Sony threatens Twitter with legal action if it doesn't ban users linking to leaks

 Sony threatens Twitter with legal action if it doesn't ban users linking to leaks

Sony Pictures Entertainment has already tried threatening members of the media with legal action in a bid to stem the spread of information stolen from its servers by hacker group Guardians of Peace last month. Now it's also decided to try targeting the means of disseminating that information — Motherboard reports the company has promised to sue Twitter unless it bans accounts that are linking to the leaks.

The threat was made in a letter sent by Sony lawyer David Boies to VIjaya Gadde, Twitter's general counsel, and conveyed that the company would "hold Twitter responsible for any damage or loss arising" from the use or continued dissemination of the stolen information. In the letter — which was similar to one sent to publications including The Verge last week — Boies said that his client "does not consent to Twitter's or any Twitter account holder's possession, review, copying, dissemination, publication, uploading, downloading, or making any use of the Stolen Information," and that Sony requests Twitter's cooperation in suspending any accounts found to be sharing the leaked data.
Sony asked that Twitter share the threat with one user who had been linking to the leaks

The letter reportedly requests that Twitter share details of the threat with a specific user: musician Val Broeksmit. Broeksmit, who tweets as @bikinirobotarmy, previously received a direct message from Sony copyright expert Ellliot Ingram after he linked to emails obtained in the cyberattack. "Rather than complaining to Twitter and risk them taking action against your account," the mail read, "we thought we'd get in touch first and ask if you would remove the tweets that we've identified." Broeksmit told Motherboard he didn't take the letter seriously, but that his Twitter account was temporarily suspended.

Social networking site Reddit has taken to banning users who post links to Sony's stolen information, but Twitter has yet to adopt a formal stance to the issue. Under the service's rules, users are not allowed to post personal and private data in tweets themselves, but Twitter says it can't apply that rule to other sites and stop users linking to such information. Sony's legal threat might mean the social network has to revisit the policy.

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Google Maps will now warn you about UK train delays

Google Maps will now warn you about UK train delays

Google Maps has incorporated train timetables for a while now, but it's never accounted for the inevitable delays and cancellations that plague UK networks. You would select what you think is the fastest route, only to stand around on the platform wishing you had called a taxi instead. Well, that could be less of a problem in the future, if you're a Google Maps user at least, because today the company has added real-time National Rail data to its travel app. So if yet another signal failure is disrupting your line, the app should reflect that automatically and give you some alternative routes. In addition, you can now swipe around the map and tap on any UK rail station to review the next departures -- helpful if you're stuck in the middle of nowhere and need to start making tracks.
Google Maps (App Store), (Google Play)

Nick Summers

Engadget

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The Lumia 535: Microsoft’s first phone reviewed

The Lumia 535: Microsoft’s first phone reviewed

The brand on the back is now Microsoft, not Nokia.

It's no secret that Windows Phone and the Lumia smartphone range have had the most success at the low end. The Lumia 520 sold like hot cakes thanks to aggressive pricing, and it's still on the market today, with the Microsoft Store currently running a special offer where an AT&T-locked, off-contract phone can be picked up for less than $30.

The successor to the 520 was the Lumia 530, and it had big, if cheap, shoes to fill. Unfortunately, we don't think it really pulled this off , with less storage, no auto-brightness sensor, and a markedly worse screen. The Lumia 630 and 635 were more compelling , with decent screens and more capable cameras. However, they still had only 512MB RAM and lacked the ambient light sensor, which felt a little substandard for their price point.

The Lumia 535 gives the low-end Lumias a much-needed kick in the pants. This is the first Lumia phone to ship with Microsoft—not Nokia—branding , and it's a big step up from the 520 and 530.
The major upgrades are alluded to in Microsoft's "5x5x5" branding for the handset: 5-inch screen, 5 megapixel rear camera, 5 megapixel front camera.

Compared to the 530, the screen is an inch bigger and slightly higher resolution (at 960×540 vs. 854×480), though this gives it a lower dot resolution of 220 PPI instead of 244 PPI. The rear camera resolution is the same, but this time it's an autofocus camera with an LED flash instead of fixed focus and no flash. And perhaps recognizing the cultural importance of selfies, the Lumia 535 includes a front-facing camera with a 5MP resolution—presumably the same unit as the front-facing camera found in the Lumia 735 .

