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Saturday, June 11, 2016

Paypal is looking for the most creative and awesome ‪#‎PayPalFreelancer‬ workstations!

Paypal is looking for the most creative and awesome #PayPalFreelancer workstations!
Simply share a picture of your workstation, along with a short write-up on what makes it awesome,
and you stand a chance to win USD 200 from PayPal.

We'll be selecting 1 lucky winner each week from 1st June 2016 all the way through to 13th July 2016.

This round of submissions ends on Jun 15 (23:59h SGT) (GMT +8)
Previous week's winner will be announced on Jun 17 (18:00h SGT) (GMT +8).




Join Na!!
https://www.paypal-community.com/t5/Freelance-Workstation/ct-p/freelanceworkstation





Lenovo planning new AR, VR devices with Google's Project Tango after its new Phab2 Pro

Lenovo will build more virtual and augmented reality devices after its new Phab2 Pro smartphone, and virtual reality headsets may be high on that list.

Lenovo is already the world's top PC maker, and it is looking at new markets. The company has diversified into growth markets like enterprise computing, gaming, and now, virtual reality. Lenovo has already said it is building a range of AR and VR devices, many of which may carry vision computing chips from Movidius.

The Phab2 Pro, which was introduced on Thursday at the company's Tech World conference, closes the gap between 3D virtual and real worlds.

But the Phab2 Pro, which is based on Google's Project Tango visual computing platform, is just the start.

The company is planning more devices with Project Tango, Jeff Meredith, vice president and general manager of Android and Chrome Computing at Lenovo, said in an interview.


"It's important not to think of [Phab2 Pro] as a one-off product, but the first step in a longer-term plan," Meredith said. "We want to move it into different form factors in the future."

Virtual reality headsets are also a possibility, Meredith said. He didn't say whether the products would be related to Project Tango or other platforms like Google's DayDream or Windows Holographic.



Lenovo's initially backing Project Tango, but in the past has said it is open to building an AR headset similar to Microsoft's Hololens if there's demand for the product.

The company's goal is into make devices where use cases are pervasive, and can enrich the lives of users, Meredith said.



The $499 Phab2 Pro smartphone has a 6.4-inch screen and attempts to bring perspective and context to things that people see and experience every day.

Lenovo Phab 2 Pro - World's First Smartphone with Tango 




With the smartphone, users can measure distances, navigate indoors, or learn about objects within view. The  information is presented on the smartphone's screen. Users can also play AR games by superimposing virtual images on real-world backgrounds. Also, users could preview new room designs by overlaying images of furniture on a room in view.

There are many use cases for Project Tango devices in the enterprise, Meredith said. For example, field workers could do maintenance tasks by taking advantage of templates and guide posts. Companies can also simulate visual experiences in the medical and automotive fields.

Lenovo is also interested in opportunities to make VR devices based on Google's DayDream platform, which was announced at the I/O conference in May. The platform will be released later this year.

There are hardware and software differences between Tango, which is more for AR, and DayDream, which is for VR. For one, DayDream devices need top-line processors and are designed for use with headsets, while Tango devices don't have such requirements.

Companies like HTC, Samsung, LG, and Huawei are building smartphones on the DayDream platform, and Lenovo is not yet on that list.


Samsung to launch ONLINE EXCLUSIVE Galaxy On7 through Lazada! for only P8,990

For the first time in the Philippines, Samsung will be releasing an online exclusive smartphone which will be first launched in Lazada. The Samsung Galaxy On7 is a true bang-for-the-buck smartphone featuring an advanced 13MP camera with a 5MP front camera, a 5.5" HD display, a removable 3,000 mAH battery and a 1.5GB RAM. With a thickness of 8.2mm, this slim and sleek smartphone also features a wide selfie and a palm gesture function. This LTE Cat 4-capable device will be available starting June 15 and will come in gold.




For selfie junkies, taking self-portraits is made easier with this Samsung smartphone. You can easily record a palm gesture that you can use to trigger the shutter and capture your perfect moment with the 5MP front camera. Plus, get more people in the frame with a 120-degree Wide Selfie Mode. Access your 13MP rear camera faster by double tapping the home button from any screen.



