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UK intelligence chief wants US tech companies like Facebook to work more closely with authorities

Nov04
by on November 4, 2014 at 12:52 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider, UK

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Robert Hannigan, director of the UK spy agency GCHQ, has said that US technology companies need to work more closely with authorities on ways in which to prevent the promotion of terror and other illegal activities online. Writing in the Financial Times, Hannigan said that groups like Isis had quickly adopted the Web as an effective tool for recruitment and dissemination of information about its cause. “They are exploiting the power of the web to create a jihadi threat with near-global reach,” Hannigan wrote. “The challenge to governments and their intelligence agencies is huge – and it can only be…

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Consumer version of Oculus Rift VR headset ready to arrive in ‘months’, says CEO

Nov04
by on November 4, 2014 at 12:14 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Gadgets, Insider, oculus rift, virtual reality, VR

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Oculus VR CEO, Brendan Iribe, told the audience at Web Summit 2014 in Dublin, that a consumer-version of the company’s Rift VR headset is “close”. While he understandably declined to offer a timetable for launch, he says the latest version of the headset, Crescent Bay, is “largely finalized for a consumer product.” But while the headset may be ready, the full consumer package is still a way off. Iribe says: “We’re all hungry for it to happen. We’re getting very close. It’s months, not years away, but many months.” The big challenge remains developing an effective input device. Iribe says…

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Huawei pledges £5m to 5G research center in UK, aiming to demonstrate real-world service by 2018

Nov04
by on November 4, 2014 at 11:30 am
Posted In: 5G, Around the Web, Insider, Mobile, UK

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Huawei has pledged £5 million towards 5G research at the University of Surrey in the UK, in a bid to help the organization study and test the next generation of data transfer standards. The 5G Innovation Centre (5GIC) is aiming to perform real-world (rather than lab-only) testing of 5G technologies, and while Huawei’s contribution should help things along, it’s only a drop in the ocean compared to the $600 million the company has already pledged to spend on 5G research globally by 2018. The next step for the 5GIC is to build a test bed – a process that will be…

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Nest introduces outdoor weather updates and other tweaks for its learning thermostat

Nov04
by on November 4, 2014 at 10:31 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider, Product Updates

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Nest has today announced a handful of new features for users of its smart learning thermostat, which promise to provide more convenient access to information and reduced energy usage. Among the new features in version 4.3 are a smarter automatic scheduler, which the company says is more efficient and so saves you more money, and a Quick View option that displays the time and outdoor temperature at a glance, alongside info about your thermostat. In order to use Quick View, you just need to push the ring once to see weather, temperature and humidity outdoors. Turning the ring will show you how much energy you…

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Germany ponders new data law that could hit US tech firms hard

Nov04
by on November 4, 2014 at 9:15 am
Posted In: Around the Web

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Germany may soon require IT companies operating in the country to reveal their software source code and other proprietary data, reports WSJ. If an upcoming ruling proposed by local politicians passes, American companies hoping to sell their products and services to the German government or tech startups and businesses in Berlin may find themselves in a quandary, as they won’t be able to uphold their promises of maintaining user data privacy when government agencies request access. The proposed bill appears to be a response to US intelligence agencies’ alleged efforts to spy on European citizens’ digital correspondence, but may also be part of…

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