Gregarius » BetaNews.Com » août 19, 2015

BetaNews.Com (20 non lus)

Bing News now connects related stories to give readers better context

Publié: août 19, 2015, 11:52pm CEST par Mark Wilson

newspapers

Always-connected mobile devices make it easier than ever to plug into the news and keep abreast of what is going on in the world. But reading on the move means that it is very easy to fall into the habit of skim-reading articles, or just reading part of a story which can mean failing to grasp the wider context of the news.

To try to help with this problem, Microsoft today announces a new feature for the mobile version of Bing News. Smart labels have been added to stories to give readers an at-a-glance way to see how a particular story relates to other stories and topics. It helps to, as Microsoft puts it, "connect the dots between news stories so you get the bigger picture".

The meaning and interpretation of a news story is often related to context, and this is precisely what smart labels provide. Microsoft's research finds that around 60 percent of people consume the news simply by reading the headlines. While it still makes the most sense to read an article in its entirety, Bing News' new labelling system adds a tag to each news story that links to other related stories.

As Microsoft explains in a post on the Bing blog:

While reading every last article on East European geo-politics may not be realistic, exploring a few smart labels and headlines can help connect the dots between the big themes.

If you want to get the full background to a particular story, this gives a quick and easy way to skip back to previous reports. But it also serves as a shortcut to viewing related headlines so if you are taking in your news via headlines alone, you should still be able to get a better grasp of the important, context, and impact of any given story.

Photo credit: qvist / Shutterstock

Amazon UK ends Trade-In program that no one seemed to know about

Publié: août 19, 2015, 9:01pm CEST par Mark Wilson

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Amazon has announced that it is ending its Trade-In program in the UK. What's that? You didn’t know about it? You're not alone, and this could well be part of the reason for the closure; it was hardly a well-advertised operation.

As you'd guess from the name, the Trade-In program gave people the option to exchange games, consoles, accessories, and books they no longer wanted for Amazon gift cards. Very little notice has been given as the program is set to close on 31 August 2015. If you are one of the people who has been making use of Amazon Trade-In, you need to act quickly so you don’t miss out on your earnings.

Amazon has not explained why the program is closing down, but in its announcement the company informs users that they might like to consider becoming an Amazon seller to get rid of their unwanted goods. In an announcement on its Trade-In pages, Amazon says:

Amazon.co.uk’s Trade-in programme will be closed from Monday, 31 August, 2015. Please submit your trade-ins by Monday, 31 August, 2015 and post them to us by Monday, 7 September, 2015. For full details and other options for selling your items on Amazon.co.uk please see our Frequently Asked Questions.

The clock is ticking. If you have outstanding trade-ins, make sure you have them posted back in time.

Photo credit: Joe Ravi / Shutterstock.com

Parallels Desktop 11 adds Windows 10 integration, extends Cortana to Mac desktop

Publié: août 19, 2015, 8:54pm CEST par Nick Peers

Parallels Desktop 11

Parallels IP Holdings GmbH has released Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac, a major new release of its market-leading virtualization tool.

The app, which allows users to run virtual versions of Windows, OS X and Linux in a virtual environment, adds full support for Windows 10 while readying itself for El Capitan’s imminent release. It also promises significant performance improvements.

Parallels Desktop 11 promises to launch and shutdown Windows machines up to 50 percent faster than the previous release, while also improving file operations inside Windows VMs by up to 20 percent. Suspend times should be 20 percent quicker, while a new Travel Mode feature promises to improve battery life on laptops by up to 25 percent through the temporary suspension of power-draining resources. Unspecified improvements to network performance are also claimed.

As expected, the new build extends official support to Windows 10 on VM as well as promising to work on the forthcoming El Capitan release of OS X. However, Windows 10 integration goes further, with Parallels promising to give users access to Microsoft’s personal assistant Cortana from outside of the VM environment, allowing them to leverage it in OS X itself.

Other new features include adding Quick Look to Windows VMs, Force Touch gesture support for quick previews and word definitions and a new Coherence mode button. The most recently used list can now be viewed directly on the Mac too, regardless of the origin of its contents.

Also added is a new Easy Printing feature, the extension of Mac location services to Windows VMs and enhanced file associations making it easy to change file association directly in OS X.

