Half Monk

Microsoft is serious about getting users to move to its latest software releases. Just as it did with Windows XP earlier this year, the Redmond-based company is planning to end support for outdated versions of Internet Explorer in a bid to get everyone on the same page. After January 12, 2016, only the most recent version of Internet Explorer available for a supported operating system will receive technical support and security updates. For example, anyone running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 must use Internet Explorer 11 to keep getting updates. Support for Internet Explorer version 9 will continue for those running Windows Vista SP2 and Windows Server 2008 SP2 while IE10 will remain on life support for those using Windows Server 2012. Internet Explorer 8 will be dropped from Microsoft's support list entirely. Dropping support for IE8 may not sound like a big deal but it'll affect a lot of people. According to Net Applications, version 8 of Internet Explorer is the mostly widely used browser in the world as it's installed on more than 20 percent of computers with a desktop-style operating system. StatCounter, meanwhile, reports that six percent of all web traffic originates from those using the five-year-old browser. Given the news, we're curious what web browser you are running these days. Do you surf the web with Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, Opera or perhaps some other browser? Let us know in the comments below.

Microsoft on Thursday announced a new Xbox One accessory that'll allow users in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain to pick up channels using free-to-air DVB-T, DVB-T2, and DVB-C television standards. The 29.99 EUR ($40) adapter, scheduled for launch in October, plugs into a USB port and acts as a digital TV tuner. It's being marketed as an alternative to accessing TV content from a cable or satellite set-top box typically connected via HDMI. Content picked up from the TV tuner will be subject to many of the same capabilities that users already enjoy when connecting a cable or satellite set-top box to the console. For example, users will be able to watch TV in snap mode which allows you to still game while watching a show. I've seen some use this feature while waiting for a multiplayer match to begin. Furthermore, users can pause live TV, access listings in the OneGuide, set favorite channels and even tune to channels using voice commands. Naturally, you'll need to have a Kinect installed for voice-enabled features. Such an accessory looks to be a perfect fit for the console considering Microsoft's living room ambitions. No word yet on when or if the Redmond-based company plans to bring the tuner to other markets. Would you have any interest in a digital TV tuner for your Xbox One? Let us know in the comments section below.

Californian man Douglas Ladore has filed a class-action lawsuit against Sony Computer Entertainment, alleging he was mislead by the publisher's claims that Killzone: Shadow Fall was rendering at a resolution of 1080p on the PlayStation 4. Ladore claims that in many pre-release interviews and advertisements, plus on the box of the game itself, the game was touted as rendering at 1080p on Sony's 'next-gen' console. However, as Digital Foundry discovered in a post-release analysis, the multiplayer portion of the game actually renders natively at 960x1080 - half of standard 1080p - before using upscaling techniques to deliver Full HD. The upscaling technique in question, temporal upscaling, horizontally interlaces the previous frame with the current frame to deliver output that's closer to 1080i. According to the lawsuit, the experience produced through the interlacing is "blurry to the point of distraction", not what you'd expect from true 1080p output. Sony argued around the time of the game's release that temporal upscaling resulted in similar results to native 1080p rendering. Ladore, however, claims it's misleading to describe interlaced 1080p output as "native 1080p", accusing the company of false advertising, fraud, breach of warranty, and unjust enrichment. He also claims that had he known that the title was not rendering natively at 1080p, he would "not have purchased Killzone at all, or would have paid substantially less for it." The class-action suit is being represented by Edelson PC, who filed the complaint in the Northern California US District Court on August 5, demanding a trial by jury. The suit seeks "restitution in the form of disgorgement of all revenue derived from sales of Killzone: Shadow Fall".

