Larry Ellison steps down as Oracle CEO

Larry Ellison has stepped down as Oracle's CEO. Screenshot from CBS News video Oracle's sometimes bombastic frontman, CEO Larry Ellison, is stepping down from leading the company and handing off to now co-CEOs Mark Hurd and Safra Catz.

Ellison will become chief technology officer and executive chairman of the board. Jeff Henley, Oracle's chairman for the last decade will be vice chairman of the board.

For the most part, Catz and Hurd were running the company. Catz oversaw manufacturing, finance and legal and still will. Hurd, responsible for sales, service and verticals, will have the same role. Software and hardware engineering will fall under Ellison.

Ellison said: "The three of us have been working well together for the last several years, and we plan to continue working together for the foreseeable future. Keeping this management team in place has always been a top priority of mine."

Some analysts would disagree with the working well, given Oracle's recent quarterly misses. Oracle's first quarter results reported Thursday were also shaky.

Oracle reported fiscal first quarter earnings of $2.2 billion, or 48 cents a share, on revenue of $8.6 billion, up 3 percent from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings were 62 cents a share.

Wall Street was looking for first quarter earnings of 64 cents a share on a non-GAAP basis on revenue of $8.77 billion.

For Oracle, the first quarter miss was another data point that the company is having trouble pivoting to a cloud model.

Despite the miss -- Oracle has missed earnings estimates five out of the last seven quarters---the company touted cloud gains and Fusion. The big question is whether analysts will give Oracle a pass as they wait for the Database 12c upgrade cycle to kick in. The first quarter was viewed as a slow one as new products take root. Ellison also said that OpenWorld will feature the launch of Oracle's database-as-a-service offering.

"Database is our largest software business, and database will be our largest cloud service," said Ellison.

A few first quarter data points:

Software and cloud revenue was up 6 percent to $6.6 billion.Software- and platform-as-a-service revenue was up 32 percent to $337 million. Infrastructure-as-a-service revenue was up 26 percent to $138 million.Hardware system sales fell 8 percent to $1.2 billion.Catz said that the total cloud business for Oracle had revenue of $475 million in the quarter, up 30 percent. Catz also said that the fiscal year was off to "a good start."Hurd talked up Fusion and talked down Workday as he noted that Oracle's cloud business is "three times the size."

In a change from previous quarters, Oracle didn't chest thump about hardware. Oracle execs had talked up engineered system sales even when revenue was whacked from a year ago. Oracle had said previously that the hardware business would return to growth.

This story was first published as "Oracle's Ellison steps down as CEO as Hurd, Catz take over," on ZDNet.

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Review: Schenker Element 10.1

Page 1 of 3Introduction and design

You could be forgiven for not having heard of Schenker Technologies, since until now, the company has been better known in its native Germany. But you might have heard of high-end gaming laptops sold in the UK under the name XMG, which is a subdivision of Schenker.

The company therefore knows how to build mobile PC hardware, but has taken this expertise in a slightly different direction with the Element 10.1 tablet, which is powered by Intel's Bay Trail hardware platform, and runs the 32-bit version of full Windows 8.1, rather than the less useful Windows RT. Just like Microsoft's Surface Pro 2 tablet, it can be used in both tablet-friendly Modern UI and legacy desktop modes, and run any Windows software.

As with Acer's Aspire Switch, but unlike XMG laptops, the Element won't make a hefty dent in your wallet. It costs £239 (around US$400, AU$430) for the 32GB version, less than an iPad Mini, Samsung Galaxy Tab S, or either variant of Microsoft's Surface 2. That's excellent value, especially if you have a strong desire to use desktop PC software on your tablet, which isn't possible with the aforementioned Android, iOS or Windows RT offerings. Schenker bundles a 12-month Office 365 subscription in the box too.

It just about fits into the hybrid tablet category, since it can be ordered with a dock (which costs £39, around US$65, AU$70) with a trackpad at the front and physical keyboard. Although the tablet and dock snap together with magnets, this dock isn't like the one on Acer's Aspire Switch, since it also has a thin cover that wraps around the back, covered in a micro-fibre material, which seals shut. Paying homage to the art of origami, the cover also neatly folds backwards into the shape of a sturdy but rigid stand for the tablet.

The device's cover is a piece of origami

The connection between the two isn't especially strong. With the stand folded back the tablet sits in place fine, in the correct position for typing, but a fairly light tug disconnects them.

The Element's design has a glossy black bezel surrounding the 10.1-inch display, and a rubber coating on the back. The isolated-style keyboard is reasonable, although as with all keyboards of this size, people with Hodor-like fingers will find it a tad on the small side. Volume controls are unusually positioned at the top, with the power button at the side. There are 2 megapixel cameras at the front and back.

On the inside, the Element is no supercomputer. Rather than laptop-like performance, Bay Trail was designed with low power consumption and heat output in mind, to maximise battery life, which has been the Achilles heel for Intel processors, an issue that has so far pushed them out of the market for smartphones and tablets.

This tablet runs full-fat Windows apps (kind of)

A 1.33GHz Intel Atom Z3740D processor drives the system, with 2GB of DDR3 memory. You can have either 32GB or 64GB of internal storage, expandable with a microSD card slot on the side. 3G is present on the £299 (around US$500, AU$535) 64GB model, and there are both Micro-HDMI and Mini-USB ports for connectivity. The dock doesn't have any additional USB ports, but Schenker has popped a pair of cables into the box that convert full-sized HDMI and USB to their Mini and Micro versions.

The screen has a fairly paltry resolution of 1280 x 800, which is nothing special in the face of high-DPI displays on the iPad and top-of-the-range Android tablets. But as I've found before, the Windows 8 desktop does not always play nicely on smaller screens at super-high resolutions when using certain software, even with the DPI setting increased, so a low-resolution screen is acceptable on Windows tablets, especially at this price.

Page 1 of 3Introduction and design

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Staples to offer iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus

The iPhone 6 (left) and the iPhone 6 Plus. CNET

Staples is now officially on the list of retailers that will sell the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus starting Friday.

Announcing the news Thursday, the company said that both new smartphones will be available in limited supply at 250 Staples stores tomorrow. Staples added that the new iPhones can be preordered at any one of Staples' 900 locations. Staples is selling the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in store only, and an iPhone store locator will be available on Staples.com beginning Friday.

That adds Staples to the range of retailers selling the new phones, including Apple itself, the four major US carriers, Best Buy, RadioShack, Sam's Club, Target and Walmart.

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have been available for preorder since September 12 and racked up a record 4 million preorders in the first 24 hours.

Staples is dangling a couple of deals to try to get iPhone 6 buyers to its stores.

Customers who trade in a qualifying smartphone can earn at least $50 in the form of a gift card, which can be used to help pay for the new iPhone. For example, an iPhone 5 in good condition can score a trade-in value as high as $280. In a deal that sounds less enticing, customers can also earn at least $30 when they trade in a qualifying laptop.

Verizon subscribers who trade in their old model iPhone can receive a Staples gift card for $200. That card would then be used to buy the new iPhone 6, which starts at $199 with the usual two-year agreement.

The retailer also offers as much as 5 percent back in Staples Rewards for customers who buy tech products.

Staples didn't indicate how easy or difficult it might be to score an iPhone at one of its stores starting Friday. The retailer first began selling Apple's smartphone in store with the iPhone 5S. As expected, demand for the new iPhones has outstripped supply. Apple's website shows a wait time of seven to 10 business days for online orders of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and a wait of three to four weeks for the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus.

Staples customers should call their local store before dropping by to make sure the iPhone 6 model they want is actually available.

Update, 11:05 a.m. PT: Adds more details on buying the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus at Staples.

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Apple and U2 are working on a secret new music format

U2 and Apple are going to be pals, with or without you

Whether or not your were happy about Bono forcing his way into your iTunes library last week, the relationship between U2 and Tim Cook is only set to get deeper.

As an article in Time reveals, the pair have set out to work on a new digital music format that they believe will lure us all into buying singles and albums once again.

The idea, according to Bono himself, is to not only help the big stadium-level artists but also the smaller ones who struggle to make money from the industry.

TechRadar recently learned from a source that Apple may be looking to introduce hi-res studio master downloads on iTunes in the near future. There's a chance that this could be the secret project Bono is referring to, but it could also be something more drastic.

With Beats now owned by Apple, it's also possible we could see some sort of tie-in there too. But pulling people away from streaming services such as Spotify will be no easy task.