Parallels Desktop 11 is also joined by a new Pro version aimed at more serious users, with integration for key developer tools, additional user profiles for testing purposes, advanced networking tools and enhanced memory and processor power for performance purposes.

Parallels Desktop 11 is available now as a trial download for Macs running OS X Lion or later. A Core 2 Duo processor or later is required with 4GB RAM recommended. Pricing remains unchanged, with the full version available for $79.99, with upgrades from Parallels 9 or 10 ($49.99) also available. The Pro build launches with an introductory annual subscription price of $49.99, which includes a complimentary Parallels Access subscription.

Intel to touch-first early adopters: No Windows 10 for you!

Publié: août 19, 2015, 8:28pm CEST par Randall C. Kennedy

Pinocchio Liar

"Wintel, Wintel – why hast thou forsaken us?"

It's a sad day for early adopters of Microsoft's touch-first OS strategy. Customers who bought some of the first examples of Windows 8.x hybrid systems -- the HP Envy x2 and ElitePad G1, Dell Latitude 10, Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 and Miix series, ASUS VivoTab, et al -- will not be able to reliably run Windows 10 because the powers-that-be are refusing to release a compatible video driver. In fact, anyone with an Intel Atom z2760-based PC is fresh out of luck when it comes to Windows 10 support. As far as the hardware vendor community is concerned, the demise of Windows 8.x signals End of Life (EOL) for your systems.

The truly tragic part is that these PCs were designed specifically for a post-Windows 7 world. Thin, light, and fan-less, with all-day battery life, these early Windows 8 hybrids include all of the features that are supposed to help differentiate Windows 10 from the pre-Windows 8 world: Multi-touch displays, UEFI BIOS, connected standby support, the works. In fact, when they debuted in early 2013, they were pitched Intel's first, best shot at creating an x86-based platform competitor to the iPad juggernaut.

Now, these customers (among whom I, as an HP Envy x2 owner, now regrettably count myself) are being left out in the cold, ostensibly because of a classic "Not Invented Here Syndrome" scenario. In order to meet its power envelope requirements for the "Cedar Trail" chipset, Intel elected to include a Samsung-designed Power VR 545 GPU in the Atom z2760 SOC. This was an acceptable compromise back when Intel was still desperately trying to claw its way into the mobile computing space. But now that the competition between Intel and Samsung is heating up, the folks from Santa Clara are now treating their own platform like an ugly stepchild: Starving it to death in the attic of driver incompatibility while lavishing attention on their own, "natural born" children (e.g. Atom "Bay Trail" and later).

Needless to say, this leaves many of us early adopters seriously frustrated. Not only did we get screwed-over for having the audacity to believe in that early Windows/Intel multitouch PC vision, we now get to watch as much older systems get upgraded to, and fully supported by Windows 10 -- again, ostensibly because their hardware components fall on the correct side of the competitive divide.

Shame on you, Intel, for abandoning your most loyal supporters. Shame on you, Microsoft, for failing to bridge the gap through an updated OBOE driver (the most recent Windows 8.1 driver is almost functional – wouldn’t take much to tweak it). And shame on you HP, Lenovo, Dell, and ASUS for leaving your customers in such a compatibility lurch. Just pathetic.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock/luckyraccoon

Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 3 brings container support

Publié: août 19, 2015, 8:27pm CEST par Mark Wilson

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As promised by Gabe Aul just over a week ago, Microsoft today releases Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 3. One of the biggest new additions to this build is native support for Windows Server Containers, Microsoft's take on Linux containers.

Developers have been begging for container support in Windows Server for some time now, and the introduction of this feature could be the start of Microsoft offering up some serious competition to Linux server software. This is not the only new feature to be found in Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 3, there's also software-defined datacenter enhancements and new Nano Server functionality.

For companies running both Windows and Linux servers, the introduction of container support means that it will be much easier to deploy containers to both. Microsoft has worked with Docker to bring container support to Windows Server 2016, and containers can be managed and deployed using either PowerShell or the Docker client. Microsoft promises that future builds will include Hyper-V Containers, optimized for use in virtualized environments.

