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Radiohead's Thom Yorke releases latest album for $6 via BitTorrent

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 27 Sep 2014 9:09

Radiohead's Thom Yorke releases latest album for $6 via BitTorrent Radiohead's Thom Yorke has once again offered his latest album in a unique and digital way, releasing "Tomorrow's Modern Boxes" via the official BitTorrent client for just $6.

The band made headlines back in 2007 when it released its "In Rainbows" album online with no pricing except that consumers could pay whatever they felt was right. Most downloaded for free, but many paid at least a few dollars, raking in millions for the band directly. The experiment also helped the band gain new fans, especially those that would have never paid for a CD from the group.

"If it works well it could be an effective way of handing some control of Internet commerce back to the people who are creating the work," frontman Thom Yorke and producer Nigel Godrich wrote in a note about the new release.

Over 170 million people use the BitTorrent system to share files, says the company, and the company's executives have been quietly striking more and more deals with artists and schools for releases. The new album is the first "pay-gated bundle," however, meaning users can only download it after they have paid. BitTorrent takes a 10 percent cut while the artist gets the other 90 percent. Compared to a record label taking the lion's share for a traditional release, the new experiment is certainly worth it for the artist - if they are as big and well known as Radiohead, for example.

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AfterDawn: News

HTC teases their GoPro competitor, the 'REcamera'

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 26 Sep 2014 11:05

HTC teases their GoPro competitor, the 'REcamera' It appears that GoPro will finally have a large competitor.

HTC has teased their upcoming GoPro rival, the REcamera, a video camera for the action junkie.

In their teaser video, HTC shows off underwater footage, soccer moves, bike rides and street performing, all in wide-angle lens. The video also suggests high FPS is a possibility with the camera.

HTC added a promotional page at www.recamera.com, and shown off a possible mount to be used for the camera.

The device will be officially unveiled on October 8th.

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AfterDawn: News

Mock picture plus specs revealed for Motorola Nexus 6, aka 'Shamu'

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 25 Sep 2014 1:58

Mock picture plus specs revealed for Motorola Nexus 6, aka 'Shamu' 9to5Google has reported on the upcoming Nexus 6/Nexus X today, posting a mock image and full specs of the upcoming Android reference device.

The new device will be the biggest smartphone yet in the Nexus line, with a massive 5.92-inch display with 1440p resolution.

Under the hood is a 2.6GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB internal storage (base model), dual 2MP/13MP cameras (with 4K shooting ability), a large 3200 mAh battery, and stock Android 5.0 L.

In appearance, the device will look very similar to the second-generation Moto X that was released last week.

While the 5.9-inch screen may not float everyone's boat, there are rumors that Google will be releasing a 5.2-inch model, as well.

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AfterDawn: News

Samsung gets out of notebook business, at least in Europe

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 25 Sep 2014 1:04

Samsung gets out of notebook business, at least in Europe In what appears to be an ongoing theme in the industry, electronics giant Samsung has bowed out of the notebook business, at least in Europe.

The company has halted sales of its Ativ Windows 7/8 notebooks and its popular Chromebooks, as well. The move is not too surprising given the company's lack of new devices in the past months, and no announcements at the recent IFA event.

"We quickly adapt to market needs and demands. In Europe, we will be discontinuing sales of laptops including Chromebooks for now. This is specific to the region – and is not necessarily reflective of conditions in other markets," said a Samsung spokesperson.

Sony was the last major manufacturer to get out of the market, selling its once-popular Vaio line and slashing jobs.

"We will continue to thoroughly evaluate market conditions and will make further adjustments to maintain our competitiveness in emerging PC categories," concluded the spokesperson.

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AfterDawn: News

VIDEO: Finns crazy to get iPhone 4 (yes, '4')

Written by James Delahunty @ 25 Sep 2014 8:30

VIDEO: Finns crazy to get iPhone 4 (yes, '4') Despite being around four years old now, enthusiastic but impatient Finns showed up at stores today to buy an iPhone 4 for €99.90.

While we have been so entertained by a video of a guy dropping his brand new iPhone 6, and several others showing that it will just bend right out of shape if you stick it in your tight jeans pocket (not a feature!), today's iPhone video from Finland is a little surprising.

Retailer Verkkokauppa got its hands on some ancient refurbished iPhone 4 models (the one that can't get iOS 8!) and wanted to sell them off for €99.90 a piece to make a quick return. They sent out units to multiple stores, limited to just 50 in each store. The problem is, a lot more people showed up at stores.