Placed alongside its peers, it's fairly clear that the 535 is in most regards better than both the Lumia 530 and the Lumia 630/635. The Lumia 630/635's Snapdragon 400 processor is on paper a little faster, and it provides access to the SensorCore motion-tracking coprocessor. The 635 does have LTE, but the 535's screen size and resolution, cameras, and RAM are all better than those of the 630.
The styling of the 535 is extremely similar to that of the 635: a wraparound gloss plastic cover that can be peeled off to reveal a battery, twin SIM slots in the dual SIM review unit we had, and the microSD slot. The high-gloss finish and round sides feel good in the hand, and for my tastes, this 5-inch form factor is the upper limit of reasonable in a smartphone, as it's a size that still offers some degree of single-handed usage.

As is now universal on low-end Windows Phones, the 535 depends on on-screen buttons and lacks a dedicated camera button. I still regard this as unfortunate. With the emphasis that Nokia and now Microsoft places on the cameras, the instant access and convenient focusing that the camera button affords is a perfect fit.

A screen you can look at

The most obvious issue with the Lumia 530 was its screen. It had very poor viewing angles, with pronounced color shift when viewed at anything other than head on. It also had a peculiar, almost grainy quality when viewed closely.

The 535's screen is a substantial improvement. It's an IPS LCD, so as expected, the viewing angles are much better. It doesn't have the 530's graininess, either. Outdoor visibility on the 535 is also superior to that of the 530, attributable to the 535's much greater brightness.

Unlike the 630 and better, this isn't a "ClearBlack" screen. The ClearBlack screens are notable for their dark blacks and contrast. Side-by-side, the 535's screen certainly isn't as pretty; black parts have that slightly gray glow that is typical of LCDs. Animation and video still look good. It's plainly not a high-end screen, but it's not a bad screen.

The one sticking point I had was not with the image, but rather with touch. While it was generally fine, on a few occasions the screen was slow and imprecise when responding to touch inputs, requiring multiple stabs at the screen to make something happen. This wasn't a consistent issue by any means, but I've seen similar reports from others testing the phone, so I don't think it's an issue unique to my test handset.

Competent cameras

Lumia 535.

The cameras perform much as we've come to expect from the Lumia 535's siblings. The images from the front-facing camera seem essentially identical to those from the 735. I'm still not convinced of the value of such a high resolution on the front-facing camera, but I suppose it can't really hurt.
The performance of the rear cameras on the 530, 535, and 630/635 seems very similar. The big difference is in the color; photos taken in the same conditions and with the same settings seem to have a different opinion on how saturated colors should be and where the white point is. I'm a little surprised at the variation, given the apparent similarity between the devices. In the close-up outdoor photo, it is the 530 that fared the best and the 630/635 the worst. For the more distant subject of the tree, however, the 535 and 635 both bested the 530.

Lumia 535, indoors, no flash.

Indoor performance is creditable (the pictures make the window look very bright; really, it's just pretty overexposed, to bring out the detail in the subject). While on-phone flashes are always limited in their ability to actually brighten scenes, the 535's flash was certainly helpful in my test scene.
Overall, for the price class, I think the 535's cameras are strong performers.
If there is any weakness, it's battery life. On the one hand, the performance was about the same as the Lumia 530 in spite of having a bigger, better, brighter screen. Due to lack of configurability on these handsets, we tested at the medium brightness setting, and that setting appears brighter on the 535 than the 530. So the battery life wasn't atrocious.

On the other hand, the battery capacity is much larger than that of the 530, and it's a little larger than that of the 630/635. Getting just under six and a half hours, compared to just under 12, is disappointing.

On the processor front, the Snapdragon 200 puts in a surprisingly respectable performance. This is presumably due to the extra RAM compared to the 530 and 630; it lets the phone finish the Octane test (it fails on the 512MB units) and more or less match the Snapdragon 400s

in SunSpider and Kraken. It's not blistering fast, by any means, but navigating the operating system is generally snappy.

The big mystery

As a low-end phone, I think the Lumia 535 is a fantastic package. It eclipses the 530 and 520, and in some very important ways, it beats the 630/635, too. The 535 is the successor to the 520 that people were hoping for, and it comes highly recommended...
... if the price is right.



As is so often the case, the big question about the Lumia 535 is its price. As yet no official US pricing or carrier availability has been announced. Expansys is selling the unlocked dual SIM version of the phone for $169. Given the lack of an official US launch, we expect this to represent the very upper end of pricing. Should a true US version or versions hit the market, they will surely be cheaper.

