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38 articles, 2016-03-06 00:01 1 Epic Games CEO Finally Notices That UWP Apps Are A Walled Garden Programming book reviews, programming tutorials,programming news, C#, Ruby, (2.00/3) Python,C, C++, PHP, Visual Basic, Computer book reviews, computer history, programming history, joomla, theory, spreadsheets and more. 2016-03-05 23:02 5KB www.i-programmer.info 2 New tech automatically 'tunes' powered prosthetics while walking When amputees receive powered prosthetic legs, the power of the prosthetic limbs needs to be tuned by a prosthetics expert so that a patient can move normally -- but the prosthetic often needs repeated re-tuning. Biomedical engineering researchers have developed software that allows powered prosthetics to tune themselves automatically, making... 2016-03-05 23:12 3KB www.sciencedaily.com 3 Lie-detecting software uses real court case data By studying videos from high-stakes court cases, researchers are building unique lie- detecting software based on real-world data. 2016-03-05 23:10 4KB www.sciencedaily.com 4 Microsoft announces quarterly earnings release date REDMOND, Wash. — Jan. 11, 2016 — Microsoft Corp. will publish fiscal year 2016 second-quarter financial results after the close of the market on Thursday, January 28, 2016 on the Microsoft Investor Relations website at http://www.microsoft.com/investor. A live webcast of the earnings conference call will be made available at 2:30... 2016-03-05 23:02 1KB news.microsoft.com 5 Microsoft and Olio Devices announce patent licensing agreement REDMOND, Wash., and SAN FRANCISCO — Jan. 25, 2016 — On Monday, Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC and Olio Devices Inc. signed a patent licensing agreement covering wearable devices. Nick Psyhogeos, president of Microsoft Technology Licensing, said, “Mutually beneficial and collaborative patent licensing agreements like this one promote innovation and lead... 2016-03-05 23:02 2KB news.microsoft.com 6 Microsoft Philanthropies announces commitment to donate $1 billion in cloud computing resources to serve the public good DAVOS-KLOSTERS, Switzerland — Jan. 19, 2016 — Microsoft Corp. CEO Satya Nadella announced a new three-part initiative to ensure that Microsoft’s cloud computing resources serve the public good. As part of this initiative the recently formed Microsoft Philanthropies will donate $1 billion of Microsoft Cloud Services, measured at fair market... 2016-03-05 23:02 4KB news.microsoft.com 7 Microsoft and Acer expand partnership to bring Microsoft services to more customers on more devices REDMOND, Wash., and TAIPEI, Taiwan — Feb. 10, 2016 — Microsoft Corp. and Acer Inc. announced on Wednesday the expansion of their global partnership to bring Microsoft mobile productivity services to more consumers. From the second half of 2016, Acer will begin pre-installing Microsoft services and apps on its portfolio... 2016-03-05 23:02 3KB news.microsoft.com 8 Striving for a balanced mobile world: the Connected Women of MWC At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the GSMA’s Connected Women initiative began a new drive to connect more women in the developing world. Computer Weekly meets programme director Claire Sibthorpe. 2016-03-05 23:01 2KB www.computerweekly.com

9 Microsoft touts benefits of DirectX 12 in new teaser video Microsoft has published a teaser video showing some of the benefits of DirectX 12 on Windows 10 compared to its predecessor, DirectX 11. 2016-03-05 20:24 1KB www.techspot.com 10 3 signs you’ll soon be attending a coding bootcamp at your college It all started as an alternative to the traditional college education. Now they’ve caught the eyes of deans across the country. Coding bootcamps have been a.. 2016-03-05 20:16 8KB techcrunch.com 11 Oh, the places you can go with Google Street View Google Street View uses in-house data-capturing tech that lets you see the world from the comfort of your own device. GSV allows us to see not only photos of.. 2016-03-05 20:16 2KB techcrunch.com 12 The Dark Ages of Austin startup capital An Austin-based venture capital firm recently offered my company $400,000 for 40 percent of its equity. This was one week before their counterpart in the Bay.. 2016-03-05 20:16 9KB techcrunch.com 13 MIT spin-out Thunkable hopes its drag-and-drop app builder can be a money-spinner too Bagging lots of users is a challenge one of the startups in Y Combinator's 2016 winter batch is worrying about a bit less than the average. The two-man strong.. 2016-03-05 20:16 12KB techcrunch.com 14 On the war between hacker culture and codes of conduct Did you know that a Code of Conduct war is underway in the world of open-source software development? I realize that this sounds ridiculous. Codes of Conduct.. 2016-03-05 20:16 3KB techcrunch.com 15 Gillmor Gang LIVE 03.05.16 Gillmor Gang - Dan Farber, Frank Radice, Keith Teare, Kevin Marks, and Steve Gillmor. LIVE recording session has concluded for today. Our LIVE chat.. 2016-03-05 20:16 771Bytes techcrunch.com 16 Reinstating Moore’s Law: a next-generation transistor for mobile technology Research into a new generation of transistors could end a decade of stagnation in computing speed and deliver a step-change in processing power, says the National Physical Laboratory’s Mark Stewart. 2016-03-05 18:42 2KB www.computerweekly.com 17 Goodyear's spherical, levitating concept tires can move autonomous cars in all directions At this year’s Geneva Motor Show, Goodyear really has re-invented the wheel by unveiling two new tire concepts designed with autonomous vehicles in mind – including a spherical tire that allows cars to drive sideways. 2016-03-05 20:24 3KB www.techspot.com 18 San Bernardino DA warns that Syed Farouk's iPhone could contain a "dormant cyber pathogen" While Apple’s San Bernardino iPhone court case is a deadly serious issue, the outcome of which could have a profound effect on how companies encrypt their products and the government’s ability to spy on its citizens, there have been moments… 2016-03-05 20:24 3KB www.techspot.com 19 Oculus founder says no Mac is powerful enough to run the Rift If you're wondering why the Oculus Rift only supports Windows PCs at launch, Oculus co- founder Palmer Luckey has the answer: the current crop of Macs simply aren't powerful enough to deliver a good virtual reality experience. 2016-03-05 20:24 2KB www.techspot.com

20 Meta 2 augmented reality headset reveals its trump card, a wide field of view The overwhelming majority of discussions involving augmented reality these days centers on Microsoft's HoloLens and to a lesser extent, Magic Leap (the latter of which has yet to reveal its hardware). But there's a third competitor – a privately owned… 2016-03-05 20:24 2KB www.techspot.com 21 Google glitch translates 'Russian Federation' into 'Mordor'; it has a ring to it Irony alert: Google Translate bug brands Russians as occupiers when translating from Ukrainian 2016-03-05 20:22 3KB www.v3.co.uk 22 Microsoft reportedly considered buying Slack for $8bn Microsoft's Qi Lu is said to have campaigned within the company for the acquisition of messaging platform Slack for up to $8 billion - but MS CEO Satya Nadella was reportedly against the idea. 2016-03-05 19:26 2KB www.neowin.net 23 Anonymous hacks Donald Trump's voicemail and leaks the messages In the run-up to the presidential election, few days go by when Donald Trump isn't hitting the headlines for something he's said or done. The bombastic billionaire looks set to become the republican candidate, and his journey towards the White House is littered with offense and controversy, and back in... 2016-03-05 18:44 2KB betanews.com 24 Barnes & Noble is closing its Nook App store and more on March 15 Barnes & Noble recently notified both developers and customers that it'll be shutting down its Nook App Store, the UK Nook Store and Nook Video come March 15. The admission came via e-mail according to a recent report from The… 2016-03-05 17:25 1KB www.techspot.com 25 AMD bolsters chip lineup with higher-clocked A10-7890K APU, Athlon X4 880K CPU AMD recently announced a pair of new desktop processors, both of which are said to be the fastest chips released to date in their respective classes. 2016-03-05 17:25 1KB www.techspot.com 26 No Man's Sky release date and special edition details revealed Space exploration/combat games have seen something of a resurgence recently, and one upcoming title from the genre that’s generating a lot of hype is No Man’s Sky. For those who eager to play the exploration/trading/fighting title, publisher and developer Hello… 2016-03-05 17:25 2KB www.techspot.com 27 'Star Fox Zero' April launch date confirmed (and other tidbits) from producer Shigeru Miyamoto Nintendo has put to rest rumors that Star Fox Zero, the first original release in the franchise since 2006, would be delayed for a second time. Instead, it'll be released on April 22. 2016-03-05 17:25 2KB www.techspot.com 28 Amazon expands Echo family with two new voice-controlled digital assistants Amazon on Thursday announced two new additions to its Alexa-powered family of voice- controlled digital assistants, the Echo Dot and Amazon Tap. 2016-03-05 20:24 3KB www.techspot.com

29 HTC reportedly pre-sold 15,000 Vive VR headsets in less than 10 minutes HTC's Vive virtual reality system was made available to pre-order for the first time a few days back. Many have balked at the price – $799, a full $200 more than the Oculus Rift – although those with hands-on experience… 2016-03-05 20:24 2KB www.techspot.com 30 Six Flags and Samsung team up to bring the VR experience to nine roller coasters across the US For those people who find that travelling 100 mph while falling 400 feet on a roller coaster just isn’t exciting enough, Samsung and Six Flags Entertainment have announced a collaboration that will enhance the experience by bringing virtual reality to… 2016-03-05 20:24 3KB www.techspot.com 31 Google's Hands Free system lets you pay for items just by saying your initials If you’ve ever wanted to pay for an item without having to rummage around in your pockets for some loose change, your wallet, or even your smartphone, then Google is piloting a system that’s just for you: Hands Free. … 2016-03-05 20:24 2KB www.techspot.com 32 Weekend Open Forum: Is your system ready for VR? Playing games in virtual reality is going to require a pretty powerful gaming PC. Oculus recommends at least an Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 or AMD Radeon R9 290 to accompany an Intel Core i5-4590 and 8 GB of RAM, while… 2016-03-05 20:24 1KB www.techspot.com 33 Intel reportedly using RealSense 3D camera tech to develop augmented reality headset Intel is reportedly the latest technology giant jumping on the virtual / augmented reality bandwagon. The chipmaker is actively developing an augmented reality headset based on its RealSense 3D camera technology according to sources familiar with the matter as reported… 2016-03-05 20:24 2KB www.techspot.com 34 VESA announces DisplayPort 1.4 standard with support for 8K displays The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) has finalized and published the DisplayPort 1.4 standard. The latest version, announced roughly 18 months after its predecessor, includes a number of noteworthy features and specifications that may lead some to skip DisplayPort 1.3 entirely. 2016-03-05 17:15 2KB www.techspot.com 35 Watch a drone race a McLaren supercar in this World Drone Prix promo Most associate drones with basic camera-equipped consumer models that offer unparalleled views from above but like virtually all hobbies, some have made a competitive sport of it. 2016-03-05 17:15 1KB www.techspot.com 36 Rocket League gets official championship series, $75,000 prize pool Rocket League developer Psyonix has partnered with Twitch to create the Rocket League Championship Series, the official competitive league for the popular sports-action game. At stake is the first ever Rocket League championship title and more importantly, a total prize… 2016-03-05 18:06 2KB www.techspot.com 37 Combine data mining and simulation to maximise process improvement Data mining and computer simulation can be used together to better model and improve industrial processes, city development and other complex systems. 2016-03-05 18:07 2KB www.computerweekly.com