Bulk e-mails are a nuisance that everyone with an e-mail account has to deal with. While it is possible to remove yourself from most mailing lists, the unsubscribe link is often buried within the message and takes longer to locate than it should. Fortunately, Google has added a new feature in Gmail that'll make the process much easier. Now when a sender includes an unsubscribe link in a message, Gmail will relocate the link to the top of the message beside the sender's e-mail address. It only works with certain types of messages - those in the Promotions, Social and Forums inboxes - but it's better than nothing at all and it certainly beats the alternative of manually scanning messages one by one or worse yet, creating an entirely new e-mail address. Google says making the unsubscribe option easy to find is a win for everyone. For e-mail senders, their mail is less likely to be marked as spam and for receivers, it means the end of sifting through an entire message trying to find the unsubscribe link. The feature appears to have been rolling out to some users over the past few weeks, perhaps as a public beta to iron out any nagging bugs. But now, it should be available to everyone - at least on the desktop. I'm not seeing it over mobile yet but maybe that's just me. Any luck on your end?

Hold Security, a Wisconsin information security firm, has revealed to The New York Times that a small Russian hacker group has amassed a humongous database of usernames and passwords. In total, the group allegedly has 1.2 billion username/password combinations, stolen from around 420,000 websites through SQL injection attacks. Due to disclosure agreements, Hold Security couldn't name the hacker group, nor which sites were affected, claiming some are still potentially vulnerable tofurther hacks. However, the group did target a diverse range of websites, anything from Fortune 500 companies to smaller websites and businesses. The south-central Russian group includes just a small number of young men - fewer than a dozen - that know each other in real life. While the group has amassed such a large number of passwords, not many have been sold on the black market. Instead, the group appears to focus on spamming people through social networks, collecting funds from those who request the spam attacks. The group also appears to make use of botnets to test which websites are potentially vulnerable to SQL injections, later returning to any flagged sites to perform a manual extraction. Through dividing tasks amongst the group members, the team can work efficiently to amass stolen credentials. This isn't the first time Hold Security has discovered large wads of stolen information being used maliciously. In February of this year, the company discovered 360 million usernames and passwords up for sale in underground forums, as well as 1.25 billion email addresses from multiple breaches. Through alerting people of large-scale data theft, the company hopes people and other business will place an increased focus on security personal information and online credentials.

The people of North Korea are shut off from the world around them due to the oppressive government in which they live under. With no connection to the outside world, the Human Rights Foundation held a hackathon in hopes to bolster ideas and support among the tech community to help people in the region. The winners of this competition want to smuggle satellite receivers or flat TV antennas into the country, which would allow locals to pick up TV broadcasts from the neighboring South Korea. This would just be the initial stages of the plan according to one of the winning team members, Matthew Lee (who was using a pseudonym). "Right now North Korea is a hermit state. If we can at least get to a state where you can use Twitter, then people will understand what's going on outside," Lee explained. "That's the first catalyst and then they can use our device to create a shadow network and with that, they can bring about a change within their own social context." Like any idea of this nature, it is still just an idea, with some major issues to get around. First of all, a major part of the winning idea is hinged on being able to successfully smuggle in these TV antennas, which as you likely imagine, won't be easy. The DMZ (Korean Demilitarized Zone) is one of the most highly guarded borders on the planet and the North Korean government implements flying drones to keep watch, among many other things. There is hope though, activist groups have been known to successfully drop everything from USB sticks to transistor radios into the country using air balloons. The group also plans to make use of the as of now unavailable Lunenburg lens designs, which would allow for much more compact and flat satellite TV antennas. While it will still be some time before the Lunenberg research takes shape, the design should allow North Koreans to implement the tech in a somewhat inconspicuous way.

Although the Federal Communications Commission seems to be okay with the idea of passengers making cell phone calls on airplanes, the Department of Transportation (DOT) is reportedly pushing for a ban on it. The reason is not passenger safety, it is the disruptive effects of voice calls they're concerned about. The government agency has plans to publish a notice of proposed rule making (NPRM) about in-flight calls in early December, and open it for public comments until February 2015. As per the report, the notice will detail the reason why the agency wants in-flight calls to be banned. "At this point, there is no final determination as to what the NPRM will say, let alone a final rule," a DOT spokesperson said. The news comes nearly a year after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) concluded that it is safe for travelers to use hand-held electronic devices like smartphones, tablets and e-readers during all portions of a flight from take off to landing. However, that did not include making or receiving phone calls. Shortly thereafter, the FCC had said that it doesn't see any safety-related reasons to block the use of cellular services during airline flights. On the other hand, airlines are opposed to a blanket ban, and argue the Transportation Department is overstepping its bounds. They want the government to let them decide how cellphones are used in flight, with some of them considering options such as phone booth-like areas where calls could be made without disrupting other passengers. The Transportation Department has said it would pursue the ban on consumer-protection grounds, adding that it has the authority to force a ban because it has been tasked with ensuring airlines offer safe and adequate services. According to the report, if the DOT moves ahead with a voice call ban, it could override any FCC rule change.

