Celebrate National Puppy Day by Looking at These Puppy GIFs[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 20:23:15 GMT ]It’s time to take a break from all of the serious stuff you do on the Internet and spend some time looking at pictures of cute animals.

Search for Old 'E.T.' Atari Games to Go On in New Mexico Landfill[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 21:09:02 GMT ]ALAMOGORDO, N.M. — A planned dig into a New Mexico landfill for a rumored cache of what some consider the worst Atari video game of all time is expected to proceed despite state environmental regulators' concerns, organizers say.

Netflix CEO Slams ISPs for 'Extracting a Toll Because They Can'[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 21:24:30 GMT ]The battle rages on between Netflix and the country's biggest Internet service providers.Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said in a blog post Thursday that the company will pay more ISPs to ensure a good customer experience — but he slammed those providers for "extracting a toll because they can.

Google's Robot Staying in DARPA Challenge But Won't Take Federal Money[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 22:56:52 GMT ]Team Schaft will switch into the self-funded track, meaning it won’t be tapping into the $1 million in DARPA funds available to finalists.

Obama Tries to Reassure Tech CEOs on Privacy[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 23:58:38 GMT ]A week before a self-imposed deadline for a review of National Security Agency programs, President Barack Obama sought Friday to assure leading Internet and tech executives that his administration is committed to protecting people's privacy.

Apple considering a Spotify rival and iTunes Android app[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 23:41:04 GMT ] (Credit: James Martin/CNET) Apple is in negotiations with senior executives at record labels about launching an on-demand streaming music service that would compete with Spotify and Beats music, according to a report by Billboard. Citing three unnamed sources, the publication said the "exploratory talks" are right now in very early stages. The report also said Apple is mulling creating an iTunes Store app for Android, bringing the property to enemy turf. Apple did not return a request for comment. We'll update this post if we hear back. Related posts iOS 7.1 jailbroken but only on the iPhone 4 Christian Bale is top choice to play Steve Jobs, says report Apple envisions stylus with extendable, multitouch nib Most China Mobile 4G users bought iPhone, chairman says 37 years later, world's first Apple reseller to close its doors The considerations come at a trying time for iTunes. According to Nielsen, downloads on the platform are down 13 percent from the week of March 9, and digital track sales are down 11 percent from last year. While downloads have declined, streaming services like Spotify, Pandora, and even YouTube have found steady footing. According to a recent report by the Recording Industry Association of America [PDF], the streaming services made $1.4 billion in subscriptions, advertising, and licensing revenues in the US, rising 39 percent from 2012. By contrast, download revenues dropped to 2.9 billion, falling 3.2 percent. If Billboard's story is accurate, it would be aligned with other reports that suggest Apple is retooling the strategy around its music services. The company already has a streaming radio service, iTunes Radio, which may become its own standalone app when the company revamps its mobile operating system with iOS 8. Currently, the service is tethered to the iTunes app. [Via Billboard]Related Links:Spotify hires Beats Music former head of productAmazon said to be adding a music-streaming serviceBeats Music turns 7 out of 10 free-trial users to paying ones?Apple reportedly eyes iTunes Radio as separate app in iOS 8Beats Music opens up, making its API public

Obama talks spying with Facebook's Zuckerberg, Google's Schmidt[ Sat, 22 Mar 2014 01:41:00 GMT ] President Obama during his January 17 NSA reform speech. (Credit: Whitehouse.gov live stream/Screenshot by CNET) As expected, President Obama met with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, and other tech executives Friday afternoon to discuss efforts to reform the National Security Agency's controversial surveillance programs. "The President used this opportunity to update the CEOs on our progress in implementing the principles and reforms he announced on January 17, including the new Presidential Directive he issued to govern our intelligence activities that will ensure that we take into account our security requirements, but also our alliances, our trade and investment relationships, including the concerns of our companies, and our commitment to privacy and basic liberties," the White House said in a statement provided to various media outlets. "The President reiterated his Administration's commitment to taking steps that can give people greater confidence that their rights are being protected while preserving important tools that keep us safe." More on NSA surveillance Obama to meet again with tech leaders over surveillance Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg phones Obama about NSA NSA system designed to attack 'millions' of computers, says report Obama: Tech a 'tool for individual empowerment, not government control' NSA disguised itself as Google to spy, say reports The meeting comes just a few days after The Intercept reported that the NSA had masqueraded as a Facebook server to place spy malware on targeted computers and gain access to data stored on hard drives (the NSA responded by saying, "NSA does not use its technical capabilities to impersonate US company Web sites"). The day after the report, Zuckerberg phoned Obama and posted a note about the call on his Facebook page, writing, "I've been so confused and frustrated by the repeated reports of the behavior of the US government. When our engineers work tirelessly to improve security, we imagine we're protecting you against criminals, not our own government." Facebook said in a statement Friday that at today's White House meeting Zuckerberg and Obama "had an honest talk about government intrusion on the Internet and the toll it is taking on people's confidence in a free and open Internet," adding that "while the US Government has taken helpful steps to reform its surveillance practices, these are simply not enough. People around the globe deserve to know that their information is secure and Facebook will keep urging the US Government to be more transparent about its practices and more protective of civil liberties." The Intercept story was not the first report of the NSA posing as a prominent Web site in order to spy. Last September, a Brazilian news story said the agency had disguised itself as Google. And there was also a Washington Post report, in October, that the NSA had secretly tapped into the private fiber-optic networks that connect Google's and Yahoo's worldwide data centers, allowing the spy agency to suck up "at will" metadata and content belonging to users of the companies' services. The latter report seemed to be what pushed tech companies to move beyond simply calling for transparency in regard to government requests for user data, and to begin pushing for reform of the NSA's practices. In December, a group of tech heavy hitters including Apple's Tim Cook, Google's Schmidt, and Yahoo's Marissa Mayer hijacked the agenda of a White House meeting with Obama, shifting the emphasis from fixing Healthcare.gov to fixing the NSA. (This in-person push for reform followed a campaign earlier in the month that included full-page ads in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and elsewhere.) In the January 17 NSA reform speech referenced by today's White House statement, Obama addressed some issues but said others, including the NSA's use of hacking exploits and its efforts to crack encryption, would be studied further in order to determine what sorts of reforms could be put in place without jeopardizing national security. He gave the groups charged with those investigations till March 28 to put together proposals. Other CEOs at the Friday meeting included Drew Houston of Dropbox, Alexander Karp of Palantir Technologies, and Aaron Levie of Box, according to Recode, which added that Yahoo's Mayer and Microsoft's Satya Nadella where unable to change their schedules in time to attend. Update, 7:13 p.m. PT: Adds details.Related Links:Obama to meet again with tech leaders over surveillanceFacebook's Zuckerberg sounds off again about NSA scandalFacebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg phones Obama about NSAFacebook's security chief on a post-Snowden 'silver lining'Schmidt: Not even US gov't can get at Google user data

