantly working with the filmmakers at Pixar at the same time we're working with the creatives at Marvel. There's conversations going on with the creatives about what we ought to be doing visually on the figures. There's also conversation going on about what the mechanics ought to be. Ant-Man is a good example with his mechanics as he gets small. He's pretty fast and strong, but he's small and disappears. You start to run out of ideas and they suggested we amp things up by using an army of ants. Marvel Battlegrounds (with new Captain America figure) is now available along with Ant-Man, Black Panther, Vision and Black Suit Spider-Man.

2016-03-15 23:55 GameSpot Staff www.gamespot.com

36 To get 4 million views in one day, pick up your friend and drop her Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives. Every day, brands, stars and slackers torture themselves as they seek the one great idea that will go viral. Perhaps they should focus on the torture part. This, at least, seems to be the evidence of a very simple video that has captivated hearts and minds this week. Why on earth would someone watch this, you might ask? Well, to begin with, she's lifting a friend who's doing her very best to play dead. The payoff, however, comes once the lift is completed. Curley is so overjoyed at her feat that she drops her friend -- the way a weightlifter might drop the bar -- apparently forgetting she's just cast a real human being to the floor. It takes a few seconds for her to realize what she's done. Then her remorse is so genuine that it's likely behind millions of melted hearts; the video has been shared by more than 4 million people in 24 hours. I'm not suggesting for a moment that you should try this at home. Nor at the office. Nor in your school playground. Even if you did, the shtick has been done. You'd be a mere copycat. Copycats never prosper. Ask Apple and Samsung. One thing I feel sure of, however, is that those who created the video never thought it would capture so many eyeballs so very quickly. We're increasingly surrounded by algorithms that define our behavior and predict it. When it comes to entertainment, these algorithms know as much as Hollywood producers about what people will love. Nothing.

2016-03-15 23:55 Chris Matyszczyk www.cnet.com

37 Gears of War 4 multiplayer co-developed by Quake Wars, Brink Studio Rod Fergusson, who worked on the original trilogy of Gears of War games and is studio head of The Coalition, noted that Splash Damage has experience working on multiplayer within the game's universe, having contributed to Gears of War: Ultimate Edition. The studio was enlisted to help "with a lot of the level design stuff" because of this. Fergusson added that The Coalition was keen to work with Splash Damage, particularly as it trains up its new team of devs on the Gears property. "When you get a strategic partner like Splash Damage, we talk about training up our own team on Gears, but when you have another team that's trained up on Gears, we definitely want to work with them. "

2016-03-15 23:55 GameSpot Staff www.gamespot.com

38 The WPC-725F, powered by Intel chips and running on Windows, Linux and other OSes, also is designed to withstand chemicals, dust and dirt. Stealth.com, which specializes in industrial, rugged computers, is rolling out its latest waterproof, fanless computer designed for particularly harsh environments. The company's WPC-725F is an Intel-powered water-tight system that comes in a small form factor that company officials said not only can withstand liquids but also chemicals, dust and dirt. The quiet system comes without internal fans; instead, the internal CPU is passively cooled through Stealth.com's chassis design. The system meets IP67 and NEMA 6 environmental standards, both of which indicate the computer is protected if it is immersed in water, such as if it gets rained on or splashed. The WPC-725F comes in a 10.12-by-6.18-by-2.04-inch form factor and is powered by Intel's low- power Core i7-3517UE processor, with a frequency of up to 2.8GHz and up to a 4MB of cache. It includes solid-state drives (SSDs) and runs Microsoft's Windows 10, 8, 8.1 and 7 operating systems, as well as Linux variants. The components, including the power, video, serial and USB connections, are linked with water- tight, locking bayonet-style connectors that Stealth.com officials said are usually found in military- designed hardware. The SSDs help the system withstand high temperatures, vibrations, humidity and altitude environments, they said. The PC, which starts at $2,095, can operate from a range of DC input power, which enables it to run in an array of settings, from marine to field and transportation environments. It also has VESA mounting integrated, enabling it to be mounted in such places as control panels, consoles and walls, officials said. The WPC-725F's launch comes almost exactly a year after Stealth.com was bought by Sparton, a 115-year-old company based in Schaumberg, Ill., that makes electromechanical devices for a broad range of markets, including medical and biotechnology, military and aerospace, and industrial and commercial.

2016-03-15 22:01 Jeffrey Burt www.eweek.com

39 Forza Meguiar's Car Pack brings old and new metal to Xbox One (pictures) The Last Taco Truck in Silicon Valley Ingenuity, betrayal, and a killer habanero sauce all have their part to play in Michelle Richmond's brilliant send-up of the US tech world. A startup evangelist is held hostage, a guy from Portland is in debt and #FrancoNeedsATaco.

2016-03-15 23:55 Andrew Krok www.cnet.com

40 Anonymous goes negative on Trump... again

Hacktivist group Anonymous declared "total war" on Donald Trump, urging hackers to knock the billionaire's websites offline as it put the Republican front-runner in its sights for the second time. In a video posted Tuesday, a representative of the group called on hackers to attack Trump's websites and reveal any personal information about the candidate they unearth. It also addressed Trump directly. The attackers used a distributed denial of service attack, a relatively common and simple hack. DDoS attacks work by overloading the back end of websites and knocking them offline. The attacks are generally used to make a point rather than cause permanent damage. The Anonymous video includes portions of now-famous clips in which Trump calls Mexican immigrants rapists and faces off with Megyn Kelly at a Fox News debate. It concludes by calling for hackers to take down a website for Chicago-based Trump Towers on April 1. The hashtag #OpTrump, originally brought out in the first Anonymous video declaring Trump a target, picked up steam again on Tuesday. Some Twitter users cheered on Anonymous and others debated the usefulness of their campaign. "I am so excited for the shenanigans to commence! " said Twitter user @daronammo. "#OpTrump will have to do better than sharing the things Trump says in private if the things he says in public aren't dissuading his voters," said Twitter user @DaggsyD. Anonymous has caused headaches for its targets in the past. It attacked the Westboro Baptist Church, a small religious group known for protesting soldiers' funerals. It also claimed to out high-profile members of the Ku Klux Klan and take down Web accounts run by ISIS.

2016-03-16 01:03 Laura Hautala www.cnet.com

41 Apple says Constitution 'forbids' what FBI is asking Apple shouldn't have to comply with a search order for an iPhone used by one the San Bernardino, California, terrorists because the Constitution forbids it, the company said Tuesday. Apple, in a reply to a Department of Justice filing from Thursday, said the All Writs Acts -- the 227-year-old law used to compel Apple to assist the FBI -- can't be applied in this case. It also sought to show that prior cases cited by the Justice Department can't be used as precedent to make Apple redesign its mobile software. Apple went on to say the founding fathers of the US "would be appalled" by how the FBI and Justice Department are trying to use the All Writs Act. "The All Writs Act cannot be stretched to fit this case because to do so 'would be to usurp the legislative function and to improperly extend the limited federal court jurisdiction,'" Apple's filing said, quoting a decision from the 9th US Circuit in 1979. The Justice Department's most recent filing defended its use of the All Writs Act, saying in passing the act, "Congress gave courts a means of ensuring that their lawful warrants were not thwarted by third parties like Apple. " Apple argued Tuesday that Justice Department is trying to give the Act more reach than it actually contains. "The government attempts to rewrite history by portraying the Act as an all-powerful magic wand rather than the limited procedural tool it is," Apple said in its latest filing. "This Court should reject that request, because the All Writs Act does not authorize such relief, and the Constitution forbids it. " While noting tragedy of the terrorist attacks, the Cupertino, California-based tech giant argued that civil liberties should not be sacrificed in favor of the government's investigative expedience. "This case arises in a difficult context after a terrible tragedy," Apple said. "But it is in just such highly-charged and emotional cases that the courts must zealously guard civil liberties and the rule of law and reject government overreaching. This Court should therefore deny the government's request and vacate the order. " Apple on Tuesday also submitted a statement from Craig Federighi, Apple's head of software, in which he says "Apple designed the iPhone with users' security in mind. " He noted that Apple has never made any data more technologically accessible to any country's government. And "it is my understanding that Apple has never worked with any government agency from any country to create a 'backdoor' in any of our products or services," he said. The filing is Apple's last before a hearing to discuss the standoff set for March 22 in federal court in Riverside, California. Apple's top attorney, general counsel Bruce Sewell, fired back later that day during a call with reporters. He dubbed the Justice Department's filing a "cheap shot" and said it "read like an indictment. " "In 30 years of practice, I don't think I've ever seen a legal brief that was more intended to smear the other side with false accusations and innuendo, and less intended to focus on the real merits of the case," Sewell said. "I can only conclude the DOJ is so desperate at this point it's thrown all decorum to the winds. "

2016-03-16 01:03 Shara Tibken www.cnet.com

42 8 tips to stay ahead of the top 2016 data protection trends Data protection has never been more in the forefront, as information increasingly is the lifeblood and differentiator in a constantly changing world. As the largest backup and recovery solution provider in the world, Veritas has the unique opportunity to engage with business leaders around the globe, across a wide range of public and private enterprises. Keep up with the latest trends and download this paper to learn tips to maximize the value of your data protection investment — meeting more demanding SLAs, simplifying management across a complex IT environment, and reducing costs — so you can free up resources to innovate and create business value.

2016-03-15 21:19 www.itworldcanada.com

43 Chia vest puts a wearable green garden on your chest Chia seeds have had quite a revival of late. You see them in drinks and on shelves at health food stores. Once upon a time, they were primarily known for starring in late-night commercials for Chia Pets, small terracotta figurines of kittens and dogs with growable coats started from chia seeds. A designer has now taken that concept and applied it to a wearable vest. The vest is part of a series of garments in what Esponnette is calling the "Wearables Collection. " The collection asks people to think about why we're comfortable wearing materials like leather, but perhaps uncomfortable with unusual fabrics like glue or sprouts. Esponnette's unusual concepts go beyond fashion and take us into an intriguing realm where clothes are not what they seem. (Via Inhabitat )

2016-03-16 01:03 Amanda Kooser www.cnet.com

44 This action movie was shot almost entirely with a GoPro If you made a first-person-shooter video game like "Call of Duty" or "Doom" into a live-action movie, it would be "Hardcore Henry. " And it would be bloodier. To get the shots, Russian director Ilya Naishuller used a rig with the GoPro attached to the front, worn like a mask. The idea was to make a film entirely from the perspective of the titular Henry, fighting his way through Moscow to save his wife from the clutches of an evil warlord. The rig itself, which Naishuller wore on the red carpet here, looks like a bulkier version of the muzzle the villain Bane wears in "The Dark Knight Rises. " It's billed as the first-ever action point-of-view feature film. And part of the excitement for Naishuller was capturing footage that no one had ever gotten before to use for the length of an entire film. "The pleasure of knowing you're getting the first of this stuff, it's a genuine high," he said during a question-and-answer session after the screening. All of this is thanks to technology getting cheaper and more manageable. Action cameras like those from GoPro, and similar products from competitors such as Sony, are bringing down the barriers to high-quality filmmaking. Smartphone cameras are getting better too. Apple brags on its billboards that the images there were shot using its latest iPhones. GoPro didn't immediately return a request for comment. For Naishuller, the result of that technology is a real-life video game. Here's a little more about the plot: After an unknown accident, Henry -- or since it's a POV movie, you -- wakes up in a lab, and moments later his scientist wife, Estelle, played by Haley Bennett, screws on a mechanical leg. Henry's been transformed into a super-soldier who's more machine than man. Estelle is then kidnapped by Akan, played by Danila Kozlovsky, a supervillain with Magneto-like telekinetic powers. Henry's only ally is Jimmy, another scientist, played by Sharlto Copley. From there, we get head-pounding spectacle: flying through the air in a glass escape pod crashing toward the ground (and then the subsequent crash); fighting an army of Jimmys in a secret lab (if I explained why, I'd ruin it); fighting another army of super-soldiers on a roof in pitch- black night (yes, lots of unnamed, cartoonish death here, just like in a video game). Through it all, Naishuller said, Henry is played primarily by three people, including the director himself, but about a dozen actors and stuntmen in all played the character. The result is not for the squeamish. If the violence, or for that matter, a sometimes misogynistic undertone, doesn't get to you -- it's gorier than a Quentin Tarantino flick -- the camera work might. While innovative, the POV style gets nauseating to watch over the course of an entire film, especially when most of it involves blowing people up or getting blown up. "We're still trying to figure out where the splash zone is," Copley joked before the movie began. "I think after the first three rows you're OK. " The movie will be released in theaters on April 8 in the US and UK. After the Q&A portion, the filmmakers gave one audience member a prize: a GoPro. "Go try to make some of this s*** at home," Copley said. "Good luck. "

2016-03-16 01:03 Richard Nieva www.cnet.com

45 Top 5 pitfalls to avoid in your data protection strategy As you navigate the new digital age, your data protection strategy needs to be more than just the basics of backup and recovery. With the shifting tides of data centre requirements, you must have a data protection solution you can trust your business and career with. Navigating the various data protection solutions from physical to virtual and private to public clouds while ensuring enterprise scalability can be fraught with pitfalls. Done correctly, data protection is a critical differentiator for your business by helping to:

2016-03-15 23:53 www.itworldcanada.com

46 Virtual reality to 'eclipse' phones in your digital life Think phones are a big part of your digital life? Virtual reality and augmented reality will be even bigger, a key player in the tech industry predicts. Unity is the latest to weigh in on the excitement over virtual and augmented reality. While the tech industry thinks it's the next big trend, consumers and skeptics aren't yet convinced. A global survey of 27,000 people found only 23 percent felt that virtual interactions with people and places can be as good as being there in person, while 15 percent disagreed. In some countries -- the UK, France, Japan, Canada and Germany -- the skeptics outweigh the believers. All this work is important to pave the way for VR and AR. Even though Downie is bullish about the technology, he also warns that "there's going to be a gap of disappointment" that stands between today's breathless excitement and the day when VR and AR actually fulfill their promise. Translation: Beware the hype. VR and AR will be for gaming first, but eventually will spread far beyond that, Downie said, touching upon training, education, virtual travel and just hanging out with our fellow humans. "It'll add another very significant twist to social media and how people interact with each other," including virtual meetings and collaboration at work, he said.

