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BetaNews.Com (10 non lus)

The BFI announces new online movie-streaming service

Publié: octobre 2, 2013, 3:32pm CEST par Wayne Williams
The British Film Institute (BFI) today announces plans to launch its own online movie-streaming service, offering a mix of free and paid-for viewing, all presented in HD quality.

BFI Chair Greg Dyke unveiled the BFI Player at a London press event earlier today, saying: "The launch of the BFI Player is a defining moment in the BFI’s 80 year history -- it will unlock the past, present and future of British film and, most importantly, offers a new deal for UK audiences to get great films out to as many people as possible across the UK. I’m really excited about the BFI Player’s potential. The BFI is pivotal to identifying great films and nurturing and giving a voice to great filmmakers in the UK and now offers a platform to take these stories out to whole new audiences".

Launching to coincide with the BFI London Film Festival, the service will be available nationwide from 9 October and offer a mix of free (approx. 60 percent) and pay-per-view (approx. 40 percent) content including hundreds of films.

The BFI Player will launch with seven different channels, or "collections":
- London Film Festival Presents; exclusive red carpet action, talent interviews and special behind the scenes access to the UK’s most important film festival.
- Backed by the BFI; the best of British cinema -- a showcase of some of the finest films, many funded by the BFI Film Fund.
- Edwardian Britain; for the first time ever all 28 hours of the extraordinary films of pioneering filmmakers Sagar Mitchell and James Kenyon, c.1900 -- 1912.
- GOTHIC: The Dark Heart of Film; The BFI’s blockbuster project featuring four compelling themes Monstrous, The Dark Arts, Haunted and Love is a Devil.
- Cult Cinema; a passport to an exciting and surprising world of cult British cinema from the BFI’s Flipside DVD label.
- Inside Film; films about filmmaking for filmmakers and all those who love cinema.
- Sight and Sound Selects (from the magazine's Greatest Film poll); a growing selection of the best films of all time.
- Enabling distributors, empowering filmmakers.
The BFI will be making Clio Barnard’s debut feature, The Selfish Giant, available to watch on the player on the same day as its UK theatrical release (25 October). The newly restored The Epic of Everest (1924) will be available to view on the same day as its premiere at the BFI London Film festival too (18 October).

Edward Humphrey, BFI Director of Digital said: "Audience behavior has shifted to embrace digital platforms, now the BFI Player gives us a foundation from which we can support a digital future for film lovers and bring the story of film to a truly national audience. The UK film industry leads the world in digital innovation and we hope the BFI Player will quickly become an essential element in the distribution models of tomorrow".

The BFI says the new player will evolve and grow as new partners and increasing content come on board over the coming months. Phase 2 of the BFI Player is set to launch in early 2014.
Emulex boosts data collection for faster corporate networks

Publié: octobre 2, 2013, 3:04pm CEST par Ian Barker

Network connectivity and management specialist Emulex has launched a new NetFlow generator appliance designed to cope with the latest high-speed LANs.

For those unfamiliar with the nuts and bolts of networking, NetFlow is the metadata that describes network traffic. It's used to diagnose problems and find security issues. In the past NetFlow has been generated by the switch, but 10GB Ethernet means some switches can't keep up leading to NetFlow that's intermittent or incomplete.

Emulex's answer to the problem is the EndaceFlow 3040, a dedicated NetFlow generator appliance that takes the process away from the switch and generates 100 percent accurate NetFlows on up to four Ethernet links at speeds up to 10Gb per second line rate. This results in faster detection, identification and resolution of critical security and network issues, improving network uptime and reducing operational expenditures in enterprise data centers.

The EndaceFlow incorporates load balancing to avoid collector overflow and minimize the need for manual configuration. It also supports up to 120 custom filters allowing admins to zero in on particular types of traffic or on individual IP addresses. Units can be placed at different points in the network making the EndaceFlow a solution that's easily expandable as the enterprise grows.

When combined with EndaceVision software data collected by the hardware can be displayed in an easily visualized form. It can also be combined with behavioral-based analytics tools from companies such as Lancope and SevOne, NetOps and SecOps which means personnel are able to create complete solutions that significantly speed the resolution of critical network and security issues.

