Facebook Home now available for almost any Android device

Despite an early leak on Monday, once again the internet lit-up with chatter about the release of Facebook Home in the Google Play store. All good and well if you find yourself in the right place with the right phone, but what about everyone else? Unsurprisingly, the digital door staff (read, Facebook's hardware restrictions) have already been dispatched, meaning almost any Android device can download and install the social software. We can thank Paul O'Brien at MoDaCo for doing the honors, and for those interested, the process is pretty simple. If your issue is location (rather than device) you'll need the latest version of Facebook's regular and Messenger apps first. Once you do, just download the APK, activate it, and you're good. If hardware is the barrier, then you'll need to get the patched versions of Facebook, Messenger and Home (via the source). Early reports suggest that most features operate just fine, but that sending SMS from Messenger can sometimes stop working. If that's a deal-breaker, you'll have to keep an eye out for updates. If it's not, then tap the source up for the full lowdown. If you do, head back here and let us know how you got on.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: MoDaCo

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By: Unknown On 10:05 PM

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Researchers create hollow fiber optic cable, almost reach the speed of light

Fiber optic cables are usually made of glass or plastic but those materials actually slow down the transmission of light ever so slightly. Researchers at the University of Southampton in the UK have created a hollow fiber optic cable filled with air that's 1000 times faster than current cables. Since light propagates in air at 99.7 percent of the speed of light in a vacuum, this new hollow fiber optic cable is able to reach data speeds of 10 terabytes (!) per second. Now that's fast. While the idea isn't new, it's previously been hampered by signal degradation when light travels around corners. This new hollow fiber optic cable reduces data loss to a manageable 3.5dB/km, making it suitable for use in supercomputer and data center applications. Isn't science wonderful?

[Image credit: qwrrty, Flickr]

Via: ExtremeTech, Gizmodo Australia

Source: Nature

Tags: air, fiber optic, FiberOptic, hollow, speed of light, SpeedOfLight, University of Southampton, UniversityOfSouthampton

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By: Unknown On 8:59 PM

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Apple's Tim Cook earns almost 99% less in 2012

Tim Cook, in his first year as CEO of Apple after the late Steve Jobs, earned $1.4 million in salary this year, along with $2.8 million in bonuses. This is significantly less than his 2011 earnings of $378 million.

According to Reuters, Cook's actual salary went up by some $900,000, but this year he did not receive any Apple stock, which accounts for the large disparity. In 2011, Cook received some $376.2 million in long-term stock awards.

Almost all of Cook's stock bonuses will be awarded in two large chunks, the first of which will vest in 2016, the second in 2021. This will act as an impetus for Cook to perform well as head of Apple in the meanwhile, as the value of the bonuses will depend on how high the stock is in 2016 and 2021.

Since taking over for Jobs in October of 2011, Apple stock has risen almost 37%, although it is down 27% since a record close of $702.10 on September 19.

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By: Dilusha On 8:36 PM

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