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49 articles, 2016-04-26 06:00 1 News News for the Open Source Professional 2016-04-26 06:00 480Bytes www.linux.com 2 FileHippo News - powered by FeedBurner We’ve all been there: “I gotta look up that guy’s phone number from my Facebook messages for this report.” Three hours and eighty... 2016-04-25 23:33 21KB feeds2.feedburner.com 3 Tech leader to establish roots at uCity Square: Microsoft Innovation Center comes to Philadelphia PHILADELPHIA — (April 4, 2016) — A new Microsoft Innovation Center (MIC) will open to the public at uCity Square... 2016-04-25 23:40 7KB news.microsoft.com 4 Your Chromebook may be about to get a million extra apps according to Reddit Eagle-eyed Redditor spots an option to enable Android apps buried in the Chromebook settings. 2016-04-26 00:00 2KB www.pcauthority.com.au 5 Microsoft announces cloud services, developer tools and productivity extensions for every developer SAN FRANCISCO — March 31, 2016 — Thursday at Build 2016, Scott Guthrie, executive vice president of the Cloud and Enterprise Group... 2016-04-26 02:38 6KB news.microsoft.com 6 Steam signs deal with Lionsgate to offer 'Hunger Games', 'Saw' and dozens more movies Steam is best known as a gaming platform, but Valve is expanding its entertainment line-up through a partnership with Lionsgate, offering over 100 movies for rental, including some major franchises. 2016-04-25 22:22 2KB feedproxy.google.com 7 Microsoft announces quarterly earnings release date REDMOND, Wash. — April 8, 2016 — Microsoft Corp... 2016-04-25 17:40 1KB news.microsoft.com 8 Theranos continuously failed to comply with CMS on several counts, documents show We now know the full extent of the concern over compliance issues at Theranos' Newark, California lab thanks to new documents TechCrunch has obtained under.. 2016-04-25 20:16 3KB feedproxy.google.com 9 Clarkson, Hammond and May to launch DriveTribe motoring content platform In an age when completely driverless cars (probably electric) seem to be only just around the corner, the idea of starting a brand new online community aimed.. 2016-04-25 20:16 6KB feedproxy.google.com 10 Have we seen the last of the All Writs Act in the encryption fight? A judge today officially put an end to the fight between the Justice Department and Apple over unlocking the iPhone of a New York man convicted.. 2016-04-25 20:16 5KB feedproxy.google.com 11 Honda and Volvo add more electrification Honda announced it's going to expand its Clarity line to include an all-electric version and a plug-in hybrid next year. The latest version of the Honda.. 2016-04-25 20:16 2KB feedproxy.google.com

12 Female Founders, apply now for Include Office Hours with BBG Ventures It's happening! Include Office Hours are coming to New York City. On Friday May 6 from 5- 7 p.m., Susan Lyne and Nisha Dua of BBG Ventures will join TechCrunch.. 2016-04-25 20:16 3KB feedproxy.google.com 13 Top kids app maker Toca Boca sells to Spin Master, plans to launch subscription video service and toys One of the world's largest children's mobile app makers, Toca Boca, whose studios have produced apps totalling over 140 million downloads, has been acquired... 2016-04-25 20:16 5KB feedproxy.google.com 14 OpenStack Foundation launches its first cloud admin certification exams to combat talent shortage It's no secret that it's still hard to find good tech talent, and that's definitely the case for the kind of complex and highly specialized skill set it takes.. 2016-04-25 20:16 1KB feedproxy.google.com 15 Want to increase your chances with IVF? Make more money or become a teacher says FertilityIQ Money and teaching might seem at odds with one another but a study out from the Yelp for fertility treatments startup FertilityIQ found both to be the best.. 2016-04-25 20:16 3KB feedproxy.google.com 16 Yik Yak tries to make a comeback with launch of private chat Earlier this month, TechCrunch reported that Yik Yak would soon be introducing a new feature designed to help the floundering app boost its user retention.. 2016-04-25 20:16 3KB feedproxy.google.com 17 The driverless truck is coming, and it’s going to automate millions of jobs A convoy of self-driving trucks recently drove across Europe and arrived at the Port of Rotterdam. No technology will automate away more jobs -- or drive more.. 2016-04-25 20:16 4KB feedproxy.google.com 18 Naya Health raises $3.9 million to build a better breast pump Redwood City-based Naya Health has raised $3.9 million in seed funding to make a breast pump that is sleeker, quieter and more comfortable for moms than the.. 2016-04-25 20:16 3KB feedproxy.google.com 19 Goldman Sachs launches GS Bank, an Internet bank with a $1 minimum deposit Goldman Sachs has traditionally functioned like a run-of-the-mill investment bank. Minimums to open an account were in the range of $10 million, and returns.. 2016-04-25 20:16 2KB feedproxy.google.com 20 Hands on with SanDisk’s iPhone storage-expanding flash drive The iXpand is an odd thing to behold, a strange Frankensteinian amalgam of adapters fused together and folded over for good measure. It’s another.. 2016-04-25 20:16 3KB feedproxy.google.com 21 Microsoft to release Skype for Business Public Preview 1 for Mac "real soon now" Microsoft has shared its planned release timeline for Skype for Business for Mac, which will eventually replace its ageing Lync for Mac 2011 client when it officially launches this summer. 2016-04-25 20:06 2KB feedproxy.google.com

22 Mozilla gives WebAssembly a parallelism boost By using parallelization in its Firefox browser, the company has reduced startup times 2016-04-25 20:00 3KB www.computerworld.com.au 23 This HD footage of New York City was captured in 1993 Quality is one of many characteristics that can be used to gauge a rough estimate of when a piece of media was captured. In rare instances, like the clip above, quality can be deceiving. 2016-04-25 19:15 1KB www.techspot.com 24 AMD's Radeon Software 16.4.2 drivers fully support external graphics cards If you've got an AMD Radeon graphics card, now is the time to update your drivers: the company has launched version 16.4.2 that includes performance improvements and full support for Xconnect technology. 2016-04-25 18:30 2KB www.techspot.com 25 Qualcomm says that Quick Charge and USB Type-C are 'compatible' Qualcomm has been under fire lately, as the firm has been called out for Quick Charge not complying with the USB Type-C standard. The company has stated that while it's not compliant, it is safe. 2016-04-25 18:28 1KB feedproxy.google.com 26 Reporting abuse on Twitter just got a lot more efficient Twitter has for several years now offered a way to report abuse on its platform but doing so hasn’t always been easy or efficient. On Monday, the microblogging platform addressed the latter shortcoming by condensing the number of steps needed… 2016-04-25 17:45 2KB www.techspot.com 27 Raspberry Pi camera module upgraded, now packs Sony image sensor The Raspberry Pi Foundation on Monday announced a pair of new camera accessories for its popular single-board computers. 2016-04-25 17:00 1KB www.techspot.com 28 AMD preparing to vacate Sunnyvale headquarters, sources say Those in and around Silicon Valley are no doubt familiar with the massive white campus at 1090 E. Duane Ave., otherwise known as the headquarters of Advanced Micro Devices. 2016-04-25 16:15 2KB www.techspot.com 29 John Romero needs your help to fund Blackroom After releasing the first new Doom map in more than 20 years, id Software co-founder John Romero is now focused on creating the first game from his new studio Night Work Games. 2016-04-25 15:30 2KB www.techspot.com 30 VAIO's high-end, aluminum-bodied Windows 10 Mobile handset, the Phone Biz, is now on sale VAIO unveiled the Phone Biz back in February, and now the high-end Windows 10 Mobile handset is available to buy - although it's priced 18% higher than the company originally announced. 2016-04-25 15:08 1KB feedproxy.google.com 31 Wireless receiver lets you use a DualShock 4 controller with your original NES If you’re a retro gaming fan then you’re well aware of how frustrating it can be to have someone (or maybe even a pet) trip over your controller wire. At best, it unplugs the controller but more often than not,… 2016-04-25 14:45 2KB www.techspot.com

32 Melissa Data and Pentaho make Hadoop data quality achievable Close Integration Streamlines Data Quality Operations in the Data Center; Melissa Data Webinar Demonstrates Scalability to Billions of Records Across the Hadoop Cluster 2016-04-25 14:42 2KB sdtimes.com 33 Sirin Labs is launching a luxury smartphone with military- grade security next month for $15,000 How much would you pay for what could be the most secure, advanced commercial smartphone in the world? British-Israeli startup Sirin Labs thinks that users would be willing to spend up to $15,000 for a mobile device that mixes advanced… 2016-04-25 14:00 3KB www.techspot.com 34 Alpha Software announces Alpha Anywhere V4: Rapid mobile app development without limits Industry’s Top-Rated Rapid Mobile App Development & Deployment Environment Adds Speed, Mobile Optimized Forms, Enhanced Offline Capabilities, Powerful Device Features for Enterprise Field Apps 2016-04-25 13:14 4KB sdtimes.com 35 Microsoft's Word Flow keyboard is now available to everyone on iOS After being in beta for a number of months, Microsoft's Word Flow - considered to be among the best mobile keyboards, and originally developed for Windows Phone 8.1 - is now available on iOS. 2016-04-25 12:29 1KB feedproxy.google.com 36 Download ready-to-use Linux virtual machines from OSBoxes VirtualBox is a great tool for trying out some new Linux distro, but you’ll usually have to spend a while finding a download and setting up your VM and operating system, first. VirtualBox is a great tool for trying out some new Linux distro, but you’ll... 2016-04-25 12:15 1KB feeds.betanews.com 37 Globalscape delivers faster enterprise file transfers With increased cloud usage and more demand for remote working, the ability to move large files around efficiently has become more and more important. With increased cloud usage and more demand for remote working, the ability to move large files around efficiently has become more and more... 2016-04-25 11:17 3KB feeds.betanews.com 38 Restrict your PC to run only specific apps with Secure Lockdown Secure Lockdown ($14.95-$29.95) is a quick and easy way to turn your computer into a Secure Lockdown ($14.95-$29.95) is a quick and easy way to turn your computer into a “kiosk PC”, a system which... 2016-04-25 11:06 2KB feeds.betanews.com 39 IoT Security Will Reach $840 Million By 2020, Gartner Finds The IoT security market will hit its stride in 2020, according to Gartner, driven by IoT growth in energy management, the automotive industry, consumer applications, and an increase in malware attacks. 2016-04-25 11:05 4KB www.informationweek.com 40 Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx wants YouTube to pay artists more royalties YouTube is not paying artists enough in royalties for music videos, and Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx has had enough. He says that the Google-owned video site pays just a fraction of the likes of Apple and Spotify. YouTube is not paying artists enough in royalties... 2016-04-25 11:03 1KB feeds.betanews.com 41 Why DDoS is far from dead Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks that are carried out by a botnet (a network of compromised computers) to overwhelm the processing power of the victim computer, effectively taking it out of commission, have been around for a while. Distributed Denial of Service... 2016-04-25 11:01 3KB feeds.betanews.com

42 Elon Musk: Tesla self-driving cars "almost twice as good" as human drivers If you use a Tesla's self-driving feature, you're 50% less likely to get into an accident according to the company's founder, Elon Musk. If true, this could pave the way for autonomous vehicles. 2016-04-25 10:16 2KB feedproxy.google.com 43 A regsvr32 hack is all it takes to bypass Windows' AppLocker security A security researcher has discovered a way to get around Windows' AppLocker security system. Casey Smith found that it was possible to use Regsvr32 to call up a remotely hosted file that could be used to run any application -- malicious or otherwise --... 2016-04-25 10:01 1KB feeds.betanews.com 44 Malvertising attack silently infects old Android devices with ransomware The Web-based malware attack uses Towelroot and a Hacking Team exploit to compromise devices running old versions of Android 2016-04-25 09:36 4KB www.infoworld.com 45 New Windows 10 updates causing massive problems for some users One of the big changes Microsoft introduced in Windows 10 was mandatory updates. It’s easy to see why the software giant believed this was a good idea -- reducing the number of unpatched systems is great news for everyone -- but it does mean when... 2016-04-25 09:25 1KB feeds.betanews.com 46 Commercial notebook shipments return to growth Commercial notebook shipments have returned to growth in the first quarter of 2016, new figures by market analysts IDC say. New form factors, guided by the ever increasing desire for mobility, aided by the new Windows 10 operating system and the Skylake processors were key drivers... 2016-04-25 09:15 2KB feeds.betanews.com 47 Microsoft offering a free Lumia 950 when you purchase the Lumia 950XL [Update] Microsoft has a very impressive deal for its customers. Those that decide to buy a Lumia 950XL will get the smaller Lumia 950 for free. This is for unlocked, no-contract devices. 2016-04-25 07:40 2KB feedproxy.google.com 48 10 Big Data Books To Boost Your Career People with big data and data science skills are some of the most sought after professionals because demand is outstripping supply. Here are 10 books that can help you learn everything about the emerging field and the tools you will need to conquer it. 2016-04-25 07:06 2KB www.informationweek.com 49 Xiaomi Mi Max launch set for May 10, specs and teaser appear online [Update] A teaser of the upcoming Mi Max phablet from Xiaomi has been posted in the company's official forums, and the device is slated to launch on 10th of May. 2016-04-25 06:20 1KB feedproxy.google.com Articles

49 articles, 2016-04-26 06:00

1 News Brought to you by The Linux Foundation is a non-profit consortium enabling collaboration and innovation through an open source development model. Learn More © 2016 The Linux Foundation 2016-04-26 06:00 www.linux

