IT News Head Lines (TechSpot) 7/7/2015

Microsoft Surface 3 Review: One of the most attractive Windows tablets on the market

The full metal body of the Surface 3 makes it one of the best designed, most attractive Windows tablets on the market. Throw in great features like the three-position kickstand, the hidden microSD card slot, the full-sized USB port, the 3:2 display, and Microsoft has nailed the design of this tablet.







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Weekend tech reading: What is XKEYSCORE? How much does security software slow down your PC?

One of the National Security Agency’s most powerful tools of mass surveillance makes tracking someone’s Internet usage as easy as entering an email address, and provides no built-in technology to prevent abuse.







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Neowin's 7 Days of Microsoft's tough decisions, Xbox insights and BlackBerry's Android phone

7 Days is a weekly round-up of what's been happening in the world of technology - written by Neowin's editors with a dash of humor, a hint of exasperation, and an endless supply of (Irish) coffee. Here's a especially edited version for TechSpot readers from the full article.








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Russian 'right to be forgotten' internet law approved by parliament

On Friday, the State Duma's lower house, the Russian Federation's equivalent of a parliament, approved a bill which restricts search engines from listing people's private information, reports Reuters. The bill has similarities to the European Union's 'right to be forgotten' 2014 court decision, which grants people the right to not...







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Microsoft says Edge browser will not support Silverlight

With Microsoft finally replacing the age-old crime to web fashion that is Internet Explorer, a number of changes are being made to its replacement, the much trendier-sounding Edge browser. Most significant of these is the recently noted ommission of ActiveX-based extensions, and as a result, Microsoft confirmed today that its...







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Weekend Open Forum: The worst PC game port of all time?

The launch of Batman: Arkham Knight on PC just under two weeks ago was an absolute disaster, with many users reporting crippling technical issues on a wide range of hardware. The issues mostly stem from a shoddy port, which is something PC gamers have had to deal with for years.








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One-of-a-kind Nintendo PlayStation prototype surfaces

The gaming console landscape we know today is dominated by three key players: Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony. More than a decade before the first Xbox made its debut in 2001, however, Sony wasn’t even a contender and Sega was Nintendo’s sole competition.








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No fuel, no worries: Solar Impulse 2 landed in Hawaii after a five day flight across the Pacific

A pilot and his team just landed a solar plane in Hawaii after a five day flight, in the eighth of a thirteen-part quest to fly around the world without a drop of fuel.








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A common scientific tool could be coming soon to your smartphone

The optical spectrometer, an instrument that breaks down the light that something reflects or emits, telling you what it's made of, is used for everything from diagnosing skin cancer to identifying the makeup of unknown chemicals. They are usually big and expensive pieces of equipment but that's changing. Jie Bao,...







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Hacker infiltrates Plex server, holds compromised data at ransom

A hacker recently infiltrated the server hosting media service Plex’s forums and blog and is holding the compromised data at ransom.








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UberPOP service suspended in France to protect drivers

Uber has announced it has suspended UberPOP in France until further notice. The move follows a week that saw two of Uber's top executives in the country detained by police and violent protests against the service.








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You can now watch YouTube videos on your Android Wear smartwatch

Android Wear comes with a pretty decent selection of useful features, but there was always one that was missing: the ability to play YouTube videos on a tiny, low-resolution, circular display on your wrist.








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FCC filing may be the new version of Google Glass

A new Google product working its way through the FCC could be the company’s reimagined Google Glass. Here’s everything we know at this hour.








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Study discovers security vulnerabilities in 14 popular VPN services

This week, researchers from Sapienza University of Rome and Queen Mary University of London published a study detailing security vulnerabilities among 14 popular VPN service providers. While normally these services are seen as a secure way to transfer data over a public network or get onto blocked websites, some of...







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Casio's first smartwatch set for 2016 release

Iconic Japanese watchmaker Casio has announced it is preparing to enter the smartwatch market. The company has been working on an intelligent timepiece for the last four years, and is planning to release it next year.








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Apple's next iPhone may include 12-megapixel camera with 4K video capture capabilities

iPhone rumors are coming hot and heavy as we dive into summer. The latest scuttlebutt claims the next iPhone will feature a 12-megapixel main camera that’s optimized to shoot 4K video and 240 frames per second slow-motion clips.








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BlueStacks brings millions of Android apps to the Mac

After being stuck in alpha and beta testing for a number of years starting way back in 2012, the BlueStacks Android emulator for Mac has finally arrived. Already a popular destination for Windows users that want to bring their Android apps to the big screen, BlueStacks has finally released the...







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Microsoft speeds up the Fast Ring with yet another Windows 10 Preview build

Microsoft has clearly been hard at work over the past week: the company has just launched a brand new Windows 10 Preview build, the third build released to Windows Insiders on the Fast Ring this week.








