Comcast subscribers will soon be able to buy HBO cable package with Internet access.
HBO, an American premium cable and satellite television network, announced Friday on its website that it will start offering a cable package which includes 10 channels plus Internet access for as low as $50 per month.
The Time Warner-owned company decided to launch the new offering to attract more subscribers. The new package targets those who couldn’t afford HBO. Generally, a monthly HBO subscription is bundled with a pricier package with hundreds of channels. The “Internet Plus” service is almost 50 percent cheaper than the HBO Go package.
Multiple reports, including from the BBC and CNN, are suggesting that Facebook has given users the green light to once again post graphic videos of beheadings to the social network.
The BBC, which originally reported the change, wrote that Facebook "confirmed it now believed its users should be free to watch and condemn such videos."
Facebook had temporarily banned decapitation videos in May, and it appears that the social network lifted that ban after taking a few months to review and decide upon the best policy. The BBC was alerted by a reader when video of a woman being beheaded surfaced on the social network last week. Users pleaded in the comments for Facebook to remove the video, which led the BBC to investigate.
Facebook did not immediately return our request for comment.
The report has sparked controversy among users, including UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who tweeted Tuesday that the content could have a negative impact on those who see it.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Though Apple is sure to dominate the news cycle with the rollout of new iPads on Tuesday, Microsoft didn't want the coinciding launch of its Surface 2 tablet to go uncelebrated. So it went ahead and decided to throw a simultaneous nationwide in-store launch event -- as is now the fashion with high profile hardware launches these days.
Though unlike its Cupertino competitor, Microsoft's event didn't drive droves of people to pull out their wallets when the clock ticked twelve. In fact, nearly no one I talked with was interested in buying the Surface 2 tonight.
For the company on the verge of a CEO changeover and maneuvering the aftermath of its $7.2 billion Nokia acquisition, the launch of the Surface marks a time when Microsoft is looking to stand steady on its feet and tout its strengths. It's also an opportunity to play up the cool factor it hopes its tablet line can embody and exemplify.
Microsoft is reportedly testing prototypes for Internet-connected eyewear similar to Google Glass. The Wall Street Journal's unnamed sources "familiar with the matter" offered no further details about the prototypes but noted the company’s ambition to compete with Google, Samsung, and Apple on devices.
There’s also no indication of how far along the project is at this point but it’s clear Microsoft doesn’t want to be late to the party in case Google Glass actually takes off. Right now, the latter has seen a limited rollout aimed at developers and early adopters with a $1,500 Explorer edition unit. A more consumer and presumably wallet friendly variant could arrive at some point in 2014 but there’s nothing official from Google yet.
This isn't the first time we've heard of Microsoft’s interest in this still-nascent segment. Early Xbox One documentsleaked last year pointed to some form of augmented reality glasses known internally as Project Fortaleza. The company also filed a patent application towards the end of 2012 for a head-mounted system that combines an integrated camera with a transparent display for overlaying information on objects within the user's field of view.
In both cases it seems the devices are not intended to be used throughout the day as you are getting around -- like Google Glass is. The first is probably related to gaming applications, while the one described in the patent is meant to be used at live events like sports games or concerts for things like live stats and real-time translation of speech or text. The company is likely considering all sorts of approaches before moving beyond concept stage.
Blackberry has resumed a phased rollout of its BBM messaging app for Android and Apple devices after September's botched launch.
The free app is now available for download on Google Play, the App Store and selected Samsung App Stores.
But users had to register an email address after downloading the app then wait in line until they were told they could begin using it, Blackberry said.
Last month Blackberry had to delay the launch after the software was leaked.
The company said that "in just seven hours [following the leak], about one million Android users were using the unreleased version of BBM for Android".
ome Apple events—such as the one in September where company introduced its new iPhone 5s and 5c—are focused: They spend a lot of time talking about just a couple of new products. Others are more scattershot, blasting the expectant audience with one new product after another. Apple’s Tuesday event was definitely one of the latter.
The company unveiled a brand new iPad model (the iPad Air), and added a Retina screen and an A7 processor to the iPad mini. It announced an updated line of Retina MacBook Pros while also naming December as the a shipping month for its new Mac Pro (the black cylinder that looks like it belongs on Darth Vader’s desktop). It showed off updated iLife and iWork suites for the Mac, iOS, and iCloud.com. And it announced that the latest version of OS X—Mavericks—would be available immediately after the event, and for free.
iPad Air
Contrary to rumor, there was no iPad 5 at Tuesday’s event. Rather, there’s a completely new iPad model: the iPad Air. As you might guess from the name, it’s significantly thinner than its already-skinny predecessor, while also getting a bit of a speed bump.