"Songwriters aren't touring people," said Bono on artists who currently struggle to make money. "Cole Porter wouldn't have sold T-shirts. Cole Porter wasn't coming to a stadium near you."

Bono isn't the only one to lash out at the current state of the industry - Thom Yorke has been a vocal critic of the Spotify model too.

"Make no mistake, new artists you discover on Spotify will not get paid," he said last year. "Meanwhile shareholders will shortly being rolling in it."

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In the future, we could charge wearables by chewing

Chew faster! We need more power! Smart Materials and Structures/IOP Publishing

Walking around with more devices, whether they're wearables or in your pocket, means more worries about keeping all those batteries charged. But you may not always need to hunt for an open outlet to pump some more juice into smaller devices, thanks to the work of some Canadian researchers. Instead you could just have lunch, preferably something chewy -- and don't hesitate to talk while you eat, too.

The researchers, from the École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS), an engineering school in Montreal, have developed a chin strap that can harvest energy from jaw movements, including eating, chewing and talking. Results of testing the device were published this week in the journal Smart Materials and Structures.

That's right game addicts, soon you may be able to keep your wireless Oculus Rift strapped to your cranium and stay in the game while you pound down that hoagie and know that you're actually extending your game time while you chew.

The chin strap is made up of piezoelectric fiber composites, a smart material composed of integrated electrodes and an adhesive polymer matrix that creates an electrical charge when stressed by jaw movements. Piezoelectric technology is nothing new -- we've seen similar smart shoes and even a proposal for roads that harness their own vibrations to create power -- but the stretchy power-generating textile is a novel approach that could make sense as we enter the bold new world of wearables.

By the way, we're not just talking about those new, hyped wearables like the Apple Watch or Google Glass. More practical applications might be to use this kind of tech to charge things like hearing aids and cochlear implants. But the researchers say there's still more work to be done before that becomes a reality.

"Given that the average power available from chewing is around 7 microwatts, we still have a long way to go," study co-author Aidin Delnavaz said in a release. "However, we can multiply the power output by adding more PFC layers to the chin strap. For example, twenty PFC layers, with a total thickness of 6mm, would be able to power a 200-microwatt intelligent hearing protector."

A single PFC layer currently costs about $20, which could make a 20 layer strap a little pricey, but the researchers say the device would also pay for itself in a few years by saving users the cost of expensive replacement batteries.

If this takes off, people might go back to using their phones for actual phone calls, if for no other reason than to charge their batteries through gabbing.

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Industry voice: Apple Watch isn't about fashion design; it's about the fashion industry

Apple Watch smartwatch

The recent release of the Apple Watch has, unsurprisingly, sparked huge media interest and caused many to ask whether this is a new beginning for Apple, as it appears to be edging into the fashion accessories market.

Apple has recently appointed executives who have worked for major fashion brands such as Yves Saint Laurent and Burberry, implying a conscious effort from the tech brand to woo fashion consumers into spending more on Apple products.

However, while Apple's new wearable tech product gives the impression that Apple is attempting to move into the accessories space, this may not actually be the case.

Despite a watch typically being viewed as a fashion accessory, we have recently seen the creation of several smart watches: none of which have managed to make any serious waves within the fashion crowd. This, coupled with a focus on health and wellbeing apps, rather than being marketed as a hip accessory, has left much to be desired from wearable devices in the eyes of the fashion crowd.

The same could be argued for Apple's new wearable product. Whilst fashion is a good fit for an aesthetically-driven company like Apple, it is more likely that they will be using fashion and trend cycles to align the watch with fashion trend cycles to boost revenue.

In doing so, Apple is borrowing the fashion business model, rather than edging into the fashion world itself. This is a smart move from Apple, as it has opened itself up to a world of marketing possibilities. By timing its product releases right, it will be able to take advantage of spring/summer or autumn/winter seasons and sales and ensure its products are released when consumers are already looking to spend.

That being said, it is not too late for Apple to enter the fashion space and this may be a tactic reserved for further down the line - once the watch itself and its technological capabilities have made an impact on consumers' lifestyles.

By teaming with a well-known fashion designer or brand in the future, Apple will be able to create a differentiated product that will more obviously appeal to the fashion conscious among us, and perhaps be more design than technology-led.

Currently, it seems Apple is concentrating more on the health-monitoring wearable trend that is gaining traction amongst consumers. As well as health, Apple is more interested in allowing consumers to receive all their information at a glance, so personalisation comes from the data within the watch, not from the watch's external style.

Although the borders between fashion and technology continue to blur, I believe more exciting things will come out of this space than the Apple Watch. I appreciate everything that Apple designs, but the Apple Watch does not excite me – no new ground is being broken here and I am just as happy to stick a device in my pocket, as I am to strap it to my wrist.

There is more to wearable tech than just gadgetry. Advances in conductive materials and integrated surface technologies mean we can weave technology directly into the fabric we wear.

Show me a jacket with the same functions as my mobile phone and I'm sold! Until then, fashion and technology will continue to collide and borrow from one another, but more in terms of business tactics rather than catwalk collections.

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Review: iOS 8

There's a lot more to iOS 8 than meets the iPhone. Sure, it doesn't usher in a dramatic new look like last year's mobile operating system makeover from Apple. Instead, it rounds out that flat iOS 7 redesign with less obvious, but equally important extra features.

It's free to download and install iOS 8 today, whether or not you're upgrading to iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus for their larger displays. Apple has made the update compatible with iPhone 4S and later, iPad 2 and later, both iPad mini and iPad mini 2 and iPod touch 5th generation. In fact, the iOS 8 compatibility list only severs ties with the now-four-year-old iPhone 4.

Apple's broad legacy device support is complemented by this year's overarching theme of "convergence." iOS 8 features tighter Mac OS X Yosemite integration while loosening the restrictions on extensions and the Touch ID fingerprint sensor for third-party app developers.

Works with everything you see here

Not all of the cross-platform software perks are available right now. OS X Yosemite is still in beta, Apple Pay may have to wait until iOS 8.1 and Apple Watch is expected in early 2015. But Apple's iOS 8 roadmap ties everything together between iPhone, iPad and Macs better than anything Google has envision for its Android L beta so far.

iOS 8 looks and feels the same on its surface. Apple didn't swap out the default backgrounds or change the way the homescreen functions. However, almost every other menu has design tweaks that make your iPhone and iPad snappier to use.

Double tapping the home button, for example, sends multitasking into overdrive. In addition to its usual swiping through open apps, the top of the screen now features circular profile photos of your most recent contacts.

Your closest contacts appear at the top of the multitasking screen

Swiping to the left lists your favorites in the same setup. This is great for quickly making calls, sending texts and starting FaceTime chats with the most important people in your life. No more digging through the contacts or phone menu anymore.

Spotlight serves a better purpose in iOS 8. It now considers broader sources of data including Wikipedia, the news, movie showtimes and suggested websites. It understands your context and location when doing this, which means Apple is taking one aspect of Google Now. Calling or navigating to the local pizza shop is as easy as typing in its name.

More time-savers come in the form of interactive notifications at the top of the screen. Swiping down on incoming message gave me the chance to respond without leaving my current app. This applied to SMS, emails, Facebook and Twitter messages. Even quicker is the way to reply to calendar invites via simple accept or decline buttons. Checking off or snoozing reminders, retweeting or favoriting tweets and trashing or marking as read emails received the same treatment.

By actually opening up that Messages app, you'll find more more ways to communicate than before. The messages text box is now flanked by a camera and a microphone icon.

The camera icon on the left we've seen before - it previously attached photos to messages. It still does that, but it also does some new tricks. Holding the icon down reveals a menu overlay that enables quick selfies via the front camera and take video. It's faster to send photos and videos than Snapchat, and though it doesn't have the goofy photo editing perks, it's all integrated into the conversation.

Video, audio and location sharing comes to Messages

The new microphone icon on the right isn't for dictation. That's still cramping the spacebar in the bottom left corner of the keyboard. Instead, it opens up a similar menu overlay in which you can record audio messages. Again, it's fast to send and the person doesn't have to load a separate app or player in order to listen. It all happens in-line with the new Messages.

You can also share your real-time location in the middle of a Message conversation. This has to be my favorite new addition to iOS 8. I put this to use over the weekend when I arrived at an amphitheater for a comedy tour overrun by 15,000 attendees. I beamed a snapshot of my location to friends without having to randomly describe my surroundings. The map pinpointed where I was at, all from the Messages app.