2 FileHippo News - powered by FeedBurner We’ve all been there: “I gotta look up that guy’s phone number from my Facebook messages for this report.” Three hours and eighty-two cat videos later–along with a heated argument over the new Star Wars trailer in the comments section of your brother-in-law’s post, one that led to soapboxing on the unnecessary aggression towards women who cosplay at conventions–you don’t have the guy’s phone number and your report isn’t finished. The above scenario is part of the blessing and the curse of social media. Despite dire warnings that technology is turning us all into hermits, the very addictive nature of social media proves the opposite is true. We have a desperate need to look at pictures of our college roommate’s lunch, say something supportive on our neighbor’s weight loss update, and keep tabs on the Earth Day celebration going on at the local elementary school (even if we don’t actually have children). But a new Chrome plugin has launched, one that’s designed to help you use social media wisely while still avoiding the pitfall of getting pulled into an endless loop of wasted time. Called Focusbook , it works in a way that’s reminiscent of an award-winning social media filtering app aimed at preventing cyberbullying called ReThink. While Rethink made users pause and reconsider their words based on keyword triggering, Focusbook lets you set up individualized parameters for why you’re on Facebook in the first place, then gently (and sometimes not-so- gently) reminds you that you’ve got work to do. Unfortunately, as TechCrunch ‘s Jon Russell points out, “Focusbook won’t cure everyone — there’s still Facebook’s mobile apps and their attention-grabbing notifications — but it might make you aware just how much time the social network eats up.” Of course, you can ignore Focusbook’s warning system just as easily as you can ignore the suspicious looks from the boss, too. Until you develop the ingrained sense of self-control that keeps you from clicking on every headline, plugins and newsfeed blockers are here to help. The post Chrome Plugin, Focusbook, Helps You Avoid Social Media Drain appeared first on FileHippo News . You could be mistaken when you look at the official Trello Blog post for thinking the real news is that their cartoon husky Taco has learned to pilot a plane in high orbit, if you just look at the picture that accompanies the news. This however is far from the truth. No, the real story here is the fact that the people at Trello have effectively crowdsourced the browser based popular project management tool into a truly international WebApp. Trello is a project management tool that allows people working on projects to do so in a collaborative fashion and communicate, share and upload files that anyone with access to a specific work board, can use. Up until now however, frequent users of Trello will of course be more than familiar with Taco, using him as they have to handle language translations. For those who don’t, Taco is effectively the Trello equivalent of the old Microsoft Office Help Paper-Clip, but crucially, one that actually does a pretty good job. But in their ongoing efforts to increase Trello’s user base and usability across language barriers, over 500 ordinary everyday users of Trello recently volunteered their time to crowdsource the new languages. Over a 4 month time period, 47,000 words were translated into 16 new languages. This means that in less than half a year, Trello has gone from supporting 4 languages, into 20. And that’s not bad going. The result of all that work and effort on behalf of people who gave up their time now means that Trello, that at the start of 2016 only supported Portuguese, French, Spanish, German, and well, obviously, English, now has an ability to help people plan and work on their projects in the following languages: Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Russian, Polish, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Czech, Dutch, Italian, Turkish, Thai, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, and Vietnamese. But it’s not like Trello automatically knows if you are from Norway or Japan. New and current users of Trello will still have to change their language settings themselves to get the most out of the project tool. Fortunately, it’s rather easy to do, and the people at Trello have even produced a simple guide on how to do it. But there are some caveats users in the new languages should be aware of. As the Trello blog itself says: “Since real, live people did 100% of the translations, you might see an error or two. Hey, everyone makes mistakes. Please let us know if you see something that doesn’t look quite right by emailing us at [email protected] .” The post Trello Crowdsources Its Way To 20 Languages appeared first on FileHippo News . A federal court judge has sentenced the SpyEye malware creators to almost 30 years behind bars for their crimes. The pair of cybercriminals were found guilty of developing the software and distributing the resulting malware to anyone willing to pay for it. They were also found guilty of using the malware they designed to steal online funds themselves. The SpyEye software has widely been held responsible for huge losses for online financial service businesses across the globe. The news was announced by the US Department of Justice on Wednesday. 27-year-old Russian, Aleksandr Panin, was sentenced to spend nine and a half years in jail, while his hacker-in-arms, Algerian national,Hamza Bendellad, also 27, is set to serve 15 years for his part in the crimes. SpyEye was effectively nothing more than a sophisticated Trojan virus whose sole aim was to gain access to and steal sensitive sensitive financial information from unsuspecting users such as bank account numbers and credit card information, as well as duping people into unveiling pin numbers and logon details. Infected machines could be used to send on further malware and also forward on mountains of spam mail. At its height, SpyEye was reported as having infected more than 50 million computers worldwide. The DOJ stated that the damage inflicted by the fallout from SpyEye was estimated at being around 1 billion dollars in terms of financial cost to banks globally US attorney, John Horn said: “It is difficult to overstate the significance of this case, not only in terms of bringing two prolific computer hackers to justice, but also in disrupting and preventing immeasurable financial losses to individuals and the financial industry around the world.” The FBI were aided in their investigation by some rather notable tech companies, including Microsoft, Trend Micro, and several international police forces. The post International SpyEye Bank Hackers Receive Lengthy Jail Sentences appeared first on FileHippo News . In an effort to combat identity theft, financial fraud, and other related crimes, the US has begun moving towards the EMV chip system for credit card payments that Europe has had in place for nearly a decade. The new cards have already begun to replace old magnetic stripe cards, but the new regulations that have tagged along with them have left retailers and merchants frustrated. With magnetic stripe cards, the responsibility for fraud has fallen to the issuing banks, a vast improvement over the days when consumers themselves had to fight bankruptcy and struggle to clear their good names and their good credit. But under the chip card system, it’s the merchants who are responsible for the loss if a card is used fraudulently, meaning they had to scramble to not only update all of their point-of-sale credit card readers–at their own cost–but also endure a lengthy wait to have those POS systems certified as compliant. That was aggravating enough, but there’s a different reality to using a chip card: consumers simply aren’t used to it, either to the process of “dipping” the card (inserting it into the chip reader) instead of “swiping” it through the magnetic reader, or to the irritating delay brought on by waiting for the card reader to process the chip. One study by JDA Software Group found that the average dip time is eight to twelve seconds , a bizarrely long wait when customers are used to swiping and moving on. Whether out of habit or frustration, consumers who have chip cards are often still opting to swipe them instead of dip them, meaning merchants will foot the bill for any criminal activity. Visa is now working on a software update that will address that, reducing the delay at the cash register to as little as two seconds. More importantly, though, is the lack of delay this will mean for merchants, who will not be required to recertify their dip POS systems. The post Dip vs Swipe: Chip Credit Cards Get Software Update appeared first on FileHippo News . “Today, we’re announcing the end of Chrome’s support for Windows XP, as well as Windows Vista, and Mac OS X 10.6, 10.7, and 10.8, since these platforms are no longer actively supported by Microsoft and Apple. Starting April 2 016, Chrome will continue to function on these platforms but will no longer receive updates and security fixes.” The end of support for Windows XP was always inevitable but for some people for whom Windows XP is still the last word in operating systems, it may well have come as a bit of a hammer blow, as Chrome still allowed a certain degree of security on the internet for the 15- year-old OS. But it isn’t like XP was being singled out. In much the same way that Microsoft are no longer supporting Internet Explorer anymore, Windows Vista, and older versions of OS X have also lost official support from the internet giant as well. Google’s decision to continue to support XP long after Microsoft had cast it aside was partly down to the sheer size of XP’s user base, which even now still numbers in the millions. But now even they are encouraging people still using the 15-year-old OS to upgrade. “If you are still on one of these unsupported platforms, we encourage you to move to a newer operating system to ensure that you continue to receive the latest Chrome versions and features.” While the end of support for XP may come as a bombshell for some, Google had signaled their intention to kill it off back in November. Of course, Chrome will continue to work as normal on any of the above listed systems, but the it will no longer receive security updates or new features, meaning that if security vulnerabilities or exploits are found, there won’t be a fix coming down the road. Chrome 50, the new version of the browser, comes with new support for push notifications and a nifty new feature that allows preloading of webpages to speed up browsing. As an aside, Google also listed 20 security fixes as part of it latest update. The post Chrome Ends Support For Windows XP And Vista appeared first on FileHippo News . The technology and transportation industries were rocked last fall when German automaker Volkswagen–parent company to several auto brands, including Audi, Porsche, Skoda and Seat–was caught using proprietary software that would “turn off” the emissions standards on their diesel models if the vehicle’s system detected an electronic test. That essentially meant a fully-automated cheat that let the automaker meet or exceed government standards for vehicle emissions. To date, VW has admitted to installing this software on 11 million cars, which has resulted in sanctions, lawsuits, and talk of criminal penalties for the parties involved. But further investigations into the scandal have uncovered an even more alarming fact about the software: it’s been around for years… almost seventeen years, in fact. It turns out that Audi developed this software in 1999 for its parent company, but at the time it was simply a way to turn off certain engine functions without a specified reason (like the need to detect some kind of scanning and defeat it). According to further news coming out in a report later today, VW executives weren’t concerned with the software until years later when their cars were incapable of meeting the emissions restrictions. The timeline seems to show that VW started installing the Audi-made software in 2005, which could result in far more vehicles than the 11 million that executives have originally admitted to. Of course, Volkwagen officials aren’t talking, claiming the need for silence until all litigation is resolved. Apart from the individual lawsuits, the company also faces the expense of reaching an agreement on what to do about the vehicles that are already on the roads and yet do not meet various government restrictions on how much damage they’re allowed to do to the environment. The post VW’s Emissions Cheating Software Is Nothing New appeared first on FileHippo News . The Zero Day Initiative, a group whose function is to seek out brand-new vulnerabilities in software and report those back to the publisher, announced an alarming find last week. ZDI uncovered two security flaws in Apple’s QuickTime software, then reported those to Apple. The resulting response was something along the lines of, “Oh well, we’re dumping QuickTime anyway.” That’s a serious oversimplification of what was probably a really well-thought out response from their tech and PR departments, but that was the gist of it. Originally an Apple computer application, QuickTime powers multimedia content. A Windows download came along later, ostensibly to reach those users who were PC devotees when it came to computing, but Apple product fans when it came to their mobile devices. QuickTime allowed that compatibility between video content on your iPhone and redirecting it through your PC, for example. There is no evidence yet that anyone has used these two newly discovered vulnerabilities in a malicious way, but experts aren’t taking any chances. ZDI has instructed Windows users to delete QuickTime, as has the US federal government. According to a statement from the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team , “Computer systems running unsupported software are exposed to elevated cybersecurity dangers, such as increased risks of malicious attacks or electronic data loss. Exploitation of QuickTime for Windows vulnerabilities could allow remote attackers to take control of affected systems.” The document continued, “Computers running QuickTime for Windows will continue to work after support ends. However, using unsupported software may increase the risks from viruses and other security threats. Potential negative consequences include loss of confidentiality, integrity, or availability of data, as well as damage to system resources or business assets. The only mitigation available is to uninstall QuickTime for Windows.” Apple has not yet announced when it will end compatibility for QuickTime altogether; this news only points to the lack of future updates. The post Apple Ceases Updates To QuickTime For Windows appeared first on FileHippo News . If the FBI’s debacle involving an iPhone 5 has shown us anything, it’s the tech users do value their privacy. The resentment surrounding the court case to compel Apple to create a backdoor into a phone–a case that cost the taxpayers and Apple a lot of money in legal fees, and was intended to cause Apple to foot the bill for paying its engineers to create this magical security flaw–demonstrated consumers’ views on privacy rather nicely. So it’s no surprise that more and more communication platforms are rolling out end-to-end encryption, meaning their clients’ texts, calls, and even group chats can now be more secure, from start to finish. WhatsApp launched its encryption within days of the FBI declaring “thanks for not helping us, Apple, but we found some foreign hackers to do it.” The ultra-popular messaging and productivity app–which probably has more businesspeople collaborating on sensitive projects that require security than criminals plotting to break the law via a group text–has always offered a level of security during the sending of the message, but their end-to-end rollout means encryption at both the send and the receive. This helps thwart the old work-around of having the user’s cellular company turn over any messages that were sent or received through their servers. Now, Viber has also unveiled its own end-to-end encryption in four of its top markets, also home to its research and development centers, to offer its 700+ million users the best security they can provide. In Viber’s case, the goals of the encryption are a little more targeted to specific types of users, as the feature offers a color-coded system of protection levels, red through green. Viber’s model takes one huge thing into consideration, and that’s the shared device, an understandable concern considering that many of the platforms users are in what the tech industry still considers to be “emerging” markets. With this encryption, a use can be more aware that he may be talking to his girlfriend’s six-year-old or his boss’ wife on their shared Viber account, and might want to consider his words carefully. While it’s easy to think WhatsApp, Viber, and other similar platforms have filled the privacy need as a response to recent data security and spying activity, end-to-end encryption is something that both companies have been working on for quite some time. The post Viber Latest Messaging Platform To Add Encryption appeared first on FileHippo News . In a brief written explanation , the current justices decreed that the appeal would not be followed up on. The order concludes an 11-year battle between the tech giant and the publishing industry. The disagreement between the two groups centers around the outcome of a decision made by the the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals last June that stated that it was legal to scan books if you don’t own the copyright. The Authors Guild originally sued Google back in the early 2000s claiming that Google’s policy of showing search results from digitally scanned books infringed on publishers copyrights, even though the search results only showed snippets of the works. The guild had argued that Google Books provided a free substitute for their work, and that the revenue Google earned from ancillary advertising affected them negatively in financial returns. If Google had lost, they would probably have been facing billions of dollars in damages claims from authors. Not all the publications scanned by Google are in question however. Books that are no longer under copyright restrictions are free in their entirety. This however does not affect the millions of more recent titles that are still under copyright protection. The Supreme Court did not accept that Google’s book scanning undermined the ability of authors to earn money from their work. The writers guild said in a statement Monday, that the lost appeal was a “colossal” loss. Google has scanned more than 20 million books since 2004 when it struck an agreement with several big research libraries to digitally copy their collections. The post US Supreme Court Rules in Google’s Favor After Decade+ Legal Fight With Authors appeared first on FileHippo News . As any regular reader of our news section here at FileHippo can’t but have failed to have noticed over the last 6 weeks, the ongoing legal feud between Apple and the FBI has been an omnipresent story that for a long time felt like it would go and on and on and on and on. Apple’s steadfast refusal to comply with the US government’s order to unlock the San Bernadino terrorist iPhone sparked off a massive debate in the tech world about privacy, the rights of the individual and personal encryption. But now the people at WhatsApp have added in built default end-to-end encryption for all of its messages. If anyone was still had any doubt as to what side of the fence the company was building its house on, they just got their answer. “Recently there has been a lot of discussion about encrypted services and the work of law enforcement,” the company said in a statement on their website. “While we recognize the important work of law enforcement in keeping people safe, efforts to weaken encryption risk exposing people’s information to abuse from cyber criminals, hackers, and rogue states.” The move to end-to-end encryption for all WhatsApp users now means that even if the tech messaging firm wanted to hand over information to a legal authority, it can’t. As part of the announcement, the post on the WhatsApp website says: “The idea is simple: when you send a message, the only person who can read it is the person or group chat that you send that message to. No one can see inside that message. Not cybercriminals. Not hackers. Not oppressive regimes. Not even us. End-to-end encryption helps make communication via WhatsApp private – sort of like a face-to-face conversation.” WhatsApp is one of the few free communication platforms that now provides full end-to-end encryption that is switch on by default for everything WhatsApp related. The company also said that they fully expect encryption to ‘ultimately represent the future of personal communication. ’ The post WhatsApp Switches On Encryption For A Billion Users appeared first on FileHippo News . 2016-04-25 23:33 feeds2.feedburner

