Archive for March 2013
iMessage Attack...
According to a report from The Next Web, a small group of developers have found themselves the target of an attack that does one of those things -- sending what could be thousands of messages.
The exploit, which The Next Web says can be set up using AppleScript, comes on the heels of a security hole found on Apple's password reset tool late last week. Apple took the service down for several hours before it was repaired.
The source is suspected to be someone with involvement in pirated iOS software, who could have gotten some basic information needed to send another user a message through Apple's messaging service, The Next Web says. That same individual (or group of individuals) is also said to be using throwaway e-mail accounts, making it difficult to trace it back or block future attacks.
SD Wifi Hack
Do you use an Eye-Fi or other wireless card to send pictures from your camera to your iPhone or iPad? Or maybe you have one of those fancy cameras with built-in wifi? Well, be careful: If the card’s network isn’t locked down, then it’s as vulnerable to hacking as an unsecured home network. And depending on your setup, attackers could gain access to your camera and its photos, and even seize control of the camera’s functions.
German researchers at the Shmoocon 2013 conference demonstrated the vulnerability using a Canon 6D SLR. Here’s the video of the hour-long presentation if you really want to watch…
… But the short form is that you should make sure your camera or card is locked down. Eye-Fi cards come password-protected by default, and you should make sure that the same is true whatever device you’re using. WPA is better, as I assume that WEP is as easy to crack on a camera as it is on a router. Then again, given the pitiful battery life of my GF1 when the Eye-Fi card is running inside it, I wonder if the power might run out before an attacker can brute-force his way in?
Google Play Movie helps you know who actor is that
According to Google’s official Android blog, the Google Play store will soon have such functionality.
The feature, which (for now) will only be made available on Android tablets, takes advantage of the company’s Knowledge Graph. While the software traditionally grabs information from metadata, this new feature will actually utilize facial recognition technology to figure out who each actor is.
Once you pause, all you have to do is tap on a person’s face; a circle will be drawn around it (so you know you’ve tapped the right person, if you happened to pause on a crowded scene), and on the right, two tiles will appear. The top will be a headshot of the actor, with some basic information (name, age, place of birth). The bottom will be a list of the actor’s filmography.
For its launch, the app will only work in the U.S. on devices running Android 4.0 and higher, and work with hundreds of movies. It promises to add more every day, and to eventually branch out to other countries and devices.
The future iPhone...
The future iPhone may come with a clear glass body and a display that wraps all the way around.
Published today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the patent application known simply as "Electronic device with wrap around display" highlights a phone or other electronic device that dispenses with the current flat design in favor of something much more flexible.
The display itself would unwind, or unroll, around the device to reveal a wider array of items. As a result, more space would be available to display icons, photos, videos, and other content.
The body itself could be made of glass, which would offer transparency and be strong enough to support the entire device.
Offering a touch of 3D, the device could even include two flexible displays, one on top of the other. The same content would appear on both displays but would be slightly out of phase on one display versus the other. "In this way, an illusion of depth perception can be presented mimicking a 3D experience," the patent explained.
Java security holes are not the only reason of exploits
A new Websense report suggests that approximately 94 percent of endpoints that run Oracle's Java are vulnerable to at least one exploit, and are ignoring updates at our own peril.
Researchers found that the latest version of Java, version 1.7.17, is only in use by a dismal 5 percent of users, and many versions are months or years out of date -- just begging to be exploited.
The most widely detected version of Java currently in use is version 1.6.16. Over 75 percent of browsers are using Java versions that are at least 6 months old, whereas nearly two-thirds are a year out of date, and 50 percent of Java versions in use are over two years behind the times in respect to Java vulnerabilities.
iPen....????
A vew Apple patent describes a pen that acts as a portable wireless computer.
Granted to Apple today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office the "portable computers" patent speaks of a pen computer with a built-in screen that can display e-mails, text message, and voice data.
Equipped with cellular and/or GPS technology to allow wireless communication, also would act as an advanced digital pen, including accelerometers to recognize handwriting and facilitate both speech-to-text and text-to-speech conversion, microphone and speaker, a touchscreen and a rechargeable battery.