Your can also share your roaming location for a set period of time: one hour, until the end of the day and indefinitely. It's easier to use than the similar Find My Friends app because there's no setup or separate login screen required. Apple is one step closer to eliminating the pointless "Where are you at? Wait, which street corner?" and I couldn't be happier.

Rounding out the iOS 8 changes to Messages, the new "details" button in the top right corner of conversations replaces "contact" and it's littered with new options. You can set individual and group conversations to "Do Not Disturb" and rifle through attachments including every last photo you've sent someone and they've sent you. Just make sure to delete inappropriate pics before showing off this cool, new feature to mom and dad.

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The 404 Show 1,553: Google location history freak out, $200 Kindle Voyage too much? (podcast)

The 404 Show 1,553: Google location history freak out, $200 Kindle Voyage too much? (podcast) - CNET window.console && console.log && console.log("ADS: queuing omnibar-top-541b5983a4d88 for display"); var cbsiGptDivIds = cbsiGptDivIds || []; cbsiGptDivIds.push("omnibar-top-541b5983a4d88"); window.console && console.log && console.log("ADS: queuing text-link-top-541b5983a4d88 for display"); var cbsiGptDivIds = cbsiGptDivIds || []; cbsiGptDivIds.push("text-link-top-541b5983a4d88"); Connect with us facebook twitter google CNET Reviews Top Categories Appliances Audio Cameras Car Tech Desktops Headphones Laptops Networking Phones Printers Software Tablets TVs Wearable Tech Deals Web Hosting News Top Categories Apple Computers Crave Deals Internet Microsoft Mobile Photography Security Sci-Tech Tech Culture Tech Industry Photo Galleries Video Video Top Categories Adventures in Tech Apple Byte Car Tech CNET On Cars CNET Top 5 CNET Update Googlicious How To Next Big Thing News Phones Prizefight Tablets The 404 The Fix Tomorrow Daily XCAR How To Top Categories Appliances Computers Gaming Home Entertainment Internet Mobile Apps Phones Photography Security Tablets Forums Speed Test Download Log In / Join Log In to CNET Sign In with Facebook Google Yahoo Join CNET Member Benefits Facebook Google Yahoo My Profile Log Out US Edition Other editions United Kingdom Australia China France Germany Japan Korea CNET en Español window.console && console.log && console.log("ADS: queuing intromercial-541b5983a4d88 for display"); var cbsiGptDivIds = cbsiGptDivIds || []; cbsiGptDivIds.push("intromercial-541b5983a4d88"); window.console && console.log && console.log("ADS: queuing skin-541b5983a4d88 for display"); var cbsiGptDivIds = cbsiGptDivIds || []; cbsiGptDivIds.push("skin-541b5983a4d88"); window.console && console.log && console.log("ADS: queuing leader-top-541b5983a4d88 for display"); var cbsiGptDivIds = cbsiGptDivIds || []; cbsiGptDivIds.push("leader-top-541b5983a4d88"); CNET Tech Culture The 404 Show 1,553: Google location history freak out, $200 Kindle Voyage too much? (podcast)

The 404 Show 1,553: Google location history freak out, $200 Kindle Voyage too much? (podcast) Today we freak ourselves out over Google's location history map, decide $200 is way too much to spend on a Kindle Voyage and make an effort to start throwing more stuff out.

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Episode 1,553

Qualcomm CEO: 8B new smartphones will hit the market over next 5 years

Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf talks up his company's traction in mobile during Qualcomm's Uplinq developer conference. James Martin/CNET

The smartphone market is just going to keep booming, the CEO of mobile-chip giant Qualcomm says.

Steve Mollenkopf, speaking Thursday at Qualcomm's Uplinq developer conference in San Francisco, said there will be 8 billion new smartphones in the world over the next five years. And this year, there are now more than 1 billion smartphones in the market that use Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor, he said.

"There are a tremendous number of new devices that will come online," Mollenkopf said. "An immense number, actually."

So far, there have been 1,350 devices announced or available using Snapdragon -- which combines the CPU, or brains powering the device, with the modem that provides cellular connectivity, Mollenkopf said. And there are more than 525 devices in the design phase. To date, more than 2,000 devices have shipped or are in development with Qualcomm's 3G and 4G LTE multimode chipsets.

Qualcomm now dominates the mobile-chip business, providing its Snapdragon mobile processor to most marquee smartphones and some tablets. Its ability to bundle a processor with a cellular radio has been one of the keys to its success. And its 4G LTE modems are widely used by everyone from Apple and Samsung to smaller players such as Motorola. However, competition in 4G LTE is expected to increase as rivals such as MediaTek gain traction.

Mollenkopf on Thursday unveiled a new software-development kit (SDK) designed to let developers work with a technology called LTE Broadcast. The tech enables "superefficient broadcast technology," he said, and will be used for things such as breaking news, media and public safety alerts. South Korea's KT already uses LTE Broadcast, and Verizon has demonstrated it at events such as the Super Bowl. AT&T will launch it next year, Mollenkopf said.

So far, more than 30 developers are working on LTE Broadcast, but now all Qualcomm developers will have access to the SDK. Jay Parikh, vice president of engineering for Facebook, appeared onstage to tout his company's work with Qualcomm.

Qualcomm also unveiled a new SDK for Vuforia, its augmented-reality software, to be used on digital eyewear. An initial partner is Samsung with its Gear VR device that it developed with Facebook's Oculus. The technology will allow partners to make applications for virtual-reality/augmented-reality gaming, shopping and education, as well as various business and industrial uses. Other early partners include ODG R-7 and the Epson Moverio BT-200 smart-glasses.

Update, 10 a.m. PT: Adds information about the Vuforia SDK. Update, 11:20 a.m.: clarifies the 2,000 chipset figure is devices that have shipped and those in development.

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A stranger in my bed: Testing the Wakie app

I am fast asleep. A steady pulse draws me out of a deep dream and I fumble for the phone on my nightstand. Is it my mom in New York? My nephew in Hawaii?

Nope, it's a woman I've never met before in England telling me it's time to wake up.

This is day two of my experiment using an app called Wakie. Wakie, released earlier this month and billed as a "social alarm clock," is available for free for both Android and Windows Phone.

Wakie bills itself as a "social alarm clock." Wakie

The app is simple. After installing it on your smartphone, you're asked to enter your phone number so an automated service can call you back to verify that it's a valid number. After that you enter your age and gender and you're good to go. You set an alarm for the morning, and at the designated time, a real live person who has signed up to be a waker gives you a call.

Before I go further, let's get something straight. I'm not a morning person. And I don't like talking in the early hours of the day. To anyone. So when my editor asked me to test out this app, I had more than a little apprehension. But you know, journalism.

A big chunk of my nervousness fell away on the first morning I used the app. An enthusiastic and thickly accented voice on the other end of the line at 7:30 a.m. said, "Hey there! I am calling from Spain! It's time to wake up man!"

Falling immediately into my "I can't speak before noon" mode, I thanked the guy and told him to have a nice day. He quickly said, "No, no, wait a minute. Where are you right now? I am calling from Spain!" I told him that I was based in the US, in North Carolina, and that seemed to please him. "Have a good day and now... get to work!" he said. I thanked him and we were disconnected.

Calls on Wakie only last one minute, so things never get too awkward and there aren't too many opportunities for long pauses, a fact I found very comforting. I have to admit that after that quick chat with my happy friend in Spain, I was more awake than I ever was after just slapping the alarm off on my clock or swiping my phone.

On the second morning, I got a much less enthusiastic -- but completely pleasant -- call from the woman in Sheffield, England. "This is your wake-up call," she said in a British accent. She asked where I was, I asked where she was and we were done. We didn't even make it to the one-minute mark. Part of me was relieved about that, but I have to say, part of me kind of wanted the conversation to go a bit longer. What was happening to me?

The next day my call came from two people -- a guy from Iowa who had his mom on the other line because he wanted to show her how the app worked. "Are you up?" he asked. "No? Then get up, do some calisthenics and throw on some clothes. Get your day started man!"

On day four, I was woken by a Russian robot. That's what happens when you set a back-up alarm and the app can't find a live person to wake you up. You get a pre-recorded message that does the job. But then -- surprise! I got a live person calling me just a few minutes later. It was a guy from Russia, with the appropriate atmospheric accent. I asked him the time where he was located and he said, "It's cold and dark here and evening is just approaching." Classic.

