So here’s the thing, new research conducted by the University of Cambridge tells us that almost all Android devices have a faulty security system. Considering the fact that a lot of us are still Android users, you probably want to know how deep this breach is? The above mentioned research estimates that around 90% of Android devices are prone to a security breach. Here’s what the research says:
“There is information asymmetry between the manufacturer, who knows whether the device is currently secure and will receive security updates, and the customer, who does not.”
The research points out the core reason for this vulnerability as being Android’s fragmented distribution and third party involvement. What are you going to do now? Well,out of this, 90% the research suggests that Nexus devices are the most secure Android devices as they run stock Android and do not have to rely on a third party manufacturer to deliver the patches on time.
Apart from Nexus, LG devices have received a good security score followed by Motorola, Samsung, Sony and HTC. Therefore, you have nothing much to worry about, unless of course you’re hiding super secret information.
Samsung has unveiled a new super budget smartphone called the Z3 at Rs.8,490 today. It comes with a dual SIM connectivity and a 5 inch HD Super AMOLED display. Here is what Samsung’s second Tizen powered smartphone looks like :
The Z3 is powered by the Qualcomm MSM8916 Snapdragon 410 with a Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU and an Adreno 306 GPU. It also comes with 1GB of RAM space and an 8GB internal memory that is expandable up to 128GB via a micro SD card.
On the camera front, it comes with a 8MP primary camera and a 5MP secondary camera. Other connectivity features include Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n connection, Bluetooth v4.1, GPS, microUSB v2.0 and radio.
The Z3 is run on the Tizen OS version 2.4 and is fueled by a 2,600mAh battery. Lastly, it comes in three colour variants – gold, black and silver.
Here are its specifications:
Samsung Z3
Specifications
Display
5 inch HD Super AMOLED
OS
Tizen OS version 2.4
Processor
Qualcomm MSM8916 Snapdragon 410
CPU
Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A53
GPU
Adreno 306
RAM
1GB
Internal Storage
8GB expandable up to 128GB via microSD card
Primary Camera
8MP
Secondary Camera
5MP
Connectivity
Dual SIM, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n connection, Bluetooth v4.1, GPS, microUSB v2.0 and radio
A listing on Amazon, which has since been taken down, showed us a device called the ‘OnePlus Mini’. According to the listing, this handset will come with a 5 inch display, along with a 1080 pixel resolution and will be powered by a MediaTek MT6795 processor. It will also house 32GB internal storage with 2GB of RAM. Here is what OnePlus India’s general manager, Vikas Agarwal has to say:
“We’re introducing a new device by the end of this year. Diwali would be the ideal time..”
The OnePlus Mini is also said to feature the Force Touch technology, similar to the 3D Touch display available on the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. Apart from this leak, OnePlus has posted a new teaser on its India Facebook page showing off the OnePlus X that will be unveiled on the 29th of October, 2015.
Hence, taking a cue from the leak and the teaser, we can safely assume that OnePlus might announce two different smartphones by the end of this year. However, there have been no official reports about the OnePlus Mini, so we’ll just have to sit tight and find out what the Chinese smartphone maker has in store for us until the 29th of October.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will be creating an app for the public, in order to check traffic violations. If reports are to be believed, then you will soon be able to report rash driving, speeding and whatever other horrible things people do while driving.
Reports suggest that it will be a couple of months before the app is launched, after which you can even take photographs of the vehicle that you want to report for violation of traffic rules. NHAI Chairman Raghav Chandra said –
“All the complaints will get registered in the ledger pertaining to that vehicle whereupon the police/transport department can take further action about it.”
This is expected to help in acquiring data and policing the roads more efficiently. Moreover, the Chairman also added that the NHAI was working towards building an accurate data bank of all the highways. This project is already underway and is being called the Road Asset Management System or the RAMS.
All this data is also expected to help the NHAI in their plans to rectify the road structuring problems in order to help in guidance and planning of roads in the future.
Here’s the new phone that Huawei just announced – dubbed the Enjoy 5. The handset comes with a 5 inch HD display and is powered by MediaTek MT6735 SoC with quad-core CPU.
On the storage front it comes with a 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable internal memory. It comes with a 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera and is fueled by a 4,000mAh battery. On the connectivity front, it supports a dual-SIM system and 4G LTE as well.
The entire phone weighs 160 grams, runs on the Android 5.1 Lollipop-based EMUI 3.0 and comes with a price tag of Rs.10,234.