"Traditionally, end users have used routers and switches to generate sampled NetFlows, which severely limits behavioral analysis and can impact switch and router performance," says Mike Riley, senior vice president and general manager of the Endace portfolio at Emulex. "The Emulex EndaceFlow 3040 addresses these issues by offloading NetFlow generation onto a purpose-built appliance that can generate unsampled NetFlow across multiple 10GbE links. This gives our customers all of the data they need to diagnose and resolve complex security and network performance issues on 10GbE networks in a fraction of the time previously required".

The EndaceFlow 3040 begins shipping to customers today and will be on show at the Emulex booth at this week's Interop in New York.
Hulu Plus debuts on Chromecast

Publié: octobre 2, 2013, 2:38pm CEST par Alan Buckingham

Google unveiled the Chromecast HDMI dongle during its big new Nexus 7 launch event in July and the tiny device garnered quite a bit of attention. For $35, customers could suddenly get functionality once reserved for specialized set-top boxes like Roku and Google TV. Plug it into your display and start "casting" media to it.

Now Chromescast gets one more option, and it's something that even Google TV does not have -- Hulu Plus. Google's Shanna Prevé calls it "the same intuitive, remote-free experience you’ve come to enjoy with the other Chromecast-supported apps, and is as simple as pressing the Cast button which will now appear in the app".

Initial support for Hulu Plus is available for Android phones and tablets, as well as iPad, while iPhone is coming in the future. You will need the latest version of the Hulu app, which is being released today. This also requires a Hulu Plus subscription, which runs $7.99 per month and is US-only.

Perhaps Google TV support will also come along at some point, but for now you can grab the cheap Chromecast dongle and begin watching your favorite shows on the big screen.
HP EliteBook 840 G1 ultrabook touts 33 hours of battery life, with the obligatory asterisk

Publié: octobre 2, 2013, 2:24pm CEST par Mihaita Bamburic

I have to admit to being somewhat spoiled by the amazing battery life on my 13.3-inch Apple MacBook Air (mid-2013). It has completely transformed my usage habits and my perspective on mobility and laptops. Using it for 10 hours straight without any charging time is a common scenario, without being exactly light on the throttle. But even the mighty MacBook Air cannot complete with HP's latest ultrabook, the EliteBook 840 G1.

HP says that the EliteBook 840 G1, which is part of the manufacturer's new business ultrabook lineup, can deliver a whopping 33 hours of battery life. As you can tell from the headline, there is a "but" somewhere.

This runtime can only be achieved by using a secondary, "Slice Battery" and Intel HD graphics (known for being battery sippers). It is an optional purchase as well. It is up to you to decide whether that is an inconvenience or not. Let's go through the specs.

The EliteBook 840 G1 features a 14-inch "anti-glare" display with a resolution of 1366 by 768, 1600 by 900 (also available with touch) or 1920 by 1080. The ultrabook can be had with fourth-generation (Haswell) Intel Core i3, i5 or i7 processors, up to 16 GB of RAM, a HDD (320 GB up to 1 TB) or an SSD (128 GB up to 256 GB) for internal storage, Intel HD Graphics 4400 or AMD Radeo HD 8750M with 1 GB of RAM, Wi-Fi 802.11 ab/g/n/ac (ac is optional), 4 USB 3.0 ports (one can be used for charging), DisplayPort 1.2, VGA port, spill-resistant keyboard (with optional illumination) and 720p video camera. It ships with Windows 8 out-of-the-box.

The EliteBook 840 G1 comes in at 33.89 x 23.7 x 2.1 (2.25 with touch) cm and starts at 1.58 KG. There are no details surrounding the weight of the optional, six-cell 60 WHr battery. The built-in one is a three-cell unit (in either 24 WHr or 50 WHr trim).

The EliteBook 840 G1 is available to purchase today through HP's online store. Pricing kicks off at $799 for the EliteBook 800 series; expect to pay significantly more for a top-of-the-line configuration.
Windows 8.1 available to pre-order ahead of the official consumer launch

Publié: octobre 2, 2013, 12:49pm CEST par Mihaita Bamburic

Microsoft is now accepting pre-orders for its latest consumer operating system, Windows 8.1. The new release, which will be offered as a free upgrade to Windows 8 users through the app store, will officially go on sale later this month, on October 17 at 4 AM Pacific Time (that's 12 PM GMT for those across the pond).

