Microsoft held several Xbox One launch events around the world. The Verge reports on the biggest event held in New York City’s Times Square.
It seems like Microsoft is still willing to pump in money to generate revenue, despite losing $2 billion to the Xbox platform.
Apple Insider reports that Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet has confirmed that Apple acquired PrimeSense in deal rumoured to be worth $360 million
PrimeSense makes 3D motion sensors and scanners. It created the technology used by Microsoft’s Kinect. It is anyone’s guess whether this will end up in a future version existing product or if it will be part of a completely new product from Apple.
When you’re a technology company, using your own product (a.k.a. eating your own dogfood) is more or less essential. Perhaps it’s because Yahoo is still transitioning to the Marissa Mayer era, but if Yahoo Mail is going to be a competitive product again, the Yahoo employees had better start picking it up.
As has been widely reported, a relentless and vocal group of Yahoo Mail users have been complaining vociferously after the Silicon Valley Internet giant drastically revamped its popular Mail service in October. The ire includes a lot of distress over the removal of its tabs function and the addition of a multi-tasking feature in its place.
CNET reports on Android and Intel partnering to bring 64-bit to the platform.
People who were saying 64-bit iOS being a useless gimmick are now gushing over 64-bit Android that might be out next year. Meanwhile, I’m enjoying my 64-bit iPhone 5s.
While there is still a lot of concern over the NSA having access to data from large technology companies, one of the best tools for end users to protect their privacy would be proper encryption. Offering message encryption on Office 365 is a good step in that direction.
Microsoft Bringing Message Encryption To Office 365 In Early 2014
In the age of pervasive data abduction by government agency, keeping your private stuff private is an increasingly important issue. The addition of message encryption to Office 365 is therefore on point, and potentially very useful.
The system is neat: Once administrators turn it on, emails that are sent are encrypted before they are fired out, meaning that they only leave the house after they put a jacket on. The recipient receives an email that has an encrypted attachment. That’s the message.
The NSA isn’t exactly at the top of everybody’s Christmas list at the moment, and it doesn’t look like the situation is getting any better. Considering the recent leaks, it’s honestly not surprising that the the agency has infected as many as 50,000 networks, but it’s still a very disturbing thought.
NSA Has 50,000 ‘Digital Sleeper Agents’ Via Computer Malware, Says Latest Snowden Leak
Sleeper agents are among the most sinister spy assets: they lie in wait, wolves in sheep’s clothing, and then deliver a critical blow when activated. The NSA has 50,000 of those waiting for the literal push of a button, according to the latest batch of leaked Snowden documents, as seen by Dutch daily evening newspaper NRC. But these aren’t people, like Keri Russel and Matthew Rhys in The Americans – these are computers, infected with malware and untroubled by conscience or the risk of going native.
The NSA reportedly infected 50,000 computer networks worldwide with malicious software with the sole aim of harvesting sensitive information it wasn’t privy to, which is basically what you’d call textbook spy work in the digital age, from an agency tasked with spying. That’s not to excuse or dismiss the significance of this revelation, but we’ve heard from the Washington Post previously that the NSA was working on this sort of thing and that at least 20,000 computers had been infected by the program as of 2008. So to hear from Snowden documents via the NRC that it’s now climbed to 50,000 is hardly surprising.