Microsoft and Dropbox announced a surprise office integration partnership, LG and Google officially become BFFs for the next 10 years, the real reason the Jobs monument was torn down.

Plus our Kickstarter of the week & more!

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Dropbox and Microsoft form surprise partnership for Office integration | The Verge

Microsoft and Dropbox are teaming up today to more closely integrate Dropbox into Office. The surprise partnership will benefit Dropbox users who use Office across desktop, mobile, and the web as Microsoft’s productivity suite will soon become the standard way to edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files stored on Dropbox storage.

Dropbox is also adding options to its own mobile apps to push its users over to Microsoft Office to edit documents. If you’re on a mobile device that doesn’t have Office installed then you’ll be prompted to download the apps to edit, and any changes will sync back directly to Dropbox seamlessly, just as you’d expect.

In the first half of 2015 Dropbox is planning to support Office Online directly from its web app. Editing for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents will be managed through Microsoft’s Office Web Apps

Google and LG will license each other’s patents for the next decade

Samsung isn’t the only Android device maker getting cozy with Google’s patents, apparently. LG has just entered into a cross-licensing deal with Google that will let the two companies use each other’s patents (including new ones) for the next 10 years. The two sides are coy about just why they’ve forged the long-term pact, although there are few possibilities. For a start, one or both sides may simply want to borrow the other’s features — a blanket agreement eliminates the chances of lawsuits and simplifies the licensing process. There’s also a chance that Google is using the deal to guarantee that LG won’t stray too far from the official Android strategy.

The real reason Russians tore down Steve Jobs’ monument

Steve Jobs’ monument in Russia was torn down the day after CEO Tim Cook opened up about being gay last week. The incident was immediately blamed on homophobic Russians and the country’s anti-gay laws, but the school where the monument was destroyed, says that’s not actually what happened.

School officials told Russian news outlets today that the iPhone statue was removed for a reason any Apple fan can relate to: its screen was broken.

In fact, the press service for the Saint Petersburg State University of Information Technologies insists that it was actually notified that the statue was going to be removed the day before Tim Cook came out publicly, because its screen sensor was faulty.

Students at the college also confirmed that the giant iPhone statue wasn’t working properly, and that its removal wasn’t a result of the country’s anti-gay laws that ban promoting “non-traditional sexual relationships” to people under age 18.

Potential class action over Apple Pay launched against CVS, Rite Aid

A law firm is now looking into filing a class action suit against retailers that have blocked Apple Pay. If filed, the suit targets both CVS and Rite Aid, neither of which are Apple Pay partners and both had subsequently blocked Apple Pay from working within their respective stores. The law firm of Schubert Jonkheer & Kolbe are now looking into whether or not the actions of CVS, Rite Aid, and other Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) members may be violating antitrust laws.

KICKSTATER OF THE WEEK: Lumera: transform your camera into the smartest one by Lumera Labs — Kickstarter

Lumera comes with a built-in dual wireless connection using Bluetooth low energy to remotely control camera parameters and saving battery mode, and WiFi for video live view and fast image/video transfer.

With Lumera Android-iOS App, you will be able to:

• Wirelessly capture images and videos.
• Remotely view and edit camera parameters like shutter speed, ISO, focus and zoom area, white balance, drive mode, aperture, image quality and format and more features to come.
• Wirelessly stream live view to your iOS or Android device.
• Setup timelapses from your smartphone.
• Tag GPS location to your photos, when you need to.

Dropbox and Microsoft form surprise partnership for Office integration | The Verge

Microsoft and Dropbox are teaming up today to more closely integrate Dropbox into Office. The surprise partnership will benefit Dropbox users who use Office across desktop, mobile, and the web as Microsoft’s productivity suite will soon become the standard way to edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files stored on Dropbox storage.

Dropbox is also adding options to its own mobile apps to push its users over to Microsoft Office to edit documents. If you’re on a mobile device that doesn’t have Office installed then you’ll be prompted to download the apps to edit, and any changes will sync back directly to Dropbox seamlessly, just as you’d expect.

