Google acquires Zync to boost its influence in Hollywood

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Google has acquired Zync, a start-up focused on special effects and design. The acquisition provides Google with a tool that allows movie studios, designers and producers to store and share large-format rendered files within traditional band-widths.

Until now, Zync has operated on Amazon's EC2 cloud, but Google will move Zync to its own Cloud Platform, the company said. The Wall Street Journal says it believes the move will force Zync's clients to switch from Amazon to Google's Cloud Platform.

Zync has fewer than 10 employees, according to its LinkedIn profile.

Google sees the acquisition as an opportunity to provide Hollywood studios that don't have the resources to build their own render farms with a service that offers cloud-based rendering and capacity at cost. Google will offer its clients per-minute billing in order to relieve clients of having to pay for unused capacity that would exist under traditional hourly agreements.

Zync has been used on hundreds of commercials and more than twenty movies, including American Hustle and Transformers. The Boston-based company was founded in 2011 after having been part of visual effects company Zero VFX.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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HTC invite teases 'world's first' octa-core 64-bit smartphone

HTC leaps into 64-bit (credit: Weibo)

Never mind the fact that Apple lobbed the opening 64-bit smartphone salvo nearly a year ago with the iPhone 5S - HTC plans to stake claim to a first of its own next week with a presumed successor to its Desire line.

HTC revealed plans to introduce what it calls the "world's first" Android smartphone powered by an octa-core, 64-bit processor in Berlin next week.

Judging from an official teaser posted on HTC's Weibo page, the event will take place a day before the annual IFA consumer electronics event kicks off on September 5, where many of the company's rivals are expect to also hold new product launches.

Aside from the September 4 media event and the "world's first" claim, little else is known about the mystery HTC handset, although it's not hard to connect the dots and come to a few logical conclusions about what the smartphone maker could be up to.

In a previous Weibo posting late last week, HTC more or less confirmed plans to introduce a new device codenamed 820, which sounds more than a little like a followup to the company's Desire 816 handset.

The same post confirmed all the requisite 820 specs, including a 1080p display with UltraPixel and Duo Camera 3D technologies on board. The phone could be bound for emerging markets, if the GSM and WiMAX 4G connectivity are any indication.

Needless to say, emerging markets typically nab less expensive, underpowered handsets, so it's a bit of a mystery why HTC would be touting an octa-core 64-bit chipset for a handset like the 820.

We only have a little over a week to ponder what this all means, but HTC's bold claims should be worth paying attention to in the hours leading up to IFA 2014, so check back for all the details on September 4.

Find out what the Sony Xperia T3 has up its sleeve in our full review!Via The Next Web

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Industry voice: Why Unified Communications is key to meeting the needs of the millennial workforce

Leslie Ferry, BroadSoft

By 2020, nearly 50% of the U.S. workforce will be comprised of millennials, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics - and just five years after that the figure jumps to 75%.

The fact that millennials (those whose ages range from 18 to 29) are on track to comprise half of the workforce in the near-term is not lost on organizations seeking to attract and retain top talent, meet their needs cost-effectively, and fully maximize the productivity of these younger workers.

While tales from Silicon Valley startups tend to sensationalize our notion of what millennial workers want from their places of employment (video games in the break room, Razor scooters to zip down hallways, omelet stations, full-time baristas, etc.), CXOs and IT decision-makers confront a very real challenge: determining which policies, benefits, services, products and technologies will allow their organizations to meet and exceed the communications expectations of the millennial workforce and allow them to communicate and collaborate more effectively.

To fully tap into the immense potential these younger workers offer, there are four technology strategies to consider:

CIOs and others responsible for evaluating and delivering technology to the workforce understand that it is shortsighted to fixate on a particular "flavor of the month" tablet or productivity tool that workers are clamoring for. Instead, organizations must first have a firm grasp of how millennials work, and deliver products and technologies that:

Satisfy an insatiable need for information - Millennials want, and expect, immediate access to information through "connected" platforms or mobile devices, which includes: access to information across organizational barriers, quick access to communication with colleagues anywhere and at anytime, and the ability to collaborate, share information, and build on the ideas of others.Extend, rather than inhibit, mobility - Millennials expect to be able to connect anytime, anywhere, whether they want to access IM on their smartphone at lunch, video conferencing from a coffee shop or even from the couch on their tablet, or find the location and presence of their colleagues from their laptop.Leverage their early adopter mindset - Research has shown Millennials will be the first to test and implement new communications services in their daily work routines. Take advantage of Gen Y's technical creativity while imagining and integrating future IT deployments.Deliver unbounded flexibility - Millennials have a marked desire for flexibility and the freedom to work anywhere, on the go, and on a device rather than a desktop. Translation: don't wed them to a narrow range of devices and access requirements that restrict traditional movement, work hours and collaboration.

According to the Forrester, 35% of US information workers at companies with 1,000+ employees indicated a willingness to help pay for mobile devices used for personal and professional purposes. This indicates, among other things, that today's workforce and the younger workers who comprise it place a premium on freedom of device choice – a premium they are willing to pay for.

Millennials represent an always-on, always-connected generation that brings its dynamic and diverse communications expectations to the office, which means that enterprises will need to plan for and manage the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) workforce.

Accelerated BYOD adoption requires businesses to take a hard look at dual persona support for advanced communications services on personal or enterprise-provided devices. Through dual persona, employers will be able to separate business and personal voice and Unified Communications services (including business and personal contacts, call logs and chat sessions), while maintaining a secure environment on the device for business applications with data that is fully controllable by the enterprise.

Dual persona for Unified Communications (UC), in particular, provide users with secure access to all of their Unified Communications services, including voice and video calling, text messaging, IM & Presence, and corporate directories.

Dual Persona for UC enables users to seamlessly switch between their business and personal communication services on a single mobile device, with privacy and security. At the same time, dual persona enables enterprises to meet millennial demands for a single device for all communication services, as employees will have more freedom to access their services from the device of their choice.

Enterprise decision-makers may be tempted to build a workforce communications strategy for millennials that is device or product-focused. It is difficult to project which devices, platforms and applications millennials will rely on six months from now, let alone six years from now.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan bears this out. In its recently released report, "The Future of Mobile Devices from a Customer Perspective-United States and Europe," nearly three out of every four organizations are issuing corporate-owned laptops (74%) and smartphones (71%) to their workforces. It found tablets, on the other hand, are issued by only half (47%) the surveyed enterprises.

Despite this current data, it would be restrictive for enterprises to divert resources excessively in the direction of a smartphone device or platform. The Frost & Sullivan report also finds that by 2016, the use of smartphones is expected to decrease from the current levels of 66% to 58%, while tablets are expected to increase from 49% to 56%.

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Uber designs secret recruiting crusade -- Operation SLOG

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick at LeWeb 2013. Stephen Shankland/CNET

Uber appears to have been caught red-handed conducting an extensive secret campaign designed to recruit its competitor's drivers.

Technology news site The Verge published a lengthy report on Tuesday detailing the car-sharing service's national marketing program to recruit Lyft drivers -- dubbed Operation SLOG. Uber responded with a blog post implying that it's been operating above board and said there's a lot of "misinformation" about its recruiting tactics.

According to The Verge's report, Uber's Operation SLOG campaign involved hiring independent contractors and plying them with burner phones, credit cards for creating dummy accounts, and talking points in order to surreptitiously lure Lyft drivers to Uber's platform. These contractors reportedly booked Lyft rides and then tried to convince the driver to switch to Uber. The contractors were said to make up to $750 for each driver they recruited.

Getting more drivers is key for both Uber and Lyft because it means more people on the road picking up passengers and creating a bigger name for the service.

Uber's secretive recruiting tactics were first reported by CNNMoney earlier this month. At that time, Lyft alleged that 177 Uber employees had booked and then canceled 5,560 Lyft rides over the past nine months. Uber called the allegations "patently false" and said Lyft also conducted similar recruiting campaigns.

Uber has remained adamant that its marketing tactics are transparent, including "never intentionally canceling rides." In a blog post published Tuesday, Uber maintained that its goal is to recruit more drivers and suggested there's nothing nefarious about its tactics. The company also confirmed it uses "brand ambassadors" and will take rides with competitors to recruit drivers.

"There's been a lot of discussion -- and a lot of misinformation -- about Uber's driver recruitment and the ridesharing industry's at large," Uber wrote. "We'd like to set the record straight and demystify our recruiting efforts, which we call Operation SLOG (Supplying Long-term Operations Growth). With millions of riders and ever-increasing demand for more rides in even more cities, we are always working hard to recruit new drivers onto the platform."

Uber and Lyft have been engaged in a public battle to win over more customers and drivers for years with price-cutting wars and one-upping campaigns, but the tactics didn't seem to get so dirty until now.

Uber has raised $1.5 billion in venture capital funding. It's unclear how its recruiting campaign will resonate with the company's backers. Menlo Ventures, which was one of several investors to raise $1.2 billion in Series D funding for Uber in June, told CNET that its investor agreement required it relay all inquiries to Uber. Other investors, Google Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, didn't return requests for comment.

