Amazon is reportedly leasing jets to power shipping network
Amazon-branded trailers aren’t all the online retailer has planned to improve is shipping network. The Seattle Times reports that Jeff Bezos & Co. are in talks to lease a fleet of Boeing jets to handle the air cargo duties. As the company looks to avoid the headaches of using UPS and other carriers, it has already put a group of trailers on the road to carry loads to its distribution centers.
Amazon is reportedly looking to lease 20 Boeing 767s for the task. Doing so would give the company more control over delivery times, and potentially bypass cargo services of UPS, FedEx and the USPS. Of course, Amazon still relies on those outfits to get packages to your door, so it’s more likely the company is just looking to streamline the supply chain… for now. However, The Seattle Times also reports that the retailer could open up extra space on its jets to other companies, which would put it in direct competition with the likes of UPS, FedEx and others.
Source: The Seattle Times
Log into most any Linux system by hitting backspace 28 times
Security researchers have discovered a ludicrously simple way to hack into a number of Linux distributions: Just tap the backspace key 28 times in a row. A team from the Cybersecurity Group at Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) in Spain found that doing so for builds utilizing the ubiquitous Grub2 bootloader — that’s to say just about all of them — immediately bypasses the lock screen, initiates the “Grub rescue shell” and grants the user access to the system for whatever nefarious .
The team found that the backspace trick triggers a memory error, which in turn launches the rescue shell. The bug isn’t a huge threat — I mean, a hacker would need physical access to your machine in order to exploit it — especially now that Ubuntu, Red Hat, and Debian all have released patches.
Source: Motherboard
Playdate: Giving away the Force
It’s been a long wait, but today’s the day: Star Wars is back in theaters. We’ve seen it. No, we’re not going to talk about it (well, not much. Spoilers, you know) — but we are celebrating its release by playing our favorite games from the series now-defunct expanded universe. We’re closing out our Star Wars week with games from the Dark Forces and Jedi Knight franchises, the Star Wars: Force Unleashed games as well as the past and present of Star Wars: Battlefront.
Want more? You got it: we’re also you a chance to win a Limited Edition Star Wars: Battlefront PlayStation 4 –just check out the contest widget below. As for the show? You can join in at 6PM Eastern / 3PM Pacific at Twitch.tv/Joystiq to nerd out with us. You also watch the show on the Engadget Gaming homepage, right here in this post or, as always, in our archives at a later date. And again, no spoilers, please.
http://player.twitch.tv/?channel=joystiq
- Entries are handled through the Rafflecopter widget above. Comments are no longer accepted as valid methods of entry. You may enter without any obligation to social media accounts, though we may offer them as opportunities for extra entries. Your email address is required so we can get in touch with you if you win, but it will not be given to third parties.
- Contest is open to all residents of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec), 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so direct your anger at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
- Winners will be chosen randomly. One (1) Sony PlayStation 4 Limited Edition Star Wars Battlefront 500GB bundle.
- If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of being contacted. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen. Make sure that the account you use to enter the contest includes your real name and a contact email or Facebook login. We do not track any of this information for marketing or third-party purposes.
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- Entries can be submitted until Dec. 18th at 8:00PM ET. Good luck!
Google uses fingers to demonstrate variety in new ad
Google posted two new video advertisements that just like so many others, show off some of the best capabilities one gets with Android.
The first of the two focuses on Android Pay. It shows a revolutionary war soldier rushing to gather what he needs. He then runs up to the counter and pays using Android Pay in very little time with little effort. The major point of this ad is clearly how fast and simple Android Pay is to use no matter where you travel.
The second ad is called ‘Android: Fingerprints’ and follows Google’s long-stressed idea of ‘be together not the same.’ In the ad, a bunch of fingers take the role of people and spend time together through a variety of scenes and holidays. At the conclusion of the ad, the fingers all come together at the dinner table. All the fingers are different through means of clothing, face expression and hair style therefore going along with the theme of ‘be together not the same.’
Click here to view the embedded video.
Click here to view the embedded video.
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Android competitor Sailfish receives investment, pulls out of ‘classic startup death spiral’
Finnish mobile operating system maker Jolla, the company behind Sailfish OS, has received the first portion of an investment that chairman Antii Saarnio said will provide some financial stability for the company.
Last month, Jolla temporarily let go about half its staff and file for debt restructuring after not closing a $10.6 million Series C financing round. The mobile OS maker is not disclosing the size of the Series C it just closed, nor is it revealing who the investors are, though Saarnio said it’s a group of investors.
“It’s a sizable investment what we are receiving but it also includes some other instruments which we are continuing to negotiate at the moment,” Saarnio said.
Saarnio told TechCrunch the company was cancelling the layoffs, but added many staffers had also resigned, so it remains unclear how many of them will be back with the company.
