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EFF says border control needs a warrant to search your tech
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has submitted a court filing arguing that federal agents at international airports should obtain a warrant before snooping through passenger laptops, phones and other digital devices. Warrantless border searches are currently permissible under an exception to the Fourth Amendment, but as EFF notes, the number of these searches has more than doubled since President Trump moved into the White House.
Amazon reminds cloud customers in China to avoid VPNs
Apple isn't the only company that's feeling the pressure from the Chinese government in its quest to limit internet access even further. According to The Wall Street Journal, Amazon also had to tell its cloud-computing customers in China to delete their VPNs and other tools that can be used to bypass the country's infamous firewall. Beijing Sinnet Technology, the tech giant's local partner responsible for sending out the message to customers, cited requests from China's public security ministry and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology for the demands it made.
Adobe accidentally released its cloud-based photo editor
It's ever more important to be able to edit your photos on the go. Adobe has stripped-down versions of Photoshop, Illustrator and Lightroom apps available in both mobile and web-based formats. You manage your photos through Adobe's Creative Cloud system, though, which can be a bit cumbersome, especially when you forget to sync your files. Adobe announced "Project Nimbus" last year, an app that helps simplify the complex interface of Lightroom. According to French site, MacGeneration, the app was just mistakenly made available to Creative Cloud users. The error was caught and remedied soon after by Adobe, but not before some users took screenshots.
YouTube kills the video editing tools you never used
Unless you're a YouTube power user, you may not have known that the site had the Video Editor and Photo slideshow tools to create finished video projects. Now that you've learned that, I'm afraid to say that those tools are about to get the axe. If you're currently cutting a project, you have until September 20th to finish and publish it, Google notes on its YouTube support pages.
Surface, LinkedIn, and cloud revenue are bright spots for Microsoft
Good news for Microsoft: Its Surface revenues have rebounded from last quarter's slump, when sales fell 26 percent over the previous year. For the fourth quarter, Microsoft reports that Surface sales only fell 2 percent year-over-year. Sure, decreases aren't generally good, but in this case it's a sign that sales have actually picked back up. It's not a huge surprise why: Microsoft revealed the Surface Laptop and Surface Pro in June. Even though they arrived during the tail-end of the quarter, they likely added a bit to the company's ledger. Overall, Microsoft reported revenues of $23.3 billion for the fourth quarter, a 13 percent increase over last year, and it also doubled its profits, reaching $6.5 billion.
Google wants to sell quantum computing in the cloud
Whether or not you believe Google has honest-to-goodness quantum computers, the bigger problem is their limited access: they're largely off-limits outside of the company itself. That could change sooner than you think, though. Bloomberg sources understand that Google is gearing up toward using its quantum systems in a "faster, more powerful" computing service than it offers today. It recently started offering access to researchers in order to spur development of tools and apps (including through an open source Project Q initiative), and there's a new lab it describes as an "embryonic quantum data center." It's looking at the practical realities of quantum computing, in other words.
Google connects Home's voice commands to your uploaded music
A new tweak for Google Home makes it easier to access music you've uploaded, even if you're not a Google Play Music subscriber. While Google Play Music customers could already listen to uploaded or purchased music by either selecting it on another device and using the Cast feature or putting it in a playlist, a new update rolling out means you can ask for your tracks directly by voice. It's not active on my account yet even after a device reboot (although I do see the speaker as an available Bluetooth device), but a post in the Home support forum and updated notes on the support page explain how it all works.
LiquidSky 2.0 beta puts any video game on any Android device
The LiquidSky 2.0 beta is live today in the Google Play Store, promising to let you play any game on any Android device via the magic of cloud streaming. Want to cruise around Grand Theft Auto 5 on your Pixel XL? Or maybe you'd rather wreck some fools in Overwatch on your Galaxy Tab S2? That's what this update is all about.
NVIDIA will power self-driving cars in China
NVIDIA has already forged self-driving alliances with big car manufacturers like Audi, Toyota and Volvo, but its latest is a particularly big deal -- at least if you live in China. The chip designer has unveiled a partnership with Chinese internet giant Baidu that will see the two work together to boost the use of AI. Most notably, NVIDIA's Drive PX tech will find its way into Baidu's Apollo self-driving car platform and autonomous vehicles from "major" Chinese firms. The automotive pact is important enough that Baidu chief Robin Li traveled to the event in one of his company's driverless rides -- even though it was against the law.