When CNET contacted Uber for comment, a company spokesperson referred to the blog post published Tuesday. Lyft didn't return request for comment. The New York Taxi and Limousine Commission declined to comment and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency didn't return request for comment.

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Mozilla plans permission toggles in Firefox OS

A prototype of the Firefox OS-powered Cloud FX phone. A future version of the operating system will include app permission controls. Stephen Shankland/CNET

Mozilla promises that a future version of its Firefox OS will offer the kind of customized app permission experience that Android has yet to provide.

Firefox OS is the mobile operating system based on the Firefox browser's engine. It runs on several lower mid-range devices such as the Flame, the ZTE Open, and the Alcatel OneTouch Fire, available in 15 countries, and the super-low end Cloud FX in India. Instead of native code, apps are built in HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript -- the same languages used to make websites.

Firefox OS 2.1, a future version, will ship with an advanced feature setting so that the "tech savvy and paranoid privacy enthusiasts" can tweak app permissions to their liking, Mozilla security engineer Frederik Braun said in a blog post.

"The typical list in the Settings app will then show you all the permissions an app has and allows you to set them to Allow, Prompt or Deny," he wrote. Firefox OS settings allow app developers to set three levels, unlike Android's binary On or Off.

The feature will allow the phone user to set configure specific app permissions more to their liking, so that the Alarm app, for example, doesn't necessarily have access to the GPS. However, an operating system architecture means that the planned app permission toggle will work only with apps installed from the Mozilla Marketplace. Built-in apps are locked as they are. Additionally, Braun warns that changing these settings could break an app, stopping it from functioning at all.

However, the feature is far from ready, and Firefox OS users won't see it for quite a while. How long? That's not clear, since the version of the browser-powered mobile operating system that permission controls is expected to ship in -- Firefox OS 2.1 -- is only listed on the Firefox OS release schedule as having a "code complete" date, not a public availability date.

Currently, Firefox OS 1.4 will be followed by Firefox OS 2.0, also with an unannounced availability, and then version 2.1 will follow.

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A quick photo primer on Instagram's Hyperlapse app

Instagram's new Hyperlapse app helps stabilize video and speeds up time. Nick Statt/CNET

Instagram announced a standalone iOS app, Hyperlapse, on Tuesday that shoots video that can be sped while remaining smooth thanks to an image-stabilization algorithm that reduces shakiness. To exercise your creative time lapse muscles, however, a brief photography refresher and some simple tips will go a long way.

A hyperlapse is a specific technique under the umbrella of time lapse photography. A traditional time lapse is a lengthy snippet of footage that gets sped up in post-processing to compress time. That way, you can view hours of video of a sundown, a night's sky, or a bird's-eye view of cityscape in a matter of minutes -- even seconds.

Standard time lapses are generally static or involve only slight motion. In contrast, a hyperlapse involves motion and combines the elements of a cinematic tracking shot with a time lapse.

Instagram The big idea here is to show fast movement of the camera across distances -- think accelerated shots out of a car window while you're driving along a windy road. This usually requires expensive equipment like a Steadicam stabilizing unit since moving a camera shooting live video and then speeding it up tends to exacerbate any slight hand movements you've made.

Instagram's new app boils seeks to offer quick fix solution to these myriad problems into one mobile package. The app's creators didn't want the function to be buried in Instagram's toolkit. There are two features: the start-and-stop recording button and the speed dial. The video either can go into your camera roll or directly to Facebook or Instagram.

Here are the basics to keep in mind when using Hyperlapse:

Time lapses work best when you're able to speed up a typically slow-moving event, like the movement of the sun or a cloud formation. The same applies when you want to emphasize the chaos of countless unrelated movements in a tight space. Anyone who's ever been stuck in a Manhattan traffic jam can relate.

Due to the limitations of mobile, you need to be aware of the camera angle as well as your distance from the action if you're going to successfully turn all those subtle movements into a concentrated flow. That means finding a good vantage point where the key motion is relatively limited to a certain aspect of the frame or takes place uniformly across the frame.

With Hyperlapse's time lapse feature, the key for taking stationary shots like the one above is to shoot from far away and, preferably, from a point of elevation. That way you're able to concentrate the camera on one direction of motion to emphasize the attention around an interesting slice of a scene.

Even more so than when using a standard stationary time lapse, hyperlapses involve getting creative with motion as it relates to time. That means the desired effect depends upon the duration of your shot, the subject's speed and your distance.

Instagram's app lets you accelerate a shot up to 12 times its normal speed. For capturing an image of an airline lifting off, just two or three times the shot's speed yields a neat effect. For stationary shots taken farther away, you'll want to experiment with the higher-end of the speed dial. But it also means that you'll need to capture anywhere between one and a half to two minutes of video to get even a 10 second clip at 10x speed or more.

Hyperlapse offers users a simplified too,l but it doesn't let you customize the speed after-the-fact. You only get one opportunity to choose. Nor does the app let you speed up, slow down different parts of a shot or stop and start the recording to achieve a stop-motion effect. While both features may get included later on, it's important to understand the limitations both of Hyperlapse and of the world you're capturing with it. Experimenting with what works -- and what doesn't -- is the best way to figure this stuff out.

One of the key functions of a hyperlapse, sometimes called simply a moving time lapse, is to snap shots while riding on a moving object as opposed to taking a video of moving objects while standing still.

That means shots while riding a bike along a simple path work great, especially to emphasize movement. Shooting a video from the passenger window of a car or or plane is also a good place to start. Instagram itself advertises everything from trampoline jumping to rollercoaster rides:

With image stabilization, you need not worry about shaky video as the camera moves through space. That also eliminates one of the barriers to filming those more mobile scenes. And because Instagram's main goal is let people curate personal daily snapshots of their lives as if they were mini-movies, Hyperlapse fits right in, giving users the chance to shoot the scenes that Hollywood studios spend multi-thousand dollar equipment to illustrate.

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Moon Hunters: Where Legend of Zelda meets Gauntlet

Kitfox Games

Shattered Planet's Kitfox Games is back for round two, this time exploring the fantastical rather than sci-fi: it has launched a Kickstarter for Moon Hunters, a game for up to four players the developer describes as a "myth-weaving RPG".

Set in an ancient fantasy world, you take the role of a hero: a generic adventurer who is called upon to help out when the Moon goes missing. With the Moon no longer providing its magical influence on the world, monsters begin to rise up, and your quest becomes a battle of life, death, wits, magic, and might.

As the game starts out, your character is a blank slate. Although you are a hero, you have yet to commit deeds that determine the type of hero you will become. This is where the "myth-weaving" part comes in: choices and actions you take in the game determine your spirit, and those who become worthy heroes by the end will take place of honour as a constellation in the sky, their tales handed down from generation to generation.

The team describes the gameplay as a mix of several games you might already be familiar with. "You could describe the game as Legend of Zelda meets Castle Crashers, or maybe King of Dragon Pass meets Gauntlet," studio head Tanya Short wrote on Kickstarter. "We empower players to experiment with their personality through the reputation and tribe-management, while combat challenges punctuate the journey as chances to prove their skill."

Kitfox Games

It involves a mix of melee blade-based combat and flinging spells, inspired by the accessible combat in The Legend of Zelda, and four customisable character classes will allow you to choose your play style. The Witch is strong in magic; the Spellblade in melee and endurance; the Occultist in long-range speed; and the Druid a shape-changing, flexible mix.

Each play-through only takes a few hours, but every one will be different: the game is procedurally generated, and, with landmarks revealing key myths about the world -- essential to develop your world and character -- you will need to play through several times to uncover all the world's secrets. This will also allow you to play the game differently each time, discovering what effect each of the over 50 personality traits will have, not just on the outcome, but on the game around you as you play.

"In the real world, as in Moon Hunters, legends are rarely about merely defeating villains. More often, folktales are the story of the Clever hero that tricked the gods into giving humans fire. Of the Loyal hero that ventured into the underworld to save a loved one's soul. Of the Brave hero that declined a god's advances, and suffered for impertinence," Short said. "Your choices determine how you are remembered, and what you embody to those who hear your story in ages hence. The reason why you do something can be as important as the act itself."

Combined with a gorgeous retro-inspired world and soundtrack composed by Ryan Roth, Moon Hunters seems destined to become the kind of game that takes you on a wonderful journey that's beautiful every step of the way.

It's currently being developed for PC and Mac, to be released on Steam, with support for local co-op multiplayer. You can reserve a copy of Moon Hunters, due out in July of next year, by making a minimum pledge of CAD$15 on Kickstarter.

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'Star Wars' cast gets soaked for Ice Bucket Challenge

While the Force would have been drier, Mark Hamill uses ice water to raise awareness for ALS. Video screenshot by Bonnie Burton/CNET

Iconic geek celebrities like Steven Spielberg, George Takei, Sir Patrick Stewart, William Shatner, Sir Ian McKellen, and Benedict Cumberbatch have already dumped buckets of ice cold water on themselves to get people talking about, and donating money for, research of ALS -- amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Even Stormtroopers and R2-D2 have joined in the viral video sensation. Now some of the cast members of "Star Wars: Episode VII" have taken the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

Fans waiting patiently for the release of the new movie -- which isn't out til December 18, 2015 -- can at least see some of the cast now, just a bit more damp.