Google speeds WebP image format, brings animation support to Chrome[ Sat, 22 Mar 2014 06:56:25 GMT ] Google has built a new version of its WebP software into Chrome to let browsers display its image format 25 percent faster, the company said Friday. The better performance new libwebp 0.4.0 is part of Google's general effort to speed up the Web, and the new software also uses less memory and fixes an issue that had blocked Google from supporting animated WebP images. The updated WebP support is built into the version of Chrome that's currently in beta. Animated GIF images, popular on sites such as Tumblr and Imgur, are the last remaining holdout for the elderly Graphics Interchange Format, which otherwise has largely been replaced by PNG (Portable Network Graphics) and JPEG. Google argues WebP can replace all three image formats, but has yet to persuade other browser makers to support WebP despite some urging from sites such as Facebook and Netflix. Related stories Mozilla works to squeeze more life out of JPEG Chrome beta disses plug-ins, speeds tapping on Android Mozilla unimpressed with Google's Web photo standard Blink leaders reject animated WebP images in Chrome, for now Animated WebP graphics support no shoo-in for Chrome Google argues that WebP reduces file sizes compared to JPEG, but the WebP improvement hasn't been dramatic enough to persuade Mozilla, which is concentrating on squeezing a little more life out of JPEG. Even if WebP or some alternative catches on, countless JPEGs will live on the Web, and Mozilla is leery of introducing a requirement to support another file format for perpetuity. One very popular feature combines two aspects of JPEG and PNG: JPEG's lossy compression, which can significantly reduce file sizes by throwing away data in original images, and PNG's alpha transparency, which lets a graphic designer designate portions of an image as transparent. The latter is very handy when overlapping images such as icons atop a background. WebP also can operate in a lossless mode that works where PNG is more common today, for example in corporate logos on the Web. Google uses WebP to replace PNG in this context on its Google Play site, a move that lopped off a third of file sizes. Google also said it's moving to WebP for YouTube thumbnail images, showing yet again how much influence it can have on the Web's future by controlling both a major browser and major properties on the Web. "All the rollouts within Google combined have raised our aggregate data transfer savings tally to tens of terabytes every day," said Husain Bengali, a product manager and WebP optimizer at Google, in a blog post on Friday. "For users, this translates into faster page load times and fewer bytes counted against metered data plans." The WebP debate has been very contentious for Mozilla. Ardent fans, distressed at Firefox's continuing lack of support, have urged Mozilla to support WebP on the Firefox bug-tracker. After 193 comments, Mozilla restricted commenting privileges on Wednesday and tried to move the discussion to a mailing list. Related Links:Mozilla works to squeeze more life out of JPEGBetter manage downloads in Chrome with Downloadr extensionEnable Chromecast streaming in latest Chrome Beta for AndroidGmail on iOS just got a lot fasterHow to run both Chrome OS and Ubuntu on a Chromebook

Samsung shows business customers how to be high tech[ Sat, 22 Mar 2014 11:00:00 GMT ] Samsung's North American headquarters in Ridgefield Park, NJ, has an "executive briefing center" to show potential customers what they can do with Samsung electronics. (Credit: Shara Tibken/CNET) RIDGEFIELD PARK, NJ -- Samsung's pretty sure it knows just what business customers need, and it's happy to show them. The Korean electronics giant last year opened an "Executive Briefing Center" on the sixth floor of its North American headquarters in Ridgefield Park, NJ. The facility is used to show potential customers the sort of Samsung technology they can use to update their businesses. That includes everything from monitors that connect with tablets and smartphones to special screens that overlay displays to make them touch-compatible. Samsung's briefing center doesn't just show the different technologies, but actually has them displayed in the sort of environment where they'd be used -- schools, medical centers, financial offices, hotels, and retailers. Visitors, which number in the hundreds each month, can use the vignettes to brainstorm, but they can't buy such solutions straight off the shelf. Check out CNET's slideshow for your own personal tour: Businesses of the future...with Samsung devices, of course (pictures) 1-2 of 7 Scroll Left Scroll Right Related Links:

2048 starts easy; gets hard. Here's how to make it easy again[ Sat, 22 Mar 2014 11:00:00 GMT ] Once you complete 2048 by reaching the titular score, you're given the option of rejoicing in your victory and moving on, or attempting to score higher. Beware though: building another 2048 tile from scratch is an entirely different breed of challenge. (Credit: Screenshot by Nick Statt/CNET) Like the popular iOS and Android puzzler Threes, from which it borrows its core concept, 2048 is a game as much about numbers as it is about space. You have a limited number of free squares, and each move introduces another tile into the mix. But combine like numbers into their sum and you've opened up the board for the new tile and simultaneously progressed a little further toward your goal of making a magic 2048 tile, a feat accomplished by combining two 128s into a 256 and two 256s into a 512 and so on. Related stories: Flame-breathing RC dragon flies for only $60,000 GDC 2014's virtual-reality highlights The 404 1,450: Where we play by ear (podcast) Papers, Please dominates IGF Awards at GDC 2014 2048 is the new Flappy Bird in so many ways The HTML5 game, which can be played in a mobile or desktop browser for free, took off earlier this month when 19-year-old Italian programmer Gabriele Cirulli published it on GitHub, playable on a standalone site for mobile and desktop. He claims it's borrowed from the iOS app 1024, yet that game itself is a self-described free version of Asher Vollmer's Threes, so all three exist in a similar family of addictive, math-based puzzlers. But where 2048 differs substantially from Threes, an admittedly far more difficult game with a steeper learning curve, is in its addictive conceit. 2048 is difficult -- and you don't realize that until you first progress far into the game; whereas Threes will aggressively remind you that you must keep the board free from clutter. In fact, I've gone one game in Threes earning as much as 10,000 points to my next where I earn in the low triple-digits, moving too quickly and mindlessly to realize I'd made fatal mistakes so early on. It's that antithetical challenge curve of 2048 that keeps you coming back. For one, it's actually difficult to lose for the first few minutes of play unless you have absolutely zero strategy. Not only does that let you progress far into the game very early on -- a 512 tile can be unlocked in under a minute if you move fast enough -- but it instills in you, like the infamous Flappy Bird, a notion that this game can't be that hard. Yet, get far enough and everything seems to fall apart before your eyes, possibly with an elusive 1024 tile on board that makes you kick yourself and start again. So how exactly does one succeed at 2048? It's fairly easy in fact to reach the end the same day you pick up the game. It takes simple strategy, a knowledge of when to alter that strategy, and, unlike Threes, requires almost no luck whatsoever. Build into a corner The first step with all these Candy Crush-meets-Sudoku number games is to understand that the corner is your best friend. For me, it's the upper left. It's just how I play, and any of the corners will do. That strategy lets you build toward a singular tile without moving it around and disrupting your ability to merge it with other large tiles when the time comes. The key, however, is to understand that this limits your movements. In my case, that means I should only be swiping to the direction of my corner -- that is, left and upward -- to merge tiles. Never pull in the opposite direction of your largest tile -- meaning down for an upper left or right tile and up for lower left or right tile -- unless you absolutely have to. In most cases, that's never needed. This strategy hits a snag early on though when you discover that using two directions exclusively reaches gridlock pretty fast. A gridlock position people hit early in 2048 if they employ the necessary corner strategy of moving in only two directions. (Credit: Screenshot by Nick Statt/CNET) The solution here is to move in the opposite direction of your largest tile one space and then up one space. Then you can resume the two-direction strategy. The pivotal point is to make sure that you have four tiles in the row containing your highest multiple. Without that, you run the risk of having a low two tile take up the space next to your largest one, a chance occurrence that proves near fatal to a play-through. In 2048, as opposed to Threes, the new tile can show up in a random spot but is exclusively a two or four tile, making building new multiples extremely easy once you have the space to do so, but awful if it shows up next to larger ones in your top row. There are exceptions to this where you'll see that it's evident you have an opportunity to combine tiles and move things around a little more deliberately for a more efficient progression. Meaning, the over-once-up-once strategy can be modified for moving to the right twice, or up twice, or any combination of those alternative moves to achieve a more compact board. However, early on you shouldn't have the need to do that as long as you keep aggressively pushing toward the corner, moving right and then up when necessary. The automatic beginning This introduces an interesting aspect to 2048. If you can just abide by a simple directional strategy almost without thinking what numbers are involved, that means you can practically automate the first 25 percent to 40 percent of a winning play-through without running the risk of messing up your game at all. It's more difficult to do on mobile, given that you're swiping your finger, but on the desktop version you can literally mash buttons and watch as 2048 practically solves itself, making you look a bit like a numerical wizard in the process. Automating your 2048 game You do of course have to be careful when you solve the gridlock problem that you don't overdo the directional movements opposite your largest multiple. Still, it's a surefire way to get past the drudgery of the early game and onto the challenging parts that arise after you get a 512 tile and start attempting to build a second one. Late-game hurdles On your way toward a 1024 tile and beyond, the game will begin to require a different, more-risky strategy. It's recognizing that shift, noted by the fact that your board may begin to fill up less like an arrow and more like a two-row rectangle, that will help you maximize space and achieve a 2048. For instance, if you're dealing with the unfortunate circumstance of a rectangular block and you can't move left or right or even up, there are ways to get out that involve breaking the above mentioned rule of never moving opposite the location of your largest tile. In this scenario, a three-row block can be solved by making the otherwise ill-advised decision to pull downward, but quickly creating an opportunity to put the two highest tiles back in the corner. (Credit: Screenshots by Nick Statt/CNET) There are issues you'll encounter late in the game that have to approached on a case-by-case basis, but they can be boiled down to a few simple rules. Never let the 2s build up, and do your best to turn them into 4s and 8s by moving only upward. if you're running into gridlock issues due to a small amount of large-numbered tiles and no way to combine them, try going from right to left and back again to quickly build 8s and 16s. The tactic is also great for placing a number in a certain position by crowding it on the right and left with 2s and 4s so that you can then combine it upward. Most importantly, never compromise your position on the board to combine tiles, as they will combine naturally if you move toward your highest-numbered tile. Only actively attempt to combine tiles by moving away from the direction of your corner when you know the corner tile can be kept in place. When you do finish the game, you're given the opportunity to continue on and keep scoring, perhaps even earning a second 2048 and creating a 4056. But for most of us, finally reaching the titular tile is enough to put this game to rest, especially so in a year when addictive mobile titles have been ravaging the psyche. So use these tips, and may you hopefully find solace, through victory, from the grip of 2048. Related Links:

Meet Sony's 'Project Morpheus'[ Wed, 19 Mar 2014 17:18:18 EDT ]Virtual reality, the emerging 3D technology many expect to be the next quantum leap in the video gaming world, just got a little more real.

Your first tweet was ...[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 12:23:22 EDT ]Unless you have a photographic memory or just joined Twitter last week, you probably don't recall your first tweet.

Instagram's favorite grandma[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 18:24:38 EDT ]I once uploaded an Instagram of me at Old Navy trying to get all kissy-face with a mannequin. At the time it seemed like a good idea, but she was rather unresponsive.

New app helps you avoid exes[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 12:23:50 EDT ]After moving to New York, Brian Moore could not stop running into his ex-girlfriend. There were four awkward and unplanned encounters in six months, to be exact.

New app helps you avoid friends, exes[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 12:03:28 EDT ]After moving to New York, Brian Moore could not stop running into his ex-girlfriend. There were four awkward and unplanned encounters in six months, to be exact.

E.T. Can't Phone Home Yet: Landfill Search for Atari Game Halted[ Thu, 20 Mar 2014 23:30:29 GMT ]New Mexico environmental regulators are blocking two companies from digging up an Alamogordo landfill in search of a rumored cache of what some consider the worst Atari video game of all time.Game cartridges for "E.T.

Twitter Blocked Nationwide in Turkey: Reports[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 00:01:33 GMT ]Twitter has reportedly been blocked throughout Turkey in what appears to be a government-initiated shutdown following through on the threats of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Twitter has offered alternative modes of access as it looks into the issue.

Satellite Data Dump Slows Hunt for Traces of Missing Plane[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 00:32:37 GMT ]A satellite-imagery company said on Thursday that the sheer number of pictures covering a large swath of ocean explains why it took days to reveal what could be debris from the Malaysia Airlines jetliner that has been missing for nearly two weeks.DigitalGlobe Inc., a Longmont, Colo.