At stores in Helsinki and Pirkkala (near Tampere), police had to come to calm people down. Stores were only allowing ten people in at a time once they opened at 9AM, so naturally that ticked off quite a large number of people.

Witnessing mobs of people fighting in America on Black Friday every year to get deals before the holidays is rather sad, but witnessing Finns getting rowdy and upset over a four year old iPhone is one of the saddest videos I have seen in some time. Check this video out from Pirkkala...

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AfterDawn: News

Vizio introduces affordable 4K TVs

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 24 Sep 2014 5:54

Vizio introduces affordable 4K TVs Vizio has officially priced and made available their P-Series 4K LCDs, the sets that drew rave reviews at this year's CES.

The powerful sets include full-array backlit panels with local dimming, Active Pixel Tuning tech for greater light bleed elimination and overall picture that should rival OLED and its perfect picture quality.

Vizio promises excellent 1080p HD picture, and normal content will upscale to "near Ultra HD" resolution. 4K video is supported up to 60fps and the sets have built-in 802.11ac Wi-Fi for streaming.

Each one of the sets have a native refresh rate of 240Hz, and also a "Clear Action Rate" of 960Hz, whatever that means. The sets have a quad-core GPU and a dual-core CPU powering the processing.

The 50-inch P-series sells for $1,000, the 55-inch model will sell for $1,400, the 60-inch is $1,700, the 65-inch model is $2,200, and finally the 70-inch model is $2,500.

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AfterDawn: News

Apple iOS 8.0.1 pulled after the update kills cell service, breaks Touch ID

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 24 Sep 2014 4:38

Apple iOS 8.0.1 pulled after the update kills cell service, breaks Touch ID In a shocking move, Apple has pulled their latest iOS update, as tens of thousands of downloaders were experiencing a wide range of issues.

iOS 8.0.1, which was released to help with some bugs in the original iOS 8 released last Wednesday, has been killing cell/data service and bricking the Touch ID fingerprint scanner, making the phone useless as a cellphone in many cases.

So far, only iPhone 6 and 6 Plus with the update seem to be having the issues, meaning your 5, 5S and iPads are probably okay, but regardless, it isn't worth updating at this time.

The main issues with iOS 8 will remain, including a broken Healthkit and a broken virtual keyboard for certain apps.

Apple is expected to release iOS 8.0.2 in the very near future.

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AfterDawn: News

Microsoft reveals updated release date for Xbox One in China

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 24 Sep 2014 2:24

Microsoft reveals updated release date for Xbox One in China After delaying its release in the nation, Microsoft has revealed the updated launch date for the Xbox One console in China.

Set originally to be released yesterday, the console will now go on sale on Monday, September 29th.

"After receiving government approval for the first wave of games, we will launch with the first 10 games now and continue our work to bring more blockbuster games and a broad offering of entertainment and app experiences to the platform in the weeks and months to come," said Enwei Xie, general manager of Xbox China.

When it launches, it will be the first console to be sold in China since consoles were banned in the early 2000s. Of the approved games, there are few blockbusters but Microsoft says over 70 titles are in the pipeline waiting for approval from the Chinese regulators, including Titanfall and Destiny.

Microsoft has priced the console at 4,299 yuan ($700), including Kinect, a hefty premium to its price in the U.S. and Western Europe.

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AfterDawn: News

Here are those kinda funny Jimmy Fallon, Justin Timberlake iPhone 6 ads

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 24 Sep 2014 1:43

Here are those kinda funny Jimmy Fallon, Justin Timberlake iPhone 6 ads When they announced the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the company also announced that their upcoming ads would include the popular celebrities Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake.

This week, the company has revealed the first two clips, each promoting specific features of the new iPhones and iOS 8.

Mainly though, the company just makes it clear that the phablet is huge, which it certainly is at 5.5-inches.

"The new iPhones are here and their size is just the beginning," Apple added.

Check the decently funny ads here:





AfterDawn: News

Supposed giant Apple iPad Pro now expected to launch Q2 2015

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 24 Sep 2014 12:15

Supposed giant Apple iPad Pro now expected to launch Q2 2015 According to a new report, the new alleged Apple iPad Pro is expected to launch in the Q2 2015.

The device will have a giant 12.9-inch display, but little else is known about the tablet. Recent conflicting reports had claimed the device could launch this year, while others claimed Apple had canceled the tablet, due to production issues with such a large display.

In addition, Apple is said to be building an even thinner iPad Air and a iPad Mini Retina with Touch ID and better cameras.

If accurate, expect Apple to at least speak about Mac OSX Yosemite and the new iPad Air at their October event.