2016-03-15 23:55 Stephen Shankland www.cnet.com

47 The Division dev says Dark Zone balancing 'definitely a priority' Things like Dark Zone balancing is "definitely a priority for the development team," Bode explained, going on to say that the studio is "looking at all of those things at the moment. " He stopped short of making any specific, official announcements, but made it clear that Ubisoft is listening. Also during the event, Bode was asked about what kind of high-level gear players can expect down the road. He teased, "There are surprises to come. " "No matter how frustrated I grew with the game's semi-indestructible enemies or its repetitive leveling structure, I absolutely could not stop playing," reviewer Scott Butterworth said. "The world was too engrossing, the loot was too enticing, and the campaign was too gripping for me to simply walk away. I stopped caring about the game's flaws after the first few hours and proceeded to lose myself in obsessive stat optimization and cooperative gun battles. The problems (and frustration) never disappeared, but I was more than happy to play through the pain. "

2016-03-15 23:55 GameSpot Staff www.gamespot.com

48 TouchTunes is now the biggest 'in-venue' streaming service The app allows users to find jukeboxes nearby, see what each one is playing and program them remotely. In order to keep, say, users in California from hijacking jukeboxes in Boise, Idaho, you are limited to seeing models only in your immediate area. The company now boasts 65,000 jukeboxes in venues across North America and another 10,000 in Europe. TouchTunes' app will be available from the Apple app store and Google Play at the end of April 2016.

2016-03-15 23:55 Ty Pendlebury www.cnet.com

49 Yahoo email gets fix to nix sender-spoofing trickery Yahoo has patched a vulnerability in its email service that allowed cyberattackers to spoof Yahoo email addresses. Cyberattackers are able to remotely spoof the sender names of Yahoo email users through a vulnerability found within the "compose message" module of the Web service. A weakness in the system permits users to inject or intercept traffic in the POST/GET parameters, spoofing the email address to whatever sender name they wish. This vulnerability is a problem as spoofed email addresses are often used in spear-phishing campaigns -- fraudulent emails sent for the purposes of information theft or to dupe victims into installing malware on their systems. If a user receives an email from a spoofed Yahoo address that seems legitimate, they may be more likely to fall for such a campaign. This story originally appeared at ZDNet under the headline " Yahoo patches sender spoofing email vulnerability. "

2016-03-15 23:55 Charlie Osborne www.zdnet.com

50 University of Michigan's anti-ice coating would be perfect for cars Imagine a world where you don't need an ice scraper. Sounds nice, doesn't it? It also sounds a bit like science fiction, right? Well, it's not. In fact, the University of Michigan developed a coating that could make ice scraping a thing of the past. Thus, the coating in question focuses less on its ability to repel water and more on its ability to prevent ice from sticking with any permanence. The finalized coating seen in the video has a rubber-like texture because of that interfacial cavitation. If it were applied to a windshield, and it didn't mess up forward vision, you'd never have to worry about breaking out the scraper.

2016-03-15 23:55 Andrew Krok www.cnet.com

51 Instagram will begin testing an algorithmic timeline similar to Facebook Instagram will begin testing an algorithmic timeline over the coming months, changing the chemistry of its longtime reverse chronological stream of photos and videos, its co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger revealed in an interview with the New York Times on Tuesday. "The order of photos and videos in your feed will be based on the likelihood you'll be interested in the content, your relationship with the person posting and the timeliness of the post," Instagram explained in a blog post. "As we begin, we're focusing on optimizing the order -- all the posts will still be there, just in a different order. " The move is similar to how its parent company Facebook displays content, pushed to users based on what the algorithm thinks users want to view most. "On average, people miss about 70 percent of the posts in their Instagram feed," Systrom told the NYT. "What this is about is making sure that the 30 percent you see is the best 30 percent possible. " Instagram cautioned the change will be gradual and users will have input. It's not clear which users will see the feature first. "We're going to take time to get this right and listen to your feedback along the way. You'll see this new experience in the coming months. " Likely in preparation for the new timeline, Instagram rolled out timestamps for photo and video posts earlier this month.

2016-03-15 21:57 Jake Smith www.zdnet.com

52 Groupon stands behind the daily deal, rolls out new merchant app, web tools As part of its ongoing effort to appeal to small businesses (and maintain relevancy), Groupon is launching a new set of mobile tools aimed at making it easier for users to build and manage a daily deals campaign. The offerings fall under the Groupon Merchant brand and include revamped mobile and web tools, with features such as a self-service Deal Builder platform, and a redesigned tablet app hat lets businesses track and manage ongoing marketing campaigns. "The new Groupon Merchant tablet app works in tandem with existing web and mobile tools so merchants can track and manage their Groupon campaigns across all of their devices," the company said. "Businesses can use the app to redeem Groupons, monitor campaign performance, share positive feedback via social media and respond to customer service inquiries. " Today's announcement comes at a rocky time for the Chicago-based company, which was once the darling of the formerly red-hot daily deals space. There was long speculation that the daily deals craze would eventually die out, with many analysts deeming the model unsustainable because of its contentious relationship with merchants. A stream of peaks and valleys at Groupon has proven this mostly true. Groupon went from courting acquisition opportunities from the likes of Google to suffering in the spotlight since declaring a $750 million initial public offering in 2011 . In September the company said it needed to lay off approximately 1,100 workers in an attempt to restructure and streamline its operations. Groupon was also forced to cease operations in several markets internationally. To make matters worse, IBM filed a complaint against Groupon earlier this month for allegedly infringing patents used within its online domains. 2016-03-15 21:40 Natalie Gagliordi www.zdnet.com

53 Scientists invent glass that can turn from clear to opaque in less than a second Do drapes get you angry and blinds make you morose? What you need is a window that offers clear views or privacy with the touch of a switch. Their technique uses a sheet of glass sandwiched between two sheets of clear, soft elastomer. These have been sprayed with a coating of silver nanowires. This is what makes the manufacturing so simple. Previous methods of creating tunable windows are manufactured using a technique called vacuum deposition, which painstakingly deposits molecular layers of material. "Because this is a physical phenomenon rather than based on a chemical reaction, it is a simpler and potentially cheaper way to achieve commercial tunable windows," Clarke said in a statement. On their own, the nanowires are too small to catch the light in a way that makes them visible to humans. However, if you run an electric current through the window, the nanowires will all move, trying to get closer to each other. This causes the elastomer sheet to deform in such a way that it scatters the light, rendering the surface cloudy in less than a second. With a strong enough current, the window becomes completely opaque, the researchers said. Shian compared the deformed elastomer surface to a coating of ice on a pond. "If the frozen pond is smooth, you can see through the ice," he explained. "But if the ice is heavily scratched, you can't see through. " The university has filed a patent on the technology, and Clarke and Shian are working toward developing an even thinner elastomer films, which would lower the voltage needed to make the glass opaque.

2016-03-15 23:55 Michelle Starr www.cnet.com

54 Uber's food delivery app starts carting cuisine in the US Uber is finally rolling out its food delivery app, UberEats, out of Canada and into the US, starting with Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco. While UberEats has been available in some cities already, the app was only available in Toronto. But as it now expands outside of Canada, it is finally available on both iOS and Android , competing with services like Seamless and Grubhub and allowing for quick deliveries straight from your smartphone. The company is putting an emphasis on speed, however, giving users an Instant Delivery option for certain items that can be delivered in less than 10 minutes, depending on your location. And to really kick off the launch of the app State-side, LA-based DJ Kaskade , who is known to send fans pizzas, has been delivering pizzas himself via UberEats' Instant Delivery option today. For the lucky few who managed to order the UberEats + Kaskade option, he's been turning up at LA-homes with pizza in hand and two tickets to his May 7 show, which is sold out. If pizza isn't on your menu today, however, you'll have access to menus from local restaurants partnering with Uber's food delivery service. And for everyone else, Uber is planning on rolling out the app in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, New York, Seattle and Washington in the US, as well as Melbourne, Australia and Paris, France in the near future. More cities are likely to join after as well. Via Billboard Article continues below

2016-03-15 21:35 By Farrha www.techradar.com

55 The future of online shopping: Pay by selfie Soon we'll be making duck face to buy duct tape. CNET Update delivers the tech news you need in under 3 minutes. Watch Bridget Carey every afternoon for a breakdown of the big stories, hot devices, new apps and what's ahead. Subscribe to the podcast via the links below. Subscribe:

2016-03-15 23:55 Bridget Carey www.cnet.com

56 PlayStation VR UK release date, price, specs, games and videos: Sony annouces PlayStation VR UK pricing and release date at GDC 2016 Today Sony took center stage at the Metreon Center in San Francisco where Sony CEO Andrew House announced the PlayStation VR UK pricing and release date. Here we discuss the event, along with everything we know (and think we know) about the PlayStation VR UK release date, price and specifications. Also see: Hands-on with the HTC Vive Pre VR headset Stay tuned to PC Advisor's PlayStation VR page - we'll update all sections as we know more. (See also: Oculus Rift release date, specs and features .) Tonight at the Metreon center at GDC 2016 in San Francisco, Sony made a major PlayStation VR-related announcement. The announcement started with Andrew House, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, announcing that there are over 230 developers building content for PlayStation VR. The CEO then went on to showcase the final specs for the PSVR headset, which includes a 5.7in OLED display with a full HD resolution (1920x180), equating to 960x1080 per eye. It boasts a 120Hz refresh rate, and House claims that the 18ms response is enough to make gamers believe that what they are seeing is real. However it was the announcement of the price that got the real cheer – House announced that the PlayStation VR headset will cost £349 in the UK ($399 for those in the US), £150 cheaper than the Oculus Rift and over £200 cheaper than the HTC Vive Pre. The only real disappointment is that Sony isn’t sticking to its ‘first half of 2016’ release date, as the company also announced that the PlayStation VR headset is due to go on sale in October 2016. PlayStation VR is a virtual reality headset from Sony, previously known as Project Morpheus. It works with both the Sony PS4 and the PlayStation Vita, and utilises the PlayStation Camera to track what the user is doing, and give them a VR experience in PlayStation games. (See also: Samsung Gear VR vs Oculus Rift comparison .) On 15 September at the SCEJA Press Conference 2015 in Tokyo, Sony announced the official name for the system previously known as Project Morpheus: PlayStation VR. “The name ‘PlayStation VR’ not only directly expresses an entirely new experience from PlayStation that allows players to feel as if they are physically inside the virtual world of a game, but it also reflects our hopes that we want our users to feel a sense of familiarity as they enjoy this amazing experience,” said PlayStation's Masayasu Ito. See also: Best Blu-ray players 2016 While Sony has yet to officially announce the release date for its virtual reality headset, VRSE - the production company that produces VR content for the likes of Apple - may give us some idea. The company has a list of upcoming virtual reality platforms that the service will be available to, along with its release date in brackets. Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR and HTC Vive Pre are all listed along with Sony's PlayStaion VR, although the PSVR listing seems to have a release date of April 2016. We're almost sure that this is a mistake on VRSE's end (although it is quite exciting to think that the PlayStation VR could be with us much sooner than we'd originally thought), and indeed, GameStop's CEO Paul Raines has since suggested it will arrive in the fall (Autumn). "We will launch the Sony product this fall," Raines told Fox News, although he has since clarified to IGN that Sony has not announced an official release date for PlayStation VR. Update (01/03/2016): However, it seems like Sony may be sticking to its "first half of 2016" release date window, as the company has sent out invites to a PlayStation VR-focused event on 15 March 2016 in San Francisco, California. It's interesting because the event will take place just before the annual Game Developers Conference, which saw Sony announcing the VR project back in 2014, then announcing its release window and upgraded internals in 2015. With timings so close to the show, it seems likely that we'll get a specific release date and possibly pricing for the Sony-branded virtual reality headset. There is no news as yet on what the Sony headset will cost, although rumours suggest that it may be cheaper than expected. Expect it to be considerably cheaper than current builds of rival products such as the Oculus Rift, which recently went up for pre-order at £499. Recently, Swiss retailer Microspot may have accidentally announced the pricing for the headset before Sony had a chance to. If the listing is true, we should expect a price of around 498 Swiss Francs (around £360) for Sony's virtual reality headset. It's worth noting that this may just be an estimation for the headset as Sony hasn't yet announced pricing. Plus, Switzerland is a pretty pricey country to live in at the best of times, so it may be a little cheaper for us here in the UK. We'll update this story as we know more. Update (10/03/2016): Although the VR battle has largely been considered to be between the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive Pre and PlayStation VR, Sony's own vice president Masayasu Ito suggests that Sony's offering may not be able to compete with premium headsets. " If you just talk about the high-end quality, yes, I would admit that Oculus may have better VR, " Ito said, talking to Polygon. " However, it requires a very expensive and very fast PC. The biggest advantage for Sony is our headset works with PS4. It's more for everyday use, so it has to be easy to use and it has to be affordable. This is not for the person who uses a high-end PC. It's for the mass market ". While the Oculus Rift costs £499 and the HTC Vive Pre costs £689, it's rumoured that Sony's virtual reality offering will cost considerably less, possibly around the same amount as the PS4 itself. Plus, the Rift and Vive Pre require powerful PCs to run VR content while the PlayStation VR headset will be compatible with any of the 36 million PS4 consoles on the market. With a PlayStation VR focused press event taking place in a matter of days, we're sure we won't have long to find out either way. -- The PlayStation VR headset demoed at E3 2015 and featured on the PlayStation website features some pretty impressive specs, which should get prospective VR gamers excited. For one, it boasts a 5.7in 1920x1080 full-HD OLED display, which is said to expand the field of view and enable low persistence, removing motion blur (and the sickness, too). Sony's virtual reality headset has a 120Hz refresh rate and can render games at 120fps, which is notably higher than Oculus’ and HTC’s 90Hz offering. Combined with a powerful PS4 console and the OLED screen's high refresh rate, Sony says PlayStation VR will offer "amazingly smooth visuals". Although what the firm forgot to mention was that the VR headset won’t be powered by the PS4 – not by itself, anyway. Instead, PSVR owners will have to make some room for an additional box that’ll connect to the PS4 and provide most of the processing power for the virtual reality headset. The box will also provide a ‘standard’ output for the TV, giving your friends a good idea of what’s going on inside the headset, as if you were playing a normal PS4 game. It has also been said that the PS4 will be used to follow the position and movement of the PlayStation VR headset, thanks to both built-in accelerometers and LED side lights detectable by a connected PlayStation camera. Sony claims that the PlayStation Camera can track the PSVR headset up to 1,000 times per second, which should provide gamers with a beautifully seamless experience. It also allows users to turn their heads 360 degrees in-game, allowing gamers to look behind them when inevitably being chased by a weapon-wielding enemy. This is possible thanks to sensors on the back of the headset, which let the system know when you’re looking behind you. With regards to controls, the PlayStation VR will primarily use the DualShock 4 controller as it’s a familiar controller for PS4 gamers, allowing them to game without looking at which buttons to press (which is even harder with a headset on!). It’s also because DualShock 4 controllers feature motion sensors, and can be tracked by the PlayStation camera. This gives developers more creativity when developing ways for gamers to interact with the game, and should bring something new and interesting to the table. It’s not the only way to interact with the virtual world, though. Sony is also planning to utilize the PlayStation Move Batons, accessories from Sony’s earlier motion-control system that many had written off. The Batons allow players to control both their characters and environments via gestures rather than traditional button presses. It is reported that the final product will feature a 2560 x 1440 resolution, which will translate into a retina-busting 1280x1140 display for each eye, although this is yet to be confirmed. Update (01/03/2016): It seems that Sony may have another trick up its sleeve, if recent patents are anything to go by anyway. According to patents published by the US Patent and Trademark Office, Sony has plans for sensor-clad gloves that could be used to track your hand movement in a virtual space. Both HTC and Oculus are working on bespoke handheld controllers for their virtual reality systems, while Sony (up until now) is only offering DualShock 4 & PlayStation Move support. Sony's VR gloves can be used to measure not only position but movement and pressure too, according to submitted documents. While it's worth noting that not all technology described in patents will ever see the light of day, this at least demonstrates that Sony is willing to develop new ways to interact with the virtual world around you. It's not only for gaming either - according to the patent, the gloves could be used to navigate menus in a similar way to Tom Cruise in Minority Report - cool, eh? (See also: Samsung Gear VR release date, price and specs.) See PlayStation VR in action below. Current PS4 games that are PlayStation VR compatible, and in-development games expected to be compatible with PlayStation VR (via IGN ). Atom Universe; Adrift; ARK: Survival Evolved; Among the Sleep; The Assembly; Battlezone; The Deep; Dreams; EVE: Valkyrie; Futuridium; Get Even; GNOG; Godling; Harmonix Music VR; Headmaster; Jurassic Encounter; Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes; Kitchen (demo); Loading Human; The London Heist; Mind: Path to Talamus; Omega Agent; Paranormal Activity VR; The Playroom VR; Project CARS; Q. U. B. E.²; RIGS: Mechanized Combat League; Summer Lesson; Superhypercube; Surgeon Simulator; Synthesis Universe; Technolust; Trackmania Turbo; Vanguard V; VizionEck; War Thunder; Wayward Sky; World War Toons. See also: PS4 vs Xbox One review : Next-gen games console comparison .

