Confessions of a Hearthstone addict

When it comes to Hearthstone, a collectible card game you play online, I am a helpless addict. I battle late into the night and squeeze in a game or two over breakfast. Several times over the past year and a half I deleted the game from my computer, tablet, and mobile phone, vowing to devote those hours to work and family, read a goddamn novel, or finish that long suffering book proposal which had been gestating in Google Docs. But I would always relapse. One more game. A peek at the newest expansion. Just a taste to get me through this long airplane flight.

The mechanics of Hearthstone are familiar to anyone who has played Magic: The Gathering. You build a deck of 30 cards comprised of creatures and spells. Each turn you draw a card and add one point of resources you can spend to put cards from your hand into play. Creatures and spells can do damage to other creatures or players, who each begin with 20 points of life. It has elements of chess and poker with the flavor of a fantasy novel and the added narcotic of a collectible like baseball cards. The combination, for me at least, is too potent to resist.

GET 'EM YOUNG, KEEP 'EM LOYAL

Hearthstone is made by Blizzard and set in the world of Warcraft, a gaming universe that Blizzard began back in 1994, and which gave me my first taste of game addiction. I have a vivid memory of a weekend when I was perhaps 13 or 14 years old; my parents were going out of town for 24 hours visiting friends, and I was left to my own devices. I had just purchased World of Warcraft II for $60 from J&R Computers with several months of saved allowance. Get ‘em young and keep ‘em loyal.

From the moment my parents left, I was playing. I did not sleep, or finish my homework, or stop much to eat. I played with the single-minded focus of a junkie deep into a session until, abruptly, my computer crashed. I stumbled out of the dream to realize that my folks would be home in less than two hours. I was shocked. I had never before experienced a complete loss in my sense of time. The hours had felt like minutes. I was still hungry for more.

I TELL MYSELF IT'S UNDER CONTROL

Hearthstone has never treated me to quite such a brutal binge. My relationship with the game is closer to that of a chain smoker who tells himself that one or two couldn’t hurt and ends up finishing the whole pack. Occasionally it gets to a level that irritates or concerns my wife, but it hasn’t damaged our relationship. I spend lots of time with my kids, and I manage to write big feature stories for a well-respected website. I tell myself I’ve got everything under control. Instead of playing at work, I keep a Twitch stream of other people enjoyingHearthstone running in the background. It’s my patch, my piece of gum, close enough to keep me from breaking the rules but also maintaining the presence of the addictive chemical in my system at all times.

Why do I find Hearthstone so pleasurable and irresistible? I’ve thought about this a lot, hell this whole piece is an attempt to pin down an answer. Getting lost in a video game isn’t exclusive to Hearthstone for me, it’s part of my overall personality. But I cannot remember any other computer game I played for more than a year without eventually getting bored and setting it aside, at least temporarily in favor of something new.

REVISITING AN OLD MISTRESS

The game is based on the collectible card game format made popular by Magic: The Gathering, which I also played obsessively as a kid. I recently tried out the new online offerings fromMagic and the differences with Hearthstonehelped to sharpen my understanding of what makes Blizzard’s game so special and so addictive.

Hearthstone is equal parts skill and luck. Like poker, the best players will win more often. But even an idiot can draw the perfect hand. I find that this makes for matches which are supremely frustrating, exhilarating, and on many occasions, laugh out loud hilarious. The advantage can swing back and forth in an instant, something that, at least in my experience is not true of most competitive video games. There is none of the persistent grinding and tactical precision of CounterStrike or League of Legends here.

As I played through Magic: The Gathering’s new digital game earlier this month, it became clear that no matter how well the game is adapted for a digital format, it will never work as well as a native like Hearthstone. The key difference is that Hearthstone can include an element of random selection, in which cards that neither player has in their deck enter the field of play. Cards can appear that suddenly provide you the winning boost or accidentally undermine a carefully laid plan.

LADY LUCK DEALS IN DOPAMINE

On Monday, Hearthstone released a new expansion, The Grand Tournament, setting off a debate within the community that occurs anytime the substance or structure of a game is tweaked, especially one with a competitive element where players can earn millions in prize money. Some felt that too many of the new cards were bad, others that too many of the new cards were too powerful. Some wished that old cards had been introduced instead of new versions that were identical in resource cost but higher in power.

DIGITAL TWEAKS HAVE HEIGHTENED THE POTENCY

This is a natural part of the ecosystem around competitive card games. But what struck me was the realization that while many cards were too "bad" to see any play in a competitive setting, the random elements of the game ensure that they will still make their way onto the field. When that happens, players are faced with a sudden boon or unintentional handicap that they will need to play around. A "bad" card becomes an interesting challenge.

Hearthstone includes two other formats, Arena and Tavern brawl, where players are given a random selection of cards or a wacky format that changes each week. Both eliminate the need for players to have any cards in their collections. This solves another big problem in Magic, which is that you need to invest a lot of time and money into the game before you can become competitive and play with the rarest and most interesting cards.

I’ve digressed from writing about my addiction to a lengthy explanation of why I love this game so much, and if you think I wasn’t playing quick games of Hearthstone while writing this piece, you might be on your own drug of choice. Still, I hope there was some genuine catharsis that will come out of publicly discussing my struggle. If you want to share your story, please do in the comments. And if you feel like playing a quick game ofHearthstone, I’m always around.

Leave you broke, Star Wars digital trading cards will

Earlier this year, we reported that Topps, the company that popularized trading cards, had come out with an app that let users collect and trade digital Star Wars trading cards. They even have digital replicas of the licensed paper trading cards of yore. But, as with all worthy hobbies, you need to invest the time and money to expand your card collection. Mostly money. A lot of it.

A recent eBay listing showed a vintage Han Solo card with a maximum print of 1,500 offered for $225 a pop. That's what you'd make working two full days at minimum wage in California. But the price of this card also brings up a crucial difference between digital trading card games, like this one, and the physical trading card games you may remember from your childhood. In the image, the card looks worn out and crumpled. If you were playing with physical trading cards, these qualities would make the card significantly less valuable. But because the cards are all digital, the primary factor determining their value is not their appearance, but their availability.





In the app, card packs cost credits. Credits can either be bought with real money — $5 will get you 20,000 credits — or earned by completing collections and other tasks. Card pack prices vary ranging from a few pennies to $50 for some of the rarer premium collector packs. And while there are some card collections out there that go for a couple hundred dollars, the Han Solo card is one of the highest prices seen yet for a single card. Except for this super limited edition Pink Yoda card. There were only ever 10 copies, and they were only available for one hour. It costs $900 — that's as much as a seven-night Caribbean cruise.

Once you’ve won the lottery, or inherited from that estranged aunt who finally kicked the bucket, you can download Star Wars Card Trader for free from the App Store.

Google Inc. (GOOG) Responds To EU Antitrust Charges Of Unfair Competition

Google’s general counsel rejects EU antitrust charges








Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has rejected charges by the European Union Antitrust Commission claiming that the company abused its market power in Europe by engaging in anti-competitive practices, Venture Beat reports.



In April, the European Commission claimed that Google acted in an anti-competitive manner by altering search results in favor of its own services, like shopping. Google’s legal counsel, Kent Walker, recently responded in a company blog: “Economic data spanning more than a decade, an array of documents and statements from complaints all confirm that product search is robustly competitive.”

EU antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager, had sent a document containing the charges to Google in April, asreported by Bidness Etc earlier. The document detailed that the EU believed that Google violated competition laws as it favored its own services, when users searched for products on the search engine.

Mr. Walker elaborated in his blog that companies like Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) provide tough competition in terms of search engine results, and that the company had sent around 20 billion referrals to other companies, instead of keeping all the traffic to itself. Mr. Walker said that Internet traffic had increased by 227% in the last 10 years in the countries where EU claimed that Google had abused its power. He further stated that the results that users see are tailored and specific to their queries, and that any attempt to alter the results would harm the customers.

The European Commission had officially sent a Statement of Objection (SO) to the search engine giant in April. The fact that the company has responded just now indicates that Google must have been performing due diligence to see whether it was breaking any laws or not.

The SO, if proven to be correct, could have led to a fine of $6 billion for the company. While Ms. Vestager has been under scrutiny, as tech analysts claim that she has been against Google, she has stated that although Google plays a vital role in a user’s life, the anti-competitive practices by the search engine giant were not part of fair competition. While speaking at NYU, she stated that she had no grudge against the search engine and that the SO had been forwarded to the company.


It has been five months since the EU sent the SO to Google. This, however, is nothing as antitrust cases run a long time. Now that the company has refuted the claims brought forward by EU, the EU would have to change the dynamics of its case and present its findings once again in the future. Since Google came under the wing of its parent company Alphabet, the company has been working autonomously with new CEO Sundar Pichai, while the co-founders manage Alphabet.

