Geek News

Dell's XPS 13 has been one of our favorite laptops for years, and with good reason. Its compact design, brilliant display, comfortable keyboard and long battery life make it a well-rounded device. Dell wasn't content to simply offer an incremental upgrade this year, though. It has given the XPS 13 a makeover, with narrower bezels, a new cooling system and a white option with a stain-resistant coating. That sounds like a lot, but on the outside the XPS 13 doesn't appear to have changed much. At least, not when you're looking at the silver/grey version anyway. The rose gold/white edition, though, will catch your eye (for better or worse). While I'm not a fan of the new color, I appreciate that Dell found a way to keep it from yellowing or getting stained. The white XPS 13 uses a glass fiber weave with coating to prevent discoloration, especially the areas where your palms rest. During a recent briefing, a Dell rep showed me how marks from a Sharpie were easily c...

Now that the industry has settled on a spec for 5G , carriers are racing to use it -- and AT&T hopes to be one of the first. It just unveiled plans to launch spec-based mobile 5G (not the fixed-in-place kind ) to everyday consumers in 12 cities by late 2018. It's not specific about where those markets are or which devices will be the first to adopt the faster speeds, but the arrival of the 5G spec has kicked off the start of hardware development. No, AT&T isn't giving up on its not-really-5G wireless service. The provider currently has "5G Evolution" in 23 urban areas, and expects to bring it to "hundreds" of additional markets (not to mention additional devices) throughout 2018. Like it or not, there will probably a repeat of the confusion you saw when networks tried to market fast 3G as 4G , with the real 5G coexisting alongside souped up 4G for a while. The carrier isn't going to have a lot of lead time over its rivals. Sprint has committ...

Lenovo just revamped the lion's share of its ThinkPad lineup , and it's good news if you want a speedy portable that won't weigh down your laptop bag... or if you're privacy-conscious, for that matter. Its new ThinkPad X, T and L models have all made the switch to faster 8th-generation Intel Core processors while sporting slimmer, lighter bodies. The 12.5-inch X280, for example, is 15 percent thinner (0.69in) and 20 percent lighter (2.6lbs) than its predecessor. There's also a new 13-inch L-series (the L380) for people who want a no-frills pro laptop in a more portable design than the 14- and 15-inch versions. Logically, there are specific upgrade perks depending on the machine in question. The ThinkPad Yoga X360 has Active Pen and an infrared camera for Windows Hello, while the X280 has rapid charging that gives it 80 percent within an hour. And if you're using the 14-inch L480 or 15-inch L580, you now have new choices for dedicated AMD graphics. Not that ...

The Android.Fakeapp Trojan has been infecting Google's mobile platform for ages in different forms, and one of its latest variants mimics Uber's interface. According to Symantec , which discovered the new variant after looking at several, the Trojan pops up on screen in regular intervals in an effort to fool you into typing your phone number and password. When you press enter, it sends your log-in credentials to a remote server: the Trojan's creators could then use your log-in to compromise your other accounts or to sell them to fellow hackers on the black market. This Fakeapp variant doesn't stop at presenting a copy of Uber's log-in screen. To give you a false sense of security and to prevent you from becoming suspicious and changing your password too soon, it even loads a screen from the legitimate app that shows your location after you press enter. It apparently does that by deep linking to a URL in the real application that starts up Ride Request activity u...

LG made quite an impression with a range of robots at last year's CES, and it's not stopping there. Following the trial runs of its Airport Guide Robot and the Airport Cleaning Robot at Incheon International Airport, the Korean company is now expanding its family of robots -- now branded under "CLOi" -- with three new models geared towards commercial use: Serving Robot, Porter Robot and Shopping Cart Robot. These machines appear to be about the same size as the Airport Guide Robot, and you'll find a familiar pair of jade-colored eyes on a circular plate at the top. As you can tell from the name, you can expect to see LG's Serving Robot at the likes of hotels, airport lounges and maybe even restaurants, where it can deliver drinks and meals to customers using its sliding tray. It also appears to have second compartment at the top which can provide other items -- like a towel as shown in the above photo. As for the Porter Robot, it's designed to handl...