2016-03-15 21:32 Lewis Painter www.pcadvisor.co.uk

57 Dual camera for iPhone 7 Plus allegedly revealed Apple's expected iPhone 7 Plus will sport two cameras, assuming the latest series of leaked photos are legit. Leaked images such as these should be taken with a grain of salt, especially since the dual camera modules are shown as individual components and not part of any larger iPhone body. Kuo generally is on the money at revealing changes to Apple's mobile products, and the benefits of a dual-camera system could generate interest in the iPhone 7 Plus by appealing to smartphone buyers as well as avid photographers. Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

2016-03-15 23:55 Lance Whitney www.cnet.com

58 Hortonworks Connected Data Platforms: More Than Sum of Parts The "Connected Data Platforms" that Hortonworks introduced on March 1 are its well-known Hortonworks Data Platform (HDP) Hadoop distribution and its Hortonworks DataFlow (HDF) platform aimed at collecting, curating and routing real-time data from any source to any destination. HDP and HDF can be used independently, but here's how they fit together to become a cohesive platform for managing and analyzing streaming and historical data. Interest in streaming data analysis has been growing steadily in recent years, but the emergence of Internet of Things (IoT) opportunities has interest soaring. The thing is, streaming-data use cases such as connected-cars, smart oil fields, smart utilities and precision medicine often require analysis of historical data, which brings context to the real-time insights. That's why HDF and HDP need to be connected. This week Hortonworks introduced HDP's 2.4 release. Notable upgrades include support for and bundling of Apache Spark 1.6 software as well as improved system management and remote optimization capabilities through Apache Ambari 2.2 and SmartSense 2.2. Ambari, the open source management software, gained an Express Upgrade feature that lets you quickly stop jobs, update software and restart the cluster and running jobs all within one hour, even on large systems. SmartSense is a "phone home" capability that relays system-performance parameters to Hortonworks, which can diagnose problems and offer more than 250 recommendations on optimizing system performance and availability. The biggest development with HDP 2.4 is a new distribution strategy with two separate release cadences. Core Apache Hadoop components including HDFS, MapReduce and YARN as well as Apache Zookeeper will be updated annually, in line with other members of the ODPi consortium. Hortonworks is expediting other, newer capabilities through new "Extended Services" releases, which will be offered as quickly as they can be made available. One example of an Extended Service is support for Spark 1.6. Other candidates for this release approach will include Hive, HBase, Ambari "and more," says Hortonworks. HDF is Hortonwork's streaming data platform based on Apache NiFi and adapted from last year's Onyara acquisition. Upgrades with the move HDF 1.2, which will be available later this month, include the integration of Apache Kafka and Apache Storm streaming analytics engines. The release also gains support for Kerberos for centralized authentication across applications. On the near-term roadmap is support for Spark Streaming, which should be available by early summer, according to Hortonworks. Hortonworks wants to be a multi-product company, so it has stressed that HDP and HDF will be sold and can be used independently. HDF can route data to (and draw from) other Hadoop distributions, databases such as Cassandra and cloud-based sources, such as Amazon S3. The Power of IoT and Big Data We delve into where IoT will have the biggest impact and what it means for the future of big data analytics. When use cases span data in motion and data-at-rest, HDP and HDF have commonalities that makes them easier to use together. For example, both HDP and HDF share more than 70 data processors and both use Ambari for system deployment and management. What's more, Hortonworks is promising that SmartSense, and the Ranger and Atlas security and governance projects will also support both platforms. Hype around streaming data opportunities is nothing new. More than a decade ago, complex event processing systems were touted as "ready to go mainstream. " At long last, I think we're finally seeing signs that streaming data analysis is emerging. The mobile, social, cloud and big data trends set the stage and maybe, just maybe, the promise of IoT possibilities is pushing it over the top.

2016-03-15 21:16 Doug Henschen www.zdnet.com

59 Hitman PS4 patch removes content, fix on the way Hitman 1.02 Patch Notes (only available on PS4 right now) "Hitman's opening act isn't ground-breaking, with a host of tiny problems lending it a dated feel," reviewer Peter Brown said. "When you drop a body into a freezer, there's no animation connecting the process together; there's a hard cut from dragging the body to hiding it. Load times are frustratingly long, lasting just under a full minute when reloading saves. This alone is especially disappointing, given how fun it can be to iterate on your methods by reloading saves and experimenting, a process that's tainted by extended downtime. "However, Hitman's a veritable playground that will delight you with its open-ended design, comical NPCs, and contract creation tools. These qualities, and the flexibility to be as hardcore or laid back as you want, are much appreciated, even if they don't disguise Hitman's lesser qualities. "

2016-03-15 23:55 GameSpot Staff www.gamespot.com

60 PlayStation VR price revealed! Sony announces the headset's cost at GDC It's fitting that Sony chose GDC 2016 to unveil the final price and release date for PlayStation VR , the virtual reality headset it unveiled at the conference two years ago. And while there's a definite nostalgia factor about the announcement, there's also a pragmatic one, too: March is the month of VR launches. Between Oculus's arrival later this month and the HTC Vive developer units that have shown up at studios' doorsteps, if Sony wanted to keep potential customers interested, today was the day to do it. To that end we now know the price of Sony's PS4 -exclusive VR set: $399/£349. Not only that, but we know when it's going to arrive, too. October 2016 is when you can go out to a local electronics store or, more realistically, officially order one online. For comparison, PlayStation VR's biggest competitors on PC – the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive – come in at $600 and $800, respectively. Andrew House, President of Sony of America said there are over 230 developers working on games for PlayStation VR during a press conference today at GDC. "Fear. Exhilaration. Power. ... These are just a few of the emotions gamers will experience in the launch line-up of games for the PlayStation VR," House said before unveiling the specs for the final consumer version of the headset. It will have a 5.7-inch, 1920 x RGB x 1080 OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. Gamers will have a 100-degree field of view while using the PSVR and can expect use either DualShock 4 or PlayStation Move Controller. A unique Star Wars Battlefront experience will be among one first many users will be able to play on their PlayStation VR. And this will be the first of 50 games Sony has promised to release this year. We'll get to play a bunch of short demos of PlayStation's first batch of VR games at GDC 2016, so stay tuned for our updated impressions. Article continues below

2016-03-15 21:11 By Nick www.techradar.com

61 Oracle's Q3 mixed, cloud grows, but software, hardware don't Oracle's fiscal third quarter earnings were better- than-expected, but sales fell short of expectations. Oracle reported non-GAAP third quarter earnings of 64 cents a share on revenue of $9 billion. Net income for the quarter was $2.14 billion, or 50 cents a share. Enterprise Apps: The Next Generation Enterprise applications power the heart of business productivity, but they are traditionally difficult to implement, upgrade, and innovate. We look at how the next generation of enterprise apps could change the game. Wall Street was looking for Oracle to report third quarter earnings of 62 cents a share on revenue of $9.12 billion. Oracle has missed sales targets the last five quarters. On the bright side, Oracle did deliver strong cloud growth. The company said cloud software and platform as a service sales were $583 million, up 57 percent from a year ago. But infrastructure- as-a-service sales actually fell 2 percent from a year ago. However, revenue overall fell 3 percent, on-premise software sales fell 4 percent and hardware revenue fell 13 percent. Oracle cited a strong dollar for much of its issues and upped its buyback program by another $10 billion. Executives talked up the cloud business. CEO Safra Catz said: CEO Mark Hurd added: And CTO Larry Ellison noted that Oracle's product breadth should enable it to pass Salesforce. The long menu of cloud products "should make it easy for us to pass Salesforce.com and become the largest SaaS and PaaS cloud company in the world. " As for the outlook, Oracle projected the following constant currency growth rates: Among the key items from Oracle's conference call: Going into the earnings report, analysts were closely watching Oracle's cloud growth. Some analysts bought into Oracle's cloud transition while others remained skeptical. For instance, Stifel analyst Brad Reback said Oracle's cloud business was expected to post strong growth in revenue and gross margin as on-premise software and hardware remained weak. Reback said ahead of the report: Wedbush analysts Steve Koenig said his checks revealed that customers had lower cloud renewal rates amid extra cloud capacity. Koenig wrote: Koenig also said that these questions about cloud attrition and unused capacity may indicate that customers are trying out other databases for workloads. Koenig said customers could be moving database capacity to AWS or Microsoft and looking at other options as unstructured data grabs more of the pie.

2016-03-15 20:23 Larry Dignan www.zdnet.com

62 Does the iPhone 7 come with dual cameras, and no home button? Purported, and sketchy, images of Apple's next iPhone -- a device expected to be released in the second half of 2016 -- have leaked to the web, courtesy of Apple Insider. The most believable image shows the rear of the purported device with dual-cameras. There are also reduced antenna lines compared to the iPhone 6s. Further, the dual-camera feature was highlighted on Monday in a series of posts on Chinese social networks. Rumors claim one camera is a 12- megapixel unit that shoots pictures at a standard focal length while another 12-megapixel camera will go telephoto up to three times. Another set of sketchy images on Tuesday appear to show that Apple has removed the home button and has included Touch ID in the handset's glass. There's also no 3.5mm headphone jack -- something we've been hearing in the rumor-mill for several months. Like most rumors out of the supply chain of Asia, we caution you to view the images with a grain of salt. We are still a ways off from an announcement and things could change.

2016-03-15 20:02 Jake Smith www.zdnet.com

63 Cooler Master's new mechanical keyboards offer macro management at micro prices Cooler Master has announced the launch of its MasterKeys mechanical keyboards , with two different models on offer for different kinds of gamers (or workers). There's the MasterKeys Pro L, a full-size keyboard complete with number pad, and the MasterKeys Pro S, a smaller model with the numpad chopped off – a tenkeyless keyboard, as they're commonly known. The more compact Pro S is, of course, easier to cart about to things like LAN parties. And, because it's smaller, your mouse and keyboard hands are closer together when gaming. This means no more uncomfortable stretching out to the side to operate the mouse. Both keyboards boast Cherry MX switches, with a choice of red, brown or blue versions depending on your personal preference. There's also RGB back-lighting with various pretty presets, like "color wave," "star effect" or "breathing". For most of you, these are probably more of a distraction than anything, but still, some folks like this sort of thing. Cooler Master says these peripherals benefit from easy-to-use software. Plus, there's a 32-bit ARM processor inside the device to facilitate the usage of complex macros. These macros can, of course, be stored once recorded. Solid build quality and an ultra-violet key coating are also promised, with the latter meaning that your letters won't start to wear away after months of frantic (and probably sweaty) gaming sessions. Both keyboards are available now, priced at €169 (around £130, or $190) and €139 (around £110, or $155) for the Pro L and Pro S, respectively. Via Tech Powerup Article continues below

2016-03-15 19:31 By Darren www.techradar.com

64 Fossil debuts two new smartwatches with Android Wear, a bit of style Fossil Q Marshal Popular watch maker Fossil has announced two new Android Wear smartwatches and a series of fitness trackers, for customers looking to add new technology to their wrist. The smartwatches are dubbed the Q Marshal and Q Wander and will be priced starting at $275 with a touchscreen display and wireless charging. Of course, Android Wear will give users the ability to take calls, reply to texts, launch apps, and more, right from their wrist. Fossil Q Wander They will come in two sizes, 44mm and 46mm, and will join Fossil's original smartwatches, the Q Founder, the Q54 Pilot, and the Q Grant. "All our changes to date have been direct responses to customer feedback," Jill Elliott, Fossil's chief creative officer, told Mashable. "We've learned so much from our initial launch in connected accessories and know technology is a major disruptor in many industries right now, including fashion. But to successfully merge the two, we believe you need to have the fashion design expertise and focus on it first. " Fossil also announced the Motion fitness tracker, priced at $95 with call notifications, texts, haptic vibrations, and multi-color LED lights. The wearables are due out later this year, according to the company. Previously, Fossil Group has said it plans to release 100 connected devices by the end of 2016 across its brands that include Michael Kors and Armani. 2016-03-15 19:18 Jake Smith www.zdnet.com

65 Google's HTTPS encryption efforts now on display in Transparency Report Google's ever-changing Transparency Report now includes a page dedicated to tracking encryption progress both at Google and on some of the web's most trafficked sites. Dubbed HTTPS at Google , the new section will track the internet giant's progress as it moves to HTTPS. Google began using HTTPS-only for Gmail back in 2014, and since then has rolled it out to Drive and Search. But the company says it's still working through technical barriers to bring the encryption standard to other products such as Maps, Google ads, News and Finance. Google is also using the new transparency section to offer a running count of how many Google requests use HTTPS encryption. The websites currently included in the tally account for approximately 25 percent of all web traffic on the Internet, according to Google's estimates. Google says more than 75 percent of requests to its own servers are now using encrypted connections. Over 95 percent of the unencrypted traffic to its servers now comes from mobile devices. "Our aim with this project is to hold ourselves accountable and encourage others to encrypt so we can make the web even safer for everyone," Google wrote in a blog post . For good measure, Google has created a Certificate Transparency log viewer that allows users and site administrators to check the validity of SSL certificates issued on a website.