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Massive Chalice Review: A smart, fun exploration of turn-based tactics

If you want to understand Massive Chalice, you need to understand XCOM. Double Fine’s Massive Chalice has been hugely influenced by Julian Gallop’s seminal 1994 strategy game. Massive Chalice focuses on up-close tactical gameplay and big-picture strategy. It handles the former exceptionally well, far better than it handles the latter....







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Reddit users close much of site in revolt over firing

Reddit has cemented itself as one of the modern pillars of the internet with a userbase large enough to attract the attention of publicists and curious celebrities or important people alike.







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This is not real: These photorealistic scenes were created with Unreal Engine 4

Gamers have long been promised “realistic” graphics but to date, not much has really come close to delivering photorealistic imagery. Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4, however, may very well be the first.








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Anki Overdrive is a toy racetrack with the feel of a video game

Anki Overdrive is a vehicular combat game with one slight distinction from more familiar titles like Twisted Metal or Jak X: Combat Racing. Anki Overdrive is not a video game. Integrating concepts from popular science-fiction racing games, Anki Overdrive takes those ideas and turns them on their heads with a...







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Upcoming Chevy vehicles will provide AC for your hot smartphone

Chevrolet announced on Thursday that select 2016 models will come equipped with an air conditioner for your smartphone. The feature may seem trivial but according to the automaker, it’s no marketing gimmick.








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PayPal buys online money-transfer company Xoom for $890 million

Less than three weeks before its planned split with eBay, PayPal announced on Wednesday that it is acquiring San Francisco-based digital money transfer provider Xoom for $890 million in an all-cash deal.








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Windows 8.1 overtakes XP in market share as Windows 10 launch approaches, Windows 7 still leads

On the verge of Windows 10's release, its predecessor has quietly moved into the #2 spot for market share among operating systems. Windows 8.1 has now overtaken Windows XP, the one time king of all operating systems, but it's something of a hollow victory as Windows 7 still leads by...







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This 'exclusive' website only lets one person in at a time

People love to feel important. As if they matter. Exclusive, even. It’s one of the primary drivers for the success of social media but often times, it’s difficult to stand out among the crowd.








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Learn Node.js with 10 hands-on projects

Node.js is a nimble and surprisingly lightweight answer for those looking to create vibrant website operations and network apps. Right now, this hands-on Learn Node.js course will get you up to speed on this powerful programming tool for just $19.








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Microsoft's new augmented reality project, "SemanticPaint," lets you digitize your environment

Some of the coolest things in augmented reality are coming out of Microsoft Research, and their newest project "SemanticPaint" is no exception. This project lets you scan objects, or whole rooms, in 3D using a Kinect and then separate and define individual objects in the scene. This kind of accurate...







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ProxyHam lets you anonymously connect to public Wi-Fi from 2.5 miles away

Remaining anonymous online is a tough task these days. The Tor network and VPNs are popular choices among journalists, activists, whistleblowers and criminals but even these solutions aren’t entirely bulletproof.








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AT&T's $48.5 billion acquisition of DirecTV to be approved by U.S. government

Six anonymous sources have confirmed to Reuters that AT&T's $48.5 billion buyout of DirecTV is to be approved by the U.S. Justice Department and the FCC as soon as next week. AT&T will also take over all of DirecTV's debts, making the actual value of the deal over $67 billion.
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Microsoft Surface 3 Review

The full metal body of the Surface 3 makes it one of the best designed, most attractive Windows tablets on the market. Throw in great features like the three-position kickstand, the hidden microSD card slot, the full-sized USB port, the 3:2 display, and Microsoft has nailed the design of this tablet.







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Massive Chalice Review

If you want to understand Massive Chalice, you need to understand XCOM. Double Fine's Massive Chalice has been hugely influenced by Julian Gallop's seminal 1994 strategy game. Like XCOM, Massive Chalice focuses on both up-close tactical gameplay and big-picture strategy. It handles the former exceptionally well, far better than it handles the latter.







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How to Take Amazing Fireworks Photos

You don't have to be a professional photographer to snap some amazing pictures of fireworks. All you need is some basic equipment and a little know-how, the latter of which we'll be offering up here today.







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Batman: Arkham Knight Benchmarked: Graphics & CPU Performance

Batman: Arkham Knight, the fourth entry in Warner Brother's Batman: Arkham series, is based on the same Unreal Engine 3 as its predecessor and an Nvidia-sponsored title. Favoring one camp of GPUs is hardly the least contentious way to launch a new game, however it seems this release would have rattled cages regardless. Countless Nvidia and AMD users have expressed anger about Arkham Knight's performance and stuttering issues. Here's what we found in our tests.







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Batman: Arkham Knight Review

Batman: Arkham Knight is the fourth major title in the Warner Bros. series of video games that began with 2009's Arkham Asylum. Tonally, Arkham Knight is very much an Arkham game, but the decision to revolve so much of the game around the new Batmobile is an alienating move that robs Arkham Knight at the outset of the fantasy of becoming the Dark Knight. Once we're past that silliness, however, it unfurls a plot that is by far the strongest of the series.