On the final morning of my Wakie experiment, the app didn't work at all. No call from a mysterious European stranger. No robot. Nothing.

Your user profile page keeps tracks of the number of times you've woken and been woken by Wakie users. Wakie

Which brings up one of the more annoying components of the app. It doesn't work like, um, clockwork. On several of the mornings, I would answer my "Wakie" and hear nothing, then I'd get beeped with a call on the other line. It was Wakie again. Sometimes I had to monkey-bar my way through three calls like that before I got to my live person. Annoying, yes, but it definitely helped the wake-up process.

There were issues when I tried to become a waker as well -- something app users do out of the goodness of their hearts, as there's no compensation for waking others up.

On several mornings I'd request the chance to wake someone up, get the alert and push the phone button to call them. The call failed every single time I tried except on the last day, when I got through to someone in the US.

He sounded like he had been woken from sleep he'd been denied for weeks. His voice was garbled and he barely was able to grunt out a "yes" when I asked if we was awake. I asked where he was from and the line remained silent. I followed up with a "hello" and he indicated he was still there. "Are you awake?" I asked. "Yes sir," he said tersely. "Where are you located?" I asked. Silence. And then the call ended.

Sheesh, what a grouch. He should learn to talk more in the morning.

I don't plan on using Wakie every morning to get me up. I've never really been comfortable striking up conversations with strangers. Also, it's proven to be too unreliable for important wake-ups, so if I do use it, I'll be sure to set my phone's alarm as a backup.

But on those nights when I get in a little too late and know that getting up the next day is going to be extra painful, I think I'll set myself a Wakie alarm. To my surprise, talking to someone first thing in the morning can be a pretty energizing way to start the day.

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To mock Yelp, restaurant asks customers for awful reviews

Botto Bistro is so fed up of Yelp and its alleged sales tactics that it wants to be the worst-reviewed restaurant on Yelp. Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

I would no more trust a Yelp review than I would a politician who came to my door, asking to use the restroom because his car had broken down.

Still, it seems to have built its business upon the idea that on Yelp you'll find honest reviews of places you might want to go.

Some small businesses, however, complain that Yelp's sales tactics wouldn't be out of place in the darker parts of Sicily.

The owners of Botto Bistro in Richmond, Calif., have decided to take their indigestion at what they call Yelp's "blackmailing" into the theater of the absurd.

As the San Francisco Chronicle reports, Botto Bistro is asking its customers to post the worst possible reviews of the restaurant because it wants to become the worst restaurant in the San Francisco Bay Area. Or, at least, the worst on Yelp.

Don't stop at "it sucks." Wax that Botto Bistro is to taste what Duck Dynasty is to art. Sniff that an evening in Botto Bistro involves being strapped to a gurney and having four-day-old pasta inserted into your nostrils by a hairy grandmother from Puglia. Feel free to suggest that the water at Botto Bistro has been recycled at an effluent plant and mixed with tinges of horse dung for taste.

As the owners put it on their own Web site: "In Italy we don't have Yelp. Italians spend most of their time eating, getting laid and talking to real friends (not the ones on Facebook). So we don't fully understand why people spend so much time writing on the internet to imaginary friends or imaginary followers."

They really are quite serious about the pointlessness of Yelpers. Not only do the owners feature some of the worst reviews on their site, they simply don't want to be beholden to what they see as a creepy little enterprise.

As co-owner Davide Cerreti told the Chronicle: "I think I should be the one deciding if I'm on the site or not. At least I can be there on my terms. The only power they have is they make you reliable to them. So, I'm going to be one of the most unreliable restaurants."

Currently, Botto Bistro enjoys an exalted two-star Yelp rating. Though who cannot adore one review that whines that the restaurant doesn't deliver to Connecticut?

The bistro has, though, upset Yelp because it's offering customers 25 percent off any pizza for a bad review. Yelp sent the restaurant a sniffy note to explain this was verboten. Stunningly, Botto Bistro sent an equally sniffy note in reply.

It began: "I'm contacting you from the Botto User Support Team because we've received complaints from the community that you may be removing reviews in exchange of vague explanations to loyal customers."

I have contacted Yelp to ask if the site's overlords might have a comment or two about Botto Bistro's brave self-deprecation. Moreover, I wondered why it is that Yelp seems to attract a certain amount of negativity from those who say the constant advertising calls are tantamount to blackmail. I will update, should I hear.

On its advertiser FAQ page, Yelp says: "There's no amount of money a business can pay to manipulate their reviews or rating and Yelp doesn't skew things in favor of advertisers or against businesses that don't."

There have been allegations that Yelp promotes negative reviews of businesses until those businesses pay for some ads.

However, earlier this month a US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that Yelp can manipulate its ratings. The court said: "As Yelp has the right to charge for legitimate advertising services, the (alleged) threat of economic harm ... is, at most, hard bargaining."

So here is Botto Bistro offering a little hard bargaining of its own.

This truly is the most disgraceful, decrepit, nauseating, insulting and head-bangingly stupefying intimidation of a large organization by a small business that I have ever seen.

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Those great OnePlus One StyleSwap covers have just been cancelled

RIP

The OnePlus One is notable in for delivering high specs at a surprisingly low price, but another way in which OnePlus aimed to help the One stand out was through StyleSwap covers.

These would let you replace the standard plastic back cover with a new, more unique and eye-catching one, made out of materials such as bamboo or kevlar. Sadly though, the company has decided to cease production of the covers.

In a lengthy forum post a OnePlus representative explained that the number of bamboo StyleSwap covers that had passed its quality assurance tests was much lower than had been hoped, and on top of that the removal of back covers is tricky and can potentially even damage the battery.

For all those reasons there won't be any more StyleSwap covers, however OnePlus does still plan to sell the small number of bamboo covers that have been successfully produced, and is looking into releasing limited edition versions of the handset with Kevlar or denim covers.

If you loved the idea of StyleSwap covers you might want to hold out for the OnePlus Two, as StyleSwap covers will apparently make a return with that handset, complete with a new design which ensures the battery is protected and the covers can easily be removed.

Customisation fans might want to look to Moto Maker instead.

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Tourist held up at gunpoint films it all on GoPro

Perhaps he'll show this film to his grandkids one day, but this is one scary situation. Mike Graziano/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

It's never wise to wander parts of foreign towns that might not be entirely safe.

Alexander Hennessy, however, seems like a fearless traveler.

Still, wandering through the La Boca district of Buenos Aires on his bike may not have been the best idea. For he was accosted by a man on a motor bike who rather fancied owning some of what was Hennessy's.

The accoster had the balance of power in his favor. He had a gun.

The fact that Hennessy lived to tell the tale shows that the gun was never used. But the GoPro attached to Hennessy preserved what was clearly a terrifying episode for the more than 5 million YouTube viewers who have already experienced it.

The whole thing unfolds with an unreasonable matter-of-factness. At first Hennessy thinks the man merely annoying. At the sight of the gun and the demand for his backpack, things turn a touch more serious.

It doesn't matter how many times you say "amigo" -- and Hennessy says it a lot -- it doesn't automatically make a man with a gun your friend.

Why the attempted robber didn't use his gun isn't clear. What is clear is that no passers-by were inclined to help too much until the threat had passed. Hennessy dropped his bike and ran. He was finally helped toward a policeman.

His trip is part of the Global Degree community online video series. On its Facebook page, Global Degree said: "The footage was given to the police and the robber was arrested later that day."

He's now a very famous robber. Famously unsuccessful too, it seems.

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Anyone can preorder the OnePlus One starting October

It just got a little easier to get your hands on the illusive OnePlus One

Users who been praying every night to get an invite to buy the OnePlus One will soon have an equal chance to pre-order this great and cheap handset.

OnePlus will launch a new pre­order system in October, which will allow anyone to virtually line up and purchase the smartphone but for a limited time purchasing window.

Prospective OnePlus One buyer first in line will get the handset as long as it's in stock, otherwise users will be able to place pre-orders. OnePlus isn't putting any limits on the number of orders it will take, however, the company also noted users will receive a longer shipping estimation date if it gets a lot of pre-order requests.

"No matter what, we'll always tell you our best approximation for when it will ship before you submit the payment authorization," OnePlus wrote in a blog post detailing it would not charge users until the device ships.

