Technology: What Geeks are talking about from TechSpot

Here is the latest Tech News from TechSpot.

MSI Cubi 2 Plus Review: Close to the perfect mini PC

Intel has been a real champion for small form factor computing, recently introducing three new types of mini PC designs in addition to the NUC: the Compute Stick, Mini Lake and 5″ × 5″, or mini-STX as it is now commonly referred to. One of the first companies to adopt…

British maker Colin Furze builds fully functional hoverbike

You may remember maker Colin Furze as the guy that created a real-life (and fully functional) Assassin’s Creed rope launcher or homemade Magneto shoes. The zany Brit was recently sponsored by Ford (go figure) to create a functional, homemade hoverbike.

Former Motorola chief Rick Osterloh rejoins Google to head new hardware division

Former Motorola president Rick Osterloh is returning to Google. After parting ways with the Lenovo-owned company last month, Osterloh has been hired by Google as a Senior Vice President in charge of a brand new hardware division. He will report directly to Google chief Sundar Pichai.

Windows 10 finally has official Facebook, Messenger and Instagram apps

One of the big struggles for Microsoft has been getting high quality official apps in the Windows 10 app store. Today marks a pretty significant milestone, with Facebook bringing a collection of very important apps to the store that are compatible with Windows-powered desktops, laptops, and tablets.

Amazon has its best quarter ever with $513 million in profit

Amazon on Thursday surprised everyone with impressive revenues and profit that sent shares climbing in after-hours trading.

Learn C#: Boost your skill set with this always-in-demand programming language

For aspiring developers looking to learn a new skill, or seasoned programmers seeking a powerful tool for their repertoire, C# is a great starting point. This programming language is one of the most in-demand amongst employers, including Intel and Amazon, and will open many doors for those who master it.

Samsung earnings beat estimates thanks to early launch of Galaxy S7 smartphones

Samsung appears to have made all the right moves with regard to its Galaxy S7 series of smartphones as the South Korean technology giant reported first quarter results that topped Wall Street estimates.

Google reportedly close to reaching self-driving ‘technical partnership’ with Fiat Chrysler

Google has been developing its autonomous driving technology for years, outfitting vehicles like the Toyota Prius and Lexus RX450h with its experimental self-driving equipment. The search giant even went so far as to roll out its own driverless car design.

IDC report shows worldwide shipments of smartphones stagnating; Samsung remains top manufacturer

A new study by the International Data Corporation (IDC) examining smartphone shipments during the last full quarter has shown that despite a slight decrease compared to the same period last year, Samsung remains on top, shipping over 30 million more units than its closest competitor, Apple.

HP’s new Chromebook 13 is the first of its kind to ship with an Intel Core M processor

HP on Thursday unveiled its latest Chromebook at a special event in New York City. Machines of this nature are typically dull and cookie cutter in nature but not this time.

Steam now accepts Bitcoin payments via processing service BitPay

Valve has officially rolled out support for accepting Bitcoins through Steam.

Windows 10 upgrade prompts are now interrupting weather reports

Anyone who hasn’t upgraded to Windows 10 will know how annoying the Microsoft popups that advise users to switch to its latest OS can be. Not only do they arrive quite frequently but often do so at the most inopportune moments.

AMD targeting affordable VR-capable graphics cards with Polaris

An interview between Ars Technica and AMD’s Roy Taylor has revealed some more information about the company’s upcoming Polaris architecture. According to him, Pascal is focused on increasing the ‘total addressable market’ (TAM) for virtual reality through more affordable graphics cards.

Samsung’s vision for the future of VR is inspired by Star Trek’s Holodeck

Virtual reality is still in its infancy. For all the advancements made recently, there are still plenty of issues with the technology, such as poor image quality, trailing cables, and users requiring quite powerful PCs.

Microsoft is testing the viability of DNA as a long-term storage medium

Microsoft has agreed to purchase 10 million DNA oligonucleotides from a scientific research facility known as Twist Bioscience. The Redmond-based company is interested in testing the viability of DNA as a long-term storage medium.

You can now play Minecraft in virtual reality on the Gear VR headset

While Samsung’s smartphone-powered Gear VR is considered to be the best virtual reality headset that doesn’t require hooking up to a PC, the amount of content available for the device is still pretty limited. But the number of available titles are increasing, and now the third biggest selling video game…

Comcast raising monthly broadband data cap to 1TB is a win for cord-cutters

Comcast is making a major change to its broadband data caps, one that will no doubt be welcomed news to cord-cutters.

The Best Strategy Games on PC

So what counts as a strategy game? Here are the best games to play if you feel like taking charge of something, ruining an economy and/or driving an army across the fields of your enemies.

