Innholdsfortegnelse for #264 i Techlife News

Apple CEO Tim Cook is telling his employees to “keep moving forward.” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is saying “progress does not move in a straight line.”T-Mobile’s CEO John Legere tweeted “let’s see what an out of the box, non-typical, non-politician can do for America!” CEOs of major companies are taking stands about the results of the election - a departure from the traditional model of not mixing politics with business that major brands have long espoused. Some are using it as an opportunity to bring their employees together following a divisive election campaign. Others are using it as an opportunity to stress their companies’ values and mission, or an opportunity to make nice with Trump, who many CEOs were publicly against during the campaign. The men and women who head…

Can the venerable laptop keyboard get more touchy-feely - and in a good way? We’re about to find out. Higher-end models of Apple’s MacBook Pro now come with a narrow touch screen above the regular keyboard for quick access to common settings and tasks, while Lenovo’s Yoga Book laptop loses the physical keyboard entirely. The traditional keyboard has never struck me as needing much improvement, although people who’ve grown up on touch screens might well feel differently. These touch innovations, in fact, may mostly be aimed at luring such users to laptops. So how do the new touch features improve typing and computing? TOUCH SCREENS, NOT KEYBOARDS Many Windows laptops and tablets with physical keyboard accessories have long had touch screens. You still type primarily on a traditional keyboard, but…

FINANCE APPS FOR iPHONE, iPAD AND APPLE WATCH On the face of it, keeping your money situation in order should be pretty simple: as long as you are bringing in at least as much money as is going out, you’re in good financial shape. However, the process can actually be much trickier than this single sentence would lead you to believe. Thankfully, our iPhones and iPads are already helping us to organize and improve many aspects of our lives – so why shouldn’t we pay more attention to what they can do for preventing our cash from running too low? TAKE STOCK WITH THE STOCKS APP There are various ways we can make more money, and an obviously decent money-spinner – provided that you know what you’re doing, of course…

The Connecticut Supreme Court on Monday (14) sidestepped the issue of how social media accounts should be authenticated in criminal cases, in a ruling upholding a murder conviction. The court issued a 6-0 decision in the appeal of Derrick Bouknight, who argued prosecutors didn’t adequately prove a Facebook account they used as evidence was his. His appeal noted how easy it is to create fake accounts, hack into accounts and doctor photographs. While courts in other states have issued varying opinions on how to authenticate social media accounts, Connecticut justices instead said evidence against Bouknight was overwhelming and he didn’t prove the admission of the Facebook evidence had a substantial effect on the jury’s verdict. Bouknight, 27, is serving a 70-year prison sentence for fatally shooting a man in New…

Suicide Squad The government assembles an expendable team of the most notorious criminals to tackle a top secret mission. Their criminal history makes them perfect for the job, but will they see it that way? FIVE FACTS: 1. Suicide Squad is the first non-Batman film to star the ‘Joker’. Ryan Gosling was originally slated to take on the role, but was not willing to sign a multi-picture deal with Warner Bros. 2. Many of the cast members actually got ‘SKWAD’ tattooed to celebrate the film. Margot Robbie and Will Smith applied some of the tattoos themselves. 3. There were many people considered for the role of Harley Quinn before Margot Robbie was chosen, including Rooney Mara, Emma Watson, Emily Browning, Sara Paxton and Zooey Deschanel. 4. Will Smith took his…

Carrie Fisher has revealed that Princess Leia’s romance with Han Solo in “Star Wars” extended off-screen, as well. Fisher tells People magazine that she enjoyed an “intense” affair with co-star Harrison Ford during the filming of the 1977 blockbuster. Fisher was 19 and Ford was 33 and married at the time of what she says was a three-month affair. The actress tells People, “It was Han and Leia during the week, and Carrie and Harrison during the weekend.” She says the romance ended when shooting on the film did. Fisher writes about the fling in her new book “The Princess Diarist,” which recounts her experiences on the “Star Wars” set. She says that she gave Ford a heads-up about the book and he received a draft. A representative for Ford…

Facebook is under fire for failing to rein in fake and biased news stories that some believe may have swayed the presidential election. Its predicament stems from this basic conundrum: It exercises great control over the news its users see, but it declines to assume the editorial responsibility that traditional publishers do. On Monday, Facebook took a minor step to address the issue, clarifying its advertising policy to emphasize that it won’t display ads on sites that run information that is“illegal, misleading or deceptive, which includes fake news.”The company said it was merely making explicit a policy that was already implied. Its move followed a similar step by Google earlier on Monday, after the search giant acknowledged that it had let a false article about the election results slip into…