New "Star Wars: Episode VII" cast member Daisy Ridley started off the Ice Bucket Challenge by nominating Luke Skywalker himself -- fellow cast member actor Mark Hamill.

A Ben Kenobi-esque bearded Hamill accepted Ridley's Ice Bucket Challenge, but before getting doused with water, he challenged the band The Kinks and the entire cast of "Star Wars: Episode VII."

Harrison Ford -- who was recently injured on the "Star Wars: Episode VII" set -- seemed in tip-top Han Solo shape as he also took the challenge.

Director J.J. Abrams takes the challenge. Hey George Lucas, get your bucket ready! Video screenshot by Bonnie Burton/CNET

Not to be outdone, Chewbacca actor Peter Mayhew also accepted. And of course, director J.J. Abrams gets in on the action as well.

As crazy as dumping a bucket of ice water on your head may seem, these videos of soaked celebrities and tech leaders seem to be working. The ALS Association reports that $88.5 million has already been raised since the Ice Bucket Challenge campaign started, as opposed to $2.5 million during the same time last year.

According to the ALS website, the money raised will go toward "research, care services, public education, and public policy -- giving help and hope to those facing the disease."rro

Here's the roundup of videos, starting with Ridley getting doused and nominating Hamill.

Then Hamill's attempt to save water by using an eyedropper is thwarted.

Ford takes the challenge while at home in Wyoming.

Mayhew (without his Chewbacca costume on) and his wife get extra soggy for ALS.

Director J.J. Abrams is doused, but not before challenging the Stormtrooper cosplay group, the 501st Legion!

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Sennheiser tries to beat Beats with new design for CX headphones

Sennheiser is looking to beat Beats with new red headphones. Sennheiser

Sennheiser hasn't forgotten about Dre, taking a leaf out of the playbook of rival Beats by focusing on a more recognisable design for its new CX headphones.

German manufacturer Sennheiser is well-known among audiophiles for the audio quality of its kit, but in the last couple of years, like all headphone manufacturers, it's been left behind by Beats in terms of popularity and visibility.

Co-founded by rapper Dr Dre and recently snapped up by Apple for billions of dollars, Beats is derided by audiophiles, but has carved out an unbeatable brand identity thanks to its instantly recognisable design and the magic touch of celebrities from rappers to World Cup football stars.

Speaking exclusively to CNET last year about the challenge from Beats fashion 'phones, Sennheiser scion Daniel Sennheiser admitted the firm had been "complacent" -- but it's clear with the CX in-ears it's learned its lesson.

Following the example of Beats, Sennheiser has rethought its design -- specifically, to make sure that people wearing Sennheisers can be seen to be wearing Sennheisers. The new CX headphones have a new signature oblong design on the outside of the earbuds, and the cables come in white, black and red -- which just happen to be Beats' signature colours.

Perhaps that's a sort of audiophile honeytrap, so when the less-informed music lover says, "Cool, are they Beats?", the audiophile can sneer, "Ac-tually, they're Senn-heiser," before dropping the mic and high-fiving everyone in the organic record store.

The new Sennheiser CX series is made up of four slightly different models of ear-canal headphones: CX 1.00, CX 2.00, CX 3.00 and CX 5.00. Full prices and availability are yet to be confirmed, but Sennheiser has told us that the CX 3.00s will cost £45 in the UK. That converts to $75 or AU$80.

The CX 2.00 and CX 5.00 have an attached inline remote control for playing, pausing and skipping tracks, and a hands-free microphone for taking calls without taking out your headphones. The remotes are compatible with the Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy devices, although Sennheiser hasn't confirmed it'll work with other makes of phone or tablet.

The CX 1.00 and CX 3.00 are just headphones without the hands-free or remote. The CX 3.00 and CX 5.00 headphones also come with a hard plastic carry case that you can wind your headphones into so they don't tangle.

All the headphones in the range come with four sizes of ear sleeve to fit lugholes of all shapes and sizes. The drivers have also been angled differently to direct sound into the ear better. They go deeper too, with 17KHz bass instead of the 19KHz of previous models.

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Sennheiser will also show off a wacky new device next week called Mogees. Mogees combines a vibration sensor and a mobile app to detect and analyse the acoustic properties of any physical object and turn it into a unique musical instrument.

We'll see this crazy-sounding musical marvel at next week's IFA trade show in Berlin, where the great and the good of the technology industry gather to show off their wares for the rest of the year. We'll be there to bring you photos, videos and hands-on first impressions of everything from the expected Samsung Galaxy Note 4 to the wackier stuff like this Mogees thingy -- so keep it CNET.

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Finalists selected for $10M Qualcomm Tricorder XPrize

Are you a gadget lover, not a doctor? International teams are working to create portable devices that could quickly and easily detect common ailments.

XPrize

In any of the Star Trek films or TV episodes, it never took more than a quick sweep of a handheld gadget to diagnose the most obscure of ailments. Sure, Bones or Crusher were sometimes left without the proper cure, but they could always get a pretty good idea of what was wrong after just a quick scan.

Meanwhile, here in the real world, time-critical tests for conditions like stroke, pneumonia, and strep throat are often too slow. More problematically, they must be administered by medical professionals. Those in less civilized areas of the world often struggle to get the treatment they need.

XPrize

A competition was launched back in 2012 to improve the situation, with a $10 million purse for the Qualcomm Tricorder XPrize. To win, a team must create a device that can quickly and accurately diagnose 16 health conditions, all in a non-invasive way, and all packaged into a device that is portable, re-usable, and easy enough to operate that a medical professional need not stand by.

The conditions, which range from congenital ailments like atrial fibrillation to contagious ones like mononucleosis, must all be detected by a single device that weighs no more than 5 pounds (2.3kg) -- that is, heavier than a Tribble but lighter than a horned Alfa 177 canine.

Teams have until the middle of next year to demonstrate a working device, but ahead of that they submitted proposals for how their devices would work. Twenty-one proposals were received, and from those the XPrize judging panel chose 10 finalists.

Aezon (US) -- Student engineers from Johns Hopkins University partnering with the Center for Bioengineering Innovation & Design. CloudDX (Canada) -- From medical devices manufacturer Biosign and led by company chief medical officer Dr. Sonny Kohli.Danvantri (India) -- From technology manufacturer American Megatrends India and led by company director and CEO Sridharan Mani. DMI (US) -- Led by Dr. Eugene Y. Chan of the DNA Medicine Institute partnering with NASA, the National Institutes of Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Dynamical Biomarkers Group (Taiwan) -- Physicians, scientists and engineers led by Harvard Medical School professor Chung-Kang Peng. Final Frontier Medical Devices (US) -- Led by the founders of Basil Leaf Technologies, brothers Dr. Basil Harris, an emergency room physician, and George Harris, a network engineer. MESI Simplifying Diagnostics (Slovenia) -- From diagnostic medical device manufacturer MESI and led by company CEO Jakob Susteric. SCANADU (US) -- From Silicon Valley-based start-up SCANADU, led by technology entrepreneur and company co-founder and CEO Walter De Brouwer. SCANurse (UK) -- From diagnostic medical manufacturer SCANurse and led by biomedical engineer and company founder Anil Vaidya. Zensor (Ireland) -- From clinical sensor and electrode company Intelesens and led by design engineer Ian McCullough.The next step is to get down to building the devices, and then to start the actual testing. Tests kick off in May of 2015 and will complete ahead of formal judging in November of the same year. Up for grabs is $10 million in prizes, with $7 million going to the team behind the device that works the best. Tim Stevens Tim Stevens got his start writing professionally while still in school in the mid '90s, and since then has covered topics ranging from business process management to videogame development. Currently he pursues interesting stories and interesting conversations in the technology and automotive spaces. See full bio

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The 404 Throwback Ep. 778: Where we've stepped in the Oatmeal (podcast)

Delete your photos by mistake?

Whether you've deleted everything on your memory card or there's been a data corruption, here's a way to recover those photos.

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Google promises speed, security with 64-bit Chrome on Windows

Only those who specifically download the 64-bit Chrome version will get it. Stephen Shankland/CNET

Google on Tuesday pushed its Chrome browser into the 64-bit software era -- on Windows, at least, and only for those who specifically download it.

The new version, Chrome 37, takes advantage of the transition over the last decade to PCs with 64-bit processors, which can handle vastly larger amounts of memory and that offer more data-storage slots called registers that can improve performance. Because of plug-in compatibility problems, though, only those who specifically download the 64-bit Chrome version will get it. And 64-bit Chrome for Macs remains a work in progress.

The new Chrome is 15 percent faster at decoding HD videos on YouTube as a result, said Chrome team programmer Will Harris in a blog post.

It also is less prone to crashes in the renderer -- the core part of the browser that interprets Web site programming instructions and paints the appropriate pixels on a screen. And the software can thwart some types of hack attacks.

