WSJ: China’s government wants homegrown, backdoor-free phones
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that China’s government has now leant on ZTE to produce a smartphone using predominantly local hardware that’ll run COS, a homegrown operating system that’s designed to be immune to US-based hacking attempts. The paper goes on to say that Alibaba is now working with the nation’s ministry of public security to develop another operating system that’s secure enough for police officers to use. It’s all part of the country’s attempts to put water between itself and the US in a post-Snowden world after backdoors were found in numerous American-designed products.
Source: WSJ
The prison-building simulator that makes you part of the problem
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. I started off with altruistic intentions. I was going to create a spacious, roomy penitentiary. I was going to double the minimum size of cells. There was going to be a big yard, with a pool table and TVs. This was going to be a decent prison; a social service. But then I ended up blowing the upfront from my grants on all that square footage – plus, I needed guards, a warden; then, when the money started to tighten, an accountant to find tax loopholes – and the next thing I knew I was in the red. Look, there’s Andrew Brown, in for 23 years for arson. He has four sons. And now he has no choice but to to use an open-air toilet in the center of a holding cell because I’m too cheap to build walls around it. I’ve stripped this little avatar of his dignity. I’m starting to feel ashamed.
Then it dawned on me: This isn’t a resort; this is a prison. It’s big business and I’m its architect, and I’m losing because I took my eye off the prize. I need to be focused on selling my prison for profit, not getting bogged down in frivolous niceties. And, I suspect, that’s exactly what Prison Architect, a PC strategy game from Introversion Software, wanted me to feel.
NSA spied on your email even after program was shut down
The New York Times is reporting that the NSA developed a way to spy on our emails even after the program allowing it to do so was shut down. Until December 2011, the agency was entitled to bulk-collect emails at will because it was subject to oversight from the intelligence court. That meant that the data had to be used according to the regulations laid down by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The NSA, however, had a second, more secretive program, based overseas, that did a similar job, but was under no such legal restriction. As such, when its powers were curtailed, it simply went back to doing what it always did, but in a foreign country.
Source: New York Times, (2)
The world’s fastest consumer CPU probably isn’t worth the upgrade
If you’re able to splurge on Intel’s high-end Xeon CPUs, then congratulations, Mr. McDuck! For the rest of us, the next best option is Intel’s fastest consumer processor, the Core i7-5960X. And that’s nothing to sniff at either: The 3Ghz, eight-core chip runs $1,050 or so, and you’ll need to spend more than usual on the motherboard and DDR4 memory. But what if you ask Intel nicely and then they go ahead and ship you one, like I did? Then you’ll have this informal test, as I compare the i7-5960X to my six-core, $390 i7-5820K in both real-world and benchmark tests. Is it worth the extra $660? Hmm.
Samsung Gear S2 goes under the spotlight in new “Turn the bezel” advertisement
In Samsung’s latest advertisement for the Gear S2 smartwatch, the company focuses on the life experiences one can have with just a simple turn of the bezel.
Coming in at over two minutes in length, Samsung’s new advertisement showcases what the Gear S2 brings to the table. Nearly every aspect of the video is framed in a full-circle to represent Samsung’s newest Circular UX. The company shows people standing in a circle formation around the smartwatch display to represent the circular bezel that spins around and around. The people move around the circle just like you would move the bezel. The spinning is paused at multiple apps to show off the experiences one can have with all that Samsung has included. These include the music player, S-health for fitness tracking and heart-rate monitoring and the messaging app. Samsung then writes that the Gear S2 “gets better with every turn.”
Samsung’s Gear S2 is available in stores today. You can check out the advertisement in the video down below.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Come comment on this article: Samsung Gear S2 goes under the spotlight in new “Turn the bezel” advertisement
Samsung launches W2016 with clamshell design, Exynos 7420 SoC and 3GB RAM in China
It might come as a surprise for many but flip phones have a fan following, and Samsung has launched a high-end handset for those who are still hung upon this outdated form-factor. We have been hearing leaks and rumors about the Samsung W2016 for sometime time now, and most of them highlighted the similarities between the specifications of the upcoming clamshell phone and the Galaxy S6.
