IT-Code-News: IT News Head Lines (TechSpot) 21/12/2014

Weekend Open Forum: What's the best game you played this year?

This week has seen the last wave of game releases for the year, which means it's time to give in your nominations. What game do you think deserves the prestigious title of Game of the Year?

Samsung to pull the plug on ChatOn next year, but not in the US

Just a few weeks after denying reports that it was planning to shut down its ChatON service on a "region-to-region" basis, Samsung has announced that it will discontinue the messaging service in all countries, except for the US.

Minecraft creator outbids Jay-Z and Beyonce on $70M Beverly Hills mansion

Marcus “Notch” Persson, the creator of the wildly popular Minecraft, was already rich, but then he sold the game to Microsoft for $2.5 billion. And now he’s outbidding some of the biggest celebrities on the planet for multi-million dollar mansions in California.

Google delays Fiber expansion in up to 34 cities

Back in February this year, Google announced that it’s exploring the idea of expanding its high-speed fiber service to up to 34 cities in nine metro areas, saying that it will reveal its selections by the end of the year. But now, the company has delayed those plans.

Bought by Facebook for $1 billion, Instagram now worth a whopping $35 billion

Facebook’s $1 billion acquisition of Instagram in 2012 may have seemed shocking at the time -- and indeed, it sparked talk of a new tech bubble. But as it turns out the deal is now looking like quite a bargain for the social network. Not only has it kept it...

Uber strikes deal with Portland, city officials to review ride-sharing rules

Just over a week after the city of Portland slapped a lawsuit against Uber, the two have reached an agreement under which the ride-sharing service will pause its operations there for three months while city officials work on changing the existing private car regulations.

BBC investigation claims Apple is breaking its promise to protect Chinese factory workers

Apple has been under scrutiny over labor conditions at its suppliers’ manufacturing facilities overseas. But while the company has taken steps to keep things in check, an undercover BBC Panorama investigation claims Apple's promises to protect workers were routinely broken.

Google wants to build Android directly into cars

Google is working on a version of Android that would be embedded directly into cars, allowing drivers to access applications they would normally use while driving without plugging in their smartphones, according to a Reuters report. The update is expected to roll out with the release of Android M, the...

The Cornerplay: Windows' business model is changing, from monopoly to minority

Although it may not look like it, Microsoft has actually been dealing with monetization questions for a long time. Back when Windows was a monopoly, it was difficult for Microsoft to add features to Windows without incurring anti-monopoly wrath...

100Mbps Internet available to 59 percent of Americans, but ISP choice limited

According to a recently released Department of Commerce report, fifty nine percent of the US population can get access to a 100Mbps or faster broadband connection, but only 8 percent can choose from two or more ISPs, while a meager 1 percent can choose from three or more for those kind of speeds....

Halo 5 beta available to Xbox One preview members today

Halo fans are getting a sweet Christmas gift from 343 Industries and Microsoft, with a multiplayer beta for Halo 5: Guardians going live later today for Xbox One preview members. This early access will ensure the beta is running smoothly for its wider release, and give dedicated fans a chance...

The Wall-Mountable Chassis: Lian Li PC-O5S Review

The PC-O5S is a beautiful computer case that isn’t overstated. The design is functional and Lian Li has managed to achieve what I believe was the ultimate goal for this case. As good as the PC-O5S looks standing or even sitting on a desk, I feel hanging it on the...

The Steam Holiday Sale has begun

If you're a PC gamer, now would be a good time to prepare your wallet for cheap PC games, as yet another Steam sale has begun. The Steam Holiday Sale, which begun today and offers massive discounts on a range of games, runs until January 2nd.

Chinese Internet giant Baidu to invest in Uber

Just a couple of weeks after it raised $1.2 billion in a round of funding that valued the company at $40 billion, Uber has announced that it has entered into a partnership with China-based search engine Baidu.

