a couple of laughzillas on a blue diamond background

Watch out! Blaze’s Laserlight for cyclists is now available to pre-order, shipping February 26

Feb14
by on February 14, 2014 at 5:01 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Gadgets, Insider, Product Launches

BlazeLaserlight 520x245 Watch out! Blazes Laserlight for cyclists is now available to pre order, shipping February 26

Cycling on London’s roads, or pretty much any road, can be a dicey business. At night, it gets even more perilous and while there are plenty of cycle lights and hi-vis clothing options to choose from, there aren’t many bike lights like the Blaze Laserlight.

As well as providing the usual super-bright LED’s, the Laserlight projects an image of a bike onto the road in front, which the company says helps make cyclists more visible – particularly in the blind spots of vehicles, when approaching a junction and to pedestrians about to step out into the road. The unit is also fully waterproof, which is handy in the UK.

The Lazerlight is available to pre-order now for £125 (around $210), and although the website says deliveries will begin in March, we’re reliably informed that they will in fact start sending out orders from February 26, so that’s a few days less to wait.

The device actually started off as a Kickstarter project, and it seems the idea of a projector on your bike light was one that resonated with people – it blew through its £25,000 goal and went on to reach £55,000.

In addition to launching the Laserlight today, Blaze has also announced that it had secured $500,000 in seed funding from Index Ventures and the Branson family.

➤ Blaze Laserlight

└ Tags: ,
a couple of laughzillas on a blue diamond background

Users in Venezuela report Twitter images are being blocked, hinting at government crackdown

Feb14
by on February 14, 2014 at 4:53 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Latin America

twitter2 520x245 Users in Venezuela report Twitter images are being blocked, hinting at government crackdown

Twitter users in Venezuela are reporting that images are being blocked across the service, in what appears be the government’s latest crackdown on media coverage of ongoing protests in the country, Buzzfeed reports.

Authorities forced a Colombian news station off the air on account of its coverage of violence around anti-government protests, and any move to control Twitter would seemingly be another tactic to stifle word of events spreading across the country. (Images posted from Venezuela are visible outside of the country.)

Screenshots from Twitter users in the country appear to show that images — including profile photos — are failing to load for many. That could be down to a restriction on telecom companies and their data services, although there remains the possibility that other factors are at play.

The Venezuelan government previously asked Twitter to block tweets detailing black market exchange rates, although it has not commented on the latest censorship reports.

We’ve reached out to Twitter for comment.

Related: Venezuela’s Chavez is literally running his country on Twitter, from Cuba

Headline image via DAMIEN MEYER/AFP/Getty Images

└ Tags: , ,
a couple of laughzillas on a blue diamond background

PlayStation 4 beat Xbox One for January console sales, but Xbox One sold more games

Feb13
by on February 13, 2014 at 11:48 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

xboxone ps4 stack 520x245 PlayStation 4 beat Xbox One for January console sales, but Xbox One sold more games

Sony and Microsoft are both trumpeting market share wins from NPD’s January US gaming data. Sony declared its PlayStation 4 the top-selling console last month, while Microsoft took credit for selling the most games.

Sony’s success with the PS4 has managed to dethrone the Xbox 360, which was NPD’s highest-selling console for years. The company claims its latest console outsold the Xbox One by two-to-one.

Microsoft noted in a blog post that the Xbox One has sold 2.29 times faster than the Xbox 360 during its first three months in the market. NPD estimates that consumers bought a total of 2.27 million games for both Xbox One and Xbox 360 in January for a 47 percent market share.

However, Microsoft’s declaration of victory has been called into question, as a Sony spokesperson told Venturebeat that the PS4 also won on game sales. That’s despite Microsoft’s own headline: “Xbox One Leads US Game Sales in January.”

Either way, Sony does appear to have won the first leg of this generation’s console wars. The two rivals will face off in a second stage next month when blockbuster exclusives Titanfall and Infamous: Second Son arrive on the Xbox One and PS4, respectively.

└ Tags: 
a couple of laughzillas on a blue diamond background

Amsterdam adopts new private rental policy that benefits Airbnb hosts and the sharing economy

Feb13
by on February 13, 2014 at 10:54 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

Amsterdam 520x245 Amsterdam adopts new private rental policy that benefits Airbnb hosts and the sharing economy

The city of Amsterdam has approved a new set of rules that allows residents to rent out their homes on Airbnb with less red tape. Previously, Amsterdam required renters to secure permits in order to list on Airbnb, a move that wasn’t exactly a ban, but did serve as an obstacle to would-be hosts.

Under the new policy, citizens can classify their houses as “Private Rentals.” They’ll still have to pay taxes on the income, and renters that cross the line into running a business may be subject to investigation.

Airbnb’s Head of Global Public Policy David Hantman celebrated the rules as “great news” for the startup’s customers.

“The new policy is also an excellent example of how policymakers can create innovative policies that embrace the sharing economy and make cities better places to live, work and visit,” he wrote in a statement.

The so-called “sharing economy,” which includes Airbnb and ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft, has been experiencing growing pains with regulators in recent months. These new business models rarely fit into existing regulation, and municipalities have been slow to change their policies.

If Amsterdam’s “private rental” model works out, it could serve as a model for other cities that are debating how to adapt. At first glance, it seems to strike a healthy balance between  private citizens and preventing abuse.

Still, this doesn’t guarantee that hosts will have smooth renting from here on out, since authorities can investigate them based on noise complaints or on suspicion that a host is running a business. TNW co-founder Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten is looking into the specifics of the new rules and will have more to report soon.

See also: Is the clock ticking for the sharing economy?

Featured Image Credit – Getty Images

└ Tags: 
a couple of laughzillas on a blue diamond background

Microsoft investigating new IE9 and IE10 zero-day flaw exploited in targeted attacks

Feb13
by on February 13, 2014 at 9:46 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Insider

FireEye Labs today discovered a new zero-day vulnerability in Internet Explorer 9 and Internet Explorer 10 being exploited on a website based in the US. No user interaction is required: just visiting a compromised website is enough to trigger a classic drive-by download attack, download and install a payload from a remote server. We contacted Microsoft and the company confirmed with us that it is investigating.

“Microsoft is aware of limited, targeted attacks against Internet Explorer 9 and 10,” a Microsoft spokesperson told TNW. “As our investigation continues, we recommend customers upgrade to Internet Explorer 11 for added protection.”

A zero-day vulnerability refers to a security flaw that was previously unknown and is being currently exploited in the wild. This one happens to target IE9 and IE10 users, meaning it’s not so severe because not all IE version are affected and users can upgrade to the latest release, IE11. We will update you as we learn more.

Update: The flaw affects IE9 as well as IE10 (previously it was believed only the latter was affected. Furthermore, the US site in question is Veterans of Foreign Wars; you can read more about FireEye’s investigation of the attack here.

Image Credit: Robert Linder

└ Tags: ,