Hasta La Gadget!

While the President is currently giving his State of the Union address (viewable on YouTube here), earlier today he signed an executive order intended to improve the network security of “critical infrastructure.” As noted by The Hill, the order charges the National Institute of Standards and Technology with the task of creating a framework of best practices for operators in industries like transportation, water and health to follow, due in the next 240 days. The Department of Homeland Security is also heading up a voluntary program works with various agencies and industry groups to make sure the policies are actually adopted, and find ways to create incentives for that to happen.

The order has arrived after cybersecurity legislation failed to pass through Congress, and has been rumored heavily throughout the last few weeks. The president called for Congress to pass legislation to prevent cyberattacks during his speech, and this order is reportedly meant as a step in that direction. The Wall Street Journal indicates many businesses want liability protection against attacks in exchange for following the guidelines, which would require approval form Congress in order to happen.

It includes language accounting for privacy concerns as well, with agencies required to look over the potential impact of their work, and release public assessments. The DHS is to report in a year how its work impacts civil liberties and provide recommendations on mitigating such risks. There’s a lot to read through, so you can check out the document itself embedded after the break, or wait for those various agency reports for more updates.

Filed under: Internet, Software

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Source: The Hill, Reuters, Wall Street Journal

On Sunday, we reported that Apple is allegedly working on a smartwatch-like device, according to sources who are said to be familiar with the situation. Now, according to Bloomberg, more sources have come forward and stated that Apple has a team of approximately 100 individuals working on the wearable device. Such an enormous team size indicates that Apple is more than just “experimenting” with such technology.

According to the sources, the team is comprised of software and hardware engineers, marketing group members, and managers. The device they are working on with be similar to a wristwatch, but will perform tasks that are currently done by an iPhone or iPad. The watch will likely connect to the wearer’s iPhone or iPad via Bluetooth, but may function as a standalone device as well. Not much else is known aside from the speculation and rumors.

According to the original source, Apple has already been in talks with Foxconn, which is said to be actively developing wearable device technology for several companies, not just Apple. In particular, the manufacturer is said to be working on creating more power-efficient displays for the smartwatches, which will have limited space for batteries and require a long battery life due to the nature of the device.

Likewise, the sources are reported as saying that Apple has actually been looking into wearable devices for quite some time now, and had originally said that the company had already hired some employees, a statement the latest crop of sources have elaborated on. Apple has again declined commenting on the rumors, so take it all with a grain of salt.

[via Bloomberg]
[Concept image by ADR Studio]

Apple has 100-person team working on smartwatch-like device, says sources is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This is were the fire are… maybe.

The Country Fire Authority of Victoria (CFA), Australia, is blaming Apple Maps inaccurate mapping issues in its FireReady app. Officials are stuck with using Apple Maps for FireReady on iPhones and iPads. A large number of towns including Macedon are located incorrectly, due to inaccuracies in the app. This makes the job of finding the exact location of bushfires very difficult.

To shed some context, there is a Google Maps, but iPhone/iPad Apps that query iOS for geographical location have to use Apple Maps. The alternative may be to use the Google Maps API over the web, but that would require substantial changes in the app. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: iPhone Tops Japan Market Share, HBO Go Available On Apple TV Through Airplay Feature,

Scotland-based Simple Audio announced today that it has been acquired by American computer component maker Corsair. The five-year-old audio firm is best known in Europe for its networked set-top receivers, which are capable of sharing music from PCs, Macs, TVs, iPods and MP3 players. In an effort to expand its reach, Simple Audio hopes that this multi-million dollar deal will help bring its products stateside sometime this year. While there’s no word how many doubloons Corsair shelled out, the company stated that it had been eyeing Simple Audio since 2010 and felt that it was the right time to make a move. To take a closer look at this acquisition, click through to the press release after the break.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Networking

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Source: Simple Audio

Here’s a look at another upcoming all-in-one PC from Toshiba, the dynabook REGZA PC D732/V9H. Powered by an Intel Core i7-3630QM processor, this space-saving machine is equipped with a 23-inch 1920 x 1080 Full HD display, an 8GB DDR3 RAM, a 3TB hard drive, a webcam, a BDXL drive, a digital TV tuner x1 ground and runs on Windows 8 64-bit OS with Microsoft Office Home and Business 2013. The dynabook REGZA PC D732/V9H will go on sale from February 15th for around 220,000 Yen (about $2,334) in precious black, luxe white and shiny red color options. [Toshiba]