Robotic vehicles find the Pacific Ocean’s deepest thermal vents
Robotic underwater vehicles from the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Research Institute just helped discover one of the Earth’s more elusive scientific treasures. Both an autonomous mapping craft and a remotely operated counterpart (which collected video and samples) traveled 12,500 feet to the bottom of Mexico’s Pescadero Basin to find the Pacific’s deepest hot hydrothermal vents. The machines achieved their feat in just two days, versus the years that it’d take for conventional undersea mapping — and they achieved the kind of detail that would likely be difficult or impossible using those earlier techniques.
You definitely wouldn’t want to visit in person, even in a craft that could survive the crushing pressure at these depths. Giant chimneys around the vents spew super-hot (660F) metallic fluids, and the only forms of life nearby are tubeworms and other critters whose symbiotic bacteria turns the vents’ toxic chemicals into sustenance. In other words, it’s not exactly a tourist attraction — robots are likely the closest you’ll get to a human presence in this unforgiving landscape.
Source: MBARI
One Chinese brand makes a quarter of the world’s wearable devices
Which company do you think is the fast-rising upstart in the wearable world? Fitbit? Jawbone? None of the above, if you ask IDC. It estimates that China’s Xiaomi claimed 24.6 percent of the wearable device market in the first quarter of 2015, which is no mean feat when the company didn’t even start shipping its first wrist-worn gadget, the Mi Band, until the second half of last year. That still amounts to just 2.8 million devices, but it was enough to shrink the market share for virtually everyone else, including industry leader Fitbit as well as Garmin, Samsung and Jawbone. And Samsung is the only smartwatch maker on the list, we’d add. LG, Motorola, Pebble and other early entrants are lumped into the “others” group.
As to why Xiaomi did so well? Analysts don’t go into detail, but the Mi Band’s thrifty $15 price no doubt helped, as did Xiaomi’s big presence in the Chinese smartphone space. The real question is whether or not it can keep that spot. While there aren’t official Apple Watch sales figures, IDC believes that it’s likely to become the benchmark for wearables, “fairly or not.” The Cupertino crew won’t necessarily knock Fitbit or Xiaomi out of their top spots, but its sheer clout could easily make it a major contender.
Filed under: Wearables, Mobile, Samsung
Source: IDC
Watchdog on recent IRS hack: We told them so
The IRS web portal is no digital Fort Knox, officials from IRS watchdog Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) told the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday. In fact, J. Russell George, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, laid out a strong critique of the tax agency’s ability to defend itself from cyber-attacks. Specifically, he cited dozens of security upgrades that had been recommended by his group — but not implemented by the agency — that would have reportedly made the most recent data breach “much more difficult” to pull off.
That breach leaked the personal information of more than 100,000 taxpayers. It’s widely believed to have been perpetrated by a multinational syndicate that exploited a vulnerability in the agency’s transcript website. “It’s beyond Russia,” George testified in response to earlier reports that the attack originated from there. “This is coming from several different countries that are syndicated around the world.”
However, he did also acknowledge the difficult position the IRS is in, attempting to balance accessibility with security. “The current technology environment has raised taxpayers’ expectations for online customer service interactions and it needs to meet these expectations.” George told the committee. “However, the risk for this type of unauthorized access to tax accounts will continue to grow as the IRS focuses its efforts on delivering taxpayers self-assisted interactive online tools.”
[Image Credit: Moment Editorial/Getty Images]
Filed under: Internet
Via: Washington Post
Source: US Treasury
Large Hadron Collider gets back to running science experiments
What’s that strange circular shape, you ask? That, friends, is what particle physics looks like when it’s getting back on track. After weeks of test runs following its return to service, the Large Hadron Collider has resumed smashing particles together for the sake of real, honest-to-goodness science experiments — those criss-crossing lines in the image above are a few of the early collisions. And this time, there’s much more energy involved. The LHC is now colliding particles at a level of 13 trillion electron volts, or nearly twice as much energy as it used before its two-year downtime. The boost will hopefully lead to physics discoveries that weren’t possible in the previous go-round, which is saying something when some past results were enough to earn a Nobel prize.
[Image credit: CERN]
Filed under: Science
Source: CERN
ZeroLemon ‘Quick Charge 2.0′ Android Charger, 50% off
If you live a busy life it can be difficult to find time to charge your phone for enough time to make a significant impact on battery life. Not anymore. The ZeroLemon ‘Quick Charge 2.0′ Android Charger replenishes compatible devices 75% faster and can provide over 8 hours of use from just 15 minutes of charging.
Portable and powerful, AndroidGuys readers can snag this essential charger, today, for just $14.99.
