Half Monk

T-Mobile is causing chaos in the wireless industry once again. Outspoken CEO John Legere on Thursday announced a new campaign in which the carrier will give free unlimited LTE data for a full year to anyone that refers a friend to T-Mobile from rival carriers AT&T, Sprint or Verizon. The offer also applies to the newcomer at no additional charge. In the event that you already have unlimited LTE data with T-Mobile, the carrier will instead offer up a $10 credit each month for the next year - a $120 value. The promotion goes into effect next Friday, August 29. To apply, existing T-Mobile customers simply need to report their referral over on the company's referral page. You'll need to enter your phone number and your friend's number they've ported over and do so within 30 days of the newcomer's activation to qualify. The offer is limited to one $10 monthly credit or unlimited LTE offer per referrer account. While the deal applies to newcomers from all of the major carriers, T-Mobile primarily called out Sprint in its press release. That's because the carrier, under new CEO Marcelo Claure, has been making waves of his own in the wireless industry. Earlier this week, Sprint introduced an attractive new family plan that'll connect up to 10 lines for just $100 per month. Earlier today, the nation's third largest wireless provider announced a $60 unlimited plan which is a full $20 cheaper than T-Mobile's unlimited offering.

Berlin-based audio sharing platform SoundCloud has launched a new creator partner program called On SoundCloud. This program lays the foundation for content creators to make money from their work. In order to make this possible, however, SoundCloud had to introduce advertising for the first time ever. As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. The On SoundCloud program has three tiers: Partner, Pro and Premier. The Partner tier is designated for beginners. It's free to join, upload your tracks and get feedback and basic stats. For $6 per month or $55 annually, Pro members get twice as much total upload time at six hours, more detailed statistics, the ability to post in quiet mode and the ability to spotlight tracks and playlists on your profile. Members can also sign up for the unlimited plan at $15 / month or $135 / year which includes unlimited track uploads, everything in the aforementioned Pro package plus even more detailed stats. The new Premier class is the only one of the bunch that includes revenue sharing. It also boasts additional features like promoted tracks and profiles but unfortunately, it's invite-only at this time. It's also worth pointing out that monetization occurs only when content is played in the US. SoundCloud said they're bringing ads on gradually and those in the US will start to notice occasional ads from brand partners including Comedy Central, Red Bull and Jaguar.

If, like many of us, you have been anxiously waiting for more info on CD Projekt RED's latest iteration of the Witcher series, you're in luck. Now uploaded to the The Witcher YouTube channel, you can watch 37 minutes of uninterrupted gameplay from Wild Hunt (video below). http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xx8kQ4s5hCY Featuring bits of developer commentary courtesy of a senior level designer, the footage comes directly from The Witcher 3's Gamescom 2014 presentation. After a quick horse ride through the games biggest city, Novigrad, we see Geralt head out on a quest through the war ravaged and swampy No Man's Land. We also get to see more footage of the game's updated combat, various enemies, the Ladies of the Wood, and even a number of story based cut scenes. For anyone who has been closely following the game thus far, some of the footage retraces moments in the game we have already seen, like the Godling Johnny, but there is some new stuff and it is nice to see a full 37 minutes or so of straight gameplay. Anyone looking for a completely fresh run through of the game when it is expected to release in early 2015, may want to avoid this large slice of the experience. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is scheduled to release on February 24, 2014 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

While Google search may appear to some as a somewhat static service that remains generally the same year after year, the company is constantly adding updates in order to stay on top of the competition. In a recent Google+ post, the company's head of search, Amit Singhal, says Google has made more than "890 improvements" to its search engine in the last year alone. To others, these kinds of updates are expected, but the number has risen significantly over past years. In 2009 Google said it made nearly 400 changes to its search engine and as many as 500 the following year. It is widely known that Google tests out hundreds of updates and changes everyday, but very few of them actually get implemented. In the past, the company said it makes one change every single day to its core search engine. The 890 changes Singhal is referring to are more than just core algorithm updates though. There are changes on everything from the user interface to Google Now and many other things. Included in his Google+ post, the head of Google search also shared some of his fondest and most memorable milestones in Google search history including adding things like directions, voice search and the introduction of predictive features like Autocomplete. You'll find the complete list on Google+ and a few others Singhal pointed out below:

Google Glass may be hip and trendy among select technology enthusiasts but there's no denying the hi-tech eyewear carries a bit of a social stigma. That's because current iterations of Glass aren't exactly trendy and stick out like a sore thumb. Good news is on the horizon, however, as Google recently received a new patent for a set of spectacles that look much more tame and traditional that today's Glass. As outlined by the crew over at Glass Almanac, US Patent D710,928S was granted to Google engineer Mitchell Heinrich on August 12. It describes a "wearable display device" and is accompanied by sketches that show an ordinary set of glasses with what appears to be a transparent display on the inside. That's far different from what we've seen thus far as current versions of Glass feature an external projector. It's a seemingly subtle move but I suspect it would make the wearable much less obtrusive and more enjoyable for Explorers to wear out in public. Heinrich is no stranger to the US patent office. Along with Isabelle Olsson, the two have amassed more than three dozen patents during their time at Google. Even with a new design, however, Google is still tasked with overcoming the myriad of privacy issues already associated with Glass. Much like self-driving cars, if Glass does catch on like Google hopes, it'll force our society to adapt and come up with an entirely new set of rules and regulations.

Security researchers from the University of Michigan have demonstrated that it's possible to hack into public traffic light systems. And as it turns out, doing so isn't all that difficult so long as you have the appropriate hardware and put in a little effort. According to the researchers' findings, a hacker can execute a denial of service attack that would cripple the flow of traffic and turn said stop light into a 4-way stop. What's more, one could modify light timings to create an even larger mess or control lights to create a clear path of travel. All of this is possible due to a trio of weaknesses in US-based traffic control systems. For starters, these systems use unencrypted wireless communication signals. Additionally, many use default usernames and passwords and finally, most use a traffic controller that has known vulnerabilities. We also have to take into account the fact that traffic lights are no longer standalone machines. Instead, they're part of an interconnected system that makes the overall flow of traffic smoother and safer. The problem with that, however, is that a hacker can access a multitude of connected lights with a single attack versus taking over just one intersection. The good news is that researchers have also identified some easy methods that can be implemented to fix the vulnerabilities but that isn't the main concern. The real problem, they say, is a lack of security consciousness in the field.

Apple is reportedly targeting September 9 for its next iPhone unveiling. While rumors of a larger 4.7-inch display seem likely, one major unanswered question is whether the company will bump up the resolution as well. New details unearthed in the latest Xcode SDK beta indicate that’ll indeed be the case. According to 9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman, certain iOS 8 files in the latest Xcode 6 SDK beta are optimized for an iPhone with a resolution of 414 x 736. As Gurman explains, the iPhone SDK parses hardware resolutions via “point values,” so the actual “Retina” resolution is in fact double whatever numbers the SDK presents. For example, the 4-inch iPhone 5, 5s, and 5c display resolution is 640 x 1136, but the SDK presents it as 320 x 568. With this information in hand it’s possible to deduct that the new iPhone could have a resolution of 828 x 1472. That equates to a 360PPI density, up from 326PPI on its current flagship, while maintaining the same 16:9 aspect ratio. The report notes Apple has also been experimenting with 3x resolutions, which in this case would result in 1242 x 2208 pixels. While that isn't out of the realm of possibility given a few phones are already hitting resolutions up to 1440 x 2560, 9to5Mac concludes Apple is unlikely to go this high if it wants to preserve battery life and a thin and light form factor in the iPhone 6. While for the average user a bump in resolution will result in more screen real estate, and perhaps some extra rows of app icons, the number is particularly of interest to developers who’ll need to update their apps for the new iPhone.

Despite being introduced by CompuServe roughly 17 years ago, the Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) is still widely used in today's connected society. Creating a GIF, however, isn't all that easy as you need to find a trustworthy online converter or third-part app to get the job done. That's no longer the case should you be interested in turning a YouTube video into a GIF. The team behind messaging app Glypic have created a super simple site that virtually anyone can use. Simply type "GIF" in front of any YouTube URL to open the unofficial web tool. For example, the URL "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak7W3dPB6PI" would become "https://www.gifyoutube.com/watch?v=Ak7W3dPB6PI" which then takes you to the GIF creation page where you can select the start time, GIF length and add a title. Simply click "Create GIF" when you have everything set the way you like and you'll get a custom URL to your new GIF as well as options to share it on several social networking sites. It's worth reiterating that this isn't an official app or service from YouTube. As such, there's really no way to tell how long the service will remain up and running - especially if it gains widespread media coverage. The site could very well crash under heavy traffic or worst case scenario, YouTube's lawyers could have the site shut down due to trademark claims.

