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Submission + - Warpgate: iPhone 6 Plus Users Reporting Bent Phones From Seemingly Normal Use (hothardware.com)

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid writes: Apple's new iPhone 6 Plus packs a bevy of improvements into its phablet-sized frame. Its battery life dwarfs all previous iPhones, its screen quality and resolution are excellent, it's just six ounces, and a scant 7.1mm thick. As an added bonus, according to a number of users, it has a hidden feature — it bends. And not in a good way, unfortunately. What's even more troubling is that many of the users who are reporting bent devices also claim that they were carrying it in front pockets or in a normal fashion as opposed to sitting on it directly. Either some of the iPhone 6 Plus hardware is defective (the vastly preferable option) or it's because these early reports illustrate that users are putting different kinds of stress on the chassis that either is or is not typically seen in normal use. Either way, it probably shouldn't be happening. It's not clear what the story is but hopefully Apple will clarify things soon and address the issue.

Submission + - Users Report Warping Of Apple's iPhone 6 Plus And It's Not A "Feature" (hothardware.com)

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid writes: Apple's iPhone 6 Plus packs a bevy of improvements into its phablet-sized frame — its battery life dwarfs all previous iPhones, its screen quality and resolution are excellent, it's just six ounces, and a scant 7.1mm thick. As an added bonus, according to a number of users, it has a hidden feature — it bends! And no, we don't mean it bends in a "Hey, what an awesome feature!" sort of way. More like a "Hey, the entire phone is near to snapping" kind of way. What's even more troubling is that many of the users who are reporting bent devices also claim that they were carrying it in front pockets or in a normal fashion as opposed to sitting on it directly. Either some of the iPhone 6 Plus hardware is defective (the vastly preferable option) or it's because the tests run by other venues are putting different kinds of stress on the chassis.It's not clear what the story is. Hopefully Apple will clarify in the very short term.

Submission + - Microsoft Mind Games Surround Windows Technical Preview

Submitted by snydeq
snydeq writes: Whether Microsoft will release a public Technical Preview of Windows 9 at its Sept. 30 press conference remains in doubt, but maybe that's all part of Microsoft's Windows 9 mind games, writes Windows-watcher Woody Leonhard. 'Of course everyone — I mean everyone — assumed Microsoft would use the highly publicized (and no doubt expensive) event to crow about the widely anticipated Windows Technical Preview. ... Now we're hearing that the Windows Technical Preview bits won't ship on Sept. 30, but instead will be available in early October,' Leonhard writes. But is this the latest in a long string of Microsoft Windows bungles or all just part of the plan? 'If the bits are released at the presentation, even if only to the Microsoft-chosen A-list, what are the chances at least one of the ISOs will make it out into the wild within seconds? Microsoft has certainly taken that possibility into account — and may well be preparing to seed the deluge itself.'

Submission + - To fight $5.2B in identity theft IRS may need to change the way you file taxes (networkworld.com) 2

Submitted by coondoggie
coondoggie writes: Crime in this case is paying lots of scammers. Based on preliminary analysis, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) estimates it paid $5.2 billion in fraudulent identity theft refunds in filing season 2013 while preventing an additional $24.2 billion (based on what it could detect). As a result the IRS needs to implement changes in a system that apparently leaks like a sieve and such changes could impact legitimate taxpayers by delaying refunds, extending tax season and likely adding costs to the IRS.

Submission + - The Skinny On Thin Linux

Submitted by snydeq
snydeq writes: Deep End's Paul Venezia follows up his call for splitting Linux distros in two by arguing that the new shape of the Linux server is thin, light, and fine-tuned to a single purpose. 'Those of us who build and maintain large-scale Linux infrastructures would be happy to see a highly specific, highly stable mainstream distro that had no desktop package or dependency support whatsoever, so was not beholden to architectural changes made due to desktop package requirements. When you're rolling out a few hundred Linux VMs locally, in the cloud, or both, you won't manually log into them, much less need any type of graphical support. Frankly, you could lose the framebuffer too; it wouldn't matter unless you were running certain tests,' Venezia writes. 'It's only a matter of time before a Linux distribution that caters solely to these considerations becomes mainstream and is offered alongside more traditional distributions'

Submission + - Is Pluto a planet? Kinda, sorta, well yes, maybe (networkworld.com)

Submitted by coondoggie
coondoggie writes: The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics opened one of those cans of worms that refuse to go away any time soon: Is in fact Pluto a planet or not? The short answer is yes but you know it's not that easy. The organization had 3 distinguished scientists present the case for and against Pluto. Pluto’s planet status you may recall has been redefined and questioned since about 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) set a definition of what it meant to be a planet.

Submission + - Take a spin in the world's first 3D –printed electric car (networkworld.com)

Submitted by coondoggie
coondoggie writes: The researchers say the two-seat car, known as a Strati, is built almost entirely of carbon-reinforced plastic, including the body and chassis and took 44 hours to make. The researchers noted that other experimental cars have used 3D printed parts before but this was the first to use the technology almost exclusively.