Saarnio said Jolla will focus on licensing the Sailfish OS to industrial customers, rather than general consumers. Additionally, the company is considering its options for its crowdfunded tablet. Most backers of the project have yet to receive their Jolla tablets because of ongoing delays to shipments.
Source: Jolla, TechCrunch
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Vine introducing new personalized ‘For You’ feature for content you’ll love
Vine, the six-second video platform, is going to be updated soon with a new ‘For You’ feature designed to bring personalized content from accounts that you do not follow.
In addition to Vines from all the accounts that you already follow, a section titled ‘For You’ will now be posted on the top of the app. Vine believes that there is a whole world of entertainment out there from creators that you don’t follow, but that you’d love to see.
This new feature is rolling out to iOS devices as we speak. There is no word, however, of when this new feature will begin to roll out to Android devices, but they have stated that it will be here before we know it.
What do you guys think? Are you excited for this feature, or would you rather your Vine feed just show the content from the accounts you follow?
Source: Vine
Come comment on this article: Vine introducing new personalized ‘For You’ feature for content you’ll love
NBC News partners with YouTube to present January’s Democratic presidential debate
This Saturday, ABC News will be hosting a debate featuring candidates from the Democratic Party seeking nomination to run for President of the United States. The debate will be broadcasted on ABC for millions to watch and decide whether Berrnie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, or Martin O’Malley are worth of their support. ABC News’ approach is more traditional, though the debate will also be streamed live on the network’s Watch ABC service. Next month, when NBC News hosts the Democratic presidential hopefuls, the reach will go much further than just a television network. Google and NBC News have announced that the debate will be streamed live on YouTube on January 17.
Before the first wave of primary voters enter booths, the world can watch this debate in Charleston, South Carolina, on the NBC News YouTube channel from 9-11PM ET. NBC News’ Lester Holt will moderate and questions from YouTube’s community are going to be tied into the debate.
The partnership makes extra sense for YouTube as millions have streamed both Democratic and Republican debates in 2015. While the Republican presidential debates have drawn exceptionally higher ratings on television and streaming services, CNN and CBS enjoyed a combined 5.5 million steams between just two debates for the Democratic Party.
Source: Google
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LG appears to be working on a new smartphone with a curved display
A report from just a few days ago indicated that LG won’t launch a new iteration G Flex smartphone this year. Only days later, a leak comes in that LG is working on a new curved smartphone that curves at the top and bottom, but brings a twist.
The new smartphone LG is reportedly working on will not be linked to the company’s G Flex line. Apparently this will be a whole new device, perhaps even a totally new series. Unlike the G Flex series that has a slight curve from top to bottom, this handset’s screen is said to wrap around the top and bottom of the display.
The typical smartphone has evolved so much over the years and LG is clearly pushing something new. Unfortunately, that’s all the information we have received; hopefully the handset will see the light of its day.
Source: Evan Blass (Twitter)
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The NFL will be the first sports team to join Snapchat’s Explorer
We recently shared a story about the NFL signing a deal with Snapchat to provide Live Stories. Now, the NFL has also signed up to be the first major sports partner for Snapchat Explorer.
With Explorer, people watching the NFL Live Stories can swipe up to see more videos based on the same event. These videos will be from other Snapchat users, and are automatically picked by Snapchat’s custom algorithms. Basically, you can be watching the official NFL Live Story and swipe up to see fan videos taken from the event. However, users can also flip through multiple user made videos to see 10 different views of it.
Ben Schwerin, Snapchat’s director of partnerships said,
“Now you can see the biggest plays from different perspectives throughout the stadium, from sidelines to the stands,”
The deal between Snapchat and the NFL will run each week until February when Super Bowl 50 happens. Snapchat hopes that by doing a deal with the NFL it will attract other large brands to join Explorer too.
This deal is already benefiting both parties as the NFL’s Live Stories have been viewed about 10 million times on Sundays and over 7 million for weekday games, with those numbers climbing. What is the most interesting is 40% of the Live Story audience is from international users. Considering the NFL is basically a US only known brand, it would be huge if it caught on throughout the world.
Source: WSJ
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Google Play Services 8.4 available as of today, includes custom email app invites
Today, Google announced that Google Play Services 8.4 is now available for all the eager developers out there. Included in this version of Android’s framework for APIs is custom email app invites, user spending and churn rate prediction, and improvements to Google Maps’ API.
Click here to view the embedded video.
This update seems to be a pretty big one including:
- Custom Email App Invites
- Predicting User Spending and Churn in Games
- Fused Location Provider Updates
- Maps API Improvements
- Support for Aztec bar codes
- Background Beacon Scanning
- Fitness Platform HistoryAPI Improvements
- Place Picker Autocomplete Widget
To get more in depth details about this long list of improvements being brought to you by Google, follow the source link below.
Source: Android Developers Blog
Come comment on this article: Google Play Services 8.4 available as of today, includes custom email app invites
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