Nintendo's Miiverse is dead . However, that doesn't mean that all your message board posts have disappeared into the ether. Drastic Actions and the Archive Team have launched Archiverse , an unofficial but very thorough collection of Miiverse posts. There are roughly 133 million posts, 217 million replies, 76 million screenshots and 72 million drawings -- all told, just shy of 17TB of data. It even includes developer-specific communities and the E3 communities that Nintendo delisted. It sounds daunting, but there are ways to find exactly what you're looking for. You can search by game title or user, and you can filter posts by their content (such as drawings) or the number of "yeahs." Are you going to spend a long time browsing? Probably not. The most obvious use case involves digging up your old posts for nostalgia's sake, rather than trying to track down references to a specific game. However, this isn't so much about regular use as it is preserving ...

By now you've probably heard about a bug Intel is dealing with that affects processors built since 1995. But according to the people who found "Meltdown" and "Spectre," the errors behind these exploits can let someone swipe data running in other apps on devices using hardware from Intel, ARM and AMD. While server operators ( like Amazon ) apply Linux patches to keep people from accessing someone else's information that's being executed on the same system, what does this mean for your home computer or phone? Google's Project Zero researchers identified the problems last year, and according to its blog post, execution is "difficult and limited" on the majority of Android devices. A list of potentially impacted services and hardware is available here , while additional protection has been added in the latest Android security update . In a statement, Microsoft said: "We are in the process of deploying mitigations to cloud services a...

If you were hoping FCC Chairman Ajit Pai would answer for some of his policy decisions with his presence at CES... well, you'll be disappointed. The Consumer Technology Association has issued a brief statement saying that Pai is "unable to attend" CES 2018, where he was slated to participate in a "candid conversation" on January 9th. There's no reason given, and neither the CTA nor the FCC is willing to comment. However, it's odd to cancel at the last minute with no explanation. While it's possible that this could be related to personal matters or scheduling, it's easy to see at least one other reason. His crusade to kill net neutrality has been widely opposed by both the tech industry and the public, and he plowed forward with the plan despite ample evidence of comment fraud . Simply put, he spent the past several months antagonizing a large part of his potential CES audience -- he wasn't about to be welcomed with open arms. Click h...

The Independent Games Festival has revealed the finalists for its 2018 awards, and this year there are a few definite favorites. Infinite Fall's relentlessly witty adventure Night in the Woods is on the short list for not just the Seumas McNally grand prize, but also the narrative and visual art prizes. And to no one's surprise, StudioMDHR's almost fanatical devotion to classic cartoons in Cuphead has earned it some nods: it's up for audio and visual art prizes in addition to getting an honorable mention for the grand prize. A few other games make repeated appearances. The ridiculously silly Getting Over It , the rule-changing Baba is You and the turn-based strategy title Into the Breach are up for more than one award each. We'd also point to a few highly narrative-driven games making themselves known, such as the space drama Tacoma , the death-positive A Mortician's Tale and the deeper-than-it-seems dating sim Dream Daddy . You'll have to wait un...

Last June, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a virtual training program for first responders aimed at preparing them for an active shooter incident. Now, there's a program specifically for teachers. "With teachers, they did not self-select into a role where they expect to have bullets flying near them. Unfortunately, it's becoming a reality," Tamara Griffith, one of the chief engineers of the program, told Gizmodo . "And so we want to give them that chance to understand what options are available to them and what might work well for them." The platform, called Enhanced Dynamic Geo-Social Environment, or EDGE, was developed by DHS and the US Army and was built on Epic Games' Unreal engine . For this particular program, the developers listened to audio taken from the Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook shootings in order to make the simulations as accurate as possible. They also spoke to a mother of one of the Sandy Hook victims, according to...

