AfterDawn: Tech news

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AfterDawn: News

Dell to make significant investment in China

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 11 Sep 2015 12:29

Dell to make significant investment in China The world's third largest PC maker will make a massive $125 billion investment in China.

Dell says the company is actively looking to expand in the world's most populous nation and the investment will sustain one million jobs in the country.

"The Internet is the new engine for China's future economic growth and has unlimited potential,"
CEO Michael Dell said. "Dell will embrace the principle of 'In China, for China' and closely integrate Dell China strategies with national policies."

Dell will have some serious competition with home favorite Lenovo, but it's clear Dell is willing to play.

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AfterDawn: News

Apple's new operating system Mac OS X El Capitan to launch at end of month

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Sep 2015 10:57

Apple's new operating system Mac OS X El Capitan to launch at end of month Apple has announced that its new operating system 'El Capitan' will be available on September 30th.

The operating system will serve to improve system performance and "the Mac experience" by better adding Apple Metal, the company's own graphics technology. Apple says Metal will allow games and pro apps to "tap into the full power of Mac graphics processors."

Additionally, Apple has updated windows management, made improvements to the pre-installed apps and Spotlight search, and improved the startup speed of apps, emails and music. El Capitan also adds a split screen view for multi-taskers and better copy/drag-and-drop options for Notes.

"OS X delivers unparalleled integration between Mac hardware, iOS devices, apps and online services, and has helped Mac sales outpace the PC industry every year for the last decade," said Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering earlier this year. "Customers loved last year's landmark OS X Yosemite release and made it the fastest-adopted PC operating system ever. With El Capitan, we're further refining the Mac experience with enhancements to window management, Spotlight and built-in apps, and improving performance so everyday activities -- from launching apps to accessing email -- are faster and more responsive."

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AfterDawn: News

Microsoft Office 2016 for Windows will be available on September 22nd

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Sep 2015 10:21

Microsoft Office 2016 for Windows will be available on September 22nd Even though the date was leaked over a month ago, we now have official recognition from Microsoft.

Microsoft says the new Office suite will be "broadly available" on September 22nd, following months of testing by private beta testers, developers and IT professionals.

Of note, Office 2016 adds collaborative co-editing in the cloud (just like Office Online users have had), and will generally make syncing to the cloud easier.

While the new announcement does not include Mac availability, the 2016 version has been available as part of Office 365 since July. Microsoft did note at the time that a standalone version would be available in the future.

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AfterDawn: News

Android Pay is finally here

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Sep 2015 9:36

Android Pay is finally here Google has announced the official U.S. launch of Android Pay, the mobile payments tech that will allow you to use your phone to pay at millions of retail locations.

The company says the service is live now, but will be rolling out in the coming days.

To use Android Pay, you need an NFC-enabled Android device with Android 4.4 or later. The service supports credit and debit cards from AmEx, Discover, MasterCard and Visa as well as gift cards, loyalty cards and store cards. Notably, most of the largest banks are supported but Wells Fargo, Capital One and Citi are "coming soon."

In regards to security, Google was very quick to note how secure using the service will be: "We know how important it is to keep your personal and financial information secure, so Android Pay is supported by industry standard tokenization. This means your real credit or debit card number isn't sent with your payment. Instead, we'll use a virtual account number that provides an extra layer of security. As soon as you make a purchase, you'll see a payment confirmation that shows where a given transaction happened, so it's easy to catch any suspicious activity. And if your phone is ever lost or stolen, simply use Android Device Manager to instantly lock your device from anywhere, secure it with a new password, or even wipe it clean of your personal information."

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AfterDawn: News

Take a look at the high-precision Apple Pencil stylus in action

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Sep 2015 8:37

Take a look at the high-precision Apple Pencil stylus in action Alongside the launch of the iPad Pro, Apple also unveiled a new high-precision stylus, the Pencil.

The Pro is aimed at professional artists and designers who could use the higher resolution and larger canvas and the stylus, at least in practice, looks like a great way to keep drawings precise.

Additionally, the Pencil can respond to different pressure and different angles, allowing for a reportedly seamless transition from pin point to broader brush strokes.

"Highly responsive sensors built into the tip of the Apple Pencil work with the iPad Pro display to detect position, force and tilt," says Apple's design chief Jony Ive. "With force data you can press lightly to get a thin stoke or press harder to get a darker, bolder stroke. Signals emitted from two locations in the tip calculate the angle and orientation to produce broad or shaded strokes."

Here is a good look at the Pencil:

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AfterDawn: News

Microsoft Edge will soon support WebM/VP9

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 09 Sep 2015 11:58

Microsoft Edge will soon support WebM/VP9 Microsoft has announced today that their new Edge browser will soon support the open source WebM/VP9 video format.

