World News

Thursday, September 25, 2014

It's just this easy to steal from the Apple Store (video)

byRichard Lawler|@Rjcc| 12 hours ago

Late last week, ex-NBA player Rex Chapman was picked up by Scottsdale, Arizona police on felony charges of theft and trafficking in stolen property. According to the police, that's because Chapman made off from the local Apple Store with over $14,000 worth of gear over several visits occurring in the last few months. As you can see in the raw security video footage of some nine visits released by the police today, he would browse around, pick up an item (headphones, although from the video we can't tell if they're Beats), pretend to check it out with Apple's EasyPay app and put it in a white Apple sales bag. Finally, all he had to do was walk out before selling the goods at a pawnshop.

We've contacted Apple to find out if there are what specific policies are in place to stop this kind of thing from happening, but have not yet heard back. Apple employees reported the thefts back in August and recognized Chapman as a former player for the Phoenix Suns, and he was arrested Friday afternoon. He was released on $14,000 bond Saturday, and is due back in court Friday, but has been quiet on Twitter since the arrest.

Source: YouTube, AZCentral, AZFamily

Tags: apple, applestore, easypay, RexChapman, theft, video Hide Comments 0Comments

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Apple explains how to fix its busted iOS 8 update, new one coming soon

byMat Smith|@thatmatsmith| 11 hours ago

Went ahead and downloaded the newest, freshest version of iOS for that new iPhone 6? Then immediately regret doing so? Apple's released a statement saying that users who have lost carrier service or Touch ID functionality should reinstall the initial version of iOS 8, until version 8.0.2 is ready to go. The company says this will take a few more days. We've got the full statement after the break.

"We have a workaround for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users who lost cellular service and Touch ID functionality today after updating to iOS 8.0.1. Affected users can reinstall iOS 8 through iTunes, for more information visit http://support.apple.com/kb/HT6487. We apologize for the great inconvenience experienced by users, and are working around the clock to prepare iOS 8.0.2 with a fix for the issue, and will release it as soon as it is ready in the next few days." Tags: apple, iOS, ios8, ios801, iphone6, iphone6plus, mobilepostcross, update Hide Comments 0Comments

Apple iOS 8

Apple iOS 8 Key specs Reviews • 2 Prices Discussions Type Mobile / embedded OS Source model Closed Architecture 64-bit, 32-bit Announced 2014-06-02 see all specs → 8.5average user rating Ease of use 10 Speed 7 Configurability 9 Ecosystem (apps, drivers, etc.) 9 Openness 7

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Let's talk about the WWDC keynote right here! 1

Your Greatest moments in Mobile Technology 9

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Apple iPhone 6 16GB 64GB 128GB AT&T 16GB AT&T 64GB AT&T 128GB Sprint 16GB Sprint 64GB Sprint 128GB T-Mobile 16GB T-Mobile 64GB T-Mobile 128GB Verizon 16GB Verizon 64GB Verizon 128GB Buy from $199 * Key specs Reviews • 2 Prices Discussions Type Smartphone Operating system iOS (8) Screen size 4.7 inches Internal memory 16 GB Camera 8 megapixels Dimensions 5.44 x 2.64 x 0.27 in Weight 4.55 oz Released 2014-09-19 see all specs → 8average user rating Reception and call quality 9 Display 10 Battery life 9 Camera 9 Ease of use 8 Design and form factor 8 Portability (size / weight) 9 Media support 8 Durability 9 Ecosystem (apps, accessories, etc.) 10

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AT&T 16GB-Gray AT&T 16GB-Silver AT&T 16GB-Gold AT&T 64GB-Gray AT&T 64GB-Silver AT&T 64GB-Gold AT&T 128GB-Gray AT&T 128GB-Silver AT&T 128GB-Gold Sprint 16GB-Gray Sprint 16GB-Silver Sprint 16GB-Gold Sprint 64GB-Gray Sprint 64GB-Silver Sprint 64GB-Gold Sprint 128GB-Gray Sprint 128GB-Silver Sprint 128GB-Gold Verizon 16GB-Gray Verizon 16GB-Silver Verizon 16GB-Gold Verizon 64GB-Gray Verizon 64GB-Silver Verizon 64GB-Gold Verizon 128GB-Gray Verizon 128GB-Silver Verizon 128GB-Gold

