Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Wednesday, June 04, 2014

drag2share: Google Data Shows That Around 50% Of Email Exchanges Aren't Encrypted

source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/lKFJcs2aMFM/encrypted-gmail-data-2014-6

Google announced today that it has added a "Safer Email" section to its Transparency report. This section will help keep track of the percentage of incoming and outgoing email that's encrypted — or not encrypted.

Encryption is a common process of encoding messages so that they can't be read by anyone but you, or whomever you decide to share it with.

In the past 30 days, for example, 65% of all outgoing messages were encrypted; 50% of incoming messages from other services to Gmail were encrypted.

Gmail encryption

The key to email encryption is that both sides of the email exchange need to support it. Just because Google does, doesn't mean your email is automatically safe.

"Many providers have turned on encryption, and others have said they're going to, which is great news," wrote Gmail Delivery Team tech lead Brandon Long in a blog post announcing the update to the report.

The report also shows the top domains that are sending and receiving email to and from Gmail, and their respective encryption rate! s. If yo u're a Yahoo email user, rest assured that fewer than 1 in 100 emails a Yahoo account sends to Gmail is unencrypted. The same can't be said for Comcast.net, unfortunately.

This news coincides with Google's effort to make encryption easier for people to implement. The company just released the code for a new tool that encrypts your emails until your intended recipient decrypts the message in his or her browser. The new Chrome extension, called End-To-End, is currently in testing. By releasing the code, developers can offer Google feedback.

---
drag2share - drag and drop RSS news items on your email contacts to share (click SEE DEMO)

Tuesday, June 03, 2014

New smartphone chip will beam high-definition holograms as early as 2015

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/03/smartphone-3d-holograms-2015/

Just imagine: a smartphone that projects 3D holograms into thin-air. If you can wait until the end of next year, and if you can believe the claims being made by a well-funded company called Ostendo, then your next handset could be capable of just that. Thanks to breakthroughs by the Californian display startup, 5,000ppi projectors the size of Tic Tacs are now powerful enough to control the color, brightness and angle of individual beams of light across one million pixels. Just one chip is said to deliver a usable image, but adding additional chips provides scope for even more complex and detailed images. The Wall Street Journal was treated to a demo involving six chips which beamed green dice spinning in the air and noted how "consistent" the motion appeared, irrespective of where it was viewed from.

Development of the technology is still in the early stages, meaning the first chip will be limited to only 2D video when it begins shipping in summer 2015, capable of being projected onto nearby surfaces at sizes of up to 48 inches. However, Ostendo founder Hussein S. El-Ghoroury says that its second chip, which is capable of creating 3D images that float in the air and appear almost like a solid object, will enter manufacturing just months after the first. If you've dreamed of seeing your friends projected in Star Wars-like holographics while you chat, Ostendo hopes it can make such a thing a reality. It's already got some major handset manufacturers on board, but the next step will see the company make the pixels smaller to boost the resolution of its holograms. After that, it'll try and embed its chips in anything with a 3D display, including TVs, smartwatches and even holographic tables.

[Image credit: Sam Hodgson, Wall Street Journal]

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Source: Wall Street Journal

AirPlay on iOS 8 doesn't need a network to stream your media

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/03/peer-to-peer-airplay/

AirPlay between an iPhone and an Apple TV

Right now, Apple's AirPlay media streaming requires an established WiFi network to fly. That's fine when you're at home, but do you really want to ask for a friend's hotspot password just to show vacation photos on their Apple TV? Mercifully, iOS 8 will let you skip that hassle. One of the many under the radar upgrades to the software is peer-to-peer AirPlay support -- you can now share content to an AirPlay-capable device as long as you can make a direct connection.

The basic concept is old hat, as you might suspect. DLNA has done this for a while, and third-party apps on various platforms can pull this off. All the same, the improved AirPlay technology should be handy both for media-savvy socialites as well as presenters who aren't always guaranteed network access in the meeting room.

