Google's setting Photo Spheres and Street View images free from Maps

Google's setting Photo Spheres and Street View images free from Maps

It looks like soon enough we'll be seeing Street View pictures and those spiffy Photo Spheres making their way from Google Maps and onto our favorite websites. How's that, pray tell? An update to Mountain View's Maps Embed API (targeted at web developers) is setting those images free, naturally. The search giant says that this previously was an omission from the last API release, and that it was spotted by a Developers blog reader. Google also says there won't be any usage restrictions on the embeds either, so hopefully we'll get more 360 degree panoramas in various places sooner rather than later. If and when the average Joe will get this access, however, remains to be seen.
Google Developers

By

Timothy J. Seppala

Engadget

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Apple, Xiaomi trade smartphone barbs in China

Apple, Xiaomi trade smartphone barbs in China

 

Top executives from US technology giant Apple and Chinese smartphone upstart Xiaomi traded light-hearted barbs on Thursday at a Chinese Internet conference, acknowledging the fierce competition between the rivals.

Apple's iPhones and iPads are wildly popular in China, encouraging smuggling and crowds at the company's stores as consumers try to lay their hands on the latest products.
Yet Apple stood in sixth place in China's fractured smartphone market with only a 6.9 percent share in the March-June period according to consultancy Analysys International, while Xiaomi -- which was only established four years ago -- ranked second with 13.5 percent.

Bruce Sewell, Apple's general counsel and senior vice president of legal and government affairs, told a panel discussion at the World Internet Conference that there are "many good competitive phones in China" in a nod to Xiaomi founder Lei Jun, sitting alongside him.

But when asked about Lei's previous claims that Xiaomi will become the world's market leader in smartphones, he said: "It is easy to say, it is more difficult to do," to laughter and applause from the audience in Wuzhen.
Lei shot back: "In this magic land, we produced not only a company like Alibaba, but a small miracle like Xiaomi."

Alibaba founder Jack Ma was also onstage, fresh from the listing of his company on the New York Stock Exchange, the world's biggest initial public offering to date.
Xiaomi phones boast processors that use Google's Android software and sleek designs which some say mimic top Apple models.

But they compete at a different price point, selling at a fraction of the cost of a Galaxy S5 from market leader Samsung, or the latest iPhones.

AFP
Wang Zhao

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Hackers turning smartphones into slave armies!

Hackers turning smartphones into slave armies

Mobile security firm Lookout on Wednesday warned that Android-powered smartphones or tablets are being targeted with malicious software that puts them at the mercy of hacker overlords.

The persistence and sophistication of malware dubbed NotCompatible is another sign that cyber criminals are hitting smartphones and tablets with tactics and tenacity once reserved for desktop computers, according to Lookout security researcher Jeremy Linden.

"Mobile is becoming the dominant computing platform and, because it is so ubiquitous, we are seeing heightened malware targeting it," Linden told AFP.

"Mobile malware is becoming very advanced and rapidly reaching parity with PC malware."

Information that can be mined from hacked smartphones includes where people have been, pictures taken and call logs.

"It is the jackpot when it comes to valuable data, so obviously bad guys are doing a lot of work to get at it," Linden said.

So far, it appears to Lookout that control of smartphones and not pilfering what they hold is the primary use of NotCompatible.

Armies of enslaved mobile devices are used for sending spam hawking goods such as diet pills, or snatching up hot concert tickets when they go on sale so they can be scalped later at higher prices, according to Lookout.

Hackers operating networks of infected mobile devices likely rent out the "botnets" for uses such as unleashing barrages of email ads and attacking websites.

The most common way for the virus to get on a smartphone is by visiting legitimate websites that have been hacked and then booby-trapped to secretly infect visitors, Linden said.

NotCompatible typically introduces itself as an Android system update and asks for permission to install in mobile devices. One way to safeguard against infection is to decline such prompts and go through smartphone settings to check for system updates.

