Nintendo announces the 2DS, a slate-like 3DS without 3D

Nintendo shocked the world today by unveiling its next iteration of the 3DS line: the 2DS. That’s right, Nintendo is launching a new model of its flagship product on October 12th without any 3D support. Even more bizarre, it isn’t even in the traditional clamshell design of other DS-branded devices. While the Kyoto company has successfully raised eyebrows across the gaming industry with this announcement, this new model actually does offer some interesting benefits.

First and foremost, this is meant to serve as an entry-level gaming device. For $129.99, it will play every DS and 3DS game — exclusively in 2D. With the recent price drop of the PlayStation Vita to $199.99, and the introduction of the low-end $229 iPod Touch, Nintendo is obviously focused on keeping a substantial price cushion between itself and competitors. Considering that the 3DS has sold roughly six times the units that the Vita has, this push down-market is seemingly little more than the current leader hedging its bets to remain dominant in the face of increased competition.

 In this video from our sister site IGN, it’s abundantly clear that Nintendo is pushing this model heavily towards the younger crowd. Not only is the lower price easier for parents to swallow, but the lack of 3D means that Nintendo is finally comfortable marketing towards children younger than 7. With the 3DS, Nintendo has gone out of its way to warn parents not to let their young children play in 3D-mode because it could potentially cause vision problems for immature eyes. Now that Nintendo has a model without that potential risk, parents can rest easy knowing that there is no 3D to enable.

Even with the handful of obvious benefits, this is a really strange marketing decision. The simultaneous existence of the 2DS and 3DS will undoubtedly cause some amount of brand confusion, and as we all know from the botched Wii U launch, Nintendo isn’t exactly an expert at properly clarifying its product lines to consumers. Even worse, it waters down the importance of 3D games on the platform. Now that developers know that they can’t depend on everyone having access to 3D-mode, any sort of clever 3D gameplay mechanics will be tossed right out the window going forward.

Nintendo also announced today that it plans on dropping the MSRP of the deluxe Wii U bundle to $299.99 — the current price of the basic bundle. Starting September 20th, the current 32GB SKU will drop in price, and Nintendo will launch a new 32GB bundle including the HD remake of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. There is no official word on the fate of the 8GB basic bundle, but since it sold so poorly, it seems likely that Nintendo might axe it completely.

iPhone 5C leaked specifications point to dual-core CPU, Siri support

We've seen the low-cost iPhone or the iPhone 5C a number of times in multiple colours thanks to leaked videos and images. However, not much is known about the hardware specifications of the phone except that it might feature internals similar to the iPhone 5. A new report claims to shed some light on the specifications of the low-cost iPhone.

According to SIM Only Radar, the iPhone 5C will be powered by a dual-core CPU, and will have a 4-inch screen, just like the iPhone 5, with a resolution of 640x1136 pixels. The site cites a specs sheet that it received from a tipster as the source for this information.

The sheet mentions that the iPhone 5C will have 1GB of RAM, and will come in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB storage variants. It will sport an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 1.2-megapixel front facing camera camera and run iOS 7 complete with Siri which would be available in English, French, German, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Italian and Spanish, as per the tipster.

The iPhone 5C will reportedly be 6 grams lighter than the iPhone 5 at 106 grams and will measure 124.2 x 58.4 x 7.6 mm. The iPhone 5 measures 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm. If the rumoured specifications are true than the phone would almost be the same size as that of the iPhone 5.

It's worth pointing out that Apple hasn't officially acknowledged the presence of a low-cost iPhone. The low-cost iPhone or iPhone 5C has leaked several times. Alleged pictures of the iPhone 5C have revealed a plastic polycarbonate body back panel in White, Blue, Red, Yellow and Green colours, a round camera lens and LED flash, lightning connector port, Apple logo and iPhone branding.

Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 5S along with the iPhone 5C on September 10 at an event in San Francisco.