Thailand's Board of Film and Video Censors has banned publisher Kalypso Media from releasing their latest title, Tropico 5, in the country. Apparently the game contains scenarios which are too similar to and therefore "not appropriate" for the current political situation in Thailand. For those who aren't aware, Thailand's caretaker government was overthrown in May 2014 by the Royal Thai Armed Forces, who established a military junta in the Southeast Asian nation. According to Tropico 5's Thai distributor, the new government is worried that the game "might affect peace and order in the country." Tropico 5 is a simulator that places you in the role of an island nation's dictator, El Presidente. With you at the helm you can manage the nation through constructing buildings and creating your own set of rules, potentially resulting in a tough junta-like regime. While the previous games in the Tropico series were released as normal in Thailand, it's possible that an expansion to Tropico 4 lead to the most recent release getting banned. The Junta Military DLC sets a scene similar to Thailand's current situation, letting you "build a militaristic society while under pressure from pesky rebels". Thailand's military junta has been extremely strict on what its citizens can say or do in relation to the takeover. The government cracked down on any criticism of the coup, even temporarily blocking Facebook access in the nation to cull online protests. It comes as no surprise that the junta has now banned a dictator-simulator video game under the premise of keeping the peace.

A couple of Android games that reflected the real-life conflict in Gaza have been pulled from the Google Play Store. The games, Bomb Gaza and Gaza Assault, were removed by Google yesterday following a public outcry. Released on July 26, Bomb Gaza aimed to encourage players to drop bombs on terrorists while avoiding killing innocent civilians. The game, which was designed for Android smartphones and tablets, ends after a player has killed too many civilians and the rage meter reached its limit. The game was developed by PLAYFTW and was downloaded up to 1000 times. Google's decision to remove the app came after the game triggered outraged comments on the Google Play Store review page, as well as on the gaming company's Facebook page. "Please take this off the Play Store. It is offensive and I am really let down that Google actually allowed this. If this game isn’t removed I’m starting a Google boycott", wrote a user. When reached out for a comment, a Google spokesperson said that the company does not comment on specific apps, but added that it removes apps that violate its policy. Other similar games, like Iron Dome and Hamas Rockets, are still available in the Play Store. The ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza, which started on July 8, has already taken the life of over 1800 Palestinians, most of them civilians.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST) has chosen the Flash Memory Summit and Exhibition in Santa Clara, California, to demonstrate a new type of solid state drive that replaces traditional flash memory with an emerging technology called phase-change memory. As you might have guessed, the non-volatile storage powering their prototype SSD is ridiculously fast. Using a PCIe interface, the drive is able to deliver three million random read IOs per second in a queued environment and a random read access latency of 1.5 microseconds in non-queued settings. For comparison, it takes NAND flash around 70 microseconds to respond to a request for data. As you can see, this performance is orders of magnitude faster than existing flash-based SSDs. In a press release on the matter, HGST CTO Steve Campbell said the technology is the result of several years of research and development aimed at delivering new levels of acceleration for enterprise applications. Dr. Zvonimir Bandic, manager of Storage Architecture at HGST, added that while three million IOPS is exceptional, the most exciting part of the demonstration is being able to deliver such quick latencies for small block random reads. It's something that just can't be done with NAND flash and current controller and interface technologies. Unfortunately, this speedy new memory technology isn't quite ready for consumer applications. Ulrich Hansen, HGST's vice president of SSD product marketing, told PCWorld that it'll take two to three years of hardware development before phase-change memory gets dense and cheap enough to compete head-to-head with today's flash-based modules.

