Microsoft is fighting Ebola and other diseases with Kinect and Windows 8.1
While the hype of Ebola is no longer the focus of the mainstream media, it remains a threat nonetheless. With that said, it is not a danger to the United States, as we are far removed from it. Even when it did come here, it did not cause pandemonium. Why? Because it is not easily spread; especially when safety precautions are followed.
All human beings deserve to be healthy, regardless of the country in which they reside. In other words, even though a horrible disease isn't in your neighborhood, you should still care. Microsoft, an American company, is indirectly helping to fight Ebola globally, thanks to an unlikely tool -- Kinect. Yes, the same camera accessory for the Xbox One (and Windows developers) is also a tool in the fight against a virus.
YouTube's automatic subtitling 'makes absolutely no sense'
For the deaf and hard-of-hearing, subtitles are essential. Blu-rays, DVDs and TV shows usually feature subtitling as an option, and it's also something that crops up on streaming media such as YouTube videos. The Google-owned video site attempts to automatically add subtitles to videos, but the feature leaves a great deal to be desired.
You may have noticed this for yourself but if not, vlogger Rikki Poynter would like to bring it to your attention. Rikki, who is hard-of-hearing, complains that YouTube's subtitling is often "completely nonsensical". YouTube acknowledges that it has a long way to go.
Samsung NX500 is a 28MP camera featuring 4K video, Wi-Fi, and a flip-display for selfies
Nowadays, many people use smartphones as their main camera. This is smart, because your phone is always with you. Something important may happen when you least expect it, and a fancy standalone camera at your house will be of no use. Still, I see value in having a standalone unit, as they often take superior pictures and videos thanks to better sensors and larger lenses. Not to mention, many new smartphones do not have expandable memory, while most standalone cameras do.
Today, Samsung announces a downright sexy camera called the NX500. Not only does it feature 28 mega pixels, but it does 4K video too. In other words, this is a great solution for things like vlogging, YouTube and most importantly, family moments.
Apple's core is rotting
I should read Harvard Business Review more often. There, Juan Pablo Vazquez Sampere offers insightful and fresh perspective in post: "We Shouldn’t Be Dazzled by Apple’s Earnings Report". Of course, I would agree, having written something similar in past BetaNews posts. Point is the same, just the context changed. I lack his prestige and venue, and that's okay. The observations we both make aren't rocket science, or shouldn't be.
Simply stated: Atop the pinnacle of success, Apple stands at the precipice of failure. The scrappy innovator is gone, replaced by the, ah, Establishment cofounder Steve Jobs and his renegades challenged with years of guerrilla tactics. Apple has in this decade achieved huge success. But managing success is challenging, if your business model is innovation. The two objectives often work cross-purposes.
WhatsApp set to introduce voice calling -- here's why it matters
WhatsApp today rolled out an update to its iOS app, which along with bug fixes adds a dialer button to its text messaging service. The dialer button -- as you might imagine -- is for placing voice calls, a feature that the Facebook-owned company announced last February. Earlier this week, the same feature was spotted on the WhatsApp’s Android client, and the company also confirmed that it was beta testing it with select users.
The feature, however, doesn’t work just yet, but changes in the user interface do give us an idea of what this forthcoming feature will look like. It is evident that WhatsApp has plans to roll out the voice-calling feature to its app shortly. But why is everyone in the press writing about it? How does the addition of voice calling functionality -- something which Facebook’s Messenger, Google’s Hangouts, and Microsoft’s Skype already offer -- change things? Here’s how.
Anthem Health Care is latest hacking victim, millions of users could be compromised
It's another year and time for a new set of companies to be compromised. In 2014 we witnessed high-profile attacks on victims such as Home Depot and Target, but 2015 is shaping up to be no better, given the recent news regarding Anthem, a major health care provider in the US. The potential implications of this one are still mostly unknown.
However, reports are surfacing that perhaps millions of users have been compromised. Data such as names and social security numbers have been lost. The company isn't yet citing numbers, but does admit that all of its branches were affected. According to security researcher Brian Krebs that could mean a catastrophe.
