LinkNYC network will bring futuristic payphones to The Big Apple
Things are about to change in New York City. Traditional payphones are being ushered out in favor of a modern technology. The LinkNYC network brings calling and a wireless connection to sidewalks throughout the city. The physical pillar to represent the LinkNYC network is called a Link. There will be up to 10,000 Links placed in the five boroughs of New York City with construction starting early next year.
A single Link will be very powerful and very cheap to use. Oh, and it looks great. Everything is controlled through an Android tablet that offers services, directions, and more. It has free public WiFi and free calling throughout the United States. Just like any payphone, 911 and 311 access is present. And feel free to hangout by a Link because it charges mobile devices at no cost. So the LinkNYC network is not even cheap, it is free. Links are made up of durable aluminum and the design originates in New York City.
The citizens of New York City have nothing to be enraged about because LinkNYC is solely funded through advertising revenues and not an increase in taxes. The first twelve years of life for LinkNYC is projected to generate more than $500 million. The digital displays for advertisements can also flash public service announcements. Unsurprisingly, LinkNYC is being labeled as an opportunity to create jobs. Why? Because Links have to be developed, serviced, and maintained.
The network is developed by CityBridge — a consortium including Qualcomm, Titan Control Group, Comark, Transit Wireless, and Antenna Design.
Source: LinkNYC
Via: The Washington Post
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Apple Releases OS X Yosemite 10.10.1 With Wi-Fi Reliability Improvements
Apple today released OS X Yosemite 10.10.1, the first update to the new operating system since its initial October release. Testing for OS X 10.10.1 began on November 3, with Apple seeding two betas to developers before launching the software publicly.
The new software is available through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store.
The OS X 10.10.1 update is recommended for all Yosemite users. It improves the stability and compatibility of your Mac. This update:
– Improves Wi-Fi reliability
– Improves reliability when connecting to a Microsoft Exchange Server
– Improves reliability sending Mail messages when using certain email service providers
– Improves reliability when connecting to remote computers using Back to My Mac.
The update should fix several major issues that users have been seeing with OS X Yosemite, including a major Wi-Fi issue that’s caused connection problems for a number of users.
Spotify and Uber Partnering for User-Generated Playlists During Car Trips [iOS Blog]
Following early rumors last week that the popular car-hailing service Uber would be partnering with music streaming giant Spotify, the companies today confirmed the upcoming launch of integration between the two services.
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and Spotify CEO Daniel Ek today confirmed that the two app-based services will be partnering to allow Uber customers to prepare a specifically selected queue of songs while waiting on an Uber car. When the car picks its passengers up, the selected song will already be playing. Users will have to connect their Spotify Premium accounts with the car service inside the Uber app, but once that is done the app will allow them to not only pick their music beforehand, but adjust and control it for the duration of the trip.
The partnership is set to launch on November 21 in London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Nashville, New York, San Francisco, Singapore, Stockholm, Toronto and Sydney. A widespread rollout to more locations is expected to follow shortly thereafter.
The Uber driver will also have to connect their phone to the car’s stereo for the service to function, but Uber says widespread adoption of the new collaboration is eagerly accepted by its employees. But until it’s universally installed in every Uber car, the option to select music for your trip won’t show up in the Uber app if your area doesn’t have the service yet.
A new report from TechCrunch also claims that Spotify soon plans to announce yet another collaboration, this time with BMW’s ConnectedDrive platform. After making deals with companies like Ford and Volvo, it would be Spotify’s third major car company integration announcement. Following an update just last month, the service now also supports Apple CarPlay.
Spotify’s app code also hints additional service expansions in the works, with TechCrunch pointing to podcasts and an undetermined feature codenamed “Magic”
Both Uber [Direct Link] and Spotify [Direct Link] can be downloaded from the App Store for free.
Sony Xperia Z4 LCD touch digitizer leaked
It was only a few months ago that Sony unveiled their newest flagship, the Xperia Z3 at IFA 2014 (September 4th to be exact). Now rumors are already swirling that Sony is piecing together the Z3’s successor, the Xperia Z4.
