Gregarius » BetaNews.Com » novembre 8, 2015

BetaNews.Com (4 non lus)

AMD hit with deceptive marketing lawsuit over Bulldozer chip core claims

Publié: novembre 8, 2015, 5:57pm CET par Mark Wilson

Chip-maker AMD faces a lawsuit for misleading adverts for its Bulldozer processors. The legal action has been started by Tony Dickey at the US District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division; the allegation is that the Bulldozer CPU is advertised as having 8 cores, but it effectively has just 4.

The architecture of the chip is such that each of the cores is unable to operate independently meaning that it functions in the same way as a 4-core processor. AMD faces allegations under the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, California’s Unfair Competition Law, as well as false advertising, fraud, breach of express warrant, negligent misrepresentation and unjust enrichment.

The lawsuit says that AMD's Bulldozer processors have been built by combining pairs of cores into single modules. This halves the effective number of cores and means the processor is unable to execute as many operations simultaneously as you would expect.

Dickey alleges that thousands of consumers were tricked into buying hardware with lower specifications than advertised.

AMD has yet to comment on the lawsuit, but the company could face large fines if the case does not go its way.
Facebook censors links to social network Tsu.co

Publié: novembre 8, 2015, 5:22pm CET par Mark Wilson

Anyone who tries to post links to Tsu.co on Facebook, Facebook Messenger, or Instagram will find that they are unable to do so. If you've not heard of Tsu.co, it's another social network, and your initial thought may be that Facebook is trying to censor people from talking about rivals.

Facebook blocks any messages containing the URL from being posted, warning that the site is 'unsafe'. Tsu.co different from other social networks in that it is invite-only and promises to share ad-revenue with users. This has resulted in huge levels of Tsu.co-related spam appearing on Facebook and the susequent ban.

Rather than sitting back and putting up with it, Facebook has taken the decision to completely censor the URL. When you consider the fact that Tsu.co is essentially a huge pyramid scheme, the decision is perhaps not surprising but it has resulted in a great deal of publicity for the previously little-known site.

Attempt to post a message, comment, or status update that makes reference to Tsu.co, and the following message appears:

You can't post this because it has a blocked link

The content you're trying to share includes a link that our security systems detected to be unsafe:

tsu.co

Please remove this link to continue.

If you think you're seeing this by mistake, please let us know.

The level of spam generated by Tsu.co users on Facebook led to the decision to simply block it outright. Speaking to Mashable, a Facebook spokesperson said:

We require all websites and apps that integrate with Facebook to follow our Platform Policy. We do not allow developers to incentivize content sharing on our platform because it encourages spammy sharing and creates a bad experience for people on Facebook.

Interestingly, Tsu.co's Facebook page is still active...

Photo credit: alexskopje / Shutterstock
Pandora makes music discovery even easier

Publié: novembre 8, 2015, 2:10pm CET par Alan Buckingham

Music services are an ever increasing market, with new ones popping up all the time. There are a few that have distanced themselves from the pack, though. One of those is Pandora which takes a song and analyzes it in an effort to create a station with similar music. You can argue if this works, but it does in most cases, at least based in my experience,

Now Tim Westergren's little hobby is launch an enhanced discover service in an effort to make it even easier to find music.

"This week we are introducing a new destination to discover music and a refreshed mobile experience to a limited number of listeners. Browse can help you find the perfect station to satisfy any musical mood because everything you see is personalized. It’s also dynamic so it evolves with your musical taste. In this new experience you can easily explore all the countless stations that our musicologists have carefully curated just for you", says Chris Phillips of Pandora.

The service is also boating easier navigation which makes it easier to find your station and claims music is "always a tap away".

The company promises that more innovations are coming in the future. Pandora calls this just a small preview od what is to come.
Want a Pebble Time Round? It's heading to stores and begins shipping soon

Publié: novembre 8, 2015, 6:43am CET par Alan Buckingham

While I have made a bit of fun of the Pebble Time Round's Swatch-type look, that doesn't mean it's a bad product. Honestly Pebble is the product that opened the public's eyes to smartwatches. It wasn't the first, but it set the tone of what to expect with the future of wearable technology.

The round version of the latest watch was creatively called Time and it was a huge hit on Kickstarter when it debuted. The round version came along later and now it's here, hitting retail outlets and ready to start shipping for those who have, or wish to, get it online.

The watch is hitting both Best Buy and Target on November 8th. It will also be available on both retailers online stores, along with Amazon, as well as the manufacturer's site.

"On top of new retail and online availability, shipments for those who pre-ordered Pebble Time Round after our launch announcement in September will start on the 8th as well", Pebble states.

The company bills it as the thinnest and lightest smartwatch on the market. It also promises days long battery life, which, if it lives up to past versions, will be true. It even claims to be the first smartwatch to look good on smaller wrists, avoiding what it calls "the hockey puck look".

Customers can choose a band that fits them -- both in size and style. It retails for $249.99.