Augmented reality: A battle between Apple and Google

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA — Alphabet Inc’s Google on Wednesday unveiled tools to make augmented reality apps for mobile devices using the Android operating system, setting up its latest showdown with Apple Inc’s iPhone over next-generation smartphone features.

Phone-based augmented reality (AR), in which digital objects are superimposed onto the real world on screen, got a huge boost from the popularity of the Pokémon Go game. The game, launched in the United States in July last year, sent players into city streets, offices, parks and restaurants to search for colorful animated characters.

Analysts expected the game to make $3 billion for Apple over two years as gamers buy “PokéCoins” from its app store.

Google’s take on the technology will first be available on the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Google’s own Pixel phone. The company said in a blog post that it hoped to make the system, called ARCore, available to at least 100 million users, but did not set a date for a broad release.

Apple in June announced a similar system called ARKit that it plans to release this fall on “hundreds of millions” of devices.

Google and Apple will jockey for the attention of customers and software developers who will build the games, walking guides and other applications that would make AR a compelling feature.

Many tech industry leaders envision a future in which eyeglasses, car windshields and other surfaces can overlay digital information on the real world. Google and Microsoft Corp have already experimented with AR glasses.

“AR is big and profound,” Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook told investors earlier in August. “And this is one of those huge things that we’ll look back at and marvel on the start of it.”

Apple and Google have had to make compromises to bring the technology to market.

In Apple’s case, the Cupertino, California-based company decided to make its AR system work with devices capable of running iOS 11, its next-generation operating system due out this fall.

This means it will work on phones going back to the iPhone 6s, which have a single camera at the back and standard motion sensors, rather than a dual camera system found on newer models such as the iPhone 7 Plus or special depth-sensing chips in competing phones. That limits the range of images that can be displayed.

Google initially aimed to solve this problem with an AR system called Tango that uses a special depth-sensor, but only two phone makers so far support it. With ARCore, Google changed course to work on phones without depth sensors.

But the fragmentation of the Android ecosystem presents challenges. To spread its AR system beyond the Galaxy S8 and Pixel phone, Google will have to figure out how account for the wide variety of Android phone cameras or require phone makers to use specific parts.

Apple, however, is able to make its system work well because it knows exactly which hardware and software are on the iPhone and calibrates them tightly.

Michael Valdsgaard, a developer with the furniture chain IKEA, called the system “rock solid,” noting that it could estimate the size of virtual furniture placed in a room with 98 percent accuracy, despite lacking special sensors.

“This is a classic example of where Apple’s ownership of the whole widget including both hardware and software is a huge advantage over device vendors dependent on Android and the broader value chain of component vendors,” said Jan Dawson, founder and chief analyst of Jackdaw Research.

source: interaksyon.com

Mayweather stops fading McGregor with 10th round TKO

A ruthless Floyd Mayweather scored a 10th round technical knockout over mixed martial arts champion Conor McGregor on Saturday, cementing his legacy as one of boxing’s all-time greats.

McGregor, making his professional boxing debut, had boasted he would knock out the 40-year-old American early but his lack of ring savvy betrayed him as Mayweather improved to 50-0 to surpass heavyweight great Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record for most wins without a loss or draw.

Whether the megafight will be the richest of all-time, as promoters predicted, is still to be determined but Mayweather left no doubt of his place in the pantheon of boxing greats in what he said was his last fight.

As promised, McGregor came out full of fury and menace but Mayweather, long regarded as the finest defensive fighter to step into the ring, left few openings and used the first three rounds to feel out his opponent.

By the fourth round Mayweather went on the attack and started landing blow after blow against a suddenly desperate McGregor who was bravely hanging on while clutching and grabbing the American.

In the 10th, Mayweather moved in for kill pinning a visibly fatigued McGregor against the ropes and landing a flurry of punches when the referee stepped in to stop the fight.

source: interaksyon.com

US Navy to relieve 7th Fleet chief after series of collisions involving warships

WASHINGTON/TOKYO – The US Navy will relieve Seventh Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin after a series of collisions involving its warships in Asia, a US official told Reuters, as the search goes on for 10 sailors missing since the latest mishap.

“An expedited change in leadership was needed,” the official said in Washington on Tuesday of the decision to relieve Aucoin of his command.

The Navy declined to comment on any plans to relieve Aucoin, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

The official told Reuters that Admiral Scott Swift, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, would relieve Aucoin, a three-star admiral, when the two meet in Japan.