Initially filed in 1998, the patent was first granted in September 2011. But it was again examined and approved by the USPTO after Apple added the descriptions about the wireless and cellular features.
IOS 6.1.3 drains battery faster
the iOS 6.1.3 update last week, fixed a lock screen security flaw, but some users are reporting battery life issues after installing the update
Cult of Mac:
“Last night I updated my iPhone 4S to iOS 6.1.3 and now it drains my battery in extremely fast manner,” one user wrote. ”As I started signing in to write this question from my iPhone I already lost 13 percent of my battery. I never had a problem with a battery and I’ve been using iPhones since the first one.”
some have reported good results by hard-resetting their device and cycling their battery, others report they have performed the same steps with no improvements.
MiiPC
MiiPC wants to bring Jelly Bean goodness to desktop computing – and given the explosive popularity of their Kickstarter campaign, which launched only this morning, they seem well do so. The MiiPC packs an Android operating system into a sleek, compact package for only $100 ($90 for early birds), and promises delivery between July and September of this year
The MiiPC also boasts more robust specs than the competition, including a Marvell New Armada dual-core 1.2GHz processor, which is similar to the chip used in the Google TV. Add in 1GB RAM and 4GB of expandable internal flash storage.
MiiPC may be ideal for a digital home entertainment setup. HDMI and speaker inputs make it a cinch to hook up to your TV (up to 1920 x 1080 resolution), and the MiiPC’s Miracast Receiver technology allows you to display video wirelessly from a smartphone or tablet
A free companion app for iPhones or Android phones – can limit access to certain websites and apps.
Microsoft major updates to its Mail, Calendar, and People apps
Microsoft executives announced today that starting tomorrow, they'll make available via the Windows Store significant updates to the Mail, People, and Calendar apps
Mail app get updates like the ability to create and delete folders and the ability to search for mail on the server, among others. Supposedly performance of all three apps is improved, even on low-power Surface RT devices
About the other "core" Windows 8 and Windows RT apps like Xbox Music,
according to a sources, who mentioned the coming March core-app updates, Xbox Music and the Bing AppEx applications were supposedly going to be refreshed this month, too.
Nexus phones used on satellites design
NASA call them satellites, these small flying robots that are being used on the International Space Station are powered by Nexus S smartphones.
The space agency hacked smartphones to power its SPHERE (Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites) satellites after their original CPUs had become too slow for their needs.
Some of the tweaks NASA had to make include turning off the radio permanently on the handsets, adapting the device to use AA batteries instead of the usual lithium ion, and getting the drivers and sensors to work properly in a zero-gravity environment.
The affordability of the Nexus S handset was cited as one of the reasons for choosing the device, while its removable battery feature allowed NASA to adapt the phone for space.
New virus hit Mac users
A new trojan is making the rounds that specifically targets Mac computers. The malware, “Trojan.Yontoo.1” attempts to monetize its attack by injecting ads into Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, according Russian security firm Doctor Web.
There are several ways the trojan can get onto your Mac. These include criminals crafting movie trailer pages that prompt users to install a browser plugin. It can also arrive as a media player, a video quality enhancement program, or a download accelerator.
Regardless of how Trojan.Yontoo.1 makes its way onto a computer, users will receive the dialogue box shown above.
As you can see, the trojan wants the user to install Free Twit Tube. Once a user clicks the “Continue” button, however, it is the trojan that is actually installed. Once this happens, criminals are able to detect and use information collected from the user via the Web.
To protect yourself from this malware, be sure that your browser is updated to the most recent version. In addition, refrain from installing plug-ins from unknown companies.
There are several ways the trojan can get onto your Mac. These include criminals crafting movie trailer pages that prompt users to install a browser plugin. It can also arrive as a media player, a video quality enhancement program, or a download accelerator.
Regardless of how Trojan.Yontoo.1 makes its way onto a computer, users will receive the dialogue box shown above.
