New bill would outlaw online gambling, heads to Congress this week
The US government may have opposed extensive net neutrality laws and regulation of ISPs in the past, but when it comes to online gambling, several politicians are calling for the ban hammer. If Senator Lindsey Graham and Rep. Jason Chaffetz have their way, it will soon be illegal to play slots on your smartphone. Today, the two introduced legislation to outlaw internet betting — excluding fantasy sports and horse racing — asserting that the activity is a potential national security threat, among other things. Gambling sites, co-sponsor Senator Dianne Feinstein claims, often don’t screen for underage players. Supports of the legislation also cite the lack of oversight for criminal acts such as identity theft and money-laundering, and they naturally invoke gambling addiction as well. Notably, Las Vegas Sands titan Sheldon Adelson is supporting the bill.
Online gambling is currently legal, in one form or another, in Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey. Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s home state of California is currently considering legalizing it as well. Online betting only became legal in certain states in 2011, after the Justice Department’s reversal of interpretation of the Wire Act. Chaffetz and Graham’s bill would reinstate the original interpretation of the act, effectively banning internet gambling throughout the country. The bill will be introduced in Congress this week. Meanwhile, you can enjoy this PSA from the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling.
Filed under: Handhelds, Internet
Source: Lindsey Graham Press Room
Sprint’s partnering with smaller carriers for coast-to-coast LTE coverage
Instead of building its own coverage infrastructure in areas where the deer and antelope play, Sprint is teaming up with smaller carriers to create a cross-country roaming network. At its conference tomorrow, the Competitive Carrier Association (CCA) is expected to announce the launch of its Data Access Hub and a partnership with Sprint, which will create a coast-to-coast 4G network that’s comprised of many smaller regional networks that are all stitched together. As CNET tells it, this could give Sprint (and possibly T-Mobile, should it join) customers access to rural data networks — areas that are typically dead zones — and those on the rural networks would gain access to urban LTE coverage; the street would go both ways here it seems.
The CCA’s president, Steve Berry, says that the reasoning behind the shift is simple: it’d take billions of dollars and several years for the Now network or the magenta carrier to build their own rural coverage areas to rival the likes of AT&T and Verizon. This move could help level the playing field for the smaller carriers, he says, and possibly provide a better experience for pretty much everyone involved.
[Image credit: Rennett Stowe / Flickr]
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Sprint, T-Mobile
Source: CNET
Battlefield 4 Commander app Updates with Naval Strike Support and Other Fixes
EA has recently released an update to the Battlefield 4 Commander app. The Commander app is a companion app to your PC or console version of Battlefield 4. It allows you to take on the role of a commander from your compatible tablet and help lead your team to victory. It allows you to promote squads, call in air strikes, send out UAV’s to located enemy’s and a bunch more.
They update shows that it hit the Play Store on the 23rd, but 6 hours ago more detailed information was posted to the Battlefield 4 Battle log. Here is what all went into the app, and into the commander mode update.
• Squad Member Visibility: You will now be able to see the player names and kits of players in a squad when it is selected
• VOIP visibility: You will now be able to tell which player in a squad is talking to you through VOIP
• Issuing orders to a squad now shows the position of all squad members while you are dragging out the order
• You can now drop squad assets (such as promotions) directly on the squad list
• If you have an XP boost active, the scoring for this will now be more visible in the UI
• Lots of bug fixes and stability improvements
I have spent a couple hours playing in commander mode and it is pretty good if you need a fix. I can see how it would be quite a bit more beneficial to those player that are more organized, and friends who play together in teams. I am not that dedicated, nor do I have the time to be. If you find yourself itching for something to do while you sit around and have your tablet handy, then the app is a good way to keep playing and boost your numbers.
Get the app on the Play Store if you don’t already have it. You do need an Origin account along with Battlefield 4 on your PC or connected console.
More details about the update and the app can be found at the Battlefield 4 Forums.
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HTC One (M8) Unlocked and Developer Editions available for order
Amazon and HTC have made available the HTC One M8 Unlocked and Developer edition devices for pre-order through their respective websites for $649.
Oddly, that’s $50 cheaper than the HTC One M8 Google Play Edition, but HTC are stating they will be shipping the device in 1-2 weeks.