In the first half of 2015 Dropbox is planning to support Office Online directly from its web app. Editing for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents will be managed through Microsoft’s Office Web Apps

Google and LG will license each other’s patents for the next decade

Samsung isn’t the only Android device maker getting cozy with Google’s patents, apparently. LG has just entered into a cross-licensing deal with Google that will let the two companies use each other’s patents (including new ones) for the next 10 years. The two sides are coy about just why they’ve forged the long-term pact, although there are few possibilities. For a start, one or both sides may simply want to borrow the other’s features — a blanket agreement eliminates the chances of lawsuits and simplifies the licensing process. There’s also a chance that Google is using the deal to guarantee that LG won’t stray too far from the official Android strategy.

The real reason Russians tore down Steve Jobs’ monument

Steve Jobs’ monument in Russia was torn down the day after CEO Tim Cook opened up about being gay last week. The incident was immediately blamed on homophobic Russians and the country’s anti-gay laws, but the school where the monument was destroyed, says that’s not actually what happened.

School officials told Russian news outlets today that the iPhone statue was removed for a reason any Apple fan can relate to: its screen was broken.

In fact, the press service for the Saint Petersburg State University of Information Technologies insists that it was actually notified that the statue was going to be removed the day before Tim Cook came out publicly, because its screen sensor was faulty.

Students at the college also confirmed that the giant iPhone statue wasn’t working properly, and that its removal wasn’t a result of the country’s anti-gay laws that ban promoting “non-traditional sexual relationships” to people under age 18.

Potential class action over Apple Pay launched against CVS, Rite Aid

A law firm is now looking into filing a class action suit against retailers that have blocked Apple Pay. If filed, the suit targets both CVS and Rite Aid, neither of which are Apple Pay partners and both had subsequently blocked Apple Pay from working within their respective stores. The law firm of Schubert Jonkheer & Kolbe are now looking into whether or not the actions of CVS, Rite Aid, and other Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) members may be violating antitrust laws.

KICKSTATER OF THE WEEK: Lumera: transform your camera into the smartest one by Lumera Labs — Kickstarter

Lumera comes with a built-in dual wireless connection using Bluetooth low energy to remotely control camera parameters and saving battery mode, and WiFi for video live view and fast image/video transfer.

With Lumera Android-iOS App, you will be able to:

• Wirelessly capture images and videos.
• Remotely view and edit camera parameters like shutter speed, ISO, focus and zoom area, white balance, drive mode, aperture, image quality and format and more features to come.
• Wirelessly stream live view to your iOS or Android device.
• Setup timelapses from your smartphone.
• Tag GPS location to your photos, when you need to.

The post Office in a Dropbox | Tech Talk Today 86 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

Popular retailers disable NFC in their stores to block ApplePay, and that drives Android and iPhone users to team up and boycott. Fitbit has some new toys, and Microsoft gets behind WebRTC.

Plus a surprise from Firefox OS & a Kickstarter of the week!

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Show Notes:

CVS and Rite Aid Apple Pay blockade official as iOS and Android users unite in rare showing to fight NFC ban

Apple responds to CVS & Rite Aid blocking Apple Pay for CurrentC

CVS’s decision to not accept Apple Pay has been echoed by competing pharmacy chain Rite Aid in favor of a system called CurrentC. Rather than support both Apple Pay, CurrentC, and any other mobile payment system like Google Wallet, both chains have opted to actively disable NFC functionality at their sales terminals disabling Apple Pay support at checkout. CurrentC is an effort from the Merchant Customer eXchange (MCX) consortium which includes a number of other retailers like Best Buy and Walmart as well.

Both CVS and Rite Aid were able to accept Apple Pay at NFC terminals during the first few days of Apple Pay’s roll out, but both have since manually disabled support for all NFC-based payments. Competing pharmacy chain Walgreens, however, is a launch partner for Apple Pay and has encouraged its shoppers to use the secure mobile payment system.

• Let’s invite /r/Android to help us boycott retailers that are disabling NFC readers. We can unite to put pressure on them, since it affects us both!