It was not clear when the formal announcement would be made. The Seventh Fleet is headquartered in Japan.

Aucoin was due to step down next month, with Phillip Sawyer, deputy commander of the Pacific Fleet and a submariner by trade, slated to succeed him. Aucoin came up through the Navy’s air wing as an F-14 navigator.

The move to replace Aucoin comes days after the collision between a guided-missile destroyer and a merchant vessel east of Singapore and Malaysia before dawn on Monday, the fourth major incident in the U.S. Pacific Fleet this year.

An international search-and-rescue operation involving aircraft, divers and vessels from the United States, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Australia is looking for the 10 U.S. sailors missing since the accident.

On Tuesday, U.S. Navy and Marine Divers found human remains inside sealed sections of the damaged hull of the USS John S McCain, which is moored at Singapore’s Changi Naval Base. The Navy has not yet announced the identities of the bodies discovered.

The U.S. Navy is also working to identify a body found by the Malaysian navy about eight nautical miles northwest of the collision site.

The latest collision has already prompted a fleet-wide investigation and plans for temporary halts in U.S. Navy operations.

The USS John S. McCain’s sister ship, the USS Fitzgerald, almost sank off the coast of Japan after colliding with a Philippine container ship on June 17. The bodies of seven U.S. sailors were found in a flooded berthing area after that collision.

The USS John S. McCain and the tanker Alnic MC collided on Monday while the U.S. ship was approaching Singapore on a routine port call. The impact tore a hole in the warship’s port side at the waterline, flooding compartments that included a crew sleeping area.

source: interaksyon.com

HAPPY BIRTHDAY #HASHTAG | Twitter’s popular tagging symbol is now 10 years old

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The symbol that was originally known as the pound sign or number sign commonly found on a numeric keyboard celebrates 10 years on August 23 born out of the social media platform, Twitter to become the popular hashtag.

Over the past ten years, it has evolved from a way to simply ‘tag’ or categorize Tweets, to one of the most recognizable and widely used symbols of the digital age. The hashtag has become part of our everyday speech, changed the nature of communication online, and become a powerful way to aggregate global conversations and movements.

Globally, an average of 125 million hashtags are shared every day on Twitter, helping people on Twitter to see what’s happening in the world and explore what is being talked about right now.

When something happens in the world, it happens on Twitter, and hashtags have helped to galvanize some of the most important moments in the past ten years.

On this day ten years ago, Chris Messina @chrismessina Tweeted #barcamp, the first time a hashtag was used on Twitter.

Since this first Tweet, the hashtag has become a part of the common vernacular. From monumental world events and awareness campaigns, to weekly throwback pics, it all happens with a hashtag, and it all happens on Twitter.

For the past ten years, Filipinos had incorporated hashtags into their everyday lives; it became significant to current events, the entertainment industry, and news / politics. Here are the top hashtags in the Philippines:

1. #PHElections
The hashtag #PHElections was launched in 2016 in light of the national elections; it was used as a tool to encourage people to be more active in the discourse on who is worthy to be the next President. Reports show that #PHElections garnered millions of Tweets.

2. #AlDub
The love team AlDub had garnered a lot of fans; this is the first time that the Filipinos had proven that they are in fact very active on Twitter. Reports show that the couple’s fan base of produce 11 million tweets in a day. The couple is also part of the Guinness World of Records for having more than 40 million Tweets. Since their rise to fame, there have been at least 350 hashtags related to the couple.

3. #OTWOL
#OTWOL was the hashtag used for On the Wings of Love, a romantic comedy TV show in the Philippines; the story revolves around the life of Leah (Nadine Lustre) and Clark (James Reid). The show ran for a couple of months and launched both of their careers. Now, Nadine Lustre and James Reid are real life couple and very popular in the showbiz industry.

4. #KathNiel
#KathNiel is the official love team of Katherine Bernardo and Daniel Padilla. The love team began five years ago in the set of Growing Up. The actors said that there was no chemistry at the beginning however their friendship grew and they became real life partners. Both actors are now working on a teleserye together and had been inseparable ever since.

5. #EpilogueinManila
Korean POP or KPOP has a lot of fans worldwide and the Philippines had not been spared from this Korean phenomenon. The Korean boyband Bangtan Boys or BTS had their concert in the Philippines in July of 2016 and Filipino fans were not shy to express their admiration and love for the group through the #EpilogueinManila hashtag.