Windows Server Technical Preview 3 is available for download from the TechNet Evaluation Center, where Microsoft introduces the latest release:

At the heart of the Microsoft Cloud Platform vision, Windows Server brings Microsoft’s experience delivering global-scale cloud services into your infrastructure. Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 3 provides a wide range of new and enhanced features and capabilities spanning server virtualization, storage, software-defined networking, server management and automation, web and application platform, access and information protection, virtual desktop infrastructure, and more.

Improvements have also been made to System Center 2016 that make it easier to managed virtualized environments. A full list of new features can be found on TechNet.

Photo credit: 360b / Shutterstock.com

Lara Croft GO coming to Android, iOS and Windows Phone

Publié: août 19, 2015, 7:14pm CEST par Brian Fagioli

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When Tomb Raider was released in 1996, the heroine, Lara Croft, was a sex symbol for computer nerds. While the graphics were archaic by today's standards, the well-endowed character looked real enough for gamers. Heck, Angelina Jolie eventually played her in the film.

Today, Square Enix announces that Lara Croft will be titillating mobile gamers on iOS, Android, and surprisingly, Windows Phone too. Will you buy the all-new Lara Croft GO game?

"Lara Croft GO -- the follow-up to Square Enix Montreal's critically acclaimed Hitman GO mobile game -- will launch simultaneously on the App Store, Google Play, as well as for Windows Phone and Windows Store on August 27. The puzzle game featuring the classic character will be available for $4.99", says Square Enix.

The company further says, "Lara Croft GO expands the turn-based puzzle gameplay and takes you on an adventure set in a long-forgotten world. Explore the ruins of an ancient civilization, discover hidden secrets and face deadly challenges as you uncover the myth of the Queen of Venom. A never-seen-before take on the iconic franchise, featuring challenging gameplay, gorgeous visuals and a mesmerizing soundtrack, all at your fingertips".

As you can see in the above video, the gameplay looks fluid and beautiful. The adventure/puzzler should be quite fun. While I look forward to playing it on my smartphone, I expect the tablet experience to be superior. I will definitely buy it for my iPad.

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Will you buy Lara Croft Go? If so, for what platform and device? Tell me in the comments.

Lightning strikes four times and Google loses cloud data

Publié: août 19, 2015, 5:01pm CEST par Ian Barker

lightning cloud

They say lightning never strikes twice, but they're wrong as Google reports that it's lost some data after the power grid serving one of its European data centers suffered four consecutive lightning strikes last Thursday.

Google Compute Engine (GCE) disks in the europe-west1-b zone data center, located in Belgium, suffered I/O errors in the strikes and 0.000001 percent of disks suffered permanent data loss. GCE allows customers to run virtual machines and store data in the cloud.

It's not known what data was lost or which customers have been affected, but writing on its Cloud Platform status page yesterday Google points out that, "The issue only affected Standard Persistent Disks that existed when the incident began at 09:19 PDT. There was no effect on Standard Persistent Disks created after 09:19. SSD Persistent Disks, disk snapshots, and Local SSDs were not affected by the incident". We understand that customers have been able to successfully recover from Persistent Disk Snapshots and from their own backups.

Google has apologized to affected customers and says that it's working to improve the reliability of its GCE storage layer. However it does say that, "GCE instances and Persistent Disks within a zone exist in a single Google datacenter and are therefore unavoidably vulnerable to datacenter-scale disasters. Customers who need maximum availability should be prepared to switch their operations to another GCE zone. For maximum durability we recommend GCE snapshots and Google Cloud Storage as resilient, geographically replicated repositories for your data".

Fans of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide series will know that 'Belgium' is the most unspeakably rude word in the galaxy, customers of GCE now understand why.

Photo Credit: Igor Zh /Shutterstock

Lenovo issues BIOS updates to fix security vulnerability

Publié: août 19, 2015, 4:58pm CEST par Sead Fadilpašić

Security Lock

Lenovo has issued a BIOS fix for some of its machines, thus preventing a vulnerability which could allow potential hackers to gain control of a desktop or a laptop computer from the manufacturer.

In a press release published on the Lenovo website, the company has urged consumers to manually update their BIOS. Newer machines will have the fix by default.

