Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Yahoo buys Summly website from 17-years-old tech whiz for $30 million


Nick D'Aloisio is your typical high school kid- he has a girlfriend , his mom is on his case to clean his room, and he has a curfew.

But he did just sell his tech startup for about $30 Million. The 17-years-old Brit is the founder of Summly, a mobile app he developed that searches for snippets of news and makes them better suited formobile devices- which D'Aloisio sold to yahoo.

He will now work for Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer and become the company’s youngest employee.

D’Aloisiobuilt Summly from his bedroom when he was just 15 and attracted big investors like Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing and Ashton Kutcher.
His mobile app was a hot pickup for Yahoo!, and D’Aloisio said it took months to come to terms.

There were other big Internet companies interested, but Yahoo! was the most appropriate,” the teenager told The Post yesterday. “Yahoo! is just one of these classic companies.”
The price was not disclosed, but AllThingsD reported it was $30 million — 90 percent in cash and 10 percent in stock.

Yahoo! in turn gets a new mobile product as part of its broader strategy to entrench its brand on smartphones and tablets.

Yahoo! has an inspirational goal to make people’s daily routines entertaining and meaningful, and mobile will be a central part of that vision,” D’Aloisio said in his blog post announcing the acquisition. “For us, it’s the perfect fit.”

Source: foxnews

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What's That Red Equal-Sign on Facebook All About?


They’re popping up on Facebook news feeds around the nation, but without much explanation. Just what are those red equal-sign Facebook profilepictures all about? Look no further than the Human Rights Campaign, an organization in support of gay marriage that is running a particularly successful social media initiative as the Supreme Court discusses the issue over the next two days.
In a Facebook post today, the HRC asked gay marriage supporters to “paint the town red,” wearing red in their wardrobe as well on their Facebook pages, changing profile photos over to the HRC “=” logo. The idea has even caught the eyes of Congress, with 13 members showcasing the symbol, according to Ryan Beckwith.

Source: ABCnews

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Monday, March 25, 2013

Bioshock's Latest: Civil War in a City in the Sky


The first release by the Massachusetts studio Irrational Games since the original Bioshocks transfixed players more than five years ago there were open fears on blogs, in discussion forums and in conversations among video game journalists that the new BioShock game just wouldn't be any good.
Surely that was why it was taking so long to make it, why its release was twice delayed, why the studio seemed to be bleeding personnel. Some people even asked themselves if the impeccable reputation of Ken Levine, the mercurial creative director at Irrational, was perhaps undeserved, given that it was largely dependent on only two games, System Shock 2 (1999) and BioShock (2007), made almost a decade apart.
Everyone can stop worrying. With BioShock Infinite, which goes on sale on Tuesday, Mr. Levine and his colleagues at Irrational have produced yet another video game that is a model of what the medium can achieve. This world — an alternate history with a dollop of science fiction that is set in the United States of 1912 — is dense, fascinating and inventive. The combat is exhilarating. The ending manages to be both mind-bending and moving.
The game begins at a lighthouse off the coast of Maine but quickly moves to Columbia, a utopian — or dystopian — city in the sky built by Zachary Hale Comstock, who calls himself an American prophet. Comstock has transformed this country’s secular religion of Constitutionalism into a theocratic system of white supremacy that worships the founders as gods.

Booker DeWitt, the playable character, is a former Pinkerton agent turned private investigator who was sent to Columbia to find a girl named Elizabeth and bring her to New York City. Booker and Elizabeth are caught in the middle of a civil war between Comstock and the Vox Populi, a violent leftist group modeled partly on the socialists and anarchists of the period.

Source: nytimes
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Thursday, March 21, 2013

Whole Internet probed for insecure devices


http://visual-eyes.ca/en/
surreptitious scan of the entire internet has revealed millions of printers, webcams and set-top boxes protected only by default passwords.An anonymous researcher used more than 420,000 of these insecure devices to test the security and responsiveness of other gadgets, in a nine-month survey.Using custom-written code, they sent out more than four trillion messages.