Only for the 90s kid does it seem a rather difficult task to get recognition for something they’re good at. Today’s unapologetic society’s mantra goes something like this – so what if I’m not good at anything? I can be famous too and you can’t judge me for it. Today it’s not about being good at something; it’s all about being famous. This mind-set has translated down to the vortex of social media, which was initially used to communicate with friends and people all around the world. Today, social media has been made the biggest business mogul, management company, call it what you may but it boils down to being called the new kingmaker.
However, if we look at the rise of social media in two different stages – when it was just introduced to us and now, we will have to admit that we have come a long way in understanding and utilizing the power of social media. Earlier, we would see social media sites filled with statuses that were not spelt correctly due to the raging popularity of the SMS language, they even gave rise to stars like Justin Bieber and Kim Kardashian (pre-Kanye West version). Social media did not seem like the place where anybody who was really serious about anything would want to be. But, today we see it take a whole new turn, with artists, writers, fashion bloggers, singers, actors, comedians and everybody with a good sense of aesthetic take things into their own hands. The post-modern social media looks like it’s been created out of a revolution by anti-stupid people. So much so, that some modern age stars are having to change their ways in order to gain respect in the present society.
Now, let’s name some of these famous kingmakers – Facebook, Twitter, Vine, INSTAGRAM, Vine, YouTube to name a few. Next, let us have a look at a couple of people they have turned into legit famous people who are now termed as ‘celebrities’:
It would be unfair to start this list without naming the queen of social media, Mrs.Kim Kardashian West. She’s seen it all, and done it all. She is the biggest success of social media and reality TV. You can follow her on Twitter,Instagram and even on her website kimkardashianwest.com. There’s not much to be said about her, we’re all secretly following her anyway –
Secondly, we have comedians all over the world putting up live shows on their YouTube channels, but we’re going to talk about someone closer home – Kanan Gill and Biswa Kalyan Rath’s ‘Pretentious Movie Reviews’. All said and done, they said everything we wanted to say about Bollywood films, and they do it all in good faith. Here’s their latest review.
Next we have a true blue Vine celebrity named Logan Paul, who has really got what Vine is all about – short, six second videos about anything. He’s picked humour. Click here to check them out. You can also follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
Before we forget the original YouTube mega child star, let’s put him down on our list – Justin Bieber. Who knows whether he’s still famous or not, the point is that he can still make it on this list and a bunch of others too. Here’s a video of Justin Bieber before he became The Biebs –
And now –
Another desi celebrity is YouTube and Vine star, Jus Reign. He kind of has a ‘Superwoman’ vibe going on, and makes funny videos about all sorts of desi-kid problems. Here’s an example-
And because we mentioned YouTube star Superwoman,here’s a video about what she does –
Last but not the least we have on our list is already an established author, who has recently made her re-appearance into the limelight via her now famous twitter account. Our beloved – JK Rowling, agreed that this list might be horribly degrading for her to be in, but her Twitter account is fabulous.
These are just a few of the many celebrities we can follow on various social networking sites. Whether it’s made things personal or impersonal is also a debatable topic, but it has definitely made things easier for passive and harmless followers. Let us know who your favourite celebrities on social media are.
Apple just went a step ahead in its quest to conquer the world by using its very own iBook Author. There are now enhanced editions of all seven Harry Potter novels on the iBooks store. Why Harry Potter? Tim Cook has the answer :
“J.K. Rowling’s legendary series is perfect for enjoying on your iPad or iPhone and we’re thrilled to offer them exclusively on the iBooks Store.”
Of course it’s perfect, haven’t we always wondered what the Hogwarts envelope looked like, or what Hedwig looked like, or what Diagon Alley looked like? Rowlings book is an absolute treat and the best kind of trigger for imagination and creativity to run wild. But, what makes Apple’s iBook version different from all the other e-book versions?
Well, just like other e-books, it also has digital covers, custom Harry Potter typefaces, but here is the special feature – it has more than 200 original illustrations throughout the books. Mind equals to blown! Additionally, the illustrations are animated and interactive with the iBook containing annotations written by Rowling.
The enhanced digital version of the novel will be available on all iPhones, iPads, iPod touch and Mac devices. Apple has also dedicated a special Harry Potter landing page on iTunes to showcase the Harry Potter books, films and apps. Oh well, it is wonderful, that even in today’s age and day of all thing ‘cool and hep’, we can still find a way to incorporate our childhood through technology.