If you've ever wanted a more precise analysis of your hair, if you want to add a little tech to your hair care routine, or if you just don't trust your hairstylist, Schwarzkopf has you covered. Henkel Beauty Care and its Schwarzkopf Professional brand are launching a hair analyzer that can supposedly give you a much more detailed assessment on the health of your hair. Using near-infrared and visible light sensors, the device can measure moisture level, inner hair quality and true hair color and can help your hair care professional come up with a personalized color and care plan. We've seen tech make its way into the hair care realm more and more in recent years. Withings and L'Oreal came up with a smart hairbrush that can tell you when you're brushing too hard and Dyson's Supersonic hair dryer has a microprocessor that keeps tabs on the temperature of the air it's pumping out. L'Oreal has also turned to VR in order to train new hairstylists. Schw...

Apple set a $1 billion budget to secure new original shows back in August and have quietly secured several star-laden productions since. The tech giant just acquired another series, and it's timely. Octavia Spencer ( Hidden Figures , The Help ) will star in Are You Sleeping? , a show based on Kathleen Barber's novel of the same name about a woman whose father's grisly murder is explored in a true crime podcast. Are You Sleeping? will pry into our societal obsession with true crime media like podcast Serial and show American Crime Story . Naturally, the former's creator and producer Sarah Koenig will consult on the series, according to Variety . Are You Sleeping? is created and written by Nichelle Tramble Spellman ( The Good Wife , Justified ) and produced by Reese Witherspoon's company Hello Sunshine. That makes the second Witherspoon-involved production snagged by Apple after it bought a TV drama written and created by her and Jennifer Aniston back in No...

That major security flaw attributed to Intel chips might not be so Intel-specific after all. After hours of silence, Intel has posted a response denying some of the claims about the exploit, which is believed to revolve around identifying content in an operating system kernel's protected memory space. The chip giant shot down reports that the issue was unique to its CPUs, noting that it's working with AMD and ARM (not to mention multiple OS makers) to create a solution -- sorry, you're not safe because you have a Ryzen rig. It also reminded people that the performance hit of the fix would be "workload-dependent," and shouldn't be noticeable for the "average computer user." The company also asserts that this isn't a flaw, but rather "software analysis methods" that could potentially grab sensitive info from computing devices. It doesn't appear to have the ability to corrupt, delete or modify data, Intel added, although that woul...

Samsung has never been quiet about promoting its partnerships with the Olympics (which extends to the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea), but now it's trying out new gadgets in the sports world. The company's Netherlands branch is sponsoring two Dutch short track racers and equipping them with SmartSuits -- a new sensor-packed outfit intended to augment their training. Each SmartSuit has five sensors that feed live body position metrics down to the millimeter back to the national coach's Galaxy S8 smartphone. There, a custom app ingests the data and calculates each racer's body position as they make turns on the ice. The coach can use the app to send a vibrating buzz to the suit's wrist -- say, as a prearranged signal to adjust position. These are training-only suits, so you won't see the Dutch skaters don them in PyeongChang when the Winter Games start on February 9th, 2018. They're tailor-made for each athlete, so don't expect them to show up in ...

We've found the running theme for TVs at this year's CES: built-in voice assistants . Hisense has revealed that some of its 2018 4K TVs will include Amazon Alexa, letting you control both the set itself and your smart home. You can change inputs, stream online radio or turn on your lights without budging from the couch. Hisense isn't saying much about the TVs themselves, but it does note that a 100-inch laser TV will be one of those receiving the Alexa treatment. You should hear more about Hisense's lineup by the time CES kicks off. However, it already notes that it's making "significant investments" in voice control, including a remote control, a mobile app and already-announced Alexa gear including an air conditioner and dehumidifier. Like most of its immediate rivals, it's making a big bet that AI helpers will be important across much of its product line -- TVs are just the star attractions. Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2...