The OnePlus One is one of the best smartphones for an unbelievably low price at $299, £229 (about AU$320). However, getting an invite to actually buy the handset has been a huge hurdle and headache for interested buyers.

With this new ordering window open to anyone, many more people will be able to get their hands on this 5.5-inch handset. On top of a full HD display, the OnePlus One features a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB of RAM and an Adreno 330 GPU.

The handset is more than on par with flagship handsets like the Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One M8 at a fraction of the price. What's more, the handset comes running a variant of pure Android 4.4.2 KitKat called CyanogenMod 11S, which includes a host of additional settings and greater personalization options.

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Updated: Samsung confirms Galaxy Note 4 release date

Update: Samsung has now confirmed some Galaxy Note 4 release details for the US.

The phablet will go up for pre-order at AT&T tomorrow, and shipments start heading out to early orders on October 14. The phone won't be available in AT&T stores, however, until an unspecified later date. At Big Blue, the Note 4 price is listed as $299.99 on-contract, $41.30/month or $34.42/month on a Next plan, or $825.99 off-contract.

Verizon will start pre-orders tomorrow though it gave no clue as to when the phone will land in stores. It's retailing for $299.99 and does qualify for the carrier's Edge program.

T-Mobile too is jumping on the bandwagon, though pre-orders for the Galaxy Note 4 won't kick off here until September 24 at 9 a.m. PT. The carrier was the only one to provide a concrete release date - T-Mobile stores and its online portal will start selling the phablet October 17.

At T-Mo, the Note 4 can be yours for $0 down and $31.24 monthly payments over 24 months.

Last but not least, Sprint is taking pre-registrations for the Galaxy Note 4 with the handset actually launching sometime next month. Note (haha) a pre-registration doesn't seem to carry the same weight as a pre-order since you're only signing up to receive information on the phone.

Original story below...

It's unlikely to distract the queues of eager punters heading to the shops tomorrow for Apple's iPhone 6, but Samsung has announced you'll be able to pre-order its newest phablet, the Galaxy Note 4, on the same day.

Samsung stores around the UK will open up pre-orders tomorrow, with retailers such as Three and Carphone Warehouse following suit from Friday, September 26. The handset will go on general sale on October 10.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 was revealed at IFA earlier this month. The latest 5.7-inch goliath in the Note range will be a chief rival to Apple's new iPhone 6 Plus.

Behind the 5.7-inch QHD screen is a 2.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor and 3GB of RAM. How much are you going to pay for the privilige? Well, Samsung's not saying just yet. But an earlier leak from retailer Clove suggested the handset will weigh in at £575.

This time around the Galaxy Note 4 comes with enhanced S pen features that gives the stylus - a hallmark of the Note range - the mouse-like ability to enter Smart Select mode by clicking the button on the side.

Upgrades have also been made in the form of Fast Charging and Ultra Power Saving Mode which, as you'd expect, let you charge up and eke out as much usage from the 3,220mAh battery as possible.

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Apple has apparently received at least one Patriot Act order

Google and many other tech firms have also fielded Patriot Act requests

When the first-ever Apple transparency report was published in 2013, the company included a note that it had never received any Patriot Act-related information requests from the government.

That's now changed, it seems.

That note about not having received any Patriot Act requests appears to have been something called a "warrant canary," which companies apparently use to indicate when they've received requests that they can't otherwise legally disclose.

When the "canary" disappears, it means the company has received a secret subpoena, Patriot Act request or other clandestine order - and sure enough, Apple's is nowhere to be seen.

The note in the original transparency report was originally identified on culture blog Boing Boing.

"Apple has never received an order under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act," it read. "We would expect to challenge such an order if served on us."

But Apple's subsequent reports, from the second half of 2013 and the first half of 2014, omitted the canary.

Section 215 of the Patriot Act specifically allows the National Security Agency to requisition companies' business records, and forbids those companies from disclosing such activity. It's likely part of the reason why PRISM was allowed to exist.

This development comes at a time when government requests to companies for data like user info has increased dramatically, so it's no surprise that Apple may have been subject to them as well.

Tech firms early this year struck a deal with the US Department of Justice that lets them disclose numbers of requests made through the US's FISA court, which include Section 215 Patriot Act requests and more.

The companies must wait six months to disclose these numbers, and there are other restrictions, but still, it could be just a matter of time before Apple is able to comment on this in some capacity.

Via GigaOM

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Apple, U2 secretly work on new way to buy music

Apple CEO Tim Cook and Bono Apple/Screengrab by Oscar Gutiérrez/CNET

Apple's recent partnership with band U2 might not have won everyone over, but the parties are reportedly hoping that their next move will.

In a wide-ranging interview with U2, the band confirmed to Time Magazine that it's working on a secret project with Apple to develop a new digital music format that would get people to buy more music -- including entire albums -- and in the process, boost revenue for struggling artists.

"Bono tells Time he hopes that a new digital music format in the works will prove so irresistibly exciting to music fans that it will tempt them again into buying music--whole albums as well as individual tracks," the magazine wrote in a post on its site on Thursday.

The impact of digital music on the industry has been lamented by artists for years. Piracy continues to be a major concern, and there's pressure from digital stores, like iTunes, where the main form of purchase is to buy a single track for no more than $1.29. After digital stores and the record labels take their cut, artists are left with pennies, making it difficult for them to make a living. Where significant cash is still generated in the music industry is at concerts, with people paying to see artists live and buying merchandise.

Speaking to Time, Bono, U2's lead singer, said the new digital music format will help artists who don't have a large enough audience to fill stadiums for live tours. "Songwriters aren't touring people," Bono said.

Bono revealing that he's working with Apple on a new digital music format might not sit well with the Cupertino, Calif.-based company. Apple is notoriously secretive about future plans and expects all third-parties involved in projects to uphold the same level of secrecy.

Whatever complaints Apple might have, they will likely pale in comparison to complaints over the "gift" Apple and U2 offered to iTunes users last week at the unveiling of the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch. At the end of the event, Apple CEO Tim Cook brought out the band announced that all iTunes users would receive a free copy of U2's latest album, "Songs of Innocence." While U2 fans celebrated the free album, many people took to the Web complaining that Apple was forcing music on them -- and complaints quickly turned to tirades on social networks.

Responding to the kerfuffle, Apple released a support guide earlier this week that helps users delete the album from their iTunes collection.

It's not clear from the Time article when the new music format might be announced or how it would excite people enough to change their music buying habits.

CNET has contacted Apple for comment on the report and we will update this story when we have more information.

View the original article here

Updated: Samsung Galaxy Note 4 release date, news and features

The all-new Samsung Galaxy Note 4 has now been officially unveiled, but what does the successor to the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 actually bring?

Well there's no change to the size of the screen, which still comes in at the whopping 5.7 inches that we have come to know and love, but Samsung has made some significant changes to that killer feature.

That 5.7-incher is now a Quad HD Super AMOLED (2,560 x 1,440 resolution) technology that stretches to 500 pixels per inch.

You can check out our hands on with the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 review for our first impressions of just what has changed in this latest generation.

Cut to the chase
What is it? Samsung's fourth gen phablet
When's it out? September 19 in the UK, September / October elsewhere
What will it cost? A lot, even more than the pricey Galaxy S5

The Galaxy note was announced at IFA 2014 on September 3. Samsung had sent invites for an event advising people to 'Note the date', which was a bit of a give away, and so it proved.

Samsung has confirmed that the Galaxy Note 4 will be available in the UK from September 19. Initially it will just be sold in Samsung Experience stores, but from September 26 select retailers, such as Three and Carphone Warehouse will begin stocking it and the phone will go on general sale from October 10.

We're still waiting to hear an exact release date for the phone in other territories around the world, but a recent Samsung advert claims it will be available sometime in October. If you're in the UK then you can check out our release date guide for more detailed information on availability and pricing as we get it.

Speaking of price, there's been very little said about that yet, but a listing on Indonesian site erafone puts it at IDR 9,499,000 (or roughly £490 / $810 / AU$870) which seems believable, especially since those conversions don't include local taxes. Better start saving.

With the Galaxy Note 4 going on sale imminently we should have some more official prices soon.

First up, screen size. The original Note came with a 5.3-incher, the Note 2 showed up with a 5.5-inch display and the Note 3 pushed things to 5.7 inches.