The vulnerability was linked to the way Lenovo utilized a Microsoft Windows mechanism in a feature found in its BIOS firmware called Lenovo Service Engine (LSE) that was installed in some Lenovo consumer PCs. It was first spotted by an independent security researcher, Roel Schouwenberg.

Together with Schouwenberg, Lenovo and Microsoft have discovered possible ways this program could be exploited in the Lenovo Notebook implementation by an attacker, including "a buffer overflow attack and an attempted connection to a Lenovo test server".

As a result of these findings, Microsoft recently released updated security guidelines (see page 10 of this linked PDF) on how to best implement this Windows BIOS feature, it says in the release.

"Lenovo’s use of LSE was not consistent with these new guidelines. As a result, LSE is no longer being installed on Lenovo systems. It is strongly recommended that customers update their systems with the new BIOS firmware which disables and or removes this feature".

Depending on the configuration of your BIOS, Lenovo has also put up instructions to help you install the update on your machine. The full list of all affected machines can be found on this link.

Photo Credit: Maksim Kabakou/Shutterstock

Syntonic launches BYOD billing management for smaller businesses

Publié: août 19, 2015, 4:39pm CEST par Ian Barker

Tablet BYOD building

The rise of BYOD offers businesses improved flexibility and employee productivity, but those things come at a price. BYOD can lead to extra costs such as needing to reimburse staff for air time.

Mobile platform provider Syntonic is launching DataFlex, an operator-independent split billing solution designed to cost-effectively deploy, operate, and manage BYOD usage for businesses of any size.

The solution offers separation of personal from business use on any mobile operator network, including AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint. Syntonic DataFlex can also be easily integrated into any existing expense management platform to streamline employee reimbursement. It can be accessed via a self-service portal for easy provisioning of employee devices with business applications and website access.

"BYOD has transcended the large enterprise and is now regarded as an essential business function for businesses of all sizes," says Gary Greenbaum, Syntonic CoFounder and CEO. "With Gartner anticipating nearly half of all businesses to require employees use of personal devices for work by 2017, it will be imperative for business owners to adopt solutions that help control BYOD costs now. Syntonic DataFlex allows businesses to cost efficiently initiate and scale BYOD programs".

Key features of DataFlex are that it will work with both Android and iOS devices across all mobile operators. It doesn't require any app modifications like SDK integration and it protects businesses with threat detection and encryption even if the employee is using an unsecured network. For managers and accounts teams it offers detailed app-level analytics segmented by employee, department, company, time period, data used and other details to help guide mobile forecasting, budgeting and investments.

You can find out more and sign up for a free trial on the Syntonic website.

Image Credit: Peter Bernik / Shutterstock

How to force Cortana to use Google instead of Bing in Windows 10

Publié: août 19, 2015, 3:23pm CEST par Wayne Williams

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Microsoft is pushing Bing heavily in its new operating system. Bing is the default search engine in Microsoft Edge, and while you can change this to Google (or any other choice), the process of doing so is far from intuitive -- you can’t simply pick "Google" from a list of options.

Cortana, Microsoft’s built-in personal assistant, is powered by Bing too, which means when you ask her a question she doesn’t immediately know the answer to, she’ll open up your default browser and display a list of results sourced from Microsoft’s search engine. There is a way to get her to use Google instead though, but you won’t find this in any Settings.

The trick is to set Chrome as your default web browser and then install the free Chrometana extension.

When Cortana performs a web search using Bing, the add-on will redirect the search to Google instead. It’s seamless and works very well. As a side note, the extension redirects all Bing searches in Chrome, not just Cortana ones.

Chrometana doesn’t only offer Google as a search choice. You can set it to use Yahoo or DuckDuckGo if you prefer.

This trick only works if you have Chrome set as your default web browser. Mozilla is working on its own implementation so future versions of Firefox will automatically redirect Cortana searches to your preferred search engine.

Chrometana

Age ratings come to YouTube and VEVO music videos

Publié: août 19, 2015, 3:19pm CEST par David Curry

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Under a new program designed to protect children from seeing adult content, YouTube and VEVO have announced new age ratings for music videos in the UK.