How to use the 25% of the internet that the NSA doesn’t monitor

This morning you probably read the report that the NSA, despite its emphatic claims to the contrary, has the ability to scoop up 75% of all US internet traffic. Through various programs known as Fairview, Oakstar, Lithium, Blarney, Stormbrew, and old favorites such as XKeyscore and Prism, the US government gathers data from almost every US telecommunications company. Blarney, for example, according to former AT&T officials, sends a copy of anything interesting that crosses the AT&T network (which is huge) to the NSA.

Rather than worry about whether your internet activity is being snooped on by the US government, though (spoiler: it is), I thought I would instead take a different tack and surprise you with a glass-half-full approach. If the NSA can listen in on 75% of all traffic traveling through the US, then that must surely mean that a full 25% goes unmonitored. When you’re talking about a significant chunk of the internet’s infrastructure, representing exabytes (billions of gigabytes) of traffic every month, 25% is a significantly sizable swath that’s unchecked by the US government. 25% is easily enough room for you to surf the web without the omnipresent gaze of an overreaching government. But how do you stop being part of the quietly oppressed 75% and enjoy the freedom of the other 25%?

Are you being monitored?

Unfortunately, because we’re dealing with classified information and journalistic reports that redact a lot of the more juicy information, it’s quite hard to work out which 75% of the US internet is being monitored, and which 25% is fast and loose. Let’s start by running through what we do know.

 

At the very least, it seems that AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint have hardware in their data centers and transit hubs that mirror data, filter the data according to the NSA’s requirements, and then ferry that data to the NSA. Judging by the names mentioned in the leaked Prism slides, major US companies such as Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, and Facebook are all under the thumb of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) court, too.
Between AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint, the US government has a tap on most of North America’s US internet traffic. Not only do these companies act as ISPs (connecting consumers to the internet), but by virtue of being tier 1 operators they also run some of the largest backbone and backhaul links (connecting enterprises and whole data centers to the internet). AT&T and Verizon (via WorldCom and UUNET) also have extensive overseas networks, which the US government probably has access to as well.

 Sprint’s US backbone map (date unknown, but probably quite recent)

Level 3′s North America internet backbone (2013)

The most notable omission from the leaks appears to be Level 3 — a US company that just so happens to be one of the biggest players in the global internet backbone business. If Level 3 hasn’t signed onto the NSA data collection programs, then that might explain the missing 25%. In reality, Level 3 is probably beholden to the same laws and FISA rulings that have forced other US companies to install the NSA’s special packet-mirroring routers. (See: The secret world of submarine cables.)

Escaping the ever-watchful eye of the US government

Which ISPs and backbone providers have escaped the US government’s digital dragnet, then? Deutsche Telekom, which is headquartered in Germany by operates a large tier 1 network in the US, is one possibility. T-Mobile (which is owned by Deutsche Telekom) has so far been unscathed by the recent spate of NSA whistleblowing, suggesting that its lawyers may have successfully navigated the various FISA rulings. NTT, a Japanese company, and Reliance, an Indian company, both have operations in the USA and may have escaped the NSA.



If I had to pick a major carrier/backbone provider that accounts for the missing 25%, it would probably be Deutsche Telekom/T-Mobile.
But these are just educated guesses. The other gloomy possibility, though, is that the missing 25% represents the data that the telecoms companies hold back from the NSA. According to the Wall Street Journal report, at least one telco has its lawyers only hand over “clearly foreign” streams of data. It’s entirely possible that the government has a tap on every major player in the US internet market.
 If that’s the case, then your only real recourse is moving to another country and using an ISP/mobile carrier that doesn’t have ties to the US (very hard, as much of the internet backbone is owned by US companies), or perhaps waiting for an ISP to make a stand and publicly announce that it will not allow the US government to spy on your internet activity. In the meantime, your best bet is probably to use encrypted connections wherever possible. You should force HTTPS with a browser add-on when you’re surfing the web or using webmail, and use encrypted tunnels (SSH) or the secure versions of services (SFTP,  IMAP over SSL, etc.) whenever you venture outside your browser. If you’re really serious about your privacy, using an anonymity network like Tor or Freenet is probably a good idea, too.

