AMD releases chip patches to address Spectre variant two

AMD has released a microcode update to address variant two of the Spectre chip flaw, which makes computers vulnerable to attacks that could reveal sensitive information such as passwords. It’s been released alongside Microsoft’s monthly “Patch Tuesday” update, which contains Spectre variant two mitigations for Windows 10.

AMD’s update has been made available to its hardware partners, with patches designed for processors going back to CPUs built on 2011’s “Bulldozer” architecture. While that’s likely most in current operation, it’s not clear exactly which processors have received the patches. It’s also not clear when end users will see the fix, as you’ll have to wait for the maker of your desktop or motherboard to release a new BIOS with the patch wrapped in. As PCWorld reports, there are currently no April BIOS updates slated for AMD’s new Ryzen motherboards, although Tech Report has been able to fully patch one of its systems.

Via: PC World

Source: AMD

Hulu and Spotify bundle will only cost you $13 a month

Hulu and Spotify are teaming up again to offer a discount to those who bundle both of their services. For now, the offer is limited to those with an existing Spotify Premium subscription, which usually costs $10 itself. Now, subscribers can add on Hulu’s Limited Commercials subscription, which typically costs $8 on its own, and pay a total of just $13. Sometime this summer, this deal will be extended to everyone.

When you sign up for the deal, you’ll only pay an additional dollar on top of your Spotify service for the first three months. But after that promotion period ends, the $13 price will kick in. If you’re a Spotify Premium subscriber and you already have a Hulu Limited Commercials subscription — and no premium add-ons like Showtime or HBO — you can still take advantage of the deal, but you have to switch your billing to Spotify.

Last year, Spotify and Hulu offered a similar deal, giving students the option to bundle both services for just $5 per month. “Based on the outstanding performance of the Spotify and Hulu student package, it’s clear that consumers love to combine their music and television experiences together,” Tim Connolly, head of distribution and partnerships at Hulu, said in a statement. The current offer expires on May 10th.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Spotify

Side view satellite images turn the Earth into ‘Sim City’

Satellite images can still enlighten and delight, but we’re so spoiled by constant views from space that it’s hard to surprise us. Satellite imaging company PlanetLabs has managed to do just that, however, with a collection of new images, including a shot of the man-made Pearl-Qatar island in Doha. Rather than shooting straight down, the satellites captured the images from oblique angles, creating orthographic-type views reminiscent of games like Sim City.

PlanetLabs scientist Robert Simmon, a former NASA scientist, detailed a number of such images in a Medium post. It includes views from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Mont Fitz Roy, Houston Texas, Bilbao Spain and Shanghai.The images are a delight, bringing the cities and regions to life in a way that’s impossible with regular satellite photos.

Planet Labs uses constellations of CubeSat miniature satellites called Doves that it launches as secondary payloads on rocket missions. They shoot the entire Earth every day down to an optical resolution of around 3 to 5 meters (10 to 16 feet). Most of the time, PlanetLabs rents them out to various industries for use in agriculture, mining and emergency management. The frequency of the images allows companies to do daily monitoring, spot trends and plan better.

The satellites can do a cute trick that others can’t, though, shooting the ground at an angle to show height as well as elevation. “An irony of the Space Age is that the Earth appears flat when you look straight down. But if you look from the side…” Simmon wrote on Twitter.

When you see the side-view images versus regular, flat satellite shots, the differences are striking. Simmon showed a view of Monte Fitz Roy, for instance, both from directly overhead and the side (above). “You might not appreciate that these are mountains unless you spot the clue in the jagged shadows coming off the mountain’s serrated summits,” he said.

The second image (at right) changes everything, however. “When you take an image of Monte Fitz Roy from an angle, the view becomes altogether different,” said Simmon. “The mountains rise to their commanding height, valleys regain their depth, and background features recede into the distance. It’s like getting a view out the window of an airplane 450 kilometers high.”

Via: Co. Design

Source: Planet Labs (Medium)

Uber now offers car rentals inside its app

Uber has teamed up with peer-to-peer car-sharing service Getaround to launch a new product made for those who’d rather have the whole vehicle to themselves. The company’s new offering is called Uber Rent, and it will give you a way to find, rent and unlock cars listed on Getaround’s platform from within the Uber app. While you’ll be able rent whatever vehicle you prefer by the hour or the day, whether it’s an SUV/van for a whole family or a low-emission sedan for yourself, the feature will initially be available in San Francisco only.

