At this point, most people (in the tech world, at least) are quite familiar with Gaikai’s cloud gaming platform, which lets users have a not-quite-console quality gaming experience on any device. The technology has found its way onto Facebook and in LG TVs, and now Gaikai’s bringing gaming to Samsung TVs, too. Called Samsung Cloud Gaming (SCG), it’ll be available via the Smart Hub on Samsung 7000 series and up Smart TVs in the US this summer. The technology powering SCG is the same as what’s behind LG’s service, but Sammy’s customized the UI to suit its sensibilities. We got a chance to speak with Gaikai CEO David Perry about his company’s latest partnership, so join us after the break for more.

Update: Video hands-on added after the break. We also demoed the service playing Darksiders, and aside from some mild stuttering the button masher was smooth enough to play using a USB-connected controller. We’re told that the software we viewed isn’t final, so it may not reflect the final look.

Continue reading Gaikai-powered cloud gaming coming to Samsung Smart TVs (update: hands-on video and impressions)

Gaikai-powered cloud gaming coming to Samsung Smart TVs (update: hands-on video and impressions) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jun 2012 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gaikai-powered cloud gaming coming to Samsung Smart TVs (update: hands-on video and impressions)

Saab has designed a digital air traffic control center (top) that harkens back to 18th-19th century cycloramas, such as the Panorama Mesdag (above), which is still in its original location at The Hague. Saab’s remote air traffic control tower (r-TWR) would eliminate the need for the traditional windowed towers high above airport terminals. From Smithsonian:

In the r-TWR system, a low-cost mast supports a small platform containing fixed HD cameras that capture a full 360-degree view of an airfield, while a separate remote-control camera offers pan, tilt, and zoom capabilities. Additional tower systems include signal flares, climate sensors, radar systems, and automated hazard detection—all in a relatively small and relatively cheap package. The data collected by the experimental digital tower is live-streamed to an off-site facility where an operator sits at the center of a ring of digital screens displaying live feeds of any r-TWR equipped airport. In many ways, these remote operators have access to more information than their local counterparts. Other than the capabilities to zoom-in with the PTZ camera, the remote system is equipped with infra-red vision, image enhancement, and real-time object tracking software that functions like an augmented reality overlay to assist during low visibility conditions. The r-TWR offers more more reality than reality.

“Saab Reinvents Air Traffic Control With a Digital Panorama“

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Digital cyclorama to replace air traffic control towers

An anonymous reader writes “Gabe Newell has responded to an email asking if Steam for Linux will be released this year with the simple answer ‘Yes.’ That means at some point in the next 7 months anyone running Linux will be able to download Steam and start playing a number of games, including at least one Valve title (most likely Left 4 Dead 2). After that the emphasis will be on game developers to start porting their Steam games over to Linux. 2012 could be a great year for gaming on Linux. The news follows the revelation in April that Valve was indeed working on a Linux port of its digital games service. At the time though, and as with all Valve software, we had no idea when it would get released.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Excerpt from:
Steam For Linux Will Launch In 2012

At this point, most people (in the tech world, at least) are quite familiar with Gaikai’s cloud gaming platform, which lets users have a not-quite-console quality gaming experience on any device. The technology has found its way onto Facebook and in LG TVs, and now Gaikai’s bringing gaming to Samsung TVs, too. Called Samsung Cloud Gaming (SCG), it’ll be available via the Smart Hub on Samsung 7000 series and up Smart TVs in the US this summer. The technology powering SCG is the same as what’s behind LG’s service, but Sammy’s customized the UI to suit its sensibilities. We got a chance to speak with Gaikai CEO David Perry about his company’s latest partnership, so join us after the break for more.

Continue reading Gaikai-powered cloud gaming coming to Samsung Smart TVs

Gaikai-powered cloud gaming coming to Samsung Smart TVs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jun 2012 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gaikai-powered cloud gaming coming to Samsung Smart TVs

An anonymous reader writes in a story about the link between certain mental illnesses and high intelligence. “Genius and insanity may actually go together, according to scientists who found that mental illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are often found in highly creative and intelligent people. The link is being investigated by a group of scientists who had all suffered some form of mental disorder. Bipolar sufferer Kay Redfield Jamison, a clinical psychologist and professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said that findings of some 20 or 30 scientific studies confirms the idea of the ‘tortured genius’ or ‘mad scientist.'”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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The Link Between Genius and Insanity

You wanted Windows 8 tablet / laptop mash-ups, you got ’em! On the heels of some rather inventive product launches from Acer and ASUS here at Computex, Samsung is teasing a Win8 device of its own, the Series 5 Hybrid PC. For now, Samsung’s not sharing many technical details — we don’t even know the screen size! — but the concept, at least, is self-explanatory: this is a Transformer-like tablet that slots into an accompanying keyboard dock. In an interesting twist, though, this device doesn’t make use of your run-of-the-mill latch mechanism; instead, the slate attaches magnetically.