The Z3 was released originally on September 19th, but only recently hit carriers such as T-Mobile on October 29th. That was only 19 days ago, and a supposed part of the upcoming Z4 has leaked.
The Z4 rumors have already suggested that it will be one of the highest spec’d phones to date with a QHD display (1440 x 2560), 4 GB of RAM, and the 64-bit Snapdragon 810 processor. It’s no wonder that the rumor mill is churning and people are excited, and that includes myself.
Future Supplier, has obtained images of the purported Xperia Z4 LCD touch digitizer comparing it to the Xperia Z3 LCD touch digitizer.
The two touch digitizers look fairly similar in size, so we can expect the Z4 to come with around a 5.15 inch display like its predecessor. If that is the case, the Z4 could boast the sharpest display to-date on a smartphone with around 570 ppi. Motorola’s new Droid Turbo comes in at 565 ppi. It may be only five pixels more per inch, but it is a nice title to have.
It is unknown as to when Sony will debut the Z4, but usually Sony tends to follow a six month release cycle. That would likely lean towards a March release with a February debut. If any more news about this monster device come up, we’ll be sure to post updates
The rumored specs can be seen below.
| Screen Size | 5.15 inches |
| Screen Resolution | 1440 x 2560 (570 ppi) |
| Processor | Snapdragon 810 – Octacore |
| RAM | 4 GB |
| ROM | 16 GB expandable |
| Battery | 3000+ mAh |
| Operating System | Android 5.0 Lollipop |
| Durability | Waterproof/dust resistant (IP 68) |
Source: Future Supplier | Via: Android Community
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Artificial intelligence is now creating its own magic tricks
You might not have to be a professional magician to come up with clever tricks in the near future. Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have developed artificial intelligence that can create magic tricks (specifically, those based on math) all on its own. Once their program learns the basics of creating magic jigsaws and “mind reading” stunts, it can generate many variants of these tricks by itself. This could be particularly handy if you like to impress your friends on a regular basis — you could show them a new card trick every time without having to do much work.
The best part? You can try some of these computer-generated tricks yourself. The 12 Magicians of Osiris magic jigsaw is available as a web pack, and you can download the Android component for one card trick, Phoney, from Google Play. Neither will give you as much satisfaction as developing tricks from scratch, but they’re proof that computers can do more with math than solve equations.
Filed under: Science
Via: Phys.org
iMessage Down for Some Users, Unrelated to iOS 8.1.1 Update [Update: Fixed] [iOS Blog]
Following the launch of iOS 8.1.1 and OS X Yosemite 10.10.1, it appears that Apple’s servers are having some issues with iMessage. Multiple users on Twitter and other social networking platforms are reporting that iMessage is down, and MacRumors has confirmed that some messages appear to be hanging for quite some time before sending, while others are simply not delivered.
Currently, Apple’s System Status page is not reporting any iMessage outages, and some users appear to be experiencing no issues at all.
The iMessage issue is not a result of the iOS 8.1.1 update, as users who have yet to update are also reporting problems. The outage is likely to be temporary, with service restored shortly.
Update: Apple has documented the outage, which affected “some” iMessage users, on its System Status page. The outage lasted roughly 90 minutes and was fixed by 11:30 AM Pacific Time.
Google Play Services version 6.5 updates Maps, Drive, Wallet, and Fit
An update is rolling out now to Google Play Services, bringing new features to a slew of the company’s products. Maps, Drive, Wallet, and Fit are all involved in the version 6.5 update. On top of all of this, developers are being handed more control over the APIs utilized by an app.
With the additions to the Google Maps Android API, developers can include a map toolbar for immediate access. From there, a user can get directions and turn-by-turn directions. Everything is much more speedy with the new toolbar. Also introduced here is a lite mode that displays very specific locations. The lite mode brings in Google Maps’ full power when the user selects the small map.
Google Drive gets “both public and application private custom file properties to a Drive file which can be used to build efficient search queries and allow apps to save information.” Basically, apps will be able to manage files much better. They can be uploaded under circumstances such as when the device is charging. In return, battery life is unaffected because the upload is taking place while charging.
There is already a ‘Buy with Google’ button available with Google Wallet. The version 6.5 update debuts a ‘Donate with Google’ button. It is a much friendlier way to collect donations.