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Tablets, HD, Mobile, Apple

Via: AppleInsider, Gizmodo

Source: Apple

ASUS' Chromebook C300 is yet another well-made budget laptop

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/03/asus-chromebook-c300-hands-on/

Lenovo, HP and other big-name laptop makers are on board; now ASUS is embracing the Chromebook movement with its first two laptops running Google's browser-based software. The 11.6-inch Chromebook C200 is already available for pre-order, but its larger sibling, the C300, has yet to received a launch date. Still, the 13.3-inch laptop is here at Computex, and I spent a few minutes playing with the $249 device.

At just over 3.1 pounds, it's not feather-light, but the C300 still feels very manageable. The chiclet keyboard is well-spaced and comfortable overall. Design-wise, there's not much to distinguish this laptop from the growing list of Chromebooks, though it does run Intel's new Bay Trail-M chip under the hood. Based on a few minutes of use, nothing about the C300 stands out as particularly remarkable; instead, it looks to be the latest addition to a sea of well-made, cheap laptops -- possibly with a small performance edge thanks to its latest-gen processor. ASUS says the C300 will go on sale soon, so stay tuned.

Zach Honig contributed to this report.

Filed under: Laptops, ASUS

Intel's Windows 8.1 Pro Broadwell tablet is thinner than the iPad Air

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/03/intel-llama-mountain-prototype/

When Intel announced the new 14nm Core M (Broadwell) processor to enable thinner, fanless convertible devices, I knew the "Llama Mountain" reference design would be impressively svelte. But hearing a spec is different than seeing it; this laptop-tablet hybrid is insanely skinny. At 7.2mm (0.28 inch), the slate is thinner than the iPad Air (7.5mm), and it's also significantly lighter than two-in-one devices already on the market; it's a notebook-class PC running Windows 8.1 Pro, yet it weighs just 1.47 pounds, compared to 1.76 pounds for the Surface Pro 3.

The prototype's light and slim footprint is made possible the Core M's efficiency and low heat production -- the chip allows for a fanless design. Despite its slimness, the slate can fit a 32Wh battery, which should get you at least eight hours of regular use on a full charge. Of course, different OEMs may opt to use a different-sized fuel pack, so once devices running the Core M come to market we could see even longer run times.

ASUS announced its own similar computer at Computex yesterday -- the Transformer Book T300 Chi -- which you'll actually be able to pick up in stores, unlike Intel's reference design, which won't ship to consumers. The ASUS slate, which is only a hair thicker at 7.3 millimeters, also includes a 12.5-inch touchscreen. The Chi's display features a 2,560 x 1,440 display, and while Intel reps were unable to confirm the Llama Mountain reference design's resolution, it's not unreasonable to expect a similar pixel density from other manufacturers.

Since we're talking about a device category that's part-work, part-play, it's only natural that Intel's reference design includes a separate media dock. To that end, the base of the device -- the only edge that isn't hair-thin -- is just barely thick enough to accommodate the requisite dock connector, along with a 3.5mm headphone jack and a USB 3.0 post. It's kind of hard to imagine tablets getting even skinnier, but with Intel's ever-evolving technology, they probably will. For now, though, we can all look forward to carrying a tablet (and keyboard base) that's shockingly thin.

Zach Honig contributed to this report.

Filed under: Laptops, Tablets, Intel

ASUS' GX500 gaming laptop has a 4K screen and is just 19mm thick

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/02/asus-gx500/

ASUS' GX500 gaming laptop has a 4K screen and is just 19mm thick

Remember the ASUS NX500, that super-thin, MacBook Pro-inspired laptop we saw yesterday? (Now you do.) Well, then: This right here is its macho, gaming-obsessed cousin, the GX500, which just made its debut here at Computex. Like the NX500, it's a 15.6-inch notebook coming in at just 19mm (0.75 inch) thick and 2.2kg (4.85 pounds). Spec-wise, too, it packs a Core i7 processor and a 3,840 x 2,160 display that covers 100 percent of the NTSC color gamut. The difference? It purrs along with heavier-duty NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M graphics. Oh, and the chassis is black with industrial red accents, making it less of a MacBook clone. No word yet on how much it will cost or when it will be available, but it seems to us this should make for a compelling Razer Blade competitor. Hopefully we can review one soon enough and decide for ourselves.

