CODE Fluidics has 57 backers who have pledged about $4,140, as of this writing. The goal is $55,000, and the campaign ends Nov. 23. The funds will let CODE Fluidics get the mass production molds produced, as well as buy raw materials and make a production run. An early bird pledge of $35 will nab 250 backers a white or black iPhone 5/5s case with three color MicroCartridges that hold the fluids.
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Saturday, November 30, 2013
'Apple can read your iMessages' claims security firm
Earlier this year, Apple said: "Conversations which take place over iMessage and FaceTime are protected by end-to-end encryption so no one but the sender and receiver can see or read them. Apple cannot decrypt that data."
But Quarkslab, a Paris-based security firm, disputed those claims at a Hack in the Box conference in Kuala Lumpur on ThursdScheduleay, according to Ars Technica.
The Brick mobile phone is back - and has Snake
The Brick is on sale for £50, has a standby battery life of up to one month, and comes with mobile phone game Snake.
Friday, November 29, 2013
Phonebloks: a phone that can be built like Lego
Phonebloks is a sustainable device that can be built like Lego and would allow users to replace its parts over time instead of buying new smartphones.
Dutch designer Dave Hakkens designed it after his favourite camera broke and he was advised to buy a new one as it was cheaper than replacing the broken part.
London-based MyTime app launched on iPhones
Free iPhone app MyTime has launched in London and is already on Apple's 'What Hot' listing on the App Store.
The app is personalised to allow the user to re-select and filter results by the type of interests and events they enjoy.
It links to iCal, so the user can select an event and see it go straight into their phone's calendar.
Events can also be shared to a user's friends, and it is updated in real-time so users do not miss out on last minute events or one day exclusives.
LG unveils G Flex curved smartphone
South Korean mobile phone maker LG claims that the vertically curved design of its G Flex smartphone is optimised for the average face, to deliver improved voice and sound quality. The curved form increases the sound level by 3dB compared to typical flat smartphones.
The curved design also offers a more reassuring grip and fits more comfortably in the user's back pocket, according to LG. In landscape mode, the display offers an IMAX-like experience, providing accc angle for watching videos or playing games.
Thursday, November 28, 2013
BBM for Android and iOS hits 20m downloads in a week
BlackBerry has announced that its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) apps for Android and iOS have already been downloaded more than 20 million times.
It means it now has more than 80 million active users globally across BlackBerry, Android and iPhone devices.
BlackBerry re-launched the Android and iOS apps last week, after problems with a rogue version of the Android app forced BlackBerry to suspend the rollout for almost a month.
BBM quickly rose through the rankings on the App Store to become the number one free app in 107 countries and top free app in 35 countries in Google Play during its first week.
New coating could lead to waterproof mobile phones
Researchers have developed a new way of waterproofing electronic components that means they can be immersed in water for days without being damaged.
The technique coats components with a protective layer just a few atoms thick that is impervious to air or water.
They claim devices treated in this way can be left submerged in salt water for months without being harmed – conditions that would destroy normal electronics.
Shoto photo app launches on Android and iOS
A new app is launching in the UK today that uses a combination of location and phonebook details to automatically create albums of all the photos taken together by a group of friends at a given place and time.
Known as Shoto, the aim of the app is to solve the problem of never getting to see the photos that other people have taken an event, like a wedding or a office party. However, it also includes privacy controls that let the user select which people at the event get to see their pictures.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Stepping Out Of The Lab: Steve Cousins' New Robotics Company
At the Pioneers Festival in Vienna, several of the leading voices in robotics, including Rodney Brooks, CEO of Rethink Robotics, and Steve Cousins, former CEO of Willow Garage gathered to have a candid discussion about the future of robotics.
Latest mobile phones 2013: hottest handsets reviewed
In the ever-changing mobile market, it can be hard to keep pace with the latest mobile phones. That's why we've put together this hub for our latest mobile phone reviews and hands on: to give you the ideal jumping-on point for choosing the best handset for you out of the most current models around.
