Flying car spreads its wings in Slovakia

Flying car spreads its wings in Slovakia

BRATISLAVA: Mankind's primordial dream of flight is taking off with a new twist as a Slovak prototype of a flying car spreads its wings.

Inspired by the books about flying by French authors Jules Verne and Antoine de Saint Exupery, Slovak designer and engineer Stefan Klein has been honing his flying machine since the early 1990s.

"I got the idea to start working on a vehicle of the future at university, but honestly, who hasn't dreamt of flying while being stuck in the traffic?" Klein told AFP.

China to launch moon rover on Monday: state media

China to launch moon rover on Monday: state media

BEIJING: China will launch its first ever moon rover mission on Monday, state media said, as it embarks on the latest stage in its ambitious space programme.

A rocket carrying the vehicle, named "Jade Rabbit" in a nod to Chinese folklore, will blast off at 1:30 am local time (Sunday 1730 GMT).

NASA launches spacecraft to unravel Moon mystery

WALLOPS ISLAND: NASA launched an unmanned spacecraft Friday to study the Moon's thin, dusty atmosphere.

Blazing a red path in the night sky, the LADEE mission lifted off at 11:27 pm (0327 GMT) aboard a Minotaur V rocket, a reconditioned missile operated by Orbital Sciences Corporation.

The main goal of the mission is to learn more about the atmosphere and dust on the Moon by circling it over the course of several months.

Facebook unveils global Internet access initiative

NEW YORK CITY: Facebook and other technology giants launched an initiative Wednesday designed to give the whole world access to the Internet.

The project is entitled Internet.org and its goal is to extend Internet access to five billion people by cutting the cost of smart phone-based Internet services in developing countries.

"Everything Facebook has done has been about giving all people around the world the power to connect," Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said.

Netflix of video games: Twitch coming to PS4

LOS ANGELES: Twitch is another step closer to becoming the Netflix of the video game world.

The popular video game footage streaming service will be available on Sony's next-generation PlayStation 4 when it's released Nov. 15 in the U.S. and Canada. By tapping the new "share" button on the PS4 controller, users will be able to broadcast gameplay directly to Twitch. Microsoft announced similar Twitch integration earlier this year for its upcoming Xbox One.

Apple readying two iPhone versions for launch: report

NEW YORK: Apple has asked its Taiwan-based supplier to begin shipping two new versions of the iPhone next month, including a lower-cost model, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

The Journal, citing unnamed sources, said Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision, the parent company of Foxconn in China, was readying both a standard iPhone with new upgrades and a less expensive model with fewer features.

Hackers use new tactic to attack US media sites

NEW YORK: Hackers promoting the Syrian Electronic Army simultaneously targeted websites belonging to CNN, Time and the Washington Post on Thursday by breaching Outbrain, a firm which publishes content recommendations on those sites.

That resulted in some WashingtonPost.com and Time.com customers being redirected to the website of the Syrian Electronic Army when they clicked on the content from Outbrain, said Outbrain Vice President Lisa LaCour. The CNN International site briefly displayed a headline that said "Hacked by SEA," she said.

Apple breaks $500 threshold, 1st time since January 2013

NEW YORK: Apple Inc.'s shares surged passed the $500 threshold — their highest level since January.

Wednesday's gains came a day after activist investor Carl Icahn said he thinks the iPhone maker should do more to revive its stock price.

The outspoken billionaire said in Twitter posts Tuesday that he had acquired an unspecified stake in Apple and had spoken to its CEO about boosting share repurchase plans. The stock immediately jumped, and closed at its highest level in nearly seven months.

BlackBerry may put itself up for sale

TORONTO: Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry is looking at options that could include joint ventures, partnerships or a sale of the company as it struggles to survive against stiff competition

BlackBerry, which pioneered on-your-hip email with its first smartphones and email pagers, on Monday said it had set up a committee to review its options and that top shareholder Prem Watsa was stepping down from its board due to a possible conflict of interest.

BlackBerry, once a stock market darling, has bled market share to the likes of Apple Inc and phones using Google Inc's Android operating system, and its new BlackBerry 10 smartphones have failed to gain traction with consumers.

Software experts attack cars, to release code as hackers meet

BOSTON: Car hacking is not a new field, but its secrets have long been closely guarded. That is about to change, thanks to two well-known computer software hackers who got bored finding bugs in software from Microsoft and Apple.

Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek say they will publish detailed blueprints of techniques for attacking critical systems in the Toyota Prius and Ford Escape in a 100-page white paper, following several months of research they conducted with a grant from the U.S. government.

Mars rover hoping to yield more secrets, one year on

WASHINGTON: The dazzling success of NASA's rover Curiosity has paved the way for a human conquest of Mars, scientists say, almost one year after the groundbreaking probe first touched down on the Red Planet.

Since it successfully alighted on the Martian surface on August 6, 2012, Curiosity has gathered and beamed back to Earth a treasure trove of information expected to be vital when a manned mission to Mars eventually takes place.

Facebook lets users showcase posts on other websites

SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook on Wednesday began letting people share social network posts at blogs or other spots on the Internet.

An Embedded Posts feature being tested out at CNN, Huffington Post, Bleacher Report, PEOPLE and Mashable websites lets Facebook members broadcast posts in real-time to broader online audiences.

"We are beginning to roll out Embedded Posts to make it possible for people to bring the most compelling, timely public posts from Facebook to the rest of the Web," Facebook software engineers Dave Capra and Ray He said in a blog post.

Google gets deeper into hardware with new tablet, TV gadget

SAN FRANCISCO: Google Inc showcased a new-generation, slimmer Nexus 7 tablet that the Internet search company hopes will expand its presence in consumer hardware, and ensure that its online services remain front-and-center on mobile devices.

The latest Nexus 7, featuring a Qualcomm Inc Snapdragon processor and a higher display resolution, on July 30 will be priced at $229 for a basic version with 16 gigabytes of storage. The original year-old tablet started at $199 for an 8 gigabyte version.

Google and NASA Launch Quantum Computing AI Lab

The Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab will use the most advanced commercially available quantum computer, the D-Wave Two.

Quantum computing took a giant leap forward on the world stage today as NASA and Google, in partnership with a consortium of universities, launched an initiative to investigate how the technology might lead to breakthroughs in artificial intelligence.