IT-Code-News: IT News Head Lines (TechSpot) 1/1/2015

This 143-megapixel camera was created from an Epson scanner

As a photography enthusiast, I’ve seen cameras of all different sorts over the years but this one from computer aided designer and photographer Dario Morelli may be the most unique yet.

Tesla's Model S P85D hits the road for some drag racing, shames the competition

With 691 horsepower on tap, we’ve known for a while now that Tesla’s Model S P85D was a beast (at least on paper) but how does that performance translate in the real world? Pretty damn good, as some newly published YouTube videos reveal.

Blame game begins as Gmail access slowly starts returning in China

Gmail users in China are slowly regaining access to their accounts following a four-day outage. It’s still a work in progress as some are still reporting issues with receiving incoming messages while others remain down completely.

Samsung launches Milk VR multimedia service for Gear VR headset

Samsung’s Gear VR headset launched earlier this month but up to now, there really hasn’t been much of a reason to pluck down $199.99 for the gadget as content has been scarce at best. Sammy is now addressing that issue with the launch of Milk VR, a collection of 360-degree...

Xiaomi now the world's most valuable tech startup

China's top smartphone vendor Xiaomi, which recently surpassed LG and Lenovo to become the third-largest smartphone maker in the world, has announced that it has raised $1.1 billion in its latest funding round valuing the company at a whopping $45 billion, pre-money.

Xbox Live founder Boyd Multerer departs Microsoft to work on "something new"

Microsoft has lost yet another highly-ranked executive as Boyd Multerer has called it quits. The Xbox Director of Development recently announced his decision to leave the Redmond-based company on Twitter, citing a desire to “do something new.”

Apple reportedly in talks with Britain's top banks to launch Apple Pay early next year

Here's some good news for people in the UK waiting for Apple Pay to launch there: the Cupertino-based company is in talks with Britain's top banks to launch the mobile payments service, which is officially only available in the US, in the first half of the next year, according to a Telegraph report.
...

Samsung launches Snapdragon 810 Note 4 as Galaxy Alpha is killed off

Samsung isn't finished with announcements for 2014, launching a new variant of the Galaxy Note 4 before CES kicks off in a few weeks. While most aspects of the Note 4 remain the same, the SoC has received a decent upgrade to Qualcomm's latest flagship, the Snapdragon 810.

'Quake' demake running on an old oscilloscope is downright haunting

There’s something oddly appealing about porting games or apps to platforms in which they don’t belong. In the clip above from Finnish programmer / artist Pekka Vaeaenaenen who managed to create a demake of the classic first-person shooter Quake to run on a decades-old Hitachi oscilloscope, it’s downright haunting.
...

Kim Dotcom says browser-based encrypted video call and chat service is coming soon

Nearly a couple of years after Kim Dotcom, founder of file hosting service Mega, first unveiled his company's plans to offer an encrypted video-calling and chat service, the internet mogul has announced that the browser-based service will launch soon.

Apple enacts 14-day, no-questions-asked return policy for digital purchases in EU countries

Apple has rolled out a 14-day, no-questions-asked refund policy for buyers of digital goods in European Union member countries. Specifically, the policy covers all App Store, iBooks and iTunes purchases with the exception of gift cards once the redemption code has been used.

Xiaomi reportedly working on MacBook Air laptop clone

Xiaomi has been known to push the boundaries in their smartphone releases, developing cheap and quite decent devices that pack designs often inspired by Apple. So far the company hasn't released a laptop, but judging by Gizmochina's leaks we might be getting one soon.

LG to unveil new 'Art Slim' line of LCD televisions at 2015 CES

The 2015 Consumer Electronics Show gets under way next week in Las Vegas and among the companies already jockeying for media attention is LG with its new Art Slim line of LCD televisions.

Apple responsible for more than half of all mobile device activations this holiday season

If you didn’t activate a new Apple device this holiday season, you were apparently in the minority. According to a new report from research firm Flurry, more than 51 percent of mobile devices activated between December 19 and December 25 were from the Cupertino-based company.

Biometrics researcher reproduces fingerprints from photographs

Chaos Computer Club member and biometrics researcher Jan Krisller claims to be able to reproduce a person’s fingerprint from images captured by a standard camera.

Microsoft is reportedly building a brand-new web browser for Windows 10

As Microsoft continues to put the finishing touches on Windows 10, many have speculated as to the direction the Redmond-based company will take with regard to Internet Explorer.

These are the most pirated movies and TV shows of 2014

Game of Thrones is the 'most-pirated TV show of the year' for the third consecutive time. This according to estimates compiled by TorrentFreak, which says the HBO drama’s season finale was torrented 8.1 million times during 2014. The Walking Dead and The Big Bang Theory round out the top three...

The NSA struggled with several encryption tools as recently as two years ago

While it’s generally a safe bet to assume that the NSA can beat every form of encryption technology out there, that apparently isn’t the case according to a new report.

Despite making headway towards legitimacy, Bitcoin was the worst-performing currency of 2014

It’s been a banner year for Bitcoin in terms of the headway made towards being a legitimate currency but you’d never gather as much based on performance alone. In fact, it was the world’s worst performing currency according to a recent report from Bloomberg.