Did you know that your browser can be tricked into mining cryptocurrency like BitCoin without your knowledge? Apparently, there are scripts floating around out there on various servers and website plugins that can hijack your web browser and use its CPU for mining purposes, even after the browser window is closed . Yikes. Opera version 50 releases tomorrow at 10 AM CET, and it includes with cryptocurrency mining protection built right into its ad blocker software. As TechCrunch notes, this isn't the most efficient way for folks to mine cryptocurrency, but it could be useful at scale. There are already extensions for Chrome and Firefox that block the scripts, but this is the first time a major browser enables it by default with an ad blocker. Opera added the feature in its beta release candidate for the current browser a few weeks back. Via: TechCrunch via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2lQmjd8"

I suppose it's better that the first internet-inspired meme to hit theaters will be the Slender Man instead of Grumpy Cat (whose movie was straight to video, chumps!), but creepy copypasta from the internet's teenage days sounds like a terribly thin base for, y'know, a feature-length production. But some industry exec's kid probably got spooked from a Slender Man thing once and idea-strapped Hollywood decided to spend money adapting web-bred spoopiness into a horror flick. Behold, the trailer for Slender Man . It looks...well, like a lot of the low-budget horror the film industry craps out in hopes of scoring the next Paranormal Activity . Slow tracking shots of woods with haunting music, lost girl, spooky shadows, desaturated hospital shots, quickly-edited monochrome clips of disturbing things like maggots and artificial insemination (?). And then, at the end, a shadow of the titular tall boy himself. Why not mine the dregs of late-2000s SomethingAwful forums for...

Amazon's next move in the fashion world could be a mirror that shows how outfits will look on you without you having to actually put them on. GeekWir e reports that the company has been granted a patent describing just that sort of technology. Using mirrors, screens, displays, projectors and cameras, the system is able to combine a person's likeness with virtual images and present a blended-reality reflection that shows them in a variety of virtual background settings and wearing virtual outfits. Though Amazon has been met with some resistance by the established fashion world, the company has charged forward, delivering quite a few fashion-focused products in recent years. On the retail side, Amazon has launched its own fashion label and its own Stitch Fix-like at-home clothing trial service . On the technology side, Amazon has developed an app that can tell you which of your outfits is more stylish and algorithms that can spot trends and design stylish clothing based o...

Apple's delayed HomePod is coming to challenge smart speakers from Amazon and Google. The device will use Siri as its intelligent assistant front end, and is supposed to sound pretty good to boot. Now, according to a report at 9to5Mac and confirmed on our own iPhones, Siri includes a new ability to play you a podcast when asked what the news is. The feature appears in the latest iOS beta, 11.2.5, which is available for developers now. When you ask, "Hey Siri, give me the news," you'll get a daily news podcast from The Washington Post . You can also ask Siri to use Fox News , NPR or CNN . If you activate Siri with the Home button, you'll only get a list of top headlines from Apple News (if installed) or, as noted by 9to5Mac , a list of headlines from Safari. This is how Siri operates if you don't have the new beta, too. While Apple's upcoming HomePod has physical controls, voice control will be the main way to interact with one, making this an ob...

Despite the insane stakes, this year's Blade Runner 2049 lived up to (and in some ways surpassed ) the paradigm-shifting original film. The sequel created its gritty futuristic look with the help of plenty of visual effects, but building settings isn't all the film pulled off with digital wizardry. A shocking moment comes with the kinda-return of ( *spoilers* ) Sean Young's replicant Rachel, who looks like she hasn't aged a day. The company behind that VFX trick just released a trailer giving a peek at exactly how they did it. The Moving Picture Company recreated Rachel through a combination of procedures, including bringing back Sean Young and scanning her in, combining that with archival footage from the original film to create a digital double, then animating it on top of a motion-captured stand-in actress. As Gizmodo pointed out, it's not a new series of techniques, but the company made a more convincing (and less creepy) young Rachel than earlier efforts...