38 Amazon removes the encryption features in its Fire products because customers didn't use them One of the reasons so many companies are backing Apple in its battle against the Department of Justice is because they believe their products should feature strong encryption that doesn't have backdoors. So it’s a surprise to learn that Amazon,… 2016-03-05 18:06 3KB www.techspot.com Articles

38 articles, 2016-03-06 00:01

1 Epic Games CEO Finally Notices That UWP Apps Are A Walled Garden (2.00/3) If you have been following news items in our "Fear And Loathing In The App Store" series you will know that I Programmer has long been worried by the moved to closed apps stores. Now it seems Epic Games co-founder, Tim Sweeney, has written about this aspect of Windows 10 in the Guardian, sparking a lot of discussion and some hysteria. There is no doubt that some aspects of a controlled app store are beneficial. There is more control of malware and other low quality apps that would otherwise give the whole community a bad name. The single market also focuses the users attention on apps and provides us with opportunities to make money without having to engage in extensive marketing. The downside is obviously that we have to give up control of quite a lot and trust that the system is fair. The most obvious example of a walled app store is of course the App Store, i.e. Apple's app store. It is generally ranked slightly worse than Google's app store for being over-controlling and who knows how bad Amazon's app store really is. All of this happened without Microsoft and the biggest OS on the planet - Windows. Microsoft didn't have an app store at the time because it had no way of controlling the apps that ran under its OS. You could say Microsoft made Windows open because it hadn't really thought about any alternatives and their associated advantages. Follow this up with the Windows 8 slow train wreck and Microsoft's one attempt at an app store seemed to be a failure along with it. However, things didn't just stop at this point. While Satya Nadella was busy getting Microsoft to open source things, he also signed off on Universal Windows Platform and its associated apps and app store. If you want an app to run on all Windows 10 devices that it has to be a UWP app and it has to be sold and delivered via Microsoft. While it is possible to sideload UWP apps, this is not something that users are going to do on a regular basis and it doesn't represent an effective way of selling or distributing UWP apps. It has been obvious for some time that Microsoft was following the lead of Apple and Google and making Windows a closed app environment so it is surprising that Tim Sweeney is only noticing it now. He writes in his Guardian editorial: "With its new Universal Windows Platform (UWP) initiative, Microsoft has built a closed platform- within-a-platform into Windows 10, as the first apparent step towards locking down the consumer PC ecosystem and monopolising app distribution and commerce. In my view, this is the most aggressive move Microsoft has ever made... " If you want to argue that there is still the good old open Win32 and. NET environments then the counter argument is that Microsoft is putting all the good stuff into UWP. It is clear that Win32 is legacy and it's really only a matter of time before this becomes very clear. This issue that Sweeney is so up in arms about is not that Microsoft has an app store, but that it is locked down and games makers, such as Epic, can no longer sell their games directly without giving a cut to Microsoft. The games industry, it seems, has seen the writing on the wall - Win32 is dying - and doesn't like being forced into a controlled app store where a percentage of the profit goes to Microsoft for doing what exactly? "The ultimate danger here is that Microsoft continually improves UWP while neglecting and even degrading win32, over time making it harder for developers and publishers to escape from Microsoft’s new UWP commerce monopoly. " Any of these are about as likely to happen as Microsoft declaring that Windows 8 and 10 were just a mistake and producing a Windows 7.5. "We wouldn’t let Microsoft close down the PC platform overnight without a fight, and therefore we won’t sit silently by while Microsoft embarks on a series of sneaky manoeuvres aimed at achieving this over a period of several years. " I would say that the only thing wrong with this perception of the situtation is the idea that it is going to take a period of several years. We are almost there. Tim Sweeney has just woken up to the real world of software development in the 21st century. Both iOS and Android programmers have been accustomed to living in a walled garden for many years now. Not all of them like it, but few rebel for the simple reason that there are few alternatives - in Apple's case no alternatives. You either play ball with the app store or it takes its ball away and plays with someone else. Gears of War - ironically an Epic game that is available in the Windows Store. Microsoft wants to monopolise games development on PC. We must fight it 2016-03-05 23:02 Administrator

2 New tech automatically 'tunes' powered prosthetics while walking "When a patient gets a powered prosthetic, it needs to be customized to account for each individual patient's physical condition, because people are different in size and strength. And that tuning is done by a prosthetist," says Helen Huang, lead author of a paper on the work and an associate professor in the biomedical engineering program at NC State and UNC- Chapel Hill. "In addition, people are dynamic -- a patient's physical condition may change as he or she becomes accustomed to a prosthetic leg, for example, or they may gain weight. These changes mean the prosthetic needs to be re-tuned, and working with a prosthetist takes time and money. " To address this problem, the researchers developed an algorithm that can be incorporated into the software of any powered prosthesis to automatically tune the amount of power a prosthetic limb needs in order for a patient to walk comfortably. The algorithm would not only make it easier for patients to walk while reducing prosthetist-related costs, but would also allow a prosthesis to adjust to changing conditions. "For example, the algorithm could provide more power to a prosthesis when a patient carries a heavy suitcase through an airport," Huang says. The system works by taking into account the angle of the prosthetic knee while walking. Powered prosthetic legs are programmed so that the angle of the prosthetic joints -- the knee or ankle -- while walking mimics the normal movement of the joints when an able-bodied person is walking. During the conventional prosthetic tuning process, a prosthetist adjusts the powered prosthesis's system so that it exerts the power necessary to recreate those normal joint motions while walking. But changes in a person's weight, or gait, can affect the prosthesis's ability to achieve that "natural" joint angle. The automatic-tuning algorithm takes a similar approach, tracking the angle of the prosthetic joint while walking. But it is able to adjust the amount of power the prosthesis receives in real time, in order to maintain the proper angle. "In testing, we found that the computer -- using the algorithm -- performed better than prosthetists at achieving the proper joint angle," Huang says. "So we know our approach works. But we're still working to make it better. "Prosthetists rely on years of experience to not only adjust the joint angle, but to adjust a prosthesis to help patients maintain a comfortable posture while walking," Huang adds. "We're not yet able to replicate the prosthetist's success in achieving those comfortable 'trunk motions,' but it's something we're working on. " Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gjAczfCWJI&feature=youtu.be 2016-03-05 23:12

3 Lie-detecting software uses real court case data Their prototype considers both the speaker's words and gestures, and unlike a polygraph, it doesn't need to touch the subject in order to work. In experiments, it was up to 75 percent accurate in identifying who was being deceptive (as defined by trial outcomes), compared with humans' scores of just above 50 percent. With the software, the researchers say they've identified several tells. Lying individuals moved their hands more. They tried to sound more certain. And, somewhat counterintuitively, they looked their questioners in the eye a bit more often than those presumed to be telling the truth, among other behaviors. The system might one day be a helpful tool for security agents, juries and even mental health professionals, the researchers say. To develop the software, the team used machine-learning techniques to train it on a set of 120 video clips from media coverage of actual trials. They got some of their clips from the website of The Innocence Project, a national organization that works to exonerate the wrongfully convicted. The "real world" aspect of the work is one of the main ways it's different. "In laboratory experiments, it's difficult to create a setting that motivates people to truly lie. The stakes are not high enough," said Rada Mihalcea, professor of computer science and engineering who leads the project with Mihai Burzo, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at UM-Flint. "We can offer a reward if people can lie well--pay them to convince another person that something false is true. But in the real world there is true motivation to deceive. " The videos include testimony from both defendants and witnesses. In half of the clips, the subject is deemed to be lying. To determine who was telling the truth, the researchers compared their testimony with trial verdicts. To conduct the study, the team transcribed the audio, including vocal fill such as "um, ah, and uh. " They then analyzed how often subjects used various words or categories of words. They also counted the gestures in the videos using a standard coding scheme for interpersonal interactions that scores nine different motions of the head, eyes, brow, mouth and hands. The researchers fed the data into their system and let it sort the videos. When it used input from both the speaker's words and gestures, it was 75 percent accurate in identifying who was lying. That's much better than humans, who did just better than a coin-flip. "People are poor lie detectors," Mihalcea said. "This isn't the kind of task we're naturally good at. There are clues that humans give naturally when they are being deceptive, but we're not paying close enough attention to pick them up. We're not counting how many times a person says 'I' or looks up. We're focusing on a higher level of communication. " In the clips of people lying, the researchers found common behaviors: This effort is one piece of a larger project. "We are integrating physiological parameters such as heart rate, respiration rate and body temperature fluctuations, all gathered with non-invasive thermal imaging," Burzo said. The researchers are also exploring the role of cultural influence. "Deception detection is a very difficult problem," Burzo said. "We are getting at it from several different angles. " For this work, the researchers themselves classified the gestures, rather than having the computer do it. They're in the process of training the computer to do that. The research team also includes research fellows Veronica Perez-Rosas and Mohamed Abouelenien. A paper on the findings titled "Deception Detection using Real-life Trial Data" was presented at the International Conference on Multimodal Interaction and is published in the 2015 conference proceedings. The work was funded by the National Science Foundation, John Templeton Foundation and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. 2016-03-05 23:10

4 Microsoft announces quarterly earnings release date REDMOND, Wash. — Jan. 11, 2016 — Microsoft Corp. will publish fiscal year 2016 second-quarter financial results after the close of the market on Thursday, January 28, 2016 on the Microsoft Investor Relations website at http://www.microsoft.com/investor. A live webcast of the earnings conference call will be made available at 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time. 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. For more information, financial analysts and investors only: Investor Relations, Microsoft, (425) 706-4400 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 http://www.microsoft.com/investor . 2016-03-05 23:02 By Microsoft

5 Microsoft and Olio Devices announce patent licensing agreement REDMOND, Wash., and SAN FRANCISCO — Jan. 25, 2016 — On Monday, Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC and Olio Devices Inc. signed a patent licensing agreement covering wearable devices. Nick Psyhogeos, president of Microsoft Technology Licensing, said, “Mutually beneficial and collaborative patent licensing agreements like this one promote innovation and lead to better products and experiences for consumers.” Microsoft’s commitment to licensing IP The patent agreement is another example of the important role intellectual property (IP) plays in ensuring a healthy and vibrant technology ecosystem. Since Microsoft launched its IP licensing program in December 2003, it has entered into more than 1,200 licensing agreements. More information about Microsoft’s licensing programs is available at http://www.microsoft.com/iplicensing . About Olio Devices Inc. Co-founded by Steven Jacobs, Evan Wilson, and AJ Cooper, Olio aims to empower the classic wristwatch with custom technology designed by Olio to help simplify and manage our everyday lives. The company combines high-end materials with proprietary hardware and software to create finely crafted connected timepieces for the busy modern lifestyle. The company is headquartered in San Francisco. To learn more visit: http://www.oliodevices.com or follow @oliodevices on Twitter. About Microsoft Technology Licensing Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC was formed in 2014 to acquire, manage and license Microsoft’s patent portfolio. 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. 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 . 2016-03-05 23:02 By Microsoft