The HTC One M8 Developer Edition is available in gunmetal gray and amber gold, while the Unlocked version is available in gunmetal grey, amber gold and glacial silver.
For a full roundup of the HTC One M8, check out our featured post, otherwise hit up the link for either Amazon or HTC to order your HTC One M8.
The post HTC One (M8) Unlocked and Developer Editions available for order appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Classic 80′s game ‘Asteroids’ [App of the Day]
We are always big fans of classic games and Asteroids is a version of the game from the 80′s you remember from your childhood. Destroy the Asteroids using your spaceship by shooting them out of the sky and eliminating the fragments that try and crash your ship.
A great Android game formed from a great 80′s classic.
The post Classic 80′s game ‘Asteroids’ [App of the Day] appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Microsoft discontinues its Surface wireless keyboard adapter
A company spokesperson confirmed the news in a statement to CNET: “Due to a number of factors, we are no longer manufacturing the Surface Wireless Keyboard Adapter.” As you can see, based on that vague statement, Microsoft isn’t keen on explaining why, exactly, it killed off the adapter. Even so, online user reviews are telling: of the four listed on Microsoft’s product page, three people complained about the poor battery life, and the device’s inability to hold a charge. Not good when “wireless” is a key selling point, eh?
Filed under: Peripherals, Tablets, Microsoft
Via: CNET
Source: Microsoft
HTC CEO Peter Chou was heavily involved in the One’s design
Led by CEO Peter Chou, HTC has developed a reputation for making phones that are just as visually appealing as they are functional. The company’s latest flagship device, the One (M8), is another in a long lineup of beautifully crafted smartphones, and we had a chance to sit down with Chou to discuss the handset and some of the process behind how it came to be. “Our challenge was how do we break through from M7 to M8?” Chou told us. “I decided last year that I’m going to spend most of my time in product to help break through. Make it premium, like watches or jewelry. We want to stand out.”
Chou was definitely deeply invested in the success of the M8, and was directly involved in its development — he lost 5kg testing out the Fitbit integration, and even spent several weeks walking around with an M8-shaped block of wood in his pocket. “I tried to simulate when I take it out, how it feels when I put it on my ear, and when I talk.” In other words, Chou wanted to see it through the lens of any other consumer. During this process, he provided feedback to his design team on which areas needed to be tweaked. “We were working back and forth on fine-tuning it; ‘I don’t like this curve, I want it to be more natural in the hands, I want this completely metal, completely pure.’”
Chou has a background in product management, so it’s no surprise that he doesn’t simply sit back and let the design team do all the heavy lifting. “I give them direction, what we want to achieve. They go think about that and then we start the process.” He says that HTC goes through roughly 30-50 prototypes before finally settling on the final version; with each iteration, the team changed things like the shape, color, finish and battery shape and size.
Additionally, Chou told us that the process of developing the Duo Camera took HTC around 18 months. For a little more context, we spoke with Tim McDonough, VP of Marketing at Qualcomm, who said that the chipset manufacturer began collaborating with HTC very early on. Qualcomm needed to build several new features into its roadmap to ensure that it could keep up with the M8′s hefty imaging requirements. According to McDonough, there were a lot of challenges in making sure the Snapdragon 801 could handle the load of the new One’s complex post-processing features; he confirmed to us that the dual ISPs inside the 801 are 45 percent faster than the Snapdragon 800, which is a huge performance boost that opens the door for even more imaging possibilities down the road (whether from HTC or other manufacturers).
On a final note, Chou once again emphasized that premium watches and jewelry were behind the inspiration for the M8. Given what we’ve seen, it certainly appears that the company dedicated plenty of time and energy to making that happen. Of course, such a statement only makes us even more curious to see if Chou & Co. use the same model of inspiration for HTC’s upcoming smartwatch; unfortunately, if he has a block of wood strapped to his wrist right now, he’s doing a good job keeping it hidden. Regardless, take a look at the full interview above to hear more about how Peter Chou’s vision has taken a major role in the design of HTC’s products.
Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, HTC
Google’s two-day I/O ticket lottery starts on April 8th
In 2012, all of the tickets for Google’s I/O developer conference sold out in under 30 minutes. Last year? It took about 49 minutes. Don’t worry about waking up early to register this year, though: the folks in Mountain View are running a lottery instead. Google will take applications for I/O tickets from April 8 to 10, and will randomly reach out to lucky applicants not long after that. Honestly though, your odds of nabbing a ticket are still dicey – the event usually plays host to about 5,500 developers, and demand for admission is through the roof… thanks in part to all the hardware swag Google gives out. If you have neither the time nor the spare dough to schlep out to San Francisco this summer, expect Google to stream its announcements and developer sessions on YouTube too.
Source: Google Developer Blog
Twitter update lets you tag people in pictures, attach multiple photos
If there’s a social network out there that epitomizes the mentality of “slow and steady wins the race,” it’s Twitter. With the addition of photo tagging and multiple picture uploads, the company is continuing to chip away at the advantages its competitors (both real and perceived) enjoy. In 2014 alone, the mobile and desktop sites have received face lifts, it introduced video previews on mobile apps, added ads in the form of promoted users, introduced photo editing tools and experimented with everything from view counts to hiding @ replies and hashtags.
The two latest features focus squarely on pictures. For one, you’ll now people able to tag people in the photos you upload. Sure you could always add their names to whatever text you appended before, but now you can tag up to 10 people without it counting against your 140 character count. Secondly, and this one will be rolling out more slowly, you’ll soon be able to attach up to four photos to each tweet. When you upload multiple pictures a thumbnail collage will automatically be created and you can tap on it to swipe through the images in full size. That is hitting iOS devices first and coming soon to both Android and the website. Hit your respective app store now to get the appropriate update.
Filed under: Internet, Software
Source: Twitter
Macworld 2014 First Look: Petcube, Motion Control Ring, Lumo Lift, and More
The annual Macworld conference, which will see hundreds of companies showing off Apple-related apps and products, officially kicked off today with the innovation showcase for media and workshop attendees.
While Apple stopped attending Macworld in 2009, causing the conference to shrink considerably, there are still a number of innovative products being demoed at the show, including the Petcube, the motion-controlled Ring, unique wearables from Lumo, and more.
Many of the products at Macworld originated on crowd-funding sites like Kickstarter, including the Petcube, which reached full funding back in November of 2013. The Petcube is a small iPhone-connected cube equipped with a camera, motion detection, and a laser toy, allowing users to keep an eye on and play with their pets while they’re away from home.
The first Petcube devices will launch in May of 2014, but the company is debuting its Petcube app [Direct Link] at Macworld, which is a sort of social network for pets at the current time. App functionality will be expanded in the future, first allowing users to interact with Petcubes placed in shelters and then letting them interface with their own cubes after the product ships. Petcubes can be preordered for $199.
The Ring, another product being demoed at Macworld, also made its debut on Kickstarter. While wearing the somewhat bulky Ring on an index finger, users can make small gestures to interface via Bluetooth with an iPhone or iPad app, completing tasks like spelling out letters, opening apps like the camera, or making mobile payments.
In a demonstration, the Ring’s creators used it to write letters that were then transmitted to an iPad app and also demonstrated it opening the camera app. The current functionality of the Ring seems to be a bit limited, but the creators are planning to release an SDK for developers to incorporate its technology into their own apps. The Ring is expected to ship in July of 2014 and can still be preordered via Kickstarter for $185.
Lumo is showing off its new Lumo Lift product, which is a small wearable device that is designed to track daily activity and improve posture as well. It comes in an array of colors and designs and can measure steps and calories burned like many other fitness devices.
Lumo Lift is unique in its ability to keep an eye on posture, letting users know with a slight vibration when they slouch too often. The Lumo Lift can be preordered for $79 and will ship in the Summer of 2014.
There are also several other products available that have been demoed at conferences like CES, including the Flir One thermal camera and the Livescribe 3 Smartpen that transfers traditional writing to iOS devices. A slew of up and coming apps are also available today, including video/photo hybrid Flashback and MotionPortrait, an app that takes photos and transforms them into 3D avatars.
Macworld will continue through March 29, with the Expo Hall opening tomorrow morning.
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