Amazon's new games show what only the Fire Phone can do

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/07/21/amazon-fire-phone-games/

Looks like Amazon plans to take advantage of the Fire phone's head-tracking tech at every turn, so it put its Game Studio to work developing two new titles especially for the device. The first one called Saber's Edge is a strategic pirate puzzle game, while the other, called To-Fu Fury, is a puzzle platformer (think 'Splosion Man) that stars a tofu martial artist. They sound like funny, typical mobile games, other than the fact that they support the Fire phone's "Dynamic Perspective" feature that tracks the movements of a user's head. Sadly, you can't exactly control the games by moving your noggin (that might sound silly, but at least that'll make the games truly unique), but you can peek around the corners to see hidden obstacles or bonuses. Of course, you can always just tilt the phone if you don't want to look silly in public. If you don't mind the games' limited support for the feature, you can grab em for $1.99 each -- but only if you're also getting the Fire Phone, which starts shipping this week.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Amazon

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drag2share: Here's The Logic Behind A Jury's Decision To Award $23 Billion To One Florida Woman

source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/1KupO9NDrCQ/why-juries-are-giving-billions-of-dollars-to-individuals-2014-7

A Florida jury recently awarded Cynthia Robinson $23.6 billion in punitive damages in her lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., filed on behalf of her husband who died of lung cancer at 36 from smoking since he was 13 years old. Robinson had argued R.J. Reynolds intentionally hid the health hazards caused by its product, according to The New York Times.

Unlike compensatory damages where money is awarded to compensate for proven harm, loss, and injury, punitive damages are intended as punishment for a defendant's especially harmful behavior. 

Although R.J. Reynolds is planning to file a motion for a reduction in the verdict, $23.6 billion is an astounding sum of money for a jury to award one individual, far larger than the $16.8 million in compensatory damages also awarded to Robinson. J. Jeffery Raborn, vice president and assistant general counsel for R. J. Reynolds, called the award a "runaway verdict" in a statement quoted by The New York Times.

"The damages awarded in this case are grossly excessive and impermissible under state and constitutional law," he said. "This verdict goes far beyond the realm of reasonableness and fairness and is completely inconsistent with the evidence presented." 

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The World Is Your Sauna With a Material That Uses Sunshine to Make Steam

Source: http://gizmodo.com/make-the-world-your-sauna-this-material-turns-sunshine-1608377420

Good news for vaporized water fans everywhere: MIT researchers have developed a disc-shaped material structure that generates steam using solar power.

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This Gadget Can Hijack Any Google Chromecast, And It's Actually A Pretty Serious Issue

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/rickmote-gadget-hijacks-google-chromecast-2014-7

Living room trolls, rejoice.

Dan Petro, a security analyst for the Bishop Fox IT consulting firm, built a proof of concept device that’s able to hack into any Google Chromecasts nearby to project Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up,” or any other video a prankster might choose.

According to a blog post written by Petro (via TechCrunch), the “Rickmote,” which is built on top of the $35 Raspberry Pi single board computer, finds a local Chromecast device, boots it off the network, and then takes over the screen with multimedia of one’s choosing. 

Petro’s 20-minute YouTube video breaks down how the Rickmote works, but to briefly summarize, the device employs an unencrypted command called “deauth,” which basically deauthorizes the device from the network. As TechCrunch points out, this isn’t a Chromecast bug, but actually a relatively common quirk among WiFi devices.

When the Chromecast receives the “deauth” command, it returns to its configuration mode, leaving it open for a device — in this case, the Rickmote — to configure it. At that point, the Rickmote tells the Chromecast to connect to its own WiFi network, at which point, Google’s streaming stick is effectively hacked.

When the Rickmote and Chromecast are connected, pranksters can send videos or songs of their choosing to Google's HDMI streaming dongle. But it gets worse for the victims: If the hacker leaves the range of the device, there’s no way to regain control of the Chromecast.

Unfortunately for Google, this is a rather serious issue with the Chromecast device that’s not too easy to fix, as the configuration process is an essential part of the Chromecast experience. We’ve reached out to Google for comment, and we’ll update this story as soon as we learn more.

Petro says he plans on releasing a “step-by-step guide on how to create a Rickmote controller out of a Raspberry Pi,” and will offer some details on August 6 at the Black Hat Tools Arsenal USA at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas. However, hackers and pranksters can already get started building their own devices with the open-source code and set of instructions, which is available at the Bishop Fox GitHub page.

“Once it’s ready, using the Rickmote could not be any easier,” Petro writes. “To start rick rolling, boot it up and press the big Rickroll button. One click is all it takes — and Rick Astley runs wild!”

SEE ALSO: One man's dream of customizable wireless earbuds just hit Kickstarter

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Ori Allon Sold One Startup To Google And Another To Twitter â His New 1-Year-Old Startup Is Worth More Than Both Combined

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/urban-compass-raises-40-million-fundraise-at-a-360-valuation-2014-7

Ori Allon built and sold one startup to Google, then another to Twitter. His new company, which turned one in May, is now worth more than both of those startups combined.

Urban Compass has raised a $40 million series B round at a valuation that exceeds $360 million. Investors include Conde Nast's parent company Advance Publications, Joshua Kushner's Thrive Capital, Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, .406 Ventures, American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault and Salesforce founder Marc Benioff. The startup helps New Yorkers buy and rent apartments, and it raised $20 million at a $150 million valuation last October. Allon says his investors encouraged him to take more of their money so he could launch Urban Compass in other cities. Urban Compass is expected to roll out in Boston, Washington D.C., Chicago and possibly San Francisco later this year.

Allon is proud that his business has been making money since its first day. "We've built a real business and we're growing, mostly by word of mouth. We're helping people by giving our customers better real-estate tools," says Allon.

By the end of last summer, Urban Compass was generating $1 million per month and revenue has increased ten times since last June. Urban Compass' home sales business, which launched last fall, has grown five times faster than its initial rental business, Allon says. The startup works with local real-estate agents on a commission basis. Urban Compass currently employs more than 100 people full-time and it expects to double its staff by the end of the year.

Allon says the technology he's built significantly reduces the amount of time it takes to find a home. It's a cleaner experience than Craigslist and the startup prides itself on timely, accurate listings which it displays both online and via mobile app. Addr! esses ar e shown on a Google-like map as well as pictures of the homes. 

If you want to see an apartment, you can schedule a viewing on Urban Compass which will put together an itinerary for you (Urban Compass is like ZocDoc – a real-time doctor appointment tool – for house hunting). Urban Compass acts as a broker, taking between 0 and 15% per completed deal.

While Allon has sold his last two startups, he says Urban Compass is different. "I do not want anyone to buy me out this time," Allon says. "Coming up with an idea and creating technology is exciting, but it's more exciting to grow a company — especially one customers like."

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