Новости за 03.10.2017

Between March and July of this year, the credit rating agency Equifax, was infiltrated by hackers who made off with the sensitive personal information of more than 140 million Americans. That sounds like the kind of thing that might hurt a company’s credibility when it comes to security. But Politico is now reporting that the IRS will pay Equifax $7.25 million to “verify taxpayer identities and help prevent fraud.”

Japan has successfully mined zinc, gold, and other minerals from a deep-water seabed off the coast of Okinawa, The Japan Times reported last week. Though the scale of the operation is still unclear, it could be one of the first ventures in what may be a massive deep-ocean mining industry. And that is sparking renewed concerns among scientists about how this new gold rush will affect the unique creatures living off these ore deposits.

As North American cities vie for the chance to be chosen by Amazon as the home of its second headquarters, one Georgia city has stepped up to the plate. The city council of Stonecrest, Georgia voted 4 to 2 on Monday to change its name to Amazon, Georgia and give the company 345 acres of land if Amazon selects it as the HQ destination, according to local media.

Lighting company LIFX has just debuted Beam, a decorative Wi-Fi-connected smart light that joins the recently announced LIFX Tile. Where the LIFX Tile is a series of square panels, the beam is a thin rail that is a more delicate room accent.

A judge overseeing the lawsuit between Waymo and Uber has granted the Alphabet subsidiary’s request for a delay in the trial. Waymo had requested more time to review a recently unsealed report detailing Uber’s acquisition of the self-driving truck startup Otto. That report is now at the center of Waymo’s allegations that Uber knowingly accepted stolen trade secrets to fuel its driverless car effort.

Google’s upcoming new high-end Pixelbook already leaked out ahead of the company’s upcoming event, but a new leak from electronics reseller Synnex has revealed some more information about the upcoming device, via 9to5Google.

Google Home normally has a set volume, so if you turn it up during the day but then use it again at night, it can get too loud for you. To solve those woes, Google Home has gotten a new Night Mode, which is still under early access in Google Home’s preview program and hasn’t yet been released commercially, as first reported by Android Police.

Intel says it’s planning to deliver a Windows Mixed Reality experience for the Winter Olympics next year. A company spokesperson appeared, in virtual reality, at Microsoft’s special Mixed Reality event in San Francisco this morning. While Intel hasn’t demonstrated exactly what it’s building, it will likely be similar to the VR broadcasts from NBC during the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The third episode of Star Trek: Discovery aired this week, and at one point in the episode, Sonequa Martin-Green’s Michael Burnham is tasked with reconciling two suites of code by Lieutenant Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp).

Dropbox announced a redesign today that introduces a whole lot more color into its former white-and-blue aesthetic. The new look also includes a flatter box logo that makes it look less like an actual box and more like planes of surface (or an... even more abstract box, for the non-artistic types.)

When it comes to using technology and science as narrative tools to probe the nature of the human heart, Spanish writer-director Mateo Gil knows a thing or two. He co-wrote Abre Los Ojos, Alejandro Amenábar’s twisty-turvy tale of a man who might be going crazy, or might be suffering side effects from post-traumatic memory implants. (The American remake, Vanilla Sky, preserved the twists.) He also co-wrote Amenábar’s The Sea Inside, which tells the story of a quadriplegic fighting for the ability to end his life on his own terms. Читать дальше...

Samsung is officially unveiling its Windows Mixed Reality headset today, and on paper it looks like the best one yet. While we’ve seen plenty of headsets from Acer, Asus HP, Dell, and Lenovo, Samsung’s Odyssey headset differs from its rivals thanks to dual-OLED displays. Samsung is also using a higher 1400 x 1600 resolution on each display in its device, and a better 110-degree field-of-view.

AltspaceVR, the virtual reality social network that hosts events like stand-up comedy or presidential debate-watching parties, is now part of Microsoft. After a sudden shutdown due to a drop in funding in July, the free VR community was in “deep discussions” with unknown parties to keep it online. It originally looked like Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey might step in and save the community, but Microsoft has now come to the rescue.

Microsoft is bringing Halo to its Windows Mixed Reality headsets later this month. Halo: Recruit will be available as a free download on October 17th, and it’s designed to be a VR environment of characters in the popular game. 343 industries has created the experience, and it looks like it will be similar to the lightsaber VR experience available on the HTC Vive last year. It’s not a full game of Halo, nor will you be running around as Master Chief, but it’s a first attempt at how Halo could look in virtual reality. Читать дальше...

Papyrus, the best font for inviting someone to your grandma’s birthday party, wasn’t simply born out of the ether. It was forged by the hands of man — specifically, one man, named Chris Costello — and he is very sorry for what he’s done.

Last week, thousands of marketers, buyers, and media figures gathered in New York City for Advertising Week, a yearly industry gathering. Most of the attention was on television and print — where most of the money in the industry still goes — but Facebook was hovering ominously in the background. At one panel, aggressively titled “Will Data and Digital Resurrect TV?,” even Oprah favorite Dr. Oz got in on the action.

Apple has just released a small update to iOS 11 that has one key change in it: a fix for a bug that caused a crackling sound to occur during phone calls for some iPhone 8 and 8 Plus users.

This summer, a breach at the credit bureau Equifax compromised Social Security numbers and other sensitive data on more than 145 million people. Since then, experts have been puzzling over how the company allowed it to happen. The attackers seem to have broken into the system by exploiting a public vulnerability in Apache’s Struts software, but by the time the compromise occurred, a patch for that vulnerability had been available for months. So why didn’t Equifax deploy the patch?

Paul Otellini, who served as Intel’s chief executive from 2005 until his mid-2013 retirement, has died at the age of 66. He passed away in his sleep on Monday, the company said today. In all, Otellini spent over 40 years as an Intel employee.

Sony announced an updated version of the PlayStation VR headset earlier this week, and now it is updating the companion PS Move controllers with a new version that also features some minor changes, as spotted by Road To VR. The biggest change: finally getting rid of Mini USB in favor of Micro USB.

Honda has unveiled a new prototype disaster relief robot named E2-DR at IROS 2017 (International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems) in Vancouver, reports IEEE Spectrum. The company had previously announced the experimental disaster relief robot in a paper presented two years ago. Its latest paper, called "Development of Experimental Legged Robot for Inspection and Disaster Response in Plants,” details how the robot prototype is designed to be flexible, strong, and waterproof.

Earlier today, Publisher’s Lunch announced that Annihilation and Borne author Jeff VanderMeer signed a “major deal” with publisher FSG for his next novel, Hummingbird Salamander, and an untitled short story collection. The deal is for over half a million dollars, and VanderMeer tells The Verge that it’s inspired in part by his concerns over the state the world when it comes to right-wing politics, climate change, and national security.

Missouri officials announced the formation of a public-private partnership today to study the feasibility of building a hyperloop route between St. Louis and Kansas City. The study is being supported by Hyperloop One, the Los Angeles-based startup that has been working to realize Elon Musk’s dream of nearly supersonic, tube-based transportation.

This fall, The Verge is making a choice. The choice is fear! We’ve decided to embrace the season by taking in as many new horror movies as possible and reporting back on which ones are worth your time. We’re calling this series Hold My Hand, as we look at films you might want to watch with a supportive viewing partner. Get comfortable, put the kettle on, check the closet for ghosts, then find a hand to squeeze until the bones pop.

Instagram is making its Stories a little more interactive with a new polling feature that users can add with a “poll” sticker.