Amazon reportedly developing multiple smartphones, including one with a 3D display

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/09/amazon-developing-smartphone-with-3d-display/

Remember the EVO 3D? Swap out the HTC logo for an Amazon one, and you just might be onto something. According to a new Wall Street Journal report, one of the world's most famed forkers of Android is looking to expand its mobile portfolio by adding the one crucial device it lacks: a phone. As the story goes, the company has been toiling on a pair of smartphones as well as an "audio-only streaming device," all to "expand its reach beyond its Kindle Fire line of tablet computers." If you'll recall, we've heard that Amazon was dabbling in similar works since at least 2010, but the notion of expanding the Amazon ecosystem is now more pertinent. One of those phones is a higher-end device that offers up a glasses-free 3D display -- it's bruited that it would use "retina-tracking technology" to enable visuals that "seem to float above the screen like a [Tupac?] hologram." In fact, that eye-scrolling technology that was initially rumored to be a part of the Galaxy S4 may instead make its debut on Amazon hardware.

Of course, rumors of an Amazon phone have been running just about as long as rumors of a Facebook phone, but it seems that the company is (still) making a very concerted effort to further expand into the hardware arena. We're told that the prototypes are being nurtured within Amazon's Lab126 facility in Cupertino, "where each of the devices have been under development, the efforts are known as Project A, B, C and D, or collectively as the Alphabet Projects." If all goes well, Amazon could release at least some of these products in the coming months, but there's also the chance that every last one of 'em could be "shelved because of performance, financial or other concerns." Come to think of it, it's been a hot minute since Amazon threw a launch party for anything -- what say we change that, Jeff?

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, HD, Mobile, Amazon

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Source: The Wall Street Journal

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Cyberthieves yank $45 million in sophisticated ATM hack, make Ocean's Eleven look trivial

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/09/cyberthieves-atm-hack-millions-stolen/

It has the makings of a film -- but the fallout from one of the world's most sophisticated ATM heists is very real. The New York Times is reporting that a massive team of criminals worked in concert in order to grab some $45 million in a matter of hours over the course of two operations. The sheer scope of the project is hard to wrap one's mind around, involving trained personnel positioned in over two dozen countries.

Earlier today, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn "unsealed an indictment charging eight members of the New York crew, offering a glimpse into what the authorities said was one of the most sophisticated and effective cybercrime attacks ever uncovered." In essence, the hackers were able to infiltrate various credit card processing companies and raise withdrawal limits on prepaid accounts -- from there, cashing crews hit thousands of ATMs, socking away millions in the process. Hit up the source link for the full read; it's a wild one, for sure.

Filed under: Internet

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Source: The New York Times

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Facebook's Open Compute Project eyes accessible, scalable network switches

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/09/open-compute-project-eyes-accessible-scalable-network-switches/

Facebook's two-year-old Open Compute Project is fast becoming a potential cure-all for servers, with efforts underway that tackle efficiency, storage and monolithic design. Its next target: the frequently closed-source, small-scale world of network switches. The OCP team wants networking devices as open and scalable as the servers underneath them, and it's teaming up with heavy hitters such as Broadcom, Intel and VMware to make that happen. Unlike past initatives, though, there isn't an obvious template to work from. When development starts at the OCP Engineering Summit on May 16th, the alliance will be starting from scratch -- which suggests that we'll be waiting a long time to see what truly flexible switches can do.

Filed under: Networking, Intel, Facebook

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Via: ZDNet

Source: Open Compute Project

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Article: 'World of Warcraft' subscriber base drops by 1.3 million in three months

World of Warcraft may still be the world's leading subscription-based MMORPG, but the allure seems to be fading: 1.3 million players logged off between January and March, Activision Blizzard revealed today. The game's subscriber base now stands at 8.3 million — down from the 9.6 million fi...

http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/8/4313434/world-of-warcraft-loses-1-3-million-subscribers-three-months

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ScoreCleaner Notes: Instantly Compose Whatever Tune Pops Into Your Head

Source: http://gizmodo.com/scorecleaner-notes-instantly-compose-whatever-tune-pop-496745551

Whether you're a virtuoso musician or the tone-deaf bane of karaoke night, there's probably been at least one point in your life where you've felt almost certain that the little ditty you just randomly hummed could be the song to end all songs. But just as quickly as these blasts of inspiration hit us, they'll slip away into nothingness no matter how hard we try to grasp on. With ScoreCleaner Notes for iOS, though, you'll be able to turn your every musical vision into an eternal tune, be it for better or worse.

What does it do?

Developed by Sven Emtell as part of his computer engineering master's degree at Stockholm Music University, the app allows you to notate any song you sing without any musical background required. Simply hum the tune into the device's microphone, and the app will immediately display the notated version on the screen with accompanying key, tempo, and time signature. You're then free to share your masterpiece over the social media sites of your choice.

Why do we like it?

Simply humming a tune from memory is highly unreliable, and even if you make a voice recording, it's near impossible to recreate your exact original intent. When a tune is written out, however, you're providing yourself or the music-maker of your choice with a perfectly laid out map into your mind's musical ambitions. And while you don't necessarily need to know how to read music to use the app, for those that do, a handy directory offers the first few notes of each piece so you can find what you're looking for and quickly.

ScoreCleaner Notes, Download this app for: iOS, $1

The Best: No musical experience required... technically

The Worst: Written music not quite as useful after the fact if you can't, you know, read it

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