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Showing posts from April 21, 2013

Coca-Cola secret formula changes the place for the first time in 86 years

The " secret formula " was stored in a vault since 1925 SunTrust Bank in downtown Atlanta ( USA ).   The formula , created in 1886, however, will remain hidden from public view and stored under lock and key by the owners of the company. The birth of the world's most popular soft drink dates back to 1886, when the pharmacist John Pemberton invented the syrup that gave rise to the drink. In 1919, when Ernest Woodruff and a group of investors acquired the company for the first time the recipe was entered in a document that was stored in a vault in the Guaranty Bank in New York .   Six years later, the secret formula was carried to the bank of Atlanta, where he spent the last decades.

We Desperately Want to Drive Renault’s Stupid F1 Tribute Car

Of all the vehicles Renault could’ve chosen to highlight its Formula 1 technology, it picked the Twizy, a glorified electric go-kart with the racing pedigree of, well, an electric go-kart. Yet we want to drive it. Desperately. We are not too proud to admit this.The French automaker — which has won the F1 constructor’s and driver’s championships twice as a manufacturer and has provided engines to the likes of Red Bull Racing — inexplicably festooned the lowly Twizy with all

Ubuntu 13.04 boosts graphics performance to prepare for phones

The stable release of Ubuntu 13.04 became available for download today, with Canonical promising performance and graphical improvements to help prepare the operating system for convergence across PCs , phones, and tablets. "Performance on lightweight systems was a core focus for this cycle, as a prelude to Ubuntu’s release on a range of mobile form factors," Canonical said in an announcement today. "As a result 13.04 delivers significantly faster response times in casual use, and

Washington state slams T-Mobile for “deceptive ‘No-Contract’” ads

Last month, T-Mobile finally made a highly anticipated announcement—that it would kill off the mobile phone contract , dubbing itself the “Un-Carrier.” As we reported at the time, customers can bring their own device or pay an additional fee to buy a new phone—essentially shifting the carrier subsidy entirely to the consumer . For example, a new Samsung Galaxy S III requires a purchase price of $110 (but retails for $550) with an additional $16 fee for two years.

Facebook to acquire Parse

Hot on the heels of its Mobile Developer Conference, Facebook today announced its intentions to buy cloud-based app development service Parse, a company with which the site has collaborated in the past. According to a post on Facebook's Developers blog, the purchase will go a ways toward helping devs, "rapidly build apps that span mobile platforms and devices." The acquisition will bring a number of cloud-based tools like data storage, user management and notifications to Facebook developers. For each company's take on the news, check out the source links below. We also spoke to a Facebook spokesperson, who told us, "This is an acquisition, not a talent deal." As for financial terms, they wouldn't say.

AT&T launches Digital Life home automation and security platform

  It's been a long time coming. Seriously. AT&T first teased us with Digital Life way back in February of last year. Now the home security and automation platform is finally ready for prime time. Starting today customers in the 15 launch markets( Atlanta , Dallas, Chicago, Houston, LA, Miami, SF , Seattle, Austin, Philly, Riverside, St. Louis , Denver, Boulder and the New York/New Jersey metro area) can put in their orders, provided they live in a single-family,

Nintendo's digital game sales hit an all-time high

Nintendo 's hardware sales may be in a bit of a stupor, but its downloadable games are a different story. During today's financial results briefing, the company's president,  Satoru Iwata , announced that digital sales for the 2013 fiscal year , which ended in March, cruised past ¥16 billion (around $160.9 million), more than doubling transactions from the last two years. Nintendo's frontman went

Huawei's breakup with US, Leaving

  Huawei VP Eric Xu has been quoted as saying that the company isn't "interested in the US market anymore," but that doesn't mean he's packing his bags. Huawei will continue to push its infrastructure and handset businesses in the States, despite being branded as a security risk by Congress -- but won't rely upon it as a key business area. Instead, it'll turn its attentions to Europe and winning tween hearts and minds with a little help from the Jonas Brothers.