3 Tech leader to establish roots at uCity Square: Microsoft Innovation Center comes to Philadelphia PHILADELPHIA — (April 4, 2016) — A new Microsoft Innovation Center (MIC) will open to the public at uCity Square in Philadelphia this summer. The MIC, which is the result of a collaboration between Microsoft Corp., SeventySix Capital, the University City Science Center and Wexford Science & Technology, will be the first in the region and the third in the U. S., with other locations in Atlanta and Miami. The Innovation Center complements and enhances Microsoft’s regional presence, which includes an office in Malvern and a Microsoft Store at King of Prussia Mall. Currently there are over 350 Microsoft employees in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Located on the ground floor of the Science Center’s corporate headquarters at 3711 Market Street, the MIC will be equipped with the latest Microsoft technology. Through a combination of programming and outreach activities, Microsoft – working closely with the Science Center and SeventySix Capital – will seek to spur economic development and create new opportunities for the local tech startup community. Further, the MIC will host activities that will bring underrepresented groups to greater awareness of and involvement with STEM activities and careers. “Bringing Microsoft to Philadelphia and uCity Square is a game changer on many levels,” said Science Center President & CEO Stephen S. Tang, Ph. D., MBA. “Not only have we attracted a large tech company to our city, but the MIC also offers a means to engage our neighborhood, innovation, and entrepreneurial communities and give them access to Microsoft technology and training. It took a true collaboration between SeventySix Capital, Microsoft, Wexford and the Science Center to make this happen.” “We are thrilled to work with SeventySix Capital, the University City Science Center, and Wexford Science & Technology to bring technology and resources to the great city of Philadelphia,” said Jeff Friedman, director of Modern Government in Microsoft’s State and Local Government Solutions Group. “MICs are part of Microsoft’s broader strategy to empower developers and entrepreneurs, extending into local metro markets to help startups grow their business with technology and services such as cloud computing, developer tools, software and open source technologies.” The MIC will open in time for the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in July and will serve as a hotbed of Microsoft activity during the convention, with a number of programs and events that explore the intersection of technology and civic engagement. After the DNC, Microsoft, the Science Center and SeventySix Capital will develop and deliver a suite of ongoing technology and innovation focused programming that will offer the startup, entrepreneurial, academic and neighborhood communities access to Microsoft resources and expertise. “Microsoft’s presence in uCity Square will enhance our community of ingenuity and become a catalyst to continue innovation and economic growth in our city,” said Joe Reagan, Vice President at Wexford Science & Technology. “With this opportunity, Philadelphia’s flourishing premier innovation district, uCity Square, will work in tandem with Microsoft to attract talent and companies that will bring businesses of all sizes together to advance technology and collaboration. We’re excited to see what the future holds for uCity Square.” “This is an amazing win for Philadelphia! Jon Powell, our team at SeventySix Capital and I are thrilled to see our hard work pay off to attract Microsoft, a Fortune 50 tech company, to our city,” said Wayne Kimmel, Managing Partner of SeventySix Capital. “Our shared vision with Jeff Friedman at Microsoft to build an open and accessible venue to inspire all people to explore and learn about the latest technological innovations will become a reality this summer during the DNC and beyond because of our collaboration with the Science Center. The MIC will be the legacy of the DNC and will spur future entrepreneurs to create businesses and technologies to change the world!” About the Science Center The University City Science Center is a dynamic hub for innovation, and entrepreneurship and technology development in the Greater Philadelphia region. It provides business incubation, programming, lab and office facilities, and support services for entrepreneurs, start-ups, and growing and established companies. Since it was founded in 1963, graduate organizations and current residents of the University City Science Center’s Port business incubators have created more than 15,000 jobs that remain in the Greater Philadelphia region today and contribute more than $9 billion to the regional economy annually. The Science Center is leveraging its history as the nation’s oldest and largest urban research park as it joins forces with Wexford Science + Technology, a BioMed Realty company, to expand its footprint and rebrand its physical campus as uCity Square — a true mixed-use community of ingenuity. For more information about the Science Center, go to ucscreview.org . About Microsoft Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. About SeventySix Capital SeventySix Capital invests in passionate, smart and nice entrepreneurs who are launching game-changing companies in the e-commerce, retail and healthcare industries. Wayne Kimmel founded SeventySix Capital, the Philadelphia area based venture capital fund, in 1999. Recently, Jon Powell joined Kimmel as a Managing Partner at SeventySix Capital. Powell is also the CEO of Kravco, a leading private real estate developer and property management company that developed the King of Prussia Mall. SeventySix Capital’s top exits include, SeamlessWeb – acquired by ARAMARK, now public as GrubHub (NYSE: GRUB), Take Care Health Systems – acquired by Walgreens (NYSE: WAG) and NutriSystem (NASDAQ: NTRI) – top performing stock in the U. S. for 5 consecutive years. Intel, IBM and Yahoo! have also acquired SeventySix Capital portfolio companies. Some of SeventySix Capital’s current portfolio companies include: Adwerx, CareCam Health Systems, Dwolla, Indiegogo, ReverbNation, StartUp Health, and Whistle Sports. SeventySix Capital’s partners are extremely active in the entrepreneurial and non-profit communities around the world. For more information on SeventySix Capital, please visit seventysixcapital.com or at @76capital on Twitter. About Wexford Science & Technology Wexford Science & Technology, a subsidiary of BioMed Realty, is a real estate investment and development company specializing in facilities for for-profit and not-for-profit institutions, especially universities, university-related research parks and healthcare systems. Wexford brings a unique approach of collaborating with clients to build knowledge communities which are vibrant, mixed-use, amenity-rich environments that foster innovation. About uCity Square Powered by the University City Science Center and Wexford Science + Technology, uCity Square will be the center of Philadelphia’s economic growth in University City by creating a dynamic environment for innovation and collaboration between the private sector and top-tier research institutions such as University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University. 2016-04-25 23:40 By Microsoft

4 Your Chromebook may be about to get a million extra apps according to Reddit Right now, if you want to run apps on your Chromebook you're limited to the Chrome web store. There's a fair few in there, of variable quality, and back in 2012, Google proudly announced that Chromebook apps had been downloaded 750 million times. Google has been a bit more quiet about the stats since, which suggests the environment is stagnating, and even that massive number is a drop in the ocean when you compare things to to the Google Play store on Android, which managed 50 billion downloads in 2014 alone. Combining the two would seem like a smart way of giving the Chromebook ecosystem a shot in the arm, and according to a screenshot grabbed by an eagle-eyed Redditor , that's exactly what Google has in mind. For a split second on boot-up, said Redditor spotted an option simply labeled “Enable Android apps to run on your Chromebook”, before the tickbox vanished again. Another user was quick to reply the screengrab below, but added “Does not work yet, so don't get too excited... Google I/O should be interesting this year though.” Further digging in the source code uncovered the feature, given the name “ARC_OPT_IN”, which makes sense, as ARC is the acronym given to the App Runtime for Chrome project , which does allow developers to run their apps on Chrome OS, but this was previously limited to an extremely small number. Google's teasing of the phrase “over a million” suggests this is going to be a far more significant feature than the project originally suggested. With Google I/O set to take place in just under a month's time, it would certainly be a game- changer if this were confirmed, but it'll do nothing to stem the rumours that the two systems will one day be merged. Images: Technology Guide Test Lab and Imgur 2016-04-26 00:00 Comment Now

5 Microsoft announces cloud services, developer tools and productivity extensions for every developer SAN FRANCISCO — March 31, 2016 — Thursday at Build 2016, Scott Guthrie, executive vice president of the Cloud and Enterprise Group, and Qi Lu, executive vice president of the Applications and Services Group, demonstrated how Microsoft Azure services and the Office platform can empower developers to more easily leverage advanced analytics, machine learning, emerging cloud development models and the Internet of Things (IoT) to build their intelligent apps. Microsoft also announced new free development tools to help every developer more easily scale their apps for every platform and reach the largest possible number of customers. Steven Guggenheimer, corporate vice president of Developer eXperience, delivered the final Build keynote address to showcase how partners are innovating using Azure, Office and Windows. “Microsoft is the only cloud vendor that supports the diverse needs of every organization and developer — from core infrastructure services to platform services and tools to software-as-a- service — for any language, across any platform,” Guthrie said. “With 30 regions worldwide — more than every major cloud provider combined — Azure’s massive scale means developers and businesses alike can focus on creating the next generation of amazing applications, not their underlying cloud infrastructure. This makes our cloud the de facto choice for enterprises of today and tomorrow — and today, more than 85 percent of the Fortune 500 agree.” “In terms of reach, Office is one of the few platforms in the world that provides developers with access to over a billion users across a variety of devices,” Lu said. “The opportunity to build on the Office platform has never been greater. With new extensions and new connections to the Microsoft Graph — an intelligent fabric that applies machine learning to map the connections between people, content and interactions across Office 365 — developers are empowered to build intelligent apps that can transform the landscape of work.” The intelligent cloud to help developers build their next intelligent app Guthrie announced on Thursday that Microsoft is helping developers more easily build native cross-platform mobile applications by including Xamarin’s capabilities in Visual Studio Community and also making Xamarin Studio for OS X free as a community edition. In addition, Visual Studio Enterprise subscribers will now have access to Xamarin’s advanced enterprise capabilities at no additional cost. The company also announced a commitment to open source the Xamarin SDK, including its runtime, libraries and command line tools, as part of the. NET Foundation in the coming months. With these announcements, Microsoft extends its commitment to offering choice and flexibility to every customer across every platform and device — merging the. NET and Xamarin ecosystems together to provide an unmatched mobile development and DevOps experience. Now developers can deliver fully native cross-platform mobile app experiences to all major devices, including iOS, Android and Windows. Guthrie also announced several new Azure services designed to help developers address today’s operational realities and take advantage of tomorrow’s emerging trends, such as the Internet of Things and microservices. These new capabilities are designed to make Azure the best platform to build the next intelligent app — on Linux or Windows using any language: The Office developer opportunity: unprecedented users, data and intelligence Microsoft’s Lu, along with Office partners Starbucks Corp., MDLIVE Inc. and Zendesk Inc., showcased how developers can use the Office platform to create new business opportunity and closer customer connections. Starbucks CTO Gerri Martin-Flickinger showed how Starbucks is developing an Outlook add-in that allows people to send gift cards within Outlook and schedule meetings at nearby Starbucks locations. “We’re always looking for new ways to engage with our customers outside our stores,” said Martin-Flickinger. “Our work with Office is opening up new opportunities for us to connect with our customers and save them time when they want to combine coffee with meetings. Building on the Office platform is reaching our customers right on their desktop or device and extending the Starbucks Experience to them in new and compelling ways.” The Microsoft Graph, made generally available last fall, offers developers unified access to insights about how workers can be more productive. Microsoft previewed six new APIs for the Microsoft Graph that let developers link Office 365 data to third-party solutions. For example, one extension automatically compiles and exposes a list of times a group of people are available to meet, making it easier to work across organizations. Lu also shared how conversational interaction will evolve in the future and how developers can immediately start building apps that engage users in meaningful conversations. The new Skype for Business App SDK and Skype Web SDK announced Thursday allow companies to integrate Skype calls directly within their Web or device offering, greatly enhancing the service and connection they can provide to their customers. The company also showed off new functionality that lets developers build apps and place them directly into Word, Excel and PowerPoint ribbons. Finally, the developer portal for Office 365 Connectors is now available for developers to write and publish their own connectors. Connectors deliver relevant content, such as updates on financial records or helpdesk logs, from popular apps and services directly into Office 365 Groups conversations. The developer portal is launching with connectors such as Asana, Salesforce, Trello, Twitter, UserVoice, Zendesk and many more. Developers and partners innovate on Windows, Azure and Office Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://news.microsoft.com. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-public-relations-contacts . 2016-04-26 02:38 By Microsoft

6 Steam signs deal with Lionsgate to offer 'Hunger Games', 'Saw' and dozens more movies Steam is best known as a gaming platform, but since its launch over a decade ago, it's branched into other content, including a limited selection of movies. Now, though, Steam is significantly expanding its movie line-up, signing a deal with entertainment giant Lionsgate to bring some of its most popular films to Valve's digital distribution platform. Under the partnership, Steam will offer over 100 movies, including major franchises from the movie-maker, such as The Hunger Games , Twilight , Saw , and Divergent . Not all of these movies will be immediately available to the 125 million Steam users around the world, but the companies said that "more titles will be added as the partnership continues to expand worldwide". All of the films on offer will only be available as rentals, priced around $4 to $5 in the United States. Pricing will be set locally in each market - in the UK, for example, rentals are charged at £3.49 or £4.49, although the launch selection of movies available there is rather weak, featuring none of the major franchises mentioned in today's press release . As with other Steam video rentals , viewers can hold on to the movie for up to 30 days, but if they start watching it at any point, they must finish doing so within 48 hours. The movies can also be watched on all Steam-supported platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux and SteamOS, as well as in virtual reality via SteamVR. We'll have to wait and see if Steam has any similar partnerships lined up to offer more movies, or even TV shows, from other content providers. But considering Steam's vast global user base, and the potential to reach those tens of millions of customers with more content, it certainly seems like a strong possibility. Source: Lionsgate (PRNewswire) via Variety 2016-04-25 22:22 Andy Weir

7 Microsoft announces quarterly earnings release date REDMOND, Wash. — April 8, 2016 — Microsoft Corp. will publish fiscal year 2016 third-quarter financial results after the close of the market on Thursday, April 21, 2016, on the Microsoft Investor Relations website at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/Investor/. A live webcast of the earnings conference call will be made available at 2:30 p.m. PDT. Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. Shareholder and financial information is available at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/Investor/ . 2016-04-25 17:40 By Microsoft

8 Theranos continuously failed to comply with CMS on several counts, documents show We now know the full extent of the concern over compliance issues at Theranos’ Newark, California lab thanks to new documents TechCrunch has obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began a federal investigation into the practices at Theranos’ main facility in Newark last fall involving erratic test results and unqualified personnel. The newly released letter and documentation dated March 18, 2016, highlight what CMS labeled “serious deficiencies” in the testing at Theranos’ main lab, putting patient health and safety in “immediate jeopardy.” CMS found the blood analysis startup continued to fail compliance requirements since an initial visit in November 2015, and again accused Theranos of being out of alignment with at least five CLIA condition-level requirements in January 2016, including hematology testing, analytic systems, a sufficient lab director for complex-level testing for proper technical workers and proper technical supervision. CMS gave Theranos 10 days to get with the program before leveling fines of up to $10,000 per day for every day the lab continued to be out of accord. However, Theranos asked for an extension from CMS in February of this year, which CMS granted. By March 2016, CMS found Theranos’ main lab continued to side-step compliance issues and decided the startup’s reasoning for compliance was unsatisfactory. CMS granted the startup time to address the deficiencies and submit a corrective course of action since then. Theranos has also been busy hiring a new medical board , a new lab director and more qualified personnel to appease the federal agency. However, the recent U-turn may not be enough to reverse the damage done. Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is now under criminal investigation from the U. S. Attorney’s Office, as well as an investigation from the Securities and Exchange Commission for possibly defrauding investors. She may even be barred from operating her own company for up to two years. Theranos spokesperson Brooke Buchanan shared with TechCrunch a portion of the ongoing communication with CMS earlier this month , adding, “The company continues to work closely with regulators and is cooperating fully with all investigations.” And Holmes told Maria Shriver during a recent interview on the Today Show she felt “devastated [we] did not catch and fix these issues faster.” However, Theranos failed to adequately adjust practices and comply with CMS time and time again. Though it seems the board stands by their founder and the company is working on getting into alignment with federal agencies, it may be too little, too late to patch up relations in the public eye. A CMS spokesperson declined to elaborate on the documents out today, but you can view for yourself the correspondence between the two organizations. Theranos Correspondence 3-18-16 Theranos 2567 04-25-2016 2016-04-25 20:16 Sarah Buhr

