Latest news

Thanks to AT&T and T-Mobile, we have another look at the upcoming Samsung Galaxy 6 ahead of its unveiling on March 1st.

T-Mobile CEO John Legere and AT&T both posted tweets showing off the S6's curved display, which is at least the fifth teaser in the last month for the device.

Samsung has added the curved display, which appears to be on both sides (not sure how that works) and the fake leather on the back has been replaced by a metal back.

Take a look:

In 2013, Google unveiled their Chromebook Pixel, a high-end notebook running on Chrome OS that was aimed at developers.

The notebook was not too popular given its $1300 price tag (especially compared to other Chromebooks at $299), but Google has a confirmed a sequel is on the way.

Google's Renee Niemi said the device is 'coming soon' and that like its predecessor, it will also be a "proof of concept.'

The last Pixel had a high-resolution display, a touchscreen, 4G LTE support, and a sleek high-end design. The new notebook is expected to have a 13-inch display with 3200x1800 resolution.

Due to its price and its status as a device aimed specifically at developers, Niemi noted there would be limited supply.

Mozilla has released Firefox 36 to the public today, giving fans of the browser a stable version while the beta moves to 37 and the nightly alphas move to 39.

On the surface, the update is minor but there are some tweaks under the surface that users should certainly appreciate.

Firefox 36 adds full HTTP/2 support, a newly released update to the HTTP protocol which should lead to faster browsing, reduced bandwidth usage and better security for connections.

Additionally, the update includes Partial Media Source Extensions (MSE) support, allowing for better support of native HTML5 playback on YouTube, but only for videos at 720p or under.

Finally, Firefox 36 adds 'Flash Protected Mode' which runs Flash as a 'low integrity process.' Basically, if you're terrified of having Flash run but have to have it installed, the protected mode should work wonders.

The rest of the list (via ghacks):
•Pinned tiles on the new tab page are included in Firefox Sync.
•The -remote startup parameter has been removed from Firefox. It was used to execute commands in an already running instance of the browser (e.g. open a new url)
•Uzbek locale added.
•Insecure RC4 ciphers are no longer accepted if possible
•1024-bit RSA keys are phased out.
•The Crash Reporter is displayed when the shut down hangs.
•Connect Developer Tools and Firefox for Android using WebIDE
•JavaScript code that is evaluated dynamically can be debugged now
•Promise rich output in the web console
•Additional paste options in markup view
•Support for meta name="referrer" added
•EMCAScript 6 Symbol data type enabled by default
•Improved ES6 generators

After weeks of rumors, Google has officially announced their acquisition of Softcard from the U.S. carriers that started it.

The search giant will use the technology to upgrade their floundering Google Wallet tap-and-pay NFC app and better take on Apple Pay.

Reads the press release:

We first introduced Google Wallet's tap and pay feature in 2011, and since then, mobile payments have grown rapidly. You can use the Google Wallet app on Android devices, on any carrier network, to tap and pay anywhere NFC is accepted. Over the years, we've received great feedback from people who use this feature and we've continued investing to make it easy and secure for more people to pay with their phones. A big part of this is working with other innovators in the industry to help provide a seamless experience across a wide range of phones and stores.

So today, we're excited to announce that we're working with AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, as well as their mobile payments company Softcard, to help more Android users get the benefits of tap and pay. Under this relationship, the Google Wallet app, including the tap and pay functionality, will come pre-installed on Android phones (running KitKat or higher) sold by these carriers in the US later this year. We're also acquiring some exciting technology and intellectual property from Softcard to make Google Wallet better.

Pebble is scheduled to announce their next smartwatch tomorrow, and there is now almost no question that the watch will feature a color display.

Besides the color e-paper display, the new watch is also expected to be thinner and include a revamped version of the Pebble operating system.

From a design standpoint, the device seems 'sportier' than the Pebble Steel, including larger bezels and smaller buttons than all previous models. Battery life is expected to match that of the original Pebble, which promised 3 days per full charge.

Fans will also likely enjoy the redesigned operating system, which is powered by former members of the WebOS development team. There will be plenty of more details tomorrow. For now, we have one leaked photo of the smartwatch, compliments of Pebble themselves.

The connected Apple insider John Gruber has done his research and believes the most expensive Apple Watch models will cost over $10,000 when its released.

Apple's base 'Sport' model will cost $349, followed by the steel Apple Watch and then the gold Apple Edition.

Speaking to sources and getting his bearings in the watch world, Gruber believes the steel Apple Watch with sport band will start at $749, while the Edition models will retail for $10,000 or higher.

It will be interesting to see if consumers are willing to pay high-end watch prices for a smartwatch.

To read more about Gruber's thought process on the pricing, read here.

Lenovo pre-loaded the adware Superfish on some of its recent consumer PCs, and it will now have to pay the price.

Angry consumers have proposed a class-action suit against both Lenovo and Superfish, claiming fraudulent business practices and the disregard of privacy.

Superfish plugs itself into your software, adding product recommendations into search results. However, the software can also hijack your connections and leave your PC vulnerable to remote attacks.

Lenovo installed the software on their G Series, U Series, Y Series, Z Series, S Series, Flex, Miix, Yoga and E Series.

Security advisors and Lenovo have already released fixes to safely remove Superfish and its certificates but the damage has been done as some of these PCs have been infected since September.

The class action suit is seeking damages from both companies.

After being first announced last week, Google's YouTube Kids app is now available for iOS and Android.

The app gives access to both shows and music, with the additional options for educational viewing.

Most important for parents is the addition of parental controls. Parents can control the content, the volume levels and the amount of time their kids can spend in front of the app. Comments are also disabled, which is a good thing not just for kids but for the human race.

Check a bit more about the apps here:

The Edward Snowden documentary 'Citizenfour' won Best Documentary last night, despite the controversy of Snowden's leaked secrets.

Directed by Laura Poitras, the film documents her meeting with Snowden and journalist Glenn Greenwald. Snowden revealed thousands of NSA documents that seemingly confirmed the agency was spying on Americans.

"The disclosures that Edward Snowden reveals don't only expose a threat to our privacy but to our democracy itself. When the most important decisions being made affecting all of us are made in secret, we lose our ability to check the powers that control," Poitras said during her acceptance speech. "Thank you to Edward Snowden for his courage, and for the many other whistleblowers, and I share this with Glenn Greenwald and other journalists who are exposing truth."

Snowden has been charged with treason and will spend the rest of his life in jail if he is ever brought to the U.S. Snowden is currently living in Russia and Poitras says the film was made in secret and edited in Germany.

Sprint has taken the carrier wars to the next level this week, offering more shared data than any other carrier at a cheaper price.

As part of their Family Share Pack plan, you can get up to 10 lines with unlimited talk, text, and 12GB of data for $90 a month.

Sprint said they will be reducing their data access charge from $25 to $15 for each handset, and if you are transferring from a different carrier, that fee is waived entirely.

The deal is good until March 2016. Comparatively, the deal is good but you have to keep in mind that you are signing up for the Sprint network, which has easily the slowest LTE of all the major U.S. carriers.

Source:
Sprint

Voltage Pictures, infamous for suing tens of thousands of unauthorized downloaders of their films, has agreed to stop suing kids, physically disabled people, and the mentally disabled.

The company has sued tens of thousands of downloaders of 'The Hurt Locker' and 'Dallas Buyers Club' in the U.S., Canada and Europe, normally suing a 'John Doe' IP address and then getting a judge to rule that the ISP must provide their identity.

Most that are accused choose to settle out of court for a couple thousand dollars, and Voltage has been able to make a business out of it.

However, as other companies have seen in the past from mass lawsuits, the targets are not always what you would expect. A Voltage executive said that the company "would not pursue an autistic child, people who were handicapped, welfare cases, or people that have mental issues" any longer. Does Voltage really care about those people though? It seems that they care more about PR: "That kind of press would ruin us."

Snapchat has updated their "Safety Center" community guidelines, imploring minors to stop sending nudes.

As part of the 'Parent's Guide to Snapchat' in the Safety Center, the photo sharing and messaging app posted the following:

"Keep it legal: Don't use Snapchat for any illegal shenanigans and if you're under 18 or are Snapping with someone who might be: keep your clothes on!

What not to Snap:

Pornography
Nudity or sexually suggestive content involving minors (people under the age of 18)
Minors engaged in activities that are physically dangerous and harmful
Invasions of privacy
Threats
Harassment or Bullying
Impersonation
Self-Harm"

The move makes obvious sense. The app first gained popularity from people looking to exchange nudes that self destructed in seconds, but has since evolved into much more. In many states, as well, having a photo of a person under 18 is technically considered child pornography, even if you yourself are under the age of 18.

Earlier this month, The Pirate Bay relaunched after nearly two months of downtime but with one group notably missing: moderators.

Now that security issues have been resolved, the moderator team is back with access to the back end of the site.

The team has a large job ahead of them, as spammers and scammers have been using the past few weeks to upload fake torrents and place spam and scam comments across legit torrent files. Fake torrents are most often littered with malware but some are less malicious and just include the incorrect file.

"I don't know how many torrents have been removed so far, but it is in the hundreds. Some fakers had eight or nine pages under their account," longtime TPB moderator Agricola noted.

New accounts have been banned for the time being, to help the cleanup, and the old title of "helper" has also been removed.

HTC' latest flagship, the One M9, has been leaked in all its glory, a week before its expected official unveiling.

Thanks to a German retailer, we have specs and pictures of the upcoming device.

Powering the smartphone is a 2GHz octa-core Snapdragon 810 processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB internal storage (with microSD slot), and a 2,840mAh battery.

Although the resolution is unclear, the device has a 5-inch display, which will be at least 1080p. The device runs Android 5.0 and HTC's own Sense 7 UI. The UltraPixel camera will sit on the front and the standard camera will have a 20MP sensor.

In both colorways, (gold/silver and black), the smartphone does look very similar to last year's popular One M8 and except for the camera bulge and the power button moving, it looks otherwise the same.

Regardless, we will know next Sunday officially when the Mobile World Congress event starts and HTC officially announces the phone.

Last month, Jay Z's investment company PPB acquired the Swedish streaming company Aspiro, the parent of services Tidal and WimP.

Before the bid, however, it seems that the service was in dire straits, financially. At the time of the bid, the company's board said "given the current strategic plan and the associated capital needs, the company is not fully funded for the coming twelve months." More simply, without extra funds the service would not have lasted the next year.

In addition, the board said that 'although it has many promising growth initiatives, primarily related to the expansion of Tidal... these initiatives are currently unprofitable and capital consuming,'

Last year, the company had a loss of €8.9m on revenue of €31.9m. Aspiro has 503,000 paying music subscribers, with 78 percent of those coming from telcom bundles.