Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Intel shows off its own 'Internet of Things' platform

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/09/intel-iot-platform/

It wouldn't be a stretch to say that Intel is a bit obsessed with the Internet of Things (IoT). Connected gadgets were all over Intel's booth at the last CES, and it's one of the fastest growing portions of the company's business. The chip giant also kicked off an IoT consortium together with Samsung, Dell, and others earlier this year. Now, Intel is taking another major step in this arena with the launch of its IoT Platform, which it says will help companies to more easily test, deploy, and secure smart devices. Everything the company is doing is a direct response to Qualcomm, which stole the mobile chip market from Intel and is already well-poised to take on IoT with the AllSeen Alliance and AllJoyn standard, both of which aim to unify the fractured IoT market. But it seems Intel has learned the dangers of being late to a potentially lucrative new market (even if it did so the hard way).

It's already partnered with Dell, Accenture, and others around this new platform, and you can bet that it's going to work hard to score more deals. The company also debuted a few new IoT software and hardware offerings that should make life simpler for its partners. Yes, Intel's approach will butt heads with Qualcomm, but hopefully their competition will lead to some truly useful connected devices. A smart baby onesie isn't going to cut it anymore.

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Source: Intel

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Tuesday, December 09, 2014

Forget Encryption, Encode Secret Messages in Fake Spam

Source: http://gizmodo.com/forget-encryption-you-can-encode-secret-messages-in-fa-1668660264

Forget Encryption, Encode Secret Messages in Fake Spam

Send an encrypted email, and whoever sees it whistle past their eyes knows you're trying to hide something. So why not hide your most secret messages in plain sight, hidden in otherwise innocuous looking spam?

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Meet Pixelmator, Apple's Pick For Best iPad App Of The Year

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/best-ipad-app-of-the-year-pixelmator-2014-12

Apple recently announced its best apps of the year, and the winner for best iPad app is Pixelmator, a powerful new image editor.

Pixelmator got a lot of buzz after its team was invited to demo the app onstage at Apple's big iPad event in October, and after watching a photo get touched up and transformed in real-time, it's easy to see why.

Pixelmator is both incredibly powerful and user friendly, a rare combination that will appeal to veteran photo editors, digital artists, and even the casual person who takes some pictures on their iPhone and wants to make them look special.

While Pixelmator also exists for Mac, the app feels truly at home on the iPad's interface. The touch controls feel intuitive rather than tacked on, which is nice for those looking to sink some serious time into image editing.

If you're looking to work with photos, Pixelmator offers a full suite of photo editing tools that will let you choose a template, adjust colors, add effects, retouch, resize and crop, and insert text and shapes.

Pixelmator color adjustments

Pixelmator hue and saturation

Pixelmator editing tools

Pixelmator text

You can even remove undesirable objects from a photo quickly with Pixelmator's Repair tool.

Pixelmator

For those looking to give their photos an artistic look, Pixelmator offers some gorgeous filters such as Light Leak, Vintage, Black and White, and even a fun Miniaturize effect that makes your photo look like a toy model.

Pixelmator Light leak filter

Pixelmator miniturize effect 

And that's just what Pixelmator can do for photo editing.

Pixelmator is also a fully featured painting app for digital artists or those simply looking to add some paint to their photos.

You can start a painting from scratch, choosing one of Pixelmator's 70 realistic or stylized brushes, or paint over an existing image. There's tools for adjusting the style and size of the brush stroke, and there's even full stylus support, allowing you to paint with a Wacom stylus if you prefer.

Pixelmator painting

Pixelmator brush

Pixelmator painting

For those that work closely with Adobe Photoshop, you'll be pleased to know that Pixelmator calls itself "Photoshop friendly," meaning you can save your work as a Photoshop file, and many of the most popular Photoshop features are supported as well.

Pixelmator is exactly what you want from an iPad image editor. It's easy to use for the novice, contains enough tools to keep the expert interested, and is bot! h flexib le and powerful enough to make a compelling case as a primary editing application for photographers in the field.

You can download Pixelmator for $9.99 over at the App Store, or you can see a video of the app in action below.

