Headlines Archives - Page 22 of 58

HTC One Max Fingerprint Bug Makes Shares Go Down

August 11, 2015 By Kenneth Scott Leave a Comment

After security firm FireEye Labs revealed that HTC One Max and Samsung S5 don’t store fingerprint data in an encrypted image format, the news created quite a stir among the users of the HTC phone that is almost two years old.

According to FireEye, HTC acted immediately and fixed the vulnerable spot. It appears the fingerprints read by the phone were being kept in an world readable file, which means it could’ve easily been accessed by any app on the device. With so may malicious app floating around, that is as bad as it sounds.

The flaw was fixed immediately, and HTC insisted to add the bug was removed from all regions.

HTC One Max used to store the users’ fingerprints in a bitmap file. FireEye didn’t have any issue reconstructing the specialized file into a scan of the fingerprint. What is more, the HTC phone updated this image each time a new scan was submitted, which means a potential hacker could have obtained various file images without lifting a finger.

Not only HTC One Max is under the close scrutiny of FireEye. According to the security firm, the same flaw could exist in Samsung’s Galaxy S5 and a few others that haven’t been named yet.

Although HTC One Max was never particularly popular, it’s still uncertain if the bug was detected by any malicious app and used in mischievous acts. FireEyes’ discovery left many concerned for their security. It’s one thing to have your password leaked and another to have your fingerprints in the hands of hackers.

As a consequence, users are encouraged to choose smartphones that have an updated security patch available. Also, the classic “stay away from unreliable sources” still applies and may keep you away from malicious apps in the long run.

How bad is this for HTC? Their stocks have recently sunk very low, which translates into anyone being able to buy all their shares for less than the cash they are currently holding. Need another translation? As investors would put it, HTC is now essentially worthless.

HTC was never a leader on the smartphone market, although they deliver some sturdy, reliable Android phones. So how did they get knee deep in trouble? A quick glance at the numbers tells us that HTC is running at a loss, unable to sell phones for more than they pay to make them. That can’t be good for business.

With Androids getting cheaper and cheaper, the forecast for HTC doesn’t look too sunny. And alongside fierce competitors like Samsung and Motorla, HTC might not come out of the fighting pit alive.

Image sources 1, 2, 3

Pebble Time Steel – Elegance Wrapped Around Your Wrist

August 9, 2015 By Nancy Young Leave a Comment

The Pebble Time was already a major hit in US, and European markets, but it seems this isn’t enough for the record-breaking company – their Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign is the most funded project to date. So where to now?

The Pebble Time Steel Edition is like elegance wrapped around your wrist. No matter what you’re wearing, the Time will make sure you’re emitting that simple, and respectable vibe.

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room first – the Apple Watch. Can Pebble Time compete with Apple’s wearable? Or is it doomed from the get-go? The huge amount of popularity it has garnered over the past couple of years makes the Pebble smart watch more than a worthy challenger.

It’s way cheaper than Apple’s device, about $249, and most important of all, it doesn’t scream Look At Me. It doesn’t have anything that will make others think you are wearing a smartwatch – and this is the exact thing that Pebble Time fans are looking for, as in not looking like a big show-off.

Pebble Time Steel Edition - Elegance and Simplicity Wrapped Around Your Wrist

Pebble Time VS. Pebble Time Steel

The Pebble Time Steel, like Pebble’s other smartwatch models, doesn’t have a touchscreen, and nor does it feature a heart sensor. It simply pushes notifications on your wrist, amongst other things. The thing is, any Pebble wearable can do this, but the Steel Time edition is the better looking of the bunch.

Stainless steel envelopes the watch’s mechanism, and leather straps latch onto you wrist making you look all grown-up, instead of a man-child wearing a toy-watch.

It has a 1.25-inch display, which is amplified tricking you into thinking that the watch’s display is way larger than previous models – which clearly isn’t.

