Latest news

Google has released a new app this week, "Who's Down," to make it easier to make plans with your friends.

The app, in its basic form, will let you know what friends are free and looking to go out, but of course for it to really work it will require a lot of people actively using it and as of now there are very few. Compounding that problem is the fact that the app is invite-only currently.

In the app, you can toggle a switch that lets your friends know you are available for the next three hours, and it lets you choose from a list of popular activities like "dinner" or "movies."

The app also allows you to see what friends are down for, and chat with them from within the app.

One of the most popular scene groups, YIFY, has shut down permanently.

The group took down their YTS website yesterday, and Ernesto confirmed with the group that is indeed down for good.

YIFY has shared over 6000 movies since starting in 2010, and the films were popular due to the quality of the release and their encode size.

At the same time, Popcorn Time was backed primarily by YIFY releases and that service was already having its own issues before this latest news.

Apple's latest and definitely the greatest iPad so far has gotten a release date today. The iPad Pro will go on sale on November 11th, in just under two weeks.

Apple has not officially revealed yet the release date but the information comes from a rather reliable source, Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac. According to Gurman the iPad Pro will be sold starting on Wednesday the 11th on both brick and mortar stores as well as online.

Gurman also says that the Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard will be available as well on November 11th. The iPad will be available in both WiFi and LTE flavors and will start at $799.

What makes iPad Pro greater than previous installments of Apple's tablet series is of course its larger 12,9 inch touch screen display. It remains to be seem, though, how well users adopt the new product. After all there are limitations that come with the size.

SK Telecom is the Korea's largest mobile operator and aims to be the world's first 5G carrier. Nokia on the other hand aims to be the technology provider, and after recent tests it seems likelier than ever.

Nokia and SK Telecom demonstrated a new wireless 5G connection that was able to peak transfer speeds at 19.1 gigabits per second. If one movie would be 2 megabytes the connection would be able to optimally transfer that in less than a second.

The cmWave technology by Nokia uses 8x8 MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output) transmission, 256 QAM modulation and 400 MHz bandwidth. The cmWave gets its name from the wavelength that the 3 to 30 GHz frequency range bands translate to – 1 to 10 centimeters. The test was done in 15Ghz average frequency.

The companies tell that this is the first time centimeter waves achieve such results. Previously millimeter waves have been used. Nokia says that it is likely that the commercial bands in the future will use centimeter wavelengths and fall in the frequency range.

The two have been in close cooperation this year and in addition to 5G techonologies they've introduces improvements to LTE speeds and LTE Advanced techonologies.

You can find more information about the Nokia cmWave 5G here.

According to a new report, Google plans to merge its Chrome OS operating system into its Android mobile operating system by 2017.

There is expected to be a beta of the unified operating system next year ahead of the full launch in two years.

The move is unsurprising. Chrome OS has been popular for certain niches (like schools) but otherwise never really gained traction. Many of the features of Chrome OS are already in Android, as well, or well known to Chrome browser users on desktop or mobile.

Android is a clear winner, with over 1 billion global users, which also means there is a hefty base of users that are already comfortable with the OS. Adding Android to notebooks could be huge since Android is free compared to Windows which costs OEMs for each license.

If accurate, the large screen Android will give consumers access to the Google Play Store and developers can offer apps that will work with all screen sizes with little extra code (potentially) compared to writing for different operating systems.

Source:
WSJ

The Tor Project has released the beta version of their anonymous Tor Messenger chat client.

The client works on Tor's secure browsing system and will allow for out of the box "off-the-record" chats supporting Jabber (XMPP), IRC, Google Talk, Facebook Chat, Twitter, and Yahoo.

Tor says the client is based off the popular Instantbird, the messenger app built by the Mozilla dev community.

For the time being, Tor says the beta is a major work in progress so don't expect everything to work perfectly.

EA's upcoming Mirror's Edge sequel has been delayed a few months.

"Catalyst", first announced last year and then shown off at E3 this year. Initially, the game was scheduled for launch in February but EA has announced a delay that will see the game now released on May 24th.

"Years ago, we set out an ambitious vision for Mirror's Edge Catalyst. Achieving that vision and delivering the best possible experience is equally inspiring and challenging," says EA. "And it takes time. We set out to create a vast city to explore, full of stunning vistas, majestic skyscrapers, and mysterious tunnels. We're building the most immersive action-adventure game with fluid movement and combat in first person. Mirror's Edge Catalyst will be an all-new playground with a deeper and more engaging story - and we want to accomplish all these goals to the highest quality possible."

Mirror's Edge Catalyst will be available for PC, Xbox One and PS4.

OnePlus has announced their latest (and most stylish) phone yet, the OnePlus X.

The phone will set you back just $249, but it also comes with high mid-range specs. The X has a 5-inch 1080p AMOLED screen, a Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB RAM, dual-SIM slots, 16GB internal storage (with microSD slot), dual 13MP/8MP cameras and a 2525 mAh battery.

Unlike its big brother, the OnePlus 2, there is no fingerprint scanner, no USB-C port and no OnePlus Radio app.

OnePlus is using its own OxygenOS operating system, which is based on Android 5.1.1.