Going by this logic the Galaxy Note 4 should have come with a 5.9-inch display, which would see it match the HTC One Max and LG G Pro 2, while still falling short of the 6.4-inch Sony Xperia Z Ultra.

But actually Samsung showed admirable restraint, keeping the Note 4 to the 5.7 inches of its predecessor, but throwing a boat-load more quality into its killer feature.

Note 4's impressive screen

The screen now boasts Quad HD Super AMOLED (2,560 x 1,440 resolution) technology that stretches to 500 pixels per inch.

Plus, Samsung is throwing in what it is calling an adaptive display - one that changes depending on the light of the place you are viewing the screen - and on paper you have the optimum viewing no matter what situation you are in.

It even decided to get fancy and launch a variant of the phone called the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge, which has a curved display that folds around the spine of the phone. Sadly this didn't make it to the main device, but it's a good test to see if there's desire for such innovation.

The Galaxy Note 4 brings with it a pretty impressive 2.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor, which certainly won't be struggling to keep things moving despite the screen.

Also worthy of, ahem, note, is the 3GB of RAM that the phone is running - there are still plenty of people with PCs that don't have that kind of memory.

The internal memory of the Galaxy Note 4 is a not insignificant 64GB, which should mean you don't have to choose between your collection of Jean Claude van Damme movies and your lovingly put-together eclectic music.

Of course, there's a microSD slot too, with the ability to add 128GB more if you're thinking of downloading the internet for a day.

The Galaxy Note 4 came in for quite the camera upgrade, but not the 20MP sensor that a report from ET News suggested was due for release in the second half of the year.

Instead, it's gone from 13MP to 16MP but camera-philes will be more impressed with the Smart Optical Image Stabilisation, which helps keep every picture blur free and clear when you're snapping around.

If you hate the word selfie, look away now. The front-facing camera has followed the inexplicable trend and will allow you to take better self portraits, with a 3.7MP sensor with a f/1.9 aperture, allowing in a lot more light and mitigating the lack of flash.

The sensor can now make pictures look a lot more natural thanks to a 90-degree field of view – and the Note 4 has even stolen the panorama mode from the rear-facing camera to allow you to fit more people into your personal snap.

Oh, and you can tap the heart rate sensor on the back of the phone (more on that later) to take your pic to avoid shaking the camera. That's handy.

You can also use the rear camera in unison with the S Pen. A new feature called Snap Note allows you to take a picture of a piece of paper (or whiteboard) and change what's in the picture, which will apparently be excellent for when taking notes in a lecture. We're not sure how, either.

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News Corp. lashes out at Google in EU antitrust case

News Corp., the massive media conglomerate owned by Rupert Murdoch, issued a letter to the European Union last week criticizing Google's search and advertising services and requesting more stringent policies against the company.

In a letter published today, written to the EU's antitrust chief Joaquin Almunia, News Corp. Chief Executive Officer Robert Thomson said he believes the search company is "willing to exploit its dominant market position to stifle competition" across Europe. He specifically took issue with Google's "egregious aggregation" of professional content through services like Google search and Google News, saying that they undermine "the basic business model of professional content creators."

"Your decision to reconsider Google's settlement offer comes at a crucial moment in the history of the free flow of information and of a healthy media in Europe and beyond," Thomson went on to say.

The letter is the latest complaint against Google as it continues to wage a battle over antitrust complaints in the European Union. For four years, the company has been working with the EU to arrive at a satisfactory agreement that would see Google provide, in the minds of regulators, fair treatment to third parties, including competitors and content creators.

Over the years, the main concern has been the placement of Google's services in search results compared to those of competitors. Thomson pointed to several examples, saying that News Corp.'s own video content will not show up first in search results. Instead, he argues, YouTube links will be first to pop up.

"Specifically on search, there is clear evidence that Google systematically diverts users away from relevant sites to its own related sites for commercial reasons," he wrote.

News Corp. owns several publications in Europe, including The Sun, The Wall Street Journal Europe, and The Times.

For years, Google has argued that it's not intentionally giving its own services preferential treatment and has agreed to several conditions to surface more competitor content. Earlier this month, however, Almunia said that his office was not pleased with Google's concessions and would investigate whether further efforts were needed for the company to ensure competition is maintained online.

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

(Via The New York Times)

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Larry Ellison steps down as Oracle CEO

Ellison will assume a new role at Oracle

Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison has stepped down from his position as CEO effective immediately, the company has announced.

He's replaced as CEO by two successors: Oracle presidents Mark Hurd and Safra Catz.

But Ellison isn't leaving Oracle entirely, as he'll now assume the role of executive chairman and chief technology officer.

And despite his vast wealth and considerable age (the dude is 70) it seems he won't be taking it easy with his new duties.

"Larry has made it very clear that he wants to keep working full time and focus his energy on product engineering, technology development and strategy," Oracle board director Dr. Michael Boskin said in a press release sent out today.

He added that Hurd and Catz "have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to lead, manage and grow the company" and said that Oracle's board is confident in their ability to lead the company.

Ellison co-founded Oracle and had been CEO since 1977. He made $78.4 million (about £50m, AU$90m) in 2013 and even more than that the year prior, making him the highest-paid CEO among the 100 largest public companies in the US for multiple years running.

He too expressed confidence in his replacements. "The three of us have been working well together for the last several years, and we plan to continue working together for the foreseeable future," Ellison said. "Keeping this management team in place has always been a top priority of mine."

Last we heard Oracle was preparing to wage war on the cloud, a strategy it's not likely to abandon any time soon.

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Microsoft cuts 2,100 employees worldwide

Microsoft still is planning to eliminate another 2,900 jobs by July 2015. James Martin/CNET

In round two of its previously announced planned layoff of 18,000, Microsoft is cutting another 2,100 people on September 18.

A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed the 2,100 figure, noting that 747 of those laid off will be in Washington state. The remaining cuts will be at other Microsoft locations worldwide, the spokesperson said.

Today's cuts will be across a variety of teams, as previously rumored. The Microsoft spokesperson declined to specify which teams would bear the brunt of the latest round of cuts.

Microsoft officials said in July that the company would be realigning its worldwide workforce by cutting 18,000 jobs, with 12,500 of those cuts coming from employees Microsoft acquired as part of its acquisition of Nokia's handset and services business. Microsoft officials said the layoffs would happen over the course of several waves.

Microsoft cut 13,000 employees total in the first wave back in July. That wave included some, but not all, of the former Nokia employees, my contacts say. It also included employees in the Operating Systems Group and just about every other group across the company. Microsoft also is planning to reduce its dependency on "contingent" (non full-time) employees by 20 percent as part of its realignment.

As of mid-July 2014, Microsoft had more than 125,000 full-time employees on its payroll, a number that included the 25,000 employees it acquired as part of its Nokia acquisition.

As a result of the layoffs, Microsoft officials said the company would incur pre-tax charges of $1.1 billion to $1.6 billion for severance and related benefits costs and asset related charges over the next four quarters.

With 13,000 cut in round one, and another 2,100 today, Microsoft still is planning to eliminate another 2,900 jobs by July 2015.

This story originally appeared as "Microsoft cuts another 2,100 employees worldwide" on ZDNet.

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Review: Mini review: JBL Synchros E40BT

It sure is handy to have a nice pair of Bluetooth headphones these days, what with a full arsenal of gadgets that you can pair with at a reasonable distance. The $99 (about £60, AU$110) JBL Synchros E40BT represents JBL's attempt to deliver a low-priced option that doesn't skimp too much on performance or style.

And luckily, it succeeds. While a little light on the bass and a bit snug on the ears, the E40BT cans offer a great all-around experience with the added perk of a signal sharing feature.

These are on-ear headphones, and as such rest on the outsides of your ears without fully covering them. The padded cups are covered in a silky leatherette material – the same cushy substance can be found in the pillow pad that helps ensure the headphones rest comfortably atop your dome.

While the basic design is relatively simple, there are some nice visual touches. Namely, there's the crosshatch texture on the ring surrounding the JBL logos, and the triangles on the hinge where the earcups fold in for portability.

The logos are a bit too prominent, however, and the black-with-silver color scheme I received isn't terribly exciting. The white-and-gray version looks slick, on the other hand.

Also on E40BT's available color spectrum, the red headset really pops, and the black pair of cans with purple accents adds just enough subtle flash to make an impression.

While the cups fold in via 3D hinges to flatten the overall shape for storage and travel, they are sadly fixed in place when on your ears; there's no give in the fit to allow the cups to mold to the shape and position of your ears.

As a result, the fit feels a little rigid. After about 30 minutes of use at a time, I'd find myself nudging and adjusting the headphones, hoping for a small change. It's not the most uncomfortable a pair of headphones have ever felt, but it's less comfortable than I hoped it would be for long stretches. Admittedly though, that tends to come with the territory with on-ear headphones.

And while it makes sense given the price, the build quality does feel a little cheap in a couple of spots. The adjustable segment where the cups attach to the headband feels loosely connected, and it seems like you could crack it off with ease – not that I dared venture down that broken-plastic path.

For simple, affordable wireless headphones, the E40BT make a fine impression. The sound is clear and punchy, with solid mid-range performance. However, it's just a bit lacking when it comes to bass output.

That was especially noticeable when listening to hip-hop. Kanye West's "Yeezus" still sounded appropriately grimy with its ear-slaying effects, but the thump was just a bit subdued. But, switching to something like Chvrches's "The Bones of What You Believe," the soaring synths sounded totally superb on these affordable cans.

And the E40BT can get plenty loud if you want it – surprisingly so, actually – but the output starts to get a bit muddled if you're cranking the feed. That's no shock, since these aren't high-end drivers, but it's not really a problem. If you do like your audio deafeningly loud, just note that the headphones blast out a lot of excess noise to others nearby.

You can't see the microphone, but the E40BT works just as well for taking calls, with clear voice reception pumping into the ears. What's better, those on the other end of the call reported no audio issues with what I sent back through the mic.

Button controls are handily found on the right cup, with the big JBL saucer serving as a directional pad of sorts. You can click up or down for volume adjustments, plus left for the multi-function button, which lets you skip tracks and manage calls alike.

The right button, meanwhile, triggers an interesting feature on the E40BT: ShareMe, which lets you share an audio signal from a paired device with another compatible JBL headset. That seems a really niche feature, as everyone seems to have their own devices these days. At least it's a neat option if you have another pair of E40BT or E50BT headphones available.

Battery life on the E40BT is advertised at an impressive 16 hours (and up to 24 hours of talk time), and that seems about right based on the hours and hours I listened without interruption across several days. JBL is keen on preserving battery life, which means the headphones will turn off after only a few minutes of idling.

They charge easily via a USB cable that plugs into the headphone jack on the headset (a full charge takes about three hours), and that same port can be used with a male-to-male headphone jack for wired playback should the battery run thin.

There's an incredible array of expensive Bluetooth headphones to choose from, but if you're seeking something affordable that doesn't sacrifice too much quality in the process, the JBL E40BT should do the trick.

The on-ear fit is a little too snug for my liking, and can make longer sessions a little restless, but the sound quality is quite good, the battery life is stellar, and the design aesthetics look great (in the right color combination.) If you really don't want to spend more than 100 bucks on a pair of headphones, definitely take a long look right here.

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Review: Digital Storm Bolt II

Page 1 of 3Introduction and design

If I had to choose one word to describe the Digital Storm Bolt II, I'd pick "deceptive." I mean that, of course, in the most endearing way possible.

While it doesn't look like it can play some of this year's games at max settings – and sure doesn't sound like it either – I promise you, this gaming PC is an absolute monster. And don't let its size fool you. The Bolt II packs a liquid-cooled Intel Core i7 CPU and Nvidia GeForce GTX 780Ti that collaborate to produce a textbook high-end gaming experience.

This would-be Steam Machine is intended to sit beneath the TV, but why pigeonhole into to the living room? This gaming PC easily rivals some of the best full-size boutique machines around. The Bolt II could make for a commanding gaming rig in your bedroom or study and, if you're the social type, will garner respect from your rivals at a local LAN.

But as a trade-off, the Bolt II will cost you a cool $2,550 (about £1,580, AU$2,786) as it was configured for this review. This also won't necessarily be the easiest box to upgrade down the road.

The phrase "good things come in small packages" is given a new definition here. The Bolt II is unrealistically slim, measuring in at 16.4 x 4.4 x 14.1 inches (H x W x D). For a visual comparison, that's about 2.5x the size of the PS4 and 1.5x bigger than the Xbox One. While its size is uncommon, it's the aesthetic appeal of the custom chassis that's the real showstopper.

Available in either solid black or burnished gold paint, every available panel – save for the windowed plastic panel on its right – is perforated with holes for maximum airflow. Small rubber feet adorn the underside when the Bolt II is standing up, or on its left side on the chance you'd like it to lay flat. The left set is removeable, if you decide that your Bolt II belongs in an entertainment center.

Open up the case by twisting two thumbscrews on its rear panel, and you'll find a masterwork of cable management and Tetris-like component placement. First and foremost is the 240mm custom liquid cooling system that takes up most of the front half of the case. Cooling lines run from the system itself to the GPU, stopping off at the CPU before heading back to the start of the loop. This system takes up almost all of the rig's interior.

That sounds problematic, but after four hours of processor heavy VR gaming on the Oculus Rift, temperatures barely reached the 95-degree mark. How can I be so sure? The Digital Storm Hydrolux Control Center, a program exclusive to Digital Storm's liquid-cooled systems, told me so.

The only disadvantage to the system, which I mentioned in my Digital Storm Vanquish II review, is that the company doesn't offer much room to change out components. If you remember, the Vanquish II sported a Asus H81M micro-ATX motherboard. The Bolt II trades out the larger H81M for a "9 Series" Z97I-Plus mini-ITX board.

The mini-ITX form factor facilitates such a tiny case, but it's not without drawbacks. A miniscule board keeps the Bolt II from fitting more than one of each component: one GPU, one SSD, one optical drive, one mechanical hard drive, and two sticks of DDR3 memory. Upgrading here means swapping one out for another, never adding to what's already there.

Page 1 of 3Introduction and design

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Hamster-wheel standing desk: Embrace the rodent race

Take a stroll without going anywhere. Robb Godshaw

I have a standing desk that I use to alternate between sitting and standing while I work. I now feel completely inadequate since Instructables user Robb Godshaw posted his impressive hamster-wheel standing desk with a DIY guide for making your own.

You've seen standing desks. You've seen treadmill desks. You've even seen a desk with an exercise bike attached. A hamster wheel catapults the alternative desk movement into a whole new territory, a territory previously reserved for small rodents.

Designing a hamster wheel big enough for a person takes some serious design skills. Godshaw and his associates at Autodesk's Pier 9 fabrication facility ended up creating an 80-inch diameter wheel with a 24-inch-wide base. The wheel moves thanks to four skateboard wheels underneath. A preexisting standing desk was simply fitted inside the wheel.

One notable part missing from the giant hamster wheel is brakes. Brakes were on the table during the design process, but the team decided against it in order to make the desk's user really work for it. You pretty much have to walk when you're in the wheel.

The wheel itself is constructed primarily of plywood, glue, and a ton of wood screws. You can download the files to follow along and make your own. It took Pier 9 about 24 hours to complete the project.

If you do build this hamster desk for your office, then you'll probably want to practice getting into character by stuffing as many break-room doughnuts into your cheeks as possible, squeaking during conference calls, and biting the bars of your cubicle.

Since the standing-desk human hamster wheel has thrown down the gauntlet on rodent-toy-inspired designs for workspaces, I have to wonder when someone will take it to the next level and create a hamster ball with a standing desk inside. Granted, this ups the engineering difficulty considerably, but it would be totally worth it.

The Pier 9 team used Autodesk Inventor for the design work. Robb Godshaw

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How to avoid the pitfalls of big data discovery and 'visualise responsibly'

Standalone data discovery tools are notoriously expensive

The business intelligence (BI) and analytics market continues to evolve rapidly under the influence of the world's love affair with data. On one hand, there are increased volumes of structured and unstructured data – big data. On the other, there is keen interest from individuals wanting to easily analyse their own data and for businesses to have a single view of this data deluge, across the enterprise.

As a result, organisations are seeking new ways to leverage information to satisfy the growing demand for accurate, smart decision making to improve the bottom line.

A new crop of data discovery and visualisation tools have emerged to address this need.

Visualisation can make information easier to interpret, understand, and retain. When raw data is depicted through pictures, images, and graphics, it becomes much easier to recognise patterns, dependencies, anomalies and more.

