Source: http://gizmodo.com/htc-vive-virtual-reality-so-damn-real-that-i-cant-even-1689396093
I saw the future today. I mean that. I got the chance here at MWC to try the new VR headset that Valve and HTC are developing. Is it good? It's absolutely incredible. This thing is just...my god you guys I can't even.
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/03/04/the-faa-is-vulnerable-to-hacks/
On the scale of extremely disconcerting government revelations, this isn't PRISM, but damn if it isn't alarming. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a scathing report on the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) air traffic control systems. The FAA is basically just asking to be hacked thanks to its lackadaisical approach to security and software updates. Things are so bad, that relying on servers that have past their "end-of-life" date is probably the least concerning revelation made by the GAO. The government also found that FAA employees were sharing passwords through unencrypted communications channels, and had failed to patch out of date software with three-year-old security flaws.
The GAO report states right off the bat that, despite the FAA's efforts to improve security "significant security control weaknesses remain, threatening the agency's ability to ensure the safe and uninterrupted operation of the national airspace system." Any effort to prevent, detect or combat an intrusion by hackers is basically undermined by the agency's failure to fully implement a security program required under a law passed in 2002.
If you're not alarmed by all this, you should be. Think about it: This is the agency in charge of directing traffic for over 2,000 planes in the air at any given moment. (Planes, you know, the metal tubes hurtling through the sky at hundreds of miles an hour, each filled living human beings.) And they're relying on hardware that isn't supported by the manufacturer and left security flaws with simple fixes go unpatched for three years.
Senators John Thune and Bill Nelson were among those who quickly demanded answers from the FAA and the Transportation Department. So far the response has been disappointing, with the FAA saying its working on the problem, but offering little in the way of concrete solutions.
Filed under: Transportation
Via: Ars Technica
Source: GAO
There were a lot of announcements at Game Developer Conference in San Francisco today, but one flew under the radar: a preview of WebGL 2. Mozilla gave us a sneak peek of what will one day power games and other intensive applications in the browser. WebGL, which stands for Web Graphics Library, i...
Sent via Flipboard, your personal magazine.
Get it for free to keep up with the news you care about.
Many "universal" payment cards... well, aren't. They either don't work everywhere or only hold a limited number of cards, which leaves you out of luck when you're trying to add one more loyalty program. Stratos thinks it has this problem licked, though. Its new Bluetooth Connected Card promises "100 percent compatibility" with payment systems in the US, and it can hold an unlimited number of cards that you control through a mobile app. You also shouldn't have to worry about a thief going on a shopping spree if you lose your card, since you can tell it to automatically lock down if it's not close to your phone for a while.
The pricing model is different, to boot. Instead of buying the card outright, you pay for subscriptions ($95 for one year, $145 for two). This will let you get a new card every year, whether it's a replacement or an upgrade. Eventually, you should also get perks like virtual card downloads and location-based recommendations. You might not relish the idea of paying more on top of whatever fees your existing cards carry, but Stratos might be worthwhile if you really can leave most of your cards at home. And unlike some of its rivals, it's not stuck in development limbo -- shipments start as soon as April.
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/03/03/pebble-time-steel/
It's only been a week since Pebble introduced Pebble Time, its second-generation color smartwatch, and there's already a new version of it up for grabs. Today at Mobile World Congress, the company has just announced Pebble Time Steel, a premium all-metal iteration of the Time. Indeed, the entirety of the Time Steel -- from the bezel to the buttons -- is made out of stainless steel and is available in silver, black and gold finishes. It has the same dimensions as the Time but is about 1mm thicker. That isn't so bad, especially since the Time Steel apparently has a longer battery life of up to 10 days instead of 7. As if that wasn't luxurious enough, when you buy a Pebble Time Steel, you'll get two straps: a stainless steel band plus a leather one.
Oh, and that's not all. Remember that smart accessory port that's on the Pebble Time? Well, today Pebble is also announcing a new open hardware accessory platform that developers can use to create "smartstraps" for the watch, using that smart accessory port to further extend the watch's functionality. Simply use the quick release trigger on the Time (and of course, the Time Steel) to swap out the straps and the smartstrap would have an additional flap that attaches to the smart accessory port.
As for what kind of new functions will the straps bring? Well, CEO Eric Migicovsky suggested perhaps a GPS strap, or one with a heart monitor, or even a battery strap that extends the watch's battery life to three or four weeks. He says that instead of integrating these sensors -- which are often obsolete in a few years anyway -- into the watch, it's more efficient to have them be modular. Pebble is already working on partnerships to come up with some of these smartstraps, but it also wants to hear from its community about additional ideas.
"It's one of the reasons why we wanted to launch the Time on Kickstarter," says Migicovsky. "Our plans involve more than just people buying the watch. We want to involve the community, to come up with the different straps." He says that we'll likely see some of the early smartstraps by the end of the year.
As for the Pebble Time Steel, if you've already backed the Pebble Time but now you'd rather have the Steel instead, don't worry. Migicovsky says you can upgrade to the Steel by increasing the amount of money you're kicking in without losing your spot in line. The special Kickstarter price for the Time Steel is $250 (and yes, you get both the leather and steel bands for that price), while the final retail cost is $299. The Pebble Time Steel will, however, ship in July rather than May.
Photos by Carlos Martinez
Filed under: Wearables
Posts
