Friday, October 31, 2014
Wearable tech to hack your brain
The technology sounds simultaneously fake and dangerous: Strap on a headset and send targeted electrical currents into your brain for about 15 minutes to get more energy, improve your focus or calm down.
Brain stimulation is a very real but still unproven area of technology for tinkering with the human brain. For decades, scientists have experimented with sending electrical currents through subjects' skulls to their brains to do everything from treating serious mental disorders like depression to improving memory and learning.
FBI pushing for new domestic and global internet hacking powers
In a move that watchdog groups are calling an unconstitutional power grab, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is reportedly looking to rewrite the espionage rulebook, giving it the authority to hack into computers at home and abroad.
With little public debate and congressional oversight on the issue, the FBI appears set to make the fourth amendment to the Constitution wholly redundant, which protects Americans against “illegal searches and seizures,” The Guardian reported.
Q and A: Improve your TV's picture
A. No, your TV just needs to be adjusted to work better with your home lighting. Right now, it's set to look good in store lighting. As a quick fix, use the suggested settings for your TV model fromTweakTV and then make small adjustments from there to get the look you're after. If you want a more precise way to calibrate your TV for the optimum settings, click here for the step-by-step instructions.
5 tech myths you hear all the time
Humans are great at creating myths. From Marduk and Zeus to unicorns and mermaids, there's no end to what we can imagine. That's even true with technology.
There's old tech advice that no one questions, half-remembered instructions you just keep doing, misunderstood terms and more that you believe to be true.
I'm going to tackle some of these tech myths and set the record straight.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Atlas rocket launch successful day after explosion
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A new Global Positioning System satellite is in orbit after blasting off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Wednesday atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
Microsoft lays off 3,000, ending latest round of cuts
SAN FRANCISCO - Microsoft laid off 3,000 workers Wednesday, finishing a round of 18,000 layoffs that the company announced in July.
"The reductions happening today are spread across many different business units, and many different countries," a Microsoft spokesman said in an emailed statement.
The majority of those who lost their jobs, close to 70%, were former Nokia staffers, Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella said in a blog post.
What's new for Android: A sweet Lollipop upgrade
NEW YORK — Google recently unveiled Android 5.0 "Lollipop," the latest version of its popular Android operating system. The 5.0 upgrade is a major one for Android and brings an all-new design to the platform, dubbed "Material Design," as well as new features like a Guest mode and better camera software.
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Facebook shares slide off earnings
Another social network is watching its shares plunge in morning trading. Let's look at the tech stocks to watch Wednesday:
Facebook. Shares of the social giant dropped 6.3% in pre-market trading after warning investors of a revenue slowdown in the fourth quarter. Facebook CFO David Wehner said expenses would be "significant" in future quarter as it beefs up investments in existing products and weighs additional acquisitions. This year, Facebook scooped up virtual reality company Oculus VR and messaging service WhatsApp.
Facebook shares down 11% on warning of rising costs
SAN FRANCISCO — First, there was good news. Facebook had topped estimates for the sixth straight quarter fueled by mobile advertising.
Then, came the bad news. Facebook warned that costs would increase dramatically in 2014 and revenue in the fourth quarter would slow.
The revelations spooked the market, causing the stock to plunge as much as 11% in after-hours trading and costing Facebook about a tenth of its market value.
What Facebook got for $22 billion it paid for WhatsApp
SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook traded a tenth of its market value for the popular messaging service WhatsApp, which has more than 600 million monthly active users.
AT&T slowed the data speeds of millions of smartphone customers with unlimited data plans
AT&T slowed the data speeds of millions of smartphone customers with unlimited data plans, in some cases by nearly 90%, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
The agency filed a complaint Tuesday in federal court charging that the nation's second-largest wireless carrier failed to adequately tell its unlimited-data customers that the company reduces or "throttles" data speeds if they use too much data in a given billing cycle. Such throttling often made many common functions such as Web surfing, GPS directions and streaming video difficult or nearly impossible to use.
"AT&T promised its customers 'unlimited' data, and in many instances, it has failed to deliver on that promise," said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez. "The issue here is simple: 'Unlimited' means unlimited."
AT&T quit offering unlimited plans for new contracts in June 2010, but customers who had unlimited plans could keep them.
MCX explains why CurrentC retailers can't use Apple Pay
Retailers who opt to use the CurrentC mobile payment system must do so exclusively, dropping access to rival services including Apple Pay, according to a blog post from the creators of CurrentC.
In a statement Wednesday, the Merchant Customer Exchange CEO Dekkers Davidson says retailers "make their own decisions" on selecting CurrentC, and any retailers who choose to back out from the service will not be fined.
"When merchants choose to work with MCX, they choose to do so exclusively and we're proud of the long list of merchants who have partnered with us," said Davidson.
The statement follows a report from The New York Times that retailers cannot accept rival payment systems like Apple Pay and breaking MCX contracts result in steep fines.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Apple, retailers at odds over mobile payments
When retailers CVS and Rite Aid disabled access to Apple Pay over the weekend, the companies kicked a consumer hornet's nest.
Angry customer tweets followed the sudden shutdown Sunday, with some Apple Pay users implying they would stop shopping at the pharmacies. Some analysts feel this brief and perhaps inadvertent exposure to Apple's near-field communications (NFC) payment model may lead to these chains' inevitable acceptance of the new payment system.
Twitter's slowing user growth knocks shares
witter reported revenue of $361 million in the third quarter, beating Wall Street estimates.
It came in right on target on earnings per share, recording its first profit of 1 cent.
Fourth-quarter guidance was also on the money. Twitter TWTR raised its financial projections to a range of $440 million to $450 million. Analysts had estimated $448 million.
Monday, October 27, 2014
Blackmagic camera may cast a spell on budget filmmakers
Blackmagic Design is an upstart camera company worth keeping an eye on. The Australian firm has become a major player in the pro video market seemingly overnight. From hardware to software, recorders to color grading, you can almost build an entire workflow of professional-grade video production on the backs of Blackmagic-branded equipment.
Glaxy Note 4 vs. iPhone 6 Plus
Bigger, badder, better? Note 4 holds its own vs. iPhone 6 Plus
NEW YORK — One unintended consequence of the iPhone 6 Plus launch was to showcase the category of ginormous smartphones pioneered by Apple's chief rival Samsung. While the 6 Plus represents Apple's first foray into the phablet-sphere, Samsung's Galaxy Note 4 is merely the latest device in a series that met considerable skepticism when first unveiled in 2011.
Fitbit unveils fitness watch, new exercise trackers
NEW YORK—The highly competitive fitness tracker arena is becoming even more so with market-leader Fitbit's announcement Monday of three new wrist-based activity trackers.
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