The dual SIM feature is of negligible value in the US, but it's important in many emerging markets, typically due either to regular border crossings or the desire to use a different provider for voice and data. Dual SIM handsets such as the LG L Bello Dual D335, the Sony Xperia M2 Dual D2302, and the HTC Desire 616 Dual SIM (which do not have identical specs to the Lumia 535 but are in the same kind of bracket) all come out at about $20-50 more expensive (based on Expansys' pricing).
As such, I think we can expect the Lumia 535 to be priced pretty competitively. Unsubsidized carrier-locked prices seem to be low— $137 in Thailand , for example.
Should this kind of pricing come to the US, the Lumia 535 will be truly the king of the entry-level smartphones: a well-built handset with all the features you need, a nice big screen, and for the price, some great cameras.

The Good

1GB RAM
The cameras
Solid build
With luck, the price

The Bad

The camera button will be forever mourned
Occasional issues with registering taps on the screen

The Ugly

We still don't know if it will come to the US or how much it will cost when it does.

By Peter Bright

Ars Technicia 

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These Are The Best Cheap Smartphones You Can Buy

These Are The Best Cheap Smartphones You Can Buy

You don't have to spend a lot of money to get a decent phone. There are plenty of options out there for people who want to save a little cash but still need a phone that's fast, can connect to the internet, and looks nice, too.
Here's a look at some of the cheapest phones worth buying.

Motorola's Moto G is one of the best budget phones you can buy.

It's hard to find a phone cheaper than the Moto G. Motorola's second-generation model starts at $179, comes with a clean version of Android, and runs pretty smoothly, even though it's powered by components that are older than those in today's more expensive phones, according to reviews from CNET and Engadget.
In short, it's a nice, compact phone with easy-to-use software that won't cost you more than $200. You can also get the 4G model for $219.

If you want something that costs even less, try the Moto E.

The Moto E is even cheaper than the Moto G at $129 without any carrier subsidies. If you can get by with a basic phone and mostly care about using Android apps, the Moto E is a good choice.
In my review, I found its camera and lack of 4G to be the biggest weak points, but it's exactly what you would expect for a phone so cheap. 

Google's Nexus 5 is a sharp, thin, and fast Android phone that's affordable.

The Nexus 5 starts at $349, which is still much cheaper than most popular phones like the Galaxy S5 or iPhone 6, which cost anywhere between $500 and $800 without a carrier contract.
The best benefit from owning a Nexus phone is that you'll always get the most important Android updates before anyone else does. The Nexus 5 is a slim, attractive phone with a soft-touch back, a thin design, and a 1080p screen.
You can only use it on T-Mobile's network, but it's a great choice if you're on a tight budget. 

Amazon's Fire Phone comes with some fun apps and is insanely cheap.

You can now buy Amazon's Fire Phone for just $199.99 without a two-year contract, which is ridiculously cheap for a new phone. If you opt for a two-year contract with AT&T, you'll get the phone for just 99 cents — which is basically a giveaway.
The Fire Phone comes with a sharp screen, a 13-megapixel camera, a fast processor, and Amazon's own apps and services. Firefly, for example, gives you information about object around you by scanning it with the phone's camera. There are tons of cameras on the front of the phone which creates a 3D effect for some images. The phone hasn't been selling well, which is a large part of the reason it's so cheap, but it's an excellent value for the price. 

The OnePlus One is among the best Android phones you can buy, and it's really cheap.

The OnePlus One comes with many of the same components you'd find in most high-end Android phones, but it costs about half the price. The OnePlus One, which features a roomy 5.5-inch 1080p screen, a fast processor, and a comfortable yet attractive build only costs $300 off contract. It's pretty tough to find, but if you can snag an invite from someone you know who has the phone, it's totally worth your time. 

HTC's Desire 816 is a nice-looking phone with a great screen and plenty of power.

The HTC Desire 816 is an attractive phone with a large, crisp screen. It also has boisterous front-facing speakers just like HTC's flagship One phone. You can grab a prepaid version of the phone for as low as $200 on Amazon.

Apple's iPhone 5C is basically free if you sign up for a two-year contract.

If you're OK with keeping Apple's previous generation iPhone for two years, you can get it for free through AT&T and Verizon. Off contract, it still costs about $450, which is about $100 cheaper than newer flagship phones. The iPhone 5C comes in multiple colors and features a 4-inch Retina Display. It's not the greatest phone you can buy, but if you're tight on cash and love Apple's iOS ecosystem, it's a worthwhile choice. 

The iPhone 5S is relatively cheap on a two-year contract, too.

You can get the iPhone 5S for $99.99 on a two-year contract. It's not Apple's newest phone, but it still comes with a gorgeous design, fast processor, excellent camera, and Touch ID fingerprint sensor. If you don't care about having the newest Apple product but want an iPhone, you should consider the iPhone 5S. 

The Lumia 830 is a cheap Windows phone with an impressive camera.

