Kristen Stewart's Shocking New Haircut

Kristen Stewart definitely does not look like Bella Swan anymore! The Twilight star showed off a cropped pixie cut during Paris Fashion Week, fans were shocked when they saw her brand new super short hairstyle. Did we mention that her hair is also a bright shade of orange?

Kristen's dramatic new look is definitely edgy, and it looks like she's playing up her natural waves with the cropped cut's piecey texture.

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Favorite Look of the Day Stars

Favorite Look of the Day:

Wednesday, June 9

Credit: Twitter
Harry Styles looked incredible rocking a turban-like headband and cool white shirt with black stripes in Barcelona, Spain. He made his look even more casual by unbuttoning a bit of his linen shirt (swoon) and rocking aviator sunglasses.

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Does Harry Styles Think One Direction Is Immature?

Even though we've already established that Harry Styles is definitely not leaving One Direction, it looks like he might be growing apart from the band! A report from Heat magazine claims that Harry thinks the other members of One Direction are immature, and hasn't been spending as much time with them.

“Harry’s quite a loner and an old soul and finds the other boys quite immature. He prefers to spend time with his security team or [his hairstylist] Lou. It doesn’t feel like he has too much in common with his band mates," a source said. Hopefully, it's just another rumor.

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Yahoo's Developing a Map Algorithm to Find the Most Beautiful Route

Yahoo's Developing a Map Algorithm to Find the Most Beautiful Route

Jamie Condliffe

Gizmodo

Sometimes you want to get from A to B as quickly as possible—but what if you want to savor the journey? Well, Yahoo has been working on an algorithm that can plot the most beautiful route, for those days when time is less of a concern.

In a research paper published to arXiv, Daniele Quercia from Yahoo Labs explains how a new algorithm could optimize directions for beauty. "The goal of this work is to automatically suggest routes that are not only short but also emotionally pleasant," she writes.

So, how does it work? Well, first Quercia and her team created a database of images, taken from Google Street View and Geograph, of the center of London. Then, they crowdsourced opinions about how pleasant the parts of town were relative to each other via UrbanGems.org: users see two images and have to choose which one is nicest. It's Hot or Not for cities.

Armed with that data, the team plotted heat maps, showing how the beauty of London varied with geographic location. From there, it was fairly straightforward to create an algorithm that found the most attractive route rather than the fastest: it searches through the possible routes typically suggested, but adds attractiveness along each one and then chooses the one with the highest score.

The results tend to be about 12 percent longer than the shortest route. In a slightly-less-than-scientific test, Quercia had 30 Londoners follow her suggested paths, and they agreed that the routes were indeed more attractive than the shortest.

The team has gone a step further, though, developing an automated beauty analysis instead of crowdsourcing it—the idea being that the  whole system could be automated and computerized. So, they took five million images from Flickr, taken in the same place as the original images they used, and mined their tags to understand what counted as beautiful.

They then applied their insight to images captured in Boston, creating a new, computer-generated beauty heatmap for the city. Then, they searched for beautiful routes through the city and once more had 54 volunteers try them out. Again, slightly unscientifically, the participants agreed the routes were more beautiful than the shortest ones.

Sure, there are issues with this work. First, beauty is subjective, and testing the algorithms isn't particularly rigorous. More than than that, beauty can vary by the day or even hour: some of these location may looks wonderful at sunset but doesn't look good during the morning rush hour, say. But small issues aside, it's a neat idea—and one that Quercia is soon to turn into an app. Get ready for your travels to get a little prettier.

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Telenor Introduces New Smart Postpaid Plans with 3G Data Bundles

Telenor has introduced new postpaid plans, specifically tailored for its 3G data users.

With new plans, there are data bundles included along with free minutes and SMS bundles. Meaning that customers opting for these new postpaid plans won’t have to subscribe to additional 3G data bundles – or SMS bundles for that matter – as both value added services are included with-in the base tariff.

If required, additional voice, data or SMS bundles – on top of basic incentives – can be opted by the customers.