Bank details stealing Ramnit malware hits Indian cyberspace

A new virus has been found to be "spreading widely" in the Indian cyberspace which cleverly steals bank account details and passwords of the user once it is clicked. Country's cyber security sleuths have alerted Internet users in the country about the new and suspected variant of malware family called 'Win32/ Ramnit '. "Ramnit worm spreads by infecting or modifying files existing on target systems such as ( EXE , dll or html) and creating a new section so as to

WhatsApp comes to BlackBerry Q10

After becoming available on the Z10 just last month, it was only natural for WhatsApp to eventually expand its horizons within BlackBerry 10. And with the Q10 finally nearing its time to take off around the globe, what better time to make the renowned messaging app also compatible with the latest in physical QWERTY keys from the Waterloo-based company. As usual, it won't cost you a dime to get WhatsApp installed on that BlackBerry Q10 of yours, however a yearly fee of about $1 will be due if you're planning on using it for longer than the first twelve months. Either way, it's up for download now, so pay the source link below a visit if you're one of the lucky few to have RIM 's BlackBerry's new jewel in your possession a little earlier than others.

LG’s first flexible OLED phone due before the year is out

LG plans to launch a flexible OLED smartphone before the end of the year, the company’s VP of mobile has confirmed, though it’s unclear to what extent the work-in-progress handset will actually flex. The OLED panel in question is the handiwork of LG Display according to VP of LG mobile Yoon Bu-hyun, the WSJ  reports, with the proposed device set to launch sometime in Q4. LG Display’s work on flexible OLEDs has been underway for some time, though the company’s efforts have perhaps been overshadowed somewhat by rival Samsung’s YOUM development. Last year, according to a Korea Times report, LG Display was preparing for

Apple spent $500 million in last six months to supercharges R&D

  Apple boosted its research and development spending by 33 percent in the second quarter of 2013 compared to the same period last year, according to a quarterly report filed with the Securities Exchange Commission . If the rate of spending continues, Apple could drop over $4 billion on R&D this fiscal year . During the quarter ending March 30, 2013, Apple spent $1.119 billion on R&D, compared to $841 million from a year ago. In the first six months of its fiscal year, Apple has spent $2.129

Delicious Library 3 is here, and it’s a beast

When I was a kid, I begged my parents to line the walls of my room with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. I loved collecting books, and it was my early teenage dream to catalogue everything on my Motorola Mac clone (Starmax 3000 FTW!) so I could run a privately owned lending library for my peers out of, well, my parents' house. Back then, I was relegated to creating a giant list of books in a text file along with their ISBNs , basic descriptions, and current lending status— certainly no cover photos—that I would send out to friends via e-mail.

Genius X-G510 gaming mouse is good for righties and lefties

If you’re a PC gamer one of the things you need is a good gaming mouse. If you happen to be a left-handed PC gamer, finding a good gaming mouse can be more difficult than you might expect. A lot of gaming mice on the market today are designed specifically to be used in the right-hand . That means if your preferred mousing hand is the left, it can be difficult to find a decent mouse. Add to that the fact that many high-end gaming mice can

BBC iPlayer radio app finally starts broadcasting on Android and Kindle

 While the iPhone didn't even have a built-in FM radio to replace, Android phones have now started to forgo the radio tuner in the last few years as streaming services (and data reception) have improved. This time around, Beeb listeners can now access the iPlayer radio app, which has made the leap across from iOS . Not only will you be able to install it on your Android smartphone, but also

LG's head-mounted display patent

While head-mounted displays are nothing new, LG has patented a novel method for utilizing them that might grab your attention. The patent states that when you're staring at content on a device like a tablet, the HMD is inactive. But turn your head or the device away and that same content will automatically fade into view right in front of your bespectacled eyes. According to the filing, the noggin-strapped contraption is set to buzz as it switches displays and there'll be a slight transitional pause when viewing video. While we're betting virtual reality goggles and Google-branded headgear might prove to be a touch more popular, this is at least a lot cooler than passive 3D clip-ons.