We cover a plethora of brands, including Apple, HTC, Nokia, Samsung and Blackberry, and operating systems, such as Android, iOS and Windows Phone 8, so you should find something that piques your interest here.
In short, if you're seeking a new mobile phone, this is a great place to start.
Oculus Rift Is Coming to Android—iOS Still Waiting Read more: Oculus Rift Comes to Android - Popular Mechanics Follow us: @PopMech on Twitter | popularmechanics on Facebook Visit us at PopularMechanics.com
Oculus Rift, the massively Kickstarted virtual reality headset and PopMech Breakthrough Award Winner, is going mobile with Android compatibility. Chief executive officer Brendan Iribe announced the integration yesterday during the GamesBeat 2013 conference in Redwood, Calif.
The mobile Rift headset will be much lighter than its PC-tethered counterpart, and the team announced that it hopes to launch both sets next year. The company's blog also says that Oculus Android development kits are already running. Games will most likely be created around or modified for the device, and Oculus demos like the VR Cinema 3D will allow users to watch movies unrestricted by cables.
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The mobile Rift headset will be much lighter than its PC-tethered counterpart, and the team announced that it hopes to launch both sets next year. The company's blog also says that Oculus Android development kits are already running. Games will most likely be created around or modified for the device, and Oculus demos like the VR Cinema 3D will allow users to watch movies unrestricted by cables.
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Tuesday, November 26, 2013
GIMP review: This free image editor is no longer a crippled alternative to Photoshop
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Cool Tents for Chic Camping Vacations
Spending time in the great outdoors is one of our favorite things, if you couldn't tell from the articles we've written on glamping, tents, and ultra-chic campers. A quick look around the web shows that we're far from the only ones who've fallen in love with all aspects of camping, especially when it comes to tent design. The humble tent has gotten a designer upgrade and now comes in all shapes, sizes, colors, and styles. Here are some of our favorites.
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Aeromobil takes to the skies: Is the age of flying cars finally here?
The design space for a machine that can roll out of a standard parking spot, unfurl a pair of wings, and hurl itself into the air has been explored as thoroughly as any. Stefan Klein, an engineer from Austria, has been working on such machines for the last 20 years. His latest concept, the Aeromobile 2.5, has some impressive specs, and seems to have little trouble getting airborne. The question that comes to mind when watching footage of the prototype is — can it stay there?
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Monday, November 25, 2013
The futility of Surface and ccc RT: If only Microsoft had stuck with Intel
Over the past week, I’ve had the fortune to play with both Microsoft’s Surface 2 and the Asus T100 Transformer Book. These are very similar devices — convertible laptops with detachable keyboards — except for one big and fundamentally life-altering difference: Where the Surface 2 is powered by Nvidia’s ARM-based Tegra 4 SoC, the Transformer Book has Intel’s x86 Bay Trail under the hood. As a result, while the Surface 2 runs Windows RT, the T100 runs full Windows 8.1. Yes, every program and game that you use on your Windows desktop PC also works on the T100. Steam works on the T100. Team Fortress 2 works on the T100. Photoshop works (surprisingly well!) on the T100. Let that sink in for a moment, and then read on.
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Why curved smartphone screens massively increase image quality, daylight readability
Believe it or not, the curved screen on the Samsung Galaxy Round smartphone isn’t just a marketing gimmick: The curvature actually causes a series of optical effects that result in improved contrast, color accuracy, readability, and overall image quality — especially under ambient light that usually makes smartphone screens almost unreadable, such as daylight or fluorescent office lighting.
This new information about curved displays comes from Raymond Soneira, who is one of the few authorities on display technology, image quality, and color calibration. From thestory on his site, it sounds like Samsung gave him a Galaxy Note 3, the Galaxy Round (which is the Note 3 but with a curved display), and a standalone, free-standing OLED display from the Round (which he could bend and flex to his heart’s content). While he hasn’t yet produced his usual slew of images and graphs, it’s clear that he’s very surprised by the massive gain in image quality afforded by the curved display.