Microsoft's cloud focus could mean yet more layoffs
Microsoft is going through another reorganization that could result in "thousands" of layoffs, particularly to its sales force, according to TechCrunch, Bloomberg and others. The company is reportedly shifting teams around to emphasize Azure cloud sales, rather than boxed software, which is rapidly becoming a dying business. So far, there's no news on exactly which groups and regions will be affected.
Dropbox collects privacy settings into a security checkup page
Giving apps and services direct access to your Dropbox account is easier than locally downloading files and re-uploading them. But can you name every one you've linked up? Today, Dropbox has reorganized the most important user security settings in one place, letting you manually check which third-party apps, devices and web browsers have access to your account or reset your password on the same page.
MakerBot will connect Chromebooks to cloud-based 3D printers
Earlier this year, Makerbot announced in its most recent bloodletting that it would focus more on the education market. Today we're seeing some of the fruits of that decision. First up is "My MakerBot," what the outfit describes as a cloud-enabled browser-based printer monitoring platform that's compatible with Chromebooks (which are incredibly popular in the classroom) and Autodesk's Tinkercad 3D design software.
Box’s desktop app is fine for you, but better for businesses
When you think of cloud storage services, your mind probably drifts over Dropbox or Google Drive. You might not remember Box as well -- it was one of the earliest cloud providers out there and it's thriving today. Now, it's catching up with some of its biggest rivals in a notable way: it finally has a desktop app so you manage your entire Box archive sans web browser.
Google Drive will soon back up any file or folder on your computer
If you use a cloud storage app on your PC, there's a good chance you use it as much for backing up your system as you do for accessing files on different devices. And Google knows it. The internet giant is reinventing its Drive desktop app as Backup and Sync, a tool that... well, just look at the name. While it largely accomplishes the same tasks, it's now focused more on safeguarding your data, regardless of where it's stored on your computer. That includes pictures, too -- the updated software integrates the Google Photos desktop app, so you only need one app to sync it all. The only real limitation is the amount of Drive space you have... that 15GB free tier might not cut it.
IBM will put connected car data to better use
As cars get smarter, we're going to have to deal with all of the information our daily drives create in a way we've never had to bother with before. Thankfully, IBM is offering to be the middleman that represents our vehicles in the confusing new world of automotive cloud telematics. The company has signed a deal with BMW that will see the BMW CarData platform connect to IBM's Bluemix cloud. The idea is that IBM will host and analyze your information and then pass it to third parties -- with your consent -- when required.
Microsoft rolls out space-saving Files on Demand to Windows Insiders
Storing your files in the cloud is a great thing for managing them across devices, but if you want to work on them on your own or with others, you either need to let them sync to your local computer or launch a web app. Microsoft introduced a way to access both local and OneDrive files from your PC desktop this past May. The feature lets you work on your files directly from your computer using the regular Windows file picker, further blurring the lines between offline and online file storage and saving space on that fancy SSD. The service, called OneDrive Files on Demand, starts rolling out to Windows Insiders who run build 16215 right now, and you can download it directly if you don't want to wait for the automatic update.
Amazon drops its unlimited cloud storage plan
For a couple of years now, Amazon has had one of the more desirable cloud storage plans out there, offering infinity terabytes for just $60 per year. If you were taking advantage of that to store your 8K RAW video, however, you now need to pay more: Amazon has officially killed the plan. Instead, you get a not-as-generous 1TB for the same price, and up to 30TB for an addition $60 per terabyte -- an eye watering $1,800 per year.
Artificially bright clouds might save the Great Barrier Reef
Australia's Great Barrier Reef is dying due to changes in ocean temperature, and conventional attempts to save it (such as improving water quality or limiting fishing) haven't panned out. However, scientists might have an unusual approach that works: tweaking the clouds above the reef. They're investigating the possibility of lowering the ocean temperature by artificially brightening clouds, increasing their ability to reflect heat away from the sea below. It's not as far fetched a concept as it sounds.
Google's 4K digital whiteboard will retail for $5,000 in May
Google announced pricing and availability for its upcoming 4k digital whiteboard, dubbed the Jamboard, during its Next cloud computing conference in San Francisco on Thursday. The company first unveiled the device back in October and expects it to reach store shelves sometime in May.
Google refines Drive for large businesses
Google today unveiled a suite of new tools designed to help big businesses communicate and coordinate in Drive. The first improvement is Drive File Stream, which allows users to access their entire Drive without going through the file-syncing process. It essentially creates an "intelligent cache" of all the data, Google Cloud VP of apps Prabhakar Raghavan tells VentureBeat.