The software giant says the support is now in development, and initial support will be available for Windows Insider Preview builds in the very near future.

"This is part of our continuing effort to expand codec offerings in Windows. We continue to evaluate other formats and look forward to receiving feedback as we work on implementing them," added the company.

Microsoft also got more technical about how VP9/WebM will work with the browser: "Our initial VP9 implementation in Microsoft Edge will support adaptive streaming using Media Source Extensions, and will be detectable using the MediaSource.isTypeSupported() API. It will be specifically targeted to meet the needs of websites that use VP9 to deliver video in combination with MP4/AAC or other audio codecs already supported by Microsoft. We are working on future support for VP9 for media tags and local playback, as well as considering support for additional audio formats likely to be used with VP9 such as Opus."

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AfterDawn: News

TiVo sues Samsung over patent infringement

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 09 Sep 2015 10:09

TiVo sues Samsung over patent infringement Popular DVR maker TiVo has sued Samsung over patent infringement this week, claiming that Samsung's own DVRs violate four specific TiVo patents.

The move is unsurprising as TiVo has a long history of suing over its DVR patents. In the past decade the company has racked up $1.6 billion in settlements from companies like Dish, AT&T, Motorola and Cisco.

"Today's action should help address one of the questions regarding the value, breadth and applicability of TiVo's IP portfolio," said TiVo president and CEO Tom Rogers in a statement.

TiVo also made it clear that the lawsuit is to protect their future value: "This morning we filed a patent infringement suit against Samsung in the Eastern District of Texas. Our complaint asserts four patents, including the '389 Time Warp patent and the '195 Trick Play patent, both of which we have litigated before. Our complaint also asserts two patents that are related to the '389 patent but have expiration dates further into the future. Today's action should help address one of the questions regarding the value, breadth, and applicability of TiVo's IP portfolio post the 2018 expiration of the '389 patent."

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AfterDawn: News

iPad Mini 4 priced at $399, iPad Mini 2 drops to $269

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 09 Sep 2015 7:31

iPad Mini 4 priced at $399, iPad Mini 2 drops to $269 One of the smaller announcements today at Apple's event was that of the iPad Mini 4, which will offer "the performance and power of the iPad Air 2" just in an incredibly thin enclosure.

The new Mini will feature an A8 processor, a big update from the A7 seen on previous models.

Apple says the device is slightly thinner and lighter, at 0.65 pounds, and the tablet will have an 8MP rear camera, just like on the iPad Air 2.

Starting at $399 for the 16GB/Wi-Fi model, the update is likely to finally get iPad Mini 2 users to upgrade as last year's update featured nothing of note minus the addition of Touch ID. In addition, the company dropped the price of the Mini 2 to $269, a very compelling price for the tablet.

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AfterDawn: News

Apple TV gets first major upgrade in years

Written by James Delahunty @ 09 Sep 2015 6:00

Apple TV gets first major upgrade in years Apple is pursuing your living room again with the first major hardware and software revamp of the Apple TV since 2012.

The new Apple TV device (which just looks slightly bigger on the outside) will run on a new operating system called tvOS, which is based on iOS. Apple will provide the tvOS SDK to enable developers to utilize the increased power under the hood, and especially the considerable remote control upgrade.

The Siri Remote improves how you can select, scroll and navigate through your favorite content using a glass touch surface that handles both small, accurate movements as well as big, sweeping ones. It features a built-in accelerometer and gyroscope which developers can use to create motion-controlled apps and games.

With its internal mic, the Siri Remote can be used to search TV shows and movies by title, genre, cast, crew, rating or popularity using your voice, and Apple TV now supports Universal Search like Microsoft's Xbox services, meaning you won't have to know which content is available from which app beforehand.

Viewers will also be able to use voice commands during playback, such as asking "Siri, what did he say?", which will prompt the playback to skip back a few seconds and enable captions.

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AfterDawn: News

Apple unveils huge iPad Pro, new Pencil stylus

Written by James Delahunty @ 09 Sep 2015 5:34

Apple unveils huge iPad Pro, new Pencil stylus The iPad Pro has gained considerably in size and power over the iPad Air 2, and Apple has decided to embrace the stylus.

iPad Pro measures 12" x 8.68" x 0.27" (305.7mm x 220.6mm x 6.9mm) dominated by a 12.9‑inch Retina display with a resolution of 2732 x 2048 (264ppi). It weighs 1.57lb (713 grams) for the Wi-Fi only model, and slightly heavier at 1.59lb (723 grams) for the Wi-Fi+ Cellular model.