Remember Music Pass, the yet-to-launch streaming music service from YouTube? After months of delays that ultimately resulted in the division's product manager parting ways with the company, the service may finally be coming together under a completely new name according to a report from Android Police. The publication claims the service will now be called YouTube Music Key. Furthermore, Google Play Music All Access will also be rebranded as Google Play Music Key. It may not be the best choice of names but it's better than Google's current cumbersome selection. All of this is backed up by a smattering of screenshots. YouTube Music Key looks as though it'll offer ad-free tunes, audio-only playback and offline playback from a catalog of over 20 million high-quality tracks. This is said to include complete albums organized into artist discographies as well as concert footage, covers and remixes. Users can try the service out free for 30 days. After that, it'll set you back $9.99 per month. The interesting bit here is that the price appears to include both YouTube Music Key and Google Play Music Key. The one crucial part of information that is still missing, however, is a launch date. We've heard rumors that Google has run into some content licensing issues already so perhaps those haven't been fully ironed out just yet. With any luck, we'll hear (no pun intended) something more on the matter very soon.

Last year, Microsoft's Windows Store passed the 100,000 apps mark, and by April this year, that number had climbed to over 400,000 when combining apps from the Windows and Windows Phone stores. Going by these numbers the company's platforms seems to be growing fast and big. But does big necessarily mean good? The folks at HowToGeek have given the Microsoft's application store a clear thumbs down, saying it's full of "apps that exist only to scam people and take their money". Searching for a popular app turns up a lot of garbage results on the first page. For example, look up VLC and you'll find many fake paid apps with VLC’s trademark icon. While some pretend to be VLC with an actual media player, others charge just to give you a link to download the free application. In the case of VLC there's an official app named VLC for Windows 8, which appears first in the list, but things get worse when you search for popular apps that are not officially available on Microsoft's app store. A quick comparison with Google Play Store and Apple's App Store revealed that the problem is nearly exclusive to Microsoft's Store. What's even more shocking is that unlike Google, which has a more relaxed stance on app approval, Microsoft examines each and every submission before making it available to users, suggesting that they are fine with scams in their store. So, why isn't Microsoft concerned? It looks like the company's priority at the moment is to close the app gap between its own app stores and the ones offered by Google and Apple, with quality taking the back seat.

Last month we got word that Microsoft was going on the offensive and that we could expect to see the netbook make a return by the end of the year. That prophecy is one step closer to becoming a reality today as a leaked data sheet from HP outlines a 14-inch Windows notebook with a $199 price tag. As the name suggests, the HP Stream 14 features a 14-inch display operating at 1,366 x 768 - much like what is currently found on Chromebooks. Under the hood is a quad-core AMD A4 Micro-6400T chip clocked at 1.6GHz, Radeon R3 graphics, 2GB of memory and either 32GB or 64GB of onboard storage. The system has a decent amount of connectivity options as well with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, three USB ports, HDMI out, an SDXC card reader and a webcam all included. Naturally, the Stream 14 will ship with Windows 8.1 preinstalled. And as an added bonus, Microsoft is throwing in 100GB of free cloud storage via OneDrive - good for two years. It all sounds a bit familiar, no? No word yet on when the Stream 14 will make its official debut although Microsoft revealed last month that a Windows 8 machine from HP would be ready this holiday season. We were also told at the time that Acer and Toshiba are working on devices in the $250 range powered by Intel Celeron processors.