Faster browsers are important -- people watch more videos, buy more products, and spend more time on Web sites -- so performance is a top Chrome priority along with security and ease of use. The recipe has worked so far: Chrome has seen steadily increasing usage since its launch nearly six years ago.

The new version, though, drops support for 32-bit plug-ins -- software like Microsoft's Silverlight or Adobe Systems' Flash Player that extend a browser's abilities. Chrome has its own version of Adobe's Flash Player built in, which means the most-used plug-in isn't a problem, but others won't work. And the plug-in problem is mitigated by the fact that Chrome is scrapping support for most of them anyway by ditching the older NPAPI interface in favor its the company's own newer PPAPI.

Chrome 37 also brings a substantial change to text display, adopting Windows' DirectWrite technology that permits higher image quality and hardware-accelerated rendering. And another thing for Windows users: support for HiDPI, which means screens such as Apple's Retina models that have high pixel density, measured in dots per inch. It's increasingly common to find Windows machines that use this technology for crisp images and text, but adding support has been more complicated than it was for Macs, which feature a narrower range of models and simply quadrupled the number of pixels during the transition to simplify programming challenges.

And Chrome 37 also closes several security holes -- work for which Google paid $51,000 in bounties to security testers. More than half of that -- $30,000 -- was "a special reward to lokihardt@asrt for a combination of bugs" that could let an attacker run software that evades Chrome's protective "sandbox" system. It was a complicated attack though, using several Chrome subsystems: the V8 JavaScript engine, interprocess communications, the tool for synchronizing personal settings, and Chrome's extensions system.

Updated at 10:41 p.m. PT to add that HiDPI support also has arrived for Windows.

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T-Mobile adds 6 services to Music Freedom, just not users' fave

CEO John Legere's T-Mobile expands its program letting customers listen to streaming music without data-usage worries. James Martin/CNET

T-Mobile customers have spoken, and the company is listening. Eventually.

Six more services arrive on the carrier's Music Freedom concept -- which doesn't count streaming music data against customers' cellular data limits -- but not customer favorite Google Play Music, yet.

The carrier unveiled Music Freedom in June, as part of its wider campaign to win new customers by shaking up wireless industry standards, such as data limits that charge fees and contracts in exchange for subsidized smartphones. Though other carriers have linked streaming services to their subscriptions before, T-Mobile, the nation's fourth largest wireless carrier, hoped its unique take -- taking the data element out of the mobile music-listening equation -- would set it apart.

Wednesday , the company said customers have streamed nearly 7,000 terabytes of music and 5 million more songs per day than before the launch of the program.

In June, the carrier asked subscribers to vote for the No. 1 service to add to the program, and 750,000 votes later, Google Play Music was the most requested, T-Mobile said. However, the company won't include the service in the latest wave of additions, saying it is on track to add the service to Music Freedom later this year.

The services added immediately are Google's Songza, Rdio, AccuRadio, Black Planet, Grooveshark, and Paradise. Music Freedom already included Pandora -- the Internet's biggest radio service by number of listeners -- as well as Spotify, Clear Channel's iHeartRadio, iTunesRadio, Rhapsody, Samsung Milk, and Slacker.

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Square's Cash app update lets users send money by text

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Broadcom tries tickling developer interest with $20 multi-sensor kit

Broadcom's Wiced Sense Kit combines a thermometer, accelerator, gyroscope, compass, and humidity and pressure sensors into a $20 package for developers to build Internet-of-Things prototype devices. Stephen Shankland/CNET

SAN FRANCISCO -- Chipmaker Broadcom will announce a $20 hardware kit on Wednesday designed to make the Internet of Things a reality, not just a buzzword.

The Wiced Sense Kit is designed to make it easy for hardware designers to build hardware that can sense its environment and communicate that information back to a mobile phone, home communications hub, or other nearby device. Broadcom's hope is that the kit will sell more chips for smart baby monitors, smart door locks, exercise monitors, and other such devices.

"We're creating an environment that allows for all these great ideas to come to market much faster," Brian Bedrosian, Broadcom's senior director for wireless connectivity, said at a press event here on Tuesday.

The Internet of Things refers generally to bringing networking to thermostats, cars, traffic lights, and any number of things that today lack computing smarts or network communication abilities. A key part of the Internet of Things promise is making use of sensor data: Did somebody just enter the room, meaning it's time to turn on the lights? Is the tire pressure dangerously low, meaning it's time to alert a driver?

It's an interesting idea, and everybody from scrappy crowdfunded startups to Google wants to cash in on it. When consumer markets for smartphones, flat-panel TVs, tablets, and PCs saturate, the tech industry fixates on the next thing.

Broadcom gives away a lot of software and even government certifications for wireless communications, but it doesn't give everything away. "We sell chips," Bedrosian said. Specifically, in the case of the Wiced (pronounced "wicked," for Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices) Sense Kit, the small processors called microcontrollers and wireless communication components using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. The "all-in-one prototyping kit" comes with an accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, thermometer, and a detector for air humidity and pressure.

Brian Bedrosian, Broadcom's senior director for wireless connectivity, announces a $20 wireless sensor kit for hardware developers. Stephen Shankland/CNET

"It allows you to use this as the first version of your end product," said Sid Shaw, a senior product line manager at Broadcom. Once developers download the free software that communicates with the device, "In under a minute, you have wireless link set up and now can do technology evaluation."

It can be sold, too. A developer could follow Broadcom's design, remove any unneeded sensors to cut costs, repackage it with an appropriate new plastic housing, and sell it right away without having to worry about components interfering or about obtaining necessary permission from the Federal Communications Commission.

For the most part, Broadcom isn't aiming the kit beyond developers. But its low price could give it some modestly broader appeal.

"For $20, it would make a good Christmas present for kids in science fair projects," Bedrosian said.

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Dropbox Pro ups storage limits and security features

Dropbox is boosting its feature set for Dropbox Pro users, adding passwords and expiration dates for shared links and remote wipe capabilities, as well as unifying plans into a single offering.

The changes will be available to all new Dropbox Pro users as of today, with the added features rolling out to existing Pro users over the coming days.

In recognition of the greater storage needs of Dropbox Pro users -- the paid service is billed as a more advanced option for prosumers compared to the entry-level free service -- Dropbox has upped storage to 1TB for Pro customers.

Previously, users could choose between 100GB, 200GB and 500GB of space, available for $9.99, $19.99 and $49.99 per month respectively (£7.99, £15.99, £39.99; AU$10.99, AU$21.99, $54.99). Now, despite the doubling of storage from the top tier, Dropbox Pro customers will be charged $9.99 per month for 1TB (£7.99, AU$10.99).

In addition to the new pricing structure, Dropbox is rolling out a number of new security features for customers. Users will now be able to add password-access to shared links as well as expiration dates -- Dropbox says this feature is valuable for users such as professional photographers who want clients to pay for images after a certain date. Users will also be able to create 'Edit' or 'View Only' permissions for those accessing shared files.

Shared links can now be set to expire. Dropbox

For those that sync Dropbox's cloud storage with specific folders on their computer, Pro customers will now be able to remotely wipe this shared folder. If their device is stolen, users will be able to log into their Dropbox account on any other computer, "unlink" their computer and ensure files are deleted from the lost device.

Lost computers can have shared files wiped. Dropbox

Speaking about the new offering, Dropbox Head of Product ChenLi Wang said the upgraded Pro service was ideal for "educators, designers, marketers [and] consultants" as well as "the millions out there" who wanted "powerful sharing".

"Others offer the base, but really nobody has the same breadth of features and functionality as Dropbox Pro," he said. "We're enabling anyone who creates, edits and shares to have the more powerful Pro with the new set of features."

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Is the universe a 2D hologram? Fermilab intends to find out

Fermilab

Do we live in a 2D hologram? There's no short answer, but physicists believe it may be possible. The holographic principle -- a property of particle physics' string theory -- proposes that information about a region of space can be ascertained by the information on the surface that surrounds it -- much like you can determine, say, currents in water by the eddies on the surface.

But does this actually mean that our universe is an optical illusion created by light diffraction? Fermilab has just switched on a machine that may help a team of researchers figure it out: the Holometer, the most sensitive instrument ever built to measure the quantum jitter of space.

They liken the idea to a television, where pixels become less cohesive the closer you get to the screen. Those tiny pieces of data, however, holistically form a recognisable image when you move away from the screen; the researchers believe the universe may be contained in the same way, with the "pixel" size of space roughly 10 trillion times smaller than an atom -- the smallest distance possible in the universe, called the Planck length.

The Holometer uses a pair of inteferometers -- devices used to superimpose waves to compare them -- placed close together to each send a one-kilowatt laser (equivalent to 200,000 laser pointers) at a beam splitter and down two 40-metre arms arranged in a perpendicular L-shape. The light is reflected back to the beam splitter, and, if there is motion, this will cause fluctuations in brightness. It is these fluctuations that the researchers will analyse, looking for holographic noise.

Fermilab

This is expected to occur in all frequencies, but the researchers will be looking for noise that can't be explained away, such as radio waves emitted from nearby electronics. Because the frequency the Holometer is working at is extremely high -- millions of cycles per second -- the motions of normal matter are not likely to affect results, which makes matters a little less complicated.