Photoshop Elements 12 review: A cheap, better alternative for most photographers
For over 20 years, Photoshop has been the image editor of choice for photographers around the world. Initially it was just about the only good option, leading to its use not only by work-a-day pros who value its extensive feature set, but by millions who would really rather have an easier-to-use and lesSofs-expensive alternative. With Adobe’s new “rent-only” policy for Photoshop, those users, along with new photographers looking for an image editor, the search for alternatives has an increased urgency. Fortunately Adobe itself is now providing a worthy option in the new Photoshop Elements 12. At less than $100, the program is affordable for most people, and is the most powerful version of Elements ever.
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Sunday, November 24, 2013
NTT researchers entangle photons 300 kilometers apart using fiber optics
Japanese telecom giant NTT is concerned with more than routing phone calls — it is exploring the technology to enable a new kind of super-fast communication based on quantum mechanics. NTT’s recent experiments with quantum entanglement have reached a true milestone in the understanding of this phenomenon. A team led by Takahiro Inagaki at the NTT Basic Research Laboratories in Kanagawa has managed to keep two particles entangled over a distance of 300 kilometers through fiber optic cable.
Entanglement has been of huge interest to physicists over the years for its ability to seemingly transfer information simultaneously from one location to the other without actually crossing the space in between. Two particles that are entangled share the same quantum state, describing properties like spin, momentum, and polarization. Thus, observing one of the particles tells you about the other.
Hydrogel implants could be a fiber optic network for your body
The biggest problem with wetware is the “ware” part. Enormous metal implants like those seen in The Matrix or Elysium look cool and all, but any real-world interface of metal and flesh is precarious; surface implants are often rejected by the body, leading to infection and even death. Technology has gotten smaller, more efficient, and able to better communicate wirelessly, but for all the nifty implants we can build, actually implanting them has proven difficult, and controlling them even more so. Now, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital claim that a special hydrogel could change all that.
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Motorola and Google unveil upgradeable modular smartphone platform
Remember that technologicallyutopian future with modular, upgradeable smartphones that I envisioned back in August? It turns out that Motorola has had the same idea. Called Project Ara, Motorola’s R&D department is working on an “open hardware platform for creating highly modular smartphones,” with the aim of doing for hardware what Android has done for software. If an open, modular smartphone ecosystem can be realized, it could do wonders for innovation, massively drive down development timelines and total cost of ownership, and finally allow you to do whatever you want with your smartphone, rather than being constrained by draconian measures imposed by carriers and device makers.
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Saturday, November 23, 2013
Hell freezes over: Intel announces plan to fab ARM processors
As developments go, this one is a bombshell. For the first time, Intel has agreed to build ARM chips based on its prime competitor’s architecture, for another company. For decades, Intel was an Intel-only shop. When it announced plans to lease some fab space to companies several years ago, the deal was presented strictly as a low volume project to be used for a handful of small customers, with no significant impact on Intel’s bottom line. Even the news that Chipzilla would build FPGA’s for Altera on 14nm wasn’t a huge shift in this policy, though Altera was a bigger customer than Intel had previously signed.
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A cheap, powerful digital microscope using your smartphone and an old laser pointer
There is little reason anymore to buy one of those toy microscopes from the hobby shop for your budding biologist. To observe all that the microworld has to offer, the focus has shifted from the scope, to the camera. In other words, instead of trying to rig a camera to an existing scope, it now seems to make more sense to just build the scope around the camera. A cool project to build a high-power digital microscope, using an iPhone and the focusing lens from a cheap laser pointer, recently showed up on the Instructables website. Ten minutes and twenty dollars may be a little bit optimistic, but the video below does make it look easy.
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World first laser levitation could help solve the contradiction of quantum and classical physics
Physicists in Australia have become the first researchers to levitate a macroscopic object using lasers. The physicists used three lasers to form a levitational “tripod” that could hold a small mirror in free space. Beyond the inherent awesomeness of optical levitation, the physicists believe that the setup could be used as an incredibly accurate sensor for fickle forces such as gravity, and perhaps ameliorating the greatest contradiction of them all: quantum mechanics vs. general relativity.
