Posts in May 2014

Australian blog MacFixIt has gotten its hands on what it claims is the upcoming iPhone 6, leaked by "sources inside the supply chain"— and it seems to reaffirm the shape hinted at by earlier rumors .

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In the early 1980s, noted industrial designer Hartmut Esslinger began working with Apple where he and his consultancy firm "Frog Design" helped shape the look and feel of Apple products for a number of years. Most notably, Esslinger is credited with... -- For more information read the original article here.

A staff technologist for the Electronic Frontier Foundation has stumbled across a cookie that Wordpress.com uses to transmit login credentials in plain text to the authentication endpoint, leaving sites open to simple hijacking attempts. Yan Zhu posted about the discovery, detailing the information about how the information in the cookie could be used to access another's site if intercepted....






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Confirming earlier reports, Apple today officially announced a blockbuster deal to acquire Beats Electronics for $3 billion. While the notion of Apple acquiring Beats initially resulted in a slew of questions and raised eyebrows, the wisdom of the... -- For more information read the original article here.

Apple is in the process of creating a dedicated ESPN station for iTunes Radio, its ad-supported free streaming service. The new channel will carry both original ESPN audio programs and will offer some live sports streaming, including this year's World Cup broadcast -- the first time a sporting event will be live-streamed through iTunes Radio. As reported in March, a number of local NPR affiliates will also be joining the iTunes Radio lineup....
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Amazon currently uses some 1,000 robots by Kiva Systems, a company it bought for $775 million in 2012, to fill its customers' orders. Now CNN reports that Amazon will have 10,000 robots doing the same by the end of this year.

CEO Jeff Bezos revealed the plan to double down on robotics during a shareholder meeting and emphasized that despite the popular sci-fi theme of robotic uprising, no humans will lose their jobs as a result of the increased robotic workforce.

Below is a video that shows "a day in the life" of a Kiva robot navigating a complex warehouse environment, just like what you'd find at Amazon. Consider what Amazon is already doing with 1,000 of these guys to help its human workers, then imagine what it could do with 10,000 of them.

All inventory is stored on "pods," which are essentially cabinets that a robot can safely interact with. When a robot identifies the pod containing an item to shipped, it swivels underneath of it and effectively becomes a car jack that lifts the pod off of the ground.

The robots carry their pods through the warehouse to human workers, who pull the individual items from the pods and pack them for shipment.Here's a time-lapse shot of robots moving inventory around a warehouse to human workers, who then pack it for shipment.

Here's the full video of a "day in the life" of Amazon's robots below:

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Spotify users, take note. The music streaming service just posted a message on its company blog indicating that one user's account was hacked, but assuring that steps are being taken to ensure others will not fall victim to the same exploit Over the coming days, the Spotify Android app will prompt users to re-enter their username and password to log back in. Users running outdated… Read More -- For more information read the original article here.

While you were relaxing this past weekend, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office was hard at work granting 59 patents for Apple. And among those patents was one for LiquidMetal, an alloy that has been rumored to be used for future iPhones.

LiquidMetal is incredibly strong and durable and has a similar atomic structure to glass. It looks kind of like stainless steel with a silvery gray metallic color. And since it is resistant to scratches and corrosion, it would be a great contender for phone cases and frames.

While Apple has had the rights to LiquidMetal since 2010, it has yet to include the material in anything beyond the SIM card ejector pin. But now that Apple has been granted a patent for the alloy, as Apple Insider reported, this could soon change. The patent also comes right after Apple renewed the exclusive rights to LiquidMetal until 2015.

The patent lays out the specifics of "methods and systems for integrally trapping a glass insert in a metal bezel," or what could one day be a way to make stronger iPhones. On top of the LiquidMetal alloy, the patent also discusses a new kind of display glass that would include sapphire.

According to MIT's technology review, "Sapphire is harder than any other natural material except diamond." And it's three times stronger and scratch resistant than Gorilla Glass, which is what Apple uses on iPhones now. By forming the glass inside LiquidMetal, Apple could be able to lessen damage after dropping a phone.

Earlier this year, Apple reportedly bought enough sapphire to make 100-200 million iPhones, so paired with the new patent approval this could be good news for future Apple devices.

Like with all patents, it is unlikely that Apple will act on these new-found rights immediately, but there is still the possibility that iPhones will one day be stronger and more durable.

SEE ALSO: The best smartphones in the world

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If you require reading glasses, you'll inevitably get to an age where you tire of constantly misplacing them, and just accept that a neck strap is the way to go. But they're actually a handy accessory, and if you want to make the upgrade earlier without looking twenty years beyond your age, this pair of reading glasses actually features a secret integrated neck strap.

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-- For more information read the original article here.