The Playstation Network may be back online, but the hacking of Sony’s websites never ends.
Author Archive | Jared Newman
Intel Will Bet Big on Ultra-Low Voltage Laptops
Laptops don’t make for the most exciting news these days, but I’m pleased to hear that Intel’s PC plans call for a big bet on ultra-low voltage processors, as Ars Technica reports.
Ultra-low voltage, or ULV, refers to a range of processors that are more powerful than Intel’s netbook-centric Atom while retaining excellent battery life and allowing for slim figures. (I’m typing on an ULV laptop now, an Asus UL80vt.)
These thin-and-light ULV laptops were pricey when Intel introduced them a couple years ago, and they quickly earned niche status instead of mainstream success. Still, they offer what a lot of people are looking for in a computer — moderate performance and strong battery life in a lightweight frame — and pricing has come down. The company has already launched low-voltage versions of its Core i3, i5 and i7 processors
So it makes sense for Intel to give ULV a bigger role in its lineup. Whereas the the power draw for Intel’s chips previously centered around 35 watts, the company plans to set the center point around 10 or 15 watts, with the goal of making 10-hour battery life a reality for most machines.
On a recent trip to Best Buy, I was surprised by how chunky most laptops look, even compared to my 18-month-old machine. If Intel and PC makers can deliver lots of ultra-thin ULV laptops in the coveted $600 price range, the dreary old laptop could start to look exciting once again.
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Early Chrome Build Lets You Kill the URL Bar
Google may take minimalism to the extreme with future versions of the Chrome browser.
As ConceivablyTech points out, the latest Chrome Canary build — an early-stage version that precedes developer and beta versions — includes the ability to hide the URL bar. To turn on this feature, enter “about:flags” in the URL bar, enable “Compact Navigation,” relaunch the browser, right-click any tab and click “Hide the toolbar.” (Don’t be shy; you can install Canary side-by-side with other Chrome versions.)
Once you do this, the URL bar will disappear, providing an extra 30 pixels of room to browse. The forward button, back button and tools icon nest within the same strip of space as open tabs. Clicking an open tab creates a drop-down URL and search bar that’s much shorter than screen width.
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WordPress for iOS Gets a Big Update; Basics Still Missing
In the past, I’ve said some nasty things about the WordPress iPad app. For the tasks I needed to do here and on other blogs — add and resize images, format text and link like crazy — the app’s barebones approach was simply inadequate. The app was also pretty buggy.
Today, WordPress released a big update to the app for all iOS devices. Most of the bugs are apparently gone, and there are some new features, including a quick photo button for camera-equipped devices, access to stats and support for 10 new languages.
Unfortunately, WordPress’ latest app update is still missing major features that no blogging tool should be without. That means I can’t use it for anything but rough drafts.
Continue Reading →
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You’ve Gotta Be Kidding Me: New PSN Exploit Surfaces
One of Sony’s new Playstation Network security measures has turned into another vulnerability.
As Eurogamer describes it: Anyone who signs into the Playstation Network after the outage is required to change his or her password. But with this exploit, all you need to make the change is the e-mail and date of birth associated with the account. This information was compromised during the PSN breach last month, which means hackers could use the vulnerability to take control of users’ accounts. The exploit was first reported by Nyleveia.com, and confirmed to Eurogamer with video evidence.
Of course, this isn’t a problem on actual consoles. A hacker on the other side of the world can’t change your login from your living room. But it does present an issue for Sony’s websites, where Sony has now shut down the login process entirely.
To be clear, the exploit has no impact on the Playstation Network itself, which was back online as of Saturday. And I doubt many people were affected, but if you were, you’d have received an e-mail from Sony saying your password was changed. If you’ve already changed your own password, there’s nothing to worry about.
Still, the exploit is another blunder by Sony, which spent four weeks rebuilding the Playstation Network to prevent future attacks, and brought in outside experts to make sure everything was clean. I guess they missed a spot.
