Can you own a language? That might seem like a bizarre question to ask but it's one that lawyers will have to figure out the answer to, as it's become rather important in the case of Paramount Pictures vs a crowd-funded team, who want to make a Star Trek spin-off. They …
Read More »Facebook’s social VR app lets you jump inside 360 degree images
In-case you haven't been following the VR scene particularly closely, it was shaken up quite violently in 2015, when Oculus VR was purchased by Facebook. While the parent firm has been rather quiet on its plans for the VR start up, now that the first consumer hardware is shipping (slowly), …
Read More »Live surgery to be performed in VR this afternoon
If you've ever wondered what it's like to perform surgery to remove cancerous tissue from a patient's bowel, today is the day to find out. All you need is a decent internet connection, a willing mind and a virtual reality headset. This is the first operation ever streamed in 360 …
Read More »Redditor breaks Oculus game exclusivity with quick fix
One of the least tasteful aspects of the launch of commercial virtual reality headsets, was when Oculus VR announced that it would be restricting some of its games to its store, making them Oculus exclusives. However just two weeks after the initial hardware launch, someone has already developed a patch …
Read More »Battle.net’s DDOS hiccup. Don’t worry, it’s back to normal already
If you tried to play a Battle.net game this morning, whether it was Overwatch, Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm of something else, you might have run into a few difficulties. That's because some nefarious individuals launched a DDOS attack on the service. Fortunately Blizzard's response was swift and exact and …
Read More »Facebook set to recruit army of chat bots for customer service
As much as companies have made great strides in improving customer service over the past few years, offering social media responses, live-chats on websites and more localised call centres, they're still far from perfect. To help improve that, Facebook is looking to recruit chat bots to answer more people's questions, …
Read More »Smartphone app proves almost as effective as contraceptive pill
Although the rhythm method is one that non-religious organisations might mock or deride as ineffective, it turns out that if you take that sort of idea and mix it up with smart tracking, it actually becomes very effective. Natural Cycles is an application that tracks the user's temperature over time …
Read More »Panama Papers law firm raided by police
The law firm, Mossack Fonseca, that was the source of all of the recent information leaked during the Panama Papers reveal, has been raided by Panamanian police. The raid was said to have gone smoothly, “without incident or interference,” though since the original leak, Mossack Fonseca executives have denied any …
Read More »Thousands gathered to bid fairwell to Nostalrius vanilla WoW server
Despite an active player base of more than 150,000 people, Blizzard forced the final shut down of the Nostalrius, fan-run, vanilla World of Warcraft server this weekend. To mourn this loss and send it off in grand style, several thousand people came together in the hours before the server died, forming …
Read More »Play any game in Oculus Rift VR with MyDream Swift and VorpX
As much as the early crop of virtual reality games are exciting and innovative, the catalogue is still pretty small. Things will be different in a year or two, but for now, if you want to try out some of your favourite gaming classics in virtual reality, you can do, …
Read More »NASA pulls Kepler telescope back from the brink
One of the biggest difficulties with putting space craft outside of Low-Earth-Orbit (LEO) is that it gets ever more difficult to maintain it. Repairs are too costly to attempt in person, so the best we can often hope for are software tweaks – but even they take a long time …
Read More »Win 1 of 4 Pure Power 9 CM supplies with be quiet!