SEE ALSO: Meet Elevate, Apple's Pick For Best iPhone App Of The Year

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Blackphone to launch the world's first privacy-focused app store

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/09/blackphone-privacy-focused-app-store/

BlackPhone Dialer

Earlier this year, with the Snowden leaks still fresh in the public consciousness, a privacy-focused smartphone called the Blackphone wanted to put people back in control of their data. Running PrivatOS, a custom fork of Android 4.4.2 KitKat, the device aims to strip away bloat and make calls, messaging, contact storage, calendars and internet browsing as secure as they could possibly be. However, its secure core also came with one big disadvantage; if users want to keep their communications private, they could only use default apps supplied on the device. That's about to change, though, after the company announced it's going to launch the "world's first privacy-focused app store".

The marketplace is set to come as part of the "biggest update" to PrivatOS to date. Launching at the start of next year, "Silent Space" will be featured by default and come with the suite of Silent-branded apps, the Blackphone store and a selection of third-party safety-conscious apps. The update will also introduce "Spaces," a new feature that will help users divide their personal and work apps, data and accounts into two separate sandboxes on one phone. If you know of Samsung's secure Knox platform, then you'll have a pretty good idea of what Blackphone is trying to achieve.

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Via: Blackphone (PRNewswire)

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Amazon Prime Instant Video begins streaming in 4K

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/09/amazon-prime-instant-video-4k/

Amazon just announced another benefit for folks with a Prime subscription: 4K video streaming. That's right, Ultra HD content is now available via monthly membership through the Instant Video app or on compatible smart TVs. For now, the selection is a bit limited, but you can expect to enjoy Amazon Originals, BBC's Orphan Black and a smattering of titles from Sony Pictures Entertainment in all of their 4K glory. Higher video quality doesn't come with an extra fee either, as the content will be lumped in with the rest of those Prime perks. Amazon's a little tardy with the rollout, but hey, we can't complain too much as it's here in time to break in that shiny new TV Santa will deliver in a few weeks.

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Source: Amazon

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Monday, December 08, 2014

25 Hot NYC Startups You Need To Watch

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/25-hottest-ny-startups-2014-12

new york

Over the past several years, New York has transformed into startup hotbed.

It's home to exciting early-stage companies like Airhelp, Abacus, Glamsquad, and Classpass. 

We compiled our list of 25 Hottest NY Startups by talking to investors, employees, fellow journalists, and active members of the tech scene in New York. 

Though there are some big names out there already, this list includes young startups, some of which you may not have heard of yet. All have only raised Series A funding or below and are based in New York city. 

Bowery allows developers to set up coding environments in 30 seconds flat

What it is:

Programmers waste countless hours setting up redundant coding environments. In order to begin coding a new program, developers need to manually install complicated sets of paramaters. This allows developers to test their products and make sure they work on different types of devices and screens. 

Bowery's cloud-based system removes the pain from the process and lets developers share their environment with co-workers in real time. The three young founders have attracted attention from big name investors such as Google Ventures and First Round Capital.

Founders:

Zachary Hamed, David Byrd, Steve Kaliski

Funding:

Betaworks, Bloomberg Beta, BOLDstart Ventures, Deep Fork Capital, Google Ventures, Homebrew, Magnet Agency, RRE and SV Angel. General Catalyst’s Rough Draft Ventures and First Round Capital’s Dorm Room Fund

Website: 

http://bowery.io

 

 



Oscar is a health insurance company for the 21st century

What it is:

Oscar brings simplicity and good design to the archaic world of health insurance. The company launched in October 2013 right as the Affordable Care Act began to allow consumers to pick and choose their own plans, and since then Oscar has enrolled thousands while raking in tens of millions of dollars in annualized revenue. They received a fresh $30 million round of funding in January, and are working toward their long-term goal of expanding out of the state of New York.

Founders:

Josh Kushner, Kevin Nazemi, Mario Schlosser

Funding:

Thrive Capital, Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, Founders Fund, Stanley Druckenmiller, Jim Breyer

Website:

http://hioscar.com



Niche is a talent agency for social media stars

What it is:

Niche works with prominent creators on social media platforms like Vine, Instagram and Tumblr and connects them with brands and marketers looking to beef up their social presence. Though barely more than a year old, Niche has already raked in over $1 million revenue and shows no sign of slowing down.

