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Moscow will replace Microsoft's products with local offerings
Microsoft might lose a whole city of customers in Russia. According to Bloomberg, Moscow will begin replacing Redmond's products with homegrown software as a result of Vladimir Putin's urging to stop depending on foreign tech. Artem Yermolaev, the city's head of information technology, told reporters that Moscow will begin by dropping Microsoft's Exchange Service and by replacing Outlook on 6,000 computers with state-run carrier Rostelecom PJSC's email system. Authorities are looking to deploy the email software to as many as 600,000 computers in the future. They might even replace Windows and the Office suite entirely, though there seems to be no solid plan for that at the moment.
Putin doesn't think it's important who hacked the DNC
Just before the Democratic National Convention kicked off in late July, Wikileaks published a trove of emails and other data that it acquired following a hack on the Democratic National Committee. The FBI started investigating, and very quickly it identified Russia as the likely source of the hackers. Now, Russian president Vladimir Putin is speaking out, denying his country's involvement in the incident -- but with some rather strange language.
Edward Snowden speaks out against new Russian law
Whistleblower Edward Snowden has spoken out against Thursday's law introduced by Vladimir Putin, referring to the anti-terror legislation as "repressive" and noting that it's a "dark day for Russia."
Stop nuclear devastation at the heart of a never-ending Cold War
One of the most famous works of graffiti on the Berlin Wall is a depiction of former Soviet general secretary Leonid Brezhnev kissing the ex-leader of East Germany, Erich Honecker, full on the mouth. In the painting, called "My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love," Brezhnev's profile commands a majority of the frame, as if he's sucking the life out of Honecker. It's based on a 1979 photo of the two statesmen locked in a fraternal kiss, a common form of greeting among socialist leaders at the time. Fast-forward to 2016, and artist Rafal Fedro of inbetweengames has updated this iconic painting to feature US president Barack Obama and Russian president Vladimir Putin sharing their own fraternal kiss. In the studio's latest project, a spy tactics game called All Walls Must Fall, the new painting represents a wide range of scenarios: heightened tensions between the two countries that were at the heart of the Cold War, fraying international relationships, or the subconscious desire to love our enemies, to name a few interpretations.
Vladimir Putin dissolved Roscosmos, Russia's federal space agency
With the flourish of a pen earlier today, Russian president Vladimir Putin officially put an end to Roscosmos, the country's federal space agency. That decree capped off over a year's worth of organizational despair as the agency saw its ten-year budget cut (again), the loss of a handful of spacecraft and the misuse of over 92 billion rubles (or $1.8 billion) in part thanks to a pervasive culture of corruption. Don't worry about the country's spacebound ambitions, though — Roscosmos will be reborn as a state-run corporation on January 1.
Jeb Bush wants to expand the NSA's reach to fight 'evildoers'
Presidential hopeful Jeb Bush says that the government should be granted broad surveillance powers over both the American people and and private technology firms so that intelligence agencies can better fight "evildoers", according to the Associated Press. No, seriously, he specifically used the term "evildoers." Dick Dastardly, Skeletor, Gargamel had all better watch their backs if Jeb lands the Oval Office.
Custom $3,100 Apple Watch celebrates famed Russian leaders
If Lenin weren't so pickled, he'd be rolling over in his display case at the sight of Caviar's limited-edition luxury Apple Watch Epoca. The company has unveiled three unique designs for the new Epoca line. Each costs about $3,100 and celebrates one of three famed Russian leaders: Vladimir Putin, Vladimir Lenin and Peter the Great. The watches come replete with either leather or Milanese link bracelets, as well as engravings of Lenin's mausoleum or Putin's signature. Heck, you can even get the old Soviet logo on the crown -- because if anything represents the failures of Russian Communism, it's a custom-designed Apple Watch sporting the Hammer and Sickle that costs ten times more than its base model.
Russia considers blocking Facebook over gay emojis
Vladimir Putin's Russia doesn't like Facebook and it doesn't care for gay people, and the government is now attempting to censor both of these things in one fell swoop. Mikhail Marchenko, a Russian senator in the upper house of parliament, has called for his government to investigate whether Facebook emojis depicting two boys and two girls kissing violates the country's 2013 ban on exposing "homosexual propaganda" to minors, Time reports. Russia's Roskomnadzor (The Federal Service For Supervision of Communication, Information Technology and Mass Media) is investigating Marchenko's concerns and is prepared to "take reactive measures," the site says.
Russia's deputy PM blames space failures on 'moral decay'
Russia's Roscosmos space program doesn't have a lot of cash to waste after its budget was cut by 35 percent in March. But an internal audit found that it flushed $1.8 billion down the toilet anyway, according to the Moscow Times. The nation's deputy prime minister said many of the losses were caused by "acts of fraud, abuse of authority and forgery of documents." Referring to two recent setbacks, including the loss of an ISS cargo ship, he added that "with such a level of moral decay, one should not be surprised at the high accident rate."