For the full product specs, please see below:

Lazada will conduct an unboxing event on June 15, 2PM in our BGC NetPark Building office.

The Galaxy On7 will be available for only P8,990

View and Bookmark this Product Link : http://goo.gl/xEDB7s


Hacker hijacks @Deray by redirecting Two-factor authentication texts from his Verizon phone number

While everyone freaks out over millions of Twitter accounts passwords floating around, the hijacking of yet another high-profile account shows that hackers don't necessarily need your password. Activist and former mayoral candidate Deray Mckesson was the latest to have his account taken over, with an attacker deciding to claim Deray supports Donald Trump. According to Mckesson, this happened even though the hacker didn't have his password, and he had two-factor authentication turned on for his account. In this case, the hacker went a step further, by hijacking his phone number with the help of Verizon customer service.

As detailed in a series of tweets, this morning someone called Verizon posing as Mckesson and apparently armed with the last four digits of his social security number. This person changed the registered SIM on his account to one they controlled, redirecting and SMS to their phone instead of his. After that, they just triggered a password reset on Twitter and waited for the authorization code to come in.



While @Deray was able to recover his account with Twitter's help (it's good to be friends with @Jack), for the normal user it might not be as easy. Unfortunately, even with extra security in place like this, social engineering of various types can still put your information at risk. Hackers used a similar message to take control of developer Grant Blakeman's Instagram page in 2014, and accessed a Gmail account for the CEO of Cloudflare in 2012 by redirecting his AT&T voicemail. Wired writer Mat Honan had his accounts and devices taken over when a hacker convinced Amazon to give up the last four digits of his credit card number, then used that information to get a new password for his Apple iCloud account.


Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who had his Twitter and Pinterest accounts compromised on Sunday.

So what else can you do to protect yourself? Unfortunately, many services still use SMS or phone calls to perform the second bit of authentication (using a one-time password powered by apps like Google's Authenticator removes your phone number from the equation), and when it comes to telephone and cable providers they largely don't support two-factor at all. Instead, they by default will verify account info over the phone using the SSN, as seen in this case, which is all too easily found by hackers.



Buzzfeed points out a recommendation recently published by the FCC's CTO: The major mobile carriers will allow you to set your own password that's required for account access. Sprint requires a PIN at account setup, Verizon can set up a four-digit billing password, T-Mobile will set up a customer care password if you ask, and AT&T lets you set one up via its app. Your internet service provider probably has a similar option, but you may have to request it there also.

 

Source: Deray Mckesson (Twitter)


Twitter is experimenting with adding 'Moments' into user feeds

Twitter is testing adding Moments directly to your timeline. The feature that highlights trends and news items on the social network is appearing in a carousel post that can be swiped horizontally. While only an experiment right now, this early exploration of dropping into user feeds shows just how important the trending-topic element is to the company.

Both the iOS and the Android apps already have dedicated Moments buttons. By adding the feature to user feeds Twitter is hoping to get more traction out its curated topics. The company is continually adding features hoping to make the service more attractive to new users.



"Moments are awesome for catching up with the latest stories unfolding on Twitter. Because we're always working on new ways to bring the best content to our users, we're experimenting with showing recommended Moments in the timeline."

A small group of users in countries where Moments is already live (US, Canada, UK, Australia and Brazil), started seeing the test this afternoon on iOS and Android. 



The carousel of five topics appears similar to how 'While You Were Away" works. The "Recommended Moments" box can be dismissed with a tap and appears less frequently the more you're on Twitter. When a news item is tapped it expands to show you the event.

World's first child-sized exoskeleton for kids and it's designed to grow up alongside them

The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) introduces the world’s first infant exoskeleton which is designed to help children with spinal muscular atrophy, a degenerative illness which affects one in ten thousand babies in Spain. Weighing 12 kilos, the apparatus is made of aluminium and titanium, and is designed to help patients walk- in some cases for the first time. Furthermore, it will also be used in physiotherapy in hospitals to prevent the secondary effects associated with the loss of mobility in this illness. The technology, which has been patented and licensed jointly by CSIC (the Spanish National Research Council) and its technology-based business unit, Marsi Bionics, is currently in the preclinical phase.


