In the fiercely competitive world of Internet services, Google constantly seeks ways to speed up the delivery of content to its hundreds of millions of users. At the O’Reilly Velocity conference , two Google engineers presented some of their favorite tips and research for expediting delivery of web pages and applications. Such knowledge could be handy for other web developers looking to make their products more responsive. Google developer advocate and for mobile web developers today: JavaScript performance. Web-based JavaScript applications can suffer from performance issues, especially on mobile clients, because JavaScript parsing engines use garbage collection (GC) to manage memory. “You shouldn’t rely on garbage collectors,” McAnlis told the audience of web developers.
The chips in the new consoles likely will be upgraded every two to three years, much like in past consoles, analysts said.
Although production of Intel’s next-generation Broadwell chip won’t begin until the first quarter of 2014, PCs using the chip won’t appear until the second half of 2014, Intel disclosed Friday. in the 14-nm process that the Broadwell chip uses had delayed its expected manufacturing date from the fourth quarter of 2013 until the first quarter of 2014. PCs based on a chip in full production usually ship a quarter or two later. Until now, however, Intel had never clarified the date. Intel chief executive Brian Krzanich didn’t discuss Intel’s launch plans in what he actually said during the earnings call. “We continue to make progress with the industry’s first 14 -nanometer manufacturing process and our second-generation 3D transistors,” Krzanich said. “Broadwell, the first product on 14 nanometers, is up and running as we demonstrated at the Intel Developer Forum last month. While we are comfortable with where we are at with yields, from a timing standpoint, we are about a quarter behind our projections. As a result, we are now planning to begin production in the first quarter of next year.”
Fresh from its acquisition of Sprint, Japan’s SoftBank plans to take control of Brightstar, the dominant distributor of mobile devices in the U.S. and a global player serving more than 200 carriers. SoftBank has reached a definitive agreement to invest $1.26 billion in Brightstar and immediately gain a 57 percent stake in the company. It will have the option later to raise its ownership to 70 percent. The cash transaction, which SoftBank announced on Friday, will be carried out through a U.S. subsidiary. a partnership with singer and actress Jennifer Lopez and a major Verizon Wireless retailer to set up Viva Movil, a chain of Latino-focused Verizon stores across the U.S. The company calls itself the world’s largest mobile device distributor, with annual revenue above $7 billion and operations in more than 50 countries. The SoftBank deal values Brightstar at $2.2 billion, including its outstanding debt.
Samsung is taking preorders on an updated version of its Ativ Book 9 Plus Ultrabook, which features a Core i7 processor and a touchscreen display with a native resolution of 3200 by 1800 pixels. The company expects to ship the new notebook in early November. a fourth-generation Core processor (code-named Haswell). Samsung, on the other hand, hasn’t announced any plans to match the lavish tech-support and customer-service offerings Toshiba gives to Kirabook buyers. , is outfitted with an Intel Core i5-4200U and has half as much memory and storage. But the new model will also command a higher price tag: $1799, versus $1399 for the current machine. The rest of the new laptop’s specifications are very similar to those of the earlier model, including its 0.54-inch thickness and 3.06-pound weight. The new Plus will have an 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi adapter, gigabit wired ethernet (using a dongle), Micro HDMI-out, two USB 3.0 ports, an integrated 720p webcam, and a multiformat memory card reader. Samsung says the new Ultrabook’s fully charged battery will deliver up to 7.5 hours of productivity.
The alpha for Double Fine’s Spacebase DF-9 has arrived on Steam--$25 gets you in the door.
Microsoft announced Friday that Xbox Live Gold members will continue receiving two free games per month indefinitely, as its Games with Gold promotion is now a permanent feature.