"If we find a noise we can't get rid of, we might be detecting something fundamental about nature -- a noise that is intrinsic to space-time," said Fermilab physicist Aaron Chou, lead scientist and project manager for the Holometer. "It's an exciting moment for physics. A positive result will open a whole new avenue of questioning about how space works."

This will allow the machine to gauge the limits of the universe's ability to store information. If there are a finite number of bits that tell you how to locate something, for instance, there will come a point at which no more information is available.

"We want to find out whether space-time is a quantum system just like matter is," said Fermilab Center for Particle Astrophysics director Craig Hogan. "If we see something, it will completely change ideas about space we've used for thousands of years."

The Holometer experiment is expected to continue to gather data over the coming year.

Fermilab

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Freescale eyes wireless charging for public places

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Whether you've deleted everything on your memory card or there's been a data corruption, here's a way to recover those photos.

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HP recalls 6M laptop power cords for 'fire and burn hazard'

Delete your photos by mistake?

Whether you've deleted everything on your memory card or there's been a data corruption, here's a way to recover those photos.

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Get a Google Chromecast for $25 shipped

Just $25? Yes, please. Sarah Tew

Every TV should be "smart," able to stream stuff from the likes of Netflix and Pandora and YouTube. Thankfully, it's a simple matter to add this kind of intelligence to just about any TV, without venturing into murky "Flowers for Algernon" territory.

And today, while supplies last, the science is cheap: Groupon has the refurbished Google Chromecast for just $25 shipped. Sure, it sells new for a mere $35 and routinely goes on sale for around $30, but there's something a bit magical about a $25 price tag -- especially for a gizmo as good as this.

In the unlikely event you're unfamiliar with it, here's a primer: Plug the Chromecast into an HDMI port, then use your smartphone or tablet to sling Netflix, Pandora, YouTube, and loads of other stuff -- including Web pages from a laptop.

Now, that smartphone/tablet/laptop requirement (there's no remote included with the device) is something of a downside, at least if you're old-school like me. I must admit to preferring Roku's nice little handheld remote.

Speaking of which, the Chromecast's direct competitor is the Roku Streaming Stick, a nearly identical dongle that also plugs directly into an HDMI port -- no box or HDMI cable required. But it's literally twice the price.

Oh, and don't worry about this being a refurb: It comes with a one-year warranty, same as new Chromecasts. (Little-known fact: All Rokus are backed for just 90 days.)

If you're seriously trying to decide between one and the other, check out CNET's recent Chromecast vs. Streaming Stick Prizefight. (Spoiler: Roku wins by a nose, but both products rank as "awesome.")

My take: For $25 out the door, the Chromecast is a flat-out unbeatable deal. Grab one for yourself, another for your favorite blogger, maybe even get a little holiday shopping done early.

Bonus deal: So you've been wanting to get in on this fitness-band craze, but not if it's going to cost you $150. Today only, and while supplies last, Yugster has the refurbished Nike+ FuelBand fitness tracker for $54.97, plus $5 for shipping. It had a list price of $149 when it debuted a couple years back. You'll want to check out CNET's review before pulling the trigger -- and maybe wait to hear what your fellow cheeps think of the FuelBand, too. (I haven't tried one myself.)

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T-Mobile drops iPhone 5S by $48, iPhone 5C by $50

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Whether you've deleted everything on your memory card or there's been a data corruption, here's a way to recover those photos.

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Portable, handheld DNA sequencer no bigger than a brick

University of Otago

DNA sequencing is amazingly complicated (although a lot quicker than it used to be) and requires a lot of computing power, but is extremely useful for diagnosing hereditary genetic diseases, among other applications. Because it is so complex, though, it usually requires highly specialised equipment that can only be found in a laboratory.

A team of researchers at New Zealand's University of Otago may be about to make it a fair bit more accessible, with the invention of a portable DNA sequencer no heavier than a laptop. Called the Freedom4, it uses quantitative PCR -- a technique for amplifying and quantifying DNA molecules -- to target DNA sequences in real-time, without requiring further processing.

With a six-hour battery life and the ability to be tethered to a laptop or wirelessly to a mobile phone running custom software that analyses the test results, the Freedom4 could be used for a variety of applications, the team said. As well as clinical diagnosis of viral infectious diseases in humans, it has potential applications on forensics and environmental monitoring, too.

"This mobility could provide a great boon for farmers," said project leader Dr Jo-Ann Stanton. "For instance, vets could drive around a farm analysing samples from various locations, make their diagnoses and treat infected animals -- all in one trip."

The machine has been extensively independently tested by the New Zealand Institute of Environmental and Scientific Research, which ran a variety of viruses through it, including E.coli and several gastrointestinal and respiratory viruses, including H1N1 (swine flu). The Institute found that the Freedom4 performed on a par with much larger systems housed in labs.

"We are immensely proud that we have created this brilliant device; there is currently no other system in the world that compares in terms of the analytical power we have achieved at this level of mobility and ease of use," Dr Stanton said.

The university's Otago Innovation is now working in partnership with genome company Ubiquitome to produce the device on a commercial level. Expressions of interest and pricing enquiries can be directed through the Ubiquitome website.

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Watch teen's manic selfie session as filmed by dad

Modern art. RumbleViral/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

In the museums of the future, they will display everything that made us what we are.

It is incontestable, therefore, that a video posted to YouTube by RumbleViral will take pride of place.

For here we have what appears to be a girl of teen years performing for the camera. Well, the camera for which she's performing is on her cell phone.

However, the camera that captures the true glory of it belongs to her dad, said to be named Rod Beckham.

His daughter gurns, sticks her tongue out, stretches her eyes and generally tries to make the most striking impression she can.

It's hard to find the right expression, especially when you know that your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr accounts need to be filled with new material or your friends will turn elsewhere for entertainment.

Of course, this could be one fine setup. The girl could be a burgeoning actor and the dad a film director trying to make the video look as amateurish as possible.

However, it shows just how we all feel the additional need to be interesting because we are now less humans and more content creators.

Sadly, Facebook and the like are our agents and they take 100 percent of our income.

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Asus ZenFone 5 gets new LTE version in Asia

Delete your photos by mistake?

Whether you've deleted everything on your memory card or there's been a data corruption, here's a way to recover those photos.

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Time Warner Cable suffers massive outage nationwide

Internet users in the Northeast were hit especially hard by a Time Warner Cable outage Wednesday morning. DownDetector/Screenshot by CNET

Time Warner Cable customers across the US woke up Wednesday to an Internet outage.

A site called DownDetector has been tracking the Time Warner Cable outage, showing a heat map of where the outages are occurring. Earlier this morning, many people in California were affected, as well as many of the company's customers in the Northeast. As of this writing, the outages in California and Texas seemed to have eased, but the Northeast is still experiencing widespread outages in several areas, including New York City. It's not clear, however, how up-to-date that tracking actually is.

Time Warner Cable has 11.4 million subscribers in the United States.

Not surprisingly, those who have been affected by the outage have gone to Twitter -- apparently by accessing the service on another provider's network -- to complain that Time Warner Cable service is down. Many of the tweets simply state that Time Warner Cable's service is down, while others added a comical twist.

"Time Warner nationwide outage: wireless carriers squeal with glee at all the data overage charges they'll pocket," one person wrote.

Time Warner Cable has kept details on the outage close to the vest. At approximately 4 a.m. PT on Wednesday, the company tweeted that it's "working to restore services to all areas as quickly as possible," though it wouldn't provide an estimated restoration time. As of this writing, there have been no updates to the Twitter account.

In response to a query by CNET, Time Warner Cable issued this statement:

"At 430am ET this morning during our routine network maintenance, an issue with our Internet backbone created disruption with our Internet and On Demand services. As of 6am ET services were largely restored as updates continue to bring all customers back online."

Outages are not necessarily surprising for Internet users, but have become more frustrating as people conduct more and more of their personal and work lives online. An outage as widespread as this one underscores the pervasiveness of the Internet and the need for a quick resolution to any disruption in service.

Time Warner Cable is in the middle of an effort to merge with Comcast in a deal valued at $45.2 billion. While the companies are more likely than not to combine forces, federal scrutiny has been increasing over the last few months as regulators have dug their claws into the deal.

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Uber designs secret recruiting crusade -- Operation SLOG

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick at LeWeb 2013. Stephen Shankland/CNET

Uber appears to have been caught red-handed conducting an extensive secret campaign designed to recruit its competitor's drivers.

Technology news site The Verge published a lengthy report on Tuesday detailing the car-sharing service's national marketing program to recruit Lyft drivers -- dubbed Operation SLOG. Uber responded with a blog post implying that it's been operating above board and said there's a lot of "misinformation" about its recruiting tactics.

According to The Verge's report, Uber's Operation SLOG campaign involved hiring independent contractors and plying them with burner phones, credit cards for creating dummy accounts, and talking points in order to surreptitiously lure Lyft drivers to Uber's platform. These contractors reportedly booked Lyft rides and then tried to convince the driver to switch to Uber. The contractors were said to make up to $750 for each driver they recruited.