It is the first initiative of its kind, which will block videos that show inappropriate content. Musicians like Miley Cyrus, Rihanna and Robin Thicke have irked parents with the lack of clothing and rather provocative music videos released on the web.

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) will rate the videos. So far, 132 videos have been submitted for approval. Only one has been added to the 18 and over category, Dizzee Rascal’s Couple of Stacks.

International artists will not be forced to submit age ratings to the BBFC, but in the future we may see more age ratings added to YouTube.

Recently, the UK forced YouTubers to disclose any promoted videos inside the video and in the title. It seems the UK is making YouTube a big focus for film, especially since children and teenagers watch more YouTube videos than cable TV.

Music videos are oftentimes nonsensical, but some try to send a message. The BBFC believes they should be classified under the same ratings as films. The US and rest of Europe has not announced plans to add similar ratings to YouTube content.

Google News may now speak your language

Publié: août 19, 2015, 2:29pm CEST par Alan Buckingham

newspaper seller

There are significantly more spoken languages than countries, but the problem is that the internet frequently doesn't speak them all, leaving many users out in the cold. There are some ways around that, as both Google and Bing will try and translate things for you.

Now Google News is expanding its language options to become accessible to more of the world. Available languages will now include Bahasa Indonesia, Bengali, Bulgarian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Thai.

This ups the number of languages from the previous 26 that spanned 45 nations. "This effort will connect a potential new audience of over 260 million people to reporting that matters to them, delivered in their mother tongue on the web or our native Android or iOS mobile apps", Google states.

Google promises more are on the way too. "With these new editions, we hope we can help bring the news closer to more of our users. Look out for other language editions in the next few months".

The internet increasingly brings people of all nations together to communicate and learn what is going on in the world around them.

Photo Credit: Ryan Jorgensen // Jorgo/Shutterstock

Opera Max can now compress Netflix and YouTube videos, lowering data consumption

Publié: août 19, 2015, 2:11pm CEST par Mihaita Bamburic

Opera Max Android

Video streaming is one of the quickest ways to max out a data plan. This is especially true for high-definition videos, which are the commonplace on websites like Netflix and YouTube and, understandably, the obvious quality choice for many mobile viewers. Since not everyone can afford or have the option to use an unlimited data plan, we often have to sacrifice how much content we watch to not pass the traffic limit.

However, an update to Opera Max for Android promises to let us watch more videos without sacrificing much in terms of quality. The app can achieve such results through compression, and the feature is now enabled for Netflix and YouTube.

Opera says that it will add support more video services in the coming months. Even so, supporting only Netflix and YouTube, at the moment, covers a significant portion of Internet video streaming traffic, so the app is off to a good start.

There is another benefit to compressing video and, according to Opera, that is reduced buffering times, which can normally be a problem on high-latency and slow mobile networks. So it will also allow folks that do not usually have access to higher data speeds on their Android devices to watch high-definition content more quickly, without having to pause videos as much.

Opera does not mention how much savings users can expect in terms of data consumption, only saying that this depends on the type of network, mobile or Wi-Fi, or mobile device they are using. That being said, using the app is said to lead to savings of up to 50 percent in data consumption.

You can download Opera Max for Android from Google Play.

Windows 10 Build 10525 breaks Chrome; here's how to fix it

Publié: août 19, 2015, 1:52pm CEST par Mark Wilson

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Chrome users who rush to install the latest build of Windows 10 have found that their favorite browser is broken. Build 10525 of Windows 10 prevents Chrome from working properly -- launch the browser and you'll be greeted by a series of notification saying that plugins have crashed.

Additionally, when attempting to visit any website, all that is displayed is an error message that reads "Aw, Snap! Something went wrong while displaying this webpage. Closing the apps and tabs that you don't need may help by making more memory available". The compatibility issue has been reported to Google so a patch will be forthcoming soon, but in the meantime you can use this workaround.

It appears the problem only affected 64-bit versions of Windows, and it's not clear how many people have experienced the issue. The simple solution to getting Chrome up and running again is to use the --no-sandbox flag. This is not something that is normally recommended, as it brings Chrome processes out of their protected, sandboxed state, but as a temporary measure -- and to avoid having to switch browsers for too long -- it's fine.