6 Microsoft Philanthropies announces commitment to donate $1 billion in cloud computing resources to serve the public good DAVOS-KLOSTERS, Switzerland — Jan. 19, 2016 — Microsoft Corp. CEO Satya Nadella announced a new three-part initiative to ensure that Microsoft’s cloud computing resources serve the public good. As part of this initiative the recently formed Microsoft Philanthropies will donate $1 billion of Microsoft Cloud Services, measured at fair market value, to serve nonprofits and university researchers over the next three years. Microsoft’s three-part commitment focuses on ensuring the cloud can serve the public good in the broadest sense by providing additional cloud resources to nonprofits, increasing access for university researchers and helping solve last-mile Internet access challenges. “Microsoft is empowering mission-driven organizations around the planet with a donation of cloud computing services — the most transformative technologies of our generation,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who on Wednesday will speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “Now more than 70,000 organizations will have access to technology that will help them solve our greatest societal challenges and ultimately improve the human condition and drive new growth equally.” Cloud computing has emerged as a vital resource for unlocking the secrets held by data in ways that create new insights and lead to breakthroughs not just for science and technology, but for the full range of economic and social challenges and the delivery of better human services. It can also improve communications and problem-solving and help organizations work in a more productive and more efficient manner. In September 2015, 193 heads of state and other world leaders unanimously adopted 17 sustainable development goals to achieve by 2030. This ambitious agenda — which includes ending poverty, ending hunger, and ensuring affordable, reliable and sustainable energy for all — will only be achievable with the benefit of significant inventions and technology innovations. The scale and computational power enabled by cloud computing will be essential to unlocking solutions to this list of some of the world’s seemingly unsolvable problems. “We’re committed to helping nonprofit groups and universities use cloud computing to address fundamental human challenges,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith. “One of our ambitions for Microsoft Philanthropies is to partner with these groups and ensure that cloud computing reaches more people and serves the broadest array of societal needs.” Specific elements of the new initiative include these: Providing nonprofits with better access to Microsoft Cloud Services, including the powerful Microsoft Azure platform, builds upon Microsoft’s longtime commitment to making cutting-edge technology available at no or low cost to organizations working on solving some of society’s toughest problems. In recent years, as organizations have increased their reliance on cloud computing, Microsoft has worked in partnership with a broad range of organizations focused on big challenges. The initiatives show the potential impact that increased access to the transformational power of cloud computing can have: “Access to technology is critical to the operations and services of NetHope and its 44 humanitarian nonprofit member organizations,” said NetHope CEO Lauren Woodman. “The power of cloud computing will create exponential value for all we do to serve the millions of people in our communities around the world.” About Microsoft Philanthropies In December 2015 Microsoft formed Microsoft Philanthropies (@MSPhilanthropic), a new organization within the company focused on driving digital inclusion and empowerment around the world. 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. 2016-03-05 23:02 By Microsoft

7 7 Microsoft and Acer expand partnership to bring Microsoft services to more customers on more devices REDMOND, Wash., and TAIPEI, Taiwan — Feb. 10, 2016 — Microsoft Corp. and Acer Inc. announced on Wednesday the expansion of their global partnership to bring Microsoft mobile productivity services to more consumers. From the second half of 2016, Acer will begin pre-installing Microsoft services and apps on its portfolio of Android smartphones and tablets. Specifically, customers will benefit from the productivity tools including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, OneDrive and Skype on select Android smartphones and tablets from Acer. “We’re excited to partner with Microsoft to provide enhanced mobile productivity to our products,” said ST Liew, president of Acer Smart Products Business Group. “By integrating the Microsoft software suite, Acer customers will enjoy productivity on-the-go along with the familiar computing experience on their smartphones and tablets.” Nick Psyhogeos, president of Microsoft Technology Licensing, said, “We’re pleased that we have been able to enhance the already strong partnership that exists between Microsoft and Acer. Mutually beneficial and collaborative agreements such as this one promote innovation and lead to better products and experiences for consumers.” Microsoft’s commitment to licensing IP The patent agreement is another example of the important role intellectual property (IP) plays in ensuring a healthy and vibrant technology ecosystem. Since Microsoft launched its IP licensing program in December 2003, it has entered into more than 1,200 licensing agreements. More information about Microsoft’s licensing programs is available at http://www.microsoft.com/iplicensing . About Acer Established in 1976, Acer is a hardware + software + services company dedicated to the research, design, marketing, sale, and support of innovative products that enhance people’s lives. Acer’s product offerings include PCs, displays, projectors, servers, tablets, smartphones, and wearables. The company is also developing cloud solutions to bring together the Internet of Things. Acer employs 7,000 people and ranks No. 4 for total PCs globally (IDC 2014). Revenues for 2014 reached US$10.39 billion. Please visit http://www.acer.com for more information. About Microsoft Technology Licensing Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC was formed in 2014 to acquire, manage and license Microsoft’s patent portfolio. 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. 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 . 2016-03-05 23:02 By Microsoft

8 8 Striving for a balanced mobile world: the Connected Women of MWC Mobile is everywhere. That, of course, is not in dispute any longer – but did you know that 1.7 billion women in low- and middle-income countries still do not own a mobile phone, and that women on average are 14% less likely to own a mobile device than men? This is a big problem. It is holding back economic development and perpetuating gender inequality around the world. The GSM Association’s (GSMA) Connected Women project exists to help get mobile devices and services into the hands of women in emerging economies across the world. It has already helped 15 million women globally, but at this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) it went further still , announcing a renewed commitment with a number of operators in emerging economies. Claire Sibthorpe, director of the Connected Women programme, has well over 15 years’ experience in public and international development, social policy and service delivery, with a particular focus on IT and mobile. Along the way, she has worked as a senior consultant at Atos KPMG Consulting, where she managed a programme to improve access to IT in Africa, and at the International Development Research Centre on initiatives aimed at empowering communities to apply technology to socioeconomic development. At the GSMA, she plays a leading role in addressing some of the many and variable challenges that women face when accessing mobile technology in the developing world. “Obviously, the challenges are all very context-specific, and it very much depends on the market you are in as to what social or cultural norms you have to tackle,” Sibthorpe tells Computer Weekly over coffee on the GSMA’s crowded stand. “Some of the things some of our partners are doing are, for example, recruiting more women as sales agents to make it easier for women to get access to products. They are also looking at the issue of training, particularly when you come to more advanced services, such as mobile broadband and mobile money. “Other things we are exploring are safe and secure ways for women to top up their phones. In some markets, it can be a challenge for women to go into a very male-dominated shop to top up, and when they do, if the man knows that a particular phone is owned by a women, she may receive harassing calls and texts.” 2016-03-05 23:01 Alex Scroxton

9 Microsoft touts benefits of DirectX 12 in new teaser video Microsoft has published a teaser video showing some of the benefits of DirectX 12 on Windows 10 compared to its predecessor, DirectX 11. The clip is jam packed with footage from several new and upcoming games including Quantum Break , Forza Motorsport 6: Apex , Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, Ashes of the Singularity and Just Cause 3 , just to name a few. In it, Microsoft promises up to a 20 percent increase in GPU performance and up to a 50 percent improvement in overall CPU usage with reduced latency and smoother framerates. While on the subject, be sure to check out our recent feature in which we put DirectX 12's multi- GPU technology to the test by pairing GeForce and Radeon cards together. In a separate write- up, we compared DirectX 11 to DirectX 12 performance in Ashes of the Singularity. Found is a TechSpot feature where we share clever, funny or otherwise interesting stuff from around the web. 2016-03-05 20:24 Shawn Knight

10 3 signs you’ll soon be attending a coding bootcamp at your college It all started as an alternative to the traditional college education. Now they’ve caught the eyes of deans across the country. Coding bootcamps have been a trending topic in higher education as their focus on job readiness and generous starting salaries has garnered the attention of both college students and career switchers — but those aren’t the only groups that have taken notice. Colleges are seeing the success of coding bootcamps as well, and are now looking to leverage their ability to get students skilled-up on technical subjects. Coding bootcamps are the fast-track education option for those interested in becoming a web developer. Originally created to fill the demand for skilled web developers in today’s tech economy, what was once a niche industry has proliferated the general higher education space as a whole, and can now be seen as a competitor to universities. Coding bootcamps are now helping address other in-demand technical careers as well, such as data science and analytics. In 2015, Course Report reported that the coding bootcamp market grew by 2.4x, to an estimated 16,056 graduates. To put that in context, it’s estimated that there were 48,700 computer science undergrads in 2014. As traditional degree-granting universities begin understanding the value that coding bootcamps are providing by specifically teaching to the skills demanded by the economy, education will be changing in big ways in 2016. Here are three things colleges are doing about coding bootcamps right now… Colleges are now forming partnerships with coding bootcamps to provide students with a more technical education. Lynn University , the liberal arts school out of Boca Raton, Florida, is now allowing their students to partake in approved General Assembly courses for course credits. For example, Lynn University is issuing a semester’s worth of credits for students who complete a 16-week program at General Assembly, a skills bootcamp that raised $70 million last September. Lynn University’s first group of students are already underway with their courses at General Assembly. “It’s important that our students are well prepared in the skills that are demanded by the job market,” says Gregg Cox, the Vice President for Academic Affairs at Lynn University. “Even if some of our students don’t become coders, in today’s world, being technical will help in any career.” Lynn University isn’t the first school to partner with a coding bootcamp. Last year, Concordia University out of Saint Paul, Minnesota partnered with the coding bootcamp The Software Craftsmanship Guild. In 2013, Galvanize , a bootcamp that offers web development data science in eight cities across the United States, partnered with the University of New Haven to offer a master’s degree in data science. Within the last three months, colleges such as Northeastern, Rutgers and the University of Central Florida have decided not to partner with bootcamps. Instead, they’ve chosen to launch their own, in-house bootcamp schools. Northeastern’s Level program is an eight-week bootcamp that teaches students core data analytics skills. The school is currently in its second cohort in Boston, and recently launched in Seattle, Charlotte and Silicon Valley. “The thing that differentiates a university is that it implies quality,” says Nick Ducoff , Level Founding Director and Northeastern’s VP of New Ventures. Northeastern is a top 50 university that is the first of its kind to offer this immersive style of learning. Students can rest assured that our bootcamps will be held to the high standards of our university.” Rutgers University announced its own coding bootcamp last October, which is set to start on April 25th; the University of Central Florida will launch its 24-week coding bootcamp at the end of March. Wharton alums Edward Lando and Abhi Ramesh developed a bootcamp-style course for their alma mater after seeing a need to provide coding skills to undergrad and MBA students. Their coding bootcamp specifically fits into the summer breaks of UPenn students, which offers a viable alternative to the traditional summer internship. Students will become programmers and gain a better understanding of the skills required to land a career in tech. The recent activity of college bootcamps is an interesting one, as not all of these programs offer college credits. Course credit or not, the allure of bootcamp-style training associated with a university that employers recognize may appeal to some students. Colleges are equipped with the resources to provide a coding bootcamp education, but it will be interesting to see what outcomes these university bootcamps expect from their students, as they’ll now be competing with the ranks of established coding bootcamps like Hack Reactor , Dev Bootcamp and Bloc. On October 14, 2015, the Obama Administration announced a pilot program called EQUIP ; Educational Quality through Innovative Partnerships. If a college applies and is approved for participation in the EQUIP initiative, they will be granted the opportunity to partner with a coding bootcamp or MOOC (Massively Open Online Course, such as Coursera or Udacity ) and provide the enrolling student with financial aid and college credit — two things coding bootcamps can’t do. This pilot could be a huge game changer in bootcamp education, as both federal aid and course credit have been near impossible for bootcamps to get approval for. This has led to each program having to establish their own scholarships and focus strictly on job outcomes, not credentials. As of October 14, 2015, colleges can now apply for EQUIP. If a university is approved, it will allow them to curate programs of study from one or more providers of post-secondary education and training. There have not been any announcements of approved schools under the EQUIP pilot. Yet. To receive priority consideration, secondary institutions were required to apply by Dec 14, 2015. Granted that it will take time for the Department of Education to vet applications, an announcement should be expected sometime this year. Related Articles Telegraph Academy Bootcamp Teaches People Of Color How To Code Having Success With Code Bootcamps: A Guide For Employers And Bootcamp Grads Coding Academies Are Nonsense With universities now keenly aware of the coding bootcamp movement, it will be interesting to see how each college approaches the more technical, skills-based education that has made coding bootcamps so successful. Will colleges partner with bootcamps, develop their own programs or find a different alternative as students demand more applicable skills for STEM jobs? With a few schools taking the initiative so far, the space is young and worth keeping an eye on — by both students and college administrators. The speed at which universities decide to integrate a bootcamp education into their offering will depend on a variety of factors, such as faculty buy-in and department approval. Non-accredited college bootcamps may be the first step in helping get bootcamps in the door. Even though colleges are still the gold standard for higher education, it’s important to respect how recognized coding bootcamps have proven their ability to efficiently maximize the time and energy of students to net financially viable careers. Soon the coding bootcamp narrative will no longer just be “should I attend a coding bootcamp?” With the involvement of colleges, prospective students will begin asking “which college’s bootcamp program fits with my higher education needs?” 2016-03-05 20:16 Drew Sing