As you can see, the trojan wants the user to install Free Twit Tube. Once a user clicks the “Continue” button, however, it is the trojan that is actually installed. Once this happens, criminals are able to detect and use information collected from the user via the Web.
To protect yourself from this malware, be sure that your browser is updated to the most recent version. In addition, refrain from installing plug-ins from unknown companies.
Samsung Suffers the same security problem as Apple
A security researcher has revealed a method for accessing applications running on a locked Samsung handset.
The flaw is somewhat similar to one that was revealed by another researcher earlier this year on iPhones. On a Samsung handset, users can, from the lock screen, pretend to dial an emergency services number, quickly dismiss it, and with some sleight of hand, quickly gain access to any app or widget, or the settings menu in the device. The dialer can also be launched, allowing the "hacker" to place a call.
Terence Eden, who discovered the flaw and posted a video on YouTube.
"I have discovered another security flaw in Samsung Android phones," Eden said in his blog post today. "It is possible to completely disable the lock screen and get access to any app -- even when the phone is 'securely' locked with a pattern, PIN, password, or face detection.
Eden has only tested the feature on a Galaxy Note 2 running Android 4.1.2, but believes it should work on other Samsung handsets.
XBox Hacked Again...
Microsoft has this morning been hit by a security breach of its Xbox Entertainment Awards 2013 service.
MCV site was contacted by a reader with a link to a page that appeared to list all those who had voted and therefore been entered into the prize draw. The data included names, gamertags, emails and birthdays.
Those accessing the site were also free to edit or remove each listing.
The entire website has now been shut down. It is not known for how long the data was accessible before the closure.
Microsoft has supplied MCV with the following statement: "We are currently experiencing technical difficulties with the Xbox Entertainment Awards landing page and have taken the site offline while we investigate.”
Galaxy S4 smokes the competition
With its Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad core processing chip, Samsung Galaxy S4 tops the benchmarks with a score of 3163 on Geekbench. In comparison, the iPhone 5′s dual core A6 processor gets a score of 1596.
The above graph shows Geekbench 2 scores for the Samsung Galaxy S 4 along with several Android phones, the iPhone 5 and the BlackBerry Z10. Second and third spot HTC One and LG Nexus 4 both get scores of over 2000, while the S 4 is the only smartphone to top the 3000 mark. However it remains to be seen how the Galaxy S 4 will handle the increased power and cooling requirements that generally come with faster processors.
IOS 6.1.3 available OTA
Apple has just released iOS 6.1.3. This update is available via OTA on iOS devices and will soon make its way to iTunes. According to the release notes, this update includes a security fix for a lock screen bug and also addresses issues with Apple Maps for Japan.
It’s important to note that if you’re jailbroken, you may want to stay away from this update. When iOS 6.1.3 beta 2 was released, it was discovered that Apple had patched one or more of the vulnerabilities used in the Evasi0n jailbreak.
Microsoft forces SP1 of Windows 7 via updates
As Microsoft marches toward its early April 2013 end-of-free-support deadline for Windows 7, the company is planning to update automatically some of those who still have yet to install the first (and seemingly only) Service Pack for the operating system.
As announced yesterday on the Microsoft "Blogging Windows" blog, Microsoft plans to begin rolling out Windows 7 SP1 automatically, via Windows Update to Windows 7 users who still are running the release-to-manufacturing (RTM) version without SP1 installed. This process will begin on March 19.
Windows 7 RTM, with no service pack installed, will no longer be supported as of April 9, according to a February 14 post on the Microsoft Springboard Series blog. Support for specific Windows releases ends 24 months after the release of a new Service Pack, and Windows 7 SP1 was released in February 2011.
Microsoft made available last week a Windows 7 hot-fix rollup that includes 90 previously released hot fixes. It's not SP2 for Windows 7, but it's pretty close.
GOOGLE’S NEXUS 5 SUPERPHONE
The picture apparently comes from a Google employee, and shows a phone in render form, complete with a few logos including LG’s.
The Nexus 4 was built by LG, and Samsung built two Nexus phones in a row, so it wouldn’t be a surprise for Google to choose LG to build another model. However, it’s supposedly only one of the prototypes which Google is examining, as the Nexus 5 may not be introduced until October.