9 Clarkson, Hammond and May to launch DriveTribe motoring content platform In an age when completely driverless cars (probably electric) seem to be only just around the corner, the idea of starting a brand new online community aimed at petrolheads seems like an ill-timed one. But that’s not about to stop Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, best known as the former presenters of the globally-famous Top Gear TV show. After leaving the BBC last year, there these three musketeers signed up to create a new streaming TV show for Amazon Prime. But but they also plan what they say will be a totally separate venture to create an online community for motoring enthusiasts. Slated to launch in the Fall/Autumn, DriveTribe (which has a holding site and Facebook , YouTube and Twitter presence) will be a brand new digital media platform consisting of a combination of content produced by celebrities of the motoring scene, professionally created content and that generated by users themselves. The company is co-founded by the three mentioned above together with Andy Wilman, their long-time TV collaborator, and serial tech entrepreneur Ernesto Schmitt, who recently exited Beamly. But before you throw your hands up to declare this a content strategy from 2004, wait-up. The startup plans to build an engine to send content which will specifically target the disparate communities that make up car fans – from petrolheads to classic car aficionados. A versioning engine and multi-variate testing system will trial “hundreds of different versions” of content on different segments of users, defined by age, gender, location and interests, with “optimal matches” pushed directly to peoples’ social timelines through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, etc. There will of course be iOS and Android apps as well. The idea is that punters will sign up to the “tribe” that best reflects their motoring interests in addition to being able to create their own. The Clarkson/Hammond/May trio will of course hosting their own ‘tribes’ with original content. Now, DriveTribe will have its work cut-out. Competitors include the online publishing ventures like the original TopGear online community, Pistonheads , CarThrottle , numerous Subreddits, and the estimated 400 million fans of motoring already on Facebook. Ah, but DriveTribe argues, those people are not well served right now, and they plan to reach them with this new kind of content targeting engine. Richard Hammond said: “Gamers have got Twitch, travellers have got TripAdvisor and fashion fans have got, oh, something or other too. But people who are into cars have got nowhere. There’s no grand-scale online motoring community where people can meet and share video, comments, information and opinion. DriveTribe will change that. And then some.” Schmitt, CEO of DriveTribe, said: “Automotive and adventure-lifestyle are huge growth areas for content, and are presently woefully underserved digitally. Automotive is also the biggest advertising category in the world – with $45bn media spend projected for 2016 – and we expect our content will monetize well through native advertising and social commerce.” DriveTribe thinks there is a big gap in the market, with (they say) 428 million people on Facebook with a self-declared like of motoring – slightly smaller than Movies and Entertainment which are the number 1 category. Additionally, cars are a bigger interest category than News & Current Affairs (410M), Football (380M) – or Pets, Dating & Toys combined. At the same time not of the top 500 websites globally is dedicated to cars. Schmitt was previously founder and CEO of Beamly (sold 2015), peoplesound.com (sold 2001) and executive chair of Invision, sold to Intel in 2012. He has brought on board Jonathan Morris as CTO who was previously CTO of TheFinancial Times online and Thompson Reuters, as well as co-founder of two fintech ventures. DriveTribe will be based in London’s Kings Cross. So is this like “Tidal for Petrolheads” where car stars will be bringing their loyal fan base to the party? Not really, says Schmitt. He says Tidal was trying to solve a perceived problem with royalty collection where non existed, but DriveTribe is solving a supply-side problem. The team is starting with 20 product and engineer people but plans to scale up to 60 by the launch. Hammond told me that talk about a coming future of driverless cars deadening our desire for motoring is wrong-headed. And that, in fact, the innovation happening around cars will actually “drive” DriveTribe. “The historical urge for speed still is primal. That will never go away. If anything it’s heightening. There will be entirely new forms of motoring. And there’s the tribal nature of motoring… We will still use cars to demonstrate our power and potency. It’s a hugely exciting times for motoring. The need for people to have their own platform is greater than ever before. Manufactures are, thank goodness, once again making mistakes because they are pushing the boundaries. Twenty years ago manufacturers were no making mistakes, just changing bits of fascia. Now it’s all about innovation,” he said. Schmitt said the model for their content distribution will be “50% technology and 50% content. But the tech stack is world-class. We will invest same proportion into R&D as we do into content.” He also said the company will look at extending the model into other verticals, which could include fashion, music or food. However, he may come up against the issue of aggregation as a business model. All online media and content is fragmented, a problem which was solved by search engines and social media. Thus customers may not see it as a problem in the first place, and nor, perhaps, will media buyers. Although Schmitt and Hammond insisted to me that DriveTribe will be separate from the Amazon Prime show, there remains the possibility that it may have a similar name — over which the trio have been wracking their brains apparently. Meanwhile James May added: “This is pure digital inclusivity. Some of the world’s most endangered tribes – Volvo enthusiasts, for example – will now have a voice as loud as everyone else’s.” 2016-04-25 20:16 Mike Butcher

10 10 Have we seen the last of the All Writs Act in the encryption fight? A judge today officially put an end to the fight between the Justice Department and Apple over unlocking the iPhone of a New York man convicted of selling drugs. U. S. District Judge Margo Brodie denied as moot the government’s request to force Apple to help extract data from the phone after an individual provided the passcode to the government. This is the second time in recent weeks that the government has back-pedaled on a case after initially trying to force Apple to help investigators gain access to iPhone data. The Justice Department abandoned its effort to compel Apple to create a custom operating system to help unlock the San Bernardino shooter’s phone nearly a month ago, saying that a third party had provided a way into the phone. Although these two cases are over, the FBI’s fight with Apple over encryption will continue. There will always be more iPhones and more investigators who want to unlock them. But the New York case may influence the government to change its strategy when pursuing data stored on an iPhone. The San Bernardino and New York cases sought to secure Apple’s cooperation under the All Writs Act, a 1789 law that allows judges to order compliance with search warrants and other court orders. Because the government received search warrants for the iPhones at the center of the two cases, it argued that the court could force Apple to facilitate access to the devices. Apple, of course, opposed this, arguing that the company should not be ordered to compromise its security. Apple has provided data from its devices in roughly 70 cases; however, as Apple has improved device security in newer versions of iOS, it has lost the ability to extract data for the government. Going forward, the government can continue relying on the All Writs Act in the hopes that, eventually, one of its cases will stick, or it can wait for a legislative solution from Congress. Neither option is particularly appealing. Repeated use of the All Writs Act opens the Justice Department to additional embarrassment, as it insists Apple is the only entity that can help it get the information it needs — only to follow up with a whoops, just kidding court filing weeks later. But a Congressional solution will come slowly, and, with the Justice Department seeking access to several other Apple devices , it may not be willing to wait. Although the All Writs Act initially seemed like a useful tool in the Justice Department’s fight for access to encrypted data, the two high-profile losses might keep the government from relying so heavily on the 227-year-old law in the future. “I think the All Writs Act litigation is most likely over,” says Electronic Frontier Foundation staff attorney Nate Cardozo. “Nothing’s saying they can’t try it again, but they’ve been burned twice.” Instead, Cardozo and other civil liberties advocates think the fight will shift to Congress, where the government can argue that it needs a new law to govern encryption since the old laws aren’t proving effective. When Senators Richard Burr and Dianne Feinstein introduced their anti-encryption legislation two weeks ago, their efforts were panned by technologists as “ flawed and dangerous ,” “ludicrous” and “technically illiterate.” The bill, titled the Compliance with Court Orders Act of 2016, is not expected to receive widespread support among lawmakers. However, Cardozo says that the demands of the bill — which would require companies to decrypt “unintelligible” data by making it “intelligible” — are merely a point from which the government can negotiate. “This is just the opening bid,” Cardozo says of the bill. Any successful encryption legislation is likely to scale back the drastic measures proposed in the Burr-Feinstein bill, while still providing some support for the Justice Department’s interests. For its part, the Justice Department has maintained it has no interest in setting legal precedent in favor of decryption and is merely focused on getting into phones on a case-by-case basis. “As we have said previously, these cases have never been about setting a court precedent; they are about law enforcement’s ability and need to access evidence on devices pursuant to lawful court orders and search warrants,” DOJ spokesperson Emily Pierce said in a statement about the New York case. “In this case, an individual provided the department with the passcode to the locked phone at issue in the Eastern District of New York. Because we now have access to the data we sought, we notified the court of this recent development and have withdrawn our request for assistance.” 2016-04-25 20:16 Kate Conger

11 Honda and Volvo add more electrification Honda announced it’s going to expand its Clarity line to include an all-electric version and a plug-in hybrid next year. The latest version of the Honda Clarity will be available later this year any way you want it, as along as you want a fuel-cell vehicle. The other two variants will be ready in 2017. Honda’s goal is to have electrified vehicles, including plug-in hybrids and fuel cells, account for two-thirds of its total sales by 2030. Right now, you can buy a Honda Fit EV or an Accord Hybrid, so adding two more models nearly doubles Honda’s electrified offerings, to be Pollyanna-ish about it. Keep in mind that all three Clarity versions are still niche vehicles. Fuel-cell vehicles are pretty much restricted to southern California, where there’s infrastructure to support the new technology. All-electric vehicles have a bit more reach, as many metro areas in the United States are expanding charging infrastructure, but that change is slow in coming. Plug-in hybrids have the most potential for reaching the heartland, as there’s a regular gasoline engine to fall back on after a few miles of all-electric travel. Errands and short commutes can be completed almost entirely on electric power in most plug-in hybrids, but if you live in Montana or Kansas, you’re going to be glad you have a gasoline engine on board. On the same day, Volvo announced it will have two hybrid versions of every vehicle in its fleet, and it will release its first fully electric vehicle in 2019. In the press release, company president Hakan Samuelsson said, “Volvo wants to be at the forefront of this shift to electrification.” Given that so many other manufacturers already have at least one hybrid model, if not several, on the road, and there are a dozen or more electric vehicles a person could choose from right now in 2016, that “forefront” ship has already sailed. Volvo is not known for moving quickly and providing a lot of flash, though, so it’s not out of corporate character to spend years preparing for a change this huge. They’ve created two vehicle architectures — one large, one small — that can be fitted with either a hybrid, plug-in hybrid or electric powertrain. The first vehicle to get the electrification treatment is the XC90 T8 Twin Engine SUV, which will be available soon, with the S90 full-size sedan to follow. Volvo’s goal is to have 1 million electrified vehicles on the road by 2025 — the same year the company hopes to be climate neutral. 2016-04-25 20:16 Kristen Hall

12 Female Founders, apply now for Include Office Hours with BBG Ventures It’s happening! Include Office Hours are coming to New York City. On Friday May 6 from 5-7 p.m., Susan Lyne and Nisha Dua of BBG Ventures will join TechCrunch in hosting the first ever Include Office Hours, New York Edition. Apply now. Unlike previous sessions, the upcoming office hours or solely focused on founding teams with at least one woman. To sweeten the deal, female founders who are selected for office hours will also be invited to an exclusive Women in Tech(Crunch) event also taking place the evening of May 6th. Launched in 2014, Include is TechCrunch’s diversity program, aimed at facilitating opportunities for underrepresented groups in tech to take their startups to the next level. Office hours are part of that effort. Once monthly, TechCrunch collaborates with VC partners to provide feedback and advice to early-stage companies. To be considered for the session on May 6, with BBG Ventures at the AOL Offices in New York City, fill out the application here. And now, for a little on BBG Ventures. BBG Ventures is an early-stage fund focused on consumer Internet and mobile startups with at least one female founder. They back entrepreneurs who are reimagining daily life, creating market-defining consumer tech products and services that make our work, play and home lives simpler, better — and more satisfying. BBG Ventures invests across marketplaces, mobile tools and services, commerce, media/content platforms and connected living. BBG Ventures has over 30 companies in its portfolio including Glamsquad, goTenna, HopSkipDrive, Modsy, Zola, RocksBox, Ringly, Kontor and Lola. Susan Lyne is president and founding partner of BBG Ventures, a new venture fund for women- led tech startups focused on consumer internet and mobile businesses. Before launching BBG Ventures, Susan was most recently CEO of the AOL Brand Group where she oversaw AOL’s unique content brands including AOL.com, TechCrunch, Engadget, StyleList, Moviefone and MapQuest. Susan was CEO and then Chairman of Gilt Groupe from 2008-2013. Prior to that, she served as president and CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO). While there she was named Publishing Executive of the Year by Advertising Age and received a Matrix Award from New York Women In Communications. Previously, Susan served Walt Disney Company and ABC as EVP of Movies and Miniseries and later president of ABC Entertainment, overseeing the development of shows including Desperate Housewives, Lost, and Grey’s Anatomy. Nisha Dua is a partner at BBG Ventures. Nisha has spent the last 10 years working across media, tech, strategy and law. She was the general manager of AOL’s millennial site, Cambio, which she re-launched in 2014 as a site “for girls, #BUILTBYGIRLS” in partnership with Girls Who Code and where she quadrupled the traffic in fewer than seven months. Nisha founded the #BUILTBYGIRLS movement which challenges young women to be part of the tech-enabled economy through a series offline and online programs designed to help young women get ahead in tech, including the Girls Who Fund internship program which teaches girls the fundamentals of venture capital. Nisha was previously chief of staff for the AOL Brand Group, working on strategy, operations and special projects. If you’re interested in attending, apply here by Sunday May 1. 2016-04-25 20:16 Samantha O

13 Top kids app maker Toca Boca sells to Spin Master, plans to launch subscription video service and toys One of the world’s largest children’s mobile app makers, Toca Boca , whose studios have produced apps totalling over 140 million downloads, has been acquired. The company had originally operated like a startup within the 200-year-old Swedish publishing firm Bonnier, but has now been bought by Spin Master, a children’s entertainment company with 950 people working in offices in Canada , the U. S. , France , Italy , the U. K., Slovakia , Germany , the Netherlands , Mexico , China , Hong Kong and Japan . Spin Master produces a number of toys and other entertainment properties, including five television shows, like its 2007 hit series “Bakugan Battle Brawlers” and its current hit “Paw Patrol.” It’s also home to popular toys like Buchems, Zoomer Dino, Air Hogs, Maccanoid G15, and Flutterbye fairies and Kinetic Sand, among others. Deal terms were not disclosed, but the move will see all of Toca Boca’s over 100 employees joining Spin Master, along with those from Sago Mini, another kids’ app maker Toca Boca itself had previously acquired. This is a significant move for Toca Boca, whose apps dominate the kids’ section in today’s app stores, and have drawn quite a following among younger kids. I’m hard-pressed to meet a child today who doesn’t have at least one of the company’s apps installed on their tablet or on a parent’s device. The appeal of the apps is easy to see – as Toca Boca CEO Björn Jeffery once described them to TechCrunch, they aren’t really games so much as they are “digital toys.” Instead of moving through levels, Toca’s games involve something more akin to imaginative, open-ended play. Its debut app from March 2011, for example, was Toca Tea Party, where users would pour tea and serve treats in a combination of real-world and digital play. Another popular app, Toca Hair Salon, lets kids style characters’ hairdos; newer apps like Toca Life: Town, has a Sims-like appeal, while Toca Nature, has a world-building toolkit that allows kids to populate a planet with trees, plants, and animals. The Sago Mini line, meanwhile, is focused on the preschool set. Combined, the company’s studios today have eight of the top 20 Kids (Paid) apps on the App Store, to give you an idea of their broad appeal. And unlike many of today’s VC-backed apps or startups, Toca’s apps tend to be paid downloads without subscription models or in-app purchases. Instead, the idea is to create apps that get downloaded then kept on devices for years to come. The goal, rather than making the Top Grossing list, has been to build a beloved kids’ brand in a non-spammy way. Now that brand is moving to video. As you may have guessed by reading in between the lines here, Toca Boca is ready to transition that brand to a revenue-generating machine. With Spin Master’s experience to aid it, the company is preparing to launch a subscription- based video property called Toca TV. The TV channel will be more like a safe alternative to YouTube featuring exclusive Toca Boca content, as well as interactive features. Plans around video were previously announced, when the company brought in Sesame Workshop vet J Milligan to run its New York-based production unit focused on interactive video – meaning videos kids could touch and connect with in new ways. Toca Boca previously said it would ready these offerings for a launch in the second half of 2015. As far as how the acquisition will affect those plans, Jeffery says that in the short-term, “it is business as usual. Over time, we will jointly discuss how to best make use of our respective strengths and expertise,” he adds. Toy lines for both Toca Boca and Sago Mini are also in the works as a result of the Spin Master deal. “The acquisition of Toca Boca and Sago Mini brings together talented creative and development resources in Sweden, the U. S. and Canada together with Spin Master Studios’ existing digital team in Los Angeles,” said Ben Gadbois, Spin Master’s President and COO, in a statement. “It is a logical step for us to expand together with a partner that truly understands both the importance of innovation in product development for kids, and how to reach North American families,” Jeffery told TechCrunch as to why the company decided to exit Bonnier. “We think we can develop our vision faster and better together with Spin Master.” (He expressed a similar sentiment in a post published to the company’s website.) Toca Boca could attract its young fans to a video property, but it still may be difficult for such a property to compete in a world filled with big-name streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon which, for years, have been developing and rounding out kid-friendly content libraries. Plus, other cable TV networks are throwing their hat in the kids’ ring as well, like HBO, which formed a five-year partnership with Sesame Workshop to ramp up its kids’ content, and Nickelodeon’s streaming service Noggin. And of course, there’s the behemoth that is YouTube. In other words, despite the brand Toca Boca has built in the kids’ app space, getting a foothold in the video market may be more of a challenge – hence the need for a partner with experience in launching successful kids’ TV. 2016-04-25 20:16 Sarah Perez

