EsquinaGeek

Los oficiales de inmigración podrán desde hoy pedirnos nuestros perfiles de redes sociales para chequear nuestra identidad en línea, gracias a una medida adoptada por el gobierno de Donald Trump para todos quienes quieran sacar algún tipo de visa para entrar a los Estados Unidos, informó hoy Reuters. Los agentes podrán indagar en nuestros datos de hasta cinco años en Internet, y hasta 15 años de nuestra información biográfica, incluyendo números de teléfono, historial de viajes y direcciones domiciliarias, a pesar de que, según indican las entidades a cargo, estas decisiones serán aplicadas solo a un 0,5% de las personas que entren al país. [Leer mas aqui...]

Google plans to introduce an ad-blocking setting in both the mobile and desktop versions of its Chrome browser, according to The Wall Street Journal. The option would be opt-in, and it would remove any and all “unacceptable” ads as defined by Coalition for Better Ads industry group. Those types of ads include pop-up ads, autoplay videos, and what are known as prestitial ads, or those ads that are often fullscreen and show up before you’re taken to the homepage or desired website. [Read more here...]

It’s never nice to be without the Internet. When I take a flight and there’s no Wi-Fi, I might grumble. The same is also true when my ISP shits the bed, and I’ve got to wait a few hours for them to send a technician out. Which is why I’ve got a grudging appreciation for the inmate of Marion Correctional Institution in Ohio who built two clandestine computers, hid them in the ceiling, and connected them to the Internet via the prison’s network. [Read more here...]

Google has reportedly offered to invest around $880 million US (1 trillion won) in LG’s Display division in an apparent bid to make sure it gets the supply of displays it needs for the next Pixel phone. According to the Electronic Times (via Reuters), the lack of a steady supply of OLED panels was one of the main reasons why Google has had such a hard time shipping the current Pixel phone. Google has apparently realized that if you’re trying to break into the phone hardware business, you should probably find a way to make and sell phones to people who want to buy them. Who knew?! [Read more here...]

The Windows 10 incarnation of Algoriddim’s powerful but easy-to-use DJing app is pretty much identical to what it’s like on macOS: it lets DJs control up to four tracks of audio, manipulate two videos at a time, connect to a selection of DJ controllers, and pull in any song they want from Spotify (so long as they’re a subscriber). There aren’t many changes here aside from some minor visual tweaks to make the app better fit in on Windows. Although, on the off chance that you want to DJ on a Surface Studio, Algoriddim has added controls for the Surface Dial. [Read more here...]

When big tech firms use machine learning to improve their software, the process is usually a very centralized one. Companies like Google and Apple gather information about how you use their apps; collect it in one place; and then train new algorithms using this aggregated data. The end result for users could be anything from sharper photos on your phone’s camera, to better a search function in your email app. This method is effective, but the back-and-forth of updating apps and gathering feedback is time-consuming. And it’s not great for user privacy, as companies have to store data on how you use your apps on their servers. So, to try and address these problems, Google is experimenting with a new method of AI training it calls Federated Learning. [Read more here...]

Five years ago, YouTube opened their partner program to everyone. This was a really big deal: it meant anyone could sign up for the service, start uploading videos, and immediately begin making money. This model helped YouTube grow into the web’s biggest video platform, but it has also led to some problems. People were creating accounts that uploaded content owned by other people, sometimes big record labels or movie studios, sometimes other popular YouTube creators. In an effort to combat these bad actors, YouTube has announced a change to its partner program today. From now on, creators won’t be able to turn on monetization until they hit 10,000 lifetime views on their channel. YouTube believes that this threshold will give them a chance to gather enough information on a channel to know if it’s legit. And it won’t be so high as to discourage new independent creators from signing up for the service. [Read more here...]

No fuimos pocos los que cuando vimos un botón extra en el S8, clamábamos que por favor se nos diera acceso a configurarlo como quisiéramos. Y es que Bixby se demorará su resto en funcionar en nuestro idioma, o a otros simplemente no les interesan los asistentes virtuales. [Leer mas aqui...]

Huawei no quiere que nadie les gane en su propia tierra, y es por eso que en China ya demandaron a cinco compañías (tres de ellas de propiedad de Samsung Electronics) por infracción de sus patentes, según informa Reuters. En la corte de Quanzhou se dictaminó que Huawei recibirá USD 11.6 millones por el uso no autorizado de tecnologías móviles por parte de la firma surcoreana. [Leer mas aqui...]

