Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Head 82 feet below the surface with Canon's waterproof PowerShot D30

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/02/11/canon-powershot-d30/

It's a very busy CP+ for Canon. The camera maker has a handful of new models for the show, including one of the waterproof variety. The PowerShot D30, which replaces 2012's D20, boosts the waterproof rating from 33 feet to 82 feet, making it a suitable choice for all but the deepest scuba dives. There's a 12.1-megapixel CMOS sensor, a DIGIC 5 processor and support for 1080/30p video. The 5x 28-140mm lens isn't as fast as we'd like for dim underwater shoots, with an f/3.9-4.8 maximum aperture, but with the ISO bumped up a bit, it should perform decently. You can frame shots on the 3-inch 461k-dot LCD, which sports a sunlight mode for use in brighter conditions. The camera is shockproof and cold-resistant as well, and while there's no WiFi on board, it does include GPS. The PowerShot D30 is expected in stores by mid-April with a $330 MSRP.

Filed under: Cameras, Canon

Sony's VAIO Flip 11A convertible is now available for $799

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/02/11/sony-vaio-flip-11a-now-available/

Even though the VAIO Flip 15 and 13 are both pretty solid PCs, some people might find one to be too big and the other too expensive. To alleviate this, Sony introduced the VAIO Flip 11A, an 11.6-inch laptop with the same Yoga-like design as the other, larger Flips. Available now for $799, Sony' newest convertible ships with Windows 8.1 and is powered by Intel's 2.16GHz Pentium N3520 CPU. What's more, there is also that included copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements 12, a 1,920 x 1,080 IPS screen, NFC support and 128GB of solid-state storage alongside 4GB RAM. It appears Sony is only selling its Flip 11A in the US at this time; that said, let us know in the comments if you see it up for grabs elsewhere. Or maybe it's all part of the company's new business plan.

Filed under: Laptops, Tablets, Sony

Source: Sony

HTC's leaked 'Desire 8' mid-ranger looks big and beautiful

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/02/12/htc-new-desire-8-series-leak-china/

Despite HTC's recent blast of Desire phones, the company admitted that it still needs to push harder in the lower price tiers. Lo and behold, here's a leak of an upcoming "New Desire 8" series mid-range device, courtesy of Chinese site MyDrivers and with confirmation from our own sources. This dual-SIM phone will reportedly pack a 5.5-inch display of unknown resolution, which will make it the largest non-flagship HTC phone since the Desire 700. There will also be a 13-megapixel main camera (not UltraPixel), along with a 5-megapixel front imager with beautification mode. We're assuming that this is a plastic body -- available in white, red, yellow, orange and cyan -- with stereo front-facing speakers, which is now a signature feature on many HTC phones. But where are the Android buttons? ! Chances are this Desire model is joining the M8 flagship to embrace on-screen keys, despite their absence in this render.

The screenshot mentions "March 18th" plus Beijing, so unless Peter Chou is messing with us here, we'll be making ourselves available that day for the launch event in China. Having said that, we might also get to see it at MWC in two weeks' time, so stay tuned.

Update: A reliable tipster sent in the original image, so we've updated this article with it.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC

Source: MyDrivers

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Make 'business connections' with Virgin America's new in-flight social network ;)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/02/11/virgin-america-in-flight-social-network/

Haven't had much luck buying alluring strangers a drink on your last few Virgin America flights? What you need, my friend, is a service to expand your circle of potential prospects and make the in-flight connection you deserve. At least that's what the airline must be thinking with its announcement of the "first-ever" in-flight social network, developed with Gogo Wifi and the Here on Biz geo-location app.

Once you've downloaded Here on Biz from the App Store (sorry, no Android types need apply) and connect through Gogo, the service lets you register via Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter to contact fellow travelers at the gate, on your plane and even on other Virgin America flights. But don't think the social network is all about helping you get lucky at 35,000 feet (the sexy skies are the furthest thing from Richard Branson's mind, after all); Virgin America says the service is targeted at business travelers who want to "take advantage of downtime in-flight to build or renew their professional connections." It's unclear, though, whether Virgin will claim rights to any startup ideas hatched on board.