The malware has grown in sophistication since it was first detected in 2012, adopting measures to elude detection by researchers and adding the ability to endure even if servers being used by hackers to control it are taken down, according to Lookout.

Those behind NotCompatible were said to be running it like a savvy business operation, and are doing well enough to invest heavily in beefing up the back-end on which the malware relies.

"While it is true we haven't seen any data stealing, you don't want anything like this on your device," Linden said.

"You are adding to the general danger of the Internet by letting an attacker use your network for something unsavory, and you could be responsible for any data plan charges."

If people use infected smartphones on the job, there is risk the virus could provide openings for hackers to slip into company networks.

AFP

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Motorola's smart fob will find both your keys and your phone

Motorola's smart fob will find both your keys and your phone

Motorola isn't done releasing small yet convenient accessories this year, apparently. It just unveiled the Keylink, a Bluetooth key fob that helps you find both your smartphone and your keys. If you lose your phone between the seat cushions, you can push a button on the Keylink to make it ring from as far as 100 feet away; if your keys disappear, you can use Motorola's Connect app to make the Keylink sound off. It plays nicely with both Android phones and iPhones, and it'll also serve as a trusted Smart Lock device if you're using Android 5.0 Lollipop -- you may never have to unlock your phone so long as your keys are nearby. The Keylink is relatively costly for a narrow-purposed device at $25, but the price might be justifiable if you periodically misplace your gear.

By

Jon Fingas

Engagets

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Amazon recruiting drone pilots

An opportunity for drone pilots!

Amazon  is looking for engineers to help test and develop Prime Air, its drone delivery service.

According to the job posting, candidates should have at least five years of experience flying drones. It helps if you can fly actual airplanes. The company lists a pilot's certificate among the "preferred qualifications" for the job.

Amazon first announced that it was working on delivering packages via drones last year.
The type of drones proposed by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos are currently not allowed for private use under federal law.
But federal aviation rules are slated to change in 2015 and the company has suggested that it could start testing its "octocopters" -- as its drones are called -- to deliver small packages.

Amazon is also looking for candidates who are knowledgeable about laws governing the use of unmanned aircraft.
"We're looking for aerospace, systems, or other engineers with extensive UAS flight experience, and preferably experience in working with authorities on UAS certification," the job description states.

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Get ready developers! Apple launched its WatchKit

Apple Watch App Development

The Apple Watch is still months away, but developers can start writing apps for the wrist starting today.

Apple  released its WatchKit software to developers on Tuesday. It allows app makers to create Apple Watch notification features for their mobile apps, including vibrations and on-screen notifications.

Active notifications are alerts that wearers can respond to directly from the watch screen. Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom says that Instagram Apple Watch notifications will let users see and like a photo or leave an emoji comment.

Glances are another type of notification that just flash on the screen, like breaking news or appointment reminders. American Airlines (AAL) is going to show Glances for flight times and other travel updates.

Developers cannot yet create apps that run exclusively on the watch, although Apple says that will be allowed later in 2015. The watch is expected to be released early in the year, so there will be a period of time when the device will only run Apple apps.

The company previewed some of its own apps when it unveiled the watch in September, including a new kind of messaging app that lets you communicate with doodles, vibrations and your heartbeat.

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Calum Worthy Sticks Up For Taylor Swift

INSTAGRAM

Disney's Austin & Ally actor Calum Worthy is a big fan of Taylor Swift, obviously! Calum took to Twitter to warn everyone that they should not say anything mean about the 1989 singer, or else they won't get invited to his birthday party in January - yikes!

"I'm not the person who obsesses over celebrities but ANYONE WHO DISSES @taylorswift13 CAN FORGET ABOUT AN INVITE TO MY BDAY PARTY!! #swifty"

Taylor has been dissed in the media recently by artist Diplo, but her BFF Lorde was sure to stick up for her just like Calum and diplo needs to stop this.

