Technology news

• Diablo III celebrates its third birthday in a very Diablo way

  15-05-2015 23:30
  
  To celebrate the third birthday of Diablo III, game developer Blizzard is unleashing the "cowpocalypse," an invasion the likes of which have never been seen (unless, of course, you found that secret level on Diablo II.) That's right, from dusk today until dawn on May 21, Sanctuary is being taken over by cows. But don't fear, Blizzard's announcement on Battle.net tells us these cows are.. ahem, "udderly" harmless.The post begins with a feigned denial of the bovine invasion and
  
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• Review: Acer Chromebook 15 C910

  15-05-2015 23:29 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Introduction and designIf you're considering the Acer Chromebook 15 C910 ($499.99, £249, AU$620) for your next laptop, then you'd better have big ideas. Compared to most other Chromebooks, the C910 has a bigger screen, bigger processing power and it comes with a bigger price tag. Specifically geared toward students and teachers – thanks to its rugged design and gorgeous visuals – the C910 is perfectly suitable for any consumer who doesn't mind lugging around a few extra pounds and inches. B
  
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• Review: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (2015)

  15-05-2015 23:15 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Introduction and designIf the 2014 was the year the Lenovo X1 Carbon went through the sexy makeover, this year the 14-inch business laptop has jumped back into its old suit and tie. The third generation X1 Carbon is just as thin as and sleek as 2014 model, but Lenovo has done away with one of the laptop's most distinctive elements in replacing the row of adaptive, digital function keys with a completely traditional set.Otherwise, Lenovo has given its latest Ultrabook a by-the-numbers refresh, wi
  
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• Review: Polk Nue Voe

  15-05-2015 22:30 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Headphones usually don't make grand fashion statements, but the Polk Nue Voe tries its hardest to do just that. By matching the looks of trendy eyeglasses, these in-ear headphones are more appealing than most. A $129 (about £112, AU$160) retail price is rather expensive for the limited set of features you're getting with the purchase. Yet, the Nue Voe has undeniably fantastic audio chops and build quality. At the end of the day, even if style isn't an absolutely essential element of your tech,
  
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• An Oculus Rift setup could cost more than Xbox One, PS4 combined

  15-05-2015 21:48
  
  At this point, your Xbox One and PS4 are in a pretty good position to take on the virtual reality throne once Project Morpheus and Microsoft HoloLens come out. Each console costs around $350 (about £223, AU$436) and though pricing for the headsets haven't been released yet, it's safe to assume they'll both be between $400-$600 (about £254,AU$498 to £381, AU$747). If you already own a console, then the addition cost of a Morpheus or HoloLens shouldn't be too cringeworthy. Compare that with our
  
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• Coding the future

  15-05-2015 21:10 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Why the lack of IT grads matters for the future workplace
  
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• Beep-beep: US government wants cars to talk to each other pronto

  15-05-2015 21:10
  
  Vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communication may be the next major step in the modern evolution of automobiles, and the US government wants to see more of it. US Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has a specific vision in mind for the future of V2V and driver safety, one he outlined in a DOT blog post earlier this week. In it, he announced the DOT is pushing the timetable up on a rule that would require all new vehicles to have V2V technology. "V2V technology is a critical elemen
  
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• Intelligence officers given immunity from hacking laws, tribunal told

  15-05-2015 19:52
  
  Legislative changes exempting law enforcement officers from ban on breaking into people’s digital devices were never debated by parliament, tribunal hears Continue reading...
  
