Month: April 2017

Enlarge (credit: Thomas Bleckmann / EyeEm)

Renewable energy has achieved a major milestone: in many cases, it's the cheapest source of electrons you can put on the grid. But the intermittency that comes with renewable energy also poses challenges for the grid, as it has to be able to respond to sudden changes in supply. That creates an economic challenge as well, as we may need to provide incentives for other sources of electricity (including storage) to make up for the sudden changes. These costs are the subject of a new paper that finds that in Germany, costs won't be all that bad.

On the most basic level, the variable output of renewables means that existing fossil fuel plants may need to be switched on and off at short notice. This process has a cost, since it isn't like throwing a light switch; it takes time and fuel in order to get the plants up to speed. Earlier studies have shown that there's a cost from the strain on the equipment involved in cycling on and off, but the cost is dwarfed by the money saved on fuel when the plant isn't run.

Still, cycling doesn't only involve fuel savings. There's also some wasted fuel, as the plants can take time to begin effectively producing energy. The simplest way to think of this is in terms of a steam boiler. You need to burn a fair bit of fuel to get the water to boil before you can start generating electricity, and that fuel costs money. How much money? That's precisely what the new study tried to determine.

Enlarge (credit: IntelFreePress)

A broad array of Android phones is vulnerable to attacks that use booby-trapped Wi-Fi signals to achieve full device takeover, a researcher has demonstrated.

The vulnerability resides in a widely used Wi-Fi chipset manufactured by Broadcom and used in both iOS and Android devices. Apple patched the vulnerability with Monday's release of iOS 10.3.1. "An attacker within range may be able to execute arbitrary code on the Wi-Fi chip," Apple's accompanying advisory warned. In a highly detailed blog post published Tuesday, the Google Project Zero researcher who discovered the flaw said it allowed the execution of malicious code on a fully updated 6P "by Wi-Fi proximity alone, requiring no user interaction."

Google is in the process of releasing an update in its April security bulletin. The fix is available only to a select number of device models, and even then it can take two weeks or more to be available as an over-the-air update to those who are eligible. Company representatives didn't respond to an e-mail seeking comment for this post.

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Enlarge / Unity 8, an option in the Ubuntu 16.10 desktop, will never become the default. (credit: Canonical)

Six years after making Unity the default user interface on Ubuntu desktops, Canonical is giving up on the project and will switch the default Ubuntu desktop back to GNOME next year. Canonical is also ending development of Ubuntu software for phones and tablets, spelling doom for the goal of creating a converged experience with phones acting as desktops when docked with the right equipment.

Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth explained the move in a blog post today. "I’m writing to let you know that we will end our investment in Unity8, the phone and convergence shell," he wrote. "We will shift our default Ubuntu desktop back to GNOME for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS," which will ship in April 2018.

This is a return to the early years of Ubuntu, when the desktop shipped with GNOME instead of a Canonical-developed user interface. Shuttleworth's blog post didn't specifically say that phone and tablet development is ending. But Canonical Community Manager Michael Hall confirmed to Ars that the Ubuntu phone and tablet project is over.

Enlarge (credit: YouTube)

YouTube TV was announced at the end of February, and now the service is officially live. YouTube's live TV-streaming service can be accessed by users in five US locations today: New York, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, and Philadelphia. The service will come to more cities, but YouTube hasn't given a definitive timeline for the nationwide rollout. The subscription cable-replacement service costs $35 per month, but YouTube is offering a free one-month trial. You can cancel the free trial at any time, and if you decide to stick with YouTube TV, the company will send you a free Chromecast after your first month's payment.

YouTube TV directly competes with services like Sling TV, Playstation Vue, and DirecTV Now, offering live-streamed broadcasts of cable content from networks including ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN, and more. When announced, YouTube TV boasted 40 networks as well as local programming from area news channels and weather services. It's a decent list of networks covering all types of content, including live sports games and events with networks like NBCSN, FS1, and FS2. Now, YouTube has announced it will be adding AMC, BBC America, FC, Sundance TV, WE tv, and BBC World News to the service at no additional cost. Currently, YouTube TV only has four "add-on" channels that come with an extra fee, including Showtime and Fox Soccer Plus (sorry, no HBO yet). No official date for the inclusion of these new networks has been announced, but they will arrive "soon after launch."

YouTube TV also offers unlimited cloud DVR so you can record as many shows as you want simultaneously and watch them later. Your account will save all those shows for nine months before the oldest content is deleted, but that still gives you much more time than any other live TV-streaming service to catch up. Each YouTube TV membership allows six individual logins, meaning six different users can log in to the same account, record shows, receive personalized content recommendations, and more. However, each membership only allows three simultaneous livestreams, so only three people can watch live TV at once using one account.

Enlarge / The US District Court building in San Francisco. (credit: JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images)

SAN FRANCISCO—The federal judge overseeing the trade secret litigation between Google's Waymo division and Uber said today that he's likely to slap Uber with an injunction unless the company does more to produce the 14,000 documents allegedly stolen by its self-driving car chief Anthony Levandowski.

"The court gave its order, a very clear order, as to what was supposed to be produced by March 31," said Google lawyer David Perlson at the beginning of an hour-long hearing in federal court. "They have not complied with the order, in numerous respects."

Perlson said no one from Uber came to look at the 14,000 documents that were allegedly stolen, even though Google made them available. "They haven't obtained anything from Mr. Levandowski personally."