The net's current addressing scheme accommodates about 4.2 billion devices. Only 1.3 billion addresses responded.The number of addresses responding was a surprise as the pool of addresses for that scheme has run dry. As a result, the net is currently going through a transition to a new scheme that has a vastly larger pool of addresses available.
The scan found half a million printers, more than one million webcams and lots of other devices, including set-top boxes and modems, that still used the password installed in the factory, letting almost anyone take over that piece of hardware. Often the password was an easy to guess word such as "root" or "admin".
"Whenever you think, 'That shouldn't be on the internet, but will probably be found a few times,' it's there a few hundred thousand times," wrote the un-named researcher in a paper documenting their work.HDMoore, who carried out a similar survey in 2012, told the Ars Technica news website the results looked "pretty accurate".
He added he had seen malicious hackers exploiting the security failings of these devices to run criminal networks known as botnets that are used to send out spam, mount phishing attacks and bombard websites with deluges of data.
Source: bbc

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Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Nvidia Delivers Workstation Graphics Experience to the Network



Nvidia's GRID Visual Computing Appliance is a remote GPU acceleration system that can run complex applications -- like those from AdobeAutodesk and Dassault -- and display their graphics on a networked client computer. All a user has to do is click on an icon to create a virtual workspace. Users can then have the same graphics experience they would get from an expensivededicated workstation.
Nvidia on Wednesday debuted its GRID Visual Computing Appliance, a device that lets businesses deliver ultra-fast GPU performance to any WindowsLinux or Mac client on their network.
The GRID VCA is a GPU-based system that allows complex applications, sending graphics output to the network and enabling it to be displayed on a client machine. It provides remote GPU acceleration, giving the user on the client machine the same rich graphics experience available from an expensive dedicated PC workstation.
Source: technewsworld
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Sunday, March 17, 2013

Why Should Still Consider the Galaxy S3 over the Galaxy S4


The Samsung Galaxy S4 launched but savvy wireless customers looking for a bargain may still want to consider Galaxy S3. Some costumer asking about the newly upgraded flagship Samsung smartphone is worth the hype.
The device has improvement over it's processor but the upgraded specs and added bells and whistles might might not mean as much to the average consumer, who will be likely be just as happy with last year's model which costs less money.
GalaxyS4 is a terrific phone and it is a decent upgrade to the Galaxy S3 but Samsung has not revolutionized the smartphone with this new device. In fact, Galaxy S4 is very similar to the Galaxy S3. Samsung has used the same sturdy plastic for the that it used in the S3 . The home screen button and other buttons are in the same place on the S4 as they are on the S3. There are some hardware differences between the two devices even they're look the same, The S4 is actually a tad lighter and Thinner that S3. And the guts of the phone are different as well.
Some of these new software features include a TV control app, a built-intranslation tool, and an app that tracks your eye movement so that you can control the device. One example of how you'd use this is that you can pause a video simply by looking away from the screen. There are also some gesture capabilities and a hover feature that lets you wave your finger over something on the screen to preview an item.
Source: cnet
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Thursday, March 14, 2013

What to Expect in Samasung's Galaxy S4



Last Thursday evening in New York ,the Samsung Electronics Co. is hosting a media event at Radio City Music Hall where it is expected to lift the wraps on this year iteration of the Galaxy S smartphone – the Galaxy S4.
The Korean electronics giant has said little ahead of time about what it plans to do with its best-selling line of smartphones that has helped catapult it to the number one slot for global market share in the fast-growing business — and making the company into the arch-rival of Apple Inc.

