ACC Sports channel arrives on Apple TV with on-demand analysis and highlights
One day after its Men’s Basketball Tournament wrapped up in Greensboro, North Carolina, the Atlantic Coast Conference has launched an Apple TV channel offering on-demand programming. For now, ACC Sports will offer “extensive highlights and feature programming” from the ACC Digital Network. What about NCAA Tournament streaming? You won’t find that here. The rights to all March Madness games are owned by CBS, with games also broadcast on TBS, TNT and truTV. However, this channel will offer analysis and daily coverage during the tourney, following the conference’s teams and a “Road to Texas” series. There’s also access to Campus Insiders for catching up on the latest from schools in other major conferences (sorry, mid-majors). The announcement makes no mention of live event coverage, which isn’t a huge surprise as ESPN has a firm grasp on that for Apple’s streaming box with its WatchESPN option.
Filed under: Software, HD, Apple
Via: 9to5Mac
Source: ACC
Changes in iOS 7 Security Make Kernel More Vulnerable to Attack [iOS Blog]
A security researcher claims changes Apple made to tighten its kernel security system in iOS 7 instead weakened the system, making it less secure than its iOS 6 counterpart. (Via CNET and ThreatPost) Azimuth Security researcher Tarjei Mandt discovered the flaw and presented his findings last week at CanSecWest.
The security flaw involves the random number generator Apple uses to secure its kernel. In iOS 6, the number generator that encrypted the kernel derived its values in part from the CPU clock counter. Because it was based on time, the encryption was only marginally secure as the output values were predictable, especially when examining successive numbers.
Apple was aware of the limitations in iOS 6 and attempted to tighten security in iOS 7 by changing the random number generator to a linear congruential generator, which is more susceptible to brute force attacks.
The problem with the new generator in iOS 7 is that it uses a linear recursion algorithm, Mandt said, which has “more correlation” between the values it generates. That makes them easier to extrapolate and guess, he said.
This flaw potentially allows a malicious hacker to gain kernel-level access to an iOS device via an unpatched vulnerability. The kernel is the base part of the iOS operating system and controls low-level functions such as security and resource allocation.
Apple approached Mandt about his findings and asked for his CanSecWest slide presentation. 
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Sprint adds 20 LTE markets, expands Spark coverage
Sprint on Monday confirmed another 20 markets across the U.S. have officially seen its 4G LTE speeds. What’s more, the carrier also indicates the tri-band Spark network speeds have reached 18 markets in total.
…in such locations as Bridgeport/Stamford/Norwalk, Conn.; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Omaha, Neb.; Peoria, Ill.; and Sarasota/Bradenton, Fla. Sprint expects to cover 250 million people with 4G LTE by mid-year. Sprint today also announced Sprint Spark™ in Provo, Utah, and Trenton, N.J,…
Looking ahead, Sprint expects to have LTE coverage for 250 million Americans by the middle of 2014.
Sprint Spark is available in the following markets:
- Austin, Texas
- Baltimore
- Chicago
- Dallas
- Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
- Fort Worth, Texas
- Houston
- Jacksonville, Fla
- Kansas City, Kan./Mo.
- Los Angeles
- Miami
- New York
- Philadelphia
- Provo, Utah
- Salt Lake City
- San Antonio
- Tampa, Fla
- Trenton, N.J.
The post Sprint adds 20 LTE markets, expands Spark coverage appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Amazon celebrates 3 years of Appstore with gifts and discounts
Amazon has started celebrating the third anniversary of its U.S. Appstore with discounts, deals, and gifts. While the official birthday doesn’t happen until the 22nd, you can get in on the promotion effective immediately.
According to Amazon, the following apps and games are included in the savings and can reach as high as 60% off!
- Wheel of Fortune from Sony Pictures
- Terraria from 505 Games
- Warner Bros.’ Batman: Arkham City Lockdown
Also, a limited time bonus offer gives players back Amazon Coins for in-app purchases.
- Asphalt 8
- Animal Voyage
- Kingdoms of Camelot
- The Hobbit
- Sonic Dash
- World at Arms
- Despicable Me: Minion Rush
Buyers get back 50% of the purchase price in the form of Amazon Coins. In other words, spend $10 in the game, you get back $5 in Amazon’s virtual currency.
The post Amazon celebrates 3 years of Appstore with gifts and discounts appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Review: Supertooth Freedom Bluetooth Headphones With NFC
When you think of quality headphones names like Beats, Turtle Beach and Sennheiser probably come to mind straight away. While the aforementioned are indeed some great headphones there is a world of headphones beyond the big name brands. Supertooth is one of those brands, and they’re looking to give the big names a run for their money by offering similar quality at a much more affordable and reasonable price.