11 Oh, the places you can go with Google Street View Google Street View uses in-house data-capturing tech that lets you see the world from the comfort of your own device. GSV allows us to see not only photos of certain gems on the planet, but provides new perspectives that only its cameras can capture. Here are some of the most interesting projects Google has brought to Street View. Google launched imagery from the ancient rock- cut city of Petra in Jordan (also one of the seven wonders of the world), marking Google’s fifth Street View project in the Arab world. Google partnered with photographers, skiers, mountaineers, climbers and runners to build up this library of 360-degree imagery of Mont Blanc , the highest mountain in the Alps. You can also visit the world’s largest model railroad with Street View. The Miniatur Wunderland is the most-visited tourist attraction in Hamburg, Germany. You can even walk in the footsteps of giant Galápagos tortoises, now that Street View cameras made it to the Galapagos Islands. The main idea here was to support the ongoing conservation efforts and scientific studies. Not too long ago, it looked like some species of tortoise on the islands were in danger of going extinct, but today the population is growing again thanks to conservation efforts. Last year, Google launched a batch of underwater Street View imagery that lets you swim with humpback whales off the Cook Islands, dive with parrot fish off the coast of Bali or walk on a beach in American Samoa. This is how Google gets underwater footage. Google partnered with the National Park Service to bring imagery from 40 parks to Street View . Google even lets you go back in time. Street View cars capture tons of data and the company publishes them on Google Maps regularly, so you can see how certain areas have changed over a few years. Google street view also lets you go to exotic locations like the island from Bond’s Skyfall. Most of us will never get to see the Iditarod race in person, but you can now experience a part of the 1000+ mile dog sled race across the vast wilderness of Alaska with Google Street View. Did we miss any? Where are your favorite places to virtually travel to? 2016-03-05 20:16 Anna Escher

12 The Dark Ages of Austin startup capital An Austin-based venture capital firm recently offered my company $400,000 for 40 percent of its equity. This was one week before their counterpart in the Bay Area offered $2 million for 20 percent of the same company. Nothing had changed in that week, and both received the same pitch and deck in the weeks prior. The dent is still noticeable from where my head hit my desk after reading the first firm’s offer. Mouth-agape, I found myself holding in a chuckle and a tear. While I can dismiss this sort of discrepancy as an “Austin investor thing,” many young entrepreneurs fall victim to it. My belief is that the fundraising problems that Austin entrepreneurs are facing include both the age of the funds at Austin’s venture capital firms and the limited number of investors who can invest $500,000. This article’s information is based on my conversations with partners at venture capital firms in Austin, Boston and San Francisco; conversations with entrepreneurs funded by Austin, Boston and San Francisco firms; and research on CrunchBase . Venture capital firms in Austin publicly state that they invest in seed-stage companies; but, as you will see, a small percentage of each fund is allocated to seed-stage investments. The sweet spot for venture capital firms are adolescent-stage companies with financials that show accelerated growth, which reduces the overall risk of picking a winner out of the batch of companies. Over the past year and a half there has been a noticeable change in the way Austin’s venture capital firms are vetting seed-stage companies. I spoke with one general partner of an Austin venture capital firm who said that they publicly talk about seed-stage investing, but rarely do so — and only when the industry is super hot and the team is coming off a previous big win. This boils down to my hypothesis on Austin venture capital funds. When I say “fund,” I don’t mean the venture capital firm itself, but the current fund from which they are investing. The longer a fund has been live, the more conservative and risk-averse the general partners become. Silverton Partners Silverton Partners raised $75 million in 2013 for Fund IV to invest in Austin companies. A trend emerged in their CrunchBase profile. In 2014, they were heavily invested in seed rounds for companies like The Zebra for $1 million, Favor for $660,000 and The Zebra again for a $4.5 million seed investment. 2013: Three seed-stage deals and five later-stage deals (37.5 percent / 62.5 percent) 2014: Five seed-stage deals and six later-stage deals (45.5 percent / 54.5 percent) 2015: Four seed-stage deals and 11 later-stage deals (26.7 percent / 73.3 percent) 2016 YTD: Zero seed-stage deals and one later-stage deal (0 percent / 100 percent) In 2015, their number of seed-stage investments (as a percentage of all deals funded that year) dropped by almost half, and the number and size of Series A, B and C investments increased, culminating with The Zebra taking down a $17 million Series A in January of 2016. That one investment accounts for 22 percent of the firm’s $75 million fund. LiveOak Venture Partners LiveOak Venture Partners closed a $109 million fund in May of 2014. We are now almost two years into their fund and, during that time, they have invested more than $46 million. This leaves just 57 percent of their fund to invest over the next five years. 2014: Two seed-stage deals and five later-stage deals (28.5 percent / 71.5 percent) 2015: Two seed-stage deals and four later-stage deals (33.3 percent / 66.7 percent) 2016 YTD : Zero seed-stage deals and zero later-stage deals (0 percent / 0 percent) LiveOak’s typical seed stage is $500,000; their average later-stage investment hovers around $5.2 million, with some being $10 million or more. They need to leave some “dry powder in the chamber” for follow-on investments, and only (general partners) Venu Shamapant and Krishna Srinivasan can know how much is left for early-stage startups when their follow-on investments have been earmarked. Austin Ventures Austin Ventures closed its doors and left the Austin market in 2015, yet their CrunchBase profile indicates they are still opportunistically investing. It shows $36 million in follow-on rounds in January of 2016 alone. This should not be seen as a glimmer of hope for entrepreneurs wanting to pitch JT and the gang, but rather as the firm spending its last few fund dollars on what it perceives will make for quick returns to their fund investors. When a fund is young, CrunchBase shows that the general partners appear to make more [riskier] seed-stage investments because the partners have a longer time to wait for those companies to mature and/or exit. In my talks with entrepreneurs who received funding when these Austin funds were very young, the number of meetings to get the partners to agree to fund the company was two to three. Now I am hearing that it takes six or more meetings before a yes decision is made. This indicates that the general partners are taking more time to ensure they can better determine their risk, which leads to a slower overall funding process. It is rare that a general partner will come out and tell you no. Most will say they need more information; determining whether that is a subtle no or really an ask for more information is the bane of my existence as an entrepreneur. Austin’s funds have less money available for early-stage investments because later-stage deals have eaten up a lot of the fund. The amount of equity required to fund an early-stage company seems to be going up. As you read above, I saw a significant ask by an Austin venture capital firm, but it isn’t just me reporting this trend. I have been told by other entrepreneurs that they have been asked for more equity than they were expecting. These are not the run-of-the-mill first-time entrepreneurs, but seasoned entrepreneurs exiting one company and starting another. The remainder of fund factor drives valuations lower, and it is important for every entrepreneur to know how old the fund is prior to talking to the general partners at the firm. Austin is the land of acquisition. Over the years, we have had some big exits, but they are a very small percentage of the total number of exits. Most importantly, the big exits have added very few investors to the pool. Austin has become the R&D lab for the west and east coasts, wherein acquisitions take out the company before it can have a massive exit. It is these acquisitions that put some money in the pocket of the founders, but not enough to drive significant investment from them. When exits are small, the founders leave with a smaller amount of cash. It is this cash that breeds new angel investors and subsequent venture partners. There have indeed been some bigger wins. Look to the Deep Eddy Vodka acquisition as one. This was a quick exit for Clayton Christopher after his win for Sweet Leaf Tea. It, in turn, created a new venture partner, and was a great win for Austin. But it created only one. The Home Away acquisition was another win that created some great investors. But these are few and far between when compared with other centers of technology innovation. Companies are apparently raising money from a lot of individual investors. Loop and Tie raised $2.6 million from 52 investors. It seems ludicrous that a company would have to go to 52 investors for $2.6 million. That is $50,000 from each investor. Sadly, the $50,000 mark is a big investment for many investors in Austin. Many of the angel and seed-stage investors I have talked to put $50,000 a year into startup companies. Not just one company, but all combined. Some investments are in the $10,000 range; others are in the $15,000 range and $25,000 range. Very few will write a check to one company for $50,000, as it eats up a big portion of their total dollars available for investment that year. As an entrepreneur, it is important to know the investment landscape prior to seeking investment. I have had to fly to the Bay Area to get funding for several of my companies. This is partly because few Austin investors understand SaaS platforms and maximizing your company’s valuation in the Bay Area is easy. But mostly it’s because of the relatively large investor pool. Many pundits have opined about this year being the time of the real actual businesses building interesting technology (RABBIT). As with any advice, take it for what it’s worth. Spend 88 percent of your time building your business and 12 percent of your time raising money. By taking your executive team out of the game for significant amounts of time to raise money, your company may suffer from declining fundamentals, which will hurt your valuation in the end — no matter who invests. 2016-03-05 20:16 Richard Bagdonas