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• The Mindy Project is the latest TV show saved by streaming

  15-05-2015 19:40
  
  Hulu just saved The Mindy Project, bolstering its original content lineup and giving the Mindy Kaling-led sitcom a new lease on life. The three-season show was canned from Fox earlier this month, but apparently talks with Hulu started well before it was cancelled. Hulu plans to air a whopping 26-episode season four, as well as continue streaming the show's past seasons. Hulu is the only place you'll find The Mindy Project available for streaming. Netflix vs Hulu, and so much moreWith the move, H
  
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• Want to play with Oculus Rift? Then you'll need a serious PC

  15-05-2015 18:46
  
  On the heels of announcing a 2016 release date for the Oculus Rift, the company has now released the official specs your PC needs to run the virtual reality headset, and it ain't cheap.Oculus notes that because delivering the best VR content is based on raw rendering costs, real-time performance and latency, you'll need a heavy duty Windows machine with the following specs to experience the Rift smoothly:NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD 290 equivalent or greaterIntel i5-4590 equivalent or greater8GB+ RAMCom
  
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• Blizzard tackles Warcraft 'cheats'

  15-05-2015 18:23 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Thousands of World of Warcraft accounts have been shut down by Blizzard as it moves to stop people using 'bots' to play the game
  
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• Verizon snafu left its 9 million internet users easy targets for hackers

  15-05-2015 18:09
  
  After Verizon purchased AOL on Tuesday, May 13 for $4.4 billion, the network may already have gotten off to a rough start in the public eye. BuzzFeed reported a vulnerability in Verizon's website that has existed on the site for weeks, which could have put 9 million of its existing internet users at risk of theft. Thanks to a tip, BuzzFeed discovered that an error in the telecom's site, which provides services such as email to subscribers, allowed for easy access into any Verizon internet user's
  
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• Woody Allen: agreeing to make Amazon TV series was 'a catastrophic mistake'

  15-05-2015 18:08
  
  In Cannes with new movie Irrational Man, veteran director reveals his unease about forthcoming online streaming series and says he’d reshoot all his previous films if he could Continue reading...
  
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• New self-driving Google car smaller and even less reliant on human assistance

  15-05-2015 18:03
  
  Only a single person is required in an emergency to take over the more compact car with a detachable steering wheel, gas pedal and brake pedal Continue reading...
  
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• Billionaire investor Carl Icahn buys $100m stake in Lyft: it's a 'no-brainer'

  15-05-2015 17:30
  
  The investment values the ridesharing company at $2.5bn, which he says is a bargain compared with Uber’s $41bn Continue reading...
  
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• Citrix gambles on the Internet of Things through new platform

  15-05-2015 17:13
  
  Citrix is ready to take on the packed Internet of Things sector as part of the interestingly named Project Octoblu that will help save enterprise users time when using virtual workspaces.The company's aspirations in the IoT sector comes in the form of a cloud-hosted software platform to handle devices and the first such peripheral to work in collaboration with the platform is the Citrix Workspace Hub, according to V3.Octoblu, the cloud platform, has been created to manage machine-to-machine inte
  
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• Sony set to reinvent the Xperia with the Z5

  15-05-2015 17:01
  
  The Xperia Z4 has only just broken cover but we already have our first look at what could be the Xperia Z5 - and it's quite a departure for Sony in the design department.The leak comes courtesy of serial tipster @upleaks, so it has some weight and respectability attached to it, and is accompanied by the simple caption "Sony Lavender".That's the first time we've heard that name and so it's difficult to determine exactly what this is or where it fits in the Sony line-up. That said, it mi
  
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• Facebook 'tramples on European law'

  15-05-2015 16:57 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Belgian privacy watchdog criticises Facebook after releasing a damning report on its privacy policy.
  
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• Code Name S.T.E.A.M. review

  15-05-2015 16:57
  
  3DS; Nintendo; £26.99-£29.99 Continue reading...
  
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• This coffee-filled robotic tentacle will perform surgery on you

  15-05-2015 16:44
  
  A flexible robot arm, aimed at improving surgical operations and filled with coffee granules, has been constructed by scientists in Italy.The 14-centimetre-long tentacle has no rigid inner skeleton. Instead, it has a central tube with chambers that can be pumped full of air to varying degrees to lengthen or bend the arm in different directions. In the middle of the tube is an additional chamber filled with coarse-ground coffee. When air is sucked out of that compartment, the coffee granules jam
  
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• We're getting better at making boatloads of graphene