Ride-hailing service Lyft, the underdog rival to Uber, is getting rid of its iconic pink moustache logo and replacing it with something more useful - beacons. The light-up beacons, which Lyft calls “amps,” will be on the dashboard of Lyft drivers’ cars beginning Jan. 1 in New York, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Beacons can communicate with people’s smartphones using Bluetooth technology. In retail stores, this means guiding you to a certain shoe display, for example. With Lyft, it means having your driver’s beacon light up a specific color once he or she is near. You can have your phone light up in that same color, too, then hold it up so the driver can see you. Lyft says this will make it easier and safer for drivers…

Apple is making it easier for people to give to charities by expanding its Apple Pay payments service to nonprofits. Apple Pay is mostly known for enabling purchases at retail stores with the tap of an iPhone, although the service can also be used for online transactions on apps and websites. Apple had limited this to buying goods and services - until now. The American Red Cross, United Way and 18 other nonprofits will accept Apple Pay starting Monday. Others are coming soon. Apple Pay can speed transactions because people don’t have to re-enter card and contact information, though people need to enable the service first. Apple says that websites and apps accepting Apple Pay report seeing twice as many people complete transactions, compared with other payment methods. Separately, Samsung…

The Obama administration urged companies on Tuesday to make millions of devices safe from hacking, underscoring the risks posed by an increasingly bewildering array of internet-connected products permeating daily life, covering everything from fitness trackers to computers in automobiles. In a report obtained by The Associated Press, the Homeland Security Department described runaway security problems with devices that have been made internet-capable in recent years, a group that includes medical implants, surveillance cameras, home appliances, digital video recorders, thermostats and baby monitors. It said they posed “substantial safety and economic risks,” recommending immediate action by software and hardware developers, service providers, manufacturers and commercial and government buyers. No specific penalties were proposed for manufacturers failing to comply. No blame was placed on consumers buying and operating such products. “The growing…

Britain has approved the extradition of an alleged computer hacker who is accused of snatching data from the U.S. Defense Department, the U.S. Army and the FBI. Home Secretary Amber Rudd has authorized the extradition of 31-year-old Lauri Love, who faces 99 years in prison if found guilty on cyberhacking charges for allegedly compromising networks between October 2012 and October 2013 and stealing data. He has 14 days to appeal the decision. Love, who has Asperger’s syndrome, told the Daily Mail in an interview published Tuesday that the decision was a “kick in the gut.” He says he doesn’t “think much of my future life prospects.” Love’s father, the Rev Alexander Love, says “all we are asking for is British justice for a British citizen.”…

Google’s search engine highlighted an inaccurate story claiming that President-elect Donald Trump won the popular vote in last week’s election, the latest example of bogus information spread by the internet’s gatekeepers. The incorrect results were shown Monday in a two-day-old story posted on the pro-Trump “70 News” site. A link to the site appeared at or near the top of Google’s influential rankings of relevant news stories for searches on the final election results. Google acknowledged the problem, although as of mid-afternoon Monday, the link to “70 News” remained prominent in its results. Although Google rarely removes content from its search results, the company is taking steps to punish sites that manufacture falsehoods. In a move disclosed Monday, Google says it will prevent its lucrative digital ads from appearing on…

Hardwired… To Self-Destruct Metallica The ground-breaking, influential metal band stays on top form with its distinct brand of thrash and metal, including some amazing live performances of classics and some brand new tracks. FIVE FACTS: 1. Hardwired…To Self-Destruct marks the first studio album for Metallica in eight years, which is the longest gap between albums the group has ever had. 2. The album has been released as a double album, combining many original songs with amazing live performances of their classics spanning as far back as the Dave Mustaine period. 3. IThis is the first Metallica album since 1983 to feature zero writing contributions from Kirk Hammett. 4. Despite Metallica’s historical objections to file-sharing and music piracy, the standard version of this album was leaked prematurely onto torrent sites on…

Sticking with tradition despite a planet-hopping sci-fi setting, the latest “Call of Duty” is a conservative iteration of the annual first-person shooter franchise with safe, market-tested upgrades: a wisecracking robot, spaceship dogfights, ray guns and a scarred Kit Harington. While “Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare” (Activision, for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, $59.95) includes moments of gaming grandeur, it doesn’t surprise, shock, or deliver any major new ideas in a year that’s seen heavy competition in the ever-popular genre, including new versions of “Titanfall,”‘’DOOM” and “Battlefield.” After a surprise attack on Geneva, you play as the earnest Capt. Nick Reyes, leading a multicultural team representing the United Nations Space Alliance into battle against the Mars-based Settlement Defense Front. The straightforward war narrative hits you over the space helmet with…

Global temperatures are soaring toward a record high this year, the U.N. weather agency said Monday, while another report showed emissions of a key global warming gas have flattened out in the past three years. The reports injected a mix of gloom and hope at U.N. climate talks in Marrakech this week. “Another year. Another record. The high temperatures we saw in 2015 are set to be beaten in 2016,” said Petteri Taalas, the head of the World Meteorological Organization. WMO’s preliminary data through October showed world temperatures, boosted by the El Nino phenomenon, are 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. That’s getting close to the limit set by the global climate agreement adopted in Paris last year. It calls for limiting the temperature rise since the…