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Nintendo Takes Heat for 3DS Bricking Policy, Rights to User Content
A consumer advocacy group is giving Nintendo a hard time over the Nintendo 3DS’s terms of service, which allow the company to disable modded consoles and claims a license to all user-generated content.
Defective By Design, a campaign run by the Free Software Foundation, seeks donations in exchange for sending Nintendo a brick — symbolic of Nintendo’s ability to render devices useless.
I suppose the campaign has done its job, because I wasn’t aware of Nintendo’s 3DS terms of service until I read the coverage on BoingBoing and PC World. But while several sites reported on Nintendo’s anti-modding policy back in March, not much attention’s been given to the rights Nintendo claims on users’ activities, personal information and content.
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The State of Android Honeycomb Updates: Better, But Not Stellar
Joanna Stern at This is My Next has been getting the scoop on Android 3.1 updates for several Honeycomb tablets. The situation’s a lot better than it is on Android phones, whose updates are often set back by phone makers and carriers, but it’s not quite ideal.
Here’s the rundown on updates for existing Android Honeycomb tablets, from Stern’s report and elsewhere:
- The Verizon version of Motorola’s Xoom got the 3.1 update last week, after Google announced it at Google I/O. The Wi-Fi version, however, will be updated over the “next several weeks.”
- Asus and Acer both expect updates in early June for the Iconia Tab A500 and Eee Pad Transformer, respectively.
- LG and T-Mobile won’t give a time frame other than “coming soon” for the G-Slate.
- Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 Limited Edition, which was handed out to attendees at Google I/O, will get Android 3.1 in “in the coming weeks.”
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Zediva Defends Its Zany Movie Service With Big-Shot Lawyers
Zediva’s streaming movie service may seem too good to be true, but its legal battle with the movie industry will be no joke.
To defend itself from the Motion Picture Association of America, Zediva has retained a trio of laywers from Durie Tangri, a high-profile intellectual property law firm. The team includes Michael Page, who defended music-sharing service Grokster through to its loss in the Supreme Court; Joe Gratz, who won a case that allowed consumers to sell promotional CDs; and Mark Lemley, a Stanford University professor and IP expert.
The Motion Picture Association of America is bringing its own heavyweights from the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson. The team played a role in bringing down the music-sharing service Limewire, killing the music search engine Seeqpod and nixing RealNetworks’ RealDVD copying software. As PaidContent’s Joe Mullin puts it, this will be “quite the legal battle.”
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Sony’s PSN Apology Package Won’t Please Everyone
Poor Sony. In addition to rebuilding the Playstation Network and enduring weeks of well-deserved criticism for letting hackers through its defenses, the company faced one more unenviable task: creating a “Welcome Back” package that will actually pacify customers.
The result is rather generous. Playstation 3 users get to choose from two of the following: Dead Nation, inFamous, LittleBigPlanet, Super Stardust HD and WipeOut HD + Fury. PSP users get two games from another list: LittleBigPlanet for PSP, Modnation Racers, Pursuit Force and Killzone Liberation. Everyone gets a free weekend of selected movies, 30 days of Playstation Plus (or 60 if you’re already a subscriber) and 100 free items in Playstation Home. Music Unlimited users get 30 free days.
I assume most people are mainly interested in the free games, which make up the bulk of the retail value in this apology package. And while I have a hard time faulting Sony for giving away so much — the PS3 package has a maximum $60 value — I also can’t shake the feeling that Sony’s best customers are getting a raw deal.
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Netflix: Savior of TV Shows?
It’ll be a while before Netflix’s first original TV series, House of Cards, is ready to stream, but in the meantime, the company may find a new niche by saving TV shows from cancellation.
Following the news that NBC is cancelling The Event, Deadline reported that Netflix considered picking up the serial drama. It wouldn’t be unheard of; in an interview with All Things Digital last week, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said he could see the company paying networks to keep shows alive, provided they were popular with Netflix streaming subscribers.