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A List of Common Default Router IP Addresses

Here's the scenario: you are helping a relative with network issues and need to access their router's browser interface. You can typically find the information by entering 'ipconfig' into the Windows command prompt, but if for some reason you can't retrieve the router's IP address using that method, we've compiled a brief list of popular router brands and their common default addresses.







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Is Windows 10 Free? Yes, and No. An Explainer

Microsoft is set to release Windows 10 later this year and users of current versions of the operating system will get an upgrade free of charge. So where's the confusion? There has been speculation about who gets the free upgrade and who doesn't. Here's a brief overview of the different upgrade paths to Windows 10.







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Best $70 CPU for Gaming: Athlon X4 860K vs. Pentium G3258

At around $500 our recommended Budget Box is ideal for everyday computing with some lightweight gaming. If you're adding a dedicated GPU, however, it makes sense to swap our APU pick for a cheaper CPU, with the saving going towards graphics. We paired two $70 CPUs with the GTX 960 and R9 285 in 20 of the most popular AAA titles, to find out which one is best for gamers on a budget.







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Heroes of the Storm Review

Blizzard defines Heroes of the Storm as a "hero brawler." But really, it's a MOBA-an idiosyncratic and sparsely populated genre that mixes together bits and pieces of real-time strategy and fighting games in fiercely competitive matches. The game pits two teams of fantastical creatures against each other to see who can destroy the other's base first.







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HIS IceQ X-2 OC Radeon R9 390X, R9 390 & R9 380 Review

It's been three and a half years since AMD made great strides with its first GCN-based GPU. While there have been some notable releases in between, they're essentially rebadges with little to no performance edge over the original. We've been wondering what AMD's next move would be and it looks like the answer is yet another round of rebadged Radeons ahead of the real next-gen release. On hand today is the HIS IceQ X2 OC R9 390X, R9 390 & R9 380.







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Why Owning a Real Camera Matters

Google recently said it best: photos are more than just pixels. They're moments in time we'll never want to forget. Depending on your age and / or life experiences, that may not mean much to you at this point. Having crossed into my 30s a few years back and having already lost both parents and a best friend, it certainly resonates with me. Memories fade but the images you capture with friends and family last a lifetime.







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Steam Refunds: Friend or Foe?

Last week Steam added a refund procedure that allows you to get a full refund on any Steam game you've purchased in the last 14 days and played for less than 2 hours. The sudden manner in which the refund program was announced and implemented has many developers asking: "Is this good for me?" Let's go through the new refund flow together.







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Intel 'Braswell' Celeron N3050 & Pentium N3700 Review

Intel's new Braswell SoCs promise to be faster across the board while also consuming less power than Bay Trail. The new chips are manufactured using Intel's 14nm process and include the mobile Celeron N3000, N3050, N3150, and Pentium N3700. The last three are meant for desktop systems and today we have the N3050 and N3700 in hand for testing.







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Catch Up or Die: A Windows 10 Mobile Wish List

I was a big fan of Windows Phone 8 when it was released, but with Microsoft neglecting their smartphone platform in the last year, the OS has slipped far behind Android 5.0 and iOS 8. What follows in this article is a list of changes, improvements and new features I hope Microsoft will include when Windows 10 Mobile lands later this year.







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Hatred Review

Hatred is a twin-stick shooter that displays its dreary world from an overhead perspective. The player is cast as a nameless antagonist who's decided to go on a mass killing spree. Literally the only things he can do are move and kill. It's unveiling created ripples of outrage months ago and now that the game's here it's one of the top-selling on Steam. If only the people at Destructive Creations were as good at making video games as they are at marketing them.







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Origin EON15-X 4K Gaming Laptop Review

Mobile or otherwise, gamers know there is no substitute for a massive slab of expensive and power-hungry hardware. As a result, Origin PC has implemented a straightforward tactic to grant laptops hairier chests: cram in an honest to goodness desktop CPU. Yep, Origin's EON15-X packs a full-fledged Devil's Canyon Intel Core i7 along a GeForce GTX 980M GPU into a relatively modest 15-inch laptop.







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Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 Ti Review

The new GeForce GTX 980 Ti is still targeting 4K gaming and with 6GB of memory onboard it's still overkill but without excess. We expect the GTX 980 Ti to be a processing powerhorse that rivals the more expensive Titan X but for $350 off the sticker price.







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Built and Tested: PC Buying Guide Machines Benchmarked

Breaking down today's best hardware across five price points, from Budget Box to Extreme Machine, the TechSpot PC buying guide was recently updated with our latest recommendations. Now, for the first time, we are actually going to build each system and show you the kind of performance each price point delivers.







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