See more at deals.androidguys.com
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Yahoo and NFL to deliver live global broadcast
For the first time ever, everyone in the world will be able to watch an NFL game live, as it’s happening. Yahoo has partnered with the NFL to broadcast and stream this year’s edition of the NFL International Series game in London, between the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars. Now that may not seem to be the most exciting game in the world, but what’s more important, is what it means for the possibility of future broadcasts.
The NFL has always been committed to being at the forefront of media innovation. Through this partnership with Yahoo—one of the world’s most recognizable digital brands—we are taking another important step in that direction as we continue to closely monitor the rapidly evolving digital media landscape.
No specific details have been released as to how you will be able to stream the game, however, it will be available “across devices and for free.” We can only assume that you will be able to stream it regardless of the device, and with the help of one of Yahoo’s applications, or possible the official NFL application.
We’re thrilled that the NFL has chosen Yahoo for this historic opportunity. It marks a significant change in the way users can access this amazing content. The NFL and Yahoo have both long engaged football fans around the world. Our partnership provides the ultimate football experience—with digital availability, designed for the modern fan.
For those living in the specific area markets for Buffalo and Jacksonville, the game will remain available via over-the-air television, and will be televised at 9:30 AM EST. At least you won’t have to worry about any blackout restrictions, or anything of that nature.
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Terminator Genisys: Revolution now available
Competing against a host of other franchise movies coming out this summer, the companion game for Terminator Genisys managed to score some points as the first app listed in the Google Play Store for pre-registration. Terminator Genisys: Revolution first popped up almost a month ago with a “Pre-register” button that enabled users to sign up to be notified of the game’s availability. That time has come as developer Glu has released the title for installation on Android devices.
The game is a third-person shooter in which the player helps John Conner make a new fate in the battle against Skynet and its army of machines. Players will have hundreds of missions available to them as they battle against all sorts of enemy machines.
Terminator Genisys: Revolution is free, but does offer in-app purchases. As an inducement for fans to install the app, Glu is offering a special welcome pack for anyone who installs the game before June 4th. The pack includes a grenade, a rocket, and EMP battery, and a med kit, all items that players will probably find quite useful in the apocalyptic world of 2028 where the game is set.
Come comment on this article: Terminator Genisys: Revolution now available
Samsung posts landing page for the Galaxy S6 Active
Despite us not receiving an official announcement from AT&T, Samsung has launched a new page on its website showcasing the design and specifications of the long-awaited Galaxy S6 Active.
Hit the break for the Active’s full spec list.
- 5.1-inch Super AMOLED QHD display
- Exynos octa-core processor
- 3GB of RAM
- 32GB of internal storage (non-expandable)
- Mali-T760 GPU
- 16-megapixel rear-facing camera
- IP68 Dust and Waterproofing
- 2,550 mAh non-removable battery
Unlike the standard Galaxy S6, the Active ships with a dedicated button in the top left-hand corner of the device assigned to the new Activity Zone application, which provides users with a Barometer, Compass and S Health information.
If you’d like to find out more about the Galaxy S6 Active, click the source link below.
Source: Samsung
Come comment on this article: Samsung posts landing page for the Galaxy S6 Active
New Samsung Exynos 7850 processor surfaces
An upcoming device from TCL appeared on benchmark site GFXBench, revealing the presence of an unannounced Samsung Exynos processor. The handset, which is labeled as P650M, features the Exynos 7850 processor. The octa-core processor is clocked at 1.6GHz and paired with 2GB of RAM.
The Samsung Exynos 7850 is expected to compete with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 and MediaTek Mt675x for a place in mid-range handsets. The company has not made any comments regarding the Exynos 7850, but something could be on the horizon.
Hit the break to see the handset’s specifications on GFXBench.
Other specifications for the P650M include a 5.6-inch display (1920×1080), 16GB internal storage, 13MP / 5MP cameras, and Android 5.0.2 Lollipop.
Source: The Gadgets Freak
Via: SamMobile
Come comment on this article: New Samsung Exynos 7850 processor surfaces
Record and share any game from your Android device with Kamcord
Are you looking for a way to easily share your mobile video game footage to your friends, voiceover included? You may want to try out Kamcord – a free screen recording app that’s just recently made its way to Android.
Kamcord lets you record and share your personal mobile gaming videos on devices running Android 5.0 Lollipop and up, with no root required. According to TechCrunch, the app’s developers took advantage of the video capture API that Google introduced in the first version of Lollipop, which is why folks who want to use the service need to be running one of the latest versions of Android. This allows users to record any game that’s installed on their device, not just those whose developers have integrated the Kamcord SDK.
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Kamcord has been available on iOS devices for some time now, which means there are already upwards of 40 million gaming clips available on the service. While Kamcord doesn’t offer live streaming like other popular services such as Twitch, we think many gaming fans will be perfectly happy with what Kamcord has to offer. If you’re interested, you can download Kamcord for free from the Google Play Store link below.
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