Sound
Let’s get the biggest part of the review out of the way right now. I’ve been fortunate enough to use the big name headphones and I know what good quality audio should sound like. I already own a pair of Turtle Beach i60′s, which I absolutely love. I’ve used friends Beats headphones and Sennheiser I’ve used when I played in my old band. The Supertooth Freedom’s sound quality is nothing to scoff at. It produces great all around sound giving you a full and immersive experience. I couldn’t even take these to full volume for fear I’d damage my hearing. There was absolutely no cracking or degradation of the sound over Bluetooth or wired. The Freedom’s bass reproduction is superb but if you’re looking for the Beats bass sound, you’ll not find it here. Beats are manufactured with a total bass experience in mind. The Freedom is looking to give a balance and try to level everything out. That’s not to say you can’t listen to bass heavy music with these, you can, just don’t expect them to be geared toward a bass experience. The Freedom’s also support phone calls, you can switch to a phone call via the ear piece button and quickly switch back to music when you’re done.
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Battery, Bluetooth Range, NFC, Build Quality and Design
The battery on the Freedom’s is amazing. I went easily two days without charging them once. And that’s with about 3-5 hours of listening to music each of those days. The battery is really a high point in this entire review, Bluetooth accessories can be a pain when you’re having to recharge the damn thing all the time. The Bluetooth range on these headphones is second to none. I was able to walk away from my phone close to 50 feet before I started experiencing signal loss. I tested the Bluetooth range in a metal warehouse with racks and lots of equipment. Your results may vary depending on where you’re at and what’s in the path of the Bluetooth signal. The Freedom’s also come with NFC pairing capabilities, which I did not test as I did not have an NFC capable device on hand. But this is a great feature for Android users, not so useful for iPhone users. The build quality is actually very good as well. It’s mostly all plastic with the exception of the inner rails, which look aluminum. The only real complaint I can find with the build quality is that fingerprints tend to love the glossy plastic, be prepared (if you’re a neat freak) to wipe your phones down daily. The overall design is spectacular. You can tell they are shooting for the Beats crowd with the clean curves and simple lines. I’d rate the design right up their with the competition.
WrapUp
The Supertooth Freedom’s are really an awesome set of headphones for the asking price of $149. They really stand their own against Beats or any other big name headset maker. There were very little complaints that I had with the Freedom headphones, mostly trivial things like fingerprints on the plastic. I was also slightly annoyed with the dust covers for the AUX in and microUSB. But most dust covers are kind of annoying anyway. I highly recommend these headphones if you’re seeking a pair of Bluetooth headphones with quality sound and NFC. I didn’t mention this earlier but the Freedom’s do not have noise canceling technology but really that’s a minor drawback. The Supertooth Freedom’s have a nice minimal clean design that competes with the likes of Beats and others. The sound is extraordinary for the price tag. NFC is a win for those with Android devices. Overall I give the Supertooth Freedom’s 4 out of 5 stars. For the price here folks, you just can’t lose. These are well worth the $149. Hit the link below to get a pair of your own Supertooth Freedom’s!
Microsoft Releases OneNote as a Free Mac App Store Download
In line with a report from last week, Microsoft today launched OneNote for the Mac, making several significant changes to the service for both mobile and desktop users. The biggest change is in pricing with OneNote now free across all supported platforms for personal use. The free Mac app also includes 7GB of free OneDrive storage space, which can be expanded by subscribing to Office 365.
The Mac version is very similar to the Windows version with only a few subtle visual differences. Both versions share the same notebook metaphor, ribbon interface and freeform note-taking features.
Along with a Mac version, Microsoft also is releasing a OneNote clipper browser plug-in for Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox and Mac Safari that allows users to save clippings from webpages. This feature is being extended to third-party apps via a new cloud API that provides developers with the ability to integrate OneNote clipping into their apps.
Other new tools in OneNote include Office Lens, which allows users to take a picture of a document and immediately import it into their OneNote QuickNotes with text recognition. Microsoft also enabled a OneNote email service that provides users with the ability to create new QuickNotes using a unique onenote.com email account.
Microsoft OneNote for the Mac [Direct Link] is available for free from the Mac App Store. While the consumer version is free, Microsoft is still offering a paid business version with premium features like Outlook integration and SharePoint support. New partner apps with support for OneNote include Feedly, IFTTT, News360 and Weave. 
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8 GB iPhone 5c Packaging Label Shown in New Photo [iOS Blog]
Following reports this morning claiming that Apple is introducing an 8 GB iPhone 5c tomorrow, Engadget has received a photo of what is said to be the label from the device’s packaging.
The label is from a blue 8 GB iPhone 5c and carries a new part number of MG902 to go along with with the existing A1507 model number that is used on iPhone 5c devices sold in Europe and the Middle East for compatibility with cellular networks in those countries.
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Hope for Optical Image Stabilization in iPhone 6 Revived with Supplier Rumors
Late last week, shares of InvenSense rose on rumors that the company had won a contract to supply sensors for Apple’s upcoming iPhone 6. InvenSense supplies sensors such as accelerometers and gyroscopes to major phone manufacturers, but the company has yet to publicly land a deal with Apple. The validity of the rumor seems up for debate, however, as a Needham & Company analyst soon released a note saying that he “did not get the impression” from InvenSense’s CEO and CFO that such an agreement was in place. Of course, that information would be under a strict non-disclosure agreement with Apple, severely limiting what InvenSense executives could tell the analyst.