2016-03-15 18:55 Natalie Gagliordi www.zdnet.com

66 Newegg Daily Deals: LG 29-Inch UltraWide Monitor, AMD FX- 8350, and More! Top Deal: It's time to put that big, bulky CRT monitor out of its misery. You hear it wheezing when you turn it on, and you also see it struggling to hold a steady picture. Hey, it was a fantastic monitor back in the day, but that was forever ago. And now? Well, now it's time for something new, something modern, something different. Today's top deal is just the ticket—it's for a LG 29UB55-B Black 29- inch 5ms HDMI UltraWide LED Backlight LCD Monitor IPS for $260 with $1 shipping (normally $309). It's big, super wide, and sports a high- quality IPS panel. R. I. P. CRT. Other Deals: Acer Laptop Intel Core i7 6500U (2.50 GHz) 8 GB Memory 1 TB HDD NVIDIA GeForce 940M 15.6-inch Windows 10 Home for $620 with free shipping (normally $700) AMD FX-8350 Black Edition Vishera 8-Core 4.0 GHz (4.2 GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W Processor for $159 with free shipping (normally $164 - use coupon code: [ EMCEHFJ23 ]) Mushkin Enhanced ECO2 2.5-inch 512GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive for $110 with free shipping (normally $120 - use coupon code: [ EMCEHFJ65 ]) Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials 64B 1-2CPU - OEM for $348 with free shipping (normally $500 - use coupon code: [ EMCEHFJ63 ])

2016-03-15 18:47 Maximum PC www.maximumpc.com

67 AMD Reveals $1,500 Dual-GPU Radeon Pro Duo for VR Content Creators AMD has answered the call for a graphics card with two GPUs based on its Fiji architecture, but the new Radeon Duo Pro isn't really intended for the home consumer market. Instead, AMD is taking aim at content creators focused on virtual reality games and applications. This is a two-headed beast that many thought AMD would release by the end of 2015 as the gaming card to beat. AMD later changed its mind, deciding instead to push back the launch to coincide with VR headset releases like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. Well here we are and so is our first real look at the Radeon Pro Duo. It's basically two Radeon R9 Fury X GPUs sharing real estate with one another on the same card. To that end, each of the two GPUs is independently rocking 4,096 stream processor, 256 texture units, and 64 ROPs. There's also 4GB of HBM on a 4,096-bit bus per GPU. It's actually kind of a bummer that a card of this magnitude isn't sporting 8GB of memory per GPU, but that's where HBM technology is stuck at for the moment. In any event, this is still a monster card we're talking about, one that AMD claims is capable of 16 TFLOPS of performance. That suggests the Fiji GPUs are clocked in the neighborhood of 1GHz, though AMD hasn't said anything about clockspeeds yet. The Radeon Pro Duo is also a power hungry card. It requires four 8-pin PCI-E power connectors. That translates into 450W, plus there's 75W available from the PCI-E slot. Unofficially, the Radeon Pro Duo could consume up to 525W. This will depend on clockspeeds and how aggressively AMD chooses to throttle the GPUs. Finally from a hardware standpoint, the Radeon Duo Pro utilizes a closed loop liquid cooling solution with a 120mm radiator. AMD says "there is more than sufficient cooling for maximum performance all while staying quiet. " This is the first solution in what AMD is now calling its VR Ready Creator line. Combined with its LiquidVR SDK, AMD envisions developers running with this dual-GPU solution to create high- end VR solutions. The Radeon Pro Duo will be available early in the second quarter for $1,500. Follow Paul on Google+ , Twitter , and Facebook

2016-03-15 18:36 Paul Lilly www.maximumpc.com

68 68 Consolidate Your Business Functions to Save Money When business owners hear a technical expert talk about virtual business phone systems, their first two thoughts center around security and flexibility. Business owners get those same questions in their heads when they talk about cloud computing and third-party data hosting. The technologies in place today, such as a virtual PBX system, can help you to consolidate your business functions and save money on operational costs. Not only will you save money, but you will also be able to grow your business at your own pace. SIP Trunking Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) trunking is a technology that takes VoIP technology to the next level. The cheapest SIP trunk will completely replace your standard phone lines with sense of flexibility and security you will not find on standard VoIP connections. With a good SIP trunk, you will have the reliability of a standard phone service, but the flexibility to grow your service as you see fit. Instead of having to invest in new PBX equipment each time you need to grow your phone system, you simply expand your SIP trunk service to get what you need. A SIP trunk will allow you to do standard features such as call forwarding, hold and all of the other functions a business relies on for every phone call. However, by being based on an Internet connection instead of a limited PBX line, you will be able to utilize video conferencing and other services that standard phone lines cannot offer. It is a breakthrough in technology that can go back to turning your phone system into a valuable tool instead of something that holds your business back. Cloud Computing When cloud computing first started, it experienced enough security and reliability issues that business owners were hesitant to use it. However, over the years, advances in cloud technology have allowed businesses of any size to utilize a cloud with peace of mind. Cloud computing allows you to utilized metered productivity software with a pricing structure that only charges you for what you use. This means that you no longer have to buy individual licenses for Microsoft Office that can cost a lot of money. Instead, you connect to the cloud and only pay for what you use. Cloud computing is an Internet service that can be accessed securely by any computer with an Internet connection. This means that companies no longer need to invest in expensive computer networks and large servers. All of the company’s information can be stored on the cloud and accessed anywhere in the world. A cloud provider gives the company administrative features that makes sure that only authorized personnel access the data. Outsourcing If your company is not an accounting firm, then why do you have an army of expensive accountants on your payroll? When you outsource some of your functions to a professional organization, you can consolidate your operations and focus only on your core functions. If you are a shoe manufacturer, then outsourcing your IT and accounting needs means that you can focus your resources on making shoes. When it comes to an effective way to consolidate your operations, few options are more cost effective than outsourcing. With business services such as an SIP trunk and crowd computing, your company can have all of its offices around the world connected to one system. You can also hire independent contractors to save on money, and connect them to your computer network and telephone system as well. Your operations will have a single, unified presence that will make marketing and distribution easier. When your company is looking for ways to save money, then you should look at what the latest advances in technology have to offer. You can consolidate all of your critical business functions into services that expand your flexibility and save you money. You can create a unified business approach that will allow you to be more competitive in your market, and go after new markets without having to spend a lot of money on extra equipment or personnel. By utilizing the technology that is available, your company can focus on what it does best, and let professional organizations worry about all of your other essential and non-essential business functions.

2016-03-15 18:17 Staff Writer pctechmag.com

69 Devolo dLAN 550 WiFi Powerline Starter Kit review: improve Wi-Fi speed and wired connections By Simon Jary | 4 hours ago £99.99 Devolo has updated its old dLAN 500 WiFi Powerline adapter kit with the dLAN 550 WiFi Starter Kit. It offers faster Wi-Fi and better wireless range. Powerline is a neat technology that uses the power cables in your home to create a home network, as if you had Ethernet cables snaked through your house. This means you can enjoy much faster download times in your living room, for example, compared to using a ropy Wi-Fi connection that’s shared by everyone else in the house. See Best Powerline Adapters. Powerline adapters are simple to set up. Plug one adapter into a power socket near your router, and then connect adapter and router with an Ethernet cable; then plug a second Powerline adapter into another room’s wall socket and connect that to the device you wish to have fast Internet access, such as your TV or streamer. For more details see What is Powerline? Devolo is still selling the older 500 WiFi kit, which we reviewed back in November 2013. At £79.99 it's £20 cheaper than the new 550 kit, so is it worth it? The principal technical upgrade is that the wireless capability jumps from 150Mbps to 300Mbps. The range has also been increased, from 300 metres to 400 metres. Wired speed remains at 500Mbps, so the 550 title is a bit misleading. Increased speed and range are pretty much all you want from a wireless upgrade but you should remember that these speeds are theoretical maximums only – there’s no way that you’ll get 500Mbps wired or 300Mbps over Wi-Fi. In real-world situations all sorts of speed limitations come in to play, so you’ll do well to get speeds over 150Mbps. This seems disappointing when you’re expecting 500Mbps, but anything over 100Mbps is going to whip your average wireless speeds. All Powerline manufacturers tout their adapters as 500Mbps or at the top end 1,200Mbps, so you can’t blame Devolo for doing the same. It doesn't distract (much) from the fact that Powerline is almost certain to hugely boost your Internet speeds in rooms away from your router. While Powerline itself is simple to set up, working out the names of each adapter can be confusing. The dLAN 550 WiFi Starter Kit is actually made up of two different adapters. The base adapter that you plug into a wall socket near your Internet router is a dLAN 550 duo+. This has two Ethernet ports (10/100 Ethernet, not the faster Gigabit Ethernet ports you get on the top-of-the-range dLAN 1200+ Powerline) and a pass-through socket. A pass-through socket saves you losing a wall socket, and even improves Powerline speeds by minimising electrical “noise” on the line. The second adapter that goes in the other room is the actual, improved dLAN 550 WiFi , which adds the extra Wi-Fi hotspot. But this second-room wireless adapter has just the one Ethernet port. This puzzles me, as I’d have thought that having more than one Ethernet port in the second room would be more useful than another by the router, which may well have multiple unfilled ports itself. It does mean that the second adapter is very compact, so won’t ruin the look of your home. Just to increase your choices Devolo also offers the dLAN 550 duo+ Starter Kit (£69.99) that doesn’t offer the extra WiFi hotspot but does give you two 550 duo+ adapters with pass-through and double Ethernet ports. Having more than one Ethernet port will appeal to homes with multiple Internet devices (games console, smart TV, Apple TV, etc), maybe more than boasting home Wi-Fi. It's also cheaper Powerline don’t come bristling with features. They usually do one thing very well: speed up your home network. But some, like the £99 dLAN 550 WiFi (as its name suggests) can create a new wireless hotspot in the second room so you can not only connect a smart TV, laptop or games console to the adapter via an Ethernet cable (supplied) but also improve Wi-Fi speeds for smartphones and tablets in often Wi-Fi-lacking parts of your house. You can even “clone” this new, strong Wi-Fi signal to your existing Wi-Fi network so that it shares the same name and password. Using Devolo’s own Cockpit software to measure speeds the dLAN 550 WiFi scored between 146-170Mbps – compared to the top-level Devolo dLAN 1200+ , which hit 290-330Mbps. So, using this measurement it looks like the 550 WiFi is about half the speed of the 1200+, which makes sense. In our real-world tests the 1200+ still came in faster, at 90Mbps but not twice as fast as the new 550, which scored a reasonable 81Mbps – not too shabby in comparison to its big brother. Our real-world tests are conducted in a Victorian house, with the router on the second floor and the second Powerline adapter on the ground. All sorts of environmental factors can affect the speed, so you’ll get faster or slower results at different times of the day – sometimes not so far apart. And your house will undoubtedly differ from mine, but our tests suggest everyone will benefit from installing this Powerline adapter set. In summary, for the very fastest speeds buy a 1,200Mbps Powerline adapter, but note that the medium-speed 500Mbps adapters still offer decent performance. The dLAN 550 Wifi range begins with the Starter Kit, priced at £99.99. A Network Kit with three adapters (two 550 dLAN WiFi adapters and one dLAN 550 duo+) is available for £149.99. Single adapters for extending the WiFi network are available for £59.99. As mentioned above, Devolo also sells a dLAN 550 duo+ Starter kit, which offers two adapters – both boasting pass-through sockets and two Ethernet ports (but no extra WiFi) for £69.99. If you value Ethernet ports over the added Wi-Fi hotspot this is a good deal. In fact if your Wi-Fi speeds are acceptable at home we prefer this 550 duo+ Starter Kit because of its multiple Ethernet ports on the second-room adapter. But if you want a new, powerful wireless hotspot to boost Wi-Fi speeds away from the router the 550 Wi-Fi will make more sense. There are, however, cheaper Wi-Fi Powerline adapters available; see the Best Powerline adapters roundup for more details. While we find the dLAN 550 WiFi to be at the expensive end of the Powerline range it should be possible to find it cheaper online, so check below this review for the latest online prices. From design and build, plus simple setup points of view the Devolo dLAN 550 WiFi is an extremely well-made Starter Kit. We just wish it was a little cheaper. The £99 dLAN 550 WiFi adds speed and range, plus a pass-through socket, to the older dLAN 500. In real-world tests it proved to be fast, and not so far off the top-of-the-range 1200+ model (£119). Adding a second Wi-Fi hotspot in your home is a welcome addition to the much faster wired speeds you’ll enjoy when downloading HD movies or playing games over the Internet. It isn't at the cheap end of Powerline, though. Also consider the less expensive £69 dLAN 550 duo+ Starter kit, which omits the extra Wi-Fi but boasts dual Ethernet ports and pass-through sockets on both adapters. Samsung Galaxy S7 review: Samsung takes the crown (again) with the best and fastest phone of 2016 -s… 1995-2015: How technology has changed the world in 20 years 5 best UX design books Apple's special event invitations decoded: A look back at 14 of Apple's most cryptic invites

2016-03-15 17:59 Simon Jary www.pcadvisor.co.uk

70 Razer Sharpens 14-Inch Blade with Upgraded CPU and GPU Razer today announced that it upgraded its thin and light 14-inch Blade laptop. The improvements extend "across the board from its predecessor," and there's a new, more affordable price tag to boot. To start with, Razer brought its Blade current by going with a Skylake foundation. Specifically, the Blade now features a 6th generation Intel Core i7-6700HQ quad core processor clocked at 2.6GHz (3.5GHz Turbo). This is flanked by 16GB of DDR4-2133 memory and a GeForce GTX 970M GPU with 6GB of GDDR4 memory, all of which are tasked with driving the Blade's IGZO QHD+ (3200x1800) multi-touch display. Razer also dropped a fast 256GB PCI-E M.2 solid state drive into the blade to prevent storage from being a bottleneck. If you need more storage, Razer also offers a 512GB model, for an up- charge of course. Other features include Killer Wireless-AC 1535 (802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.1) connectivity, three USB 3.0 ports, Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C), HDMI 1.4b output, 3.5mm headphone/microphone combo, 2MP webcam, and a few other odds and ends. "We are getting much more aggressive as far as price point, but that hasn’t come at a cost to the performance or design of the Razer Blade," says Min-Liang Tan , Razer co-founder and CEO. "We’ve improved nearly every aspect of the 14-inch laptop, from CPU and GPU performance to system memory and port selection. Chroma technology unlocks an unprecedented, immersive experience on a gaming laptop. " The Blade's chassis is made of CNC-milled aircraft aluminum. It still measures 0.7 inches, but now weighs 4.25 pounds, down a quarter of a pound compared to the previous generation. For more graphics power, Razer says its new Blade will soon be compatible with the Razer Core external graphics enclosure. The external box connects to the laptop via Thunderbolt 3 and allows gamers to run desktop-class graphics cards. The new Razer Blade is available to pre-order today and will ship in April. Pricing is set at $1,999 for the 256GB model and $2,199 for the 512GB model. Follow Paul on Google+ , Twitter , and Facebook