Russia's new combat robot shoots guns and drives ATVs... slowly
When someone describes a machine as a "combat robot," you'd probably imagine something akin to the Terminator or perhaps even Boston Dynamics' BigDog. Maybe that's why Russian president Vladimir Putin didn't look impressed when he was presented his country's newest combat robot prototype -- because instead of coming face-to-face with a RoboCop, he ended up meeting a frail-looking fella slouching on an ATV. Putin recently visited the Central Scientific Research Institute of Precision Engineering Tochmash in Moscow (think Russian DARPA), where he watched the curious robot gingerly drive on a track like a sweet grandmother with bad eyesight.
Weekends with Engadget: the Moto E, futuristic Army helmets and more!
Welcome to Weekends with Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines from the past seven days -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. For even more action, subscribe to our Flipboard magazine!
Engadget Daily: futuristic Army helmets, Sony Alpha 6000 review and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Russia plans over $50 billion in space spending by 2020, eyes space weapon deterrent by 2030
We've already seen the Obama administration announce its latest budget for NASA this week, and now President Vladimir Putin has announced that Russia will be spending more than $50 billion on its space-related efforts by 2020. The most immediate result of that will be the completion of the Vostochny Cosmodrome near Russia's border with China, which Putin says is still on track to see its first rocket launch as soon as 2015 and its first manned launch in 2018. With NASA decommissioning its shuttle program, all manned space launches currently take place at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan (as pictured above), and Putin says the new launch base will also be open for other countries to use. Beyond that, Putin says that Russia will also have what's being described as a space weapon deterrent system by the year 2030, although specifics on it unsurprisingly remain a bit light for the time being. Russia says it also remains committed to sending cosmonauts beyond Earth's orbit in the future, including to a permanent base on the moon that it says could be used as a future launching pad for flights to Mars. Unmanned missions will precede that, though -- indeed, a new Moon probe is set to be the first launch from the aforementioned Vostochny Cosmodrome. [Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls]
Russia's first GLONASS phone an 'iPhone 4 competitor,' except not really (video)
As the story goes, Russia-based AFK Sistema's subsidiary Sitronics (along with US' Qualcomm and China's ZTE) have developed the first smartphone to use GLONASS -- specifically one with a 90nm GPS-GLONASS chip. It's been called, in so many words, the "Russian answer to the iPhone 4" by the Powers That Be, and without getting into key details like platform and specs, we know officially the phone is going on sale in Russian sometime in March for 10,990 rubles (about $360 in US). For other details on the device, we seek more unofficial (and therefore not 100 percent confirmed) sources, like the notably well-connected Eldar Murtazin. According to him, we're looking at the ZTE model A918, an analog of the A916 with Android 2.1, a 3.2-inch QVGA screen, FM radio, and 2 megapixel camera -- yeah, hardly an iPhone 4 competitor, if you ask us. That version is supposedly launching on MTS for 7,500 rubles ($246), meaning the GLONASS-equipped equivalent has a 3,490 ruble ($114) markup. And the March release? Apparently in limited quantities, with mass production not coming until second half of 2011. Unfortunately, we're not sure this one'll be making an appearance at CES for further inspection. Check out the video after the break for a cameo of the device featuring Putin, Russian billionaire (and head of AFK Sistema) Vladimir Yevtushenkov, and Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov.
Putin to Dell: "We don't need help. We are not invalids."
As you may be aware, the Davos conference for the super-rich and powerful is going on in Switzerland right now, and throwing all those egos into a room together can lead to some testy moments -- like today, when Michael Dell asked Vladimir Putin how the US could help Russia improve its IT infrastructure. Putin's response? "We don't need help. We are not invalids. We don't have limited mental capacity." Saucy! Vlads followed up by pointing out that Russian scientists mainly focus on software, not hardware -- interpreted by many as a further slap at Dell. Any bets on whether Mikey D replied by saying that if he were in charge, he'd shut Russia down and give it back to the people?
Vladimir Putin finally acquires satellite collar for his dog
Just under a year ago, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced his hopes that one day he could pinpoint the location of his black Labrador, Koni, at any time of the day. Today, a dream has been realized. Mr. Putin has finally procured a satellite collar that will enable him to track the lab regardless of which of the eleven times zones she may be in while waltzing through Russia. Once the collar was slipped on, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov immediately said "she looks sad, her free life is over." Putin didn't miss a beat when snapping back: "In Soviet Russia, GLONASS track you!"[Image courtesy of Picasa, thanks MJ]