As is the case with most Lumia phones, one of the 830's selling points is its camera. It comes with a 10-megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss lens, and only costs $99 on a two-year contract. AT&T also bundles a free Fitbit with the phone, which is a great value. Off-contract, the phone costs about $400.

 Business Insider
LISA EADICICCO

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WATCH DOGS HITS WII U THIS WEEK WITH TWO DLC PACKS

WATCH DOGS HITS WII U THIS WEEK WITH TWO DLC PACKS

Watch Dogs will get two downloadable content packs via the eShop when hits the Nintendo Wii U on November 18 in the U.S. and November 20 in Europe.

The Conspiracy DLC involves an in-game augmented reality mission and will be available on the European eShop for €4.99 / £3.99 / CHF5.90. The Access Granted pack consists pre-order bonus content of new outfits, skills and three contract missions for €6.99 / £5.49 / CHF8.60. We have reached out to Nintendo for prices in other regions.

Watch Dogs on Wii U will not receive the Bad Blood DLC that rolled out to other platforms in September. The DLC offers players the chance to take control of the character of Raymond "T-Bone" Kenney for the first time.

The action title first launched worldwide May 27 for PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Since its release, where we gave it an 8.4 review, Ubisoft shipped more than 8 million copies of the game.

By Jenna Pitcherign

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It’s Official—iOS 8 Is Apple’s Buggiest Release to Date

It’s Official—iOS 8 Is Apple’s Buggiest Release to Date

When Apple first released the iPhone 6, we were struck by the surprisingly persistent and numerous bugs in iOS 8. Almost all review units (from any company, not just Apple) are thoroughly tested, vetted, and hand-selected as being the best representation of that product. You don’t want a reviewer accidentally ending up with a blemished, defective phone. Bad publicity. So using an iPhone that rebooted itself and got hung up on the keyboard was surprising indeed. 

We weren’t alone in that sentiment. WIRED saw similar bugs on the iPhone 6 Plus. Other reviewers pronounced it Apple’s buggiest release yet, and Apple pundit John Gruber wrote “it seems like Apple’s software teams can’t keep up with the pace of the hardware teams” before talking more about getting stuck in an endless reboot cycle. 

Turns out it wasn’t just in our heads: Data from app performance monitor Crittercism showed iOS 8’s crash rate was 60 percent higher than iOS 7 during their respective first months on handsets. 

“I find myself at once impressed by the overall quality of iOS, and surprised by the seemingly obvious problems that have recently made it past QA,” Red Sweater Software founder and ex-Apple software quality engineer Daniel Jalkut told WIRED via email about iOS 8. Jalkut shed some light on how bugs can slip through:

“Some bugs, like the HealthKit problems that botched iOS 8.0’s debut, and the problems with 8.0.1, were clearly issues that Apple had not identified, or they would have found a way to fix them before releasing. Other, less dramatic issues could really come down to a manager at Apple being hard-pressed to meet a deadline and “punting” (that’s a common term used in reviewing bugs at Apple) the problems down to the next release, or even later.”

This is something that obviously happens with every major software release. But with iOS 8 more slipped by than in any other iOS version before it.

The Reports

Looking at past bug reports seemed like a good way to better understand whether iOS 8 was actually “buggier.” Anecdotally, it’s difficult to quantify how many bugs each iOS version has. There are forum threads upon forum threads , posts upon posts outlining all the issues iOS users have experienced through the years. Some affect hundreds or thousands of users, others, less than a dozen (Take, for example, Bendgate : Despite wide publicity, the issue only affected a small number of iPhone 6 Plus owners). 

“We expect perfection, and when we don’t get it, we tell the world,” Matt Johnston, chief strategy officer at app testing and analytics firm Applause, told WIRED. Everyone is holding a digital megaphone thanks to social media. “Even the best software companies stumble, and when they do, users will air their dissatisfaction far and wide.”

And knowing, from reports and forum discussions, that the bugs experienced by an iPhone owner can very dramatically from handset to handset, we couldn’t just go off our personal OS issues, either.

So we turned to Apple’s official Support pages on iOS updates for an objective perspective on iOS bug fixes. These outline the additions and bug fixes for each version (like this one for iOS 8.0.2 or this one for iOS 6.0.1). Counting items that were clearly bug fixes or improvements that resolved issues (rather than ones that added a new functionality or feature) as a metric, iOS 8, to start with at least, wasn’t all that different from past launches. 

It had the same number of bugs as the launch of iOS 6: 8 issues fixed in the .0.1 update (which was quickly pulled in the case of iOS 8), and one more tacked on in the .0.2 update. Fewer bugs were addressed initially in iOS 7, but it had 8 to 9 bug fixes in its late October 2013 7.0.3 update. Over the course of their whole existence, iOS 6 had approximately 21 total bug fixes, while in iOS 7, that number climbed slightly to 27. 