Comodo Internet Security 8.1 tightens sandbox controls, enables PUP protection by default
Comodo has updated its range of free and paid-for security tools with the releases of Comodo Internet Security Premium 8.1.0, Comodo Internet Security Pro 8.1.0 and Comodo Antivirus 8.1.0.
Version 8.1 sees a change in bundled browser, improved sandbox and protection against potentially unwanted programs, and various critical fixes.
The top five mobile marketing mistakes
Consumers are increasingly using mobile devices to access various aspects of their digital lives including online shopping.
Yet in many cases businesses are failing to take advantage of the extra marketing opportunities that mobile offers them.
Unplanned app downtime costs companies billions
System downtime is always frustrating, but according to a new survey from IDC, sponsored by performance management specialist AppDynamics, it has major cost implications too.
According to the survey respondents an infrastructure failure can cost $100,000 per hour. A critical application failure costs between $500,000 and $1 million per hour.
The evolution of wireless generations -- from 1G to LTE Advanced
The first mobile phones were released back in 1984 and were capable of making and receiving phone calls, but nothing else. Analog "brick" phones were large, heavy, and very dumb. You couldn’t send or receive data on them.
In 1991 that changed with the arrival of 2G technology which introduced the wonders of text messaging, and even email. Ten years later 3G changed the game entirely, and of course in 2009 4G/LTE arrived, making it possible to stream movies on your mobile.
LaunchBox is a gorgeous game database and launcher
First revealed back in Windows Vista, the Games folder was supposed to be the starting point for all your games, with shortcuts, cover art, updates, news and more. But no-one cared, unfortunately, and although it’s still there, most gamers pay no attention to the Games folder at all.
If you’re happy with a service like Steam then this won’t be a problem. But if you’d like something simpler, more lightweight, then you might be interested in LaunchBox, a free games database and launcher for Windows Vista+.
Cybersecurity best practices for facilitating IT/OT integration
The German government released an incident report in December detailing a targeted cyberattack on a steel mill blast furnace that resulted in "massive" damage. The translated report reveals that attackers were able to compromise the steel mill’s corporate network, and from there reach into the production network.
Fortunately, no lives were lost, but this event serves as a rallying cry for the safe integration of IT networks with operations technology (OT) networks. Simply applying IT-style defenses to OT networks is not enough to ensure the safe and reliable operation of industrial control systems (ICS), which is why OT cybersecurity best practices continue to evolve to address modern-day targeted, persistent attacks (TPAs).
New iOS malware can steal personal information from non-jailbroken devices
Yesterday, I told you that Android users may be affected by malware even if they only use Google Play to get apps. Three popular, adware-riddled, titles made it past Google's security checks, remaining undetected for months -- in fact, they may still be affecting users as we speak. And if you believe that iOS is safe, you might want to reconsider. New malware has been found, affecting iOS users even if they haven't jailbroken their device. Is there nothing that's safe anymore?
Security firm Trend Micro has uncovered the malware as part of an investigation into Operation Pawn Storm, a cyber-espionage operation with economic and political targets. It is designed to steal personal information, like contact lists, geo-location data, photos, text messages and more. The malware affects both iOS 7 and iOS 8, which are found on 97 percent of Apple's mobile devices.
Virtual reality vs augmented reality: which will achieve mainstream success?
Both virtual reality and augmented reality attempt to immerse the users in ways that detach them from the real world, but the subtle differences between the two concepts may ultimately decide which, if either, becomes a mainstream success. While virtual reality or VR devices create a completely fabricated world for the user to inhabit, augmented reality (AR) creates a blend of real and virtual, with the user clearly able to distinguish between the two.
Despite both technologies being able to trace their lineage back more than 40 years to the early VR headset the Sword of Damocles, neither has found widespread traction with consumers. While there has been no shortage of failed attempts in the past, ranging from Nintendo’s Virtual Boy console to the Sensorama multimedia device, successes have been short-lived or non-existent.
View 70+ file types with Free Editor
Office, PDFs, ebooks, archives, audio, video, images: the average PC owner regularly encounters a lengthy list of file formats, and viewing them all typically requires an entire library of software.
Free Editor claims it can simplify all that by opening 70-plus file formats from a single interface, and editing some of them, all for free. Too good to be true? Let’s see.
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