Megaupload's Kim Dotcom Loses Round in Fight Against Extradition[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 01:03:45 GMT ]WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom on Friday suffered another blow to his fight against extradition to the United States to face online piracy charges after New Zealand's highest court rejected his appeal to access evidence to be presented at the hearing.

Why Turkey's Leader Has Vowed to 'Eradicate' Twitter[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 08:31:37 GMT ]ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkey has blocked Twitter hours after the prime minister vowed he’d “eradicate” the popular social media site.A controversial new internet law passed last month allows the country’s telecommunications authority to order content removed within hours without a court order.

Mt. Gox finds 200,000 missing bitcoins in unused wallet[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 02:49:07 GMT ] (Credit: Bitcoin) Mt. Gox has discovered 200,000 missing bitcoins in a wallet no longer in use, the troubled Bitcoin exchange announced Thursday, reducing the number of missing bitcoins from 850,000 to 650,000. "We believed there were no bitcoins left in old wallets, but found 199,999.99 bitcoins on March 7," Mt. Gox Chief Executive Officer Mark Karpeles said in a document (PDF) released Thursday. Mt. Gox said it reported the discovery to attorneys on March 8 and moved the newfound bitcoins to offline storage. Related stories Mt. Gox update lets users see their Bitcoin balances New Bitcoin glitch: Blockchain suffers hours-long outage Dorian Nakamoto: Bitcoin was not my baby, period Once one of the largest and most popular Bitcoin exchanges, Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy last month, saying it had lost nearly 750,000 customer bitcoins, as well as 100,000 of the exchange's own bitcoins, as a result of a security lapse. The discovery of the overlooked bitcoins apparently occurred before hackers hijacked and defaced Karpeles' Reddit account and personal blog with charges of fraud earlier this month. Hackers accused the exchange of secretly keeping some of the coins allegedly stolen in the fraudulent withdrawals and posted data allegedly lifted from Mt. Gox servers they said backed up their claims. The data purportedly showed that 951,116 bitcoins had been deposited with the exchange, more than 100,000 more than Mt. Gox claimed to have lost. The troubled exchange suspended customer withdrawals on February 7, claiming a fundamental flaw existed in Bitcoin that affected all transactions. Not long afterward, the exchange shut down altogether. Although Mt. Gox later apologized for the issue and said it had developed a workaround that would allow it to resume service, customers are still unable to make withdrawals. Related Links:Bitcoin losses spur Mt. Gox to bankruptcy filingMt. Gox CEO's blog hacked; alleged Bitcoin balances postedMt. Gox resigns from Bitcoin Foundation BoardHey, Mt. Gox: I want my two dollars! (or my .02 bitcoin)Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox offline amid 'insolvency' charges

Survey names LinkedIn chief top-rated CEO, Zuckerberg falls to No. 9[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 07:01:00 GMT ] LinkedIn's CEO Jeff Weiner (left) chats with Demo chairman Matt Marshall at the 2010 Demo conference. (Credit: Josh Lowensohn/CNET) Leading a professional networking site must mean you know your p's and q's and have some social grace. So, it makes sense that LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner is beloved by his employees. In fact, Weiner is so well-liked that he has been crowned the highest-rated CEO for 2014. The honors come via hundreds of thousands of employee surveys across all industries submitted to company-review site Glassdoor. Every year, the site tallies up the votes and publishes the rankings of the 50 highest-rated CEOs in the US for companies with at least 1,000 employees (see full list below). This year, Weiner received a "perfect 100 percent approval rating," according to Glassdoor. Last year's winner, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, fell several spots to No. 9 overall -- down from a 99 percent approval rating to 93 percent. Weiner took the helm of LinkedIn in 2009, after being Yahoo's Network Division executive vice president. He has since seen the professional networking site go public and swell its member base to 259 million users. Over the past year, Weiner has focused on new strategies like emphasizing content and mobile apps to attract a wider variety of business users. In December, LinkedIn was also voted the No. 3 best company to work for in the US. "The CEO is what helps spread the culture. He emphasizes culture," one LinkedIn associate Web developer wrote of Weiner on Glassdoor. "Colleagues are top notch as developers, collaborators, and acquaintances. Leadership is excellent. Perks are amazing," another LinkedIn employee wrote. Related stories $7,000-per-month tech interns are making bank, says report What are the weirdest interview questions from tech companies? Twitter tops charts as best tech company to work for Apple, Google, Facebook don't pay the highest engineer salary Nokia, Yahoo rank among top companies for work-life balance Of the Top 50 highest-rated CEOs, 14 come from tech companies, including Google's Larry Page in 10th place, Salesforce's Marc Benioff in 12th place, Apple's Tim Cook in 17th place, Amazon's Jeff Bezos in 32nd place, and more. This makes tech the top industry represented on the list. Last year, 20 tech CEOs made the list, but a few have dropped off, such as Oracle's Larry Ellison and Dell's Michael Dell. This year, a female tech CEO also made the Top 50: Yahoo's Marissa Mayer squeezed in at No. 49 with a 79 percent approval rating. "Marissa is cool and taking bold steps to move the needle," a Yahoo senior developer wrote on Glassdoor. "Presently she has tail winds beneath her wings. Good for general morale." While Glassdoor's list is a survey, it's voluntary rather than scientific. The figures come from employees who actively go to Glassdoor's site to rate their companies and bosses. Glassdoor said this Top 50 CEOs report includes only CEOs who received at least 100 employee ratings over the past year. The average CEO approval rating on Glassdoor for all CEOs is roughly 65 percent to 70 percent. (Credit: Glassdoor) Related Links:LinkedIn launches in China$7,000-per-month tech interns are making bank, says reportObama's commerce secretary to petition Silicon Valley on jobsChange this LinkedIn setting before starting your job searchYahoo launches its rumored integration with Yelp

