Google's partnering with Samsung and others for new educational devices this spring

Google began its play for the education market late last year with a student-oriented version of the Play Store. Since then, partners of the Google for Education program have provided their classes with learning software and tools on select Chromebooks and Android-based tablets. Today, Mountain View announced two new devices headed for that very lineup this spring: Lenovo's ThinkPad 11e series and the Toshiba Chromebook, starting at $349 and $299 (respectively). Samsung's also on board with a classroom-ready edition of its Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 set to launch this April.

And what's the best way to complement that influx of hardware? Google thinks it's by adding thousands of K-12 books to Google Play for Education, including popular titles like Bridge to Terabithia and Lord of the Flies. The plethora of digital reads are available for affordable access periods (60, 180 or 360 days) to a few select schools as early as today, but arrive for the rest in the coming weeks.

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Google and Samsung may finally agree on what Android should look like

Samsung may be planning to cut back on its oft-criticized Android customizations. A new report from Recode claims that the company recently met with Google to begin working out an agreement that could see Samsung's software move closer to Google's vision of Android. Discussions reportedly began after Samsung unveiled its Galaxy TabPro at CES. Google executives were apparently so displeased with the major changes in the tablet's Magazine UX — which has been compared to Flipboard and Windows 8 — that they felt compelled to open a dialogue with the number one Android manufacturer.

It's unclear what the exact outcome of those talks will be, but Recode's sources say Samsung may consider dumping Magazine UX entirely in future hardware. It may also put a greater spotlight on Google's own applications rather than pushing in-house apps like ChatON on its customers.

A source told Recode that the Samsung / Google relationship has gone through "a huge change, a sea change in the last few weeks." On Sunday, the two companies announced a broad patent cross-licensing deal that will see them share key intellectual property — another indication of an improved relationship. We've reached out to Samsung for comment.

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Smartwatch from Asus, loaded with 'special features', to launch in second half of the year

According to Asus chairman Jonny Shih, the tech manufacturer is planning on adding its contribution to the smartwatch market, by releasing its own timepiece during the second half of this year. Shih hinted that the timepiece will be full of special features when he said that watches without such content are useless. "We'll try to replace your watch by all means," said the executive.

The Asus smartwatch will reach consumers this year, promised Shih. The company told investors last November that it would be presenting a wearable device at this June's Computex show in Taipei. More intriguing is the story recently leaked by an Asus insider. The anonymous source said that the company would be releasing a "distinctive" wearable device in the second half of 2014 that will be different than anything else produced by the competition, and could be worn as a necklace.


"There are actually many challenges in this area, and I don't think products that lack special features will be useful. We'll try to replace your watch by all means."-Jonny Shih, chairman, Asus
source: FocusTaiwan via Pocketlint

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Google's partnering with Samsung and others for new educational devices this spring

Google began its play for the education market late last year with a student-oriented version of the Play Store. Since then, partners of the Google for Education program have provided their classes with learning software and tools on select Chromebooks and Android-based tablets. Today, Mountain View announced two new devices headed for that very lineup this spring: Lenovo's ThinkPad 11e series and the Toshiba Chromebook, starting at $349 and $299 (respectively). Samsung's also on board with a classroom-ready edition of its Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 set to launch this April.

And what's the best way to complement that influx of hardware? Google thinks it's by adding thousands of K-12 books to Google Play for Education, including popular titles like Bridge to Terabithia and Lord of the Flies. The plethora of digital reads are available for affordable access periods (60, 180 or 360 days) to a few select schools as early as today, but arrive for the rest in the coming weeks.

Read More »

Google and Samsung may finally agree on what Android should look like

Samsung may be planning to cut back on its oft-criticized Android customizations. A new report from Recode claims that the company recently met with Google to begin working out an agreement that could see Samsung's software move closer to Google's vision of Android. Discussions reportedly began after Samsung unveiled its Galaxy TabPro at CES. Google executives were apparently so displeased with the major changes in the tablet's Magazine UX — which has been compared to Flipboard and Windows 8 — that they felt compelled to open a dialogue with the number one Android manufacturer.

It's unclear what the exact outcome of those talks will be, but Recode's sources say Samsung may consider dumping Magazine UX entirely in future hardware. It may also put a greater spotlight on Google's own applications rather than pushing in-house apps like ChatON on its customers.

A source told Recode that the Samsung / Google relationship has gone through "a huge change, a sea change in the last few weeks." On Sunday, the two companies announced a broad patent cross-licensing deal that will see them share key intellectual property — another indication of an improved relationship. We've reached out to Samsung for comment.

Read More »

Smartwatch from Asus, loaded with 'special features', to launch in second half of the year

According to Asus chairman Jonny Shih, the tech manufacturer is planning on adding its contribution to the smartwatch market, by releasing its own timepiece during the second half of this year. Shih hinted that the timepiece will be full of special features when he said that watches without such content are useless. "We'll try to replace your watch by all means," said the executive.