Filed under: Transportation, Internet

Source: Virgin America, Here on Biz (iTunes)

Sophisticated malware finally discovered after 7 years, likely created by a nation-state

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/02/11/the-mask-careto-malware/

Security firm Kaspersky Labs recently released a research paper that uncovers the existence of a piece of highly complex malware that's been in circulation for almost seven years. It's called "The Mask," which is a rough English translation of Careto, a Spanish word for "ugly face" that was found in the malware's code. Aimed at high-level targets such as government institutions, embassies and large energy corporations, Kaspersky says "The Mask" has already claimed nearly 380 unique victims (with more than 1,000 IPs) in 31 countries that include China, France, Germany, the UK and the US. Kaspersky first spotted it in a spear phishing email campaign that entices the recipient over to malicious websites disguised as news sites like The Guardian and the Washington Post.

Kaspersky reports that the malware is extremely sophisticated, with a set of tools that include a rootkit, a bootkit, versions that'll affect 32- and 64-bit Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and possibly even mobile operating systems like Android and iOS. Once it gets its hooks into your system, it can be used to hijack all your communication channels and snatch everything from Skype conversations to sensitive encryption keys. It's also very difficult to detect. Due to the level of finesse found in the malware, Kaspersky concludes that "The Mask" was very likely created by a nation-state, much like Stuxnet and Duqu. As to which nation-state that is, the security firm doesn't know, but says it's probably one that is Spanish-speaking based on the code's language. Intrigued? Go on and hit the PDF link here to get the full rundown of what Kaspersky discovered.

Via: Vice

Source: Kaspersky Labs, (PDF)

With an Android search update, you can tell your phone to 'call Mom'

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/02/11/android-search-update-lets-you-call-mom/

One of Siri's cleverer tricks is its support for terms of endearment -- you can tell an iPhone to "call Mom" rather than saying your mother's name every time. Today, that handy shortcut is reaching Android through a Google search update. You can now rely on shorthand when using the search app to call or text family members. If you haven't already established the appropriate relationship in your contacts, Android will ask you to clear things up. The feature is already live, so you can test it out right away -- we're sure your folks would be glad to hear from you.

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Google

Source: Google (Google+)

drag2share: More Snapchat Security Concerns

source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/nzRKfz4NSZU/the-facebook-publisher-dynamic-is-becoming-clearer-2014-2

MORE SNAPCHAT SECURITY CONCERNS: A security researcher found that he could run a program that sends so many messages to a Snapchat user that it crashes the recipient's iPhone (it doesn't appear that he tested other mobile devices). The security hack is what's known as a denial of service (or, DoS). DoS attacks attempt to overload a server with thousands of requests in seconds, which can cause the entire service to crash. Twitter used to be a target of this type of hack in its early days. Snapchat needs to fix this vulnerability, and prevent future DoS attacks if it wants to mature into a reliable service for users. (The Guardian)

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Article: Google Chrome Now Tells You When It's Been Hijacked

Google Chrome is helping its users fend off browser hijackings. Linus Upson, Google's vice-president of engineering, announced a new protection in a blog post last week that asks users to reset their account if Chrome's system detected a potential hacker. The tech giant revealed that Chrome users...

http://mashable.com/2014/02/11/google-chrome-protection-hijacked/

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Article: Record-breaking DDoS attack struck on Monday, according to reports

Somebody out there was getting hit hard by a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on Monday, according to multiple reports. And it looks like this one was even harsher than last year’s Spamhaus incident, at the time the biggest known DDoS attack in the history of the internet. According to...

http://gigaom.com/2014/02/11/record-breaking-ddos-attack-struck-on-monday-according-to-reports/

