AfterDawn: Tech news

Latest news

AfterDawn: News

Sling TV announces UI update for Xbox One

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 25 Sep 2015 9:20

Sling TV announces UI update for Xbox One Sling has announced that it will soon be updating its UI for the Xbox One, adding better functionality.

The overall user interface will remain the same, but Sling says there are a ton of bug fixes, and streaming quality has been improved significantly.

Additionally, you can now see the full schedule for any channel you have, as well as video-on-demand content for the channel all in one place.

Of lesser note, searching now uses the "Y" button for the Xbox just like nearly every other app does.

Read the full changes here: Sling




AfterDawn: News

Sling TV just had its UI updated for Xbox One

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 25 Sep 2015 9:18

Sling TV just had its UI updated for Xbox One Sling has announced that it will be soon updating its UI for the Xbox One, adding better functionality.

The overall user interface will remain the same, but Sling says there are a ton of bug fixes, and streaming quality has been improved significantly.

Additionally, you can now see the full schedule for any channel you have, as well as video-on-demand content for the channel all in one place.

Of lesser note, searching now uses the "Y" button for the Xbox just like nearly every other app does.

Read the full changes here: Sling




AfterDawn: News

'Angry Birds' movie is an origin story about why they are so angry

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 25 Sep 2015 12:02

'Angry Birds' movie is an origin story about why they are so angry Rovio has released the first trailer for their upcoming 'Angry Birds' movie, one that should answer the question about why birds and pigs hate each other.

"The question Rovio gets more than anything is 'Why are these birds so angry?'
" said producer John Cohen. "This is the origin story for how that conflict came to exist between birds and little green piggies."

At this point, the movie may be the last attempt for Rovio to save its business as the company has not been able to recreate the success of the first Angry Birds game. The movie certainly has star power (for an animated flick), with Jason Sudeikis as Red, Josh Gad as the yellow bird, Chuck and Danny McBride as Bomb. Additionally, there are quite a few popular comedic talents voicing the pigs (and more).

Angry Birds the movie is set for release in March.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Funny Video: Conan plays Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 with Tony Hawk and Lil Wayne

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 24 Sep 2015 11:48

Funny Video: Conan plays Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 with Tony Hawk and Lil Wayne Late night TV host Conan O'Brien has updated his 'Clueless Gamer' series with the new Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5, playing along hilariously with Tony Hawk himself and rapper Lil Wayne, who is also in the game.

The game is set for launch next week, and many early reviews have the game 'reviving' the series, which had flatlined since its early PS2 roots.

Besides getting back to its skating roots, it seems the game has added some extra fun, as well, such as 'Big Head Mode' where you have to keep doing tricks to not have your oversized head explode.

Watch the hilarious video here:

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Vertu's updated luxury Signature Touch has powerful specs, great looks, massive price tag

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 24 Sep 2015 11:10

Vertu's updated luxury Signature Touch has powerful specs, great looks, massive price tag Vertu, known for selling smartphones that cost over $10,000, has updated their flagship Signature Touch device, adding high-end specs to its sleek looks.

The new Signature Touch has a 5.2-inch 1080p display protected by 'fifth generation sapphire,' is powered by 4GB RAM and a Snapdragon 810 processor, has 64GB internal storage and a microSD slot and Android 5.1. Additionally, the phone has a 21MP rear camera with phase-detection autofocus and 4K recording.

Furthermore, the phone has Dolby Digital Plus certified stereo speakers, a large 3160mAh battery, supports nearly all LTE bands, has wireless and quick charging support, and iPass support - allowing for a connection to Wi-Fi nearly everywhere for free.

Of course, Vertu has kept their grade 5 titanium casing, a handcrafted calf leather back, and ceramic pieces, meaning the hardware is top notch, as well.

Finally, Vertu will give you free 18 months of Vertu Concierge, a 24/7 real-life personal assistant service, access to Vertu Life for "unrestricted access to elite and invitation-only events" and Vertu CERTAINTY, a way to encrypt all your communications.

