IT-Code-News: IT News Head Lines (TechSpot) 12/15/2014

Weekend Open Forum: Do you use a 4K monitor with your desktop?

I had my eye out for a 4K or at least a ultra widescreen monitor for my desktop set-up over the Black Friday sale weekend. Having seen a couple in action, I was quite impressed, but couldn’t quite get around the steep price tag.

Sony looks to crowdfund its new smart lock project

While certainly not the first of its kind, it looks as though Sony might be putting a new smart lock on the market. The massive electronics company will be looking to crowd-fund its new Qrio Smart Lock project on Makuake.

YouTube quietly adds GIF creation tool to select videos

Creating a GIF from a YouTube video no longer requires leaving the popular video sharing website. The Google-owned company has quietly rolled out a way to make GIFs from select videos in an instant because what the Internet needs is more GIFs, no?

Health and fitness apps, Candy Crush Saga, Katy Perry top Google's charts in 2014

2014 will go down in history books as the year of health and fitness apps according to Google. The search giant recently combed through download data from the Play Store to put together a list of the year’s top apps, games, movies & TV, music and books.

Oculus VR acquires hand-tracking startup Nimble VR

The Oculus Rift has proven that the technology now exists to create a compelling virtual reality experience but it’s far from perfect. The visuals are pretty much set; it’s the rest of the puzzle that still needs putting together.

Apple's A9 SoC enters production at Samsung plant in Austin

The A9 chip that’ll power Apple’s next generation of iDevices has entered production. The successor to the A8 found in the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and the A8X variant in the iPad Air 2 is reportedly being fabricated by Samsung using its 14-nanometer manufacturing process according to a report...

Apple Online Store begins accepting PayPal payments

Apple's online stores in the US and the UK have added PayPal as a payment option. Previously, PayPal transactions were only available in the iTunes Music Store, App Store, and iBookstore. As can be seen in the screenshot below, the option will appear alongside the usual credit card payment methods.
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Microsoft's Xbox One finally outsells Sony's PlayStation 4

Microsoft's Xbox One has finally outsold Sony's PlayStation 4, becoming the number one selling gaming console in both the US and the UK for the month of November, according to latest figures released by the NPD Group.

"Doom" game designer celebrates its 21st birthday, reveals a ton of never-before-seen game art

Few franchises have a past as storied as Doom. The debut game in the series was released way back in December of 1993 and to celebrate the 21st anniversary, id Software co-founder and gaming maven John Romero unleashed a barrage of never-before-seen artwork and photos from the game’s development on...

Tech giants including Intel, IBM and Qualcomm come out strongly against Title II net neutrality

A month after US President Barack Obama publicly came out in support of net neutrality, asking the FCC to reclassify broadband as a public utility, several of the country's biggest names in technology have come out against the proposal, saying that the move would negatively impact broadband infrastructure investment.

The Cornerplay: Twitter's evolution, and why Instagram is better

When people think about ranking social networks, it's usually Facebook #1 and Twitter #2. Well, there's a new #2 in town and that's Instagram. With 300 million monthly active users it recently supplanted and surpassed Twitter's 284 million active user base.

Microsoft schedules Windows 10 event for January 21 at Redmond campus

Microsoft’s Windows 10 event, the one that was rumored for next month, is now official. The company on Thursday revealed that said event will take place after the Consumer Electronics Show on January 21 on Microsoft's campus in Redmond, Washington.

Chromecast guest mode lets friends and family connect without your Wi-Fi password

Google has finally delivered on its promise to make it easier for guests to access and cast to your Chromecast. Up to this point, you needed to give out your Wi-Fi password to a friend if they wanted to use your Chromecast. Fortunately, that’s no longer the case.
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Iowa poised to become the first state to let residents use smartphones as driver's licenses

Iowa residents will soon be able to use their smartphone as their driver’s license. Starting next year, the Iowa Department of Transportation will give customers the option of receiving newly issued driver’s licenses through a mobile app at no extra cost.

Sony said to be using DDoS attacks to slow the spread of stolen data

Sony Pictures is still reeling from the hack on its computer network in which a group calling itself the Guardians of Peace made off with loads of personal data on employees and celebrities. The sensitive data has since shown up on a number of outlets across the web and in...