NASA prepares to launch 600Mbps space laser system to replace conventional radio links

NASA is preparing to launch the Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration (LLCD), a testbed that will use lasers to send and receive data between Earth and the Moon. This will be the first time that NASA uses lasers instead of conventional S-band radio waves to communicate with spacecraft, allowing for massive data rates of up to 600 megabits per second, while also consuming much less power and requiring much smaller antennae. Ultimately, shifting to laser-based communications will allow NASA to receive much more data from spacecraft, allowing them to be outfitted with high-res cameras and other modern sensors that generate more data than S-band links can support.
Optical communications, as opposed to radio frequency (RF) communications (or simply “radio”), are desirable for three key reasons: Massive bandwidth, higher security, and lower output power requirements. All of these traits derive from the frequency of optical and radio waves. While S-band signals are in the 2-4GHz range (similar to your GSM, LTE, or WiFi link), the laser light used by the LLCD (near-infrared in this case) is measured in hundreds of terahertz. As a result, the wavelength of S-band signals is around 10cm, while near-infrared has a wavelength of just 1000nm — or about 100,000 times shorter. Not only can you cram a lot more data into into the same physical space, but there’s also terahertz (compared to megahertz in the S band) of free, unlicensed space that can be used.

Because the wavelength is smaller, the sending and receiving antennae can also be a lot smaller, allowing for smaller/lighter spacecraft and much easier reception here on Earth. By the time a conventional RF signal arrives at Earth from outer space, the beam can cover an area as wide as 100 miles, requiring very large dish antennae (such as the Deep Space Network) to pick those signals up. Receiving laser signals, which are 100,000 times shorter, requires a much smaller dish. As a corollary, due to these beams being much tighter, they’re much harder for an enemy to snoop on, thus increasing security. Transmitting data via laser also requires less power than RF.

The LLCD will be deployed upon the Lunar Atmosphere Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE), which is scheduled for launch in September. LADEE (which could be pronounced lay-dee or lad-ee, we’re not sure) will orbit the Moon, seeking to confirm whether the mysterious glow observed by Apollo astronauts was caused by dust in the lunar atmosphere. Thanks to the LLCD, NASA will have a 20Mbps uplink to LADEE (apparently 4,800 times faster than existing S-band uplinks), and LADEE will have a 600Mbps downlink to NASA (five times faster than current state-of-the-art lunar-distance links). The mission will only last for 30 days, after which, if it’s a success, NASA will launch the long-duration Lunar Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD), which will hitch a ride aboard a commercial Loral satellite. The LCRD will allow NASA to perform further testing of space laser communications, with the hope of eventually replacing RF links in future spacecraft.
Moving forward, space laser communications will allow for the creation of spacecraft that are smaller, cheaper, and capable of more advanced functionality. With 600Mbps of downlink capacity, we’ll be able to outfit spacecraft with high-resolution cameras and other advanced sensors that generate vast amounts of data — and view that data in real time, rather than waiting for the data to slowly dribble over the airwaves.

Google's new Nexus 7 jumps ahead of Apple in tablet war

Google's engineering director Chris Yerga displays the new Nexus 7 which offers a smaller form, greater resolution and cheaper price than Apple's newest tablet.

GOOGLE will fire a new weapon in the tablet war today, launching a revamped 7-inch tablet in Australian stores with a smaller form, greater resolution and cheaper price than Apple's newest tablet.

The internet giant's tablet will also beat tablet leader Apple to the punch, with rumours swirling a new iPad announcement will not come until after the company's next iPhone announcement, now anticipated on September 20.

Google's new own-brand tablet, the Nexus 7 2013, will start appearing in Australian electronics stores today, and will feature the highest screen resolution of any 7-inch tablet, at 323 pixels per inch, will shave 50g off the previous model and 18g off an Apple iPad Mini, and will come in both wi-fi and 4G models.