Prices for the Signature Touch range from $9900 to $20900 depending on the combo you choose, and will begin shipping on October 16th.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Evleaks gives us a good look at HTC's One A9, an iPhone clone

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 24 Sep 2015 10:34

Evleaks gives us a good look at HTC's One A9, an iPhone clone Thanks to infamous leaker Evan Blass (@Evleaks), we have a good look at HTC's iPhone clone, the One A9.

The device will sell in six colors, including rose gold, garnet, 'acid gold' and a few silver/gray variants.

As rumored, the HTC One A9 will have a 5-inch 1080p AMOLED, run on a Snapdragon 617 processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, dual 4MP/13MP cameras, a 2150mAh battery, a microSD slot, a fingerprint reader and a metal body.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

John McAfee: Cyberwar is inevitable and we are not prepared

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 23 Sep 2015 1:21

John McAfee: Cyberwar is inevitable and we are not prepared John McAfee, the developer of the first commercial anti-virus program (McAfee), and current U.S Presidential hopeful, had some grim words about the future of the U.S. and its lack of preparedness for the inevitable 'cyberwar' that will hit all nations.

As the nominee for the newly created 'Cyber Party,' McAfee is building a run around a platform of helping bring cyber security to the U.S. and especially the government.

Here is is speech in full:

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Instagram reaches 400 million active monthly users

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 23 Sep 2015 12:11

Instagram reaches 400 million active monthly users Instagram has announced that the service now has 400 million users, with a good majority coming from outside the U.S.

The company says 75 percent of users live outside the U.S. and over 50 percent of the last 100 million to join the service are from Europe and Asia. Additionally, Brazil, Japan and Indonesia were among the largest new users of the app.

"Instagrammers continue to capture incredible photos and videos from all corners of the earth (and even the solar system). We've seen inspiring moments like the first surface image of Pluto and Champions League celebrations, as well as striking locales like the white pools of Turkey and a Namibian desert ghost town. These are just a few of the more than 80 million photos per day shared on Instagram," says the company.

Instagram has been actively updating its service in the past year, adding new filters, different photo viewing modes, and better video support.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Snowden: Alien communications are too well encrypted to distinguish from random noise

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 23 Sep 2015 10:45

Snowden: Alien communications are too well encrypted to distinguish from random noise Edward Snowden believes he has answered the Fermi paradox: Encryption.

Why, with such a vast universe that has been around for billions of years, has no alien entity been able to send any signal to us? Snowden suggests, in an interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson, that alien signals are too well encrypted to be distinguished from random noise.

"When you look at encrypted communications, if they are properly encrypted, there is no real way to tell that they are encrypted. You can't distinguish a properly encrypted communication, at least in the theoretical sense, from random noise," added Snowden. "So if you have an alien civilization trying to listen for other civilizations, or our civilization trying to listen for aliens, there's only one small period in the development of their society where all of their communications will be sent via the most primitive and most unprotected means."

"When we think about everything we're hearing from our satellites, or everything they're hearing from our civilization, if there are indeed aliens out there, all of their communications are encrypted by default. So what we're hearing -- which is actually an alien television show or a phone call or a message between their planet and their own GPS constellation, whatever it happens to be -- is indistinguishable to us from cosmic microwave background radiation."

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Apple iOS 9 reaches 50 percent adoption

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 22 Sep 2015 7:15

Apple iOS 9 reaches 50 percent adoption Apple has announced this week that iOS 9 is the fastest adoption of the operating system yet, with 50 percent of devices already having installed it.

"Customer response to the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus has been incredibly positive, we can't wait to get our most advanced iPhones ever into customers' hands starting this Friday," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "iOS 9 is also off to an amazing start, on pace to be downloaded by more users than any other software release in Apple's history."

iOS 9 improved Siri, added better encryption for user privacy, transit information in Apple Maps, updated News and Notes apps and more intelligent search.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

4chan has been sold

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 21 Sep 2015 11:32

4chan has been sold Christopher Poole, the founder of anonymous message board 4chan, has sold the company to another pioneer in the anonymous destination community.

Poole, who started the site in 2003, has sold 4chan to Hiroyuki Nishimura, the founder of 2Channel - an early anonymous board based on anime and the Japanese culture.

"Hiroyuki is literally the only person in the world with as much if not more experience than myself in running an anonymous, large destination community that serves tens of millions of people,"
Poole noted. "He's the great-grandfather of all of this."

