Early adopters of the LG G4 can also receive a free leather back panel
The launch of the LG G4 was paired with a promotion for device owners that purchased the device early on. The promotion rewarded early adopters with a battery and charging cradle at no cost. Now that promotion has been succeeded by another which includes the same two items in addition to a leather back.
Owners of the G4 will be able to choose among five colors for the leather back — yellow, lavender, light blue, brown, maroon — and swap it out with whatever they currently have. The removable back panel is also what allows the G4 to have its battery replaced at any time.
A page to complete the form for the promotion is not yet live, but LG has a pre-registration page ready to go.
This promotions runs through July 31 or while supplies last.
Source: LG
Come comment on this article: Early adopters of the LG G4 can also receive a free leather back panel
Tegra X1 Chromebook might be happening, codenamed “Smaug”
If you’ve kept up with Chromebooks over the past few years, you’ve probably noticed how different manufacturers have been testing out different processors for their ultra-portable laptops. Most Chromebooks tend to use Intel’s low-power chips, but we’ve seen some experimentation from other companies, such as Samsung using their own ARM Exynos processors and Asus using Nvidia’s Tegra K1 chips. However, ARM processor usage has been pretty limited up to this point, mostly because ARM processors just haven’t completely matched up to Intel’s offerings in the performance category.
The Asus Chromebook that used the K1 processor fared better than any other ARM-based Chromebook, offering fantastic battery life with very little compromise in terms of performance. It looks like we might see Nvidia’s chips make their way into more Chromebooks in the future, too, if some new software commits from Google are any indicator.
Google’s Chromium team engineers have added support for Nvidia’s high-powered Tegra X1 processor into Coreboot, which is what Google uses instead of the BIOS firmware you’ll typically find on Windows laptops. That hints pretty heavily that someone is working on a Chromebook with an X1 processor, which is even more likely since another commit was added for an X1-board for Chrome OS. This board was codenamed Smaug, and it would mark the first ever 64-bit ARM Chromebook. It’s also a pretty good indicator that someone at Google is a Tolkien fan.
Nvidia’s Tegra X1 is currently used in their Shield devices, and it offers some pretty fantastic performance, especially since it’s using Nvidia’s highly efficient and powerful Maxwell architecture, which is the same architecture that you’ll find in their laptop and desktop graphics cards. Hopefully this translates into a beefy Chromebook with fantastic battery life.
source: Tom’s Hardware
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Google Drive now works with custom maps from My Maps
Google has announced that My Maps, its custom map tool, is accessible for Drive users. Custom maps can be attached to documents, forms, presentations, and spreadsheets that are housed in Google’s cloud storage service. Drive users can use the search functionality to call upon items so they never waste time sifting through files for the right custom map.
The blog post announcing the features appearance in Drive contained the following statement:
Whether you’re planning your next event, mapping out the best route to visit clients, or sharing the location of your food truck with fans, Google My Maps makes it easy to put your world on a custom map. Starting today, you can access My Maps right from Google Drive on your Google Apps account, so it’s even easier to create, find and share your custom maps.
And here are some of the potential uses, according to Google, for My Maps being integrated with Drive:
- A food truck owner composing a form for people to vote and decide his or her next location. The votes are gathered and the food truck owner can decide where the most popular location is.
- A businessperson is preparing for an annual conference and forward’s everyone the event and hotel’s locations. Tickets, event information, and a custom map are bundled into a single folder.
- A delivery coordinator plans efficient routes for deliveries.
My Maps is a feature that Google has not pushed to the forefront; however, this type of integration will make it more accessible and useful.
Source: Google
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Facebook quietly redesigns site logo with new font
If you use Facebook often, you might notice some slight changes to the site’s logo over the next few days. The company has (very quietly) announced a redesign of the word “Facebook” on their site, which now uses a slightly more rounded font. Is it a major change? Not at all. But Facebook is almost synonymous with social media at this point, and their previous font has become pretty iconic for the company.
The standard lowercase f you’re used to on the app logo and everywhere else on the web should remain the same, so if you hate change, at least that’ll stay the same.
