Nikon beefs up its mirrorless range with new 1 V3 camera
Smartphones may be the most popular devices for taking pictures nowadays, but there is still a place for dedicated cameras, which continue to offer superior image quality. For this reason, I, like many other photography enthusiasts, have a DSLR. It may not be small, but it is a pleasure to shoot photos with. But, mirrorless cameras are slowly catching up and may soon prove to be as good as or better than their bigger siblings, with their more pocketable design playing a key part in this.
Nikon's new 1 V3 mirrorless camera, that the Japanese manufacturer unveiled today, is one of the most attractive offerings in its 1 range. Like other, similar bodies, it is quite light, coming in at just 324 grams. And it brings impressive specifications to the table, like a 171 focus point system and 20 FPS shooting rate.
AVI ReComp supports custom target file sizes
It’s been almost two years since the last release, but the excellent AVI compression tool AVI ReComp has finally been updated to version 1.5.6.
There’s only one significant addition in this build, but it’s a good one. When choosing a target size for the output video, you’re no longer restricted to the default choices. Click "Custom sizes", add whatever new sizes you like, and in future they’ll appear along with the standard options.
Fitbit Force recall affects 'about' 1M units
Activity trackers, also known as fitness bands, are popular wearable devices that are designed, among other purposes, to give users insights into their sleeping habits, the option to track the time and distance they walk and the number of steps they make. In the case of the Fitbit Force, however, activity trackers are also giving users rashes.
Fitbit has officially revealed 1.7 percent of Force users have reported skin irritations, which has led the company to announce a voluntary recall and issue a public apology. In two filings, with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Healthy Canadians agency, the wearables company reveals the extent of the recall -- roughly one million units in US and "about" 28,000 north of the border, in Canada, sold between October 2013 and February 2014.
Windows XP, 2001 called and it wants you back
I admit to being utterly, utterly puzzled why some people and businesses choose to keep using Windows XP in 2014. Maybe they have not received the memo it is nearly 13 years old, and terribly outdated. If the operating system was a living being, it would be called a dinosaur. And we are not seeing those alive and kicking in living rooms, offices and ATMs, are we?
I am not going to pull out the security card and trump it as a reason to upgrade. We all know this argument does not resonate with Windows XP users. Instead, they should be looking at the real benefits an upgrade, to let's say Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, will do for them and at what could happen if they choose not to abandon the sinking ship. This is a strategy Microsoft has adopted in a new please-upgrade-from-XP-we-really-want-you-to infographic, aimed at the UK Government.
Bitcoin is down but not out
Regular readers will know that I’ve had my doubts about Bitcoin. Recent events in the Bitcoin world, especially the failure of Mt. Gox, the biggest Bitcoin exchange, have caused further problems for the crypto currency. But I’m oddly cheered by these events and am beginning to think Bitcoin may actually have a chance of surviving as a currency.
Willy Sutton, who made his career robbing banks, once explained that he robbed them "because that’s where the money is". Well recent bad news in the world of Bitcoin follows a similar theme: yes there have been thefts, corruption, and a suicide, but all this is based not on Bitcoin’s failure but on its success. The wonder isn’t that Mt. Gox lost $460 million in Bitcoins but that it had $460 million in Bitcoins to lose.
ARM-based robot will try to break Rubik's Cube Guinness World Record with Galaxy S4
Games do not have to be mindless. You can learn and develop skills, while having fun and playing too. Some good examples are Simon and Rubik's Cube. The latter is quite hard -- you must make each side of a cube a solid color, by rotating parts of the toy. Trust me, it is harder than it sounds.
Believe it or not, there is a way to make the Rubik's Cube even better -- robots. Yes, they can be designed to solve a Rubik's Cube faster than any human. Today, ARM announces that it has built one with components that include Lego bricks and a Galaxy S4, with the intention of breaking the Rubik's Cube speed record.
Microsoft Zune will be back, at least in new Schwarzenegger video
"I'll be back". The line has become a classic in popular culture as the muscular movie hero so frequently uttered it, almost as if it was his calling card. Arnold Schwarzenegger has done a lot since those days, some he would be proud of, and also a bit that he likely isn't, but regardless, he made good on his promise. He's back.
A new video from the action star features a tank and lots of objects being crushed. In fact, the video is called "will it crush", perhaps playing off the popular "will it blend" series. Spoiler alert -- most objects in the path of a tank will, in fact, crush.
OpenClonk is a free, multiplayer -- and strangely familiar -- action game
It’s now almost 20 years since Clonk first appeared, a fun multiplayer platform and real-time strategy game.
