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Apple to allow two employees to stand for cross-examination in encrypted iPhone case

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 20 Mar 2016 11:16

Apple to allow two employees to stand for cross-examination in encrypted iPhone case Apple has said this weekend that the U.S. government and Apple will be able to cross-examine each other's witnesses in court, and that the tech giant will make two employees available.

The hearing is set for Tuesday, and all the witnesses have given written declarations in the legal briefs that have already been filed in the case.

Apple will make Chief Privacy Engineer Erik Neuenschwander and Global Law Enforcement Manager Lisa Olle available as witnesses. In his declaration, Neuenschwander says "that Apple would need to create a new operating system to bypass its own security and challenges a government claim that the company creates individual software for different phones," according to Reuters. Olle argued "that creating the new operating system would be burdensome for Apple and would spark more requests from law enforcement. Apple would need to hire people 'whose sole function would be to assist with processing and effectuating such orders.'"

On the government side, two FBI agents will be available as witnesses, electronics engineer Stacey Perino and Christopher Pluhar.

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AfterDawn: News

Anonymous wages war on Donald Trump

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 20 Mar 2016 10:34

Anonymous wages war on Donald Trump Hacktivist group Anonymous has waged war on Donald Trump, posting tons of personal information about the Presidential candidate online via Pastebin.

According to the post, the group has released Trump's social security number, home address, phone numbers and birth certificate.

The group is calling the operation #‎OpWhiteRose and #OpTrump, and the group has derided Trump and his policies of "hate" and "racism."

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AfterDawn: News

The Pope is now on Instagram

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 20 Mar 2016 10:19

The Pope is now on Instagram Pope Francis has joined Instagram, marking the second time the Pope has made his presence felt via social media.

So far, the Pontifex has posted four images/videos with the most popular seeing 230,000 likes.

In 2014, the Pope joined Twitter and currently has 9 million followers. In less than a day on Instagram he already has 1.3 million followers, so it's clear that many are looking to get their religion, visually.

If you use the platform you can check out the page here: Instagram




AfterDawn: News

Rumor alert: Sony is working on new console, but it's not quite the PlayStation 5

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Mar 2016 5:46

Rumor alert: Sony is working on new console, but it's not quite the PlayStation 5 According to Kotaku, Sony is working on a "PlayStation 4.5," an upgrade to the PS4 that will increase graphical power and support 4K gaming.

It appears that the updated console is being built to enhance the gaming experience of the upcoming PlayStation VR headset. It will also help the console compete better with the high-end specs of the PCs required for rival devices like the Oculus Rift.

The existing PS4 can support 4K output for photos and most video but cannot support gaming in the high resolution.

There are plenty of questions about the console, but for right now we have no answers. If the rumor is true, expect a lot more news later this year.

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AfterDawn: News

Microsoft drops price on Surface 3 (for a limited time)

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Mar 2016 5:36

Microsoft drops price on Surface 3 (for a limited time) Microsoft has announced two significant price drops for their Surface 3 tablet, at least for the time being.

The tablet is now available for $100 less if you purchase the 2GB RAM model (with 64GB internal storage) or $150 off if you purchase the pricier 4GB RAM model with 128GB storage.

Both discounts are applicable to Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + LTE models.

Microsoft says the deal is good through April 2nd, but depending on how popular it is, we may see it come back sooner rather than later. Additionally, if you purchase this month, you will get $30 off the $200 Surface 3 Docking station that makes the tablet more of a desktop replacement.

Check it out here: Microsoft Store




AfterDawn: News

Jolla begins refunds for its failed tablet

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Mar 2016 11:08

Jolla begins refunds for its failed tablet Indiegogo backers have begun to receive refunds for the failed Jolla tablet, nearly 16 months after the campaign launched.

Any backer will need to submit an application via the company's refund portal, which at this point appears to be open until at least April 16th.

Due to the financial situation of the company, Jolla will refund 50% now, and 50% later, which could be months into the future.

If you are a backer, please check the official page here to learn how to get a refund: Jolla




AfterDawn: News

Windows 10 Mobile finally available for select Windows 8 devices

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Mar 2016 10:40

Windows 10 Mobile finally available for select Windows 8 devices After months of delays, select Windows Phone 8.1 devices can now begin upgrading to Windows 10 Mobile.

Reads Microsoft's statement: "Today, we're pleased to begin the roll-out of Windows 10 Mobile to select Windows Phone 8.1 devices.

Consistent with our approach to the Windows 10 PC upgrade, we are focused on delivering a high quality experience for our customers. The Windows 10 Upgrade Advisor app can be downloaded from the Windows Store to see if the upgrade is available for your device. As Windows 10 delivers significant new innovations, many older devices are not able to successfully upgrade without an impact on the customer experience. Our goal is to only offer the Windows 10 upgrade to devices that we are confident can continue to deliver a good customer experience."


The current list of upgradable phones are: Lumia 1520, 930, 640, 640XL, 730, 735, 830, 532, 535, 540, 635 1GB, 636 1GB, 638 1GB, 430, 435, BLU Win HD w510u, BLU Win HD LTE x150q and MCJ Madosma Q501.

If you are interested, there is more information here: Microsoft




AfterDawn: News

Spotify to pay $21 million in unpaid royalties

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Mar 2016 10:20

Spotify to pay $21 million in unpaid royalties Spotify has agreed to pay $21 million in unpaid royalties to the NMPA (National Music Publishers Association) over tracks that were missing copyright owner information.

The settlement is for all "unmatched works" and the agreement will allow owners of tracks to properly identify themselves and their music so they can receive any unpaid royalties.