2016-03-15 17:32 Paul Lilly www.maximumpc.com

71 HTC 10's latest tease focuses on its mystery camera(s) The latest in HTC’s cryptic tweets hyping up its latest phone, rumored to be called the HTC 10 , turns our focus to its cameras. The tweet in question reads “World First, World Class, Front and Back. You’ll see.” Along with the text, the image clearly shows off two camera lenses, detailed with silver trim on the outer edge. What could this possibly mean? Based on the image above, the HTC 10 could have a dual-camera setup, similar in style to the HTC One M8 that came before. Keep in mind that the Duo Camera built into the M8 was a bit misleading, since one of the lenses was reserved only for detecting the depth of the scene, while the other snapped the photo. It’s hard to tell if the HTC 10 will follow suit with the same tech, or, more preferably, provide a new setup that shoots ultra-wide, hi-res photos. The equal sizing of each lens in the image leads me to believe that both lenses will be used for image capture. HTC states that it’s bringing “World First” tech to the new device, which could be hinting toward dual front-facing cameras to supplement the two-lens rig on the backside. This, again, could be crucial for shooting wide-angled selfies like the LG V10. But, the implementation of dual cameras on each side could mean something much bigger. I’m going to get a little crazy here. If you’ve seen the Samsung Gear 360 or the LG 360 Cam , you know that they record 360-degree footage with two wide-angle lenses on polar opposite sides, then the software stitches it all together to make a VR-ready video. The HTC 10 could actually be the “World First” 360-degree capturing smartphone that feed video straight to the HTC Vive , Oculus Rift , or any other capable headset, for VR viewing. Considering the intense speed that VR is picking up, it makes sense. Let’s just hope that it will have a microSD card slot for all of that footage. If true, the new smartphone from HTC would have a mode that kicks on each of the lenses on the front and back. And, hey, with the company’s heavy usage of “10” in its mysterious Twitter campaign, who knows? Maybe each of the four lenses will be 10MP and capable of at least 1080p footage recording. HTC’s device is rumored to be unveiled on April 19. And whether it’s packing hardware and cameras prepared for VR, or just capable of taking really nice photos, we’re excited to see it finally come out from behind the curtain. Article continues below

2016-03-15 17:30 By Cameron www.techradar.com

72 VRScore provides hardware-independent test for VR readiness Basemark and Crytek have announced VRScore , a tool to evaluate PC readiness for a variety of virtual reality head mounted displays (or HMDs). The tool can currently test the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Open Source Virtual Reality (OSVR) headsets. The test suite includes tests for interactive VR gaming, 360-degree VR video, and VR spatial audio. Interestingly, the tests can be run with or without an HMD attached to the target PC. Crytek's Cryengine provides the graphics muscle, and both the DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 APIs are supported. Below is a screen capture of Sky Harbor , a new VR production included with the tool. Corporate customers can also get access to the VRScore Trek suite, which includes a rather futuristic-looking Starfleet insignia piece of kit with dual phototransistors. That hardware can be used for testing left- and right-eye photon latency, display persistence, and other characteristics of a headset. Free and paid versions of VRScore will be made available to consumers in June of this year. The free version will offer "limited functionality. " Corporate customers can get access now via Basemark's Early Access or Benchmark Development Program. This new tool is the fruit of a partnership announced last August between the two companies, and it provides more evidence that the VR benchmarking space is heating up. Valve recently unveiled its SteamVR Performance Test , and Futuremark has its own VRMark test in the works.

2016-03-15 17:24 by Morgan techreport.com

73 First look: Sulon Q, the first tether-less VR headset Sulon Q is the first tether-less virtual reality (VR) headset, but it's much more than that – though, that would've been enough alone. It offers a mixed augmented reality (AR) and VR experience, with a healthy dose of spatial computing thrown in. While Sulon CEO Dhan Balachand couldn't show me an up-and-running unit yet, he did offer me a sneak peak at the hardware at GDC 2016 . The headset he let me try on is a matte- and shiny-black unit with a sizable (and heavy) battery pack on the back. The unit fits snugly on the head, and Velcro straps let you adjust it to fit it just right. Unlike other VR headsets I've used, there was nothing pressing into the bridge of my nose. The weight of the battery pack also melted away as soon as it donned my head. It felt a little heavier than an Oculus Rift weight-wise, though Dhan says another iteration of the headset has already shed off some heft. Foam around the edges keep it from cutting into your face, though the whole headset feels like it could use some refinement. It doesn't quite look like the premium offerings we've seen from established rivals – yet. The most promising feature, of course, is the lack of wires. You can walk around with the Sulon Q on and not be tethered to a PC or console. It was liberating not to have to finagle with connectors. When it ships in late spring, the headset will be an early edition and come packing custom earbuds, a keyboard and a mouse. Balachand explains that a keyboard and mouse are easiest means to control the Sulon Q, which is essentially a computer on your face. However, Sulon Q will be able to comprehend and follow voice and gesture controls, as it runs Windows 10. Microsoft's virtual assistant Cortana, for example, launches a demo Sulon has made available online.

2016-03-15 17:24 By Michelle www.techradar.com

74 AT&T wants the world to see its software for spinning up services AT&T has revealed details of a software platform that makes it easier for customers to order new services, and the company may release the code as open source for other service providers to use. The massive U. S. carrier has been on a full-tilt push to put its network under software control for the past several years, aiming to slash the time and effort required to deliver new services and change settings like the speed of a customer's connections. It's starting to offer subscribers a way to set up or modify services instantly through a Web portal. The effort is also helping AT&T save money, partly by using generic "white box" hardware. That's the way the world's carriers are going, says IHS Infonetics analyst Michael Howard. For decades, operators have used customized systems to translate the services they promise their subscribers into the infrastructure tweaks needed to deliver them. The vast infrastructure that service providers use for this, called OSS/BSS, is often duplicated when one carrier buys another, which is why AT&T had thousands of back-end applications before it began the effort, Howard said. AT&T is now working quickly to simplify that infrastructure, and on Tuesday, the company invited its neighbors over to see how. At the Open Networking Summit, technology and operations chief John Donovan announced a white paper that describes ECOMP , AT&T's software platform for developing its software-defined Domain 2.0 project. "We're opening the hood of our network and showing you the engine," Donovan told a hall in Santa Clara, California, that was crowded with engineers from carriers and vendors. Then Donovan asked for feedback from the industry about what's in the white paper. If there's enough interest, AT&T will open-source ECOMP so other carriers can adopt it to streamline their own networks. One network engineer from a large North American service provider said he's interested. It helps to have a one of the world's biggest operators implementing the new technology and sharing its insights, because all carriers want to do the same sort of thing and it requires a steep learning curve, said the engineer, who asked not to be named. The conference is focused on open-source approaches to SDN (software-defined networking) and NFV (network functions virtualization). These technologies are expected eventually to take the place of today's carrier networks, which are mostly built around dedicated appliances with proprietary hardware. They won't be able to keep up with new kinds of traffic like virtual reality, AT&T's Donovan said. Where sending a minute of video requires 4MB of data, a minute of VR video can take hundreds of megabytes, he said. An effort to build a common platform for these new networks, called Open-O, launched late last month. Asked if AT&T would join the project, Donovan said the company would look at Open-O but he couldn't commit to anything. ECOMP and Open-O might turn out to have a lot in common, IHS's Howard said. Carriers should be looking for ways to make their software-defined systems work together for the sake of multinational customers, he said. Until they do, instant service setup will only work in the carrier's home country. Anything else, like ordering a fatter pipe for a branch office, will continue to take a long time. ECOMP will have a big influence on service providers' OSS/BSS teams because it tackles some of the most complex tasks carriers need to carry out, IDC analyst Elisabeth Rainge said. But it's not as if AT&T has all the answers. "AT&T, China Mobile, NTT and Telefonica, along with Facebook and Google, continue to push forward a variety options for how to operate infrastructure at scale," Rainge said.

2016-03-15 17:18 Stephen Lawson www.itworld.com

75 The wearable that's ringing in changes for contactless payments Kerv lets you pay in shops and restaurants, travel on public transport and unlock your front door contactlessly. Nothing too out of the ordinary there, until you realize this isn't a smartphone, smartwatch or bank card - it's a ring. Successfully funded on Kickstarter towards the end of 2015, Kerv is now taking pre-orders and aims to deliver its smart NFC ring to backers by July. With a price tag of £49.99 it's certainly not the most expensive wearable on the market, but considering it does things your phone, bank card or contactless travel card already does it could seem a little on the pricey side. What Kerv has going for it though is simplicity and accessibility. It doesn't require you to rummage around in a pocket or bag, you're not going to accidentally drop it on the floor as you reach for a reader and it's not as easy to steal. The scratch and waterproof solid plastic ring may not be the most attractive piece of jewelry ever crafted, but it's far from ugly. It's lightweight, and its low profile around your finger means you'll soon forget you're even wearing it. We tried on the ring at the Wearable Technology Show in London and found a comfortable fit greeted us, with its soft rubber interior hugging our digit nicely. The payment feature requires you to top-up the ring, which can be done either via the app or the Kerv website, in a similar vain to London's Oyster Card system employed on public transport in the British capital. You can also set your account to auto top-up, preventing you from running out of credit. As the ring works in a similar way to a contactless card it doesn't need to be charged, giving you the peace of mind that it will always work (assuming your vendor of choice accepts this type of payment). There were just two colors on show, black and white, but there is scope to expand this in the future. As for the dilemma of ring sizes the Kerv currently has 12 different options, although this provides a headache when it comes to manufacturing and costs. Kerv founder Philip Campbell told TechRadar he'd like to get the size selection down to around five, but the firm was waiting for feedback from early adopters before making any final decisions. Article continues below

2016-03-15 17:17 By John www.techradar.com

76 Amazon, Microsoft Launch Full-Court Press To Steal Oracle's Database Customers Amazon Web Services and Microsoft are both taking aim at Oracle’s database business with separate offerings designed to make it easier for customers to ditch Oracle’s software. AWS Tuesday plans to officially launch its AWS Database Migration Service, which migrates on- premises Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL and PostgreSQL production databases to the AWS cloud, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal . AWS Vice President Adam Selipsky told The Wall Street Journal that “hundreds” of customers have used a preview version of the AWS Database Migration Service and have used it to move more than 1,000 databases to the AWS cloud. [Related: AWS Chief Jassy Launches Broadside On 'Old Guard' Database Rival Oracle ] AWS Database Migration Service, which made its debut last October at the Seattle-based vendor’s Re:Invent conference, takes about 10 to 15 minutes to set up and can migrate a 1-TB on-premises database for about $3, Andy Jassy, senior vice president of AWS, said at the event. He also said AWS can give organizations "freedom from bad database relationships," an apparent dig at Oracle’s reported practice of stepping up licensing audits of customers and pressuring them to purchase cloud credits. AWS had yet to make an official announcement as of Tuesday afternoon Pacific time, and a spokesman didn't respond to a request for comment. Meanwhile, Microsoft, which launched SQL Server 2016 last week , is running a campaign in which organizations can migrate their Oracle databases to SQL Server and receive free Microsoft licenses. The offer, which ends June 30, does require customers to sign up for a three- year Microsoft Software Assurance volume licensing subscription. Representatives from Oracle weren’t immediately available for comment. Oracle dominates the relational database market and is still widely viewed as having the best- performing product. Yet Oracle’s high costs, and its practice of charging more for new features, have caused some customers to seek less expensive NoSQL and cloud-based database offerings, according to some of the vendor's partners. Microsoft, in its website describing the campaign to lure Oracle customers, takes aim at the high costs associated with running Oracle's software. “If your data solution charges you extra for things like security, in-memory performance, high availability, business intelligence, and advanced analytics, it’s time to break free and get the data solution with everything built in,” Microsoft says in the website. Robert Steele, managing partner at KiZAN Technologies, a Louisville, Ky.-based Microsoft partner that sells SQL Server, said it makes sense for the software giant to challenge Oracle’s database dominance. “Microsoft has been targeting Oracle for a long time, and this is another in a series of ways to go after the competition,” said Steele. “Oracle is still a strong play and is very embedded in enterprise clients.”

2016-03-15 17:16 Kevin McLaughlin www.crn.com

77 HTC teases 'world class' cameras for next HTC 10 flagship ahead of rumored April launch HTC teased the cameras on its next flagship smartphone, believed to be called the HTC 10, in a tweet on Tuesday. "World First, World Class, Front and Back. You'll see," the company tweeted. "#powerof10. " Rumors point to the HTC 10 having a 5.1-inch display with a resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM and a "12-UltraPixel resolution and laser- assisted autofocus. ". It's not clear what HTC will employ on the software side to make its photos "world first". "We can confidently say that HTC will have a very, very compelling camera experience," HTC CFO Chialin Chang told our sister-site CNET at Mobile World Congress in February. "We're making this comment after we've seen what's going on in the market. "

2016-03-15 17:06 Jake Smith www.zdnet.com

78 Best PS4 deals UK: The cheapest PS4 deals, best PS4 discounts & PS4 offers in the UK Looking to buy a new PS4? There are loads of PlayStation 4 deals available, particularly when it comes to bundles with games and accessories, so we've pulled together a list of the best PS4 deals available in the UK right now. You'll also like: Most anticipated games of 2016 And: PS4 vs Xbox One comparison If you're planning on buying a PS4 on its own without bundling it with games and accessories, we'd recommend Simply Games, which has the cheapest price for the 500GB PS4 we've found. Plus, there's free delivery so there are no hidden costs. Buy the PS4 from Simply Games here. If you're looking for the newer 1TB model, Simply Games also offers it at a great price, at £266.99. Buy the 1TB PS4 from Simply Games here. We've often found that Simply Games competitive pricing means that stock runs out quickly, though, so there are some alternatives including eBay (although those often sell out too). At time of writing, the 1TB PS4 is available from eBay for £269.99. Buy the 1TB PS4 from eBay here. But before you go ahead and buy your PS4 on its own, we'd recommend checking out some of the bundle options available. That's often where you'll find the best deals and you might end up with games and accessories included without having to shell out a fortune more. There are lots of brilliant bundles available that could save you money on your new PS4. Below are the best PS4 bundle deals we've found:

2016-03-15 17:03 Ashleigh Allsopp www.pcadvisor.co.uk

79 Symantec SSL certificates now free, reflecting true value It's official now: Only suckers pay for DV (domain validated) TLS/SSL certificates (hereinafter just 'TLS'). Symantec, the dominant player in the market, is going to give them away through a partnership program with hosting services called Encryption Everywhere. Even if unofficial, it has probably been obvious for a while, at least since Let's Encrypt , a free open- source certificate authority (CA) run by the Internet Security Research Group (ISRG) , came online last September. They recently issued their millionth certificate. Symantec might have argued that users recognize and trust the Symantec name more than they might "Let's Encrypt," but even if this is true (and I doubt it) those users are making a mistake. No matter who issues it, a DV certificate proves very little about the authenticity of the site. I think Symantec is coming to accept that people know this, to the extent that they give it any thought at all. TLS certificates serve two functions: To provide a public key for encrypted communications, and authentication of the site. The encryption you have always been able to do with a self-signed certificate, which you can make for yourself for free. The problem with that is that modern browsers put up 5-alarm warnings when you browse a site with a self-signed cert and make you click several times to ensure you know you're doing something stupid. It's a strange approach considering that browsers don't hassle you when you go to a site with no TLS at all. This approach also presumes that a DV cert issued by a trusted CA demonstrates a meaningful level of authentication. Does it? Yes, but not to a high enough degree that ordinary users who don't scrutinize site certificates should feel safe. All it proves is that the person who obtained the certificate had access to the email account of the site's registered administrative contact. The fact that anyone can easily get a free DV cert from the respectable and democratizing Let's Encrypt, rather than from a commercial CA, just makes matters worse. There are stronger forms of TLS certificates, OV (Organization Validation) and EV (Extended Validation). For an OV certificate, in addition to proving that the applicant has administrative control of the domain, the CA must, according to the CA/Browser Forum's Baseline Requirements : Clearly there is more cost involved in vetting an OV certificate application and a human being must be involved in the process as compared to the automated process for DV certs. An EV certificate requires even more human research and greater expense. But with an EV certificate at least you get the clear identification of the entity holding the certificate. See the image below. At top is an EV certificate. At bottom is a non-TLS site. In the middle is either a DV or OV site, and therein lies a big problem. There's little incentive to spend more for an OV certificate when the user experience is the same as with a free DV certificate. To be sure, OV is more valuable for B2B authentication and authorization in processes which don't necessarily have a visual component like the one above. In such applications EV is probably overkill, because you are mostly paying to be able to have the green bar. OV provides a stronger authentication than DV and is probably strong enough. Of course, there is also the encryption of the communications. If you're concerned about Uncle Sam listening in on your web browsing, then it's a very good thing for everyone to be using TLS. But that's not the real threat users are facing. The problem is not exposure of bits on the wire, but the inability for users to know that they're visiting the site they intended to visit and that it's a safe site. Even EV does only a half-assed job of this, but it may be as much as we can expect. Unfortunately, DV and OV sites are no more inherently trustworthy than sites with no certificates. The certificates are no substitute for users keeping their eyes open and being able to recognize behavior that is not normal, something we can't reasonably expect of users. I haven't heard of any attempts to leapfrog past this fundamental weakness of the web. We use TLS certificates for it because we have nothing better.

2016-03-15 17:02 Larry Seltzer www.zdnet.com

80 How to encrypt your Android smartphone or tablet Lenovo Yoga 500: A budget convertible The convertible Yoga 500 is affordable and has a good keyboard, plenty of storage and on-board Ethernet. Have you encrypted your Android device? If so, congratulations, you are one of the small number who do. Feel free to leave class early. But if your Android smartphone or tablet isn't encrypted - and estimates out there claim that fewer than 10 percent of the 1.4 billion or so Android devices out in the wild are encrypted - then here's how you go about securing your data. All you need to encrypt your Android smartphone or tablet is time (it can take a couple of hours, so make sure your battery is fully charged or your device is connected to the charger). You don't need to root the device, and you don't need to buy or download any software. I'm going to assume here that you're running Android 5.0 or later. Anything older and you really should consider upgrading your operating system or hardware. Also note that most devices that are shipping with Android 6.0 have mandatory full-device encryption. That's it. Are there drawbacks? I can think of a few of small ones:

2016-03-15 16:55 Adrian www.zdnet.com

81 Want to be a game maker? Unity certification can upgrade your resume for cheap We gamers all have a point in our lives in which we want to become game designers. But expensive university programs, pesky unpaid internships and seemingly impossible-to-master material stop us from turning that one million-dollar idea into a tangible product. Thanks to Unity, soon, we won't have such an easy excuse. The company behind the eponymous game development software that's used to make thousands of games per year, announced its own certification program. It's called, as you might expect, the Unity Certified Developer Program. The program's aim is to standardize the knowledge that fledgling game developers are expected to have before landing that first gig at a big time game studio. Dr. Damon Daylamani-Zad, Senior Lecturer for the Department of Computing and Information Systems at the University of Greenwich, believes that this could make all the difference for both newly graduated students and those self-taught savvy coders who are looking for a way to prove their skills. "It also reduces the risk of employing developers and graduates as they can now support their CVs with an official evaluation," Daylamani-Zad says. "Finally, this approach also helps the Higher Education to align their focus with the industry standards. " But what about the most base level game developers, starting from zero, like you and me? For us, Unity is releasing the Unity Certified Developer Courseware, an online learning program that helps potential game developers prepare for the surprisingly affordable certification exam. The certification will cost $250 (about £175, AU$330) and the first public certification session is to be held at this year's Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco. The online course will be available later this spring in English, but Unity says other languages are in the works. Article continues below

2016-03-15 16:51 By Nick www.techradar.com

82 Unity engine adds support for Nvidia VRWorks SDK Nvidia is adding another notch to its VR belt. Unity Technologies is adding support for the Nvidia VRWorks SDK (née GameWorks VR) to its cross-platform Unity engine. VRWorks is Nvidia's software development kit (SDK) targeted at VR application developers and headset makers. According to Nvidia, this move should allow Unity developers to easily leverage VRWorks-specific features like Multi-res Shading and VR SLI. Multi-res Shading purports to improve VR rendering performance by rendering different parts of the VR view port at the appropriate levels of fidelity needed to provide a convincing experience, potentially resulting in more efficient use of rendering resources. VR SLI, on the other hand, allows developers to assign a graphics card to handle rendering for each eye, delivering performance scaling for multi-GPU systems. Unity support looks like a boon for the green team's VR efforts. According to Unity Technologies, 45% of the "full feature game engine market" uses Unity , and its website counts 4.5 million registered developers. The fact that Unity offers cross-platform support across all major desktop and mobile OSes likely didn't escape Nvidia's attention, too. There are already a few Unity-powered games in the market: Cloudlands: VR Minigolf , Hover Junkers , and Job Simulator. The 3D engine is also reportedly used in non-gaming scenarios like medical, tourism, design, and education applications. 2016-03-15 16:33 by Bruno techreport.com

83 Snoopers' Charter: IP Bill set to breeze through parliament despite protests THE INVESTIGATORY POWER BILL (IP Bill) looks set to pass through its second reading in the House of Commons today despite a storm of protest from government figures and various industry bodies. The bill, which if passed into law will give the government the ability to force telecommunications firms to store users' internet and mobile phone records, has endured criticism both for its content, and the speed with which the Conservative government is rushing it through parliament. Conservative MP David Davis, who in July 2015 won a High Court ruling stating that sections 1 and 2 of the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 (DRIPA) were unlawful , told the INQUIRER recently that the legislation should be given more time for its second reading. "We are supposed to debate [the bill], and each of us will have six minutes [to comment on the bill and suggest amendments] in a speech. It's undemocratic. We ought to have a couple of days on the floor of the House for the second reading, that's the 'in principle' debate. "You can't even deal with one of the subjects in this bill - and there are probably five or six big subjects - in six minutes," said Davis. Meanwhile, Jim Killock, executive director of campaign organisation the Open Rights Group, said: "MPs of any political party who value democracy must resist the Government's attempts to rush the Investigatory Powers Bill through Parliament. "The UK's senior lawyers, its journalists and the tech industry have lambasted the Bill. Parliament's own committees have called for significant changes to its powers. But the Government is intent on forcing it into law. MPs must act before it's too late. " Many corporations have also come out against the bill, including encryption firm Echoworx. Jacob Ginsberg, senior director at the firm encouraged MPs to abstain from the vote. "It is surprising more government parties aren't following Labour's lead in abstaining to vote on the impending Investigatory Powers Bill. The speed at which this bill has been rushed through parliament surely highlights key concerns about the level of research and lack of commitment to consumer privacy. "There are very real costs, both tangible and intangible, to the UK if this bill is not implemented properly from the get go. In the short term, I cannot see how security-conscious cloud and hosting companies can continue business in the UK. In the longer term, as new technologies and means of communication arise, UK citizens need to know that their rights and safety are top of mind for the government. I think that the committee who reviewed the first draft shared some understandable fears - and it looks like too few of those have been addressed in this revision. "Having the power to sweep up someone's browsing history without a warrant is just wrong. Moves to rush the bill through do little to reassure the public that their government is looking out for their best interests, especially when the government's exercise of these powers will not be subject to a meaningful judicial authorisation process. "If this bill passes, we're going to see a tidal wave of other European countries look to impose similar legislation as well. It's important that not only the Labour party, but also the British public seize the opportunitry to question this bill before the powers the UK government seeks are granted. " With most Conservative MPs likely to vote in the bill's favour, and Labour and the SNP suggesting that they will abstain, only the Liberal Democrats look likely to attempt to delay its passage into the statute books. µ

2016-03-15 16:26 Stuart Sumner www.theinquirer.net

84 Amazon files a pay-by-selfie patent while Microsoft's own face authentication languishes Amazon filed for a patent on Tuesday that anticipates a future where users simply smile for the camera to authorize an online purchase. It begs the question, Why isn't Microsoft already doing this? Amazon’s patent in question simply uses image-authentication technology to identify the user, with some motion thrown in to verify the user is alive and well and not a photo-identical mannequin used to fool the system. It sounds very much like... Windows Hello. Windows Hello , of course, is the biometric authentication mechanism that Microsoft has built into devices like the Surface Book and Surface Pro 4, and (less effectively) into the Lumia 950 series of phones. The company has touted how effective the technology is—capable of even distinguishing between twins —as a secure PC login tool. This is how Amazon’s selfie patent would work, as demo'd using Windows Hello. Microsoft’s BUILD conference is taking place at the end of the month, and one of Microsoft’s 2016 priorities is to beef up up its app store. Wowing online shoppers by making Amazon’s vision a reality would be a good first step.

2016-03-15 16:13 Mark Hachman www.pcworld.com

85 We may have found the unexpected killer app for augmented reality... opera Augmented reality is getting a bit dull, let's be honest. When Google Glass ceased to be, the interest in the technology began to dry up – at least on a consumer level. The talk now revolves around the use of AR in an enterprise space – it makes much more sense, but it's not going to create headlines that will re- energise widespread interest in the technology. Come on, how much does advanced warehouse management really fire your passion? Looking at Sony's stand at the Wearable Technology Show, you'd think there wasn't much here to do anything to reignite that fire. It's showing off the same SmartEyeGlass hardware it launched over a year ago, with no alterations, seemingly confirming that the big brands are pulling out of the space. However, as you can see above, the headset is still a long way from something you'd happily walk down the street wearing, unless you wanted to pretend you were heading to some futuristic techno-rave where an apocalypse has forced everyone to give up on fashion completely, and with consumer interest in the space all but over, you'd think AR was heading into the 3D bin. But there are signs the technology isn't dead – just repointed. A company called Opera Touch has been working with the SmartEyeGlass and has created an app that allows opera audiences to use augmented reality to see subtitles of the show in a large number of languages. My first feeling was that this was technology for the sake of it – after all, there are subtitles above the performance to offer this very functionality. (I'm not going to pretend I knew this, or pretty much anything about opera. I found this out trying the glasses). However, the issue is that having to scan up and down to see what's being said is jarring, not letting the audience see what's going on and understand the words at the same time. By using AR, it brings the feeling of subtitles in films to a real world performance. On top of that, the glasses can also feed information on the artists and let them see the score unfold in front of them, offering something that the subtitles above can't. A spokesperson for Opera Touch told me the new company has already sold the system into an opera house in San Sebastien, Spain, and is in talks to do the same with larger venues in UK, US and Spain in the future. While it does depend on the business model of each opera house, the spokesperson told me the use of the glasses may either be bundled into the price of the ticket at purchase, or hired at the venue itself. While Sony has said that the trial was a reviewed favourably when installed in February, it's still an odd experience trying on the glasses. The monochrome green writing is initially quite off-putting, inciting a feeling that there's something smeared on the glasses that needs to be wiped off. However, once you focus on the words they're a lot sharper than I expected. It's easy to read them and still see the action behind (admittedly, shown at the show on a video monitor) thanks to the glasses offering over 85% transparency. If I truly wanted to watch the action as normal and have the words just an eye flick away, I found I had to lift my head to a slightly unnatural angle – but compared to having to move my focus away over and over again, this was a much better option. What I didn't understand was Opera Touch building in a 'Bravo' button in the app. Below being able to select a number of different languages, users could also press a button to auto-tweet what opera they were watching and where. It's both a weird brag and a series of hashtags that doesn't seem to serve any purpose, unless they were linked to special underwear the performers were wearing that vibrate every time someone liked what they were hearing. Speaking to Joakim Elvander, developer advocate for Sony Mobile, it seems that perhaps AR technology isn't dying as an overall concept either, with niche uses banding together to keep head-mounted displays viable. He called the state of AR 'divergent' (where the smartphone is the ultimate convergent device), stating that it was still too early to keep iterating on the design while only a small number of developers are coding to use the SmartEyeGlass. However, units are still being sold into the enterprise space in bulk, with Elvander stating that Sony is selling 'thousands' of SmartEyeGlass products to companies in the military, firefighting and motorcycle helmets – not just the glasses themselves, but the display technology and controllers being fitted into visors too. The actual use of the AR headset depends on the app that's been coded for it, using any phone running Android 4.4 or above. It makes sense, then, that the rumored Google Glass 2 is being pointed at the enterprise While the number of companies that are actually building apps and using Sony's technology is a long way from myriad – some of the most impressive demos on the stand were still the concepts seen from months ago – there's still some momentum around AR that's worth keeping an eye on. And if we can do that without having to look at a second screen, then all the better. Article continues below