BitTorrent Sync creates private, peer-to-peer Dropbox, no cloud required

 BitTorrent today released folder syncing software that replicates files across multiple computers using the same peer-to-peer file sharing technology that powers BitTorrent clients. The free BitTorrent Sync application is labeled as being in the alpha stage , so it's not necessarily ready for prime-time, but it is publicly available for download and working as advertised on my home network .

Nokia announces Asha 210: a colorful QWERTY

The last time we saw new members of the Asha family they eschewed the usual QWERTY keyboard , opting instead for a full touchscreen. The newly announced (and previously teased) Asha 210, however, returns to the more tactile input method, and brings a healthy splash of color (five different ones, to be precise) plus a dual-SIM option along for the ride. As before, social networks feature heavily, but the focus clearly remains on low-end and developing

After U.S. Troops Leave, Armed Drones Will Patrol Afghanistan’s Skies

 One of the major elements of Afghanistan’s air war will remain after most U.S. troops have headed home, the U.S. military command confirmed today. Armed drones, operated by the U.S., will remain over Afghanistan after 2014. “I come back to the remotely piloted aircraft ,” Air Force Maj. Gen. H.D. Polumbo, the commander of the U.S./NATO air war over Afghanistan, told reporters at the Pentagon today. “They can collect intelligence, but they also are armed. And they’re

Swype 1.5 hits Google Play for 99 cents

 We joke that Gmail holds the record for the most drawn-out test phase, but Swype comes close: the keyboard replacement has been considered a work in progress on various platforms since before Android devices hit the streets, and well after it started shipping with phones. The developers at Nuance are a little braver as of today, as they're launching Swype 1.5 for Android without any kind of beta label attached -- they really, truly consider it

Sony's Digital Recording Binoculars score a huge boost with $2,000 DEV-50V

Who, you say, might be the target customer for Sony 's Digital Recording Binoculars? Your guess is as good as ours, but regardless of the device's audience, Sony's improvements are sure to boost that base by a bit. Like its predecessor, the DEV-5V, the DEV-50V captures stills and video, and will retail for $2,000, though the similarities end there. These binoculars are suited for far more than birdwatching -- the dual-sensor design is ideal for shooting 3D, and with dual 2.4M-dot XGA OLED viewfinders, previewing and playing back three-dimensional

Sony introduces Cyber-shot HX50V,small 30x superzoom

There exists a type of photographer who can't quite get by with a pocketable compact, but also hesitates to commit to a full-size (and pricey) DSLR rig. This shooter is all too familiar with the superzoom -- and Sony 's latest 30x model may just offer the perfect excuse for an upgrade. The 9.6-ounce device has earned the title of "world's smallest and lightest 30x optical zoom camera," which, judging by its spec sheet, is quite an achievement. There's a 24-720mm SteadyShot -equipped optical zoom lens , a

AMD details Radeon HD 7990 graphics card capable to run top games at 4K

We've seen plenty of the Radeon HD 7990 in action with Battlefield 4 , but it's taken AMD a little while to furnish us with full specs and pricing. Now that all the info is here, in the run-up to commercial availability in two week's time, it's finally possible to judge the pros and cons of what is arguably a very niche product. Read on past the break and we'll do just that.

Magazine slips in a free T-Mobile WiFi hotspot

Microsoft has tried more than a few publicity stunts to get us using Office 365 , including WiFi hotspots in UK park benches. A magazine with a hotspot, however, is fresh -- and might just get us to notice the ads we normally skip. Americans who've received a special issue of Forbes have flipped past the articles to discover a fully functional (if stripped down) T-Mobile router tucked into a cardboard insert. Once activated,

Electronic taxi hailing in New York City gets judge’s approval

In October 2012, Uber pulled its taxi hailing app from New York City , citing reasons of not having enough participating taxi drivers, and also limitations put in place by the Taxi and Limousine Commission , prompting it to continue its efforts in cities “more innovation-friendly.” The issue of electronically hailing cabs grew quickly, and has now reached a potential turning point, with a judge giving the go-ahead for the technology.

