Tech news

Amazon on Tuesday introduced new functionality that enables its Alexa virtual assistant to send and receive SMS messages on devices running Android 5.0 or higher. Carrier charges may apply. Alexa, the software that powers the Echo line of smart speakers, can play and send personalized messages from contacts for users who have set up voice profiles. Users will hear a chime when they have a new SMS message, and see a yellow light ring on their Echo device. They'll also be notified in the Alexa App. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2Fzb9km

Mycroft AI earlier this week announced that its Mark II smart speaker achieved full funding on Kickstarter in just 6.5 hours. As of Wednesday, pledges reached more than three times its $50K goal -- with 23 days remaining in the campaign. The Mark II is positioned as an open source alternative to the dominant Amazon Echo line of smart speakers and its main challenger, the Google Home device. One of the main draws of the Mark II is its emphasis on maintaining user privacy, an increasing concern as the market for smart home devices has exploded. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2Fy7Fim

Alphabet has launched Chronicle, a new cybersecurity venture, following two years of development at the Alphabet X research lab. Chronicle will include VirusTotal, a Google-owned cybersecurity and intelligence platform and malware intelligence service. The idea behind Chronicle stems from the fact that many companies receive tens of thousands of security alerts per day, said the new firm's CEO Stephen Gillett. Typically, security teams can filter those alerts to a few thousand, and at best, review several hundred at a time. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2nneZ9V

I am not remotely religious, but recently it has become harder and harder to ignore that things have become incredibly ironic of late -- as if a divine being with control over the world decided to prank us. For example, take President Trump. During the campaign, everything he made fun of others for doing -- including drinking water badly, playing too much golf, slacking off and slurring words -- he has done himself, in glorious living color. Also, he appears to be on a path that eventually will get him locked up. Given his "lock her up" theatrics at rallies, that would be incredibly ironic. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2GqvR7k

In the data science field today, "the big problem is that the industry does not have official data science training," observed Vivian Zhang, CTO of the NYC Data Science Academy. "Their majors don't teach them anything in the industry. We've become a natural transition funnel to bring those people in. Companies know that data science is important, but they don't know how to do it. So we help to train and select and qualify the candidates. The field changes so fast, and there are changes happening every day." from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2BwgbvN

SolydXK is a Debian-based Linux distribution that comes with a choice of the Xfce or KDE desktop. The latest edition of SolydXK, released this month, provides a state-of-the-art Linux platform. Since I first reviewed the SoldXK distro back in 2013, it has grown into a reputable Linux offering built around two popular computing options. Those two desktop options drew me to the Linux OS years ago. Both have their strong points. Xfce is one of the older workhorse desktops and is a choice I often make when looking at new distro releases. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2DHTavS

Apple has unveiled new features that will become available when iOS 11.3 is released this spring. The company released the developer preview to members of the iOS Developer Program, and a public beta of the update is expected shortly. The update will provide new ways to experience augmented reality on the iPhone and iPad, offer new Animoji on the iPhone X, and give users a consolidated view of their health records in the Health app. A beta version of ARKit -- Apple's AR dev platform for iOS mobile devices -- also has been released to devs. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2ndiT4d

Intel appears to have encountered some daylight in its struggle to fix performance issues related to the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities. The company has identified the root cause on its older Broadwell and Haswell platforms, according to Navin Shenoy, general manager of Intel's data center group. Intel has begun rolling out a solution to its industry partners for testing, Shenoy said, but the company urged OEMs, cloud providers, software vendors, end users and others to stop deployment of existing versions. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2DEpz6z

HomePod, Apple's long-awaited entry into the torrid smart speaker market, will be available Feb. 9, the company announced Tuesday. The HomePod, which is not quite 7 inches tall, will be offered in white and space gray. It can be pre-ordered at Apple's website for $349 starting Friday. Unlike other smart speakers, which support a variety of music services out of the gate, HomePod will support the Apple Music subscription service exclusively. Although it has a catalog of 45 million songs, that limitation could curb initial sales of the product. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2BrNzUf

Quest Software on Monday announced a series of updates to its Toad open source database software applications, including new versions of its Toad Edge, Toad Data Point and Toad Intelligence Central products. After launching the first version of Toad Edge last summer, the company began seeing an uptick in downloads of freeware that supported MySQL on its Toad World community site. It also received requests to support MariaDB and Postgres, according to Julie Hyman, senior product manager at Quest. The company began supporting MariaDB last month. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2DA1b5W

There was some bad news for owners of the latest iPhone models on Monday. Batteries in the iPhone 8 and X may have shorter life spans than those in prior models. Typically, phone batteries begin losing their effectiveness after 500 recharges. Up to that point, they can hold up to 80 percent of their charge. After that, it's usually downhill for the battery. After only four months, iPhone 8 Plus owner Adrian Kingsley-Hughes found that his phone was racking up recharge cycles at an alarming rate. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2F6xTZ9