Filed under: Gaming, Laptops, ASUS

âIntel launches Core M processors for even thinner 2-in-1 PCs

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/03/intel-new-2-in-1-reference-pc/

At Intel's keynote presentation here at Computex, president Renee James is set to show off Intel's mobile future: a 2-in-1 reference PC powered by the company's new 14nm Intel Core M processor. (Note: it's actually a fifth-generation Core processor, even though the slide shown below says "fourth.") 14nm processors means less energy use and, when the buck stops, longer battery life -- something we can never get enough of. We're still waiting to see what that design will look like exactly, but we do know it'll be a hybrid tablet-laptop, measuring in at 7.2mm thick (keyboard detached), while a companion media dock will apparently offer extra cooling (and a performance burst).

Update: As teased, in the flesh it's a very thin tablet, with no fans to see. Intel's president also teased the companion docks, although we only saw a glance of the keyboard add-on. Thankfully, it looked at thick enough to handle a bit of typing.

It's not the first appearance of Intel's new Broadwell chips: Intel boss Brian Krzanich showed off a more vanilla laptop running on the chips late last year. Regardless, Intel says the series is set to be its most energy-efficient Core processor yet, and that the majority of the hardware running on the chip will be fanless, as well packing hybrid functionality -- which explains why the reference design took the shape it did. As you can see above, Intel's Core M family will offer around a 20 to 40 percent performance improvement, while SOC power could be up to 45% less, while producing 60 percent less heat -- thus the fanless design. The new processor will also take up around 50 percent less space inside devices, whether that's a tablet, a laptop or both.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Tablets, Intel

Google Glass And Diane Von Furstenberg Introduce Thirteen Extravagant High Fashion Frames

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/new-google-glass-frames-dvf-2014-6

DVF Google Glass

Get ready for your close up, Glass wearers: New frames are on their way, and they're made especially for the fashion-savvy.

Mashable reports Google later this month will be launching a new collection of frames and shades Glass in collaboration with American fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg.

Google Glass DVF

This is in addition to the announcement from Google in March on its partnership with eyewear giant Luxottica, which will give Glass Ray-Ban and Oakley-branded frames.

Five new frames and eight new shades will be available through the Google Glass website and Net-a-Porter starting on June 23.

Google Glass, available to the public, costs $1500 but the price for Google Glass with the new prescriptive lenses will be a little bit higher at $1,725. Glass with DVF-branded shades will cost $1,620.

Here are some of the frames. Could you see yourself wearing any of these?

DVF Google Glass

DVF | Made for Glass coll! ection

Join the conversation about this story »

Monday, June 02, 2014

ASUS' new Fonepads are solid tablets, but still awkward for making calls

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/02/asus-fonepad-hands-on/

ASUS' new Fonepad 7 and 8 are sleek, well-built Android tablets equipped with 3G connectivity and dual SIM slots, along with a speaker and mic. Whether making calls on a gigantic slate is something you're into is another question, but if you're at all interested in a tablet that can pull double duty as your handset, ASUS' products are the best ones you could ask for. And they work quite well as tablets, too.

Announced at Computex in Taiwan earlier today, the Fonepad 7 and 8 are updates to last year's Fonepad 7 -- both sport 64-bit Intel processors for improved power efficiency and speed. It's impossible to draw conclusions about a tablet's performance based on a few minutes of use, but basic Android 4.4 (KitKat) navigation on both Fonepads felt a smooth as you'd expect. On the 1,280 x 800 IPS display, colors are extremely crisp and vivid as well.