Desde hace meses se vienen filtrando datos que virtualmente aseguraban el trabajo conjunto entre Samsung y Apple para integrar por fin pantallas OLED a la nueva generación de dispositivos iPhone y iPad, pero hoy por fin surge un dato más sólido que viene a confirmar virtualmente esto: la firma de un contrato exclusivo entre ambas empresas para producir dichos displays. Según marca un informe publicado por DigiTimes, diversos medios del sector móvil han coincidido en señalar la creación de un reciente acuerdo comercial por cerca de USD $9.000 millones para que Samsung fabrique en exclusiva los paneles OLED necesarios para las próximas generaciones de dispositivos inteligentes Apple. [Leer mas aqui...]

Si bien es cierto que Twitter no está pasando por un buen momento de popularidad entre sus propios usuarios, la empresa se encuentra realizando diversos movimientos para volver a reposicionar la marca. Mientras tanto, diversos competidores comienzan a surgir de entre las sombras, pero el que más destaca entre ellos es Mastodon, una plataforma que apuesta por un contenido libre y sin censura. El sitio cuenta ya con 50 mil usuarios registrados, los cuales tienen acceso a subir fotografías, videos, links externos y texto, nada nuevo si es que lo comparamos con el servicio de microblogging, pero cuando te contamos que el límite de caracteres acá sube a 500, las cosas comienzan a cambiar. [Leer mas aqui...]

El plan que venía cocinándose hace un par de años y que hace poco se rumoreaba podía hacerse efectivo, hoy se cumplió. Para suerte de los residentes de los países de la Unión Europea, se acabarán los cargos por roaming en gran parte del continente. [Leer mas aqui...]

Con tristeza informamos a los amantes de Linux y, en especial de Ubuntu, que el desarrollo de una convergencia que pudiera construir un puente entre dispositivos móviles y computadoras a la que Canonical llamó Ubuntu Phone, ha muerto. Así lo informó el fundador de Ubuntu y Canonical, Mark Shuttleworth, a través del blog oficial de la compañía, en el cual habla sobre el buen desempeño de algunos de sus productos, entre los cuales no se encuentra Ubuntu Phone. [Leer mas aqui...]

Microsoft previously revealed some Project Scorpio specifications, but today the company is unveiling a lot more thanks to Digital Foundry. Eurogamer's separate vertical, that focuses analysis on the speeds-and-feeds of gaming PCs and consoles, has published a big overview of the graphical power of Microsoft's next Xbox console. So far, we've known that Project Scorpio will run at 6 teraflops, ahead of its main competitor the PlayStation 4 Pro with 4.2 teraflops of graphical power. Microsoft also plans to replace its 8GB of DDR3 RAM / 32MB of ESRAM with 12GB of GDDR5 memory on Project Scorpio. While many had hoped Microsoft would transition to AMD’s latest Ryzen CPU architecture, Digital Foundry has revealed the company is sticking with a custom Jaguar-based processor. [Read more here...]

The Windows 10 Creators Update technically doesn’t roll out until April 11, but Microsoft is letting enterprising users get a head start today. The company today released an Update Assistant tool that will help users upgrade to the official Creators build. Granted, if you’re​ the type of person who can’t wait a week for the general rollout, chances are you are already on Microsoft’s Insider builds and have had a taste of what’s coming for quite some time. [Read more here...]

If you used certain apps on an Apple phone between 2009 and 2012, then you may be eligible for a little money from Apple and iOS app developers. Several app makers, including Twitter, Yelp, and Instagram, are offering $5.3 million to settle a five-year-old suit alleging that they violated users’ privacy. [Read more here...]

How long will we remember the Malaysia Airlines plane that disappeared back in 2014? About 45 years, say scientists who used Wikipedia page views to develop a new way of studying our collective memory (the memory we share as a society). For a study published today in the journal Science Advances, researchers analyzed Wikipedia page views to monitor how frequently people visit topic pages after a news event. In this specific study, the team collected page views of airplane crashes from 2008 to 2016 and labeled these “current events.” Then, they collected the same information on all plane crashes from before 2008 and labeled them “past events.” Analyzing the relationship between the two sets of data shows how different topics are related to each other. The researchers found that terrible current events can help keep past events alive, because people reading about the current event follow links to learn about something from years ago. [Read more here...]