A Presidential Pat for Young Scientists

Praising the work of young scientists and inventors at the third White House Science Fair , President Obama on Monday announced a broad plan to create and expand federal and private-sector initiatives designed to encourage children to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics. After browsing the 30 or so projects on display in the White House ’s public rooms and the East Garden, Mr. Obama said he was committed to giving students the resources they need to pursue

A Dashboard for Your Body

ONE recent morning, I woke up at 6:45, spent about 20 minutes preparing for the day (mainly this involves my persnickety multistep coffee-making process), and then strolled down the hall to my home office. In that time, I’d walked only about 400 steps and burned about 200 calories, and things went downhill from there. According to a log created by Fitbit , a tiny gadget that hooks onto my belt loop and tracks my activities, I had only tiny spurts of movement the rest of the workday.

Psy's 'Gentleman' hits 200 million YouTube views in 9 days

  " Gangnam Style " star Psy's new music video has garnered 200 million views on YouTube in the nine days since its release and smashed YouTube's record for single-day hits.The video of "Gentleman" the much-anticipated follow-up to the South Korean singer's global hit reached the 200-million milestone Monday after its April 13 debut, YouTube said in a statement. "From a stats perspective, it's one of the biggest music video launches the web has ever seen," the statement said.

Microsoft shows users how to manage their online privacy

Microsoft is launching a new consumer awareness campaign in hopes of informing more users on how to better improve their online privacy. The online awareness campaign involves a series of methods that will inform users about their online privacy, and what technologies and tools they can use to control the type of information that they make available to the internet. Microsoft says that while it may not have all the answers, it wants to do its part in helping its users.

Project Glass won't ship before 2014: Google Chairman

 There has been a lot of buzz regarding Google's famed Project Glass. It was expected that the company will start offering these glasses to the consumers sometime this year. However, it now seems the users will now have to wait till 2014 to get their hands on this device. Dvice website is reporting that this time frame has been provided by none other than Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt while speaking to Martha Kearney on BBC Radio 4 . Responding to the Kearney's query on, "How soon is [ Google Glass ] likely to come onto the market?" Schmidt said, "There will be thousands of [Google Glass] in use by developers over the next months, and then based on their feedback, we'll make some product changes, and it's probably a year-ish away."

NASA's three 'smartphone satellites' working as expected

The three smartphone satellites sent into space Sunday by the maiden flight of Orbital Science Corp.'s Antares rocket are operating normally in orbit, the US space agency NASA said.Transmissions from all the three PhoneSats, believed to be the lowest-cost satellites ever put in space, have been received at multiple ground stations on the Earth , said NASA in a statement Monday.

Windows 8.1 set to bring back the Start button...!

  Microsoft is preparing to revive the traditional Start button it killed with Windows 8 . Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans have revealed to The Verge that Windows 8.1 will include the return of the Start button. We understand that the button will act as a method to simply access the Start Screen , and will not include the traditional Start Menu. The button is said to look near-identical to the existing Windows flag used in the Charm bar. Microsoft changes its mind

Man sent to jail for watching 'pixie sex'

In Japan , the viewing of  hentai , or sexually explicit cartoons, is a mainstream activity. But it's far from accepted in many other countries. In fact, now a New Zealand man has been sentenced to three months in jail for watching cartoons of "elves, pixies, and other fantasy creatures" have sex.  The man's lawyer said the Japanese anime cartoons consisted of creatures that "you knew at a glance weren't human," and said his client's conviction for possessing digitally created pornography represents "the law gone mad."

Want to built a robot? $45 BeagleBone Linux PC goes on sale for you

English: A Arduino Uno board. Português: Uma placa Arduino Uno. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The market for cheap single-board computers is becoming one of the most surprisingly competitive spaces in the tech industry. On the heels of the million-selling Raspberry Pi, a variety of companies and small groups started creating their own tiny computers for programmers and hobbyists. Today we have a new entrant that may provide the best bang for the buck for many types of users. It's called the BeagleBone Black and it's the latest in the line of "Beagle" devices that first appeared in 2008, courtesy of Texas Instruments . On sale now for $45 , BeagleBone Black sports a 1GHz Sitara AM335x ARM Cortex -A8 processor from Texas Instruments, up from the 720MHz processor used in the previous $90 BeagleBone released in 2011. ( Edit : While the purchase link is live, the device may not be available until tomorrow morning. It will also be available at BeagleBoard.org/

