AfterDawn: Tech news

Latest news

AfterDawn: News

Nokia Lumia 1520 sales begin in France, U.S. to follow this week

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Nov 2013 9:16

Nokia Lumia 1520 sales begin in France, U.S. to follow this week Nokia's highly-anticipated Lumia 1520 phablet has gone on sale in France, the first country in a global launch.

Later this week, the smartphone will hit the U.S., Italy, Russia and Hong Kong.

The powerful device features a 6-inch 1080p FullHD display, a quad-core 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800 processor and 2GB RAM along with 32GB internal storage and a microSD slot.

Additionally, the device has a 20MP PureView camera with OIS, a huge draw for cameraphone fans.

Other features include pre-installed Microsoft Office and wireless charging capabilities.




AfterDawn: News

Ouya launches 16GB 'limited edition' model of the console

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Nov 2013 9:02

Ouya launches 16GB 'limited edition' model of the console The Android-based gaming console maker Ouya has started taking pre-orders for a new 'limited edition' model of the box.

Identical to its predecessor for the most part, the new Ouya is white in color and includes double the internal storage, at 16GB instead of 8GB.

Available only in the U.S., the limited edition white Ouya has a 1.7GHz quad-core Tegra 3 processor, 1GB of RAM, a USB 2.0 port, a micro USB port, HDMI output, a wireless controller and runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

Ouya has increased the price to $129 for the added storage, and the console will ship to those that preorder on December 8th.




AfterDawn: News

Google completes upgrading all SSL certificates to 2048-bit RSA (or better)

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Nov 2013 8:47

Google completes upgrading all SSL certificates to 2048-bit RSA (or better) Google has confirmed today that they have finished upgrading all of their SSL certificates to 2048-bit RSA or better, a process they began in May of this year.

Says the search giant:

Coming in ahead of schedule, we have completed this process, which will allow the industry to start removing trust from weaker, 1024-bit keys next year.

Thanks to our use of forward secrecy, the confidentiality of SSL connections to Google services from modern browsers was never dependent on our 1024-bit RSA keys. But the deprecation of 1024-bit RSA is an industry-wide effort that we're happy to support, particularly light of concerns about overbroad government surveillance and other forms of unwanted intrusion.

The hardware security module (HSM) that contained our old, 1024-bit, intermediate certificate has served us well. Its final duty after all outstanding certificates were revoked, was to be carefully destroyed. With the demolition of the HSM and revocation of the old certificates, Google Internet Authority G2 will issue 2048-bit certificates for Google web sites and properties going forward.




AfterDawn: News

Samsung: 800,000 Galaxy Gear sold to date

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Nov 2013 8:33

Samsung: 800,000 Galaxy Gear sold to date Samsung has announced Galaxy Gear smartwatch sales figures for the first time today, and they are higher than expected.

The company has sold 800,000 units to date, including 50,000 in South Korea.

In an effort to boost sales, Samsung has been bundling the Gear with its Note 3 phablet with a discount, and some retailers in the UK have gone even further and made the Gear free with contract and a Note purchase.

According to the report, Samsung now calls the Gear the "most sold wearable watch available in the marketplace," although the competition is not great with only Sony and Pebble as competitors.

Additionally, the company says it will continue to add Gear support to more of its devices, and offer more promotions for the holidays.




AfterDawn: News

IHS: Sony PlayStation 4 costs $381 to build

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Nov 2013 8:05

IHS: Sony PlayStation 4 costs $381 to build According to research firm IHS iSuppli, Sony may be eking out a small profit on PlayStation 4 hardware sales.

After performing a teardown and cost analysis on the new console, the company says the component and cost of assembly breaks down to about $381. The electronics giant sells the console for $399. The analysis does not include R&D, marketing and shipping costs, which more than likely could add up to $15 per console, leaving Sony with a tiny profit margin per hardware unit sold.

Most of the cost comes from the AMD-designed APU and the 8GB of GDDR5 RAM, which clock in at $100 and $88. The 500GB HDD cost $37, the Blu-ray drive cost $28 and the new Dualshock 4 controller costs $18.

This entire situation should be a relief to Sony, who took a bath on the PS3 for years before the manufacturing process got cheap enough for them to make a profit. At its launch, Sony sold the PS3 for $599 but it was coting them about $800 to build due to its proprietary Cell processor and the (at the time) brand new Blu-ray drive.