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WATCH DOGS HITS WII U THIS WEEK WITH TWO DLC PACKS

WATCH DOGS HITS WII U THIS WEEK WITH TWO DLC PACKS

Watch Dogs will get two downloadable content packs via the eShop when hits the Nintendo Wii U on November 18 in the U.S. and November 20 in Europe.

The Conspiracy DLC involves an in-game augmented reality mission and will be available on the European eShop for €4.99 / £3.99 / CHF5.90. The Access Granted pack consists pre-order bonus content of new outfits, skills and three contract missions for €6.99 / £5.49 / CHF8.60. We have reached out to Nintendo for prices in other regions.

Watch Dogs on Wii U will not receive the Bad Blood DLC that rolled out to other platforms in September. The DLC offers players the chance to take control of the character of Raymond "T-Bone" Kenney for the first time.

The action title first launched worldwide May 27 for PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Since its release, where we gave it an 8.4 review, Ubisoft shipped more than 8 million copies of the game.

By Jenna Pitcherign

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It’s Official—iOS 8 Is Apple’s Buggiest Release to Date

It’s Official—iOS 8 Is Apple’s Buggiest Release to Date

When Apple first released the iPhone 6, we were struck by the surprisingly persistent and numerous bugs in iOS 8. Almost all review units (from any company, not just Apple) are thoroughly tested, vetted, and hand-selected as being the best representation of that product. You don’t want a reviewer accidentally ending up with a blemished, defective phone. Bad publicity. So using an iPhone that rebooted itself and got hung up on the keyboard was surprising indeed. 

We weren’t alone in that sentiment. WIRED saw similar bugs on the iPhone 6 Plus. Other reviewers pronounced it Apple’s buggiest release yet, and Apple pundit John Gruber wrote “it seems like Apple’s software teams can’t keep up with the pace of the hardware teams” before talking more about getting stuck in an endless reboot cycle. 

Turns out it wasn’t just in our heads: Data from app performance monitor Crittercism showed iOS 8’s crash rate was 60 percent higher than iOS 7 during their respective first months on handsets. 

“I find myself at once impressed by the overall quality of iOS, and surprised by the seemingly obvious problems that have recently made it past QA,” Red Sweater Software founder and ex-Apple software quality engineer Daniel Jalkut told WIRED via email about iOS 8. Jalkut shed some light on how bugs can slip through:

“Some bugs, like the HealthKit problems that botched iOS 8.0’s debut, and the problems with 8.0.1, were clearly issues that Apple had not identified, or they would have found a way to fix them before releasing. Other, less dramatic issues could really come down to a manager at Apple being hard-pressed to meet a deadline and “punting” (that’s a common term used in reviewing bugs at Apple) the problems down to the next release, or even later.”

This is something that obviously happens with every major software release. But with iOS 8 more slipped by than in any other iOS version before it.

The Reports

Looking at past bug reports seemed like a good way to better understand whether iOS 8 was actually “buggier.” Anecdotally, it’s difficult to quantify how many bugs each iOS version has. There are forum threads upon forum threads , posts upon posts outlining all the issues iOS users have experienced through the years. Some affect hundreds or thousands of users, others, less than a dozen (Take, for example, Bendgate : Despite wide publicity, the issue only affected a small number of iPhone 6 Plus owners). 

“We expect perfection, and when we don’t get it, we tell the world,” Matt Johnston, chief strategy officer at app testing and analytics firm Applause, told WIRED. Everyone is holding a digital megaphone thanks to social media. “Even the best software companies stumble, and when they do, users will air their dissatisfaction far and wide.”

And knowing, from reports and forum discussions, that the bugs experienced by an iPhone owner can very dramatically from handset to handset, we couldn’t just go off our personal OS issues, either.

So we turned to Apple’s official Support pages on iOS updates for an objective perspective on iOS bug fixes. These outline the additions and bug fixes for each version (like this one for iOS 8.0.2 or this one for iOS 6.0.1). Counting items that were clearly bug fixes or improvements that resolved issues (rather than ones that added a new functionality or feature) as a metric, iOS 8, to start with at least, wasn’t all that different from past launches. 

