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AfterDawn: News

A bug in Chrome allows you to download Netflix movies

Written by Matti Robinson @ 25 Jun 2016 3:21

A bug in Chrome allows you to download Netflix movies A group of security researchers have found a vulnerability in Google's Chrome browser that allows downloading movies straight from Netflix. This is obviously not a feature especially the entertainment industry wants in what is the most popular browser on the globe.

David Livshits from the Cyber Security Research Center at Ben-Gurion University in Israel and Alexandra Mikityuk with Telekom Innovation Laboratories in Berlin, Germany have found that the implementation of Widevine EME/CDM technology that is used to stream encrypted video was lacking and enabled downloading of the video. According to Wired, the two researchers informed Google of this bug already in May but it hasn't yet been patched.

This not only works with Netflix but many of its competitors, like HBO. The researchers will not reveal the details to the bug before 90 days has passed since they told Google about it. Google still has time to issue a fix before pirate jump all over this security hole. The researchers have though released a brief video showcasing the vulnerability.

Google has acknowledged that the bug exists and says that it's working on fixing the problem. The vulnerability might also be found on other Chromium based browsers which include for example Opera.

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AfterDawn: News

Three out of four Netflix customers would rather cancel than watch ads

Written by Matti Robinson @ 25 Jun 2016 2:05

Three out of four Netflix customers would rather cancel than watch ads For a long time Netflix was adamant on its pricing. No changes were made for a long time and everything seemed to be good. The markets obviously reacted and more expensive deals and original content meant that price increases, several of them in fact, were needed.

Fortunately for the customers the increase was not a radical one and for many I would argue the new content was worth every penny. However, it might not be all over yet, and there's been even rumors about advertisements.

Will Netflix adopt the Hulu strategy and show ads even for paying customers? Who knows, but if they indeed decide to do it, how will the customers react?

AllFlicks decided to do a poll on exactly that. Approximately 1200 Reddit users answered questions regarding ads on Netflix. The negativity towards ads was clear.

90 percent would rather see another price increase instead of ads. Most of them were at least a dollar or two and over 10 percent were willing to go over 4 dollars more.

The most shocking of the poll results, however, was that nearly three out of four answered that they would rather cancel the subscription than watch ads. That's 74 percent of the people who answered the poll. It's hard to say how many would actually act on it but it's safe to say that Netflix probably doesn't want to try their luck, unless it's the last option.




AfterDawn: News

Apple Music left in the dust, Spotify at 100 million subscribers

Written by Matti Robinson @ 25 Jun 2016 12:01

Apple Music left in the dust, Spotify at 100 million subscribers Spotify has told The Telegraph that it has surpassed the 100 million mark in subscribers. Paying subscribers was earlier this year reported to have passed 30 million. Apple meanwhile is having trouble growing its service past its initial base.

Apple told us in April that it had mustered 13 million Apple Music subscribers which is not much more than it had 9 months earlier just after Apple Music's release. Now though those people are paying and not just enjoying their free three months of music.

Just before the launch of Apple Music Spotify revealed that it had more than 20 million subscribers. So Apple might have beat Spotify's growth within the year but that is mostly because of the launch boom. Spotify has thus been growing faster than Apple Music for most of the past year – or at least on par.

It will be really hard to catch Spotify in this game unless you come up with something completely different. Its free model also is a springboard for potentially new paying customers who are ready to pay for convenience.

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AfterDawn: News

Rumor has it that Apple has cancelled iPhone's dual camera

Written by Matti Robinson @ 18 Jun 2016 6:05

Rumor has it that Apple has cancelled iPhone's dual camera The next iPhone will be a major upgrade to current iPhone 6s. This biyearly full upgrade cycle provides us with a bigger upgrade every two years. But how will Apple update its number one product, sales of which has started declining.

The rumors have had for the past few months that Apple will introduce its first dual camera smartphone. After months of speculation it was widely recognized that it's more likely that only the bigger and better Plus version of iPhone 7 will have the double lens.