Obama to meet again with tech leaders over surveillance[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 07:10:17 GMT ] President Obama met at the White House with top tech execs last December, including Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer. (Credit: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) President Obama plans to meet with a select group of technology CEOs on Friday to discuss "issues of privacy, technology, and intelligence," a White House official told Politico. A full list of chief executives was not made available by the White House, but industry sources told Politico that Google, Facebook, and Yahoo had been invited to the meeting. CNET has contacted those companies for comment on their participation and will update this report when we learn more. It's the second such meeting Obama has held with Silicon Valley executives in recent months over the controversial US electronic surveillance programs. During a meeting in December with the president over ways to improve the beleaguered Healthcare.gov Web site, a collection of tech leaders that included Apple CEO Tim Cook, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, and Twitter CEO Dick Costolo urged the president to move swiftly on reforming the federal government's surveillance programs. One of the chief executives expected to attend Friday's meeting is Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, who one week ago said he telephoned Obama to express his frustration over the National Security Agency's surveillance practices. Zuckerberg's call came after documents leaked by whistle-blower Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA uses an automated system called Turbine to hack into millions of computers. A frequent critic of the NSA, Zuckerberg wrote in an update to his Facebook page that the company he founded was working to identify flaws in others' services to "keep the Internet strong" but said that the US government needed to be "much more transparent about what they're doing." Related stories Gmail: Encryption is now mandatory NSA top lawyer says tech giants knew about data collection NSA can reportedly record every call made in a foreign country "I've been so confused and frustrated by the repeated reports of the behavior of the US government. When our engineers work tirelessly to improve security, we imagine we're protecting you against criminals, not our own government," Zuckerberg said. Google CEO Larry Page added his criticism on Wednesday during the TED conference in Vancouver, saying that it was "tremendously disappointing that the government sort of secretly did all these things and didn't tell us." "I don't think we can have a democracy if we have to protect our users from the government [and] from stuff that we never had a conversation about," he said. "We need to know what the parameters of it is, what the surveillance is going to do, and how and why." Related Links:British spy agency stored Yahoo Webcam images, report saysWhite House faces options for regulating NSA data snooping -- reportNSA top lawyer says tech giants knew about data collectionIBM: No, we did not help NSA spy on customersSnowden at SXSW: The NSA set fire to the future of the Internet

Transcend curries 4K favor with faster SD cards[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 11:26:05 GMT ] Transcend's Extreme model of UHS-1 Class 3 SD card has read speeds of 95MBps, write speeds of 85MBps, and a maximum capacity of 64GB. (Credit: Transcend) Memory card maker Transcend announced higher-speed SD cards on Friday that are geared for videographers shooting high-resolution 4K video. The Transcend's new SDHC and SDXC cards are graded UHS-1 Class 3 and come in two varieties. The "Extreme" models have read and write speeds of 95MBps and 85MBps, respectively. The non-extreme models have read and write speeds of 95MBps and 60MBps, respectively. The newer UHS-1 (Ultra High Speed) Class 3 specification requires sustained write performance of 30MBps. Related stories Toshiba announces Exceria line of high-speed SD cards Need room for 4,000 photos? Try SanDisk's 128GB SD card Lexar deals out a 600X hand of SDXC memory cards Lexar's flash card reader supports USB 3, SDXC Yes, SD card categorization is a bottomless pit of acronyms. Here are two more: SDHC and SDXC, which govern maximum capacity. SDHC models top out at 32GB capacity, but SDXC can go much, much higher. Transcend's SDXC models reach 128GB, enough for 8 hours of UltraHD video shot at a resolution of 4096x2160, with a 35Mbps bitrate and the H.264 AVC compression standard. The Extreme models top out at 64GB, though. Trandscend's SDXC Extreme models cost $59 for 32GB and $119 for 64GB. The somewhat slower models cost $49 for 64GB and $109 for 128GB. The SD Card Association's attempt to demystify their flash cards' transfer-speed ratings. (Credit: SD Card Association) Related Links:Tight on memory? SanDisk microSD cards hit 128GBTranscend gives Mac Pro a 128GB memory upgrade optionSynology flagship DSM 5.0 NAS operating system now liveGet Password Depot password manager (Win) for freeSound bite: Despite Pono's promise, experts pan HD audio

Moto 360 will use sapphire glass, wireless charging, report says[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 11:28:56 GMT ] A photo of the Moto 360. (Credit: Motorola) Motorola has touted the premium materials for its upcoming Moto 360 smartwatch, which could include a step-up in material for its face. Related stories Voice is not enough: Motion is key to Android Wear Moto 360 smartwatch to ship in limited quantity, says report Motorola unveils Android Wear-powered Moto 360 Google's Project Tango phone rocks four cameras Motorola punches up phones with college colors, designs The Moto 360 could employ a sapphire glass face, according to G for Games. In addition, the site reported that the Moto 360 could also use an OLED display, as well as magnetic induction wireless charging. CNET has contacted a Motorola representative for comment, and we'll update the story when the company responds. These rumored details seem to fit in with what Motorola has hinted at with the Moto 360. Sapphire is often used in watches, and is a premium material that would set the Moto 360 apart from other devices. Other smartwatches, like smartphones, have used Corning's Gorilla Glass. The idea of wireless charging was already speculated upon when Motorola confirmed there would be no USB port for charging. Jim Wicks, the Motorola executive in charge of the Moto 360, would only say that the company was working on a "secret" method of charging the device. OLED display technology, meanwhile, is commonly used in smartphones, and has been touted for its energy efficiency. Wicks wouldn't go into detail, but noted that power management was a priority for the company. Related Links:Corning exec slams sapphire -- rumored for Apple deviceMotorola wants in on the smartwatch game, too -- and soonMoto 360 smartwatch to ship in limited quantity, says reportMoto G coming to Republic WirelessMotorola unveils Android Wear-powered Moto 360

TED celebrates 30 years[ Thu, 20 Mar 2014 11:18:51 EDT ]Celebrate TED's thirtieth birthday with some of its top moments.

'Flappy Bird' will fly back to app stores[ Thu, 20 Mar 2014 05:32:55 EDT ]Let the flapless among us take heart. "Flappy Bird," the now defunct mobile sensation, will one day rise like a phoenix and fling itself awkwardly into an app store near you.

Twitter unearths your first tweet[ Thu, 20 Mar 2014 16:49:36 EDT ]Unless you have a photographic memory or just joined Twitter last week, you probably don't recall your first tweet.

Meet Sony's 'Project Morpheus'[ Wed, 19 Mar 2014 17:18:18 EDT ]Virtual reality, the emerging 3D technology many expect to be the next quantum leap in the video gaming world, just got a little more real.

Twitter unearths your first tweet[ Thu, 20 Mar 2014 16:49:36 EDT ]Unless you have a photographic memory or just joined Twitter last week, you probably don't recall your first tweet.

At TED, Vision of the 'Internet of Things' Takes Shape[ Wed, 19 Mar 2014 23:01:33 GMT ]A day will come when ovens recognize the food placed inside them and automatically cook the dish according to their owners’ preferences.