As you can probably imagine, levitating a physical object with lasers (a stream of massless photons) is rather difficult. “Imagine you’ve got something above you and you are throwing ping pong balls at it to keep it in the air,” is the simple (and not wholly accurate) analogy given by Ben Buchler, one of the physicists involved with the study. The key to the levitation is a force known as radiation pressure, and a branch of physics called optomechanics.
Friday, November 22, 2013
How the NBA’s SportVU ball and player tracking tech changes the face of sports
Tonight sees the return of the NBA, but along with LeBron’s continued dominance and Derrick Rose’s return, comes a new breed of technology and influence. Each team in the NBA now has access to the SportVU, a camera system so technologically advanced that it has opened the door for Big Data to invade and shape the NBA, and subsequently, the sports world.
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iPad Air reviewed: Thinner, lighter, faster, and easier to hold. What’s not to like?
With just a couple of days until the iPad Air’s official release date of November 1, the first batch of iPad Air hands-on reviews have arrived. As the thinner, lighter, and faster successor to the massively acclaimed iPad 4, the reviews for the iPad Air are exactly what you’d expect: universally positive.
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Apple Replacing ‘Limited’ Number Of iPhone 5s With Manufacturing Issue Leading To Battery Life Problem
Apple released a statement today to The New York Timesnoting that a manufacturing issue has caused shortened battery life in a ‘very limited’ number of iPhone 5s devices. At its introduction, the phone was reported by Apple to have nearly identical life to the iPhone 5, and most tests have borne that out with reviewers seeing identical or slightly improved numbers.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Barnes & Noble Outs The $119 Nook GlowLight, We Go Hands-On
For better or worse the holidays are right around the corner, and that can only mean one thing: consumer electronics companies are slaving away on new hardware designs and trying to get those final products onto shelves in time for an annual feeding frenzy.
Barnes & Noble is no different. Well, it’s a little different — when I sat down with Digital Content EVP Doug Carlson earlier today he was eager to paint a picture of a savvy bookseller that’s still aware of the human elements of peddling tomes (digital and otherwise). But it wasn’t long at all before he got down to the business at hand and revealed the $119 Nook GlowLight, a new e-reader the company will start selling today.
ET deals: $499 for Dell Inspiron One 2020 all-in-one
When it comes to the concept of an all-in-one PC, a lot of technically inclined people might raise the question, “why bother?” Most of us may not mind plugging in and routing the wires associated with a traditional desktop and are OK with accepting the limitations of a laptop, but an all-in-one PC makes a lot of sense for a lot of users, especially those of us who just want a simple PC with a small footprint.
All-in-one’s have gained a lot of popularity over the last few years, as the designs get sleeker and the prices lower. With the deal today you can get a complete PC with 20-inch multi-touch screen and everything you need in one order for $500. You will be hard-pressed to get a comparable desktop, much less an all-in-one, anywhere else.
iPad Air Review: Apple Makes Big Tablets Beautiful All Over Again
Apple introduced two new iPads this month at a special event in San Francisco on October 22, and the first of those to go on sale is the iPad Air, which is in stores and on virtual shelves this Friday, November 1. After a week with Apple’s newest 9.7-inch device, it’s clear there’s a new champion of the large tablet market, and one that breathes new life into Apple’s original slab-style game-changer.
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Wednesday, November 20, 2013
iPad Air: Escaping Apple’s Reality Distortion Field
At first glance, with the Apple Reality Distortion Field at full power, the iPad Air seems like an impeccable, immaculate device that could only ever be conceived by the magicians at Apple in California. The iPad Air is some 30% lighter and 20% thinner than the iPad that it replaces, while still retaining the same Retina display and 10 hours of battery life. Somehow, just somehow, Apple made us feel that it had yet again pulled off the impossible. In reality, the iPad Air, while very attractive, isn’t remarkable at all. The new Kindle Fire HDX, for example, has a higher-resolution screen, more battery life, weighs less, and even costs less than the iPad Air.