14 OpenStack Foundation launches its first cloud admin certification exams to combat talent shortage It’s no secret that it’s still hard to find good tech talent, and that’s definitely the case for the kind of complex and highly specialized skill set it takes to administer an OpenStack cloud. To grow this talent pool and to allow admins to show off their OpenStack skills, the OpenStack Foundation today announced the launch of its first certification program for OpenStack Administrators at its developer summit in Austin. “Like any major technology shift, cloud computing has challenged companies to re-skill engineers and redefine culture and processes,” said Jonathan Bryce, the OpenStack Foundation’s executive director, in a statement today. The Certified OpenStack Administrator exam will help provide a target for cloud administrators who are in high demand as the number of organizations adopting OpenStack continues to grow.” The first admins will be able to take their exams during the OpenStack conference this week. As the foundation notes, LinkedIn recently ranked “Cloud Computing” as its “ hottest global skill of 2015 ,” and according to data from Indeed, job listings for OpenStack doubled in 2015. To prepare admins for the certification exams, the foundation partnered with the likes of Canonical, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Linux Academy, Linux Foundation, Midokura, Mirantis, PLUMgrid, Rackspace and SUSE to offer both test preparation and the actual exam. 2016-04-25 20:16 Frederic Lardinois

15 Want to increase your chances with IVF? Make more money or become a teacher says FertilityIQ Money and teaching might seem at odds with one another but a study out from the Yelp for fertility treatments startup FertilityIQ found both to be the best indicators of success with IVF. FertilityIQ is one of many pregnancy-focused tech companies busy gathering new information from couples trying to conceive. While part of that information can be utilized for further research to help dispel antiquated ideas, for now, FertilityIQ is focused on discovering which factors contribute to a higher rate of IVF success. What we know about infertility is surprisingly abysmal, especially for women in their 30s and 40s. We’ve been taught women’s fertility is a ticking time bomb that will “drop off a cliff” after 35 (ha ha, um, no ). The warnings can strike panic and cause couples to seek unnecessary treatment or the wrong treatment. But a lot of these popularly recited ideas about middle-aged women and baby- making actually comes from research done in the 1700s! On top of worry and murky info, fertility treatments are expensive – $12,000 on average per cycle, with the likelihood of spending for several cycles. Those hoping to have a baby may find themselves in a desperate situation, spending tens of thousands of dollars without knowing if the treatment they’re getting is even right for them. In a survey of 1,146 initial participants, the startup found couples with more money had a higher rate of success. While that’s not earth-shattering — money means more cycles and higher rates of success over time — the startup also found money was just one of many ways to up your chances. Women working in teaching, PR and marketing positions — fields generally filled with way more women than men — also had a higher rate of success regardless of income, education or age. Whereas women in male-dominated fields like engineering were found to have a lower rate of success overall. One possible reason? Women in female-heavy jobs might feel safer talking about wanting to start a family. “What we found were the women who were teachers were working in environments that were full of women and very supportive of people starting families, which was very different when you talk to female engineers,” says co-founder Deborah Anderson-Bialis. Anderson-Bialis and her husband Jake (the other half of her co-founding team) say they reached out to about 100 of the survey respondents to get some qualitative analysis. IVF is hard enough on couples and doesn’t always work for a multitude of reasons. FertilityIQ is also early days for trying to help couples figure out which doctor or treatment is best for them and the factors leading to the best chance of getting pregnant. The survey will continue to grow in respondents as FertilityIQ gets bigger and reaches more couples. The takeaway so far is women looking to undergo IVF should seek out jobs that support their choice to have a family if they want to increase their chances of success. 2016-04-25 20:16 Sarah Buhr

16 Yik Yak tries to make a comeback with launch of private chat Earlier this month, TechCrunch reported that Yik Yak would soon be introducing a new feature designed to help the floundering app boost its user retention numbers: private chat. Today, the company confirmed the feature is now going live, along with the introduction of a new “Safety Center,” which will provide resources and tips focused on having a positive experience in the app. This will detail how to take actions like blocking users, for example. The move to launch chat comes at a time when Yik Yak has seen a dramatic drop in the App Store from its once top-ranked status, and follows the departure of Yik Yak’s CTO, and other senior employees, including Yik Yak’s VP of product, director of engineering, lead product designer, and more. (Yik Yak says the ex-CTO will remain as an adviser.) As TechCrunch’s Josh Constine previously reported , the startup has seen no significant growth in over a year, and has been consistently missing growth targets. Sources told Constine Yik Yak had 4 million monthly active users in January, but declined since then. The launch of chat is an effort to reverse this downward trend, as the “fun” that comes from being an anonymous social network wears off. As is often the case with anonymous apps – see now-shuttered Secret, for example, or the rise and fall of Ask.fm – users tire of the bullying, as well as the inappropriate and often offensive posts that appear on networks where people don’t have to put their name behind their words. This is one reason why Yik Yak launched handles (usernames) last month; it ties posts to an account, though it doesn’t eliminate anonymity. Plus, handles will now allow Yik Yak users to privately converse. As the company says in its announcement , users can request to chat with any user in their local area who posted a yak or a reply using their handle. The recipient will then get a push notification that tells them you’ve invited them to chat. In this case, you’re also identified by your handle. You can also change your handle whenever you want, says Yik Yak. Of course, anonymized chat could also lead to abuse, which is where the Safety Center comes into play. Here, users will be able to learn about their privacy and safety options on the service. For instance, if you accept a chat request then find it to be a bad experience, you can block the user. Yik Yak will also allow users to contact support via in-app requests at any time, it says. Yik Yak says that the new version of its app offering chat is rolling out now on iOS with the Android release arriving in the next few days. 2016-04-25 20:16 Sarah Perez

17 The driverless truck is coming, and it’s going to automate millions of jobs Ryan Petersen is CEO of Flexport. A convoy of self-driving trucks recently drove across Europe and arrived at the Port of Rotterdam. No technology will automate away more jobs — or drive more economic efficiency — than the driverless truck. Shipping a full truckload from L. A. to New York costs around $4,500 today, with labor representing 75 percent of that cost. But those labor savings aren’t the only gains to be had from the adoption of driverless trucks. Where drivers are restricted by law from driving more than 11 hours per day without taking an 8- hour break, a driverless truck can drive nearly 24 hours per day. That means the technology would effectively double the output of the U. S. transportation network at 25 percent of the cost. And the savings become even more significant when you account for fuel efficiency gains. The optimal cruising speed from a fuel efficiency standpoint is around 45 miles per hour, whereas truckers who are paid by the mile drive much faster. Further fuel efficiencies will be had as the self-driving fleets adopt platooning technologies, like those from Peloton Technology , allowing trucks to draft behind one another in highway trains. Trucking represents a considerable portion of the cost of all the goods we buy, so consumers everywhere will experience this change as lower prices and higher standards of living. In addition, once the technology is mature enough to be rolled out commercially, we will also enjoy considerable safety benefits. This year alone more people will be killed in traffic accidents involving trucks than in all domestic airline crashes in the last 45 years combined. At the same time, more truck drivers were killed on the job, 835, than workers in any other occupation in the U. S. Even putting aside the direct safety risks, truck driving is a grueling job that young people don’t really want to do. The average age of a commercial driver is 55 (and rising every year), with projected driver shortages that will create yet more incentive to adopt driverless technology in the years to come. While the efficiency gains are real — too real to pass up — the technology will have tremendous adverse effects as well. There are currently more than 1.6 million Americans working as truck drivers, making it the most common job in 29 states. The loss of jobs representing 1 percent of the U. S. workforce will be a devastating blow to the economy. And the adverse consequences won’t end there. Gas stations, highway diners, rest stops, motels and other businesses catering to drivers will struggle to survive without them. The demonstration in Europe shows that driverless trucking is right around the corner. The primary remaining barriers are regulatory. We still need to create on- and off-ramps so human drivers can bring trucks to the freeways where highway autopilot can take over. We may also need dedicated lanes as slow-moving driverless trucks could be a hazard for drivers. These are big projects that can only be done with the active support of government. However, regulators will be understandably reluctant to allow technology with the potential to eliminate so many jobs. Yet the benefits from adopting it will be so huge that we can’t simply outlaw it. A 400 percent price-performance improvement in ground transportation networks will represent an incredible boost to human well-being. Where would we be if we had banned mechanized agriculture on the grounds that most Americans worked in farming when tractors and harvesters were introduced in the early 20th century? We often discuss the displacement of jobs by artificial intelligence and robots in the abstract, as something that we’ll have to eventually tackle in the far distant future. But the recent successful demonstration of the self-driving truck shows that we can’t afford to put off the conversation on how we’re going to adapt to this new reality. 2016-04-25 20:16 Ryan Petersen

18 Naya Health raises $3.9 million to build a better breast pump Redwood City-based Naya Health has raised $3.9 million in seed funding to make a breast pump that is sleeker, quieter and more comfortable for moms than the devices already on the market. Investors co-leading the round were Tandem Capital and Bojiang Capital who were joined by S-Cubed Capital, Astia Angels, Stanford’s StartX and individual angels. According to married co-founders Janica and Jeff Alvarez, parents of three kids together, the startup wants to help women give their babies a breastmilk diet for as long as they wish, with the least possible hassle. According to several pediatric studies , babies fed with breastmilk exclusively or primarily for the first six months of their lives experience lower rates of asthma, pneumonia, leukemia and other childhood illnesses compared to those who take formula exclusively instead. And the World Health Organization recommends moms who can do so feed their babies breastmilk exclusively for six months, then continue to give them breastmilk for the first two years of their lives. These are among the reasons why so many mothers opt to pump when work and other obligations interrupt time spent with their babies. Workplace and public accommodations for moms who breastfeed have, in recent years, helped fuel the growth of companies like Philips Avent, Lansinoh Laboratories and others in the burgeoning breast pump market. The industry is projected to generate $1.2 billion in annual global sales by 2020, according to forecasts from Grand View Research Inc. Naya Health’s new breast pump works using a water-based hydraulic system rather than a pneumatic, or air-based, one. Its suction is more efficient than that of today’s popular models, Alvarez said. The piece of the Naya Health Smart Pump that attaches to a mother’s breasts also deviates from the old, hard plastic funnels that go with a mass-marketed pumps. Its cups are softer, hospital-grade silicone, and structured to feel like a baby’s latching mouth would. The pump also has smart features for the “quantified parenting” set. It senses how much milk a mom is producing, and gives her data about her milk production via a smartphone app. This should ostensibly help moms optimize their pumping schedules and avoid problems like over- or under-supply on a given day. The Naya Health pump is still not available in stores. That’s in part because the company can’t sell and ship it to customers until it attains regulatory approvals from the U. S. Food and Drug Administration. But a review process is in the works, the CEO said, and the item should be certified as a class II medical device within a few months. Today, Naya Health opened up the possibility for customers to register to buy one at least—no deposit required. Long-term, the company is planning a “pump it forward” initiative, whereby families who have wrapped up their breastfeeding and pumping can send their hardware back to Naya Health or retail partners to have it cleaned up and donated, with new sterile attachments, to women in need. 2016-04-25 20:16 Lora Kolodny

19 Goldman Sachs launches GS Bank, an Internet bank with a $1 minimum deposit Goldman Sachs has traditionally functioned like a run-of-the-mill investment bank. Minimums to open an account were in the range of $10 million, and returns were not guaranteed. While that will still remain true for the firm’s wealth management arm, Goldman is opening its doors to the masses with the launch of GS Bank , an FDIC-insured, Internet-based savings bank. And just what do we mean by the masses? Well, anyone with an Internet connection and a dollar — because that is what each account’s minimum balance will be. GS Bank’s interest rates will be high, giving customers an annual yield of 1.05 percent. This rate trumps the average U. S. saving’s bank yield of .06 percent APY , but is relatively in line with other online rival banks like Ally, which offers 1 percent APY. Deposit yields from online banks are traditionally much higher than traditional banks, mainly because of the cost savings that come from not having to support brick-and-mortar branches. The bank was born out of Goldman’s acquisition of GE Capital Bank, the online retail bank previously run by General Electric’s capital arm. The launch of GS Bank and acquisition of GE Capital Bank is a move by Goldman to diversify revenue streams and strengthen liquidity in a market where traditional investment banking isn’t doing as well as it has in the past. Currently, GS Bank has total deposits of around $114 billion , which pales in comparison to the total deposits of large consumer banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America. 2016-04-25 20:16 Fitz Tepper

20 Hands on with SanDisk’s iPhone storage-expanding flash drive The iXpand is an odd thing to behold, a strange Frankensteinian amalgam of adapters fused together and folded over for good measure. It’s another interesting concept out of SanDisk as the company attempts to stay nimble in a world of rapidly dropping storage costs and increasing reliance on cloud backups. The new iXpand is a new, slimmer take on a product released in 2014, trading in a boxy design for a more portable footprint that is half USB dongle, one-quarter Lightning connector and one quarter curved rubbery bit. As is pretty clear from the design, the peripheral serves as a link between an iOS device and a computer, both for backing up files on an iPhone/iPad and working as expandable storage, so you can watch movies on your mobile device without having to wipe the rest of its precious 16GB of built-in storage. The former is more of a backup of a backup. You should be backing up your stuff in the cloud and on your computer already, but the iXpand offers a little added insurance, along with the ability to quickly transfer large files that would otherwise require additional fees for cloud storage. The latter is the more compelling case use, as anyone with a 16GB iPhone will gladly bend your ear about at length. Of course, whether or not the ability to add on expandable memory is worth $50 (16GB) to $130 (128GB) a pop is another question entirely. Either way, it’s an important lesson in thinking long and hard about whether or not to pay for an internal storage bump for your device during checkout, or else be doomed to rely on dongles for the foreseeable future. Sandisk has revamped the app for the latest iXpand, and the whole process is pretty much plug and play (well, plug, download the app and then play). It’ll will back up photos, videos, music and other files, organizing then into neat little folders that can be accessed when plugged into an iOS device or computer. The app can also be set to perform automatic backups every time it’s plugged in and can back up photos from Facebook, Instagram and Picasa, should you see fit to give it access. The drive features its own video player, so videos can be played directly from the peripheral. You can record directly to it, as well, if you’d like to bypass the mobile device’s storage altogether. One important caveat to all of this: the slimmer body is thanks, in part, to the dropping of the internal battery found on the previous generation, so the iPad/iPhone’s own built-in battery will drain that much faster if you spend a lot of time watching videos. 2016-04-25 20:16 Brian Heater