Now rumors from a Foxconn employee suggest that plans might have changed. According to the subcontractors claims Apple has decided to back down from having a dual camera at all, a plan that it once did indeed have.

This, like other rumors, should be taken with a grain of salt. It remains to be seen if the feature some Android phones already have is there or whether Apple's big new feature is something completely different.




AfterDawn: News

OnePlus releases new "flagship killer", smaller X discontinued

Written by Matti Robinson @ 18 Jun 2016 4:11

OnePlus releases new "flagship killer", smaller X discontinued The small Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus took the world by storm two years ago by releasing a super cheap flagship smartphone. They called it the flagship killer, and it indeed challenged the best Android smartphones without big drawbacks and with a tiny price tag. Now the company has revealed this years model.

As expected it is called the OnePlus 3. The third generation is not quite as cheap as the first, or even the second model, but it certainly is worth the flagship killer moniker. Comparing it to Samsung's number one smartphone, the Galaxy S7, OnePlus 3 only loses in screen resolution. Some would say not going QHD was a smart move from OnePlus too.

OnePlus 3 features a super thing 7,4 mm (0.29 in) thin, single-piece aluminium body which holds a 3000 milliamp battery. Performance is ensured by Snapdragon 820 and six gigs of RAM. The sixteen megapixel f2.0 camera features optical image stabilization and phase detection auto focus.

Everything seems to be in order for a good top end smartphone but it's the price what makes the deal sweet. You can buy one unlocked for only $399.

OnePlus has however revealed that the 5,5 inch smartphone will be the only option for now, and there's only the one 64 GB version. The company has discontinued the X model that was introduced last year as the cheaper and smaller option.




AfterDawn: News

Android VP keeps referencing 'Nutella,' suggesting name for Android N

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Jun 2016 10:37

Android VP keeps referencing 'Nutella,' suggesting name for Android N Hiroshi Lockheimer, SVP of Android, is either an expert troll or the name of Android N is going to be Nutella.

The executive has been posting on Twitter, using some not-so-subtle hints as to the name of the upcoming mobile operating system.

Here are some of the least subtle references:

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AfterDawn: News

Twitter invests $70 million in streaming service SoundCloud

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Jun 2016 10:21

Twitter invests $70 million in streaming service SoundCloud Twitter has invested $70 million in popular streaming music service SoundCloud in an effort by both companies to share users.

"Earlier this year, we made an investment in SoundCloud through Twitter Ventures to help support some of our efforts with creators,"
said Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. "They've been great partners of ours over the years, and their community-supported approach mirrors ours in many ways."

SoundCloud has 175 million users while Twitter has 300 million monthly active users, and over 500 million accounts. The streaming service has struggled in recent years, however, with losses in the tens of millions despite increasing revenues. The investment will certainly help keep the company afloat for some time and "enable SoundCloud to remain focused on building value for creators and listeners alike," adds the company.

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AfterDawn: News

Apple to block Adobe Flash on desktop Safari

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Jun 2016 9:50

Apple to block Adobe Flash on desktop Safari Apple will continue its crusade against the ultra-vulnerable Adobe Flash soon, blocking the plugin by default starting with the next version of desktop Safari.

Flash will still be allowed to run, but the user will have to activate it on a site-by-site basis.

Apple is following in the footsteps of Google, who announced last month that upcoming Chrome versions will act similarly although Chrome will give exceptions to major websites.

In addition to Flash, Apple is also blocking other plugins like Silverlight and Java, although neither has been as prone to security issues like Flash has been for the last decade.

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AfterDawn: News

Rhapsody is now Napster

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 14 Jun 2016 10:51

Rhapsody is now Napster Music streaming service Rhapsody will soon begin using the Napster brand name.

The service currently has 3.5 million customers, a respectable number, but well below Spotify, Apple and Google.