The Hybrid is rated for 10 hours of battery life and has a pair of 2- and 8-megapixel cameras. It also supports pen input, and will come bundled with the same S-Pen and S-Memo software used on the Galaxy Note 10.1 (but modified for Windows, of course). This might be a good time to clarify that unlike the 10.1 (or any other Galaxy Tab, for that matter), this is not an ARM-based slate, but rather, an X86 PC. This means, of course, that it runs full Windows 8, and not just the RT version. As it happens, Engadget had the chance to check out a prototype in advance of the launch, and it was running a two-watt Intel Clover Trail CPU. At the time, a Samsung rep told us the company was considering an ultra low voltage notebook-grade processor. Other possible specs: a 1080p display option, with some lower, unspecified resolution offered as well. Lastly, the early model we saw had a USIM slot, a microSD reader and a Superspeed USB port. Keep in mind, though, that all these details are subject to change.

Back when we got a sneak peek at the Hybrid, we handled a non-powered unit, and members of the press were not permitted to take photos or video that day. We can’t speak to the software experience, then, but we did find the build quality to be solid. If the idea of a magnetic hinge gives you the willies, this one seemed quite sturdy — we don’t see the slate slipping out of its cradle without any effort on the part of the user. At 747 grams (1.65 pounds) and 9mm (0.35 inches) thick, it feels denser than similar-looking products like the ASUS Transformer Prime, but then again, this is a fully functioning PC. Though Samsung won’t confirm the screen size, a quick once-over told us it measures between 10 and 11 inches diagonally, matching other Win8 tablets announced this week. For now, this blend of facts and educated guesses will have to suffice, but we’ll naturally hit you back with more particulars as we hear them.

Update: Samsung reps staffing the company’s Computex booth confirmed that the screen measures 11 inches.

Zach Honig contributed to this report.

Samsung teases Series 5 Hybrid PC, a Windows 8 tablet with magnetic keyboard dock and pen support (update: hands-on photos) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jun 2012 21:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung teases Series 5 Hybrid PC, a Windows 8 tablet with magnetic keyboard dock and pen support (update: hands-on photos)

You wanted Windows 8 tablet / laptop mash-ups, you got ’em! On the heels of some rather inventive product launches from Acer and ASUS here at Computex, Samsung is teasing a Win8 device of its own, the Series 5 Hybrid PC. For now, Samsung’s not sharing many technical details — we don’t even know the screen size! — but the concept, at least, is self-explanatory: this is a Transformer-like tablet that slots into an accompanying keyboard dock. In an interesting twist, though, this device doesn’t make use of your run-of-the-mill latch mechanism; instead, the slate attaches magnetically.

The Hybrid is rated for 10 hours of battery life and has a pair of 2- and 8-megapixel cameras. It also supports pen input, and will come bundled with the same S-Pen and S-Memo software used on the Galaxy Note 10.1 (but modified for Windows, of course). This might be a good time to clarify that unlike the 10.1 (or any other Galaxy Tab, for that matter), this is not an ARM-based slate, but rather, an X86 PC. This means, of course, that it runs full Windows 8, and not just the RT version. As it happens, Engadget had the chance to check out a prototype in advance of the launch, and it was running a two-watt Intel Clover Trail CPU. At the time, a Samsung rep told us the company was considering an ultra low voltage notebook-grade processor. Other possible specs: a 1080p display option, with some lower, unspecified resolution offered as well. Lastly, the early model we saw had a USIM slot, a microSD reader and a Superspeed USB port. Keep in mind, though, that all these details are subject to change.

