Microsoft To Bring Cable TV To 360

iONiUM writes with a CNET article outlining the next step in Microsoft's plans for cable television, which he says “seems like yet another step forward in killing traditional cable companies.” From the article: “[Microsoft] announced this morning that nearly 40 television content providers — including Comcast, Verizon, and HBO in the United States — will roll out programming over Xbox Live. The company also has deals lined up with providers in the U.K., Spain, Canada, Mexico, Germany, and Italy.”

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Microsoft To Bring Cable TV To 360

Windows 8 To Reduce Memory Footprint

bheer writes “Microsoft’s Windows 8 blog has a good post about the work being done to reduce Windows 8’s memory footprint. The OS will use multiple approaches to do this, including combining RAM pages, re-architecting old bits of code and adding new APIs for more granular memory management. Interestingly, it will also let services start on a trigger and stop when needed instead of running all the time.”

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FBI Plans Nationwide Face-Recognition Trials In 2012

hessian writes with this excerpt: “The FBI by mid-January will activate a nationwide facial recognition service in select states that will allow local police to identify unknown subjects in photos, bureau officials told Nextgov. The federal government is embarking on a multiyear, $1 billion dollar overhaul of the FBI’s existing fingerprint database to more quickly and accurately identify suspects, partly through applying other biometric markers, such as iris scans and voice recordings.”

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Samsung Galaxy Nexus full specs revealed; Verizon Wireless exclusive

Well, now that Apple has announced the iPhone 4S, there’s only one other flagship on the horizon that people are eagerly anticipating and that’s the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Codenamed “Nexus Prime,” the Galaxy Nexus is a phone we have scooped on numerous occasions, and now we can paint a complete picture of the device thanks to new information from a trusted source. Here’s what Samsung and Google will unveil next Tuesday:

  • Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
  • 9mm thin
  • 4.65-inch 1280 x 720-pixel Super AMOLED HD with curved glass
  • TI OMAP 4460 dual-core Cortex A9 processor clocked at 1.2GHz
  • 1GB of RAM
  • 32GB of built-in storage
  • 5-megapixel camera on the back, 1.3-megapixel in the front
  • 1080p HD video capture support
  • LTE/HSPA depending on carrier
  • Wi-Fi a/b/g/n
  • NFC
  • 1,750 mAh battery

We have confirmed that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus will be a pure Google Experience device without any third-party UI or modifications, so no TouchWiz on this one, guys. Also, one notable feature of Ice Cream Sandwich? The ability to monitor each app’s data usage on the device.

Cooler Master launches Silent Pro Hybrid Fanless Series of power supplies

Cooler Master Silent Pro Hybrid series

Desktop PC power supplies are tough to get excited about, no matter how many features they cram in. But Cooler Master’s Silent Pro Hybrid Fanless series is actually pretty alluring. The supply isn’t actually “fanless” but it does have a fanless mode that can be used to minimize machine noise, at least until the load crosses the 200W threshold. Add to that a 90-percent efficiency, fully modular cables and a control panel that lets you manually adjust the speed of your system fans and you’re looking at quite the compelling product for the DIY desktop enthusiast. As you could have guessed though, all these fancy features don’t come cheap. Cooler Master is offering three different models: 850W, 1050W and 1300W, which range in price from $200 to $300 — a sizable chunk of change to drop on any component. They’ll be shipping this month to the US and Asia, with Europe to follow in November. Check out the complete PR after the break.

Continue reading Cooler Master launches Silent Pro Hybrid Fanless Series of power supplies

Cooler Master launches Silent Pro Hybrid Fanless Series of power supplies originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Oct 2011 06:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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US Department of Homeland Security developing system to predict criminal intent

We’re not exactly lacking in opportunities for Minority Report references these days, but sometimes they’re just unavoidable. According to a new report from CNET based on documents obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the US Department of Homeland security is now working on a system dubbed FAST (or Future Attribute Screening Technology) that’s designed to identify individuals who are most likely to commit a crime. That’s not done with something as simple as facial recognition and background checks, however, but rather algorithms and an array of sensors and cameras that can detect both physiological and behavioral cues that are said to be “indicative of mal-intent.” What’s more, while the DHS says that it has no plans to actually deploy the system in public just yet, it has apparently already conducted a limited trial using DHS employees — though no word on the results of how well it actually works, of course. Hit the source link below for the complete (albeit somewhat redacted) documents.

US Department of Homeland Security developing system to predict criminal intent originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Oct 2011 02:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ViaSat-1 scheduled to launch October 19th, spreading high-speed satellite service across North America

It’s been delayed a few times already, but the high-capacity ViaSat-1 satellite is now in the process of being prepped for a new launch date: October 19th. Once in operation, it’ll bring download speeds up to 10Mbps to satellite internet customers in both Canada and the US (including Hawaii) via Xplornet and WildBlue, respectively, and serve other partners like JetBlue. Those interested can keep an eye on the source link below for a live broadcast of the launch.

Continue reading ViaSat-1 scheduled to launch October 19th, spreading high-speed satellite service across North America

ViaSat-1 scheduled to launch October 19th, spreading high-speed satellite service across North America originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Oct 2011 09:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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