13 MIT spin-out Thunkable hopes its drag-and-drop app builder can be a money-spinner too Bagging lots of users is a challenge one of the startups in Y Combinator’s 2016 winter batch is worrying about a bit less than the average. The two-man strong founder team of Thunkable is coming from the rather more comfortable position of already having fostered a community over four million strong — thanks to the drag-and-drop app builder interface they helped developed at MIT some five years ago. The same core tech the pair are now aiming to build a business on. And while they don’t yet have all those millions of users locked into their new tool, they do have some 50,000 people signed up about month after launching their free app builder. And a clear path to encourage over more of their old users — and bring on new ones too. So why the fork of the original MIT project now? The success of MIT’s App Inventor meant it had outgrown the resources afforded it within academia, say Thunkable’s co-founders Arun Saigal (CEO) and WeiHua Li (CTO). Hence the decision to seek to commercialize the core technology under a new name, building atop the MIT open source code with new features they hope will also support their intention to monetize down the line. (To be clear, Thunkable’s code will not be open source, although they say they do hope to take in community contributions in future.) While MIT App Inventor’s original target was educators and students, offering a free learning tool to lower the barrier of entry to coding, the pair say the success of the software — which has been used to make some 13 million apps at this point, and garnered 4.3 million registered users — called for spinning out of the academic setting. “The original goals of App Inventor were basically make a tool to teach people to code. So our lab that we worked in at MIT invented a lot of drag and drop programming tools — we worked with Scratch, Lego Mindstorms, tools like that,” says Saigal. “From there it started growing, quite a bit. Mainly in education first and then a lot outside of education.” When App Inventor’s growth hit around 300,000 monthly active users the team decided to take stock by surveying the users to ask who they were and what they were using it for. The result was a surprise: they found the majority (over 50 per cent) were not in fact educators — a realization that let them to consider the potential of transforming an educational resource into a business. In fact, says Saigal, they discovered all sorts of people were using the software to build all sorts of apps — from individuals wanting to make an app to control a connected LED light in their own home all the way up to enterprises using it to put together apps for their sales teams. The team at MIT was also fielding more and more feature requests from App Inventor users. But did not have the resource to serve all the requests. So both demand and potential for growth were clear. “We saw that there was this huge range and actually a majority of our users were not education. And our users started sending us ‘hey can you build this?’, ‘can you build that?’ — obvious things, monetization or the ability to add in Google Maps or something like that. And these weren’t features that we we ever within the scope of App Inventor,” says Saigal. “It was at that point that we realized A) we weren’t supporting the users as well as we could and B) we this had evolved way past what we initially imagined… It had evolved into the largest app creation tool for non-programmers that was out there. ” Other app builder tools do already exist of course, including the likes of Bizness Apps and AppGyver. There’s also the outsourcing route for companies to hire external devs or dev studios to build apps for them. The latter option can be expensive, though. While existing app builders aren’t always that accessible to non-developers, the pair argue; some level of coding knowledge may still be required. The claim for Thunkable is that anyone who can use a computer can build an app, says Li — simply by slotting together the blocks of code it uses to simplify the programming process. “We’re a tool for anybody and everyone who wants to build apps — from the non-developer to the highly skilled developer who wants to do do something quicker and easier,” adds Saigal. “There are two parts to our tool,” he explains. “The first part is the designer and what that is is basically you can drag and drop the UI of your app. So if you say hey here’s my screen I want a button, I want a text field, I want these sensors and I want an image, ok great. “Then the second part is the blocks language. This is a programming language that our group invented — it is a programming language in the sense that if you click a button you have drag the ‘when button.click’ block. So there is a programming language there but at the end of the day it’s meant to be for people who don’t necessary know how to code but have a sense of logic.” “It is the same concept [as coding] but it’s much more English-friendly, it’s much more logical and straightforward than writing in Java or whatever other language it may be,” he adds. “In the old fashioned [programming languages] you need to type in. In our block language you just already building it — you can just see it, you can just use it. That’s the beauty of using block programming language,” adds Li. “Also it’s grammar error free. Basically you just piece the blocks together. You don’t have to worry about typos.” “If the blocks fit together, it compiles, it builds, it works. If they don’t fit together it doesn’t work,” adds Saigal. “You can drag and drop the blocks, or you can type in words and if you start typing in words the blocks exist. If you’re not sure what to do and you type ‘button click’ the when button.click block will pop up. And so you can think through thoughts and the blocks almost fill themselves in.” Another advantage over competing app builders that Saigal claims is that apps built with Thunkable’s software are fully native, rather than being web apps. So can work offline and are able to make use of specific mobile hardware features such as GPS and NFC. And while Thunkable does offer some templates for people who want a little more structure to get started it is not limited to just building template apps — unlike some competitors. There is also no need to download an SDK to build apps on Thunkable. The software works in the browser, and includes other features designed to appeal to a broad user-base — such as the ability to live test the app being built on the user’s Android phone. “We have a live development feature where you can connect your phone to your browser and as you’re developing actually see your app running live on your phone,” says Saigal. “That’s one of the things people love because as a new developer you’re looking for immediate gratification.” Given Thunkable’s jumping off point is a strong community built off of free software, the pair say the plan is to keep offering a free version (Thunkable is currently entirely free) for the foreseeable future. Monetization will come via a freemium route, building a tiered pricing model on top of the basic free version. They say they will likely be charging users for certain extra features, with different pricing tiers based on whether the user is an individual, a SME or a large enterprise. At this early stage Thunkable is not just App Inventor with a new name; they have already added some new features to the platform. Additions include extra sample apps and templates, support for Google Maps and enabling Android’s Material Design features (which they say again the MIT team never had the resources to support). “You come to the site there are obvious UI improvements [with Thunkable vs App Inventor]. The buttons, the color scheme, all that kind of stuff we’ve improved. And then past that probably a couple of the largest features that we’ve added are that at MIT we did not support any of the new Android design stuff so,” says Saigal. “Thunkable supports Material Design and the new UIs, the ripple effects, things like that. That was a big upgrade for our users. It’s very simple to transfer your projects over and they would say ‘wow my app looks way nicer with no extra effort’.” The team is also offering stepped up support — so is responding (currently for free) to “every email… every chat that we get online”. “That’s been one of the biggest things that we offer — actual human support to work through your problems with you,” he adds. The types of features Thunkable might start charging a monthly subscription fee for in future could be for monetization capabilities for apps built with the platform, perhaps charging individuals $5 to $10 per month for that. Right up to much more premium, enterprise options — with much higher monthly subscription fees attached — such as the ability for an enterprise customer to have a white label version of an app that lets them host their own data and includes support for specific enterprise software. In terms of the timeframe to flicking the monetization switch on, they say it’s going to be “sometime in the next year”. Although the priority right now is building out the product and growing users, they add. Keeping the App Inventor community on side is going to be essential to scaling the business, given that a four-million strong user-base was able to be sustained by just two dedicated MIT staff. How was MIT able to support so many users with so few staff? Community power users chipped in a lot of help with support on the forums, says Li. And since having strong customer support is a key plank of Thunkable’s proposition then scaling as a business without needing to hire very large numbers of support staff will be more easily achieved if they can likewise nurture a strong and engage community to pull with them. What will happen to MIT’s App Inventor? It’s not entirely clear at this point, but it looks like development on that project may well wind down in future, with Thunkable picking up the baton. The startup has been funded by a $120,000 seed from YC so far, which the co-founders reckon will see them through the rest of the year — saying they are in no hurry to raise another round at this stage. As well as using the funding to hire more staff to help scale the business, they are working on building an iOS version of the product — which currently only supports building Android apps. An iOS version has become possible since Apple open sourced its programming language, Swift, last December , according to Saigal. It also wasn’t possible before given MIT’s limited resources. “People have been asking for the iOS version for years and we’re finally investing the time and resources in,” he says, adding that the hope is to have an early version of this ready towards the end of the year — and a full version launched this time next year. Beyond adding iOS, the longer term goal for Thunkable is to evolve the tool so it supports collaborative app development — much like Google Docs allows multiple people to easily work on documents together, according to Li. “We want to be for people to build projects or coding as easy as writing on Google Docs. That’s our long term strategy. How to make a tool to enable or empower our user, empower people to build tools collaboratively,” he says. “I think that would be a really powerful incentive [for young people] to learn coding or just by sparking ideas — turning their ideas into mobile apps. Or even something beyond that that we don’t know yet.” 2016-03-05 20:16 Natasha Lomas

14 On the war between hacker culture and codes of conduct Did you know that a Code of Conduct war is underway in the world of open-source software development? I realize that this sounds ridiculous. Codes of Conduct boil down to: “a) don’t be an asshole, b) this is how we define ‘asshole’ around these parts”. Who could argue with that? And yet this has become eruptively controversial — and with good reason. A quick rundown of the recent history can be found in Model View Culture’s “ The New Normal: Codes Of Conduct In 2015 And Beyond .” (If you find MVC too left-wing, here’s Breitbart’s take , but the former has much more actual information.) Briefly, progressive activists are trying to persuade open-source communities to adopt Codes of Conduct such that: A widely adopted CoC is the Contributor Covenant , whose preamble notes: So far so good! …But the (most) controversial thing about these codes is that their remit actually extends outside the communities in question. That MVC piece refers to “the so-called Opalgate incident, in which transphobic tweets by an Opal maintainer on Twitter led to a heated discussion about the appropriateness of his continued representation of the project.” In true open-source style, this was raised as an issue on Github — Transphobic maintainer should be removed from project — and I think the response : sums up the debate here. Should communities accept people who hold repugnant views, as long as they don’t express them within that community? Or should they be expelled, because it’s assumed that their views influence their community work in a negative way, or because their presence makes other people feel unsafe? Personally, both answers make me feel deeply uneasy. Humans are messy, complex, and contradictory; human interactions are that squared; the results are so complex and context- sensitive that they often need to be judged on a case-by-case basis, rather than by any hard- and-fast rule. (See also: the insanity of “ zero tolerance ” rules. See also: Oberlin’s refusal to fire a professor who blames Israel for 9/11.) Last year the wacko neoreactionary Mencius Moldbug, also known as Curtis Yarvin, was disinvited from the Strange Loop technical conference at which he was going to give a technical presentation that had nothing to do with his wacky neoreactionary views. As David Auerbach put it in Slate : Some–few–people are irredeemable assholes who, wherever they go, need to be met by the banhammer. You can certainly make a case that both Moldbug/Yarvin and the transphobic Opal maintainer fall into that group. But surely an ideal Code of Conduct would actually try to “foster productive discourse between people who would hate each other discussing any other subject,” at least to the extent possible, rather than be geared towards expelling from the conversation anyone who has expressed an unacceptable opinion in any forum anywhere. I am reminded of Meredith Patterson’s classic piece “When Nerds Collide: My intersectionality will have weirdos or it will be bullshit.” I’ll give her the last words here: 2016-03-05 20:16 Jon Evans

15 Gillmor Gang LIVE 03.05.16 Gillmor Gang – Dan Farber, Frank Radice, Keith Teare, Kevin Marks, and Steve Gillmor. LIVE recording session has concluded for today. Our LIVE chat during the show broadcast Gillmor Gang on Facebook HERE Connect with our other show – G3 – on Facebook HERE …and G3’s archives on Ustream 2016-03-05 20:16 Steve Gillmor

16 Reinstating Moore’s Law: a next-generation transistor for mobile technology In 1991, Sony commercialised lithium-ion battery technology, which took the electronics of the transistor and made it portable – revolutionising mobile telephones and laptops in the process and paving the way for the tablet and smartphone. A quarter of a century later, this technology has not significantly developed any further. In its early years, it had no need to. It solved some early problems for Sony, such as the size and weight of batteries needed for handheld video, and provided an adequate battery solution for the first consumer mobile phones. This remained the case until the early 2000s, when batteries in mobile phones would regularly last for days on end without needing to be recharged. However, the last decade has truly been the era of the smartphone, and as the functionality and performance of phones have improved, one thing has remained constant – the inadequacy of battery life. The latest smartphones are more than 10 times faster than their predecessors, but the battery is still lucky to last a day with average usage. Given the huge gap between the original iPhone and the iPhone 6s, keeping this comparable is still impressive, although it is more to do with better processors than improved batteries. Now researchers have developed new piezoelectric transistor materials that could see processors working at one-tenth of the current voltage, consuming up to 100 times less power as a result and greatly improving battery life. The new piezoelectric materials change their shape, or ‘strain’, in response to applied voltages. Applying a voltage to the material causes strains in it that result in tiny changes in shape, and withdrawing the voltage causes the material to return to its original form. The close relationship between the mechanical and electrical properties of piezoelectric materials means that an applied voltage forces a reorientation of a material’s molecular dipole moments and therefore physical shape. As this relationship is reversible, the addition of strain produced by a piezoelectric actuator can cause a piezoresistive material to switch from being an insulator to a conductor and back, offering the possibility of reading and writing digital information. 2016-03-05 18:42 Mark Stewart