ICANN gets hacked after employees hand out private data in phishing scam

ICANN has recently reported a major security breach. The organization, which is responsible for managing IP addresses (among other things) for the internet, was hacked late last month.

Mojang to collaborate with Telltale Games on narrative-driven Minecraft: Story Mode

Telltale Games, the folks behind episodic game titles for The Walking Dead, Back to the Future, and Game of Thrones is set to collaborate with Mojang on a new narrative-driven game set in the world of Minecraft.

BlackBerry returns to its roots with new Classic smartphone

In an era when touch-screen-only phones have become the order of the day, BlackBerry, whose global market share stayed flat at 1% in the past year, has launched a smartphone that features a traditional QWERTY keyboard as well as other signature BlackBerry phone features like a trackpad.

Microsoft no longer has to promote rival browsers in Europe

Back in 2009, to comply with a court order, Microsoft began offering a choice of browsers to European customers who were booting up a copy of Windows for the first time. The screen offered the option to download Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera alongside some lesser known alternatives including...

Windows 10 Tech Preview: Over 1.5 million testers, 450k "highly active"

Microsoft has published an update on its Windows Insider Program, which allows you to experience the latest Windows 10 preview builds once out, revealing that as of December more than 1.5 million registered users are participating in it. Roughly 450k of those are what Microsoft considers “highly active”, meaning they...

Amazon announces one-hour delivery service in New York City

Those living in New York can now get their Amazon deliveries even faster. The company today introduced a new service for Prime subscribers called Prime Now, which promises to deliver a range of daily essentials in select areas of Manhattan, in under one hour for $7.99 or within two hours...

Neowin: Nest learning thermostat review

The Nest Thermostat has been available in the U.S. for a few years now, but it has only recently made its way across the pond to the United Kingdom, so it seemed like a good time as any for a review -- in its second generation form. The company was bought out by Google earlier...

Job listing reveals Apple Pay global expansion plans

Launched back in October this year, Apple Pay is officially only available in the US, but that could change in future, as a new job listing on the Apple’s website indicates that the company is planning to expand the service globally.

Sony pulls The Interview after US officials confirm North Korea's involvement in the cyberattack

Sony Pictures Entertainment has pulled the release of its upcoming film, The Interview, after reportedly confirming that the North Korean government was behind the recent hack attack that brought the company to a standstill.

Nvidia launches 347.09 beta drivers, Game Ready for Elite: Dangerous

Nvidia has launched a new set of GeForce beta drivers, version 347.09, which are Game Ready for Elite: Dangerous and Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes. Both of these titles launched this week on Windows, in what's the last main week for releases in the year.

AMD FX-8350 & FX-6300 Overclocked: Real world power to performance testing

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...

Offline playback "is never going to happen" on Netflix

While there was a time when some had hope offline functionality would make its way to Netflix, it appears that will not be the case. The company’s head of communications was recently quoted as saying an offline feature for Netflix was not only not here yet but was "never going...

Sprint faces $105 million fine over fraudulent charges on customers' bills

Sprint could be slapped with a hefty fine from the Federal Communications Commission for placing third-party charges on customers’ bills without their knowledge or authorization, a practice often referred to as cramming, according to a National Journal report.

Google's new content security aims to protect you from malicious Gmail extensions

There are many extensions available for Chrome and specifically those for Gmail, and while Google has always done its best to ensure malicious add-ons don’t become widespread, they are certainly out there. Over the last year, the company has taken steps to improve privacy for its Gmail users, which was...

Dutch watchdog says Facebook must delay its new privacy policy for review, Facebook says it won't

Just over a month after Facebook updated its privacy policy, a Dutch-government affiliated watchdog has said that it will investigate the changes, asking the company to hold off its implementation, which is scheduled for January 1.

Steam is region locking PC games to stop people exploiting low currency values

Only a day after Apple pulled the plug on online sales in Russia, Valve is also taking measures to prevent users from exploiting low currency values on Steam. Effectively immediately the company says that games bought on its platform will be region locked to the region it was purchased from.

