Apple Seeds Sixth OS X 10.11.4 El Capitan Beta to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Apple today seeded the sixth beta of an upcoming OS X 10.11.4 update to developers and public beta testers for testing purposes, less than a week after seeding the fifth OS X 10.11.4 beta and more than a month after releasing OS X 10.11.3. OS X 10.11.4 has been in testing since January 11.

The sixth OS X 10.11.4 beta, build 15E61b, can be downloaded through the Apple Developer Center or via the Software Update Mechanism in the Mac App Store.

OS X 10.11.4 offers a couple of new features, such as Live Photos support in Messages, the ability to password protect notes in the Notes app, and an option to import notes from Evernote, but like the recent OS X 10.11.3 update, it appears to focus primarily on under-the-hood bug fixes and performance improvements. Almost all of Apple’s OS X updates to date have been smaller updates that improve performance rather than introduce new features.

We’ll update this post with any features or significant changes that are discovered in the sixth beta of OS X 10.11.4. OS X 10.11.4 is likely to see a spring release alongside iOS 9.3, tvOS 9.2, and watchOS 2.2, with the new software coming as early as March 21, the date of Apple’s planned spring event.

Related Roundup: OS X El Capitan
Tag: OS X 10.11.4
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Add an emoji keyboard to Chrome on Windows – CNET

When sending a tweet or posting on your Facebook wall from a mobile device, it’s easy to add fun emojis to enhance the conversation. These can be faces that accurately depict your emotions, or just something random and funny.

With Emoji Keyboard for Chrome, you can add those same enhancements to the messages you share on the Web, with just a few clicks. Here’s how:

• Install a copy of the Emoji Keyboard extension for Chrome.

Enlarge Image

Nicole Cozma/CNET

• Click the Emoji Keyboard button in the Chrome toolbar, then type your message and add emojis. Press Copy when finished.
• Paste your text and emojis into the Web-versions of social media. The emojis will translate from outlined to colorful versions.

Note: While most emojis are supported by each service, you may find some that do not transform into their enhanced version.

Where do you use emojis the most? Which emoji is your favorite?

(Via Guiding Tech)

Easily reschedule a canceled or delayed flight with Freebird – CNET

A couple months back, my trip to CES in Las Vegas almost didn’t happen. As I was walking to the gate, I received an alert that my flight had been delayed. A few minutes later, another alert: my flight had been canceled.

What followed was a long series of calls to the airline and visits to various airport counters. What was supposed to be a quick and easy direct flight turned into three flights, each one of them a hope-for-the-best standby affair.

I can’t help wondering if flight-rebooking service Freebird might have made my day a lot easier.

Freebird makes rebooking a flight a simple three-step process.

Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET

Freebird helps you rebook a canceled flight, a missed connection or even a delay of more than four hours. And this doesn’t mean getting on the phone with a Freebird operator or anything like that; the entire process transpires on your phone — usually in about 30 seconds, according to the company.

It works like this: You receive a text-message alert when your flight has been cancelled or delayed. Tap the accompanying link and you’ll land at a page listing available replacement flights. Choose one, tap “Book it” and you’re done.

Interestingly, Freebird will rebook you on any airline and covers the full cost of doing so — for an actual ticket, not a standby option. What’s more, you get to keep your original ticket, meaning you might be able obtain a refund or apply that ticket to a later trip.

However, despite the name, and despite all the proclamations of “no additional cost,” Freebird is not free. Rather, it’s just another form of travel insurance, currently priced at $19 for a one-way trip or $34 for round-trip. And you can purchase coverage separately for each leg of your trip (i.e., you don’t have to buy round-trip Freebird just because you have a round-trip ticket). The only requirement is buying the coverage at least two days in advance.

There are no additional costs beyond that, and as the Freebird FAQ page rightly notes, “travel insurance doesn’t typically cover cancellations, delays, or missed connections — and it doesn’t help you find a new flight when a disruption occurs.”

The service is currently available for US domestic flights, with international flights “on the radar, but not likely in the near-term,” according to a Freebird rep.

According to FlightStats, well over 15,000 U.S. flights were canceled in just the last 30 days. If you’re taking an important trip that could potentially be ruined by a cancellation or major delay, Freebird seems like an awfully good deal for convenience and peace of mind.

Origin PC Chronos review – CNET

The Good The Origin PC Chronos packs a lot of power into a small, well-designed case. This is one of the most space-efficient ways to get a VR-ready PC, and the company is known for excellent service and support.

The Bad With high-power components in a small case, the fans can get loud. The expensive configuration tested here has an Nvidia 970 graphics card — upgrading to the top of the line will cost extra.

The Bottom Line One of the most premium-feeling (and premium-priced) of the first generation of VR-ready gaming desktops, the Origin PC Chronos is compact but powerful.

Order direct from Origin PC.

Heading into the final weeks of what we’ll look back on as the pre-VR era, a surprising number of desktop computers are landing here at the CNET Labs. Maybe it’s really not all that surprising, as the two big mainstream virtual reality headsets expected this spring both require the kind of computing muscle only a desktop can provide.

