Latest news

Chromecast has gotten a new Guest Mode that will allow Android device owners to cast to a TV with Chromecast without connecting to the WiFi network.

Either you don't want your friends connecting to your WiFi network or you don't want the hassle of finding the WiFi key, either way you can now make it very easy for others with Android devices to cast to your television.

You simply have to open the Chromecast app on your Android phone or tablet and select "Devices" from the navigation drawer. Choose your Chromecast device, tap the "Guest mode" setting and then turn the slider to "on."

Now your Android-wielding friends can fight over who casts the funniest YouTube video the TV.

The update has started rolling out, so make sure to keep your Chromecast app up to date. More information is available from chromecast.com/guestmode.

Here's a promotional video from Google showing off Guest Mode.

Uber has decided to halt all operations in the Indian Capital New Delhi after a driver allegedly raped a female passenger.

Head of communications in South Asia for Uber, Karun Arya, said that the San Francisco-based firm is conducting an assessment of its driver screening process. The alleged rapist in this case had been out on bail after being imprisoned for sexually assaulting a woman in his cab.

"We are evaluating additional screening options to include background checks on all our driver partners in India above and beyond what is currently required," wrote Arya.

He also promised that Uber will work closely with organisations that are championing women's safety in New Delhi and around the country.

"Safety is our top priority. We are fully committed to partnering with and are in discussions with the government, other transportation organisations and safety experts in India to implement robust solutions to ensure a safe ride."

It has been a difficult week for Uber as multiple cities in several countries either banned or sued the car service.

Microsoft has come along with another insane promotion through its Music Deals app, this time literally giving away popular albums for free.

User with the Xbox Music app or Xbox Deals app in the United States can take advantage of the freebies for a limited time only. In the Music Deals app, browse "Holiday Freebies" and you will find the albums in there.

Among the albums on offer are Eminem's 2013 chart topper The Marshall Mathers LP 2, Dr Dre's 2001, Kanye West's Graduation, Rihanna's unapologetic, U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind, Swedish House Mafia's Until Now and many others.

The deal is in place until December 15 so remember to go grab what you want legally for free before then.

The Music Deals app launched back in October and since then it has offered some really surprising deals. It offered Taylor Swift's 1989 for 99c for a short time and an additional 101 albums were priced at $1.99.

You can't beat free though, so check it out.

via: Neowin

While the Pirate Bay remains offline, other torrent services that went down as an indirect result of the Pirate Bay raid have started to come back online.

The most popular service that was hit in the crossfire was EZTV, and its main domain isn't working at the moment but proxy links, such as eztv-proxy.net, are connecting to the site's backend IPs. EZTV torrents are also being uploaded once again in other places, including Kickass Torrents.

TorrentFreak confirmed with operators of EZTV that servers are coming back online again and that the site is expected to recover fully.

Another BitTorrent site that has since fully recovered is Zoink. It is currently back operating a torrent storage service. Meanwhile, the Superbay forum is still offline, as is Torrage and the Istole tracker is still down.

There were some reports that the Pirate Bay is back up and running, but in reality the links are to proxy sites that are only offering up some cached older search results. Some of them may also be scams and thus better off avoided.

Whether the Pirate Bay can make a full and prompt recovery as it did back in 2006 remains to be seen, but co-founder Peter Sunde thinks it is time for the service to die.

In an ironic twist, Sony Pictures is apparently trying to halt the spread of hoards of data stolen by hackers in November using a tactic commonly used by cyber criminals.

According to a re/code report, Sony Pictures is essentially carrying out denial of service attacks aimed at torrents being used to share the leaked data. BitTorrent users trying to get their hands on the stolen information are being linked with fake seeds that disrupt the sharing of data by slowing it to a crawl.

Re/code cites sources in reporting that the entertainment company is utilizing Amazon Web Services to carry out this counterattack, with the servers being located throughout Asia.

The group behind the Sony Pictures attack, self identified as the Guardians of Peace (GOP), are estimated to have stolen up to 100 terabytes of data and have made at least six dumps of stolen data already, including copies of unreleased films like Fury.

The leaks went from being financially damaging to downright embarrassing for Sony Pictures and associated Hollywood personnel, and who knows what the hackers still have in their possession.

Microsoft is planning to release the Windows 10 operating system a bit later than it had previously predicted, but in line to coincide with the third anniversary of the Windows 8 launch.