Founders:

Rob Fishman, Darren Lachtman

Funding:

David Tisch, Slow Ventures, BoxGroup, Gary Vaynerchuk, Kevin Colleran, WME Advancit Capital, SV Angel, Lerer Hippeau Ventures

Website:

http://niche.co



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






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drag2share: Thieves swipe over 1 million smartphones in the US each year

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/08/1-million-phones-stolen-per-year/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

If you suspected that smartphone theft was becoming an epidemic in the US... well, you're right. The FCC has published findings which show that Americans report well over 1 million smartphone thefts to the police each year. That's not as high as unofficial estimates (Consumer Reports pegged 2013 thefts at 3.1 million), but it still means that "at least" a tenth of all known robberies in the US involve a phone. Also, that figure may be conservative -- many people don't report stolen phones in the first place.

As bad as that sounds, there are hints that things are getting better. The voluntary addition of remote kill switches has reduced theft rates in some cases, and state laws requiring those switches are likely to improve the situation further. According to the FCC, the biggest challenge is convincing foreign carriers to block stolen American phones. If they do that, there's less of an incentive to swipe your phone and put it on the international black market. Muggings and break-ins won't stop even if the regulator gets its way, but the hope is that thieves will at least think twice before they grab the device in your hands.

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Sunday, December 07, 2014

Anyone Can Now Use IBM's Watson To Crunch Data For Free

Source: http://gizmodo.com/anyone-can-now-use-ibms-watson-to-crunch-data-for-free-1667753086

Anyone Can Now Use IBM's Watson To Crunch Data For Free

You probably know IBM's Watson platform best from its winning performance on Jeopardy . But the supercomputer is more than just a mechanism for IBM to publicly shame smart people. It's arguably the most powerful natural-language supercomputer in the world, and thanks to a new public beta, its number-crunching abilities are open to all.

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Dolby is launching its super-vivid IMAX competitor in the Netherlands

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/07/dolby-cinema-imax-rival/

Dolby has just announced a huge new project, but it's not about audio as you'd expect -- it's about the upcoming launch of its IMAX competitor called Dolby Cinema. This giant screen format will be able to project movies using the "Dolby Vision" technology (something it's been working on for years), which combines high dynamic range videos with something else that the company's keeping a secret. High dynamic range or HDR videos, as you might know, can show shadows and light as you'd see them in real life (take this Disney Research video, for example). Dolby goes as far as to claim that its technology's "contrast ratio far exceeds that of any other image technology on the market today."

The company plans to open its first outlet this December in the Netherlands, but it will temporarily use 4K laser projectors until the Dolby Vision-capable ones are ready to ship out next spring. Of course, venues will eventually open in the US, but probably not in the very near future, as Dolby's still busy negotiating with both theater owners and Hollywood studios. For the format to reach audiences, the company will not only need to convince local movie houses to shoulder part of the cinema's construction costs, but also to persuade studios to make their films Dolby Vision-compatible during postproduction. It needs to convince a whole lot of people, in fact, for the technology to be financially viable and be able to compete with IMAX.

The Hollywood Reporter believes Disney will likely be one of the first to use Dolby Vision, and that Star Wars VII is a possible candidate for the format. Dolby didn't mention how much it'll cost you to enter its giant screen cinemas, but the theater owner in the Netherlands says his customers will have to pay $18 each, up from the typical $12.50. We guess it's safe to say that just like for IMAX theaters, you'll need to pay a sizeable premium on top of regular ticket price if you want to enjoy Dolby Cinema's tech.

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Via: The Hollywood Reporter

Source: Dolby

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Saturday, December 06, 2014

Gifify Creates Animated GIFs from the Command Line

Source: http://lifehacker.com/gifify-creates-animated-gifs-from-the-command-line-1667300811

Gifify Creates Animated GIFs from the Command Line

We've covered a ton of different ways to make animated GIFs before, but if you're looking for something even simpler, Gifify converts any video into a GIF from the command line.

Whether you simply don't want to deal with software like Photoshop or GIMP, or you just like the simplicity of the command line, Gifify does pretty much everything you need. You can make GIFs from sections of videos, adjust the output size, add subtitles, adjust the color output, change the speed, and more. Obviously you'll need to be familiar with the command line, but once you get the hang of it, Gifify is an incredibly fast and easy way to make GIFs.

