technology – Page 247

Firefox 40 Arrives With Windows 10 Support, Expanded Malware Protection

An anonymous reader writes: Mozilla today launched Firefox 40 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. Notable additions to the browser include official Windows 10 support, added protection against unwanted software downloads, and new navigational gestures on Android. Firefox 40 for the desktop is available for download now on Firefox.com, and all existing users should be able to upgrade to it automatically. As always, the Android version is trickling out slowly on Google Play. Changelogs are here: desktop and Android. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Firefox 40 Arrives With Windows 10 Support, Expanded Malware Protection

Google Is Restructuring Under a New Company Called Alphabet

Mark Wilson writes: Sundar Pichai is the new CEO of Google as the company undergoes a huge restructuring. Co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are moving to a new company called Google Alphabet which will serve as an umbrella company for Google and its various projects. Google itself is being, in Page’s words, “slimmed down” and the change is quite an extraordinary one. Page quotes the original founders’ letter that was written 11 years go. It states that “Google is not a conventional company”, and today’s announcement makes that perfectly clear. There’s a lot to take in…Google Alphabet is, essentially, the new face of Google. Page chose to make the announcement in a blog post that went live after the stock markets closed. This is more than just a rebranding, it is a complete shakeup, the scale of which is almost unprecedented. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Why the Freemium Business Model Isn’t What It Used To Be

mattydread23 writes: A few years ago, every enterprise software company was trying freemium — the idea of giving a product away to build users, then charging for additional features. Now, that model seems to be losing favor, except with open source software. Business Insider talks to enterprise founders and VCs to figure out why ‘freemium’ wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Why the Freemium Business Model Isn’t What It Used To Be

IBM Drops $1 Billion On Medical Images For Watson

An anonymous reader writes: IBM is purchasing a company called Merge Healthcare for $1 billion. The company specializes in medical imaging software, and it will be a key new resource for IBM’s Watson AI. Big blue’s researchers estimate that 90% of all medical data is contained within images. Having a trove of them and the software to mine that data should help Watson learn how to make more accurate diagnoses. IBM thinks it’ll also provide better context for run-of-the-mill medical imaging. “[A] radiologist might examine thousands of patient images a day, but only looking for abnormalities on the images themselves rather than also taking into account a person’s medical history, treatments and drug regimens.” They can program Watson to do both. The AI is already landing contracts to assist with medical issues: “Last week, IBM announced a partnership with CVS Health, the large pharmacy chain, to develop data-driven services to help people with chronic ailments like diabetes and heart disease better manage their health.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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IBM Drops $1 Billion On Medical Images For Watson

North Korea Is Switching To a New Time Zone

jones_supa writes: North Korea has announced that it is winding its clocks back by half a hour to create a new “Pyongyang Time” — breaking from a time standard imposed by what it called “wicked Japanese imperialists” more than a century ago. The change will put the standard time in North Korea at UTC +8:30. North Korea said that the time change, approved on Wednesday by its rubber-stamp parliament and officially announced on Friday, would come into effect from August 15, which this year marks the 70th anniversary of the Korean peninsula’s liberation from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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North Korea Is Switching To a New Time Zone

Military Data Center In a Suitcase To Get Commercial Release

judgecorp writes: The Mobyl Data Center, designed for the US Department of Defense, puts a data center in a rugged suitcase-sized box, and it will shortly be available commercially. The box includes up to 88 Xeon cores a maximum of 176 GB of RAM, and 2.8 TB of SSD storage with 12TB of hard disk as an option. The system uses credit-card sized MobylPC server units, sealed in epoxy, and rated to survive 300g of shock, but apparently proprietary to the vendor, Arnouse Digital Devices Corp. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Military Data Center In a Suitcase To Get Commercial Release

Microsoft Open-Sources Windows Bridge For iOS

An anonymous reader writes: Previously known as Project Islandwood, Microsoft today released an early version of Windows Bridge for iOS, a set of tools that will allow developers to port iOS apps to Windows. The announcement reads in part: “We’re releasing the iOS bridge as an open-source project under the MIT license. Given the ambition of the project, making it easy for iOS developers to build and run apps on Windows, it is important to note that today’s release is clearly a work-in-progress — some of the features demonstrated at Build are not yet ready or still in an early state. Regardless, we’d love for the interested and curious to look at the bridge, and compare what we’re building with your app’s requirements. And, for the really ambitious, we invite you to help us by contributing to the project, as community contributors — with source code, tests, bug reports, or comments. We welcome any and all participation in building this bridge.” The source code is available now on Github. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Microsoft Open-Sources Windows Bridge For iOS

iOS 9 Will Use Cell Data When Your Wi-Fi Sucks

The latest version of the iOS 9 beta has brought some goodies, among them the new Wi-Fi Assist feature, which will recognize bad Wi-Fi connections, and use cellular data instead. http://gizmodo.com/ios-9-preview-… Read more…

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iOS 9 Will Use Cell Data When Your Wi-Fi Sucks

Thermos’ New Smart Bottle Tells You When Your Water’s Warm and Gross

There’s no shortage of smart water bottles on crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. But when a brand like Thermos enters the game with a new smart lid for its bottles that tracks hydration and even monitors the temperature of your water, you better pay attention. Read more…

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Thermos’ New Smart Bottle Tells You When Your Water’s Warm and Gross

Sydney’s e-paper road signs are smart and energy efficient

Add / Remove Electronic paper signs that run on sunlight consume up to 99 percent less energy than their LCD counterparts, so it was only a matter of time before cities began using the technology to power road signs. The first to do so is Sydney, Australia, whose Road and Maritime Services recently installed Visionect’s e-paper signage across the city. The new eco-friendy wireless signs are connected to the Internet of Things and display changing road information, keeping drivers informed with relevant updates. They are solar powered and therefore 100 percent self-sustainable and not susceptible to problems such as power cuts. They use little power because they only connect to 3G at pre-scheduled ‘wake up’ times, when they receive new information via Visionect’s software. The signs are visible in bright sunlight — the electronic ink used is the same as that used in e-book readers and smart watches. A front panel light triggered by diminishing light levels makes them just as readable at night. What else could e-paper be used for? Website: www.visionect.com Contact: info@visionect.com

Ken May

Tag: technology