Any thoughts on the new logo? I’m not a big Facebook user, but I think the new font looks a little more modern and friendly. Combined with the newer tablet interface Facebook is working on, it looks like the company is going to spend 2015 revamping their image.
source: Under Consideration
via: The Verge
Come comment on this article: Facebook quietly redesigns site logo with new font
Facebook sharing more ad dollars with video creators
Facebook’s shiny logo isn’t all that’s new for the social network today: The outfit’s also announced how it plans to split video ad revenue with publishers. Like YouTube, Facebook will give content creators 55 percent of ad revenue and keep the rest, according to Fortune. Early publishing partners include Funny or Die, Fox Sports, Hearst and the NBA. And if you’re curious about how ads will work with video, it doesn’t seem like you’ll have to worry about them auto-playing loud and proud while you’re scrolling through your news feed on mobile. On the handheld platform, when you tap a clip you’ll go to a different screen with “Suggested Videos” and once your selected video finishes, an ad will play before the next one’s served up.
It’s still in testing (and only with what Forbes says is a scant few iOS users), but the feature opened up a bit more today will add even more users soon. As is often the case with Facebook and its new stuff, Apple’s mobile ecosystem gets it first while Android and desktop are slated to pick up the rear here.
[Image credit: Darren Abate/Invision/AP]
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Facebook
Source: Fortune
NSA’s hacking tool is apparently as easy to use as a Google search
It’s been a couple of years since Edward Snowden and The Guardian introduced us to the NSA’s spying tool called XKeyscore. Now, The Intercept has published new details about it from 48 documents Snowden provided, revealing that it’s a lot more powerful than previously thought. Apparently, it’s fed a constant flow of data from all over the world straight from fiber optic cables, can store content from three to five days and metadata for even longer (up to around 45 days). Based on these new documents, the publication has confirmed that the tool helped the agency look up other private info beyond emails and chats, including “pictures, documents, voice calls, webcam photos, web searches, advertising analytics traffic, social media traffic, botnet traffic, logged keystrokes, computer network exploitation (CNE) targeting, username and password pairs, file uploads to online services, Skype sessions and more.” The NSA even tracked phone connections to Google Play and Samsung’s App Store.
XKeyscore isn’t only powerful, though: it’s also incredibly easy to use. Toucan Systems CEO and security researcher Jonathan Brossard told The Intercept that hacking remote computers using the tool takes just a few “minutes, if not seconds.” Plus, doing so is as simple as typing words into Google search — it’s so easy that the agency can train personnel on how to use the tool effectively within a single day.
Take this for example: NSA analysts merely had to type in UN employees’ email addresses into the tool to access their private convos back in 2013. They did so to find UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s talking points for a meeting with the POTUS, according to an internal newsletter. The agency officially classifies XKeyscore as a tool against terrorists — it helped track Osama Bin Laden — but this proves that it’s been used to monitor at least one important political figure.
As for ordinary people, well, the Fourth Amendment protection dictates that the NSA shouldn’t be able to gather data from US citizens without a warrant. Unfortunately, EFF’s Kurt Opsahl believes it would be tough to separate US-based data from the rest of the world’s, since analysts “are not prevented by technical means” to do so. If an agent looks up iPhone users through XKeyscore, for instance, Americans will likely be included in the list, as well. In a statement sent to the website, however, the NSA maintains that all its intelligence operations have been scrutinized and sanctioned by the law, and that they’re all “conducted in a manner that is designed to protect privacy and civil liberties.” Make sure to read the full report on The Intercept, which contains links to Snowden’s documents, to decide for yourself.
[Image credit: shutterstock]
Filed under: Misc
Via: Business Insider
Source: The Intercept
iOS 8.4 Removes Home Sharing for Music
Just a day after the release of iOS 8.4, which includes Apple’s brand new music service Apple Music, many users on both the MacRumors forums and Apple Support communities are finding that the update removes Home Sharing for music on iOS devices. This breaks the ability for users to share their iTunes Library over Wi-Fi from their mobile devices.
Apple yesterday updated a Home Sharing support document to note that Home Sharing on iOS devices is only limited to video. Thus far, Home Sharing for music still appears to be available for both Mac and Apple TV. Additionally, while the Music page in iOS’ Settings once listed a Home Sharing option prior to iOS 8.4, the option is no longer there in the new Apple Music settings page in iOS 8.4.
As pointed out by AppleInsider, the release notes for iOS 8.4 beta 4 mentioned that Home Sharing and Genius Mixes were “not currently available”, offering the possibility that the feature could return in future versions of iOS.
While the possibility of Home Sharing for music returning on iOS devices is there, it’s unclear whether Apple would return the option for non-subscribers of Apple Music. The music service includes the ability to sign up for a $14.99-a-month family plan, which allows access for up to 6 people.