Eyeo, the parent company of popular ad-blocker Adblock Plus, today announced that it’s acquiring a service called Flattr that lets readers tip websites. Flattr was created in 2010 to give news websites and other online media ventures a virtual tip jar to allow readers to contribute a few cents or dollars to help support creators, instead of viewing ads and receiving the content for free. Eyeo first announced a partnership with Flattr last year, and since then Eyeo says the two companies have grown close and an acquisition made perfect sense. As part of using the micropayment system, 10 percent of all revenue passing through the system goes to Flattr and Eyeo. [Read more here...]

Google announced today that a public YouTube Go beta is now available for users to try out in India. The new app is a redesigned version of the YouTube Go app announced last September, which is specifically focused on offering an improved experience in areas with poor connectivity. [Read more here...]

Amazon has confirmed plans to open a brick-and-mortar bookstore across from the Empire State Building, bringing its total number of announced but as-of-yet unopened stores in New York City up to three. Publisher’s Weekly reports that a sign reading “Amazon Books Coming Soon” has gone up in the 34th Street storefront, adding that an Amazon rep said the store will open this summer. The store has also been added to the Amazon Books website. This would presumably make it Amazon’s second store in New York. A location in Columbus Circle’s Time Warner Center (just off of Central Park) was announced in January, with the intent to open this spring. [Read more here...]

Solid state drives may be more durable than their magnetic, disk-based hard drive counterparts, but quickly transferring data to and from the drives can still wear them out, causing failure and data loss. Especially if you're doing something like filming 4K video, which needs to be able to quickly write data to an SSD at a constant rate without error. [Read more here...]

Dish’s Sling TV now lets customers add Showtime to their channel package for an extra $10 per month. That includes the regular, linear Showtime network and seven other channels as well; they’re all listed in this blog post announcing the addition of Showtime to Sling TV. Tacking Showtime onto your monthly subscription also adds around 2,000 on-demand titles. The timely announcement comes days before Homeland’s season six finale. [Read more here...]

If there was ever any doubt before, Harley Quinn is absolutely one of the biggest anti-heroes in DC’s stable at the moment. She’s so big that not only is she teaming up with Catwoman and Poison Ivy in the upcoming Gotham City Sirens, but she’s joining forces with Nightwing and Batman himself in the animated Batman & Harley Quinn. [Read more here...]

I’m reluctant to label The Discovery as science fiction, even though Netflix’s new drama has what sounds like a classic Isaac Asimov premise: a scientist has found irrefutable evidence that after death, the human spirit goes somewhere; he’s just not sure where. Like good science fiction, the film raises a handful of questions that could span seasons of television — Can science really prove something like this? Should it? — but the 110-minute film largely ignores those questions in favor of melodramatic twists. For a film about science finding answers to life’s big questions, The Discovery is surprisingly uninterested in how and why we learn the answers. [Read more here...]

You might remember movie characters like Hannibal Lecter, who suffered from hair loss, or the Wicked Witch of the West with her green skin and bumpy complexion. Turns out, these movie villains aren’t the only ones suffering from unflattering skin conditions. Six of the top 10 villains in film sport scars, deep wrinkles, and warts, according to a study published today in JAMA Dermatology. That’s detrimental for people who deal with these conditions in real life, the study authors say. [Read me more...]

All the major carriers offer similar unlimited plans these days, which means cell providers are going the extra mile to entice customers to use their service. The latest is AT&T, which announced today that it will be offering free HBO to customers on its top plan, the $90-a-month Unlimited Plus service. Surprisingly, there aren’t too many catches beyond that. The deal only applies to the Unlimited Plus plan, which allows users to stream in HD if they choose. Although, like most other plans, AT&T may slow your data after you burn through 22GB in a month. [Read more here...]

In a blog post, the company said it will begin using a photo-matching system to prevent intimate images posted without permission from being reshared on Facebook, Messenger, or Instagram. When an image has previously been reported and taken down by Facebook, the company writes, that image will be flagged by the system, and the sharer will be alerted. (Facebook also says “in most cases” it disables accounts that share intimate images without permission.) [Read more here...]