With in-home streaming technology, Nvidia wants to give PC gamers the freedom to leave their computing caves. Dubbed . The idea is that users could set up a powerful gaming PC somewhere in the house, and then use Wi-Fi to stream those games to handheld devices and televisions. Nvidia first launched in-home streaming with its Shield Android gaming handheld in July, but the feature was advertised as a beta, with limited game support. On October 28, Nvidia will launch GameStream and presumably drop the beta tag. More than 50 top PC games will be supported at launch, and certain Wi-Fi routers will be labeled “GameStream Ready.” Nvidia says it will also improve navigation and controls, and promises low-latency gaming at 60 frames per second.
Traditional electric-car batteries that are bulky may soon be a thing of the past.
Amazon Web Services has added the option to use its Elastic Transcoder for audio-only conversions.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has begun to send more than 58,000 refund checks to consumers who lost money to Green Millionaire, a company that promised a free book explaining how to power cars and homes at no cost, but then billed customers for an online magazine they never ordered. . The amount recovered represents about 54 percent of consumers’ estimated loss in the case, the agency said. Victims of the operation will receive an average of $33.88 from the FTC, based on individual loss. People receiving checks from the FTC should cash them within 60 days, the FTC said. against the San Francisco-based operation in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in April 2012.
Just in time for the , Microsoft released its own remote desktop client for Android and iOS devices. The free download lets anyone who’s enabled remote desktop functionality on their Windows PC (Pro versions only) connect to their desktop from afar. That’s the theory, anyway. In my hands-on time with the app on a Nexus 7 and a Nexus 4, I concluded that most users needing remote desktop access are better off with simpler third-party options. To use remote desktop, you must configure the settings in your Control Panel to allow remote connections. Microsoft has a straightforward tutorial on . Once that’s done, you can find the Android and iOS apps on . Both apps work on either smartphones or tablets.
Here's a second dose of early Halloween fright, with 13 scary movies streaming on Netflix.
SkyDrive sinks its tentacles , and in many respects, that's a good thing. Newfound features include system-level SkyDrive integration with the Windows File Explorer, a modern-style file picker, app syncing, and the ability to save your files and photos straight to the cloud for any-PC-anywhere computing capabilities. So far, so great, right? But it's not all roses: If you choose to save your files locally, rather than to the cloud, SkyDrive for Windows 8.1 strips out a feature, making it harder to snag files from afar in a pinch. The "Fetch" feature in the SkyDrive desktop program allows you to remotely access any locally stored files on your PC, assuming you set up the feature first. It works great for those "Oh no!" moments—especially if you don't want to clog your SkyDrive with every document and presentation you've ever created. Fetch is gone in Windows 8.1.
Samsung's new $150 set-top device will turn any dumb TV smart, but there's a lot of better options out there.
I'm not exactly sure when or why it happened, but somewhere along the way, my System Tray volume icon disappeared. At one point, it was right there, just waiting to be clicked. Now, the System Tray shows only my network, battery, and Action Center indicators. (Just to clarify, I'm using Windows 8, but referring to Desktop mode. The same issue could apply to Windows 7.) Now, to find volume, I have to first click the little System Tray arrow, which reveals all the "overflow" icons, then search for volume amidst nearly a dozen others. Hassle! Fortunately, this is an easy fix:
Apple is warning customers that solid-state drives in some MacBook Airs are failing and is offering free replacements. The company said that 64GB and 128GB SSDs were failing in MacBook Air laptops sold between June 2012 and June 2013. The drives will be replaced free, the company about the SSD recall. The laptops involved are the previous generation of MacBook Airs, which ran on Intel Ivy Bridge processors. The failure affects users in all countries where MacBook Airs were sold. Users can visit an Apple Store, an authorized reseller or contact the company to replace the SSDs. Users can determine if their drives are affected through at the Mac App Store. Users can click on Updates at the Mac App Store and choose “MacBook Air Flash Storage Firmware Update 1.1,” which will check the drive.
