Tech Hangout 2.0 #10: Nobody’s Happy in Tech
Hosts
BenRoethig
Mikel Potts
Big News
Most important news stories of the week
AT&T to Pay $100 Million for Throttling
- AT&T has fined $100 million for throttling unlimited data customers.
- Says they did not disclose the policy in violation of the Open Internet transparency rule
- Will require AT&T to change practices to meet those rules
- AT&T will challenge the complaint.
LastPass Gets Hacked.
- Password Manager LastPass has been hacked
- Email addresses, passwords, reminders, salts, and hashes were accessed
- data is highly encrypted according to LastPass
- users are being required to change their master password.
- LastPass is cloud-based.
Samsung’s Keyboard has Vulnerability
- Samsung also has a security breach
- Found by Security Researcher Ryan Welton
- resides in Samsung’s version of SwiftKey
- looks for new languages unencrypted
- It’s possible to create a proxy server to false validation to upload malicious code
- Not only allows hackers access to data, but could install malicious apps and access phone functions as well
- keyboard cannot be uninstalled
- Vulnerability not part of mainstream Google Play or Apple App Store versions
- owners of samsung devices are urged to either stay away from unsecured networks or stop using the device altogether
Zero Day Exploit found in Apple’s Sandboxing
- Weakness found in inter-app communications system on OS X and iOS
- Found by a 6-person combined team from Indiana University, Georgia Tech, and Peking University in China.
- called XARA weakness
- Used to steal keychain data
- could also steal data from icloud, gmail, Dropbox, 1Password, Evernote, and many others.
- Apple was notified back in December and asked for a six-month disclosure window
Twitter Loses CEO, 140 Character Limit in DMs
Additional Coverage 1
Additional Coverage 2
- Twitter CEO Dick Costolo is leaving Twitter
- Will be replaced in the interim by Twitter founder and Square CEO Jack Dorsey
- A search for a permanent CEO will be performed by the board.
- Twitter also announced it was working toward removing the 140 character limit in Direct Messages
- will also institute autoplay for videos…. even on cellular
- users will have options to set Twitter to autoplay only on Wi-Fi or turn it off altogether.
Apple
News about iOS, Macs, Apple TV, Apple watch, etc
Apple News Terms Unpopular for Publishers
- There is controversy over the terms and conditions of Apple’s News App
- Opt out of the terms is handled only by replying ‘no’ to an email. Not replying means an assumption of agreement with the terms
- There’s some question of whether the terms could be held up in court without a formal agreement to the terms
- terms themselves are pretty standard about content rights.
- Apple has also not told publishers in Newstand about the status of their apps.
Record Companies to Get 70% of Paid Apple Music Revenue, 0% of Free Trial
Additional Coverage
- Music labels to 71.5-73% of paid content in Apple Music
- labels Unpaid during 3-month free trial
- Independant labels in the UK are not agreeing to the terms
- Their Lobby Group UK music has said this free trial will put them out of business.
Continuity to Go Cellular in iOS 9
- iOS will further enhance continuity
- Will no longer require Wi-Fi.
- Can relay a call or message on your cellular network to your laptop on Wi-Fi
- cellular must have carrier support
- T-Mobile only US carrier to announce support
Windows Corner
News Microsoft Products
Stephen Elop Out at Microsoft in Major Shuffle
- Shakeup at Microsoft
- Includes both team shakeups and executives leaving
- Stephen Elop, former Nokia will will be one of the executives out of the company
- Devices group is being merged into the Windows group under Terry Myerson
- Devices group included Xbox, Lumia, Surface, Holo Lens, and the Surface Hub
- Kirill Tatarinov, Eric Rudder, Mark Penn, and long time Nokia employee Jo Harlow are also out
Misc Tech
anything that doesn’t fit above
Sony Launches A7R MKII Camera
- Sony has announced the A7R II camera
- 42.4mp Full-Frame 35mm sensor
- sensitivity up to ISO 102,400
- sensor is backside illuminated
- 5-axis stabilization
- 30fps 4k video without pixel binding
- $3200
- Ships in August
TV, Web, and Comics
If something happened in hollywood or print, talk about it here.
Jurassic World Earns over $500 Million. Biggest Opening of All Time
- Jurassic World made $525 million, $208 million in the US
- Top grossing weekend of all time
- beat the Avengers in the US and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow Pt.2 Internationally
Punisher Joins Marvel’s MCU in Daredevil
- Jon Bernthal has been cast at Frank Castle, aka the Punisher
- Will appear in the 2nd season of Netflix and Marvel’s Daredevil
- Punisher is a former Marine and NYPD Detective who becomes a violent vigilante after his family is killed
- Differences in opinion often lead the Punisher into conflict with Daredevil
- Jon Bernthal was previously Shane on the Walking Dead
Gaming
Computer, console, mobile, or tablet top gaming news
Microsoft Announces Backwards Compatibility for Xbox One; $150 Controller
- Xbox One will gain backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 games
- About 100 games are compatible
- through an emulation level
- games bought through online store will be automatically available if compatible.
- Disk games will require disk to be inserted for verification
- Microsoft also announced the Xbox One Elite Controller
- For Xbox and Windows 10
- customizable
- $150
Nvidia Buys Porting Technology from TransGaming
- Nvidia has bought game porting technology from Nvidia
- Previous partnership resulted in several Valve Windows games ported to Android
- will report to Nvidia’s Gameworks division
- Transgaming’s Cider technology has also brought a number of Windows games to the Mac.
- No word on how this effect the Mac Porting business
Picks
Each brings an item, app, device, show, etc they want to talk about