Because SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy) causes a loss of motor neurons, the patient's body starts to wither away to the point where many child patients end up bedridden and unable to walk. Built from aluminum and titanium, the 26-pound machine uses five assistive motors in each leg to actually help the child keep active and avoid further complications from immobility.



Those leg motors include sensors to detect "the slightest intention of movement," and an onboard computer then follows the child's steps to create the smoothest mechanical gait possible. Because children are constantly growing and moving, the whole setup is designed with telescoping supports that get taller with the patient.

CSIC's "smart" approach is similar to the algorithm that SRI Ventures recently built into the Superflex soft exosuit, and with a little tweaking the algorithm could probably help extend the CISC suit's five-hour battery life. Finally, the CISC is currently testing the exoskeleton with three child volunteers in Madrid and Barcelona, but in the U.S., Harvard engineers have teamed up with ReWalk Robotics to test and eventually market a similar, soft exosuit designed for adults with limited mobility.

Source:
In this article: CSIC
http://www.csic.es/
En Twitter: https://twitter.com/CSIC
En Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CSIC/
En Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/csic/?hl=es


'Game of Thrones' star Kit Harington is villain in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

Kit Harington, the actor best known as the fearless, misunderstood warrior Jon Snow on Game of Thrones, plays a dastardly villain in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. He portrays the face of the Settlement Defense Front, a radical organization hellbent on destroying Earth. Even though no one in Game of Thrones is completely innocent, the Infinite Warfare gig is a far cry from Harington's regular role as a defender of humanity, Activision says.
"Kit is an amazing talent and the consummate pro," Infinity Ward narrative director Taylor Kurosaki says in a press release. "Our story is about an epic showdown of opposing forces, and Kit immersed himself into the role. ...We can't wait for fans to see Kit play an entirely different kind of character."

Activision and Infinity Ward, the game's developer, also worked with Snatch and Sherlock Holmes director Guy Ritchie in creating Harington's character. Ritchie previously crafted Surprise, a live-action trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. 



Check out a Facebook video of Harington in a motion-capture suit on the Infinite Warfare set right here.

Infinite Warfare hits PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on November 4th.

Source: Call of Duty

R.I.P to the old legacy Yahoo Messenger on August 5th

After more than 18 years of service, faithfully shuttling your messages, emojis and A/S/L requests back and forth across the internet, Yahoo has announced they will be signing off and closing its old Messenger app for good on August 5th. The app launched in 1998 under the incredibly dated name "Yahoo Pager," but is heading off into the software sunset after the company introduced a more modern version last year.



About four (4) Years ago Yahoo! have decided to discontinue several Yahoo! product features.




Yahoo! Messenger Public Chat Rooms - The Yahoo! Messenger Public Chat Rooms will close down on December 14, 2012.
Yahoo! Messenger Pingbox - As of December 14, 2012, Pingbox will no longer be available on Yahoo! Messenger. If you’ve installed Pingbox on your blog or social networks.




As VentureBeat points out, the old Messenger was popular with users in the Asia-Pacific region, and according to Bloomberg, the old Yahoo Messenger actually still had a weirdly strong following among oil traders who used the app to bid and gossip on commodities prices. Apparently those two groups aren't enough to keep supporting such a dinosaur of an app. In a blog post, Yahoo explained the shut down:



While today we provide basic interoperation between the legacy product and the new Messenger, we encourage all of our users to complete their transition to the new Yahoo Messenger as we will no longer support the legacy platform as of August 5, 2016. We intend to continue our focused efforts on the new Messenger, with a goal of delivering the best experience to our users.

After August 5th, anyone still using the legacy Messenger will no longer be able to log in or send messages. Same goes for messages sent through third-party apps built on top of Yahoo's API. The new Messenger, however, is still available on the App Store and Google Play.


Source: Yahoo Blog

 

Facebook CEO Zuckerberg's Twitter, Pinterest accounts compromised!

The hacker group from Saudi Arabia, dubbed OurMine, claimed responsibility for the hack and guess how the group did it?

The man who runs the biggest social network and continuously implements new security measures to boost its billion users security, himself failed to follow basics of Internet security.

Yes, I’m talking about Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who had his Twitter and Pinterest accounts compromised on Sunday.

