Apple Has A Deeply Discounted Collection Of Apps To Make Your Life Easier â Grab Them While You Still Can (AAPL)

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-best-productivity-apps-discount-2014-8

Looking to be more productive?

Luckily, Apple has deeply discounted a collection of apps to help you tackle your daily tasks in a faster and more efficient way.

Some of the discounts offer up to 75% off the usual price, but it's only for a limited time. Apple doesn't specify how long these offers will last, so make sure you grab these while you still can.

From apps to help you organize your thoughts and events to an app that will instantly translate your voice, you're bound to find something to improve your life.

Research and create your family tree with "MobileFamilyTree 7"

"MobileFamilyTree 7" ($6.99) helps you create and explore your family tree with charts, reports, and integration with "FamilySearch," the world's largest genealogy archive.

Keep your writing focused and without distraction with "Writer Pro"

"Writer Pro" ($4.99) gives you the tools to concentrate on simply writing. Great features such as Syntax Control helps you discover bad writing habits and can even fade out all text but your current sentence to keep you honed in and focused.

Talk into your phone and hear another language come out with "iTranslate Voice"

"iTranslate Voice" ($1.99) truly lets you instantly speak 42 languages, making it a fantastic tool for traveling to new places.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Read More...

Summary only...

Desktop-sized laser supercomputers could be coming by 2020

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/08/08/desktop-sized-laser-supercomputers-could-be-coming-by-2020/

Small, eco-friendly optical supercomputers may soon be crunching quadrillions of calculations per second (exaflops) if a company called Optalysys has its way. It claims to be months away from demonstrating a prototype optical computer that will run at 346 gigaflops to start with -- not as fast as the best supercomputers, but pretty good for a proof-of-concept. Here's how it works: low-intensity lasers are beamed through layers of liquid crystal grids, which change the light intensity based on user inputted data. The resulting interference patterns can be used to solve mathematical equations and perform other tasks. By splitting the beam through multiple grids, the system can compute in parallel much more efficiently than standard multi-processing supercomputers (as shown in the charming Heinz Wolff-hosted video below).

It also uses very low amounts of power, with exascale-level systems capable of running for mere thousands of dollars a year, compared to millions a year for the Tinanhe-2, the current supercomputer champ. After launching the prototype system, the company plans to build two products: a "big data" optical co-processor that can work with existing supercomputers, and a standalone optical solver supercomputer. It expects the latter to launch as a product in 2017 at 9 petflops, with up to 17.1 exaflops (17,100 petaflops) by 2020. By way of contrast, the Tianhe-2 does about 34 petaflops. It all sounds pretty pie-in-the-sky at this point, but we should have a better idea of the feasibility when the prototype arrives in January.

Filed under: Desktops, Science, Alt

Comments

Via: HPC Wire

Source: Optalysys

Read More...

Summary only...

Experts Say This Dodge Supercar Is Almost Unhackable

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/dodge-viper-almost-unhackable-2014-8

Chrysler got some bad news and some good news this week, as far as cybersecurity in cars is concerned.

First the bad: A research report concluded that the 2014 Jeep Cherokee is among the "most hackable" vehicles in the market.

Now the good: The 2014 Dodge Viper is among the least hackable.

You've probably seen a Cherokee or two on the highways and byways of your daily life. But chances are you haven't spotted all that many Vipers. The 640hp all-American supercar is Chrysler's answer to not just General Motors' Corvette, but to European brands such as Ferrari and Lamborghini.

According to Reuters, the authors of the study — Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek — "cautioned that since they had not actually attempted to hack the cars, the ones designated 'most hackable' might actually be quite secure," and that they "released their assessments of 'hackability' to create what they say they believe is the first general benchmarks that consumers could use to compare the cybersecurity of vehicles."

So let's say you want Chrysler's least hackable car. A 2014 Viper will set you back $102,000.