21 Microsoft to release Skype for Business Public Preview 1 for Mac "real soon now" Microsoft has said that is preparing to launch the first public preview of its new Skype for Business app for Mac devices. While Skype for Business replaced Lync last year on various platforms, including iOS and Android , Mac users been forced to continue using the ageing Lync for Mac 2011 client on their devices. In a recent presentation, details of which were published today by Mary Jo Foley over on ZDNet, Microsoft shared its planned release timeline for the new Mac client. The company said that Public Preview 1 will be arriving "real soon now", and is expected to include core functionality for meetings. A second preview, which is expected 4-6 weeks later, will add support for people and messaging and contact lists. A further preview release will come 4-6 weeks after that , adding support for calling and telephony, with the final RTM date penciled in for Q3 2016. The timeline is subject to revision based on how each preview release performs in real-world usage, but according to MacHow2.com , Microsoft has said that it intends to make the Mac version its "most modern Skype client", matching - or even exceeding - the features and functionality available in Skype for Business on Windows. Users - including both organizations and individuals - will soon be able to sign up via SkypePreview.com for the first preview release. Source: Mary Jo Foley (ZDNet) / MacHow2.com 2016-04-25 20:06 Andy Weir

22 Mozilla gives WebAssembly a parallelism boost Mozilla is improving compilation in both the WebAssembly portable bytecode format and asm.js JavaScript subset by leveraging parallelization in its Firefox browser. Using parallelism, an engineer at Mozilla worked on reducing startup times in asm.js programs in the browser. "As our JavaScript engine, SpiderMonkey , uses the same compilation pipeline for both asm.js and WebAssembly, this also benefitted WebAssembly compilation," said the engineer, Benjamin Bouvier. Parallelization, he said, consists of splitting a sequential program into smaller independent tasks, then running them on different CPUs. "If your program is using N cores, it can be up to N times faster. " Mozilla's goal is to make more work run in parallel by taking out the SpiderMonkey middle-level intermediate representation (MIR) from the main thread, as well as removing and code generation. "Instead of emitting a MIR graph as we parse the function's body, we emit a small, compact, pre-order representation of the function's body," Bouvier said. "In short, a new IR. As work was starting on WebAssembly (wasm) at this time, and since asm.js semantics and wasm semantics mostly match, the IR could just be the wasm encoding, consisting of the wasm opcodes plus a few specific asm.js ones. Then, wasm is translated to MIR in another thread. " Instead of parsing and generating MIR in a single pass, wasm IR would be parsed and generated in one pass, while the MIR would be generated out of the wasm IR in another pass. While Mozilla found compilation much faster in its new scheme, it still can be a pain, especially in mobile applications, according to Bouvier. "This is mostly due to the fact that we're running a whole multi-million-line codebase through the back end of a compiler to generate optimized code," he said. "Following this work, the next bottleneck during the compilation process is parsing, which matters for asm.js in particular, which source is plain text. Decoding WebAssembly is an order of magnitude faster though, and it can be made even faster. " More load-time optimizations are coming, Bouvier said. WebAssembly is a highly touted attempt to improve the Web's performance through a portable code format running in browsers at native speeds. It has been supported by browser vendors Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, and Apple. More about Apple Apple. Google IR Microsoft Mozilla 2016-04-25 20:00 www.computerworld

23 23 This HD footage of New York City was captured in 1993 Quality is one of many characteristics that can be used to gauge a rough estimate of when a piece of media was captured. In rare instances, like the clip above, quality can be deceiving. The Verge spotted this clip on YouTube featuring footage recorded around New York City in 1993. What’s compelling about the footage is the fact that it was shot in 1080p quality at 60 frames per second, a standard that was unprecedented in the early ‘90s. Matt from Techmoan says the video was likely shot with an HDVS camera – perhaps Sony’s HDC-500 attached to a HDV-10 portable recorder that recorded on UniHi ¾” tape. Found is a TechSpot feature where we share clever, funny or otherwise interesting stuff from around the web. 2016-04-25 19:15 Shawn Knight

24 AMD's Radeon Software 16.4.2 drivers fully support external graphics cards If you've got an AMD Radeon graphics card, now is the time to update your drivers: the company has launched version 16.4.2 that includes performance improvements and full support for Xconnect technology. Xconnect allows gamers with supported systems to use a Radeon GPU in an external enclosure over Thunderbolt 3. At this stage, the technology supports Radeon R9 Fury, Nano and 300 series cards, giving those with underpowered laptops a serious performance boost in games. AMD says the 16.4.2 drivers include an "integrated management interface" as well as plug and play support. Unfortunately you can't simply use Xconnect with any Thunderbolt 3 device. Instead, manufacturers will need to enable or include external graphics support in their devices' BIOS, and users will need to ensure they're running at least Windows 10 build 10586 with the latest Thunderbolt firmware and a correct Thunderbolt 3 cable. The Radeon Software Crimson Edition 16.4.2 drivers also include new Crossfire profiles for Elite Dangerous and Need for Speed. AMD has fixed a number of issues with flickering in games when Crossfire is enabled, and fan speed issues on R9 380 graphics cards has been resolved. As always, you can download the latest AMD Radeon Software drivers through Radeon Settings automatically. If you want a manual installer, you can grab one here from our driver download section. 2016-04-25 18:30 Tim Schiesser

25 25 Qualcomm says that Quick Charge and USB Type-C are 'compatible' In many ways, Google engineer Benson Leung has become the voice for the USB Type-C standard, famously reviewing cables that are sold on Amazon and checking to make sure that they're up to standard. Back in November, he called out Qualcomm's Quick Charge 2.0 and 3.0 as not being up to snuff. This raises issues for devices such as the LG G5 and the HTC 10, which both use USB Type-C and Quick Charge 3.0. Note that Google's own Nexus devices use 'fast charging', and not Qualcomm's own tech. According to Leung, Quick Charging "takes over the D+/D- (usb data) lines for good, so that Type-A port can't be used to communicate to your PC at the same time you fast charge. " While USB Type-C can deliver the kind of voltage that Quick Charge requires, that's not the way that Qualcomm implements it. Qualcomm has responded, stating that using Quick Charge is completely safe. In an interview with SlashGear , the firm said the following: In other words, while Quick Charge doesn't fit the USB Type-C specification, it's not something that you need to worry about as a user. Source: SlashGear 2016-04-25 18:28 Rich Woods

26 Reporting abuse on Twitter just got a lot more efficient Twitter has for several years now offered a way to report abuse on its platform but doing so hasn’t always been easy or efficient. On Monday, the microblogging platform addressed the latter shortcoming by condensing the number of steps needed to report habitual offenders. As Twitter safety engineer Hao Tang explains , they’re rolling out the ability to attach multiple Tweets to a single report. Report abuse on Twitter more easily than ever. Find out how to protect yourself and others. https://t.co/1MEfTzkfFL In addition to reducing the amount of time it takes to file a report (filing reports on a tweet-by- tweet basis can be time-consuming), providing as much information about an abuser as possible establishes a pattern of consistent abuse that’ll (hopefully) reduce the amount of time it takes Twitter to take action. Twitter has taken a firmer public stance against trolls and otherwise abusive users since former CEO Dick Costolo took the blame for his company’s lethargic approach to curbing harassment. In an internal memo to employees in early 2015, Costolo said they flat out suck at dealing with abuse and trolls and have for years. Costolo stepped down as CEO in July 2015 and was replaced by former chief Jack Dorsey as interim CEO. Dorsey, who also serves as the CEO of mobile payment company Square, returned as Twitter’s permanent CEO in October. The social network updated its rules last December and announced a new Trust and Safety Council this past February. Tang said they’re beginning to roll out the new functionality on Android, iOS and on the web and expect all users to have access to multi-tweet reporting in the coming weeks. 2016-04-25 17:45 Shawn Knight

27 Raspberry Pi camera module upgraded, now packs Sony image sensor The Raspberry Pi Foundation on Monday announced a pair of new camera accessories for its popular single-board computers. The foundation launched its 5-megapixel visible- light camera board as its first official accessory back in 2013. It was followed shortly after by an infrared-sensitive version, both of which were based on an OmniVision OV5647 sensor. In a blog post , founder Eben Upton recounts how his partners purchased a large stockpile of cameras (likely in order to drive costs down). Those sensors reached end-of-life status in late 2014 but are just now selling out, spurring Upton to find a replacement. The foundation was able to strike up a deal with Sony for its IMX219 , an 8-megapixel image sensor that he says is far more than just a resolution upgrade – it’s a leap forward in image quality, color fidelity and low-light performance. It offers a maximum still image resolution of up to 3,280 x 2,464 and can capture 1080p video at 30 frames per second or 720p footage at 60 fps. The Raspberry Pi founder credited Naush Patuck with tuning the sensor to work with the VideoCore IV GPU. Patuck said the bulk of his effort went into the lens shading and auto white balance (AWB) tuning. Both visible-light and infrared-sensitive versions of the new camera board are available for purchase as of writing from Raspberry Pi partners element14 and RS Components. Best yet, they’re priced at the same $25 as the original. 2016-04-25 17:00 Shawn Knight

28 AMD preparing to vacate Sunnyvale headquarters, sources say Those in and around Silicon Valley are no doubt familiar with the massive white campus at 1090 E. Duane Ave., otherwise known as the headquarters of Advanced Micro Devices. The chipmaker has called the 319,000-square-foot campus in Sunnyvale home for years but according to a recent report from the Silicon Valley Business Journal , AMD may be planning to vacate in the near future. Sources familiar with the matter tell the publication that Newport Beach-based developer Irving Company is looking to purchase the property. Multiple real estate sources say the developer could build hundreds of apartments on the 32.5-acre site. Interestingly enough, AMD doesn’t actually own the campus as it leases the space from New York-based real estate investment trust W. P. Carey who purchased it in 1995 for $95 million. AMD’s current lease ends in December 2018 and has two 10-year renewal options. AMD is likely looking to save some cash by moving to a smaller facility. According to its 2016 business license, AMD has 559 employees in Sunnyvale. The company has operated in the California city since 1977. Sources say AMD is in the market for a facility with between 175,000 and 225,000 square feet of space. The company reportedly wants to stay in Silicon Valley. AMD finished last week with a bang as its stock value soared on news that it had licensed its x86 chip technology to a Chinese consortium of public and private companies. 2016-04-25 16:15 Shawn Knight

29 John Romero needs your help to fund Blackroom After releasing the first new Doom map in more than 20 years, id Software co-founder John Romero is now focused on creating the first game from his new studio Night Work Games. Returning to his first-person shooter roots, Romero describes Blackroom as a return to fast, violent and masterful play on the PC. Set in a holographic simulation gone rogue, the game will offer both a single-player campaign and a variety of multiplayer modes spanning Victorian mansions to Wild West ghost towns. In single-player mode, you’ll assume the role of Dr. Santiago Sonora, chief engineer at technology company Hoxar. You’ll be tasked with stepping into the Blackroom, a holographic world that’s indistinguishable from the real world, and determining why the simulations are being twisted and warped into each other. Romero says users can create their own maps and run their own dedicated servers with the PC version being fully moddable. American hard rock guitarist George Lynch will compose the soundtrack. As is becoming increasingly more common in the world of game development, Romero is turning to the crowdfunding community to help make Blackroom a reality. In collaboration with fellow id Software co-founder Adrian Carmack (no relation to John Carmack), Romero is seeking $700,000 on Kickstarter. A pledge of just $29 guarantees you a digital copy of the game with reward tiers scaling all the way up to $10,000 which affords the opportunity to attend the game’s launch party and help design some game elements. Blackroom is expected to ship in December 2018. 2016-04-25 15:30 Shawn Knight

30 VAIO's high-end, aluminum-bodied Windows 10 Mobile handset, the Phone Biz, is now on sale Back in February, VAIO - the company formed when Sony sold off its PC business in 2014 - unveiled its first Windows 10 Mobile device. As its name suggests, the 'Phone Biz' is aimed at business customers, and features sleek aluminum bodywork. The premium device is now available to buy in its home market of Japan, where it's priced at ¥59,184 JPY (roughly $530 USD). That's considerably higher than the price of ¥50,000 (currently around $450) that VAIO announced in February. While the Phone Biz is a high-end handset, it's not quite flagship-class, instead offering a range of components that position the device in the upper-mid-range of the smartphone market. Its key specs include: It's also worth noting that, while the Phone Biz supports the PC-like Continuum feature offered by Windows 10 Mobile, the device only has a microUSB 2.0 port. This means that Continuum support is only available using a wireless connection, and not via a wired solution like Microsoft's Display Dock. But if you were hoping to be able to buy the Phone Biz in the US, it doesn't look like you'll be able to - officially, at least. The company said in February that it has "no plans" to offer the device there. Source: VAIO Store via MSPoweruser 2016-04-25 15:08 Andy Weir

31 Wireless receiver lets you use a DualShock 4 controller with your original NES If you’re a retro gaming fan then you’re well aware of how frustrating it can be to have someone (or maybe even a pet) trip over your controller wire. At best, it unplugs the controller but more often than not, the console takes a trip over the edge of the table and probably comes unplugged itself. Analogue Interactive , makers of the all-aluminum (and more recently, this 24k gold-plated ) Nintendo Entertainment System has partnered with 8Bitdo to create a wireless adapter for the NES that’ll eliminate such headaches. The Retro Receiver plugs into the controller port on your NES and utilizes Bluetooth to communicate wirelessly with the controller of your choice. Wireless controllers for Nintendo’s beloved console aren’t exactly new but the Retro Receiver kicks it up a notch, allowing you to play your original NES (or aftermarket systems) with any 8Bitdo controller or arcade stick. 8Bitdo offers several different controllers which are based off of Nintendo’s original hardware. The adapter is also compatible with wireless next-gen console controllers like Sony’s DualShock 4 controller that ships with the PlayStation 4 and even some older controllers like the Wiimote. Additional buttons on modern controllers are mapped as turbo buttons, we’re told, as you can use up to four adapters at a time (when using a multitap accessory, of course). The Retro Receiver retails for $19.99. 2016-04-25 14:45 Shawn Knight