Windows 10 is Microsoft's bid to adapt to changes in modern computing as consumers have rapidly adopted smartphones and tablets for work and play. The previous Windows iteration - Windows 8 - largely failed to impress consumers and Microsoft is keen to bury the previous three years below the dirt and start fresh.

Previous comments from within Microsoft indicated that Windows 10 could launch during the summer next year, but Microsoft COO Kevin Turner says it is more likely to be during the Autumn, perhaps an early fall release. He made the updated prediction to the Nikkei news service in Japan.

There is a notable milestone around that timeframe for Microsoft; August 2015 will be the 20th anniversary of the launch of Windows 95.

Windows is still used by an estimated 1.5 billion users on Desktops, but in mobile computing Microsoft really dropped the ball years ago and watched Apple and Google gobble up the market.


Sources and Recommended Reading:
Microsoft exec sees autumn release for Windows 10: www.reuters.com

Microsoft is endorsing the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, letting customers use it to pay for apps, games, music and videos across its digital services.

In a welcome boost to Bitcoin, Microsoft is endorsing the cryptocurrency by accepting it as payment for content across its services. You can use it now to add money to your Microsoft account so that you can buy apps, games and content from Windows, Windows Phone, Xbox Games, Xbox Music and Xbox Video.

To use bitcoin for Microsoft's digital services, sign into your Microsoft account and go to billing -> payment options -> Microsoft account -> redeem bitcoin. Select the amount you want to add and click Next, then review the amount of Bitcoin you will need and use your bitcoin digital wallet to complete the transaction within 15 minutes.

If you are using a smartphone, you can simply scan the QR code displayed on the page to pay from your mobile wallet app. On a Desktop, select Pay with Bitcoin and then pay from your Bitcoin wallet on the same device. If your wallet is on another device you can copy the receiving address and BTC amount to the wallet on your device or the Web and then make your purchase.

Some things to consider first

Large media outlets, local media sources and bloggers will be furious as a law about to come into force in Spain has pushed Google News out of the country.

Google News will remove Spanish publications from its service and will shut its Spanish site on Tuesday, December 16, and it's all the result of a misguided law that will come into force in Spain in the New Year.

After that point, Spanish media outlets will be forced to charge services like Google News for using even just snippets of information from their sources. Believe it or not, Spanish media outlets don't even have a choice not to charge these services, they are mandated to under the law.

Google can find no wiggle room to keep Google News operating in Spain and so it will shut the service there next week.

Google News - The best of intentions punished

Google News was actually born shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States. Krishna Bharat, a Google engineer, searched the term "World Trade Center" following the attacks and was shocked to find that the results didn't include any information on how the iconic skyscrapers were destroyed

That's how Google News came to be. It is a source of news information that now ranges from the world's largest media outlets, to local media and even to bloggers. It displays a headline, a small description (or the opening lines of an aritcle) and a thumbnail of the image associated with the article.

Microsoft has proudly announced the launch of Minecraft Pocket Edition for Windows Phone 8.1 today.

Reads the press release: "Windows Phone users can join the vast community of more than 100 million Minecraft players today with the launch of Minecraft: Pocket Edition for Windows Phone 8.1. Now available on Windows Phone, iOS and Android, Minecraft: Pocket Edition lets players bring their Minecraft worlds with them virtually anywhere.

Minecraft: Pocket Edition includes Minecraft's Survival and Creative modes so players can craft, create and explore on the go – as long as they have thumb strength and battery to burn. With a local Wi-Fi network, players can engage in multiplayer gameplay and team up with friends to explore new biomes, fight monsters, and craft infinite new worlds together."

The game will cost in line with other editions of Minecraft, selling for $6.99.

Two months after they were unexpectedly pulled from Apple's online and brick-and-mortar stores, audio products from Bose are back on the virtual shelves.

It still remains unclear why the products disappeared without a word in October, but the timing coincided with the recent closing of the company's acquisition of Beats Electronics.

Bose had a lawsuit against Beats over the tech used in noise-cancelling headphones but the case settled in early October, just before Bose's products magically disappeared from Apple's stores.

Beats offers many similar products, so the dropping of the Bose inventory could have been a way for Apple to boost sales ahead of Black Friday/Cyber Monday, or potentially the product of behind the scenes negotiations.