$16 million will be paid to publishers and songwriters and the remaining $5 million will be a "bonus" fund for artists and publishers that opt-in to the settlement.

Adds NMPA CEO David Israelite: "I am thrilled that through this agreement both independent and major publishers and songwriters will be able to get what is owed to them. We must continue to push digital services to properly pay for the musical works that fuel their businesses and after much work together, we have found a way for Spotify to quickly get royalties to the right people."

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AfterDawn: News

Toshiba announces $6 billion asset sale

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Mar 2016 9:55

Toshiba announces $6 billion asset sale Struggling tech giant Toshiba has announced a $5.9 billion asset sale alongside a large investment into its chip businesses.

The company has been marred by an accounting scandal in the past couple of years in Japan, and the U.S. Department of Justice is also investigating potential fraud for the Toshiba-owned Westinghouse Electric, a nuclear power company based in the U.S.

Almost comically, one part of Toshiba's asset sale is already being questioned. The company is selling its medical equipment unit to Canon, but Toshiba has transferred the unit to a special purpose company which will allow them to book any sale proceeds this year, even if the deal takes years to complete (there are expected monopoly issues).

If all their asset sales are completed, the company will invest 360 billion yen ($3.2 billion) over the next three years to build a new semiconductor facility in Japan to focus on flash memory.

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AfterDawn: News

WeChat has over 700 million MAUs

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Mar 2016 11:09

WeChat has over 700 million MAUs WeChat, China's most popular messaging app, now has over 700 million monthly active users.

In the last 12 months, the company added 200 million active users, showing that their growth is not slowing down one bit. By the end of December, the company reported 697 million MAUs, but it is fair to suggest they have added over 3 million in the last three months.

The growth comes as WeChat has expanded their mobile payments in mainland China. The company reported $46.1 million in bank handling fees for the month of January, alone.

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AfterDawn: News

Are these the first images of the Nintendo NX controller?

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Mar 2016 10:56

Are these the first images of the Nintendo NX controller? Thanks to Dual Pixels, we now have the first alleged photos of the upcoming Nintendo NX's controller.

We had previously seen patent applications from Nintendo and the new picture seems to match up similarly.

Keep in mind there is zero proof this is real and zero proof that Nintendo is making anything remotely like this, but if accurate the controller certainly looks very, very interesting.

Check out what we have so far, here:

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AfterDawn: News

Alphabet to sell its promising robotics division

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Mar 2016 10:25

Alphabet to sell its promising robotics division According to a new report, Google parent Alphabet is looking to sell its promising robotics division, Boston Dynamics.

The company is apparently looking to focus on more immediate revenues and the robotics division is years if not decades away from bringing in stable cash flow.

Allegedly, there have also been issues between the Boston Dynamics team and the rest of Google's robotics engineers around the world, and Alphabet has begun to see that humans are not necessarily ready for robots to take over the world, making the division a liability across the board.

Some sources speculate that Amazon or Toyota could be interested in buying the division, although there has been no confirmed interest from any potential buyers.

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AfterDawn: News

Windows 10 apps on the way for Xbox One owners

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Mar 2016 9:11

Windows 10 apps on the way for Xbox One owners Microsoft has said this week that there are plans to allow developers to build and port Windows 10 apps to the Xbox One later this year.

Exec Jason Ronald said the company will reveal more at BUILD later this month, but did confirm that Windows 10 apps will work on the Xbox One starting this summer.

What remains unclear is exactly how the Xbox One app store will work and whether or not the company will allow all apps to be included, or whether it will be curated (like Amazon does).

Microsoft has made a major commitment to universal apps - apps that are built for PC, tablet, phone, console with the only changes required being the screen size, and this is the logical next step. It will be interesting to see what the company has to add at BUILD on March 30th.

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AfterDawn: News

Review: Android N in its earliest form

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Mar 2016 6:57

Review: Android N in its earliest form Last week, Google shocked the developer world when it released a very early beta of its upcoming Android N operating system, a full two months before anyone expected it.

Having been able to mess around with the OS for a few days, there is certainly the potential for N to be a great update for Android, although as of writing there aren't too many killer new features, suggesting rather that the operating system will be an incremental update.

This time around, Google has made it very, very easy to get the update, as long as you have a Nexus device, of course. You will have to enroll your device in the Android Developer Program and within minutes, you will have access to the OTA update. No need to set up ADB, no need to download images and no need to load the bootloader. Overall, it's a much easier process. It took me just a matter of minutes to get set up on my Pixel C tablet.

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AfterDawn: News

Google loses anti-monopoly appeal in Russia

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Mar 2016 11:11

Google loses anti-monopoly appeal in Russia Search giant Google has lost their anti-monopoly appeal in Russia over the bundling of Google apps with all Android phones and tablets.

Manufacturers are allowed to use Android without any of Google's apps installed, but if they want to offer the Google Play Store or any of Google's apps, then they have to offer them all. This includes Gmail, Google Search, Google Play, and Maps, for example.

The original complaint came via Russian search leader Yandex, as Google's bundling directly affects their business in the nation.

Reads the statement from the court: "[During the] course of the case proceedings, the Commission of the FAS Russia found that Google provided mobile devices manufacturers with Google play app store for pre-installation on Android OS mobile devices adopted for the Russian Federation. Conditions of app store provision include obligatory pre-installation of Google apps as well as its searching engine and their obligatory location on the main screen of a mobile device. Google actions led to prohibition of pre-installation of apps of other producers."

If Google loses the case, it could have implications across the EU, where the European Commission is looking into similar complaints filed by other tech giants like Microsoft.

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