New malicious apps found in Google Play

The family of Android malware that slipped past security defenses and infiltrated Google Play is more widespread than previously thought. New evidence shows it was folded into three additional apps and has been operating for at least 10 months, according to security researchers. BadNews, as the malicious ad network library is called, has been included in at least 35 different apps that were available on Google servers for download, researchers from antivirus provider Bitdefender said Monday . As Ars reported last week, figures provided by Google showed they had been

Preva Mobile for iOS aims to keep you going to the gym

Dragging yourself to the gym in the wee hours of the morning already takes a heaping helping of dedication, but fitness equipment manufacturer Precor is betting that it can provide additional motivation with its new iOS app: Preva Mobile. By wielding the software , users can monitor and set goals for calories burned, distance and duration, and even log their actions outside the gym for activities ranging from rollerblading to skiing. What's more is

AMD reveals G-Series X embedded chips, drops a little ARM-powered bombshell

We're no strangers to AMD 's embedded processors , designed for specialist applications such as casino gaming and dashboard infotainment systems. But this latest announcement of an updated G-Series processor reveals something totally unexpected. It's not just that the chip contains four Jaguar cores of PlayStation 4 fame, or that it also includes a Radeon 8000 GPU and I/O module on a single piece of silicon -- although that's all interesting enough. The key thing is actually t he "X" in the lower

Girl can die if combing her hair

The Scottish Megan Stewart, 13, could die if combing her hair. She suffers from a rare disease called Hair Brushing Syndrome . That is, if she brushed her auburn tresses a little stronger, it will collapse and may die. The girl needs to avoid any static capillary in the region, especially combing hair. She may have dizziness, fainting and even seizures. Megan, who was born premature, 12 weeks ahead of schedule, has vision problems, asthma and lung deficiency, but none of that stops her from having a normal life. What hinders it is not being able to brush your hair.

Underwear allows the partner to feel touch away

  Ever thought "send" a touch to your partner or your partner from a distance? That's the idea Fundawear. The maker of Durex condoms is developing underwear for men and a set of bra and panties for women called Fundawear, which allows to feel the touch of the partner who is away on a trip or living in another city, for example. The underwear of Fundawear turn have smaller

Shopping Sites in Brazil are not safe

 The Procon-SP today released a list of new 71 sites not recommended for internet shopping . With this new list, the list of sites that should be avoided by consumers already totals 275 since 2011. It said there are records of complaints of these sites by irregularities in the practice of commerce, mainly for lack of delivery of the product purchased by the consumer. The Procon-SP also can not answer them for the solution of the problem.

Apple remembers where you wanted to get drunk for up to 2 years

Remember that time when you asked Siri about the nearest place to find hookers ? Or perhaps the time you wanted to know where to find the best burritos at 3am? Whatever you've been asking Siri since its launch in late 2011 is likely still on record with Apple, as revealed by a report by our friends at Wired on Friday. Apple spokesperson Trudy Muller told Wired that Apple stores Siri queries on its servers for "up to two years," though the company says it makes efforts to anonymize the data. "Apple may keep anonymized Siri data for up to two years," Muller said. "Our customers’ privacy is very important to us." Why does Apple have your Siri queries on record in the first place?

Japanese police ask ISPs to start blocking Tor

Authorities in Japan are so worried about their inability to tackle cybercrime that they are asking the country's ISPs to block the use of Tor . According to The Mainichi , the National Police Agency (NPA, a bit like the Japanese FBI ) is going to urge ISPs to block customers if they are found to have "abused" Tor online. Since Tor anonymizes traffic, that can be read as a presumption of guilt on anyone who anonymizes their Web activity. The Japanese police have had a torrid time of late when it comes to cybercrime. Late last year a hacker by the name of Demon Killer began posting death threats on public message boards after remo

Nokia teases new QWERTY phone

Nokia has teased a new QWERTY device, using the company’s current primary-color scheme, though the phone seems unlikely to be the much-anticipated keyboard-equipped Lumia Windows Phone . Only a tiny glimpse of the handset – which will be officially revealed on Wednesday – has been shown so far, but Nokia has said that Mobile Phones technology marketing director Neil Broadley will be manning the Q&A session, implying that we’re looking at a new Asha device, not a true smartphone.

