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Tech News Today for August 2, 2016

Tech News for August 2, 2016

Samsung held its unpacked event this morning where it showed off the Galaxy Note 7. Samsung skipped the Note 6 which would have been the next version sequentially, to keep the Note series and the plain Galaxy series in sync. The Note 7 has a large 5.7” display with curved edges on both sides, it brings back the microSD card slot due to popular demand, the top of the line camera from the S7, it bests the Note 5 in battery at 3500 mAh, and has Iris scanner security built in. Read more at TechCrunch.com.

In the boldest "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" move we've seen in a while, Instagram today announced Instagram stories, which is a complete clone of Snapchat, right down to the fact that you can decorate your photos with text and stickers and images disappear after 24 hours. Read more at techcrunch.com

The White House announced that it is working with Alphabet’s X division to test Project Wing, which will test delivery drones in the US at one of six FAA approved test sites. This will be the most significant trial in the US so far. Package delivery is not possible under current FAA rules, and companies like Google and Amazon are testing these kinds of deliveries overseas where governments are warmer to the idea. Read more at bloomberg.com.

Anyone can buy Hololens now, as long as you have three thousand dollars burning a hole in your pocket. This is the developers kit and ever since its release four months ago, developers had to apply to get their hands on this very first gen augmented reality headset. But now, developers and businesses can buy up to five units of the device, at hololens.com. As a bonus, the newest HoloLens is equipped with the Windows 10 Anniversary update, which just started rolling out. Read more at blogs.windows.com.

Iranian hackers have apparently accessed more than a dozen Telegram accounts. Telegram has around 20 million users in Iran and its high user numbers are tied to the belief that as an encrypted messaging platform, Telegram was impervious to this type of access thanks to its implementation of end to end encryption. In fact, Telegram really helped to set the encryption trend that other messaging platforms have adopted in recent months. Hackers gained access to accounts by intercepting SMS messages that act as authorization codes when a new device attempts to log in. Researchers also found evidence that hackers were able to access a programming interface for Telegram that would have identified at least 15 million users phone numbers, and ID’s, which would be the largest known breach of the encrypted system. Read more at reuters.com.

Megan Morrone and Jason Howell are joined by Russell Brandom of The Verge to discuss a completely automated hacking challenge at DefCon this week. Tech News Today streams live weekdays at 4PM Pacific, 7PM Eastern time at twit.tv/live. You can subscribe and download the show on-demand at twit.tv/tnt.

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