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AWS Updates Big Data Analytics Platform With New Support For Hadoop And Its Ecosystem
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has updated its Elastic Map Reduce platform with a new version of Hadoop and updated support for its data analytics ecosystem.
Elastic Map Reduce is AWS platform for processing large amounts of data. But unlike many vendors, AWS offers a hosted service. The challenge for AWS is to keep Hadoop and its accompanying ecosystem updated and in pace with the latest open-source platforms.
Cloud-Based Device Management Startup Soluto Getting Acquired By Device Insurers Asurion For Up To $130M
Looks like another exit for an Israel-based startup — this one straddling the worlds of cloud services and hardware control.Soluto, a service that lets users manage PCs and other connected devices remotely, is getting acquired by Asurion, a company that offers device insurance services. The news is being reported as a work in progress by TheMarker andCalcalist. Globes, meanwhile, is reporting this as a done deal. Meanwhile, we have confirmed the sale through two separate sources. We’re hearing reports of up to $130 million, specifically between $100 million and $130 million.
You can see where a deal with Asurion makes a lot of sense.
The latter company, based out of Nashville, Tennessee, partners with carriers like Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Clear to resell its services to consumers. Those services include physical replacement of broken devices — consumers can file and track claims — but there are also a suite of services that are software-based, such as the ability to locate lost devices and back up content. Soluto will help Asurion extend and improve the latter part of the service, perhaps as a way also to offset some of the insurance risk around losing and replacing faulty or broken handsets.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Computational sprinting with wax takes heat off smartphones
(Phys.org) —What about using wax with a processor as part of a technique to stave off smartphone overheating? Can wax be the answer to the thermal problem confronting smartphones? That is the proposal coming from a University of Pensylvania and University of Michigan team of researchers, who have been studying ways to manage the chip performance of smartphones. Milo Martin, an associate professor with the University of Pennsylvania and his colleagues at the two schools believe the answer is in computational sprinting involving wax. "When someone cranks the chip well beyond its recommended speeds, the wax absorbs the extra heat coming off the silicon, and at 54 degrees Celsius, it starts to melt," said a report about their research in Wired. Small mobile devices don't have room for the large fans that cool a laptop. If mobile phones actually used all of their transistors at the same time, they would overheat. Only a portion of a smartphone chip's transistors can operate at once. If you hear the term "dark silicon" it refers to the large portions of a silicon chip that must remain off at a given time. As transistors get smaller, the heat problems may only get worse.
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Achieving the perfect phone technique
Do you sometimes wonder what being good on the phone is all about? It is
pretty obvious, isn’t it? You have to learn how to work your voice.
Understanding the overwhelming importance of the tone of voice during a
phone call is the first step towards a successful and convincing
conversation on the phone.
This is why this article takes a closer look at your voice as an
important instrument – no matter whether during a business or private
call.
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Monday, November 18, 2013
Windows Phone 8 update supports bigger and faster phones
Count Microsoft in on the giant phone trend.
When the latest Windows Phone 8 update hits devices at the end of the month, MIcrosoft's mobile operating system will get support for zippy quad-core processors and 1080p high-definition screens. That means Windows Phone devices will be able to sport five-inch, Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPhone-like retina-grade displays. It also means that we'll eventually see a Windows Phone phablet.In its previous iteration, Windows Phone 8 only allowed for slower dual-core processors and less-rich 720p screens. That meant Windows Phone devices couldn't participate in the move towards gigantic phones.
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Sunday, November 17, 2013
Review: Grip & Shoot iPhone photography pistol grip
It was just a few months ago that we first saw the Grip & Shoot
at CE Week in New York City. The device is a pistol grip attachment for
the iPhone (4S and higher), allowing users to shoot stills and video
one-handed, without having their fingers awkwardly splayed to reach the
touchscreen controls. Its commercial launch has taken place since then,
so I recently had the chance to try one out for myself.
