Tech Today w/ Ken May

AT&T’s ‘next-gen’ TV platform rollout will start on DirecTV Now

Later this year, AT&T’s launching an ambitious plan to revamp and unify its disparate video services. In a move that chief marketing officer David Christopher called “going from a hardware-centric model to a software-centric model.” Similar to Comcast’s X1 platform launch a few years ago , the plan is to have a single base for how its video services — whether internet-served like DirecTV Now , satellite-provided DirecTV , U-verse IPTV or NFL Sunday Ticket — look and feel across every device. Where AT&T pushes things further is that it already offers a national internet TV platform, and that’s where customers will see the new technology first when beta tests start later this year. AT&T executive VP & CTO Enrique Rodriguez spoke to Engadget about the rollout, saying that “if you look at the work we’ve done on DirecTV Now, it’s been very successful on Apple TV and so you can think of this as a continuation of that transition.” Invited DirecTV Now customers will be the first ones using the new technology, as shown above running on iOS, when the beta testing starts ahead of a rollout across more services and hardware over the “coming years.” The next-generation platform will bring everything we’ve seen from modernized TV setups over the last few years, with recommendations and profiles, backed by all the content AT&T/DirecTV provides subscribers. When the beta starts, there will be a cloud DVR feature and other new features already up and running. Features on deck for later this year include live TV pausing and parental controls, while other key elements like profiles, download-and-go and 4K Ultra HD with HDR are scheduled to launch in 2018. It won’t come all at once, but AT&T is turning its various video services, both “monolithic” as Christopher called them, and streaming into something built for the modern era. So far, the rollout of DirecTV Now has weathered some glitches and criticism that it hasn’t offered much new . But now that it’s had some time to roll out and expand its content offerings , the time is right for an upgrade. A frustrating aspect of the TV business since the dawn of high definition has been the slow pace of upgrades — digital TV, DVR, video-on-demand, internet streaming and cloud recordings have taken so many years to roll out — but maybe this transition can pull everything together. Of course, since AT&T owns so many pathways to customers including wireless, it has more incentive to push new technology, as reports suggested it expects to have a primarily streaming video service within the next few years. Source: AT&T

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AT&T’s ‘next-gen’ TV platform rollout will start on DirecTV Now

Asus ROG GX800VH review: A ludicrous liquid-cooled $6,000-plus laptop

Enlarge (credit: Mark Walton) The Asus ROG GX800VH, a liquid cooled monstrosity of a gaming laptop, is one of those things that, like 4K phones or the Apple Watch , is wholly unnecessary yet awfully desirable. Beneath its fully mechanical, RBG-lit keyboard is Intel’s top-of-the-line mobile i7-7820HK processor, which is based on the same Kaby Lake architecture as the i7-7700K and is similarly overclockable. There are two Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 graphics cards paired in SLI, 64GB of DDR4 memory, and an 18.4-inch 4K display with G-Sync. Buying one costs £6,600 /$6,300, which is an astonishing amount of money even considering the tech that’s included. Specs at a glance: Asus ROG GX800VH Screen 3840×2160 18.4-inch IPS G-Sync display 100 percent RGB OS Windows 10 Home x64 CPU 4C/8T 2.9GHz Core i7-7820HK (OC to 4.4GHz) RAM 64GB 2800MHz DDR4 GPU 2x Nvidia GTX 1080 HDD 2x 512GB NVMe SSD in RAID 0 Networking 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.1, Gigabit Ethernet Ports 1 x Microphone-in jack 1 x Headphone-out jack (SPDIF) 1 x Type C USB3.1 (GEN2) Thunderbolt 3 x Type A USB3.0 (USB3.1 GEN1) 1 x RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN insert 1 x HDMI 1 x Docking port (HOT swap) 1 x mini Display Port 1 x SD card reader Size Laptop: 45.8 x 33.8 x 4.54 cm (WxDxH) Dock: (Thermal Dock) 35.9 x 41.8 x 13.3 cm (WxDxH) Other perks 8 Cells 71 Whrs Battery, HD Web Camera, Mechanical Keyboard Warranty 1 year Price £6,600 /$6,300 The GX800VH certainly isn’t for everyone, then, not least those that want the most bang-for-the-buck. But as an example of what’s possible on the bleeding edge when money is no object, it’s one of the finest pieces of technological willy-waving that we’ve ever seen. Buying a GX800VH requires a commitment from both your credit card and your ego. Not only is the laptop itself physically large and covered in orange highlights, but it comes with both a backpack and a suitcase to carry the accompanying liquid cooling unit around—and the graphics on the suitcase are hardly what you’d call subtle. Still, the suitcase—which is filled a pre-cut foam insert for the liquid cooling unit and extra power supply—and bag do make carrying the whole setup around that much easier, should you want to lug it around to a friend’s house or, if you’re seriously committed to gaming, on holiday. Read 15 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Researchers encode a movie onto living bacteria

Forget USB drives and the cloud — what if you could carry every bit of data you’ve ever used on your skin? That’s the long-term goal of researchers at Harvard Medical School, who have stored a video in the DNA of bacteria. It’s the first time a video has been recorded into living cells, as opposed to synthetic material. The team inserted a short animated image of ‘The Horse in Motion’ (one of the earliest moving images ever created) into E. coli, using gene-editing system CRISPR. The movie was split into five frames, and each frame chopped into single-colored pixels. They then created DNA codes corresponding to each color and strung them together. Each bacterium carried snippets of the video stored in their DNA, and when taken together, the scientists were able to retrieve and reconstruct the pieces to play the video. It’s not the first time we’ve seen data stored in this fashion. Back in 2003 a small message was encoded into DNA, and more recently we’ve seen a full operating system written into DNA strands. One team is even trying to store poetry in DNA. But this is the first time it’s been attempted with living bacteria, rather than synthetic material, which presents a unique set of challenges. Live cells are constantly moving and changing, and are liable to interpret the addition of data to their DNA as an invading virus, and subsequently destroy it. That’s why, shaky and blurred as it is, this movie breaks new ground. The world is generating huge amounts of digital data, and scientists see DNA as an effective way of not only dealing with the volumes produced, but as a secure method of preservation. In the face of nuclear explosions, radiation exposure or extreme temperature fluctuation some bacteria can continue to exist — data centers will not. It’ll be some time before you can use this technology to upload data into your body, but in the meantime it has valuable research applications. The scientists behind the study hope the breakthrough will eventually lead to the creation of “living sensors” that can record what is happening inside a cell or in its environment. Via: Stat News Source: Nature (PDF)

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Researchers encode a movie onto living bacteria

In NASA simulation, people tote hardy, allergy-inducing molds to Mars

Enlarge / The inflatable lunar/Mars analog habitat, or ILMAH. (credit: Microbiome, 2017 ) For many Earthlings, our planet is teeming with airborne pollens, spores, and toxins that clog schnozes and turn windpipes wheezy. Sadly, jumping to space rocks may not help , a new NASA study suggests. In a 30-day simulation of living life on another planet, NASA researchers found that fungi followed artificial astronauts and set up their own colonies. Many of those small space explorers excel at surviving in extremely harsh conditions, such as those in the salty, acidic high-altitude soils of the Indian Himalaya or the radioactive remains at Chernobyl. And several of the fungi that piggybacked off-world in the simulation are associated with allergies and asthma indoors, the researchers report this week in the journal Microbiome . “The statement ‘wherever humans go, microbes hitchhike along with them’ is true for fungi also,” Kasthuri Venkateswaran, lead study author, told Ars. He works in the Biotechnology and Planetary Protection Group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “At present, most of our studies have been conducted to know the dynamic changes regarding bacteria , not fungi,” he notes. “This is the first study that examined the fungal changes in a confined environment for at least 30 days of human habitation in isolation using molecular methods.” Read 7 remaining paragraphs | Comments

LiquidSky 2.0 beta puts any video game on any Android device

The LiquidSky 2.0 beta is live today in the Google Play Store , promising to let you play any game on any Android device via the magic of cloud streaming. Want to cruise around Grand Theft Auto 5 on your Pixel XL? Or maybe you’d rather wreck some fools in Overwatch on your Galaxy Tab S2? That’s what this update is all about. LiquidSky gives each user a unique, virtual PC where they’re able to download new games and access their existing libraries via any storefront, including Steam, Humble Bundle, GOG, Origin, Blizzard and the ‘net. This unique PC shows up on any supported device (no Apple love for now), allowing folks to play everything from 8-bit adventures to AAA blockbusters on otherwise underpowered platforms. Today’s LiquidSky 2.0 update brings the Android version on par with the ongoing Windows beta . LiquidSky takes advantage of IBM’s public cloud infrastructure, tapping into data centers around the globe and scaling in real-time alongside demand. This approach addresses the scalability problem that crippled cloud-gaming companies like OnLive in the early 2010s: Without global cloud systems, OnLive had to purchase and install servers around the world as each new user logged on. It was an unsustainable approach and OnLive shut down in 2015. “You have a million users flood in, you buy all these servers with massive capital up front, and those users are in different locations. There’s too much latency, and the only games you can play are Lego Batman and Lego Star Wars , ” LiquidSky CEO Ian McLoughlin told Engadget in January. “So you’re left with this massive data center that you can’t do anything with, so they started essentially giving things away for free. Even then, they couldn’t get the users to enjoy the catalog. It was too soon before its time.” LiquidSky has another advantage over game-streaming companies of yore: It’s free to access. Users have the option to watch ads (that’s the “free” version), purchase credits as they go (bundles start at $10), or pay monthly (at least $20 a month). LiquidSky is, essentially, a streaming service, and the company recommends users stick to ethernet when possible. But, that completely misses the point of an Android version. So, if you’re going mobile, LiquidSky suggests 5Ghz WiFi or 4G — assuming your data plan can handle it.

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LiquidSky 2.0 beta puts any video game on any Android device

Elon Musk buys his old X.com domain from PayPal

The most famous single-letter domain owner is without a doubt Elon Musk, whose company X.com eventually became PayPal . Unfortunately, when Musk was pushed out , the domain (with its aught-tastic logo, above) stayed behind with PayPal. However, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO has bought it back for an unknown sum, according to Domain Investing and a tweet by Musk. Nobody’s saying how much he paid, but as a term of reference, Z.com sold for around $6.8 million three years ago. Whatever the price, the transaction seems to have been done on friendly terms. Musk’s tweet says “Thanks PayPal for allowing me to buy back X.com! No plans right now, but it has great sentimental value to me.” I’d be sentimental too — the $165 million he earned from PayPal, though it seems quaint nowadays, helped him launch SpaceX and Tesla, companies now valued at around $15 billion and $50 billion, respectively. Thanks PayPal for allowing me to buy back https://t.co/bOUOejO16Y ! No plans right now, but it has great sentimental value to me. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 11, 2017 X.com has been inactive, but Domain Investing noticed that the Whois had switched from PayPal to “private, ” and the domain moved from MarkMonitor to GoDaddy. After the site reached out to PayPal, it eventually replied that “we are delighted to sell the domain X.com back to its previous owner, Elon Musk.” The purchase price could come up in an SEC filing if it’s in the high seven or even eight figures, since both PayPal and Tesla are public companies. As for what Musk will do with it, he’s not saying, but this is a guy who dreams up things like Hyperloop in his spare time, so expect something from beyond left field . Source: Domain Investing , Elon Musk (Twitter)

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Elon Musk buys his old X.com domain from PayPal

Ubuntu Linux is available in the Windows Store

Here’s a statement that would have been unimaginable in previous years : Ubuntu has arrived in the Windows Store. As promised back in May , you can now download a flavor of the popular Linux distribution to run inside Windows 10. It won’t compare to a conventional Ubuntu installation, as it’s sandboxed (it has limited interaction with Windows) and is focused on running command line utilities like bash or SSH. However, it also makes running a form of Linux relatively trivial. You don’t have to dual boot, install a virtual machine or otherwise jump through any hoops beyond a download and ticking a checkbox. Microsoft hasn’t said exactly when you can expect to see Fedora and SUSE Linux, the other two distributions coming to the Windows Store. Nonetheless, this is a big milestone that reflects Microsoft’s dramatic shift in attitude over the years. Where it used to be interested in protecting Windows sales at all costs, it’s now much more interested in pushing services . The addition of Linux is a logical extension of that strategy — developers and IT managers might be more likely to use Microsoft cloud offerings if they know that familiar Linux commands are a few clicks away. Via: The Verge Source: Windows Store

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Ubuntu Linux is available in the Windows Store

Scientists revive an extinct virus using off-the-shelf DNA

It’s no longer far-fetched to synthesize a basic organism . However, a team of researchers has taken that work one step further. They recently reconstituted and reanimated an extinct virus, horsepox, using DNA they’d ordered via mail. The team stitched together multiple gene fragments (each with about 30, 000 base pairs) into the complete 212, 000-pair horsepox genome and inserted it into cells already infected with a different pox, bringing the inanimate virus to life. It’s clever work, especially given the relative complexity of a pox virus compared to earlier efforts, but it’s also a double-edged sword — it could at once provide a breakthrough in medical research and pose a potential threat. As odd as it sounds, reviving the virus would most likely be helpful. The pharmaceutical company Tonix funded the work in hopes of using the relatively benign horsepox as a transport method for a more effective smallpox vaccine. It would also let scientists use other viruses for fighting diseases, such as introducing cancer-fighting systems using the vaccinia virus. If you could generate the necessary viruses on demand, it’d be that much easier to prevent or defeat illnesses that might otherwise have free rein. The threat, as you might guess, comes from the ease of synthesizing a virus. The horsepox strain in question isn’t a threat to humans or even horses, but it might only take the right genetic know-how, several months’ work and a relatively modest shopping budget (this group spent $100, 000) to do the same for a dangerous virus. A hostile nation or extremist group could theoretically engineer a virus and spark an outbreak in a rival country. It’s not extremely likely — they’d need access to both the DNA and corrupt scientists, and would have to take the risk that they might accidentally infect their own people. It’s not impossible, though, and it’s that risk which might prevent further work. Nature and Science have refused to publish the relevant research paper because they’re worried about the “dual-use” potential for the findings. They don’t want to help create a bioweapon , after all. The researchers say their paper deliberately avoids providing so much information that newcomers could create their own viruses, though, and there are concerns that denying the paper might be stifling crucial progress. For better or for worse, this discovery may end up sitting in limbo for a long time. Via: STAT , Reddit Source: Science

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Scientists revive an extinct virus using off-the-shelf DNA

Author of Original Petya Ransomware Publishes Master Decryption Key

An anonymous reader writes: The author of the original Petya ransomware — a person/group going by the name of Janus Cybercrime Solutions — has released the master decryption key of all past Petya versions. This key can decrypt all ransomware families part of the Petya family except NotPetya, which isn’t the work of Janus, but is believed to be the work of a nation-state actor that targeted Ukraine. Most (original) Petya campaigns happened in 2016, and very few campaigns have been active this year. Users that had their files locked have wiped drives or paid the ransom many months before. The key will only help those victims who cloned their drives and saved a copy of the encrypted data. Experts believe that Janus released Petya’s decryption key as a result of the recent NotPetya outbreak, and he might have decided to shut down his operation to avoid further scrutiny, or being accused of launching NotPetya. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Author of Original Petya Ransomware Publishes Master Decryption Key

More progress on carbon nanotube processors: a 2.8GHz ring oscillator

Enlarge (credit: NASA ) Back in 2012, I had the pleasure of visiting the IBM Watson research center. Among the people I talked with was George Tulevski , who was working on developing carbon nanotubes as a possible replacement for silicon in some critical parts of transistors. IBM likes to think about developing technology with about a 10-year time window, which puts us about halfway to when the company might expect to be making nanotube-based hardware. So, how’s it going? This week, there was a bit of a progress report published in Nature Nanotechnology (which included Tulevski as one of its authors). In it, IBM researchers describe how they’re now able to put together test hardware that pushes a carbon nanotube-based processor up to 2.8GHz. It’s not an especially useful processor, but the methods used for assembling it show that some (but not all) of the technology needed to commercialize nanotube-based hardware is nearly ready. Semiconducting hurdles The story of putting together a carbon nanotube processor is largely one of overcoming hurdles. You wouldn’t necessarily expect that; given that the nanotubes can be naturally semiconducting, they’d seem like a natural fit for existing processor technology. But it’s a real challenge to get the right nanotubes in the right place and play nicely with the rest of the processor. In fact, it’s a series of challenges. Read 11 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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More progress on carbon nanotube processors: a 2.8GHz ring oscillator