Nintendo Co. is ending sales in Japan of its Wii U home console “soon,” although it’s not saying exactly when, and similar announcements are expected in other regions. The Wii U, which went on sale from late 2012, is being replaced by Switch, set to go on sale globally in March 2017. Nintendo says it will show it to reporters in Japan on Jan. 13. The Japanese video game manufacturer behind the Super Mario and Pokemon franchises has already shipped Wii U machines for U.S. sales through March, company spokesman Kenichiro Matsuura said Friday. Kyoto-based Nintendo has scored success with the remake of its 1980s FamiCom machine, called NES Classic Edition, which goes on sale Friday in the U.S. for $59.99. Japanese have been snatching it up since it went…

A federal judge has laid out rules for how Amazon must reimburse customers whose kids made in-app purchases without permission. The Federal Trade Commission sued the Seattle company in 2014, saying it was too easy for children to spend their parents’ money while playing games on mobile devices. The agency settled similar cases against Apple and Google. All three companies now require a password for in-app purchases or an opt-in to enable purchases without a password. Seattle U.S. District Judge John Coughenour found Amazon liable last spring, but he rejected the FTC’s request for a $26.5 million penalty as excessive. Instead, he said Thursday (10) that Amazon should notify affected customers and allow them to make claims. The judge denied Amazon’s request to reimburse the customers with Amazon gift cards.…

South Korean internet giant Naver Corp. has launched a $43 million fund with Japan’s Softbank to invest in content and technology startups. The investment fund will scout for new technology and talent for Naver’s mobile services with global ambitions, the company said Monday. Naver spun off its video communications app Snow into an independent unit in August, hoping that it could replicate the success of its Line messenger app. Akin to Snapchat, Snow has been one of the most popular social media apps among young Asians since it was launched in September last year. Chiefs at two of Naver’s popular mobile services, Snow and Naver Webtoon, will join the investment fund as advisers. Softbank Ventures will run the fund, to which Naver will contribute $34 million. Kim Chang-wook, chief of…

Marvel’s mystical superhero adventure “Doctor Strange” and the musical animated release “Trolls” remained No. 1 and No. 2 at the box office for the second straight weekend, while new releases “Arrival” and “Almost Christmas” opened strongly. Disney’s “Doctor Strange” took in $43 million over the weekend, according to final ticket sales figures Monday. “Troll” followed behind with $35 million. The Amy Adams-led science-fiction thriller “Arrival” debuted with a better-than-expected $24.1 million. And the holiday-themed comedy “Almost Christmas” also landed solidly with $15.1 million. The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by comScore: 1. “Doctor Strange,” Disney, $42,970,065, 3,882 locations, $11,069 average,…

A commercial satellite capable of taking high-resolution images from space was launched last week from a military base along the California coast. The satellite known as WorldView-4 was lifted into orbit atop an Atlas 5 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base. WorldView-4 is the latest in a series of imaging satellites built by Lockheed Martin. It is operated by Colorado-based DigitalGlobe, which provides high-resolution images for government and private customers including first responders. The camera aboard the satellite is so sharp that it can spot the make of a car from nearly 400 miles above Earth, according to Lockheed Martin. It joins sister satellite, WorldView-3, which launched from the Vandenberg base in 2014. Both satellites can capture images of objects as small as 1-foot across. Friday was the ninth launch…

The sturdy stools and spongy cushions made at a factory in upstate New York are formed with fungus. Ecovative Design is a business staking its growth on mycelium, the thread-like “roots” of mushrooms. The mycelium grows around small pieces of stalks and stems to create a bound-together material that can be molded into soft packaging for glassware or pressed into the boards used for the footstools they recently began selling. “It’s like growing a tree in the shape of your furniture,” said Ecovative co-founder Gavin McIntyre. “But rather than a tree, we’re using mushrooms.” The simple stools are organic markers in ambitious efforts by researchers worldwide to commercially grow fungi, bacteria and proteins into clothing and building materials. Proponents see micro-organisms as factories of the future, displacing energy-intensive manufacturing with…

Google wants to make digitizing your many boxes of old photo prints as easy as opening an app. The PhotoScan app for iPhones and Android phones will use the phone’s camera to capture an old photo in four sections and stitch them together, much like a panorama shot. Google says this approach helps eliminate glare that can mar attempts to digitize a print by simply photographing the whole photo. The app will make minor adjustments to restore color in faded photos and to aligned corners when the photo print is bent. Julia Winn, a product manager for the new app, said scanning photos with traditional scanners takes time, while third-party digitizing services cost money and require you to part with your photos temporarily, risking loss and damage. The free app,…