Right click on click on the desktop shortcut to Chrome and select Properties.
Move to the Shortcut tab and click in the Target field.
Type a space at the end of the path that appears in the field followed by --no-sandbox.
Hit OK, and use the shortcut to launch Chrome.

You'll notice an information bar at the top of the screen that reads "You are using an unsupported command-line flag: --no-sandbox. Stability and security will suffer" but Chrome will at least be working once again.

Note the warning, and just hope that Google or Microsoft push out a fix soon.

Photo credit: 360b / Shutterstock

Ambient sound can be part of two-factor authentication

Publié: août 19, 2015, 1:06pm CEST par Nabil Ansari

Sound Waves

For those of you that have been living under a rock for the past few years, two-factor authentication is something that you use to re-verify your credentials to log into a particular site or service. This authentication is typically completed in the form of text message, a phone call, or a notification on your smartphone.

Although 2FA is extremely secure, it is also slightly annoying to have to open up a secondary app to authenticate yourself again. A couple of researchers from Switzerland want to make that process even easier and less annoying. So, the researchers want to get rid of the text-based bits and use ambient sound instead.

What they want to achieve, is authentication with sound. Basically, when you’re trying to log into a service, the website will send a notification to an app on your smartphone. This basically will let the smartphone know that now is the time for authentication.

Once you receive that notification, the app will then record a couple of seconds of sound that it hears around you. Then your laptop will do the same and then they will compare that sound. If both sounds seem similar, and 2FA will be completed.

It is obvious that this process will work better on laptops (and mobile devices) as opposed to desktops, considering that most desktops don’t have a microphone or a webcam hooked up.

As of now, the technology is still in process and the researchers are refining the entire process. We hope that Sound-Proof will not remain a research project for long, but make it into the mainstream before to long.

Photo Credit: Eliks/Shutterstock

Executives lack confidence in enterprise security

Publié: août 19, 2015, 12:19pm CEST par Ian Barker

Boardroom security

A new survey of security executives at large companies in the US reveals that many don't have confidence in their enterprise security posture. Less than a third of these executives are confident in their organization's security position, and only slightly more than a quarter feel that their communications on security to senior management are effective.

The survey commissioned by Raytheon|Websense shows that many still rely on technology aimed at preventing breaches but do little after one has occurred. Yet 9 out of 10 of the organizations represented in the survey have had at least one breach involving a loss or compromise of data in the past year.

Despite this only a third of the executives surveyed employ qualitative techniques, such as dwell time, that help them understand the state of their network post-breach. 57 percent measure their security position simply by counting the number of breaches.

"With security spending continuing to skyrocket, it is more important than ever to be able to report on metrics that matter, not just quantitative metrics like counting breaches. When breaches are constant, and inevitable, we need a better way," says Ed Hammersla, president of Raytheon|Websense. "We know threats are going to get in. If we want to be more confident, we need to shift our thinking to metrics such as dwell time, or reducing the time a threat is in our network, which reduces damage and helps strengthen our overall security posture".

When asked about metrics used to communicate their security posture, only 28 percent of executives surveyed felt the ones they used were 'Completely Effective'. 65 percent felt the metrics were only 'Somewhat Effective'. Only 33 percent of those surveyed use dwell time (the elapsed time from initial breach to containment) alongside the other more established measurements such as Cost of Incidents (39 percent) and Reduction in Vulnerabilities (39 percent).

Intruders can do more damage to a business the longer they have to poke around and move within the network. The lesson from this research is that if an organization can limit the length of time a threat exists, the damage will be minimized. Enterprises therefore need to employ different detection, analysis, and ejection techniques to stay secure.

More information on the report is available on the Raytheon|Websense site.

Image Credit: Manczurov / Shutterstock

Google's Project Ara will debut in 2016

Publié: août 19, 2015, 9:12am CEST par David Curry

Google’s in-house modular smartphone project has been delayed until 2016. Project Ara announced the news on Twitter, claiming lots of iterations changed the course of action.

Last week, Project Ara announced a change of plans and said Puerto Rico would miss out on the modular smartphone. The original plan was to launch in Puerto Rico, offering Project Ara modules from food trucks.