More will be known in the coming months when the EU responds to Google’s reply.

What if 'Back to the Future Part II' were set in 2045 instead of 2015?

We're about to be living in the future, people -- specifically, the campy future of "Back to the Future Part II," partially set in October 2015, which is 30 years out from the universe of 1985 Hill Valley from which Marty McFly hails.

The movie actually gets quite a bit of today's technology right.

Flying cars, hoverboards and Google Glass-like headsets aren't ubiquitous like they are in the movie, but they are very real, which leads me to wonder what advances would be included in another sequel set another three decades forward...in 2045.

Famously, 2045 is the year futurist Ray Kurzweil predicts we will achieve technological singularity, or the point at which artificial intelligence is smart enough to begin improving itself without the need for human help or supervision. The singularity, if it comes to pass, could arguably be so transformative it becomes difficult to even attempt to predict its implications. So it's convenient that this little thought experiment is only trying to predict what life will be like leading right up to that point but not beyond it.


In addition to knocking on the door of an AI revolution, by 2045 we should have a much better idea which distant planets might eventually be worth a visit based on the likelihood that they host life. I wouldn't bet that we'll yet have anything like a warp drive or other means of interstellar travel up and running by 2045, but if the recently started efforts to cure "aging" have begun to bear any fruit by that point, we may be ready to start looking for volunteers to undertake decades-long voyages ofexploration beyond our solar system.

To stop next spam king, Facebook program helps firms share security info

Last week, a hacker pleaded guilty to his crimes. The self-described "spam king," Sanford Wallace of Las Vegas, acknowledged in court his history of breaking in to Facebook accounts and sending millions of unwanted messages to other users over a period of three months.

Thankfully, the spamming was all he did. A more nefarious hacker, like those who broke in to Sony in November or Ashley Madison this summer, could have done much more damage.

Facebook believes it's come up with a way to stop the next spam king before he even starts. It's called ThreatExchange, and it's a program where companies around the world pool their collective knowledge about hacking attacks to help warn one another of the various methods being used by bad guys. Think of it like Facebook, but for catching hackers.

"We want to be able to disrupt these things more frequently," said Mark Hammell, who manages Facebook's Threat Infrastructure team.

Facebook is reporting early success with its ThreatExchange program, which could help Internet companies bring down the hackers targeting them all.John Fedele/Blend Images/Corbis


If the program is successful, the Internet could become a better place for everyone. The information ThreatExchange could share between companies would not only identify particular hacking attacks, but also find out what they have in common, painting a picture of where hackers are based and what tactics they tend to use.

So why hasn't someone tried this sooner?

Other efforts do exist, including a partnership called Soltra that provides a free repository of threat information for financial service companies. Hewlett-Packard offers a subscription-based service called Threat Central for sharing and analyzing cyberthreat information. Then there's the government. In anexecutive order this February, President Barack Obama urged more information sharing. And such cooperation may soon be required if the Senate passes a cybersecurity bill in September.

Nonetheless, there are longstanding barriers that have kept more companies from sharing information about hacking attacks. They're often shy to divulge these details for a variety of reasons, including fears of cyberespionage to concerns over customer lawsuits and even the possibility they'd be handing over a competitive advantage.

That attitude is starting to change as hacking becomes more prevalent and high profile, said Alex Rice, an executive at security company HackerOne, who used to work for Facebook. "Pragmatism is breaking through that," he said.

Facebook believes it can encourage this trend by acting as a neutral meeting ground for these companies.

The program works through special software Facebook gives each participating company, which draws the information about cybersecurity threats from the companies' own computers. Employees don't see much more than the same programs they always use to monitor the healthy functioning of their company's technology. But Facebook is watching in the background, and to ensure privacy the company lets users choose what to share and who can see it.

Facebook also isn't charging participants for the service, a key difference that had hobbled past attempts to combine company information in the past.
Early success

Since Facebook announced the program in February, 11,000 organizations have applied to join, Hammell said. So far 90 groups have been selected from across seven industries. That includes big-name Internet companies like PayPal, Yahoo, Pinterest, Tumblr and Microsoft as well as financial institutions, colleges and universities, and defense contractors.

The most notable group not involved is the government, which Facebook says it's not planning to include. Not only could government agencies be subject to public records requests about information they submit, but Facebook is not interested in giving ThreatExchange information to law enforcement, Hammell said.

In all, participants have submitted data and queried the program about 30 million times per month on average, and most are searching out information on malicious software and signs that something that seems dodgy is actually a threat.

Andy Steingruebl, who directs a cybersecurity department at PayPal, said the program works in part because it allows companies to decide whose take on a given threat is worth listening to.

Hackers are always coming up with new ways to disguise their activities, forcing companies to make a judgment call about who's using their websites for legitimate purposes and who's trying to break in. That isn't always easy, Steingruebl said. "People have a hard time agreeing what's bad on the Internet and why it's bad," he said.

As a result, Facebook doesn't analyze the quality of the data companies send, but rather tries to give it context by showing how a range of participants viewed a given potential attack.
Connecting the dots

ThreatExchange isn't focused on one piece of tricky software, like a virus. Instead, it compiles information on where that software is coming from and where it's sending information to. That lets companies know not just to distrust the software, but the sender as well.

"ThreatExchange is really valuable for telling you who's trying to exploit something," Steingruebl said.

Despite that information's value, experts such as Rice say a program like this wouldn't be effective if it wasn't free.

It might sound strange that Facebook -- a company known for selling companies on the ability to send targeted ads to its users -- would collect a trove of sought-after information and simply pass it on for free to its partners. But Facebook has been much more giving toward its peers, letting them see the code it's built for many of its internal systems, among other things.

And the benefit of giving the information away could easily outweigh the cost of putting the program together. It all comes back to the spam king, and the abuse of Facebook that he represents. Increasing communication about spammers and hackers like him could eventually make Facebook a nicer place to hang out, because the whole Internet will be better.

"It was really about making the Internet a safer place in general, for us and everyone else who uses our products," Hammell said.

Google to block all auto-play Flash ads on Chrome starting September 1

New Delhi: Starting September 1, Google will block all Flash content on its Chrome browser, including ads, or auto-play videos on non-video sites that aren’t central to the webpage.

The Flash content will be automatically paused by default, but users have the option to play them if they choose to do so.


Google had introduced the Flash-blocking feature in a beta version of Chrome earlier this year, citing reasons for the blocking being battery life which is consumed more by Flash ads. Disabling auto-play Flash videos could also help bring down the spread of malware.

However, this might not be a move welcomed by advertisers as a vast majority of online advertising uses Flash, Ars Technica reports.

Although Google already automatically converts most Flash ads placed on its AdWords network to HTML5, other sites will simply stop accepting Flash ads entirely.

E-commerce giant Amazon has also updated advertising guidelines and announced that it will stop accepting Flash on September 1 for positive and consistent experience of consumers.

Embedded video players on sites like YouTube and Vimeo will continue to work as before.

HP Elite x2 1011 G1 review: A high-quality hybrid with some tablet issues

If you're seeking a compact convertible Windows tablet for business use, there's plenty choice -- including Lenovo's ThinkPad Helix 2 and Toshiba's Portégé Z20t. You might also consider ASUS's Transformer Book series, including the Transformer Book T300 Chi that we recently reviewed.

HP is entering quite a crowded space with its 11.6-inch Elite x2 1011 G1, and does so at a premium price: it starts at £1,462 (inc. VAT; £1,219 ex. VAT), while our review unit costs a whopping £1,876 (inc. VAT; £1,564 ex. VAT).

The 11.6-inch Core M-powered HP Elite x2 1011 G1 with Power Keyboard. Image: HP



Build quality is superb. The underside of the detachable Power Keyboard is made from slip-resistant rubber, with tough metal protecting the top side. The same metal is used for the tablet's back, making for a very robust device. The tablet's tapered sides and top belie its thickness: at 10.7mm thick, it's bulkier than you'd expect a standalone 11.6-inch tablet to be; it's heavy too, at 780g.

The bottom edge of the tablet is flat because it needs to sit securely in its keyboard dock. The dock relies on a pair of hinges that lock into place on the tablet when you push it down; the hinges are unlocked using a release button allowing you to lift the tablet away. It's a secure system, and had no worries about the docked system coming apart while rattling around in our travel bag.

Huawei Watch pre-order confirms Android Wear coming to iOS

Unless Amazon's pre-order page that Android Central found for the Huawei Watch is wrong, it's a safe bet that Android Wear software is coming to iOS.

As strange as it may sound, that would allow iPhone owners to choose smartwatches that are less expensive than the Apple Watch for their phone notifications and more.