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A field test of Structure Sensor's 3D scanning for mobile devices
When Occipital launched its Kickstarter campaign for a portable 3D
sensor for Structure Sensor mobile devices, it saw the project fully funded within a few
hours. Knowing we had to see this gadget in action, Gizmag met with
co-founder Vikas Reddy after Structure Sensor had become the 50th
Kickstarter project to reach the million-dollar mark. Our goal was to
test the gadget that has its backers so eager to test one too.
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Saturday, November 16, 2013
Review: Rhino Shield impact-resistant smartphone screen film
It was just a month ago that we reported on Evolutive Labs' Rhino Shield,
a 6-layer transparent polymer film designed to protect smartphone
screens. Not only is it said to ward off scratches and fingerprints, but
it's also reportedly five times more impact-resistant than Gorilla
Glass 2. Evolutive recently sent me a testing kit, so I could see
first-hand just how tough it is – without endangering my smartphone in
the process. Here's how things turned out ...
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LG challenges Samsung with the G Flex curved screen smartphone
It looks like LG and Samsung are at it again. Both companies were vying for our attention
at CES 2013 with simultaneous "world's first" curved OLED television
announcements. LG consistently led in the race to the consumer space,
and looked liked being first to move the screen format onto smartphones
with the announcement earlier this month of its plans to mass produce flexible OLED phone displays. Samsung had other ideas, however, and the Galaxy Round
was launched just a few days later. LG has now caught up with the
forthcoming release of its slightly larger G Flex smartphone, featuring a
curved display that follows the contour of the face.
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Friday, November 15, 2013
BlackBerry removes queue for app, video and voice calls due in future
BlackBerry Messenger for Android and iPhone will have voice
and video calling in the future, according to a company executive. The
extra communication options for the app comes at the same time as the
phone manufacturer removes the queue from the app, allowing anyone that
has downloaded it access without having to wait any longer.
Speaking to CBC, executive vice president of BBM for BlackBerry Andrew Bocking advised that the voice and video chatting, already used on BlackBerry devices, will reach the iOS and Android versions "within months." As for how to earn money from BBM, Bocking advised that it is "definitely a free service," though "we have other ideas on how to monetize that service." It is thought that it could receive revenues through BBM Channels, a social networking feature that would allow users to follow others on the service, much like Twitter, with advertising providing BlackBerry some revenue.
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Speaking to CBC, executive vice president of BBM for BlackBerry Andrew Bocking advised that the voice and video chatting, already used on BlackBerry devices, will reach the iOS and Android versions "within months." As for how to earn money from BBM, Bocking advised that it is "definitely a free service," though "we have other ideas on how to monetize that service." It is thought that it could receive revenues through BBM Channels, a social networking feature that would allow users to follow others on the service, much like Twitter, with advertising providing BlackBerry some revenue.
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Thursday, November 14, 2013
Hunting Mobile Threats in Memory
Yesterday at the RSA Conference
in San Francisco, a researcher presented a new way to detect malware on
mobile devices. He says it can catch even unknown pests and can protect
a device without draining its battery or taking up too much processing
power.
Experts agree that malware is coming to smart phones, and researchers have begun to identify ways to protect devices from malicious software. But traditional ways of protecting desktops against threats don’t translate well to smart phones, says Markus Jakobsson, a principal scientist at Xerox PARC and the person behind the new malware detection technology. He is also the founder of FatSkunk, which will market malware-detection software based on the research.
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Experts agree that malware is coming to smart phones, and researchers have begun to identify ways to protect devices from malicious software. But traditional ways of protecting desktops against threats don’t translate well to smart phones, says Markus Jakobsson, a principal scientist at Xerox PARC and the person behind the new malware detection technology. He is also the founder of FatSkunk, which will market malware-detection software based on the research.
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iPad Air gets new cases and keyboards from Logitech
Buyers of Apple's iPad Air will be able to outfit their new tablets with keyboards and cases courtesy of Logitech.