Chronologically, these updates are coming faster and faster. If you look at the timeline for Apple’s iOS updates, some general trends start to emerge: Apple is rolling out updates to iOS a lot quicker after the initial OS launch. For example, the first OS update to iOS 5 was about a month after launch; the first to iOS 6, a month and a half later; while iOS 7 had four updates from its September 18 debut through mid-November. More bugs are being addressed through these updates.

About a month and a half into iOS 8: We’ve had four updates (8.0.1, 8.0.2. 8.1, and 8.1.1), and we’re officially at 23 listed bug fixes through iOS 8.1. But with iOS 8.1.1, which just went live Monday, Apple doesn’t site specific bug fixes, but rather a general “This release includes bug fixes, increased stability and performance improvements for iPad 2 and iPhone 4s.” It’s not a leap to assume that “bug fixes,” plural, refers to at least two to three fixes, and that stability updates to older iOS devices could bring that number to at least five. That officially makes iOS 8, thus far, the buggiest iOS yet.

A Fuller Picture

Obviously, straight numbers don’t paint a complete picture of what’s going on.

At the same time that bug numbers are rising, iOS has grown into its most complex, advanced iteration yet , and Apple’s vastly expanded its hardware offerings, too. Instead of a singular iPhone on one carrier, Apple now sells four iPhone models and supports six; sells five iPad models and supports eight; and it sells the fifth-generation iPod touch, too. On top of that, the iPhone and iPad are available on hundreds of different carriers worldwide. That in itself is good reason why there could be more bugs Apple has to fix in iOS 8 than in the past. 

But there are other factors too. Starting with the fourth generation iPad (the first with Retina display) and iPad mini, Apple switched the iPad launch date to late fall, following its annual iPhone launch. With this change, it makes sense that the past few years would show a quicker rollout of bug fixes towards the beginning of the iOS life cycle, as iOS may have to be updated to support new hardware models.

Apple could also simply be addressing more bugs than it was able to in the past, fixing smaller issues that affect fewer people, rather than only Antennagate -level woes. Apple’s Support pages don’t say how many people are affected by each bug fix. 

However, with an increasingly complex OS and hardware, it doesn’t help the bug issue by launching both at the same time each year.

The Price of Fast-Paced Hardware/Software Releases

Throwing new hardware and software out at the same time, as Apple does with iOS and iPhone launches, is potentially great for users and sales, but adds more variables to the mix for developers and testers who have to make stuff “just work,” Johnston says. Some have posited that if Apple slowed up its yearly production cycle, unbundling the launch of a big new OS with a big new piece of hardware, Apple could do a better job of preventing bugs from sneaking into final builds. But that could impact Apple’s competitiveness in the fast-paced mobile market.

“I see [Apple's] challenge as one in which they have to try to balance striving for utmost quality with the fact that competitors are coming up with new phones and OS updates that threaten to upend Apple’s relatively strong position,” Jalkut said.

Slowing its product cycle could also impact Apple’s already fragile perception as a leader of innovation. With this in mind, and all those investors to please, it seems unlikely Apple would do that. 

And so Apple’s entwined itself in a production cycle that includes shipping with some known bugs and addressing them rapid fire in subsequent platform updates. We are, it would seem, seeing more bugs in iOS than we used to—at least at the outset. With our expectations rising, the richness and complexity of iOS growing at an exponential rate, and a completely new form factor on the horizon , it’s going to be a tough trend to reverse. Perhaps in iOS 9, Apple will be able to reel in more bugs before they hit user’s devices. But as for iOS 8, we’ve probably only seen a fraction of the bugs it’s going to experience over the next year. 

By Christina Bonnington

Wired

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Britain says will not block sales of tear gas to Hong Kong

Britain says will not block sales of tear gas to Hong Kong

Britain said on Monday that it had decided not to block the sale of tear gas to Hong Kong, having reviewed its export policy after police there used the gas against pro-democracy protesters in September.
In a written submission to parliament on Monday, Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire said the only current license did not breach rules and would not be revoked. Swire had said in October that a review was likely in light of the Hong Kong clashes.
"The Government has reviewed licenses for tear gas exports to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government ... the Government has decided it will not be revoked on the basis that it does not contravene the consolidated criteria," he said, referring to the rules used to control arms exports.
Swire said the government had not been able to verify pictures purporting to show that some of the canisters used by police in the Chinese-controlled city, a former British colony, had been manufactured by a British firm.
(Reporting by William James and Kylie MacLellan; Editing by Catherine Evans)
Reuters

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Galaxy Note Edge Review: A Screen That Gives 110%

Galaxy Note Edge Review: A Screen That Gives 110%

Geoffrey A. Fowler

The Wall Street Journal.