The Oculus Rift and HTC Vive both need desktop processors and, more importantly, desktop graphics cards, to run, according to their published system requirements. That’s led to a series of Oculus-ready PCs, officially promoted by that Facebook-owned company (including the recently reviewed Dell XPS 8900), as well as a steady stream of PCs calling themselves more generally “VR-ready.”

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Sarah Tew/CNET

We first spotted this new small desktop design from Origin PC at CES 2016, where it was presented as a compact, arguably portable, gaming rig that could work with the Oculus Rift and other VR gear. The company says this system is specifically targeted at VR enthusiasts and VR developers (and that developers can contact the company for special pricing).

The very powerful base configuration, at $1,799 in the US (that works out to £1,635 and AU$2,418, although shipping these US-made systems overseas may be cost-prohibitive), is what we’ve tested here. Nearly every aspect of the system, including the graphics, memory and storage, are configurable or upgradable. The base model includes an overclocked Intel Core i7 processor (at 4.7GHz), 8GB of RAM, a storage combo of 250GB SSD and a 1TB HDD, plus an Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 graphics card.

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Sarah Tew/CNET

You might spend a bit less on that component set elsewhere, but this version includes not only the overclocked CPU, but also a water-cooling setup — which is key with hot components packed into in a small case like this — and lifetime 24-7 US-based support, including lifetime free labor for repairs and upgrades.

Origin PC Chronos

Many gaming PCs from boutique PC builders are essentially off-the-shelf components in an off-the-shelf chassis, perhaps with a custom paint job and some hand tuning and performance tweaking. The Chronos VR is an original Origin PC case design, made of steel and measuring a compact 11.75 inches high by 4 inches wide by 13.75 inches deep. It’s big enough to fit in a full-size high-end graphics card (such as an Nvidia 970 or 980), but can just about squeeze into a large backpack for occasional travel.

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Sarah Tew/CNET

By far, my favorite feature of this compact design is the included set of magnetic rubber feet. Yes, it’s odd to get so enthusiastic about rubber feet when you have a massively powerful gaming PC in front of you, but it’s a great little attention-to-detail addition that has real practical advantages.

The four rubber feet are round, with a thin magnetic circle pressed into the center of each one. The default configuration is to place the system upright, with the backlit window cutout on the left panel (through which you can see the side-mounted video card), and the feet on the bottom.

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Sarah Tew/CNET

But, with just a little force the feet pop off, and you can flip the entire system so that the right side panel becomes the bottom. Place the four magnetic feet on that panel and you now have a low, wide chassis that looks like a game console or piece of stereo equipment. One small fan vent would be facing down in this configuration, but the rubber feet give it some separation from the floor, and bigger vents are along the other, exposed, panels (speaking of which, the system is generally quiet, but the fans can occasionally spin up loudly). If you’re a stickler for aesthetics, the Origin PC logo on the front panel actually rotates so it can always appear upright.

OnePlus announces installment plans for U.S. orders over $99

OnePlus has announced that it will now offer installment plans for any order over $99. This lets you pay for products like the OnePlus 2 or OnePlus X over time, rather than having to shell out the full up-front cost of the phone at once.

The company detailed the program in a post on the OnePlus forums:

All you need to do to pay in installments is select PayPal Credit when completing your order. Thanks to the calculator function you can find on the checkout page, you’ll know exactly how much you’ll be expected to pay on a monthly basis. For instance, if you’re looking to make use of this new payment scheme to purchase a OnePlus 2, you could opt for the 18-month plan which starts at $22.60 a month, and the OnePlus X starts at $16.12. There’s no need to worry about any unwelcome surprises along the way.

Customers can still choose to pay the full upfront cost of their phone. Additionally, if they elect to pay in installments, they can pay off the remainder of the order’s cost at any time. For now, OnePlus installment plans are available only in the company’s U.S. store.

TuneIn to stream all of the NBA’s games starting with 2016-2017 season

TuneIn has announced a deal with the National Basketball Association that will allow the streaming service to livestream all of the games in the pro basketball league, starting in the 2016-2017 season for subscribers to TuneIn Premium.

TuneIn stated:

The partnership will provide TuneIn Premium users with access to all 1,230 NBA 2016-17 regular-season games, the entire NBA Playoffs and The Finals, as well as marquee events like the NBA All-Star Game, State Farm All-Star Saturday Night, and the NBA Draft presented by State Farm.

Starting today, fans outside of the United States, Canada and China can access live play-by-play of all remaining NBA games of the 2015-16 season. In May, Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) regular season and playoff games will be available as the league celebrates its 20th season, and fans can also listen to action from the NBA’s official minor league, the NBA Development League, to stay up-to-date on star prospects.

TuneIn already has agreements to livestream games from Major League Baseball, the National Football League and the National Hockey League.

Fable Legends on Xbox One and Windows 10 scrapped and Lionhead Studios to close

After several years in development, Xbox One and Windows 10 game Fable Legends has been scrapped by Microsoft. Developer Lionhead Studios is to close.

Microsoft is in talks with Lionhead’s staff to see if they can be placed elsewhere within the corporation or to find them opportunities in third-party studios.

Danish developer Press Play Studios is also being shut down, with its game, Project Knoxville, another to feel the axe. 