The device will launch on November 5th in Europe and India but you will need an invite.

Google has announced another major expansion to its Fiber program, adding Jacksonville, Tampa and Oklahoma City.

Google Fiber has gigabit download and upload speeds, making it nearly 100 times faster than the average broadband speed in many places in the U.S.

Adds the search giant: "Today we are inviting Oklahoma City, OK, Jacksonville, FL and Tampa, FL, to explore bringing Google Fiber to their communities, as we did last month with three other cities. These growing tech-hubs have a strong entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to small business growth. Their list of accolades is long--from Jacksonville's title as a top 10 city for tech jobs, to Tampa Bay's #2 spot on the list of best cities for young entrepreneurs, to Oklahoma City's recognition as the #1 city to launch a business. One of our goals is to make sure speed isn't an accidental ceiling for how people and businesses use the Web, and these cities are the perfect places to show what's possible with gigabit Internet."

With the three new cities, there are now 15 metro areas with Google Fiber.

When it comes to mobile leaks there is one leakster that has almost an impeccable record. Evan Blass, who goes by the alias @evleaks on Twitter, has revealed a new service T-Mobile is about to introduce.

According to Blass T-Mobile is going to start supporting unlimited streaming from services like Netflix and HBO among others. The "Un-carrier" lead by CEO John Legere is said to unveil this extension of the service as the 10th Un-carrier announcement. Press has been invited to attend the announcement on November 10th.

The announcement itself has the words "we never press pause". Considering T-Mobile announced last year Music Freedom, which offers music streaming without data caps this seems like a logical step.

T-Mobile has been advocating the recent years against data caps, smartphone subsidies and contracts, and is one of the few mobile operators in the US to offer truly unlimited data plans.

T-Mobile's Uncarrier 10 to offer unlimited high speed data for watching select streaming video services like Netflix, HBO, etc.

-- Evan Blass (@evleaks) October 29, 2015

Nintendo has unveiled some details about its first smartphone game, Miitomo.

It's unclear what the gameplay will be but Nintendo says everyone will be able to customize their own Miis and then communicate with other players. The game is free-to-play but you can buy character accessories and add-ons as in-app purchases.

Originally planned for release before the end of the year, Nintendo says it wants to begin promoting the game this November with release now scheduled for March.

Nintendo is also planning three more games before the end of 2017, and some will be traditional paid downloads rather than FTP.

Samsung missed analyst estimates again this quarter, even with marketing boosts and price cuts for their latest lineup of Galaxy phones.

Net income for the quarter was 5.31 trillion won ($4.7 billion) and Samsung says it expects profits to fall again for the current quarter. "In the fourth quarter, the company expects earnings to decline from the earlier quarter, as it does not expect the foreign exchange rate to have a positive effect in the fourth quarter," the company added.

Margins were compressed in the quarter, as sales of the company's cheaper smartphones increased but sales of the Galaxy S6 Edge and other high-end, higher-margin devices were not up to expectations. Additionally, marketing and capital expenditures increased significantly, also hitting margins.

Google has unveiled their second OnHub router today, a $219.99 device built by ASUS.

The first OnHub router was launched earlier this year, and reviews were generally very good. OnHub has 4GB of internal storage and also comes with its own app where you can see what devices are using bandwidth and change settings easier.

In addition to the new router, the company will also be rolling out a software update that introduces such smart features like "Wave Control" that allows you to boost speeds for a specific device by just waving your hand.

Adds Google: "OnHub routers are designed to stay fresh and get better over time. So in addition to the new ASUS router, in the coming week we're rolling out our first software update with several performance improvements, including a new smart antenna algorithm. Phone in the kitchen? Laptop in the living room? OnHub will intelligently select the best combination of antennas to direct Wi-Fi to your devices, based on their location and orientation. The best part is, if you already have an OnHub, your router will automatically update when your network is quiet so it won't interrupt your connection."

The router is already available for pre-order in the U.S. and Canada.

Google is preparing to add a home for podcasts via its Google Play Music service, marking the first time Android users will have a native app for listening to their favorite popular shows.

The search giant is not just looking to have Android users begin listening to existing podcasts, however, it also wants to reach out to users who have never heard one before. Elias Roman, co-founder of the streaming service Songza that was acquired by Google, says, "our goal is to serve content that makes what you do every day better," including podcasts that fit your mood at the time, or what you may have liked in the past. "Podcasts allow us to do everything for our users," Roman added. "It makes us a more complete concierge."

Google and Android have a ways to go. By most counts, podcast listening is dominated by iOS users, which is unsurprising given the focus Apple has put on them in the past.

Podcasting will be available via the free Google Play service and the subscription Google Play Music All-Access although even with the $9.99 service you will still hear ads within the podcasts unlike with music playback.

Fans of the Apple TV set-top media center no longer have to wait for their orders to ship as Apple has announced limited supply will be available in stores starting on Friday.

The device went on sale earlier this week online, but you had to pay for expedited shipping to get it before next Monday.

Both models of the device will be available with the 32GB version selling for $149 and the 64GB model selling for $199.

For a more in-depth look at Apple's first update to the Apple TV since 2012, check here.