The new plan involves a few cities in the United States, with the goal of launching sometime next year. It is not clear if Google’s restructure to Alphabet had anything to do with Project Ara’s decision, or if this was always going to happen regardless.

Project Ara, for those unaware, was Motorola’s pet project while under Google’s control. Once Motorola was sold to Lenovo, Google kept the modular smartphone project and continued to develop it as one of its many moonshots.

It has been silent throughout 2015, with these new updates the first we’ve heard.

Where are we headed next? We are looking at a few locations in the U.S. #ProjectAra #newlocationcomingsoon

— Project Ara (@ProjectAra) August 17, 2015

Why? Lots of iterations... more than we thought. #ProjectAra

— Project Ara (@ProjectAra) August 17, 2015

We have seen previews of Project Ara’s phone working, but Google might be giving the team more time to refine the process. The goal is to be able to buy parts of a mobile device, in the same way we buy PC parts, and recycle the old parts.

This level of customization is currently unavailable in the mobile industry.

Project Ara still hasn’t announced a firm date for launch, meaning we could see the modular device in six or twelve months. This is a little disappointing, considering the massive change a modular smartphone could have in the industry.

Image Credit: iQconcept / Shutterstock

SCOSCHE strikeLINE Rugged LED micro USB and Lightning cables available now

Publié: août 19, 2015, 3:35am CEST par Brian Fagioli

ScoUSB

All micro USB and Apple Lightning cables are the same, right? Hell no. While they all may pretty much serve the same purpose -- to charge and/or sync data -- quality can vary. Both charging and data transfer speed can be negatively impacted by using cheap cables. Not to mention, from a durability standpoint, cheap cables can literally break and fall apart. It is worth spending money for quality.

Today, popular accessory manufacturer, SCOSCHE, announces that its 2015 CES Innovation Award-winning strikeLINE micro USB and Apple Lightning cables are available now. While the company designed the hardcore high-quality cables with outdoor-use in mind, this translates to a durable cable for all situations.

"strikeLINE Rugged LED cables are built to withstand the most rigorous conditions, making them a part of SCOSCHE's growing portfolio of Optimized for Outdoors products. The cables feature a rigid high-impact polycarbonate housing and flexible over-molded strain relief for maximum durability. The high-quality strikeLINE Rugged LED cables come with an industry-leading lifetime limited warranty. Due to their slim barrel design, users are able to keep protective cases on their smart devices while using the strikeLINE Rugged LED. Additional features include an integrated LED status indicator that glows red to easily let users know when a device is charging", says SCOSCHE.

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The manufacturer further explains, "in time for summer camping trips and other outdoor adventures, strikeLINE Rugged LED Micro USB cables are now available starting at $17.99 MSRP at SCOSCHE.com. strikeLINE Rugged LED Lightning USB cables for iOS devices also available now with a starting MSRP of $24.99 at SCOSCHE.com. The cables are available in white/gray and black/gray."

whiteSco2

The listed starting prices are for 3 feet. If you want the 6 foot cables, expect to pay more. Ready to buy? You can buy the micro USB variant here, and the Lightning variant here. Both cables are available in either black or white colors.

Which connector type, length and color will you buy? Tell me in the comments below.

Samsung unveils a trio of gorgeous USB 3.0 flash drives

Publié: août 19, 2015, 2:24am CEST par Brian Fagioli

USB BAR and DUO

Cloud storage is certainly the future, but local storage will never disappear completely. For redundancy purposes, it is smart to store your important files both online and on a hard drive or flash drive. This way, your data is protected from a disaster at home, or if the cloud storage company goes out of business.

There are countless USB flash drives on the market for data storage and other uses (like Windows 10 installs), but they are not all created equally. Nowadays, you should only be buying USB 3.0 drives since they are faster. If your data is important, however, reliability should be more important than speed. In other words, you should target respectable brands when buying a flash drive. Today, one of those such brands, Samsung, unveils a trio of sexy flash drives. Which will you buy?

"The introduction of this product line now provides customers with a more complete menu of branded memory products available from Samsung that currently include, a full line of SD and microSD memory cards, internal SSDs and portable SSD products. All of the USB 3.0 drives are also compatible with USB 2.0 and come in metal-based design equipped with Samsung's robust NAND flash and equipped with Samsung's 5-proof technologies and a 5 year warranty commencing on the date of purchase", says Samsung.