Back when we got a sneak peek at the Hybrid, we handled a non-powered unit, and members of the press were not permitted to take photos or video that day. We can’t speak to the software experience, then, but we did find the build quality to be solid. If the idea of a magnetic hinge gives you the willies, this one seemed quite sturdy — we don’t see the slate slipping out of its cradle without any effort on the part of the user. At 747 grams (1.65 pounds) and 9mm (0.35 inches) thick, it feels denser than similar-looking products like the ASUS Transformer Prime, but then again, this is a fully functioning PC. Though Samsung won’t confirm the screen size, a quick once-over told us it measures between 10 and 11 inches diagonally, matching other Win8 tablets announced this week. For now, this blend of facts and educated guesses will have to suffice, but we’ll naturally hit you back with more particulars as we hear them.

Samsung teases Series 5 Hybrid PC, a Windows 8 tablet with magnetic keyboard dock and pen support originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Jun 2012 21:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung teases Series 5 Hybrid PC, a Windows 8 tablet with magnetic keyboard dock and pen support

Amazon’s $79 Kindle may be the least flashy of the the bunch, but the Seattle company is starting to push out a new software update that adds some much-needed functionality to their cost-conscious e-reader.

One of the biggest additions to the mix is support for Kindle Format 8, Amazon’s relatively new e-book file format. The $79 Kindle seems to be bringing up the rear in that respect, as the Kindle Fire, Kindle Touch, and most of the Kindle mobile apps have already been updated to play well with those newer KF8 files.

It may sound like a minor enhancement, but it affords content creators and publishers (among other things) much finer control over the styling and layout of an e-book. As such, it also opens up the $79 Kindle to content like comic books that lean heavily on the Kindle Panel View feature, as well as children’s books that use fixed layouts and text popups.

If that wasn’t enough, the update also packs improved parental controls to keep the young ones out of the Kindle Store or the device’s experimental web browser. Also on board is a new, slightly crisper font that Amazon claims will make for a more “paper-like reading experience,” and a new grouping meant solely for dictionaries within the main book listing to help clean up some of the clutter.

All thrilling stuff, no? You can expect your Kindle to get the update via WiFi within a few weeks, but you can always download and install it yourself if you’re the impatient type.

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Amazon Adds KF8 Support, Parental Controls, And A High-Contrast Font To Their Cheapest Kindle

Kaspersky Lab

Attackers behind the Flame espionage malware that targeted computers in Iran used more than 80 different domain names to siphon computer-generated designs, PDF files, and e-mail from its victims, according to a new analysis from researchers who helped discover the threat.

The unknown authors of Flame shut down the sprawling command-and-control (C&C) infrastructure immediately after last Monday’s disclosure that the highly sophisticated malware had remained undetected for at least two years on computers belonging to government-run organizations, private companies, and others. The 80 separate domain names were registered using a huge roster of fake identities, and some of the addresses were secured more than four years ago.

“The Flame C&C domains were registered with an impressive list of fake identities and with a variety of registrars, going back as far as 2008,” Kaspersky Lab expert Alexander Gostev wrote in a blog post published Monday. “In general, each fake identity registered only 2-3 domains, but there are some rare cases when a fake identity registered up to 4 domains.”

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Iran-targeting Flame malware used huge network to steal blueprints

Windows 8 Release Preview

• Hands-on: Windows 8’s SkyDrive
• Hands-on: News, Sports, and Travel go Metro in Windows 8 Release Preview
• Sync it up: Hands on with the preview of Windows 8’s cloud sync service
• Internet Explorer 10: embedded Flash, Do Not Track, and stable standards
• Great apps for Release Preview: third-party Metro apps in Windows 8

Windows 8 will include its own built-in antivirus software. But if a user installs antivirus software from McAfee, Symantec, AVG, or any other vendor, Windows 8’s own protection will turn itself off and defer entirely to the third-party product. Microsoft’s software will spring to life only if there’s no third-party malware protection at all or if the third-party software is installed but has no up-to-date signatures.

Representatives from McAfee spoke to Computerworld to explain the behavior. While this might seem like a concession from Microsoft to the third-party antivirus vendors, McAfee says it isn’t. Rather, it’s designed to keep Windows OEMs happy.

OEMs have long bundled third-party antivirus software with their systems, because they receive kickbacks from the antivirus vendors whenever users buy subscriptions to the software. Windows 8’s built-in antivirus software threatened this revenue stream; if Windows offers to perform antivirus functionality all by itself, there’s no reason to buy a subscription.

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Windows 8’s built-in antivirus will put third-party products first