 

SEE ALSO: The New Dodge Viper Is Built To Be A Beast On The Track

SEE ALSO: High-Speed Video Shows How The Viper Gets Made In Detroit

Join the conversation about this story »

Read More...

Summary only...

Roving Robots Can Look Through Buildings Using Nothing But Wi-Fi

Source: http://gizmodo.com/roving-robots-can-see-inside-buildings-using-nothing-bu-1617778653

Previously, we've seen researchers use everyday Wi-Fi signals like radar , able to detect shapes through a door or wall. Well, here's the logical next step toward the robot overthrow: Putting that tech on top of wheeled robots. You can run (okay, walk), but hiding behind a brick wall is futile.

Read more...

Read More...

Summary only...

Sony joins Samsung and LG with its first curved 4K TVs

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/08/07/sony-s90-4k-curved-ultrahdtv/

Sony's just announced its first large, curved 4K HDTVs, but is doing things a bit differently from its competitors. The new 65- and 75-inch S90 models have less curve than Samsung or LG's offerings, because Sony says that gives better viewing angles and a more immersive experience. Otherwise, they're packed with the kind of tech you'd expect: an UltraHD Triluminos display with "X-tended dynamic range" for better blacks, active 3D, advanced 4K-to-HD upscaling and angled speakers and subwoofers with 4.2 surround sound. Sony's also baked in social viewing, live football mode for instant tweeting and photo sharing. There's still no pricing, but Samsung's curved 65-inch 4K model is $5,000, and its 78-inch model is $8,000 -- despite Sony's smaller curve, we'd expect at least that.

Update: Just for reference, in China, Sony is offering the 65-inch version for 32,999 yuan or about $5,360, and the 75-inch version for 49,999 yuan or about $8,110. Fret not, chances are these will be cheaper when they land in the US.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Sony

Comments

Via: Pocket Lint

Source: Sony

Read More...

Summary only...

IBM's new supercomputing chip mimics the human brain with very little power

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/08/07/ibm-synapse-supercomputing-chip-mimics-human-brain/

A lot has changed in the three years since IBM first unveiled a prototype of its human brain-inspired SyNAPSE (Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics) chip. That single-core prototype has now been significantly scaled up, leading to a new, production-ready SyNAPSE chip that blows past its predecessor with 1 million neurons, 256 million synapses and 4,096 neurosynaptic cores, all the while only requiring 70mW of power. Though the numbers are impressive, it's what they translate to that holds even greater prominence: the ability for devices to process various sensory data in parallel just like the human brain, by merging memory and computing.

Traditionally, faster processing has always meant greater power consumption, but IBM's new SyNAPSE chip flips that paradigm on its head. To give you some perspective of just how low-powered this supercomputing chip is, IBM's Chief Scientist Dr. Dharmendra S. Modha says it requires power equivalent to that of a battery from a hearing aid. It's an achievement that's merited IBM the cover of the journal Science; it also has the potential to drastically alter conventional approaches to computing. In fact, the new SyNAPSE chip is so disruptive to the current computing landscape that IBM's created a new programming language to go along with it and an educational outreach program called SyNAPSE University. It's no wonder why the project received $53 million in funding from DARPA.

IBM's Chief Scientist Dr. Dharmendra S. Modha says [the new SyNAPSE chip] requires power equivalent to that of a battery from a hearing aid.

IBM hasn't publicly announced any partnerships to leverage its new SyNAPSE chip yet, though discussions are surely taking place. Currently, the company's been able to build a programmable, working board with 16 of these chips working in concert -- that represents 16 million neurons capable of processing instructions that, Modha says, would traditionally be carried out by "racks and racks of conventional computers." Again, this is all done at an extremely low-powered state, which means the chips produce way less heat. It's not hard to imagine some of the immediate benefits this could bring to consumers: for instance, laptops that don't burn your lap; or even mobile phones that run for days and can process extreme amounts of environmental data.