Smart Postpaid Packages

Let’s go to the details of new postpaid packages:

• After consumption of free minutes
  • on-net call rate: Rs. 1.5 per minute
  • off-net call rate: Rs. 1.5 per minute
• After consumption of free SMS – SMS rates: 50 paisas per SMS
• After consumption of free internet -  2G/3G Internet Charges (per 10KB): 1paisa
• Charging pulse for voice calls: 1 minute
• 3G bundles will work on both 2G and 3G

Addons

As mentioned above, on top of these basic packages, customers can opt for various voice, data and SMS bundles. Details are as following:

Video Calls

Telenor said that it is also offering video calls for postpaid customers in areas where its 3G is available. Details are as following:

• Charging of Video Call will be done on a 5 Minutes Basis at Rs.2/5 minutes.
• A video call capable phone is required.
• Both parties need to be in 3G area and have 3G Video Call capable phone.
• Please note Hangout, Facetime, Skype and other OTT apps will be charged as per the relevant Data / Internet Rate.

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Sidney Crosby reportedly needs right wrist surgery

Sidney Crosby reportedly needs right wrist surgery

Eric Stephen

SB Nation

Pittsburgh Penguins star center Sidney Crosby is slated for arthroscopic surgery on his right wrist within the week, per a report from Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The surgery is not expected to cause Crosby, the reigning Hart Trophy winner as the NHL's Most Valuable Player, to miss any time during the 2014-2015 season, and Molinari's source said the procedure was decided on after offseason therapy didn't correct the injury:

An individual close to Crosby, who requested anonymity, said the surgical procedure "is not major, but you can't play the same way" with the kind of injury Crosby had.

Crosby had his healthiest season in years in 2013-2014, winning the scoring total with 104 points and playing in 80 games, 22 more than he played in the previous two campaigns combined. But after averaging 1.3 points per game during the regular season Crosby was held to one goal and eight assists in 13 postseason games.

The Penguins were eliminated in seven games by the Rangers in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Despite Crosby denying that he was playing hurt during the playoffs, a source told Molinari that the center "did play with a terrible wrist" during the postseason.

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Experts hack smart LED light bulbs

Experts hack smart LED light bulbs

Jane Wakefield

BBC News

Security experts have demonstrated how easy it is to hack network-enabled LED light bulbs.
Context Security released details about how it was able to hack into the wi-fi network of one brand of network-enabled bulb, and control the lights remotely.
The LIFX light bulb, which is available to buy in the UK, has network connectivity to let people turn it on and off with their smartphones.

The firm behind the bulbs has since fixed the vulnerability.
Michael Jordon, research director at Context, explained how he was able to obtain the wi-fi username and password of the household the lights were connected to.
"We bought some light bulbs and examined how they talked to each other and saw that one of the messages was about the username and password," he told the BBC.

"By posing as a new bulb joining the network we were able to get that information," he added.
"We were able to steal credentials for the wireless network, which in turn meant we could control the lights."
The LIFX project started off on crowd-funding website Kickstarter. Billing itself as the "light bulb reinvented", it brought in over 13 times its original funding target.

The master bulb receives commands from the smartphone applications and broadcasts them to all the other bulbs over a wireless mesh network.
While it had taken two experts two weeks to crack the system, the equipment they had used was cheap and readily available, said Mr Jordon.

LIFX said that it had updated its software since being notified of the vulnerability.
In a blog post, the firm said: "There was a potential security issue regarding the distribution of network configuration details on the mesh radio but no LIFX users have been affected that were are aware of.
"As always we recommend that all users stay up-to-date with the latest firmware and app updates."
Smart cities

Increasingly everyday objects are being connected to the network, a phenomenon known as the internet of things.
The number of objects that can potentially be hacked is set to rise exponentially, according to research firm Gartner.
It estimates that there will be 26.5 billion physical objects embedded with technology by 2020. It believes the industry will be worth $1.9tn (£1.1tn) by that time.

"Whereas phones and laptops have had a longer time to sort out security issues, these newer devices haven't learnt and are therefore easy gateways into hacking," said Mr Jordon.

"Security costs time and money and some manufacturers are not putting in the right level of security."
Brian McGuigan, commercial director at Silver Spring Networks, a firm providing networks for smart cities and smart lighting, said the issue of security was not limited to devices for the home as more and more of the furniture in cities was also connected to the network.