Under the hood it packs Apple's latest SoC, the A9X which boasts improvements over the A8X inside the iPad Air 2, including double the memory bandwidth. Apple decided to focus on its improvements over the A7 mostly though (iPad Air), claiming the A9X provides 2.5x faster CPU processing and 5x faster GPU processing over the A7. As for how much RAM is packed in the iPad Pro, honestly we have no idea right now but the suggestions around are that it has 2GB, just the iPad Air 2.

There isn't much to talk about in regard to camera improvements, the iPad Pro features the same 8MP iSight camera on the back and FaceTime HD camera on the front as the iPad Air 2.

It promises up to ten hours battery life (nine hours if you spend all of your time surfing) on a full charge.

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AfterDawn: News

Apple unveils iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus

Written by James Delahunty @ 09 Sep 2015 4:50

Apple unveils iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus Apple spices up its iPhone stocks with 4K video recording, 3D touch, Live Photos, the powerful A9 chip and more.

The details leaked about the latest iteration of iPhones from Apple in recent weeks came pretty close, which has become commonplace for a company that once kept its secrets so close to its chest. The new iPhone 6s is accompanied by the iPhone 6s Plus - available in gold, silver, space gray and the new rose gold metallic finishes - and both packing Retina HD displays and ultra-strong glass. Additionally, both use 7000 series aluminium so we're unlikely to see "bending" claims this time.

As expected, the iPhone 6s retains a 4.7-inch LED-backlit display (1334 x 750), and the iPhone 6s Plus keeps the 5.5-inch display (1920 x 1080).

Apple paid special attention to "3D Touch", which is basically the "Force Touch" feature that Watch owners will be familiar with. With it, users can press down on elements on the screen with different levels of force to bring up content. For example, you can press down lightly to peak at a photo, or an e-mail on the relevant app, or you can press down with more force to get into the content itself. Apple calls this "Peek and Pop".

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AfterDawn: News

Pandora will now allow you to pay $1 for a "Day Pass" that gives you ad-free streaming for 24 hours

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 08 Sep 2015 11:45

Pandora will now allow you to pay $1 for a "Day Pass" that gives you ad-free streaming for 24 hours Internet radio giant Pandora has officially made their previously announced "Day Pass" subscription available.

Pandora will now allow you to pay $1 for a "Day Pass" that gives you ad-free streaming for 24 hours, perfect for consumers who do not want to subscribe to the $4.99 Pandora One premium package but may have an event coming up like a party.

To get the Day Pass, you need to login, go to 'Settings' and then choose 'Pandora One' followed by 'Day Pass.' Easy enough.

Of course, Pandora hopes you will like the test run so much that you sign up for Pandora One moving forward and judging by how successful Pandora's experiment is, we may be seeing Spotify or other day passes in the future.

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AfterDawn: News

Android Wear makes its way to China

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 08 Sep 2015 11:09

Android Wear makes its way to China Lenovo and Google have teamed up to bring Android Wear to China, a surprising move as the search giant has been notably absent in the world's most populous nation.

The Moto 360 smartwatch will work with most Android devices but will not work with iOS, as has been rumored.

In order to bring the watch to China, Google also had to remove a lot of what makes the Android Wear operating system so easy to use, mainly its dependence on Google Now and Google Play. Lenovo/Motorola has partnered with Chinese company Mobvoiz to provide the search and voice recognition including the ability to dictate messages.

Additionally, the companies will use Sogou for maps, and downloading compatible apps means you will have to go through whatever local app store is available since Google's Google Play Store is not available in China.

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AfterDawn: News

Antivirus pioneer John McAfee to run for president

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 08 Sep 2015 10:07

Antivirus pioneer John McAfee to run for president Antivirus pioneer John McAfee has filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission to officially run for president of the United States in 2016.

The paperwork was independently confirmed and later in the day McAfee created a new site dedicated to the run.

When asked, McAfee implied that his run would focus on strong encryption and a computer-literate administration.

McAfee also noted that he is "founding a new party yet to be announced."

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AfterDawn: News

Samsung struggling: Could cut 10 percent of head office employees

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 08 Sep 2015 9:50

Samsung struggling: Could cut 10 percent of head office employees According to a new report, Samsung is preparing to cut up to 10 percent of its headquarter employees.

The company will cut employees in human resources, public relations and finance in addition to other cost cutting measures that will start next year.

Samsung has been struggling for some time after an astronomical rise in the smartphone market just a few years ago. While still wildly popular, the company's new Galaxy S6 flagships have not lived up to lofty expectations and Samsung's stock has been hit hard. Overall smartphone shipments fell 3 percentage points in the Q2 2015, and Samsung also said it is no longer the top seller in China.

As of the end of the Q2, Samsung had 100,000 employees at its headquarters, so the layoffs could be significant if true.

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