6. #LawinPh
#LawinPh was used after one of the strongest typhoon hit the Philippines in 2013. The typhoon made an impact because it left 18 people dead and caused damage to agriculture amounting to P10.2 billion.

7. #Haiyan
#Haiyan was the hashtag used after Typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan) hit the Philippines. The typhoon is said to be one of the strongest typhoon in recent history; the typhoon left an estimate of 10,000 casualties in the provinces of Leyte, Samar, and other parts of the Visayas. People from around the world, including celebrities, expressed their sympathy for the victims.

8. #PapalVisitPH
The Pope visited the Philippines in January 2015. Smart Communications Inc. reported that there were more than 3.3 million Tweets related to the Papal visit; Tweets regarding the Pope’s visit peaked at 3,664 per second on January 15.

9. #MissUniverse2015
A lot of things happened in the 2015 Miss Universe contest. Steve Harvey’s mistake isn’t the only thing that made 2015’s Miss Universe memorable for the Filipinos; after decades, the Philippines finally won the prestigious contest.

10. #Walangpasok
Filipinos, especially students, are very fond of #Walangpasok; the hashtag is often used to announce that classes had been cancelled due to a typhoon or other unforeseeable events. Oftentimes, this hashtag trends during the typhoon season and usually makes it to the top of the trending list.

See below for some fun data on how the hashtag has evolved over the past ten years globally:

● Currently, there are an average of 125 million hashtags Tweeted per day.
● The most Tweeted hashtag in 2007 was used around 9,000 times. The most-used hashtag so far in 2017 was used over 300 million times.

#FollowFriday
The first #Followfriday was on Jan 16, 2009, and there have been over half a billion #FF (or #followfriday) uses since then.

#NowPlaying
● The first use of #nowplaying/#np was a Tweet about the song “Open your Heart” by De Lavender Diamond in 2007.
● #NowPlaying (or #np) has been Tweeted more than 1 billion times.

Award Shows
● Five of the biggest hashtags of the past ten years stem from fans Tweeting while they watch award shows – whether Tweeting to vote for an award or live Tweeting the event, together, these five hashtags were used over 3 billion times.
○ #MTVHottest
○ #MTVStars
○ #KCA
○ #iHeartAwards
○ #BestFanArmy

Some of the biggest hashtags used to vote for artists included:
○ #BTSBBMAs
○ #EMABiggestFansJustinBieber
○ #EMABiggestFans1D
○ #vote5sos
○ #PushAwardsKathNiels   

TV/Movies
● The most Tweeted television show hashtag of all time is #TheWalkingDead
● The most Tweeted about movie hashtag of all time is #StarWars.

Sports
● The most Tweeted global sporting event hashtag is the #WorldCup.
● The most Tweeted sporting event hashtag in the US is the #SuperBowl.
● The most Tweeted about league hashtag is #NFL.
● The most Tweeted team hashtag is #MUFC.

Gaming
The most Tweeted gaming hashtag of all time is トレクル (TreCru/Treasure Cruise) with over 269 million uses of the hashtag.

Join the celebration on August 23rd by Tweeting with #Hashtag10. This hashtag will activate a 24-hour custom emoji to celebrate the 10th birthday of the hashtag.

source: interaksyon.com

Taylor Swift goes blank on social media, sending fans into frenzy

Taylor Swift, one of the most popular celebrities on social media, wiped all her accounts on Friday, sending fans into a frenzy over whether the pop singer had been hacked, was preparing to launch a new album, or was about to reinvent herself.

Swift, who has 85 million Twitter followers and 102 million Instagram followers, deleted all of her Instagram photos, her posts on Tumblr, and removed her avatar from her Facebook page where all postings prior to December 2015 were missing.

The “Blank Space” singer also deleted years of Twitter posts, and her official website showed just a black screen.

“I’m scared to go to sleep thanks to Taylor Swift like what if she drops a new song,” tweeted an anxious fan called Anu using the handle @shadesoftaylor.

Taylor’s publicist did not return calls for comment, but the development follows a busy two weeks for Swift, who earlier this month ended a six month absence from the public spotlight to testify at a high-profile groping trial in Denver, Colorado.

