Google, Apple And Facebook Are At War On 'Latent' Search

Everyone knows Google controls search engine. It usually has roughly 70% market share of all search activity on the net. Microsoft's Bing comes a far second. But Google is facing a series of challenges that could upset that dominance. The challenge comes with a new type of search, called latent, abstract, or conversational search. 

If you wanted to search for something on the web, you typed in keywords. Google has trained us all to type in those words in order of importance, not the order in which they make sense. In the future that may change. Google, Facebook, and Apple are all developing tools that will allow us to search the way we speak naturally. Though searching is for the kinds of non-specific, abstract, or latent thoughts we use in real life. Generally produces useless search results.

Read More : Yahoo

On Wednesday The Federal Government Raided and Shut Down Online Drug Marketplace "Silk Road"

The federal government raided and shut down online drug marketplace Silk Road and arrested its founder Ross William Ulbricht (29) on Wednesday for the Internet's biggest destination for drugs and other illegal goods. Silk Road had been in process since January 2011 but it was hidden from normal web traffic because it was hosted on - Deep Web. 

From February 2011 to July 2013, there were 1.2 million transactions on the site and accounting for 9.5 million bitcoins. That’s about 4 percent of the 225 million bitcoin marketplace connected about 150,000 buyer accounts with just under 4,000 sellers. 

A request from his legal team for his bail hearing to be pushed back was granted - it will now take place on 9 October.

Read More : BBC, CNN, Time U.S

Adobe Has Confirmed on Thursday That 2.9 Million Information Stolen During Cyber-Attack on Its Website

Brad Arkin, Adobe's chief security officer, wrote in a blog spot that the hackers had removed data including encrypted credit- and debit-card numbers, but that the company does not believe any decrypted numbers were taken. 

Arkin wrote that the hackers "removed from our systems certain information relating to 2.9 million Adobe customers, including customer names, encrypted credit or debit card numbers, expiration dates, and other information relating to customer orders,". He also said, “The hackers also took source code for a number of Adobe products. “ and he added that "We're working diligently internally, as well as with external partners and law enforcement, to address the incident," 

Brian Krebs, author of the respected security blog Krebs on Security, wrote that the attackers appeared to be the same group responsible for attacks earlier this year on data aggregators LexisNexis, Kroll and Dun & Bradstreet. 

Adobe said that it is resetting passwords for the customer accounts it believes were compromised and that those customers will get an email alerting them to the change. Customers whose debit or credit card information is supposed of being retrieved, Adobe is offering a free one-year subscription to a credit-monitoring programmer. 

At last, the company said it had notified law enforcement officially and is working to identify the hackers.

Valve Reveals Haptic Game Controller For Release In 2014

Games developer and publisher Valve has shown off its Steam Controller, the final part of its strategy to bring its PC-based platform to the living room. 

The controller offers two trackpads which provide "haptic" feedback capable of delivering various physical sensations to the player. 

Valve said it offers a better way to play games that have traditionally been controlled with a keyboard and mouse. 

Gamers have been invited test the device before it goes on sale in 2014.

Read More : BBC

The Top Most Video Game 'Grand Theft Auto Released'

Grand Theft Auto V has been released on 17 September 2013 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles which is developed by Rockstar North and Published by Rockstar Games as an open world and action adventure video game. It is the fifteenth title in the Grand Theft Auto series.

Grand Theft Auto V is played in third person and mixing with driving and action game play in an open game world environment. The game is set within the imaginary state of San Andreas, which is based on Southern California, affording the player free wander over the world's countryside and the imaginary city of Los Santos, which is based on Los Angeles. The single player story is controlled through three controlled characters who the player switches between - Michael, Trevor and Franklin and the story follows their efforts to plan and perform six large heists to accrue wealth for themselves. An online multiplayer mode is included and allowing up to sixteen players to involve in both co-operative and competitive game play in a recreation of the single-player setting.

Read More : Wikipedia, IGN

London Museum Acquires World's First 3D Printed Gun

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has developed two models of the world's first 3D-printed gun. The 'Liberator' pistol is the invention of Cody Wilson, a Texan law student whose company Defense Distributed caused a furore in May when it made blueprints for its firearm easily available on the Internet. The distribution of the designs led to Wired magazine naming Wilson as one of the '15 Most dangerous People in the World'. In theory, once downloaded, the designs would allow anyone with access to a 3D printer to make their own gun.

Read More : CNN, BBC News, Forbes, Wired

Sprint preps 'One Up,' its own early upgrade program

Better late than never, Sprint is finally getting into the early upgrade game. The company is preparing to launch Sprint One Up, a program that allows its customers to pay for their smartphones or tablets in monthly installments and upgrade after every year by trading in their devices, CNET has learned. One Up is slated to launch on September 20. Sprint is the last of the national carriers to offer such a program, after T-Mobile kick-started the trend in July with its own Jump program. Shortly after AT&T launched NEXT, and Verizon introduced Edge. The moves underscore the increasingly competitive nature of the business, with each player looking to mimic its rivals.

A Sprint representative declined to comment. All of the carrier programs principally work the same, with a few nuanced differences. Sprint's One Up lets customers pick up a phone with no money down and pay for the device in 24 monthly installments. A phone that costs $649.99, for instance, will cost $27 a month (with the difference tacked on to the 24th payment). If a customer leaves the service early, that person is on the hook for the balance of the device cost, due the following month.

After a year, a customer can upgrade to a new phone by trading in the device. A customer signs up for One Up with an Unlimited, My Way or All-In plan. One Up provides a $15 discount, which allows for an unlimited talk, text, and data plan that costs as little as $65 a month. T-Mobile's comparable unlimited plan costs $70 a month.

One Up is more like Jump in that it offers customers a break on the plan in exchange for the monthly-installment model. T-Mobile's Jump was seen as a better deal than AT&T and Verizon because the carrier previously knocked the price down on all of its plans when it moved to a no-contract model. AT&T and Verizon's early upgrade plans were criticized because they didn't offer any discount on the service plans despite requiring customers to pay the full price of their devices.

Existing customers who have been on contract for at least a year are also eligible, although the offer may be limited. Existing customers still on contract must trade in their existing phones, unless they are already up for a discounted upgrade. As with other plans, the existing phone has to be in good working order. Sprint prepaid customers aren't eligible for the program. Sprint previously offered a little-known early upgrade program called "Upgrade Now," which required an upgrade fee. The program still exists for customers not eligible for One Up. After all the noise T-Mobile has been making, Sprint is hoping to build a little buzz of its own. With the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C launching soon, it couldn't have picked a better time. 

Soarce : Cnet