The larger Fonepad 8 is definitely the more premium of the two, with a dimpled texture on the back as opposed to the Fonepad 7's simple rubberized finish. The bezels are extremely narrow, which makes gripping the tabs with one hand relatively easy. At a show full of run-of-the-mill Android tablets, these two definitely stand out.

While both devices are quite thin and light, there's no getting around it: holding a 7- or 8-inch slab up to your face to make calls will never feel natural. If you mostly communicate via text -- or if you're content to use the speakerphone -- this won't be a huge problem, but the Fonepads' size is definitely not ideal for lengthy calls.

Fortunately, both tablets have much more going for them than just the phone functionality; they're attractive, with premium specs to boot, and dual front speakers make them ideal for streaming music and watching movies. ASUS is the master of multifunctional devices -- seriously, check out this phone-laptop hybrid also unveiled at the show -- and the Fonepads are high-quality, if unexciting, Android tablets.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, ASUS

Google is building 180 satellites to spread internet access worldwide

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/01/google-making-internet-satellites/

How Will We Sustain a More Populated Planet?

Google's plans for satellite-based internet access just got a little more concrete. The Wall Street Journal hears that the search firm is preparing to build 180 "small, high capacity" satellites (not pictured here) that will go into low orbit and provide internet connections to underserved areas. While details aren't forthcoming about the machines, there may be more on the way; reportedly, the company could "double" its vehicle count if all goes well. A spokeswoman didn't confirm or deny the efforts, but did note that having an internet link "significantly improves people's lives."

The initiative might be very expensive, with tipsters estimating a cost between $1 billion to $3 billion. However, the satellites could eventually pay for themselves. They would really be an extension of the thinking behind the balloons from Project Loon -- getting more people online increases the number of people who can see ads, improving Google's bottom line. Any orbital internet service would most likely serve as a complement to Project Loon, providing data in far-flung, sparsely populated regions while the balloons handle places with greater demand.

[Image credit: NASA/GSFC/Landsat, Flickr]

Filed under: Internet, Google

Source: Wall Street Journal

The ASUS MEMO Pad 8 is 'the world's lightest eight-inch LTE tablet'

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/02/asus-memo-pad-8/

ASUS boss Jonney Shih is barreling through his announcements at Computex 2014. Between routers, 4K monitors and flagship laptops, he also revealing the company's newest tablets, and the MEMO Pad 8 is the first salvo. With a 64-bit 2.3GHz Intel processor, Gorilla Glass 3 and a full HD display, Shih says it's the lightest LTE tablet in the world -- it's only 299 grams.

It was swiftly followed by the slightly smaller, and logically named, MEMO Pad 7. It'll also pack Intel's 64-bit Atom processor, although the screen is merely HD(that's 720p), not 1080p like the 'Pad 8. If you haven't quite bought an Android tablet yet (and you're still in the market for one), the MEMO Pad 8 will arrive later this year in pink, white and royal blue color options, while the MEMO Pad 7 will be dressed in turquoise, red, white and yellow. Summer shades, people. Summer shades.

Both tablets feel light, and while the range of color options is attractive, we can't fight the feeling that there's nothing here to woo over prospective tablet buyers that haven't yet made the leap. Both of them handled exactly like you'd expect from an Android tablet, we have no complaints about the Intel processor working away inside. The MEMO Pad 8 proved to be our favorite of the two, with bright, pixel-dense panel. The styling of the eight-inch tablet also follows the Padfone series, while the seven-incher settles for looking awfully similar to last year's MEMO Pad which not-so-coincidentally launched at Computex 2013.

Zach Honig contributed to this report.

Filed under: Tablets, ASUS

Here's a semi-professional 32-inch 4K monitor from ASUS

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/02/asus-PA328Q-4k-monitor/

Following ASUS' $799 28-inch 4K monitor from earlier this year, the Taiwanese tech giant has today unveiled yet another high-res display, but this time it's aimed at semi-professionals instead of mainstream users. The new ProArt Monitor PA328Q is a 32-inch, 16:9 3840 x 2160 monitor, and it boasts factory calibration with 10-bit color, 100-percent sRGB color gamut plus 350cd/m² brightness. On the back, you'll find three HDMI ports (one of which with built-in MHL 3.0), one DisplayPort 1.2, one Mini DisplayPort 1.2 and four USB 3.0 ports. ASUS added that this pretty monitor lets you adjust its tilt, swivel, pivot and height.