Most Android Wear devices range in the $199 to $249 price range as compared to the $349 starting point for an Apple Watch sport. Huawei is seeking a premium, however. Amazon lists the base watch at $349.99 while a gold-plated stainless steel model costs $799.99.





Amazon's product page for the Huawei Watch is pretty clearwhen it comes to smartphone support, saying the 1.4-inch round AMOLED watch is "[c]ompatible with most devices with an iOS 8.2 or Android 4.3 or later operating system."

While pre-order product details on Amazon aren't always accurate, there are two reasons I'm inclined to believe that the Android-powered watch will work with iOS; at least partially.


Reports of Google adding Android Wear support via an iOS app surfaced back in April, for one thing.

And remember Google Glass? Originally that was an Android-only experience but Google later added a version of the MyGlass companion app to iOS. I'm guessing since the name "Android Wear" wouldn't fly in the iTunes App Store, Google dubs it "MyWatch" or something similar.


There are many similarities between MyGlass and the Android Wear software needed to support Google-powered smartwatches on iPhones. Both use Bluetooth and/or Wi-Fi to push data between the devices such as notifications, incoming calls, email and more.


Does Google stand to gain much by adding Android Wear support to iOS?


I'm dubious. Most iPhone owners would likely opt for the full, native experience of an Apple Watch instead of a third-party companion app and non-Apple hardware. Still, some (like me) use both Android and iOS devices regularly so it would be appealing not to have to switch watches when switching phones.

Twitter shares 2016 diversity goals for hiring women, underrepresented minorities

Following Pinterest's lead in July, Twitter has published its own goals to improve the diversity of its workforce between now and 2016.


The San Francisco-based business is striving to boost representation for women to 35 percent in the global workforce as well as 11 percent covered by underrepresented minorities.



"As we look ahead, we see opportunity rather than a challenge: an opportunity to build a platform and a company that will better serve the diverse community on Twitter and the increasingly diverse one at Twitter," wrote Janet Van Huysse, vice president of diversity and inclusion at Twitter, in a blog post on Friday.

Like many other tech giants in Silicon Valley and beyond, Twitter certainly has its work cut out for it.

The social network first revealed its workplace demographics in a report in July 2014.

At the time, the gender balance was laughable in a cringe-worthy way as 90 percent of all tech-skilled jobs at Twitter at that time were filled by male employees. The gap has only shrunk slightly to 87 percent male, 13 percent female.

Twitter is maintaining a pragmatic goal of boosting female representation in tech roles to 16 percent by next year.


The company's goals for placing more minorities (in the United States only) in tech and leadership roles are more conservative.

The latest figures reveal tech skilled jobs are filled overwhelmingly by white (56 percent) and Asian (37 percent) employees, with all others (primarily those of Hispanic and African-American descent) accounting for just single-digit points on the chart.

By 2016, Twitter is aiming to boost representation in tech jobs to nine percent collectively with six percent in leadership roles, hoping for a grand total of just 11 percent of the workforce overall.

Twitter defended it has been working with a number of programs nationwide to improve these statistics. The social media brand noted it also plans to recruit at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic-serving institutions this fall.

Amazon Echo now plays music, books from multiple accounts; gains BART schedules

The Amazon Echo got a little more useful on Friday both for families and for those who live in the San Francisco Bay, California area.

Folks that use BART, the regional rail line north of Silicon Valley can travel times read aloud by Alexa using the Echo's new BART Times skill.

To use it, first enable the Skill in the Amazon Alexa app and then say, "Alexa, open Bart Times." Alexa will first ask for your home and destination BART stations.


To test the process, I chose South San Francisco and Montgomery Street. Alexa then told me when the next three trains depart and arrive between the two.


Again, using the Amazon Alexa companion app, you simply add a second Amazon account to the Household Profile setting. Once that's done, simply say, "Alexa, switch accounts" to flip between them. You can also ask "Alexa, which account is this?" to determine the one currently in use.While that's useful, not everyone lives in the Bay Area. For everyone else, Alexa can now play audiobooks and music from multiple Amazon accounts. Until now, the Echo was tied to content from a single account.

It may sound like a trivial change but the multiple account support will be welcomed by many. Amazon's Echo can surely be used by a single person but since it works with one universal interface -- voice commands -- it's useful in a household with several people.

Not everyone wants to listen to the same music or audiobooks in a home, however, which makes the new account switching support so handy

Robot staff at Japanese hotel spell doom for service sector jobs

A hotel, located in Japan, could very well be the bastard child borne out of the feverish imagination of Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick, midwifed by David Lynch.

It may also be the gloomy harbinger of things to come in a fast-shifting employment landscape globally.

The Henn na Hotel (which translates to 'Weird Hotel' in Japanese), located in Sasebo, Nagasaki is populated almost entirely by robots. A creepy, grinning velociraptor and an equally eerie female humanoid check you in while an automated cart trundles off with your luggage to your room. Meanwhile, a large robotic arm stashes your remaining suitcases into the hotel's equivalent of a cloak room. The front desk then snaps a picture of the guest to be used as a facial recognition room key.

You can see all of this happening in a video posted on Youtube.

It's not as if humans don't exist at the hotel at all. Ten of them with actual blood and guts are on hand to make sure their robotic brethren, called "actroid" androids, behave properly -- which doesn't bode well for their survival if you think of what happens in Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.


If all of this isn't bizarre enough already, the hotel is located in a theme park just outside the southern city of Nagasaki which recreates the life of a typically Dutch town, complete with Dutch-style architecture, sure to put a smile on the faces of David Lynch fans.

But there's nothing weird about the havoc that robots are going to cause in the arena of human employment, especially so in the services realm where humans have been serving other humans for a relatively low wage.


Imagine when self-driving cars, already deployed on some roads in California by Google, become a ubiquitous mode of transportation. This could potentially wipe out millions of jobs held by truck and taxi drivers and even delivery personnel.

But the low-wage service worker is not the only one facing potential annihilation from a robot invasion. Certain kinds of knowledge workers also face extinction.

Law-firms, for instance, will use e-discovery software to rapidly sift through mountains of documents rather than hire a team of infinitely more expensive paralegals. Financial planners could get replaced by dependable algorithms. Most incredibly, Associated Press today uses an automated software to actually write stories that report quarterly earnings of companies that typically require speed and accuracy.



There is a tendency, of course, to dramatically overdo things by regularly predicting the apocalypse due to the rise of the machines, say some. After all, the assembly line introduced by Henry Ford provided more human jobs then less. Ditto for the computer. It is generally accepted that technology, in general, has generated far more employment than it has obliterated.Pulitzer Prize winning, they may not be, but they have already disrupted in a huge way the low-end of the journalism industry which is itself fighting for survival in a new media age where cat listicles make more money than the business of reporting news. An 2013 Oxford study states that "work automation will put 47% of existing jobs in the US at 'high risk,' meaning human workers in those jobs will be replaced by robots within 20 years."

The problem with this theory, argue others, is that the industrial revolution and its associated machine age took centuries to unfurl. Today, technology is changing society and occupations almost overnight. Humans today simply have too little time to adapt or retrain themselves. Entire industries -- from food to customer service to IT -- will now be transformed by automation.






In the case of the Henn na hotel, the robot staff are ostensibly there for reasons other than just gimmickry -- the tab for an overnight stay in a room at the Henn na costs just 9,000 yuan, or $73, which is at least three times cheaper than its peers, thanks to cheaper operating costs spent on human paychecks, and because of the use of power-saving equipment such as LED lights and renewable energy.

The Henn na shouldn't come as a surprise considering Japan's love affair with both robot research and industrial manufacturing, especially in automobiles, that has pioneered the use of these machines. Japan is the home of the peerless Asimo, a humanoid robot capable of running, walking, waving and kicking a football.

Osaka University has been a nerve centre for the design of actroid robots which it has licensed to Kokoro, a wing of the company that churns out Hello Kitty. "First unveiled in 2003, the model has been steadily refined with the current generation consisting mainly of robots that have been given the features (and mannerisms) of a young Japanese woman who, in addition to speaking (in Japanese, Chinese, Korean and English), will be able to make hand gestures, reciprocate eye movements (and no doubt gauge moods)," says the Telegraph newspaper.

Also, a researchers at Japan's Kansai University are working to make robots more human-like by giving them the ability to develop goosebumps, sweat, and breathe, quite possibly in retaliation for Arnold Schwarznegger taking over acting roles that should have gone to robots.

The Henna, while unusual and advanced in the ability of its humanoid help, is not alone in the employment of our machine serfs. Apparently, New York's YOTEL has robots that make coffee, deliver laundry, clean rooms and assume other similar service-related jobs. Last year, hotel colossus Starwood introduced 'Botlrs' to run around and help guests, delivering things to their rooms by using elevators unassisted.