First, Samsung made phones bigger. Now it’s making them busier.

Starting today in the U.S., Samsung is selling a variant of the Galaxy Note 4 phablet called the Galaxy Note Edge, distinguished by a 5.6-inch screen that cascades over its right side. It’s one big curved display, but the effect is equivalent to adding a second tall and skinny touch screen where you’d normally grip the phone. Your thumb gets a screen of its own.

Giving 110% can sometimes be too much.

The Note Edge may appeal to Android lovers who enjoy customizing their phones. With the side screen, you get 160 precious new rows of pixels to add a launchpad for apps or a Times Square-like news ticker. Some people may find creative uses for the space, for instance by personalizing it with a pencil-thin animated picture. The unusual design certainly attracts attention.

But to me, the Note Edge ends up being yet another distraction in the arms race for our attention. I’m glad Samsung is experimenting with new designs, but the Edge just tacks on new territory to an already cluttered phone landscape.

I don’t object to the physical form. Thumbs are the most important digits for operating smartphones, and the curved edge was built for thumbing. Holding the Note Edge phablet is more comfortable than you might think, at least if you’re right handed. The right-edge screen has a bezel at the bottom where your thumb can rest. And if you do inadvertently brush the screen, Samsung’s multitouch system can usually differentiate it from an intentional tap.

(If you are left-handed, you can flip the Note Edge upside-down, though your volume and power buttons are then in the wrong locations.)

While Samsung conquered the engineering feats required to make the screen curve, it needs better ideas about what to do with the extra real estate. The Note Edge feels like an experiment, and Samsung says it’s hoping outside developers will be inspired by the design to come up with uses for it.

Flicking the edge to the left or right swipes through a series of panels that operate independently from the rest of what’s happening on the screen. You can use these slim panels to launch apps, get alerts, show a ruler or even play games. Samsung says the extra screen allows you to have “interruption free” notifications and access to important information, because you don’t have to leave your main app to use them.

I found the shortcut access to my favorite apps handy, though Android hardly lacks for other customizable spots to stash apps. Still, too often the edge panels just meant more icons, text and pictures flashing or tempting me to fiddle with them.

Who really wants trending Twitter topics crawling sideways along their phone while they’re trying to surf the Web, take a call or compose an email? You can make these screen panels go dark by tapping in the middle of the screen, but then your phone is instantly the same as the already worthwhile—and $100 cheaper—Galaxy Note 4.

The best use for the edge screen is what Samsung calls night clock mode. It offers a faint read-out of the time along the curved edge that you can see when your phone is laying flat on your nightstand. This saves you from having to pick up your phone or activate a bright screen that might disturb your eyes or others.

Night clock works because it uses the new form factor as an opportunity to take a new look at how we use the lock screen. Too much else about the Edge’s new software just clutters the existing phone experience, instead of seizing the opportunity to simplify or reinvent it.

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Microsoft's first Lumia defines Windows Phone's future

Microsoft's first Lumia defines Windows Phone's future

Tom Warren

The Verge

Microsoft’s first Lumia device is being officially unveiled as the Lumia 535 today, a low-cost smartphone that underlines exactly where the company is heading with Windows Phone. Microsoft’s Lumia 535 isn’t all that different from the Nokia devices that have come before it, but it’s the first to drop the Nokia branding in favor of Microsoft text at the rear and front, and a company logo on the colorful removable shell. All future Lumia devices will launch with Microsoft branding, and existing Lumias with the Nokia moniker will continue to be known as Nokia handsets.

With no new flagship Lumia devices planned this year, Microsoft is betting on low-end handsets to push Lumia sales and Windows Phone market share, a tactic that Nokia adopted before its phone division joined Microsoft earlier this year. Specifications might be low on the Lumia 535, but Microsoft has made some changes that don’t compromise the experience as much as some other budget Lumia devices. The Lumia 535 comes with a 5-inch qHD display (960 x 540), a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, and 1GB of RAM. While the screen is something you’d normally see back in 2011, viewing angles aren’t as bad as you’d expect even if the pixels are clearly visible.

The addition of 1GB of RAM here instead of the usual 512MB is an important move, especially as a lot of Windows Phone games require higher amounts of RAM. Microsoft has also included auto brightness, and a 5-megapixel forward-facing camera with a wide angle lens. In my review of Microsoft’s latest low-end Lumia 630 I had complained about a lack of forward-facing camera, 512MB of RAM, and a lack of automatic display brightness, so it’s encouraging to see Microsoft address all these drawbacks in a device at an even lower price point.