Facebook launched a new story feature in its main app last week, adding a Snapchat-esque feed of ephemeral pictures and videos to the top of the News Feed. But people are apparently less than enthusiastic about using it, which is why Facebook seems to be testing a bit of encouragement for the new feature. [Read more here...]

Microsoft has been responding to Windows 10 privacy concerns for nearly two years now, and it appears the company has finally got the message and is prepared to act. Starting today, Microsoft is updating its privacy statement and publishing information about the data it collects as part of Windows 10. “For the first time, we have published a complete list of the diagnostic data collected at the Basic level,” explains Windows chief Terry Myerson in a company blog post. “We are also providing a detailed summary of the data we collect from users at both Basic and Full levels of diagnostics.” [Read more here...]

YouTube announced its TV service to a bit of fanfare back in February, taking on the likes of Sling and DirecTV Now in offering a cheaper, more futuristic alternative to cable. Starting today, you’ll actually be able to begin using it. As a recap, the service costs $35 (other than a couple of add-on channels), and includes more than 50 networks (with more coming), unlimited “cloud DVR,” and access for six household members. [Read more here...]

Como si se tratara de Wolverine. Un grupo de científicos ha sido capaz de crear un nuevo tipo de pantalla capaz de repararse a sí misma, lo que representaría un avance importante para poner por fin una solución definitiva a uno de los problemas más comunes entre los usuarios de cualquier dispositivo móvil. [Leer mas aqui...]

La mejor aplicación de mensajería en el mundo (al menos de acuerdo a nosotros en Betazeta) está por estrenar una nueva e interesante función. En la beta de la aplicación en Android se añadió la posibilidad de mandar mensajes de video. [Leer mas aqui...]

No conocemos ni el equipo, pero los colegas de MacRumors ya se aventuran a dar sus predicciones monetarias sobre lo siguiente de la manzanita mordida. De acuerdo al analista Steven Milunovich el iPhone nuevo tendría como base 64 GB de almacenamiento y costaría USD $850, algo muy similar a lo que ya tenemos con el Galaxy S8+. [Leer mas aqui...]

Uno de los miedos que varios tuvimos en la presentación del Galaxy S8 era el tamaño de su batería, el cual en el papel se ve muy chico para tamañas pantallas. Para ser específicos, 3000mAh en el S8 y 3500mAh en el S8+, en el caso del último es incluso menos que en el S7 Edge, la versión ahora pasada. [Leer mas aqui...]

Ya ha pasado casi un año desde aquel momento histórico donde la inteligencia artificial de Google logró derrotar al mejor jugador de Go en el mundo. Y hoy, por fin, los humanos han tomado revancha, en un terreno de auténtico interés para la mayoría: ver videos. Un grupo de investigadores de la Universidad de Washington, en Estados Unidos, decidieron montar un proyecto de estudio comparativo, donde pusieron a prueba las capacidades de la Cloud Video Intelligence API de Google, mostrándole una serie de videos alterados ligeramente para ver si podían clasificarlos tan bien como lo hacen los humanos. [Leer mas aqui...]

A pesar de las críticas hacia la franquicia Transformers, que tiene a Michael Bay como máximo exponente, en Paramount Pictures no tienen miedo a continuar produciendo películas basadas en los juguetes de Hasbro, pues suelen ser protagonistas en taquilla. Eso ha permitido la producción de hasta cinco películas dirigidas por Bay. La última de ellas, "Transformers: The Last Knight", se estrenará a mediados de 2017 y durante un evento sobre el filme llevado a cabo en Londres, el cineasta reveló los ambiciosos planes de Paramount y Hasbro (vía ComicBook). [Leer mas aqui...]

En incontables ocasiones hemos contado diversas historias sobre porno vengativo, las cuales siempre son bastante lamentables, ya que nos terminan mostrando lo peor de nosotros mismos. Dicha práctica se ha extendido tanto en sitios pornográficos, como en redes sociales, por lo que Facebook se encuentra tomando cartas en el asunto al desarrollar una herramienta para detener la propagación de este material en todas sus aplicaciones. [Leer mas aqui...]

Hace algunas semanas se provocó una pequeña polémica con ciertas marcas que eran mostradas en publicidades de Google Ads junto a videos ofensivos, algo que claramente juega en contra de la imagen corporativa de estas organizaciones. Por ejemplo, si veíamos material perteneciente al Estado Islámico, al lado podíamos ver un anuncio de una empresa fabricante de autos, cosa que obviamente no cayó bien en aquella entidad. Producto de esto, los afectados comenzaron a retirarse de la plataforma publicitaria de Google, por lo menos hasta que la firma arregle este problema. [Leer mas aqui...]