From security guards (the University of Birmingham built one called Bob), to soldiers built by the US army, robots are on the rise, especially at the expense of service professionals.

Are there any silver linings in this portrait of doom? While the Overlook hotel it is not, the Henn na, with a desired future 90 percent rate of automation and practically no humans to sort out billing errors, luggage screw-ups and other conundrums especially for those who are late for their flights, may just find someone channelling The Shining's Jack Nicholson in the lobby.

After the dust has settled and the machines have won, we may discover that that quaint concept called the "human touch", with all its inefficiencies, is worth more than we had imagined.

No renders: New BlackBerry Venice images show microSD slot, 18 megapixel camera

A couple of weeks ago ZDNet's Kevin Tofel posted some renders and all the rumored details of the BlackBerry Venice. Today, we see actual photos of the upcoming Android-powerered smartphone posted on the Tinhte website, apparently captured while in an airplane seat.


The photos confirm that the BlackBerry Venice will have a curved glass front display that slides up to reveal a full hardware QWERTY keyboard. This form factor is reminscient of one of my favorite Windows Phones of all time, the Dell Venue Pro that I bought in 2011 and still own today.


We see an 18 megapixel rear camera with OIS, dual LED flash, microSD card and SIM card slots on top, and likely power button on the left. The volume buttons and possible BlackBerry Assistant/Google Now button are on the right. It doesn't look like the back is removable so an integrated battery, similar to the BlackBerry Passport, is likely being used here.


The device is definitely running Android with a folder of Google apps in what appears to be a fairly pure Google experience device. One image shows an app called BlackBerry Hub running as well. BlackBerry Hub is one of my favorite things about BB10 and I am giving serious consideration to purchasing a BlackBerry Venice if it launches in November, as rumored.

I wasn't sure if the BlackBerry Venice was real or not given that all we have see until now were renders. It's pretty clear it's an actual device so who else is looking forward to picking one up?

Amazon is right to give up on Fire Phone

Amazon.com's (NASDAQ:AMZN) foray into smartphones was always destined to fail. The e-commerce giant was simply way too late to the market. The Fire Phone didn't have any compelling differentiating features (Dynamic Perspective was little more than a novelty gimmick) while it stuck with conventional pricing, putting it in direct competition with entrenched rivals.

It's tempting to pin the blame on Jeff Bezos since he was reportedly "obsessed" with the Dynamic Perspective feature, which required incredible development resources and delayed the device for years, according to a former executive. It was hardly a surprise when Amazon took a $170 million inventory charge mere months later because the Fire Phone just wasn't selling.

The Wall Street Journal is now reporting that Amazon is giving up on Fire Phone. Despite the fact that it's only been a year, it's about time.

Fire Phone crashes and burns
Amazon has reportedly laid off dozens of engineers at its hardware division, Lab126. The company has also restructured Lab126, consolidating two hardware development departments into one. A large-screen tablet may also be shelved as well as a few other odd devices like an image projector. Amazon is still hard at work on other hardware projects, though, like a computer that can take orders via voice commands or a different spin on a 3-D interface meant for a tablet.

The layoffs run counter to a Reuters report last year that Amazon was actually planning to dramatically expand its Lab126 head count over the next five years, even after it took the Fire Phone writedown and realized the product was a flop. For once in its life, Amazon seems averse to plunging an endless amount of money into a new initiative. Cost cutting is largely how Amazon crushed analyst estimates last quarter, posting a $92 million profit and sending shares soaring.

What about tablets?
Once upon a time, the Kindle Fire tablet was the best-selling Android tablet. Amazon was one of the first companies to launch a smaller tablet, but once it enjoyed demonstrable demand, the traditional players all jumped in. These days, Amazon's position in the tablet market has weakened significantly. IDC estimated that unit volumes in Q4 2014 fell by a whopping 70% to 1.7 million. Amazon disputed those figures, but naturally declined to provide any hard data to substantiate its claims. Amazon is not included in the top five vendors for IDC's Q2 2015 figures. Technically,Huawei and LG tied for fourth and fifth with 1.6 million units each.

The WSJ also says that Amazon's product mix is heavily skewed toward the lower-end versions of its e-readers and tablets, which also makes plenty of sense. But competition at the low end is particularly intense, while the iPad has a 76% share of the premium tablet market in the U.S. (priced at $200 or above). Amazon will likely shift development resources toward these lower-end tablets, while focusing on new product categories like Echo.

Why that's the right call
Strategically, Amazon's hardware has always served as a form of shopping portal, a gateway into Amazon Prime, if you will. For the longest time, Amazon's strategy was to sell hardware at cost and profit later when people purchased digital content or physical products. That's why Fire Phone's pricing was so Un-Amazon because the company was hoping to profit up front (and later on).

If the value in Amazon's hardware lies in its ability to sell more stuff, then first-party smartphones and tablets are decidedly not the best use of developmental resources. People already have smartphones and tablets with Amazon's app loaded on them, so third-party devices are already shopping portals. Instead, new categories and form factors are where the real opportunity lies, such as the $5 Dash buttons or Echo or any other type of centralized order-taking machine.

Google Offers 'Short-Term Fix' To Let Developers Bypass iOS 9's Enhanced Security Features

Google is offering developers with a short-term fix that will allow them to bypass the enhanced security features of iOS 9.

The upcoming iOS 9 will boast a latest feature called App Transport Security (ATS), which need developers of iPhone app to use advanced security protocol. The key idea of such a feature is to ensure that the operating system is lock tight.

In a blog post, Google reveals that Apple is correct in implementing such tight security protocol. However, the Internet company also suggests that not all mobile publishers and app developers will find it easy to work with the new standards set by Apple.

When such app publishers are unable to run the protocol and meet the new encryption set by Apple then their mobile ads will not run, which means less revenue for these publishers.

On Wednesday, Aug. 26, Google offered codes to app developers to bypass iOS 9's enhanced security features.

"While Google remains committed to industry-wide adoption of HTTPS, there isn't always full compliance on third party ad networks and custom creative code served via our systems. To ensure ads continue to serve on iOS9 devices for developers transitioning to HTTPS, the recommended short term fix is to add an exception that allows HTTP requests to succeed and non-secure content to load successfully," per a Google blog.

Disabling the protocol does not violate the rules set by Apple.

While Google is offering a short-term fix to developers, Apple has already noted about disabling the encryption at a WWDC session in June this year and also provided instruction on how to turn off the security feature.

"App Transport Security is a feature that improves the security of connections between an app and web services. The feature consists of default connection requirements that conform to best practices for secure connections. Apps can override this default behavior and turn off transport security," per an Apple webpage.



By giving the workaround Google is not doing something unlawful. However, in the past Google was found fiddling with Apple's Safari browser settings and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) slapped a fine of $22.5 on Google.

Windows 10 Mobile Build 10534 Screenshots Leaked: Here's What's New

Screenshots of what is purportedly Windows 10 Mobile build 10534 have been leaked to the Internet, showing off a few minor changes that imply Windows 10 could support USB tethering and file sharing over Wi-Fi in the future.

The screenshots, which were posted on the Poland-based, Windows-focused forum WiindowsMania.pl, do not show any changes at all concerning the appearance of Windows 10 Mobile. It appears build 10534 will look very much like build 10512, which is what is available as a Technical Preview to Fast Ring Insiders right now.

Digging further into the settings page, however, shows us a couple of connectivity changes for developers. Under For Developer Settings, we find an option to make devices visible for USB connections. This can mean Windows 10 Mobile might offer the option to do simple USB tethering to something more exciting, such as the ability to allow users to share files over a home Wi-Fi network.

The second option enables the device to become visible for USB EEM connections. EEM, which stands for Ethernet Emulation Model, functions as an Ethernet interface using a USB adapter and can potentially provide the ability for users to download content to their devices through the Internet if connected via USB.

WindowsMania.pl also says that build 10534 will come with the usual improvements to speed and efficiency, which is not surprising. When Microsoft released build 10512 to Fast Ring insiders, Windows Insider chief Gabe Aul emphasized that "core quality" was the focus for the mobile version of Windows 10.

"The team was very focused on our Windows 10 release for PCs and tablets, and we needed to do some prep work for Mobile to move to a new branch," Aul said in a blog post. "I expect the builds to be out more frequently again as we go forward from here. Our major focus on Windows 10 Mobile right now is on improvements to core quality."






Build 10534 is reported to experience issues with the Windows Store that causes it to crash every now and then. It is expected to be the next build that Microsoft could be planning to roll out to Fast Ring Insiders next week, although Aul had earlier tweeted that he was using Build 10532.