Photographer Gavin Heffernan recently spent some time capturing the landscape surrounding Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks in California. Instead of focusing on just the trees and the mountains, however, Heffernan put an emphasis on the sky to create the beautiful video you see above. http://vimeo.com/102500659 Heffernan spent three days during the summer solstice capturing material for the film. Most night shots were taken with 25-second exposures on two Canon EOS 6D's using multiple wide, fast lenses. My favorite part of the clip is the star trails which were created using a rendering program called Starstax. There's just something mesmerizing about seeing the Earth rotate in such a manner.

While Tor is generally thought of as a place where those who want their online activity to remain anonymous, a new report suggests the FBI has been successfully tracking users across the network for some time. Law enforcement agents were able to pin point a number of Tor users attached to the Aaron McGrath child pornography case in 2012. After obtaining warrants to track certain individuals accessing McGrath's servers, agents were able to pull exact home addresses and users names by infecting the servers with a form of malware. The tracking software identified the IP address of as many as 25 individuals in this case. The malware tactic doesn't necessarily shut down the Tor system at its core, but instead side steps it in order to plant the tracking software on particular servers. The FBI has been able to tap users within the Tor network previously, but not with the same level of control an ease as we now know they were in the McGrath investigations. The tactic is already stirring up controversy with civil liberty groups. The FBI has apparently remained coy about the operation's details past the allotted 30 days provided by the warrant. One legal expert told Wired that normally "someone who is subject to a search warrant is told virtually immediately," and then continued by saying "what I think you have here is an egregious violation of the Fourth Amendment." Some suggest the FBI is using the malicious software technique in much broader strokes than it may seem as well, causing innocent individuals to become infected with the government malware.

A Houston man named John Henry Skillern was arrested after Google alerted authorities about illegal photos of children in his Gmail account. The 41-year-old, who works at a Denny's restaurant in Pasadena, is a registered sex offender, convicted of sexually assaulting a child in 1994. The search giant informed the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children after detecting three allegedly pornographic images of children in Skillern's email. The Center then alerted the police, which in turn used the information to get a warrant. According to the police, the raid yielded more than what Google knew was there. "He was trying to get around getting caught, he was trying to keep it inside his email. I can't see that information, I can't see that photo, but Google can", said Detective David Nettles of the Houston Metro Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce. The man is currently being held on a $200,000 bond. Google has been fighting against online child sexual abuse since 2006. The search giant has already made it harder to find child porn content, images and videos, via its search engine, and now its clear that the company is actively monitoring emails, too. Back in April, the company updated its terms of service to clearly reflect that its automated systems analyze user content (including emails) to provide features such as customized search results, tailored advertising, and spam and malware detection. While Google's email scan has helped police arrest a culprit in this case, the fact that the company scans email content, and can share it with authorities, will undoubtedly raise privacy concerns.

Remember that Comcast initiative called Internet Essentials that aimed to provide discounted Internet access and affordable computers to low-income families? You know, the one that the FCC required Comcast to launch as part of their acquisition of NBCUniversal back in 2011? The program was set to expire this year after signing up 350,000 families and selling 30,000 subsidized computers but Comcast renewed it a few weeks back. Why? Because they're trying to merge with Time *****W Cable and they want to get on the good side of regulators once again. To further brighten their image, Comcast is launching another program that'll give those with outstanding bills a chance to re-subscribe to their services. Up to this point, Comcast hasn't allowed those with unpaid bills to apply for service again until the outstanding debt has been paid. But that's all changing as Comcast will now forgive debts for anyone with a bill over a year old. In the event someone has a bill that's less than a year old, they'll still need to pay it back in full although Comcast promises to work with families to set up an installment plan. Eligible families signing up for income-based service for the first time, meanwhile, will get up to six months of service free of charge (a $60 value). It's a smart move on Comcast's part as it looks good in the eyes of regulators and could result in some new subscribers. Eating outstanding bills isn't that big of a deal either as they're not likely to get most of that old money back anyway.