Getting more drivers is key for both Uber and Lyft because it means more people on the road picking up passengers and creating a bigger name for the service.

Uber's secretive recruiting tactics were first reported by CNNMoney earlier this month. At that time, Lyft alleged that 177 Uber employees had booked and then canceled 5,560 Lyft rides over the past nine months. Uber called the allegations "patently false" and said Lyft also conducted similar recruiting campaigns.

Uber has remained adamant that its marketing tactics are transparent, including "never intentionally canceling rides." In a blog post published Tuesday, Uber maintained that its goal is to recruit more drivers and suggested there's nothing nefarious about its tactics. The company also confirmed it uses "brand ambassadors" and will take rides with competitors to recruit drivers.

"There's been a lot of discussion -- and a lot of misinformation -- about Uber's driver recruitment and the ridesharing industry's at large," Uber wrote. "We'd like to set the record straight and demystify our recruiting efforts, which we call Operation SLOG (Supplying Long-term Operations Growth). With millions of riders and ever-increasing demand for more rides in even more cities, we are always working hard to recruit new drivers onto the platform."

Uber and Lyft have been engaged in a public battle to win over more customers and drivers for years with price-cutting wars and one-upping campaigns, but the tactics didn't seem to get so dirty until now.

Uber has raised $1.5 billion in venture capital funding. It's unclear how its recruiting campaign will resonate with the company's backers. Menlo Ventures, which was one of several investors to raise $1.2 billion in Series D funding for Uber in June, told CNET that its investor agreement required it relay all inquiries to Uber. Other investors, Google Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, didn't return requests for comment.

When CNET contacted Uber for comment, a company spokesperson referred to the blog post published Tuesday. Lyft didn't return request for comment. The New York Taxi and Limousine Commission declined to comment and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency didn't return request for comment.

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Square trying to raise cash on $6 billion valuation, report says

Square

Square, the mobile payment-processing company started by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, is trying to raise a new round of financing, according to a report.

Square is attempting to raise $200 million on a $6 billion valuation in its latest round of financing, CNBC reported Tuesday, citing people with knowledge of the company's plans. The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, essentially a venture-capital arm for that country, could lead the round, according to the report.

Square, which processes billions of dollars in transactions each year through its mobile card-swiping device that allows users to take credit card transactions through smartphones and tablets, has been growing rapidly. Its valuation has grown in parallel. Earlier this year, Square allowed some employees and other owners to divest shares in a fundraising effort. At that time, the company valued itself at $5 billion.

The issue for Square has been competitive forces and margins. A wide range of companies, including major firms, like PayPal and Amazon, are vying with Square for mobile payments, making its pitch to customers more difficult. Meanwhile, Square is generating just 2.75 percent of revenue on all transactions made through its system. It then needs to pay credit card companies for the processing, leaving some investors wondering whether the company can be a long-term profit-generating business. As of this writing, Square is not believed to be profitable, though a CNBC report suggests Square could hit that mark next year.

If Square is successful at raising $200 million, it would be a major cash infusion for the company. Since its founding, Square has raised $350 million in venture funding.

CNET has contacted Square for comment. We will update this story when we have more information.

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iPhone 6 release could drive the most old iPhone trade-ins ever

There's gold in them thar phones! CNET

It's widely believed that Apple will introduce the iPhone 6 at a September 9 media event in San Francisco, making it prime-time for trading in current and older Apple smartphones. Plenty of big and small online names are already jostling to offer the best deal to take your old iPhone off your hands, and now eBay is sweetening the pot even more.

A representative for eBay tells me that the auction site will be offering a $100 coupon to US sellers who are unable to sell their old iPhone between September 1 and October 24.

Currently, a used iPhone 5s can fetch $500 or more on eBay. The site notes that after the iPhone 5s and 5c became available last year, the average selling price for used iPhones (including the iPhone 4, iPhone 4s and iPhone 5) was around $280. eBay also says that the number of iPhone listings continues to increase with each new generation release.

Trade-in site NextWorth is also expecting to see a boom in its business with the release of the iPhone 6. The company anticipates double the trade-in volume in the coming weeks as compared to last year's launch of the iPhone 5s and 5c. Nextworth's historical data shows a 105 percent increase in trades when Apple introduces a brand new "numbered" model, versus the less dramatic changes that typically accompany an "s" version. (To be fair, the introduction of Siri in the iPhone 4s was perhaps a bigger deal than the iPhone 5).

Nextworth has a partnership with Target that allows people to trade in their old iPhones in exchange for a Target gift card. At the moment, you can hand over an old iPhone 5s in exchange for up to $259 so long as it's fully functional without a cracked screen.

Glyde.com, a kind of peer-to-peer hybrid of eBay and Nextworth (it helps facilitate price, shipping and money movements between individual buyers and sellers), also told me it has seen iPhone-related traffic more than double from last year's lead-up to the iPhone 5s and 5c launch.

If you're hoping to get the most for your old iPhone, there's no time like the present, especially this year with so many other used iPhones hitting the digital streets. Glyde currently suggests a sales price of $413 for a used Verizon 64GB iPhone 5s, which is down from a price of $487 the site was suggesting just a week ago.

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Epson PowerLite 99W WXGA 3LCD Projector

Pros Bright. Lightweight. Long lamp life. Excellent quality for data images. Better-than-typical video for a data projector.

Cons No 3D support. Bottom Line The Epson PowerLite 99W WXGA 3LCD Projector is lightweight, and offers a bright image, excellent quality for data screens, and better video quality than most data projectors.

By M. David Stone

The Epson PowerLite 99W WXGA 3LCD Projector ($749) fits neatly in Epson's line above the Epson EX6220 WXGA 3LCD Projector and below the Epson PowerLite 955W WXGA 3LCD Projector, our Editors' Choice for lightweight WXGA (1,280-by-800) projectors for a small to midsize room. More importantly, like the Epson 955W, it offers high-quality images for data screens, along with better-than-typical video quality. Depending on your needs, it could easily be the projector you want.

As a step up from the Epson EX6220, the 99W delivers several extras, the most important of which being much better connectivity and audio. As a step down from the Epson 955W, however, it differs primarily in having a 1.2x, rather than 1.6x, zoom lens. If you don't need the additional zoom capability, it lets you get essentially the same projector as the Epson 955W without having to pay for an expensive lens you don't need.

Basics
The 99W is built around a three-chip WXGA LCD engine, a feature that it shares with both of the other Epson models, as well as the NEC NP-M311W.

The three-chip design gives all of these projectors the advantage over single-chip DLP projectors of not displaying rainbow artifacts (flashes of red, green, and blue). It also gives them the advantage of offering the same color brightness as white brightness. That means you don't have to worry about a difference between the two affecting brightness or color quality. (For more on color brightness, see Color Brightness: What It Is, Why It Matters.)

The key disadvantage for all of these models is that, unlike almost all recent DLP models, they don't support 3D. Fortunately, this won't be an issue for most applications, but if you want 3D, consider a DLP projector, like the BenQ MW523.

Setup and Brightness
The 99W weighs just 6 pounds and measures 3.5 by 11.6 by 9.7 inches (HWD), including its feet, making it small and light enough to carry with you. However, it's also suitable for permanent installation or for a cart, for room-to-room portability.

Setup is standard, with manual controls for focus and zoom. Connectors on the back panel include an HDMI port, a VGA port, and both S-video and composite video ports. In addition, there's a USB Type B port for direct USB display and for controlling the computer mouse from the projector's remote, a LAN port for sending images and audio, as well as for controlling the projector over a network, and a USB Type A port for reading files directly from a USB memory key or for connecting an optional ($99) Wi-Fi dongle.

Epson rates the projector at 3,000 lumens, which is in the typical range for projectors meant for small to midsize rooms. Assuming a 1.0-gain screen, that makes the 99W bright enough for roughly a 210- to 280-inch (diagonal) image in theater-dark lighting, according to the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) recommendations. With moderate ambient light, it's bright enough for a 140-inch (diagonal) image. You can also lower the brightness for smaller screen sizes by switching to the projector's Eco mode, one of its lower-brightness preset modes, or both.

Image Quality, Lamp Life, and Audio
The 99W did an excellent job with data images in my tests, sailing through our standard suite of DisplayMate tests without any serious problems. Colors were suitably vibrant, eye-catching, and well-saturated in all modes. Even better, the projector did well with detail. White text on black was crisp and readable at sizes as small as 7.5 points, and black text on white was easily readable at 6.8 points.

See How We Test Projectors

As with any 1,280-by-800 projector, the video quality is limited by the native resolution to a maximum of 720p HD video without having to scale the image. In addition, the contrast was a little low, as is typical for data projectors. However, the video quality overall is basically at the low end of what you might expect from a home entertainment projector, or at least close to it, which makes the video much better than most data projectors can manage.