Codenamed Megalodon, Apparently it’s powered by a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 processor and 3GB of RAM, plus a 16-megapixel camera which will record 4K video at 30fps, and 1080p at 60fps with HDR and image stabilization. The screen will measure 5.2-inches and have a 1080p resolution, plus it’ll come with a 2.1-megapixel camera, a 3300mAh battery, stereo speakers and 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of storage space.
iPhone SOSCharger
The SOSCharger has arived on Kickstarter and looks to solve the age old solution of a dead phone battery when you are no where near a power outlet. The SOSCharger is a self generated power charger which means you wind up a handle which creates power for your iPhone. Going one step further, the SOSCharger also has a built in 1,500 mAh Lithium Polymer battery so it has the power to charge almost any phone on the market. If the extra battery dies, you then have the option of using the manual crank handle; 3-5 minutes of cranking will provide 5-12 minutes of talk time.
You can charge the SOSCharger with your standard USB wall charger; the same one that came with your smartphone or Bluetooth device. Once the battery is charged, the SOSCharger acts as a backup power source for your USB-powered devices.
If you would like to get in on some early SOSCharger action you can grab one when / if they make it to production. A minimum pledge of $35 will be enough to get one including free shipping. There was a cheaper offer at just $25 however that has now all been taken up and the SOSCharger has already smashed through its pledge goal of $27k; it currently sits at over $40k and still has 39 days to go.
An even Smarter cover
The ubiquitous iPad Smart Cover might one day become much more powerful. AppleInsider has the details on a recently discovered Apple patent that describes a wireless inductive charging solution.
As most users know, the current Smart Cover and the iPad both have magnets to activate the automatic on-and-off capabilities of the tablet. But the proposed solution adds a battery to the cover for on-the-go charging:
The cover has the usual magnetic attachments and embedded Hall Effect sensor that auto-wakes and sleeps an iPad, but instead of the usual layered padding, the segmented body contains battery cells and necessary wireless charging circuitry.
In order to facilitate efficient power transfer, the primary induction transmitter and corresponding receiver in the iPad would be placed as close together as possible. The patent makes use of the Smart Cover’s existing magnet tech, which leverages the unique properties of specialized magnets to “automatically” align the cover with the iPad’s display.
The charging only happens when the Smart Cover is protecting the display, signaling the tablet isn’t in use.
Unfortunately, the Smart Cover would have to be plugged into a power outlet to charge the device. But the patent also hints of using solar panels to gather energy.
Cool Cydia Tweak allows to use you PS3 Controller on any IOS device
Thanks to Blutrol 3.0, a PS3 controller can now be paired with an iOS device to help improve your gaming experience.
Blutrol will allow you to play almost any game that uses on-screen controls with a Bluetooth controller. This video is going to show you how to connect a PlayStation DualShock 3 controller to an iOS
Overall, the process is quick and simple, but it’s important to note that you will need a computer once to set up the DualShock 3 controller. You’ll need to download SixPair to your Mac or PC in order to successfully connect controller
SixPair will copy the Bluetooth Mac address of the DualShock 3 controller to your iOS device and allow Blutrol to make a connection
Currently, Blutrol is available in the BigBoss repository for $6.99
Galaxy S4 features
Samsung's Galaxy S4 may be getting its full unveiling later today, but that hasn't stopped a YouTube user from posting videos of what he claims is the device in action.
YouTube user iStevenCom has posted four videos today showing the Samsung Galaxy S4's new features.
“Self-healing” computer chip
The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) is working on a “self-healing” computer chip.
Yes as you may have seen on that futuristic movie where robots control earth and the mainframe defend and heal it self againts the human revolution....
But enough nerd paranoia...
The Caltech team has built a power amplifier that can detect its own problems and look for workarounds if something fails,
like if there is insufficient power to keep the computer running.
The team tested how resilient
a group of 76 self-healing chips are by “zapping them with high-power lasers.
