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Google has begun offering $50 in free Play Store Credit with any new purchase of a Nexus 6, Nexus 9 or any Android Wear device.

Valid through March 31st, you must purchase directly through Google to take advantage of the promotion.

In addition, Google has dropped the price of the Sony SmartWatch 3 to $150 from its normal $200 and you still get the credit. Anyone who was on the fence before for the Sony watch, this may be the ideal time.

Check the terms here: Google Play Store

Over the past couple of months, there has been a persistent rumor that Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 processor has a horrible overheating problem.

No company has openly confirmed the rumor, but Samsung did come pretty close when it ditched the processor for its upcoming Galaxy S6 flagship.

Tweakers.net put a few devices to the test with a thermal camera while they were running the intensive GFXBench benchmark application, and the HTC One M9, which is powered by the 810, saw temperatures as high as 55.4 degrees Celsius, a scorching 132 degrees Fahrenheit.

The other phones tested were all significantly cooler, all of which were around 40 degrees Celsius (about 104 degrees F).

At 132 degrees, the phone is certainly uncomfortable to hold, and could be dangerous if, for example, a battery catches on fire. By comparison, the site says a desktop GPU could run at 132 degrees when playing a high-end game, but those cards have better ways to dissipate heat.

Source:
Tweakers

Yahoo has confirmed what most of us already know, that the password system is antiquated and does not protect you from anything.

The tech giant has taken the first step to eliminate passwords, creating an "on-demand" password system that allows you to login with just your username and a unique code that is sent to your registered linked phone.

Basically, the system is like two-step authentication, although without the password portion of it, so in essence it seems just as secure as normal two-step but with the added luxury of not needing to remember a password.

If you live in the U.S., you can activate the new on-demand system now through the account info page and then "security."

Gaming company Valve has received the lowest possible rating for customer service from the Better Business Bureau, an F on a scale that ranges from F to A+.

Reads the BBB's page: "On June 25, 2013, BBB recognized a pattern of complaints from consumers regarding product, service and customer service issues. Consumers allege the games they purchase from Valve Corporation or Steam malfunction, do not work or have an invalid CD key. Consumers also claim the company blocks users from accessing their library of games. Consumers further allege they attempt to contact the company for assistance, but Valve Corporation fails to correct the gaming issues, does not correct credit card charges or issue a refund, or does not respond at all."

Overall, there were 718 complaints filed against Valve and Valve did not respond to 503 of them, a shockingly high figure. Another 17 received a response but were not resolved.

Valve was quick to respond to the low rating, although they didn't seem to care too much about the BBB but did admit that customer support needed some work. "We don't use them for much. They don't provide us as useful of data as customers emailing us, posting on Reddit, posting on Twitter, and so on," said Valve's Erik Johnson. "The more important thing is that we don't feel like our customer service support is where it needs to be right now. We think customers are right."

"When they say our support's bad, our initial reaction isn't to say, 'No, it's actually good. Look at all of this.' It's to say that, no, they're probably right, because they usually are when it comes to this kind of thing. We hear those complaints, and that's gonna be a big focus for us throughout the year. We have a lot of work to do there. We have to do better."

According to a new report, YouTube may be considering a subscription VOD service for its most popular original content.

Most likely, this means ad-free videos from 'YouTube Originals' content makers.

If accurate, the service would be similar to the new YouTube Music Key, which gives users free unlimited streaming from Google Play Music in addition to access to select ad-free music videos on YouTube for $9.99 per month.

The move would make sense in the ongoing content wars as rivals continue to offer lucrative deals to poach hitmakers.

In a new partnership with IBM and Samsung, BlackBerry has announced a new secure tablet aimed at enterprises and governments.

The SecuTABLET is based on the Galaxy Tab S 10.5.

"Security is ingrained in every part of BlackBerry's portfolio, which includes voice and data encryption solutions," said Dr. Hans-Christoph Quelle, CEO of Secusmart GmbH, a BlackBerry company. "National and international government customers have entrusted their voice and data communications with the Secusmart Security Card for years. This same technology is what secures the new SecuTABLET. Working alongside IBM and Samsung, we have added the last link in the chain of the Federal Security Network. Subject to certification of the SecuTABLET, German government agencies will have a new way to access BlackBerry's most secure and complete communications network in the world."

For more on the tablet and its security certifications, check the release: Cebit 2105 News

Cyanogen, the company trying to disrupt the mobile operating system space, is close to raising $110 million in new funding.

Notably absent from the funding round is Microsoft, who had been negotiating but decided not to invest. The software giant is expected to continue negotiating a commercial deal, however, one that would get some of its software on Cyanogen devices.

Leading the investment round is PremjiInvest, the investment company of the chairman of massive Indian IT firm Wipro. The reports suggest Cyanogen could be giving up significant equity for the funds, which could value the company at $500 million.

Cyanogen builds an operating system built on Android that allows users more customization and offers speed and efficiency.

In what appears to be the arrest of the oldest illegal file sharer to date, Romanian authorities have arrested a 63-year-old charged with uploading and sharing tons of unauthorized content via torrents.

According to the police report, the woman was arrested in Cluj, the second largest city in the nation behind the capital of Bucharest.