The core program gave you control over "Clonks", "small but nimble humanoid beings". You moved them around a 2D horizontally scrolling world, reworking the landscape, setting up mining operations, managing your economy and taking part in "fast and fiddly melees".
Eek! Android WhatsApp database can be stolen and shared by other apps
The Android version of WhatsApp, the cross-platform messaging tool recently snapped up for $19 billion by Facebook, contains a security flaw that means its chat database could be accessed by any app and uploaded to a web server without user knowledge or intervention. It's not clear whether this vulnerability has yet been exploited, but a proof-of-concept attack by Bas Bosschert (consultant, sysadmin and entrepreneur) shows that it is not only possible, but also incredibly simple. To cut to the chase, the answer to the question posed by Bas' brother, "is it possible to upload and read the WhatsApp chats from another Android application?", is "yes, that is possible".
In order for an "attack" to be successful, a user must have granted the app access to the SD card. As Bas points out, "since [a] majority of the people allow everything on their Android device, this is not much of a problem" for an attacker to overcome. Assuming this setting has been enabled, there really is very little work to be done. With a webserver at hand, it is quite easy to create an app that seeks out WhatsApp's database and uploads it ready for perusal.
Mozilla and Epic show-off Unreal Engine 4 running in Firefox
As the world trends toward Google's Chrome, it is easy to forget about trusty old Firefox. After all, Google's browser has more features and is arguably faster. However, while Google Chrome is based on the open-source Chromium project, it is not fully open-source. Conversely, Firefox remains open and well maintained. It is reliable and trustworthy.
However, Firefox shouldn't just be relegated to the role of stagnation -- quite the contrary. Mozilla is still pushing along and improving the speed and experience. To drive that message home, today it is revealed that the Unreal Engine 4 is running in Firefox without plugins. Wow.
Opera Developer 21 updated, promises improved start-up times
Opera has updated the alpha version of its web browser with the release of Opera Developer 21.0.1432.5 for Windows and Mac. The new build fixes a few regressions, plus implements new tab-related tweaks to improve start-up times.
Version 21.0 opens with a number of important fixes, restoring Adblock to full working order and promising an end to the "Harlem Shake" when hovering over tabs on the Mac platform. It also fixes a number of unspecified crashes.
Corero's SmartWall Threat Defense System helps defeat DDoS attacks [Q&A]
Any Internet related provider, whether it be a Telecom Carrier, Internet, Multi-Service or Cloud Provider (ISP/MSP/CSP) or Hosting/Co-Lo Provider are unwilling accomplices to DDoS attacks and other cyber threats that transit, terminate or originate on their networks. Service providers and their customers are inseparably linked by the challenges DDoS attacks present.
As attacks have grown in size, frequency and sophistication in recent years the demands to ensure service availability and service security from customers have risen in unison. Corero has responded to this challenge with the launch of the SmartWall Threat Defense System (TDS). I spoke to Ashley Stephenson, CEO, Corero Network Security, about the new product.
If Amazon releases a Kindle set-top box I am all in
I've certainly made no secret of my love for the Kindle product line -- I called the Kindle Fire HDX 7 the best product of 2013 after it replaced my 2012 HD model. I am also on record as being an Amazon Prime subscriber, primarily for the video service, and an Android user to boot. It all adds up nicely, but I am rehashing things you likely already know.
Recent rumors have been popping up around the internet, as these things tend to do, that Amazon will release its own set-top box. While that is unconfirmed -- though The Verge is already reporting a March release -- it is also logical. The company has a thriving streaming service that competes with Netflix, but there is more to it than just that.
Point.io takes enterprise applications mobile
We looked a few weeks ago at how Point.io is simplifying accessing corporate data from cloud platforms.
Now the company has launched APIflow, a product that allows businesses to externalize core processes and make them available remotely from anywhere and on any device. APIflow means that cloud providers, application developers and IT departments can easily integrate with existing applications, simplify software design and significantly reduce their development and maintenance costs.
Forced to use Windows XP past April? 10 ways to make the best of a bad situation
I've been pressing my day to day clients, as well as informed readers here on BetaNews, on the case for ditching Windows XP altogether. I'm guessing by now that chances are, if you're still running XP at this point, you're probably going to stick it out on the platform for the indefinite short term. I've already written about the best ways to safely migrate off XP without losing functionality in the workplace, but if you absolutely have no choice but to keep riding the sinking ship for now, here's hoping at least you are going to be smart about how you do so.
No, your PC is not going to explode, implode, or just stop working come the April cutoff date Microsoft has set. In fact, your system is probably going to continue humming away as usual. But it's what you can't see that will hurt you the most, and that's what XP holdouts are forgetting: the bad guys are arming themselves to the teeth with exploits, just waiting for April 8 to come and go.
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