The iBooks will be available across thirty two countries, with a price tag starting at $9.99. Pre-orders for the French, Spanish and German versions begin today, and the iBooks will be available in eighteen more countries from the 9th of November, 2015.
Well, what are you waiting for? Let the magic begin.
Meizu has opened registration for the recently released M2, exclusively on Snapdeal at Rs.6,999. Meizu M2 comes with a unibody design and a storage that is expandable up to 144GB.
It comes with a 64-bit MT6735 Quad-core processor, four advanced 1.3 GHz Cortex A53 cores and the Mali-T720 GPU. On the camera front, it is equipped with a Samsung 13 megapixel CMOS camera, and an upgarded 5MP front camera with the FotoNation beatifying system.
The device runs on the Flyme OS 4.5 based on Android 5.1 and also has the new 64-bit CPU. The M2 comes with a 5 inch display and 720 pixels resolution. Other features include, TD-LTE FDD-LTE 4G, supports two Nano-SIM cards, and microSD card with a storage capacity of 144 GB.
Facebook launched its Messenger app on the Apple watch, just as it had promised to do in September. The update was rolled out yesterday on October 8th and is capable of supporting iOS 9 features, universal search and multitasking for iPads.
The Apple Watch runs on the OS2 software and so the messenger app is also compatible with it. However, the messenger app is a little different from how it is on a smartphone. This means, that you won’t be able to type out full messages, but will be able to choose from a list of answers already available. You can send a “like”, post stickers and also record and send voice messages. Apart from the active sending actions of the app, you can open pictures, videos and voice messages on the receiving end.
There is one small downside though, the app will support all the Facebook stickers but won’t be able to display them in their original GIF form. They’ll appear static on the watch.
There’s some good news for Android users too, the Messenger app will also be compatible with Android Wear. Therefore, Facebook has yet again ensured that everyone is happy and feels included at its party.
HP has unveiled a new Envy Curved All-in-One PC with a 34 inch screen and 3440×1440 pixel resolution. This new PC will run on the Windows 10 and will also arrive in a bunch of configurations ranging from an an Intel Core i5 CPU, integrated graphics, an HDD and 8GB of memory, to an i7 processor, an Nvidia GeForce 960A graphics card, 16GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD or a 1TB hybrid drive.
Other features include Windows Hello-capable Intel RealSense web cam and Bang & Olufsen speakers. The screen will allegedly be the same as the HP Envy 34c’s monitor, which has a VA panel with LED backlighting, 350 nits of brightness, a 178-degree horizontal and vertical viewing angle, and a typical gray-to-gray response time of 14ms.
The new HP Envy Curved All-in-One PC will be available from the 22nd of November, 2015 and will be priced at around Rs.11,6941.
Dell has just revealed the world’s first 2-in-1 convertible 4K PC – the XPS 12. It has a 12.5 inch 4K InfinityEdge display and shifts between being a tablet and a laptop. It weighs 2.8 pounds and is powered by a sixth-generation Intel Core M processor with a clock speed of up to 2.7GHz. It also comes with Intel HD Graphics 515, 8GB of RAM and two storage variants of either a 128GB hard drive or 256GB of SSD storage.
The display resolution is 3840 x 2160 pixels and the 4K display can be attached to the keyboard via a magnetic connection. The new XPS 12 also supports the Dell Active Pen, that works on OneNote, sketching apps, and Microsoft Edge.
On the camera front it has an 8MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera. The hardware comes with two Thunderbolt 3 ports, along with a built-in USB Type-C port and an SD card reader.
Dell has also refreshed their XPS 13 and XPS 15 laptops internally. The XPS 13 will now be powered by a sixth-generation Intel processor, with a clock speed of up to 3.4GHz Core i7 and the Intel HD Graphics 520. On the storage front it will have a PCie SSD storage that can go up to 1TB and a 16GB of RAM.
The display comes with two options now, first it has a QuadHD+ 3200 x 1800p touchscreen model and second, a full HD 1920 x 1080p anti-glare non-touchscreen model. The device comes with two USB 3.0 ports, an SD card slot, and a Thunderbolt 3 port and can get up to 18 hours of battery life on a single charge.
The XPS 15 on the other hand is a slightly heavier laptop weighing 3.9 pounds and also has a 15 inch display. It has been made compatible in order to support a 4K display, sixth-generation Intel Core processors Core i7 quad-core, Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M graphics with 2GB of GDDR5 RAM, up to 16GB of RAM, along with a hard drive or SSD that goes up to 1TB of storage, and Thunderbolt 3.
