Thursday, September 26, 2013

drag2share: LA officials may delay school iPad rollout after students hack them in a week

source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/26/los-angeles-school-ipads-hacked/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi

LA iPad initiative hits the skids after students 'hack' iPads in under a week

Just a week after it began the first phase of putting iPads in the hands of all 640,000 students in the state, the Los Angeles school district already has a fight on its hands. In a matter of days, 300 children at Theodore Roosevelt High School managed to work around protective measures placed on the Apple tablets, giving them complete access to features -- including Facebook, Twitter and other apps -- that should otherwise have been blocked.

Students bypassed the security lock on the device by deleting a personal profile preloaded in the settings -- a simple trick that has the school district police chief recommending the board limit the $1 billion rollout before it turns into a "runaway train scenario." For now, officials have banned home use of the iPads while they assess ways to better restrict access -- they would have gotten away with it, too, if it wasn't for those meddling kids.

Read More...

drag2share: AMD unveils Radeon R9 and R7 series video cards, unifying graphics code for PCs and consoles

source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/25/amd-unveils-radeon-r9-and-r7-video-cards/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi

AMD unveils Radeon R9 and R7 video cards, unifying graphics code for PCs and consoles

Graphics cards aren't normally our go-to choices for audio processing, but we may have to make exceptions for AMD's just-unveiled Radeon R9 and R7 lines. The R9 290X (shown above), R9 290 and R7 260X (after the break) will support TrueAudio, a new programmable pipeline that enables advanced audio effects without burdening a PC's main processor or a dedicated sound card. Not that the range will be lacking in visual prowess, of course. While the company isn't revealing full specifications, it claims that the R9 290X flagship will have five teraflops of total computing power versus the four teraflops of the previous generation. The boards will ship sometime in the "near future," with prices ranging from $89 for an entry R7 250 to $299 for the mid-tier R9 280X. AMD isn't divulging the R9 290X's price, but pre-orders for the card will start on October 3rd.

The firm has also revealed a new programming interface, Mantle, that makes the most of the Graphics Core Next architecture found in many of its recent processors and video chipsets. Developers who build the low-level code into their games should get better performance from GCN-based devices without having to re-optimize for each platform -- a title meant for Radeon-equipped PCs should still behave well on a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, for instance. Mantle will debut on Windows through a December update to Battlefield 4, and should spread to other platforms in the months ahead.

Read More...

'Frontback' App Makes Selfies Meaningful By Taking A Pic Of You And The Thing You're Looking At Simultaneously

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-use-frontback-2013-9

FrontbackFor the last month or so, we've had a photo app called Frontback on our radar. Despite the over-saturation of the photo-sharing space, it seems to be catching fire. It's had 200,000 downloads recently. Why?

Maybe because it takes the embarrassment — or at least reduces the egomania — out of snapping a selfie. 

The idea is simple: You take a picture of whatever you're looking at with the back camera of your phone and then get yourself in on the fun by snapping a selfie with the front camera. The app automatically stitches the two together, one on top of the other. So, "Thing," followed by your reaction to said "Thing." Your selfies become more meaningful because a Frontback image will show people what inspired the selfie in the first place.

We decided to try it out.

Like most social media sites, you have to create a username and register before getting started.



As a new user, you're encouraged to find your friends who are already using Frontback, or invite them to join.



You can see potential friends via your contact list, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider
    






Read More...

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Google Voice update adds short code support, warns you when you text 911

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/25/google-voice-short-code-support/

Image

An update to Google Voice today brings a useful, if not earth-shattering, new feature: support for SMS short codes. If your primary phone number is the one associated with your Google Voice account, this means you'll finally be able to use these codes for online banking and other services without your message showing up as sent from your carrier number. Today's update also adds a warning message whenever you type the 911 short code -- a handy safeguard, if you ask us. Nab the Android app update via the source link below.

Filed under: , ,

Comments

Via: Android Central

Source: Google Play

Read More...

Set up a 3rd-gen Apple TV with a tap from your iOS 7 device

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/25/3rd-gen-apple-tv-setup-with-tap-ios7/

Have a third-gen Apple TV and an iDevice running iOS 7? If you've yet to set up Cupertino's set-top box, you can do so now by simply touching your iPhone or iPad to the Apple TV. Okay, Apple's take on Bump requires a few more steps than that; you'll first need to enable Bluetooth on your iOS 7 device, then connect to the WiFi network you'll use with the Apple TV. (Your machine also needs Apple TV software 6.0 or later.) Still, it sure beats the labor-intensive process of selecting letters on-screen with the included remote. Once you've tapped your iPhone to the set-top box, prompts should appear on both the phone and the TV screen, and you're good to go. Give it a whirl for yourself -- Apple's directions are available via the first source link below.

Filed under: , , , ,

Comments

Via: TUAW

Source: Apple Support (1), Apple Support (2)

Read More...