Swift, 27, was on Monday awarded the symbolic $1 in damages that she had sought after a federal jury in Denver found that a radio DJ had grabbed her bottom while posing for a photo with her in 2013.

Her unflinching testimony describing the incident was applauded by fans and women’s rights groups for highlighting the issue of sexual assault. Swift later made a donation to the sexual violence campaign and support group Joyful Heart Foundation.

Some fans speculated on Friday that Swift, whose last album was the best-selling “1989” in 2014, may be clearing out her accounts before releasing new music.

Others wondered if she had been hacked, while some thought the country-turned-pop star might be planning an image makeover.

“I woke up literally 7 minutes ago what in the world is going on with Taylor Swift,” wrote one fan, Jordyn, on Twitter.

“Is the new era coming or she has been hacked ??,.” tweeted another confused fan, using the handle TaylorSwiftNow.

Usually ubiquitous on social media and red carpets, Swift largely dropped out of public view earlier this year after a highly publicized but short-lived 2016 summer fling with British actor Tom Hiddleston, and feuds with Kim Kardashian, Kanye West and Katy Perry.

source: interaksyon.com

Tom Cruise breaks ankle in stunt, halts production on ‘Mission’ film

LOS ANGELES | Tom Cruise broke his ankle while performing a stunt on the set of the upcoming “Mission: Impossible 6,” causing production on the film to go on hiatus while the actor recovers, Paramount Pictures said in a statement on Wednesday.

Paramount, a unit of Viacom (VIAB.O), said the action movie, which is one of it biggest franchises, remains on schedule to open on July 27, 2018.

Cruise, 55, who is known for doing his own stunts, was seen in a video on celebrity news website TMZ trying to jump between the roofs of two high-rise buildings and landing hard against a wall during filming in London at the weekend. He was later seen limping off the set.

“During production on the latest ‘Mission: Impossible’ film, Tom Cruise broke his ankle while performing a stunt. Production will go on hiatus while Tom makes a full recovery,” Paramount said. “Tom wants to thank you all for your concern and support and can’t wait to share the film with everyone next summer.”

Paramount did not say how long production would be delayed. Hollywood trade paper Variety said filming could be halted anywhere from six weeks to three months while Cruise recovers. Variety said the actor also injured his hip.

“Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation,” in which Cruise reprised his role as agent Ethan Hunt, made more than $680 million at the worldwide box office in 2015, according to movie tracker BoxOfficeMojo.com.

Cruise has carved a career as one of Hollywood’s top-earning and longest-running action stars, much of it built on his reputation for doing his own stunts, including swinging around a Dubai skyscraper and hanging off a plane as it taxied down a runway and took off.

“I just don’t sleep, I just keep going,” he told Reuters in 2015 while promoting “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.”

“Mission: Impossible 6” director Christopher McQuarrie told Britain’s Empire magazine in an interview posted on Wednesday that the production schedule would be rearranged to shoot around Cruise while he recovers.

McQuarrie said he did not know how long the immediate hiatus would be and said there are still seven or eight weeks left of filming.

source: interaksyon.com

South Korea ‘will block war by all means’ – president

SEOUL — South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in said on Tuesday there will be no military action upon the Korean peninsula without Seoul’s consent and that the government would prevent war by all means.

“Military action on the Korean peninsula can only be decided by South Korea and no one else can decide to take military action without the consent of South Korea,” said Moon in televised comments.

The president was making an annual speech to commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the nation’s liberation from Japanese military rule that began in 1910 and ended in 1945.

“The government, putting everything on the line, will block war by all means,” Moon said.

Previous presidents before Moon, who took office in May, have traditionally made North Korea the core of their speeches, mainly focusing on policy to engage Pyongyang.

Moon also urged the North to come to the dialogue table, saying sanctions against Pyongyang aim only draw it out to talks.

“I call upon the North Korean government: without international cooperation and co-existence economic development is impossible,” said Moon. “If you continue on this path there will only be international isolation and a dark future.”

Tension on the Korean peninsula has increased in recent months over concern that North Korea is close to achieving its goal of putting the mainland United States within range of a nuclear weapon.

North Korea and the United States exchanged threats of military action last week, with Pyongyang saying it will develop a plan to fire missiles to land in waters near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.