AfterDawn: News

Google settles over unauthorized tracking in Apple's Safari browser

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Nov 2013 12:25

Google settles over unauthorized tracking in Apple's Safari browser Google has settled today with 37 states (and D.C.) over allegations that it had used unauthorized cookies in Apple's Safari browser to collect data on millions of users from 2011 to 2012.

The search giant had been using a loophole that enabled their DoubleClick advertising network "to shadow unwitting Safari users, even though Apple prohibited the tracking without obtaining a person's permission." By following the Safari browsing habits, DoubleClick was able to target ads.

Last year, the FTC fined Google $22.5 million for the same violation, and Google has settled with the States for $17 million. The violations took place between June 2011 and February 2012.

Google, for their part, has said the "snooping" was an inadvertent side effect in their ongoing efforts to target ads better.

"We work hard to get privacy right at Google and have taken steps to remove the ad cookies, which collected no personal information, from Apple's browsers," the company added. "We're pleased to have worked with the state attorneys general to reach this agreement."

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Qualcomm's Toq smartwatch is here, priced at $350

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Nov 2013 11:31

Qualcomm's Toq smartwatch is here, priced at $350 Qualcomm has made their Toq smartwatch available, after announcing the wearable device in September.

Toq devices go on sale directly from the company on December 2nd, selling at $350 directly rivaling the Galaxy Gear.

The Android-based device uses the company's Mirasol low-energy display tech, which has struggled to catch on with other device makers. The tech will make reading the device in direct sunlight easier, and will make battery life significantly better than rival devices.

Qualcomm says the device will last five days per charge, compared to one day for the Galaxy Gear.

Users can connect to all Android 4.0.3 or higher devices to accept calls, read texts, notifications and reminders, as well as control music playback. Additionally, the device can pull stock quotes, weather and will feature different watch face designs.

For charging, you can "simply set the device down on its case to charge the Toq without the need for plugs or clunky cables" adds the company.




AfterDawn: News

Raspberry Pi hits 2 million units sold

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Nov 2013 10:26

Raspberry Pi hits 2 million units sold Ten months after announcing they had sold 500,000 units, the team behind the Raspberry Pi has confirmed that they have now reached 2 million sold as of the end of October.

The team says they had initially expected to reach the milestone by February of next year, so there was a "bit of a shock" when it was hit so early.

Raspberry Pi devices are mini-computer created by UK programmers that sell for $35. What makes the computer so impressive (besides its price tag) is the fact that it can play 1080p HD video with no issues. The devices are intended to promote the teaching of basic computer science in schools or at home. The company is looking to promote the Python programming language, alongside Basic and C among others.

For your $35 you get a 3.3-inch wide board with a 700 MHz ARM11, 256MB RAM, HDMI-out, SD card slot, a USB port, ethernet, audio jack and Broadcom VideoCore IV GPU.




AfterDawn: News

Did Apple buy 3D sensor maker PrimeSense for real this time?

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Nov 2013 4:38

Did Apple buy 3D sensor maker PrimeSense for real this time? For the second time this year, it has been reported that Apple has purchased Israeli startup PrimeSense.

The company created the technology behind the original Microsoft Kinect sensor and makes the 3D sensors allowing you to control devices through gestures.

Reportedly, the deal was for $345 million and will be announced officially before the end of the year.

PrimeSense released this statement when asked about the report: "PrimeSense is the leading 3D technology in the market. We are focused on building a prosperous company while bringing 3D sensing and Natural Interaction to the mass market in a variety of markets such as interactive living room and mobile devices. We do not comment on what any of our partners, customers or potential customers are doing and we do not relate to rumors or recycled rumors."

Back in July, the same outlet reported Apple had purchased the company for $300 million.




AfterDawn: News

Google Play Music finally arrives for iOS

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Nov 2013 3:33

Google Play Music finally arrives for iOS Google has finally made its Google Play Music app available for the iPhone.

At its core, the free download allows you to listen to any song you have saved to Google's cloud, up to 20,000 free of charge. You get to use Google's radio and instant mix features, while streaming at 320kbps (if your uploads were at that quality).

If you pay $10 per month, you get Google All Access. You can download or stream (on your desktop or mobile device) from Google's 20 million-strong catalog of music, similar to Spotify or Rdio. Using their own algorithms, Google will recommend tracks based on your listening history, and you can create as many ad-free stations as you want.

Additionally, as part of the app's "Explore" tab, you get to see playlists created by humans and not alogrithms, including starter playlists for over 200 genres.