A group of researchers from Microsoft, MIT and Adobe have developed technology which turns everyday objects into visual microphones. Sounds of any kind, whether it be voices, music or otherwise, create surrounding objects to vibrate. In normal situations, these vibrations are so subtle they appear invisible to the naked eye. The team has developed an algorithm that can analyze these microscopic vibrations from within video clips in order to reproduce the sound that created them. As an example, the team set up a plant in a room with the song "Mary Had a Little Lamb" playing. By analyzing the vibrations in the plant from the footage, the team is able to reproduce the song in fairly impressive fidelity. Immediately many may feel the technology seems to be best suited for spying applications. The team also gives another example where it is able to pick up the human voice through a sound proof window from the vibrations on a bag of potato chips. While not perfect, you can failry easily makeout the words, and authorites using something like this in a criminal case likely have other software tools to enhance the audio after the fact. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FKXOucXB4a8 While all you need is the algorithm and a camera, it does require a very high speed recording device that can capture up to 6,000 frames per second in order to recover usable data, for the most part. A standard commercially bought camera is only be able to make out the basic audio without much detail, as you'll see in the demonstration video below:

Your wedding day should be one of the happiest and most memorable occasions of your life, right up there with graduating with a college degree, the birth of your first child, etc. Should you happen to book your wedding at a particular Hudson, New York hotel, however, you may get more than you bargained for. The Union Street Guest House (USGH), in an effort to deter negative online reviews, has a policy in which they'll fine whoever booked the event (usually the bride and groom) $500 for every negative review against their establishment placed on any Internet site by anyone that attends your wedding or event. The Inn adds that if you remove the negative review, you'll get your money back. It's an unprecedented policy that's drawing criticism across the web today. As a result, USGH's Yelp page is now filled with hundreds of one-star reviews regarding the policy. The real kicker is the fact that the Inn's last review before today's tirade was back in April and before that, November of last year. USGH management has since removed the policy from their website but the damage has already been done. According to this article from Sam Pratt, USGH owner Chris Wagoner said the policy regarding wedding fines was put on their site as a tongue-in-cheek response to a wedding many years ago. It was meant to be taken down long ago and certainly was never enforced, Wagoner said.

US District Judge Denise Cote on Friday gave preliminary approval to Apple's proposed $450 million settlement in the ebooks price-fixing class action lawsuit. The settlement, which hinges on the outcome of Apple's appeal of the original antitrust ruling, would see the company paying $400 million to affected customers and $50 million in attorneys fees. The decision comes just a week after Cote expressed concerns over the settlement, arguing that its terms could drastically reduce money paid to the consumers depending on appeals. According to the settlement terms, the total amount would come down to $70 million, with $50 million of that going back to consumers, in case the court of appeals reverses and remands the case back to district court. And if Apple is successful in its appeal, it will not have to pay a single penny. Cote had questioned what would happen if her ruling was reversed on a minor issue. But, in an apparent change of tune on Friday, she said, "The proposed settlement agreement is within the range of those that may be approved as fair and reasonable, such that notice to the class is appropriate. Preliminary approval is granted". The original complaint was filed by the Department of Justice in April 2012, accusing Apple and five big publishers of conspiring to increase e-book prices and break Amazon's hold on pricing. In July last year, after a nonjury trial, Cote concluded that Apple was guilty of the charges pressed against it. Although the Cupertino-based company is already appealing that ruling, last month, it agreed to settle a related lawsuit filed on behalf of consumers and 33 US states. A final fairness hearing is now set for November 21.

Nokia has carefully cultivated a reputation for having ‘indestructible’ phones, and that impression was certainly reinforced when a Lumia 520 stopped a bullet fired at an off-duty cop in Brazil. But Nokia handsets aren’t the only ones that can perform that particular trick. As China’s AppleDaily reports, a minor altercation quickly escalated into something far more serious, after a man dropped his wallet in the street. A second man picked it up, and made a joke about using its contents to get some free beer. The owner of the wallet reacted angrily to this, and pulled out a gun. The second guy then pulled out a sickle and moved to attack the gunman, who then fired at him. The bullet hit his arm, but kept on going straight towards his chest – which is where the real hero of the story comes in. The Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 that he had in his shirt pocket stopped the bullet, and prevented it from entering his chest, where it may well have caused much more serious injuries. The device was, thankfully, the only fatality of the whole incident. The injured man is expected to make a full recovery.

