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Show Notes
Today’s guests: Veronica Belmont, co-host of Sword & Laser
Headlines
TechCrunch reports Google has admitted its Project Tango tablet exists and will make it available to developers in late June for $1024. Project Tango is a 3D sensing system previously shown by Google in a smart phone using two cameras and rear depth sensor. The tablet carries these cameras as well as an NVIDIA Tegra K1 processor, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, a 1080p display, stock Android 4.4, WiFi, Bluetooth LE and 4G LTE. If you’re interested you’ll need to sign up at google.com/atap/projecttango/ as the developer kits these tablets are a part of will be available in limited quantities.
TechCrunch reports that the dating app Tinder is launching something called “Moments” allowing people who have been matched to share temporary messages including photos which only exist for 24 hours. Users can choose to like or dislike a photo and strike up a conversation based on it. What could possibly go wrong?
ZDNet reports Microsoft is making its Kinect for Windows v2available for preorder today, June 5 for $199 through the Microsoft store. Sensors will be shipped around July 15 along with the release fo the accompanying SDK. Developers can build applications for the new sensor with C++, C#, or Visual Studio Basic by using Microsoft Visual Studio 2010. General availability of Kinect for Windows will come a few months later.
CNBC reports Verizon has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Netflix over the buffering message Netflix displays when having streaming issues that says “The Verizon Network is crowded right now.” Verizon general counsel Randal Milch wrote in the letter to Netflix general counsel David Hyman that Verizon wanted Netflix to immediately stop showing the message, as well as provide a list of customers to whom the message had been shown or Verizon may “pursue legal remedies.” Netflix Spokesman Jonathan Friedland said “We are trying to provide more transparency, just like we do with the ISP Speed Index, and Verizon is trying to shut down that discussion.”
Reuters reports Barnes and Noble will develop a tablet with Samsung to boost ebook sales. The tablets would feature Barnes and Noble’s Nook software. A 7-inch version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook is set for n early August launch in the US. Barnes and Noble will continue to offer its Nook GlowLight e-book reader.
Here’s what Amazon’s doing. The Next Web reports on Amazon launching a page where anyone can ask to be invited to a June 18th event in Seattle where Amazon will announce something that makes people in their promotional video say “whoa” a lot. Rumors have abounded that Amazon was developing a smart phone with a 3D interface. Which might make even paid actors convincingly say whoa. If you would like to test out whether the announcement will make you say whoa, sign up for an invite at www.amazon.com/oc/launchevent
News From You
Our top story on the Subreddit was a Slashdot post submitted by Kylde, pointing to a Motherboard article that details all the ways fiber has been built in many places in the US and then blocked from use by telecoms to protect profit margins. The article covers a range of situations usually involving city governments granting contracts to companies like Comcast, Time Warner Cable, CenturyLink, and Verizon to build fiber networks in exchange for not allowing any other entities to use them. Which often means nobody but the city government gets to use them.
daddn sent us the Forbes article that passes along info from 9to5Mac whose sources say Apple submitted specs to its licensing partners for headphones that use the lightning connector instead of the headphone jack. The advantage would be digital audio and more options for headphones to control apps. The downside would be if Apple used the ability to get rid of the headphone jack in future devices. Current devices would need a firmware update to enable the functionality if it ends up to be true.
tekkyn00b sent us the TechCrunch story about an easter egg discovered in Google’s end-to-end encryption extension by Zen Albatross. A comment that reads “SSL added and removed here” followed by a winky. It’s a reference to the same phrase showing up in a leaked NSA document that illustrated how the NSA was able to spy on encrypted traffic from Google.
habichuelcondulce submitted the Reuters story citing a person who says Sprint has agreed to acquire T-Mobile for around $32 billion. The deal is not final according to the source, as both sides have to do due diligence and arrange financing.Deutsche Telekom owns 67% of T-Mobile while Softbank owns the majority of Sprint. The deal would also require regulatory approval. AT&T sought to acquire T-Mobile three years ago but was blocked by the US Department of Justice.
And bluntheadtrauma posted the ZDNet article about a fix to OpenSSL for a potential man in the middle attack. Unlike Heartbleed which affected any server, the attacker would need to control a network connection to exploit this vulnerability and non-OpenSSL clients (IE, Firefox, Chrome on Desktop and iOS, Safari etc) aren’t affected. All OpenSSL installations should be upgraded in any case.
Discussion Section Links
http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/05/microsofts-xbox-one-controllers-now-work-with-pcs/?ncid=rss
http://majornelson.com/2014/06/05/pc-drivers-for-the-xbox-one-controller-available-now/
http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/05/microsoft-xbox-one-is-faster-without-kinect/
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-06-04-xbox-one-dev-kits-receive-more-gpu-bandwidth
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2459037,00.asp
Pick of the day: Mint.com via Producer Jennie
Jennie’s pick of the day is Mint.com This online budgeting service is simple and easy to set up/use. It reminds you about upcoming bills, warns you when you’ve gone over budget in a particular category, and provides suggestions on ways to save money. While it’s not meant to be full-fledged accounting software like Quicken, Mint is an excellent day-to-day reality check on just how much you’re spending. Free.
Schedule for live streams of Phoenix ComicCon via Alpha Geek Radio available here: http://bit.ly/AGRPhoenix
Friday’s Guests: Darren Kitchen of hak5.org, Len Peralta of the arts & Eklund of hockeybuzz.com