You may not have noticed it yet, but Google is in the middle of sweeping changes to Hangouts that should offer big improvements to image quality and accessibility. The company tells GigaOM that it’s currently upgrading its video chat service to 720p by switching from the H.264 video codec to the more efficient (and Google-controlled) VP8 standard . HD-quality Hangouts should be available soon after Google finishes the VP8 rollout to web users late next week. A sharper picture is just one part of the puzzle, however. The switch to VP8 also sets the stage for WebRTC support, which will let Google offer plugin-free Hangouts in browsers like Chrome and Firefox within the next several months. The search giant will still offer a plugin for holdouts , but they may soon be the exceptions to the rule. Filed under: Internet , Google Comments Source: GigaOM

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Google+ Hangouts moving to HD video soon, going plugin-free within months

Microsoft’s SkyDrive Pro is helpful for cloud-savvy businesses, but its 7GB of storage per person now seems restrictive next to improved offerings from rivals like Box . The company won’t let itself be outdone, however: it just bumped SkyDrive Pro’s base storage to 25GB per user, and administrators can raise that limit to 100GB if they’re willing to pay. There’s some incentives to take advantage of that extra space, too. Microsoft now offers a larger 2GB file cap, automatic versioning for new users and a client view that displays all shared documents. If your employer depends on Microsoft for online collaboration, you should notice the additional storage today. Filed under: Storage , Internet , Microsoft Comments Via: TechCrunch Source: Office 365 Technology

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Microsoft boosts base SkyDrive Pro storage to 25GB, lets administrators add more

Google’s not the only one trying to build self-driving cars , despite the fact that it gets a ton of attention for all those autonomous autos roaming Bay Area streets. Many manufacturers are interested in taking human error out of the driving equation, and now Nissan aims to do so by 2020. That’s right, folks, Nissan Executive VP Andy Palmer stated today that the plan is to sell multiple affordable models of fully autonomous cars by 2020. And, to meet that goal, the company is constructing a facility to test self-driving systems that’ll be up and running in 2014. Nissan’s development timetable falls right in line with some of its competitors , but talk is cheap — time will tell if Nissan can deliver on both its autonomous and affordability promises. Filed under: Transportation Comments Via: Wall Street Journal Source: Nissan

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Nissan to sell multiple affordable self-driving cars by 2020

BitTorrent promised that its Sync Beta service would get an iOS client, and the company is making good on its word with plans to launch the app this week. As with the Android release, iOS users will get to sync files of any size, send content to other mobile devices and back up photos. And if you’re not carrying an Apple device, BitTorrent still has a small treat in store: it’s rolling out a localization update that supports 10 major Asian and European languages. Whatever your platform of choice, you’ll find more details at the source link. Filed under: Cellphones , Storage , Internet , Mobile Comments Source: BitTorrent Blog

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BitTorrent Sync coming to iOS this week

What was promised has been delivered to Xbox-owning Time Warner Cable customers. Today, TWC TV for Xbox 360 is finally available to Xbox Live Gold members, and brings live streaming of up to 300 channels to the console. Once downloaded, folks can find their favorite shows using the app’s program guide and Kinect gesture and voice controls. For now, the service is only streaming live programming, but Polygon reports that Microsoft’s working to add VOD content to the app as well — with no timetable for its arrival, naturally. Still, with the rollout of its latest live TV streaming app, TWC TV is now on iOS, Android, PC, Roku and Samsung Smart TVs . It’s clear that the company’s made spreading the TWC TV love a priority, so let’s hope it starts showing the same initiative when it comes to those negotiations with CBS . Football season’s only a couple weeks away, so the clock is ticking, TWC. Comments Via: TechCrunch

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Time Warner Cable TV app brings live TV to Xbox 360

Facebook already gave us insight into the volume of US government data requests that it receives; it’s broadening that scope today by posting its first-ever Global Government Requests Report. The chart reveals that agencies worldwide made at least 25, 607 data requests in the first six months of 2013, targeting a minimum of 37, 954 users. Nearly half of the demands (11, 000 to 12, 000) were from the US; as before, Facebook can’t be more specific unless it’s allowed greater transparency . While the report doesn’t address concerns regarding NSA surveillance , it does show that Facebook isn’t simply rubber-stamping government activity. The company has denied many or all of the requests from some countries, supporting the social network’s claims that it limits the scope of data probes when possible. Filed under: Internet , Facebook Comments Via: Bloomberg Source: Facebook