IFA 2014 is fast approaching and in addition to the debut of the Galaxy Note 4, we can now expect to see the world's first 21:9 curved IPS monitor courtesy of LG. The massive 34-inch monitor, model 34UC97, is a widescreen affair designed for both professional users and home entertainment enthusiasts. It features a Quad HD resolution of 3,440 1,440 pixels, supports Thunderbolt 2 connectivity and is compatible with both PCs and Macs. As you may know, Thunderbolt 2 offers data transfer rates of up to 20Gbps in both directions. LG is quick to remind us that it is also four times faster than USB 3.0 and allows multiple devices to be daisy chained together. The monitor also features MAXX AUDIO with a 7w speaker system. It'll likely be no match for a quality set of external speakers or headphones but if you've got nothing else, I suspect it'll do just nicely. Hyoung-sei Park, head of the IT Business Division at LG Electronics' Home Entertainment Company, notes that many people spend more time in front of computer monitors than they do in front of TV sets and yet the industry's biggest monitor manufacturers don't seem to innovate at the same pace as TV manufacturers. The IFA trade show kicks off in Berlin starting on September 5 and runs through the 10th. If you're in the area and want to catch the 34-inch curved display in action, head over to Hall 11.2.

Electronics retailer Best Buy on Sunday put up a listing for Motorola's upcoming Moto 360 smart watch on their website, revealing its price as well as features and specs. The page was pulled shortly after the word got out. According to the listing, the device will sport a 1.5-inch backlit LCD touch screen with a 320x290 resolution at 205 pixels per inch. There's also a Texas Instruments CPU, 512 MB RAM, lithium-ion battery, and Gorilla Glass 3. Other features include a built-in optical heart-rate monitor, pedometer, voice-activated command response system, vibration alert, Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi. The smart watch is water-resistant up to 3.3 feet for up to 30 minutes, has a stainless steel case, plastic back, leather band, and will be compatible with most devices running Android 4.3 or later. The Moto 360 will retail for $249.99, which is in line with past rumors. As for availability, the big box retailer isn't saying just when the gadget will ship. A point worth noting here is that product pages haven't always been correct. This means that the details of the listing may not be entirely accurate. For more conclusive details, you'll have to wait for the official unveiling of the smart watch, which is expected to happen in Chicago on September 4th.

After being holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for nearly two years, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has announced that he will leave the place "soon", although he did not say when. He made the announcement during a press conference where he also clarified that his departure was "perhaps not for the reasons the Murdoch press are saying at the moment". There were reports that the Australian national was planning to surrender due to his ailing health. He is believed to be suffering from high blood pressure, a chronic lung complaint, bad eyesight, and a vitamin D deficiency due to a lack of sunlight. The Ecuadorian embassy had also sought the British government's permission to take him to a hospital without being arrested, but the request was denied. Assange is wanted for questioning by Swedish police for allegations that he raped one woman and molested another (both WikiLeaks volunteers) during a visit to Stockholm in 2010. He denies the allegations and refuses to go to Sweden over fears that he will be extradited to the US where he has been under investigation for WikiLeaks' release of secret US government documents. He sought political asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in 2012 shortly after the UK's Supreme Court dismissed his efforts to block his extradition. Since then, British police have maintained a constant vigil at the embassy, ready to arrest him as he steps out. The news come nearly a month after a Swedish court upheld an arrest warrant against Assange for the alleged sexual assault.

Last year, the number of smartphone shipments worldwide exceeded one billion annually for the first time, and all indications point to that number going up again by the end of this year. The smartphone market is changing considerably - manufacturers like China's Xiaomi are rising at the expense of the likes of Samsung, while BlackBerry's share of the market has completely collapsed, predicted to end this year at just 0.8%. Windows Phone isn't faring much better in raw percentage terms, at around just 2.5% of the worldwide smartphone market. But it is at least showing signs of life, with many major new apps being launched in recent months. Of course, we all know that Android is the most popular platform among users, with around 85% share, followed by iOS, and then Windows Phone in a distant third. But what are smartphone buyers actually spending on their devices? The chart above shows how handset sales are broken down by price category for each of the top three smartphone platforms, according to data provided by industry analysts IDC for Q2 2014. For both Windows Phone and Android, the majority of sales are in the low end, with 61.4% and 58.66% respectively of each platform's sales made up of devices costing under $200 at full price. iOS, of course, has no devices on sale in this category - as Statista notes, the cheapest iPhone on sale remains the three-year-old iPhone 4S, which still costs $450 off-contract. However, the overwhelming majority of iPhone sales are in the high-end category, costing $400 or more, with the remainder likely being made up of international sales of older, lower-cost devices. Relatively few of Microsoft's Windows Phone sales come in the form of high-end flagship-class devices, with just 13.7% of total platform sales comprised of handsets costing over $400. Almost a quarter of Windows Phone sales were in the $200-$400 mid-range. Sales of flagship and mid-range devices were more evenly spread on Android, with just under 20% of sales made up of devices costing $400 or more, and 21.5% of handsets priced at $200 to $400. So what are the key takeaways from this? On the Apple front, there's nothing new. We already know Apple enjoys huge profit margins on its devices, and that most of them come with a very big price tag. However, it is interesting to see how much more successful Android is in the flagship space than Windows Phone. Likewise, it is worth nothing that, despite many Windows Phone fans perceiving the platform as a more 'premium' offering, it relies more on low-cost and mid-range handset sales than Android does.