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With ARM's Cortex-A17 processor, midrange smartphones and tablets will be much faster

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/02/11/arm-cortex-a17/

We already have a hard time finding fault with processing power in the midrange smartphones and tablets currently on the market, but that doesn't mean they couldn't be even snappier. That's the goal of ARM, which has announced the latest Cortex processors, known as Cortex-A17, to address not only mobile devices in the midrange market, but Smart TVs and Over-the-Top devices as well. The 28nm A17 comes with big.LITTLE (the architecture used in Samsung's latest octa-core Exynos chips) support, and promises a 60 percent boost in performance over Cortex-A9. It's also paired with a Mali-T720 GPU, which offers OpenGL ES 3.0 support and plenty of optimizations for low-end Android devices. While ARM doesn't specify an actual timeframe for release, it says that we should expect a huge push for the A17 in 2015; in a separate release, MediaTek also tells us that its newest octa-core processor comes with Cortex-A17 tech inside and will be available in the second half of this year.

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

Source: ARM

MediaTek's new octa-core processor to compete with Qualcomm over the premium LTE smartphone market

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/02/11/mediatek-octa-core/

MediaTek, a chipset manufacturer based out of Taiwan, has been making some huge moves lately. Just over two months ago, it came out with the "world's first true octa-core" processor, which consisted of eight Cortex-A7 cores capable of operating simultaneously. Now that ARM has announced Cortex-A17 technology, however, MediaTek is ready to start sampling a new octa-core chip that consists of four 2.2-2.5GHz A17 cores and four 1.7GHz A7s, and comes with a Rogue PowerVR Series6 GPU to take care of any graphical needs you might have.

As an aside, the A17 cores come with a 60 percent improvement in performance over the current-gen A9s, and are primarily designed to make midrange smartphones and tablets even faster. That said, MediaTek tells us that its new chips, known as the MT6595, are actually meant to be featured in premium devices and will square off directly against Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 and 805. And it's certainly got a few noteworthy features: first, the chip will use ARM's big.LITTLE architecture and Heterogeneous Multi-Processing, which means you can use all eight cores for the most intense tasks, or you can use just one or two at a time for incredibly basic activities. The company claims that this chip will be faster and more power efficient than the octa-core Exynos options, which feature four A15 cores and four A7s at lower frequencies.

Additionally, the MT6595 claims to be the first octa-core LTE system-on-chip with an H.265 Ultra HD Codec built-in to the platform, which offers 4K2K video recording and playback capabilities. In much the same way that most manufacturers don't enable all of a chip's features, however, it'll be up to each individual company to add it in. The chips will begin sampling to phone makers and carriers in the first half of this year, and it's expected to arrive in products during the second half. And while it should find its way into smartphones and tablets around the world, MediaTek wants the MT6595 to enjoy a huge presence in the US.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

Monday, February 10, 2014

LG cuts the price of its curved OLED TV to a vaguely reasonable $7,000

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/02/10/lg-cuts-the-price-of-its-curved-oled-tv-to-7000/

The US price of LG's first curved OLED TV dropped from $15,000 to a slightly less stratospheric $10,000 late last year, but that five-digit sticker was still bound to scare away all but the richest buyers. It's a good thing, then, that LG has cut the 55-inch set's price a second time. You can now pick up the curved screen for $7,000 -- or rather, $8,000 plus an instant $1,000 rebate. It's not a great bargain when you can buy a larger 4K display for less, but those who insist on having an exotic-looking TV in the living room will likely appreciate the savings.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, LG

Via: CNET

Intel's new low-power graphics could boost battery life in your next laptop

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/02/10/intel-low-power-graphics-core/

Graphics hardware can rapidly drain a laptop's battery -- there's a good reason why many Ultrabooks ship with nothing more than basic integrated video. If Intel brings a new low-power graphics core to market, though, high-performance visuals and long battery life won't be mutually exclusive concepts. The experimental design boosts the voltage of those components it needs the most, letting it aggressively reduce the voltage of unused circuits; it can even put the entire core to sleep for brief moments. The result is a GPU that's 40 percent more efficient than what you'd otherwise get. The company isn't saying just what it will do with its discovery, but it notes that the part could either extend the longevity of a mobile PC or improve its performance without sapping any more energy. If you can eventually buy an ultra-thin laptop that easily runs Crysis all day long, you'll know who to thank.