Microsoft is tempting potential Lumia 535 owners with what it calls a "5x5x5" proposition. Essentially, it’s five integrated Microsoft services: Skype, Office, OneDrive, Cortana, and OneNote. While Microsoft can and should be bundling these essential apps, it’s hard to see these — with the exception of Cortana — as differentiators. Microsoft’s Skype, Office, OneDrive, and OneNote apps are all better on iOS and Android compared to their Windows Phone equivalents. It might work at the low-end here with the Lumia 535 as owners aren’t expecting much for their money, but it’s increasingly difficult for the company to use these services as a unique offering for its Lumia phones across the board.

"Lumia is very much our smartphone brand."

What the Lumia 535 really signals is Microsoft’s clear plan for Windows Phone. The software giant has been signing partnerships with low-cost hardware makers, and Windows Phone is sorely lacking a flagship device to compete with the iPhone 6, Nexus 6, and many other high-end Android devices this holiday season. Microsoft is focusing on the low-end of the market to drive growth and keep Windows Phone healthy. Microsoft did have an opportunity to partially reset here, but it’s keeping the numbering scheme Nokia introduced, and even the Lumia brand. "We believe that there’s a lot of equity in people’s knowledge and understand at the basic level of our numbering scheme," says Neil Broadley, director of phone product marketing at Microsoft. "Lumia is very much our smartphone brand," explains Broadley, noting that Surface will remain focused solely on "iconic tablet experiences."

Perhaps the most surprising part of the Lumia 535 is its price. Microsoft is aiming to make the handset available in single and dual-SIM variants for around 110 euros ($130) in November. That’s slightly more than the $114 the Lumia 530 debuted at, but for the extra cash you’re getting a bigger display, forward-facing camera, and a reasonable bump in specifications. Microsoft’s Lumia 535 will be available initially in Asian markets, expanding to Russian and the Middle East in the coming months.

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Harvard secretly installed cameras in lecture halls to monitor student attendance

Harvard secretly installed cameras in lecture halls to monitor student attendance

Dante D'Orazio

The Verge 

Even students at the world's finest universities can struggle to make it to class. At Harvard, university officials initiated a controversial research program that saw cameras secretly installed in lecture halls just to keep tabs on student attendance. The program — which was kept secret from professors and students alike — was revealed this week at a faculty meeting, reports The Boston Globe.
The research project, which was carried out this past spring, used cameras placed in lecture halls to take a photo every minute. According to remarks from university vice provost Peter Bol, computer software then analyzed the pictures to see how many students attended lectures. The photographs were then destroyed.

But university officials didn't inform professors or their students that they were being monitored. Bol says that was to make sure that the data gathered was accurate, and he added that the research wasn't designed to track particular students or analyze professors. Instead, professors were provided the data after the research was completed.

The incident raises concerns over how and when a community can be studied for research without their knowledge. A balance must be struck between maintaining useful data without compromising privacy. Many believe Facebook similarly crossed that line when it altered hundreds of thousands of users' News Feeds for a psychology experiment that was revealed this summer. In its defense, Harvard says that that a federally-mandated review board approved the project, though officials note that the assistant undergraduate dean will be consulted for any similar projects in the future.

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Google Android 5 Lollipop review - faster, prettier and better battery life

Google Android 5 Lollipop review - faster, prettier and better battery life

Samuel Gibbs

The Guardian 

Google’s new version of its tablet and smartphone operating system “Lollipop” is the fifth version of Android, introducing new features and tweaks that collectively give the user the feeling that quite a lot has been improved.
Unveiled as “L” at Google’s developer conference I/O in June to replace Android 4.4 “KitKat, Android 5 Lollipop was revealed alongside Google’s new design ethos called “Material”.
Material Design is a new consistent look for Google’s apps, products and services, which stretches beyond Android to Google’s Chrome browser and Chrome OS software for low-cost laptops. The basic premise is a bolder, more colourful and flat look to icons, notifications and other interface elements.
This review is based on a very near final version of Lollipop released by Google for testing. Small things may change before release.