But Modha sums up the magnitude of IBM's new SyNAPSE chip best with this simple analogy: "You can carry our board in your backpack. You can't carry four racks of conventional computers in your backpack."

[Image credit: IBM]

Comments

Read More...

Summary only...

Tour college campuses from the couch with Google Maps Street View

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/08/07/street-view-campus-tours/

The time for choosing a college to attend this fall may have long passed, but you can get a jump start on next year with Google Maps. Street View added 36 more campus tours in the US and Canada, including a look at Georgetown University's Healy Lawn that's pictured above. University of Miami and University of Regina are also included in the tally, allowing you to familiarize yourself with prospective surroundings ahead of that formal campus visit. Or if you just really fancy an academic summer vacation.

Filed under: Internet, Software, Google

Comments

Source: Google Maps

Read More...

Summary only...

CHART OF THE DAY: Netflix Is Finally Becoming HBO, Like It Said It Would (NFLX)

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-netflix-is-finally-becoming-hbo-like-it-said-it-would-2014-8

Last January, Netflix’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos said the company’s “goal is to become HBO faster than HBO can become us.” Well, mission accomplished. According to the latest data provided by the company, which was charted for us by Statista, Netflix has finally passed HBO in subscriber revenue ($1.146 billion vs. $1.141 billion).

Netflix says it has 48 million total paid subscribers, with the vast majority of those customers — 35.1 million, to be exact — in the U.S. HBO actually has more paid subscribers than Netflix with 127 million worldwide, but that figure also includes various channels owned by the company, including HBO 2, HBO Family, and Cinemax.

SEE ALSO: CHART OF THE DAY: The Worst Company Data Breaches Ever

Join the conversation about this story »

Read More...

Summary only...

The FBI uses malware to combat online anonymity

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/08/05/the-fbi-uses-malware-to-combat-online-anonymity/

Online anonymity is a beautiful, terrible thing, so naturally governments and law enforcement types are eager to see what happens behind the web's closed doors. Naturally, that includes the folks at the FBI: According to Wired, the FBI has been using "network investigative techniques" -- like highly specific, purpose-built malware -- to help peel back popular anonymizing service Tor's layers of obscurity to catch criminals.

The bureau's efforts began in earnest with an involved child pornography investigation dubbed Operation Torpedo back in 2012. They eventually lucked out by gaining access to a CP site called Pedoboard, arresting the operator, taking over the servers, and delivering malware to visitors who thought they were protected by Tor.

There's no denying that some good has come from the bureau's use of malware, as Wired's Kevin Poulsen points out that more than 12 child porn aficionados are headed to trial as a result. The flip side of that coin is that the FBI's success with Operation Torpedo led to another effort to bypass the anonymity that Tor provides... and possibly exposed some innocent people's information to the FBI's eager eyes. With a little Javascript, understanding of Firefox and Tor security issues and a "tiny" Windows program, users of some Tor-hidden services like Tormail (hosted by an outfit called Freedom Hosting, which itself was being investigated for "tolerating" child porn) essentially had their IP addresses unmasked.

Comments

Source: Wired

Read More...

Summary only...

This is why Facebook bought WhatsApp for $16 billion: because its throughput of shared photographs i

Source: http://gizmodo.com/this-is-why-facebook-bought-whatsapp-for-16-billion-b-1616224487

This is why Facebook bought WhatsApp for $16 billion : because its throughput of shared photographs is astronomical, and rising at an insane rate. (See also, the purchase of Instagram and the crazy offer for Snapchat .) [KPCB]

Read more...

Read More...

Summary only...

13 European Dream Homes You Can Actually Rent

Source: http://gizmodo.com/13-european-dream-homes-you-can-actually-rent-1615953050

It's no secret that Europe is full of magical places. However, you're probably never going to stay in Windsor Castle or sleep in Rapunzel's tower. You might, however, enjoy a similar brush with a fairy tale thanks to this architecture-loving travel agency in Germany.

Read more...

Read More...

Summary only...