Pirate Bay co-founder hopes the site stays closed for good

As we previously reported, infamous torrent site The Pirate Bay (TPB) and a number of its affiliated sites were shut down this week. Recent reports said the number of take down requests pertaining to the site skyrocketed over the last year reaching more than 1 million daily. It’s no surprise...

Microsoft now allows customers to pay for digital goods via Bitcoin

Bitcoin has yet to return to the $1,000+ exchange rate it enjoyed a little over a year ago but that doesn’t mean 2014 was a bust for the virtual currency. Value aside, it’s been a banner year for Bitcoin as a number of major companies have come out in support...

Here is what happens when a father makes his son play through video game history

When Andy Baio’s son was born in 2004, he decided to conduct an experiment. As a video game fanatic that was born in the golden age of arcade gaming and played through each subsequent generation as he grew up, Baio wondered what would happen if his kid was forced to...

Lenovo issues recall for more than half a million faulty AC power cables

Lenovo has issued a worldwide voluntary product recall and replacement program for faulty AC power cords that can overheat, posing fire and burn hazards. The recall comes after Lenovo received reports of 15 incidents involving overheating, sparking, melting and burning. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.

Cellular models of iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 launching in China this week

Apple has announced that the cellular models of the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3, which support networks including TD-LTE, FDD-LTE, TD-SCDMA, DC-HSDPA and HSPA+, will be available in China starting this week. Earlier, only the Wi-Fi models of the devices were available in the country.

eBay planning to cut 10 percent of workforce ahead of PayPal split

eBay could cut thousands of jobs early next year as it gears up to spin off its PayPal unit, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The cuts would affect around 3,000 employees, or nearly 10 percent of the total workforce in the company's core marketplace division, which includes eBay.com and...

Wakie is the social alarm clock that lets a stranger call and wake you up

As someone that has never been a morning person, the dreaded sound of an alarm clock is probably the least pleasant way to start my day. I do alright if another person is around to wake me up but that luxury isn't always at my disposal.

Apple-IBM partnership bears fruit as companies release first batch of made-for-business apps

Just months after Apple and IBM entered into a partnership with the aim to build enterprise applications for iPads and iPhones and sell iOS devices to the latter's corporate customers, the companies have released the first wave of apps aimed at customers in banking, retail, insurance, financial services, telecommunications, airlines,...

Nostalgia is driving up the price of Apple's discontinued iPod classic

Apple quietly discontinued its long-standing iPod classic this past September. CEO Tim Cook later revealed that Apple was no longer able to source some of the key components used to build the classic iPod and redesigning it wasn’t an option due to low consumer demand.

Google News to shut down in Spain following new copyright law

Over a month after Spain passed a new copyright law, allowing publishers to charge online news aggregation services for showing even the smallest snippet from their publications, Google has announced that it will discontinue its Google News offering in the country.

Google agrees to refund $19 million in unauthorized in-app purchases

Unauthorized in-app purchases have been a major headache for big-name app store operators. After fielding numerous complaints from disgruntled parents over the years, the Federal Trade Commission finally stepped in to take action.

Instagram eclipses Twitter with more than 300 million monthly active users

Instagram is growing by leaps and bounds. The photo-sharing community now enjoys more than 300 million monthly active users, an increase of more than 100 million since March. Perhaps more importantly, the milestone puts the social service ahead of Twitter’s 284 million monthly active users.

Custom watch faces finally arrive on Android Wear

Custom watch faces are one of the biggest draws of Android Wear but up to this point, developers have been on their own (undocumented APIs) when it comes to creating new ones. That’s led to some pretty crummy creations but fortunately, Google's latest Android Wear update includes an official watch...

Synaptics has a new touchpad with a built-in capacitive fingerprint reader

Notebook touchpad specialist Synaptics is getting into the fingerprint reader business. The company has announced a new product called SecurePad which is essentially a fingerprint reader built into the corner of a trackpad.

Google updates Hangouts for Android with new smart features and video filters

This morning in France at the LeWeb conference, VP of Product for Google+ Bradley Horowitz announced some new features coming to Hangouts for Android. The additions are coming by way of a new update, and include a number of minor aesthetic changes as well some more substantial ones.