What's more, they're unlike the many traditional BI solutions available to businesses – often these are slow, antiquated and complex. Data discovery promises to free business users from the chains of IT reliance.

However, before rushing off to make an impulse purchase of a standalone data discovery solution, businesses need to consider this: even though they may seem exciting and novel, data discovery tools only address the information needs of a limited number of users and, in some instances, may actually do more harm than good.

Any business considering data discovery needs to "visualise responsibly". This involves weighing up the pitfalls and limitations of a data discovery tool in order to ensure that they're generating accurate insights with it.

Before diving straight into one of these tools, there are some key questions that businesses need to ask themselves.

1. Can you empower all decision-makers, not just a select few?

Visualisation needs to be part of a fast and flexible BI platform so that businesses can go beyond the limited capabilities and data quality issues of a niche solution, and serve the diverse information needs of enterprise users, partners, suppliers, and customers.

If a business's goal is to maximise the return on investment (ROI) from enterprise information by enabling more people to benefit from it, then typical data discovery tools may not be the right approach. Those tools have limited usability, don't scale easily and can't satisfy operational demands for real-time information.

Current data discovery tools may hinder BI adoption because they satisfy only a small percentage of the user base. Although they allow some more advanced users, like analysts, to perform deep data analysis, they can be too difficult for the typical business user – or, even more concerning – too easy for them to get wrong.

Professional analysts will always want advanced tools, but what about the next wave of thinking professionals like the millennial workforce? Do pilots and surgeons analyse information in Excel when they need to make split-second decisions? Or do they simply glance at equipment consoles to assess the status of current conditions? Like most business professionals, these decision-makers need simple-to-use apps.

To make access to data readily available in the enterprise, users of all types and skill levels should be able to explore and analyse data in the way they're most comfortable. For example, businesses should recognise that generally non-technical business users want simple apps to explore and analyse their data, whereas analysts need easy-to-use, powerful visualisation tools.

To generate the best possible results for an organisation, BI should work on three interconnected levels: strategic, analytic, and operational. Strategic analysis drives analytical BI, which directs the focus of operational initiatives. Operational BI facilitates the kind of day-to-day decision-making that happens at the lower levels of an organisation – the scores of employees on the front lines, on the shop floor, in the delivery van, on the sales team and in the call centre. Operational BI can directly impact a company's ability to reach objectives, such as increased sales or greater profitability.

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Groot from 'Guardians of the Galaxy' wants to text you

I am Groot. Video screenshot by Anthony Domanico/CNET

Groot stole our hearts in the epic "Guardians of the Galaxy," and now he has a phone number so you can spend your day chatting away with the dancing tree that can summon fireflies out of thin air.

Twilio developer evangelist Ricky Robinett built an SMS chatbot that sends the message "I am Groot" to anyone who sends a text message to 866-740-4531. Considering "I am Groot" is all Groot can actually say, it's just like having an actual full-fledged conversation with the sentient tree-being. OK, so it won't be the most meaningful conversation you ever have, but it's arguably the deepest interchange you'll ever have with a chatbot.

Groot has been pretty busy responding to texts, as he'd sent out more than 100,000 messages as of Wednesday. Groot has a lot of friends out there in the world.

Arguing about who is, in fact, the real Groot. Anthony Domanico/CNET

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Galaxy Note 4 launch set for Oct. 17; preorders start Friday

Samsung's Galaxy Note 4 CNET

Samsung is getting ready to launch the much-anticipated Galaxy Note 4, the next version of its smartphone-tablet hybrid.

The company said Thursday that preorders on the Galaxy Note 4 will begin Friday -- the the same day Apple is launching its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Samsung's so-called phablet will launch October 17 in the US.

To sweeten the pot, Samsung will offer a "guaranteed total trade-in of $200" on working smartphones that are swapped for a Galaxy Note 4 preorder. This means that even if your old phone isn't deemed worth more than $50, you still get $200 to spend on a Galaxy Note 4. The deal is available between Friday and October 16.

Samsung's decision to start preorders on the iPhone's release day underscores the contentious relationship between the companies. Apple and Samsung have not only battled in court over alleged patent infringement, but Samsung has released a barrage of marketing assaults on the new iPhones, claiming they are outdated and come with features that customers would have found years ago on Samsung phones.

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note 4 earlier this month. The device comes with a 2.7GHz quad-core processor and a 5.7-inch display. It runs Android 4.4.4 (KitKat) and features a 16-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 3.7-megapixel front-facing camera. Like the iPhone 6 Plus, it features a near-field communications chip. The Galaxy Note 4 also comes with Samsung's newest S pen stylus that can be used in place of your fingertip to input information.

Samsung's Galaxy Note 4 will be available in black and white on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, and US Cellular networks.

The prices have trickled out via the carriers. T-Mobile's off-contract price is $749.76. The carrier said Thursday it will offer the device for no money down and monthly payments of $31.24 over 24 months.

Sprint, meanwhile, said the Galaxy Note 4 will cost $30 a month for 24 months, for a total of $720. The two-year contract price is $350.

AT&T has several options for paying for the Note 4. It's $300 with a traditional contract, $34.42 under its AT&T Next 18 program, and $41.30 under its AT&T Next 12 program, both of which offer upgrades after their respective periods. The off-contract price is $825.99.

Verizon is selling its Galaxy Note 4 for $300 with a contract, and $700 off contract. It costs $35 a month on its device installment program, Edge.

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

Updated at 11:33 am PT: To include Verizon, Sprint and AT&T's pricing on the device.

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Updated: Microsoft layoffs continue with over 2,000 more jobs cut

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella hopes to refocus the company for the future

Update: A Microsoft spokesperson sent TechRadar the following statement confirming the news that the company has laid off an additional 2,100 employees:

"As we announced July 17, Microsoft is reducing our overall workforce by approximately 18,000 positions over the course of the year, with about 13,000 reductions initiated in July. We've taken another step in that process today, with the elimination of about 2,100 jobs which are part of the overall 18,000 number announced in July.

"The reductions happening today are spread across many different business units, and many different countries. We will continue to go through this process in the most thoughtful manner possible, with the deepest respect for affected individuals and recognition of their service to the company. We will offer severance to all affected employees."

Original story below…

Microsoft has announced plans to cut 2,100 jobs as part of its ongoing plan to lay off 18,000 of its 125,000 employees by July 2015.

The company announced the restructuring in July, losing a full 13,000 employees in the first wave.

Today's 2,100 layoffs affect a multitude of Microsoft teams and divisions, ZDNet reports.

While 747 of those laid off today are in Washington state, the rest come from other Microsoft locations around the world.

These 18,000 layoffs mark the largest restructuring in Microsoft's history, dwarfing the 5,800 employees let go in 2009.

Workers absorbed when Microsoft bought Nokia's phones and services division in April make up more than two thirds of the 18,000 that will be laid off by next summer, while the rest come from teams throughout Microsoft.

The initiative will ultimately cost Microsoft up to $1.6 billion (about £977m, AU$1.78b) in severance costs and other charges.

But CEO Satya Nadella wrote in July that he hopes to refocus the company on more future-facing endeavors like the cloud and the Internet of Things.

Between the initial 13,000 and today's 2,100 layoffs, Microsoft still has 2,900 more cuts to announce by next summer.

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Are we all here because of a black hole?

When we think of black holes, many of us tend to think of them as massive death machines that suck anything and everything out of the sky around them, never to be seen again.

Not even light can escape the gravitational pull of a black hole, making them impossible to observe directly. But could these collapsed stars actually create things? Could the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way be directly responsible for creating many of the stars that light up the night sky? New research suggests that it's not only possible, but likely.

Supermassive black holes are normally found at the center of galaxies, with plenty of stars, planets, and other celestial bodies nearby. But recently, astronomers came across one that breaks that rule, sitting out there by itself without anything else surrounding it. And it's incredibly active, sucking up gas and emitting a huge jet of materials that crash into dust and gas in a nearby galaxy to form new stars.

That galaxy is building new stars at an accelerated rate, suggesting that the black hole is likely playing a part in the star creation process.

This isn't the first time it's been suggested that supermassive black holes play a role in creating stars. A 2009 study in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics posited that quasars (which are believed to contain black holes) played a role in star formation and a 2012 study in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society examined the role black holes played in creating new stars.

If these theories are true, the supermassive black holes at the center of the Milky Way could be responsible for some or all of the stars we see in the sky, including our sun.

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