The new tablet, manufactured by ASUS, will range from $299 for a 16GB wi-fi model to $439 for a 32GB 4G version, making it up to $180 cheaper than an equivalent iPad Mini in Australia.
Google's new tablet will cost significantly more in Australia than the United States, however, with prices between $70 and $90 more expensive.

Research firm Telsyte estimated more than 2.4 million tablets were purchased in Australia last year, a figure that will jump 50 per cent this year.
Telsyte research director Foad Fadaghi said smaller tablets, with screens between 7 and 9 inches in size, would outsell 10-inch tablets by 2014.

Google denies it has shifted billionaire co-founder Sergey Brin's mistress Amanda Rosenberg to new job

Amanda Rosenberg

THE girlfriend at the centre of the split between Google co-founder Sergey Brin and his wife may still be working side by side with her billionaire beau in the wake of the bombshell office romance that has rocked Silicon Valley.

"They moved her out from under his supervision," a source in the San Francisco Googleplex said of Internet side dish Amanda Rosenberg, 27, as her secret relationship with Brin became public.

However, a Google spokesman denied Rosenberg has been moved, noting, "The employee remains in her current position and is not transferring to another group."

The romance was bad news for their exes — Anne Wojcicki and Hugo Barra, according to the New York Post.

The Brit-bred Rosenberg, who last summer landed a job as marketing manager at Google Glass — a pet project of Brin's — will now "be even further from Sergey in the chain of command," the source said.


Brin's affair with Rosenberg was revealed Wednesday after the tech blog AllThingsD reported he had split with his wife of six years, Anne Wojcicki.

Another tech-news blog, Valleywag, outed Rosenberg as the other woman.

It's unclear how long Rosenberg and Brin had been dating on the sly, but a source said the Google co-founder and his wife were "still together when Amanda entered the picture".

Brin and Wojcicki — CEO of DNA-testing-kit firm 23andME, in which Google has invested millions — split about four months ago, an insider said.

Another source with knowledge of Brin's romance said it was "open to debate" whether Rosenberg caused the split, and noted that the Brin-Wojcicki marriage was "complicated."

Rosenberg's claim to fame was coming up with the command, "OK, Glass," to activate Google Glass, the company's head-mounted computer.

She had been dating another Googler, Hugo Barra, a top Android exec. Barra resigned this week to take a job with the Chinese phone maker Xiaomi.

His departure followed "a recent thorny personal situation related to the end of a romantic relationship he had with another Googler," AllThingsD reported.

Adding to the drama, Wojcicki's sister Susan is a senior Google exec. Brin and co-founder Larry Page started Google in Susan's garage.

A source said Brin and his wife, who have two small children, have not filed for divorce and still plan to work together on philanthropy projects. The couple has a prenup.

Rosenberg was working in another division but put herself on the Google map when she pitched the "OK, Glass" command idea, which she has boasted took her "three seconds."

"I interviewed a week later and have been terrorizing the Glass team ever since," Rosenberg wrote in a Google+ post.

She and Brin, worth an estimated $24.5 billion, had worked side by side promoting the product to the public, even hitting New York Fashion Week together.

Rosenberg — who attended Marlborough College in England with Kate Middleton's sister, Pippa, and Princess Beatrice — was always ambitious, a former boyfriend told the Daily Mail.

Told his ex was linked to the Google tycoon, he said, "It wouldn't surprise me in the least — she's that kind of girl."

Rosenberg likes to show her sense of humor online. In one video, she recalls the humorous reactions people give her Google Glass.

And an online post, Rosenberg — who could not be reached for comment — joked about her Chinese-Jewish heritage.

"I'm part of the master race that is the Chinese Jew or Chew, if you will," she wrote, according to the Daily Mail. "Born in Hong Kong but bred in the UK. A misanthrope who's bad at maths, so I got the worst of both worlds."

 

Source

Five ways to make Facebook better

Make facebook work for you. It's not that hard.