Check out the screenshots taken by WindowsMania.pl below.


(Photo : WindowsMania.pl)



(Photo : WindowsMania.pl)

Windows 10 Privacy Issues Extend To Windows 8.1, 7: How To Stop Microsoft From Collecting More Of Your Data

One of the major concerns of users upgrading to Windows 10 has been Microsoft encroaching on their privacy owing to the default data collection and usage tracking features.

Microsoft has also released updates for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users and turns out that the update has enhanced data collection even on these older operating system versions. So operating systems such as Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 are now able to collect data without the user's knowledge.

The updates released by Microsoft are kb3068708, kb3022345, kb3075249 and kb3080149, which basically "introduce the Diagnostics and Telemetry tracking service" for the older Windows versions. Moreover per Microsoft, these updates also "add telemetry points to the User Account Control (UAC) feature to collect information on elevations that come from low integrity levels."

So this basically means that once a user installs any of the above-mentioned updates, Microsoft will have the ability to collect data from your Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 PC just as it is able to on Windows 10.

For those worrying about the issue - there is a way of stopping Microsoft from collecting data. Here's how:

How to Stop Data Collection

The update KB3068708 mentions two domains which Microsoft is deploying to send the data it has collected to. These domains are:

1. vortex-win.data.microsoft.com

2. settings-win.data.microsoft.com

So to stop this process, simply add these domains to the HOSTS file and they will be blocked completely.

Alternately, the best method to avoid data tracking if the four updates have already been installed on your PC would be to delete them completely. To do this, navigate to Control Panel > View the updates installed and remove the four.



Furthermore, you can eliminate the updates easier by launching a command prompt window with admin privileges and typing in each of the following commands to remove all the four updates:

wusa /uninstall /kb:3068708 /quiet /norestart

wusa /uninstall /kb:3022345 /quiet /norestart

wusa /uninstall /kb:3075249 /quiet /norestart

wusa /uninstall /kb:3080149 /quiet /norestart

Once you have done this ensure that you "hide" the updates so that they do not reinstall once the PC has been rebooted. To hide you need to do the following:

Step 1: In the list of updates right-click the update you do not want to see.

Step 2: Opt for Hide Update.

Play Guild Wars 2 For Free Ahead Of Heart Of Thorns Release Date: Limitations Of Free Accounts

Developer ArenaNet has lifted Guild Wars 2's pay gate out front and promises it won't install a bunch of new tollbooths inside of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

ArenaNet believes it has an answer to a problem that often keeps new players from joining a game that has been around for years, the developer stated in a blog post.

New players joining games that have matured must decide whether to purchase the base game along with the expansions their friends are playing, or start with the core game to level up the player's characters.

"We've seen examples in the industry where that kind of thing has gotten out of control," ArenaNet says. "It doesn't seem right, and we want to do better."

While many MMOs charge a based price and or a monthly subscription fee, ArenaNet has stuck with their standard model. Consumers pay one price up front.

So with its first full-fledged expansion due out on Oct. 23, ArenaNet says it wants to keep its business model simple.

"So let's be clear that when we say Guild Wars 2 is buy-to-play, we're only asking you to buy one thing: the current release, Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns," says ArenaNet.

We're not changing the way people purchase cosmetic items or adding a bunch of new items in the store. Guild Wars 2 will remain the same game it always has been."

ArenaNet isn't changing how people buy cosmetic items, Mike O'Brien, president of ArenaNet, said in a Gamespot interview. The developer also won't add a ton of new items to the game's store, according to O'Brien.

"If people are expecting we're going to go in and heavily monetize free players now, that's not what this is about," O'Brien said. "This is about making the base game available for everyone to try because we believe that when people love Guild Wars 2 they're going to buy Heart of Thorns."

But while ArenaNet wants things to stay simple, it couldn't deny the potential complications associated with letting people join paying players for free. So the developer has made three major changes to facilitated the influx of new players.

For one, free account will be allowed less character slots. Secondly, ArenaNet is placing chat and economy restrictions. And lastly, free accounts will be restricted from skipping ahead to places where they could be disruptive.

"We've found in testing that it's hard to read a list like this and know how it's going to feel in action," says the developer. "All these changes are live today, so we invite you to see for yourself."

Uber hires the security duo behind the crazy Jeep hack

Security researchers Charlie Miller and Chris Vlasek made headlines last month when they hacked a Jeep while it was driving down the highway at 70 MPH. The willing target? Wired writer Andy Greenberg.

From a distance, Miller and Vlasek were able to control the Jeep’s vents, the radio, the windshield wipers, and more. Though the pair obviously didn’t do anything to put Greenberg’s life in danger, the hack gave them the ability to to control the Jeep’s entertainment system along with steering and braking controls.







Now comes word via Reuters that both Miller and Vlasek will be heading to Uberwhere they’ll work within the company’s Advanced Technologies Center. Located in Pittsburgh, the center itself was the source of some controversy earlier this year after Uber poached 40 researchers and scientists from Carnegie Mellon’s National Robotics Center.

Mortal Kombat X for Xbox 360 And PlayStation 3 Cancelled: Here's Why

Mortal Kombat X for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 was pushed back until this summer, then pushed back until this fall and has finally been pushed into the waste bin.

A Warner Bros. community administrator, Yorick, announced on Friday the cancellation of Mortal Kombat X's for last gen consoles. The game's listing has also been removed from Sony's PlayStation website.

"After months of development, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has come to the regrettable conclusion that we cannot release Mortal Kombat X for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360," Yorick said. "Please know our teams worked diligently to meet the quality standards set by the current-gen versions of the game."

While developer NetherRealm created the core Mortal Kombat X game, High Voltage Software was tasked with porting the gory fighting game to PC and last gen console. The PC port had more than its share of issues, but it seems the cancellation of the game can be chalked up to the power limitations of the last gen hardware.

"We were not able to get the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions to the quality expected of a Mortal Kombat game and are very sorry for not being able to deliver the products as originally planned," said Yorick.

All pre-orders for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version of the game will be refunded in full, according to Yorick.

The cancellation of Mortal Kombat X for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 is just the latest bit of disappointing news surrounding the last generation hardware. And there's a lot more where that came from, though there will of course be millions of people who hold onto their last generation hardware and regularly play it.

On Thursday, Destiny developer Bungie revealed that the next major patch for its sci-fi shooter requires more hard drive space than some last generation consoles have. Bungie had two recommendations to gamers who play on last generation consoles. Install a bigger hard drive or upgrade your console.

Bungie’s Destiny May Be Coming To Microsoft Windows PC

Bungie has dropped clues regarding a PC version of Destiny







Bungie’s Destiny has been a game that has created a massive hype for itself since the day it was launched for later-gen Microsoft Corporation’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Xbox and Sony Corporation’s (NYSE:SNE) PlayStation consoles. The hype for the game has ever so increased with the release date of its biggest expansion yet titled "Destiny: The Taken King". The players that had stopped playing the game now play it just to prepare themselves for the upcoming expansion pack by Bungie.



Recently, a job posting on Bungie’s official website may suggest that Destiny may have a PC port as well. The title of the job is “PC Compatibility Tester” and the Job Description (JD) reads that the tester would have to evaluate and test the hardware-specific features to ensure different systems would work in harmony across multiple configurations in order to provide a seamless gaming experience.

From what it seems like, Bungie is definitely trying to port Destiny for PC, but whether or not this is specifically for Destiny is unclear. Since there is already an expansion coming out for Destiny, Bungie may as well hire a third party developer to port the game, if it does release for the PC, and that is a big risk. Batman: Arkham Knight is living proof of the disaster that can happen if developers don’t port the game in the right way.

Questions do arise whether or not Bungie might be able to pull off cross play without so much as a hitch in the game. As playing across different platforms can lead to lags and various technical issues, another question that arises is for the ones that have spent countless of hours in the game, and would they be able to use their characters across platforms without losing any progress or gears. The main concern for all of this arises as Destiny does not allow players from PlayStation 3 and 4 to play with owners of Xbox 360 or Xbox One.


However, it will definitely be great news if Bungie will release Destiny for PC in the upcoming future, as growing a fanbase across each platform is never a bad idea.

Destiny’s The Taken King will release on September 15, 2015 across different consoles.

Bungie’s Destiny Will Require 60GB Even If You Do Not Buy The Taken King

The developers of the game recently announced that a new update is going live on September 8








Activision Blizzard Inc.’s (NASDAQ:ATVI) Destiny has been getting a lot of attention lately and there are big changes coming to the game. Of all the exciting changes that are coming in, looks like this one is not going to be taken well by some of the fans.