SpaceX says it plans to send a spacecraft to Mars as early as 2018

Unlike other companies, SpaceX appears fully intent on one day sending humans to Mars. The commercial spaceflight company on Wednesday said via Twitter that it aims to send its Dragon spacecraft to Mars as soon as 2018.

Facebook shares reach an all-time high in after-hours trading following stellar Q1 report

Apple may have fallen on hard times this week but over at Facebook, the sky’s the limit. The social networking giant on Wednesday reported first quarter revenues of $5.38 billion which represents a 52 percent increase compared to the $3.54 billion it generated in the year-ago quarter.

Leaked benchmarks point to Snapdragon 820 SoC and 6GB of RAM in upcoming OnePlus 3

OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei said back in February that his company plans to release its next flagship smartphone by the end of the second quarter, or in other words, by the end of June.

HTC reportedly building the next pair of Nexus devices

According to the latest report from reliable leaker Evan Blass, the next pair of Nexus devices will be built by HTC, internally codenamed ‘M1’ and ‘S1’. These two handsets will launch running Android N later this year.

Official mod support comes to Fallout 4 with Creation Kit, available now on PC

One of Bethesda’s key goals with Fallout 4 was to make it easier and more accessible than ever for both players and creators to mod the game. In February, Bethesda director, designer and producer Todd Howard said official mod support for Fallout 4 would arrive in April.

India will soon require every phone sold to have a panic button as violence against women rises

As part of a campaign to protect women from crime, India’s telecommunications ministry has announced that every mobile phone sold in the country from 2017 onwards must include a panic button.

Check out this new trailer for Oliver Stone’s Edward Snowden biopic

It’s been nearly a year since we got a teaser for Oliver Stone’s biopic of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. Now, we’re getting our first look at what the film actually looks like.

Apple employee found dead at Cupertino headquarters

A Santa Clara Sheriff’s Office spokesperson has confirmed that an Apple employee was found dead in a room at the company’s Cupertino, California, headquarters Wednesday morning according to ABC News 7 via Business Insider.

Comcast reportedly in talks to buy DreamWorks Animation for more than $3 billion

Comcast is reportedly holding talks to purchase DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., makers of animated series like Shrek, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda, according to sources familiar with the matter as first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Acer launches new collection of Predator Z1 curved monitors

Acer has welcomed three curved additions to its Predator line of gaming monitors, all bearing a very solid collection of specifications along with the black and red designs of previous models.

Intel wants to replace the 3.5mm headphone jack with USB Type-C connector

There’s no two ways about it – the 3.5mm headphone jack as we know it today is going away (and not just because Apple says so).

Dropbox’s new feature will make you believe all your cloud-based files are stored locally

Dropbox, the cloud-based storage and sharing solution, is previewing a new feature called Project Infinite that will let users see all the files they have stored on the service and directly access them from the desktop as if they were stored locally.

YouTube’s mobile apps get a redesign and now use machine learning for better video recommendations

YouTube has rolled out an update to its Android and iOS apps that sees the homepage get a redesign and introduces a new recommendation system based on deep neural network technology.

DARPA awards eight contracts to help develop combat-ready vehicles

DARPA, the government agency that develops new technologies for use by the military, is looking for outside help in designing vehicles that can stand up to the constantly evolving threat of armor-piercing weapons.

Getty Images accuses Google of promoting piracy in complaint filed with EU antitrust commission

The US-based stock photo company Getty Images says it will file a formal complaint with the European Union’s antitrust commission against Google, accusing the search giant of encouraging piracy and having an unfair advantage when it comes to site traffic and advertising.

Nintendo confirms NX console will release globally in March 2017, new Zelda a possible launch title

Nintendo released its annual fiscal-year results today, and hidden among the pages of figures was a pretty big announcement: the worldwide release date of its upcoming gaming system, codenamed NX. According to the report, the platform will hit the stores in March 2017.

AT&T starts the year with a solid quarter but continues to lose U-Verse TV customers

AT&T on Tuesday reported first quarter revenues of $40.5 billion, a healthy increase of 24 percent year-over-year which the telecom says is primarily due to its acquisition of DirecTV. All said and done, the company recorded profits of $3.8 billion, or $0.61 per share.

FBI won’t reveal how it unlocked the San Bernardino iPhone

The FBI has decided that it doesn’t need to reveal how it unlocked the San Bernardino iPhone, which will prevent Apple from identifying the security vulnerability and closing it through a software update.

Final specifications for the AMD Radeon Pro Duo announced

AMD already announced the Radeon Pro Duo earlier this year, but today we’re finally getting all the juicy details about the dual-GPU graphics card the company is aiming at virtual reality creators and consumers.