Next week, Microsoft will push out an update to Windows Phone 8.1 users who are part of the developers program but if you don't want to wait until then to see how the folders will work, a new video posted to YouTube has you covered. The feature works like you would expect; long press to be able to move a tile and by dragging it over another tile, this allows you to create a folder. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ha_KnOVE6ow The folders, when opened, create space on the Start screen below the tiles to expand the folder with a fluid transition. You can see in the video above how this all works and we will have a more detailed look once the update is pushed down to developers next week. The update will bring other enhancements to the platform too, such as a large update to Internet Explorer that will make it act more like iOS and Android browsers to provide a better mobile browsing experience.

Microsoft currently holds numerous licensing deals with Android manufacturers, which allow the use of their intellectual property in exchange for a small fee for each device sold. Samsung has held such an agreement with Microsoft since 2011, but recently stopped making royalty payments, according to Microsoft's legal team. As a result, the two companies are going to court. Late last year Samsung decided that it didn't want to pay royalties on-time, or pay interest for late payments, alleging that Microsoft's recent acquisition of Nokia's phone business invalidated their agreement. Microsoft states that this is not only a breach of contract, but Samsung failed to even check with a court as to whether the acquisition made the contract invalid. Microsoft's corporate VP and deputy general counsel, David Howard, said that after "spending months trying to resolve our disagreement, Samsung has made clear in a series of letters and discussions that we have a fundamental disagreement as to the meaning of our contract." As the agreement dictates royalties are to be paid on a per-device basis, Samsung has a strong incentive to avoid making payments, especially as their Android device shipments have risen considerably since 2011. Microsoft is confident that the contract will be enforced by the court, despite Samsung's claims of invalidation, without harming the relationship between the two companies. Meanwhile, Samsung will "review the complaint in detail and determine appropriate measures in response".

A number of major tech companies are releasing gender diversity reports and eBay is the latest to put out its numbers. Compared to tech companies likeGoogle, Yahoo, Twitter and Pinterest who have already made gender numbers public, eBay is the most diverse of them all. Based on its report, 42% of eBay's 33,000 employees around the world are women. Pinterest comes close at 40%, followed by Yahoo at 37%. Of the companies that have released reports so far, Google and Twitter are tied for dead last when it comes to gender diversity with 30% female work forces. As many as 28% of those females hold leadership roles at eBay, compared to 19% at Pinterest. Also the highest among companies that have thus far released diversity reports, eBay's strong female leadership numbers are at least in part because of its Women's Initiative Network. Known as WIN, the program encourages women to stay on with the company in order to take on leadership roles down the road. While there are still some other big tech companies yet to release diversity reports, Apple's numbers are likely the most notable we have yet to receive. Earlier this month CEO Tim Cook said the company would be releasing a report, but we still have no details as to when that might happen.

HP is prepping what looks to be a high-end smartwatch compatible with both Android and iOS. The yet-unnamed smartwatch is being crafted by US designer Michael Bastian in partnership with online fashion flash sale site Gilt according to a report from Fashionista. As the story goes, HP reached out to Gilt with the idea of bringing in a fashion designer to help create a smartwatch. Gilt then went out and recruited Bastian to design the exterior of the timepiece which is said to be inspired by the interior trim of a luxury automobile. The watch features a 44mm stainless steel case and multilayered finish with inlaid button controls, distinctive bezel bolts, a lightened chronograph and three different bands to choose from. Naturally, HP handled the technical internal workings of the watch and its accompanying app which will be sold exclusively through Gilt's website this fall. The report claims wearers will be able to receive e-mails and text notifications, control music remotely and check weather, stocks and sports updates. Or in other words, it doesn't sound like HP and company are bringing anything new to the table in terms of functionality. It seems as though the smartwatch market as a whole is shifting towards relying on fashion designers to build elegant devices that put aesthetics over functionality. Maybe I'm alone in this thinking but I'm still not sold on the whole concept of a smartwatch as I don't feel they fill a gap or meet a need. They can only pull off a few of the many tasks that smartphones are capable of so, why not just use the phone for everything like we already do? Why complicate things with yet another device that performs the same features?