Uber choosing San Francisco doesn’t come as a surprise, seeing as both companies are based in the city. Chances are, it’ll expand the product’s scope after it fixes any issue it finds during the initial rollout. Unfortunately, the ride-sharing giant didn’t mention whether it has concrete rollout plans. It also didn’t say when the new feature will come out other than SF residents will get access to it “soon.”

Getaround has an application of its own, but the Uber integration will put the vehicles listed on its platform in front of even more potential customers, which could entice more people to list their vehicles. That said, car-sharing is already a very busy market, and Uber will have to compete with established rivals, including Zipcar.

Zero Motorcycles is building the powertrain for an electric T-Rex

The next type of vehicle to get electrified will be a three-wheeler, it seems. Campagna motors announced that it will unveil a 100 percent electric version of its T-Rex three-wheeler using a powertrain from Zero Motorcycles. With that, Zero is continuing to expand its side business supplying parts for other electric vehicle builders. It’s also working with Curtiss Motorcycles on the all-electric Hercules cruiser bike, and had been working on an electric jet-ski until recently.

The gasoline version of Campagna’s T-Rex 16SP, powered by a 160 horsepower BMW 1649 cc engine, can hit 0-60 mph in under 4 seconds, and corner with 1.3G of lateral acceleration. That performance comes at quite a price, starting at $66,000, and an electric version might cost even more. Zero motorbikes, are known being fun to ride but more expensive than regular motorcycles. Like EVs, they can’t go as far as gas-powered bikes, but Zero recently introduced fast-charging to make that less of a problem.

Campagna said the electric T-Rex (e-Rex?) will be an “even more dynamic and unique offering” than its other exotic models. It will unveil the prototype at the Montreal Electric Vehicle Show starting April 20th, and show off an even more advanced version this summer.

Via: Electrek

Source: Campagna Motors

House committee presses Zuckerberg over privacy policy ‘minefield’

The second round of congressional hearings for Mark Zuckerberg is happening now, as he testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Facebook’s co-founder and CEO was questioned for over five hours on Tuesday by the Senate Commerce and Judiciary Committees, with senators urging him to avoid a “nightmare” for users on his site. That, of course, after Facebook failed to protect personal data of up to 87 million users from being misused by political research firm Cambridge Analytica. Zuckerberg’s opening statement today echoed what he said during the first hearing: “It was my mistake, and I’m sorry. I started this company and I’m responsible for what happens here.”

One of the first questions Zuckerberg had to answer is why Facebook’s makes it privacy policies so hard to understand. Rep. Eshoo (D-California) called the system a “minefield,” adding that the company needs to make it clear and pedestrian what it does with users’ data.

Developing…

Apple ordered to pay $500 million in iMessage patent suit

A federal jury in Eastern Texas has just ordered Apple to pay VirnetX, a company widely regarded as a patent troll, $502.6 million in damages. It’s the latest development in a legal battle that started way back in 2010 when VirnetX filed a lawsuit against the tech giant, accusing it of infringing on its intellectual properties. VirnetX claims that FaceTime, iMessage and VPN on Demand violate four of its patents related to secure communications. “The evidence was clear,” VirnetX chief Kendall Larsen said after the court’s decision was announced. “Tell the truth and you don’t have to worry about anything.”

Apple, however, has never wavered in its stance that it did nothing wrong despite having to endure a bumpy rollercoaster ride in court. It was ordered to pay $625 million back in 2016, which federal Judge Robert Schroeder threw out a few months later. A couple of months after that, a federal jury in Texas ordered the tech titan to pay up yet again, though they slashed the amount by half ($302.4 million). Apple pursued another appeal, but the company lost and was ordered to pay $439.7 million.

Part of the reason why VirnetX has been coming out on top is because it filed the lawsuit in Eastern Texas, which is a region notorious for ruling in favor of patent trolls. Whether this new decision sticks remains to be seen, though, since the Patent Trial and Appeal Board already invalidated the patents involved in the case even before the Texas court handed down its verdict. It’s unlikely that Apple would give in and pay knowing that, so we definitely haven’t seen the last of this battle.