Gifify | GitHub via One Thing Well

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Friday, December 05, 2014

Firefox beta simplifies video chat feature, can share calls with a single link

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/05/firefox-beta-simplifies-video-chat-feature-can-share-calls-with/

Firefox added its 'Hello' videochat feature to its experimental beta browser back in October, and now it's taking on board user feedback to make it all a little more appealing. You can still use the feature without registering for the account, but there's now less steps to get that running - you'll also get an audio ping when your partner joins the call. Conversation windows each have a unique URL, which can be shared, well, anywhere you can paste it. You can then maintain these links to continue conversations at a later time and the message history will remain, even if you aren't registered for an account. So, what is the point of logging in with a Firefox account? It'll let you directly call you contacts - if they're also logged in.. and aren't using Hangouts instead.

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Source: Firefox

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Thursday, December 04, 2014

The Creator CI20 Is Like a Hassle-Free Raspberry Pi

Source: http://lifehacker.com/the-creator-ci20-is-like-a-hassle-free-raspberry-pi-1666739950

The Creator CI20 Is Like a Hassle-Free Raspberry Pi

We love the Raspberry Pi, and at just $35 it's hard to argue with the price point. However, for some people, the Pi's lack of basic features like Wi-Fi make it a bit intimidating. The Creator CI20 hopes to appeal to those who want a bit more from the Pi.

The CI20 sports built-in Wi-Fi, a preloaded operating system (it can run Android 4.4, Debian 7, Gentoo, and Yoctoo), a graphics core capable of 1080p at 60 fps, 1GB RAM, 4GB on-board storage, and two USB ports. The processor's based on the MIPS32 processor used in smart TVs and low-cost mobile devices. If you're interested, you can preorder one right now for $65 and they should be shipping by the end of January.

Creator CI20 ($65) | via PC World

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Find the Files Taking Up the Most Space in Google Drive with this Link

Source: http://lifehacker.com/find-the-files-taking-up-the-most-space-in-google-drive-1666863242

Find the Files Taking Up the Most Space in Google Drive with this Link

At a glance, Google Drive doesn't allow you to sort files by size, which makes clearing out space kind of a pain. Thankfully, Digital Inspiration points to a hidden little spot where you can find that info.

If you hover your mouse over the "space used" text in the bottom left corner in Drive, then select Drive, you'll get a list of your files sorted by file size. Better yet, you can just head to drive.google.com/#quota to get to that sorting method immedietly. If you need to free up space, this makes things a lot easier.

How to Easily Find the Biggest Files in your Google Drive | Digital Inspiration

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The Navy's Smart New Stealth Anti-Ship Missile Can Plan Its Own Attack

Source: http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/the-navys-smart-new-stealth-anti-ship-missile-can-plan-1666079462/+kcampbelldollaghan

The Navy's Smart New Stealth Anti-Ship Missile Can Plan Its Own Attack

America's primary anti-ship missile, the Harpoon, has been in service now for close to 40 years and the Navy has been very reluctant to evolve when it comes to its anti-ship capabilities. Times are changing, with China's Navy on the rise and Russia flexing its muscle, the Cold War staple just won't do. Enter Lockheed's ninja-like Long Range Anti-Ship Missile to save the day.

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The FXX K hybrid supercar is LaFerrari's more powerful sibling

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/04/ferrari-fxx-k-laferrari-hybrid/

LaFerrari was already a beast, but the folks in Maranello wanted to make an even more aggressive hybrid -- thus, the FXX K was born. This supercar boasts an 848HP V12 engine (its predecessor has a 789HP one) and an electric motor that can generate 187HP (up from the LaFerrari's 160HP). The newer supercar inherited its older sibling's kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) that stores energy harnessed from braking. But it was redesigned from the original FXX to be more aerodynamic, with a higher tail section and new components to lessen drag. Bad news is, even if you're willing to empty your bank account, you can't exactly get one.

See, the hypercar was named as such, because it's part of Ferrari's XX Program, which allows the uber rich to drive the brand's experimental vehicles in exchange for major bucks. They can only do so on company-approved tracks, though, and they can't take the sweet, sweet hypercars home. Ferrari can get direct input from some of its top customers that way and use those suggestions to improve its other models. As for the K in its name, well, that came from its KERS capability, as you might have guessed. If you're in Abu Dhabi this coming weekend, you can at least see this "FXX on steroids" in person at the company's Finali Mondiali event, where it will be officially launched.

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Via: Autoblog

Source: Ferrari

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