The price of Windows 8.1 during pre-orders is $119.99 for the base version and $199.99 for the Pro version, which is on par with what Microsoft announced the two editions will cost. As a result, there is practically no price benefit in placing an order ahead of the official consumer launch. Both versions will ship to customers as retail packages (the install DVD is included).

If you own a machine without an optical drive (an ultrabook, for instance), you will have to to get Windows 8.1 up and running using a different method (installing the OS from a USB drive is a possibility -- however, Microsoft does not supply it).

Microsoft previously announced that Windows 8.1 users will be able to upgrade to Windows 8.1 Pro by paying $99.99, with the latter having access to Windows Media Center for $9.99. This offer is designed for those who will buy machines that come with Windows 8.1 out-of-the-box.

The upgrade situation for those using Windows 7 and earlier is a bit different. Folks who are running Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 have to pay full price to get Windows 8.1.

Microsoft also points out that the upgrade process is designed only for Windows 7 (however, users will have to reinstall their desktop apps). The company does not recommend installing Windows 8.1 from a machine running Windows XP and Windows Vista (folks should do a clean install according to the software giant, and perform a backup of their data beforehand).
MyIT makes it easier for companies to embrace BYOD

Publié: octobre 2, 2013, 11:24am CEST par Ian Barker

Demand from employees to use mobile devices with different operating systems and applications is the bane of IT managers' lives at the moment. BMC Software aims to ease the burden with its latest version of MyIT. Featuring major new OS expansions and a new HTML 5 universal client to support mobile, desktop and laptop devices, MyIT 1.5 delivers single-point access to a variety of company resources from any device.

We looked at the MyIT app back in June at which time it was only available for iOS devices. The new version delivers native Android support, a wide array of new self-service features, enhanced language support, and fast and convenient integration with BMC AppZone for enterprise app store access.

With expanded support for smart-office and software defined workspace (SDW) initiatives the app also helps facilitate hot desking. It can integrate with building management systems to schedule occupancy and avoid conflicts. The product has added support for extra languages too in order to broaden its global appeal.

Jason Frye, Deputy CTO for MyIT says, "BYOD is no longer the exception to the rule in large organizations. The ready availability of smart devices and mobile applications means that employees have higher expectations for their IT experience than ever before, and their impatience with substandard IT services is more acutely felt. BMC MyIT allows IT departments to meet and exceed those expectations without undermining manageability or security. With BMC AppZone integration, MyIT now offers BMC customers a powerful and convenient way to access critical IT applications, services and support information from whichever device is best suited to the situation".

For more information and a free trial of MyIT you can visit the BMC website.

Photo credit: bloomua/Shutterstock
XMir gets axed as default display server on Ubuntu 13.10

Publié: octobre 2, 2013, 9:39am CEST par Brian Fagioli

To say Canonical's Mir has been controversial is putting it lightly. After all, it is designed to usurp X Server as the typical display server on Linux (with compatible video cards). To make the transition easier, the company developed XMir -- a way to support X server-designed applications until they can be updated. However, many members of the Linux community are backing the alternative X Server successor, Wayland.

Things got ugly in August when Intel abruptly pulled XMir support from its xorg display driver, saying only "we do not condone or support Canonical in the course of action they have chosen, and will not carry XMir patches upstream". Canonical employee Michael Hall replied by saying "I've said it before, I'll say it again. You will not make your open source project better by pulling another open source project down".

In an amazing turn of events, Canonical employee Oliver Ries announces "while we are on track to successfully deliver Mir for Ubuntu on smartphones, we are unfortunately not going to be able to deliver Mir +XMir + Unity 7 as the default experience on the desktop. Mir has made tremendous progress and is currently available on the Ubuntu archive for use, but there are still some outstanding quality issues that we want to resolve before we feel comfortable turning it on by default".

He further explains, "many of these issues live in the XMir part of the stack, which provides the integration between the X server and the underlying Mir system compositor. More specifically, the multi-monitor support in XMir is working, but not to the extend [sic] we'd like to see it for all of our users. The core of Mir is working reliable, but with XMir being a key component for our 13.10 goals, we didn't want to compromise overall Ubuntu quality by shipping it".