Submission + - NVIDIA Launches Maxwell-Based GeForce GTX 980 And GeForce GTX 970 GPUs (hothardware.com)

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid writes: NVIDIA has launched two new high-end graphics cards based on their latest Maxwell architecture. The GeForce GTX 980 and GTX 970 are based on Maxwell and replace NVIDIA's current high-end offerings, the GeForce GTX 780 Ti, GTX 780, and GTX 770. NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 980 and GTX 970 are somewhat similar as the cards share the same 4GB frame buffer and GM204 GPU, but the GTX 970's GPU is clocked a bit lower and features fewer active Streaming Multiprocessors and CUDA cores. The GeForce GTX 980's GM204 GPU has all of its functional blocks enabled. The fully-loaded GeForce GTX 980 GM204 GPU has a base clock of 1126MHz and a Boost clock of 1216MHz. The GTX 970 clocks in with a base clock of 1050MHz and Boost clock of 1178MHz. The 4GB of video memory on both cards is clocked at a blisteringly-fast 7GHz (effective GDDR5 data rate). NVIDIA was able to optimize the GM204's power efficiency, however, by tweaking virtually every part of the GPU. NVIDIA claims that Maxwell SMs (Streaming Multiprocessors) offer double the performance of GK104 and double the perf per watt as well. NVIDIA has also added support for new features, namely Dynamic Super Resolution (DSR), Multi-Frame Sampled Anti-Aliasing (MFAA), and Voxel Global Illumination (VXGI). Performance-wise, the GeForce GTX 980 is the fastest single-GPU powered graphics card ever tested. The GeForce GTX 970 isn't as dominant overall, but its performance was impressive nonetheless. The GeForce GTX 970 typically performed about on par with a GeForce GTX Titan and traded blows with the Radeon R9 290X.

Submission + - Alice Is Killing Trolls But Patent Lawyers Will Strike Back

Submitted by snydeq
snydeq writes: The wheels of justice spin slowly, but they seem finally to be running software patents out of town, writes Simon Phipps in his analysis of how Alice Corp. v CLS Bank is becoming a landmark decision for patent cases in the U.S. 'In case after case, the Court of Appeals is using Alice to resolve patent appeals. In each case so far, the Court of Appeals has found the software patents in question to be invalid. ... As PatentlyO points out, the Alice effect is even reaching to lower courts, saving the Court of Appeals from having to strike down patent findings on appeal.' Although the patent industry broadly speaking sees the Alice verdict as a death knell for patents, some expect Alice to turn software patents into 'draftsmen's art because as you and I have seen over the years, every time there's a court ruling it just means that you have to word the patent claims differently.'

Submission + - Latest Logitech Harmony Remotes Can Now Control Smart Home Devices Too (hothardware.com)

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid writes: In an ongoing effort to put every device in your house under the control of a Harmony Remote, Logitech is also now claiming they're ready to take over other devices in addition to those that reside in your living room. The company stepped into the home control market, releasing two high-end home remotes and the Logitech Harmony Home Hub, which manages the traffic between the remotes and your home's door locks, garage door opener, thermostat, lights and window shades, among other devices. Interestingly, the most important part of the Logitech Harmony Home series is also one of the cheapest. The Logitech Harmony Home Hub, which will set you back $99.99, use a variety of connectivity options (including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth) to send commands from your wireless remote to your thermostat and other devices. It's compatible with home automation tools from industry brands, including August, Honeywell, Kwikset, Schlage, and Sylvania (to name just a few). For controlling those devices, you have three options: an app for your smartphone, the Logitech Harmony Home Control ($149.99), or the Logitech Harmony Ultimate Home ($349.99).

Submission + - Netropolitan Is A Facebook For The Affluent, And It's Only $9000 To Join (hothardware.com)

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid writes: Facebook has become too crowded and too mundane. With around 1.3 billion Facebook users, it's understandable to be overwhelmed by everything and want to get away from it all. However, unlike Facebook which is looking to connect everyone to the internet, there is a new site called Netropolitan that focuses more on exclusivity and privacy. The site was founded by composer and former conductor of the Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra James Touchi-Peters who wanted to provide a social media site for affluent and accomplished individuals. People wishing to join need only pay a mere $9,000 to join. Of that amount, $6,000 is the initiation fee and the remaining $3,000 is for the annual membership fee which users will continue to pay. So what does the initiation and annual fee get you? For starters, Netropolitan will offer an ad-free experience and will not promote any kind of paid promotions to its members. However, it will allow the creation of groups by businesses in which members can advertise to each other under certain guidelines. $9K just to join? There must be another hook...

Submission + - NASA Inspector General lobs big rocks at agency's asteroid hunting program (networkworld.com)

Submitted by coondoggie
coondoggie writes: Lack of money, management structure and staff are hampering NASA’s ability to effectively identify and track comets, meteorites and asteroids that might threaten Earth. The space agency’s Inspector General, Paul Martin, issued a scathing report this week that said while NASA’s Near Earth Object program has done substantial work in identifying the sometimes massive rocks hurtling around the planet it is substantially behind in its goal of cataloging 90% of those 140 meters in diameter by 2020, among other issues.

Submission + - What to Expect With Windows 9

Submitted by snydeq
snydeq writes: Two weeks before the its official unveiling, Woody Leonhard provides a roundup of what to expect and the open questions around Windows 9, given Build 9834 leaks and confirmations springing up all over the Web. The desktop's Start Menu, Metro apps running in resizable windows on the desktop, virtual desktops, Notification Center, and Storage Sense, are among the presumed features in store for Windows 9. Chief among the open questions are the fates of Internet Explorer, Cortana, and the Metro Start Screen. Changes to Windows 9 will provide an inkling of where Nadella will lead Microsoft in the years ahead. What's your litmus test on Windows 9?

Submission + - Why Apple Should Open-Source Swift -- But Won't

Submitted by snydeq
snydeq writes: Faster innovation, better security, new markets — the case for opening Swift might be more compelling than Apple will admit, writes Peter Wayner. 'In recent years, creators of programming languages have gone out of their way to get their code running on as many different computers as possible. This has meant open-sourcing their tools and doing everything they could to evangelize their work. Apple has never followed the same path as everyone else. The best course may be to open up Swift to everyone, but that doesn't mean Apple will. Nor should we assume that giving us something for free is in Apple's or (gasp) our best interests. The question of open-sourcing a language like Swift is trickier than it looks. Here are seven reasons why Apple should open-source Swift, followed by seven reasons why it ain't gonna happen.'

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