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Tesla runs Project Loveday fan-made ads contest

Written by James Delahunty @ 05 Mar 2017 2:16

Tesla runs Project Loveday fan-made ads contest Tesla is looking for submissions of fan-made ads for its cars as part of a contest suggested in a letter from a 10 year old fan.

10 year old Bria Loveday had written a letter for Elon Musk suggesting that the company should run a contest for users to create their own commercials for Tesla vehicles. Musk responded on Twitter that it was a great idea and promised they would do it, and now they have.

Project Loveday is seeking videos that relate to Tesla, SolarCity, their products, or their mission to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy. Videos must be 90 seconds or less in length. Contestants should upload their videos to YouTube and then submit them to the contest at the Tesla website.

Submissions will be accepted by Tesla until May 8 this year.

Don't expect a free car though if you win, rather it appears this is more an opportunity to show off your work. The top ten submissions will be featured on Tesla's social media channels, and three of those will receive additional promotion. The outright winner of the contest will be introduced at a future Tesla product launch, with Tesla paying for the travel and accommodation costs for two people.

Read more at: www.tesla.com




AfterDawn: News

Uber used 'Greyball' tool to evade regulators?

Written by James Delahunty @ 05 Mar 2017 1:41

Uber used 'Greyball' tool to evade regulators? It has been reported that Uber used a secret program called Greyball to thwart efforts by regulators or authorities to catch its drivers.

Uber is no stranger to conflict with regulators and local authorities. When it expanded its service to new cities, it was inevitably going to face issues with traditional taxi drivers, unions and local laws and regulations that government transport and employment.

In order to protect its drivers and service from local regulators and authorities, Uber reportedly used a secretive program called Greyball, which would identify regulators or local authorities posing as ordinary passengers.

In order to identify a "threat" correctly, Greyball would mull location data and even credit card data in an attempt to link an individual to a law enforcement agency or a government or regulatory building. According to the NYT report which broke the story, Uber even visited cell phone stores to trace devices purchased by regulators and others who were suspected of setting up multiple accounts, and even served fake Uber apps that showed fake nearby cabs and would automatically cancel real bookings that got through.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

WATCH: Deadpool 2 teaser from Logan screenings

Written by James Delahunty @ 04 Mar 2017 12:11

WATCH: Deadpool 2 teaser from Logan screenings If you haven't been to see Logan yet then chances are you haven't seen the lengthy Deadpool 2 teaser that runs before it. Well, now you can!

Ryan Reynolds shared the teaser this morning and it's more or less what you'd expect from Deadpool; ridiculous, funny, partial nudity (male.. sorry!) and profanity. Stan Lee also makes a very brief cameo.

Upon witnessing an ongoing mugging, Wade Wilson runs to a nearby phone booth to change into his superhero costume, while the theme from Superman movies plays. Unfortunately for the victim, Wade takes quite a long time to change and doesn't manage to save the day!

Have a look around the set for the visual gags too! Unfortunately, the teaser only informs us that the sequel is coming, "Not Soon Enough!"

Enjoy!

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

WATCH: Peak inside Nintendo Switch with iFixit teardown

Written by James Delahunty @ 04 Mar 2017 11:50

WATCH: Peak inside Nintendo Switch with iFixit teardown iFixit has once again documented a teardown of a popular new consumer electronics product; this time the Nintendo Switch, a Joy-Con controller and the Dock.

The Switch looks more or less what you'd expect to see, much like the inside of a laptop with a familiar looking heat pipe, thermal paste and so on. What is interesting is the metal plate which lays on top of the components appears to double as a heat sink, which channels heat from the heat pipe (though a purple blob of thermal paste) to the rear case (pictured).

We also see the non-replaceable 16 Wh battery (Nintendo plans to establish a paid replacement program in time), the customized NVIDIA Tegra SOC, 4GB of RAM (2 X Samsung K4F6E304HB-MGCH 2 GB LPDDR4 DRAM) and more.

Visit the detailed iFixit Nintendo Switch teardown to see more (including xray shots), and to learn to what extent the Switch was built with repairing in mind.

Also, watch the accompanied video below.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

PSA: Don't apply vinyl skin / wrap to Nintendo Switch or Joy-Cons

Written by James Delahunty @ 04 Mar 2017 11:15

PSA: Don't apply vinyl skin / wrap to Nintendo Switch or Joy-Cons A leading skin manufacturer for popular consumer electronics has warned customers not to apply any kind of vinyl skin / wrap to the Nintendo Switch console, or Joy-Cons (Switch controllers).

dbrand noticed a problem when it was testing prototypes with the console and its controllers. The coating of the devices doesn't play well with adhesive and drand observed that the coating would begin to peel off after testing a couple of prototypes.