A Chinese website has posted images and battery specifications of the upcoming iPhones, taking out some more suspense from the September 9 launch event. According to the Chinese website, Apple Daily, Apple is planning to name the larger smartphone, the iPhone 6L while retaining iPhone 6 for the smaller variant. The leaked images posted by the website show the front panels of the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhones compared side by side which seem to have similar dimensions, although there is a difference in screen size. The 5.5-inch iPhone has a thinner bezel in the leaked images. It is also clear from the attached images, that the larger iPhone will feature a bigger 2915 mAh battery while the smaller one will have a 1810 mAh battery. The rest of the images show the iPhone 6's logic board, a batch of batteries and the screen assembly, which have already leaked on numerous occassions. Recent rumours have indicated that the larger iPhone will feature a more powerful A8 processor compared to the other, and this latest bit of information about the battery sizes could be an indication of the same, as the processor and screen will need the extra juice. There are plenty of things that can change by September 9 as Apple is known for last minute surprises, and we still haven't seen the iWatch, which could make things interesting at the mega event.

With Satya Nadella completing the ALS awareness Ice Bucket Challenge on Thursday and Bill Gates finishing the task Friday, only Steve Ballmer was left to take the challenge for all three current or former Microsoft CEOs to do so – and now he's done just that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xWAZ02e70wc Ballmer tweeted a video of himself taking the challenge, uploading it to what appears to be a new YouTube account with the username "SteveBClippers" (Ballmer finalized his $2 billion purchase of the National Basketball Association's L.A. Clippers this week). The former Microsoft CEO was challenged to dump a bucket of ice water on his head in the name of ALS awareness by Clippers player Spencer Hawes, and he passed the challenge on to team coach Doc Rivers, former UCLA football coach Rick Neuheisel and Hal Wright (it's not immediately clear which Wright Ballmer referred to). The video lacks the flair of Gates' all-out take on the challenge, though it is noteworthy in that Ballmer revealed it from his seldom-used Twitter account. Ballmer last tweeted from the account on May 16, when he wrote advice to USC MBA graduates after delivering a commencement speech at the school. The video's name, "WP 20140815 001," also indicates Ballmer is keeping his undying Microsoft allegiance, as it uses the Windows Phone automatic naming scheme of "WP" followed by date information.

Earlier this week, Sony unveiled plans for a software update that will hit the Playstation 4 this fall. The update will have a fairly notable feature that will allow gamers the option to virtually share games with friends, even if that friend doesn't own the title. 'Share Play' will also enable gamers the option to play cooperatively and just in case you hit a snag in a title, "pass" the controller off to a friend for help. While it seems like a ground-breaking feature for Playstation owners, it appears that the service will have limitations when it is officially released. According to GameSpot, Sony has confirmed that the 'Share Play' feature will only be available in 60 minute increments. This means that players will not be able to loan a game to a friend and have them play for hours on end undisturbed. Instead, they will have to request a title each hour, which can then be be played for multiple hours, back-to-back. In essence this does make the 'Share Play' feature a bit more tedious than previously assumed. But, since the feature won't be implemented until this fall, it gives Sony some time to make any changes that could improve the service and its offerings.