For Google Fit, activity segments when inserting sessions are here. Google says this makes it easier to have pauses in activities or support multiple activities taking place at once.
The SDK with Google Play Services version 6.5 will arrive once the rollout is in full swing.
Source: Android Developers Blog
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Samsung Galaxy Note Edge coming to Carphone Warehouse
According to a new leak picturing the device on an internal system, the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge will be coming to Carphone Warehouse soon.
Whilst original reports indicated the device would be available for pre-order on the 14th November, which has clearly past, the presence of the device on the system means that it cannot be too far away.
Although it’s not definitive, it looks as if the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge will be available to pre-order soon, with Clove currently listing it with a guide price of £650.
The post Samsung Galaxy Note Edge coming to Carphone Warehouse appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Turns out TRUSTe isn’t so trustworthy, settles FTC complaint
Spend enough time on the web and you’re bound to come across TRUSTe’s logo. It signifies that the site you’re on — like eBay, Yelp and Etsy — self-certified with TRUSTe’s set of membership requirements like the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the EU-US Safe Harbor Framework and generally has an eye toward keeping any of your sensitive info safe. Except the outfit’s seal might not mean too much anymore. Why? Because it’s settling with the Federal Trade Commission on a claim that from 2006 to 2013 the company failed to hold websites accountable for keeping consumers’ private info safe. The FTC says that in that span of time, some 1,000 websites weren’t forced to re-certify on an annual basis despite TRUSTe’s site claiming otherwise. Right about now you’re probably wondering how much these infractions will cost the firm. Well, if you guessed $200,000 you’d be right on the money.
In addition to a financial hit, TRUSTe is also prohibited from making “misrepresentations about its certification process or timeline.” The fun doesn’t stop there, either, as TRUSTe has to detail any COPPA-related information to the FTC in an annual filing for the next ten years, as well. Meaning, TRUSTe is going to be under even closer review now that it’s actually making sure clients follow established guidelines moving forward, as advertised. There are a few more details to the ruling that aren’t particularly exciting, but if you’re curious they’re at the source link below.
[Image credit: Associated Press]
Filed under: Internet
Via: FTC (1)
Source: (2) (PDF)
Chinese Authorities Shut Down WireLurker Distribution Site, Arrest Suspects Involved
Last Friday, Chinese authorities arrested three individuals that are suspected of developing the “WireLurker” malware, which infected thousands of mobile devices in China after Mac users installed malicious software from a third-party App Store.
According to a police post on Chinese social network Sina Weibo, the three men were arrested in Beijing on suspicion of “manufacturing and distributing” WireLurker after police received a tip from Chinese security company Qihoo 360 technology. In addition to arresting the suspects involved in the creation of the malicious software, Chinese authorities also shut down the site that was spreading it.
First publicized by researchers in early November, WireLurker is a trojan that infected thousands of Chinese iOS and Mac users after they installed software from the Maiyadi App Store, a third-party app platform that delivered more than 400 infected OS X applications.
WireLurker was able to attack iOS devices through Macs using USB, and was described as heralding “a new era in malware attacking Apple’s desktop and mobile platforms.” After being installed on a Mac, WireLurker would infect an iOS device using enterprise provisioning, making it the first malware capable of installing third-party applications on non-jailbroken iOS devices.
At the time information was published on WireLurker, infected apps had already been downloaded more than 356,104 times. Apple quickly took steps to block the infected apps, preventing them from launching, and in a statement, it reminded users not to install software from untrusted sources.
Just a week after WireLurker surfaced, another vulnerability in iOS was publicized by researchers. Called Masque Attack, it also infects iOS devices using enterprise provision profiles and is somewhat more dangerous, as it can replace existing apps with nearly undetectable fake versions.
Though it hasn’t been found in the wild, Masque Attack prompted a warning from the U.S. government and a statement from Apple, with the company once again encouraging customers to download apps only from trusted sources.
Neither Masque Attack nor WireLurker are likely to affect the average iOS user as long as Apple’s security features are not bypassed, as both apps circumvent the App Store and Mac App Store to install apps.
AIVAnet 