IMAGE: APPLEThe iPad Air
The new model is 20 percent thinner than the fourth-generation model, and 0.4 pounds lighter (weighing an even one pound). In addition, while the iPad Air has the same 9.7-inch Retina display as its full-sized predecessor, the bezel around that screen is much smaller: 43 percent thinner than previous generation.
But inside that slimmed-down chassis rests the new 64-bit A7 chip (first seen in the iPhone 5s) and M7 co-processor. Apple says the new processors provide twice the CPU and graphics performance as the previous model, all while retaining a 10-hour battery life. Among the other new features Apple touted include faster 802.11n Wi-Fi with MIMO support; expanded LTE networks; improved FaceTime and iSight cameras; and dual mics for better Siri and audio capture.
Both Wi-Fi and LTE models of iPad Air will start shipping November 1 in silver/white and space gray/black color choices. They’ll cost the same as the iPad models they replace: $499 for 16GB Wi-Fi and $629 for 16GB Wi-Fi plus Cellular, with storage options up to 128GB. The full-size iPad 2 remains in Apple’s lineup at $399 for a 16GB Wi-Fi version.
For those in the market for a new tablet, the resurrected Venue line (once the name for a Dell smartphone) that is currently available includes the Android-based Venue 7 and 8 and the Venue 8 Pro, which runs the new Windows 8.1 and will feature Intel's quad-core Bay Trail Atom processor. As shown above, you can also purchase a stylus for the Venue 8 Pro, which is a $34.99 option.
The Venue 8 Pro starts at $299.99, which seems to be the lowest price for the slew of new 8-inch Windows 8.1 tabletsabout to hit the market.The Venue 7 costs $149.99 for 16GB, while you'll pay an extra $30 for the additional inch of display with the Venue 8. You can also get a 32GB version of the Venue 8 for $199.99.
The Venue 11 Pro is slated for release next month.
That's also true for the XPS 11 and updated XPS 13, but the XPS 15 refresh is available now. (Here is the product page, as it's currently tricky to find on the Dell site.) Keeping the MacBook Pro squarely in its sights, the new XPS 15 offers Intel Haswell processors and runs Windows 8.1, but its big selling point is the super-high-res 3,200 x 1,800 15.6-inch touchscreen.
Of course, you'll pay for the extra pixels. The base XPS 15 is $1,499.99, but its display is a "mere" 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. You'll need to pay $400 more for a configuration with the Quad HD+ display. For $400 more than that ($2,299.99), you get a 512GB solid-state drive.
The Play Store is set to undergo a few changes, and news this afternoon suggests some new media content. While Play Magazines has long been a middle-of-the-road option when compared to similar services on other platforms, Android Police is reporting that it could be changing for the better.
In their ongoing teardown of Play Store APKs, the team over at AP found mention of Google Play News a few months back. While nothing came of it, this recent teardown of Play Store 4.4 reveals several mentions of Google Play Newsstand. This hints at a long-rumored digital news service, much like Play Magazines. If the code is unchanged, we may also get the same service we saw with Play Music All Access.
With All Access, we were treated to a free trial before deciding whether or not to take the plunge and subscribe. It seems that Google Play Newsstand may offer the same kind of free trial. What lefts to be known is whether or not it’s a one-price unlimited news aggregate like All Access is for music.
If it is, news that they could couple a news service with Play Magazines is their saving grace. Of course, which partners they have on-board for any service is what will drive it. As great as All Access is, it can leave users wanting compared to competing services. With the proliferation of information sharing across the web, we’re left to wonder just how Google plans to make this worthwhile to consumers.
Of course, this doesn’t mean it’s ready for prime time, either. We would like to see it come to light with Android 4.4, but we’re not holding out hope just yet. It’s in the code, and obviously ready to launch, but we saw this with Play News months ago, so we’ll wait to hear something official before speculating much more.
While Google’s recently launched Chromecast dongle was compatible within the U.S., global customers weren’t able to make full use of it as the accompanying app wasn’t supported elsewhere. But it has now come to notice that these restrictions might have been lifted by Google, thus allowing customers to download the app outside the U.S. as well. This is very good news for customers who imported a Chromecast dongle to their home region. However, while the app is available everywhere now, the dongle still remains an exclusive in the U.S. But thanks to third party retailers like Amazon, the dongle has reached every corner of the world.
With the availability of the app extended to other regions, Google could be possibly planning to launch the Chromecast dongle on a wider scale as well. If you’re new to the idea of Chromecast, it is basically a media streaming device which connects to a television through HDMI. Users can stream content using the Chrome browser on their computers or dedicated apps on their mobile devices (Android or iOS).