As with many product announcements today at Computex, ASUS doesn't yet have a solid date or price for the PA328Q, but our understanding is that it's aiming for around half the price of the high-end $3,799 PQ series when it lands in Q4. If you need something fairly reliable for your graphics projects but are stuck with a smaller budget, then this monitor is probably worth your consideration -- if you can wait for it, that is.

Filed under: Displays, ASUS

Sunday, June 01, 2014

FilmOn Lets You Watch Broadcast TV Online for Free

Source: http://lifehacker.com/filmon-lets-you-watch-broadcast-tv-online-for-free-1583948264

FilmOn Lets You Watch Broadcast TV Online for Free

We're big fans of cord-cutting here at Lifehacker, but you still occasionally miss broadcast TV, especially sports. FilmOn is a way of watching broadcast TV online for free.

FilmOn includes a variety of TV stations based in the US as well as international stations. The free version of the service includes standard definition broadcasts and embeds ads before you can watch. For an additional $9.95 a month, they provide a higher quality stream as well as the ability to save shows for later watching. Both the paid and free versions of the service have the original broadcast TV ads as well.

Similar to broadcast-to-online service Aereo, FilmOn's long-term legality is questionable and it's been ordered to shut down. Until that time, catch broadcast TV online for free at the link below.

FilmOn Live TV | via MakeUseOf

Scientists Can Now 3D Print Human Blood Vessels

Source: http://gizmodo.com/scientists-can-now-3d-print-human-blood-vessels-1584485633

Scientists Can Now 3D Print Human Blood Vessels

Sure, we can now 3D print stem cells and even whole organs like kidneys , heart, liver and lungs. But 3D printing blood vessels? Now that was a challenge.

HP hedges its bets, unveils a 14-inch laptop running Android

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/01/hp-slatebook/

HP hedges its bets, unveils a 14-inch laptop running Android

If you thought this year's Computex show would be dominated entirely by Windows machines, you're in for a little twist. HP has just revealed the SlateBook, that 14-inch Android laptop we saw in a leaked video earlier this year. In addition, HP refreshed its 11-inch Chromebook with a slightly better batter, and dropped the price from $279 to $249. And that's not even counting all the Windows systems the company just launched. Some might call this strategy "throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks"; HP would probably just say it's hedging its bets. Either way, we've got the skinny -- but we'll leave it to you to decide which operating system makes the most sense.

The SlateBook isn't the first Android clamshell we've seen. Normally, though, once we get this far up in screen size, we expect a machine to be running Windows or OS X. You know, a "real" desktop OS. Heck, we've even seen Android running on various all-in-ones. But Android on a laptop? Especially one this large? That's a horse of a different color.

What's interesting is that with these specs (an NVIDIA Tegra 4 processor, a 1080p touchscreen and a nine-hour battery), the 3.7-pound SlateBook is poised to compete against Chrome OS devices, including HP's own Chromebook 14, which costs a hundred dollars less. In particular, it matches up well against Samsung's new Chromebook 2, which also has a full HD screen and long battery life, and which costs the same as the SlateBook.

The difference, of course, comes down to which operating system functions better on a laptop. At first blush, it would seem Chrome OS is more mouse-and-keyboard friendly, but that Android has a much wider selection of apps, meaning you might be able to do more with it. The SlateBook will be available August 6th, starting at $399, at which point we'd love to get one in to review so that we can live with an Android laptop and see what it's like. Until, then, though, it would appear this is your shopping dilemma, if you choose to go with either OS at all.

Filed under: Laptops, Mobile, Google, HP

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)