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AfterDawn: News

White Xbox One resurfaces in Halo: Master Chief Collection bundle

Written by James Delahunty @ 20 May 2015 4:08

White Xbox One resurfaces in Halo: Master Chief Collection bundle Microsoft is put a white Xbox One console on sale again this month as part of a Special Edition Halo: The Master Chief Collection Bundle.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection features Halo: Combat Evolved, a re-mastered Halo 2: Anniversary, Halo 3 and Halo 4. For a limited time, fans can purchase an Xbox One Special Edition Halo: The Master Chief Collection Bundle, that includes a digital download code for the four Halo titles.

The bundle includes a Cirrus White Xbox One console and wireless controller.

Right now, the bundle is limited to consumers in the United States, with a price tag of $349. It will be available for a limited time at U.S. retailers, so long as supplies last.




AfterDawn: News

Kim Dotcom has more harsh words for Hollywood studios

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 May 2015 11:03

Kim Dotcom has more harsh words for Hollywood studios Kim Dotcom had some more harsh words for the big Hollywood studios, as he faces charges for copyright infringement thanks to his former ownership of Megaupload.

"If Hollywood had some smart people working for them, they would probably have the biggest Internet company on the planet,"
Kim Dotcom said in an interview. "Instead, it's companies like Apple and Netflix that steal their thunder and this opportunity to monetize the power of the Internet. They completely missed the train."

Dotcom ran Megaupload until 2012 when it was shutdown by a police raid. At the time, the site was responsible for over 25 percent of all traffic on the Internet. Dotcom has been accused of copyright infringement, wire fraud and racketeering and is facing extradition to the U.S. although it is nowhere near a guarantee that he will ever leave New Zealand.

The studios are now trying to bully Dotcom out of fear, he added: "It's like the candlestick maker that didn't like the light bulb when it came along." Dotcom says Hollywood encourages piracy by not releasing films globally at the same time but rather choosing to roll it out sometimes over months. "Because people don't get that access, they are looking for the stuff elsewhere. So it's a problem created by the content creators, I'm not responsible for that."

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AfterDawn: News

Dallas Buyers Club accused pirates to get free legal advice

Written by James Delahunty @ 19 May 2015 8:34

Dallas Buyers Club accused pirates to get free legal advice An Internet Service Provider is working to get free legal advice for customers who are alleged to have downloaded illegal copies of Dallas Buyers Club.

iiNet is one of several Internet Service Providers in Australia that will have to identify account holders based on IP addresses allegedly used to pirate the film. In total, 4,726 IP addresses were allegedly connected to pirating the film, and a Federal Court has ordered their ISPs to identify the account holders linked to them.

Dallas Buyers Club LLC and Voltage Pictures brought the case to court in Australia and ISPs like iiNet resisted calls to identify their customers and provide their personal details. Once the information is handed over, the plaintiffs will be able to make contact with the alleged copyright infringers, but Federal Court Justice Nye Perram has stressed that letters seeking settlement need to be approved by the court, in order to avoid intimidation.

iiNet has provided information for customers who have downloaded Dallas Buyers Club and fear they might be among those identified and pursued for compensation. In the event that a customer receives a letter, iiNet recommends they seek legal advice immediately and makes a big commitment to its customers.

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AfterDawn: News

VIDEO: Bill Gates recommends books to read this summer

Written by James Delahunty @ 19 May 2015 8:12

VIDEO: Bill Gates recommends books to read this summer Randall Munroe, Richard Dawkins, Eula Biss and more make up Bill Gates' summer recommended reading list!

Bill reads a handful of books every year and reviews them, making recommendations based on his favorite books. This year he has strayed away from heavier topics like macroeconomics and finance, and is focusing on lighter alternatives that will be entertaining, informative and even humorous reads.

Among his recommendations this year is the noted "What If?" by Randall Munroe, which is a thoroughly entertaining read providing scientific answers to really bizarre questions. The book is funny to read, but still scientifically accurate and the reader can learn a bit about interesting topics (DNA, Ballistics, Ocean sciences etc).

Also from Munroe, Bill recommends "XKCD", which is a collection of material from the XKCD blog.

Evolutionary Biologist Richard Dawkins also gets a nod from Gates for his book "The Magic of Reality" which is intended for a younger audience but can still be read and enjoyed by adults. Dawkins is famed for his ability for making Scientific concepts understandable and appealing to the general public, but in recent years has been known more for his stance on religion. Gates doesn't endorse Dawkins' ideas on religion fully, but still credits him as one of the greatest science writers.

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AfterDawn: News

Google Search gets real-time tweets on mobile

Written by James Delahunty @ 19 May 2015 7:37

Google Search gets real-time tweets on mobile Google will show real-time tweets in search results provided to mobile devices to keep users up to the moment when searching for topics.

For example, searching for information on NASA can show the latest tweets from the organization, up to the minute. The same can be said for pop stars and celebrities, or a trend like tweets about the finale of a TV show while it is airing.

This provides organizations and publishers another way to reach a more global audience on topics that are relevant right now.

To start, live tweets are launching on Google.com in English in the Google app (on Android and iOS) and on mobile browsers, rolling out gradually.





AfterDawn: News

Popcorn Time now works in your browser, but for how long?

Written by James Delahunty @ 19 May 2015 5:49

Popcorn Time now works in your browser, but for how long? A Popcorn Time fork that works in modern web browsers without downloading and installing an additional app has appeared online.

We really don't expect the popcorninyourbrowser.net to last very long if we are honest. Popcorn Time is a very popular torrent-based movie and TV show streaming solution that plays video content as it downloads. Since the original Popcorn Time ceased to be, there have been multiple forks of continued development.

It has captured the attention of Hollywood because it makes viewing the latest movies and TV shows, in HD, very easy using apps that work on Android, Windows and so on. It sports a very simple interface and will do all the torrenting in the background.

The new site has a responsive search that lets the user find popular films, and with a click will attempt to get the film playing. It is described only as a Mashup of YTS and Coinado.io.

Some brief testing we did showed that it does work but seems rather slow. In any case, we can't see it being online - or at least accessible at the current domain - for much longer.




AfterDawn: News

YouTube's Kids app blasted for inappropriate content

Written by James Delahunty @ 19 May 2015 5:28

YouTube's Kids app blasted for inappropriate content Two groups claiming to represent the interests of children have reported the YouTube Kids App to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) claiming it provides access to inappropriate content.

The two groups - Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and the Center for Digital Democracy - said they could use the app to find videos that were extremely disturbing and "potentially harmful for young kids to view."

Among the objectionable content, the groups cited explicit sexual language in cartoons; jokes about pedophilia and drug use; activities such as juggling knives, tasting battery acid, and making a noose; and adult discussions about family violence, pornography, and child suicide, according to a Wall Street Journal blog post.

"Google promised parents that YouTube Kids would deliver appropriate content for children, but it has failed to fulfill its promise," said attorney Aaron Mackey.

Google said it works hard to make sure that the videos that can be accessed through the app are as kids-friendly as possible. It uses automatic filters, user feedback and reviews to determine if access to content should be removed.

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AfterDawn: News

YouTube anti-Islam film ban lifted by U.S. court

Written by James Delahunty @ 19 May 2015 5:13

YouTube anti-Islam film ban lifted by U.S. court A YouTube video blamed for kicking off violence all over the world for perceived offense to Muslims, Islam and the prophet Muhammad should not be banned, a U.S. court has decided.

The "Innocence of Muslims" video was technically a trailer for a longer film that started production as "Desert Warrior". The video caused a surge of violence in some parts of the middle east and the western world for its portrayal of the figure Mohammed from Islam as a fool, a sexual deviant, a delinquent and so on.

Fatwas were issued against the producer of the film, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, and against the cast. What the cast didn't know is dialogue had been dubbed over the film in post-production to add anti-Islamic sentiment.

YouTube voluntarily blocked access to the video in some countries, citing a difficult situation, but it did not remove it in the United States or most of the western world. Google did not find the content of the video in violation to its rules, finding it was about Islam and did not qualify as hate speech against a particular ethnic group.

However, actress Cindy Lee Garcia claimed to have been tricked by the producers of the film and filed a lawsuit against Google seeking to have the footage removed. Garcia had received death threats for her part in the production of the film beforehand, but was relying on a weak copyright claim in order to have the film removed from YouTube, and a district court refused her request.

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AfterDawn: News

Ransomware leads to 'animal abuse images' confession

Written by James Delahunty @ 19 May 2015 4:13

Ransomware leads to 'animal abuse images' confession A man turned himself in to police in the UK to confess to possessing sexual images involving animals after being threatened by ransomware on his PC.

The 61-year old living in Scotland had encountered a run-of-the-mill ransomware infection on his Windows PC in 2013. Unlike more advanced ransomware that uses cryptography to wall off access to files on infected PCs until a ransom is paid, this infection just locked the screen and threw up a phony warning from police.

Such ransomware infections often claim to have detected illegal browsing activity, illegal files such as pornography or copyright infringing content, and threatens to forward the information to authorities unless a ransom is paid. Some even use location information on the PC to pick the relevant police force based on the territory the victim resides in.

In this case, the man in question reportedly paid £100 in ransom to regain access to his files, which actually were never encrypted at all. To his dismay, the access was not restored and fearing he was about to be arrested, he turned himself in to police.

He admitted to possessing hundreds of images of animals of a sexual nature, including horses, dogs and pigs, although he maintained that he never actually looked at them after downloading them.

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AfterDawn: News

Pirate Bay domain seizure ordered by Swedish court

Written by James Delahunty @ 19 May 2015 3:54

Pirate Bay domain seizure ordered by Swedish court Notorious Pirate ship sets sail for new shores after a Swedish court ordered the seizure of both thepiratebay.se and piratebay.se domain names.

