Sprint unveils Spark, its ultra-fast 1Gb wireless service

Sprint wants to get back into the network speed discussion badly.

The company on Wednesday unveiled Sprint Spark, its brand for the ultra-fast LTE service that eventually will offer a wireless connection capable of delivering data at a blazing 1Gbps. But initially, Spark will be able to deliver peak speeds of 50 to 60Mbps.

Sprint, which has fallen behind in its deployment of a faster 4G LTE network, is in desperate need of catching up with the competition. Sprint has been hampered by the shutdown of its Nextel network and complications with business deals, including the acquisition of former partner Clearwire and a takeover by Japanese carrier SoftBank. The company lags behind at a time when consumers are focusing more on the speed of their service...

Read the full story here... Source: CNET

Geek festival Campus Party takes over London's O2

If you're looking for a job in tech, want to win money playing FIFA, or listen to some of tech's biggest names talk about the future, head down to the O2 in London this week. Campus Party is a massive tech festival -- and it's just getting started.

Taking place under the arched roof of the arena formerly known as the Millennium Dome, Campus Party is staged by O2 owners Telefonica. It's designed to be part festival, part hackathon, part conference, part jobs fair, and runs from today to Saturday 7 September...

Read the full story here... Source: CNET

First Seven iPad-Only 'Steve Jobs Schools' Open in the Netherland

The first seven exclusive "Steve Jobs schools" have opened their doors across a number of cities in the Netherlands. Starting from today, schools in the Dutch cities of Sneek, Breda, Almere, Emmen, Heenvliet and Amsterdam will start teaching students according to the principles of the O4NT, or Onderwijs voor een nieuwe tijd (Education for a new era), which emphasizes the role of the iPad in an elementary school environment. The program, which was first proposed by Dutch officials back in March 2012, gives every child access to a "virtual school" through an iPad and helps them develop information and communication technology (ICT) and information processing skills, collaboration techniques and a critical, problem-solving and creative mind...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

'Deus Ex: The Fall' Prevents Players With Jailbroken iOS Devices From Firing Guns

Gamers with jailbroken iOS devices who have purchased or otherwise acquired the new game Deus Ex: The Fall are running into a problem when they attempt to play: they can't fire any guns, a key part of the game.

Eidos, the development firm behind Deus Ex: The Fall likely implemented the measure to deter piracy, as jailbreaking is a requirement to pirate software, though not all users who jailbreak choose to pirate software.

As a result, users who choose to jailbreak for other reasons but pay for their software get caught in the same net as the pirates. It's not the first time that developers have resorted to similar tactics to stop pirates, although it is unusual for such a high-profile developer to target not just pirates but all jailbroken users.

Earlier this year the publisher of Game Dev Tycoon encoded features into the game that would bankrupt players who didn't pay for their copies, while DirecTV prevents users with jailbroken devices from using its app at all.

Deus Ex: The Fall is available on iPhone and iPad for $6.99 from the App Store. 

Source: Mac Rumours

 

Think Tank Photo’s “About A Photograph™”

About A Photograph : Saul Loeb from thinkTank Photo on Vimeo.

 

Santa Rosa, Calif. – Think Tank Photo today launched “About A Photograph™,” a free video series that features some of the world’s leading photographers recounting the stories behind their images that captured global attention.  Narrated by the actual photographers who took the photos, each short video focuses on the forces that led up to that perfect moment in time when subject, story, setting, equipment, and photographer converged.  

The series can be found at http://blog.thinktankphoto.com/about-a-photograph/

The first video in the series features Agence France-Presse photographer Saul Loeb.  In it he narrates the events that led him to capturing the iconic “Presidential Hug” image from the 2012 United States presidential campaign.  His photo captures a Florida pizza shop owner lifting and bear-hugging a surprised President Obama.  At that moment Loeb felt, “This could end up being the defining photo of the campaign season.”

“About A Photograph” is being produced by Kurt Rogers and Deanne Fitzmaurice, Think Tank Photo’s co-founders and award-winning photojournalists.   The video series will feature current as well as classic and historic photographs that span a range of styles, including documentary/photojournalistic, fine art, nature/environment, sports, and politics.

“When we photojournalists go out on assignment we never know what awaits us,” said Rogers.  “It is through our training as experts in sensing when and where events will unfold that we are able to capture images that best convey the story.  ‘About A Photograph’ allows photographers, students, teachers, historians, and others to get inside the heads of these expert photographers at that fleeting moment of creation.

“The images being featured range from the beautiful to the tragic, from the humorous to the informative,” said Rogers.  “The one trait they share is that all are memorable and capture the essence of visual storytelling.” 

Think Tank Photo will release new “About A Photograph” videos every three weeks. 