The question in many people's minds is, has the Mir and XMir project failed? Canonical has already created a FAQ page to address it. The company says "not at all. Mir has made significant progress, and has been built with a full CI test suite, resulting in a reliable core, and a testament of this is Mir powering the Ubuntu for phones images. The only change is that we needed a little more time to assure the high quality our Ubuntu Desktop users expect, so we decided to do the right thing and not switch Mir on by default".

With Ubuntu 13.10 scheduled to be released this month, it is disheartening to see the project so disjointed. It can be reasonably expected that most major issues would be resolved at this stage -- especially when Mir and XMir were touted as the biggest features. While Canonical should be applauded for holding back buggy software, its failure to meet the deadline may be viewed as a black-eye on Mir overall.

Image Credit: tankist276 / Shutterstock
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.10 available now

Publié: octobre 2, 2013, 9:33am CEST par Brian Fagioli
As a Fedora user and fan, I keep an interest in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). You see, Red Hat owns Fedora which many people consider a testing-ground for RHEL. Today, the company announces a new update to the fifth version of its commercial-focused Linux distribution.

Red Hat announces "the release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.10, the latest minor release of the mature Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Platform. With an emphasis on providing greater stability for critical applications, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.10 offers enhanced features for reliability and security, including an updated version of OpenSCAP".

"Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.10 customers with Red Hat Enterprise Linux Developer subscriptions will now gain access to Red Hat Developer Toolset 2.0, which offers users a selection of popular, open source developer tools. Red Hat Developer Toolset 2.0 has a more frequent release cadence and exists on a separate lifecycle from Red Hat Enterprise Linux, enabling developers to take advantage of the latest stable open development tools for application innovation", says the company.

Additionally, Red Hat highlights the following benefits of the update:
- MySQL 5.5, the most recent, stable version of that open source database. MySQL 5.5 includes a number of improvements in terms of speed, scalability, and ease of use. For customers' convenience, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.10 also includes MySQL 5.1, which is required in order to upgrade to MySQL 5.5.
- Enhanced Subscription Management Tools, which now provide more insight into how customers can optimize and benefit from their Red Hat subscriptions. With Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.10, customers can better match subscriptions to their unique system needs, better report on and manage subscription usage across a large inventory of systems, and add custom, searchable key value pairs to systems, all without having to go through the Red Hat Customer Portal.
- Red Hat Access, delivered through the Red Hat Support Tool, provides an integrated, seamless way to get answers with exclusive Red Hat Knowledge, use Red Hat’s automated diagnostic services for problem determination and engage with Red Hat directly from a Linux terminal. Customers can use Red Hat Access to quickly resolve issues and analyze log files, core dumps and error messages, all from within Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.10.
Jim Totton, vice president and general manager of Red Hat further explains, "the release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.10 continues Red Hat’s commitment to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 platform’s 10-year lifecycle, with new capabilities to provide platform viability for years to come".

For a full list of changes, click here to read the release notes.
Just how much trust can you put in benchmarks? Is Samsung tricking us?

Publié: octobre 2, 2013, 1:57am CEST par Mark Wilson

Benchmarks are important. The quoted figures for any piece of hardware are all well and good, but potential buyers need to know how a hard drive, processors, computer, tablet or smartphone really performs. After all, two processors with a clock speed of 3GHz do not necessarily perform equally well, and it is only through testing that it is possible to determine which one comes out on top. Few people have the means to go out and compare two similar pieces of hardware, so this is where benchmarks prove useful.

People use smartphones and tablets for different things. One person might be happy being able to take notes and make phone calls, while someone else might be looking for a 60fps hi-def gaming experience. Here benchmarks matter. It is important to be able to accurately compare devices using reliable figures. If you want to know how quickly phone A shifts pixels around the screen compared to phone B, it is important that the tests are performed in the same way, and are carried out fairly.

This might seem like stating the obvious. It makes sense that benchmarks are only really meaningful if direct comparisons can be drawn between two sets of results. We need to know that each device has been tested in the same way.

Back in July, many people felt suspicious about the benchmark performance of Samsung's Galaxy S4.

It looked very much like code had been written in such a way that performance was increased when benchmarking software was running. These weren't just paranoid or unfounded claims from Samsung detractors; the company went as far as explaining the anomaly by saying that the GPU frequency of the S4 was increased from 480MHz to 533MHz when "running apps that are usually used in full-screen mode, such... certain benchmarking apps". Samsung insisted that the changes were "not intended to improve certain benchmark results".

