technology2science

Friday, 4 December 2015

Apple Campus 2 Underground Auditorium Shown Off in New Aerial Video

by Juli Clover

Apple's second "spaceship" campus is scheduled to be completed in late 2016, giving the company just 12 months to wrap up construction to stay on schedule. Apple's construction crews have been hard at work over the past few months, making a lot of headway on the main ring-shaped building, the underground auditorium, and the parking structures.

Drone pilot Duncan Sinfield today shared another monthly campus update video with MacRumors, giving a close-up look at how construction has progressed since November.

Four levels of the main ring-shaped building have been completed, bringing Steve Jobs' original vision of the campus to life. With the walls in place, the special curved glass windows that will encircle the building will likely be

Toymaker VTech hires Mandiant to secure systems after hack

Hong Kong-based digital toymaker VTech Holdings Ltd (0303.HK) said FireEye Inc's (FEYE.O) Mandiant forensics unit was helping the company secure its systems after a hacking attack exposed data on 6.4 million children.VTech said it was cooperating with law enforcement worldwide to investigate the cyber attack, which surfaced last week.

Tesla sounds out lithium tie-up with Chilean miner Codelco: newspaper

SANTIAGO

U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla Motors Inc has met with government authorities in Chile to discuss a lithium venture with state copper miner Codelco, a local newspaper reported on Thursday. Lithium is a key ingredient of the electric car batteries used in Tesla's autos. The world's largest known deposits of the chemical straddle huge salt flats in Chile, Bolivia and Argentina.
"Top executives from the company visited Chile to meet with government authorities and suggest an agreement with Codelco," financial newspaper Pulso reported, without citing sources.

Authors Believe Apple's Entry Into E-Book Market Wasn't Anti-Competitive

A coalition of authors and well-known booksellers have come forth to back Apple in a petition to overturn a recent ruling that stated the company was liable in conspiring to fix the prices of electronic books when its iBooks store launched on the iPad in 2010 (via Cult of Mac).
Image result for authors

Together, the Authors Guild, Authors United, the American Booksellers Association, and Barnes & Noble have filed a 37-page amicus brief that states Apple was in fact enhancing competition and benefiting its customers.

“We are pleased to lend our support in this matter, critical to anyone interested in a competitive and diverse literary marketplace,” said Mary Rasenberger, executive director of the Authors Guild, in a statement. “We fundamentally question the wisdom of the Second Circuit’s use of antitrust law to punish a business arrangement that demonstrably increased competition in the e-book marketplace.”

T-Mobile Offers AT&T Customers 128GB iPhone 6s for $200 Off to Switch

T-Mobile has announced a third "Un-carrier Unwrapped" holiday promotion that offers AT&T customers a 128GB iPhone 6s for the same price as a 16GB model, which is a $200 savings.

The offer is valid for AT&T, GoPhone and Cricket postpaid and prepaid customers that switch a phone number to a T-Mobile Simple Choice postpaid plan between December 4 and December 13.

AT&T customers can combine the offer with T-Mobile's Carrier Freedom promotion, which provides up to $650 towards a balance owing or to pay off early termination fees (ETFs) with an eligible device trade-in.

T-Mobile is also offering AT&T customers that switch up to half off its lineup of financed in-store accessories:

Nuance Launches 'Dragon Anywhere' for iOS With Continuous, Cloud-Based Dictation

Nuance Communications today announced the launch of its voice dictation and productivity app, Dragon Anywhere, for iOS devices. Although the app includes a bevy of document management and enterprise-focused features, its main selling point is its continuous, cloud-based dictation that lets users create and edit documents without a time or length limit set in place.

“Expanding Dragon Anywhere to iOS further empowers the mobile workforce to more easily complete time-consuming documentation and achieve greater levels of productivity away from the office,” said Peter Mahoney, senior vice president and general manager of Dragon.

The company positions Dragon Anywhere as an ideal alternative for professionals often working outside of an office, since the software allows them full editing, formatting, and distribution tools right from their phone. Although it should be noted that even when out in the field, an internet or cellular connection is required at all times for the dictation software to function.

The app extends its voice dictation beyond document creation, as well, letting users navigate the UI or even share documents to Dropbox and Evernote using only their voice. The video below shows off Nuance's voice dictation software in greater detail.

Dragon Anywhere also includes a customization suite for its dictation awareness, letting businesses enter personal and customized phrases to be sure the software picks up on everything said by the user. All saved settings will also sync between iOS and the company's supported Mac and PC apps, as well.

Nuance offers Dragon Anywhere as a three-tiered subscription-based service, with 1 month ($15), 3 months ($40), and 12 months ($150) available as options to those interested, along with a one week free trial to test out its features beforehand.

New A9-Based 4-Inch iPhone Expected to Launch Early 2016 With Colorful Metal Casing

by Joe Rossignol

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has issued a research note corroborating rumors that Apple will release a new 4-inch iPhone next year, which he believes will resemble an upgraded iPhone 5s and launch in early 2016.

While new model may not generate huge sales, Apple still has good reasons to launch. These are: (1) still-existing demand for 4-inch smartphones. We estimate 15-17mn 4-inch iPhones will be shipped in 2015. We estimate the new 4-inch model will account for 8-9% of total iPhone shipments in 2016F; (2) expected price of US$400-500, with