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

Trillian Beta 5.5.0.19
Trillian helps you organize your online life with its powerful and flexible interface for IM, social networks, content syndication, the Web, and email.

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AVG Anti-Virus Professional 2015 14.0.5645
Essential protection that wonÂ’t get in your way! If you use your computer every day, you need protection thatÂ’s always there, constantly keeping you safe.

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VueScan 9.4.56
VueScan is an easy to use scanner program that saves you time and improves your productivity.

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uTorrent (utorrent) 3.4.2.37594
uTorrent is an efficient and feature rich BitTorrent client for Windows sporting a very small footprint.

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BitDefender Internet Security 2015 18.20
Superior Proactive Protection from Viruses, Spyware, Hackers, and other e-Threat

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Take Command 17.00.68
Take Command is a comprehensive interactive GUI and Windows command line toolkit that makes your Windows command prompts easier to use and far more powerful.

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ChrisPC Game Booster 2.85
Optimizes your CPU, computer graphics and network settings to boost your gaming and online multiplayer experience.

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AVG Anti-Virus Update 8770 December 20, 2014
Keep your AVG Anti-Virus updated.

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McAfee SuperDAT Update 7657 December 20, 2014
Keep your Mcafee based virus scanner up to date with the latest SuperDAT Update.

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Kaspersky Anti-Virus Update December 20, 2014
Virus definitions for Kaspersky Anti-Virus.

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avast! Virus Definitions Update December 20, 2014
Protect your system and valuable data against computer viruses.

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Microsoft Security Essentials Definition Update December 20, 2014
Provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.

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LibreOffice Productivity Suite 4.3.5
LibreOffice was developed to be a productivity suite that is compatible with other major office suites, and available on a variety of platforms.

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Mozilla Firefox 35.0 Beta 5
Experience cutting edge features but with more stability.

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AVG Internet Security 2015 14.0.5645
Protection against all of the most serious Internet threats, including viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, adware, hackers and spam.

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Calibre 2.13.0
calibre is a free and open source e-book library management application developed by users of e-books for users of e-books.

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Q-Dir 6.03
Q-Dir (the Quad Explorer) makes your files and folders easy to manage.

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Mozilla Firefox for Linux 35.0 Beta 5
Experience the newest innovations in a stable environment.

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X-Proxy 5.4.0.1
X-Proxy is free and allows you to surf the web anonymously, change your IP, avoid identity theft and hacker intrusiones.

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AVG LinkScanner 2015.5645
Verifies the safety of web pages you visit, and of links.

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Twitter for Android 5.38.1
Wherever you are, Twitter brings you closer.

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Google Chrome Dev for Linux 41.0.2251.0
This version is intended for only for developers and early testers.

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Mozilla Firefox Beta for Mac 35.0b5
Experience the newest innovations in an unstable environment thatÂ’s not for the faint of heart.

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Kaspersky XoristDecryptor 2.3.43.0
Fight malware from the Trojan-Ransom.Win32.Xorist family.

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Flipboard for Mobile 3.1.0
It's a single place to discover, collect and share the news you care about. Add your favorite social networks, publications and blogs to stay connected to the topics and people closest to you.

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AVG Antivirus Free Edition 2015 14.0.5645
The free version of the AVG Antivirus protection tool.

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Win Toolkit 1.5.3.6
Win Toolkit is a lightweight and easy to use application that was created in order to help you customize your Windows installation.

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SynciOS 4.1.9
Syncios is free but powerful iPad/iPhone/iPod to PC transfer which offers you ultimate solution for transferring media contents between iOS devices and PC.

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BB FlashBack Express 5.4.0.3442
BB FlashBack Express is a free screen recorder with the best-of-breed recording features of BB FlashBack.

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Saturday, December 20, 2014

IT News Head Lines (TechSpot) 21/12/2014

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