Author: kenmay

Nextbit is bringing iOS-like app continuity and ‘limitless’ storage to Android

You may just about recall that Nextbit, a startup formed by ex-Googlers, has been collaborating with Cyanogen on a “really cool” secret project . As it turns out, this is all about the continuity experience across Android devices — very timely given the recent launch of OS X Yosemite and iOS 8.1 , which boast a set of continuity features. Nextbit’s offering is dubbed Baton, and as the name suggests, it lets you quickly pass an app’s state from one Android device to another, meaning you can continue playing on the same level in a game, editing the same document in an app or browsing the same web page right away; with the precondition being the second device must also have Baton and the same app installed. Better yet, app developers don’t have to do anything at all; existing apps should just work. To toggle a pass, simply hold down the “Recent Apps” Android soft key and then choose your desired target device. In a matter of seconds, the target device will wake up and launch the same app in the same state. Similarly, you can do the same to pass the app to the previous device or to a new one — provided that it’s already associated with your CyanogenMod account, running Baton and has the identical app installed. In the case where the passed app isn’t yet installed, the OS will prompt you to download it. The more we look at this, the more we wonder why didn’t Google come up with this. “We’ve taken the cloud and we’ve deeply integrated it into the OS itself, ” Nextbit CEO Tom Moss said proudly. Interestingly, Nextbit’s Baton somewhat contrasts with iOS’ Handoff by getting the user to “push” an app’s state to a target device, as opposed to pulling an app onto one’s selected device. Different initiations, but similar ideas. That said, Handoff only works on iOS and OS X apps that use its APIs (which isn’t surprising given the cross-platform nature), whereas Baton has the advantage of requiring literally no dev work at all. Don’t be mistaken: Baton isn’t an app that you download from the Play Store. Rather, it’s a framework that utilizes the cloud to keep apps and data constantly in sync across multiple Android devices. And since the state of the apps plus the UI’s look and feel are backed up daily, Baton also lets you restore to your desired moment. In fact, this particular part of Baton is already being shipped as a white label product on Japan’s NTT Docomo devices as of last week, and Nextbit is in talks with Chinese OEMs to spread the love further. OnePlus One will definitely be getting Baton. Likewise, Baton will only be available on devices made or sold by licensees, and Moss said he’s getting a pretty good momentum in terms of establishing partnerships. This feature is currently only available to select testers who are running the latest version of CyanogenMod, though Nextbit will soon be launching an invite-only beta program. We’re also told that Baton’s first public release will debut on the “commercially distributed Cyanogen operating system” at some point this year; and yes, this means the popular OnePlus One will definitely be getting Baton. But this is only just the beginning for Nextbit. Seeing that 50 percent of smartphone users run out of storage within the first 12 months, the startup’s next goal is to enable “limitless” storage — local storage and cloud storage combined as one — on Android devices. The execs didn’t dive into details since they are in talks with a carrier partner, but on paper it’s simple: This is achieved by intelligently moving data between local storage and the cloud, so the user wouldn’t notice a thing. “We don’t want to change users’ behaviour, so we’re keeping it totally seamless, ” said Scott Croyle , HTC’s former lead designer. “It’s all about solving the real pain points on our mobile devices, ” Moss added. Filed under: Software , Mobile Comments

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Nextbit is bringing iOS-like app continuity and ‘limitless’ storage to Android

One week later, Google algorithm change hits streaming, torrent sites hard

One of Project Free TV’s domains has dropped in traffic since Google’s algorithm change. se Video streaming and torrent sites have dropped precipitously in Google rankings after the company altered its algorithm last Monday, according to reports from Searchmetrics. One of Project Free TV’s main operating domains, free-tv-video-online.me, fell 96 percent in Searchmetric’s rankings, one of the biggest drops alongside torrentz.eu and thepiratebay.se. Google committed to fighting piracy by decrementing search results that allow users to access illegal streams or torrents back in 2012. The first round of changes didn’t help much, according to interested parties like the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America. Google complies with takedown requests, of which it received 224 million in the last year, according to its own report.  The company responded to these within six hours on average, but industry parties pushed for Google to make content sites less visible overall. Even with its new solution, Google notes that this won’t be the same as removing domains from search entirely: “the number of noticed pages is typically only a tiny fraction of the total number of pages on the site,” the company said. Read 1 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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One week later, Google algorithm change hits streaming, torrent sites hard