About Think Tank Photo

Think Tank Photo is a group of designers and professional photographers focused on studying how photographers work, and developing inventive new carrying solutions to meet their needs. By focusing on “speed” and “accessibility,” we prepare photographers to Be Ready “Before The Moment,” allowing them to document those historic moments that reflect their personal visions and artistic talents. We design products that help photographers travel easier, take pictures faster, and organize their gear more efficiently.

Apple to Expand Social Network Integration in iOS 7 with Support for Flickr and Vimeo

Apple has been making efforts to offer deep social network integration in its mobile operating system, first offering Twitter integration in iOS 5 and then Facebook integration in iOS 6. According to 9to5Mac, Apple will expand its social network integration even further with iOS 7, including support for both photo sharing site Flickr and video sharing site Vimeo. 

As with Facebook and Twitter integration, Vimeo and Flickr integration will allow users to be able to sign in to the social networks in the Settings menu. Those one-time sign-in credentials will be usable across iOS, providing comprehensive sharing options and easy integration with other downloaded apps.

Flickr is a logical addition to iOS given Apple's existing relationship with Yahoo, and popular video hosting site Vimeo is also a logical choice for iOS 7 as Apple continues to move away from Google products. Apple stopped offering YouTube as a stock iOS app with iOS 6 and also introduced its own mapping app, discontinuing its use of Google Maps. 

While Apple continues to allow direct video uploads to YouTube from its camera app, Vimeo integration will give iOS 7 users an additional option for video uploads. As with Yahoo, Apple has an existing relationship with Vimeo, having offered integration with the service in OS X Mountain Lion. 

As noted by 9to5Mac's unnamed source, though Flickr and Vimeo integration is currently in the works, as with all beta software, there is a risk that it could be removed before the public release of iOS 7. 

Apple's upcoming operating system is expected to feature a "flatter" design to modernize the look of iOS 7 while removing many of the skeuomorphic design elements that were introduced with iOS 6. Apple is expected to debut iOS 7 at its upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference in June with a release to follow in the fall, and MacRumors has noted a surge in traffic from devices running iOS 7 suggesting that a preview is imminent.

Source: Mac Rumours

Twitter fights hacking with two-factor authentication

After a string of high-profile hacking incidents, Twitter has finally introduced a two-factor authentication system as a way for members to keep their accounts more secure.

On Wednesday, the information network rolled out the new login verification feature, which people can select to require entry of a six-digit code, in addition to their standard password, to gain access to their Twitter accounts.

"When you sign in to twitter.com, there's a second check to make sure it's really you," the company said in a blog post announcing the optional security feature.

The two-factor system mirrors that of Facebook's and requires members to provide a phone number to which Twitter can send a unique code with each login attempt. Twitter users can turn on two-factor authentication from their Account Settings page, where they can tick the box to "Require a verification code when I sign in." Users then need to enter their phone number, and Twitter will subsequently text the number for verification purposes.

"With login verification enabled, your existing applications will continue to work without disruption," Twitter said. "If you need to sign in to your Twitter account on other devices or apps, visit your applications page to generate a temporary password to log in and authorize that application."

The additional security measure certainly complicates the login process, but the extra step is one many Twitter users, particularly brand users, will welcome with open arms. Last month, the Twitter accounts of CBS News' programs "60 Minutes" and "48 Hours" were compromised by hackers. (Disclosure: CNET is a unit of CBS Interactive.) The Associated Press was also the victim of a particularly cringeworthy breach when hackers sent out a false tweet that claimed the White House had been bombed. This news caused an immediate dive in the stock market.

Two-factor authentication should help Twitter defend against hacking attempts and partly repair its reputation as a public square for people, businesses, and celebrities.

Source: CNET

Facebook's rocky year as a public company

Facebook's freshman year as a public company played out like an MTV drama in which Mark Zuckerberg was forced to navigate through an awkward accommodation with the rough-and-tumble world of Wall Street.

Even as Wall Street lectured loudly, a preoccupied Zuckerberg was only half listening and seemed more interested in saving the world from a dearth of sharing than worried about quarterly revenue performance. By year's end, though, Zuckerberg had earned his passing grade by demonstrating a masterful understanding of how to make money on mobile. Indeed, Facebook has seemingly weathered the worst even though it was an an uneven year with more than the usual fill of drama, one punctuated by extreme highs and lows...

Read the full story here. Source: CNET

Lamborghini Egoista concept looks like a space fighter

We've seen some pretty out-there limited-edition cars from luxury manufacturer Lamborghini, but its newest may have just taken the biscuit and sped off with it.

The Egoista, unveiled at the closing gala of the 50th anniversary Grande Giro tour, was designed by Volkswagen's head of design, Walter De Silva, and it's meant to be the ultimate in self-indulgence.

"This is a car made for one person only, to allow them to have fun and express their personality to the maximum," De Silva said. "It is designed purely for hyper-sophisticated people who want only the most extreme and special things in the world. It represents hedonism taken to the extreme, it is a car without compromises, in a word: egoista (selfish)"...

Read the full story here. Source: CNET