The XPS 12 will be available from November on Dell’s website and will start at a price of about Rs.65,070 for the full HD model and About Rs.84,610 for the 4K model with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD.
The XPS 13 and 15 will be available from the 8th of October on the same website with the XPS 1 starting at a price of about Rs.52,043 and the XPS 15 starting at Rs.65,070.
Recent reports suggest that Google has updated its YouTube iOS app with some basic in-app editing features. The new YouTube version 10.38 was released on Monday in the App Store for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
The in-app editing features include trimming a video, applying filters, and changing background music. So, if you want to upload a video on YouTube you can now just film it using your iPhone and upload it accordingly, instead of going through the long process of uploading it on to your PC and then using a third-party editing app. However, the editing features on YouTube are still quite basic, so if you’re going in for some serious editing, then it’s probably best to use the third-party apps for now.
The update is not just for users who create videos and upload them. YouTube has also gone through a minor display makeover for the lay YouTube user. So, if you watch videos on YouTube to waste your life away then the new updates help you. You can now swipe left to see your subscribed channels and swiping once more to the left will reveal your account page.
You can also just tap one of the three icons at the top of the page to navigate between your home page, subscriptions page and the account page. There’s one last thing, there are three dots at the upper right of your screen which can lead you to your YouTube settings, help screen and other features.
You can download the YouTube app for free on the iTunes App Store.
A couple of months back Google announced that it will be taken over by a parent company Alphabet. A bunch of people were confused then, and probably still are. Basically Alphabet is owned by Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and Google’s new CEO is Sundar Pichai. Alphabet was formed as an administrative move by the Google founders in order to efficiently see-over all the companies under Google.
When they first announced their existence, the domain name they came up with was abc.xyz. However, there were some reports of the domain name already having been used by BMW. But, for whatever reason, during it’s first official week on Wall Street, Alphabet has decided upon, and now owns a new domain name. This time it’s cheeky as hell, it’s -wait-for-it- abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz.com. Oh, and they even have an explanation for this mouthful of a domain name –
“We realized we missed a few letters in abc.xyz, so we’re just being thorough.”
Oh well, nobody’s complaining as long as it’s coming in with a sense of humour. Although, as of now, the URL will lead you to an inactive site. But, it should be up soon enough. Till then – abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz.
Apple fans, here’s some great news for you. According to reports Apple will be adding a new 21.5-inch iMacs with 4K screens to its current fall product line up. Adding to this, it has also been said, that these new computers will be available in stores from the 13th of October, 2015. However, the quantity of the products might be less, but Apple is also planning to produce larger quantities of this in November.
The reports also suggest that the new 4K iMac will come with a new 4096 x 2304 screen and faster graphics, it will come pre-loaded with El Capitan and will most probably be more expensive than its non-4K variant.
Apart from this, Apple has been working on a successor to Magic Mouse called Magic Mouse 2 along with Force Touch Integration and a Bluetooth keyboard with a better battery life. Not much is known about the release of this product. So stay tuned for more updates.
As 90s kids, we’ve all watched spy or super-hero movies that have entranced us, despite knowing that it was unreal. Along with that we knew that all the cool gadgets they used were unreal too. But, today there’s really very little that the world of tech and science can’t create.
Keeping that in mind, recent reports have suggested, that Google has published a patent application “for using holograms in a head mounted display like Google Glass, which could create augmented reality experiences that superimpose computer-generated imagery (CGI) over the real world.”
Now, go back to those cool spy movies and cartoons, where the spy would click a button on the side of his spectacles and out of them would appear holograms of maps, mission plans, and other things that a spy needs. Fast forward to a couple of years later, and normal non-spy human beings will be using spyware-type gadgets for daily use. So, soon, you’ll be able to play a video game in virtual reality, or project a map right through your glasses instead of looking at your cellphone GPS for it.
But, here’s the catch, if one is going to use holograms to create a sense of virtual reality then it’s not enough to just copy-paste the image, the ‘projected content’ should also be able to interact and react with the real-world. Here’s what the patent says :
“With augmented reality the viewer’s image of the world is augmented with an overlaying CGI, also referred to as a heads-up display.”
Google perhaps expects that this new feature could be very useful for aerospace apps, wherein pilots would not have to take their eyes off the flight path in order to look at other vital information. The head mounted display feature might also have a number of practical and leisure applications soon, such as video games, transportation, and telecommunications. However, as of now, we’ll just have to wait and see what Google creates, while keeping in mind the aspects of cost, size, weight and field of view.