While this power amplifier is by no means an organic being that can actually grow damaged parts, it is smart enough to troubleshoot itself and come up with its own solutions
without interference from researchers, they have equipped the chips with sensors that monitor everything from temperature to voltage, but leave its on-board
“brain” to “make decision based on the data fed to it by the sensors” so the chip can make repairs immediately.
Samsung reveals the GS4
A tweet from the electronics giant includes a dark image of what appears to be the top half of the new Samsung smartphone.
The very dark image, depicting only the upper left corner of what appears to be a smartphone with the familiar Samsung brand at the top.
The tweet comes on the same day that Samsung launched the second in a series of teaser ads for the Galaxy S4.
Samsung is expected launch its latest flagship smartphone at an event Thursday in New York City.
Undust you old games
Still own vintage NES, SNES, Genesis, or Game Boy Advanced game cartridges but lack the working consoles to play them all? The new Hyperkin RetroN 4 console may be what you've been waiting for. It features a cartridge slot and two controller sockets for each retro video gaming system.
The RetroN 4 has modern touches such as an HDMI output and Bluetooth connectivity. You'll be able to connect this console to any flat-panel TV with the HDMI port. Meanwhile, Bluetooth supports a bundled wireless controller sporting a directional pad and an array of buttons.
This four-in-one retro game console will launch by the end of March, but pricing has yet to be announced.
HYBRID HARD DRIVE TO DESKTOPS
Most of hybrid hard drives (SSHD) are found in laptops and Ultrabooks, offering more storage capacity than a solid state drive (SSD), but without the slower boot time of a traditional spinning hard drive or the higher cost of a pure SSD.
Seagate just announced it is shipping a new line of hybrid drives just for desktops, along with several larger capacity SSHDs for laptops.
Seagate Desktop SSHD will offer as much as 2TB of storage plus 8GB of flash memory, boosting your PC’s start up time without sacrificing on capacity.
Seagate said that it “will perform up to 4 times faster” than traditional hard drives “ regardless of the CPU inside.”
On laptops Seagate SSHD are five times faster than a standard 5400RPM HD wich allows you to start your Windows 8 laptop in less than 10 seconds.
Expected price for Seagate SSHD would be somewhere between standard hard drives and solid state drives.
New Update for Evasi0n
Evad3rs team released a new version of the jailbreak, 1.5.1
This is a minor update that it doesnt include any fixes.
Just a further Cydia packages list support similar to the 1.5 version
download the new version Here
Office 2013 licencing more flexible
Office 2013 users can now legally transfer their license if they buy a new computer or their current one breaks down.
Now Office 2013 customers can move the software and license to another PC once every 90 days.
Effective immediately, the agreement covers Office Home and Student 2013, Office Home and Business 2013, Office Professional 2013, and all of the standalone Office 2013 applications.
Microsoft's previous policy for Office 2013 limited users to a perpetual license good for only one PC, as a result the new agreement is decidedly more flexible and user-friendly.
The size doesnt matter...but...
While every company is busy trying to sell you a smartphone that barely fits in your pocket, Willcom is doing otherwise offering a phone about half the size of a credit card
The Strap 2 less than 3 inches long and just over an inch wide became the smallest cell phone ever made.
Measuring in at 32mm x 70mm x 10.7mm, and weighing just 32 grams, it features a 1-inch display, T-9 keypad and 2-hour battery life that can handle phone calls, text messaging, and e-mail -Do you will have some problems to read them-
The Strap 2 is a fourth the weight of an iPhone, less than half its size, and will be arriving in three colors: white, black, and pink
Sales debut in Japan soon but there is no word of bringing this little monstrer to america yet.
So little makes it so better
Posted on the official Google Chrome Blog, Google has released two major updates to Chrome, receiving a variety of bug fixes and security enhancements,
Chrome on Android has been shifted to the most recent version of the V8 Javascript engine. According to Google, this has improved performance within Google’s Octane bench-marking tool by 25 percent and adding support for more HTML5 features.
For users it means that the browser will load faster and be more responsive.
As per the IOS version, Google’s omnibox has been included in the update allowing users to utilize the URL entry area for all search queries. This alteration also allows more content to appear on the screen when browsing a page.