Virtual Table Tennis Finally Gets Rid Of That Expensive Plastic Ball

How often do you find yourself interested in playing table tennis only to discover that small plastic ball either missing, crushed, or too sticky from a round of Beer Pong to bounce? The Sharper Image has the solution in the form of this $60 Virtual Pong game that projects a ball of light on the walls and ceiling, saving you from having to spend countless pennies replacing that white plastic IRL one. Read more…

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Virtual Table Tennis Finally Gets Rid Of That Expensive Plastic Ball

Microsoft Is Bringing WebRTC To Explorer, Eyes Plugin-Free Skype Calls

An anonymous reader writes Microsoft today announced it is backing the Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC) technology and will be supporting the ORTC API in Internet Explorer. Put another way, the company is finally throwing its weight behind the broader industry trend of bringing voice and video calling to the browser without the need for plugins. Both Google and Mozilla are way ahead of Microsoft in this area, both in terms of adding WebRTC features to their respective browsers and in terms of building plugin-free calling services that rely on the technology. In short, Skype is under threat, and Microsoft has finally decided to opt for an “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” strategy. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Microsoft Is Bringing WebRTC To Explorer, Eyes Plugin-Free Skype Calls

Leader of “most sophisticated cybercrime ring” sentenced to 11 years

An Estonian man who US authorities said was a leader in one of the world’s “most sophisticated” illegal hacking organizations was handed an 11-year prison sentence in connection to a scheme that got away with $9.4 million from ATMs across the globe. The sentence handed to Sergei Nicolaevich Tšurikov on Friday is among the largest ever given a hacker in the US. The biggest term , 20 years, was first given to Albert Gonzalez in 2010 for being the ringleader of the hack of retail outlet TJX . “A leader of one of the most sophisticated cybercrime rings in the world has been brought to justice and sentenced,” United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates of Atlanta  said  about Tšurikov’s sentencing. “In just one day in 2008, an American credit card processor was hacked in perhaps one of the most sophisticated and organized computer fraud attacks ever conducted.” Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Leader of “most sophisticated cybercrime ring” sentenced to 11 years

Lava Flow In Hawaii Gains Speed, Triggers Methane Explosions

An anonymous reader writes Officials say molten lava from a Hawaii volcano has been flowing steadily in an area where residents have been warned they might have to evacuate their homes. Dozens of residents in the flow path have been told to complete all necessary preparations by Tuesday for a possible evacuation. From the article: “Janet Babb, a geologist and spokeswoman for the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, said methane explosions also have been going off. She said decomposing vegetation produces methane gas that can travel subsurface beyond the lava front in different directions, accumulating in pockets that can ignite. She said it was a bit unnerving to hear all the blasts on Saturday.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Lava Flow In Hawaii Gains Speed, Triggers Methane Explosions

Google Drive is down, and it’s taken all of your docs with it.

Google Drive is down, and it’s taken all of your docs with it. Users have been reporting outages since 11:20 , which is very annoying if you use Google Docs for work—like all my coworkers and I do. Fingers crossed they fix it soon! Read more…

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Google Drive is down, and it’s taken all of your docs with it.

Office 365 Subscribers Now Get Unlimited OneDrive Storage

In mid-July, Microsoft announced that’d it be rolling at a 1 TB storage increase for all its Office 365 Home, Personal, and University subscribers. But the team decided continue its push for cloud supremacy by upping its storage capacity into infinity. Office 365 users now have access to unlimited storage via OneDrive for free. Read more…

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Office 365 Subscribers Now Get Unlimited OneDrive Storage