  15-05-2015 16:13
  
  The US department of energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has joined the group of organisations claiming they can fabricate graphene on a large scale.Graphene is something of a wonder material - it's stronger, lighter and more conductive than almost anything else we know. But while it's easy to make in small batches, it's a pain to make in bulk. For years, various groups have claimed that they've cracked a way to do it, and several have been patented. The latest to join the party is Oak Ridge
  
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• Google to begin testing purpose-built self-driving cars on public roads

  15-05-2015 14:18
  
  Small electric two-seater pods will take to public roads – but must be fitted with a removable steering wheel and pedals, and limited to 25mphGoogle’s prototype self-driving car pods will take to public roads for the first time around its headquarters in Mountain View, California this summer.The pods, which resemble a Smart Car crossed with a Nissan Micra, will be fitted with a removable steering wheel, brake and accelerator pedals, and will require a human “safety driver” at all times.
  
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• Airline launches bug bounty contest

  15-05-2015 14:09 via bbc.co.uk
  
  US airline United has launched a reward programme for security experts who find bugs in the software on its websites.
  
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• ​Oracle and Mirantis put Database 12c on OpenStack private clouds

  15-05-2015 14:00 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Integration between Oracle Database, Oracle Solaris and Mirantis OpenStack is designed to make life easier for developers.
  
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• Sega Saturn – how to buy one and what to play

  15-05-2015 13:51
  
  If the 20th anniversary of the Saturn’s fateful US launch has filled you with nostalgia, here’s how to act on itIt was this week 20 years ago that Sega launched its Saturn console in the US, bringing forward the date by several months to beat the original PlayStation to market. Starved of software support and with only a few retailers on board, the ploy failed, and Sony’s machine marched to victory. But the Saturn was a really interesting console, with dozens of great games that still hold
  
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• Ministry of Sound boss attacks major labels for streaming 'short-termism'

  15-05-2015 13:21
  
  Lohan Presencer has criticised Spotify before, but he’s just as angry at Universal Music Group and its rivals for their approach to digital musicMinistry of Sound chief executive Lohan Presencer is no fan of music-streaming service Spotify, but in his latest public speech he reserved more criticism for the major labels that license it.“Ever since the 80s and the beginning of the consolidation of the record industry… the way that the people who run those companies are contracted and remuner
  
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• Belgian privacy watchdog threatens Facebook over user tracking

  15-05-2015 13:12
  
  Belgian data protection agency demands Facebook stops its tracking of users without explicit consent, including through social plugins The Belgian privacy commission has told Facebook to stop tracking the internet activities of people who have not registered with the site or have logged out, after a “staggering” report showed alleged breaches of EU privacy law.
  “Facebook tramples on European and Belgian privacy laws”, the data protection authority said in a statement. “Facebook has sho
  
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• Washington Post mobile website hacked by Syrian Electronic Army

  15-05-2015 13:02
  
  Messages such as ‘the media is always lying’ delivered to visitorsThe Washington Post’s mobile website was brought down on Thursday evening, with the Syrian Mobile Army claiming responsibility for the attack.#SEA hacks @Washingtonpost mobile site in order to deliver a message. #SEA pic.twitter.com/CDX5CKSXRk Continue reading...
  
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• FBI had internal concerns over licence plate readers, documents reveal

  15-05-2015 13:00
  
  Agency deployed mass tracking devices across US that could record up to 1,800 license plates a minute, according to internal documents obtained by the ACLU Continue reading...
  
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• VIDEO: Be a spy master with an Apple Watch

  15-05-2015 12:45 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The game where the player controls a virtual spy in real time using just their Apple Watch
  
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• Reddit launches bullying crackdown

  15-05-2015 12:42 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The site says it will now investigate claims of harassment and will begin banning users guilty of it.
  
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• DevOps: How to get started and how to make it work

  15-05-2015 12:15 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  DevOps could transform the way your organisation delivers software projects but there are some hurdles you'll have to jump along the way.
  
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• Public test for Google robot cars

  15-05-2015 12:07 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Google's purpose-built robot cars are getting the green light to drive on public roads in California.
  