Regardless, The Motley Fool speculates on what InvenSense could bring to Apple. While InvenSense could offer drop-in replacements for the current gyroscope and accelerometer sensors in the iPhone, the company also provides Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) technology for mobile phones:
There’s one additional socket that InvenSense could win on the iPhone — an OIS gyroscope. The burgeoning technology is used to improve smartphone camera’s by stabilizing the image using a gyroscope. Samsung neglected to use the technology in the Galaxy S5, but Apple may decide to integrate it into the iPhone 6. If it does, InvenSense is a clear choice.
Image from Electronics 360
Optical Image Stabilization remains relatively new in the smartphone market, and uses a motion-tracking system to compensate for device shakiness, allowing for sharper photos and video. This video demonstrates the product:
Apple presently offers software-based image stabilization in its iPhone 5s, but has definitely been researching optical image stabilization for the iPhone. Earlier this year, an Apple patent application detailing an OIS system was published. The employee who authored that patent was hired by Apple in 2012 from a company working on the same optical image stabilization technology.
Whether or not Apple is actually planning on incorporating Optical Image Stabilization technology in the next iPhone or not, it’s clear the company’s engineers are working on it. Historically, Apple has made steady improvements to the iPhone camera with each subsequent generation, and the last several generations have focused on image quality improvements rather than simply increasing megapixel counts.
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Microsoft’s OneNote goes completely free, launches for Macs
Honestly, we’re a little surprised that it took this long for OneNote to land on OS X — Microsoft’s powerful tool for taking and organizing notes has been around for a decade now. Oddly it came to iOS and Android before finally finding a home in the Mac version of the Office suite of products. With its launch on Apple desktops, OneNote is also going completely gratis. The new Mac version is available for free in the App Store and the Windows edition is becoming a free download as well. The Metro-fied version designed for Windows 8 has been free for sometime now, but the full desktop version of OneNote 2013 was a paid part of the Office productivity suite. Premium features, like SharePoint support and Outlook integration still require you to cough up some cash, however.
In addition to ditching the price tag, Microsoft is adding a bunch of new features to OneNote. Most notably is the launch of an API that allows developers to integrate their own creations with the service. As a demonstration of its most basic functionality, Redmond launched a collection of web clipper extensions for IE, Chrome, Firefox and Safari. Of course, capturing web pages is just the tip of the iceberg. Feedly, IFTTT, Genius Scan and a host of others have added the ability to save to OneNote from their own apps and we’re sure plenty more will join the fray soon.
Lastly, today also marks the launch of Office Lens, a Windows Phone app that turns your smartphone camera into a scanner. Evernote and Google Drive (previously Google Docs) have offered the ability to snap photos of documents or handwritten missives for a while now. Lens finally brings OCR (optical character recognition) to Microsoft’s apps, bringing it closer to complete feature parity with its competitors. You can go download OneNote and its various companion apps now.
Filed under: Software, Apple, Microsoft
Source: Office Blogs
Microsoft intros an LTE version of the Surface 2, arrives tomorrow for $679
As hard as it is to believe, Microsoft has until now never put out a 3G/4G Surface tablet. But we knew one would come eventually: the company said it was working on an LTE-enabled Surface 2 and indeed, the thing recently surfaced (har) in FCC documents. Now it’s finally here: Microsoft just announced that the LTE Surface 2 will go on sale tomorrow, and will be compatible on AT&T’s 4G network here in the US. (Fun fact: its official name is literally “Surface 2 (AT&T 4G LTE)”.) All told, it’ll sell for $679 with 64GB of built-in storage. That’s a $130 premium over the 64GB WiFi-only model which, if you’re paying attention, is the same premium you’d pay for a cellular iPad over a WiFi one (it’s worth noting, however, that the 4G Surface 2 is considerably less expensive).
Happily, the Surface 2 comes free of any contractual agreements. The big catch, of course, is that you’ll need an AT&T micro-SIM: the tablet supports LTE bands 4, 7 and 17, along with 3G UTMS (bands 1, 2 and 5) and regular old GSM (800/900/1800/1900MHz). In theory, that also means you should be able to get away with using a T-Mobile SIM, since T-Mobile also uses LTE 4 and 1900MHz 3G. T-Mo isn’t officially supported, though, so don’t expect anything in the way of possible bug fixes or performance enhancements. Either way, what’s nice is that even with the LTE, the tablet promises the same battery life (up to 10 hours) and basically weighs the same as it did before.
In any case, you can find the Surface 2 with LTE tomorrow at Microsoft Stores, MicrosoftStore.com and Best Buy (but not AT&T stores, oddly). Oh, and all those promotions Microsoft was offering back when the Surface 2 first launched? They still apply five months later on this LTE version. That means you can expect 200GB of free OneDrive storage for two years and a year of unlimited Skype WiFi calling and landline calls.
Filed under: Tablets, Microsoft, AT&T
Source: Microsoft
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