HP CEO Meg Whitman on 3-D Printing: 'We're on the Case'[ Wed, 19 Mar 2014 23:47:44 GMT ]SAN FRANCISCO — Hewlett-Packard Co. will outline plans to enter the commercial 3-D printing market in June, saying it has solved a number of technical problems that have hindered broader adoption of the high-tech manufacturing process.

Marathon Bombing Survivor Rumbas on MIT 'Dancing Leg'[ Thu, 20 Mar 2014 00:49:29 GMT ]A professional dancer who lost her left leg below the knee in the Boston Marathon bombings danced on Wednesday for the first time since the blasts.Adrianne Haslet-Davis danced the rumba to Enrique Iglesias’ “Ring My Bells” at the TED conference in Vancouver, B.C.

$500,000 in Bitcoin Just Bought Someone a Villa in Bali[ Thu, 20 Mar 2014 00:49:29 GMT ]A brand-new villa on the southern coast of Bali has just changed hands — for somewhere above 800 bitcoins. In what appears to be the largest real-world-money purchase in bitcoin's history, an anonymous buyer has picked up a new house for the cryptocurrency equivalent of about $500,000.

'Revenge Porn' Site Ordered to Pay Ohio Woman $385,000[ Thu, 20 Mar 2014 01:35:47 GMT ]The founders of a so-called "revenge porn" site were ordered by a federal judge in Ohio to pay almost $400,000 to a woman who said the site posted nude pictures of her when she was a minor.U.S. District Judge Gregory L. Frost entered a default judgment Tuesday against Kevin C.

Revenge porn site operators ordered to pay woman $385K[ Thu, 20 Mar 2014 04:30:06 GMT ] The founders of a revenge porn site have been ordered to pay a woman $385,000 for posting sexually explicit images of her on their Web site. U.S. District Judge Gregory L. Frost entered the default judgment Tuesday against Eric Chanson and Kevin Bollaert, who ran You Got Posted, a Web site that allegedly posted more than 10,000 sexually explicit photographs of individuals without their permission and then demanded payment for removal of the images. The unidentified plaintiff sued the pair last May in Ohio after discovering "sexually explicit images" of herself on the site that were taken when she was underage. Tuesday's judgment included $150,000 for each of the child pornography claims, $10,000 for violating the woman's "right of publicity," and $75,000 in punitive damages, according to Marc Randazza, the plaintiff's attorney in the case. Randazza, who referred to the defendants as "scumbags" in a blog post Tuesday, said the judgment should put the operators of revenge porn sites on notice. "The message this $385,000 judgment sends to people who run revenge porn sites is unambiguous," Randazza wrote. "These sites irreparably harm their victims, and often without any criminal action against them. In this case, a civil suit allowed our client to obtain justice against the people who exploited her." Related stories 'Revenge porn' site operator arrested on hacking charges Alleged 'revenge porn' Web site operator arrested in California Post 'revenge porn' in California and you may go to jail Defendants in the case could not be reached for comment. Bollaert was arrested last December and charged with 31 felony counts of conspiracy, identity theft, and extortion related to You Got Posted, which allowed users to anonymously post private photographs containing nude and explicit images of individuals without their permission, prosecutors allege in court documents. The site required uploaded images be accompanied by the subject's full name, address, age, and social media profiles, according to the criminal complaint. Victims wanting their images and information removed from the site were directed to a second Web site Bollaert created called changemyreputation.com, where they could pay $250 to $350 to have their information removed, according to court documents. Between December 2012 and September 2013, Bollaert collected more than $10,000 from victims wishing to have their images and information removed from ugotposted.com, prosecutors allege. [Via Ars Technica ] Related Links:Twitter prohibits posting of sexually explicit videos on VineControversy after cops' aggressive arrest of jogger wearing earbudsBritish spy agency stored Yahoo Webcam images, report saysFacebook's Hot Mom enjoys more cold staresMan, mad at Internet seller, texts him Shakespeare (all of it)

White House embarks on climate change mapping project[ Thu, 20 Mar 2014 04:58:00 GMT ] NOAA's real-time nowCoast mapping portal is available on the White House's Climate Data Initiative. (Credit: NOAA) The White House wants people and communities to be prepared for extreme weather events spurred by climate change, like coastal flooding, hurricanes, and wildfires. So, it's making data sets and maps from some of the country's top agencies available to the public in it's newly launched "Climate Data Initiative." The maps and data sets are being collected in one Web site, data.gov/climate, which is full of open government data on the country's infrastructure and geographical features, like bridges, roads, tunnels, canals, and river gauges. The information comes from agencies such as NASA, NOAA, the Department of Defense, and the US Geological Survey. Obama administration adviser John Podesta and White House science adviser John Holdren are leading the initiative. They called on tech innovators on Wednesday to use the data sets to help build interactive maps and data-driven simulations that could help people plan for natural disasters. According to Podesta and Holdren, extreme weather events racked up more than $110 billion in damages and killed more than 300 people in the US in 2012. "While no single weather event can be attributed to climate change, we know that our changing climate is making many kinds of extreme events more frequent and more severe," they wrote in a White House blog post. "Rising seas threaten our coastlines. Dry regions are at higher risk of destructive wildfires. Heat waves impact health and agriculture. Heavier downpours can lead to damaging floods." Related stories NASA shows 60 years of climate change in 15 seconds LA Times cuts off climate-change deniers One (alleged) cause of climate change you've never heard of Guess what? Global warming is real, and it's our fault Al Gore: Let's 'put a price on carbon' Several companies have already expressed interest in joining the initiative. Mapping software company Esri said it will partner with 12 US cities to create free and open "maps and apps" that will help local governments plan for natural disasters. And, Google said it would pitch in one petabyte of cloud storage for the data sets, along with 50 million hours of high-performance computing with its Google Earth Engine platform. "By taking the enormous data sets regularly collected by NASA, NOAA, and other agencies and applying the ingenuity, creativity, and expertise of technologists and entrepreneurs, the Climate Data Initiative will help create easy-to-use tools for regional planners, farmers, hospitals, and businesses across the country -- and empower America's communities to prepare themselves for the future," Podesta and Holdren wrote. Currently the Climate Data Initiative is in pilot phase, so the data sets are limited to coastal flooding and sea level rise. But over time more data and tools will become available, such as information on health risks, food supply, and energy infrastructure.Related Links:Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker friends Silicon ValleyGoogle Maps Gallery debuts as Web's interactive digital atlasWhite House faces options for regulating NSA data snooping -- report15 space organizations join hunt for missing Malaysian jetThe Web at 25: How it won the White House -- and won me back