The Asus smartwatch will reach consumers this year, promised Shih. The company told investors last November that it would be presenting a wearable device at this June's Computex show in Taipei. More intriguing is the story recently leaked by an Asus insider. The anonymous source said that the company would be releasing a "distinctive" wearable device in the second half of 2014 that will be different than anything else produced by the competition, and could be worn as a necklace.


"There are actually many challenges in this area, and I don't think products that lack special features will be useful. We'll try to replace your watch by all means."-Jonny Shih, chairman, Asus
source: FocusTaiwan via Pocketlint

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Olympus launches 50x superzoom with unique 'Eagle-Eye' gun sight

Not only has Olympus unveiled the Stylus SP-100 with a whopping 50x optical zoom lens, it's tackled one of the biggest issues in using such cameras: losing a moving subject. The new model is equipped with what the company calls its "eagle-eye" dot-sight located just above the viewfinder, which projects a target onto a semi-transparent mirror below the flash, as shown in the photo after the break. That way, you can keep a bead on your photographic prey (the tech is also used on gun-sights) without needing to zoom out, which could make the difference between nailing or losing a shot. The rest of the specs include a 1/2.3-inch 16-megapixel CMOS sensor with a TruePic VII processor, 7fps burst speed with a small 6 frame buffer, a 24-1200 (50mm equivalent) f/2.9-6.5 lens, a 3-inch, 460K-dot LCD, 920K-dot EVF and 1080/60p Full HD video. It'll arrive in March for $400 or so and while it might not be the biggest superzoom out there, at least you may actually catch Junior's winning goal.




SOURCE: Olympus

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Twitter user claims user name worth $50k was stolen with help from PayPal and GoDaddy

A twitter user was recently extorted into giving up his twitter user name. It would be bad enough giving up your established twitter user name, but this one was worth $50,000. The user claims to have been offered $50,000 for the username in the past. The twitter user name was @N.

People apparently tried to steal the user name all the time, short twitter handles are coveted it seems. The twitter handle was stolen via extortion from the rightful owner thanks to information released by GoDaddy and PayPal. The twitter user says that he received a text from PayPal that someone tried to change his password and then an email from GoDaddy the same day.

He had ignored the PayPal text, but the GoDaddy message was a confirmation of an account change. He was unable to log into his GoDaddy account to change the information back because the last six digits of the credit card on file had already been changed leaving him no way to prove he was the real owner of the account.

Once the stage was set, the hacker contacted @N and told him it was the Twitter account that he wanted. The deal was that the hacker would leave the website data on the GoDaddy servers alone if @N would allow the hacker to take over the twitter account. Oddly, the hacker offered to help the target secure his accounts after the fact.

The hacker say that he was able to get the last four digits of the credit card used for the GoDaddy account by using "very simple engineering tactics" on PayPal to get the last four digits of the card. He then called GoDaddy and told them he lost the card, but remembered the last four digits. The hacker says that GoDaddy allowed him to guess until he got the first two digits of the card correct. Whether or not @N will ever get his coveted twitter name back remains to be seen, but seems unlikely.

SOURCE: Medium.com

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GammaTech S15H semi-rugged 15.6-inch notebook sports Intel Haswell

Rugged and semi-rugged notebook computers are intended for people that work in environments where a normal notebook wouldn’t last. A company called GammaTech has added a new 15.6-inch semi-rugged notebook computer to its line up called the S15H. The machine has a 15.6-inch full HD display.


The native resolution of the screen is 1920 x 1080 and it is LED backlit. The S15H has a choice of several Intel Core M Haswell processors to choose from. The notebook computer has USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports. To make the machine rugged, it replaces a traditional plastic case with magnesium alloy.

That magnesium alloy case promises to be 20 times stronger than normal ABS plastic. The machine has been tested to Military Standard 810G for drop and shock resistance. The keyboard and other buttons on the notebook are spill resistant as well.

To give extra protection to the storage drives, the machine uses a flexible HDD cage that can absorb shock from drops. The screen also has anti-shock mount tech to protect it from damage. The notebook will use the Intel HM86 chipset and up to 16GB of RAM. Other features include WiFi, Ethernet port, Bluetooth 2.1, and an optional 3G modem. Pricing is unannounced at this time, but the machine will be available in Q1 2014.

SOURCE: Yahoo

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Apple's A8 may integrate DRAM into the chipset

The next round of Apple devices isn't expected to hit the market until September, but that means Apple has to finish up designing the chip and sorting out the orders for the companies that will produce and package the chips. A new report makes it sound like Apple may be attempting to bring the upcoming A8 closer to being a true "system-on-a-chip" (SoC).