Chinese gadget blog called IT 168 has run what is purported to be leaked images of the new Galaxy S4, confirming what have been some common expectations that have emerged about the new device. Those include:

  • 5-inch high-def screen: Big screens have become the rage in the high-end smartphone business, with most Android-based devices eclipsing the 4-inch diagonal screen size of Apple’s iPhone 5. The previous Galaxy had a 4.8-inch screen, and most are expecting Samsung to use its strength in display manufacturing to go even bigger with the new model, sporting a high-definition 1080p resolution.
  • Eye-tracking: Finger scrolling is the common method of navigation on smartphones, but the Galaxy S4 is believed by some to be incorporating a new type of user interface that would scroll content based on the movement of the user’s eyes. Other uses would include pausing a video when the user looks away from the screen.
  • Eight-core chip: Difficult to verify, as the few reported leaks do not include tear-downs of the device, but Samsung already unveiled an eight-core Exynos chip at the Consumer Electronics Show back in January, and many believe it will be included in the new smartphone – though some reports say the U.S. version will actually make use of a quad-core Snapdragon chipset from Qualcomm.
  • Launch date and priceSamsung unveiled the Galaxy S3 at a launch event in London on May 3 of last year, and the device saw its initial launch later than month (though didn’t come to the U.S. until late June). The timing of tonight’s event suggests that a launch of the S4 could come before the end of April, and a U.S. launch may get priority, given the event’s location.
The event gets underway at 7pm ET. Check back at MarketWatch for live stream coverage of the event.

– Dan Gallagher
Source: marketwatch
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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

HTC One faces shipment delays


The handset vendor said today it is pushing back the phone's arrival of preorders in certain markets to the end of the month, with a formalrollout to other markets in April, according to a company representative. HTC told CNET last week that Singapore wouldn't get the One until April.
HTC previously targeted the phone to launch globally this month.
It's another setback for a company that could ill afford another hiccup.HTC has struggled to turn around its flagging profit and sales, and had its hopes pegged to the One to reverse its fortunes.

No reason has been given for the delay, but it could potentially be the complicated process of manufacturing the all-metal frame around the phone. The company told CNET last month that each body takes roughly200minutes to cut and process the front and rear parts of each unit.
HTC is also running into a bad bit of timing, with Samsung Electronics scheduled to show off its GalaxyS4 at an event in New York on Thursday.

Source: cnet

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Monday, March 11, 2013

Google Doodle Honors


Google'sdoodle is a tribute to Douglas Adams( late author of acclaimed novel “ The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy”). Adams who would have been 61 today, published the “ Hichhiker's Guide” among the five books in 1979. It was originally a radio comedy broadcast on the BBC's Radio 4 in 1978.
It includes references to Adam's work: a towel which according to Adam'sbook is an essential item for space travel, a cup of tea, a staple of his oeuvre and when users click the door in the doodle, Marvin the beloved “ paranoid android” from “Hitchhiker's Guide” appears.
Source: abcnews
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Wednesday, March 6, 2013

SXSW may have peaked and that's not a bad thing



In South by Southwest Interactive, the tech-geek festival that begins here Friday, some see a five-day spring break of sorts: a chance to discover some buzzy new apps, catch a few panels and party alongside Web celebrities, futurists and many, many bloggers.

But others see the festival as a microcosm of the larger tech-culture community, a place to preview things that may become mainstream in a few years and where trends that play out in downtown Austin are indicators of what's to come.

Which is why we wonder each year: Has the festival peaked? Will the irrationally app-exuberant bubble finally burst?

If SXSW Interactive doesn't keep growing at up to 40% every year, does that mean the tech industry is slowing down or that the festival itself has reached capacity? Or is it only the hype that has plateaued?

This year, some SXSW veterans feel the maturing festival, which began in the late 1990s, may have reached a saturation point, especially when it comes to start ups trying to draw attention to new products. SXSW Interactive famously helped Twitter get off the ground in 2007 and gave apps such as Foursquare and Highlight a boost in recent years.

But as SXSW has gotten crowded, it's become much harder to stand out.


"I feel like people are having to put more effort because there's so much noise and so much going on," said Jennifer Sinski, an entrepreneur who runs RSPVster, which will auto-RSVP attendees to unofficial parties and events for a fee.