It had the same number of bugs as the launch of iOS 6: 8 issues fixed in the .0.1 update (which was quickly pulled in the case of iOS 8), and one more tacked on in the .0.2 update. Fewer bugs were addressed initially in iOS 7, but it had 8 to 9 bug fixes in its late October 2013 7.0.3 update. Over the course of their whole existence, iOS 6 had approximately 21 total bug fixes, while in iOS 7, that number climbed slightly to 27. 

Chronologically, these updates are coming faster and faster. If you look at the timeline for Apple’s iOS updates, some general trends start to emerge: Apple is rolling out updates to iOS a lot quicker after the initial OS launch. For example, the first OS update to iOS 5 was about a month after launch; the first to iOS 6, a month and a half later; while iOS 7 had four updates from its September 18 debut through mid-November. More bugs are being addressed through these updates.

About a month and a half into iOS 8: We’ve had four updates (8.0.1, 8.0.2. 8.1, and 8.1.1), and we’re officially at 23 listed bug fixes through iOS 8.1. But with iOS 8.1.1, which just went live Monday, Apple doesn’t site specific bug fixes, but rather a general “This release includes bug fixes, increased stability and performance improvements for iPad 2 and iPhone 4s.” It’s not a leap to assume that “bug fixes,” plural, refers to at least two to three fixes, and that stability updates to older iOS devices could bring that number to at least five. That officially makes iOS 8, thus far, the buggiest iOS yet.

A Fuller Picture

Obviously, straight numbers don’t paint a complete picture of what’s going on.

At the same time that bug numbers are rising, iOS has grown into its most complex, advanced iteration yet , and Apple’s vastly expanded its hardware offerings, too. Instead of a singular iPhone on one carrier, Apple now sells four iPhone models and supports six; sells five iPad models and supports eight; and it sells the fifth-generation iPod touch, too. On top of that, the iPhone and iPad are available on hundreds of different carriers worldwide. That in itself is good reason why there could be more bugs Apple has to fix in iOS 8 than in the past. 

But there are other factors too. Starting with the fourth generation iPad (the first with Retina display) and iPad mini, Apple switched the iPad launch date to late fall, following its annual iPhone launch. With this change, it makes sense that the past few years would show a quicker rollout of bug fixes towards the beginning of the iOS life cycle, as iOS may have to be updated to support new hardware models.

Apple could also simply be addressing more bugs than it was able to in the past, fixing smaller issues that affect fewer people, rather than only Antennagate -level woes. Apple’s Support pages don’t say how many people are affected by each bug fix. 

However, with an increasingly complex OS and hardware, it doesn’t help the bug issue by launching both at the same time each year.

The Price of Fast-Paced Hardware/Software Releases

Throwing new hardware and software out at the same time, as Apple does with iOS and iPhone launches, is potentially great for users and sales, but adds more variables to the mix for developers and testers who have to make stuff “just work,” Johnston says. Some have posited that if Apple slowed up its yearly production cycle, unbundling the launch of a big new OS with a big new piece of hardware, Apple could do a better job of preventing bugs from sneaking into final builds. But that could impact Apple’s competitiveness in the fast-paced mobile market.

“I see [Apple's] challenge as one in which they have to try to balance striving for utmost quality with the fact that competitors are coming up with new phones and OS updates that threaten to upend Apple’s relatively strong position,” Jalkut said.

Slowing its product cycle could also impact Apple’s already fragile perception as a leader of innovation. With this in mind, and all those investors to please, it seems unlikely Apple would do that. 