Researchers in Denmark have now broken the world record for the fastest single-laser data transfer ever recorded. Using a new kind of optical fiber, the research group at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) recorded a transfer rate of 43 terabits per second over a single fiber with one laser transmitter. 43Tbps is about the same as moving nearly five and a half terabytes of data in one second, or equivalent to transferring the contents of a 1TB hard drive in a fifth of a second. The team at DTU originally set the record in 2009, before the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology took the single fiber/single-laser record from them in 2011 clocking a transfer speed of 26 terabits per second. While at nearly double that speed now, DTU had its hands on some technology that wasn't really available to either parties until somewhat recently. The team used a kind of multi-core fiber, which allows for multiple data streams to pass simultaneously. The fiber is a 7 core solution created by the Japanese internet giant NTT, who, according to reports, is looking to deploy the technology commercially. While we have seen speed benchmarks like this is the past, what makes DTU's research so notable is because of the use of a single-laser and single fiber set-up. The team took back the world record with a set up that is very similar to what we see in commercial applications today. Much faster transfer rates have been recorded using multiple fibers and lasers, some as high as thousands of terabits per second, but are generally not practical set-ups that could get implemented in real life any time soon. While chances are we wont be beaming massive files in the blink of an eye by the end of the year anyway, the team at DTU is at least working on major advancements with tech that could actually be used one day.

Samsung on Thursday looked to offer customers and shareholders a bit of reassurance by announcing intentions to launch two new high-end smartphones within the next six months. The news comes as Samsung's reported a quarterly drop in profit compared to the year-ago period, the first time that's happened in three years. During an earnings call, senior vice president of Samsung's mobile-communications business Kim Kyun-Joon told investors that one of the handsets will feature a large screen while the other will be constructed of "new materials." The executive didn't go into any details on either of the phones although it's pretty clear which large screen phone and what building materials he is referring to. The large screen smartphone in question is almost without a doubt the Galaxy Note 4, a handset rumored to include a 5.7-inch display operating at 1,440 x 2,560 and powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 chip clocked at 2.7GHz. Most expect Samsung to debut the Note 4 at an Unpacked Event just ahead of the annual IFA trade show in Berlin come early September. Both end-users and those in tech media circles have been calling for Samsung to ditch the plastic materials used to construct their smartphones for a premium building material like aluminum. It's a move that has paid dividends for companies like Apple and HTC and if speculation proves accurate, we may see Samsung do just that in the near future. Rumors suggest this aluminum handset could arrive in the form of the Galaxy Alpha as early as this coming Monday. Initial chatter suggested this phone would be a high-end device that would upstage the recently launched Galaxy S5 but more recent rumblings indicate we could be looking at a mid-range device with a 720p display.

The Qi standard created by the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) is quickly becoming the main standard for wireless charging, with more and more devices packing Qi chargers into their bodies. Normally you'd have to place a Qi-compatible device directly in contact with a charging mat for it to replenish its juice, but with version 1.2 of the standard, that's set to change. The main update in Qi version 1.2 is the addition of resonance charging, which will be supported alongside the more commonly used induction charging method. Resonance charging allows the power transmitter and receiving device to be separated by up to 45mm, making the specification more flexible. For example, you could hide your resonance wireless charger underneath your desk, allowing a smartphone to sit atop and charge without needing a mat for it to sit on. Multiple device charging will also be supported, so you'll only need one transmitter under your desk to charge both your smartphone and tablet, assuming they're both within range. Better yet, the new Qi standard is backwards compatible with existing devices, to an extent: a current Qi-compatible smartphone can be charged by a version 1.2 transmitter up to 35mm away. WPC is confident that their resonance charging technology is more energy efficient than its competitors, and supported by a larger group of partners. The company didn't give an exact number, estimating it was 70-80% efficient, which is slightly lower than their 85% efficient inductive technology. The first version 1.2 products will hit the market later this year. The specification also supports wirelessly charging kitchen appliances up to 2,000 watts; those devices will be ready in 2015.