The Interview grosses $15 million in online sales in just 4 days

Apparently, the gamble Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) took by releasing The Interview online has paid off, as the company has revealed that the film, which was made at a budget of $44 million, grossed over $15 million in online sales through the first four days of the holiday weekend. Put...

China tightens Internet censorship, blocks any form of access to Gmail

China has long had complicated relationship with Google, and for the past six months, several of the company’s services have been experiencing disruption as a result of censorship believed to be related to the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. As of last Friday, however, access to Gmail via...

Top Tech Stories of 2014: Hardware, Tech Culture, Mobile, The Web, Microsoft, Google, Apple & More

As the year comes to a close it’s time to take a look back at some of the events that shaped the tech landscape in twenty-fourteen. There were some high profile buyouts, buzzwords, and a fair share of disruptions, controversies and security disasters with the likes of Apple, Google, Uber,...

Court allows Aereo to sell off its TV streaming technology

Just over a month after Aereo filed for Chapter 11 protection, a bankruptcy court in New York has granted the now-defunct video streaming service permission to sell off its TV streaming technology assets.

The Cornerplay: On clicktivism, social media and trolling

Social media has become an indispensable part of many people’s lives. The one trend that piqued our interest this year is social activism or “clicktivism”. I was recently asked to be a guest on a TV show to talk about social media, and thought I’d share some of the Q&A and...

Weekend Open Forum: What's the worst game you've ever played?

Last week, we asked everyone to share the best game they played this year with Dragon Age: Inquisition, Hearthstone and Wolfenstein all receiving multiple nods from the TechSpot faithful.

Sony reportedly working on large-screen tablet to compete with super-sized iPad

Apple is expected to unveil a large-screen iPad early next year, a rumor that reportedly has the competition clamoring to beat the Cupertino-based company to the punch.

This time-lapse video from the ISS reveals a stunning view of our planet

German astronaut Alexander Gerst recently returned from a six-month stint aboard the International Space Station. Between conducting various experiments in Lower Earth Orbit as part of his Blue Dot mission, the astronaut managed to capture 12,500 strategic images of our little blue planet that have since been stitched together to...

Kodak to debut Android-powered smartphone at CES

Kodak seemed down for the count following its 2012 bankruptcy filing. After selling off a number of its assets, however, the iconic imaging brand reemerged late last year as a commercial printing company. Not content to rest on its laurels, Kodak has big plans for 2015 and beyond starting with...

Facebook loses bid to dismiss privacy lawsuit over message scanning

A US judge has denied Facebook’s request to dismiss a class action lawsuit accusing the company of violating its users’ privacy by scanning the content of their private Facebook messages for advertisement purposes.

Alienware Alpha Review: A Compact, Powerful Steam Machine

The Alienware Alpha is a compact living room gaming PC that suits the gamer wanting better graphics, frame rates, and resolutions on a more consistent basis. On top of this, you get the advantages of gaming on a PC, such as a massive game library, cheaper games and the excellent...

The Year in Tech: 2014 Top Stories

As the year comes to a close it's time to take a look back at some of the events that shaped the tech landscape in twenty-fourteen. There were some high profile buyouts, buzzwords, and a fair share of disruptions, controversies and security disasters with the likes of Apple, Google, Uber, Sony and the NSA -- among others -- as protagonists. This is a quick recount of the most relevant stories of 2014, divided into eleven different categories.

Alienware Alpha Review

Then and Now: 5 Generations of GeForce Graphics Compared

When new GPUs arrive we usually compare them to their predecessor but rarely go back more than one generation. Many of you who haven't upgraded GPUs in over a year, two, or more may be pleased to see how performance scales and what to expect in modern games.

Lian Li PC-O5S Review

I would say the 'O' stands for "oversized window," as one of the key aspects of the series are the oversized tempered glass windows that combined with Lian Li's renowned aluminum construction and PCI riser cards make them perfect for showing off your machine's guts.

AMD FX-8350 and FX-6300 Power to Performance Overclocking Test

Intel has been beating AMD on every front but price for a couple of generations now as the Bulldozer microarchitecture and its descendants have had an unpleasant uphill climb. Power consumption, performance per clock, it all takes its toll. However, we took a couple of AMD's most popular chips for a test drive and found that things aren't anywhere near as bad as benchmarks might lead you to believe. Quite the opposite, actually.

Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro Review

The Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro features an aluminium body with an intriguing watchband hinge, it's surprisingly thin and light, sports an ultra high resolution display and a bleeding edge Core M processor. At least on paper it ticks all the right boxes.

Razer Leviathan 5.1 Surround Sound Bar Review

The Razer Leviathan is a smallish 5.1 surround sound bar that comes packaged with a keyboard key-shaped downward facing subwoofer. The bar itself is only around four inches high, making it as unobtrusive in front of a PC monitor as it is on a television stand.

Memorable Overclocking-Friendly CPUs

Enthusiasts have been pushing the limits of silicon for as long as microprocessors have existed. Early endeavors involved soldering and replacing crystal clock oscillators, but evolving standards brought options for changing system bus speeds via motherboard DIP switches and jumpers, while some of the most daring would gain boosts through hard modding. These are but a few of the landmark processors revered for their overclocking prowess.