FACEBOOK sucks. 

 

If it doesn't yet suck for you, it can start at any time and quickly blaze out of control.  Making things bearable again - even better than they were - can be a difficult prospect for the average user. 

We're going to go out on a limb here and suggest that you use Facebook for more reasons than simply 'staying in touch.' You might play the stupid games. You spy on ex partners. You eagerly await the sudden appearance of the next hilarious YouTube opus and/or awesome article. You want to be entertained by Facebook. Of course you do - it's a great medium for that in a lot of different ways.

A few things can get in the way, though. We'll need to fix those before the merriment may continue (or start).

1. Uninteresting Updates From Uninteresting Humans

You might have a few hundred "friends." Some people will have a few thousand. Whatever the case, nobody has that many actual friends. Nobody. The problem with friending that guy you ran into at a bar who also liked drinking eight years ago is that you end up with a feed full of awful, useless, whinging, mundane bulls**t. Hell can totally be other people, especially on Facebook. Now, defriending people can start something. We don't want to do that. Instead, you can unfollow. Scroll up to the right corner of a post from someone you can't stand. A little box that was previously invisible will appear. Click it, and click 'Hide'. Then go the extra mile and click 'Change what updates you get from <insert insufferable human garbage here>.' Click 'Unfollow'. They are now gone from your feed forever. And they'll never know, either.

2. People's Dumb Babies

Some of your Facebook chums are legitimately cool. However, even cool people sometimes have babies and this can cause a horrible schism to occur in your enjoyment of them: They are now parents. Proud parents. Proud new parents who will show the world their unremarkable bore-spawn doing nothing at all at least 200 times per spare moment. You can't simply unfollow these people though, they were formerly cool and maybe show glimmers of this in between bore-spawn offensives. The solution is to a) Start using Google Chrome, and b) Install unbaby.me. The child is now kittens.

3. Everything You Like Is Boring

Most of us see the page of something we enjoy or have enjoyed only recently (like a new movie, say) and instinctively click 'Like' on it because, well, we like it. This natural reaction has the adverse effect of cluttering your feed with huge steaming piles of 'engagement' that's either redundant or grasping. Annoying, right? Apart from resisting the urge to Like everything within personal interest range, be judicious about what pages you let into your FB boudoir. Here, let us assist in this matter of grave import: news.com.au (of course), AskMen Australia (for fun), Shock Mansion (they live for the best vids on the web), and I f***ing love science (learn while you laugh). 

4. It's The Little Things

It really is. Facebook's little annoyances can add up to one huge suppository that constitutes your social media experience. Endless event invites (even from complete strangers. How does that work?), insistent hassle from apps and your friends' silly startups, guilt-brokering pictures of maimed animals, and the dreaded poke. Refrain from any of this, especially poking anyone. It's weird and nobody knows how to feel about it. Furthermore, stamp out the tyranny of event invites (just say "no" or, if you're chicken, "maybe") or receive constant updates whenever somebody posts in them forever. Your mind is a terrible thing to lose and housecleaning your Facebook is essential.

5. You

The average Facebook user has over 120 friends and likes another 100 groups or pages. You're an average Facebook user. That's a lot of potential pollution you might also be putting out. The problem could be you, or you could be part of it. It's incredibly tempting to see 'What's on your mind?' and be very quick to take up the invite to talk about yourself and thus bore everyone to death with triviality, passive-aggressiveness, attention-seeking, or egotism. Self-absorption is one of the biggest problems with social media. Most people are unremarkable and don't realise it. If the internet is good for anything, it's good for escapism and/or education. Next time you go to tell the world "lovin' lunch right now lol/someone has really done it now/man I can't believe what just happened/in New York & ur not," backspace it to hell and try this instead: Share something of intense worth and interest. It could be the latest expose on Mexican drug cartels or that time Frenzal Rhomb's frontman got a tapeworm stuck in his brain. You're selflessly contributing good stuff and you look good doing it. Start that trend.