17 Goodyear's spherical, levitating concept tires can move autonomous cars in all directions At this year’s Geneva Motor Show , Goodyear really has re-invented the wheel by unveiling two new tire concepts designed with autonomous vehicles in mind – including a spherical tire that allows cars to drive sideways. The Eagle-360 concept is a perfect sphere that attaches to a car by magnetic levitation rather than axles, enabling it to rotate on any axis and move the car in any direction. This should make parking much easier and could lead to smaller car parks. Goodyear added that the tire’s shape will improve passenger safety thanks to the increased maneuverability they give vehicles. Additionally, the Eagle-360 tire features integrated sensors that can monitor weather and road conditions, feeding the information back to the car’s autonomous systems. It can also communicate with nearby vehicles or the local traffic system, and is able to extend its life by monitoring its treads and pressure, rotating itself for more even wear and longer mileage. Goodyear has used biomimicry when designing the Eagle, which is the imitation of elements found in nature for the solving of complex human problems. In this case, the tire’s 3D-printed design copies that of the brain coral, allowing the tire to stiffen in dry conditions and soften in the wet, altering the way it acts depending on the conditions of a road surface. While it may be a long time before the Eagle-360 becomes a reality (if ever), Goodyear’s other concept, the Intelligrip, is said to be already under consideration by car manufacturers. Intelligrip may resemble a more traditional tire, but it contains many of the same features as the Eagle-360, including the monitoring sensors and special treads. The tire has also been designed specifically for autonomous vehicles, and can work in conjunction with self-driving cars’ anti-collision systems. "By steadily reducing the driver interaction and intervention in self-driving vehicles, tires will play an even more important role as the primary link to the road," says Joseph Zekoski, Goodyear's senior vice president and chief technical officer. "Goodyear's concept tires play a dual role in that future both as creative platforms to push the boundaries of conventional thinking and testbeds for next-generation technologies. " The company says it’s working with vehicle companies to use some of Intelligrip’s technology as a way of enhancing current car features such as Electronic Stability Control Systems, Brake Control Systems, and Suspension Control Systems. Like all concepts, we may never actually see these products in the real world. Hopefully, we will, as an autonomous vehicle that can move in any direction and has magnetically levitating tires sounds pretty cool. Next step: flying cars. 2016-03-05 20:24 Rob Thubron

18 San Bernardino DA warns that Syed Farouk's iPhone could contain a "dormant cyber pathogen" While Apple’s San Bernardino iPhone court case is a deadly serious issue, the outcome of which could have a profound effect on how companies encrypt their products and the government’s ability to spy on its citizens, there have been moments in the ongoing saga that have bordered on farcical. Firstly, John McAfee offered to decrypt the device for free with his team of super hackers, and now, San Bernardino County District Attorney, Michael Ramos, has theorized that the iPhone 5c may house a “dormant cyber pathogen” that threatens the US. The statement is the first time that authorities have speculated on what Syed Rizwan Farook’s work-issued device might contain. "The iPhone is a county-owned telephone that may have connected to the San Bernardino County computer network. The seized iPhone may contain evidence that can only be found on the seized phone that it was used as a weapon to introduce a lying dormant cyber pathogen that endangers San Bernardino's infrastructure," said Ramos in a court filing , reported by Ars Technica. ‘Dormant cyber pathogen’ is, of course, a term that Ramos appears to have made up. Not only does it sound like something from a 90’s techno-thriller novel, but iPhone forensic expert Jonathan Zdziarski said that the DA was suggesting a "magical unicorn might exist on this phone. " “There is absolutely nothing in the universe that knows what a cyber pathogen is,” Zdziarski said in a blog post. Adding that the comments amounted to “blatant fear mongering” designed to influence the court in the FBI’s favor. In all likelihood, Ramos is referring to the possibility that there may be some form of virus on the iPhone that could attack San Bernardino’s IT network if it’s released. But Zdziarski points out that "the world has never seen what he is describing coming from an iPhone," It sounds like he’s making up these terms as he goes. We've never used these terms in computer science. I think what he’s trying to suggest is that Farook was somehow working with someone to install a program on the iPhone that would infect the local network with some kind of virus or worm or something along those lines. Anything is possible, right? Do they have any evidence whatsoever to show there is any kind of cyber pathogen on the network or any logs or network captures to show that Farook's phone tried to introduce some unauthorized code into the system? In a separate matter, some 40 companies and organizations are now expected to file briefs supporting Apple in its court case against the federal government. Here is a list of those who have filed so far, as published by Re/Code : Image credit: fotogestoeber / Shutterstock 2016-03-05 20:24 Rob Thubron

19 Oculus founder says no Mac is powerful enough to run the Rift If you're wondering why the Oculus Rift only supports Windows PCs at launch, Oculus co- founder Palmer Luckey has the answer: the current crop of Macs simply aren't powerful enough to deliver a good virtual reality experience. Speaking to Shacknews , Luckey said that to introduce Mac support for the Oculus Rift, Apple must first release a computer with enough graphics horsepower for VR. "If they ever release a good computer, we will do it," he said. Luckey went on to state the reason why Macs currently aren't up to scratch for VR. It basically comes down to the fact that Apple "doesn't prioritize high-end GPUs", so even when you buy a $6,000 Mac Pro with AMD FirePro D700 graphics, "it still doesn’t match our recommended specs". Due to a lack of high-end GPUs in Macs, Oculus doesn't want to support the platform as customers wouldn't be able to play the majority of VR titles at a respectable level of performance. However if Apple decides to integrate high-end GPUs "like they used to for a while back in the day", Oculus is more than happy to support Mac. This isn't the first time Luckey has aggressively stated that low-power PCs are not suitable for VR gaming. Earlier this year , he said that "your crappy PC is the biggest barrier to adoption" of virtual reality technology. Until high-end graphics hardware gets cheaper, it will be very expensive to set up a high-end VR experience like the Oculus Rift provides. 2016-03-05 20:24 Tim Schiesser

20 Meta 2 augmented reality headset reveals its trump card, a wide field of view The overwhelming majority of discussions involving augmented reality these days centers on Microsoft's HoloLens and to a lesser extent, Magic Leap (the latter of which has yet to reveal its hardware). But there's a third competitor – a privately owned company by the name of Meta – whose second-generation augmented reality offering is generating a lot of attention. Is it possible that the Meta 2 augmented reality headset already has its Redmond-based competition beat? For starters, the Meta 2 features a field of view of 90 degrees (diagonal) projected on its 2,560 x 1,440 display (20 pixels per degree). In comparison, HoloLens has been criticized for its narrow field of view which has been compared to standing two feet away from a 15-inch display (in other words, pretty narrow). During a recent hands-on, Engadget found that augmented items stayed in place as they were viewed from different angles. What's more, they were able to walk around a large globe and as they got closer, more detail emerged. Gesture-based controls were reportedly a bit finicky and sound like they need work before a final, non-prototype version ships. The publication was also given a demo of virtual displays, something that I myself have been interested to try in the world of VR / AR. I currently use three desktop monitors which has boosted productivity over a single screen greatly. How much more work could I get done if I had even more virtual screens at my disposal? I'm not sure but it's a question I'd like to answer one day. The Meta 2 augmented reality development kit is available to pre-order as of writing for $949 and is forecasted to ship sometime in the third quarter of this year. 2016-03-05 20:24 Shawn Knight

21 Google glitch translates 'Russian Federation' into 'Mordor'; it has a ring to it As a fan of Cossack dancing, Eastern Bloc architecture, vodka and pervasive government oppression, Sneak loves Russia. And while he accepts that Siberia is a vast and mostly empty land mass, capable of killing the unwary in numerous ways, he would not liken it to Mordor, the dark, ash-covered, orc-infested land in the south-east of Tolkien's Middle Earth. But, according to multiple reports, the all-seeing, all-knowing Sauron Google believes that Russia is in fact Mordor. Or more accurately a bug in the Google Translate tool translated the Ukrainian word for 'Russian Federation' into 'Mordor'. Not content with effectively calling Russia a nation of twisted, down-trodden creatures ruled by a brutal dictator, Google Translate went one step further by translating 'Russians' into 'okkupanty' meaning ‘occupiers' in Sneak's second language, that being English. C++ is his mother tongue. Then to pour a granary of salt into the virtual wound, Google translated the surname of Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov into the Russian for 'sad little horse', according to The Telegraph. Sneak thinks that's rather cute in a slightly Eeyore way. Yes he knows Eeyore is a fictional donkey. Please don't write in. Now, that noise you're hearing is Sneak's irony alarm going off at full pelt, given that Ukraine is not exactly having the best time with Russia and pro-Russian rebels at the moment, particularly as in 2014 Russia annexed the Crimea region from Ukraine, simply because it could. Google has apologised for the error and blamed the automated aspect of Translate, but Sneak is not convinced that it was a bug and, to indulge the conspiracy theorist in him, believes that a disgruntled pro-Ukraine programmer decided to tweak Google Translate to offer this slight at Russian users. Back in his early years as an IT chap at Northern Rock, Sneak ended up dating a lovely Russian systems analyst called Natasha. She had a mononym. Next thing he knew she disappeared one evening after a heady mix of vodka and Kerplunk! and disappeared with Sneak's server room key card. Then the banking crisis happened, Northern Rock went under and Sneak took indefinite sick leave. The moral of the story is that annoying the Russians might not be wise, otherwise the road to Google's Mountain View HQ could end up being blocked by Soviet-era tanks with president Putin straddling a turret, topless and declaring "You shall not pass" to befuddled Google engineers. Or perhaps they will take it in good humour. After all as the video below explains: Russians love to boogie. 07 Jan 2016 2016-03-05 20:22

22 Microsoft reportedly considered buying Slack for $8bn Microsoft was pondering buying up the messaging platform Slack recently, according to an insider reporting to TechCrunch. The internal campaign at Microsoft reportedly proposed buying Slack for as much as $8 billion; however, many in the company - including founder Bill Gates and current CEO Satya Nadella - were not sold on the idea. Instead, Gates argued that Skype should be improved so it can compete more effectively against Slack in the business sector. TechCrunch's source said that Microsoft's Qi Lu - executive vice president of applications and services - was behind the campaign to buy Slack. In his role, Lu sets the vision, strategy and overall direction of the Applications and Services Group meaning he inputs to Microsoft Office, Office 365, SharePoint, Exchange, Yammer, Lync, Skype, Bing, Bing Apps, and MSN. Even if Microsoft had tried offering Slack the money, it is not likely that Stewart Butterfield - Slack CEO - would have accepted the buy-out. At the Code conference which took place last May, Butterfield said he had learned a lot from the Flickr sale to Yahoo ; when asked if that actually meant he'd been "burned", Butterfield replied, "Yeah". Had Microsoft purchased Slack, it could have expected quite a good income from the deal. Slack announced last month that it has 2.3 million users - 675,000 of which are paying customers - last year they had an annual recurring revenue of over $64 million and the user base is growing sharply which should mean increased revenue later on. Source: TechCrunch 2016-03-05 19:26 Paul Hill

23 Anonymous hacks Donald Trump's voicemail and leaks the messages In the run-up to the presidential election, few days go by when Donald Trump isn't hitting the headlines for something he's said or done. The bombastic billionaire looks set to become the republican candidate, and his journey towards the White House is littered with offense and controversy, and back in December Anonymous declared war on him. The loose collective of hackers and activist made its declaration after Trump announced plans to ban Muslims from entering the US. One of the first strikes in Anonymous' war sees the group hacking the businessman's voicemail and leaking the messages. The messages appear to show that Trump had a surprisingly cosy relationship with the more left-leaning section of the media than one might imagine. Leaked to Gawker the messages include some left by MSNBC journalists, thanking Trump for charitable donations. The site does offer a caveat: "While Gawker was unable to independently verify their authenticity, the recordings certainly appear to be genuine". As noted by the Independent , however, the subject of one of the recordings, Joe Scarborough, appears to confirm the authenticity of the recordings on Twitter: The voicemail also appears to include praise-filled messages from MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski and Tamron Hall, as well as Don King and Tom Brady. Trump has long-presented himself as someone who has an intense dislike and distrust of what he scornfully refers to as the 'liberal media', so the contents of his voicemail inbox are a little surprising, putting forward a rather different image -- one that he would perhaps prefer stayed hidden. Despite having declared war on Donald Trump, Anonymous has not rallied behind a single politician to offer support. That said, on the day the voicemails leaked, the group tweeted: Trump himself is yet to comment on the leak. You can listen to snippets of the messages over on Gawker . Photo credit: Joe Seer / Shutterstock 2016-03-05 18:44 By Mark

24 Barnes & Noble is closing its Nook App store and more on March 15 Barnes & Noble recently notified both developers and customers that it'll be shutting down its Nook App Store, the UK Nook Store and Nook Video come March 15. The admission came via e-mail according to a recent report from The Digital Reader. In the correspondence, Barnes & Noble confirmed that all existing apps previously purchased from the Nook Store will remain in users' Nook Library and will continue to be accessible on compatible devices. The company further notes that users will still be able to archive and un-archive Nook apps. Barnes & Noble points out in a series of FAQs that the changes are being made so they can concentrate their focus and efforts on their core digital content business, Books and Newsstand, in the US. Devices affected by the changes include the Nook Color, Nook Tablet, Nook HD, Nook HD+, Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook 7.0, Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook 10.1, Samsung Galaxy Tab E Nook and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 Nook. In the UK , the company has partnered with Sainsbury's Entertainment on Demand to ensure customers in that region have continued access to the vast majority of purchased Nook Books. Instructions on how to transfer Nook Books to a new or existing Sainsbury account will be e- mailed to users over the coming weeks, we're told. 2016-03-05 17:25 Shawn Knight

25 AMD bolsters chip lineup with higher-clocked A10-7890K APU, Athlon X4 880K CPU AMD recently announced a pair of new desktop processors, both of which are said to be the fastest chips released to date in their respective classes. The AMD A10-7890K is the company's fastest APU yet. It features a base frequency of 4.1GHz across its four CPU cores (up to 4.3GHz Max Turbo) with a GPU frequency of 866MHz and a maximum TDP of 95 watts. The A10-7890K will become the second processor to ship with AMD's new Wraith heatsink and fan combination which is rated at 39dB. When it was announced last month, AMD said the cooler delivers 34 percent more airflow and offers 24 percent more cooling fin surface area compared to its predecessor. The Athlon X4 880K, meanwhile, is a quad-core CPU clocked at 4.0GHz (up to 4.2GHz Turbo) and is the fastest Athlon X4 chip AMD has ever produced. It, too, features a maximum TDP of 95 watts but ships with the 125W AMD Thermal Solution – essentially the same cooler as the Wraith but without the illuminated fan shroud. Of course, if you plan to use an aftermarket cooler, neither of these new AMD-branded cooling solutions will matter to you. Pricing is set at $164.99 for the A10-7890K while the Athlon X4 880K will retail for $94.99. AMD says they should be available for purchase at select retailers and online by the end of the month. 2016-03-05 17:25 Shawn Knight

26 No Man's Sky release date and special edition details revealed Space exploration/combat games have seen something of a resurgence recently, and one upcoming title from the genre that’s generating a lot of hype is No Man’s Sky. For those who eager to play the exploration/trading/fighting title, publisher and developer Hello Games has just confirmed the release date and announced a special edition made by production company iam8bit. The game will be launching for $60 on the PC and PS4 in the US on June 21, 2016. There’s no Xbox One version of No Man’s Sky. Gamers in the UK will have to wait a few days more to play the game as it will be available on June 24. For those who like their gaming merchandise, there’ll be a $150 special Explorer’s Edition for the PC that comes with an awesome-looking, hand-painted replica model spaceship with decal stickers. It will also include a special pin, a diorama display and “rad box.” There’ll even be an extra “mystery item” added to the set, which will be announced closer to the game’s launch. "Like all of iam8bit's products, this is a lovingly crafted package, designed to evoke a sense of space nostalgia via the inclusion of a tin toy-style ship replica. We've spared no expense to achieve hyper-detail, constructing the ship from a high-quality metal cast and then hand-painting each with precision. And much like the game, this collectible allows for a personal touch, providing an array of decals that can be applied to the ship's body," says iam8bit. iam8bit is also selling a host of other No Man’s Sky products, including a vinyl soundtrack , t- shirts , posters, prints and card sets. Developers claim that No Man’s Sky's clever algorithms have resulted in the game containing 18 quintillion procedurally generated planets. The team says that the universe is so vast, players won’t even see 99 percent of what's in it. To get you in the mood for No Man’s Sky, watch the gameplay trailer below. It features Rutger Hauer repeating some of the lines he made famous in his role as Roy Batty in Blade Runner. "I've seen things... " 2016-03-05 17:25 Rob Thubron

27 'Star Fox Zero' April launch date confirmed (and other tidbits) from producer Shigeru Miyamoto Nintendo has put to rest rumors that Star Fox Zero , the first original release in the franchise since 2006, would be delayed for a second time. Instead, it'll be released on April 22. Producer Shigeru Miyamoto told Time that Star Fox Zero takes the story back to its roots. It's not a Star Fox '4' or '5' and it's not a new spinoff; it really is going back to the roots, he added, which is where the 'Zero' comes from. Miyamoto said Star Fox Zero will offer gameplay that feels very fresh, partially because the game is split between two screens and partially due to its use of teleporters. The developer said they designed the game in a way that users can play through the map the first time, get to the end and defeat the final planet. After that, the teleporters become very important from a gameplay and storyline standpoint which also boosts the game's replayability. Other tidbits from the insightful interview include the fact that Miyamoto's broader goal with Star Fox Zero is to build interest in dogfighting games. He also said that it'll challenge both veteran gamers and newcomers alike. The team put a lot of work into perfecting the control system and finding the right balance of handling between the different types of vehicles that players will be piloting throughout the game. Star Fox Zero will also include a copy of Star Fox Guard, the culmination of a separate game called Project Guard – a tower defense style game set in the Star Fox universe. 2016-03-05 17:25 Shawn Knight

28 Amazon expands Echo family with two new voice-controlled digital assistants Amazon on Thursday announced two new additions to its Alexa-powered family of voice- controlled digital assistants, the Echo Dot and Amazon Tap. The Echo Dot is a pint-sized version of the original Echo that's designed to connect to your own set of speakers via wired or wireless Bluetooth connection (it has its own speaker but it's not all that loud). It utilizes the same "far field" voice recognition technology as its full-sized counterpart meaning it can pick up on commands from pretty far away, even in noisy environments. The puck-shaped gadget also uses a colored light ring as a visual indicator that it's working. The Amazon Tap , meanwhile, is essentially a portable Bluetooth speaker with Alexa functionality built in (it also works over Wi-Fi). Inside are two 1.5-inch drivers and dual passive radiators for bass extension. It tips the scales at just over a pound and offers up to nine hours of playback on a single charge (it also comes with a charging cradle). The original Echo debuted in late 2014 and has become a surprise hit for the company. At that time, I mentioned that the device would ultimately become an e-commerce play that would allow customers to order products from its site without having to lift a finger. That's more or less come to fruition, especially considering the fact that the Echo Dot can only be ordered using Alexa. In other words, you already need to have the standard Echo or an Amazon Fire TV to buy it (you also need to be a Prime member ). Should you fit both of those requirements, simply say "Alexa, order Echo Dot" and the deed will be done. From a marketing perspective, the Echo eliminates virtually all points of friction and makes it incredibly easy for shoppers to impulse buy. That can be a bit dangerous for the consumer, especially those that are in debt and / or trying to work a budget as even small incidentals can quickly add up. Multiple studies have shown that people tend to spend more when paying with plastic versus cash, partially because it's more convenient. I can't really think of anything that's easier or more convenient than voice-activated ordering. That's not to say a product like this is a bad thing; one just needs to exercise a bit of self-control. The Amazon Tap retails for $129.99 and is available to pre-order as of writing via conventional sales tactics. It ships March 31. The Echo Dot, meanwhile, will set you back $89.99. 2016-03-05 20:24 Shawn Knight

29 HTC reportedly pre-sold 15,000 Vive VR headsets in less than 10 minutes HTC's Vive virtual reality system was made available to pre-order for the first time a few days back. Many have balked at the price – $799, a full $200 more than the Oculus Rift – although those with hands-on experience claim it's worth every penny. It's far too early to know if the device will be enough to slow HTC's downward spiral but early sales figures seem encouraging. Shen Ye, an employee in HTC's virtual reality division, recently revealed on Twitter that the company sold more than 15,000 Vive units in less than 10 minutes. That equates to roughly $12 million in pre-orders for a very niche product that also requires buyers have a high-end computer capable of powering it. Without any sales data from competing products like the Oculus Rift, however, it's difficult to peg just how good (or bad) the figures really are. Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey did say shortly after the Rift went up for pre-order that sales were going much better than he could have possibly expected but who knows what that means. What's more, the first 10 minutes of a pre-order simply isn't enough time to gauge true demand. Was HTC able to sustain that level of sales over the next 10 minutes / 30 minutes / hour or did sales fall off sharply once the diehards got their orders in? Right now, only HTC knows the answer to that question. It's also worth pointing out that the admission from Ye is not an "official" announcement from HTC but rather, the "opinion" of a single employee. 2016-03-05 20:24 Shawn Knight

30 Six Flags and Samsung team up to bring the VR experience to nine roller coasters across the US For those people who find that travelling 100 mph while falling 400 feet on a roller coaster just isn’t exciting enough, Samsung and Six Flags Entertainment have announced a collaboration that will enhance the experience by bringing virtual reality to the theme park rides. Starting this month, nine Six Flags parks across the US will introduce a feature where riders get to wear Samsung’s Oculus-powered Gear VR headset while on a roller coaster. Six of the rides will feature the New Revolution VR experience, which places participants in the co-pilot seat of a jet as they battle alien invaders. The other three offer up a Superman story, where the coasters' drops and twists mimic the VR experience of flying alongside the Man of Steel as he battles Lex Luthor’s army of Lexbots. Wearing the headsets on the rides will be optional, and there’s no extra fee for those who want to use them. Six Flags assures people that because the VR visuals are synchronized precisely with the roller coaster, riders won’t experience motion sickness. Each car contains a ‘black box’ that syncs with its passengers’ headsets, so it can send the right images (via Bluetooth) at the right times. To alleviate customers’ fears that pressing the same VR headsets against so many different people’s faces could pose a health risk, Six Flags points out that all parts that touch a rider will be “covered with an anti-microbial leather and cleansed between every use with anti-bacterial wipes.” The Gear VR’s used on the rides will be custom made and feature an extra chin strap to make sure they don’t fly off your face as you’re travelling around the track at high speeds. “We’ve actually tested these at 5.9 G’s and there’s no problem with those,” Six Flags Senior VP of Marketing Brett Petit told Mashable . Similar virtual reality rides have already been announced in other parts of the world. In the UK, theme park Alton Towers is set to open the Galactica VR roller coaster in April that also uses the Samsung VR headset, and Surrey, UK-based Thorpe Park plans to open a ghost train that uses the HTC Vive, which sounds particularly terrifying. Described as a "mind-bending thrill ride," the thirteen-minute attraction has twelve different story lines and two possible endings. Here is a list of the parks and their roller coasters that will be offering the VR experience. There’s also a Six Flags video (below) showing what to expect from the rides: 2016-03-05 20:24 Rob Thubron

31 Google's Hands Free system lets you pay for items just by saying your initials If you’ve ever wanted to pay for an item without having to rummage around in your pockets for some loose change, your wallet, or even your smartphone, then Google is piloting a system that’s just for you: Hands Free. First revealed during its I/O 2015 conference last year, Hands Free uses Bluetooth low energy, location services, Wi-Fi, and other sensors to detect when you’re near a participating store. When you want to pay, simply tell the cashier “I’ll pay with Google,” and they’ll ask for your initials and use the photo you added to your Hands Free profile to check your identity. Payment is then taken from the credit or debit card linked to the account. “When you think about a user, in a bunch of situations, the experience is quite crummy right now, it’s quite clunky,” Google senior director of product management, Pali Bhat, wrote in a blog post . “You don’t want your phone in the way, your wallet in the way, you don’t want your cash in the way. These are inconveniences that happen multiple times a day.” The system is available now for Android and iOS , but it’s still “in the early stages” of development and can only be used in a small number of McDonalds, Papa John’s, and other local eateries in San Francisco’s South Bay area. For added security, instant notifications of payments made using the system are delivered to the user’s phone. In some outlets, Google is experimenting with using in-store cameras to automatically confirm a user’s identity based on their Hands Free profile, so all customers need to do is confirm their initials to the cashier when buying an item. While this does sound a bit Orwellian, Google has assured people that the images captured by the camera are deleted immediately, can’t be accessed by the store, and aren’t sent to or saved on the company’s servers. Google says the feature will work with devices that go all the way back to Android Jellybean v4.2 and the iPhone 4s. Early adopters of the system will get a $5 discount on their first purchase. To find out more, check out this site or watch the video below. 2016-03-05 20:24 Rob Thubron

32 Weekend Open Forum: Is your system ready for VR? Playing games in virtual reality is going to require a pretty powerful gaming PC. Oculus recommends at least an Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 or AMD Radeon R9 290 to accompany an Intel Core i5-4590 and 8 GB of RAM, while HTC recommends very similar specs (and slightly less RAM) to run the Vive. Considering both VR headsets essentially require gamers to run their favorite titles at 1440p resolutions with frame rates exceeding 90 for smooth, stutter free gameplay, having a PC more powerful than those listed above is a good idea. If you want to run the latest games at maximum quality settings, you might need to invest in two high-end GPUs for a good VR experience. With both the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive expected to land in the hands of consumers shortly, is your rig up to scratch for playing VR games? Most people with a high-end gaming system should be fine, but there are lots of people out there with only modest PCs that might need upgrading before they jump into a world of virtual reality. Let us know in the comments below if your rig is beefy enough for a good VR experience. 2016-03-05 20:24 Tim Schiesser

33 Intel reportedly using RealSense 3D camera tech to develop augmented reality headset Intel is reportedly the latest technology giant jumping on the virtual / augmented reality bandwagon. The chipmaker is actively developing an augmented reality headset based on its RealSense 3D camera technology according to sources familiar with the matter as reported by The Wall Street Journal. Rather than market the device itself, sources say Intel aims to license the design to third-party manufacturers. None of the sources the Journal spoke with were aware of any partners Intel may have lined up for the headset. Achin Bhowmik, vice president of Intel's perceptual computing group, wouldn't discuss unannounced development efforts but said Intel has a tradition of creating prototype devices to help convince customers (manufacturers) to use its components. If true, the development isn't all that surprising. As the publication notes, Intel has acquired at least five companies involved in the augmented reality space and has invested in others. Wall Street Forensics chief analyst Matt Margolis estimates that Intel has spent more than $300 million – and perhaps as much as $500 million – in acquisitions and investments. Brian Mullins with Los Angeles startup Daqri said there is an awareness at Intel that they didn't play as big a role in the mobile space as they would have liked, sentiments I've echoed in the past. As such, Mullins said they understand that wearables and augmented / virtual reality are the next big platforms. Image courtesy Ethan Miller, Getty Images 2016-03-05 20:24 Shawn Knight

34 VESA announces DisplayPort 1.4 standard with support for 8K displays The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) has finalized and published the DisplayPort 1.4 standard. The latest version, announced roughly 18 months after its predecessor, includes a number of noteworthy features and specifications that may lead some to skip DisplayPort 1.3 entirely. DisplayPort 1.4 retains the same High Bit Rate 3 (HBR3) physical interface as its predecessor but utilizes Display Stream Compression (DSC) technology. DSC version 1.2 enables up to a 3:1 compression ratio that's said to be visually lossless (at least, according to VESA member testing). As such, DisplayPort 1.4 can drive 60Hz 8K displays and 4K displays at up to 120Hz – both with HDR "deep color. " The new standard also supports 32 audio channels, 1,536kHz sample rate and inclusion of "all known" audio formats. VESA further notes that the 1.4 standard features forward error correction and HDR meta transport in addition to the aforementioned expanded audio support. Best yet, the latest standard will work over both DisplayPort and USB Type-C connections. Given precedent, it'll likely be quite some time before devices actually implement the new standard. DisplayPort 1.3 was announced in September of 2014 but as multiple publications note, there still aren't any products on the market that utilize it. Ideally, manufacturers could skip DisplayPort 1.3 entirely and jump to the latest standard but that's little more than wishful thinking. 2016-03-05 17:15 Shawn Knight

35 Watch a drone race a McLaren supercar in this World Drone Prix promo Most associate drones with basic camera- equipped consumer models that offer unparalleled views from above but like virtually all hobbies, some have made a competitive sport of it. The 2016 World Drone Prix is set to kick off next week and to generate attention, the show's promoters have released a teaser video showcasing a drone racing a McLaren 650S through the streets of Dubai complete with augmented reality special effects. The McLaren belongs to the local police department (I know, right?) so I assume no laws were broken in the creation of the promo. More than 100 teams have registered to take place in the qualifying rounds which get under way March 7. The top 32 teams will advance to the actual races on March 11 and 12 as they compete for $1 million in prizes (the winning team takes home $250,000). Found is a TechSpot feature where we share clever, funny or otherwise interesting stuff from around the web. 2016-03-05 17:15 Shawn Knight

36 Rocket League gets official championship series, $75,000 prize pool Rocket League developer Psyonix has partnered with Twitch to create the Rocket League Championship Series, the official competitive league for the popular sports-action game. At stake is the first ever Rocket League championship title and more importantly, a total prize pool of $75,000. That may not sound like a whole lot of money considering last year's International Dota 2 Championships had a prize pool of more than $18 million (the largest in history , mind you), but hey, money is money and it's better than playing for free. In a blog post, Twitch said the three-month long season kicks off with open qualifiers later this month. Those interested in participating can register in teams of three. All matches will be played on both the PlayStation 4 and Windows PC platforms with additional platform support to be revealed at a later date. As Digital Trends correctly highlights , Rocket League is the type of game that seems like it'd be perfect for eSports. Instead of trying to market the game as an eSports title at launch, Psyonix chose to wait and see if the game developed a community of fans around it which is exactly what has happened since it launched last summer. Naturally, the tournament will be broadcast exclusively on Twitch. Anyone that wants to tune in can do so by bookmarking this channel. 2016-03-05 18:06 Shawn Knight

37 Combine data mining and simulation to maximise process improvement We are living in an increasingly interconnected world – not just in the number of digital devices, but also in how actions can have dozens, if not hundreds or more consequences that cascade through a series of permutations, resulting in unforeseen consequences. But using a computer model of these can predict probable consequences. Data mining has become something of a buzzword in recent years. It is also a misnomer and the term has been increasingly misused. Alan Mason, CEO of data mining firm AJM Consulting , prefers to use the term “process diagnostics”, as he believes it is more accurate for what the technique entails. Rather than extracting data, as the term implies, data mining is the process of analysing large datasets and understanding their patterns. An understanding of past trends can allow insight when making decisions about current situations. Data mining is often applied in process industries – chemical, pharmaceutical, nuclear, etc – where a small change in the beginning of a process can, through a series of interconnected events, have major consequences that were initially unforeseen. An example application is AJM Consulting’s work with the Sellafield reprocessing and decommissioning site. AJM used process diagnostics to study the real-time data and operational history of the cooling process for the Waste Vitrification Plant, where the highly radioactive, toxic and corrosive waste is entrapped in corrosion-resistant borosilicate glass for long-term storage. Through this study, AJM identified specific events on the plant that accelerated the rate of corrosion of the cooling coils. Taking this one step further, AJM could confidently predict when each cooling coil would fail. The Waste Vitrification Plant could withstand a certain number of cooling coils failing, but to have all of them fail would be catastrophic. Thus, AJM could mitigate the risk of unacceptable cooling coil failures, as well as save money for their customer by minimising corrosive processes and avoiding plant shut-downs. 2016-03-05 18:07 Peter Ray

38 38 Amazon removes the encryption features in its Fire products because customers didn't use them One of the reasons so many companies are backing Apple in its battle against the Department of Justice is because they believe their products should feature strong encryption that doesn't have backdoors. So it’s a surprise to learn that Amazon, one of the tech giants filing a court brief supporting Apple, has disabled the encryption capabilities of its Fire devices. Amazon said that the Fire OS 5 update removed local device encryption support for the Kindle Fire, Fire Phone, Amazon Fire HD, or Amazon Fire TV Stick was because the feature simply wasn’t being used. "In the fall when we released Fire OS 5, we removed some enterprise features that we found customers weren’t using," Amazon spokeswoman Robin Handaly wrote in an email. “All Fire tablets' communication with Amazon's cloud meet our high standards for privacy and security including appropriate use of encryption.” One of the features removed includes one that allowed owners to encrypt their device with a pin which, if entered incorrectly 30 times in a row, deletes all the data stored on it. The feature is similar to the safety feature found on the iPhone at the center of the San Berardino shooter trial, which erases all the device data if the passcode is entered incorrectly ten times. The issue has only just come to light because Amazon released an over-the-air update earlier this month for its older tablets to upgrade from Fire OS 4. Handaly added that another reason Amazon dropped the encryption feature was because most people use the Fire products as entertainment devices, rather than for productivity. As mentioned in its statement, Amazon has assured customers that communications between Fire devices and its servers are still encrypted. This hasn’t stopped cybersecurity experts and privacy advocates lambasting Amazon’s decision. “Actions speak louder than words, and removing encryption says a lot more to me than releasing statements in support of Apple, especially when you’re a manufacturer of devices that can also support encryption,” said Electronic Frontier Foundation staff technologist Jeremy Gillula. “When you’re a device manufacturer that’s also in control of the software, there’s really no good reason not to make sure that you can support default encryption. It definitely seems like there is quite a bit of hypocrisy there.” 2016-03-05 18:06 Rob Thubron

Total 38 articles. Created at 2016-03-06 00:01