Source: Bloomberg

Spotify and Hulu Announce Combined Subscription Bundle for All Users at $12.99/Month

Spotify and Hulu today announced an expansion of their previous students-only initiative that bundled both services together for the low monthly cost of $4.99. Now all Spotify and Hulu subscribers in the United States will get a chance to lock into the same bundle through a single $12.99/month subscription price.

This bundle includes the ad-free Spotify Premium tier of the music streaming service (normally $9.99/month) and the Hulu With Limited Commercials plan (normally $7.99/month). The $12.99 bundle amounts to savings of $5 per month, and the companies noted that existing Spotify Premium subscribers will have early access to the offer.

“Based on the outstanding performance of the Spotify and Hulu student package, it’s clear that consumers love to combine their music and television experiences together,” said Tim Connolly, SVP, Head of Distribution and Partnerships at Hulu. “Hulu and Spotify are brands that are defining how fans connect with entertainment in the future, and we are excited to expand our partnership to bring this combined package to all existing and new Spotify Premium subscribers.”

Additionally, eligible Spotify Premium subscribers will be able to upgrade their existing plan to the new combo plan through an introductory offer that grants a three-month Hulu subscription for just $0.99, on top of their Spotify subscription. Afterwards, the $12.99/month price of the bundle will go into effect.

Here’s a full breakdown of the initial pricing structure:

You’ll pay one bill to Spotify for both services. Your first month is the price of your Premium plan plus the Hulu 3-month trial price. After your trial, you’ll then start paying $12.99/month for both. Here’s what it looks like:

1st month: $9.99 + $0.99 + tax
2nd month: $9.99 + tax
3rd month: $9.99 + tax
Following months: $12.99 + tax

The companies said that they anticipate opening up the new bundle to anyone without a Spotify Premium account later this summer. Head over to Spotify’s FAQ page for more info on the plan, which also states that it will not be possible to upgrade to the Hulu With No Commercials or Live TV plans, “nor to any Hulu Premium Add-ons.”

Tags: Spotify, Hulu
Discuss this article in our forums

Apple Maps Now Supports Transit in Tennessee, Including Nashville, Memphis, and Knoxville Areas

Apple Maps now supports public transportation in several Tennessee metropolitan areas, including Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga.

By selecting the Transit tab in Apple Maps on iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch, commuters can navigate with bus routes, complete with arrival and departure times, service advisories, and other detailed information.

Transit agencies supported include MTA in Nashville, MATA in Memphis, KAT in Knoxville, CARTA in Chattanooga, and a few others in outlying areas.

Apple Maps has aggressively expanded its transit-supported cities over the past few months to include St. Louis, Missouri; Richmond, Virginia; Norfolk, Virginia; Tucson, Arizona; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Orlando, Florida; Toledo, Ohio; and Columbia, Charleston, and Greenville in South Carolina.

When the feature launched in 2015, it was initially limited to Baltimore, Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Sydney, Toronto, and around 300 cities in China.

A complete list of supported cities can be found on Apple’s iOS Feature Availability page. A reliable tipster recently informed MacRumors that Charlotte, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Wichita, Indianapolis, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Brunswick, and Portland, Maine are candidates for the feature’s continued rollout this month.

Tag: Apple Maps
Discuss this article in our forums

Snap is working on a new set of Spectacles

Snap’s first forays into hardware may not have been a rousing success — a year after the launch of Spectacles there were reportedly hundreds of thousands of pairs still sitting in Chinese warehouses. However, it seems the company isn’t willing to admit defeat just yet, as a new FCC filing has surfaced suggesting a new version of the tech is on its way.

The filing for a “wearable video camera” — heavily redacted, of course — doesn’t reveal any meaty details about the potential device, but refers to it as “Model 002”, indicating it’s the second version of the product. According to the filing, it will support the 802.11ac WiFi standard, which means faster file transfers. The original Spectacles included a FCC ID label on the physical device, whereas the new version will come with an electronic ID label, accessible within the Snapchat app. Could this mean a redesigned frame?

Sources have reported that Snap is working on two new versions of Spectacles: one with smaller tweaks to the existing device, and another with GPS and a dual camera, slated to sell for as much as $300. But if the company struggled to sell its originals for $129, the premium device will probably have to boast a raft of additional features to make it appealing to a mainstream market — especially since much of the product’s young demographic are unlikely to be particularly cash rich. We’ve approached Snap for comment.

Via: Variety

Source: FCC