Important announcements
Researchers uncover PowerShell Trojan that uses DNS queries to receive orders
Researchers at Cisco’s Talos Security Intelligence and Research have found a Trojan malware based entirely on Windows PowerShell scripts. It can communicate with the attacker behind the hack through a service that is nearly never blocked: the Domain Name Service. Delivered as an e-mail attachment, the malicious Word document was made “to appear as if it were associated with a secure e-mail service that is secured by McAfee,” wrote Talos researchers.
You can read more here.
CNN launches virtual reality journalism unit
CNNVR is a new journalism unit and VR platform within CNN Digital, which will cover major news events in 360-degree video. CNNVR will cover news events and offer VR live streams, and produce weekly VR experiences. “CNN is activating a new VR platform, making it easier to access this dynamic storytelling medium on every device,” said CNN.
More info are available here.
Google Cloud Video Intelligence API can search for objects within videos
The Video Intelligence API is using artificial intelligence to search for specific objects within videos, a feature that could prove useful for surveillance videos, among other things. The new Cloud Video Intelligence API, says Google, utilizes “powerful deep-learning models” to search for user-specified objects (cats, humans, cars, etc) within video content, pinpointing moments within the video where these objects are located.
You can read more here.
Top new products
LG Stylo 2 Plus
The smartphone will have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 GHz octa-core processor and 2GB RAM. The LG Stylus 2 Plus comes with a 5.7-inch full HD display and a 3000 mAh battery.
More info here.
NVIDIA Jetson TX2
Jetson TX2 is an AI platform for drones, robots, smart cameras and other embedded devices. It can be used for navigation, image and speech recognition. The TX2 uses a Pascal-based GPU, as well as two 64-bit Nvidia quad-core ARM chips, with 8GB of RAM on board and 32GB of fast flash storage.
More info here.
BlackBerry Aurora
The BlackBerry Aurora has a 5.5 inch display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor and 4GB of RAM. The phone comes with a 3,000 mAh battery, 13MP rear camera and an 8 MP front one.
More info here.
Top interesting info
So.cl, the little known social network from Microsoft FUSE Labs is shutting down
Microsoft’s social network is being shut down starting March 15th, after nearly 5 years of uptime for the website. The end of the website isn’t a surprise, considering it didn’t enjoy major traffic or frequent updates (the last major update seems to have been in 2014).
You can read more here.
The Switch is the fastest-selling console in Nintendo history
Nintendo America president Reggie Fils-Aime has said that the Switch has outsold all prior consoles from the company. This assertion has been based on the sales of the first weekend after its release. Also, “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” became the best-selling standalone launch title in Nintendo’s history, surpassing even the popular Super Mario 64.
More info can be found here.
Tesla built a huge solar energy plant on the island of Kauai
Tesla will power the Hawaiian island of Kauai with more than 54,000 solar panels. Tesla has also installed 272 of its large commercial battery, Powerpack 2, to store the solar energy to use at night. The project is expected to reduce fossil fuel use by approximately 1.6 million gallons per year, Tesla estimates.
You can read more here.