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AfterDawn: News

Sony PlayStation TV headed to North America on October 14th

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 23 Sep 2014 10:59

Sony PlayStation TV headed to North America on October 14th Sony has announced they will be releasing their PlayStation TV set-top box in North America beginning on October 14th.

The company says the mini console will have 700 playable games at launch.

Using PlayStation TV, you can stream PlayStation 4 to another TV in your house and "remote play". It can also be used to play most PS Vita games on a bigger TV screen. Coupled with PlayStation Now, PlayStation TV will also be able to provide access to PlayStation 3 games, and later on games from other Sony consoles.

Finally, Sony gives you access to video and music streaming via Sony Unlimited.

The console will cost $99 for the system only, or you can pay up and get the $140 bundle which includes a DualShock 3 controller, 8GB memory card and The Lego Movie Videogame.




AfterDawn: News

Apple denies it is killing off Beats Music

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 23 Sep 2014 12:44

Apple denies it is killing off Beats Music Apple was quick to deny a report that it was preparing to shut down its newly acquired Beats Music service.

Spokesman Tom Neumayr said bluntly that the rumors were "not true," although it is possible that the service will be rebranded in the future.

Beats Music subscribers pay $10 per month for unlimited streaming access to a large catalog of tracks on desktop or mobile devices. The service and its contracts with the major record labels is said to be a big reason that Apple purchased Beats for $3 billion this year.

Apple recently added Beats Music to its Apple TV set-top, and CEO Tim Cook said in an interview he was so impressed by the service that he could barely sleep. Hardly something a company would do if they were on the verge of shutting down a service.

We would expect that Beats Music will be folded into iTunes Radio, giving Apple users a much better overall service with more options.

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AfterDawn: News

Private equity firm preparing to acquire photo sharing and printing service Shutterfly

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 23 Sep 2014 12:31

Private equity firm preparing to acquire photo sharing and printing service Shutterfly According to sources, private equity firm Silver Lake is preparing to acquire online photo sharing and printing service Shutterfly for over $2 billion.

Shutterfly allows users to upload and share their photos, as well as use their uploaded photos to create customized books, cards, mugs, and much more. You can print your photos and have them mailed, as well.

Silver Lake is a massive $23 billion firm that specializes in tech acquisitions. It helped Michael Dell purchase back Dell, and also owns talent agency IMG Worldwide.

Shutterfly's main competitor is SnapFish, owned by HP but also allegedly up for sale.

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AfterDawn: News

Strange new BlackBerry Passport to cost $599 unlocked at launch in the U.S.

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 22 Sep 2014 3:14

Strange new BlackBerry Passport to cost $599 unlocked at launch in the U.S. BlackBerry's strange new square-shaped Passport smartphone will go on sale on Wednesday at $599 unlocked, once again guaranteeing that they will sell no units.

The device has a full physical keyboard and a 4.5-inch square touchscreen at 1440x1440 resolution. Under the hood is a quad-core Snapdragon MSM8974 processor and 3GB RAM with Adreno 330 OpenGL. A 3450mAh battery will allegedly provide better battery life than high-end iPhones and Android devices.

Little else is known about the device, or at least confirmed, but we should know more on Wednesday.

BlackBerry CEO John Chen seems happy about the phone and pricing, claiming that they could sell it for $700 to be in line with other devices of its caliber, "but I figure that to try to get the market interested, we're going to start a little lower than that."

Besides the keyboard, Chen says the strange screen will benefit users who need to read more or be more productive on their phones. "You really are seeing a more entire picture than seeing a sliver of a screen," he added.

The device may have some enterprise or international fans, but nobody in the U.S. is going to pay $599 for the Passport when the iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy S5 cost $650 unlocked. Sorry.

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AfterDawn: News

The BPI sends their 100 millionth DMCA URL takedown notice to Google

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 22 Sep 2014 12:55

The BPI sends their 100 millionth DMCA URL takedown notice to Google According to a new report, the BPI (British Phonographic Industry) industry trade group has sent nearly 275,000 DMCA takedown notices, encompassing 100 million URLs.

Despite the huge figure and Google's speed at taking down infringing links, the trade group believes ISPs and the search giant can do more to stop widespread piracy.

BPI sent their first takedown notice in June 2011, and the URL count was at 50 million just 10 months ago showing how much more efficient the group is getting at sending them out, whether they are accurate or not. BPI just beat out "multimedia protection company" Degban, who has 99 million URLs reported, and everyone's favorite music trade group RIAA, at 57 million.

A BPI spokesperson discussed the "milestone," and begged Google to do more to stop piracy:

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