• Tim Cook: Apple Pay received over 1 million activations in first 72 hours, bigger than all contactless competitors combined

Fitbit Joins the Smartwatch Race, and Replaces the Rash-y Force With a New Wristband

The company has just announced a new line-up of activity-tracking devices, including one “smart” fitness watch. Two of the new wearables include optical heart rate sensors, something new to Fitbits.

The new products break down as follows:

• The Fitbit Charge is being marketed as the “Force reinvented,” with an improved design. It measures steps, distance traveled, calories burned and floors climbed. It has an OLED display, is water-resistant and Fitbit is claiming it lasts up to seven days on a charge. As you can see from the photo here, it looks strikingly similar to the Force, but now includes automatic sleep detection and a caller ID function. It’s selling now for $130 dollars.

• The Fitbit Charge HR is basically the Charge wristband but with a combination of heart rate sensors that Fitbit is calling PurePulse. This means the wearer can monitor his or her heart rate continuously (some heart-rate wearables require you to press “start” on an activity to get a reading), and the device will use that data to give a more accurate calorie reading or spot heart rate trends over time. It also means the battery on the Charge HR will likely last around five days, not seven; this one will cost $150 and won’t be available until early 2015.

• And finally, there’s the $250 Fitbit Surge. This is the company’s first foray into connected-watch territory. It has a backlit LCD touchscreen display and eight different sensors: A tri-axis accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, ambient light sensor, GPS and heart rate. It records granular data around specific activities like running and cross-training, placing it firmly in the fitness-watch category, but will also cycle through the typical “smart” watch notifications like text alerts and incoming calls, provided a smartphone is in range. It’s water resistant, but isn’t meant to track swimming. Expected battery life is around seven days. Like the Charge HR, this one won’t ship until sometime in 2015.

Microsoft nears bringing WebRTC to Internet Explorer, eyes plugin-free Skype calls in the browser | VentureBeat | News Briefs | by Emil Protalinski

Microsoft today announced it is backing the Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC) technology and will be supporting the ORTC API in Internet Explorer. Put another way, the company is finally throwing its weight behind the broader industry trend of bringing voice and video calling to the browser without the need for plugins.

For those who don’t know, WebRTC is an open project that lets Internet users communicate in real time via voice and video simply by using a WebRTC-compatible browser.

Microsoft and over 80 other participants are actively collaborating with the W3C and IETF to contribute and improve standards like the ORTC API for WebRTC. The W3C ORTC Community Group has issued a “Call for Implementations,” which means the ORTC specification has reached significant stability.

The main goal is to influence how the 1.0 version of the WebRTC API will function, though the company still hasn’t confirmed it will implement it in its browser. Microsoft is hoping to push ITU-T H.264 as the primary video codec and says it will offer audio codecs Opus, G.722, and G.711.

Mozilla hopes to challenge Raspbian as RPi OS of choice

The Mozilla Foundation staged a Mozilla Festival in the UK over the weekend, and one of the projects developers delivered was a port of Firefox OS working to the Raspberry Pi.

The NoPhone by The NoPhone Team — Kickstarter

The post NFC Payments War! | Tech Talk Today 81 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

Google is re-thinking email and launches Inbox, a new gmail that’s not gmail, but is connected to your gmail. We’ll explain. Apple Pay hits a few glitches & PC World takes a bold step.

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Inbox is a total reinvention of email from Google | The Verge

The new Gmail app from the Gmail team isn’t technically just an email app, at least if you ask them. It’s called “Inbox,” and it’s being released as an invite-only system that works on the Chrome browser, Android phones, and iPhones. It feels completely native and fast on all of those systems. But it’s a native and fast app that does something 10 degrees away from what you’d expect an email app to do. My first impression of Inbox is that it’s really great, but a little weird.

The basic idea is this: it’s still a Gmail app, but instead of giving you the traditional list of emails, it tries to intelligently give you more information so you don’t have to even open them. Google Now-style info cards appear right in line with your message list, including things like flight times, package tracking, and photos.

It also tries to intelligently “bundle” emails into groups that you can quickly dismiss.