The hackers tweeted that they found Zuck's account credentials in the recent LinkedIn data breach, from which they took his SHA1-hashed password string and then broke it and tried on several social media accounts. 


Troy Hunt, an independent researcher who operates "Have I Been Pwned?" site, reached out to a number of the victims who confirmed to Hunt that the leaked credentials were legitimate. 


Since the passwords have been initially encrypted with the SHA1 algorithm, with "no salt," it just took 'LeakedSource', the paid search engine for hacked data, 72 hours to crack roughly 90% of the passwords.

The group, which has more than 40,000 Twitter followers, then successfully broke into Zuck's Twitter (@finkd) and Pinterest profile and defaced its banners with its logo as well as tweeted out some offensive posts.


Mr. Zuckerberg has not sent a tweet from the account since 2012.
Now, what’s more surprising?
Zuckerberg's LinkedIn password was "dadada", which he also used for his other online accounts, the group tweeted.

So, this might be another alarm for those who haven’t yet changed passwords for their LinkedIn as well as other online accounts that used the same credentials.
In tweets now deleted, the group also claimed to have gained accessed to Zuck’s Instagram account, but Facebook confirmed that the group did not access his Instagram account.


Anyway check your email if you are also pwned!! Change password immediately!!
visit : https://haveibeenpwned.com/






Twitter locks 'millions' of accounts with leaked passwords

While Twitter maintains that its servers have not been hacked, the company now says it has "cross-checked" the account data noted by LeakedSource and is taking pre-emptive measures. Particularly notable in light of hacks that have recently affected accounts from Katy Perry to Mark Zuckerberg to the NFL, the social network said it has identified a number of accounts for extra protection. No matter where the information came from, whether via malware or shared passwords revealed in hacks of other services, any accounts with "direct password exposure" have been locked (similar to pre-emptive moves Netflix and others are using when they see account details floating around), and emails were sent to the owner prompting for a password reset.

Account security is a top priority at Twitter. Over the past days and weeks we’ve responded to several issues, including reports of leaked Twitter @names and passwords as well as potential collateral damage from the numerous breaches of other websites. I’d like to share more information about how we protect your account, and the challenges all websites face whenever another website is breached.


There's no word on exactly how many accounts in the database checked out, but Twitter told the Wall Street Journal that "millions" of accounts have been notified. If your account is vulnerable then you should've already been notified; so if your inbox is empty and you can still sign in then you don't have anything (more than usual) to worry about. Still, it's always a good time to reset your password just in case, use unique passwords on every account (a password manager like 1Password or LastPass can be helpful) and enable two-factor authentication wherever available.




Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who had his Twitter and Pinterest accounts compromised on Sunday. The hackers tweeted that they found Zuck's account credentials in the recent LinkedIn data breach, from which they took his SHA1-hashed password string and then broke it and tried on several social media accounts.
 


Source: Twitter Blog


 

Friday, June 10, 2016

Philips camera can monitors baby vitals from afar

Philips has revealed a camera that can detect all those things from afar, without touching the patient. The fruit of the companies contactless monitoring project, it can get a pulse rate, breathing rate and blood oxygen level by detecting changes in skin color that are invisible to the naked eye.

Monitoring breathing and heartbeat (even through walls) isn't new, but Philips says it knows of no other studies focused on remote blood oxygen monitoring.


The results are accurate to within two percent of traditional measuring methods, according to Philips, though it depends on several factors including the patient's skin color. "For patient populations with specific conditions, managing their care in a less intrusive way is critical in order to avoid unnecessary distress," says Philips Patient Care CEO Carla Kriwet. So far, the company hasn't revealed any plans for a product, but calls the results "promising" for the future of contactless monitoring.


Example of contactless monitoring in action:


Philips proprietary camera based monitoring technology is first in the world to measure absolute arterial blood oxygenation (SpO2) levels without ever touching the patient.

Source: Philips


The carbon capture technique turns a power plant's CO2 emissions into rock

Apparently, pumping carbon dioxide into volcanic basalts is a pretty effective carbon capture technique. Back in 2012, scientists began an experiment in Iceland called the CarbFix Project. Since then, they've been injecting tons of carbon dioxide waste from a geothermal plant in the country into basaltic rock 1,600 feet underground. According to results they've recently published in Science, 95 percent of the gas they store underground turn into solid carbonate minerals within only two years. Even better, the team doesn't have to turn the gas into liquid first.

