North Korea maintains it isn't behind the hack of Sony, but the White House isn't buying it. In fact, President Obama just issued an executive order calling for more restrictive sanctions on the aforementioned country. Want more? Head on down to the gallery below for all our top news from the past 24 hours.
Clear your calendars, defenders of the internet: The next big development in the net neutrality battle is due in February. First reported by the Washington Post, the FCC has confirmed it plans to vote on new rules next month. The rumors indicate a draft proposal will go around first with a vote planned for a couple of weeks later, but there's no word yet on whether the ever-controversial "fast lanes" will be included, or if the FCC will reclassify internet services under Title II. The President has weighed in with his opinion, along with thousands of internet comments -- we'll find out more about how those balance against the interests and threats of the big telecommunications companies next month.
[Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images]
Oh, you use an app on your phone to start your car? How passé. Hyundai's gearing up for CES by talking up an Android Wear app that'll let you remotely unlock, locate and start your car with a tap on the wrist. Naturally, if you just can't muster the energy to swipe on your smartwatch, you'll be able to issue voice commands to get the job done, too. Isn't the future grand?
2014 was the year that the word "selfie" finally -- and maybe unfortunately -- found its way into honest-to-goodness dictionaries. Is it really any surprise, then, that smartphone makers are finally starting to upgrade their front-facing cameras? With the Desire Eye, HTC took a step back and wondered why a phone's rear camera always had to be better than the one up front. Don't our lovely mugs deserve the same sort of technical attention and affection as, say, our lunches? HTC (along with others like Oppo) has decided that yes, yes they do. When you look at things that way, the Desire Eye and its twin 13-megapixel cameras seems to be just the perfect compromise for wannabe mobile photographers and the truly vain. But is it really?
Sure, you can get connected coffee makers, but they tend to brew whole pots (or multiple cups). What if you just want a hot cup o' joe when you get home? That's where Smarter's new WiFi Coffee Machine comes into play. The device lets you remotely brew individual cups through an Android or iOS app, complete with scheduling. You can have it wake you up when your coffee's ready, and it'll offer to grind and pour that beverage when you step in the door.
This here is the Sony SmartWatch 3. That might make it sound like it's the third iteration in a line of gadgets, but really, it's the first. That's because even though this is Sony's third smartwatch (fourth if you count the Sony Ericsson LiveView), it's actually Sony's first that comes with Android Wear. Both the original SmartWatch and the SmartWatch 2 ran Sony's own proprietary platform, which, while Android-friendly, didn't have nearly the same reach as Google's Android Wear. It's great that Sony has finally seen the light, but the SmartWatch 3 has arrived remarkably late to the party, letting rivals like Motorola, LG and Samsung gain ground. On the other hand, the SmartWatch 3 is currently the only Android Wear option with a built-in GPS radio, allowing for more precise workout tracking. Which, as it turns out, could be enough to help Sony stand apart from the pack.
According to a press release that just hit the Treasury Department's website, President Barack Obama has issued an executive order that calls for even more restrictive sanctions on North Korea for its role in the massive hack attack on Sony Pictures late last year. In his words, the new financial clampdown is because of North Korea's "destructive, coercive cyber-related actions during November and December."
"Today's actions are driven by our commitment to hold North Korea accountable for its destructive and destabilizing conduct," Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said in a statement. "Even as the FBI continues its investigation into the cyber-attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment, these steps underscore that we will employ a broad set of tools to defend U.S. businesses and citizens, and to respond to attempts to undermine our values or threaten the national security of the United States."
It's still early enough in January that if you promise not to drunkenly text pictures of your behind to your friends, it still counts as a New Year's Resolution. Still, in an age where everyone's off-hand conversations can be made public in a flash, it'd be nice to regain some control of where our words are shared. That's where Strings comes in, since the iOS app is a rival to Snapchat and WhatsApp that clearly hopes to foster a consent culture around mobile messaging.
Eighty percent of web traffic on the "deep web" relates to child pornography, according to a study conducted by the University of Portsmouth, UK. It's no surprise that consumers/providers of illegal material want to hide their tracks. What is surprising is the huge amount of traffic share that pedophile material commands. There are plenty of other illegal activities one might use the darker corners of the internet for (buying drugs, contraband etc.), and of course law-abiding folk that just want the anonymity that services like Tor provide. The University's study, however, indicates that once you account for automated "botnet" traffic, 83 percent of deep web traffic was landing at sites providing content containing some sort of sexual abuse of children.
There are a lot of durable, high-resolution action cameras on the market, but how many would you feel comfortable giving to your kids? Probably not many: Most such cameras won't tolerate absentminded abuse without a protective case -- and they're expensive to boot. An attentive parent could lend a GoPro or a Sony Action Cam to their offspring, but it could become an expensive proposition. Instead, Fuhu wants to call your attention to its new Nabi Square HD: a "kid-proof" 4K action cam that costs $170.
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