At this week’s Black Hat security conference, researchers plan to unveil different techniques for easily taking over a smartphone without alerting the user or phone company. Security consultant Mathew Solnik will outline the ways in which he can use the Internet to hack anyone’s phone from 30 feet away. Georgia Institute of Technology students will present the ways in which they can take over the latest iPhone. And a researcher from Bluebox will show how Android apps can steal user data. Continue reading Black Hat: Smartphones Next Target of Cybersecurity Threats

The Pirate Bay and TorrenTV have released new platforms to make it easier for people to download media content for free. The Pirate Bay has launched a mobile site known as Mobile Bay, which includes separate TV, music and movie sites. Later, the site hopes to add support for personalized RSS feeds so that users can launch torrents from anywhere. TorrenTV has introduced a new app for Mac, Windows and Linux that streams torrents directly to Apple TV. Continue reading Torrenting Just Got Easier with Mobile Site and New PC App

Twitter announced that it has acquired an artificial intelligence startup known as Madbits. The social network is buying into Madbits’ technology that can search an image and understand its content. This new image search engine is based on deep learning, a type of AI that relies on convolutional neural nets, much like a human’s network of neurons in the brain. Twitter is just the latest in a line of tech companies to invest in this type of technology. Continue reading Twitter Acquires AI Startup Madbits, Explores Image Search

Facebook announced that its profits more than doubled and revenue exceeded estimates for the ninth straight quarter due largely to mobile ad growth. About 62 percent of the social network’s ad revenue now comes from mobile devices. According to eMarketer, advertising for mobile this year is projected to surpass advertising for newspapers, magazines and radio for the first time. Facebook also added another 40 million registered users, with the daily login increasing by 27 million. Continue reading Facebook Experiences Surge in Users and Mobile Ad Revenue

RadioShack plans to stock DIY kits in its retail locations that provide consumers with the ability to create an array of connected devices. New York startup LittleBits has been selling sets that allow users to connect, for example, a sound detector to a LED light, for illuminating a small space every time a radio is turned on. LittleBits now offers its $99 Cloud Starter Bundle that connects gadgets to the Internet, while companies such as Bug Labs and Electric Imp are also offering ways to create connected devices. Continue reading Kits for Internet-Connected Devices to Hit RadioShack Shelves

The Los Angeles city government put out a request for information regarding the construction of a citywide fiber and Wi-Fi network. Dutch company Angie Communications was the only one to make its full response public. It responded to the RFI with an ambitious plan to build an entire LA fiber network within five years, including the infrastructure for metro and street access. In addition, the company proposes a nationwide 4G cellular network and Wi-Fi network. Continue reading Los Angeles Requests Plans to Build Fiber Broadband Network

Viacom’s Music Group is partnering with Spotify to provide consumers with free music from featured artists via their website and apps. The company will also provide music from its series and franchises, including MTV’s “Teen Wolf,” VH1’s “Love and Hip Hop,” CMT’s “Party Down South” and the “MTV Video Music Awards.” More than 150 Spotify playlists will be available across Viacom’s network of sites, while Spotify will promote them to its 40 million global users. Continue reading Viacom Music Group and Spotify Form Streaming Partnership

Amazon Instant Video offers more than 150,000 titles for purchase or rental, 40,000 movies and TV episodes for streaming, and now YouTube-like Video Shorts. The new category includes music videos, movie and game trailers, live performances, beauty tutorials, how-to videos and more. The short-form video category also adds YouTube to Amazon’s list of competitors, which already includes Netflix and iTunes. Currently, the service includes hundreds of thousands of videos.
 Continue reading Amazon Instant Video Offers Video Shorts to Rival YouTube

Baseline Study, an ambitious Google project, plans to determine the fullest picture yet of a healthy human being. Andrew Conrad, a molecular biologist who joined the Google X research arm in 2013, is running the project along with his team of experts. The study will collect the anonymous genetic and molecular information of 175 different people, expanding to thousands more in the future. In the long run, Google X hopes to detect fatal illnesses in their early stages. Continue reading Google’s Baseline Study Aims to Spot Diseases in Early Stages

Google has signed a $1 billion deal to acquire popular streaming platform Twitch.tv, according to sources familiar with the matter. Google’s YouTube division is in charge of the deal, which reflects the popularity of live Internet streaming and, in particular, the rapidly evolving interest in competitive gaming as a spectator sport. San Francisco-based Twitch currently touts more than 50 million monthly users. In addition, more than 1.1 million of its members broadcast videos each month. Continue reading Google to Purchase Live Game Streamer Twitch for $1 Billion

A team of open source developers, including several former Google engineers, is working on software that will allow companies to ensure that their cloud computing systems will run even if a server or data center goes down. The software known as CockroachDB is based on Google’s Spanner system, which uses thousands of servers to run its online empire. CockroachDB will similarly replicate information across data centers, so online operations will not suffer from outages. Continue reading CockroachDB Cloud-Based Software Makes Websites Resilient

Two “force display” devices will make their debut at the SIGGRAPH technology conference in Vancouver next month. These devices, the Traxion and the Buru-Navi3, generate vibrations that offer wearers the illusion of being pulled or pushed in a specific direction. The Buru-Navi3 uses a 40 hertz electromagnetic actuator already found in smartphones. This technology could eventually be used in navigation applications in wearables so that the user will literally be pulled in the right direction. Continue reading SIGGRAPH: Haptic Interfaces to Pull and Push Wearable Users

Yahoo is purchasing mobile app analytics firm Flurry, a company that collects data from some 540,000 apps to help marketers identify which mobile ads work the best for Android and iPhone users. While financial specifics have not been released, insiders suggest the deal is valued at more than $200 million, one of the largest under CEO Marissa Mayer. The acquisition is another step by Mayer to pursue mobile advertising revenue, a market largely dominated by Google and Facebook. Continue reading Yahoo Targets Mobile Advertising Market with Flurry Purchase

Nvidia’s new Shield is a tablet PC, but also a gaming console for Android game apps, streamed PC games, and games streamed from the Nvidia Grid cloud gaming service. The Wi-Fi tablet can be used as a handheld gaming device or a console that can be plugged into a TV via an HDMI cable. For $299, gamers will get 16 gigabytes of storage and perhaps some of the best image-rendering technology on the market. The Shield tablet will start shipping at the end of July. Continue reading Shield: Nvidia Launches its First Tablet, Designed for Gamers

As a result of Microsoft’s recent downsizing, Nokia has plans for its MixRadio streaming service to become a standalone company. While the app will still be included in handsets running Windows Phone software, MixRadio will now have the opportunity to pursue other platforms including iOS and Android. MixRadio offers themed playlists — online and through an app — free with no advertising. The service also provides users with an option to pay monthly for enhanced features. Continue reading Nokia Plans to Spin-Off MixRadio Music Service as Standalone