Samsung lists the 3 drives and their descriptions:

Samsung USB 3.0 Flash Drive: features a streamlined, ergonomically-designed body for easier, more natural use and grip

Samsung USB 3.0 Flash Drive FIT: the most compact of Samsung's new UFD lineup, this drive is designed for use in ultra-slim notebooks or in automobiles equipped with USB ports for data or music storage

Samsung USB 3.0 Flash Drive DUO: offers users the flexibility and convenience of both micro and standard for smartphone, tablet and PC users on the go

New USB Flash Drive Family

All three drives feature read speeds of up to 130MB/s and capacities of either 32GB or 64GB. Sadly, write speeds are not listed, so we will need to wait for benchmarks and reviews for that. Samsung promises a 128GB storage option in the future too.

While I rather like the design of all three, it is the gold whistle-shaped flash drive that has piqued my interest. It stands out, and should be easy to clip onto a carabiner or lanyard. The DUO is perfect for phones without a microSD slot, like Samsung's soon-to-be-released Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+. The white FIT variant could be popular with Chromebook fans, who want to expand low on-board storage without having an unsightly drive protruding from their laptop.

Samsung explains that all three drives come with its "5-Proof technology guarantee". What does this mean? The company says that each drive can "withstand up to 72 hours in seawater and survive operating temperatures from -0°C to 60°C (32°F to 140°F). Data stored on the drives will not be affected by standard airport X-ray machines or extreme levels of shock up to 1,500g (gravitational force), and can resist up to 15,000 gauss magnetic force, which is the equivalent of a high-field MRI scanner".

Pricing and availability are not yet known, so keep an eye on your favorite retailers to learn more.

Belkin Travel Rockstar is a battery pack, charger, and surge protector in one

Publié: août 19, 2015, 1:39am CEST par Brian Fagioli

Belkin-Travel-Rockstar-USB-Surge-Battery

If you do a lot of traveling -- whether for business or pleasure -- it can be a pain in the butt to remember to pack everything. This is especially true for technology, as forgetting a charger or cable can be disastrous.

Today, Belkin announces a product that aims to make life easier for travelers. The Travel Rockstar is a Swiss Army Knife-like accessory that combines a battery pack, charger, and surge protector into one neat package. Not to mention, it is just gosh darn cute too.

"The Travel Rockstar Battery Pack + Charger + Surge combines 3 travel necessities into one -- mobile battery pack, surge protector, and dual-outlet wall charger. Its built-in 3000 mAh battery gives users the power to charge USB devices such as a tablet or smartphone. The built-in surge protector provides a safe way to charge when plugged into a power source. To recharge the built-in battery simply plug-in the Travel Rockstar to an outlet, so that it's ready to go for the next destination", says Belkin.

The manufacturer further explains, "conveniently turn an AC outlet into two, meaning users can simultaneously charge two devices or share the outlet with a travel companion. The built in surge protector will protect devices from power surges that can cause damage to the devices. Portable and travel-friendly, plug-in the Travel Rockstar into any AC outlet to charge up to 3 devices at once or unplug to use the battery pack to charge a mobile device via the USB Port while on the go".

While the 3,000 mAh battery is hardly class-leading, it is enough to charge a depleted smartphone in an emergency. Best of all, it can accommodate and charge three devices at once when plugged into an outlet. You could, for instance, plug your laptop into one outlet, your camera into another and your smartphone into the USB port. This enables you to have surge protection too -- perfect for a hotel room.

Belkin shares the following features of the Travel Rockstar.

Built-in battery pack
2A USB for fast charging
3000 mAh battery pack for USB charging
Compact design with collapsible AC prongs
Dual-outlet charging when connected to AC
Surge protection for connected devices
Rated at 615 joules for superior surge protection
$75,000 Connected Equipment Warranty
2-Year Limited Warranty

At $59.99, it is a bit expensive, but Belkin accessories are usually well-constructed and last a long time. The Travel Rockstar might just become a staple in your travels -- indispensable and worth the money.

If you are interested in buying it, you can do so here.