The A7 SoC included the CPU, GPU, cache, image processor, and "secure enclave" to store TouchID data, and moved the accelerometer, gyroscope, and compass processing to the M7 motion coprocessor. Presumably, there will be an M8 motion coprocessor, but word has it that in addition to everything you'd find on the A7, the A8 will also include the DRAM for the device.
The same report from DigiTimes says that Apple has chosen Amkor Technology and STATS ChipPAC to each package 40% of the A8 orders with Advanced Semiconductor Engineering taking the last 20% of the packaging orders. Interestingly, the report closes by saying that "TSMC reportedly will start ramping up production using 20nm process technology for Apple's A8 chip in the second quarter of 2014." The interesting thing there is that the wording doesn't say that the A8 will begin production in Q2, but that TSMC will ramp up production using the same 20nm process. That could just be odd wording from DigiTimes, because it would make sense that the A8 ramps up production in Q2 so the devices can be built in time for a late Q3 release.


source: DigiTimes

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PlayStation 4 tipped to emulate PS1 and PS2 titles

Every new console generation brings up questions about backward compatibility with previous, and sometimes more well-loved, games. Tough nothing official has been disclosed, sources close to the matter have revealed that the latest PlayStation 4 will practically support titles from the PlayStation 1 and PlayStation 2 via hardware emulation.

It might surprise some to know that Sony has actually had a history of supporting older games, though that history hasn't exactly been consistent nor desirable. In particular, the PlayStation 3 firmware actually supported hardware emulation for PS1 and PS2 as well as PSP. The PS Vita, on the other, used the same technology for running PS1 games as well.

Unfortunately, Sony has phased out hardware emulation and transitioned over to software emulation, in cases where it didn't actually scrap support for playing older games. The PlayStation 4 has already been reported to soon play PlayStation 3 games, but that will be through the newly unveiled PlayStation Now streaming service.

Sony surprisingly won't be taking the same route for PS1 and PS2 games. Instead, those titles will run locally via hardware emulation once again. There is even talk that Sony is pushing for native HD resolutions without having to go through the process of remastering those games. As mentioned previously, Sony already has the technology and the experience to execute this.

Of course, nothing is official yet. Sony can also very well end up using PlayStation Now to stream all previous gen titles, which might be a better business move to promote its streaming service. There will definitely be benefits to running things locally even via emulation, like less input latency and better HD scaling, but any game that can run on the PS3 can also run on PlayStation Now as well. Sony might try to take the path of least resistance in terms of technology and distribution, but we hope they will make the best decision for gamers.

VIA: Eurogamer

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Super Bowl to block live stream watching to make way for tweets and posts

In every large gathering or event today, you'll see crowds of people holding up their smartphones or tablets to snap up the experience and share it with the world. To help make that new behavior as painless as possible, the NFL has decided ahead of time that it will prevent people inside the stadium from watching live video streams during the Super BowlXLVIII match between the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos.
It might sound strange to hear of people watching a live stream version while physically present at a live event, but audiences at sports matches usually use it to watch replays or catch up on commentaries. But aside from actually taking away some part of the experience and social aspect of watching a game live, such use of the Internet has also produced network congestion that prevents others from, among other things, advertising the game's events.

That is why the NFL will be preventing users from watching such live streams. It won't actually be able to block users from streaming video. Instead, it will simply block them from accessing official video streams from NFL.com and Fox Sports, both on mobile apps as well as from Web browsers. There will be undoubtedly other unofficial live streams and it will be unlikely that the NFL will be able to block these as well.

Streaming was initially allowed at last year's Super Bowl, but the bandwidth usage that it incurred forced the organizers to block it mid-game. Now NFL is taking a proactive stance. The stadium, which can seat around 82,500 people, will be able to accommodate up to 30,000 concurrent Internet users. However, Verizon, who will be providing network coverage, hasn't disclosed download and uplink speeds.

The official Super Bowl app from NFL will still provide fans with stats, event guides, and exclusive content. Attendees, however, will not be able to watch video streams or replays. Internet users are invited to use the freed up bandwidth to post photos and updates on their favorite social networking sites instead.

SOURCE: CNN

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Sony add-on will let you graft a giant camera to your tablet

Whether you like it or not, tablet photography is here to stay -- it's only fair that slate owners get a fair chance at taking nice pictures. Sony certainly thinks so, since it has unveiled a new mount, the SPA-TA1, that attaches its QX lens camerasto tablets. The peripheral isn't just for small devices, either; it includes six adjustable arms that accommodate larger hardware, like the Xperia Tablet Z andVAIO Tap 11. Sony ships the camera accessory to Japan this April for a suggested price of ¥3,675 ($36). There's no word of a US release, but we wouldn't rule out an eventual stateside launc

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