"The buyers in cities have a low understanding of security, and they need to be encouraged to leverage the security standards that have been widely used in other industries."
"The internet of things is a building block for cities but a lot of companies offering products are start-ups and under pressure to get to market quickly."

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Apple Patents A Way To Make All-Glass iPhones, iPads, Monitors And TVs

Apple Patents A Way To Make All-Glass iPhones, iPads, Monitors And TVs

Darrell Etherington

TechCrunch 

Apple has patented a method for building devices with all-glass outer casings (via AppleInsider), by fusing pieces together for a completely seamless final look. The all-glass device casings could be used to hold the internals of an iOS device, or to house a TV or monitor, too.

The all-glass structures are designed for maximum durability but also weight savings, with designs that fuse pieces together to avoid having to use a single heavy block of material, and internal structures like fused-on ribs and reinforcement points, also made of glass, placed at key points where structural integrity could be weaker.

Unlike the iPhone 4, which featured front and back glass panels, the patent would allow Apple to build completely glass-encased gadgets, which would allow for a completely different aesthetic vs. other gadget-maker’s designs. An all-glass Retina Cinema Display would certainly stand out from the crowd in terms of monitors, and an all-glass iPhone would definitely draw even more headlines than usual.

Of course, glass is still subject to impact damage and other potential pitfalls, and as with many of its other patents Apple may simply have experimented with the tech but then moved on to something else (like sapphire glass construction, for instance), but the patent does cite Apple SVP Jony Ive as one of its main inventors. Flat glass slabs are a staple of sci-fi TV and movies, after all, so maybe Apple wants to help usher that future into production

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This is what Samsung's virtual reality headset, Gear VR, looks like

This is what Samsung's virtual reality headset, Gear VR, looks like

Ben Gilbert

Engadget 

Wondering what Samsung's virtual reality headset looks like? Well stop wondering, because when it's announced at IFA 2014 later this year, it'll look something like what you see above. That's a render straight from Samsung, care of SamMobile. Our sources confirm that, while what they've seen isn't exactly like what's pictured above, it's very similar; we're guessing the render is a closer approximation to the retail model than the developer kits currently in the wild. Keep in mind Samsung still hasn't even teased the headset we detailed last month across two reports.
It remains a peripheral: You'll use it in conjunction with your phone, which plugs in via USB and acts as your screen. The hardware is built by Samsung; the software by Oculus VR -- the folks behind the incredibly impressive Oculus Rift.
Beyond the image seen above, SamMobile also says the headset will be showcased at IFA 2014 in early September. Moreover, it's named -- fittingly -- "Gear VR," like Samsung's other wearable line. The image highlights another feature we're first hearing about today: a touchpad along the right side, similar to the controls seen on Google Glass. Presumably this will help solve the issue of interaction within the headset's Oculus VR-built software, which was handled by nodding last we heard.
The report also states that Samsung will make the headset's software development kit available shortly after it's announced, just ahead of Oculus VR's first-ever dev conference. Imagine that! We wouldn't be shocked to hear that every developer at Oculus Connect walks away with a free Gear VR headset, primed for development. For now, however, the Gear VR is both widely-known, yet still officially unconfirmed by Samsung itself. But if it weren't clear enough, this thing is happening, and it's happening soon.

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Uber Caps Surge Pricing During Emergencies Nationwide

Uber Caps Surge Pricing During Emergencies Nationwide

Ryan Lawler

TechCrunch

Uber is doing away with its practice of charging exorbitant rates for transportation during emergencies in the U.S., the company confirmed today. While its new caps on surge pricing during those times were first announced through a partnership with the state of New York, the company is making the policy available nationwide.
NY Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced via Twitter (and email) that the state had reached an agreement with the on-demand ride-sharing company to limit prices during “abnormal disruptions in the market.” The deal essentially marks the end to Uber’s practice of instituting “surge pricing” during events like emergencies and national disasters.
#BREAKING: My office has reached an agreement with @Uber to cap pricing during emergencies, a thoughtful application of NY law to new #tech.—
Eric Schneiderman (@AGSchneiderman) July 08, 2014
For years, Uber has been knocked for its dynamic pricing model, which increases the fares passengers pay in periods of high demand. Typically, that will include major holidays and events like New Year’s Eve, when large numbers of people are trying to travel all at once. But it also frequently extends to regular commute times.
The problem is when Uber has instituted surge pricing during emergencies, which limits access to only those who can pay for exorbitant rates to get around. During those times, its practice of “surge pricing” constitutes “price gouging” according to New York law (see below).