The new app can connect to speakers and TVs via AirPlay and Bluetooth and is available in 20 countries.




AfterDawn: News

Sony PlayStation 4 reaches 1 million units sold in first day

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Nov 2013 2:57

Sony PlayStation 4 reaches 1 million units sold in first day Sony has noted this weekend that they sold over 1 million PlayStation 4 units in the console's first 24 hours of availability.

The console went on sale in the U.S. and Canada on November 15th.

"PS4 was designed with an unwavering commitment to gamers, and we are thrilled that consumer reaction has been so phenomenal," said Andrew House, President and Group CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. "Sales remain very strong in North America, and we expect continued enthusiasm as we launch the PlayStation 4 in Europe and Latin America on November 29. We are extremely grateful for the passion of PlayStation fans and thank them for their continued support."

Sony recently stated they are aiming to sell 5 million PS4 units by the end of their fiscal year, March 31.

The PS4 sells for $399 in the U.S.




AfterDawn: News

Guide and Review: The new CyanogenMod Installer

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Nov 2013 10:55

Guide and Review: The new CyanogenMod Installer In September, CyanogenMod, the popular custom Android developer became a real company, Cyanogen Inc., and raised $7 million in venture capital funding as it provided plans to become the third biggest operating system in the world behind Android and iOS.

Founder Steve Kondik admitted at the time that in its current state, installing CyanogenMod was not accessible to the average smartphone user, as rooting and flashing are not the most simple of processes, even for experienced Android owners.

To remedy the situation, Cyanogen Inc. began work on the CyanogenMod Installer, an app that walks you through the process of get your phone to the latest version of CyanogenMod. It requires a PC currently (OS X support coming soon) and there are only a handful of phones that can use it so far, but the eventual goal is to make it available to all Android handsets.

For this guide and review, I used an unlocked Google Nexus 4, running on stock Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. Read ahead for the process and initial thoughts on the operating system.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

FBI: 'Anonymous' has stolen sensitive data from U.S. government computers for the last year

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Nov 2013 9:27

FBI: 'Anonymous' has stolen sensitive data from U.S. government computers for the last year According to the FBI, Anonymous hackers have been stealing sensitive information from U.S. government computers are multiple agencies for a year now.

Exploiting a flaw in Adobe's ColdFusion software, the activist hackers entered the computers, left back doors, and returned multiple times to steal new information.

In their memo, the FBI called the attacks "a widespread problem that should be addressed" and claimed it affected the U.S. Army, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services and more. The FBI adds that it believes the attacks are still ongoing.

System administrators were given instructions on what to look for to see if their systems have been compromised.

One example, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz' chief of staff, Kevin Knobloch says the data stolen included personal information on 104,000 employees, contractors, family members and others associated with the Department of Energy. Even worse, over 2000 bank account details were stolen.

The attacks are related to the case of UK resident Lauri Love who was recently indicted for hacking US government agency computers.




AfterDawn: News

The MPAA releases report on best methods to prevent movie theater piracy

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Nov 2013 9:06

The MPAA releases report on best methods to prevent movie theater piracy The MPAA has released its annual "Best Practices to Prevent Film Theft" for movie theater owners, and as expected the trade group wants theaters to use extreme measures to avoid camera-based piracy.

"The MPAA recommends that theaters adopt a Zero Tolerance policy that prohibits the video or audio recording and the taking of photographs of any portion of a movie," the MPAA says in the report.

Thankfully, the MPAA has removed a paragraph from last year's edition in which they claimed the industry loses billions every year due to piracy as that figure has been generally debunked.

Now, if a suspect individual is spotted recording, the MPAA says movie theater employees should take immediate action and have the local police notified. "Theater managers should immediately alert law enforcement authorities whenever they suspect prohibited activity is taking place. Do not assume that a cell phone or digital camera is being used to take still photographs and not a full-length video recording. Let the proper authorities determine what laws may have been violated and what enforcement action should be taken."

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Sony: PlayStation 4 PSN problems have been mostly resolved

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Nov 2013 8:38

Sony: PlayStation 4 PSN problems have been mostly resolved Newly launched on Friday, the new Sony PlayStation 4 was hit with some early problems, most notably with the PlayStation Network (PSN) and with redeeming included vouchers for Sony Unlimited and PlayStation Plus.

According to Sony's official channels, most of those problems have been solved as of this afternoon.

The first issue was customers having issues just signing into PSN:

Read more...



  Newer entries Older entries  

News archive