The 99W also earns some points for its audio system. The 16-watt mono speaker offers good sound quality and enough volume to fill a midsize room. You can also connect an external sound system to the audio output as an alternative. As a final plus, Epson claims a longer-than-typical lamp life for the projector, at 5,000 hours in Normal mode and 6,000 hours in Eco mode. The long life, combined with a low cost for the replacement lamp, at $99, translates to a promised low total cost of ownership.

If you need 3D, you'll want to look at a DLP projector like the BenQ MW523. And if you need the flexibility of a zoom lens with a greater range, you'll want to consider the Epson 955W or NEC NP-M311W. Alternatively, if you don't need all the connection choices the Epson PowerLite 99W WXGA 3LCD Projector offers, you can save some money by getting the Epson EX6220. But if the 99W's 1.2x zoom lens is sufficient for your needs, and you also need its connectivity, its balance of image quality, features, and price make it a highly attractive choice.

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Brother MFC-L8850CDW

Pros Fast. Single-pass duplex scanning, copying, and faxing. 50-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF). Scans to multiple destinations. Works as a standalone copier/fax machine.

Cons Subpar photo quality. Slightly subpar graphics. Bottom Line The Brother MFC-L8850CDW delivers good speed for a color laser multifunction printer, and it's packed with features, including a 50-sheet ADF that supports single-pass duplex scanning, faxing, and copying.

By Tony Hoffman

The Brother MFC-L8850CDW ($599.99), the midrange model of three recently introduced color laser multifunction printers (MFPs) geared to workgroups in smaller offices, is fast for a color MFP at its price. It has a nice range of features, including single-pass duplex scanning from its 50-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF).

Features and Design
The MFC-L8850CDW can print, copy, scan, and fax. It lets you fax either from your computer (PC Fax), or as a standalone unit without needing a computer; it can also work as a standalone copier. It supports printing from or scanning to a USB thumb drive. It can also scan to a PC, email, an optical character recognition (OCR) program, an FTP server, Microsoft SharePoint, and network folders.

Standard paper capacity is 300 sheets, split between a 250-sheet main tray and a 50-sheet multipurpose tray. An optional 500-sheet tray ($249.99) brings the maximum paper capacity up to 800 sheets. An auto-duplexer, for printing on both sides of a sheet of paper, comes standard. This paper capacity is relatively modest, making the printer most suitable for a smaller workgroup or a busy home or micro office.

The MFC-L8850CDW has a faster rated and tested speed than its little brother, the MFC-L8600CDW—one of the two workgroup MFPs launched at the same time—and a higher maximum monthly duty cycle (60,000 sheets to the MFC-L8600CDW's 40,000). Its 50-sheet ADF trumps the Brother MFC-L8600CDW's 35-sheet unit, which lacks the MFC-L8850CDW's support for duplex scanning, copying, and faxing. The other new model, the Brother MFC-L9950CDW ($799.99), has all the features of the MFC-L8850CDW, but is built for higher-volume printing, with a maximum 75,000-page duty cycle, and can use extra-high capacity toner cartridges to lower its running costs.

At 20.9 by 19.3 by 20.7 inches (HWD), this MFP is too big to share a desk with. Given that it weighs 67 pounds, you'll want two people to move it into place. Its swept-back front panel includes a 4.8-inch color touch screen. On top is a 50-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF) that supports single-pass copying, scanning, and faxing of two-sided, multipage documents of up to legal size.

The printer connects to a PC via a USB cable, or to a network via Ethernet or Wi-Fi. It supports Wi-Fi Direct, which allows for direct printing between compatible devices without the need to go through a Wi-Fi access point. It's compatible with Apple AirPrint, Brother iPrint&Scan, Mopria, Google Cloud Print, and Cortado WorkPlace for printing from mobile devices. I tested it over an Ethernet connection, with the drivers installed on a computer running Windows Vista.

Printing Speed
I timed the MFC-L8850CDW, rated at 32 pages per minute (ppm) for both color and monochrome printing, on our business applications suite (using QualityLogic's hardware and software for timing) at 7.6ppm, a good clip for its price and rated speed. (While rated speeds are based on text-only printing, our test suite includes text pages, graphics pages, and pages with mixed content.) It was faster than the Brother MFC-8600CDW, rated at 30ppm, which turned in a speed of 6.4ppm in my testing, and the Editors' Choice OKI MC362w, which we timed at 5.9ppm. Its speed fell well short of the Editors' Choice Dell C3765dnf Color Laser Printer, which I timed at 8.3ppm in its default duplex printing mode and a fast 10.1ppm in simplex.

Output Quality
Overall output quality for the MFC-L8850CDW was somewhat below average in our testing, due mostly to subpar photo quality. Text quality was average for a color laser, and graphics a touch below par. The printer's text is fine for any business use short of ones that require very small fonts, such as demanding desktop-publishing applications.

With graphics, colors were generally well-saturated. Some dark backgrounds looked a bit faint in my tests. The printer did well in showing very thin, colored lines, and in distinguishing between similar tones. Several illustrations showed mild banding (a regular pattern of faint striations). There was obvious dithering (graininess and in some cases dot patterns) in most illustrations. Graphics quality is fine for any internal business use, up to and including PowerPoint handouts.

Photo quality is below par for a laser. There was a loss of detail in some dark areas in my test shots. A monochrome photo showed obvious tinting. Several prints showed dithering in the form of dot patterns. Quality is fine for printing out images from Web pages or files, but that's about it.

This printer is slightly more expensive than the Brother MFC-L8600CDW, but brings more to the table: the capacity for higher print volumes, better speed, a larger ADF, and the ability to scan both sides of a sheet of paper in a single pass.

The MFC-L8850CDW is about midway in price between two Editors' Choice models, the OKI MC362w and the Dell C3765dnf Color Laser Printer. It falls well short of the higher-end Dell C3765dnf in running costs, speed, paper capacity, and graphics quality. It has a similar set of MFP and workflow features to the OKI MC362w and is a bit faster, though it couldn't quite match the OKI MFP's output quality or paper handling. Thus, the OKI MC362w remains our Editors' Choice for medium- to heavy-duty color laser MFPs in a micro or small office, but the Brother MFC-L8850CDW is fine in its own right, and a good choice especially if speed is a priority, and your color output is limited to internal use.

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Kaspersky Internet Security (2015)

The exact components that go into a security suite vary, but most include antivirus, firewall, spam filtering, and parental control. To those core components, Kaspersky Internet Security (2015) ($79.95 for three licenses) adds accurate phishing detection, a hardened browser for financial transactions, useful tuneup tools, and more. It's a solid suite.

Like Kaspersky's stand-alone antivirus, this suite's main window is divided into four large panels. In the suite, these panels let you launch an antivirus scan, check for updates, configure the Safe Money hardened browser, or dig into parental control settings.

Clicking the link for "Additional tools" brings up the same collection of bonus tools found in the antivirus. The suite adds real-time reporting from the firewall's application- and network-control modules, as well as a summary of recent protective activity. Overall, the user interface is coherent and easy to navigate.

Shared Antivirus
The antivirus component in this suite is precisely what you get from Kaspersky Anti-Virus (2015). Do read that review for full details. I'll summarize here.

Kaspersky Internet Security (2015) Lab Tests Chart

The independent testing labs absolutely adore Kaspersky's antivirus technology. It earned the highest possible ratings in tough, real-world tests from AV-Test Institute, AV-Comparatives, and Dennis Technology Labs in particular.

See How We Interpret Antivirus Lab Tests

Kaspersky also excelled at detecting fraudulent (phishing) websites, both blacklisting known phishing sites and using heuristic analysis to detect brand-new ones. Norton Internet Security (2014) is a consistent antiphishing champion, beating 90 percent of the competition, but Kapsersky eked out a detection rate 1 percent better than Norton.

Kaspersky Internet Security (2015) Antiphishing Chart

Webroot SecureAnywhere Internet Security Plus (2014) and Bitdefender Internet Security 2015 also beat Norton, by 2 and 5 percentage points respectively.

See How We Test Antiphishing

In my own hands-on testing, Kaspersky didn't earn the same stellar scores it got from the independent labs. Its Web protection prevented access to 10 percent of the 100 very new malicious URLs I used to test it. That's quite a bit below the current average of 33 percent.

Kaspersky Internet Security (2015) Malware Blocking Chart

When I challenged it with a collection of malware samples that I had previously analyzed, it wiped out the majority on sight and eliminated several of those remaining when I tried to launch them. Its overall score of 7.9 points doesn't compare well with the best products tested using my previous malware collection, but then, that was a different collection. Bitdefender, the only other product tested using my current collection, managed 8.4 points. In any case, I give quite a bit more weight to the independent labs, and they've proclaimed Kaspersky to be top-notch.

See How We Test Malware Blocking

Other Shared Tools
Kaspersky's standalone antivirus comes with a number of useful bonus tools; naturally these also appear in the suite. An attractive semi-transparent virtual keyboard both foils keyloggers and prevents screen-scraping attacks. You can have Kaspersky find and fix vulnerabilities in the operating system and in applications. Several tune-up scanners eliminate junk from your system and wipe out traces of your computer and browsing history.