Trent Reznor Shares his Thoughts on Apple Music: ‘The Experience is What Matters’
Following Tuesday’s launch of Apple Music, Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor spoke with music site Pitchfork about his thoughts on the service and his role in its development. Reznor joined Apple in 2014, following the company’s acquisition of Beats Music, where Reznor served as Chief Creative Officer.
Ahead of the Apple Music launch, rumors suggested Reznor was leading development of the service alongside Jimmy Iovine, playing a major role in the redesign of the new Music app.
Image of Trent Reznor via Pitchfork
According to Reznor, his role in the creation of Apple Music shifted over time. While he initially worked on design alongside Apple’s design team and iTunes engineers, he shifted to concentrating on marketing in recent months, helping to explain the service and Apple’s goals to artists.
Reznor compared his experience working with Apple to his experience working at Beats Music before the acquisition, calling Apple a “respectful, collaborative environment” with ideas that fit into his own thoughts on music.
When I sat down with the people at Apple, I found a very respectful, collaborative environment that wanted to take some of the tentpoles that mattered to us at Beats Music, which really was trying to make an experience that didn’t feel like data. Something that felt organic and respectful to music rather than just, “We’re just delivering assets to your mobile device.” They treated music in a way that put an emphasis on curation and taste.
In earlier interviews, Reznor suggested that no streaming service had hit “the right formula” before Apple Music, a sentiment that he again shared with Pitchfork. With endless music available at our fingertips, he believes the experience is the most important aspect of any streaming service. With Apple Music, the goal was to improve upon the impersonal, “less than optimal” experience being offered by competitors.
What we tried to do with Apple Music is make the experience around the catalog feel like people that love music have touched it in the various ways it gets presented to you: playlists that noticeably feel better, radio stations that were programmed by people, recommendations that feel less like a computer and more like someone made you a mixtape and you like their taste.
Apple Connect, Apple’s social networking service, was also developed to improve the listening experience by introducing tools to let artists share music and video that “lives outside the paywall.” Apple wanted to give artists a way to be involved in the way music is consumed. “We wanted to create a place where the people making the art could feel like they could have a center,” Reznor said.
Released yesterday, Apple Music has a deep focus on curated content. The new Music app delivers recommendations based on personal tastes and playlists created by editors, while the accompanying Beats 1 radio features all music chosen by DJs like Zane Lowe.
Reznor’s full interview, which includes additional details on his role in the development of Apple Music, his thoughts on music, and Apple’s aim with the new service, is available at Pitchfork and well worth a read.
Mark Zuckerberg shows off Facebook’s internet lasers
Most of us use Facebook to show off a new car, an engagement or a particularly notable lunch, but Mark Zuckerberg does it a bit differently. In a Q&A session yesterday Zuckerberg referenced his company’s plans for using lasers to connect more areas to the internet, and today he posted a few demonstration pictures from the Connectivity Lab. According to the Facebook founder, we won’t actually be able to see the beams (that’s just for show) but the connections will “dramatically” increase the speed of sending data over long distances, and this is just one of the connectivity projects in development. Last year Facebook mentioned combining this laser tech with drones and satellites to help connect the next billion people with its Internet.org initiative, and it appears that work is still moving along.
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As part of our Internet.org efforts, we’re working on ways to use drones and satellites to connect the billion people…
Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Filed under: Internet
Source: Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook)
PayPal to buy money-transfer startup Xoom for $890 million
Wiring money home (especially as cash) can be an awkward, expensive and time-consuming ordeal — but it’s about to get a whole lot easier. PayPal announced on Wednesday that it is acquiring San Francisco-based digital money transfer startup Xoom (no, not the tablet maker) to make “international remittances simpler, safer and more affordable,” according to the company’s blog. Xoom transferred more than $7 billion for its 1.3 million customers over the 12 months preceding last April, primarily on mobile devices between family and friends. PayPal (which has up to now focused on business payments) hopes to leverage this platform in its planned expansion into markets like Mexico, India, the Philippines, China and Brazil. The acquisition is expected to be complete by the end of the year, assuming it passes muster with regulators and Xoom’s investors.
PayPal + Xoom: transforming how people move their money – around the world http://t.co/UfxWLloQ2L
– PayPal (@PayPal) July 1, 2015
[Image Credit: Globe Newswire]
Filed under: Misc
Source: PayPal
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