Bungie, the developers of the game recently announced that a new update is going live on September 8 and judging by the download size of the update, it will bring the total install size of the game up to a whopping 60GB.

The update is going to clock in at around 18GB on your internet connection. The worst part about the update is that it's going to be applicable to all Destiny’s players. It won’t matter if you buy the upcoming DLC for the game: The Taken King, as the update will be applicable and mandatory since it’s an online game and lacks any offline components.

The news was delivered through a post on Destiny’s official website. The post discloses the minimum size requirement for the previous generation consoles, which is 30 GB. An additional 10 GB will be required for playing the Taken King. Players with previous generation consoles must check if they have the required space for download. Bungie also said that the game may require more space as there could be additional in-game updates that may be applicable later on.


Destiny: The Taken King is set to release on September 15 for Sony Corp.’s (NYSE:SNE) PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Corporation’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Xbox One and Xbox 360. The game is bringing major changes to the basic play-out of the game and also to specific areas which didn't go well with the players, such as the light based levelling system.

Do you have the required space for the game? What are your thoughts on the upcoming update? Let us know in the comments below.

Which Android phone Will Take The Crown For The Best Smartphone Of 2015?

Bidness Etc takes a look at Samsung Galaxy S6, Moto X Style, and LG G4








Ascertaining the best Android phones for 2015 is a tough task primarily because of the huge number of measurability critirea that are needed to gauge that. It has to be first ascertained whether the list would include only high-end phones or would also include low-end (but feature-rich) phones. As per an IDC report, Google Inc's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android phones would constitute 80% of the smartphone market by 2020 due to the platform being the most popular for smartphone vendors who do not want to go through the labor of making their own operating systems.



This year there were a lot of wonderful choices among Android phones, both entry-level and flagships. So lets start with the most popular Android vendor, Samsung Group (OTCMKTS:SSNLF) and its flagship Galaxy S6 phone.
Samsung Galaxy S6

One thing that a user can count on with Samsung is that it will introduce the most aesthetically pleasing phone rich in features and functionality. The company is currently the leader in smartphone sales and bears the pressure of churning out extraordinary phones that set a trend and compel other companies to follow. The Galaxy S6 induces class and sophistication with a new hardware strategy and top-notch camera experience.

From first looks, the Galaxy S6 has an intricate unit packing stunning design, with many reviews calling it the best phone in the world. The S6 has a next generation design with Gorilla Glass 4 covering on the back and front of its entire 5.1 inches screen. This essentially makes the phone twice as tough as the Gorilla Glass 3 albeit with the same thickness. The phone’s dimensions are 5.65 x 2.78 x 0.27 inches.

The S6 is powered by the latest Android version 5.1.1 (Lollipop). The screen resolution is embedded with 1440 x 2560 pixels with Super AMOLED display screen. On the camera front, the Galaxy S6 comes with a 16 MP primary camera coupled with an f/1.9 aperture lens. It is equipped with Samsung's own Exynos 7420 chip and Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 and Quad-core 2.1 GHz Cortex-A57 CPU.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 sells for $599.99 for 32 GB without a service plan.
Moto X Style

Motorola Solutions Inc’s (NYSE:MSI) Moto X Style has a large screen size at 5.7-inch Quad HD display coupled with 2,560 x 1,440 resolution and 520 ppi. The Style is powered by a 1.8 GHz Qualcomm, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) Snapdragon 808 processor and 3GB of RAM. The Style is available in three models: 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB models. It has a 3,300 mAh battery and takes only three hours to charge fully, making it the fastest charging smartphone in the world.

The Style gives the user 18 different backs to choose from with choices of materials ranging from silicon plastic to wood. The Style has a great design with a good screen to body ratio at 76%, thus utilizing optimum space. The phone has 21 MP camera sensors that have the ability to film in 4K as well as full HD. The front facing secondary camera has a 5 MP sensor.

The Style is powered by Android 5.1 Lollipop and comes with an array of connectivity options such as NFC and Bluetooth 4.1. The phone will sell at $399 unlocked from Motorola’s own online store and Amazon.com. It is slated to be released in September.

Bidness Etc believes that the Moto X Style could go soon go out of “Style” because of its large size that may make it uncomfortable for people to carry, although it should be noted that the phone is smaller than the iPhone 6 Plus. The Moto X Style may well gain a lot of traction initially before fizzling out later.
LG G4

LG Display Co Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:LPL) has the ability to now and again churn out an innovative smartphone that takes the market by storm, and the G4 is right up that trend. The G4 is touted as a combination of specs and rich features that has become the mainstay of Asian mobile vendors.

The LG G4 aims at providing the user something different such as a longer battery life, an improved camera, and an updated screen. The G4 has a 3000mAh battery with the striking feature of a removable option allowing people to carry around a spare if they want.

At 5.5-inches, the G4 is quite big to navigate on one hand, but with the phablet trend becoming the mainstay of the smartphone sector, it cannot be deemed as a downside. The display is comparable with Samsung's Super AMOLED screen, while the most striking thing about the phone is the optional leather back.

The phone is powered by Android 5.1 (Lollipop) and is equipped by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 808, with an internal memory of 3GB RAM.

On the cost front, LG G4 sports the same price tag as the Samsung Galaxy S6 (retailing at £479 in the UK) and more than the iPhone 6. This may perhaps be the biggest downside because LG is trying to position itself as a premium brand, but without the pulling power associated with Apple and Samsung.
The Verdict

In terms of popularity and unit shipments there is no doubt that the Galaxy S6 wins the Android race but the LG’ G4 has given indication that the other South Korean giant is fast coming up to compete with the big brands. As far as the Moto X Style is concerned, it will probably garner a lot of curiosity on launch, but may not be able to go beyond a certain threshold because of a lack of brand charisma that other companies have.

Google Inc (GOOG) Makes Quiet Entry Into Home Service Market

Google has updated its webpages in San Francisco, to show its sponsored home services providers when people search for things like “lock repair”








The Wall Street Journal has reported that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has made its entry into the home services market. Users in San Francisco will now be able to call someone to their home through Google when they search for things like, “clogged toilet” and “lock repair”. The company already has a team of professionals that have been vetted to pair with these kind queries.



Sponsored results are showing up from Google when people require an electrician or a plumber. The search engine giant has developed a model where these professionals can contact Google and show up on the sponsored results once they have been screened and vetted by the company. In addition, this is part of Google’s advertising program which is called AdWords Express. A spokesperson for Google told the Journal that at the moment plumbers, handymen, locksmiths and house cleaning can register with the company. To be entered into the system, these companies must first pass background, license and insurance checks within which a mystery shopping test is also conducted.

Users who are looking for these home services will be on Google all throughout the process, which saves clicks and lets the customer not get lost into clicking multiple links. It also makes it possible for Google to have someone on its site for longer times. Customers will also be able to review the services and also send feedback through a messaging system or calling the company.

The home services market is quite different than the other markets. While there are different companies and startups that cater to people’s home needs, giants like Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Google will give a tough competition for the crowd to see. One of the prominent home services providers in the industry is Angie’s List, which launched in 2011 and captured a market for pest control and remodeling worth $400 billion. Among others, Amazon also launched its home services in March, wherein the retailer also got in trouble for trying to poach Angie’s Lists servicemen.

Bidness Etc believes that Google has launched yet another service which aims to capture a big chunk of the home market. In addition, the service providers being vetted and thoroughly checked by the search engine giant is a good move that will keep customers happy and the providers in check. It’s a well known fact that when Google introduces a service in competition to others, it makes sure that it’s cost effective and simple to use.


One example for this being the introduction of the Nexus 5 which was a $300 phone and had internal hardware, which could have made the phone cost around $600 otherwise. The company’s slow but dangerous rollout of Google Fiber has had internet providers around the US scared and prone to a market wide exodus. The search engine is promising speeds 100 times faster than regular broadband.

There is enough evidence to see how Google is slowly making a difference in people’s physical lives by offering products and services that are extensively useful. The company’s new CEO Sundar Pichai is making sure of the smooth rollout of all the services, that have been in the pipeline for quite a while, and it’s exciting to hope that there are greater things in the future.

Electronic Arts Inc. Has No Plans For “Star Wars: Battlefront” Xbox One Bundle

The company has announced that the Sony PlayStation 4 console bundle is going to be the only one for the game







Electronic Arts Inc.’s (NASDAQ: EA) Star Wars: Battlefront is an upcoming action-adventure game. The game’s trailer and screenshots were shown at the Star Wars Celebration at Anaheim in March 2015, and a month later the official release date of November 17, for North America was announced.