"Following investigations by the economic crime investigation, police in Cluj...prosecuted a 63-year-old woman," read the statement. "This investigation was about the offense of making content available to the public, including via the Internet or other computer networks so that the public can access it anywhere and at any time individually chosen."

Sources in Romania say the arrest was far out of the norm, as the country has a very small track record for piracy related arrests so it begs the question of how much content this woman was sharing.

Source:
TF
Pic by Summerwine6

With the latest update to WhatsApp, anybody with the Android app can use the voice calling feature - albeit with a little bit of 'hacking.'

If you install version 2.11.561 from the Google Play Store, the code to be able to make phone calls is built in but you need a little help. You have to find a friend or family member (or random user) who actually has voice calling enabled to call you.

Once they have called you, you have to shut down the app and re-open it. From there you will now see a screen with a new column added for voice calls.

You will then be able to call your WhatsApp contacts using VoIP right from the app, as long as they have the latest update, as well. For now, the feature is free, but there may be charges in the future.

Google has said goodbye to its Google Code project hosting service.

The search giant says there are better hosting services out there, and that even Google has moved thousands of their projects from Google Code to GitHub. Also, when the good projects migrated, the bad started coming in.

Reads the post: "As developers migrated away from Google Code, a growing share of the remaining projects were spam or abuse. Lately, the administrative load has consisted almost exclusively of abuse management. After profiling non-abusive activity on Google Code, it has become clear to us that the service simply isn't needed anymore."

As of writing, all new projection creation has been disabled and the service will go read-only on August 24th. Google Code will shut down permanently on January 25th, 2016.

Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey has suggested that the consumer version of the virtual reality sensation will not launch this year.

So far, the company has only released developer prototypes and has continuously delayed the release date for the consumer version. Last year, Luckey said something would have to go 'horribly wrong' for the Rift to not come out this year, but he changed his tune at the recent SXSW: "I did say that, before we made a lot of changes to our roadmap," which included setting a higher target quality level for the consumer device.

VP of Product Nate Mitchell added that with "the Rift, our team wants to launch this as soon as we possibly can, but with no compromises."

For consumers who cannot wait, the Gear VR will be out this year - a VR headset built as part of a partnership with Samsung.

After nearly a year of running on Windows Phone, Microsoft's digital personal assistant 'Cortana' is about ready to launch for Windows 10, Android and iOS.

Besides being built-in to Windows 10, there will be standalone apps for the top mobile operating systems. The apps are expected to be available this fall.

Most importantly, the updated software will be more advanced and use research from the AI projected codenamed 'Einstein.'

"This kind of technology, which can read and understand email, will play a central role in the next roll out of Cortana, which we are working on now for the fall time frame," said Eric Horvitz, managing director of Microsoft Research and a member of the Einstein project. Horvitz did not confirm the Android and iOS plans.

"We're defining the competitive landscape... of who can provide the most supportive services that make life easier, keep track of things, that complement human memory in a way that helps us get things done," added Horvitz.

Earlier this week, Apple expanded their public beta program to encompass iOS, beginning with iOS 8.3.

The beta will allow developers and fans to submit feedback on bugs in the operating system before it launches for the public.

"For the first time ever, we are broadening the program to include the all-new iOS Beta. The feedback you have provided on the OS X Yosemite Beta continues to help us shape OS X, and we would like to offer you an invitation to the iOS 8.3 Beta," read the email sent to Apple fans who were testers of Mac OS X Yosemite.

An iOS beta makes perfect sense for Apple as they look to avoid a launch as disastrous as iOS 8 was last year. The initial launch required fixes for Wi-Fi and other key features, and version 8.0.1 was so bad it even bricked some phones.

What's coming in iOS 8.3? "The iOS 8.3 Beta includes improved performance, increased stability, bug fixes, and a redesigned Emoji keyboard. This release also provides additional language and country support for Siri: English (India, New Zealand), Danish (Denmark), Dutch (Netherlands), Portuguese (Brazil), Russian (Russia), Swedish (Sweden), Thai (Thailand), and Turkish (Turkey)."

You can try to get in on the beta here: Apple Appleseed

Google has taken all of its Android, Chrome OS and Android Wear hardware and moved the devices to their own dedicated page, the aptly named 'Google Store.'

The search giant will sell their Nexus smartphones and tablets, Chromebooks, Android Wear watches, Nest thermostat, the Nexus Player and much more through the new store. The devices had previously been part of the general Google Play Store, which will remain the hub for apps, music and video content.

"You can shop Nexus phones and tablets, Chromecast and Chromebooks, learn more about newer technology like Android Wear, Nexus Player and Nest, and stock up on accessories like cases, keyboards and chargers," the company said.

Finally, the company also announced the discontinuation of the old Nexus 5 smartphone.

UK police have taken down 'Karaoke World,' one of the premier torrent sites for those looking to illegally download karaoke tracks.

Additionally, a 46-year-old man was arrested in Dewsbury, suspected of being site admin 'DJ Mikey L.'

Karaoke World had thousands of links to karaoke files, which let downloaders see the lyrics of their favorite tracks on screen while they sing along to the background music with the artist's singing removed. None of the files were hosted on the site directly.

"The unlicensed BitTorrent site directed users to a catalogue of tens of thousands of copyrighted music files, in particular the latest chart music and karaoke hits," the UK's Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) said in a statement.

The URL for the site currently leads nowhere.