Belgian telecommunications group Belgacom found unauthorized changes made to a router at its BICS subsidiary, which provides wholesale communication services to hundreds of operators worldwide. The changes to the router’s software were discovered during a security review of the company’s systems launched by Belgacom in September following an intrusion into its corporate network. “These thorough screenings have divulged some irregularities on a router at BICS, the daughter company of Belgacom and a provider of international carrier services,” a BICS spokeswoman said Friday via email. An investigation found changes to the router software that most likely resulted from the intrusion reported in September, she said. The spokeswoman declined to say if the affected equipment was routing customer traffic or what the identified changes did.
, which gives you free triple-A games and discounts on Nvidia’s Shield gaming handheld when you buy GeForce-brand graphics cards. of the hardware you buy, however. . , or its older GTX 660 and 660 Ti cousins, receive Splinter Cell and Assassin’s Creed along with a $50 Shield voucher.
One year after U.S. politicians labeled it an espionage threat, China’s Huawei Technologies continues to face security concerns—but this time, those might not be a factor as the company sells to a market rattled by the Edward Snowden leaks of U.S. classified surveillance programs. On Friday, the Chinese networking equipment supplier said in a report that Huawei had been free of influence from government groups wanting access to its technology. “We can confirm that we have never been asked to provide access to our technology, or provide any data or information on any citizen or organization to any Government, or their agencies,” Huawei Deputy Chairman Ken Hu said in the . Just a year ago, Huawei made similar statements to U.S. politicians concerned with the company’s to the Chinese government. Although Huawei denied any links, a U.S. congressional committee disagreed, and feared that the company’s equipment could be secretly used for espionage.
Sharp says it will start production of high-def smartphone screens this year.
YouTube’s presence on mobile devices has exploded in the past couple of years, Google said on Thursday. In 2011, just 6 percent of traffic for the Google-owned video service came from mobile devices, but the figure is now 41 percent, CEO Larry Page said on . The trend represents “great progress,” Page said on the call. Google and other online firms are all trying to boost the advertising dollars they get from mobile devices, as PC sales decline and people spend more time looking at smaller screens. “We are closing in on our goal of a beautiful, simple and intuitive experience regardless of your device,” Page said in Google’s earnings .
D'oh!
in San Francisco. While the Gaming Insiders organization has been hosting private dinners and other events for four years, this is the first time they’ve invited members (as well as media riffraff) to a day-long conference to discuss the future of the games industry.. The day was devoted to presentations from noteworthy members of the industry, including Ken Levine, John Riccietello and Jenova Chen. The lion’s share of the discussion was about metrics and marketing, but beneath the biz-speak there was a common theme running through the talks: games have to grow up if they hope to thrive. , and that’s inspiring some of the biggest names in the biz to talk a big game about giving the industry a much-needed kick in the pants. Like most business conferences, the Summit was dominated by PowerPoint presentations. Brendan Iribe, CEO of Oculus VR, lingered on one particular slide during his 20-minute talk: a comparison shot of Quake, which came out in 1996, and a dark, post-apocalyptic first-person shooter that’s so generic as to be unrecognizable. It could be Modern Warfare 3; it could be Metro: Last Light.
Readings that vary by 20-plus degrees make the iPhone less useful than a $15 compass.
Finally: to the cutting edge of Windows. Going all-out on a top-of-the-line gaming rig is probably a rash idea at this point, since the next generation of consoles is about to kick off a frenzy of game development that will push the boundaries of gaming hardware. Instead, we set out to build a totally new gaming rig running Windows 8.1 for a cool grand—a solid system that would please all but the most demanding PC gamers. Of course, even with a $1000 budget, the cost of the operating system itself must be considered. Snagging an OEM copy of Windows 8 (which can be upgraded to Windows 8.1 for free) costs about $130, so 13 percent of our budget is gone from the start, leaving us with only $870 to spend on hardware. Building a gaming PC from scratch with less than $880 to spend requires some serious concessions. (Note: Prices for the parts mentioned can vary depending on where and when you shop.) First of all, a fairly powerful—and pricey—graphics card is a must for handling all of the latest games with playable frame rates at a 1080p resolution.
