Tuesday, February 23, 2016

IT News Head Lines (Engadget) 24/02/2016





Bill Gates sides with FBI over iPhone access issue
Bill Gates says that Apple should help the FBI break open the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone. Talking to the Financial Times, he said this was a very specific case: "They are not asking for some general thing." Gates has taken a different view compa...

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BBC captures nature in 4K for 'Planet Earth II'
The 4K wildflife documentary Netflix promised us isn't slated to debut until 2019, but you won't have to wait that long to see vivid images of nature on TV. BBC's gearing up for the release of Planet Earth II, its six-part follow-up to the original P...

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Nikon's A900 is the first Coolpix point-and-shoot with 4K
Nikon has more than a few premium compact cameras to reveal today. Along with the announcement of its DL series, the company's also introducing three new Coolpix shooters. The most interesting one of the bunch is the A900, a point-and-shoot camera wi...

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Nikon launches DL line of premium compact cameras
Fresh off its exciting camera announcements from CES 2016, Nikon is now back with more. Today, the company is introducing a new line of premium point-and-shoots, called DL. This series consists of three different cameras -- the DL24-85, DL18-50 and D...

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Medicated vaginal ring can reduce risk of HIV infection
A special type of vaginal ring that continuously releases an experimental antiretroviral drug called dapivirine could help protect women from HIV. Two separate groups of scientists conducted experiments in Africa (where there's a high prevalence of H...

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Valve uses 'Portal' robots to find out if your PC is VR-ready
In mere months we'll finally have two of the "big three" virtual reality headsets out in the market. While your bank account might be more than capable of writing the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift pre-order checks, can your PC's performance actually cash...

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What's on your HDTV: 'Fuller House,' Oscars, 'Michonne'
After The X-Files wraps up its abbreviated run tonight, we'll be getting ready for Telltale Games to release the first part of its The Walking Dead: Michonne game. Of course, later this week Netflix brings its new Full House revival/spin-off, as well...

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You can get up close and personal with the titanosaur in VR
The massive dinosaur class known as titanosaurs got a lot of attention last month when a 122-foot skeleton was added to the fossil exhibits at the American Museum of Natural History. If you can't get to New York City and see it for yourself, the BBC...

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The Science Behind the Superheroes: Can Superpowers be Created?
If we take the 1984 classic Marvel Super Heroes RPG, also known as the 'FASERIP system', at its word, there are five categories of superhero:
●Altered Humans
●High-Tech Wonders
●Mutants
●Robots
●Aliens

When it comes to real life superpowers you may...

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Facebook hopes you'll send birthday wishes in 15-second videos
To put it mildly, many "happy birthday" wishes on Facebook are... impersonal. Even if you know someone well, you can't help but look like you're brushing them off with text and the odd photo. Facebook just gave you the chance of offering something mo...

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American Airlines drops its lawsuit against Gogo
Last week, American Airlines filed a lawsuit against GoGo to get out of its contract with the in-flight internet provider. The airline found "materially" better service with a competing company, a situation that would force Gogo to provide a new prop...

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IBM's Watson can sense sadness in your writing
Artificial intelligence won't be truly convincing until it can understand emotions. What good is a robot that can't understand the nuances of what you're really saying? IBM thinks it can help, though. It just gave Watson an upgrade that includes a...

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'Carmageddon' comes to PS4 and Xbox One this year
Carmageddon enjoyed a brief (if imperfect) revival on PCs and mobile a few years ago, but what about living room gamers? Don't worry, you'll be covered soon. Stainless Games has revealed Carmageddon: Max Damage, an upcoming take on the car- and pedes...

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Zuckerberg finds it funny some still don't trust Internet.org
Despite onstage sweat, several wireless microphone issues and pointed (but important) questions from his interviewer, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg held his ground at Mobile World Congress tonight. For the most part, the keynote discussion wasn't very...

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Instagram series creates visuals for David Bowie's 'Blackstar'
David Bowie released his final album, Blackstar, on his 69th birthday just two days before he passed away. He gave InstaMiniSeries access to the songs ahead of the release to transform the tunes into a miniseries of "visual interpretations" for the s...

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Oral-B's new smart toothbrush tracks movement with your phone
Oral-B debuted its Smart Series of connected toothbrushes last year, and at Mobile World Congress 2016, the company announced a new model. The Oral-B Genius touts Position Detection tech that uses motion sensors and your phone's camera to track your...

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Go's world champ expects Google AI to lose its big match
Google's DeepMind artificial intelligence might have beaten a Go champion last month, but you shouldn't expect a repeat victory... at least, not according to its next opponent. World champ Lee Sedol tells the Associated Press that he not only expect...

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Instant man-made blood vessels could speed up drug discovery
Man-made tissues and organs are useful tools for scientists seeking to understand and potentially fix the human body. One area in which they could have a significant impact is drug discovery, allowing researchers to test therapies in living models pr...

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Russia wants permission to fly a spy plane over the US
Russia requested permission on Monday to fly a surveillance plane equipped with an advanced electro-optical imaging sensor over the US, despite objections from American officials. Both the US and Russia are signatories on the Open Skies Treaty, an in...

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Snapchat wants its users to pay to make their own geofilters
Snapchat's various location-based filters have turned into one of the service's defining features. It started out as a way to add flair to your photos and videos in specific locations Snapchat deemed worthy, but the company opened up community submis...

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Hackers compromised Linux Mint's install files (updated)
Some Linux fans just got a hard lesson about the importance of double-checking install files. The Linux Mint team is warning users that hackers compromised the ISO (drive image) downloads for 17.3 Cinnamon on February 20th, pointing people toward a m...

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Google Fiber comes to Alabama through a city-run network
Until now, Google has had to build Fiber's gigabit networks the hard way, either from scratch or by making deals to use some existing lines. It's about to try something new, though: the search firm is bringing Fiber to Huntsville, Alabama by using a...

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Samsung's Galaxy S7 and Gear 360 event: Here's what you missed
Samsung wasn't going to let LG have all the limelight. The mobile giant's press show at MWC was memorable, to say the least, not just for the launch of the Galaxy S7 (and S7 Edge), or even the Gear 360 VR camera, but because parts of the show were de...

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A look at Disney's 'Star Wars Experience' concepts
While we've known for a while that Disney intends to build big new Star Wars-themed areas inside its parks, concrete details of its plans have yet to materialize. That hasn't exactly changed after last night's ABC Disneyland 60 special, but we at lea...

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Algae DNA could help the blind see in upcoming trials
Optogenetics is one of the greatest achievements in gene splicing over the last decade, as it has helped researchers see how the brain works in animals by making neurons react to light. For the first time, however, the technique will be tried on a hu...

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