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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...


AfterDawn: News

BitTorrent: Netflix is hogging all the bandwidth in the U.S. and it's not right

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Nov 2013 8:32

BitTorrent: Netflix is hogging all the bandwidth in the U.S. and it's not right BitTorrent, the company that created the P2P protocol, says reports that Netflix is responsible for just about a third of U.S. peak time download traffic is nothing to be proud of, as it is inefficient and hurts ISPs.

Sandvine published the report earlier this year, showing Netflix being responsible for 31 percent of peak download traffic, with YouTube taking another 18 percent. BitTorrent, by comparison, was at just 4 percent. Of course, BitTorrent controlled a much bigger share of upload traffic, due to the fact that all files being downloaded via BitTorrent must be shared by another peer.

"Netflix is hogging all of the bandwidth in North America," BitTorrent's vice president of marketing, Matt Mason (via Guardian). "This is a problem for Netflix. They're talking about [the super-high-definition TV format] 4K, but they're crushing the network already; if they deliver 4K they're going to completely grind it to a halt. All the ISPs are pissed at Netflix, because this is an unsustainable situation.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

London will have its own domain name by next year

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Nov 2013 8:04

London will have its own domain name by next year Officials in London have confirmed that the city will become one of the first in the world to get its own domain name, ".london," sometime in 2014.

Internet overseer ICANN has approved the city for its own top level domain.

London-based businesses, organizations and individuals can begin applying for web addresses starting in the spring, and at least thirty thousand businesses have already expressed interest.

"Adopting the .london suffix will enable organisations to more closely associate themselves with our great city's powerful global brand," says mayor Boris Johnson. "This is also an excellent opportunity to expand London's digital presence, which in turn is set to generate funds to invest back into the city."

While there is expected to be squatters, ICANN will offer a trademark claims service to prevent third parties from sitting on new domains in your name.




AfterDawn: News

'Anonymous' hacker Jeremy Hammond gets 10 year sentence

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Nov 2013 7:44

'Anonymous' hacker Jeremy Hammond gets 10 year sentence Jeremy Hammond, the infamous Anonymous hacktivist that pleaded guilty to hacking into private intelligence firm Stratfor and then releasing millions of private emails, has been sentenced to ten years in prison for his crime.

In addition, Hammond will see another three years of supervised release.

The hacktivist pleaded guilty to one count under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), and was sentenced to the maximum time of ten years.

Calling the extremely lengthy prison sentence a "vengeful, spiteful act," Hammond says the government made an example of him to stop the rise of political-based hacking.

Speaking of his prosecutors, Hammond says "they have made it clear they are trying to send a message to others who come after me. A lot of it is because they got slapped around, they were embarrassed by Anonymous and they feel that they need to save face."

During his time with Anonymous, Hammond often worked with Hector Xavier "Sabu" Monsegur, the leader of Lulzsec and also secretly an FBI informant. Sabu provided the targets, and Hammond and others did the dirty work. "It is kind of funny that here they are sentencing me for hacking Stratfor, but at the same time as I was doing that an FBI informant was suggesting to me foreign targets to hit. So you have to wonder how much they really care about protecting the security of websites."

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Google aims to dominate low-end market with new Moto G, priced at $179 off-contract

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Nov 2013 2:27

Google aims to dominate low-end market with new Moto G, priced at $179 off-contract Earlier this week, Google took the wrapping off its Moto G device, an entry-level smartphone that the company hopes will help it dominate the low-cost market.

Google has priced that device at $179 off-contract and unlocked, making it easily one of the best deals for an Android phone, ever. Google says carrier partners will sell it for much less, with the potential for the device to sell for $49 or less.

For your money, you get a 4.5-inch 720p LCD TFT display, a quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB internal storage and dual cameras, 1.3MP/5MP. On the design side, the Moto G looks just like its more powerful and expensive brother, the Moto X with some minor cosmetic differences.

You cannot use the Moto Maker customization site for the Moto G, but the backplate is removable and blue, teal, red, yellow, purple, white, and black covers are available at launch. Additionally, there are rugged versions and flip-style portfolio covers. Although you can take off the cover, the battery is non-removable.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

RAM going DDR4 starting next month

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Nov 2013 1:43

RAM going DDR4 starting next month According to major memory maker Crucial, DDR4 RAM will be available starting next month.

The company provided a comparison to DDR3, and the new memory will use only 1.2Volts, while moving to double the speed of DDR3 Memory. DDR4 will have a base speed of 2133MHz, and 4GB will be the smallest density.

DDR4 will be 100 percent faster than its predecessor, have 300 percent more density, and require 20 percent less voltage. Finally, a smaller die will allow for more memory per RAM and up to 16GB per stick.

It is important to note that DDR4 has a different architecture, so if you are in the market you will need a motherboard that can handle it.




AfterDawn: News

Baidu hit with major piracy lawsuit

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Nov 2013 1:07

Baidu hit with major piracy lawsuit A group of Chinese companies including major video hosts Youku, Sohu and Tencent's v.qq.com have joined together for a $48.9 million lawsuit against market leading search engine Baidu.

Baidu currently feeds content to its mobile video services, Baidu Yingyin, Baidu Video App, and Baidu TV Stick. However, the video search also leads users to places where they can download copyrighted material.

"We cannot keep competing because where thieves and robbers are having their way, law-abiding companies cannot survive," Sohu chairman Charles Zhang recently noted.

Baidu has blocked videos in the past and also paid licensing fees to music content producers, but it appears that has not been enough. Lawyers in the nation suggested many more lawsuits were coming.

As expected, the MPA praised the announcement of the lawsuit.




AfterDawn: News

Report: Google rebuffed after offering $4 billion for Snapchat

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Nov 2013 12:30

Report: Google rebuffed after offering $4 billion for Snapchat Just days after it was revealed that Facebook tried to buy popular mobile app Snapchat for $3 billion and was turned down, it appears that Google tried make a similar offer, to no avail.

The reports say Google offered $4 billion in cash, but the search giant was also rebuffed.

It appears that Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel believes the company's growth is so exponential that it is worth more than $4 billion in the future. Spiegel had originally looked to Google for "a strategic investment" in the app.

Google would have left the app as a standalone, the same way Facebook did with Instagram after purchasing it for over $1 billion last year.

Snapchat is currently in a funding round that would value the company at around $3.8 billion.




AfterDawn: News

iOS update 7.0.4 now available with FaceTime bug fix

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 15 Nov 2013 6:18

iOS update 7.0.4 now available with FaceTime bug fix Apple has released iOS 7.0.4 today, bringing "bug fixes and improvements" but no new features.

Most notably, the patch eliminates a FaceTime bug that caused calls to repeatedly fail for some users.

The small update is 17MB, but Apple's downloader says you need 765MB of free storage before you can download it.

You can read more about the update here: Apple Support





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