While 4chan is popular, it has never reached the popularity of sites like reddit, which are worth millions and have been gravitating towards becoming real businesses while 4chan has admittedly remained more of a hobby site.

Nishimura, for his part, was very happy to own the site. "I'm proud to be taking Mr. Poole's place as the owner of 4chan. I've long admired 4chan's place on the web as a producer of anonymous and Internet culture, and look forward to continuing to grow and develop the site and support the community."

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

21 Inc. reveals a 'Bitcoin Computer'

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 21 Sep 2015 10:24

21 Inc. reveals a 'Bitcoin Computer' The venture-capital backed 21 Inc. startup has released their first product, 'The 21 Bitcoin Computer,' a Linux-based hardware that incorporates the bitcoin protocol directly into the operating system.

21 Inc. wants to make bitcoin into a standard feature of all web services, and the company says the new computer is aimed at developers rather than consumers.

The 21 Inc Bitcoin Computer's OS will "full copy of bitcoin's code and related software that will allow developers to make bitcoin a core feature of the products they build." Additionally, it has a built in chip that is linked to 21's own mining pool, allowing for bitcoin to come to the user.

21's CEO Balaji Srinivasan expects developers to create services that can be monetized in bitcoin. "The utility of bitcoin up until this point has been the speculation value," Mr. Srinivasan added. "We have a new, pretty strong use case for bitcoin."

The computer goes on sale in November for $399.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Security software company AVG can now sell your search and browser history to advertisers

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 21 Sep 2015 8:33

Security software company AVG can now sell your search and browser history to advertisers Security software company AVG has updated their privacy policy giving the company the rights to sell search and browser history data to advertisers.

The company does not charge for their free antivirus software, but will now be able to make some revenue from your "non-personal data."

Some privacy experts believe that move makes the software spyware now, although other software companies have been doing the same for some time. "Antivirus software runs on our devices with elevated privileges so it can detect and block malware, adware, spyware and other threats," said Alexander Hanff security expert and chief executive of Think Privacy. "It is utterly unethical to [the] highest degree and a complete and total abuse of the trust we give our security software."

When probed about the update to the policy, AVG says it will need to make revenue in order to keep the product free and in the future may "employ a variety of means, including subscription, ads and data models."

In addition, the AVG spokesperson said you will be able to opt-out, with no 'decrease in functionality' to the software. "Those users who do not want us to use non-personal data in this way will be able to turn it off, without any decrease in the functionality our apps will provide," the spokesperson noted. "While AVG has not utilised data models to date, we may, in the future, provided that it is anonymous, non-personal data, and we are confident that our users have sufficient information and control to make an informed choice."

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Rumor: New Google phones to be called Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 20 Sep 2015 11:13

Rumor: New Google phones to be called Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P According to a new report, Google's upcoming flagship phones will be called the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P.

There had been quite a few questions as to what the new phones would be called since last year's Nexus 6 is the highest number the company could use before hitting Nexus 7, the name of their original tablet.

The two devices will officially launch at the end of the month during Google's September 29th event, but details of both have been leaking for months.

From what we know, partner LG is building the 5X, while Huawei is releasing the 6P, which will be the larger and more powerful of the two.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Report: Konami is basically done with console gaming except for PES

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 20 Sep 2015 11:47

Report: Konami is basically done with console gaming except for PES Konami is having a really rough year.

Popular game publisher Konami may be completely out of the console industry, if new reports are to be believed. Following a high-profile fall out with top developer Hideo Kojima and a scathing report on the company's work conditions, the company was already on fragile ground but this could be the final straw.

According to new reports, the publisher has ceased all development on triple-A console games (with the exception of Pro Evolution Soccer) and will be focusing on mobile gaming moving forward. The mobile gaming rumor is not new, and allegedly led to Konami's Fox Engine head Julien Merceron leaving the company unhappily earlier this year. The console news is new, however, and pretty shocking.

Furthermore, gamers should not expect any "ambitious console games" until the 2017 fiscal year, adds the report. Fans of Silent Hill, Metal Gear, Castlevania and Contra - well, this could be a rough couple of years.

Read more...



  Newer entries Older entries  

News archive