Apple Pay glitch sees some early adopters hit with duplicate charges

APPLE PAY has got off to a shaky start in the US after some shoppers reported that the NFC mobile payments service had charged them twice for purchases.

The Apple Pay problem largely affects Bank of America customers, according to a report on Bloomberg.

The report claims that around 1,000 Bank of America debit transactions on Apple Pay were mistakenly duplicated, seeing some people charged twice.

The problem was blamed on a processing error that occurred between the bank and at least one payments network, according to Bloomberg‘s inside source, who added that the glitch is likely to be fixed today.

Chromebook shipments leap by 67 percent | ZDNet

ABI Research found that, in the most recent quarter, Chromebook shipments increased by 67 percent quarter over quarter. The research company expects that year over year, Chromebooks shipments will double.

Specifically, ABI found that Acer is continuing to maintain its lead over other vendors in the market, including Samsung, HP, and Dell. By ABI’s count, the top three leading vendors, Acer, Samsung, and HP, accounted for 74 percent of all Chromebooks shipped during the first half of 2014. ABI doesn’t see the top three changing in the waning months of 2014.

ABI also found that vertical markets — especially education — are a driving force. In emerging markets, especially in Asia-Pacific and Eastern Europe, business-purchasing entities account for 75 percent of Chromebook sales. Google is also making an enterprise push for Chromebooks with its Chromebooks for Work initiative.

PCWorld begins weekly column on Linux and other non windows OSes.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/2825493/meet-world-beyond-windows-the-new-pcworld-column-dedicated-to-linux-chrome-os-and-anything-but-wind.html

The post Gmail isn't Gmail: it's gmail | Tech Talk Today 80 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

It’s our live commentary of Apple’s 2014 Late Fall iPad/Mac event. We document our reactions as the event unfolds & share our thoughts

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Show Notes:

Apple says 27-inch Retina 5K iMac will start at $2499 and ship today | 9to5Mac

Apple announces OS X Yosemite available today for free | 9to5Mac

Apple officially announces 18% thinner ‘iPad Air 2’ w/ Touch ID & gold color option | 9to5Mac

The post Apple's Thin Presentation | Tech Talk Today 77 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

Did Microsoft buying Mojang come around because Notch was burned out? Is the problem systemic to independent developers who just love to code?

Plus we respond to your strong feedback regarding privacy & much more!

Thanks to:

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— Show Notes: —

Feedback / Follow Up:

• Mike is wrong about privacy

• Secrecy

• Dvorak challenge

• From Tech / Coder to Teacher / Tech / Coder

Dev Hoopla:

I’m leaving Mojang | notch.net

As soon as this deal is finalized, I will leave Mojang and go back to doing Ludum Dares and small web experiments. If I ever accidentally make something that seems to gain traction, I’ll probably abandon it immediately.

Unity Technologies weighs its options, including a possible sale of the company

Unity Technologies, the makers of prolific video-game-development engines and tools, is exploring options for its future. One of those options is the possible sale of the company. The asking price is apparently very high — we’ve heard over $1 billion to as high as $2 billion.

The post Notch Escapes | CR 119 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

Gmail passwords may have been leaked, but there is some debate as to how bad the damage is. Google Voice gets rolled into Hangouts & we take a look at the results from “Internet Slowdown Day”.

Plus our thoughts on mobile payments, a great deal for Linux users & more!

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5 Million Gmail Usernames and Passwords Leaked

In what appears to be an unknown attack, hackers have dumped over 5,000,000 valid gmail username and passwords on the Internet early Wednesday morning.

Unknown hackers have leaked over five million valid credentials pertaining to Google Mail logins early this morning. The random dump of passwords first appeared on reddit’s netsec section linking to the another website hosting the leaked gmail accounts.

The .txt file of all leaked gmail usernames was found on BitCoin security (forum in Russian), where the leak is believed to be first offloaded. The file of leaked emails does not contain any passwords or other sensitive information, only full gmail email addresses.

As the leak was posted only hours ago, Reddit users are warning each other not to enter any email username or password combinations into any websites “to check if your password is secure.” It appears scams are already appearing or Reddit users are getting ready for the scams to come.