Earlier on Tuesday, North Korea said it would keep fire-ready regarding its Guam plans while watching the actions of the United States for a while longer.

source: interaksyon.com

GADGETS | Quick Review: 360 Camera

The 360 Camera D606 WiFi Smart camera, even if the name suggests it, is not a 360 WiFi camera. Instead, 360 Camera is the brand and D606 is the camera model, which is a high-resolution 1080p WiFi camera with a wide angle lens.

The 360 Camera D606 is one of those WiFi cameras that you pair to your mobile device so that you can watch your pet, your room, your office, or any place you want to legally monitor while you’re away through the use of a mobile app.

The package contains the camera itself, a micro usb cable, a usb charger, and double sided sticker pad that lets you stick your camera to a surface.

Setting up the IP device is quick and easy. You just have to download the 360 camera app from the app store and the instruction manual is clear. Plus, the camera “talks” so you know exactly if it’s pairing or not.

In use, the video quality is surprisingly good for a small WiFi camera. The images are sharp and the wide angle lens comes really handy when covering a considerable space of a targeted area. It also has night vision for low light environments. The camera even has a real-time 2-way audio function that let you speak through your phone and comes out from a tiny speaker in the camera so that you can talk to your pet or anyone on the other end.

The camera allows you to save videos locally with a micro-SD card. But for more video storage you can also have a paid subscription to the 360 Camera company’s cloud service, which basically lets you keep videos recorded and recoverable from the cloud.

Overall, this is a pretty neat little internet WiFi camera in a small form factor and easy-to-setup package that records in 1080p and gives you a clear picture of what’s happening in places you are monitoring remotely.360 WiFi camera specs

Resolution: 1920 x 1080P FULL HD
Video: Format H.264, 20fps, Field of view 150 wide angle
Audio: Built-in microphone and speaker for two-way communication (Full Duplex)
Storage Media: Micro-SD or 360 cloud storage
Connection: WiFi IEEE 802.11b/g/n, 2.4GHz
Security: WEP(40 bit, 128bit); WPA(AES); WPA2(AES)
Camera Lens: 4 layers glass optical lens
Night Vision: 9 x IR LEDs provide a bright, clear image even in complete darkness
Power Input: Micro USB, DC 5V/1A, 2.5-Meter USB cable (included)
APP: Android, iOS, PC (web browser)
Compatibility: Smartphones, Tablets, and Computer
Advance function: Face recognition / Human form determination
Dimensions: 105 x 68 x 68mm
Weight: 102g

source: interaksyon.com

Trump declares national emergency over opioid abuse

BEDMINSTER, N.J. — U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday declared the opioid epidemic a national emergency and said his administration was drafting papers to make it official.

“The opioid crisis is an emergency and I’m saying officially right now it is an emergency,” Trump told reporters in New Jersey. “We’re going to draw it up and we’re going to make it a national emergency. It is a serious problem, the likes of which we have never had.”

Trump spoke about a week after a White House commission on the opioid crisis led by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie recommended the president declare it a national emergency.

The declaration could help unlock more support and resources to address the drug overdose epidemic, such as additional funding and expanded access to various forms of treatment, and it gives the government more flexibility in waiving rules and restrictions to expedite action.

National emergencies are typically declared for short-term crises, such as the Zika virus outbreak or a natural disaster. It is unclear what Trump’s declaration will mean for a complex, long-term public health problem.

“We’re going to spend a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of money on the opioid crisis,” Trump said. “This is a worldwide problem, not just a United States problem.”

More than 100 Americans die of drug overdoses every day, the commission wrote in a report, noting that “America is enduring a death toll equal to September 11th every three weeks.” Opioids played a role in more than 33,000 deaths in 2015, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Trump held a “major briefing” on the epidemic on Tuesday, but stopped short of following the commission’s recommendation. Instead, he talked mostly about stopping the flow of drugs into the United States and ensuring young people never start using drugs. He did not discuss access to treatment.

source: interaksyon.com

WATCH | Introducing: The ‘smart ring’ for the visually impaired

A ‘smart’ ring developed in Hong Kong aims to help the visually impaired by allowing them to answer phone calls with a touch of a finger. Reuters’ Amy Pollock has more.

Answering a phone call could become as simple as touching your ear.

Wear new smart ring Orii on your finger and connect to your phone using bluetooth… And pick up calls using bone conduction technology that sends sound vibrations through your hand straight into your ear. It’s a way of ditching the screen and paying attention to world around us, say its developers.