Not tonight, darling, I'm online shopping[ Thu, 20 Mar 2014 05:45:00 GMT ] "Not tonight, darling, I just don't want to listen to you." (Credit: Amazon/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET) I know that Nancy Reagan always encouraged us to "just say no." But it's not easy, is it? Some people can be terribly insistent, nagging even. Some can sulk or get aggressive. Thankfully, it seems that Americans have found a new way to tell their significant others that they don't have a significant mood for sex: they say they're busy online shopping. You might think I'm making it up. And I might think that people who create these surveys are making it up too. All I can tell you is that the cashback rewards site EBates commissioned TNS to perform a study among 1,000 American adults that emitted fascinating conclusions. Some 10 percent of women say they use their mobile devices -- and the excuse of shopping on them -- to deter their lovers from getting amorous. But here's the nugget that might astound even more: 13 percent of men admitted to doing the same thing. I confess that I hadn't considered online shopping as a means of expressing emotions toward another person. I certainly couldn't imagine telling a lover that I wasn't feeling carnal because I was trying to decide which pair of camel boots to buy. And you'll forgive me, I hope, if I mention that survey respondents often seem to have enjoyed a touch too much Bacardi. But for some people mobile shopping has become the equivalent of the invented headache. It brings with it the luxury of not being forced to take a couple of Advil, in the hope that this will somehow lift your libido. This splendidly twisted survey, performed between March 14 and 17, further offered that passive-aggressive shopping is also directed at annoying co-workers, annoying people on public transit and, of course, annoying in-laws. More Technically Incorrect Samsung: iPad's bad, Surface is a joke, and Kindle's a swindle How to issue your own emotional Bitcoin Man, mad at Internet seller, texts him Shakespeare (all of it) Glasshole heaven: Hotel offers free drink if you wear Glass This is how much you get on Google's nerves The original purpose of this survey was merely to examine mobile shopping habits. It seems that 45 percent of Americans use their mobile devices to shop -- and 10 percent claim they do it daily. Perhaps these are the 10 percent who stand in front of me at Starbucks desperately waving their phones at the scanner, only to get more reaction out of the whipped cream on their frappuccino. Tellingly, 49 percent of the respondents in this survey confessed that shopping on their mobile device cures boredom while they're waiting in line. And 24 percent somehow couple mobile shopping with watching reality TV. Perhaps Americans are just frightfully confused. (No "perhaps" about it) In essence, though, what is the difference between sex and online shopping? In the latter, it's much harder to haggle. Related Links:Three important things you should know about cashback servicesWomen prefer Apple, gentlemen prefer SamsungOn Facebook, good (and bad) moods are infectiousCould selfies be pushing more Americans to plastic surgery?When will retailers jump on the iBeacon bandwagon?

Google lets you launch Android camera by voice command[ Thu, 20 Mar 2014 10:19:18 GMT ] A new feature lets Android users issue a voice command to launch their phone camera app in photo or video mode. (Credit: screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET) An update to Google's search app lets Android users launch their phone's camera, in photo or video mode, with a voice command. "With the Google Search App on Android, you can just tap the microphone or say 'OK Google,' then 'take a photo' or 'take a video.' Google will launch your camera app in the preferred mode," Google said in a Google+ post on Wednesday night. Related stories Sony steps closer to VR with Project Morpheus Voice is not enough: Motion is key to Android Wear Moto 360 smartwatch to ship in limited quantity, says report Sony kicks off Android 4.4 KitKat rollout across Xperia line Tech to enhance March Madness I couldn't get it to work with video in my test today on a Nexus 5, but the "take a picture" and "take a photo" commands worked, presenting a choice of installed camera apps to finish the command. For the command to work, most people will have to first launch the search app, which means pulling up from the bottom of the screen on most phones and swiping left from the home screen on a Google Nexus 5. That's potentially a lot harder than just tapping the camera icon. But don't consider today's interface to be done. The Touchless Control feature on some Motorola phones is always listening for the words "OK Google," and that approach could spread widely especially as devices like smartwatches and Google Glass spread the idea of voice controls. Via the unofficial Google Operating System blog Related Links:Google unveils Android Wear, its modified OS for wearablesGoogle to launch SDK for Android wearables in two weeksLG to launch G Watch with Android WearVoice is not enough: Motion is key to Android WearMozilla's $25 Firefox OS: It's real, and it works