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Facebook posts first Global Government Requests Report

We caught the first Windows 8.1 (aka Blue ) news back in March , and after several betas and a preview , it’s been bundled off to manufacturers. That’s a mere five months from alpha code to gold master, a feat that Microsoft trumpeted as “an unparalleled level of collaboration” between customers and Windows product teams. Now, manufacturers will be able to ramp up their production lines with the new version in time for the holidays, as Redmond emphasized in its Blogging Windows post. Current Windows 8 owners will get the update for free , but all end users will have to hang on until the official October 18th release date. With a month and change left, though, it looks like all the ducks are in a row to herald the return of the tech world’s most infamous button . Filed under: Software , Microsoft Comments Source: Blogging Windows

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Microsoft releases Windows 8.1 to manufacturers ahead of October 18 launch

The story of scientific advancement is rarely one of leaps and bounds. More often than not it’s evolution over revolution , and the story of the so-called ytterbium atomic clock fits that bill perfectly. You may remember that in July researchers improved upon the standard, cesium-powered atomic clock model by using a network of lasers to trap and excite strontium ; instead of losing a second every few years, the Optical Lattice Clock only lost a second every three centuries. Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology made a pretty simple tweak to that model: replace the strontium with ytterbium and, voilà, another ten-fold increase in stability. Ten thousand of the rare-earth atoms are held in place, cooled to 10 microKelvin (just a few millionths of a degree above absolute zero) and excited by a laser “tick” 518 trillion times per second. Whereas the average cesium atomic clock must run for roughly five days to achieve its comparatively paltry level of consistency, the ytterbium clock reaches peak stability in just a single second. That stability doesn’t necessarily translate into accuracy, but chances are good that it will. That could could mean more accurate measurements of how gravity effects time and lead to improvements in accuracy for GPS or its future equivalents. The next steps are pretty clear, though hardly simple: to see how much farther the accuracy and stability can be pushed, then shrink the clock down to a size that could fit on a satellite or space ship. The one currently in use at the NIST is roughly the size of a large dinning room table. Filed under: Science , Alt Comments Via: AFP

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Scientists set new stabilty record with ytterbium atomic clock

There’s nothing quite like a 180 , and that’s what Pandora plans to pull as next month rolls in. The outfit’s 40-hour mobile listening limit, which was established back in February, will be history in September. The move was announced today by CFO Mike Herring, as he stated the following: “When we introduced the 40 hour mobile listening limit, we were confident that our scale — over 7 percent of total radio listening and Pandora’s number one ranking in most major markets — would allow us to take this action without impacting our key monetization initiatives in driving the disruption of the radio advertising market and driving our mobile advertising leadership. As our results have shown, the continued strong growth in our advertising revenue allowed us to cover the increased royalty costs with dollars left over to invest back into the business. With these tools in hand, and insight into how they work, we are resetting our levers in September. Notably, Pandora plans to eliminate the blanket 40-hour-per-month limit on free mobile listening effective September 1st. In the 6 months since we first implemented the free mobile listening limitation, we have gained critical insights into our user population that has given us greater control of our business. Because of these insights Pandora has implemented both other surgical levers to control content cost and new features that will allow for greater product usage.” It’s not clear why the the reversal is being made — be it uproar from loyal users or something else entirely — but those who found themselves perturbed by such a notion will have plenty to celebrate in just a few days. Filed under: Home Entertainment Comments Source: TechCrunch

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Pandora will remove 40-hour mobile listening limit next month

As the god of gods, Zeus has a tremendous list of assets at his disposal. A 3D printer that can also scan and transmit objects, however, has until now been out of reach. AIO Robotics is gearing up to introduce the Zeus of the modern world, an all-in-one machine that duplicates 3D objects , even when they’re not nearby. The device, which will make its Kickstarter debut on September 4th, will function in much the same way as a traditional all-in-one printer, with the obvious advantage of being able to create three-dimensional objects. Pricing has yet to be announced, but the creators expect Zeus to cost less than a Makerbot Replicator and Digitizer combo. It’s also forecasted to be “the most reliable and usable 3D printer so far, ” according to a RepRap forum post . Time will tell. Filed under: Household , Peripherals Comments Via: GigaOM Source: AIO Robotics , RepRap

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Kickstarter-bound Zeus copy machine prints, scans and faxes 3D objects