We had recently informed you that Chinese certification agency TENAA had approved the clamshell version of the Galaxy S6. While the specifications of the handset remain pretty much the same as anticipated, Samsung has decided to call this handset – the W2016 – an unappealing name, if you ask me.
As per the specifications listed on its official page, the W2016 sports dual 3.9-inch Super AMOLED displays of 1,280 x 786 pixels resolution and a T9 keypad. Powered by a 64-bit octa-core Exynos 7420 processor and 3 GB of RAM, the smartphone comes with 64 GB on board storage and a combination of 13MP primary and 5MP secondary shooters. As for the design, the flip phone has the same glass and metal sandwich design that we have seen in the Galaxy S6 and the Note 5. On the software front, the device comes preloaded with Android 5.1 Lollipop.
It houses a 2,000 mAh battery, which may be sufficient to for its low resolution display. The device supports wireless and rapid charging just like the Galaxy S6 series.
Source: Samsung China
Come comment on this article: Samsung launches W2016 with clamshell design, Exynos 7420 SoC and 3GB RAM in China
Google is combining all cloud divisions into one business unit
In August Google made the surprise announcement that it was restructuring its organization, with a new company called Alphabet set to act as the head, with Google and several other new companies under it. As the changes continue, yesterday afternoon Google announced it plans to combine all of its cloud-based divisions into one business unit.
The new cloud business has yet to be named, but we do know it will include elements like Google Apps and Google for Work. In a formal blog post, Sundar revealed that newcomer Diane Greene will be at the head of this business unit. While she’s new to Google, Greene is the co-founder and former CEO of VMWare, so she is well equipped for the job.
See also: Google founder believes Alphabet will kickstart innovation
Additionally, Greene brings with her a new startup called Bebop, which is a “new development platform that makes it easy to build and maintain enterprise applications”.
So why make these changes? As Sundar Pichai puts it, “This new business will bring together product, engineering, marketing and sales and allow us to operate in a much more integrated, coordinated fashion.” With the cloud continuing to play an increasingly vital role, it really makes sense that Google would want to unify its efforts under one roof.
From the sounds of it, this business unit will actually reside under Google’s umbrella, as a sub-company of sorts, though not all the specifics are known just yet. Even the name of this new organization is unclear at this time, though we’ll be sure to update our readers with more details as we learn more.
USA Today: California wrongly wiretapped 52,000 people
USA Today is claiming to have uncovered evidence that prosecutors in the state of California violated federal law by improperly authorizing the use of wiretaps. The paper believes that drug investigators used 738 questionable taps to intercept calls and text messages made by “more than 52,000 people.” If all of this is true, then the news will raise plenty of questions brought between mid-2013 and early 2015.
Source: USA Today
Game’s ‘Christmas Shopper’ sequel is hilariously bad
The insanity of Black Friday is almost upon us and to celebrate, British retailer Game has dropped an intentionally bad PC and Mac title called Christmas Shopper Simulator 2: Black Friday. That’s right, this is weirdly a sequel. The company pulled a similar stunt last year with a free game that had you running around a shopping centre and generally causing mayhem. Its follow-up has a near-identical premise filled with barmy challenges, ragdoll controls and poorly animated NPCs. Progressing through the game unlocks special rewards — within 10 minutes I had earned the ability to switch to a first-person perspective — but most of the entertainment comes from simply sprinting around like a lunatic. The bare-bones sandbox is also filled with absurd stores that play on popular games and British brands. To name but a few, there’s a falconry shop called “Britain’s Got Talons,” an Irish cinema chain named “O’Deans” and “Snakes Solid Boxes.” Depending on your perspective, the game is either downright bad or ‘so bad, it’s good.’ We’ll let you be the judge.
NASA’s FireSat system will be able to detect wildfires from space
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and San Francisco-based company Quadra Pi R2E are developing a space-based wildfire detector that can keep an eye on the whole world. This system, called FireSat, will be made up of over 200 thermal infrared imaging sensors installed on satellites in low-Earth orbit. It will be powerful enough to detect wildfires 35 to 50 feet wide within 15 minutes from the time they begin. And since wildfires spread very quickly, it will have the capability to contact authorities, so they can send emergency responders to the scene as early as possible.
Source: NASA
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