Sony's Project Morpheus makes big bet on body tracking[ Thu, 20 Mar 2014 11:00:00 GMT ] Sony's Project Morpheus headset is used in conjunction with two PlayStation Move controllers for a sword-fighting demo called The Castle. (Credit: Josh Miller/CNET) There's one pivotal difference right now between the two most promising, best developed virtual reality headset prototypes, forming a simultaneously technical and philosophical barrier. Oculus VR, while exclusively focused on smooth tracking and optics, has made an open-source darling out of its Oculus Rift headset, turning a radical crowdfunding idea into the face of an emerging industry. Its openness has spawned a movement with a wide breadth of third-party spinoffs, from the Virtuix Omni to countless motion-tracking suits and handsets. Its final, relatively affordable development kit -- announced Wednesday at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco -- ahead of its official release will continue to accelerate the growth of that community. Sony's Project Morpheus, in the works since 2010 and unveiled at GDC on Tuesday, has crafted an equally amazing and immersive experience. Not only is it just as comfortable -- in some respects more so for a glasses wearer I noticed -- but it's also a smooth experience almost on par with Oculus' Dev Kit 2, which has had a more thoroughly field-tested development approach this past year. (Credit: Josh Miller/CNET) More importantly, however, Sony has baked in from the get-go a promise to make virtual reality (VR) a full-body affair, using PlayStation Move controllers in conjunction with the PlayStation Camera to get you moving around the room and swinging your arms like a madman. The results, still as early and limited as prototype demos can get, are both breathtaking and hilariously fun. The catch: Morpheus looks locked to the PlayStation platform, with no foreseeable exit from that proprietary strategy. Sony unveils Project Morpheus virtual-reality headset (pictures) 1-2 of 25 Scroll Left Scroll Right That difference -- a locked-down approach compared with an open-source one -- creates an interesting dynamic for the VR industry as it moves forward. Is a unified platform like Sony's the best way to bring this wild promise of the future to fruition with all the bells and whistles of motion tracking intact? Or is opening it up while buckling down and honing the focus -- as Oculus is doing with its headset -- a smarter decision, with the caveat being putting your trust in others to build out accessories and their feature sets? Those questions form the crux of how consumer VR comes to market. Sony seems intent on gambling that we'll not only want to strap on a goofy face-computer, but we'll also want to stand up in our living room and get physical. That may not be the best move to make when it comes to selling your everyday gamer on the potentially nausea-inducing, commercially untested notion of sitting for hours on end in a different reality. Maybe an Oculus Rift that just works with a controller, sitting down, will be more persuasive at first than a headset, dual motion-tracking controller, and camera bundle. Developers now have access to Oculus Rift Dev Kit 2 (pictures) 1-2 of 5 Scroll Left Scroll Right While it's incredibly early, with consumer models of neither Morpheus nor Oculus likely to come for some time, one thing is certain: Body tracking is an inevitable extension of VR. Sony is upfront in that respect, showing us exactly why we'll finally want to consider combining what have been up until now miserably peripheral accessories into unique gaming experiences. Take, for example, one of the more impressive Morpheus demos here at GDC. The Castle, a medieval-themed sword demo, showed the full capabilities of combining Morpheus with two Move controllers. Not only do you get the precision of a Wii Motion Plus, giving you accurate wrist tracking die-hard Zelda fans can respect, but your entire body is tracked based off the location of your head and hands. It sounds gimmicky, but is remarkably responsive on the level of Kinect play that, when combined with VR, momentarily convinces you you're experiencing something truly groundbreaking instead of the combination of existing technologies in an unprecedented package. (Credit: Josh Miller/CNET) In one instance, I stepped to the left in physical space and picked up a sword out of the ground with my right hand, doing so by pulling the trigger of the Move controller as I reached down. Stepping forward, I used my left hand to grab hold of a straw dummy's left arm and proceeded to chop it off with the sword hand, requiring a significant and worry-inducing amount of force in my swing. There I was left with a disembodied arm that I could now swing back and forth and even smack around the dummy with. All this, of course, was directed by the subtle nudging of the Morpheus demo assistant. After all, not much in VR is intuitive when you don't know where the precision is cranked up. Therein lies a strange sensation: Sony's body tracking is spectacular, but it's also limited by what our brains think we can and cannot do in a virtual space where tracking is precise for some parts of the body -- the hands and head -- and wonky and downright weird for everything else, namely your location in physical space. Related stories: Epic Games opens Unreal Engine 4 to public for $19 a month Get a smartphone-controlled RC race car for $39.99 Titanfall for Xbox 360 pushed back to April 8 Watch what's in store for Android Wear GamePop regroups for spring, signs Ubisoft, Warners Often during The Castle, I was disoriented by using my body as a function of my in-game location as I would swing my arm and be told repeatedly that I was too far away. And the demo assistant had to make sure to remove my backpack from behind me lest I take a tumble through the lightly constructed booth wall. It introduces a necessary reality-check. VR is likely not to develop on a clean, straight-forward track, no matter how friendly Sony and Oculus play together. You'll have different games, designed for different levels of immersion, motion control, and body orientation, along with ported games designed to take advantage of only certain functionalities and accessories. It's going to be a chaotic space that, while great for the acceleration of the tech, will prove to be a nightmare for anyone hoping to design cohesive, multiplatform experiences for VR. Eve Valkyrie is a great example of a game that's trying and has universal enough mechanics to pull it off, but it won't be easy for titles outside a seated, first-person shooter. That leaves users in the precarious position of not knowing exactly what we'll need to buy or even want to have when all of this begins rolling out, and puts pressure on both the hardware and software sides of VR to figure out how far we're willing to take this at first. So while Sony is pushing aggressive technology under the PlayStation helm, Oculus' simple "sit-down and enjoy the future" approach -- with open source add-ons left up to you -- may be an easier pill to swallow. Related Links:Can Sony's Project Morpheus finally bring virtual reality to home console gaming?Join CNET on Tuesday for Sony's PlayStation GDC eventRide the Oculus Rift to outer space!Oculus Rift Dev Kit 2 now on sale for $350Sony steps closer to VR with Project Morpheus

Wounded boy gets 3-D printed arm[ Wed, 19 Mar 2014 10:42:34 EDT ]Artificial limbs made by 3-D printing are changing the lives of amputees in Sudan.

Google's plans for your wrist[ Wed, 19 Mar 2014 11:54:01 EDT ]Kristie Lu Stout talks to Nilay Patel of The Verge about Google's new software for wrist devices, Android Wear

'Flappy Bird' will fly back to app stores[ Wed, 19 Mar 2014 16:50:19 EDT ]Let the flapless among us take heart. "Flappy Bird," the now defunct mobile sensation, will one day rise like a phoenix and fling itself awkwardly into an app store near you.

Meet Sony's 'Project Morpheus'[ Wed, 19 Mar 2014 17:18:18 EDT ]Virtual reality, the emerging 3D technology many expect to be the next quantum leap in the video gaming world, just got a little more real.

Sony goes virtual with 'Project Morpheus' [ Wed, 19 Mar 2014 17:21:10 EDT ]Virtual reality, the emerging 3D technology many expect to be the next quantum leap in the video gaming world, just got a little more real.

Apple CEO Tim Cook Blasts New Book on Company As 'Nonsense'[ Tue, 18 Mar 2014 21:45:25 GMT ]Apple CEO Tim Cook has issued a statement about a new book about the tech giant called, "Haunted Empire," saying it is "nonsense" and fails to capture Apple or former CEO and Co-Founder Steve Jobs.

Android Wear: 5 Things We Know, 5 We Don't[ Tue, 18 Mar 2014 22:16:27 GMT ]Just how will the new smartwatches powered by Google's Android operating system look, feel and function?

IRS: Employee Took Home Personal Info on 20,000 Workers[ Tue, 18 Mar 2014 22:47:29 GMT ]WASHINGTON — An Internal Revenue Service employee took home personal information on about 20,000 IRS workers, former workers and contractors, putting the data at risk for public release, the agency said Tuesday.

Pandora Raises Subscription Fees, Does Away With Annual Plan[ Wed, 19 Mar 2014 00:20:34 GMT ]Pandora Media will increase fees for its ad-free music-streaming service by $1 a month to almost $5 a month in May, in a move to cover the rising cost of licensing tunes.

Sony Takes on Oculus Rift With 'Project Morpheus' VR Headset[ Wed, 19 Mar 2014 01:38:10 GMT ]Sony announced a new virtual reality headset at the Game Development Conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, putting it in direct competition with crowdsourced favorite Oculus Rift. The sleek, futuristic device is known for now as "Project Morpheus.