Smooth sliding

For Lollipop that means the use of much brighter, fuller colours than the previous version of Android and a more consistent look. Menu bars are one solid block of colour, icons are highly stylised and flat, while interface “cards” first introduced with Google Now are used throughout, floating and sliding over the top of each other adding depth.
Every bit of the interface looks different, including the background which now changes colour depending on the time of day in some apps, and some slick new sliding animations which add motion to many of Android’s responses.
The lockscreen smoothly slides up and down, with button taps pulsing with white circles. Apps now slide up from the bottom, while the notification shade is pulled down in two stages, one for notifications and a second for quick settings. The second stage has a particularly pleasing animation that reveals battery and settings icons, sliding out from the user profile icon.
Lollipop’s animations. All the animations are fast and fluid, giving Android a sense of urgency and stopping them from getting in the way of getting things done.

More than just one user

More than one user can have an account on devices. Photograph: Screengrab Beyond the obvious colourful difference, Lollipop introduces a couple of important features into the core Android experience.
The first is multiple user accounts on one device. Some Android tablets have had support for more than one user, but smartphones and other devices have been limited to a single user account.
Now multiple user accounts can be set up straight from the quick settings screen, including temporary guest accounts, making sharing a device within a family much easier. The user accounts are very basic at the moment – there are no parental control settings beyond restricted accounts that can limit for instance – but each user will have their own accounts and data inside their profile, which can be password protected.

Restricted profiles can block access to certain apps and functions. Photograph: Screengrab Setting up a new device is now a lot easier for owners of older Android smartphones and tablets. Simply tapping another Android device on the back will transfer settings, apps and accounts as long as both support near field communication (NFC), which almost every Android device will.
It is a one-touch procedure, which works well and takeaway much of the headache of swapping to a new smartphone or tablet.

Notification filters

Each app can be blocked from displaying notifications, or added to the priority list. Photograph: Screengrab Multitasking has also been enhanced with a new card system. Each app can show more than one card allowing users to switch to an open message or back to the inbox, for example – not just to one view in the app.
Notifications from any number of apps can now be filtered by priority on an app-by-app basis. Instead of letting any notification through, users can choose to let only important messages from favourite contacts to show or prevent any notifications from showing.
Users can set up quiet periods through the day or week, or activate the feature on an ad hoc basis – not something that is new to Android devices, but the first time it has been integrated into the core Android experience.

Longer battery life

The power saving mode turns the status bar orange to indicate it’s active, inhibiting some apps while the screen is off. Photograph: Screengrab Lollipop also promises to help prolong smartphone and tablet battery life by being more efficient and tougher on battery-draining apps. It uses a new version of the underlying software called Art that powers apps, which is both faster and lighter on resources.
A pre-release version of Lollipop installed on a Nexus 5 smartphone made the battery last around a quarter longer, with others finding even longer gains of over 35% or two hours in tests. Users should see their smartphones and tablets lasting significantly longer after being updated.
A built-in “battery saver” mode aims to help the device last as long as possible by reducing processor performance and disabling use of data in the background; email and messaging apps will still update when opened, but may not while not active. It can be enabled manually or automatically at 15% battery remaining.
Battery saving modes are not new, as many smartphone manufacturers including Samsung, Sony and LG have built their own systems for reducing battery consumption, but now it is baked directly into the unmodified Android experience.

Better unlocking

Google has added new ways users can login to devices. Face unlock, which uses the front-facing camera of the smartphone or tablet to recognise the users face to unlock the device, has been altered so it runs in the background. As the user looks through notifications on the lockscreen, the device attempts to recognise the face, but if it can’t it will prompt for a pin or password when the user tries to go past the the lock screen.
Bluetooth devices such as headphones, speakers and smartwatches, as well as NFC tags, can be used to unlock the device automatically. When leaving the range of the trusted device the smartphone or tablet will re-lock, requiring a passcode.
Both login methods work well and can alleviate some of the irritations of keeping a device secure.

Where and when will it be available?

Google’s latest Nexus smartphone is a 6in phablet made by Motorola. Photograph: Google The first devices to run Lollipop will be Google’s Nexus 6 smartphone and Nexus 9 tablet, which will be available in the next few weeks. Google’s Nexus 7 tablet and Nexus 5 smartphone will also be updated in the next month.
After Google’s release of Lollipop, other manufacturers will have to make the updated software available for their devices on a case-by-case basis, likely a couple of months later. Motorola has pledged an upgrade for its Moto G, X and E, HTC for its One M8 and older M7, while Samsung is expected to update the Galaxy S5 and Note 4 and LG the G3.

Verdict

Lollipop is a complete visual overhaul of the standard Android look, making it a much smoother, more coherent and connected experience – a big step up compared to previous iterations of Google’s software.
It is also faster, lighter on battery and adds a lot of what third-party manufacturers have had to manually bolt on to their customised versions of Android.
There are still a few areas that could be improved, mainly around app permissions and user privacy control, but overall Lollipop is a solid upgrade and keeps Android on-par with competitors.

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