Once again the Pirate Bay has been forced into evasive maneuvers to thwart legal efforts to sink it to the bottom of the ocean. This time, the Stockholm District Court ordered the official thepiratebay.se and piratebay.se domain names seized, continuing a cat and mouse game that has been going on for over a decade between the Pirate Bay and... everyone.

(Also Read: Canadian copyright notice program reduces piracy by up to 70%, and is heading for the United States?)

In response, the Pirate Bay now has SIX new domain names ending in .GS, .LA, .VG,. AM, .MN and .GD. The new logo on the evasive torrent site features a Lernaean Hydra - a mythical monster from Greek mythology that sports multiple heads - and the new domain names.

Humble as always, the Pirate Bay team congratulated the prosecutor for wasting time and money on this latest effort to slay the beast.

"Congratulations to Prosecutor Fredrik Ingblad. Two years hard work to get us to change two little letters at a cost of $20,000 per letter," TorrentFreak quotes TPB team.

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AfterDawn: News

Check out the first Steve Jobs movie trailer featuring Michael Fassbender

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 May 2015 10:38

Check out the first Steve Jobs movie trailer featuring Michael Fassbender Today we have the first official trailer for the upcoming Steve Jobs biopic featuring Michael Fassbender in the lead role.

The teaser doesn't reveal too much about the film, but we do get to see Fassbender as the genius founder of Apple.

Steve Jobs is directed by Danny Boyle and also has Seth Rogen as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Kate Winslet as Joanna Hoffman.

Check out the trailer here:

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AfterDawn: News

HTC discontinues 'mini' line of phones

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 May 2015 9:59

HTC discontinues 'mini' line of phones HTC has confirmed today that they will stop producing their 'mini' line of products as the company focuses on devices with screens larger than 5 inches.

North Asia president Jack Tong said the smaller devices are no longer in fashion in the industry.

In fact, the company's most recent budget offering has lower-end specs but still has a 5.5-inch display.

Truthfully, Apple killed off the 'compact" smartphone market when it moved away from tiny screened devices and launched the iPhone 6 last year.

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AfterDawn: News

Spotify, Starbucks ink deal for in-store music

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 May 2015 9:16

Spotify, Starbucks ink deal for in-store music Spotify and Starbucks have announced a new deal in which employees and customers will be able to influence the in-store music played at local Starbucks locations.

The program will start with 150,000 U.S. Starbucks employees getting a Spotify Premium membership and followed by My Starbucks Reward members getting "unique access to Spotify." That program will then let employees and loyalty customers influence which songs make it to the store's in-store playlists.

"For over forty years, music has played a vital role in Starbucks Third Place experience – inspiring our partners and customers in unexpected ways that have helped to shape the global pop culture. And we are delighted and honored to bring Spotify directly to our customers," said Howard Schultz, chairman and CEO of Starbucks. "Throughout its history, Starbucks has worked closely with the music industry, offering a variety of artists a platform for their work. By connecting Spotify's world-class streaming platform into our world-class store and digital ecosystem, we are reinventing the way our millions of global customers discover music."

Spotify recently struck a similar deal with Uber, allowing riders to DJ from their seats.

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AfterDawn: News

Court hands down mixed ruling in Apple, Samsung patent case appeal

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 May 2015 8:14

Court hands down mixed ruling in Apple, Samsung patent case appeal In 2013, a jury ruled in favor of Apple in a blockbuster patent and intellectual property fight with Samsung, awarding the Cupertino giant $930 million in damages.

A new ruling by the U.S. appeals court has threatened parts of that verdict, meaning nearly 40 percent of the damages award will now be reconsidered.

The patent infringement verdict was upheld but a separate trademark verdict was thrown out. The trademark verdict had found that the iPhone's external appearance could be protected and was the most controversial ruling of the trial.

$382 million that was awarded for trade dress dilution will now be reconsidered. Apple was never able to gain an injunction on the offending smartphones, all of which are now years old and no longer available.

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AfterDawn: News

LG G4 begins global rollout

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 May 2015 7:29

LG G4 begins global rollout LG's latest flagship, the G4, has begun rolling out across the globe following its early launch in Korea.

The company says the device will launch in Hong Kong first, followed by Turkey, Russia and Singapore. Afterwards, the smartphone is headed to "most of Europe, North America, CIS, Southeast Asia, Middle East/Africa and South/Central America" over the course of the next month.

LG's latest has a large 5.5-inch, 2560 x 1440 pixel (QHD) display with better color reproduction, adds a bit of a curve (to help avoid shattering the screen if you drop it), is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage (microSD expandable), a 3,000mAh removable battery (no QuickCharging or wireless charging available however) and Android 5.1 with LG's own custom UI on top.

Notably, LG says its GPS nav and location services are "twice as accurate" as any other phone and the company has removed lots of bloat, so the devices will seem almost like stock. The company is also adding 100GB of free Google Drive storage for 24 months, at least for the U.S. model.





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