We're hearing more and more about how airlines are using widely available technologies to improve their performance, both on the ground and in the air. For example, just recently, low-cost airline flydubai deployed Windows 8 tablets for check-in staff to help them check passengers in 'on the spot' in the terminal building, rather than being stuck at a desk. As a result, the airline was able to reduce check-in times to just two minutes per passenger. Saudi Airlines too announced this week that it has launched a new business intelligence platform for its management staff and executives, bringing together multiple disparate systems into one single unified resource that brings in information from across the company, using a range of Microsoft products. As a result, the airline projects savings of millions of dollars per year. Virgin America is the latest to put technology to use across its fleet of Airbus jets. As the airline celebrates its seventh birthday this Friday, it is retiring its antiquated onboard flight management system for flight attendants and ditching its old tablets in favor of Google Nexus 7s for cabin crew. The device - which Virgin America refer to as the "CrewPad", by popular vote - is used by flight attendants to help manage the requirements and needs of the passengers. For example, a passenger can order a drink via the seat-back 'Red' in-flight entertainment touch-screen, and the order will appear on the tablet, directing a flight attendant to bring fifteen airline-sized bottles of gin to the lady in 21A, or whatever. Virgin America says that it chose the Nexus 7 because it's thin and light, and because of its generously sized 7-inch display. It also has one eye on the future though, saying that the tablets offer "the ability to constantly enhance the software and make the service even more personalized for our guests." We were certainly very impressed with the Nexus 7 when we reviewed it, and it remains one of our favorite tablets of all time. Virgin America trialed the device for thirty days across numerous flights, and deemed it such a success that it will now roll out across the fleet. The full rollout should be completed by next week.

According to well-known insider, Mary Jo Foley, Microsoft will deliver a public preview of their next operating system in late September or early October. While Microsoft hasn't confirmed what this OS will be called, it's expected to be Windows 9, codenamed internally as 'Threshold'. The "technology preview" will be available publicly, and should contain many of the features expected to launch with the OS. There's no word currently on whether it will be the only public preview of Windows 9, although as Microsoft is moving to a faster release cycle, it's unlikely we'll see as many previews as we got for Windows 8. New features that have been widely rumored to make an apperance in Windows 9 include the return of the Start menu for desktop users, virtual desktops, the ability to run Metro-style applications in windows, the removal of the Charms bar for some users, and possibly Cortana integration as well. Threshold is also expected to mark the convergence of many versions of Windows into one. For example, Microsoft will merge Windows RT and Windows Phone into one version supporting ARM-based systems. The Xbox One will also receive a major overhaul to bring it inline with the current version of Windows, and universal apps will be able to run on devices of all sizes. The final version of Windows 9 will reportedly launch in April 2015, with Microsoft opting for a shorter gap between the first preview and its launch.

Android and iOS made up for 96.4 percent of all smartphone shipments in Q2 2014, up from 92.6 percent a year ago, according to market research firm IDC. Android's market share stood at 84.7 percent, with vendors shipping a total of 255.3 million Android-based smartphones in the second quarter, up 33.3 percent year over year. This is largely due to Samsung, which accounted for 29.3 percent of all Android-powered shipments. Meanwhile, despite a 12.7 percent jump in shipments, iOS' market share was down 1.3 percentage points year-on-year to 11.7 percent. However, the situation might change in the coming months, especially with the anticipated arrival of large-screen iPhones. While Android dominated the low end market (sub $200 devices), iOS dominated the higher end. Overall, vendors shipped a total of 301.3 million smartphones worldwide in the second quarter, crossing the 300 million unit mark for the first time in history. That's a 25.3 percent jump compared to the second quarter of 2013. As for the other operating systems, Windows Phone slipped to 2.5 percent, down 0.9 points from 3.4 percent in Q2 2013, but compared to the previous quarter, it showed slight improvement. The numbers are expected to further improve during the second half of the year when numerous vendors including BLU, Micromax, Prestigio, Yezz, and more come on board. On the other hand, BlackBerry volumes have rebounded slightly from the previous quarter, but remain 78.0% lower than shipment levels from a year ago.