Announced on Monday, Logitech's FabricSkin Keyboard Folio, Ultrathin Keyboard Cover, Ultrathin Keyboard Folio, and Folio Protective Case are all designed to protect the iPad Air.
The first three products include a Bluetooth wireless keyboard that promises a large key size for more accurate typing. The Folio Protective Case doesn't offer a keyboard but comes with a stand and a waterproof skin that Logitech says will protect the iPad against bumps, scratches, and spills. It's also the lightest and thinnest case of the new lineup.
All four cases will launch sometime in November. The iPad Air itself will reach buyers this Friday, November1.
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Announced on Monday, Logitech's FabricSkin Keyboard Folio, Ultrathin Keyboard Cover, Ultrathin Keyboard Folio, and Folio Protective Case are all designed to protect the iPad Air.
The first three products include a Bluetooth wireless keyboard that promises a large key size for more accurate typing. The Folio Protective Case doesn't offer a keyboard but comes with a stand and a waterproof skin that Logitech says will protect the iPad against bumps, scratches, and spills. It's also the lightest and thinnest case of the new lineup.
All four cases will launch sometime in November. The iPad Air itself will reach buyers this Friday, November1.
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Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Nvidia Shield embraces Android games by the thousands
Nvidia has opened its Shield gaming device up to the universe of
Android games, adding console support to thousands of games originally designed for touch screens.
The Santa Clara, Calif., graphics chipmaker said the Shield "Gamepad Mapper" allows users to create their own custom controls for thousands of games in the Google Play store, or users can use Nvidia's default profiles -- automatically downloaded from the cloud -- that are available for hundreds of top touch-based Android games. The new titles with Shield controller compatibility include NBA Jam and Angry Birds.
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The Santa Clara, Calif., graphics chipmaker said the Shield "Gamepad Mapper" allows users to create their own custom controls for thousands of games in the Google Play store, or users can use Nvidia's default profiles -- automatically downloaded from the cloud -- that are available for hundreds of top touch-based Android games. The new titles with Shield controller compatibility include NBA Jam and Angry Birds.
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Motorola unveils Project Ara for custom smartphones
Motorola has announced a new initiative to help smartphone users take
handset customization beyond ringtones, wallpaper, and body colors to
its very form and function.
The Google-owned handset company on Monday announced Project Ara, a free, open hardware platform for creating highly modular smartphones. An endoskeleton, or structural frame, holds the smartphone modules of the owner's choice, such as a display, keyboard, or extra battery. The approach should allow users to swap out malfunctioning modules or upgrade as innovations emerge, providing a handset that stays up-to-date much longer than today's smartphones.
"Our goal is to drive a more thoughtful, expressive, and open relationship between users, developers, and their phones," Motorola wrote in a company blog post. "To give you the power to decide what your phone does, how it looks, where and what it's made of, how much it costs, and how long you'll keep it."
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The Google-owned handset company on Monday announced Project Ara, a free, open hardware platform for creating highly modular smartphones. An endoskeleton, or structural frame, holds the smartphone modules of the owner's choice, such as a display, keyboard, or extra battery. The approach should allow users to swap out malfunctioning modules or upgrade as innovations emerge, providing a handset that stays up-to-date much longer than today's smartphones.
"Our goal is to drive a more thoughtful, expressive, and open relationship between users, developers, and their phones," Motorola wrote in a company blog post. "To give you the power to decide what your phone does, how it looks, where and what it's made of, how much it costs, and how long you'll keep it."
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Monday, November 11, 2013
Amazon’s Kindle Fire HDX Android tablets hit the UK from £199
Amazon launched its UK assault on the highly competitive Christmas
tablet market today releasing pricing and pre-order for its two latest
tablets.
The Kindle Fire HDX Android tablets will cost between £199 and £489, depending on size and storage. Pre-order is available on Amazon's site and the tablets will start shipping from 27 November.