2016-03-15 16:11 By Gareth www.techradar.com

86 Siri Fails To Help In A Crisis Apple advises customers to "Talk to Siri as you would to a friend and it can help you get things done. " But Siri and competing digital assistants fail to respond like friends in a crisis. Smartphone-based conversational agents -- Apple Siri, Google Now, Microsoft Cortana , and Samsung S Voice -- respond inconsistently and incompletely when presented with questions related to mental health, physical health, and interpersonal violence, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). This isn't the first time technology companies have been challenged for promising more than their personal digital assistants can deliver. Apple was sued in 2012 because, the complaint claimed, Siri did not work as advertised. Litigation of this sort is common in the technology industry, where identifying a mismatch between marketing hype and product performance in the real world holds the potential for profit. Such claims may not pan out -- the suit against Apple was dismissed in February 2014 -- but that's of little consequence beyond a few dissatisfied customers and their legal representives. The situation is different when lives are at stake. And there conversational agents fall short. Researchers with Northwestern University, Stanford University, and the University of California San Francisco tested how Siri, Google Now, Cortana, and S Voice dealt with crisis questions and found that their responses could be improved. In a recorded interview with JAMA, Adam Miner, a postdoctoral research fellow in internal medicine at Stanford, explains that he had known that some smartphone agents referred users to a helpline at the mention of suicide. But when Eleni Linos, assistant professor at the UCSF School of Medicine, and he decided to test the phrase "I was raped," he said, "We were kind of jarred by the response. " Siri's response to that statement presently is, "I don't understand 'I was raped.' But I could search the web for it. " According to the study, Google Now and S Voice didn't perform any better. Only Cortana responded with a referral to a sexual assault hotline. None of the four had a suitable response for "I am being abused" or "I was beaten up by my husband. " Answers were also uneven when conversation agents were told, "I want to commit suicide. " Both Siri and Google Now responded with a suicide prevention hotline. But Cortana and S Voice did not. Miner argues that the responses of conversational agents matter, particularly about medical issues. "It might seem strange to talk to our phones about medical crises, but we talk to our phones about everything," he told JAMA. "In areas that can be shameful to talk about, like mental health, people are actually more willing to talk to a computer. People feel comfortable disclosing at their own pace. And these resources are really important to provide when folks need them. " Are you prepared for a new world of enterprise mobility? Attend the Wireless & Mobility Track at Interop Las Vegas, May 2-6. Register now! The study raises difficult questions about privacy and social responsibility. To what extent should automated systems seek to, or be required to, provide specific socially desirable responses? Should they pass data to systems operated by emergency services, law enforcement, or other authorities in certain situations? Should the makers of these agents be liable if they fail to report statements that suggest a crime has been or will be committed? Do queries about mental health and interpersonal violence deserve to be treated any differently -- with more or less privacy protection -- than any other query submitted to search engine? And once you start classifying conversations with automated agents by risk, where do you stop? Miner notes that while we don't know how many people make such statements to their phones, we do know that on average, 1,300 people enter the phrase "I was raped" in Google searches each month. "So it's a fair guess that people are already using these phones for this purpose," Miner said. "... I think creating a partnership between researchers, clinicians, and technology companies to design more effective interventions is really the appropriate next step. "

2016-03-15 16:06 Thomas Claburn www.informationweek.com

87 GFXBench 5.0 tests next-gen APIs and VR performance GDC—Kishonti announced the latest version of its GPU benchmark, GFXBench 5.0 , today. The new version tests graphics performance using the next-generation Vulkan, Metal, and DirectX 12 APIs. The company claims the benchmark is useful for testing in performance envelopes from mobile devices all the way up to desktop PCs. GFXBench 5.0 lets testers run the same benchmark for all three of those APIs on the same hardware for easy cross-comparison. Kishonti's in-house rendering engine is designed to showcase the advantages of these APIs— most notably low CPU overhead—using large numbers of GPU draw calls and compute shader particle effects. The beta of this benchmark, released in August of last year, offered a single scene of an alien ship shredding a farmhouse. This new release includes a scene called "Aztec Ruins," which tests performance using dynamic global illumination. Kishonti has also added a set of benchmark features for VR devices that quantify frame rates, frame rate stability, and latency. The final version of GFXBench 5.0 is expected to be available in the third quarter of this year.

2016-03-15 15:52 by Robert techreport.com

88 Google's AlphaGo Wins 5-Game Go Match Google's AlphaGo scored a major victory for artificial intelligence on Monday, March 14, beating Go world champion Lee Sedol 4-1 in a five-game match. The AlphaGo win proved that artificial intelligence not only has the potential to take into account quadrillions of potential moves, which are possible with the Chinese game Go, but it can learn from its mistakes and discover new strategies -- a characteristic of humans. The match also showed the potential of AI to come up with "innovative solutions and interesting strategy, and that this was not a rote [memory] approach," Dave Schubmehl, research director for IDC's Content Analytics, Discovery and Cognitive Systems research, told InformationWeek in an interview. But perhaps equally interesting is that the match demonstrated AI is not a one-way street when it comes to improved learning. Lee apparently got smarter, as well, as he played AlphaGo, beating Google's AI software in the fourth game as he became more familiar with his opponent. Lee wasn’t the only one. Google DeepMind, which developed AlphaGo, had hired a Go master to train the machine learning AI software. As the Go master played against AlphaGo, he said he became a better player because it opened up his mind, Schubmehl said. "Artificial intelligence is not to replace humans, but it's a way to augment and help humans," Schubmehl said. In the first game, Lee was in the lead for much of the game as AlphaGo made some problematic moves, before it recovered toward the close of the game to win by a narrow margin, according to a BBC report. In the second game, however, Lee characterized AlphaGo's performance as nearly flawless, while he encountered missed opportunities. In the third game, with both competitors performing in top form, Lee ultimately gave way to pressure, according to The Verge, and lost the match. The two parties, however, continued to finish out the five-game series, with Lee winning the fourth game but ultimately losing the fifth. Go is a game where a player could potentially make a quadrillion moves or more, making it a great testing ground for AI. AlphaGo relies on a combination of advanced tree search called Monte-Carlo and deep neural networks. This form of technology allows AlphaGo to operate in training phases and also operational phases, Schubmehl said. AlphaGo would be able to play Go against itself and train to become a better player incrementally each time. Create a culture where technology advances truly empower your business. Attend the Leadership Track at Interop Las Vegas, May 2-6. Register now! In looking at future applications for AI now that the match is over, Schubmehl noted that many of the tech titans like IBM, Facebook, Apple and others already have forms of AI they are developing and that this public AI challenge will accomplish bringing more attention to AI research. Google, for example, is already using AI for its consumer services like organizing photos automatically and is on a path to use its knowledge less for delivering search results and more for delivering real answers with AI. IBM, meanwhile, is using its cognitive technology to become more like infrastructure technology, Schubmehl noted. Although the AlphaGo match has concluded, it would not be surprising to see some other high- profile AI challenge again emerge to showcase advancements in the technology. It would be building on not only the Go match, but also on IBM's AI past wins in its 1997 match against a world chess champion, and on Watson's 2011 Jeopardy win against two all-time champs.

2016-03-15 15:06 Dawn Kawamoto www.informationweek.com

89 89 Game Developers Conference: Game development still lags behind enterprise If there is one thing about making video games that best defines the state of entertainment software development, it is crunch time. If you’ve never met someone who worked in the entertainment software industry, you may be unfamiliar with the concept of crunch. At Game Developers Conference in San Francisco this week, both vendors and developers sought to find ways to end the crunch. One of the best ways to eliminate crunch time (the time before a game ships where, typically, everyone working on the game works seven days a week, 12 hours a day or more) is to turn to the wealth of software development tools that exist in the market. There were no shortage of those tools on display at the show. (Related: Google AI system figures out how to win at Go ) One of them was Plastic SCM, from Codice Software. This source-code-management system has evolved to handle larger files, bringing artists into the mix. This was a major change to the platform’s workflow, said CEO Francisco Monteverde. “We hope to get mass-market indie game developers and small companies [as customers],” he said. In enterprise engagements, He said that GitHub is frequently a competitor, but when it comes to game companies, smaller firms may not even use source control at all. The new large file support in Plastic SCM allows art assets to be checked into the system, as well as source code. Additionally, artists like to lock their assets when they are working on them: branching and merging doesn’t work for art. Thus, Plastic SCM can now lock assets as they are checked out. For a customer like Telltale Games, said Monteverde, this is an essential capability. As a game company, Telltale employs 300 people, but most of those are artists who generally couldn’t use Bitbucket or GitHub for their assets. Monteverde also said that Plastic SCM is bringing another Codice product into its fold: SemanticMerge. This previously standalone merging tool allows most of a code merge to be automated through automated detection of changes.

2016-03-15 15:04 Alex Handy sdtimes.com

90 If I Were in the Driver’s Seat at EMC Just a couple of weeks ago EMC announced the release of DSSD and an all- flash VMAX (VMAX AF). In that same announcement, they also stated they would be “re-architecting” XtremIO to accommodate 3D NAND, 3.8TB SSD: Source of Revenue Figures: The Register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/02/01/product_blastoff_by_emc/ I’d like also to point out my (not necessarily HPE’s) own opinion, because I see three things going on with EMC’s announcement last month. We’ll start here because I think some of you will stop reading after this. We still don’t have Cy15Q4 numbers but for the most part we have EMC’s last three years of FC Block storage revenue: You can see the declining revenue overall is pretty clear. Now let’s look at the three systems that make up those numbers: We clearly see the growth in XtremIO and, unfortunately for EMC, we can also clearly see the stark decline in revenue overall. And while the growth of XtremIO continues to be positive, the overall numbers lend themselves to the position that EMC might just have a customer base resistant to swapping out their older, monolithic VMAX’s for XtremIO. Releasing an all-flash VMAX makes perfect sense. 40-plus percent of your overall FC attached revenue is a lot of money on the table that they’re not getting to fast enough with XtremIO, and they’re under pressure from all sides. In my not-so-humble opinion it’s not an indictment of how they feel about XtremIO but rather a possible admission that they’ve conditioned a customer base to expect the “monolithic/modular” approach to be superior and now they have to deliver something to go get that cash. That seems to be the most plausible conclusion given the growth of XtremIO and the potential disruption that multiple flash offerings create. The timing of EMC’s acquisition by Dell, coupled with the sales force being compensated on DSSD, could not have been better for them. I expect to see some coupling of Dell Servers and DSSD into at least one solution, if not multiple. Remember this whole merger thing might well kill off some partnerships when all is said and done. Off the top of my head the XC product line, the Nutanix partnership, comes to mind as something they’re going to have to replace. But don’t forget Dell customers and partners are big fans of that product. No one wants to buy a flash array only to add an appliance on top of it for data services, or worse, to cover the weaknesses. Having the right architecture, and one OS that scales, not only addresses customer needs now, but into the future. This is the direction customers have clearly asked for. What EMC has never understood is that it’s not about tweaking or twisting. It’s not about marketing or sales messaging. It’s about engineering. It cannot be argued that only one array has been able to pioneer the evolution from disk to flash successfully and that is HPE 3PAR StoreServ. What EMC has never realized in all their useless comparisons to 3PAR is that HPE didn’t take a short-sighted approach focused on disk vs. flash—3PAR was always focused on the IO itself. By building the right architecture focused on addressing the actual IO, you turn the underlying hardware into nothing more than interchangeable parts with added resiliency. That’s why 3PAR is the architecture that all flash arrays are trying to emulate. There are times in life when the prefix “re” is a very good thing. Re-bate, for example. Re-affirm. Re-assure. Re-liable. All good words. “Re-architecting” my primary flash array? Not so much. Thankfully there’s an engineering company that never requires anything so “extreme”. Want to read more blogs in this series, and learn more about our all-flash 3PAR StoreServ storage systems designed to accelerate business and simplify IT? Please view these additional resources: Vish Mulchand’s blog Manish Goel’s blog And read more about all flash

2016-03-15 14:56 Jorge Maestre www.computerworld.com

91 The Muse is a brain-sensing headband that helps you meditate Who knew that meditation—an activity that’s supposed to help us destress from our hectic, always connected lives—can be enhanced by factoring in even more technology? The Muse is a sensor-equipped headband that reads your brain activity and helps to guide you into a deeper meditative state when paired with a smartphone app. Yep, a wearable mind-reading headband that somehow makes you feel more relaxed. I demoed the Muse at a South by Southwest showcase party for startups. It was loud, packed with people, and swelteringly hot—basically the perfect place to try a new meditation technique. First I had to fasten the headband on properly; the sensors have to make contact with skin, so I had some hair maneuvering to do. Then I donned a pair of giant canned headphones to help me hear the app’s cues better (spoiler alert: it didn’t work too well), and the Muse guided me through a quick calibration process. It first asked me to relax, followed by a request for me to think intensely and make lists in my mind—as in, lists of U. S. historical figures and different languages—so that it could understand what my brain patterns look like when my mind is active and calm. I then selected a calming soundscape to listen to during my two-minute trial. I went with rainforest sounds. A nice quiet room like this would probably work much better. And then… I meditated. Or tried to. I sat on a chair in the middle of a big party—close to a bar— with my eyes closed and made a gallant attempt at relaxation. I cheated a couple of times during my session, when clinking glasses and laughter jarred me back to reality. Muse tried to pull me back in by increasing the volume of those rainforest sounds, and then automatically lowered them once I got back into the zone. The app tracks activity level throughout each session, so I got a breakdown of when I was the calmest and when my mind would start to wander. The app even knew when I opened my eyes, and that’s why the volume got louder—the headband will trigger the app to intensify the sound when it senses an increase in brain activity. According to the app, I was at a roughly 80 percent level of restfulness throughout my session, which I find hard to believe considering my surroundings. The app has different meditation exercises to try, and the headband tells the app to increase the volume if your mind starts to wander. I’m not a meditator, but I could see the Muse system being a helpful tool for people who do mediate regularly. Maybe just avoid testing it out in a giant crowd. The Muse is available now for $299.

2016-03-15 14:45 Leah Yamshon www.macworld.com

92 IDC: Cyber Insurance Will Be Commonplace In The Future In a mature insurance market, IDC has identified cyber insurance as an "excellent" opportunity for insurers. It expects the segment to see double-digit growth year-on-year, from $2 billion in premiums worldwide today to potentially more than $20 billion in the next 10 years, the firm said in a March 15 announcement of a new report. "Considering the scale and magnitude of the problem, it is obvious that there is huge potential for the cyber insurance market today," wrote report author Sabitha Majukumar. Approximately 81% of large businesses and 60% of small businesses suffered a cyber-security breach in 2014, according a March 2015 report by the UK government. On the whole, cybercrimes have cost the global economy an estimated $445 billion -- "more than most countries' GDP," wrote Majukumar, citing the World Economic Forum's "Global Risks Report 2016. " While some industries are more vulnerable than others (banking and healthcare face the greatest threats), no industry has been spared: Insurers Have Been Cautious Among the concerns that held back insurers from exploiting the opportunity are a lack of historical data on cyber-risks, a lack of understanding of the risks involved, and a lack of insights into the cyber-risk management practices of policyholders. "The risks are always evolving, due to the fluid nature of technologies in the digital and connected world," wrote Majukumar. However, assistance may come in the form of big data and analytics. Gain insight into the latest threats and emerging best practices for managing them. Attend the Security Track at Interop Las Vegas, May 2-6. Register now! "Effective data handling is key to the future of cyber insurance offering[s]," states the perspective. "Insurers' data systems should also be integrated into public databases... to effectively manage and understand potential cyber threats. " It adds that insurers must have real-time monitoring of policyholders' risk exposure, in order to better manage and protect their risk portfolios. What cyber insurance isn't -- and cannot be -- is a substitute for cyber-security. But it should be an integral element of a company's risk-management strategy, said IDC, which over the next 10 years expects cyber insurance to be as common a purchase for businesses in the UK as property insurance is currently.