You'll want to create a Rescue Disk as soon as you've installed the product. That way if ransomware or other vicious malware manages to get past Kaspersky's protection, you can boot from the Rescue Disk (CD, DVD, or USB) and clean things up.

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Kaspersky Anti-Virus (2015)

Pros Top ratings in tests by six independent labs. Excellent antiphishing scores. Simple settings. Quick, easy install. Virtual keyboard for secure data entry. Can roll back malware actions. Useful system cleanup and optimization tools.

Cons Less impressive scores in hands-on malware blocking test and malicious URL blocking test. Bottom Line Kaspersky Anti-Virus (2015) made a clean sweep, earning top marks from all of the independent antivirus test labs. It's a new Editors' Choice for antivirus protection.

By Neil J. Rubenking

How often do you find an antivirus product that's still managed by its eponymous creator? Peter Norton and Symantec's Norton product line went their separate ways ages ago. John McAfee is still making news, but not in connection with McAfee the company. Then there's Eugene Kaspersky, still at the helm of Kaspersky Lab. Maybe continuity pays off; Kaspersky Anti-Virus (2015) is an impressive and highly capable antivirus program. It's affordable, too: You can purchase a single one-year subscription for $39.95, or get a three-pack for $20 more.

The product's clean main window displays current security status, with a link to dig in for details, good or bad. Four big panels let you quickly launch a scan, check for updates, view activity reports, and activate a virtual keyboard.

The virtual keyboard deserves a little extra attention. Many products offer a similar feature, to let you enter passwords without using the vulnerable physical keyboard. Kaspersky's floating semi-transparent keyboard isn't just better-looking than the competition. It also includes technology that keeps spyware from capturing your personal data by scraping the screen.

Simple Settings
You can install Kaspersky and use it out of the box without ever changing any settings. By default, it automatically chooses the best action when detecting malware; it doesn't make you decide. This is similar to the default Autopilot mode in Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2015.

From the Settings screen, you can toggle security components on and off, or dig in for more detail. The one item you might want to examine is System Watcher. This feature tracks system activity and, when possible, completely rolls back activity by detected malware. You'll also find the special key combination to break away from screen-locking malware—Ctrl+Alt+Shift+F4 by default.

Kaspersky works hard to avoid impacting system performance. On the settings tab for performance, you can see that by default it postpones any scheduled scans that would occur while you're on battery power. It will refrain from interrupting when you're playing a full-screen game, and it defaults to limiting resources used during startup, so your boot time isn't slowed. You don't need to change these settings, but it's good to know what's going on in the background.

Loved by the Labs
All the antivirus testing labs that I follow include Kaspersky's products in their testing, and Kaspersky earns universally high marks. ICSA Labs and West Coast Labs certify Kaspersky for malware detection and cleaning; West Coast Labs adds "Platinum Checkmark" certification. Kaspersky participated in all 12 of the most recent tests by Virus Bulletin and earned VB100 certification in 10 of them.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus (2015) Lab Tests Chart

AV-Test Institute rates products in three categories: protection, performance, and usability. Kaspersky earned six of six possible points in all three, a rare perfect store. In all of the static and dynamic tests by AV-Comparatives, Kaspersky rated Advanced+, the highest possible rating. Dennis Technology Labs certified Kaspersky at the AAA level, again the highest possible level.

Few security vendors reach such stratospheric levels with the independent labs. Bitdefender is one of the few that comes close.

See How We Interpret Antivirus Lab Tests.

Hands-On Malware Blocking
Those independent labs can devote far more resources to testing than I can, but I still like to do some hands-on testing, exposing each antivirus product to a collection of various malware samples. Kaspersky and Bitdefender are the first products I've tested since converting all of my virtual machines to Windows 8.1 and swapping in a new collection of samples.

As soon as I opened the folder containing my samples, Kaspersky got to work, quickly wiping out 69 percent of them. I proceeded to launch those that survived this massacre, noting just how Kaspersky handled them. In all, it detected 83 percent of the samples. Its overall score of 7.9 points reflects the fact that a few of the samples managed to place executable files on the test system despite being detected by the antivirus.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus (2015) Malware Blocking Chart

Bitdefender did a little better than Kaspersky, with 86 percent detection and an overall score of 8.4. You can see that some products tested with my previous collection managed higher scores. However, there's a possibility that those tested most recently gained an advantage due to the increasing age of the older samples. And when the independent labs put a product at the top, I give less weight to my own hands-on tests.

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Brother MFC-L8600CDW

Pros Scans to multiple destinations. Works as a standalone fax machine and copier. Multiple connectivity choices, including Wi-Fi Direct.

Cons Subpar photo quality. Slightly below-average graphics. Bottom Line The Brother MFC-L8600CDW multifunction printer can scan to multiple destinations, work as a standalone fax machine/copier, and offers several connectivity choices, including Wi-Fi Direct. But the next model up in the line offers important extras for just a little more money.

By Tony Hoffman

The Brother MFC-L8600CDW ($529.99), the most basic model among three color laser multifunction printers (MFPs) that the company recently introduced, has a good set of MFP features, including the ability to print from and scan to multiple destinations. Although a solid printer in its own right, it lies in the shadow of the Brother MFC-L8850CDW, which offers some important extras for just a little more money.

Features and Design
The MFC-L8600CDW can print, copy, scan, and fax. It lets you fax either from your computer (PC Fax), or as a standalone unit. It can also work as a standalone copier. It supports printing from, or scanning to, a USB thumb drive. And it can scan to a PC, email, an optical character recognition (OCR) program, an FTP server, Microsoft SharePoint, or network folders.

This model costs less than either of the other two Brother MFPs in the line, but can't match their features. It has a lower monthly duty cycle than the Brother MFC-L8850CDW's 60,000 pages, is a bit slower, lacks that MFP's single-pass duplexing scanner, and has a smaller ADF. The Brother MFC-L9950CDW ($799.99) is built for still-higher-volume printing, with a maximum 75,000-page duty cycle, and it can use extra-high capacity toner cartridges to lower its running costs.

The MFP is sizable at 19.4 by 16.1 by 19.3 inches (HWD). At 64 pounds, you'll want two people to move it into place. Its swept-back front panel includes a 3.7-inch color touch screen. On top is a 35-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF) that can scan, copy, or fax pages up to legal size (8.5 by 11 inches).

Standard paper capacity is 300 sheets, split between a 250-sheet main tray and a 50-sheet multipurpose tray. An optional 500-sheet tray ($249.99) brings the maximum paper capacity up to 800 sheets. An auto-duplexer, for printing on both sides of a sheet of paper, comes standard. Its maximum monthly duty cycle is 40,000 pages.

The MFC-L8600CDW connects to a PC via a USB cable, or to a network via Ethernet or Wi-Fi. It supports Wi-Fi Direct, which allows for direct printing between compatible devices without the need to go through a Wi-Fi access point. It's compatible with Apple AirPrint, Brother iPrint&Scan, Mopria, Google Cloud Print, and Cortado WorkPlace for printing from mobile devices. I tested it over an Ethernet connection, with the drivers installed on a computer running Windows Vista.

Printing Speed
I timed the Brother MFC-L8600CDW on our business applications suite (using QualityLogic's hardware and software for timing) at 6.4 effective pages per minute (ppm), on the slow side for its rated speed of 30ppm for both color and monochrome printing. (While rated speeds are based on text-only printing, our test suite includes text pages, graphics pages, and pages with mixed content.) It was slower than the MFC-L8850CDW, rated at 32ppm, which tested at 7.6ppm, but beat out the Editors' Choice OKI MC362w, which we timed at 5.9ppm. The Ricoh Aficio SP C240SF, rated at a mere 16ppm, effectively tied the MFC-L8600CDW with a speed of 6.3ppm in our testing.

Output Quality
Overall output quality for the MFC-L8600CDW was somewhat below par, with average text, slightly subpar graphics, and subpar photos. Fortunately, even average text quality for a laser is very good. Text with this printer should be fine for any business use except for those requiring very small fonts.

With graphics, colors were generally well-saturated. Some dark backgrounds looked a bit faint in my tests. I noticed mild banding (a regular pattern of faint striations) in several backgrounds. There was significant dithering (graininess, and in some cases, dot patterns) in most illustrations. Graphics quality is good enough for any internal business use, including PowerPoint handouts, but it falls short of what I'd consider usable for formal reports, let alone marketing materials.

Photo quality is below par for a laser. There was a loss of detail in some dark areas, and a monochrome photo I printed showed obvious tinting. Several prints showed dithering in the form of dot patterns. Quality is fine for printing out images from Web pages, but that's about it.

The Brother MFC-L8600CDW has some nice MFP features, such as the ability to scan to multiple destinations, work as a standalone fax machine/copier, and print from various cloud-based services. It also has a good set of connectivity choices, including Wi-Fi Direct. It falls short of its prodigious sibling, the Brother MFC-L8600CDW, in both features and performance, but it costs less. It edges out the Editors' Choice OKI MC362w in speed, but falls short in terms of paper handling and output quality. If you're looking for a reasonably fast, low-priced color laser MFP, the Brother MFC-L8600CDW is a suitable choice, provided that your color output is largely for in-house use.

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