Tag: gaming

Samsung’s consumer Gear VR is available now for $99

We knew it was coming , but now it’s finally here. Samsung’s newly improved virtual reality headset, the Gear VR , is launching today in the US for $99 . This iteration of the Gear VR is, without a doubt, the most consumer-ready VR headset to date. One of its downsides is that it only works with Samsung’s latest smartphones, such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge and Galaxy S6 Edge+ — but that’s great news for people who own handsets. As you may recall, Samsung’s Gear VR is powered by Oculus software, and services like Hulu have already announced compatibility with the device. If you’re Stateside, you can grab the Gear VR now from retailers including Amazon and Best Buy . As for worldwide availability, an Oculus spokesperson says that will be announced “soon.” Source: Oculus

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Samsung’s consumer Gear VR is available now for $99

Yahoo restricting Mail accounts if it detects ad-blockers

Yahoo is reportedly preventing some of its users with ad blockers installed on their computers from accessing their email accounts. Digiday has spotted a thread on the Adblock Plus forums with complaints from a couple of people who couldn’t access Yahoo Mail on both Chrome and Firefox. One of them posted a screenshot of the message he got asking him to “disable Ad Blocker to continue using” the service, which you can see below the fold. If you take a close look at the URL, you’ll see that it says “reason=ADBLK_TRAP.” Via: Digiday Source: Adblock Plus

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Yahoo restricting Mail accounts if it detects ad-blockers

Air Force torch cuts through locks like a hot knife through butter

Firefighters, police and soldiers don’t have many good options when they want to breach a door: blowtorches and lock picks are usually slow, while battering rams, explosives and guns aren’t exactly subtle. The US Air Force and EMPI recently crafted a far better solution, though. Their TEC Torch creates a brief but super-hot (5, 000F) metal vapor jet that cuts through steel in less than a second, making short work of virtually any lock. In some ways, it’s like Star Wars ‘ Qui-Gon Jinn cutting through doors with a lightsaber — it’s just faster and less dramatic. Via: We Are the Mighty , Business Insider Source: US Air Force (PDF) , EMPI

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Air Force torch cuts through locks like a hot knife through butter

5Gbps broadband is coming to Britain, for £399 per month

Words like “superfast” and “ultrafast” are thrown around all the time to describe home broadband in the UK. Of course, what we really want to know are the cold, hard numbers. Download and upload speeds, man. That’s why Gigaclear has us chomping at the bit with its latest announcement — 5Gbps broadband , which it’s trialling right now with a small batch of UK customers. If you’ve never heard of Gigaclear before, we don’t blame you. The company was founded in 2010 and only operates in 36 rural communities, spread across five English counties. You can check your postcode here , but the chances of you falling under its fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) network are pretty slim. Even if you own one of the 10, 000 homes with Gigaclear access, you’ll have to pay some serious cash for the new speeds. The company will be charging £399 per month for homeowners and £1, 500 for businesses when the trial expands to all Gigaclear customers next year. Got a Scrooge McDuck pile of cash in your basement? Otherwise, this is all just a pipe dream. Source: Gigaclear

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5Gbps broadband is coming to Britain, for £399 per month

One Google Glass follow-up reportedly ditches the screen

Google Glass (aka Project Aura ) might not include so much actual glass the next time around. Sources for The Information understand that there are three next-generation headsets in development, and that one of them doesn’t have a screen at all — it’s an audio-focused model meant for the “sport” crowd. That sounds like an amped-up Bluetooth headset to us, but we’ll reserve judgment until there’s something to see… or rather, hear. Don’t worry if you still want that signature eyepiece, though — there’s talk of at least an enterprise-focused model with a display, Things are reportedly still up in the air (Google may cut its three models to two), but this could give you an idea of what to expect when Project Aura arrives sometime next year. [Image credit: AP Photo] Source: The Information

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One Google Glass follow-up reportedly ditches the screen

Pop-up sensor would give robot surgeons a sense of touch

Robotic surgery is no longer the stuff of science fiction. However, these robots can’t really feel their way around — the need for super-small mechanisms rules out existing approaches to touch. That’s where Harvard researchers might come to save the day. They’ve developed a pop-up sensor whose four layers collapse to a tiny footprint (just a tenth of an inch) when necessary, but expand into a 3D sensor thanks to a built-in spring. The design is extremely sensitive, too, with a light intensity sensor that can detected mere millinewtons of force. Source: Harvard University , IEEE Sensors Journal

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Pop-up sensor would give robot surgeons a sense of touch

Netgear’s Nest Cam competitor has seven days of cloud video recording

These days, connected cameras like the Nest Cam (previously known as the Dropcam) aren’t exactly special. There are a slew of competitors out there, like Logitech’s Circle and Samsung’s SmartCam , so the only way to stand out is by offering something others don’t. And that’s precisely what Netgear is doing its latest connected camera, the Arlo Q, by giving you seven days of cloud video recording for free. Logitech offers 24 hours of free cloud recording, in comparison. And Nest, whose original camera pioneered this whole category, still doesn’t have any video recording without a subscription. Beyond that, the Arlo Q delivers what you’d expect: 1080p video recording and two-way audio that’s accessible through a mobile app. It’ll be available in the US come December for $220, and it’ll eventually head to Australia, Canada and Europe.

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Netgear’s Nest Cam competitor has seven days of cloud video recording

Google’s cars have driven 1.2 million miles without getting a ticket

This afternoon Aleksandr Milewski posted a picture that suggested the ticket-less streak might come to an end, but now Google says its car was flagged down because it was going so slowly. These new prototype models are classified as “Neighborhood Electric Vehicles” and have their speeds capped at 25mph, so they stick to slower-moving streets. The officer had some questions about the car, which is apparently common for the cartoony vehicles. According to Google, its self-driving vehicles have driven 1.2 million miles, or the equivalent of 90 years of experience for an average person — and probably still can’t get an insurance discount. Source: Aleksandr Milewski (Facebook) , Google Self-Driving Car Project (G+)

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Google’s cars have driven 1.2 million miles without getting a ticket

New Android exploit can hack any handset in one shot

Hackers have discovered a critical exploit in Chrome for Android reportedly capable of compromising virtually every version of Android running the latest Chrome. Quihoo 360 researcher Guang Gong demonstrated the vulnerability to the PSN2OWN panel at the PacSec conference in Tokyo yesterday. While the inner workings of the exploit are still largely under wraps, we do know that it leverages JavaScript v8 to gain full administrative access to the victim’s phone. Source: The Register

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New Android exploit can hack any handset in one shot

Uber signs up TomTom to provide navigation for its drivers

After losing out to a consortium of Germany’s biggest car makers over the purchase of Nokia’s HERE Maps , Uber has set about building its own mapping and navigation services . They’re not quite ready for prime time, so the company has had to rely upon a number of popular mapping services, including Google (which also serves as an investor), to help both users and drivers understand exactly where they are. Today, Uber has added TomTom to the list, with the Dutch company confirming that it will also support the private hire taxi firm. Source: TomTom (Businesswire)

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Uber signs up TomTom to provide navigation for its drivers