New York’s law against price gouging (General Business Law §396-r), was passed in the winter of 1978-79 in response to escalating heating oil prices. It defines an “abnormal disruption of the market” as “any change in the market, whether actual or imminently threatened, resulting from stress of weather, convulsion of nature, failure or shortage of electric power or other source of energy, strike, civil disorder, war, military action, national or local emergency, or other cause of an abnormal disruption of the market which results in the declaration of a state of emergency by the governor.” During an abnormal disruption of the market, all parties within the chain of distribution of any essential consumer goods or services are prohibited from charging “unconscionably excessive prices.”

While New York was the first state to announce an agreement around it, Uber Comms chief Nairi Hourdajian tells me that the pricing caps during emergencies is new policy that is already in effect in all U.S. markets.

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Xbox One Update With Snap Mode for Achievements Due in 'Coming Days'

Xbox One Update With Snap Mode for Achievements Due in 'Coming Days'

NDTV

Microsoft on Tuesday announced the global roll-out of its latest Xbox One system software update (6.2.11274.0) will begin in the coming days. The update was first announced last month at the close ofE3 2014. The Redmond giant had also launched the Xbox Feedback site, where users can suggest a new feature, enhancements to an existing feature, or vote on ideas that others have submitted.

The Xbox One system software update (6.2.11274.0) will bring an enhanced Snap mode for achievements, double-tap to Snap, and more voice control choices in select regions.

Specifically, Snap Mode for Achievements will enable users to track and view achievements progress in real time without ever leaving the game. Also new, is the 'Search for Achievement Help' feature. Meant to help users with Achievements they are struggling with, the feature will launch Internet Explorer and deliver relevant tips and strategy content.

The Double-tap to Snap feature is another addition, and allows users to double-tap the Xbox button on the Xbox One controller to bring up Snap Center, from where they can launch Achievements or any other snap-able app. If an app is already snapped, double-tap quickly switches between the game and the snapped app.

July's Xbox One system software update also brings options for Spoken Language. Xbox One owners can now choose their preferred Spoken Language in settings to enable better voice control compatibility. This is in addition to the Country selection used to access the Xbox store. For example, someone living in the United States who has an Australian accent may now choose English (Australia) for voice control while still having United States selected for Country location.

Microsoft also announced the new functionality for content publishers to create digital bundle and disc compilation offerings in the future. Another feature announced was the ability to 'Like' Game DVR clips and activity feed items from within SmartGlass.

Finally, the Xbox One system software update in July brings some improvements to its Blu-ray player, with support for BD-R/BD-RE formats.

Last month, Microsoft released an Xbox One Update which brought external drive support real name search, Xbox Live Gold membership privileges, auto account sign-in and more.

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Android L: 8 New Features in the Next Major Android Release

Android L: 8 New Features in the Next Major Android Release

NDTV Correspondent

Android has grown from a tiny upstart to the world's dominant mobile computing platform with over a billion active users. Google isn't sitting still, though, and has just unveiled what it calls the most ambitious Android release yet. Currently known only as Android L, there's no dessert-themed codename or even formal version number yet. Android L will release later this year, though an exact date isn't known.

We hope to see new smartphones launch around the same time which take advantage of all the new features, and also updates to existing smartphones. HTC is amongst the companies committed to bringing it to its existing HTC One family, while others should announce support soon.

Here are some of the most exciting new features of Android L

Material design
Android will receive a complete visual overhaul aimed at promoting a consistent experience across Android device sizes and types. The new "Material Design" identity is bolder, more colourful, and more animated. Every transition between screens and every user interaction has been refined, down to the system-wide Roboto typeface and the Android navigation buttons.

