Geek News

Microsoft Garage makes all kinds of mobile apps for iOS and Android. Some, like the Hub keyboard for iPhone, are experiments; others, like the News Pro app , are a bit more long-term. The team's most recent foray into mobile apps is Photos Companion , an app that easily moves photos from your phone to your Windows 10 PC over WiFi. According to Microsoft , when its Photos app was redesigned in 2017, the product team headed out to various US and European classrooms to see how teachers were incorporating videos and images into their curriculum, and to encourage them to use the app. The biggest issue wasn't the app itself, the team found, but the hassle of getting media from smartphones to classroom PCs. The new app was created to help kids get content from multiple phones into one project PC, from which they could assemble their multimedia presentations. With the Photos Companion app on your iOS or Android phone, you just scan a code on your Windows 10 Photos app, then sele...

Sony thinks its holiday PlayStation VR discounts were a success, so it's bringing them back now that it wants to clear some end-of-winter stock. The company is running a new promo that drops PSVR prices by $100 across the board between February 18th and March 3rd. The sweetest deal by far is the Gran Turismo Sport bundle -- you can get the racing game, a PSVR headset and the requisite camera for $200. You can also buy just the headset for $200, although that won't make much sense unless you just can't find the GTS pack. There are similar price cuts for the Doom VFR and Skyrim VR bundles to a respective $300 and $350. You'll definitely want the Skyrim kit if you want the full experience, since it includes the Move controllers in addition to the camera from the other two bundles. This isn't exactly a long-lived sale, but it's worth considering if you have a PS4 and want to dip your toes into the VR waters. Source: PlayStation Blog via Engadget RSS Fee...

A growing number of Coinbase customers are complaining that the cryptocurrency exchange withdrew unauthorized money out of their accounts. In some cases, this drained their linked bank accounts below zero, resulting in overdraft charges. In a typical anecdote posted on Reddit, one user said they purchased Bitcoin, Ether, and Litecoin for a total of $300 on February 9th. A few days later, the transactions repeated five times for a total of $1,500, even though the user had not made any more purchases. That was enough to clear out this user’s bank account, they said, resulting in fees. “My bank account went from very comfortable to negatives balance, not to mention extra $5 charges, and overdraft fees,” the user wrote. “As a result my rent... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2EJ6oYJ"

The New York City Toy Fair is this weekend, and a company called WowWee has a new game to show off called What’s That Smell? Yup. What is What’s That Smell? As you might assume, players have to smell a scratch-and-sniff card and guess the smell. It could be poop! It could also be garbage, bacon, grass, or rotten fish. The game comes with 48 “mystery whiff” cards. Players have to guess the smell under a certain amount of time — up to five minutes depending on what setting you choose — and receive points if they guess certain other smells. So for the apple card, you’d get five points for saying apple, but you could get two points for saying strawberry. Close enough! The game also complements a companion iOS / Android app that provides... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2nZj98b"

The Steam Lunar New Year Sale starts now, celebrating the Year of the Dog with great deals across the Steam catalog throughout the weekend*. Come back every day to see new featured titles, check out the games that are recommended for you, and use the updated Wishlist tools to sort and filter the games on your Wishlist! *Discounts end Monday at 10am Pacific via Steam RSS News Feed "http://ift.tt/2svzdDf"

The early '90s made a bad habit out of terrible action games cashing in on brands and celebrities. One of the latter was Shaq Fu , which has become a punchline in Worst Games of All Time lists for franchising out NBA star Shaquille O'Neil into a bad fighter filled with a confusing mish-mash of myths. Instead of ruin, some saw kitschy promise, and a revival was successfully crowdfunded in 2014. Friends who collectively sunk over $450,000 into this dream, your time is coming. Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn will arrive for PC and consoles (including the Switch) this spring. #Shaqfu is back! This Spring, take on the role of the unstoppable @SHAQ , a legend reborn, and fight your way through the hordes of Hell & Hollywood! We'll be sharing a brand new trailer and the release date very soon! https://t.co/aBFbfkw2mO pic.twitter.com/x3WFqGaE6Q — Wired Productions 🎮 (@WiredP) February 15, 2018 After all that time, the trailer footage isn't terribly impressive: A 2.5...