This Case Adds Four Extra Camera Lenses to Your iPhone

  Smartphone cameras are quickly replacing point-and-shoots in pockets, everywhere. While users can definitely take some impressive shots with an iPhone camera, they're limited by its built-in lens. One accessory-maker is trying to expand lens options for cellphone cameras by offering a protective case with five additional lenses. Called WoW, the smart-lens case has a built-in Macro lens for taking photos up close, a wide-angle lens , cameo function and a polarized neutral-density lens. All four lenses — along with an option to use your iPhone’s lens — are built into a spindle on the rear of the case. The WoW case is currently seeking $50,000 in funding on Kickstarter , and has raised a little over $5,000 towards that goal. What do you think of the WoW case? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Facebook Home installations eclipse 500,000 mark

The Facebook Home Android launcher has proven to reasonably popular during its first week of availability. So far, Home has been downloaded over 500,000 times via the Google Play store in a bit over week of availability. While hundreds of thousands of installations sounds good for Facebook, Home is still on shaky ground. The big problem is that Facebook Home continues to land predominantly negative reviews . The average rating for the application on Google Play is only 2.2. Facebook Home launched on April 12 in the United States and was available for international users as of April 16.

Firms turn to I.T. to track energy consumption, cut costs

Employees at the National Institutes of Health are expected to set their computers on standby when they leave work at the end of each day. If they don’t, a piece of software automatically does it for them. IT officials said the policy saves the agency $19 per computer per year. That may seem like a sliver of the budget, but when multiplied by more than 25,000 terminals, it puts a noticeable dent in expenses. NIH is among a growing number of government agencies , companies and organizations trying to reduce energy expenses by using information technology — hardware, software, big data, analytics — to better manage their buildings and rein in consumption.

Syrian Electronic Army claims credit for CBS Twitter accounts hack

Yesterday, several of CBS ’s Twitter accounts were hacked, including its main account, and its accounts for 60 Minutes, 48 Hours, and CBS Denver. The hackers got into the account and tweeted a series of things relating to President Obama and the United States being in cahoots with Al-Qaeda . The tweets also had links that led users to malware-infested sites. While CBS was able to regain access to its accounts, it was unable to figure out who was behind the attacks, until now. The Syrian Electronic Army , the same group that hacked 3 of the BBC’s Twitter accounts, claimed

Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 hits the FCC

  Samsung 's Galaxy Mega 6.3 still doesn't have an exact launch date, but it has made its way to the FCC . While the Mega was announced with LTE and HSPA+ radios, it appears that this version, model I9200, only has the latter onboard (I9205 is the LTE-equipped variant) -- the Galaxy slightly-less Mega, it seems. It's a safe bet that this particular model won't officially make it stateside, but the reports seem to indicate that it'll play nice with AT&T 's HSPA+ bands. In case you're thinking of importing this 1.7Ghz device down the line, you can have a look at our hands-on here. Otherwise, you can have a look at the filing by heading to the source link.

IBM solar collector will concentrate the power of 2,000 suns, keep its cool

Modern solar collectors can concentrate only so much energy for safety's sake: too much in one place and they risk cooking themselves. An IBM-led group is working on a new collector dish that could avoid that damage while taking a big step forward in solar power efficiency. The hundreds of photovoltaic chips gathering energy at the center will be cooled by the same sort of microchannel water cooling that kept Aquasar from frying, letting each chip safely concentrate 2,000 times the solar energy it would normally face. The collector also promises to do more with sunlight once it's trapped: since the microchannels should absorb more than half of the waste heat , their hot water byproduct can either be filtered into drinkable water or