Other carbon capture techniques require turning CO2 into liquid, which uses up energy. The scientists only have to mix the gas with water for this method, creating some sort of a bubbly, soda mixture. They found that the mixture ends up forming chalky veins in the porous rocks. The CarbFix project already stores 5,000 tons of carbon dioxide underground per year, and it only takes $30 to capture one ton of CO2 as opposed to $65 to a $100 convential techniques cost per ton. However, it's still not the ultimate answer to climate change.




As Wired notes, the amount of carbon dioxide geothermal plants emit can't even compare to the amount coal plants generate. Coal plants would need vast lands with basaltic rock, and other places just don't have Iceland's geology. Further, other basalts might not work as well as the country's highly weathered rocks. While the team could pump carbon dioxide into the ocean floor, we still need to think of ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to continue developing renewable energy technology.


Source: Wired, Smithsonian, Science, MIT


MRT riders to get free 30 minutes a day internet surfing soon - Partnership between Globe Telecom and DOTC

Long queues at the congested Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) may soon become more bearable with commuters having access to 30 minutes of free internet per day.

Under a recently forged partnership between Globe Telecom and the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), the Zobel family-led telco has installed infrastructure at MRT stations to increase its coverage in Metro Manila.

In a statement on Thursday, Globe said its internet service would be accessible at MRT stations and onboard trains free of charge for 30 minutes a day. Beyond that, however, customers will have to pay if they want to continue accessing the service.

Communities surrounding the 13 MRT stations of the 17-kilometer railway line from North Avenue to Taft Avenue also stand to benefit from the arrangement, Globe said.



Details on how the internet service can be accessed will soon be made available.

The MRT-3 is the busiest railway line in the country, serving over half a million passengers per day. Telcos are also eyeing similar services for the Light Rail Transit Lines 1 and 2.

“With the support of government agencies such as the operators of the MRT Line 3, we hope to change the experience of our customers in high foot traffic areas and strategic locations such as public transport systems,” Joel Agustin, Globe senior vice president for program governance, network technical group, said in the statement.

Globe signed a memorandum of understanding with Metro Railway Transit, an attached agency of the DOTC, allowing it to deploy wireless internet infrastructure in all MRT stations

The broader goal was to help address challenges affecting mobile signals on Edsa especially during rush hour.

“The additional capacity brought by the macro sites and small cells deployment will help decongest peripheral areas around the train stations, providing improved mobile experience to customers,” Globe said.

This year, the telco set aside $750 million for capital spending, the bulk of which will be used to boost data capacity and expand network reach.

Globe also launched early this year an initiative of creating an internet superhighway by deploying fiber optic cables to 20,000 barangays nationwide to provide faster and more reliable internet access in about two million homes.

The infrastructure build is expected to take five years and will extend network coverage to more areas that currently have no connection or suffer from spotty service.



Source : inquirer.net




A Facebook “Lockdown” when Google was preparing to launch their Google Plus

A new book written by a former Facebook employee tells us an untold story from the time when Google was preparing to launch their Google Plus social network. Some excerpts from the book have been published by Vanity Fair.

Antonio Garcia-Martinez is an ex-Facebook employee all set to the uncover his new book Chaos Monkeys: Inside the Silicon Valley money machine

“In June 2011, Google launched an obvious Facebook copy called Google Plus. Obnoxiously wired into other Google products like Gmail and YouTube, it was meant to join all users of Google services into one online identity, much as Facebook did for the Internet as a whole” — Antonio Garcia-Martinez penned down.
Google’s hard work and determination to make it big this time shook Zuckerberg’s confidence, whose company Facebook was controlling almost all of our social lives by that time.

“Given you had a Google Plus sign-up button practically everywhere in your Google user experience, the possibility of its network growing exponentially was very real indeed”. Antonio wrote that Google Plus offered a better photo sharing tool than Facebook and it was in some ways, better than Facebook.

A “lockdown” process was initiated by Zuckerberg as soon as news about the launch of Google Plus was omnipresent in the air at the Facebook headquarter.



