Month: June 2016

Don't you want your business to be as futuristic as this stock art? Buy today! (credit: HTC)

Virtual reality can be used for much more than some interesting gaming experiments, and HTC wants users in "business and commercial environments" to be able to take advantage of its Vive VR hardware. Thus, the company announced its new Vive Business Edition (Vive BE), a full Vive system being sold for the low, low price of $1,200—or 50 percent more than the $800 consumer Vive.

Despite the increased cost, there doesn't seem to be anything different about the physical hardware you get with the Vive BE. The "business" system still comes with a headset, two controllers, two base stations, and all the necessary cables and face cushions you could need. All that extra money will instead help pay for a 12-month limited warranty and a "dedicated Vive Business Edition customer support line" (as well as "commercial licensing," if that's something your lawyer says you need for some reason).

That support line might be useful when one of your employees can't figure out how to plug the headphones into the little dongle on top of the headset, we suppose. Still, the $400 markup is a pretty dear price to pay for support on a system that's already pretty user-friendly. The "limited warranty" doesn't even cover things like "physical damage," "rough handling," or "accidents" that might arise from the headset being exposed to the general public in a business setting.

On Thursday, Tesla filled the gap in its range with a new entry-level Model S 60. The car starts at $66,000 before tax incentives. Tesla previously discontinued the Model S 70 due to lack of demand, but this new model is several thousand dollars cheaper. Once rebates and gas savings factor in, the company says "the effective cost of owning Model S 60 comes to about $50k."

The Model S 60 gets a 60kWh battery, good for 0-60mph (0-96km/h) in 5.5 seconds and 200 miles of range between charges. It comes with the full suite of driver assists, and if you decide at some point you want more juice, a software upgrade will unlock the battery to 75kWh.

Tesla's approach to selling electric vehicles has been fascinating. Launching straight into the upper end of the market with the Model S was clever, and it laid the groundwork for the Model 3 mass-market follow-up. With the top and bottom ends covered (reminiscent of Shaka Zulu's "Buffalo Horns" strategy perhaps?), Tesla has moved in for the kill at the middle. This new Model S fits nicely between the $35,000 Model 3 and $89,500 Model S 90D, and the price is aimed squarely at buyers of mid-level luxury cars like the A6, 5 Series, and E-Class.

About 11 percent of shared cloud folders contain nasty surprises, according to recent research.

Internet file sharing has long been a prime route for malware to spread. The situation is one of the reasons (aside from the exposure of proprietary data) that many companies restrict the use of cloud file sharing to corporate-approved systems. But it turns out that those enterprise cloud folders are just as bad. As more companies sanction the use of cloud applications for collaboration and sharing data—even just between individuals' computers and mobile devices—those cloud apps have increasingly become fertile ground for malware.

In a study based on data collected from millions of users over the first three months of 2016, cloud security company Netskope found that 11 percent of corporate-approved cloud applications harbored malware. That total more than doubled, up from just 4.1 percent in the previous quarter's data.The malware discovered included JavaScript exploits, droppers used to spread other malware, malicious embedded macros in document files, actual backdoor malware, spyware, and adware. Some mobile device malware was found as well.

All of the malware was found in file sharing applications, though only 26.2 percent of it appeared to be actually shared (whether internally to others in the affected company, externally with partners, or even publicly shared). That means the cloud folders were either infected because they were connected to a device exploited by malware, or the files were moved to the folders by the user.

Anwar Hadid sports a NASA flight suit. This is hip, folks. (credit: Teen Vogue)

Ars Technica will leave no stone unturned when it comes to space coverage—even if it means braving the pages of Teen Vogue. And so this week I found myself sidling into my pre-teen daughter's room and surreptitiously picking up the June/July issue of the magazine off her desk.

It was not an easy read for these middle-aged eyes, which haven't been fashion conscious for decades (if ever). But I eventually found Anwar Hadid on page something or other (fashion magazines rarely put page numbers on the pages). I had never heard of this guy, but he is apparently a big deal among the teens. He's the younger brother of "top models" Gigi and Bella and the son of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Yolanda and real estate mogul Mohamed. And now he's a model, too. (The article cites something called "Hadid mania.")

Anyway, Anwar is showing off a NASA flight suit in a full-page image. According to the article, this "Alpha Industries" designed suit retails for $111. It's a reproduction of NASA's Advanced Crew Escape Suit worn by space shuttle astronauts during ascent and entry. The new design, of course, is more suitable to wear on Earth, and it's based on one that can be bought at Kennedy Space Center's gift shop.