This issue affects retail units being sold to customers.

"Both the JoyCons and the Console are not compatible with vinyl wraps or any adhesive-backed skin of any kind," dbrand warns in a post on the Nintendo Switch subreddit.

Those who already ordered skins for the Nintendo Switch from dbrand will receive a full refund over the coming days.





AfterDawn: News

Uber court defeat could cost it London drivers

Written by James Delahunty @ 03 Mar 2017 1:46

Uber court defeat could cost it London drivers A High Court ruling against Uber in the UK could cost the firm some of its drivers in London.

Uber has roughly 30,000 drivers operating in London, which has caused no shortage of tension between the firm and the traditional black cab drivers in London.

In October, Uber lost another case when a tribunal ruled that it had to provide two of its drivers with at least minimum wage and also holiday pay.

This time Uber was fighting against proposals from public body Transport for London (TfL) which wants to enforce a standard for English reading and writing skills for drivers that the company believes is too high.

High Court Judge John Mitting ruled that TfL is entitled to require private hire drivers demonstrate English language compliance.

"Writing an essay has nothing to do with communicating with passengers or getting them safely from A to B," Uber's General Manager in London Tom Elvidge said, reports the Reuters News Agency.

"We intend to appeal this unfair and disproportionate new rule."




AfterDawn: News

In a first, Bitcoin value tops that of Gold

Written by James Delahunty @ 03 Mar 2017 1:34

In a first, Bitcoin value tops that of Gold The value of a Bitcoin unit has surpassed the value of an ounce of gold for the first time since the cryptocurrency appeared in 2009.

At time of writing, Bitcoin is valued at roughly $1,270 (coindesk) whereas a gram of gold is valued at roughly $1,230. It marks an interesting milestone for Bitcoin, which has had a volatile existence in its young life.

After collapsing in value in 2014, Bitcoin has been surging again lately due to its popularity in China, where the authorities are trying to crack down on its use, claiming that the crytocurrency is used to move money out of the country illegally.

It has also been scrutinized in the Western world because it is the currency of choice for black market trade online.




AfterDawn: News

Windows 10 updates changes will reduce disruptive reboots

Written by James Delahunty @ 03 Mar 2017 1:18

Windows 10 updates changes will reduce disruptive reboots Windows 10 users who are annoyed by the operating system's updates and reboots will soon have more control over when updates are installed.

Disruptive reboots due to Windows 10 update installations have prompted complaints from users since the OS was released less than two years ago. As it stands, some updates cannot be deferred and will install automatically, and often require that the system reboots.

As part of the Creators Update project, Windows 10 users will soon be able to schedule the installation of updates at a specified time, or to hit the "snooze" button to pause updates for up to three days. This should make reboots less disruptive but could come at a security cost.

John Cable, director of program management at Microsoft, also said that the firm is exploring changes to privacy settings in Windows 10, which has been another issue for users since its release.

Read more at blogs.windows.com




AfterDawn: News

Spotify celebrates 50 million paid subscribers

Written by James Delahunty @ 03 Mar 2017 1:04

Spotify celebrates 50 million paid subscribers More than 50 million Spotify users now pay for its Premium music, podcast and video streaming services.

The Stockholm-based firm announced that it has reached 50 million paid subscribers through social media, after crossing 40 million just in September 2016.

When Apple launched its own subscription service, there were fears about the future of Spotify, but almost two years on it seems that Apple has done little to slow the service's growth.

Apple Music reached 20 million paid subscribers in December last year.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

ExtraTorrent loses main Extratorrent.cc domain

Written by James Delahunty @ 02 Mar 2017 10:54

ExtraTorrent loses main Extratorrent.cc domain It appears that ExtraTorrent has lost its primary domain name, Extratorrent.cc, but is still accessible through backups.

The domain name seems to have been disconnected by the registrar, Internet BS, according to a report coming from TorrentFreak, an excellent source for news about developments in the online copyright and piracy wars.

ExtraTorrent is a huge source for torrents online, second probably only to the notorious Pirate Bay in terms of visitors.

A WHOIS probe of ExtraTorrent.cc returns a status of "clienthold," typically associated with legal disputes, non-payment or domain deletion.