Screen elements will be able to simulate depth, with automatic shadows and scaling, but will also inherit elements of classic magazine typography and layout. There's more emphasis on simple shapes and consistent actions that lead you from one app into another. Google's new design page offers hints of what is to come.

The change could also be aimed at discouraging third-party vendors from developing custom Android overlays which greatly deviate from Google's vision. A strong enough core UI experience could lead users to reject anything seen as inferior to it.

The Material Design identity integrates elements of responsive Web design and will extend to other Google properties including Gmail, which will be redesigned for the Web as well as mobile apps. Material Design takes into account the fact that touch, voice, mouse and keyboard are all equally important input methods, clearly illustrating goals above and beyond smartphone usage scenarios

.Improved notifications

You will be able to interact with notifications more easily in Android L. For starters, you can choose which ones show up on the lock screen and what amount of detail they'll show. You can decide whether snippets of actual messages are displayed when your phone is potentially visible to others, or whether more details will only be revealed when you unlock it. They also aren't necessarily displayed in chronological order anymore - the OS can learn which ones you're more likely to respond to urgently and prioritise those.

There's also a new type of notification altogether - Google calls these heads ups. These appear on top of whatever you're doing and allow you to take action or dismiss them immediately. These are meant to be less intrusive, and can be used for things that can't wait, such as incoming calls.

Trusted environments
Speaking of the lock screen, you'll soon be able to have your phone detect when it's in a trusted environment, which will dispense with the lock code. This could be triggered by the presence of a Bluetooth device such a smartwatch that you wear all the time, a specific Wi-Fi access point, or other factors. When the environment is deemed safe, you won't have to bother with unlocking your phone

Project Volta, battery improvements
Android L will be able to manage battery life much better, but Google's moves go beyond that to the app development stage, for which new tools have been developed that let developers track battery drain and optimise apps before they ever reach end users. The battery saver mode is similar to those implemented by third parties so far - non-essential services can be turned off or made to run only at intervals in order to save power. Android L will also be able to lower the screen refresh rate, reduce the frequency of data exchanges, or force apps to change their behaviour to match the prevailing battery state.

Google Fit
Everyone's getting into health and activity tracking, and Google is no exception. The new Google Fit framework will take Apple's Healthkit head on, tying into sensors on phones themselves as well as connected accessories to collect data which will be ready for apps to use. Major partners including Nike, Adidas, Runkeeper, HTC, Asus, LG and Motorola are already on board. Google Fit could monitor physical activity and food intake as well as health indicators such as heart rate and breathing.

Greater Web integration

There's also a change to the way individual tabs and documents in apps are handled by Android L. They'll now show up as individual entries in the Recents menu, allowing users to jump directly between them. This pulls the focus away from apps and puts it onto all the things you do with them. For example, Web apps open in Chrome tabs would appear much like native apps running on your device, and you'd be able to jump in and out of them more quickly.

Links on the Web can now also be used to launch apps instead of websites (presumably falling back to the website in case the app is not installed). For example, Google demonstrated looking up a restaurant in Chrome and then tapping a link to not only launch the OpenTable app, but also have it know that it should bring up that restaurant's booking page. Google search results can also now be links that trigger an app, rather than links to websites.

ART Runtime and Android Extension Pack
Google is ditching the Dalvik runtime which has served well for years, in favour of a new one called ART. It can make apps load and run quite a bit faster while using less RAM. ART is 64-bit compatible, and is also engineered to allow apps to work across hardware architectures such as ARM and X86. This also means that Android devices will be able to address more RAM than the 32-bit limit allowed.

With greater diversity in Android hardware obviously envisioned for the near future, the move is a welcome change. Google has worked with major hardware vendors to enable more fluid graphics, potentially paving the way for new Android-based game consoles and set-top boxes. Desktop-class graphics including tessellation, geometry shaders and texture compression will potentially be possible on Android devices.

Knox

Google also made a few announcements that indicate interesting things on the horizon for enterprise users. The company announced that Samsung's Knox feature for work and personal separation will become a part of Android itself. Knox allows corporate IT administrators to control work-related data and policies on employees' smartphones while letting the employees themselves continue to store personal data and use unrelated apps. This alleviates many of the problems with accessing secure information from mobile devices and could make Android far more attractive to businesses.

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