Sometimes I wonder if boards think CEO is a throwaway job. Considering that boards used to have a ton of ex-CEOs on them, and given the historic bad choices that have badly hurt or destroyed companies, you'd think someone would have developed a decent process to pick a good CEO. You'd think that firms at least would learn from their mistakes. Intel now seems to have the second bad CEO since founder Andy Grove left the company, and I can't imagine what the heck Intel Chairman Andy Bryant was thinking in putting Brian Krzanich at the helm. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2n2G8P1

Nintendo, riding high off of record-shattering sales of its Switch gaming console, on Wednesday announced an out-of-the-box addition to the family, Nintendo Labo. With its Toy-Con creations, Labo could rewrite the script on the way gaming companies expand their audience to the children's market. Nintendo Labo, a do-it-yourself cardboard kit, offers five different Toy-Con projects kids can use to learn and interact with the Switch. The Nintendo Labo Variety Kit includes a Toy-Con Piano, Toy-Con Fishing Rod, Toy-Con House, Toy-Con Motorbike and two Toy-Con RC Cars. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2rlBXTb

A bug in the software used by Google Cast devices such as Chromecast and Home can slow down or crash WiFi networks. The problem -- initially believed to be isolated to a particular router model made by TP-Link -- appears to affect models made by other manufacturers, including Asus, Linksys, Netgear and Synology. Complaints on a Google user forum brought the problem to light earlier this week. "Initial setup was fine, everything was working ..., but then my WiFi network went down," wrote forum user Alastair Hadden. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2mMJFQO

IBM and A.P. Moeller-Maersk on Tuesday announced a joint venture to create a platform based on Hyperledger Fabric 1.0, with the goal of creating huge efficiencies in the global supply chain. IBM and Maersk have teamed up to provide a more efficient method of standardizing shipping logistics using blockchain technology. "Adoption of Hyperledger Fabric by Maersk and ... IBM has the potential to remake the shipping sector landscape and its use of information technology," said Brian Behlendorf, executive director of The Linux Foundation. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2mSsSwo

In recent years, CES largely has usurped the Detroit Auto Show as the "first auto show of the year." Automakers have used the annual Las Vegas shindig to highlight the latest technology in vehicles. So perhaps it was fitting that this year the NAIAS looked a bit more like a technology trade show than a car show. In addition to showcasing vehicles that soon could be on road and futuristic concepts cars, this year's auto show featured sessions on artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicle systems, vehicle security and mobility. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2DFXMPR

Roader's Time Machine Camera is designed to hang around your neck and, for up to seven hours of battery life, constantly capture what it sees. When you hit a button, it saves the last 10 seconds of footage and the following 10. You can send a low-resolution version of that 20-second clip to your smartphone immediately, and if you'd like to save a high-resolution version, you can grab that too. It could be a great solution for people who always find themselves just missing an important or interesting moment occurring right in front of them. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2FHUD2z

OK, I hate CES. It really is a horrible event, largely because of the timing -- and particularly this year, Las Vegas making it a nightmare to get around -- but man did they have cool stuff at the show. Among presentation highlights were Nvidia showcasing a whopping 65-inch gaming monitor TV. Lowlights included Intel showcasing a human-carrying drone as something out of a horror movie. Of course, the product I had the most lust for was a $54K racing simulator being used to showcase the new HTC Vive Pro. The Vive Pro is damn good too. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2DlmWpd

Major tech companies, including Intel, Microsoft and Google, scrambled to calm the mood this week after a large number of computer users reported performance problems linked to security updates for the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities. A firestorm of criticism has erupted over the response to the chip flaws, which researchers at Google's Project Zero discovered in 2016. Months passed before the problems were disclosed to the public. Further, the security patches released in recent days have been blamed for performance slowdowns. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2ASwZg8

Nintendo on Thursday revealed its upcoming Switch games for 2018 via a Nintendo Direct Mini video. Riding high after its major comeback last year, Nintendo announced a number of game titles that will be released in the first half of the year, including Mario Tennis Aces , Dark Souls , Donkey Kong Country and Kirby Star Allies , as well as a new mode for the hit Super Mario Odyssey . he Switch, which debuted worldwide early last year, has been Nintendo's fastest-selling console system of all time. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2Dlw2zS

GeckoLinux offers both seasoned users and new distro adopters an easy way to try an openSuse-based spin loaded with features and an ample inventory of the leading Linux desktops. The developer released a major update of GeckoLinux earlier this week. I enjoyed testing the beta version last fall, and I was even more pleased with the added embellishments packed into this final version. Among the attractions of GeckoLinux are its innovations within the openSuse community. These include non-free packages not found in openSuse's default repositories. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2DkG7Nf

Since launching the original Echo smart speaker in 2014, Amazon has expanded its line of Alexa voice-activated devices to reach a dominant position in the marketplace. Realizing it has a bit of catching up to do and possibly may need to redefine the ground rules, Google this week put the consumer electronics world on notice that this no longer is a one-horse race. Google threw down its gauntlet at CES 2018 in Las Vegas. Its plans include not only expanding its Home smart speaker line, but also changing the entire conversation about the appliances and electronics that can form the basis of a smart home ecosystem. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2APeTeN