Google has added a “press and hold” function to the back button. When that button is held down, Chrome brings up previous browsing history
Social improvements: users can share any page over email as well as social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Google+.
Samsung Galaxy S4 pictures leaked
Reliable @evleaks Twitter account has published a supposed picture of the Galaxy S4 along with a few spec.
Without revealing the screen size or the processor type, it does show 13-megapixel camera with autofocus and an LED flash, a choice of three different memory sizes – 16GB, 32GB or 64GB – plus 2GB of RAM, and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.
This very similar to an image leaked earlier this year shows that GS4 doesn’t have a hardware home button.
Galaxy S4 benchmark test leaked this week shows that the phone will have a 4.99-inch, 1080p screen, 2GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel camera, Android 4.2, and most interestingly of all, the Exynos 5 Octa processor.
Whether the Galaxy S4 will use Samsung’s chip or a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 is one of the final mysteries concerning the device
SG4 launch is schedule for March 14 in Times Square, New York
Smart Stay feature for GS4
Samsung is enhancing the Smart Stay feature seen on the Galaxy S3 for the release of the Galaxy S4.
At least its what NY Times says on its Bits Blog
Smart Stay uses the forward-facing webcam to watch you while you’re using the phone, then stops the screen from dimming and going to sleep provided it sees you looking at the screen
The new updated system will automatically scroll a page of text down when it sees you’ve almost reached the bottom.
The Eye Scroll feature hasn’t been confirmed by Samsung.
WE THE PEOPLE...want to unlock ours phones
The White House today backed an Internet petition at We the people asking the Library of Congress to change its stance on the legality of smartphone unlocking.
The original petition launched in late January, and has since amassed 114,322 signatures. It needed 100,000 to demand a response from The White House
R. David Edelman, the White House senior advisor for Internet, innovation and privacy, said the administration agrees with those who signed the petition, the 114,000 plus of them who believe that consumers should be able to unlock their cell phones without risking criminal or other penalties.
"In fact, we believe the same principle should also apply to tablets, which are increasingly similar to smart phones." He said.
Having an unlocked cellphone means you can change carriers freely..
Another one bites the dust....
Evernote has suffered a security breach, leading the company issuing password reset instructions for all 50 million of its users
Operations & Security team has found suspicious activity” on its network that looked like “a coordinated attempt to access secure areas of the Evernote service
The hackers gained access to Evernote user information such as usernames, Evernote-linked email addresses and encrypted passwords.
The company said it’d found no evidence that any payment information for Evernote Premium or Evernote Business customers had been accessed, nor was their any indication that content stored by users had been accessed, changed or lost
Evernote asked users sign into their account to create a new password in order to ensure the security of their account and data.
Evernote’s security breach comes just after Dropbox users began reporting suspicious activity on the cloud storage site late last week
Good Job Team..!!
Microsoft’s recruitment team has been doing a good job of giving away some of the company’s secrets recently, as a new Job Discription posted at the end of February says we can expect the next version of Windows Phone to arrive during the Holiday season
The latest position is for a Software Development Engineer to work on the mobile operating system’s user interface
In final paragraph of the job's description informs prospective applicants why it’s a great time to join Microsoft, saying, “We’re completing our current release and getting ready for our next release targeting the holiday of this year.”
The rumored Apollo Plus update will arrive before the end of the year, bringing with it a notification center and other features including VPN support.
Stylish Mobile Notifications
The EMBRACE+ bracelet keeps you connected to your smartphone and notifies you by flashing different colors for different alerts.
Notifications can be customized for incoming calls, app alerts, and messages
Your boyfriend could flash green and your mother could flash red. A calendar alert could flash yellow, You can also set it for low-battery alerts, alarms, and social-media notifications.
Expected to have a 10-day battery life, creators are also working on making the bracelet waterproof.
The Embrace+ is raising funds on Kickstarter to take the Bluetooth smart bracelet from prototype form into manufacturing. The bracelet will be available in three slightly different shapes at a pledge price of $49.