TorrentFreak notes that the site is still accessible through various backups, such as Extra.to.




AfterDawn: News

Chevrolet offers unlimited 4G data plan with cars

Written by James Delahunty @ 02 Mar 2017 10:28

Chevrolet offers unlimited 4G data plan with cars Chevrolet has become the first automaker to offer an unlimited data plan to owners of its vehicles.

In partnership with AT&T, owners of Chevrolet vehicles with an in-vehicle OnStar 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot can avail of an unlimited prepaid data plan for only $20 per month, starting Friday, March 3.

According to Chevrolet, drivers of its vehicles used more than 4 million gigabytes of data in 2016, which was twice as much as the previous year. To put this data usage in perspective, Chevrolet owners and their passengers streamed the equivalent of more than 17.5 million hours of video in 2016.

Since June 2014, Chevrolet has sold more than 3.1 million OnStar 4G LTE-connected vehicles, meaning it has more LTE-connected cars on the road than any other carmaker.

"We're pleased to deliver this special unlimited data plan to Chevy owners," said Chris Penrose, president, IoT Solutions, AT&T.

"Accessing the internet through AT&T's 4G LTE Wi-Fi, passengers now can access all of their content and enjoy endless entertainment on the go."

For more information, see OnStar.com




AfterDawn: News

Gmail bumps attachment limit to 50MB

Written by James Delahunty @ 02 Mar 2017 10:04

Gmail bumps attachment limit to 50MB Google has bumped the size limit for attachments Gmail users can receive to 50MB from 25MB.

From today, users will be able to receive e-mails with attachments up to 50MB in size, but will still only be able to send e-mails with a 25MB limit on attachments.

The change is useful for attachments coming in from non-Google sources, but currently users experience no attachment limits (outside of storage limits) if they use Google Drive.

Full roll-out of the Gmail change will be completed within the next three days.




AfterDawn: News

Oculus offers Rift plus Touch for $598

Written by James Delahunty @ 01 Mar 2017 5:20

Oculus offers Rift plus Touch for $598 Oculus has announced that the all-in price of Rift and Touch has been cut to $598 as it aims to lure more gamers to its VR system.

The new $598 price point is down from $798 previously. If you already have Rift, Touch is now only $99, and the price of an additional Oculus Sensor is now $59.

Additionally, Oculus announced that Robo Recall, the brand-new VR shooter from Epic Games is now available for free with Touch.

Oculus aims to bring the cost of entry to Rift as much as it can, and has been working with hardware partners to offer Oculus-ready machines.

HTC's VR unit Vive said in a statement later in the day that it would not match the price cut being offered by rival Oculus, according to Reuters.




AfterDawn: News

Reports: Spotify Hi-Fi will deliver lossless audio for an extra fee

Written by James Delahunty @ 01 Mar 2017 4:37

Reports: Spotify Hi-Fi will deliver lossless audio for an extra fee Spotify is preparing to offer high quality lossless audio to subscribers for $20 per month, according to reports.

Along with competitors like Apple Music, Spotify delivers lossy audio to subscribers, whereas a selling point of Tidal was that it streamed lossless audio with noticeable results for listeners.

Some Spotify users that participated in a recent closed survey were asked if they'd consider spending an extra $5 for lossless audio quality, and some users also reported being offered "Spotify Hi-Fi" for $20 per month in-app.

The privilege of lossless audio would add $7.50 on top of the Premium fee.

Would you consider paying an extra fee for lossless audio?




AfterDawn: News

Samsung Galaxy S8 press image leaked

Written by James Delahunty @ 01 Mar 2017 11:18

Samsung Galaxy S8 press image leaked Samsung's hotly anticipated Galaxy S8 smartphone will be unveiled at the end of the month, but we can already see what it looks like.

Leaked by Evan Blass (@evleaks), a press shot of the Samsung Galaxy S8 shows its curved, edge-to-edge display that has been detailed in previous leaks, and you also immediately notice the absence of the Home button.

The image just shows the lock screen of the Galaxy S8, but do take notice of the mention of the date Wed, March 29, which is when Samsung says it will officially unveil the SG8.

Other noticeable details are an additional key on the left, which is expected to be a shortcut key to launch Bixby, Samsung's assistant. There is also an Iris Scanner sensor on the front, and an indentation at the bottom seems to be from a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Surely more details will flood out in leaks before March 29.






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