Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Microsoft Scanned Blogger's Hotmail to Find Windows 8 Leaker
[ Mon, 24 Mar 2014 21:29:32 GMT ]
Microsoft accessed the Hotmail emails of a blogger thought to be the recipient of leaked Windows pre-release information, in order to identify and help arrest the employee who shared them.The alleged leaker is former Microsoft employee Alex Kibkalo, who was arrested Monday.
[ Mon, 24 Mar 2014 21:29:32 GMT ]
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Quora Launches Verified Profiles, Starting With President Obama
[ Mon, 24 Mar 2014 21:45:05 GMT ]
Quora, the question-and-answer social network where user credentials matter most, finally got around to rolling out Verified Profiles. President Barack Obama was first to get the big blue check of authenticity on Monday, as he answered two questions on the site about the Affordable Care Act.
[ Mon, 24 Mar 2014 21:45:05 GMT ]
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Tumblr Boosts Security With Two-Factor Authentication
[ Mon, 24 Mar 2014 21:45:07 GMT ]
Worried someone is going to get the login to your Tumblr dashboard and publish something that isn't a cat gif? You can now turn on two-factor authentication, making it so login attempts must be confirmed on your phone.
[ Mon, 24 Mar 2014 21:45:07 GMT ]
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Disney to Buy YouTube Network Maker for $500M
[ Mon, 24 Mar 2014 22:47:23 GMT ]
Disney said Monday that it is buying YouTube channel operator Maker Studios for $500 million as the family entertainment giant aims to stay in front of younger audiences who are increasingly watching short videos online.The Walt Disney Co.
[ Mon, 24 Mar 2014 22:47:23 GMT ]
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Google Partners With Ray-Ban, Oakley For New Glass Designs
[ Mon, 24 Mar 2014 23:02:59 GMT ]
Is the current look of Google Glass a bit too ... dorky for you? You're probably not the only one who thinks so. Thankfully, Google is collaborating with Ray-Ban and Oakley on some designs you might actually want to wear.
[ Mon, 24 Mar 2014 23:02:59 GMT ]
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Businesses of the future...with Samsung devices, of course (pictures)
[ Sat, 22 Mar 2014 04:00:00 PDT ]
The Korean electronics giant operates a showroom -- called the Executive Briefing Center -- at its North American headquarters in New Jersey to show potential business customers what Samsung technology they can use to change their operations.
[ Sat, 22 Mar 2014 04:00:00 PDT ]
The Korean electronics giant operates a showroom -- called the Executive Briefing Center -- at its North American headquarters in New Jersey to show potential business customers what Samsung technology they can use to change their operations.
Twitter battle in Turkey heats up, spreads to YouTube -- reports
[ Sat, 22 Mar 2014 10:53:36 PDT ]
The fight over a Twitter ban in the country intensifies, as the government reportedly blocks a workaround, the White House weighs in, and Google refuses to yank YouTube vids critical of the prime minister.
[ Sat, 22 Mar 2014 10:53:36 PDT ]
The fight over a Twitter ban in the country intensifies, as the government reportedly blocks a workaround, the White House weighs in, and Google refuses to yank YouTube vids critical of the prime minister.
NSA's reported Huawei hack gives glimpse of agency's role in 'cyber Cold War'
[ Sat, 22 Mar 2014 13:38:11 PDT ]
The latest report based on leaks by Edward Snowden has it that the NSA hacked into the servers of a Chinese router company that had itself been accused by the US of potentially aiding government espionage.
[ Sat, 22 Mar 2014 13:38:11 PDT ]
The latest report based on leaks by Edward Snowden has it that the NSA hacked into the servers of a Chinese router company that had itself been accused by the US of potentially aiding government espionage.
Monday, March 24, 2014
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.
[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 21:09:02 GMT ]
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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.
[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 21:24:30 GMT ]
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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.
[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 23:58:38 GMT ]
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Businesses of the future...with Samsung devices, of course (pictures)
[ Sat, 22 Mar 2014 04:00:00 PDT ]
The Korean electronics giant operates a showroom -- called the Executive Briefing Center -- at its North American headquarters in New Jersey to show potential business customers what Samsung technology they can use to change their operations.
[ Sat, 22 Mar 2014 04:00:00 PDT ]
The Korean electronics giant operates a showroom -- called the Executive Briefing Center -- at its North American headquarters in New Jersey to show potential business customers what Samsung technology they can use to change their operations.
Twitter battle in Turkey heats up, spreads to YouTube -- reports
[ Sat, 22 Mar 2014 10:53:36 PDT ]
The fight over a Twitter ban in the country intensifies, as the government reportedly blocks a workaround, the White House weighs in, and Google refuses to yank YouTube vids critical of the prime minister.
[ Sat, 22 Mar 2014 10:53:36 PDT ]
The fight over a Twitter ban in the country intensifies, as the government reportedly blocks a workaround, the White House weighs in, and Google refuses to yank YouTube vids critical of the prime minister.
NSA's reported Huawei hack gives glimpse of agency's role in 'cyber Cold War'
[ Sat, 22 Mar 2014 13:38:11 PDT ]
The latest report based on leaks by Edward Snowden has it that the NSA hacked into the servers of a Chinese router company that had itself been accused by the US of potentially aiding government espionage.
[ Sat, 22 Mar 2014 13:38:11 PDT ]
The latest report based on leaks by Edward Snowden has it that the NSA hacked into the servers of a Chinese router company that had itself been accused by the US of potentially aiding government espionage.
Saturday, March 22, 2014
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.
[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 21:09:02 GMT ]
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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.
[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 21:24:30 GMT ]
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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.
[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 23:58:38 GMT ]
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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.
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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:
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Amazon said to be adding a music-streaming service
Beats Music turns 7 out of 10 free-trial users to paying ones?
Apple reportedly eyes iTunes Radio as separate app in iOS 8
Beats Music opens up, making its API public
[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 23:41:04 GMT ]
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
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 product
Amazon said to be adding a music-streaming service
Beats Music turns 7 out of 10 free-trial users to paying ones?
Apple reportedly eyes iTunes Radio as separate app in iOS 8
Beats Music opens up, making its API public
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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 surveillance
Facebook's Zuckerberg sounds off again about NSA scandal
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg phones Obama about NSA
Facebook's security chief on a post-Snowden 'silver lining'
Schmidt: Not even US gov't can get at Google user data
[ 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 surveillance
Facebook's Zuckerberg sounds off again about NSA scandal
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg phones Obama about NSA
Facebook'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 JPEG
Better manage downloads in Chrome with Downloadr extension
Enable Chromecast streaming in latest Chrome Beta for Android
Gmail on iOS just got a lot faster
How to run both Chrome OS and Ubuntu on a Chromebook
[ 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 JPEG
Better manage downloads in Chrome with Downloadr extension
Enable Chromecast streaming in latest Chrome Beta for Android
Gmail on iOS just got a lot faster
How 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:
[ 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 RightRelated 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.
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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:
[ 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.
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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:
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Friday, March 21, 2014
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.
[ Thu, 20 Mar 2014 23:30:29 GMT ]
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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.
[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 00:01:33 GMT ]
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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.
[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 00:32:37 GMT ]
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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.
[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 01:03:45 GMT ]
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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.
[ Fri, 21 Mar 2014 08:31:37 GMT ]
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