32 Melissa Data and Pentaho make Hadoop data quality achievable Eastern. Melissa Data will host a free webinar demonstrating quick and easy integration and analysis of large data sets, leveraging Pentaho Business Analytics for Hadoop deployments. Attendees will learn orchestration and automation techniques that build on Hadoop capabilities to transform data into clean, reliable assets. Click here to register for this live online event onEastern. Pentaho Data Integration offers intuitive drag-and-drop data integration coupled with data agnostic connectivity, and is designed to deliver accurate, analytics-ready data to business users from any source. Coupled with Melissa Data’s integrated data quality tools available via API or local web service, users are able to eliminate the complex and time-consuming coding and programming requirements traditionally required to achieve Hadoop data quality. Processes can be automated through the chosen Melissa Data component for enhancing, verifying, correcting, standardizing or deduplicating customer records – options include full spectrum data quality that supports the entire Big Data lifecycle. These operations can also leverage Hadoop data processing frameworks, further maximizing the investment in Hadoop infrastructures. “Consistently excellent data quality is essential to protect and maximize the long-term value of analytics, yet cleansing the vast number of records on a Hadoop cluster is not an inherently simple task,” said Bud Walker, vice president enterprise sales and strategy, Melissa Data. “By pairing data quality with Pentaho Data Integration, users can quickly automate sophisticated data quality initiatives – capitalizing on the potentially massive scope of a Hadoop system to optimize business intelligence and reporting.” 2016-04-25 14:42 SD Times

33 Sirin Labs is launching a luxury smartphone with military- grade security next month for $15,000 How much would you pay for what could be the most secure, advanced commercial smartphone in the world? British-Israeli startup Sirin Labs thinks that users would be willing to spend up to $15,000 for a mobile device that mixes advanced technology with military-grade security, and will be releasing this “Rolls-Royce of smartphones” at the end of next month. Sirin Labs isn’t making empty promises; the company has already raised $72 million in funding from private investors so it can bring the device to market. It will be launched in the company’s dedicated store, which is due to open late May in the exclusive Mayfair area of West London. The smartphone will be called the “Solarin,” and although it’s based on the Android OS, the phone will feature military-level security, powerful components, luxury materials, and tech so advanced that some of it isn’t yet commercially available. “We managed to combine military phone and the phone for everyday use […] We said: let’s create the best phone we can. Let’s see if we can integrate the best from both worlds without limitations,” said Sirin co-founder and president Moshe Hogeg. The Solarin is aimed at executives who want "the highest level of privacy and connectivity with uncompromising quality," according to the firm. These features don’t come cheap; Hogeg said the devices will start at $10,000 and go all the way up to $15,000, but added that the price may come down in the future. "Unlike mainstream technology companies where price is paramount, Sirin Labs doesn't need to wait a couple of years before bringing the most advanced technology to its customers. Cost doesn't influence our decision making; optimal functionality and quality do,” said CEO Tal Cohen. The Solarin will be available globally through Sirin Labs own site, and the company plans to open other retail stores across North America, Europe, and Asia later this year. As noted by Reuters , the Solarin won’t be the most expensive phone in the world. Vertu still produces incredibly pricey mobile devices that sell from $9000 to $300,000, and Apple’s iPhone Black Diamond went for $15.3 million. Most luxury phones are standard devices with expensive materials, such as gold and diamonds, incorporated into the design. The Solarin, however, is said to combine this luxury with advanced technology and security. Whether it will be worth $10K - $15K is another matter, but with privacy being such an issue these days, some people will pay a high price to guarantee it. “As tech lovers, we said we wanted to bring the most sophisticated tech out there into the smartphone,” said Hogeg. “91% of Fortune 500 companies are under cyber attacks, but companies can’t use a military phone because they usually lack all the apps that consumers use. Image credit: Maxx-Studio / Shutterstock 2016-04-25 14:00 Rob Thubron

34 Alpha Software announces Alpha Anywhere V4: Rapid mobile app development without limits Alpha Software Corporation , accelerating how developers build and deploy mobile and web business apps, today announced the availability of Alpha Anywhere V4. This release adds powerful capabilities to the Alpha Anywhere mobile and web application development and deployment environment, including the ability to access all mobile device features and a new mobile optimized forms capability that fundamentally streamlines data capture on mobile devices. The release was extensively tested by thousands of Alpha Software customers during a six-month beta. “Although there are other web and mobile RAD tools out there, they can be very expensive and, the easier companies try to make them, the less flexible and powerful they tend to be,” said Tim Bochard, vice president of information technology, Glacier Water Services, and Alpha Anywhere V4 beta tester. “At Glacier, we want a tool that is not only fast and easy, but has no limits – Alpha Anywhere V4 has the horsepower to make it easy for us.” At the start of this year, Alpha Anywhere became the only mobile app development technology awarded an InfoWorld 2016 Technology of the Year Award and last month, Alpha Anywhere debuted on the Gartner Peer Insights website as the only mobile app development vendor given a perfect score by IT professionals. The software’s low-code/coding optional approach empowers both seasoned developers and business professionals without development experience to create sophisticated mobile business applications with full access to mobile hardware and native-quality user experiences in days or weeks. “Companies are scrambling to mobilize hundreds of business processes and applications. The demand for mobile applications to speed the pace of business, is, paradoxically, slowing businesses down as they try to keep up with explosive demand for mobile apps,” said Alpha Software Corporation CEO, Richard Rabins. “We created Alpha Anywhere to provide total confidence to developers, that no matter what challenges a business faces in app development, problems can be solved while still remaining highly productive because of Alpha Anywhere’s coding optional/low code approach.” New capabilities in Alpha Anywhere V4 include: In total, Alpha Anywhere V4 includes more than 100 new features. Other improved areas include security, data integration, and user interface. For full details, visit the Alpha Anywhere V4 product page. “In order to be successful, enterprise mobile apps must meet critical user requirements, including intuitive use, the ability to leverage mobile hardware device features, such as geo- location, video, audio, and camera, and the ability to work with large amounts of read/write data – even when working offline,” said Dan Bricklin, CTO of Alpha Software. “These functions are no longer optional in enterprise mobility – they are critical requirements for mobile app development and success. Alpha Anywhere V4 was developed with the horsepower to quickly meet these requirements with little to no coding.” Alpha Anywhere V4 is now available. The upgrade is available for free to current subscribers. Users new to Alpha Anywhere can get a free trial of Alpha Anywhere V4, as well as mentoring, training and service offerings at: http://www.alphasoftware.com. Alpha Software is also set to release its first mobile optimized forms sample app for customers to quickly understand how to incorporate new features such as customized keyboards, digital ink and large media file storage into their Alpha Anywhere business apps. Thus far, Alpha Software has seen a 50 percent increase in sales this year and, with this release, the company expects this growth to continue. 2016-04-25 13:14 SD Times

35 Microsoft's Word Flow keyboard is now available to everyone on iOS iPhone users who are unimpressed with the standard iOS keyboard have one extra option as of today: the Word Flow keyboard from Microsoft. This keyboard had been in beta previously, but is now available to everyone, as long as you're using the US App Store. Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile users are familiar with Word Flow, this being the standard keyboard available on Microsoft’s mobile platforms. The company launched it with great fanfare alongside Windows Phone 8.1, and it has consistently ranked as one of the best digital keyboards around. Today, it officially makes its way to iOS. Interestingly enough, the Word Flow keyboard found on iOS contains some extra features that weren’t shipped on Microsoft’s own platform. For one, it offers the ability for users to change their key backgrounds , with a growing number of images and textures available. Secondly, there’s a one-handed mode that uses an 'arc' design to allow users to easily type on one side of the screen. While Windows users may not be exactly happy to see Word Flow jump ship and gain new features on iOS, Microsoft has said that its services and apps will continue to spread to all other major platforms. That may mean that we'll be seeing Word Flow on Android in the near future as well. But until then you can check out Word Flow for iOS right here , though it's only available in the US for now. 2016-04-25 12:29 Vlad Dudau

36 36 Download ready-to-use Linux virtual machines from OSBoxes VirtualBox is a great tool for trying out some new Linux distro, but you’ll usually have to spend a while finding a download and setting up your VM and operating system, first. OSBoxes.org makes life easier by providing 40+ prebuilt VirtualBox (VDI) and VMware images for Android x86, CentOS, Debian, Fedora, FreeBSD, Gentoo, Linux Mint, Remix OS, Ubuntu and many more. Just browsing the website might give you some ideas. If you’re intrigued by the name "Chromixium", for instance, clicking a link to the official site will explain that it’s "the best of Chromium with the power of Ubuntu" (aka Cub Linux). If that sounds interesting, there are links to download prebuilt 32 and 64-bit images for VirtualBox and VMware. There’s still a little work to do. In VirtualBox, click File > New, enter a name/ type/ version for your download ("Linux" and "Other Linux 32/ 64 bit" usually work for the final two.) Allocate some RAM to the VM, select "Use an existing virtual hard drive file", choose the VDI you’ve just downloaded and click "Create". That’s essentially it. The OS is already set up with a default user account (osboxes) and password (osboxes.org), so there’s nothing technical or time-consuming to get in your way. Just log in and explore. VirtualBox is an open source application for Windows, Mac and Linux. 2016-04-25 12:15 By Mike

37 Globalscape delivers faster enterprise file transfers With increased cloud usage and more demand for remote working, the ability to move large files around efficiently has become more and more important. Delays or latency in moving data can create serious challenges for a business and the size of files being moved is increasing, causing additional strain on bandwidth. Secure file transfer specialist Globalscape is launching a new release of its Enhanced File Transfer (EFT) product which comes with an Accelerate module designed to provide extreme file transfers and increase the speed, efficiency and reliability of data movement. Version 7.3 of EFT with Accelerate can transfer files around five to ten times faster than on FTP, and more than 20 times faster than over SFTP. It's able to overcome latency and securely move data between geographically dispersed servers or locations, preventing delays and eliminating costly bottlenecks in the delivery of important files. It also lets enterprises get better value from their internet connectivity -- in some cases, allowing them to replace costly leased lines or private networks. "The shape, size and amount of data being collected, managed and received today is increasingly putting strain on IT infrastructure and business processes, yet the demand for data is growing exponentially," says Peter Merkulov, vice president of product strategy and technology alliances at Globalscape. "With workforces becoming more remote and global collaboration being easier than ever, it’s incredibly important to ensure that data moves quickly and efficiently. Any delay or disruption of data transfers can create serious repercussions for a business. EFT Enterprise with the Accelerate module is an ultra-fast, reliable way to transfer large amounts of data providing companies with added the security, control and compliance features so desperately needed to mitigate risk, and prevent delays". Under the skin, Accelerate uses the FAST protocol, which can reduce typical transfer delays caused by large file bottlenecks, geographic distances, round trip time and packet loss associated with standard file exchanges. It also works in conjunction with scClient, a preconfigured client application, which enables an individual user to send files at an accelerated rate, even when in remote areas or off-site locations. It retains Globalscape's data security and regulatory compliance capabilities. You can find out more about the solution and how it works on the Globalscape website . Image Credit : megainarmy / Shutterstock 2016-04-25 11:17 By Ian

38 Restrict your PC to run only specific apps with Secure Lockdown Secure Lockdown ($14.95-$29.95) is a quick and easy way to turn your computer into a "kiosk PC", a system which runs only the applications you specify. If you run a business and would like customers to be able to browse some demonstration software, for instance, you probably don’t want them to be able to close that program, Alt+Tab to something else, log out or otherwise mess things up -- and that’s where Secure Lockdown can help. Setup is straightforward, and at a minimum is little more than choosing the applications you’ll allow to be run. Reboot your PC with Secure Lockdown enabled and the user is able to access your whitelist of applications from a launcher. This is where "smart" users might be tempted to run something else, but Secure Lockdown does its best to stop them, removing the Start button and menu, desktop icons, Explorer access, Task Manager, Ctrl+Alt+Del functions, Win+R launcher, right-click menu and more. Even smarter users could launch a target application, then click File > Open to try and browse the file system that way. But Secure Lockdown has that covered, too, blocking access to local drives and disabling the right-click menu. There’s still scope for simple PC vandalism, like resizing an application window, moving it mostly off the screen, closing it entirely. But again, there are options to restart a closed applications or keep it maximized. Secure Lockdown can also be used to lock down Internet Explorer or Chrome, where it’s able to remove particular menu bars or options, block specific browser tasks (download, open, printing), even restrict browsing to certain websites. Some of these restrictions might get in your way, perhaps stop some of your applications from working, but Secure Lockdown is very configurable. Most features can be enabled or disabled by clicking a checkbox. There are many other ways to lock down a PC. If your computer is only ever going to be used as a kiosk then you could do something similar by applying standard policy restrictions , removing Windows components, deleting executables you don’t want others to access, and so on. Secure Lockdown’s key advantage is ease of use. You don’t have to figure which policies to set, because the program does it for you. And crucially, it can be enabled or disabled in a few seconds, ideal if you only need a kiosk PC occasionally. Secure Lockdown is a commercial application which runs on Windows XP and later. 2016-04-25 11:06 By Mike

39 IoT Security Will Reach $840 Million By 2020, Gartner Finds With the connected world of the Internet of Things (IoT) on the rise, and expected to be an increasing focus for malware attacks in enterprises, Gartner believes worldwide spending on IoT security will reach $348 million in 2016, up 24% over 2015 spending, according to an April 25 report. Over the next few years, IoT security spending will initially be "moderate," according to Gartner, and will rise to $547.2 million in 2018. Then it will gain real momentum after 2020, "as improved skills, organizational change and more scalable service options improve execution. " By 2020, the market is expected to reach $840.5 million, according to the Gartner. (Users will have to sign in to access the full report .) Growth will also be linked to IoT adoption in consumer and industry sectors. "Gartner forecasts that 6.4 billion connected things will be in use worldwide in 2016, up 30 percent from 2015, and will reach 11.4 billion by 2018," Ruggero Contu, research director at Gartner, wrote in Monday's report. "However, considerable variation exists among different industry sectors as a result of different levels of prioritization and security awareness. " IoT devices used across vertical industries will be the largest area of growth, followed by energy management, automotive applications, and the consumer-driven IoT category. From 2013 through 2020, Gartner expects IoT endpoints to experience an annual growth rate of 32%, and for endpoint spending to be dominated by connected cars and machinery, such as commercial aircraft, as well as farming and construction equipment. By 2020, Gartner predicts that more than 25% of identified attacks in enterprises will involve IoT, even though IoT will account for less than 10% of IT security budgets. Faced with IT budget constraints, vendors will be challenged to provide usable solutions, according to Gartner, and focus too much on spotting vulnerabilities and exploits, rather than on long-term means of protection. Learn to integrate the cloud into legacy systems and new initiatives. Attend the Cloud Connect Track at Interop Las Vegas, May 2-6. Register now! Securing IoT will "focus more and more on the management, analytics and provisioning of devices and their data," Contu wrote. "IoT business scenarios will require a delivery mechanism that can also grow and keep pace with requirements in monitoring, detection, access control and other security needs. " By 2020, Gartner expects half of all IoT implementations to use a form of cloud-based security service to meet the acceptable levels of risk dictated by regulations or reliability standards. Not only is the future of cloud-based security services linked to the future of IoT, added Contu, but the potential scale and strength of IoT won't be realized without it. An April 19 report from CounterTack and the Ponemon Institute likewise emphasized an increase in malware attacks on mobile endpoints in enterprises, and a growing trend to focus on securing the data instead of devices. Among the 694 security practitioners surveyed, 80% reported that they believed their mobile endpoints (laptops, desktops, printers, POS machines, ATMs, and other devices) had been targets of malware, and 81% reported that the biggest threat to their endpoint security was "negligent or careless employees" who don't follow security policies. 2016-04-25 11:05 Michelle Maisto