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• What do Candy Crush Saga, Minesweeper and Solitaire have in common?

  15-05-2015 11:47
  
  Addictive King Digital game will come preinstalled on Windows 10, pushing its classic time-wasting predecessors to the curbOffice-worker productivity is likely to take a hit once Windows 10 lands, after Microsoft decided to include Candy Crush Saga alongside the preinstalled classics Minesweeper, Solitaire and Hearts.The freemium match-three game, which propelled British developer King Digital to record heights with users addicted enough to pay to keep playing, will be bundled with Windows 10. C
  
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• Help! I'm accidentally stealing people's identities and I don't know how to stop

  15-05-2015 11:08
  
  I’ve been sent a contract for a house in Virginia I haven’t bought and been mistaken for a Paraguayan engineer. Is it too much to ask for my email back?For the past five years, I’ve been engaged in a very strange relationship, with an unknown number of people all around the world, which opens up the most intimate details of their personal lives to me. I’ve also deleted a child’s reading history, and nicked someone’s music streaming account. But I’m the victim, here: I’ve fallen p
  
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• Is Uber already harming the traditional taxi?

  15-05-2015 10:44 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Are black cabs already under threat?
  
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• Viral Video Chart: Lego Walking Dead, The Simpsons and David Cameron

  15-05-2015 08:09
  
  Watch the prime minster do the spidey strut, a 102-year-old blow out her teeth and the return of National Lampoon’s Griswold family in Vacation Continue reading...
  
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• Australia's STEM education levels are going backwards: Turnbull

  15-05-2015 06:29 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has expressed disappointment in the amount of students taking up STEM education, days after the release of Australia's 2015 Budget, which made no specific details of how the government will be supporting STEM learning.
  
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• Review: Updated: Quickflix

  15-05-2015 04:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Introduction and DesignUpdate: If you can't beat them, join them. After struggling to compete with the arrival of Netflix, Stan and Presto, Quickflix has announced a deal with Presto to replace its current streaming service with Foxtel's offering. It hasn't been confirmed yet and timeframes are to be announced, but the move would offer a massive library boost to Quickflix users, and a massive platform boost to Foxtel. Until the change happens though, the original review is below.Australia has al
  
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• Optus: Netflix speed guarantees are about collaboration

  15-05-2015 03:50 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Optus has said that its proposal to get content providers to pay for bandwidth guarantees is about collaborating with telcos and providing the products that consumers want.
  
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• Candy Crush maker shares plunge 14%

  15-05-2015 03:16 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Shares of the maker of popular mobile game Candy Crush fall as much as over 14% in after hours trading after it warned of weaker profits.
  
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• Pond remodels education with a dose of social

  15-05-2015 02:40 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  It started with a single, ambiguous bullet-point, but Pond is now leading the emerging world of social education platforms.
  
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• Budget 2015: Labor proposes startup funding, axing STEM debts

  15-05-2015 01:58 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Australian Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has pledged to wipe the HECS debts for 100,000 science, engineering, maths, and technology graduates in his reply to the 2015 Budget.
  
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• Vocus sells down Amcom stake in effort to clear TPG blockage

  15-05-2015 01:46 via zdnet.com.feedsportal.com
  
  Vocus Communications has sold its 10 percent stake in rival internet provider Amcom Telecommunications in a move that it hopes will bolster the chances of a planned merger going ahead.
  
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• VIDEO: Making houses earthquake resistant

  15-05-2015 01:10 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The tech to help houses stand up to a major earthquake
  
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• VIDEO: 'Jetmen' fly over Dubai

  15-05-2015 01:09 via bbc.co.uk
  
  BBC Click's LJ Rich looks at some of the best of the week's technology news.
  
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• Reddit announces anti-harassment policy in attempt to curb cyberbullying

  15-05-2015 00:35
  
  The online discussion forum said in a blog post that it is ‘unhappy with harassing behavior’ and plans to review individual cases and possibly block users Continue reading...
  
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