“These changes are taking effect as Microsoft Studios continues to focus its investment and development on the games and franchises that fans find most exciting and want to play,” said Hanno Lemke, general manager of Microsoft Studios Europe.

Fable Legends was first publicly announced during Gamescom 2013 where it was planned to be a big Microsoft exclusive full release for the Xbox One, but the decision was made at the beginning of last year to offer the initial download version for free with paid premium content available later.

Now it won’t be released at all.

Its gameplay centred on four online players who were going to be able take control of different heroes and an overall villain who would act as a “dungeon master” if you like, throwing monsters and traps at the other players in order to kill them off.

It was always going to be a hard sell, but the most worrying aspect was that each time a release window was discussed, the final game failed to materialise. Now we know why.

“Despite this news, we remain committed to the development communities in the UK and Europe, and Xbox will continue to support new IP and originality in the games we offer on our platforms, whether they’re AAA blockbusters like Quantum Break from Remedy, adventurous new IPs like Sea of Thieves from Rare, or unique new creations from independent developers like Moon Studios with Ori and the Blind Forest,” added Lemke.

READ: Quantum Break preview: It’s about time

Lionhead Studios was formed 20 years ago by Peter Molyneux and is responsible for the entire Fable RPG series and PC games including Black & White and The Movies. It was acquired by Microsoft in 2006.

Run 500 hard-to-find Apple II programs in your web browser

Sure, it’s easy to find ways to run classic Apple II programs like The Oregon Trail or Prince of Persia. But what about that obscure educational title you remember using as a kid? Is it doomed to be forgotten? You might not have to worry. The Internet Archive has announced that its web-based emulation catalog now includes over 500 relatively tough-to-find Apple II programs that might otherwise have disappeared forever. If you remember using the likes of The Quarter Mile or The Observatory, you can fire it up without having to dig your old computer out of storage.

In many cases, it’s almost surprising that the programs are available at all. They come from an era when copy protection frequently involved hardware-specific tricks, and attempts to crack them often broke code or included unsightly credits to the cracking teams involved. Here, that isn’t an issue — the goal is to preserve the software as faithfully as possible. The Internet Archive likely can’t save everything even it keeps expanding its library, but it could prevent large swaths of Apple II history from being reduced to memories.

Source: Internet Archive

BMW’s most ambitious concept car is its vision of the future

If you want some idea of the crazy technology BMW is working towards, just take a look at its new Vision Next 100 concept car. Unveiled this morning as part of BMW’s centenary celebration, the Next 100 includes a load of gadgetry you’d expect from a car of the future. There’s autonomous driving, of course, but it also sports something BMW calls “Alive Geometry,” which describes helpful information seamlessly flowing from the dashboard to the connected windshield.

The Next 100 features two distinct driving modes. Boost mode gives you full control over the driving experience (assisted by all of that helpful Alive Geometry data). Ease Mode, on the other hand, retracts the steering wheel and moves the seats around for autonomous driving. BMW has also developed an AI-like gadget called the “Companion,” an orb that will communicate information to pedestrians when the car is in self-driving mode. It can glow green to let people know when it’s safe to walk in front of the car, for example.

As cool as it sounds, everything about the Vision Next 100 is basically BMW dreaming big. It’s a far bigger leap than the concept car it showed off at CES, which was basically a souped up i8. BMW will be showing off a model of the concept at its Centenary Event in Munich today, and it’ll bring that model all over the world over the next year. But the fanciful tech BMW describes only exists in renders at the moment.

Via: Autoblog

Source: BMW

Researchers use criminal profiling to unmask Banksy

Researchers have turned to profiling techniques often used on criminals in an attempt to confirm the identity of London street artist Banksy. The team from Queen Mary University of London believes its geographic mapping technique, combined with statistical analysis, helps prove the artist is a man named Robin Gunningham. The theory that Gunningham and Banksy are one and the same was first put foward by the Daily Mail in 2008. According to the research paper, comparing the known homes or frequented places of Gunningham with art locations around London “support[s] his identification as Banksy.”

The type of study used by the group takes crime scenes or whatever is being tracked and attempts to find “hot spots” where the criminals are located. Similar research is used to track “patient zero” in disease studies or locate the roosts of wild bats, according to the BBC. Oddly, the paper was reportedly delayed because lawyers for Banksy had concerns about how the study was being promoted, and the authors withdrew an earlier press release.

I’d be surprised if it’s not [Gunningham], even without our analysis, but it’s interesting that the analysis offers additional support for it.

The researchers admit that the study doesn’t confirm Banksy’s identity, but rather backs up the Mail theory. “I’d be surprised if it’s not [Gunningham], even without our analysis, but it’s interesting that the analysis offers additional support for it,” says Steve Le Comber, one of the report’s authors. In any event, unmasking him wasn’t the end goal of the research. “These results support previous suggestions that analysis of minor terrorism-related acts (like graffiti) could be used to help locate terrorist bases before more serious incidents occur, and provides a fascinating example of the application of the model to a complex, real-world problem,” according to the paper.

Via: The Guardian

Source: Taylor and Francis (paywall)