The ad-supported 7-inch version costs £199 for 16GB of storage with wifi only, increasing to £339 for the 64GB variant with 4G and without ads in the US.
The larger 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HDX with the same 16GB of storage and adverts costs £329 with wifi, and reaches £489 for 64GB of storage and 4G without ads.
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The Kindle Fire HDX Android tablets will cost between £199 and £489, depending on size and storage. Pre-order is available on Amazon's site and the tablets will start shipping from 27 November.
The ad-supported 7-inch version costs £199 for 16GB of storage with wifi only, increasing to £339 for the 64GB variant with 4G and without ads in the US.
The larger 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HDX with the same 16GB of storage and adverts costs £329 with wifi, and reaches £489 for 64GB of storage and 4G without ads.
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20 best Android apps this week
It covers apps and games, with the prices referring to the initial download: so (Free) may mean (Freemium) in some cases. The equivalent iOS roundup will be published later in the day.
For now, read on for this week's Android selection (and when you've finished, check out previous Best Android apps posts).
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Sunday, November 10, 2013
Next Android mobile software version dubbed ‘KitKat’
Google on Tuesday said the next version of Android will be called
“KitKat” in keeping with its penchant for giving tasty names to its
software for powering mobile devices.
“Since these devices make our lives so sweet, each Android version is named after a dessert,” the California-based technology titan said in a blog post.chocolate
“As everyone finds it difficult to stay away from chocolate we decided to name the next vertion of Android after one of our favorite chocolate treats.”
The list of Android software names over the years includes Cupcake, Donut, Ice Cream Sandwich, and Jelly Bean.
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“Since these devices make our lives so sweet, each Android version is named after a dessert,” the California-based technology titan said in a blog post.chocolate
“As everyone finds it difficult to stay away from chocolate we decided to name the next vertion of Android after one of our favorite chocolate treats.”
The list of Android software names over the years includes Cupcake, Donut, Ice Cream Sandwich, and Jelly Bean.
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Android, the world's most popular mobile platform
Android powers hundreds of millions of mobile devices in more than 190 countries around the world. It's the largest installed base of any mobile platform and growing fast—every day another million users power up their Android devices for the first time and start looking for apps, games, and other digital content.
Android gives you a world-class platform for c apps and games for Android users everywhere, as well as an open marketplace for distributing to them instantly.
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Saturday, November 9, 2013
Don’t Despair Over The Ugly iPhone 5c Case Any Longer
The color enticed you. The playful plastic called out to you. And
that cover, with silly little circular cutouts had your name all over
it.
Thirty dollars later, you’re feeling a little silly after realizing that this case is Apple’s first big design flaw since the Apple TV remote. But don’t be embarrassed, we all make mistakes.
Luckily, a new app called CaseCollage is here to save the day for those of us who thoughtlessly purchased Apple’s case alongside a new iPhone 5c.
The app, launched out of a company called LunarLincoln, lets you pull in images from your social feeds like Facebook, Instagram, Flickr and Picasa to fill in the holes with something a bit less ugly and a bit more personal.
You can arrange the photos however you’d like, or add in preset images or text from a collection provided within the app. Hell, if you love the color scheme but hate that pesky text peeking out of the holes, you can simply choose to get color(s) to fill in your Crocs case holes.
Read more
Thirty dollars later, you’re feeling a little silly after realizing that this case is Apple’s first big design flaw since the Apple TV remote. But don’t be embarrassed, we all make mistakes.
Luckily, a new app called CaseCollage is here to save the day for those of us who thoughtlessly purchased Apple’s case alongside a new iPhone 5c.
The app, launched out of a company called LunarLincoln, lets you pull in images from your social feeds like Facebook, Instagram, Flickr and Picasa to fill in the holes with something a bit less ugly and a bit more personal.
You can arrange the photos however you’d like, or add in preset images or text from a collection provided within the app. Hell, if you love the color scheme but hate that pesky text peeking out of the holes, you can simply choose to get color(s) to fill in your Crocs case holes.
Read more
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