Impact of Temperature on Intel CPU Performance

Older CPUs would simply fail if they started to overheat, but modern CPUs adjust their frequency based on temperature (among other things) to prevent a dramatic failure. Because of this, it stands to reason that once you reach certain temps, you will no longer be getting the maximum performance from your CPU because it will be busy protecting itself. But what is that temperature? And do you really need a high-end liquid-cooled system to get peak performance?

BitTorrent 7.9.2.37251
The most popular P2P application of current times on its original form.

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Prey 1.3.3
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.

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Hola Unblocker 1.5.779
Fast surfing. Quick downloads. Smooth video. Access sites that are censored by your government or corporation.

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Dashlane 3.2.0.75631
Instant logins. Instant checkouts. Instant gratification.

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K-Lite Codec Pack Full 10.9.0
The K-Lite Codec Pack is a collection of codecs and related tools.

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Skype 7.0.59.102
Skype is free and simple software that will enable you to make free calls anywhere in the world in minutes.

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K-Lite Codec Tweak Tool 5.9.4
Scan the registry to detect and remove broken references to codecs and filters.

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Earth Alerts 2014.1.200
Earth Alerts is a Windows-based application that allows you to monitor in near real-time a variety of natural hazard events that are occurring anywhere around the world.

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Mozilla Firefox for Linux 35.0 Beta 3
Experience the newest innovations in a stable environment.

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Baidu PC Faster 5.0.7.100109
Baidu PC Faster is a full set of system utilities designed to speed up your PC and keep it clean, healthy, and running at peak performance. It also helps users recover available space on hard drives, improves boot time, and protects user privacy.

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K-Lite Codec Pack Standard 10.9.0
The K-Lite Codec Pack is a collection of codecs and related tools.

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Advanced Codecs for Windows 8/7 4.9.8
Watch High Definition video playback without needing expensive players. Listen to bitstreamed TrueHD and DTS Master audio using HDMI to an AVR.

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StressMyPC 2.71
"Stress My PC" is stress testing software, to do a pc testing e.g. computer stress test.

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Weather Watcher Live 7.2.35
Weather Watcher Live can access real-time weather information from thousands of weather stations.

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K-Lite Codec Pack Basic 10.9.0
The K-Lite Codec Pack is a collection of codecs and related tools.

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IObit Malware Fighter 2.5.0.8
IObit Malware Fighter detects the most complex and deepest spyware and malware while to make sure we do not lag your PC.

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Mozilla Firefox Beta for Mac 35.0b3
Experience the newest innovations in an unstable environment thatÂ’s not for the faint of heart.

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AVG Anti-Virus Update 8727 December 13, 2014
Keep your AVG Anti-Virus updated.

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McAfee SuperDAT Update 7650 December 13, 2014
Keep your Mcafee based virus scanner up to date with the latest SuperDAT Update.

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Kaspersky Anti-Virus Update December 13, 2014
Virus definitions for Kaspersky Anti-Virus.

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avast! Virus Definitions Update December 13, 2014
Protect your system and valuable data against computer viruses.

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Microsoft Security Essentials Definition Update December 13, 2014
Provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.

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K-Lite Mega Codec Pack 10.9.0
K-Lite Codec Pack is a collection of codecs, DirectShow filters and tools.

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Mozilla Firefox 35.0 Beta 3
Experience cutting edge features but with more stability.

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WhatsApp Messenger for Android 2.11.473
WhatsApp Messenger is a cross-platform mobile messaging app which allows you to exchange messages without having to pay for SMS.

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IsoBuster 3.5
IsoBuster rescues lost files from a bad or trashed CD or DVD.

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Kaspersky TDSSKiller 3.0.0.42
A rootkit is a program or a program kit that hides the presence of malware in the system, TDSSKiller eliminates them.

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AnyDVD & AnyDVD HD 7.5.4.0
AnyDVD HD comes with same functionality as AnyDVD, but with additional features for full Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD support.

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Kingo Android Root 1.2.8
The easiest Android rooting software you have ever seen. Android Root is free. Supports almost every Android device and all Android versions.

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Comodo AntiVirus 8.0.0.4344
Comodo Antivirus is the free way to rid your computer of viruses, malware, Trojans, worms, hackers, and other Internet threats.

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Sunday, December 14, 2014

IT News Head Lines (TechSpot) 12/15/2014

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