This year, Sinski said, "There's really no big app expected to launch, nothing huge people are excited for on the tech side."

That thought was echoed by a recent TechCrunch article wonderng whether the era of big SXSW app launches may have passed.

Just days before the festival starts, there have also been no big blow-out events announced to rival 2012's American Express concert featuring Jay-Z, Bruce Springsteen's powerhouse gig or the party for the app Mobli that drew investors Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire to town.
American Express will still be at the festival, but it will likely keep a lower profile given it announced 5,400 job cuts in January. Microsoft is no longer a sponsor at Interactive this year, and the annual TechKaraoke event will be missing.

That being said, rumors that Justin Timberlake will perform continue to swirl and notables such as former Vice President Al Gore, entrepreneur Elon Musk, broadcaster Rachel Maddow and NBA star Shaquille O'Neal are part of the official programming. And this year's themes of private space travel, 3-D printing, hacker culture and crowdfunding, still feel forward-looking.
Hugh Forrest, the longtime director of SXSW Interactive, says a slowing of growth may actually benefit the festival, which in recent years has put a strain on Austin's infrastructure. Forrest says that based on registration so far, the Interactive part of the festival is expected to grow at a more modest rate of 5% to 8% this year.

"It's definitely not the sharper increases we've had in the last few years," Forrest said. "In many ways, that's a good thing. It gives us the bandwidth to work out some of the rough edges."
Some of the growing pains, especially in the festival's Startup Village and Accelerator (a kind of "American Idol" competition for startups), prompted the festival to expand its reach beyond Austin. In August,it will launch V2V in Las Vegas, a new SXSW Interactive conference focused on tech entrepreneurship.

It's one way SXSW is hoping to alleviate the hotel crunch and downtown congestion that happens here every March.

Stephanie Wonderlin, a senior manager and social strategist with Momentum Factor, will be attending Interactive for her third year. Last year, she hosted videos for Chevy, which was pushing its Volt vehicles to techies at the fest.

Wonderlin believes things have been quieter going into Interactive this year, at least from her perspective. "I keep asking myself, 'What do I feel is missing?' I don't know if it's me being snooty."

For 2013, she says her schedule has shifted from big parties to smaller gatherings and networking, a trend she's seeing among friends, some of whom aren't bothering to pay for a badge.

"I think the size and how big it's gotten were just so overblown that maybe people who have to be there now want to do things on their own. One person told me, 'I would rather grab a bottle of wine and head up to a rooftop with a small group of friends' than go to the big parties," Wonderlin said.

"A lot of people I know who are big company sponsors say they're not even going to any of the sessions. I think the purpose of SXSW has changed."

Sinski, who's been going to SXSW Music for eight years and became more interested in Interactive as she launched her company, says that people who use her service are less interested in hype and big stars than they are in free food, real networking and companies that have something unique to show.

"Spending a lot of money isn't as big a deal as it was two or three years ago," she said. "Now it's about what you can offer people."

Source: cnn

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Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag “not the legacy of AC3 only”


Assassin’sCreed 4Black Flag will not simply import mechanics from much-criticisedAssassin’s Creed 3, preferring to cherry pick from the franchise as a whole.
In an internally produced interview with creative director Jean Guesdon, Ubisoft described Assassin’s Creed3′s gameplay mechanics as not “attractive or not introduced properly”, asking how the development team will ensure that “the player has a fun, intelligent and progressive experience from start to end”.
AC is a great franchise that allows us to learn from previous iterations. We’ve identified some areas of improvements and will definitely make sure that all systems are properly introduced and relevant to the player’s own motivations. We’re not the legacy of AC3 only but of all previous AC games and we spent a lot of time analysing the best things we could use from all of them,” Guesdon said.
One of the features the team is hoping to bring back is stealth, which has gradually decreased in importance and was somewhat poorly implemented in Assassin’s Creed 3.
We are putting a lot of effort to improve that pillar of the franchise. Being a pirate was also about taking places by surprise, and this would require stealth abilities,” Guesdon said.
So yes, stealth will be back. Infiltrations, tails and exploration of islands are all part of it. We are making sure that the level design not only support but encourage stealth. We’re working hard at providing missions and environments that always allow the player to choose this type of play.”
Guesdon said the key challenge of Black Flag is delivering a realistic, fun, open world naval and pirate game while remaining true to the pillars of the Assassin’s Creed franchise.
Ultimately my objective with [Black Flag] is to provide a very good, polished and fun game that players will enjoy as much as we enjoy creating it,” he said.
I would be thrilled to receive testimonies telling us that the way we’re depicting this period in history helped some of our audience to realize what the Golden Age of Piracy was really like.”
Source: vg247

