Volvo’s connected cars could make winter driving safer for everyone
With its latest research project, Volvo is hoping to make driving in inclement weather a bit less dicey. The Swedish automaker is testing a safety system that uses mobile data networks to relay icy road conditions from vehicle to vehicle. Once you hit a slick spot, the location data uploads to Volvo’s database and then an instant notification is sent to other cars nearing that area. As the outfit tells it, the in-car app will adjust the warning’s intensity based on your speed as well as the road conditions. Meaning that, if you’re crawling up the interstate at 5MPH through a whiteout, your dashboard won’t light up in the way that, say, someone’s would if they were doing 88MPH.
What’s more, the system will transmit the pavement-friction data to maintenance crews, so more (or less) salt and snowplows can be deployed in a given area, making the roads safer for everyone — not just Volvo owners. The pilot program is limited to some 50 vehicles for now, but the firm promises that next winter the fleet’ll grow “considerably.”
Filed under: Transportation
Via: CNET
Source: Volvo
Ex-Microsoft employee arrested for leaking company secrets
Remember all those Windows 8 screenshots that surfaced before the platform was released? Well, some of those might have been courtesy of Alex Kibkalo, an ex-Microsoft employee who was just arrested for stealing and leaking company secrets. Unlike the HTC execs who reportedly stole trade secrets to run a new firm, though, Kibkalo allegedly leaked info to a French tech blogger for something akin to revenge — he was apparently angry over receiving a poor performance review when he was still with Microsoft. According to Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the accused sent the blogger (whom he met on a forum) parts of Windows 8′s code and Microsoft’s Activation Server Software Development Kit. While Kibkalo’s charging paper states that the blogger only posted Windows 8 screenshots, Microsoft believes its former employee also encouraged him to share the development kit online. He supposedly wanted that to happen so hackers can use the kit (one of Microsoft’s defenses against software piracy) to crack the company’s products.
If you’re wondering how exactly the accused got caught, it’s because the blogger contacted Microsoft in September 2012 to verify the Windows 8 code Kibkalo sent. When Redmond determined its authenticity, investigators looked through the blogger’s Hotmail account and instant messenger, where they found incriminating emails and chat logs. In one of those sessions, the accused even claimed that he broke into one of the company’s buildings in an attempt to copy a server. Kibkalo’s now facing criminal charges for this particular offense, but according to investigators, he also bragged about leaking Windows 7 files in the past.
[Image credit: Victor/Flickr]
Via: ZDNet
Source: Seattle PI
Google and Microsoft are using the cloud to track climate change
Data.gov is getting a whole lot greener thanks to its new section dedicated to climate information. The new channel is the product of President Obama’s Climate Data Initiative (PDF), and pulls information that can help predict the effects of climate change and prevent any damage that may result. The raw data comes from the likes of the Department of Defense, NASA and the US Geological Society, but probably isn’t easy to grok for the average person. To help with that, Google and Microsoft have stepped in. Mountain View is donating 50 million hours of its Earth Engine’s computing power — the Global Forest Watch’s backbone — and is partnering with academics in the western US to produce a near real-time drought map and monitoring system.
Redmond, on the other hand, has developed a tool (dubbed FetchClimate) that can both recall historical climate data and forecast future weather trends based on the stockpiles of information stored in Microsoft’s Azure back-end. For example, the software giant says that this could allow state planners to predict extreme rainfall, preventing flood damage to infrastructure and transit lines as a result. These are still early days for the Initiative, but, as times goes on, more applications using its wealth of info will surely surface. For now, though, it’s nice to see tech companies exploit government data instead of the other way around.
Filed under: Internet, Microsoft, Google
Source: The White House Blog, Microsoft Research, Google Maps
All New HTC One Dummy Unit Poses with Other Popular Phones
It wouldn’t shock me, if HTC’s CEO just walked out on stage at their event, raised the New HTC One up in the air and yelled, “Here it is! Go get it!” then just walked off stage. The All New HTC One has been spotted more times in the wild than the Loch Ness Monster, and today, we get a dummy unit posing with some other phones you might have heard of.
The iPhone 5s, LG G2, Xperia Z1, and the Galaxy S4 and Note 3, lay beside the All New One, and we get a good look on how it measures up. Not like it is much of shock that it is pretty distinctive when compared to the other popular phones. So check out all the images, and let us know how excited you are about the new HTC One.
Source: Droid-Life
Samsung teases a site dedicated to its design philosophy and latest concepts (video)
Samsung has gone to pains to try to explain the consideration and thought processes that go into its design — especially with its Galaxy smartphones — even if a lot of us still have beef with some of its material choices. Here’s a renewed effort, then, with the electronics maker teasing a new design site for launch on March 27th next week. A YouTube teaser suggests there will be more tales of design from across its product family — obviously thought-up, written and made by Samsung — as well as eye-widening futuristic concepts of floating screens, properly bending smartphones and well, whatever else the company’s wizards can imagine.
Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Tablets, Mobile, Samsung
Source: Samsung Tomorrow
Playing video games well can get you into a top South Korean university
Chung-Ang University ranks among the top 10 schools in South Korea, and you know what can get you in other than good grades and connections? Being really, really good at video games. Beginning next year, professional gamers can apply for a spot at the university’s Department of Sport Science. Since that department’s also in charge of students with more traditional sports backgrounds (you know: soccer, basketball, snowboarding etc.), it’s safe to say Chung-Ang recognizes the more sedentary players as athletes, as well.
While this news might sound like something from The Onion, it’s not such a bizarre development for a country where competitive gaming is huge — players train as hard as any athlete and matches are even shown on TV. In fact, gaming in the country is big enough that US immigration officials (after some convincing, anyway) granted a couple of pro-gamers athletic visas in the past. With a school possibly honing players’ skills even more, we wouldn’t be surprised if the immigration ends up giving out more pro-athlete visa in the future.
[Image credit: y6y6y6/Flickr]
Filed under: Gaming
Via: Gizmodo, Ubergizmo, Kotaku
Source: PGR21
Daily Roundup: Sony Project Morpheus hands-on, new Oculus Rift dev kit and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Using the PlayStation 4′s virtual reality headset, Project Morpheus
Last night at GDC, Sony unveiled Project Morpheus. We got to try out the company’s VR headset, destined for the PlayStation 4 — and yes, it’s pretty awesome. Engadget’s own Ben Gilbert donned a virtual sword and took the prototype for a spin while we caught the action on camera.
The new Oculus Rift costs $350 and this is what it’s like
Oculus VR’s Rift headset is at the forefront of virtual reality, and is undoubtedly gaming’s “next big thing.” Starting today, the company’s second development kit is now available for pre-order. At $350, it brings several improvements over the previous “Crystal Cove” prototype, including a camera and 1,080 x 960 display.
EPIC GAMES’ UNREAL ENGINE 4 NOW AVAILABLE WITH $19 SUBSCRIPTION, HEADED TO OS X AND MORE
Fans of Gears of War and Mass Effect know firsthand of Unreal Engine 3′s gaming prowess. And today, Epic Games hopes to take its platform to the next level by releasing Unreal Engine 4 on a subscription-based model. For $19 a month, developers get access to the Unreal Editor and the complete source code hosted by GitHub.
10 YEARS OF SOCIAL MEDIA’S BIGGEST PLAYERS AND PAYOUTS, BY THE NUMBERS
One decade is a long while, especially in the ever-changing tech industry. Since 2010, companies, startups and public figures have invested a tremendous sum in their bid for social media dominance. Read on for our illustration of the biggest developments and players from the last ten years of Facebook, Twitter and the like.
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Dine without waiting for the check with Cover [App of the Day]
Dining in New York takes a turn for the good thanks to a newly released app for Android. Called Cover, it lets you pay for meals without waiting for the check. What’s more, it also allows for splitting of your bill, alleviating the need for your waiter to divvy up two credit cards, cash, and a gift card.
Available for devices running 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or later, the app holds your credit card info in a secure manner. When you arrive at one of the growing list of restaurants with Cover support you’ll simply “join a table”. Ready to leave? See ya! No waiting for the staff to see you’re finished, no hanging around trying to calculate tips. You’ve got it covered.
The downside of Cover, we should point out, is that it’s limited to New York. We’d love to see this expand to other markets; the sooner, the better! With that said, there’s quite a few places you’ll find under the Cover umbrella, including restaurants in Chelsea, East Village, Greenwich Village, SoHo, Union Square, and Brooklyn.
For the full mobile dining experience, log in with OpenTable or Rezhound and reserve your next table.
The post Dine without waiting for the check with Cover [App of the Day] appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Google Keyboard’s autocorrect gets better if you let it mine your data
Keyboard software updates for Android, or any other mobile device, are relatively unexciting because… well, you know, keyboards. But, if you happen to have opted for Google’s particular stock version by way of the Play Store, you’re about to get a better autocorrect experience. A new update that’s currently rolling out introduces the option for Personalized Suggestions, meaning the app can mine data from any other Google service you use to better serve your swift typing needs. Don’t worry, all that info is apparently stored locally on your phone. And it’s not like you’ll have to dig through menu options to find this particular setting, either. Google’s put it front and center so the first time you fire up the keyboard post-update, a helpful alert message will appear above the keys to make sure you know the deal. You can always turn it off, however, and return to a life less finely autocorrected. The choice is yours: one path leads to unintentional humor and the other to accuracy.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Google
Via: Droid-Life
Source: Google Play
Sony A7 and A7R firmware update brings boosted performance, improved image quality
Sony’s flagship duo of mirrorless cameras scored a few improvements today. After updating to firmware version 1.2, A7 and A7R owners will be able to take advantage of boosted image quality, new applications and faster start-up times when the camera is turned on immediately after being powered off. On the IQ front, Sony’s managed to reduce color noise in speed priority continuous mode. You may also notice reduced color artifacts at object edges in bright scenes while shooting video. As for the Play Memories Camera apps, firmware 1.2 adds in new Live-view Grading and Smooth Reflection tools. There’s also better AE tracking in the Timelapse app. Finally, the update enables compatibility with the new 70-200mm full-frame lens.
Source: A7 (Windows), A7 (Mac), A7R (Windows), A7R (Mac)
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