Filed under: Laptops, Intel

Via: PC World

Source: Intel Labs

Here's Why Instagram Is The Best Media Acquisition Of The Last Five Years And Tumblr Is The Worst

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/instagram-acquisition-best-tumblr-worst-2014-2

Instagram-Halloween

Mark Zuckerberg might be a lot happier about spending $1 billion on Instagram than Marissa Mayer is about shelling out the big bucks for Tumblr.

According to research by the think-tank L2 Intelligence, Instagram is the best media acquisition of the last five years and Tumblr is the worst.

Since Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion in April 2012 and Yahoo purchased Tumblr for $1.1 billion in May 2013, the two social networks have seen extremely different rates of growth as well as interest and adoption rates from brands and advertisers.

"Prestige brands have abandoned Tumblr, and the adoption rate has declined," the report says. "Instagram’s 2014 revenues are forecast at $250 million-$400 million, while mention of Tumblr was noticeably absent from parent company Yahoo’s recent earnings announcement."

Ninety-three percent of prestige brands — basically, the brands that companies want as advertisers — are on Instagram, and, since December 2013, those brands have increased their engagement on Instagram by 1.53%. At the same time, Instagram also had the highest year-over-year increase in unique visitors than any of the other top-10 mobile apps.

If you compare the growth of active usage between Instagram and Tumblr over the second half of 2013, Instagram's usage increased by 23%, whereas Tumblr's only increased by 6%.

Check out L2's chart ! of diffe rent social networks' brand engagement in relation to their size:

L2 Intelligence

Instagram has had amazing year-over-year growth: L2 Intelligence

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Hackers Can Take Over A Car For About $20

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/hackers-can-take-over-a-car-for-about-20-2014-2

CTH

Two security researchers have recently created a device that can effectively hack a car.

Although cars function as a closed network, Javier Vazquez-Vidal and Alberto Garcia Illera have taken it upon themselves to show just how easily a hacker can gain control of a vehicle.

The two are planning on presenting their findings at the Black Hat Asia security conference in Singapore.

Andy Greenberg describes the invention for Forbes:

... Spanish security researchers Javier Vazquez-Vidal and Alberto Garcia Illera plan to present a small gadget they built for less than $20 that can be physically connected to a car’s internal network to inject malicious commands affecting everything from its windows and headlights to its steering and brakes. Their tool, which is about three-quarters the size of an iPhone, attaches via four wires to the Controller Area Network or CAN bus of a vehicle, drawing power from the car’s electrical system and waiting to relay wireless commands sent remotely from an attacker’s computer. They call their creation the CAN Hacking Tool, or CHT.

John Hanson, safety manager of Toyota, dismissed these security concerns and told Forbes, “Our focus, and that of the entire auto industry, is to prevent hacking from a remote wireless device outside of the vehicle."

This report comes not long after hackers managed to use a refrigerator to hack a business. As everyday appliances become more technical and outfitted with computer chips, consumers are exposing themselves ever more to cyber vulnerability.

The capability to hack cars seems to take the dangers of hacking to an entirely new and more immediate level.

Vazquez-Vidal and Garcia Illera, like most other security experts, said they ! are not trying to empower the hacking community through their work. Instead, they hope that by addressing such glaring insecurities, car manufacturers will start to pay attention and reinforce the networks present in all cars.

SEE ALSO: A Flaw In Snapchat Lets Hackers Crash Your Phone Remotely

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