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Sony’s Ultra 4K Streaming Service Launching On April 4; Titles Priced At $30

Janko Roettgers reports for Variety: Sony is launching its 4K movie streaming service called Ultra next month: Consumers will be able to buy movies from the service, and stream to supported Sony 4K TV sets, starting April 4. The new service will offer 4K HDR movies to stream, including extras that have previously been able only on physical discs. Ultra ties into UltraViolet, the cloud locker service backed by Sony. Consumers will be able to upgrade SD and HD quality movies from their UltraViolet cloud locker for $12 to $15, respectively. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Sony’s Ultra 4K Streaming Service Launching On April 4; Titles Priced At $30

AT&T boosts data caps for home Internet and steps up enforcement

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson. (credit: AT&T) AT&T today announced that it will increase its data caps—and expand enforcement—on home Internet service. As a result, more customers will have to pay $10 overage charges for each 50GB they use beyond their monthly limit, similar to Comcast’s data cap system. AT&T will also let customers upgrade to unlimited data for an extra $30 a month. This is only necessary for Internet-only customers. People who purchase both AT&T Internet and TV in a bundle will get unlimited home Internet data at no extra charge. That applies to bundles with either DirecTV satellite or AT&T’s wireline U-verse TV system. Previously, AT&T enforced a 150GB monthly cap on its DSL network. On May 23, AT&T will expand enforcement of caps to U-verse Internet service, which brings fiber closer to the home to boost speeds, and to “Gigapower,” its all-fiber service. Read 9 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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AT&T boosts data caps for home Internet and steps up enforcement

ISIS Damage to Ancient City of Palmyra Is ‘Enormous’

Late last week, Islamic State militants were routed from the historic city of Palmyra, a UN World Heritage site. A preliminary investigation of the ancient ruins suggests that the damage is not as bad as feared, and that a significant portion of the relics could be restored quickly. Read more…

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ISIS Damage to Ancient City of Palmyra Is ‘Enormous’

Name-your-price hotel rooms

Add / Remove Hotels are often left with unfilled rooms, which is why we have seen websites offering to cancel and rebook rooms for customers, and make the most of fluctuating room prices. Polish startup Findbed reverses the booking process by enabling customers to name their ideal price, leaving the hoteliers to decide whether or not to accept their offers. We have already seen taxi and private jet services use the ‘name-your-price’ business model. Now, FindBed enables customers to book a room at a rate of their choice. To begin, customers declare their desired price and the platform sends out the offer to all appropriate venues. Then, the manager of the hotel has three hours to decide whether or not to accept the offer. Finally, the customer is sent a list of all the places that will offer a room at that price and the user chooses their favorite. What other industries could integrate this model? Website: www.findbed.pl Contact: rafal@findbed.pl The post Name-your-price hotel rooms appeared first on Springwise .

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Name-your-price hotel rooms

A Virus Has Forced an Entire Hospital Chain to Shut Down Its Computers

Hackers and hospital computers are a bad mix , as a string of attacks has been proving. The latest victim is MedStar Health, a company that operates a chain of hospitals around the Baltimore and Washington area. Read more…

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A Virus Has Forced an Entire Hospital Chain to Shut Down Its Computers

The Concept Art for Las Vegas’ ‘Mars World’ Looks Nuts

It’s long been said that space tourism will be big business. Whole spaceports have sprung up ( and basically died ) in belief of that economic promise. The problem is that shooting people past our bubble of atmosphere, safely and reliably, is still tricky. Not to mention you need to be rich as hell or dead to even consider it. Read more…

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The Concept Art for Las Vegas’ ‘Mars World’ Looks Nuts

The Government Didn’t Need Apple’s Help Unlocking the San Bernardino iPhone After All

The saga over whether the government should legally be allowed to force Apple to write software to help it unlock seized iPhones may be over soon—or at least the first round. The government has confirmed that it was able to get the data off the iPhone of the San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook without Apple’s help. Read more…

Texas cops joke on Facebook about Ebola-tainted meth and net one arrest

A Central Texas police department issued a “breaking news alert” on Facebook, cautioning residents that meth and heroin in the Granite Shoals area “could be contaminated with the life-threatening disease Ebola .” Last week’s fake Facebook alert urged the public “NOT” to ingest those illicit drugs “until it has been properly checked for possible Ebola contamination” by the police department. The ploy netted one arrest, the Granite Shoals Police Department (GSPD) reported on Facebook. A woman allegedly brought in her meth so the police department could analyze it for Ebola: This morning, we had our first concerned citizen notify the Granite Shoals Police Department (GSPD) that they believed their methamphetamine may be tainted. Our officers gladly took the item for further testing. Results and booking photos are pending. Please continue to report any possibly tainted methamphetamine or other narcotics to the Granite Shoals Police Department. Public health and safety continue to remain our #1 priority. ‪#‎notkidding‬ For the uninitiated, there are no Ebola-contaminated drugs. The alert was a hoax played on the citizens of Granite Shoals, a town of about 5,000 northwest of Austin. But the arrest of 29-year-old Chastity Eugina Hopson is not a joke. She was accused of possessing under a gram of a controlled substance. The police department described Hopson’s arrest as “the winner of the Facebook post challenge.” Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Texas cops joke on Facebook about Ebola-tainted meth and net one arrest

Cop Cabs: The NYPD has at least three fake taxis on NYC’s streets

Michael from Muckrock writes, “Watch what you say: That next taxi you hail could be driven by New York’s Finest. A MuckRock FOIA request has found that the NYPD has at least three undercover cop cars posing as taxis … and quite possibly many more.” (more…)

Toyota will make automatic braking near-standard by 2017

Worried that you might not stop your Camry in time to avoid a nasty collision? Toyota is determined to prevent that from happening going forward. The Japanese car maker has announced that its automatic braking systems will be standard on 25 out of 30 Toyota and Lexus models, at nearly every trim level, by the end of 2017. It’ll only be non-standard on the 4Runner, 86 (formerly the Scion FR-S), Mirai , Lexus GX and Scion iA. Just what you’ll get will vary: while Lexus only has one braking system (based on a camera and millimeter wave radar), Toyota has both laser- and millimeter wave-based variants. Whatever you get, though, it’s a big step forward for safety and semi-autonomous driving in one of the world’s biggest vehicle brands. You probably won’t have to fork over extra just to minimize the chances of a crash, whether you’re driving a frugal Yaris or a decked-out Lexus LX. Via: TechCrunch Source: Toyota

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Toyota will make automatic braking near-standard by 2017

Ken May

Author: kenmay