Today, prosumer audio gear manufacturer Plantronics announced the BackBeat 500 Series, which is the Californian firm’s latest stab at the middle-range of the headphones market. The wireless headphones offer a lightweight design and a battery that promises to endure, with up to 18 hours of listening and talk time on a single charge. It also includes a hibernation mode that’ll extend the battery life of the headphones to six months when the headphones are out of range of your device, or simply left on. To me, that’s hugely helpful. There has been plenty of times when I’ve boarded a long flight, only to be by my cans that they need to be recharged.
Quite often the best insights about technology companies aren’t found on the hallowed pages of technology-exclusive publications, but rather on finance websites and blogs. Indeed, in the run up to the iPhone 7’s launch, we learned much about the Apple’s upcoming flagship phone from insights gleaned from industry analysts working for banks and funds. I’ve made it my goal for 2017 to read more finance news. The problem is knowing where to look. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of money-oriented blogs, websites, and twitter feeds, with some more reliable than others.
Companies that exclusively manufacture Linux computers are few and far between. The few that exist tend to focus on the “prosumer” or developer market niche. Endless, however, has tread a different path. The San Francisco-based manufacturer is known for its quirky line of affordable machines, all running its own bespoke Linux-based operating system, Endless OS. Announced at CES earlier this year, the Endless Mission One is the latest in the company’s burgeoning stable of computers. And compared to the rest of Endless’ lineup, it’s a bit of an aberration.
Samsung might finally have a release date for the much-anticipated Galaxy S8, but the leaks keep rolling in. Dedicated leak portal Slashleaks has obtained footage that gives us a close look at Samsung’s upcoming flagship handset. The video comes from a Weibo user and appears to show both the standard S8 as well as the bigger-sized S8+ device. “This event was off the charts” Gary Vaynerchuk was so impressed with TNW Conference 2016 he paused mid-talk to applaud us. FIND OUT WHY The footage seems to have been recorded in a rush and you can still hear sounds from industrial machines in the background.
Hackers are getting more impish by the day. Security researchers have discovered a new hacking vector for Chrome that prompts users to download a ‘missing font’ and then tricks them into installing malware on their systems. The infection was first spotted by Mahmoud Al-Qudsi from cybersecurity firm NeoSmart Technologies, which has since detailed the attack in a blog post. The researcher initially noticed the trap while browsing an unnamed WordPress website that was allegedly already compromised. Unlike other worn-out attacks, this one was particularly well-disguised. The hackers fundamentally use JavaScript to tamper with the text rendering, causing it to resemble mis-encoded text in place of actual content.
Purchasing a piece of history sure doesn’t come cheap. The oldest surviving Nikon camera has sold for a staggering $406,000 at an auction in Austria to become the most expensive piece of photography ever manufactured by the iconic brand. The device, which is said to be the third ever camera Nikon put together, was first built back in April 1948, but still dons the original F2 Nikkor H lens it shipped with; it also comes with its original and extremely rare double strap case. As inscribed on its body, the antique was “made in occupied Japan.” 20,000 tech-heads descend on Amsterdam Join us and 20,000 others at our 12th edition of TNW Conference.
In 2014, Los Angeles-based photographer Mike Kelley became an internet sensation after releasing a composite image featuring seven hours of takeoffs at LAX. The images were taken individually, and then stitched together to create a stunning and unique look at the world of aviation. And Kelley, as he said, spent far too much time in Photoshop to create it. Since his initial viral photo, Kelley has been honing his craft and traveling the world to capture ever-more-beautiful images in the same vein. The result is a series he calls ‘Airportraits’ and it features airports from Tokyo to Amsterdam with the same composite imagery of planes taking off over a period of several hours.
After seeing Instagram launch ‘Stories’ in August, it seems Facebook wanted in on the fun. The blatant rip of one of Snapchat’s key features is making its way to a second Facebook-owned platform, Messenger, at least for testing. ‘Messenger Day,’ lets users post photos and videos, with filters, that self-destruct after 24 hours. If it sounds familiar, that’s because it’s been a Snapchat feature for years, and just recently came to Instagram. Do business with 5,000 people Momentum by TNW is our New York technology event for anyone interested in helping their company grow. Find out more Currently, the app isn’t available on Facebook proper — or in the US — as the company chose to test it in Poland first.
Adobe has treated its Photoshop Express application for Android to a fresh update via the Play Store. The upgrade brings a much-needed makeover to the app, in addition to a handful of exciting new features. Included is the option for users to save photographs to their Creative Cloud Library for further editing on the Photoshop desktop software. I’ve already installed the update on my Galaxy S7 edge, and can honestly say that the revamped UI looks great. Sadly, it doesn’t quite meet Google’s attractive Material Design standards — and it’s a bit rough around the edges — but it’s still a massive improvement over the previous interface and gives the application a whole new lease of life.