This may be the case, but it does render benchmarks all but meaningless. The point of a benchmark should be to try to replicate real world scenarios so users can know what to expect in terms of performance -- knowing how well hardware can run benchmarking software is, in itself, useless information.

But it looks as though this may not have been a one-off. And it is Samsung that is in line for questioning again. This time around it is the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 which has been put through its paces, by Ars Technica.

Eyebrows were raised when the Note 3 fared significantly better in benchmarks than the similarly specced LG G2.

Both devices feature the 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 but Ars Technica's benchmarks found that the Note 3 scored higher -- and not just a bit higher... up to 20 percent higher -- than the G2. Ars Technica did a little digging and seems to have discovered that when certain benchmarking tools are running, Note 3 performance is increased. Perhaps more importantly, the team found a way to disable the alleged optimization so it was possible to see what difference it made (this essentially involved running a renamed version of a benchmarking tool to trick the Note 3 and prevent it from "realizing" benchmarking software was running. This is how the apparent 20 percent difference was found.

You might well wonder what the fuss is about. Surely it makes sense to have a device running at full pelt whenever possible. To a certain extent that is true, but it is not representative of real usage. All apps should be treated equally. Sure, games may make use of different CPU modes than, say, a simple email app, but there are few people who would want a benchmarking app to be treated differently to any other app.

It is understandable that a phone or tablet manufacturer would not want their device to be running flat out all of the time -- it would lead to massive battery usage and heat generation -- but there is a big difference between power conservation and fiddling the figures.

Consumers need to be able to put their trust in benchmarks. If performance is adjusted specifically when testing software is running, it means that there is not a level playing field and makes it impossible to accurately compare devices. As in so many walks of life, it is transparency that is needed. If figures are being manipulated in any way it does not matter as long as we know about it. If we know about it we can make further adjustments for ourselves so we can compare in a meaningful manner.

How do you feel about this? How much attention do you pay to benchmark results? Do they sway your buying decisions?

Image Credit: iQoncept / Shutterstock
Logitech announces the UE MINI BOOM -- small speaker with big twerking potential

Publié: octobre 2, 2013, 1:01am CEST par Brian Fagioli

I am a big fan of music -- it is my passion and hobby. While the MP3 music-revolution has allowed us to fill our smartphones and tablets with tunes, the speaker quality on those devices tend to be poor. Conversely, on my home desktop, I use the wonderful Logitech Z-2300 2.1 speakers. I have owned these for many years with amazing results and, therefore, I view Logitech favorably for audio quality.

Today, the company announces "a major upgrade to the popular Logitech UE Mobile Boombox with UE MINI BOOM, a surprisingly small speaker that delivers unexpectedly huge sound in stylish and vibrant color options. The UE MINI BOOM takes the Ultimate Ears expertise in filling small speakers with big sound to a new level, with a personal speaker with clear highs and deep bass, giving you great stereo sound wherever and whenever you want it".

"With a battery that lasts up to 10 hours, simple controls and Bluetooth connectivity, the UE MINI BOOM is the perfect music companion, whether you're streaming music videos, hanging out with friends or traveling. It streams big sound from any Bluetooth-enabled device from up to 50 feet away, and with such huge sound, you'll need the extra distance. Thanks to its convenient micro-USB charger, it's easy to find a charge for your UE MINI BOOM almost anywhere. Plus, you can wirelessly pair two UE MINI BOOM speakers together after downloading the free UE MINI BOOM app (available for iOS and Android) to double the sound", says Logitech.

Yes, you can pair two of the Bluetooth speakers together for an even louder experience. In other words, with the right song, you will be twerking like Miley Cyrus with maximum volume! However, dual speakers are not only beneficial for volume, they will enable superior stereo separation by allowing the user to place them in optimal locations.

Logitech also says, "the UE MINI BOOM is available in a range of vibrant colors, including orange, purple, red, yellow and black. It can withstand some rough-and-tumble, thanks to its durable metal frame and rubber casing, so you can throw it in your purse, duffel bag or the trunk of your car without worry".

With an MSRP of $99, a diverse range of colors and solid durability, this seems like a great Bluetooth speaker option. The optional expandability with a second speaker is just icing on the cake. Of course, sound quality is the most important factor -- expect a review soon.