The FDA announced this week that it has approved a blood test that can quickly and reliably detect signs of a concussion . Typically, when someone seeks medical care following a head injury, they're subjected to a neurological test and/or a CT scan. However, CT scans can only detect bleeding or swelling in the brain, and for injuries that are more minor but still serious, those scans aren't terribly useful. Additionally, if CT scans don't spot anything, and in many cases they don't, the person undergoing the scan has been subjected to unnecessary radiation and, usually, an unneeded expense. Similarly, neurological tests, which take some time to complete, aren't always accurate since the medical professional conducting it doesn't always have the patient's baseline performance to compare it to. So, taking all of that into account, serious brain injuries can slip through the cracks. But a blood test could provide an objective measure of head trauma that cou...

A university student named David Nadlinger has won the top prize in a science photography contest held by UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council after capturing a photo of a single atom. The photo, titled “Single Atom in an Ion Trap” shows a single atom suspended in midair. It was captured using a standard DSLR camera and shows the tiniest speck of a positively charged strontium atom. The atom’s place is being held by an electric field created by two metal electrodes. When illuminated with a blue-violet laser, as shown in the photo, the atom absorbed and reemits enough light to make it so an ordinary camera can capture it with a long exposure. For perspective on just how small this entire scene is, the distance between... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2o934Mr"

Play Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® Siege for FREE starting now through Sunday at 1PM Pacific Time. You can also pickup Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® Siege at up to 30% off the regular price!* If you already have Steam installed, click here to install or play Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® Siege. If you don't have Steam, you can download it here . *Offer ends March 5 at 3PM Pacific Time via Steam RSS News Feed "http://ift.tt/2HjDnBI"

Save up to 70%* off your favorite TrionWorlds Games franchises as part of the TrionWorlds Publisher Weekend! *Offer Ends Monday at 10AM Pacific. via Steam RSS News Feed "http://ift.tt/2o9XAkr"

There's good news for NASA in the Trump administration's proposed FY2019 budget and some bad. On the one hand, the space agency would receive a minor funding boost -- NASA itself would get $19.9 billion, a 1.3 percent increase over 2017, while its science directorate would receive $5.9 billion, a 2.3 percent increase. On the other hand, not only does the current administration want to cut funding for the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), which would hunt for exoplanets and dark matter, it also wants to defund the International Space Station after 2024, when the US's current commitment to the multinational project expires. Instead, Trump's team hopes that a consortium of private businesses will take over running the station come 2025. The problem is, nobody really knows how (or even if) that would work. But don't worry just yet, according to NASA documents obtained by the Washington Post , it's not as if the ISS is going to come crashing out of ...

Today's Deal: Save 75% on Victoria II !* Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are! *Offer ends Monday at 10AM Pacific Time via Steam RSS News Feed "http://ift.tt/2HkRhDA"

If you were hoping Android Oreo would make its way to your Galaxy S8 soon, well, it sounds like you're going to have to wait. Samsung has halted the firmware rollout, as spotted by SamMobile , because the software was causing some handsets to randomly reboot. The rollout began in Europe, where users in the beta program noticed the problem. If you already downloaded and installed, you can keep using the software. But if you downloaded and didn't install, apparently the files will be deleted from your phone. Samsung is working on a fix but hasn't revealed when it will arrive. Via: The Verge Source: SamMobile (1) , (2) via Engadget RSS Feed "http://ift.tt/2o9Suoj"

Wireless chargers are bigger than ever , and with more and more devices supporting the wireless charging standard, they’re starting to get... weird. Regular, boring wireless charging pads are out. Today, it’s all about wireless chargers that go beyond just wireless charging. There are now pads that add extra USB ports, chargers that attach to portable battery packs for charging on the go, chargers combined with USB-C hubs, and whatever this Pikachu thing is . On Circuit Breaker Live , we dove into a few of the latest and wildest wireless charging gadgets out there: the Nomad Wireless Charging Hub , which combines a fast-charging Qi charger with a full USB hub (including a USB-C port); the Synavolt modular charger; the Hyperdrive USB-C Hub ,... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2EtGp4h"

In 2018, most new speakers come with WiFi and/or Bluetooth as standard options. Let's face it: Almost everyone is using their phone to access music these days, so wireless connectivity is a must. However, if you invested in a set of non-connected speakers before the wireless craze hit, you may not want to shell out more money to replace them just yet. For older passive speaker setups, Bang & Olufsen has an option for getting that connectivity thanks to a collaboration with HiFiBerry. You'll have to get your hands dirty, though. The $189/£149 Beocreate 4 channel amplifier is a development-style board that can be added to those older speakers to bring them new life in 2018. We're talking about models like the Beovox CX50 and CX100 that haven't been made for years. And as you might expect, B&O and HiFiBerry say the Beocerate will work with "any generic loudspeaker" in a similar fashion. The add-on brings up to 180 watts of power, enough for up to fou...