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Monday, March 4, 2013

Samsung’s New Smartphone Will Track Eyes to Scroll Pages


Samsung’s next big smartphone, to be introduced this month, will have a strong focus on software. A person who has tried the phone, called the Galaxy S IV, described one feature as particularly new and exciting: Eye scrolling.
The phone will track a user’s eyes to determine where to scroll, said a Samsung employee who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media. For example, when users read articles and their eyes reach the bottom of the page, the software will automatically scroll down to reveal the next paragraphs of text.

The source would not explain what technology was being used to track eye movements, nor did he say whether the feature would be demonstrated at the Galaxy S IV press conference, which will be held in New York on March 14. The Samsung employee said that over all, the software features of the new phone outweighed the importance of the hardware.

Indeed, Samsung in January filed for a trademark in Europe for the name “EyeScroll” (No. 011510674). It filed for the “Samsung Eye Scroll” trademark in the United States in February, where it described the service as “Computer application software having a feature of sensing eye movements and scrolling displays of mobile devices, namely, mobile phones, smartphones and tablet computers according to eye movements; digital cameras; mobile telephones; smartphones; tablet computers.”

Samsung has also filed for the trademark “Eye Pause,” without describing what the feature does.

In an interview, Kevin Packingham, Samsung’s chief product officer, declined to share details about Samsung’s next phone. But he said he disagreed that the new hardware would be insignificant compared with the software, and over all, “It’s an amazing phone.”
Eye tracking systems have been in development for a while. Samsung’s current flagship phone, the Galaxy S III, already has a feature that watches you. The feature, Smart Stay, uses its front-facing camera to know to keep the screen lit up when a person is looking at it instead of dimming it automatically.

Tobii, a technology company that received $21 million in funding from Intel last year, has been working on a technique that uses infrared sensors to track precise eye movements.
Samsung’s Galaxy S III has been the company’s best-selling phone, so the release of its next flagship phone has been highly anticipated.

Source: nytimes



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Sunday, March 3, 2013

CloudFlare security service goes down after router failure


Web security service CloudFlare was offline for about an hour this morning due to a system-wide failure of its edge routers.
The outage, which began around 1:47 a.m. PT, removed the security layer for 785,000 Web sites, including 4chan and Wikileaks, according to TechCrunch. CloudFlare said the outage occurred while it was trying to defend one of its customers from a distributed denial-of-service attack.
The outage affected Juniper routers running the Flowspec protocol, which allows customers to broadcast router rules to a large number of routers efficiently. CloudFlare uses the protocol to update the rules on routers to battle attacks and shift traffic.

CloudFlare co-founder and CEO Matthew Prince said in a company blog post today that it detected a DNS attack this morning when it identified attack packets between 99,971 and 99,985 bytes long, much larger than the 500-byte average and CloudFlare's 4,470-byte maximum packet size.

While CloudFlare service was restored about an hour later, Prince said company is examining the cause of the failure and has contactedJuniper to learn whether this is a known bug. Prince also said customers would receive service credits.

Prince noted striking similarities between its outage and last year's Internet blackout in Syria.
"In CloudFlare's case the cause was not intentional or malicious, but the net effect was the same: a router change caused a network to go offline," Prince wrote.

Source: Cnet

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