"No changes to your playlists, favorites, albums, and artists," says a blog post on Rhapsody's website. "Same music. Same service. Same price. 100% the music you love. Stay tuned!"

Napster, of course, started the music piracy revolution in the late 90s and has been widely credited with being part of the start of the downfall of the music industry. Rhapsody acquired the name Napster and some other IP in 2011.

For now, all we know is "Napster is coming" but there was little else in terms of details.




AfterDawn: News

WWDC: Apple iOS 10 will finally allow you to delete pre-installed bloat

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 14 Jun 2016 10:17

WWDC: Apple iOS 10 will finally allow you to delete pre-installed bloat One of the less reported on pieces of news from Apple's WWDC event yesterday was the fact that you can now delete Apple bloat from your iOS devices.

With the launch of iOS 10, you will be to remove all apps from your iPhone and iPad, including Apple's own pre-installed apps that you never use.

A few of the apps that are expected to see quick deletion are Watch (for non-Watch owners), Compass, Tips, Stocks and Podcasts although there are plenty of others that could go.

As a secondary function, Apple has added the native apps to the App Store, allowing you to download them all again if you ever want them back.

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AfterDawn: News

PlayStation VR has an official release date, October 13th

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 14 Jun 2016 9:50

PlayStation VR has an official release date, October 13th Sony has confirmed the release date for the upcoming PlayStation VR headset, October 13th.

The headset was officially unveiled at GDC this March.

At $399 for the headset, or $499 bundled with a camera and Move controllers (if you don't already own them), the device won't be cheap but so far from everything we've seen it looks truly revolutionary.

Sony says there will be 50 games available before the end of the year, putting in on par with offerings from Oculus and HTC.

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AfterDawn: News

E3: Watch Dogs 2: Hack Everything

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 14 Jun 2016 9:02

E3: Watch Dogs 2: Hack Everything At E3, Ubisoft showed off new gameplay footage for Watch Dogs 2, telling gamers that they will be able to "hack everything."

The game is set in San Francisco and you control a hacker while engaging in gun battles, drone snooping, sports car racing and parkour, lots of parkour.

Ubi says the game will be available on November 15th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

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AfterDawn: News

Raspberry Pi supplier acquired for $871 million

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 14 Jun 2016 8:35

Raspberry Pi supplier acquired for $871 million Daetwyler Holding has agreed to purchase the largest Raspberry Pi supplier, Premier Farnell, for 615 million pounds ($871 million).

The company currently supplies for power-systems manufacturers and machinery makers but has been looking to expand into other markets.

Raspberry Pis are tiny computers that cost $35 and can be loaded with different operating systems and are intended to help students learn how to code on a budget.

"The combination represents a strong strategic fit and is highly attractive,"
Premier Farnell said in the statement, and the deal valued Premier Farnell at a 51 percent premium to yesterday's closing price.

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AfterDawn: News

E3: Sony reveals new God of War

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 14 Jun 2016 8:23

E3: Sony reveals new God of War Sony started their E3 keynote yesterday giving the fans exactly what they wanted: a new God of War game.

In the brief gameplay video, we see Kratos training his son to hunt, and the two then take down a few monsters using the games' patented slashing and button mashing action.

For the time being, the game does not look like a God of War 4, but it certainly could be an expansion of the God of War universe.

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AfterDawn: News

E3: Hideo Kojima is back with new game, 'Death Stranding'

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 14 Jun 2016 7:43

E3: Hideo Kojima is back with new game, 'Death Stranding' Legendary game developer Hideo Kojima stole the show yesterday at E3, showing off a new game titled "Death Stranding" featuring The Walking Dead star Norman Reedus.

Not too much was revealed except for a short video featuring a grief-stricken Norman Reedus holding his dead child and a zoom out to a decimated landscape.

The game is the first for Kojima productions since the latest MGS and the first since Kojima's highly-anticipated 'Silent Hills' game fell through following some in-fighting.

We will certainly learn more soon.

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