And so Apple’s entwined itself in a production cycle that includes shipping with some known bugs and addressing them rapid fire in subsequent platform updates. We are, it would seem, seeing more bugs in iOS than we used to—at least at the outset. With our expectations rising, the richness and complexity of iOS growing at an exponential rate, and a completely new form factor on the horizon , it’s going to be a tough trend to reverse. Perhaps in iOS 9, Apple will be able to reel in more bugs before they hit user’s devices. But as for iOS 8, we’ve probably only seen a fraction of the bugs it’s going to experience over the next year. 

By Christina Bonnington

Wired

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Messaging App Viber Takes A Step Into Social Networking With New Public Chats Feature

Messaging App Viber Takes A Step Into Social Networking With New Public Chats Feature

A lot of messaging apps have been highlighting how their services are a great way for people to directly communicate with their friends directly, in opposition to the bare-all nature of social networks like Facebook. But today Viber, the messaging app with 209 million users, is taking a different approach: it is launching Public Chats, giving users a way of using its direct messaging and voice services app to broadcast to the world at large.

Public Chats will see the introduction of live conversation streams — from celebrities, or as CEO Talmon Marco told me, other interesting people “like taxi drivers!” — that will be open for any follower to see, but not necessarily participate in. Users will only be able to jump in and talk in Public Chats if the account in question is in their contacts. 

(And then, those comments will become a part of the public stream.) 

It gives Viber, which was acquired by Japan’s Rakuten earlier this year for $900 million, a little social media spin, and at the same time helps differentiate it from the rest of the crowded messaging app pack, which is led by the likes of Facebook (Messenger: 500m users; WhatsApp: 600m); but also includes a number of other very popular apps like WeChat (600m users); Line; and many more.

Public Chats is launching with a list of “global celebrities” signed up, including Perez Hilton, YouTube sensation Tyler Oakley, singer-songwriter Pixie Lott, international DJ Paul van Dyk, digital fashion innovators Next Model Management, European football channel COPA90. 

Speaking while in New York for one of the two events that Viber organised to announce this news (in NYC and London), Marco tells me that it’s been optimised first for Android devices but will work on other native Viber apps, versions 5.0 or higher. You select the Public Chats bar from the main menu, then the “compass” icon to find a list of available Public Chats to follow, then you follow them.

Marco would not comment directly on whether any of Public Chats’ early adopters are getting paid to be on the service but the process at least made it sound like some of them were signing up as another way of extending their social media reach to those who opt to use Viber as their communications platform of choice. 

“We spoke with a bunch of people and some offered to participate,” he said. “Generally we are looking for those who can create interesting chats — not just celebs but others like taxi drivers or bloggers, people whose conversations we feel would be interesting.” And, presumably, okay with having their conversations, or a part of them, made public for 209 million people to see. 

Right now, there is no option for everyone to enable their streams to become part of the public mix but those who feel their chats are Public Chat-worthy can email [email protected] and “We’ll take a look at it,” he says. “Our intention is to open the service more after it is rolled out. As a beta product we want to have greater control at first.” 

For Viber, the motivation for doing this is two-fold. It’s about using popular people to bring more engagement to Viber, and more new users to the platform. But it’s also about differentiating itself from the mass of other messaging services out there.

“This is not Twitter,” he says. “The idea is that if you know Pixie Lott, she can add her to your Public Chat and the world can see” what you say to her, and what she says back to you.

To be clear, this is not about Viber finding ways of serving ads, Marco insists. Unlike Snapchat, which is pushing ahead on its advertising services, “We are not,” he says. “This is just additional content on Viber. There will be no ads in in Public Chats.”

Interestingly, that doesn’t preclude deals that brands might cut directly with Public Chatters, similar to what happens in Instagram or Twitter with certain stars using their feeds to promote certain products. “Of course, you can put in an ad if you want for, say, Coca-Cola. But it’s your content, your chat, and we are never going to introduce things like that ourselves.”