Apple has responded to an open letter from investors who called for the company to address the negative impact of the iPhone on children and teens. Jana Partners and the California State Teachers' Retirement System have urged Apple to give parents more choices and tools to help ensure that young consumers are using the company's products "in an optimal manner." There is a growing body of evidence that frequent use of Apple's products by young people could be having unintentional negative consequences, notes the letter. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2DfShY4

As much as I love to poke at the inner workings of my computer, I'll admit that until recently, I didn't give much thought to which version of the Linux kernel my desktop system was running. For most desktop users, this isn't odd. Compatibility of kernel modules is often critical for servers and production systems, but day-to-day desktop usage doesn't change much from update to update. Two things motivated me to scrutinize the kernel version more closely: considerations for specific hardware; and a very scary bug recently identified in Ubuntu. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2CTuOy3

Artificial intelligence dominated CES 2018 in a big way on Monday with major announcements on connected car advances and home system technologies. Google all but declared war on Amazon with its Google Assistant voice technology making its presence known at nearly every turn on the showroom floor. LG rolled out a new lineup of high-end AI OLED and Super UHD televisions infused with its ThinQ AI technology and Alpha 9 technology, combining cinema-quality home entertainment with the ability to voice control the entire home. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2ml4R0E

A recent article on the institutionalized sexual exploitation going on in tech companies is eye-opening. It comes on top of the realization that social media companies like Facebook are destroying the U.S., and former Facebook executives have been dissociating themselves from the company. Further, news recently broke of what initially was reported to be an Intel flaw, but turned out to be a bigger industry-wide problem. Behind it was the report that Intel's CEO dumped every share he legally could. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2mdrx2Y

A renowned Linux innovator has developed a new mobile OS, called "Project eelo," in an effort to provide a level of data privacy that traditional Android and iOS devices fail to offer. Eelo will allow mobile phone users to regain control over their personal information at a price they can afford, said Gael Duval, who created Mandrake Linux back in 1998. Apple has become too expensive, too boring and is "going crazy with its products," he said, while Google has "become too big" and is capturing too much information about what we do. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2qubKl1

"Girls in Tech is a global nonprofit. We focus on engagement, education, and empowerment of girls and women in technology," said Ishita Mandhan, a software engineer at LSQ and program director for Girls in Tech. "It's important to provide the support network to help women to develop their careers in STEM fields. Girls in Tech's Global Classroom "teaches girls and women around the world. It's a free-for-all course where you can learn to build a website, and it takes a holistic approach," she said. "It's 100 percent virtual and 100 percent free." from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2EZAcOj

Nearly a dozen cybersecurity researchers this week reported two potentially serious exploits of vulnerabilities that exist in most modern processors. Three teams -- Jann Horn at Google Project Zero; a team at Cyberus Technology; and a team at Graz University of Technology -- independently discovered and reported the Meltdown exploit. Two teams independently discovered and reported the Spectre exploit. The Meltdown and Spectre exploits leave no traces in traditional log files, but they could used to capture sensitive information on devices. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2lY6wsM

Roku on Wednesday announced new software and a licensing agreement for OEMs to develop smart speakers, soundbars and multiroom audio systems that will allow customers to control their home entertainment devices with simple voice commands. The company also introduced Roku Entertainment Assistant, a new smart speaker technology that allows customers to use voice commands on supported Roku-enabled devices. Roku has entered an agreement with TCL, its main technology partner, to roll out the first device under the new home entertainment partnership. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2Ars6dT

A design flaw in all Intel chips produced in the last decade is responsible for a vulnerability that puts Linux, Windows and macOS-powered computers at risk, according to multiple press reports. The flaw reportedly is in the kernel that controls the chip performance, allowing commonly used programs to access the contents and layout of a computer's protected kernel memory areas. The Linux kernel community, Microsoft and Apple have been working on patches to their operating systems to prevent the vulnerability. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2lS8b2j

Harvard scientists on Monday unveiled a metalens that has the potential to shrink the size of any device that uses a camera while at the same time improving performance. While traditional lenses are made from glass, metalenses use a flat surface peppered with nanostructures to focus light. One problem with metalenses has been their inability to focus the full spectrum of light. That's not the case any more, however, as the Harvard team developed a metalens that can focus the entire visible spectrum of light -- including white light. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2lSE9eK

Guesswork is often involved in predicting the "next big thing" -- but with CES just a week away, the future is almost now. The annual international trade show, as well as other industry events following one after another means there will be no shortage of product announcements, technology unveilings, and proclamations about the tech of the future. However, the truth is that for every hit product or trend in years past -- such as the DVD player, iPhone or streaming media -- there have been plenty of misses. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2lIGdWA

There are three groups of people involved in sexual harassment: the victims; the perpetrators/predators; and those who cover up or enable the perpetrators. Historically, we have put more pressure on the victims -- either forcing them to shut up to protect their jobs and careers, or forcing them out of their jobs, which was totally wrong. There's been a recent move to focus on the perpetrators, in some cases ending their businesses, often with lost jobs for people who had nothing to do with the harassment and might even have been victims of it. from TechNewsWorld http://ift.tt/2zYFt4R