“We received an e-mail at 1:45 P.M. the day Google Plus launched, instructing us to gather around the Aquarium, the glass-walled cube that was Zuck’s throne room. Actually, it technically instructed us to gather around the Lockdown sign. This was a neon sign bolted to the upper reaches of the Aquarium, above the cube of glass, almost like the NO VACANCY sign on a highway motel. By the time the company had gathered itself around, that sign was illuminated, tipping us off to what was coming.”

Mark’s speech, delivered like “some poor employee undergoing a withering product review”, was a hint towards a possible head-on with the new lion in the jungle. The main focus of the talk was that the user experience, site performance and the bar of reliability would have to be raised. Clearly, Facebook did succeed and most of us have a Plus profile only because we have a Google account. Google Plus just exists, it doesn’t control our lives much like Facebook does.


You can take a look at the excerpts published by Vanity Fair.


Facebook starting to roll out 360 photos worldwide across Facebook

In a post by Mark Zuckerberg today Facebook starting to roll out 360 photos worldwide across Facebook.

These are similar to 360 videos -- you can tilt your phone and feel like you're actually there. You can also check them out in virtual reality for a fully immersive experience. ( Your Phone must have Gyro sensor )


The big difference with 360 photos is you can take them with your phone. Just take a panorama or use a 360 camera app, then post it to Facebook and we'll take care of the rest.


This is a 360 photo of Manhattan taken from the top of One World Trade Center by Michael Franz and Jonathan D. Woods for TIME. It's a great shot of a great city.





Virtual reality has already proven its appeal among consumers and is now revealing its potential for enterprise. Virtual reality also has huge potential in the business world for architecture, visualization and design, among other applications.

Last year Facebook is shipped the first consumer virtual reality product - Samsung Gear VR, a mobile VR headset powered by Oculus.




Smart Communications Inc. fired up the first three cell site supporting the 700MHz frequency (4G Extended)

Smart Communications Inc. fired up the first three long-term evolution cell sites using the 700-megahertz spectrum (4G Extended), following its co-acquisition of the telecommunication company of San Miguel Corp.

In a post by its external relations team on Facebook, a speed test using a cell site in Tanay, Rizal Speed tests showed a whopping 222mbps. 


This comes after the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) last week approved Smart to use the frequencies 720.5 to 738 and 775.5 to 793 MHz. 



Earlier this week, its competitor Globe also fired up its first 700MHz cell site, registering 100Mbps speed. Last week, the NTC approved for Globe's use the frequencies 703 to 720.5 and 758 to 775.5 MHz. 


PLDT Inc. (Smart's parent company), and Globe Telecom Inc. last Monday executed a sale and purchase agreement to buy out SMC from Vega Telecom Inc. — along with prized radio frequencies — for P69.1 billion.


Now what is 700MHz ?

The 4G spectrum at 700MHz called 4G Extended. This provides better coverage in rural locations and is more effective at penetrating walls and buildings. The 700MHz spectrum used to be reserved for free-to-air TV (specifically UHF channels 52 through 69), the old analogue network that’s now been shut down and as such has been relicensed to us to use on mobile networks.

 Learn more about 700MHz  read Here

Set a Meeting in VR HTC Vive Business Edition for $1,200

HTC has just made a surprising reveal of a new version of a business version of its Vive VR headset. It's called the Vive Business Edition (BE), and you basically get the same headset and accessories (two Vive controllers, two base stations and four face cushions) as consumers. However, business buyers also get a dedicated customer support line and the option to buy more than one headset (right now, consumers sales are limited to a single device). For all that, you'll pay $1,200 in the US, or £849 in the UK and €1,080 in Europe -- a significant premium to the $799 consumer price.

HTC recently launched the Vive X fund to help companies build VR apps for the device. Virtual reality also has huge potential in the business world for architecture, visualization and design, among other applications. As an example, it cited partner Dassault, which has developed software to help companies design and collaborate in a VR environment.