Security experts have long suspected that iMessage is not as safe and impenetrable as Appleclaims. But a group of researchers says it has proof that Apple can indeed eavesdrop on your iMessages — and the NSA can, too.
The researchers, through a careful and thorough study of the iMessage protocol, conclude that Apple has the ability to intercept and decrypt iMessages. Even though the messages are encrypted end-to-end, Apple manages the keys needed to encrypt and exchange the messages, the researchers found.
"Yes, there is end-to-end encryption as Apple claims, but the weakness is in the key infrastructure as it is controlled by Apple: They can change a key anytime they want, thus read the content of our iMessages," reads a blog post published on Thursday by Cyril Cattiaux, an iOS jailbreak hacker known as "pod2g," and "gg" (who doesn't want to reveal his full name), two security researchers who exclusively shared the post in advance with Mashable.
UPDATE — Oct. 18, 10:33 a.m.: Apple says the issue uncovered by the security researchers is just theoretical, and that the iMessage system is not designed to allow Apple to eavesdrop on its users' communications.
"iMessage is not architected to allow Apple to read messages," says Trudy Muller, an Apple spokesperson. "The research discussed theoretical vulnerabilities that would require Apple to re-engineer the iMessage system to exploit it, and Apple has no plans or intentions to do so."
The researchers discovered that when an Apple device sends an iMessage to another device, instead of exchanging the encryption keys directly — as other encryption apps do — the keys are managed by a directory called "ESS server.
highlights the recent purchase of Onavo, a small Israeli mobile app maker, snapped up by none other than social giant Facebook. Onavo, known for its line of mobile apps, has likely been favored for one popular creation in particular. The app directs its user's web traffic through Onavo's encrypted proxy servers, where the files that make up visited sites get compressed and optimized, then sent to the user's phone in a much more efficient, smaller data package.
The price tag for Onavo? Between $150 - $200 Million, according to VentureBeat. So what's the big deal here?
Most analysts appear to be reviewing the data compression app on its face value; after all, an app that can send the same websites to your mobile device while taking a smaller bite out of your expensive data plan deserves attention. But is Facebook's Onavo buy all about helping those with tight monthly mobile budgets?
There may be far-sighted moves going on in this purchase, making it an absolute steal for Facebook, and positioning CEO Zuckerberg to grab an insight into an enormous chunk of the Internet's traffic. Here's how:
Facebook could choose to integrate Onavo's technology into a mobile web search engine and/or browsing interface, offering its users a faster web experience and longer data plan life. The price? The traffic for your mobile browsing has to go through Facebook's servers.
With a larger share of Internet traffic being handled through mobile devices each passing day and over a billion Facebook users worldwide, there's an instant global audience for any process that could speed traffic up and save expensive data. As VentureBeat reminds, us, however, at what privacy-related price?
If you are a Windows 8 user, then you should have no problem with the new version of Windows. 8.1 is the first update since Windows 8 hit the market, and boasts a ton of app updates and some other interesting features. First, you'll want to head over to Microsoft and find the update. Or if you aren't a Windows user or still rocking XP, then do absolutely nothing.
If you can't manage to instal new software yourself, head over to your local Staples where their EasyTech employees will install Windows 8.1 for a small fee. Related, Staples is already advertising their incoming stock of Surface Pro tablets, starting at $999 for the 128GB model in-store and online October 22nd. If you already have your Surface device, or a laptop running Windows 8, then installing 8.1 should be just a click of the button. Of course, then you may have to reinstall your apps if you had the 8.1 preview, or reinstall 8, then install 8.1. Hence why some people are content to pay a fee to figure it out.
The Mail, Calendar, Xbox Music, Movie Moments, SmartGlass and Fresh Paint apps have gotten overhauled. The Fresh Paint update includes the ability to print your painting to an actual canvas. There are many more app upgrades, including a place in the Microsoft store just for Windows 8.1 specific apps.
Windows 8 was a very controversial product for Microsoft, as they tried to appease both the tablet and the PC market with a hybrid operating system. While it works fantastic on tablets, it can be a little heavy on the PC. Without the touch, the apps are basically useless and all you need is the desktop. Recognizing this ridiculous inability to adapt to the future of computing and responsive operating systems, users should be happy by the reappearance of the start button in the lower left hand corner. Because it was so difficult to pull up the start menu with a click.
Comcast subscribers will soon be able to buy HBO cable package with Internet access.
IMAGE: APPLE