Last week, EA unveiled a special edition bundle for Sony Corp’s (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) PlayStation 4. It was confirmed recently that there won’t be a bundle for Microsoft Corporation’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Xbox One. The news was announced by Star Wars: Battlefront’s community manager Matthew Everett. The PlayStation 4 exclusive bundle will include the console with Darth Vader on it, a controller with a Star Wars villain’s chest panel design, four digital Star Wars games, and a deluxe edition copy of the game. The price for the bundle has not been announced, but Sony will also release a standard console with a regular copy of the game.

It was a big announcement at that time when EA disclosed that it was working on a Star Wars: Battlefront game. EA should focus on making the game a better experience for all Star Wars fans and with the power of the new consoles, the game could look as incredible as the previous titles.


The last Battlefront game was released in 2005 and was a huge success, but there was no sign of the game’s revival until now. Apart from the single story mode, Battlefront will also feature a multiplayer mode that will unlock new levels and equipment as you progress further in the game. EA partnering with Sony is a solid strategy considering Microsoft and Lucas Arts teamed up for an R2-D2-themed Xbox 360 with a C3PO controller.

It’s a good strategy for Sony to handle the marketing of the game as this is a highly anticipated title and Star Wars fans will surely be eager to get their hands on the game.

Sony Corp (ADR) Aiming To Take Industry By Storm With Xperia Z5

Sony has announced its upcoming smartphone, which we believe is the Xperia Z5, at next week’s IFA 2015. The smartphone is likely to challenge the likes of Apple’s iPhone 6s and other flagships







Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has officially rolled out the media invites for its iPhone event, scheduled to be held at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco September 9. With much talk focused on what Apple will bring to the table at the event, Sony Corp (ADR)(NYSE:SNE) meanwhile is attempting to bring it’s A game to the smartphone front with its Xperia Z5.



Recently leaked press renders have revealed what the device looks like and given us a fair amount of insight into what features the device will incorporate. Sony’s Xperia Z4 faced the wrath of critics as it was not only a marginal upgrade over its predecessor, but it was prone to overheating problems. The company now aims to overcome the previous issues by bringing a major upgrade to the Xperia Z4, thereby aiming to take on the likes of Apple’s iPhone and other flagships in the industry.

Sony’s Xperia Z5 will feature a massive 23MP rear camera, which is likely to incorporate the same fast hybrid auto system unleashed by the tech giant through its Xperia M5. The leaked images showcase the device supporting a similar design as its predecessor, however, that won’t detract users if the company fixes the problems which engulfed the previous model.


The Xperia Z5 is expected to support a 5.2-inch display, but we are still uncertain whether it will provide a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels, or 1440 x 2560 pixels. The company was predicted to ditch the Snapdragon 810, but reports have indicated the company will continue using it to power the Xperia Z5; together with 3-4GB RAM. Sony is tipped to provide three different color options this time around.

The device will go up against directly with Apple’s iPhone 6s, which will be released within a week after Xperia Z5 debuts. We believe the Cupertino giant will topple all before it this time around and Sony’s high-end smartphone will prove to be nothing more than a bump along the way. We will be reviewing how the Xperia Z5 fares up against the other flagships in the industry after it hits shelves in the coming weeks.

Gamers Celebrate As YouTube Gaming Finally Arrives

YouTube Gaming goes live on the internet as the one-stop gamers’ destination to rule them all







Gamers celebrate as they have found a new virtual home for all-things gaming. Google Inc’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) YouTube Gaming service (gaming.youtube.com) has arrived which will compete with Amazon.com, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) Twitch service. As reported previously, it will have over 25,000 pages of gaming-related content. That could be live streaming, gameplay videos, walkthroughs, and reviews of anything that fits into the genre of gaming.



It is a great initiative by YouTube for gamers as the industry is getting bigger than ever. Gaming fans are always active on the internet and for years, video reviews, walkthroughs, and live streams have gotten very popular. If you are in the market for a new game, it’s better to watch the reviews instead of reading the text on popular websites like IGN and Gamespot.


At the same time, live steams of new releases are extremely popular. Gamers are sure to see a lot from the upcoming "Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain" and "Mad Max" games. YouTube Gaming is one central hub where gamers can come together and share their experiences by posting their videos. Streams of games in beta like "Call of Duty: Black Ops 3" are very popular recently.

As always, gamers have to be careful in using licensed audio, as YouTube is known to remove content with licensed audio or force uploaders to change the backing track. As the service gets more and more videos uploaded, it may be the only major hub for games streaming. Previously, gamers would upload to Twitch, but now there is a new player in town. It’s good for YouTube as they know the community is huge and they can offer a user-friendly interface for not just uploaders, but viewers.

Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Phil Spencer Talks To Fans About Multiple Updates For Xbox

Phil Spencer talks about games with gold and backwards compatibility, amongst other things








Microsoft Corporation's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Division head Phil Spencer took to Twitter to talk to fans about the latest updates for Xbox One. In his tweets he talked about a range of things which included Games With Gold and backwards compatibility for Xbox One, amongst other things. Mr. Spencer was active on Twitter this Thursday and he talked about how everything was proceeding smoothly for the Xbox One.



The tweets focused on Mr. Spencer assuring Xbox fans that they were working on making backwards compatible titles easily available for the fans. This is great news for fans, as this will mean that they can easily play classic titles that were released on previous Xbox versions.

Mr. Spencer assured the fans that they will make it easy for users to buy backward compatible titles from all Microsoft platforms, whether it be Windows 10, Xbox one, 360 or Xbox.com even. This would be a large feather in the cap of Xbox, as this can also see the revival of retro gaming, and many old titles can make an appearance on the Xbox One.

To add support for achievements would be tough however, as it would require individual attention for each game, he added. This may be considered difficult but it is not outside the realm of possibilities. Among other things Mr. Spencer also talked about, was the possibility of removing the region lock in some of Xbox’s upcoming titles. He also was enthusiastic about the idea of offering Windows 10 games in the games for gold promotional scheme.


Mr. Spencer also commented on Cliff Bleszinski’s latest offering "Lawbreakers" and he hopes the new offering will be as successful as the "Gears of War" franchise. He added that there would always be space for Mr Bleszinski at the Xbox team.

Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Dodges Bullet As US Trade Commission Clears Company Of Patent Infringement

The US Trade Commission has declined to implement an import ban on Microsoft’s mobile devices that was previously pushed as part of the company’s longstanding suit over patent infringement with InterDigital








Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) dodged a bullet yesterday after the US International Trade Commission decided not to implement an import ban on the company as part of a long standing patent conflict with InterDigital, which had accused Microsoft of infringing on two of the latter’s wireless patents. Both parties seemingly have a disagreement over how much InterDigital should charge for its patents that are about basic technologies used in the cellphone industry.



It has been eight years since InterDigital first claimed that Nokia was wrongfully using its technology to ramp up a cellphone’s power for network connectivity. Earlier in April a US Trade judge had issued a ruling in favor of InterDigital and moved to block the import of Microsoft’s devices. The judge had noted that Microsoft was incorporating InterDigital’s technology without paying a license fee. The Commission’s decision on Friday however nullifies the import ban recommended earlier. It is quite odd for the Commission to issue such a ruling without issuing any judgment with regards to the issue of fair licensing.


A representative of Microsoft told Reuters that the company was thankful for the Trade Commission’s decision to disallow the ban on its products sought by InterDigital. Meanwhile InterDigital's Chief Executive Officer William Merritt expressed great disappointment over the Trade Commission’s decision. while adding that it would cause little impact on Microsoft given its already limited share in the smartphone market.

Microsoft’s mobile business has been struggling for quite some time now as Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung Group (OTCMKTS:SSNLF) gain increasing traction for their offerings in the smartphone business. Recent estimates show that Microsoft devices only account for 3% share in the global smartphone market. Back in July, Microsoft’s handset business went into a loss while incurring costs amounting to $7.5 billion. Shares of Microsoft closed up by 0.07% today at $43.93.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) TV To Have Advanced Remote Capable Of Motion Sensing

9to5Mac has reported that the Apple TV remote will be quite advanced and capable of having motion sensing and gesture control








9to5Mac has stated that the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) TV and its remote will have some exciting, new features. The iPhone maker is set to take stage on September 9 with the launch of new products, including the latest generation Apple TV. Rumors have been circulating about an update to the set top box since 2013 when Apple acquired PrimeSense, which was the company that made the Kinect for Microsoft.



TechCrunch provided a long report of how the Apple TV is going to be revolutionary this time around, with a motion-controlled user interface. Much like a SmartTV, the Apple TV’s remote will make it possible for users to navigate through the menus. Furthermore, the Apple TV will also have an app store and a development kit which the company will open up to developers, thus letting the company have an impressive app store.