Visual microphone can pick up speech from a bag of potato chips

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/08/04/visual-microphone/

You may want to be careful about the conversations you hold in the future; if you're near a window, someone might be listening in. A team of researchers from Adobe, Microsoft and MIT have developed a visual microphone algorithm that picks up audio by looking for microscopic vibrations in video footage. The technique exploits the rolling shutter effect in digital cameras (where the sensor reads pixels one row at a time) to detect sound-related movements that might otherwise be invisible; the only gear you need is a camera that can record at high frame rates. It's good enough to capture singing from a bag of potato chips, and musical tones from a potted plant.

Don't worry about optical eavesdropping just yet. The experiment only got accurate reproduction with specialized cameras that shoot at up to 6,000 frames per second; an off-the-shelf device with 60fps recording can identify people's voices, but it's hard to make out words. Provided the technology reaches fruition, it would most likely be used by investigators that want to hear what suspects say when they're not on the phone. It would be useful for more than surveillance, too, as team member Abe Davis believes the visual mic could identify a material's properties without making contact. It's definitely clever tech -- let's just hope that it's used more for science than snooping.

Filed under: Cameras, Science, Microsoft

Comments

Source: MIT (1), (2)

Read More...

Summary only...

Xiaomi, not Samsung, makes China's smartphone of choice

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/08/04/xiaomi-outships-samsung-in-china/

Xiaomi has been a significant contender in the phone world for a while, but it's now safe to say that the Chinese device maker has joined the big leagues. Canalys estimates that Xiaomi shipped more smartphones than Samsung in China during the second quarter of the year, making it the top vendor in its home country. Simply put, Xiaomi is a champ at making cheap yet desirable handsets -- its budget Redmi series has done a lot to boost sales, and even range-topping devices like the Mi3 (and now Mi4) are much more affordable than alternatives from the likes of Apple and Samsung.

The surge might have even been enough to make Xiaomi one of the biggest phone builders on the global stage. While IDC's data still doesn't include Xiaomi in the top five, Strategy Analytics believes that the company jumped into fourth place ahead of LG. Whichever study is on the mark, the data makes it easier to understand why Samsung's profit took such a big hit in the spring -- the Korean firm is up against at least one Chinese rival that's firing on all cylinders.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung

Comments

Via: Wall Street Journal

Source: Canalys

Read More...

Summary only...

Researcher Can Hack Airplanes Through In-Flight Entertainment Systems

Source: http://gizmodo.com/researcher-hacks-airplanes-through-in-flight-entertainm-1615780083

If you're about to get on an airplane, you might want to wait until you land before you read this post. Because cyber security whiz Ruben Santamarta says he has devised a method that can give hackers access to a passenger jet's satellite communications equipment through the passenger Wi-Fi and in-flight entertainment systems*.

Read more...

Read More...

Summary only...

DJI's latest pro-level drone will make you want to upgrade your Phantom

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/08/04/djis-s900/

DJI's Phantom 2 Vision+ is a great introduction to aerial video -- we know from personal experience -- but it won't be long before you're jonesing for more power. If you really want to dominate the skies (or, y'know, use a bigger camera etc.) then DJI's new Spreading Wings S900 Hexacopter is more like it. In DJI's family of pro-level drones, the S900 flies neatly between the S1000 and S800 with a max load weight of 5kg and 18 minutes of fly time to cram with epic sweeps -- just don't do them here. It works with DJI's own Zenmuse Z15, GH3, GH4, and BMPCC gimbles, so particularly good news for Lumix GH3/GH4 and Black Magic Pocket Cinema Camera owners. If you set on hanging with the pros, then expect to pay out like them, too. The Spreading Wings S900 will thin your money clip to! the tun e of $3,800, but that's small change for a big fish like you, right? However, if moths are the only thing flying around your wallet, then enjoy vicariously via the video after the break.

Filed under: Misc

Comments

Source: DJI

Read More...

Summary only...