As much as it might not be the sexiest component in your system, the power supply is perhaps the most vital component of them all. If it's cheap and goes bad, you could destroy your motherboard and processor and then you're back to square one. That's why be quiet! has …
Read More »Netflix price-hike won’t grandfather you in
If you've been a Netflix subscriber for a number of years, you've likely taken advantage of the fact that as prices were changed and options added, you were grandfathered in at the lower price point. That's not going to happen this time around though, as the latest Netflix price change …
Read More »Ford autonomous-vehicle test goes smoothly at night
One of the big concerns with self-piloting vehicles, is how they will perform in adverse conditions and at night. Indeed, the optical sensors that many autonomous cars rely on don't function as well in those conditions. Fortunately, lidar doesn't have so much of an issue and in a recent test, …
Read More »New demo drops for Paper’s Please dev’s next game, Obra Dinn
Lucas Pope is well known for his development of interesting and innovative titles. Papers Please, with its simplistic graphics and surprisingly gritty tone, won a whole host of awards when it was released in 2013, so the fact that a new playable demo is available for his next game, Return …
Read More »Regulator slams Three’s O2 buyout, demands Commission do more
The move by mobile network Three, to try and buyout other major UK network, O2, looks to have hit a snag, as the British antitrust regulator has raised concerns about a recent European Commission investigation into the merger. It described the remedies to cited problems as “materially deficient,” and wants …
Read More »Daily Mail parent company considering Yahoo buyout
Although it may not go it alone, with talks said to be ongoing between the Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) and private equity firms, the parent company of the Daily Mail publication is said to be in talks with Yahoo over a potential buyout. This was confirmed by the …
Read More »Pirate Party Iceland support holds strong in election lead up
Just a few months after noting how well the Pirate Party was polling in Iceland, it's really looking like we may close out the year with the first Pirate majority government. Following the recent resignation of the Icelandic Prime Minister, the Pirate Party continues to poll well, with now more than …
Read More »Space X Dragon Capsule docks with ISS after booster landing
Space travel might be difficult and expensive, but sometimes everything goes to plan. That's what happened in the case of Space X's launch last week, which used a Falcon 9 to send a payload bound for the International Space Station into orbit, before touching back down on a drone barge. …
Read More »Rust’s lack of gender choices is bugging some players
Picking your character's gender in-game is something offered by a lot of titles without a sex-specific story to tell, helping people feel represented in-game. However Rust, by Garry's Mod developer, Facepunch, does this in a more naturalistic style, by assigning players a gender based on their Steam ID and doesn't let …
Read More »VR Lens Lab now offering prescription lenses for Rift, Vive
Although both the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive have enough space to wear glasses while the headset is mounted on your face, it isn't an ideal solution. Some have reported the headsets tearing the glasses from their face and others just don't like the larger gap between screen and eye. …
Read More »Space X readies inflatable habitat launch, hopes to ‘nail’ landing
Following a successful testing of the Falcon 9 rocket engines and a readiness review the day after, Space X's latest launch is all set to go ahead at 4:43pm ET (8:43PM GMT) today, 8th April. The mission is set to carry supplies up to the International Space Station (ISS), as well …
Read More »Update: Tesla Model 3 sales top 325,000 in first week
Update: Electric vehicle manufacture Tesla has had a fantastic week. Just seven days after the official unveiling of its Model 3, much-more-affordable electric car, it's taken in over 325,000 pre-orders, which if all go through eventually, will earn it more than $14 billion (£10 billion). This comes just a few …
Read More »BMW to use HTC Vive for developing prototype cars
With the age of consumer virtual reality finally upon is, it's no surprise that everyone is enjoying certain games and experiences with their brand new headsets. But uses outside of the gaming world have some exciting potential too, like BMW using the HTC Vive to demo prototypes of its vehicles, …
Read More »Metal Gear Solid VR tribute secures David Hayter support
If you're trying to get support for your fan-project, a thumbs up from the original developers is a good one, perhaps the main designer could give you their approval to proceed. In the case of the Metal Gear Solid VR tribute though, they got the jackpot: David Hayter, the voice …
Read More »Get yourself in-shape for room-scale VR with these exercises
One of the big selling points of the HTC Vive headset is that it is “room scale,” which means you can walk around your room, interacting with different elements with the motion controllers – all of it tracked within the VR space. But that means physically moving around and in fast paced …
Read More »White House refuses to back anti-encryption legislation
The Obama administration will not be backing legislation that would allow judges to force companies like Apple to weaken the security of their hardware and software in order to facilitate snooping. While President Obama's personal opinion seems to still be in favour of this sort of bill, clearly there is …
Read More »Don’t get phished because they know your home address
Phishing emails are still one of the most effective methods of capturing people's personal details without them realising it. It was how the Fappening came about and countless leaks and hacks have been possible purely because people were tricked. So make sure you're extra vigilant in the future, as a …
Read More »UK launches eGames Rio 2016, the Olympics of Esports
While a British team might not have brought home the gold at any of the world's biggest Esports tournaments yet, perhaps they'll be able to do so at the newly announced, eGames. The event, set to run right alongside the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro later this year, will pit …
Read More »First autonomous ‘truck platoon’ crosses borders, arrives safely
The first ever multi-country, autonomous truck platoon has successfully completed a journey across borders, down highways and roadways – all without the intervention of a single human driver. Using advanced tracking and mapping technologies, the more than dozen heavy goods vehicles from various manufacturers, were able to link up and …
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