“We’re very well connected, very digital-savvy. We also know that in some way we want to shift our habits towards something else. We want to keep our heads up, we want to be able to stay more in the moment. I think this device represents a different way of using our devices,” Origami Labs co-founder Kevin Wong, saying.

Hong Kong-based start up Origami developed the Orii as a way of improving smartphone functionality for visually impaired users. They typically rely on screen reading software, but that has its problems.

“It’s loud and other people can hear it. Can you imagine it reading out your password? That’s inconvenient and inappropriate,” Origami Labs Technical Advisor, Peter Wong, saying.

Origami found its discreet device had wider appeal.

“So one thing that we discovered was that making screen-free tech was more than just about accessibility, But really about making something easier to use for all of us,” Kevin Wong, saying.

The Orii gives around one hour of continuous listening time, according to its developers. And it links up with voice assistants like Siri or Google Assistant to complete calls, text messages and setting reminders.

source: interaksyon.com

CRYPTOCURRENCY | Bitcoin splits, but clone off to slow start

NEW YORK — Bitcoin’s underlying software code was split on Tuesday, generating a new clone called “Bitcoin Cash,” but the new virtual currency got off to a slow start due to lackluster support for its network.

The initiative was headed by a small group of mostly China-based bitcoin miners – programmers who essentially operate the bitcoin network – who were not happy with scheduled improvements to the currency’s technology meant to increase its capacity to process transactions.

These miners, who get paid in the currency for contributing computing power to the bitcoin network, initiated what is known as a “fork” on Tuesday, where the underlying blockchain splits into two potential paths, creating a new digital currency.

The blockchain is a shared online ledger of all bitcoin transactions and has spawned a range of financial and business applications.

Bitcoin’s split has created a new competitor to the original digital currency, which remains the oldest and most valuable in circulation.

Yet only a small fraction of bitcoin miners have been contributing their computing power to the new blockchain, and it took nearly six hours for the first batch of Bitcoin Cash coins to be mined this afternoon, according to Blockdozer Explorer, a firm providing data on digital currencies.

“It’s been a slow start for Bitcoin Cash,” said Iqbal Gandham, managing director at trading platform eToro. “The delay … could be a result of a lack of miner support for the new cryptocurrency.”

Bitcoin Cash on Tuesday traded on certain exchanges at a median price of $146.37, according to bitinfocharts.com, while bitcoin was at $2,729 on the BitStamp platform, down 4.6 percent from Monday.

After the split, Bitcoin Cash has all the history from bitcoin’s blockchain, creating the same number of tokens, plus the new currency created. People who held bitcoins before the split now have access to an equal amount of Bitcoin Cash for free, which they will then be able to trade for fiat currencies – legal tender such as euros and dollars – or other digital tokens.

The creation of new tokens may speed up as less computing power will be required to mine new blocks, said Jeff Garzik, co-founder of blockchain startup, in an email.

Ryan Taylor, chief executive of Dash Core, a firm that manages the development of the Dash digital currency, said Bitcoin Cash may yet be short-lived.

“Bitcoin Cash has not solved scaling,” Dash said. “It has merely kicked the can down the road with slightly larger blocks, but still lacks a credible technology to scale to massively larger numbers of users.”

source: interaksyon.com

Hackers target ‘Game of Thrones’; data, script stolen — HBO

NEW YORK — U.S. cable channel HBO said on Monday that hackers had stolen upcoming programming, and Entertainment Weekly reported that the theft included a script for an unaired episode of the hit fantasy show “Game of Thrones”.

HBO, a unit of Time-Warner Inc, declined to comment on the specific programming stolen in the hack.

“As most of you have probably heard by now, there has been a cyber incident directed at the company which has resulted in some stolen proprietary information, including some of our programming,” HBO Chairman Richard Plepler wrote in a message to employees, which the company shared with reporters.

The company declined to comment on reports that unbroadcast episodes and scripts were among the data hacked, citing an “ongoing investigation” by unspecified law enforcement officials.

Entertainment Weekly reported that hackers stole 1.5 terabytes of data and had already posted online unbroadcast episodes of “Ballers” and “Room 104,” along with “a script or treatment” for next week’s episode of “Game of Thrones”.

Reuters also received an e-mail on Sunday from a person claiming to have stolen HBO data, including “Game of Thrones”.

The show is now in its seventh season and due to wrap up next year.

source: interaksyon.com