By Ingrid Lunden

TechCrunch 

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Snow blankets parts of New York; US feels chill

Snow blankets parts of New York; US feels chill

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A ferocious storm dumped massive piles of snow on parts of upstate New York, trapping residents in their homes and stranding motorists on roadways, as temperatures in all 50 states fell to freezing or below.
Even hardened Buffalo residents were caught off-guard Tuesday as more than 5 feet fell in parts of the city by Wednesday morning. Authorities said snow totals by the afternoon could top 6 feet in the hardest-hit areas south of Buffalo, with another potential 1 to 2 feet expected by Thursday.
Cold weather enveloped the entire country Tuesday, leading to record-low temperatures more familiar to January than November. Racing winds and icy roads caused accidents, school closings and delays in municipal operations from the Midwest to the South even where snowfall was low or mercifully absent.

Erie County officials said a 46-year-old man was discovered early Wednesday in his car, which was in a ditch and buried in snow in the town of Alden, 24 miles east of Buffalo. Tt was unclear how he died.
On Tuesday, county officials said four people had died, including three from heart attacks and one who was pinned beneath a car he was trying to free from the snow. Two of the heart attack victims were believed to be stricken while shoveling snow.

The storm was blamed for at least seven deaths in New York, New Hampshire and Michigan.
"We have tried to get out of our house, and we are lucky to be able to shovel so we can open the door," said Linda Oakley of Buffalo. "We're just thinking that in case of an emergency we can at least get out the door. We can't go any further."

The snowstorm forced motorists in 150 vehicles, including a women's basketball team, to ride out the onslaught in their vehicles. They waited for hours to be freed, with some waiting more than a day. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo deployed 150 members of the National Guard to help clear snow-clogged roads and remove abandoned vehicles.

By early Wednesday, a Thruway official said most but not all passenger vehicles had been cleared.
Members of the Niagara University's women's basketball team were among the lucky ones. Stranded since 1 a.m. Tuesday, team members tweeted photos of a plow starting to clear the road. A few hours later, state troopers picked them up and brought them to a nearby police station where another bus was waiting to take them back to campus, Niagara guard Tiffany Corselli said.

"It seemed like a nightmare. It just didn't feel like it was going to end," Bryce Foreback, 23, of Shicora, Pennsylvania, told The Associated Press by cellphone 20 hours into his wait for help. "I haven't slept in like 30 hours and I'm just waiting to get out of here."
Foreback had become stuck in a long line of cars near the Lackawanna toll booths just south of Buffalo about 10:30 Monday night.

The lake-effect snow created a stark divide: In downtown Buffalo and north of the city, there was a mere dusting of precipitation, while in the south parts, snow was everywhere. The snow band that brought the snow was very much evident throughout the day as gray clouds persistently hovered over the southern part of the city. The band was so apparent, that the wall of snow could be seen from a mile away.

In a region accustomed to highway-choking snowstorms, this one is being called one of the worst in memory. Snow blown by strong winds forced the closing of a 132-mile stretch of the Thruway, the main highway across New York state.

In New Hampshire and elsewhere, icy roads led to accidents. Lake-effect storms in Michigan produced gale-force winds and as much as 18 inches of snow, and canceled several flights at the Grand Rapids airport.

Schools closed in the North Carolina mountains amid blustery winds and ice-coated roads. In Indiana, three firefighters were hurt when a semitrailer hit a fire truck on a snowy highway.
In Atlanta, tourists Morten and Annette Larsen from Copenhagen were caught off-guard by the 30-degree weather as they took photos of a monument to the 1996 summer Olympics at Centennial Olympic Park.

"It's as cold here as it is in Denmark right now. We didn't expect that," Larsen said, waving a hand over his denim jacket, buttoned tightly over a hooded sweatshirt.

By CAROLYN THOMPSON
Associated Press 

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Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2014: Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande Are Performing

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2014: Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande Are Performing

The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show lineup has just been announced, and Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran, and Hozier are all on the list!

This isn't the "Shake It Off" singer's first time performing the event, but Ariana seemed super-excited to make her first appearance there.

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