On average, us flesh sacks can recognise stuff in pictures pretty well, with an error rate of around 5.1% according to a recent study. Previously computers could come pretty close to that, getting around 6.66% of objects wrong. Now however, a new computer vision system from Microsoft Research is actually managing to …
Read More »Qualcomm has made a Snapdragon 4K streaming stick
Qualcomm has announced its new entry in to the streaming market with its new Snapdragon-based Chromecast competitor, capable of streaming 4K. Unfortunately, Qualcomm's streaming stick won't be made available to consumers and is instead there as a reference design for third-parties to license out. Third-party manufacturers will be able to …
Read More »Toshiba starts making cameras for Project Ara
Toshiba has shown off two new camera modules that it is developing for Google's modular smartphone, currently named ‘Project Ara'. There are two versions at present, a 5 megapixel camera module and a 13 megapixel one. These cameras can be swapped in and out of the handset, allowing for easy …
Read More »Project Ara may appear at MWC next month
Google has been showing off more and more of Project Ara during recent months and we may get to see even more of the modular smartphone at the Mobile World Congress, which starts next month, in Barcelona. Around 50 of the device's modular components are also due to be displayed …
Read More »Virgin Media to spend £3 billion improving fibre network
Virgin Media has today announced plans to spend £3 billion improving its fibre-optic broadband network, creating 6000 jobs in the process. These improvements will roll out over the next five years and is the largest investment in the UK's broadband infrastructure made in the past decade. The investment is currently …
Read More »Mozilla to block unsigned add-ons from Firefox
It turns out that Mozilla is planning to tighten up its security restrictions regarding add-ons for the Firefox browser. In a blog post the company said that the decision to block unsigned add-ons was made to reduce a user's chances of installing a dodgy add-on that can do dodgy things …
Read More »Android Wear shipments only hit 720,000 last year
Android Wear smart watches have gotten off to a slow start as multiple companies only managed to ship a total of 720,000 units during 2014, according to analyst firm, Canalys. The company also revealed that the Moto 360 was indeed the most popular device. 4.6 million wearable devices were shipped …
Read More »Samsung Smart TVs inserting ads in to third-party apps
It turns out that Samsung's smart TVs are inserting unwanted adverts in to TV shows and movies played on third-party apps. Several owners have begun complaining about a silent Pepsi advert interrupting playback every ten minutes or so. Obviously this isn't supposed to be happening, so Samsung has launched a …
Read More »Swatter arrested, faces five year prison sentence
19-year-old American, Brandon Wilson, was recently arrested and had his Las Vegas home raided in connection to several incidents of swatting. Swatting has become a significant problem for live streamers over the last year or two. For those who don't know, swatting is a ‘prank' in which a hoax call is …
Read More »Intel: Our lead over the rest of the industry is extending
Intel Corp. had to delay its code-named “Broadwell” microprocessors by about a year because of yield issues with its 14nm manufacturing technology. The move has affected plans of PC makers and will have an impact on PC business this year. However, Intel’s dominant positions will hardly be threatened since the …
Read More »TSMC to invest $15.9 billion in expansion of manufacturing capacities
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has announced that it will invest NT$500 billion ($15.9 billion) in expansion of its manufacturing capacities in central Taiwan. The company did not outline details of the upgrade plan, but it looks like the company is getting ready to significantly increase its abilities to produce semiconductors …
Read More »Samsung denies that its TVs are invading your privacy
News broke recently about Samsung's new Smart TV privacy policy, which was unfortunately poorly worded and made it sound like the TVs were transmitting your conversations to a third-party via voice recognition software. This stirred up a bit of controversy but the Korean device maker is looking to clear things …
Read More »Microsoft and Samsung settle patent dispute
Microsoft and Samsung have settled their patent dispute over royalty payments, which became an issue once Microsoft bought Nokia. Samsung had previously declined to pay Microsoft a patent fee and share sensitive commercial smartphone information after the company bought Nokia. The firm argued that the acquisition of Nokia would invalidate a …
Read More »Collision resistant Drones for Good
Drones can be pretty easy to crash, whether you know what you are doing and have had plenty of practice flying them, or if you decide to try out your friends drone while drunk and fly it into the Whitehouse. A small Swiss team called Flyability think it has the answer to …
Read More »Google dropping SPDY support for HTTP/2
Support for Google's home-grown experimental networking protocol SPDY (pronounced speedy) will soon be dropped by browser vendors and eventually Google itself, as they move on to the new standard, HTTP/2. While this second version of the well-known hyper text transfer protocol has been a long time coming, we can in part thank …