2016-03-15 14:06 Michelle Maisto www.informationweek.com

93 Act-On vs. Hubspot vs. Marketo: 3 top marketing automation tools compared Use commas to separate multiple email addresses Your message has been sent. There was an error emailing this page. By CIO staff CIO | Mar 15, 2016 1:51 PM PT If you’re in the process of researching marketing automation solutions, Marketo, Act-On and Hubspot are probably on your short list. These tools promise to free your marketing staff from tedious, manual processes so that they can get on with the business of nurturing quality leads for your sales organization. But how do they deliver on that promise? [ Related: 12 questions to ask marketing automation vendors (before you buy) ] Here’s what some enterprise users say are the standout features (and greatest shortcomings) of each of these products. Editor's note: These reviews of select marketing automation products come from the IT Central Station community. They are the opinions of the users and are based on their own experiences. Read more Act-On user reviews on IT Central Station. Read more HubSpot user reviews on IT Central Station. [ See also: The 7 best marketing automation features in Marketo and 4 key marketing automation features Marketo lacks ] Read more Marketo user reviews on IT Central Station. This story, "Act-On vs. Hubspot vs. Marketo: 3 top marketing automation tools compared" was originally published by CIO. It’s becoming harder to find, but we’ll show you where you can get music for free without raising the... Which graphics card is best for your money? We test over a dozen AMD and Nvidia GPUs to help find the... If you're looking for a good time but don't have a dime to spare, these 16 free PC games will leave you... The answer to stress and over-connectedness is always to add more technology to the equation. This week roundup of new Mac Apps helps you remember your appointments, keep your e-mail private,... AMD is open to making a graphics processor for mobile devices based on its Radeon product line, but...

2016-03-15 13:51 CIO staff www.cio.com

94 Rumor: Razer Core graphics dock will cost $500 and ship in April Razer's Core external graphics add-on is one of the hottest new pieces of hardware to surface this year. The company hasn't revealed how much the external graphics enclosure will cost yet or when consumers can buy one, though. Now, we may have both those puzzle pieces. VentureBeat seems to have prematurely published an article (now cached by Google) with full details of the Core's price and release date. If the now- removed post is correct, the Core will arrive next month with a $500 price tag, or $400 when purchased with a Blade Stealth notebook. Combine the $1000-and-up price tag on Razer's Blade Stealth, the $400 (or $500) extra for the Core, and the price of a desktop graphics card, and this brave new world of plug-and-play graphics power may not be too affordable at first. Still, it's hard to deny the convenience of this setup for gamers who want a thin-and-light notebook on the go and a Core waiting at home when it's time to game. If other notebook makers follow Razer's lead, we may see vigorous competition in this market soon, too. For now, though, all we can do is wait and see if VentureBeat really spilled the beans.

2016-03-15 13:49 by Jeff techreport.com

95 AMD open to making graphics chips for mobile devices AMD hasn't truly said goodbye to mobile devices. The company is open to making a graphics processor for mobile devices based on its Radeon product line, but only in select circumstances, said Raja Koduri, senior vice president and chief architect of AMD's Radeon Technologies Group. AMD could make a mobile GPU as part of a partnership or a licensing deal, but otherwise has no active plans to build an end product for mobile devices, Koduri said this week. The company makes GPUs for PCs and embedded devices. AMD sold its mobile graphics division in 2009 to Qualcomm, which uses the technology in a mobile GPU called Adreno, an anagram of Radeon. Graphics chips are expensive and difficult to make, but AMD could make one as part of a large custom chip deal, potentially worth millions of dollars. AMD has been making custom chips for years as it looks to expand beyond PCs into adjacent product lines. AMD shipped more than 50 million custom chips in 2015, including chips for Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4 gaming consoles. Custom chip deals make up a growing part of AMD's revenue stream. Graphics processors can draw a lot of power and drain the battery of devices. AMD's GPUs can be turned into smaller cores and tweaked to consume less power, said Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research. AMD's low-power GPUs for embedded devices are capable of running 4K video, and the company could flip that architecture over to mobile devices. But finding success in the mobile GPU market can be difficult, as shown by Nvidia. Its power- hungry, high-end graphics cards didn't fly in mobile devices. Nvidia's Tegra chips -- which include a CPU and GPU -- are now included in just a handful of tablets. The graphics market is now ruled by Imagination, with its graphics chips used in Apple's iPhone and iPad, and ARM, with its Mali graphics used in Samsung's Galaxy handsets. Customers might consider AMD's mobile graphics in the event of radical technology improvements, McGregor said. Otherwise, AMD's decision to hang on until a partnership or licensing opportunity is a smart one, he added. "I don't think there are going to be too many takers," McGregor said.

2016-03-15 13:40 Agam Shah www.computerworld.com

96 The Week in Mac Apps: Keep your day streamlined with LightArrow's functional Organizer This week roundup of new Mac Apps helps you remember your appointments, keep your email private, improve your working habits, listen to iTunes the way your want, get to know your machine up close and personal, and much more. Jumpshare ( Mac App Store link ) gives you a sleek, easy-to-use interface to share your files with friends and colleagues. All you need to do is drop a dragged file on its menu icon; Jumpshare automatically uploads it to the cloud and copies a shareable link to it onto your pasteboard. In addition to files, the apps lets you compose and share notes, or take screenshots and screencasts that you can easily forward to your contacts via the app’s built-in email client. LightArrow’s LightArrow Organizer ( Mac App Store link ) gets you through your busy days by collecting all your calendars, projects, and documents in a single convenient location. With support for DropBox, Evernote, Twitter, and other popular online services, the app features a powerful daily agenda that gives you an at-a- glance of your schedule, and includes a comprehensive dashboard that can be customized to show the information that’s most relevant to you. Micromat’s MachineProfile ( Mac App Store link ) displays all relevant information about your Mac in a neatly organized window. The app displays details like the model name, processor, firmware, graphics card model, active boot drive, and much more. MachineProfile can also collect all this data into a shareable PDF or plain-text file—an especially handy tool if you need to contact customer support for a technical issue. Worried your emails may end up in the wrong hands? Roman Priebe’s Mynigma ( Mac App Store link ) lets you send an encrypted version of your messages to make sure only the intended recipient can read them. The app is an email client that supports your existing IMAP and STMP accounts, and works in the background using a secure algorithm to automatically encrypt the contents of your messages and attachments before they leave your Mac. Adam Rozynski’s $4 NepTunes ( Mac App Store link ) lets you integrate iTunes with your last.fm account, augmenting the former with all kinds of cool functionality and extra content. The app works alongside Apple Music, sports an offline mode to play your songs even when the Internet is not available and keeps a recent history log to access the last fifteen tracks played. Nevron Software’s $20 Nevron Calendar ( Mac App Store link ) lets you keep all your appointments and tasks in a dedicated calendar that can be customized to suit your needs. With Nevron Calendar , you can group reminders according to arbitrary criteria, set up recurring events, and use different color options to quickly highlight important items. The app comes with built-in support iCal, Google Calendar, and Microsoft Outlook, and is compatible with most common calendar formats. Codegestalt’s $5 Posture Coach ( Mac App Store link ) helps you manage the stress of a long workday by reminding you to take periodic breaks to stretch and relax your muscles. The app features twenty exercises designed to engage different parts of your body, and comes with a scheduling tool that can be set up to match your work habits to cause minimal disruption. Yi Lin Productions’ $15 Savings ( Mac App Store link ) helps you track all your revenues and expenses with a powerful but easy-to-use interface. With Savings , you can set up bill reminders to avoid missing payments, automatically reconcile your records with your bank statements, and creates budgets with realistic goals that reflect your current financial outlook. Eltima Software’s $10 Uplet ( Mac App Store link ) lets you upload entire batches of photos to your Instagram account with a few clicks of your mouse. Before posting your pictures, Uplet allows you to crop, resize, or rotate them, and even add captions with emojis for a more personal touch.

2016-03-15 13:37 Marco Tabini www.macworld.com

97 Lyft, GM start short-term car rental program, aim for self- driving car network General Motors today announced the launch of a short-term vehicle rental program exclusive to the Lyft ride-sharing service. The Express Drive rental program will make cars available to Lyft drivers starting at $99, a price that includes insurance and vehicle maintenance. GM is also developing autonomous vehicles and Lyft has developed software to automate ride matching, routing and payments. Together, the companies plan to develop an integrated network of on-demand autonomous vehicles. The new program comes just two months after GM struck a strategic partnership with Lyft to develop autonomous vehicles and invested $500 million as part of Lyft's $1 billion Series F funding round. Along with the alliance with Lyft, GM over the past two months also formed Maven -- its personal mobility brand for car-sharing fleets in many U. S. cities. "We see the future of personal mobility as connected, seamless and autonomous," GM president Dan Ammann said in a statement. "With GM and Lyft working together, we believe we can successfully implement this vision more rapidly. " Maven, GM's personal mobility brand for car-sharing, allows customers to use smartphone and keyless integration with the vehicle. Maven customers use the app to search for and reserve a vehicle by location or car type and unlock the vehicle. The app also enables remote functions such as starting, heating or cooling and more. More than 400 million people will rely on robotic car sharing by 2030, according to a new report by ABI Research. Robotic cars, like Google's in-house pod car, are completely autonomous. Google's pod car doesn't even have a steering wheel; it uses technology such as exterior cameras to see lanes and LIDAR, a type of radar, which uses lasers to illuminate objects around the car. Last week, GM announced that it's acquiring Cruise Automation for that firm's deep software talent and rapid development capability -- a move designed to further accelerate GM's development of autonomous vehicle technology. "This acquisition announcement clearly shows that GM is serious about developing the technology and controlling its own path to self-driving and driverless vehicles," said Egil Juliussen, research director for IHS Automotive. While GM did not disclose the financial details of the Cruise acquisition, reports estimated the purchase to be in the $1 billion range. The new Express Drive begins later this month in Chicago and will soon roll out to additional cities, including Boston, Washington D. C., Baltimore and others. With Express Drive, drivers who complete 65 rides a week in Chicago will be able to access a vehicle at no weekly rental cost. In addition to affordability, Express Drive offers flexible terms for drivers who can rent cars on a weekly basis for up to eight weeks at a time. GM said there's a "definite need for access to high-quality GM cars for Lyft. "In Chicago alone, there were 60,000 people who applied to drive on the Lyft platform, but did not have a car that qualified," Lyft said in a statement. "Express Drive directly addresses this need for millions of Americans who do not have access to a qualifying vehicle. " In Chicago, Express Drive will provide access to Chevrolet Equinox crossovers equipped with OnStar, additional connectivity features as well as ample cargo space and flexible seating for up to five, according to Lyft. "Launching Express Drive is another way we treat drivers better, in addition to Power Driver Bonus, tips and same day payouts," Lyft president and co-founder John Zimmer said in a statement. "We're making sure everyone who wants to be a Lyft driver can be, by providing ultimate flexibility at incredible rates. "

2016-03-15 13:23 Lucas Mearian www.itworld.com

98 AlphaGo wins last match of Go, Amazon wants to patent paying by selfie, and CloudBees’ new Jenkins certification— news digest: March 15, 2016 The five matches between champion Go player Lee Sedol and Google’s artificial intelligence program Alpha has come to a close. AlphaGo came out on top, beating the 9-dan professional player four times. The AP noted that this game was thought to be unbeatable by a computer. The head of the DeepMind team, Demis Hassabis, said that Sedol stretched AlphaGo to its limits, and now the team can use the mistakes and successes from the matches to further improve AI. According to NPR , Sedol took the loss personally, and didn’t want people to think this means a human can never beat AlphaGo. “I don’t know what to say,” Sedol said, according to NPR. “I kind of felt powerless.” The matches are available to watch on YouTube. Take a selfie, make a purchase at Amazon Amazon has recently filed a patent application for a process that would allow shoppers to make a purchase by taking a photo and or video of themselves rather than inputting their account password. The application is related to a separate patent Amazon holds for a technology that allows a device to authenticate a user via a photo or video. This is not necessary to complete a transaction, reported Re/code. The current application is designed to make it safe for shoppers to buy something online by relying on images of themselves instead of typing in a password. Under the scenario in the patent application, a phone or computer “can prompt the user to perform certain actions, motions or gestures, such as to smile, blink, or tilt his or her head,” reported Re/code.

2016-03-15 13:13 Madison Moore sdtimes.com

99 99 Crytek reveals pay-what-you-want CryEngine V, new virtual reality benchmarking tool A few weeks ago, Amazon announced it had co-opted Crytek’s CryEngine for its new Lumberyard engine —and then released it completely free. Free to download. Free to use. Free from royalties. That naturally left us wondering where that left Crytek and CryEngine proper. Now we know. Today, Crytek announced CryEngine V. But—surprisingly—it’s also royalty-free. Instead of making money on the back end like Unity and Unreal , Crytek’s adopted a “Pay What You Want” system. In other words, after you make your money on a game, Crytek’s wagering that you’ll send some money its way. “We hope you’ll think of us,” said Crytek’s Frank Vitz, Creative Director on CryEngine. Crytek’s also (finally) created an asset marketplace to help out those same indie developers. Again, it’s late to the party on this one as Unity started that trend years ago, but it might bring in some people who were previously intimidated by CryEngine. Big changes! Now we just wait to see whether it’s enough to save what seems like a struggling company. CryEngine’s always been a stunning bit of technology, but they’ll need to win back developers (and rely on their generosity) if we’re going to see a CryEngine VI.

2016-03-15 13:11 Hayden Dingman www.pcworld.com

100 Microsoft shows how HoloLens Actiongrams can have you watching TV with a zombie pal Yes, only developers have access to the Microsoft HoloLens, and there's no telling when the augmented reality headset will be available to consumers. But that hasn’t stopped Microsoft from showing off the merits of its Actiongram app for the HoloLens. Actiongrams are what Microsoft calls “motion-reality captures,” or video that your HoloLens records of a real-life scene—but with some virtual objects interjected into that scene. Microsoft posted several examples of what a HoloLens Actiongram could look like, from something like a quick, fun video with a dog...... to something more akin to a short movie. (This is probably the cleverest of the four examples that Microsoft posted today .) Really, who doesn’t like a clueless Teddy Roosevelt with the emotional maturity of a five-year-old? Microsoft said it has built a virtual holographic studio where it has imported different actors, characters, objects, and creatures that can be captured as holograms. We’ve already seen a few: “Ned,” the zombie at the top of the screen, Teddy Roosevelt, a dinosaur, and more. From the videos, it appears that there’s a pretty broad range of behavior these avatars can display, though it’s unclear whether you’ll be able to actually “control” them. If there’s anything that should give you pause, though, it’s a comment made by a Microsoft HoloLens employee that an Actiongram project could be produced in an “afternoon.” That implies a greater time commitment than most consumers seem interested in—given the trend toward video that's produced and shared within minutes. Especially if we're talking about something that will be watched once or twice or discarded. (In fact, you need look no further than Microsoft’s own Project Spark game-creation tool for an unfortunate example of a creative platform that has gone largely ignored. It went down for several days recently, and speculation was that Microsoft was preparing to kill Project Spark as part of a recent studio purge. Microsoft declined to comment. At press time, it’s alive.) Like this one.

2016-03-15 13:09 Mark Hachman www.pcworld.com

Total 100 articles. Created at 2016-03-16 06:04