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start a discussion see all discussions → Apple iPhone 6 Plus

Apple iPhone 6 Plus 16GB 64GB 128GB AT&T 16GB AT&T 64GB AT&T 128GB Sprint 16GB Sprint 64GB Sprint 128GB T-Mobile 16GB T-Mobile 64GB T-Mobile 128GB Verizon 16GB Verizon 64GB Verizon 128GB Buy from $299 * Key specs Reviews • 5 Prices Discussions Type Smartphone Operating system iOS (8) Screen size 5.5 inches Internal memory 16 GB Camera 8 megapixels Dimensions 6.22 x 3.06 x 0.28 in Weight 6.07 oz Released 2014-09-19 see all specs → 9.2average user rating Reception and call quality 8.8 Display 10 Battery life 9.2 Camera 10 Ease of use 9.2 Design and form factor 9.2 Portability (size / weight) 6.8 Media support 9.2 Durability 9.6 Ecosystem (apps, accessories, etc.) 10

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$299.99 on contract Buy now 12

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It's just this easy to steal from the Apple Store (video)

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California's giant battery test is a step towards clean energy

byJon Fingas|@jonfingas| 10 hours ago

One of the biggest challenges of switching to clean energy sources is finding a place to store excess power. That's relatively easy on a small scale, but it's much more daunting for your utility company. Southern California Edison is apparently ready to take on that challenge, however. It just launched the Tehachapi Energy Storage Project, a large-scale experiment in using lithium-ion batteries (608,832 of them, to be exact) to preserve unused electricity. For the next two years, the 32 megawatt-hours array will scoop up leftover energy from nearby sources, including a wind turbine area; SCE will be watching closely to see how the lithium-ion packs improve its grid's real world performance.

It could be a while before you see this sort of battery station elsewhere on SCE's network, no matter how successful the test may be. The batteries are only supporting a substation in a small town. It would take a considerably larger effort to support a major city, and even China's record-setting storage system tops out at 36 megawatt-hours. However, it's still an important step toward bringing eco-friendly energy to many more people -- eventually, you might not have to be picky about where you live (or use your own generators) in order to get all your power from renewable resources.

Batteries in the Tehachapi Energy Storage Project

Source: Edison International

Tags: battery, cleanenergy, EdisonInternational, energy, energystorage, lgchem, lithiumion, power, sce, southerncaliforniaedison, tehachapi, tehachapienergystorageproject Hide Comments 0Comments

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Apple explains how to fix its busted iOS 8 update, new one coming soon

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Steam Music Player does exactly what it sounds like

bySean Buckley|@seaniccus| 8 hours ago

Valve's game distribution service has been going through a lot of small changes recently: not only has Steam been given a fresh coat of paint and a completely redesigned storefront, but now it plays music, too. This isn't a total surprise, of course -- Valve has been testing music playback for months, and even rolled the feature out to beta users over the summer -- but now Steam Music Player is available to anyone running the latest version of the client. It's a pretty simple addition, too: Steam scrubs your PC's common (or manually defined) music folders for MP3s and, well, plays them.

It does get a little more complex -- the music player is accessible in the client's game overlay, which means you can control and play music without alt-tabbing back to the desktop. It also offers an easy way to listen to soundtracks of supported games, but this part of the experience is a little clunky: since Steam offers soundtracks as game DLC, it appears that most of the service's music can't be downloaded separately from the game itself. If Portal 2 isn't installed, neither is the game's music. Need some music to test it out with? Valve at least has you covered here: Half-Life, Half-Life 2 and both Portal games are 75% off in celebration of the new feature, and all of those games come with free soundtrack DLC. Neat.