Password Safe 3.35
Whether the answer is one or hundreds, Password Safe allows you to safely and easily create a secured and encrypted user name/password list.

Read More ...

ShareX 9.5.0
Take a screenshot or a screencast, have it uploaded and get the URL copied to your clipboard with a single hotkey.

Read More ...

Prey 1.3.4
Prey lets you keep track of your phone or laptop at all times, and will help you find it if it ever gets lost or stolen.

Read More ...

LastPass 3.1.77
Online password manager and form filler. Store all your passwords and usernames in the cloud. Access them across multiple devices and platforms. LastPass now is available for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iPhone and iPad.

Read More ...

Total Uninstall 6.11.0
Uninstall any program with the most advanced uninstaller software.

Read More ...

Samsung Smart Switch 2.4.14094.1
Switching to a new Samsung smartphone has never been simpler. And smarter.

Read More ...

BB FlashBack Express 5.4.0.3446
BB FlashBack Express is a free screen recorder with the best-of-breed recording features of BB FlashBack.

Read More ...

TEncoder Video Converter 4.5.5
TEncoder is a multithreaded video and audio converter that uses MEncoder, MPlayer and FFMpeg. It can download video/audio from video sites like youtube.

Read More ...

AIMP Classic 3.60.1465
Powerful audio player that allows you to listen to your favorite music with an outstanding sound quality.

Read More ...

Q-Dir 6.05
Q-Dir (the Quad Explorer) makes your files and folders easy to manage.

Read More ...

Speedy Painter 3.3.1
Speedy Painter is an OpenGL based painting software for Windows. It supports Wacom digitizers to vary size and opacity of brush strokes according to pen pressure.

Read More ...

Process Lasso 7.6.4
Process Lasso is a software that will improve system responsiveness and stability.

Read More ...

AquaSnap 1.10.1
AquaSnap is a free software that greatly enhances the way you can arrange windows on your Desktop.

Read More ...

Restore Point Creator 2.5.2
Ever found that creating Restore Points in Windows is a bit tedious? Click this, click that, go there, click another thing, and then finally youÂ’re at where you need to be to create a Restore Point. ThereÂ’s got to be an easier way to do all of that. Right? Well, now there is.

Read More ...

cFosSpeed Beta 9.65.2169
cFosSpeed, faster Internet with Traffic Shaping.

Read More ...

NirLauncher 1.19.15
NirLauncher is a package of more than 100 portable freeware utilities for Windows, all of them developed for NirSoft Web site during the last few years.

Read More ...

PlayOn 3.10.16
Never Pay Outrageous Cable Bills Again. Free Movies, TV Shows, Live Sports and more.

Read More ...

Wise Disk Cleaner 8.39.594
Free up disk space by deleting junk files that are no longer used.

Read More ...

Spybot Search and Destroy Detection Update December 30, 2014
This updates the detection rules for Spybot Search and Destroy.

Read More ...

Trend Micro Update File 377 for December 30, 2014
Trend Micro's latest compilation of patterns for virus identification.

Read More ...

VIPRE Antivirus Definitions Update File 36214 December 30, 2014
VIPRE Antivirus out to date with the latest definitions available.

Read More ...

Symantec Norton AntiVirus Definition Update December 30, 2014
Keep your Norton Anti-Virus updated.

Read More ...

Microsoft Windows Defender Definition Update December 30, 2014
Download the latest updates or definitions for your Microsoft Windows Defender security software

Read More ...

Chromium 41.0.2263.0
Chromium is an open-source browser project that aims to build a safer, faster, and more stable way for all users to experience the web.

Read More ...

McAfee AVERT Stinger 12.1.0.1276
Stinger is a stand-alone utility used to detect and remove specific viruses. It is not a substitute for full anti-virus protection, but rather a tool to assist administrators and users when dealing with an infected system.

Read More ...

Symantec Norton AntiVirus X 9.x-10.x Update for Mac December 30, 2014
Keep your Norton Anti-Virus for Mac up to date.

Read More ...

Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool 11.0.3.8
The Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool application was designed to be another virus scanner and detection software from Kaspersky

Read More ...

BitDefender Virus Definitions Update December 30, 2014
Keep your Bitdefender Anti-Virus updated with the latest definitions.

Read More ...

Norman Malware Cleaner 2014.12.30
Norman Malware Cleaner is a free utility that may be used to detect and remove specific malicious software (malware).

Read More ...

SUPERAntiSpyware Database Update December 30, 2014
Keep SUPERAntiSpyware up to date.

Read More ...

Available Tags:Epson , Gmail , Samsung , Xbox , Microsoft , Apple , Apple , Galaxy , MacBook , LG , Windows , TV , Sony , tablet , iPad , Kodak , smartphone , Facebook , Steam , GeForce , AMD , Lenovo , Trend Micro , Symantec , Norton , McAfee , Symantec , Norton , Mac , BitDefender ,

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

IT News Head Lines (TechSpot) 1/1/2015

No comments: