This week the world’s first and only digital circuit breaker was certified for commercial use. The technology, invented by Atom Power, has been listed by Underwriters Laboratories (UL), the global standard for consumer safety. This new breaker makes power easier to manage and 3000 times faster than the fastest mechanical breaker, marking the most r…
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Tag: digital
Are Music CDs Dying? Best Buy Stops Selling CDs
An anonymous reader quotes Complex magazine: The future of physical music isn’t looking good. According to Billboard, consumer electronics company Best Buy will no longer carry physical CDs and Target may be following suit in the near future. Best Buy notified music suppliers that they will cease selling CDs at stores beginning July 1. The move is sure to hurt the already declining sales of CDs as consumers are switching to streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal in large numbers. CD sales have already dropped by a sizable 18.5 percent in the past year, Billboard reports. Billboard also reports Target has given an “ultimatum” to music and video suppliers. “Currently, Target takes the inventory risk by agreeing to pay for any goods it is shipped within 60 days, and must pay to ship back unsold CDs for credit… Target has demanded to music suppliers that it wants CDs to be sold on what amounts to a consignment basis…” “If the majors don’t play ball and give in to the new sale terms, it could considerably hasten the phase down of the CD format.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Are Music CDs Dying? Best Buy Stops Selling CDs
Apple’s iBooks to become “Books” in forthcoming reading app redesign
Enlarge (credit: Apple) Apple is reportedly tweaking its e-book offering to better take on Amazon, the current leader of the digital book market. According to a Bloomberg report , Apple will release a revamped version of the iBooks app for iOS, which will be dubbed “Books,” that will have an interface more like the iOS 11 App Store, a Reading Now tab, and a separate section for audiobooks. There’s no official date for the debut of the new app, but it’s reportedly slated to be released in the coming months. Limited details are known about the app, which is in testing right now. Bloomberg’s report describes it having a “simpler interface” that emphasizes books the user is currently reading. There’s also a new digital book store within the app that’s said to be similarly designed to Apple’s current App Store, which received a drastic redesign in iOS 11. That could mean that Apple plans to make discovering new books through the Books app easier, possibly with categorical tabs and book cover art throughout the digital store. Apple recently moved its audiobook offerings from the Music app to the iBooks app, but having a dedicated tab for audiobooks will make them more easily accessible for customers. Apple has also reportedly hired a lead executive from Audible, the Amazon-owned audiobook platform, to help reinvigorate its e-book efforts. The iBooks app remains one of the few Apple programs that hasn’t received a significant update in years. That is likely due in part to a 2013 ruling by the U.S. Department of Justice covering fixed pricing for e-books in Apple’s iBooks store. Apple was fined $450 million. Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments
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Apple’s iBooks to become “Books” in forthcoming reading app redesign
Armed robbers steal $1.8 million worth of cryptocurrency
The Manhattan District Attorney has charged a man with robbery and kidnapping after he swiped a digital wallet containing a fortune in ethereum cryptocurrency. Louis Meza and an associate allegedly held up the victim at gunpoint after luring him into a vehicle, then stole his keys, wallet and cellphone. Meza used the keys to enter the victim’s apartment and make off with his digital wallet. Shortly afterwards, he transferred $1.8 million in “ether” cryptocurrency to his own wallet. According to the DA’s press release, Meza knew the victim and knew he had a large amount of ethereum. After meeting the victim on the evening of November 4th, “Meza insisted on ordering a car service for the victim, who entered a minivan after parting ways with Meza, ” the DA stated. The perpetrator was also charged with computer tampering, criminal possession of stolen property, and computer trespass. The DA notes that the crime is a vivid illustration that hacking isn’t the only way crooks can get their hands on your Bitcoins and other crypto-cash. “This case demonstrates the increasingly common intersection between cyber and violent crime, ” said NY County District Attorney Cyrus Vance. “We can expect this type of crime to become increasingly common as cryptocurrency values surge upward.” Via: Coindesk Source: New York County District Attorney
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Armed robbers steal $1.8 million worth of cryptocurrency
Steam no longer accepts bitcoin for game purchases
Have you been stockpiling bitcoin to go on a Steam shopping spree ? You’ll need to change your plans. Valve has stopped accepting bitcoin due to a combination of high transaction costs (up from 20 cents in the beginning to $20) and “volatility” in the cryptocurrency’s value. While the virtual cash has never been especially stable, its worth has taken a roller coaster ride over the past few months. Its value has been skyrocketing lately (one bitcoin is worth $13, 300 US as of this writing), but it has also crashed hard — Valve cited a 25 percent drop “over a period of days” as an example. That fluctuation creates a huge problem if you make a purchase and it doesn’t complete before the usual bitcoin price guarantee elapses, as you may have to pay an outstanding balance and a second transaction fee. Valve isn’t completely ruling out a return to bitcoin in the future, although it’s clear that won’t happen unless bitcoin settles down. There’s no mention of opening the door to Ethereum and other digital currencies, either. And no matter what, this underscores a very real problem for cryptocurrency no matter the format. Retailers need predictable costs and payments to run their businesses, and they may be loathe to support technology like bitcoin if it leads to unpaid debts and unhappy customers. Via: Polygon Source: Steam Blog
Cryptojacking craze that drains your CPU now done by 2,500 sites
Enlarge / A music streaming site that participated in Coinhive crypto mining maxes out the visitor’s CPU. (credit: Malwarebytes ) A researcher has documented almost 2,500 sites that are actively running cryptocurrency mining code in the browsers of unsuspecting visitors, a finding that suggests the unethical and possibly illegal practice has only picked up steam since it came to light a few weeks ago. Willem de Groot, an independent security researcher who reported the findings Tuesday, told Ars that he believes all of the 2,496 sites he tracked are running out-of-date software with known security vulnerabilities that have been exploited to give attackers control. Attackers, he said, then used their access to add code that surreptitiously harnesses the CPUs and electricity of visitors to generate the digital currency known as Monero. About 80 percent of those sites, he added, also contain other types of malware that can steal visitors’ payment card details. “Apparently, cyberthieves are squeezing every penny out of their confiscated assets,” he said. Read 6 remaining paragraphs | Comments
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Cryptojacking craze that drains your CPU now done by 2,500 sites
Audacity 2.2.0 Released
Popular open-source audio editing software, Audacity, has received a significant update. The new version, dubbed Audacity 2.2.0, adds a range of features and options such as additional user interface themes, and the ability to customize themes for advanced users. It is also getting playback support for MIDI files, and better organised menus, the team wrote. You can find the complete changelog here. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Audacity 2.2.0 Released
Nintendo expects Switch will beat Wii U lifetime sales in a year
Nintendo has announced it’s sold a further 2.93 million Switch consoles over the latest quarter, reaching just shy of 8 million units total. After another strong quarter, the company is now aiming to sell 14 million units by the time the Switch turns one year old — up from 10 million it aimed for previously. It’s also increased its forecast for the full year, from $6.59 billion to $8.44 billion. If Nintendo hits its targets, that would mean the Switch could best its predecessor, the Wii U, in a single year. The older console only reached 13.56 million sales over the entirety of its five-year lifetime — it wasn’t a hit for the games maker. Nintendo racked up $209 million in profit for the quarter, with revenues reaching $1.93 billion. The company managed to sell 22 million game titles in the last half year — a figure that doesn’t account for the recently launched Super Mario Odyssey , which is likely to sell consoles all by itself . According to a Reuters report , the company is now endeavoring to meet customer demand — it’s still not easy to buy a Switch in stores. “We’ve boosted Switch production in order to meet strong demand from our customers as it was difficult for customers to buy the consoles at retail stores, ” said Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima . While Nintendo doesn’t spin out mobile sales, it reported a revenue increases over 420 percent since last year, lead by Super Mario Run and Fire Emblem Heroes . It looks like the company has found a whale or two . The holy grail for in-app payment centric games, these players invest a lot of time and money into smartphone games. Animal Crossing will be the company’s next smartphone game property , and will also include in-app purchases to help deck out your digital campsite. Source: Nintendo
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Nintendo expects Switch will beat Wii U lifetime sales in a year
US libraries will continue to preserve old games
Libraries and museums will most likely have more time to preserve old games before they disappear completely. The US Copyright Office has announced that it plans to recommend the renewal of a DMCA exemption giving museums and libraries the right to preserve old games, so long as they require sever support that’s no longer working. They can even hack consoles to keep those games running if needed. This exemption has been in place since 2015, but it needs to be renewed every three years. The Office says that after reviewing the public’s comments, it didn’t “find any meaningful opposition to renewal.” It has even received petitions from people running archival efforts to renew the exemption. In addition, as Gamasutra notes, the agency is now seeking comments about an expansion being pushed by the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment. MADE wants the exemption to cover multiplayer and massively multiplayer games, which were left out in the original rule. The Electronic Software Association blocked their addition the first time due to concerns about privacy, but their inclusion gets approved, then your kids might get to play your old favorite games someday. Via: Gamasutra Source: US Copyright Office
WD is developing 40TB hard drives powered by microwaves
Western Digital (WD) may have lost a bid to buy Toshiba’s flash memory technology, but is still hard at work on its bread-and-butter hard drives . The company has unveiled a breakthrough called microwave-assisted magnetic recording (MAMR) that will allow ever-higher disk capacities, up to 40TB by the year 2025. “Commercialization of MAMR technology will pave the way to higher recording densities and lower cost per terabyte hard disk drives, ” said VP of research John Rydning in a statement. If you’re wondering what microwaves have to do with hard drives, WD has a developed a new type of drive head called a “spin torque oscillator” that generates a microwave field. That allows data to be written to magnetic media at a lower magnetic field than with conventional disks, making it possible to pack more bits into the same space. “As a result, Western Digital’s MAMR technology is now ready for prime time, and provides a more cost-effective, more reliable solution, ” the company said in a technical brief , adding that “MAMR also has the capability to extend areal density gains up to 4 Terabits per square inch.” As with its current enterprise drives, WD’s MAMR drives will use helium instead of air to reduce internal turbulence. So how “ready for prime time” is it? Western Digital says MAMR-based drives for data centers will appear in the market starting in 2019, and it will produce 40TB 3.5-inch disks by 2025, with “continued expansion beyond that timeframe.” WD didn’t say what capacity early MAMR drives would pack, but it recently released its first 14TB drive via its HGST (formerly Hitachi) subsidiary, so we’d expect the MAMR variants to go beyond that. Mechanical hard disk don’t have nearly the speed or reliability of SSDs, but the cost per gigabyte is multiple times lower. That’s crucial for data centers and cloud storage firms, especially since data-hungry AI software is becoming more and more pervasive. Don’t expect to see MAMR drives in your local media backup (NAS) drives right away, but it should trickle down fairly soon, giving you enough storage for future 8K HDR videos . Source: Western Digital
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WD is developing 40TB hard drives powered by microwaves