Source: Steam (1), (2)

Tags: gaming, music, pcgaming, steam, steam0s, valve Hide Comments 0Comments

Valve SteamOS

Valve SteamOS Key specs Reviews • 3 Prices Discussions Type Computer OS Source model Closed, w/ open source Architecture 64-bit, 32-bit Announced 2013-09-23 see all specs → 9.3average user rating Ease of use 9.3 Speed 10 Configurability 8.7 Ecosystem (apps, drivers, etc.) 9.3 Openness 8.7

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California's giant battery test is a step towards clean energy

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NASA uses three space telescopes to detect water vapor on Neptune-sized exoplanet

byMariella Moon|@mariella_moon| 7 hours ago

NASA has been discovering one exoplanet after another these days, but its scientists have to look a lot closer if they want to see more details, such as the planets' color or whether they have water. That's exactly what the agency did while observing HAT-P-11b -- by combining the power of three space telescopes, scientists have found clear skies and water vapor on the atmosphere of the Neptune-sized exoplanet. NASA observed the distant world while it was crossing its solar system's sun using one of Hubble's wide field cameras. Water vapor typically absorbs starlight during that process, and it's that light that reaches our telescopes. In order to confirm whether it's actually water vapor (mixed with hydrogen gas and other molecules), the scientists compared Hubble's data to visible-light data collected by Kepler and Spitzer light data taken at infrared wavelengths.

To note, this isn't the first time scientists found water vapor on exoplanets. But, they were all more akin to the size of Jupiter, since it's tough observing smaller ones like this from afar, especially since most of them seem to have cloudy atmospheres. This particular discovery gives NASA hope that it can work its way down to even smaller planets, until it can effectively observe Earth-sized rocky worlds in other solar systems.

Source: NASA

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Steam Music Player does exactly what it sounds like

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Garmin wants third-party apps to come to its fitness watches

byMariella Moon|@mariella_moon| 5 hours ago

Garmin's GPS watches and bands have been around wayyy longer than Android Wear and many other wearables, but the company's opening its gates to developers just now. The fitness/navigation equipment maker has launched an SDK called Connect IQ, which Garmin hopes devs will use to create watchfaces, widgets that show info at a glance and, of course, apps specially designed for wearable devices. Sadly, you won't be able to load apps on your old Garmin bands and watches -- you'd have to wait for compatible devices to come out in 2015. According to DC Rainmaker, if you do get one of those supported devices, you'll need to install the Garmin Connected Mobile app on your phone before you can load applications to the watch via Bluetooth, similar to Pebble. Question is: is there room on your "wearables to consider" list in a world where a bunch of Android Wear devices are already available and Apple watches are on their way?

Source: Garmin

More Coverage: DC Rainmaker, Kansas City Business Journal

Tags: app, developer, Garmin, SmartWatch Hide Comments 0Comments

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NASA uses three space telescopes to detect water vapor on Neptune-sized exoplanet

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Nissan's built an electric pickup that it'll never sell

byMatt Brian|@m4tt| 4 hours ago

Nissan Leaf Pickup

There are probably lots of justifiable reasons why car makers haven't got around to making an electric pickup that anyone can buy (range and demand would be just two), but that doesn't mean such vehicles doesn't exist. Engineers at Nissan, with a little too much time on their hands, wanted to create a neat way of ferrying people and parts around their Test Center in Stanfield, Arizona. Using the project as a team building exercise, designers Roland Schellenberg and Arnold Moulinet took a Leaf EV, cut off its roof, replaced it with the top of a Titan pickup and added a shortened rear bed from a Frontier. The end result is "Sparky," a stylish little electric pickup that won't ever leave Nissan's 3,050-acre test facility, but gives us hope that we'll one day see a little more EV variation on our roads.

Gallery | 9 PhotosNissan Leaf Pickup + See all 9

Via: Wired

Source: Nissan

Tags: electric vehicle, ev, frontier, leaf, nissan, tesla, titan Hide Comments 0Comments

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Garmin wants third-party apps to come to its fitness watches

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