After strong initial sales, you can now get a regular Vive pretty soon after you order it -- a sign that consumer demand may have waned. While $799 is a big ask for you or me, $1,200 isn't a big deal for many companies, so HTC obviously wants to tap that market. "Virtual reality has already proven its appeal among consumers and is now revealing its potential for enterprise, says VP Daniel O'Brien. "We are answering the overwhelming demand from global industries for a complete VR experience."


headset and accessories Two Vive controllers, two base stations and four face cushions
 
As such, HTC is offering a commercial license and limited 12-month guarantee as part of the Vive BE package (the consumer guarantee is limited to non-commercial applications). The Vive BE is launching this month in the US, Canada, UK, Germany and France, and will arrive elsewhere "in the coming weeks."



Google parent company Alphabet is exploring gigabit high-speed Wi-Fi technology to connect to homes

Alphabet has been experimenting with millimeter wave broadcasts since at least 2014, but Schmidt's comments come just months after new plans from Google's competitors to develop similar technology.

Google parent company Alphabet is actively exploring gigabit Wi-Fi technology, Chairman Eric Schmidt said on a shareholder call this week. Also known as millimeter wave technology, the system would serve as a replacement for otherwise expensive infrastructure connecting Google Fiber to individual homes and businesses, a process Schmidt described as "cheaper than digging up your garden." Schmidt said he met with Larry Page and Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat on Tuesday to discuss the technology. 



Facebook plans to deploy a test version of its Terragraph Wi-Fi system in San Jose later this year, run out of the company's connectivity lab. The Starry Wi-Fi system uses similar technology, although its business model differs significantly from Terragraph.




This means millimeter waves are longer than infrared waves or x-rays (sample airport body scanner or conver X-ray scanner), for example, but shorter than radio waves or microwaves. The millimeter-wave region of the electromagnetic spectrum corresponds to radio band frequencies of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and is sometimes called the Extremely High Frequency (EHF) range.




Because of their high frequency, millimeter wave signals can carry far more information than a conventional Wi-Fi signal, but they're also more easily absorbed by walls and even atmospheric moisture. As a result, most systems use the technology as a replacement for last-mile fiber between buildings and nearby hubs, often the most expensive part of a traditional fiber network. While the underlying technology is still experimental, it could have significant benefits for Google Fiber, which recently announced plans to expand to San Francisco.


source: The Wall Street Journal




Thursday, June 09, 2016

Chrome 51 on Android No more Chrome tabs mixed up with apps

Now that Google has officially released Chrome 51 on Android, it's reversed a change that came with Lollipop in 2014. That release of Android brought in the option to "Merge tabs and apps" which put open tabs in the app switcher instead of all in one process and was on by default. The only problem was that we disliked it from the start, and so did many others, who quickly disabled it.

You won't see Chrome tabs mixed up with apps like this anymore.

Now the option is gone altogether, and the old tab selecting option is back by default. As we noted in our Lollipop review, it's just an easier way to keep track of tabs, and also makes it easier to scroll through any recently opened apps. If you don't have the new version already, check Google Play for an update.



LastPass - First password manager extension on Microsoft Edge

Hey Windows 10 users, Microsoft is getting closer to releasing its big Windows 10 update this summer, but Windows Insider beta testers with the latest build have a new element to try out today. That's because LastPass has officially released its first browser extension for Edge (after it leaked out temporarily a week ago), saying it's the first password manager extension on the platform. Support for extensions is necessary if Edge will try to snag users from the Chrome or Firefox browsers they're used to, and after AdBlock, password management is a big one.


Using a password manager makes it easy to create and access unique passwords for all of your accounts and avoid a Zuckerberg-type situation or password reset emails from Netflix. According to LastPass, the Edge extension should have all the usual features users expect, with the ability to autofill login information, generate random passwords, and check their vault for duplicates. If you're not in the test program, you'll have to wait a little longer for extensions to arrive on Edge, but password managers like LastPass, 1Password and more are widely available across other browsers and mobile platforms if you want to try them out now. 

How to get it
LastPass for Edge is currently available for members of the Windows Insider Program, an opt-in program that allows Windows enthusiasts to secure early access to the Microsoft operating systems, hardware, and PC builds. The extension will be widely available to Edge users later this year.


 
If you’re already a part of the program, you can download it from the Microsoft store here: http://lastpass.tech/6002BsTdo
If you’re interested in joining so that you can get the LastPass extension for Edge, head to https://insider.windows.com/ to sign up.



source: blog.lastpass.com