Twitter has just joined the ranks of the likes of Apple and Microsoft with the launch of two-factor identification. The new login method is entirely optional, and when activated will require users to provide a unique “verification code” sent as an SMS message to a user’s cell phone before being allowed to login – every yes, every time.

The new feature has yet to be officially rolled out to all users, however we’d assume that this will be coming pretty soon now that it’s been formally announced. Twitter has long been considered insecure after numerous successful hacking attempts on big Twitter accounts have caused panic, concern, and riotous laughter.

Check out Twitter’s login verification announcement video after the break.

Via: Engadget
Source: Twitter (YouTube)

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Google has just announced on their official Google Glass page on Google+ that the company will now begin expanding their Google Glass Explorer Edition (essentially the first run edition of Google Glass devices sans eye glasses support) to those who have requested early access who also happen to not be developers. According to Google, all developers should now have the ability to purchase to their Google Glass device, so they seem read to expand to the rest of us mere mortals.

Unfortunately, it’s too late to apply for an Explorer Edition Glass at this point – applications closed months ago. That said, Google Glass should be available at retail by the end of the year, so you probably won’t have that long to wait either way.

Via: Engadget
Source: Google+

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The XBox One – Microsoft’s answer to not only the Sony PlayStation 4 and the Nintendo Wii U (not to mention an array of other contenders), but also a revolutionary change in the entertainment industry as a whole. Combining the highest power gaming console ever made with a revolutionary new social television aspect, ultra fast direct Wi-Fi, HDMI input-output, and much, much more, the XBox One isn’t just a successor to the XBox 360 – it’s a successor to everything on our entertainment cabinets today.

In an ongoing effort to collect everything we know to date about the XBox One, we’ll constantly be updating this post with the latest specs and functionality as we learn them. But first, let’s get this party started with a comprehensive list of confirmed specifications – or in simple terms, what’s actually inside this beautiful, glossy black box?

Read more to get the scoop.

• 40nm, 8-core AMD “Jaguar” processor (x86-64) similar to what’s found in Sony’s recently announced PlayStation 4 console.
• Slot-loading Blu-Ray drive capable of reading XBox One games. It’s not currently known if the XBox One’s Blu-Ray drive can watch Blu-Ray movies.
• AMD produced GPU.
• 8GB of RAM
• 500GB Hard Drive
• USB 3.0
• 802.11n Wi-Fi (and Direct Wi-Fi support for controllers and other devices)
• HDMI Input/Output
• Bundled Kinect 2.0 with advanced motion sensing and voice support.
• Redesigned XBox controller with “more than 40 new technical and design innovations” including trigger vibration, an integrated rechargeable battery (hooray!), redesigned D-pad, joysticks, and  more.
• “Three Operating Systems in one” including an evolved version of the 360′s “XBox OS”, a stripped down Windows 8 installation, and an operating system to “link the two together”
• Required internet connection to launch games. (A connection can be dropped after the game has been launched, however a connection must be established to launch the game.)

The new XBox One has been in development for “years”. Due to the inherent architecture change in the One’s AMD processor and the 360′s PowerPC G5 processor, the XBox One will not be backwards compatible with 360 games under and shape or form. The Wii U and early PS3 models effectively worked around this by including the necessary hardware to play last-gen games, but it looks like Microsoft decided to forgo that approach likely as a cost saving measure.

The XBox One will be released “later this year”, likely in time for Black Friday/the Christmas shopping season. Pricing and specific availability details have yet to be announced, but expect to pay a pretty penny for this – this is essentially a high end gaming PC, and as such will more than likely have a price to match it.

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The Xbox One never shuts down, and is listening to everything you do. Why is that? The new Xbox OS puts heavy emphasis on voice control, as Microsoft has designed the Xbox One to respond quickly to your every demand. In fact, Microsoft boasts the new Kinect is so sensitive, it can record an individual’s heartbeat.

On one hand, it’s nice to have a system that’s always listening and can always react quickly to your commands. On the other, it is always watching you; what happens if a black hat hacker manages to get into your Xbox One and monitor everything you do?

Source: The Verge

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The excuse Microsoft gives is the fact that the Xbox 360 is based around a PowerPC processor, while the Xbox One is powered by an eight-core x86 chip. This means that native code Xbox 360 games will not run. Xbox Live Arcade games also will not run even though they are built on the .NET Framework. It’s likely the move is part of Microsoft’s choice to kill of XNA Game Studio.

Thankfully, not all is lost. Microsoft has said that the Xbox 360 will still be supported and will still have new games and apps developed for it well into the future.

Source: Engadget

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Yahoo!’s had a big day today, first officially announcing that they would be acquiring tumblogging service Tumblr for what we’ve heard to be a whopping $1.1 billion, and now officially announcing that, for the first time in… well, more time than I care to remember – a totally redesigned new Tumblr layout. The update brings with it “Biggr”, their new “full resolution, original quality” file uploading service that offers users 1TB (yes – 1TB – like, 1024GB) totally free of charge for all users; “Spectaculr”, a silly name for their new homepage which is “now a gateway to everything you care about, and all the photos Flickr has to offer” complete with a new Activity Feed because, well, a major redesign would be silly not to also bring along some superfluous social features these days; and “Wherevr”, a new mobile initiative that brings a redesigned Flickr application to iOS and a new Android app.

Flickr is available “now in its most beautiful form, and available to everyone”. The site is asking users for feedback on the new redesign, so if you’ve got a thing or two to say head on over to their ideas and feedback forum. Marissa Mayer certainly appears to be cleaning house, doesn’t she?

Source: Yahoo! (Flickr Blog)

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Just a small reminder – Microsoft will be unveiling their next generation XBox gaming console tomorrow, May 21st, at their Redmond Washington campus.