that make Microsoft’s finger-friendly, Live-Tile-spattered vision of the future more appealing—or at least less annoying—than ever before. But as helpful as those tweaks to Windows 8’s modern interface are, they won’t matter a lick to devout desktop diehards, who are no doubt muttering something about lipstick and pigs this very second. lovers. Windows 8.1 packs some new settings that make it a snap to spend the majority of your time in the traditional desktop. With a few more tweaks and an extra program or two, you’ll be able to shun the modern UI almost completely, while still basking in the glow of Windows 8’s faster boot times, overhauled Task Manager, and other under-the-hood improvements. Desktop nirvana, here we come, step by glorious step.
Shapeways churns out everything from designer gowns to iPhone cases, using nothing but a printer and some nylon powder.
Bei Ego-Shootern bleibt kein Stein auf dem anderen und kein Kopf ohne Einschusswunde. Um die Sauerei nach solchen Szenen kümmert man sich in «Viscera Cleanup» in der Rolle des Abwarts.
Kampf gegen Raubkopien: Isohunt, eines der bekanntesten Bittorrent-Portale im Netz macht dicht. Der Betreiber muss der Filmindustrie eine Busse von 110 Millionen Dollar abdrücken.
Das kommende Flaggschiff Nexus 5 drängt an die Öffentlichkeit. Fast im Tagesrhythmus tauchen Bilder oder Videos des heiss erwarteten Geräts auf. Der neuste Leak kommt von Google selber.
Es wird grösser als das Pentagon und teurer als das World Trade Center. Der Stadtrat von Cupertino hat den Bau des neuen Apple-Hauptquartiers bewilligt.
Die US-amerikanische Start-up-Firma Anki hat autonom agierende Spielzeugautos für iPhone-Besitzer entwickelt. Schon am 23. Oktober sollen die Flitzer erhältlich sein.
Ab sofort steht das neue Microsoft-Betriebssystem Windows 8.1 zum Download bereit. Rechtzeitig zum Start liefert auch Facebook eine eigene App fürs Kachel-System.
Neue Konsolen, aber keine Krachergames, ein gesättigter Markt und Smartphones: Analysten sehen die Gefahr eines Konsolencrashs aufziehen. Die Rettung könnte aus China kommen.
Wir sind die schnellsten Surfer in Europa: Mit durchschnittlich 11 Mbit/s hängen wir England, Holland und Schweden ab. Weltweit am meisten Tempo hat man in Hongkong.
Wer sich über das 500-Franken-Preisschild der PS4 aufregt, sollte einen Blick nach Südamerika werfen. Brasilianer blättern über das Dreifache hin. Sony steht mit horrenden Preisen nicht allein da.
«Metal Gear Solid»-Erfinder Hideo Kojima will mit erotischen Gameheldinnen zum Cosplay inspirieren. Für «Metal Gear Solid 5» kündigte er per Twitter die Sniperheldin Quiet an.
Social-Media, Unterhaltungs- und Lifestyle-News: Der Blinkfeed verwandelt den Homescreen neuer HTC-Handys in einen Fluss aus Informationen. Neu ist auch 20 Minuten vertreten.
Beiträge von Minderjährigen waren bis anhin nur begrenzt sichtbar. Jetzt kippt das Online-Netzwerk diese Begrenzung und lässt auch 13- bis 17-Jährige öffentlich Inhalte teilen.
Schweizer Ingenieure haben den berühmtesten Berg der Schweiz mit Drohnen abgeflogen. Vermessen wurde dafür eine Fläche so gross wie die Stadt Frauenfeld.
Die Gerüchte um ein Amazon-Handy reissen nicht ab: Der weltweit grösste Online-Händler bastelt angeblich mit HTC an einem Gerät, das Apple und Google die Stirn bieten soll.