Twitter finally delivers group messaging and video

What we needed

At its heart, Twitter seems to be suffering from some sort of existential crisis, struggling to work out if it's a social network, a messaging service or a publishing platform. Today sees the company launch two features that, if we're honest, only really tick the second and third items on that list.

Acer's latest Chromebooks are built to survive the classroom

Okay

Chromebooks are a big deal for schools because they're cheap and relatively easy to lock down. However, not just any Chromebook will do -- ideally, you want a laptop that can survive bumps and drops from less-than-careful students. Acer thinks it can handle that unforgiving audience, so it's launching two educational Chromebooks built to take pupil-inflicted punishment, the 15.6-inch C910 (shown up top) and 11.6-inch C740 (below). Both have shells that withstand up to 132 pounds of force, corners that handle falls from up to 18 inches high, and reinforced hinges that won't easily snap. The C740 even gets specially extended hinges to make sure it won't flop or twist in high-stress situations, such as a kid's backpack.

They're respectable systems beyond those tougher exteriors, for that matter. Both Chromebooks have the option of Intel Broadwell-based Celeron or Core i3 processors, and either 2GB or 4GB of RAM. You're mostly paying based on the screen and storage. The C740 starts things off with a 1,366 x 768 display, a 16GB solid-state drive and a 9-hour battery at $260. Pay a little more for the $279 C910 and you'll get little more than the larger LCD and a slightly shorter 8-hour runtime, but there are more sophisticated variants with 1080p displays and 32GB of space. Both Chrome OS models will be available in February, or in time for schools starting their early planning for the next school year. And before you ask, the C720 isn't going away -- Acer tells us that the C740 is an education-specific model rather than a replacement.

Source : Engadget

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Plex finally brings media relief to US Playstation 4 owners

Could be cool

The media streaming options for Sony's Playstation 4 have always been its weak point, especially compared to the formidable PS3 living room experience. Now, there's some good news for US users: Plex is finally available on both PS4 and PS3 in North and South America, after it rolled out in Europe and Asia last month. The popular media server lets you put all your media in one hub on your PS4, regardless of where you actually store it. You can then organize it by criteria like poster art, plot summary, album cover and share it to other devices and platforms. Sony said that it'll only stream video at first, with music and photo sharing arriving shortly. There is one drawback: you'll need a Plex Pass, a service that costs $4.99 -- more than half the price of Netflix.

Source: Engadget

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk is worried about AI turning against us

He's $10 million scared

Lauded genius Stephen Hawking isn't the only high-profile figure who's worried about Siri taking control.

Tesla Motors and SpaceX CEO and Hyperloop architect Elon Musk is so worried about AI turning against its human masters that he just donated $10 million (about £6.58m, AU$12.17m) to an organization called the Future of Life Institute (FLI).

The FLI's aim is to make sure artificial intelligence remains "beneficial to humanity," through a global research program that will examine the ways AI is being used around the world.

A call for help

Musk's donation was spurred by an open letter from the FLI that featured signatures from AI scientists.

"Here are all these leading AI researchers saying that AI safety is important," Musk said. "I agree with them, so I'm today committing $10M to support research aimed at keeping AI beneficial for humanity."

The FLI will allow researchers to apply for grants from the program starting January 19.

• This is what we want to see at GDC 2015

Source: TechRadar

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Potentially game-changing Android tablet lets you make calls in Windows 8.1

Dual-OS device could be a big deal if verified

One of the myriad of smaller Chinese companies that produce tablets and smartphones, Onda, has unveiled a tablet that not only runs both Windows 8.1 and Android (KitKat) but can also apparently make phone calls in Windows (and probably in Android too).

The V9191 3G Air is currently on preorder at Geekbuying for $257 (about £170, AU$ 280) with delivery expected towards the end of this month.

Like many Windows tablets, it's powered by an Intel Bay Trail-T Z3736F quad core processor with 2GB of DDR3L memory and 64GB of storage.

Retina appeal

It also features a 9.7-inch 2048 x 1536 pixel display, just like Apple's Retina Display iPad tablets. Other notable features include a pair of cameras, a microSD card reader, Bluetooth 4.0, a big 6200mAh battery, HDMI, microUSB and microHDMI ports.

We reached out to both Geekbuying and Onda. The former confirmed that phone calls could be made under Windows 8.1 rather than just Android – which would be the first reported instance of that happening.

That shouldn't come as a surprise though given how the minimum hardware requirements for Windows (desktop) and Windows (mobile) are practically identical.

Expect many more of these hybrids to come to the market with Windows 10's launch looming.

Source: TechRadar

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