More rumors have circulated that the device is going to be powered through a A8 processor along with some storage options. This means that the Apple TV will have a full blown version of iOS9, making it possible for developers to work on both platforms simultaneously. One major aspect of the product would be the rumored inclusion of personal digital assistant, Siri. The remote will also be compatible with Siri, plus it could have physical buttons along with a touchpad which will make it possible for users to browse through menus with a cursor. On the other hand, Apple has still not gone through with the subscription service as discussions between the company and cable providers are stalling.

Bidness Etc believes that the Apple TV needs a much-needed upgrade. Competitors in the industry like the Roku, are much ahead while Apple stands at a not-so-impressive number because of the lack of services that the company offers with its device now. The upgrade is going to be bringing a completely new App Store with endless possibilities.


It was reported yesterday that Apple had still not made any deals with the TV people as the $40 subscription price is considered too low. This is a bit confusing as $40 a month from Apple TV users will be quite lucrative given the number of people possssing the set top box. However, the cable companies don’t seem to be happy about it, and only when they see how lucrative it is to enter into Apple TV’s new app store, will the Apple TV start to revolutionize the TV industry with people cutting the cord.

In recent years, companies like Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) have started providing 4K viewing experiences for users in the United States. Streaming sites are increasing by the numbers and set top boxes like the Amazon Fire TV and Roku already provide these apps with much traffic going through their devices. Chromecast, a smaller device has also made the rounds by being incredibly cheap and able to activate a smart TV. Apple’s re-entry into this market is going to be explosive and the company will have to work hard to achieve dominance in this market.

8 Best New Cydia Jailbreak Tweaks for iOS 8 - 8.4

The latest Cydia tweaks for your jailbroken phone








Since an ample amount of time has passed since the release of the iOS 8.4 jailbreak, most of the tweaks on Cydia have been updated to support the new OS. Although the subsequent iteration, iOS 8.4.1 was released last week by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), most of the jailbreak community is still on the previous OS due to the lack of a jailbreak.



Even though there is no shortage of great tweaks available in Cydia, finding them and finding the different repos they’re on can be an arduous task. Moreover, keeping track of the newest releases on Cydia can be cumbersome since the Store doesn’t have any good options for tweak discovery. Which is why we gather the best new tweaks released on Cydia every weak, which are compatible with Apple’s iOS 8. The tweaks not only improve functionality, but also augment iOS user experience.

So without further ado, here are the best Cydia tweaks from the past week. Be sure to let us know how you found the tweaks to work in the comments sections below.

WhatsApp Cydia Tweaks

Although WhatsApp for web has been available on Android OS for a few months now, it was only recently rolled out for iPhone users. This means iPhone users will finally be able to access control WhatsApp from their Mac or PC via an internet connection. Even though most jailbreak tweaks are independent, some apps garner enough popularity to warrant custom tweaks created for the app exclusively. WhatsApp is one of those apps and has an array of tweaks aimed at enhancing the users experience and additional functionality.

WARecentsUpdates: Since WhatsApp is positioned as a simple messenger application, it doesn’t have a news feed to follow other users’ updates. That’s where WARecentsUpdates comes in. The free tweak can be downloaded from the BigBoss Repo, allowing users to follow other users’ activity updates, within a news feed of sorts.

WAEnhancer8 Lite: This tweaks is a lite version of the popular WAEnhancer8 tweak which costs $1.99. The paid version has a slew of other options, however the free tweak also updates WhatsApp with some of the most requested features for the new messenger. You can download the tweak from the BigBoss repo.

WAOneForAll: Adding a single option to the WhatsApp application, this tweak allows WhatsApp messages to be forwarded to multiple users and groups at one time rather than doing it one-by-one, which is the case with the native application.

ColorFlow 2

While most Cydia tweaks are aimed at providing additional functionality, this one primarily focuses on making certain apps more aesthetically pleasing. The previous version of the application was written for the previous iterations of iOS, but with the new version, the developer has rewritten the application and added a few new features. The tweak is written specifically for Apple’s Music app and the new version adds support for Spotify as well. By analyzing the color distribution and ratios of the album art, the tweak automatically colorizes the background as UI elements of the Now-Playing screen. The new version also has added support for lock-screen colorization. This feature set comes at a price, however. You can purchase the tweak from the Cydia store for $1.99.







Epicentre

Ever since the release of the Apple Watch, quite a few tweaks have attempted to recreate its UI elements on the iPhone. However, most of them pertain to the home screen and other applications. There weren’t any tweaks which implemented the UI on the lock-screen. That is, until now.

The newly released Epicentre tweak does a brilliant job of updating the stale iPhone passcode UI with Apple Watch interface elements. Once the tweak is installed, swiping to unlock your phone will bring up the tweak instead of the regular passcode entry screen. You’ll be presented with 10 numbered buttons in a circular arrangement, with a lock icon in the center. You can either enter the passcode or drag your finger across the correct configuration, in order to unlock the device, which is a nice change from the same-old Apple passcode screen UI. The tweak offers an array of customization options and can be downloaded at the BigBoss repo for free.







SystemWide

Ever get tired of looking at the same old colors in the UI every day? Well, SystemWide may be just the tweak for you. SystemWide is a new jailbreak tweak which allows you to recolor every element inside the iPhone UI. It can change the color of the Notification Center, Settings application, Status Bar, Control Center, and basically any part of the iOS UI you can think of.








In addition to the color changing functionality, SystemWide also allows you to tweak certain other elements of the UI. You can modify the animation speed when scrolling through Home Screen pages, change slider images, and even enable the option to check the Wi-Fi SSID and IP address by simply tapping on the Wi-Fi icon from the Status Bar. SystemWide can be purchased from the Cydia Store for $0.99, so get your hands on it and customize your iOS to your liking.
Sentinel

Sentinel is a simple call-blocking tweak for iOS. While most call-blockers only perform the function of blocking calls, Sentinel presents users with a history of blocked numbers which attempted to call you, and the number of times they called.








The application also displays a banner on top of the screen once the call is blocked so that the procedure doesn’t interrupt whatever the user is working on. Additionally, you can also block a call from any unknown numbers, which is a feature requested by many iPhone users. Fortunately, the tweak can be obtained at BigBoss repo for free, thus you can get all the functionality without spending anything. Applications like iBlacklist offer this functionality as well, however, a premium needs to be paid.
WatchDog Pro

The lack of control over battery life is something iPhone users have been complaining about since the past few releases, and Apple has yet to implement a solution. So, what are users to do if they want to improve battery life of their phone? Watchdog Pro is a very viable solution. One of the simplest ways to extend your battery life is to close the application running in the background, which uses the system’s resources without providing any functionality. You can do this by double-tapping the Home button, and closing the apps one-by-one, until none are open. This can be a very time consuming process if you’ve opened a lot of applications.


Watchdog Pro allows you to automate such tasks, so you won’t need to perform them yourself. There are quite a few backgrounding settings available within the application. The app can even set application to quit as soon as they are backgrounded, thereby conserving precious battery life. Other notable features include Prevent Termination and Keep in Foreground. Watchdog Pro is available for $2.99 from the Cydia Store.

And that’s about it. We hope you enjoy the tweaks in the article. If you’re a developer and want your tweak to be featured in next week’s compilation, please let us know in the comments below.

Micron Technology, Inc.(MU) Stock Update

After weeks of making consecutive losses in the market, Micron’s stock appears to have rebounded








In the past thirty days, Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) shares have slumped more than 19%, having already fallen 55% this year. The shortfall has been primarily due to the ongoing decrease in global demand for PCs. After weeks of getting beaten in the market, the stock appears to have recovered, and the company's shares, down 27% from last month, began to bounce back on Thursday, and closed at $15.96 yesterday, up 2%.



In a research note sent out to clients and investors, Credit Suisse reiterated its outperform rating and price target of $34. Analysts are of the view that the upcoming contract pricing announcement by DRAMeXchange, scheduled for August 31, will prove a near-term growth catalyst for the company’s stock.

The firm projects that contract prices will decrease by 7.5% on a monthly basis. Additionally, Credit Suisse expects PC demand to improve going into the next quarter, resulting in stable prices.


Earlier this month, Wells Fargo upgraded its rating on Micron from underperform to market perform. Analyst David Wong believes that Micron’s margin stands to expand going forward on the back of improving DRAM prices. At the same time, Mr. Wong highlighted certain risks for the company that could hamper the stock’s movement, including a potential fall in DRAM chip pricing, an unexpected change in Micron’s pricing deal with Inotera, and unrealistically high consensus estimates.

Most investment firms have maintained a bullish stance on Micron’s stock. Out of 35 analysts polled by Bloomberg, 23 gave a Buy rating, while 11 advocate a Hold rating. Only one analyst gave a Sell rating. The average 12-month price target on Micron shares is $26.07.