• Google Says No Compromise

“The security of our users’ information is a top priority for us,” a Google spokesperson told TNW. “We have no evidence that our systems have been compromised, but whenever we become aware that accounts may have been, we take steps to help those users secure their accounts.”

Next, since the posting, the forum administrators have purged the passwords from the text file in question, leaving only the logins. Furthermore, tvskit, the forum user who published the file, claimed that some 60 percent of the passwords were valid.

Google Voice Integration Is Currently Rolling Out In Hangouts

Google Voice is finally being integrated into Hangouts, because God knows Hangouts needed to be even more confusing. You can enable Voice SMS and voicemail via a popup in the conversation list, so check the app. If you still don’t see it, hang on. It’s still rolling out.

“Internet Slowdown Day” sends over 111,000* new comments on net neutrality to FCC

The effort appears to have made a difference: According to the FCC*, by 6 PM ET the agency saw 111,449 new public comments added to the already record-setting total, with some 41,173 filed into the 14-28 docket of the FCC’s website since and another 70,286 sent to the openinternet@fcc.gov inbox, setting a new high water mark of some 1,515,144 to date, with more yet to come. As reported by Mike Masnick, citing ThinkProgress, the Internet slowdown generated 1000 calls per minute to Congress. *Update: Fight for the Future claims that more than 500,000 comments have been submitted through Battleforthenet.com and that the FCC hasn’t caught up. According to the nonprofit, “this happened during our last big push too when their site crashed. We are storing comments and will deliver all.”

IDG shutters Macworld Magazine, much of the editorial staff let go | 9to5Mac

International Data Group (IDG) is shutting down Macworld Magazine, the long time Apple periodical according to tweets by staff and conversations I’ve had with personnel.

The Macworld.com website will remain open [although as a shell of its former self -ed] with a reduced staff according to Dan Miller (editor), who himself is leaving in a month.

Why pay with your phone? : techtalktoday

Floppy-Bacon Writes

Is payment the stores in the US really as bad as Apple’s presentation made it look? When I pay with my debit card (or credit card), I don’t hand it to the cashier. I insert it into a small device and enter my 4-digit PIN code; fast and secure. I do not need to identify my self, I do not any detail about my card and I do not have 15 cards in my wallet or however many cards she had in the video. I know that I hate technology, but do you really want to pay with your phone rather than just fix the payment system to how it works elsewhere? For the time being you still need to have your wallet with your for all the other stuff. (And taking my phone with me with just be extra cumbersome.)

Crossover Linux 50% off : linux_gaming

I received an e-mail this morning from CodeWeavers that CrossOver Linux + 12 months of support is 50% off for the next 48 hours.

Promotional Code: FLASHME

For more information: https://www.codeweavers.com/products/crossover-linux

The post The New Payphone | Tech Talk Today 57 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.

Apple introduces two new models of iPhones, a payment system & a watch. We stream it all live with our commentary, reactions & live covering for their bumpy stream issues.

This special edition of Tech Talk Today starts a bit bumpy, but finds its legs not too far into the episode.

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The hidden structure of the Apple keynote

The Apple Keynotes podcast on the iTunes Store lists 27 events since Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone on Jan. 9, 2007. (A few are missing.)

They are an average 88 minutes long, with a similar look and feel—a minimalist slide presentation with live demos from Apple executives and industry leaders, punctuated by videos explaining Apple’s design and manufacturing processes

When Steve Jobs was running Apple and healthy, he dominated the stage. During Jobs’ finest performance—his 2007 iPhone “Stevenote”—he spent more than 90 minutes on stage, with breaks only to invite partners up for remarks, including then-Google CEO (and then-Apple board member) Eric Schmidt.

Cook usually spends less than 20 minutes onstage per event

On average, it has taken about 45 minutes to get to that part. But more recently, it has been shorter. With plenty to cover tomorrow—supposedly including two new iPhones, a wearable device, and a payments system—there shouldn’t be much filler content.

The post Apple Watch Introduction | Tech Talk Today 55 first appeared on Jupiter Broadcasting.