40 Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx wants YouTube to pay artists more royalties YouTube is not paying artists enough in royalties for music videos, and Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx has had enough. He says that the Google-owned video site pays just a fraction of the likes of Apple and Spotify. Sixx is calling on other musicians to join forces in a bid to make YouTube dig deeper into its pockets and pay artists a fair share. He is quick to point out that this is not just about getting more money for himself, insisting that he is also looking out for "the little guy -- the up and comers that we were at one point". As well as being a royalty issue, the debate also focuses on the idea of copyright law and how it operates around the world. Sites such as YouTube that allow people to upload content of their own are immune from prosecution for copyright infringement. Musicians argue that this gives the site an unfair advantage when negotiating pay deals, resulting in artists being paid less. Speaking to the Guardian, Sixx said : Google argues that it pays out "billions" to the music industry and suggests that YouTube acts as a form of advertising: Photo credit: Helga Esteb / Shutterstock 2016-04-25 11:03 By Mark

41 Why DDoS is far from dead Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks that are carried out by a botnet (a network of compromised computers) to overwhelm the processing power of the victim computer, effectively taking it out of commission, have been around for a while. Peaking in 2000 with high profile attacks against Yahoo, eBay, CNN.com, Amazon.com and other e-commerce sites, they evolved in 2010 to be used by Hacktivists such as Anonymous in their Operation Payback , which escalated into a wave of attacks on major pro-copyright and anti-piracy organisations, law firms, credit card and banking institutions. Traditionally, DDoS attacks were network‐based. In such volumetric- based attacks, the attacker flooded the victim computer with information, taking up all of the victim computer’s bandwidth and infrastructure, overwhelming the victim computer’s ability to process the volume of information. Scripts for such attacks have become readily available on the Internet, as well as the Darknet. Therefore, it seemed as if DDoS was "old news". Don’t Dismiss DDoS Just Yet DDoS attacks against HSBC, the BBC, and the Internet’s core servers brought DDoS back into the headlines. Attacks by Anonymous, ranging from attacks on NASA, Nissan, the city of Denver and Donald Trump, added to the notoriety of DDoS attacks. According to Akamai’s latest State of the Internet report, in 2015 there was a 148.85 per cent increase in total DDoS attacks over 2014. DDoS attacks have become shorter in attack duration (14.95 vs. 29.33 hours) and more complex, using multi-vector attacks more frequently. Reasons why DDoS is Alive and Kicking DDoS has evolved and continues to evolve DDoS attacks are becoming more accessible and varied: The next step: Expansion of DDoS attacks into new areas Due to their connection to a network, IoT devices could be manipulated for launching a DDoS attack, similarly to servers in a botnet. Many IoT devices run on known operating systems and share the same cryptographic key, making them vulnerable to be exploited by DDoS attacks. The exploitation of CCTV cameras for a DDoS attack instead of a typical computer botnet is a prime example of this type of attack. Cybersecurity experts expect DDoS to continue being a serious threat to organizations in 2016, growing both in size of attacks and in the chances of becoming a victim of an attack. Protection requires a multi-faceted approach that goes beyond relying solely on firewalls threats. Attacks must be identified on the endpoint and network level, and prevented in real-time. Critical steps include: incorporating DDoS threat prevention steps into the company’s cybersecurity strategies, monitoring the company’s network and maintaining logs of normal traffic volumes, using a secured Domain Name System (DNS), protecting Internet-facing systems and applications while keeping them fully patched, as well as working with ISP and DDoS mitigation services providers. Photo Credit : Duc Dao / Shutterstock Guy Caspi is CEO of Deep Instinct Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved. 2016-04-25 11:01 By Guy

42 Elon Musk: Tesla self-driving cars "almost twice as good" as human drivers The promise of self-driving cars is not only one of increased comfort and more free time, but much more importantly, that of safer roads. And that promise seems to quickly be turning into reality, according to Tesla founder, Elon Musk. Tesla, which has taken the world by storm with pre-orders for its latest electric vehicle, has also been very interested in self-driving technology. In fact, the company recently launched a software update to its existing Tesla cars that allowed them to be autonomous in some select situations. This has led to safer driving, by a wide margin, according to Musk. Talking to the Minister of Transport and Communications, on a recent trip to Norway, Elon Musk espoused the benefits of self-driving cars, even in their current limited form. He said: If these numbers prove to be real and not just hyperbole, they may well help to move the market towards wider and swifter adoption of self-driving cars. Insurance industries and regulatory bodies, not to mention average citizens, may see the major benefits of self-driving cars and push society in that direction. To that end Musk continued: Another major player in self-driving cars, Google/Alphabet, has only driven a couple of million miles in its autonomous vehicles, so the “billions” mentioned by Musk will still take some time. That being said, there’s speculation that the new Tesla Model 3 electric vehicle will also be the first widely available self-driving car, so autonomous vehicles may quickly become a staple of our society. Source: Electrek Via: IBT 2016-04-25 10:16 Vlad Dudau

43 A regsvr32 hack is all it takes to bypass Windows' AppLocker security A security researcher has discovered a way to get around Windows' AppLocker security system. Casey Smith found that it was possible to use Regsvr32 to call up a remotely hosted file that could be used to run any application -- malicious or otherwise -- of your choice. This is something that will be a concern to companies, many of whom rely on AppLocker as it restricts what users are able to run on their computers. What is particularly concerning is the fact that the exploit does not require administrator privileges, and doesn't make any changes to the registry which makes it difficult to detect. Smith uncovered the exploit whilst looking to install a reverse shell on a computer with restrictions in place. After playing around for a while he discovered that a simple command could be used to execute a script. The beauty of the solution -- aside from the lack of privileges needed -- is that it should just show up in logs as regular HTTP or HTTPS traffic, reducing the likelihood of detection. Smith explains : At the moment, there is no patch available for the exploit -- it could be argued that it's a feature that is included by design -- but if you want to be on the safe side, you might want to consider blocking Regsvr32 with your firewall. Photo credit: McIek / Shutterstock 2016-04-25 10:01 By Mark

44 Malvertising attack silently infects old Android devices with ransomware Attackers are using two known exploits to silently install ransomware on older Android devices when their owners browse to websites that load malicious advertisements. Web-based attacks that exploit vulnerabilities in browsers or their plug-ins to install malware are common on Windows computers, but not on Android, where the application security model is stronger. But researchers from Blue Coat Systems detected the new Android drive-by download attack recently when one of their test devices -- a Samsung tablet running CyanogenMod 10.1, a mobile operating system based on the open source version of Android 4.2.2 -- became infected with ransomware after visiting a Web page that displayed a malicious ad. "This is the first time, to my knowledge, an exploit kit has been able to successfully install malicious apps on a mobile device without any user interaction on the part of the victim," said Andrew Brandt, director of threat research at Blue Coat. "During the attack, the device did not display the normal 'application permissions' dialog box that typically precedes installation of an Android application. " Further analysis, with help from researchers at Zimperium, revealed that the ad contained JavaScript code that exploited a known vulnerability in libxslt. This libxslt exploit was among the files leaked last year from surveillance software maker Hacking Team. If successful, the exploit drops an ELF executable named module.so on the device that in turn exploits another vulnerability to gain root access -- the highest privilege on the system. The root exploit used by module.so is known as Towelroot and was published in 2014. After the device is compromised, Towelroot downloads and silently installs an APK (Android Application Package) file that's actually a ransomware program called Dogspectus or Cyber. Police. This application does not encrypt user files, like other ransomware programs do these days. Instead, it displays a fake warning, allegedly from law enforcement agencies, saying illegal activity was detected on the device and the owner needs to pay a fine. The application blocks victims from doing anything else on the device until they pay up or perform a factory reset. The second option will wipe all files from the device, so its best to connect the device to a computer and save them first. "The commoditized implementation of the Hacking Team and Towelroot exploits to install malware onto Android mobile devices using an automated exploit kit has some serious consequences," Brandt said. "The most important of these is that older devices, which have not been updated (nor are likely to be updated) with the latest version of Android, may remain susceptible to this type of attack in perpetuity. " Exploits like Towelroot are not implicitly malicious. Some users willingly use them to root their devices to remove security restrictions and unlock functionality that is not normally available. However, because malware creators can use such exploits for malicious purposes, Google views rooting apps as potentially harmful and blocks their installation through an Android feature called Verify Apps. Users should turn on this feature under Settings > Google > Security > Scan Device for Security Threats. Upgrading a device to the latest Android version is always recommended because newer versions of the OS include vulnerability patches and other security improvements. When a device goes out of support and doesn't receive updates anymore, users should limit their Web browsing activities on it. On older devices, they should install a browser like Chrome instead of using the default Android Browser. 2016-04-25 09:36 Lucian Constantin

45 New Windows 10 updates causing massive problems for some users One of the big changes Microsoft introduced in Windows 10 was mandatory updates. It’s easy to see why the software giant believed this was a good idea -- reducing the number of unpatched systems is great news for everyone -- but it does mean when a bad update is released by Microsoft, everyone installs it. Case in point is two new updates released this month that have created problems for some users. SEE ALSO: Microsoft hits a new low -- sneaks Windows 10 advertising into an Internet Explorer security patch Microsoft has started an official thread for updates KB3147461 and KB3147458 asking if anyone is seeing issues with them, and a lot of people are. Problems reported by users following the installation of the updates (which rolled out on April 12) include broken apps, Start menu crashes, and crash loops and bluescreens. User SusanClifford says: While Scott 98 complains: Some of the many complaints just seem to be with Windows 10 problems in general, and don't actually relate to the two April patches. Have you experienced any problems with the latest updates in Windows 10? Photo Credit: wavebreakmedia / Shutterstock 2016-04-25 09:25 By Wayne

46 Commercial notebook shipments return to growth Commercial notebook shipments have returned to growth in the first quarter of 2016, new figures by market analysts IDC say. New form factors, guided by the ever increasing desire for mobility, aided by the new Windows 10 operating system and the Skylake processors were key drivers for this growth. HP was the biggest winner of the new change, with Dell also outperforming the market average, IDC’s report says. Asus, Apple and Fujitsu posted some strong results, as well. "The return to growth in commercial notebooks in Europe is a good sign", said Chrystelle Labesque, Director, IDC EMEA Personal Computing. "It is interesting, however, how market consolidation is progressing. Productivity is key in enterprise. Innovation in terms of form factors and productivity gains with the latest generation of devices is supporting some renewal in the enterprise space". In Western Europe, there has been a 1.3 percent increase in commercial notebooks shipments. Germany recorded best results, going into double digits. Finland, Norway, the Nordics, all improved, while Southern Europe was somewhat weaker. The top three players now hold 56.3 percent of the total market share. HP gained 1.6 percent market share (it hit 24.9 percent in EMEA), followed by Lenovo, which kept its leadership position in consumer shipments in EMEA. Dell reported strong growth, bigger than the growth of the market, while Asus declined less than the market average, all thanks to its notebook performance. Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved. Photo Credit: scyther5 / Shutterstock 2016-04-25 09:15 By Sead

47 Microsoft offering a free Lumia 950 when you purchase the Lumia 950XL [Update] If you’re in the market for a new smartphone, and you happen to live in Canada, or the US, Microsoft has an offer on hand that might be too good to ignore. The company is offering a free, black Lumia 950 to its customers. Of course there is a catch to this deal, as you’ll first need to buy an unlocked Lumia 950 XL, the top-of-the-line Windows Mobile handset. But if you do decide to purchase the XL you’ll also get the black version of the 950 for free. That’s a discount of CAD $749 when you essentially buy two devices. And yes, the Lumia 950 you get for free is also unlocked and contract-free. As a recap here are the two device’s specs: This offer is a really enticing one, and as Microsoft points out, it’s time-limited, t hough it’s not exactly clear when it will expire. The offer started today and ends on May 1st, though availability may run out at some point. So if you’re looking for a new Windows 10 Mobile device, you might want to jump on this sooner rather than later. Curiously, the terms and conditions on the Microsoft Store Canada site states that the offer is valid not just in Canada, but also "in the United States (including Puerto Rico) - but at time of publishing, Microsoft had not updated its US Store listing with details of the offer. Check out the offer at Microsoft . Update: The offer has now gone live on the Microsoft Store in the United States . Editor's Note : The article was updated shortly after publishing to specify the start and end dates of the promotions and the fact that it also available in the US. 2016-04-25 07:40 Vlad Dudau

48 10 Big Data Books To Boost Your Career Data science and analytics are some of the top in-demand job categories in the technology industry today. Indeed, demand is higher than supply for these specialists, and many data science master's degree programs have sprouted in the past few years. The online learning curriculum has expanded significantly, too, with offerings from the big MOOC providers (massive open online course) such as Coursera and Udemy , as well as vendors who offer the technologies that enable big data, such as MapR and Confluent, among many others. Create a culture where technology advances truly empower your business. Attend the Leadership Track at Interop Las Vegas, May 2-6. Register now! But aside from formal education, either online or offline, there are other ways to learn about this emerging field, and to gain some of the skills you need if this is the next step for you on your career journey. If you're an executive leading a team of data scientists, you might need better grounding to learn about the technology the group's members use to do their jobs. InformationWeek has put together a collection of essential reading for data scientists, business analysts , executives, and others who are interested in this rapidly growing field. Our collection features 10 books to help you understand everything from the ramifications of widespread algorithms and models for our future society, to how to use some of the most popular languages and tools to generate insights from data. What are the essential skills for data scientists to possess? What are some of the key recipes for R users to leverage in their work? How can you use data to tell stories that compel your audience to action? How can you work with big data technologies such as Apache Hadoop and Apache Spark? What are the cultural and economic ramifications of a future world where so many decisions are based on a black box of algorithms? Take a look at this list to find out. Are there any that you will add to your reading list? Did we miss any? Let us know in the comments below. 2016-04-25 07:06 Jessica Davis

49 Xiaomi Mi Max launch set for May 10, specs and teaser appear online [Update] Xiaomi already offers two lineups of large screen smartphones, but it seems the company intends to launch a larger device in the near future as it has now posted a teaser of an alleged 6.4-inch device. Mi Max, as the device is being referred to, is expected to be a mid-range phablet but there is no official word about its specifications yet although some of them have now leaked. The post over at the MIUI Forums has revealed that the Mi Max will be a completely new product line and won't feature the current screen sizes. Earlier rumours have suggested that the device would be a 6.4-inch one. The teaser does mention that the device would fit in a jeans pocket, so it will be interesting to see whether the claim is true. The smartphone's specifications leaked by its GFXBench listing are as follows: Xiaomi could price its upcoming smartphone between the currently available phablets, which include the low cost Redmi Note and the premium Mi Note. The launch date of the device is set for the 10th of May and more teasers could be expected from the company as it generally prefers to create buzz prior to device launches. Source & Image: MIUI Forums , GizChina Update: Leaked specs and event invite image added 2016-04-25 06:20 Shreyas Gandhe

Total 49 articles. Created at 2016-04-26 06:00