If you have ever wondered who to blame for why pop-up ads ever existed, it was apparently a programmer called Ethan Zuckerman. And now he wants to say "sorry. Our intentions were good." Back in the early days of the internet, Zuckerman was working for a web hosting service known as Tripod when one of its clients was outraged that its ads were appearing alongside pornographic content. So Zuckerman thought it would be a good idea if ads could pop-up in their own window and began writing the code. As many of us were unfortunate enough to experience in some way or another, pop-up ads like the ones Zuckerman first wrote took over the internet for several years after that. These days you have to dig fairly deep into the dark corners of the net to bump into anything like what Zuckerman created. Most modern browsers, as you know, stop sites from launching an overload of annoying ads and trusted websites don't generally employ tactics of this nature anymore. Initially, Netscape and Opera were among the first to introduce ad blocker tools to at least partly be rid of the horrid ads. As some have suggested, Zuckerman's pop-ups are in some ways responsible for popularizing the ad revenue business model many of the services we enjoy today are run on. The coder recently wrote a wide ranging essay on The Atlantic regarding ditching "the ad-based business model" to "build a better web."

Lithium-ion batteries power most of our devices these days but come with a number if downfalls including safety issues. Now, it appears a new manufacturing process will allow for solid state batteries to be produced that are both more affordable and more reliable than current gen lithium-ion options. While we have seen solid state batteries previously, the technological demands of it make manufacturing very expensive. Traditional lithium-ion batteries use a liquid electrolyte core which is much cheaper and easier to manufacture than a solid one. Not only is the cost of layering solid electrolyte much higher, but the process up to this point isn't very reliable with a high ratio of rejects coming off the factory line. But one of the world's biggest players in the business, Applied Materials, says it has new manufacturing equipment that will allow solid state batteries to become a reality. The company is already prototyping solid state options that can hold twice the charge as Li-ion batteries without the need for the flammable liquid core. Alongside holding a charge for longer and being much safer, the solid state options can also be produced in much smaller form factors that can be flexible or oddly shaped. These features open up a number possibilities for enhancing our mobile devices, and while Applied Materials isn't saying who is interested just yet, the company has hinted that the wearable market will likely be a good fit.

Researchers from Stanford University, working in tandem with a team from defense firm Rafael, have discovered a way to use the gyroscope found in most modern smartphones as a basic microphone, potentially opening the door to malicious eavesdropping. The gyroscope in a smartphone uses a vibrating pressure plate to measure the orientation of the device through the principles of the Coriolis effect. As it turns out, this plate can also sense tiny air vibrations caused by sound waves, and through some clever programming, an audio file can be extracted. There are restrictions to the capabilities of using a gyroscope as a microphone, though. For one, the polling rate of the sensor is limited to 200 Hz (in Android at least), meaning only sound waves up to this frequency can be detected. The human voice does fall into the 200 Hz range, but it's tricky to extract words from sounds the gyro can capture. Through special voice recognition software, the team were able to register a few words here and there, as well as the speaker's gender; not quite as good as what an actual microphone can capture. However, the project is only intended to be a proof-of-concept rather than a perfect implementation, with the team noting that they're not speech recognition experts. The main security issue that arises with using a gyroscope as a microphone is that it could be used to eavesdrop on someone without their knowledge. Smartphone apps that require the use of the microphone will display a permission request during the install phase, however there is no such permission for use of a basic sensor like the gyroscope. Some platforms, such as iOS, restrict the gyroscope poll rate to 100 Hz, making it useless for audio capture. The researchers claim there is no reason why a game should require a gyroscope access rate as high as 200 Hz like you get with Android, and recommend Google either lower the poll rate, or get apps to ask for permission to use high-rate sensing.

Hideo Kojima of Konami fame has confirmed during Gamescom that both episodes of Metal Gear Solid V, The Phantom Pain and Ground Zeroes, will be released on PC via Steam at some unspecified point in the future. The first game to hit PC will be Ground Zeroes, which debuted on PlayStation and Xbox earlier this year. The short stealth-action game is a prologue to the events in The Phantom Pain, which itself is set in the early parts of Metal Gear's timeline. The Phantom Pain is the much larger and main Metal Gear Solid V title, set for release in early 2015 on both current- and last-generation Sony and Playstation consoles. Like Ground Zeroes, the game will be powered by Kojima Productions' cross-platform Fox Engine, which should look excellent on PC based on what we've seen on consoles so far. Metal Gear games have traditionally been released on PlayStation well before other platforms, with numerous titles in the series never getting a PC release. The last Metal Gear game to see the light on PC was Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, launched this past January on Steam, just under a year after its console release. After Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots was exclusive to PlayStation 3, it's great to see the series go platform-agnostic once again.