Read More »Google and LG to launch VR headset
Google and LG are teaming up to launch their own Samsung Gear VR competitor for the LG G3 handset. It is inspired by the Google Cardboard VR headset design, which was shown off last year. The headset will turn the LG G3 into a virtual reality device, essentially doing the …
Read More »KickAss Torrents taken down by domain seizure
The Pirate Bay might be back in some shape or form, but KickAss Torrents is now down following a domain name seizure. The .so Somalian domain of the heavily visited torrent site is now listed as banned by the .SO registry, meaning that the site's operators will need to find …
Read More »Twitch streamer swatted in front of 60,000 viewers
A Runescape Twitch streamer was swatted last week in front of 60,000 viewers. Last Thursday, an armed SWAT team turned up at Joshua Peter's (KoopaTroopa on Twitch), home following a fake emergency service call. The streamer's ten year old brother was unfortunate enough to answer the door. Peters left the …
Read More »Facebook’s new privacy policy is worrying
Facebook has once again updated its privacy policy but it may be taking things too far in an effort to show you targeted ads. The new policy allows Facebook to check up on what you are doing on other apps and websites that have nothing to do with the social …
Read More »MSI USB 3.1 Hands-on Preview: 10Gbps USB
Arguably the most critical mainstay behind the inter-connectivity of modern technology devices is the Universal Serial Bus, or USB for short. The connection provides opportunity for an almost limitless level of connectivity that has redefined the way in which we use computing devices. So what does it take to make …
Read More »RadioShack didn’t change with the times, is no more.
Its been a long time coming but RadioShack, which opened its doors in 1921, has now filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US and it will be selling off more than half of its stores to cover debts. Standard General is set to purchase up to 2,400 stores, with the remaining 1,750 …
Read More »Toshiba and SK Hynix to jointly develop nanoimprint lithography
Toshiba Corp. and SK Hynix on Thursday signed a formal agreement under which the two companies will jointly develop a nanoimprint lithography (NIL) process technology. The two producers of chips and computer memory plan to start using NIL technology in 2017. The companies believe that the tech will allow them …
Read More »Nintendo’s YouTube partnership program is having problems
Nintendo announced its new creators program recently, allowing YouTubers to partner up with the publisher for gameplay videos but the company seems to be having trouble getting through the amount of submissions it has received so far. Now that the partnership program has come out of beta and is open …
Read More »Google Glass 2.0 to be re-designed from scratch
A while back Google made the decision to end production on the current Google Glass model that we have come to know since its launch back in 2013. The company has since taken Glass development behind closed doors and will be redesigning the next model from scratch. Speaking to The …
Read More »Microsoft Office touch apps now available on Windows 10 preview
Microsoft has launched the new versions of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint for the Windows 10 technical preview, the company announced on its Office Blog. The new universal applications are designed to run on every device running the Windows 10 OS, from Windows Phones, to tablets, to PCs and laptops. …
Read More »Sony to spend $15 million dealing with last year’s cyber attack
Sony was originally supposed to announce its financial results today but due to last year's costly cyber attack on Sony Pictures servers, the company has had to issue a forecast for how it performed instead, showing that one of the biggest expenditures for Sony at the moment is dealing with …
Read More »Twitch hits 100 million views a month
Twitch managed to surpass the 100 million unique monthly views milestone last year, the video game streaming service has announced today. Twitch launched a new site yesterday, commemorating all of the milestones that the service has managed to surpass since its launch just a few years ago. Other stats from …
Read More »Sony has sold SOE
Sony has sold off Sony Online Entertainment to an investment management firm known as Columbus Nova. The developer will now be re-branded as Daybreak Game Company and will finally be able to make games for other platforms. SOE has been responsible for many multiplayer titles, including DC Universe, EverQuest, the …
Read More »Reddit putting cryptocurrency plans on hold
Reddit has put its plans to launch its own cryptocurrency, dubbed ‘Reddit Notes', on hold after the project's lead engineer was let go. Reddit originally announced its plan to launch its own digital currency last year, this was the company's way of giving its users back 10 per cent of …
Read More »Windows 10 announced for Raspberry Pi 2
Microsoft has announced that it will be bringing Windows 10 to the Raspberry Pi 2 this year, not only that but it will also be free for developers signed up to the Windows 10 Developer Program for IoT later on in the year. This is all part of Microsoft's efforts …
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