Nokia's HERE navigation app is now available to all on Android as following months as a closed beta.

The company says there had been over a million downloads of the beta for the operating system, with a good portion of the "testers" coming from the U.S. and Germany. Now, everyone with access to the Google Play Store can download the application.

Previously, interested parties had to sideload the app after downloading the APK from here.com.

Says Nokia: "The app you can download from Google Play brings voice-guided navigation for 18 new countries and territories: Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Iraq, Libya, Mauritania, Mauritius, Nepal, Paraguay, Saint Helena, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Zambia, Zimbabwe. The addition of these 18 new countries brings the total number of freely navigable countries to 118. Additionally, we improved the stability and performance of the app, and fixed a voice-related navigation bug."

Project Maelstrom envisions a web that works the way BitTorrent works, rather than the standard model of centralized services you connect directly to.

BitTorrent Inc. has launched an invite-only alpha as it seeks to bring its vision of a distributed / decentralized web to life. There's no question that P2P technologies like BitTorrent can be very efficient at spreading large files around the web or on a local network (Sync), but can it be relied upon to drive a decentralized web where content can be published and accessed as easily as the world wide web?

That's what BitTorrent is hoping to find out, and you can apply for an invite to the Alpha as a tester, academic/researcher, agency, artists, developer or publisher here.

So why is it necessary to build a web browser to power a decentralized web? BitTorrent CEO Eric Klinker provides a variety of good reasons for trying. To start, he argues that such a decentralized web can keep the Internet open, and keep access to the Internet neutral.

The crowdfunding campaign for the open-source Jolla Tablet has come to an end this morning.

Jolla fans were able to take the funding high enough to reach the company's second stretch goal, meaning the Sailfish OS will add split screen support in addition to the microSDHC slot (expandable to 128GB) that was reached with the first stretch goal.

Sadly, the device will not be getting a 3G radio for cellular data, as the campaign needed to hit $2.5 million to "unlock" that reward. The campaign closed at just over $1.8 million.

The Jolla Tablet has a 7.85-inch display with 2048x1536 resolution, a 64-bit quad-core processor clocked at 1.8GHz, 2GB RAM, dual 5MP/2MP cameras, 32GB internal storage (expandable via microSD) and a small-ish 4300mAh battery.

Jolla is expected to start shipping the tablet in May. See more of the device via the official page.

SimCity 2000 - the classic city-building PC game, is available for free for a limited time letting you re-live the 90s all over again.

Normally priced at $5.99, the game is free on EA's Origin platform for the time being, as part of EA's "On the House" promo.

Reads the page: "One of the most beloved retro EA games is now available On the House on Origin. Now you can step back in time absolutely free.

This classic title goes way beyond building a city. You'll be laying down districts, assuring everyone has power and water, acting as the mayor, and making sure to keep your citizens happy, healthy, and wealthy. The game's iconic art style will transport you back in time.

Want to play now for free? Just log in to Origin, head to the On the House page, and download SimCity 2000 to your "My Games" library. You'll be able to play it whenever you want."

The game available is the "Special Edition" version, released in 1995 for Windows and DOS gamers.

Source:
EA Origin

One of the original founders of the Pirate Bay hopes that yesterday's raid on the service will bring about its permanent end, saying the site lost its soul.

Peter Sunde was one of the original founders of the BitTorrent site and spent some time in prison recently for his part in bringing about the Internet phenomenon. You would think that given his personal sacrifice (his freedom) he would be devastated to see the site down, but on the contrary he is relieved to think it might be gone forever.

Sunde (aka brokep) explains that he did not like what the Pirate Bay had become in recent years. It "become an institution that people just expected to be there. Noone willing to take the technology further," he wrote.

"The site was ugly, full of bugs, old code and old design. It never changed except for one thing – the ads. More and more ads was filling the site, and somehow when it felt unimaginable to make these ads more distasteful they somehow ended up even worse."

According to Sunde, the original plan for the Pirate Bay was to shut it down on its tenth birthday, but instead the birthday had what he clearly found to be a tacky party in its honour in Stockholm. He references the 2006 raid that brought down the popular BitTorrent site and how people took to the streets to protest, but that now there is no public outcry because the site has no soul anymore, and no cause. According to Sunde, the site has long served its original purpose to push BitTorrent.