Google ha lanzado un estudio enfocado en los jóvenes (de Estados Unidos) y las marcas que éstos consideran como "geniales" (específicamente cool en inglés). Los tópicos van desde marcas de comida hasta videojuegos y servicios tecnológicos. La compañía considera a los jóvenes entre 13 y 17 años como la Generación Z, mientras que los Millennials en este estudio son aquellos que tienen entre 18 y 25 años. Ahora vamos con los resultados. [Leer mas aqui...]

Tal como había anunciado Blizzard hace algunos días, ahora la compañía ha liberado la descarga gratuita del Starcraft original. Se trata de la versión 1.18, que incluye mejoras para el juego en línea. [Leer mas aqui...]

Apple’s MagSafe charger is essentially dead for all intents and purposes, replaced on all modern MacBooks by USB-C chargers. Yes, you can still find a MagSafe port on the MacBook Air, but you should not buy that laptop under any circumstances. It turns out, it may not be dead for long, as it seems a MagSafe to USB-C adapter may eventually show up in an Apple Store near you. A newly published patent filed by Apple last year and surfaced by Mashable shows that Apple is interested in a MagSafe to USB-C adapter, which would allow newer MacBooks to use the MagSafe cable. Despite Apple’s pivot away from the breakaway charging cable, people still love it — since it doesn’t cause your laptop to crash to the ground when you trip over the cable — and the option to choose between USB-C and MagSafe would be great. [Read more here...]

The White House signaled it is not ready to write new online privacy legislation, even after President Donald Trump signed a measure that rolled back restrictions imposed by Democrats on companies like AT&T, Comcast, Charter and Verizon. Earlier this week, Trump delivered the final blow to the rules, implemented by the Federal Communications Commission last year, that would have required internet providers to seek customers’ permission before sharing their sensitive data with advertisers and other third parties. [Read more here...]

Microsoft is planning to refresh its Windows 10 design in an upcoming update due later this year. While the software maker is starting to roll out Windows 10 Creators Update this week, the focus on the company’s Windows 10 efforts will rapidly shift to this future update shortly. We’ve seen a number of concept screenshots of Microsoft’s plans for its Windows 10 design refresh before, and today another screenshot has leaked. [Read more here...]

Two seemingly unrelated things happened Monday that actually point directly at the future of the internet: 1. Verizon was scooped into admitting that it’s going to rename the combined zombie corpses of AOL and Yahoo “Oath,” which is a terrible name that comes second only to Tronc. 2. President Trump signed the bill that allows ISPs to share your browsing data without permission. This is everything Verizon and AOL have been working toward over the past few years. Like every other broadband provider, Verizon wants to extract more revenue from its network by increasingly owning the media that travels over it. [Read more here...]

One of the Nintendo Switch’s biggest advantages is the fact that it’s a completely portable console that lets you play Zelda on the go. But on the flip side, one of the Switch’s biggest disadvantages is the relatively short battery life that the console offers, especially when playing a more graphically intensive game. The SwitchCharge is a battery case from a new company called InDemand Design specifically designed for the Switch that hopes to solve that issue (along with a couple of other minor annoyances) by adding a 12,000mAh battery to the back of the console to offer what the company claims is up to 12 hours of battery life. [Read more here...]

Tal parece que el tema de los discursos de odio son toda una prioridad en las empresas relacionadas con Internet. Mientras Twitter hace diversos cambios para expulsar a acosadores de su plataforma y Facebook trata de hacer desaparecer las noticias falsas, Disqus no se queda atrás de esta tendencia. Ahora el servicio tratará de banear y ocultar los mensajes que inciten al odio, al igual que las diversas comunidades que hacen lo propio en diversos sitios web. Tiembla, PonyCell. [Ver mas aqui....]

Apple might be well on its way to drop its most expensive handset ever with the next-generation iPhone. In a note obtained by MacRumors, UBS analyst Steve Milunovich predicts Apple could be gearing up to release a premium iPhone model that will come with a hefty price tag of between $950 and $1,000 for the highest-end configuration. [Read more here...]