The account will take place on May 21st, 10:00 AM PST sharp – we will of course be covering the event as it happens, similar to our coverage of I/O 2013. You can also check in and watch the live stream that Microsoft will be offering on XBox.com or by following the link on your XBox 360′s dashboard.

See you then!

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We’ll keep this short, as more than enough words have already been spilt on this topic – Yahoo! this morning officially (like, from their own mouths) announced that they have purchased Tumblr following the board’s approval yesterday. Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer announced the acquisition this morning “via animated GIF”, posting the above image alongside the full explanation on her Tumblr blog this morning.

In the post, Mayer made the one bold claim every Tumblr user has been dying to here since new broke last week – “We promise not to screw it up.” According to Mayer, Tumblr will remain an independent entity run by Tumblr founder and CEO David Karp, who will now simply have Yahoo!’s large (but rapidly shrinking) sum of cash behind them.

The product roadmap, their team, their wit and irreverence will all remain the same as will their mission to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve.  Yahoo! will help Tumblr get even better, faster.

Despite this, however, Mayer did make a few hints that some changes will in fact be coming to Tumblr – Mayer explicitly wrote that the two companies “will also work together to create advertising opportunities that are seamless and enhance user experience” – which can be translated in less of a PR-spin’y sort of way to “expect more ads on Tumblr”.

Still, we’re glad that if the deal was to be done, it was made official today and not dragged out even further. This is Tumblr’s reputation on the line, and both companies have been under the microscope for what must have been a long weekend for all parties involved.

We wish you luck, Tumblr.

Source: Marissa Mayer (Tumblr)

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Some breaking weekend news – The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Yahoo!’s board has given CEO Marissa Meyer the greenlight, approving a $1.1 billion acquisition of Tumblr. Rumors that Yahoo! was in talks to purchase Tumblr began just a couple of days ago, with the latest news being that Yahoo! will announce the acquisition at a press event planned for tomorrow.

The move could be considered a bit surprising as Tumblr has yet to turn any real profit – the social network has been burning cash for years now trying to keep afloat in a similar manner to Twitter. Yahoo! will have to work pretty hard to make any cash from Tumblr in the long run, and we would therefor expect some pretty significant changes to start cropping up on Tumblr shortly.

So that’s that; all we’re waiting for now is official confirmation from Tumblr and Yahoo!. But we believe it’s safe to say this is a done deal – Tumblr has been purchased by Yahoo! for $1.1 billion.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

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Jose Barajas, a Google+ user who took to the network after a trip to his local McDonalds today, at least some franchises have apparently begun banning the use of Google Glass in company restaurants, putting up signs on their doors saying “Google Glass is banned on these premises.” without explanation. One user jokingly commented that McDonalds doesn’t “want people hamburgling McD’s secrets! :D”

The McDonalds in question is one in Sacramento, California – there’s no sign as of yet that this is a company wide initiative. However given the privacy concerns some have had with Google Glass’s ability to record video and snap photos without any indication that it’s doing so, we could imagine that many parties wouldn’t take kindly to the sort of privacy concerns raised by Glass.

We’ve reached out to McDonalds for a comment and will update this post if we hear anything further.

Source: Jose Barajas (Google+)

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Intel Core i7 Haswell.

Consider this a confirmation of our story the other day that “Haswell” processors have begun shipping – I received my Intel Core i7 4770 “Haswell” chip in the mail today. The photo above was taken not twenty minutes ago and originated from a warehouse in PA by a place called Eerie Computers.

Unfortunately, because Haswell isn’t set to actually launch until early June I have no way of testing it or benchmarking, however if there’s any indication that an official launch is close at hand, this is it.

Update 05/17 @ 6:10 PM EST: For those asking, my specific Haswell identifies as being from Batch # L306B433.

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As if Yahoo! hasn’t already purchased and (arguably, I suppose) abused enough big name internet properties in the past, rumor has it that the company is now in talks to purchase none other than the blogging platform of choice for twenty-somethings all around the world, Tumblr. According to TIME Magazine, the deal is in the fairly late stages of talks and discussion and is currently set for approximately $1 billion dollars in a move that Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer obviously hopes will help bring the company out of its nearly decade long slump.

Tumblr is currently estimated to have a valuation of about $800 million, with CEO David Karp continuing to actively pursue a new round of venture capital that would add even more cash to that number. Tumblr has actually only made $125 million off of that investment however, suggesting that Tumblr continues to have the same problem as Twitter – figuring out how to make money off of blogging.

A Yahoo! spokesperson reportedly said that the company “does not comment on rumor and speculation”, however TechCrunch is also putting in its 2.5 cents “confirming” that Yahoo! is indeed in talks with Tumblr, but that Yahoo! also “literally talks to everyone”.

Update 05/17 @ 6:40 PM EST: Yahoo! has just announced that they will be holding a “product related press event” on Monday, May 20th. Reports indicate that Yahoo! will indeed announce that they have purchased Tumblr at the event.

Source: TIME

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How’s about this for an innovation – someone at Domino’s Pizza apparently came up with the incredible idea of mixing two of the best things in the world : the smell of a hot, delicious pizza, and a movie. Domino’s Pizza in Brazil are now advertising and selling copies of ten of today’s hottest movies (including The Dark Knight Rises, Skyfall, and Argo) that have been stamped with what’s called thermal ink which, when heated up (like by a DVD player), smells like the heavenly scent of Domino’s Pizza.

Each disc has also been specially printed with a label that reads “Did you enjoy the movie? The next one will be even better with a hot and delicious Domino’s Pizza.” I’m not sure if this is madness or genius, but I do know that I want some pizza with garlic crust.

Source: Adage

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