But it’s not just a more design-polished smart watch. It actually does feel better on your hand, and using it is simple, intuitive, and downright fun. I don’t know if this is the Fata Morgana of the modern tech age, but making something look better, ends with it tricking the user into thinking it actually is better.

But the over-sized bezel is a little bit off-putting, and it may seem like you’re wearing a 90s calculator, but that depends on what model you own. Also, the display gets easily scratched, and more worrying, it can get seriously dented if you don’t pay attention to your surroundings – those awful morning hangovers have received yet another reason for humanity to get off of its ass, and find a cure for, uhm, drinking I suppose.

Expect the Pebble Time Steel Edition to be delivered some time between six to eight weeks.

Image Source: 1, 2, 3

Battleborn Might Be The Reason Why You’ll Get Fired

August 8, 2015 By Karen Jackson Leave a Comment

Loved Dota 2? Got addicted to Borderlands? Well, here’s something that blends the two together, and will be the reason why you’ll get fired.

Think of Battleborn as your first date, but don’t puke rainbows just yet – the word I’m looking to describe this team-based shooter is thrilling.

The last time I got this excited about a game was when I found out that No Man’s Sky leaped from being a PS4 exclusive, to being launched Windows also.

Battleborn is being developed by those twisted minds that brought us Borderlands, so you should expect a fair dosage of the insane – fine, an over-the-top dosage of the mentally unstable. Game mechanics stick to the traditional Borderlands scheme, but developer Gearbox Software sprinkles some pretty amazing new features.

Watch the Battleborn Trailer down below!

It’s an easy pick-me-up fragging experience, but it doesn’t limit itself to just Bang, Bang, You’re Dead!

No, sir. You have 25 characters in total, each with different abilities, and some of them that don’t quite fit the meta of FPS games, but believe-you me, they are more fun than any other traditional shotgun-wielding champion. Think of Machete on crack, with David Lynch directing the whole shebang.

One character which I found exceptionally thrilling was the Kata-equipped Rath.

This isn’t to say that there won’t be additional characters released throughout its lifetime – if the game is successful.

Everything just pops-out, in a good way. Animations, and colors are bright, and intriguing. They aren’t your run of the mill textures, so don’t expect Borderlands with a different name stapled on its forehead.

It implements MOBA elements just superbly, sticking to the easiest of them, but also equipping the play style with intuitive controls. It’s aimed at everyone – gamer, and non-gamer alike. It’s meant for those who want to pick-up the controller, and start the game – in a maniacal Joker’ish way, but without that whole Jared Leto look at me I’m so edgy with my tattoos look.

Think of how you level up a MOBA hero like Lee Sin, but in a first person point of view.

Battleborn will have a narrative single-player campaign up for grabs for whoever wishes to embark on a Borderlandseque story, and the multiplayer component will a whole different beast.

Watch the Battleborn gameplay trailer down below!

Hopefully, Battleborn developer Gearbox Software won’t focus on just one side of the game, and leave the other to rot. Here’s to an awesome campaign driven story line, and a more than enjoyable shattering of the skulls MP.

Gamescom 2015, in my books, is better than E3 2015 – more demos to play, and less talk about useless accessories. It’s more than gratifying when you get to play the thing you’ve just witnessed, instead of just watching countless clips that show the same thing over and over again.

Image Source: 1, 2,

New Motorola Moto G won’t make you break the bank

August 7, 2015 By Cristopher Hall Leave a Comment

The third generation of Motorola Moto G has been long awaited and anticipated. The waterproofing, all day battery and thirteen mega pixel camera give a good money quality report.

Motorola reinvented what budget smartphones could do back in 2013 when they launched their original Moto G. While it was affordable, it didn’t sacrifice any vital features that would make the Android phone slow or annoying to use.

Now we’re getting ready to welcome the third generation of Moto G, spotting the similarities and dissimilarities between the latest release and its predecessors. Right off the bat everyone noticed the increased price of Motorola’s new phone. Let’s see if the new features can justify the price bump.

The new Moto G will be sleeker and still have a removable back, with a ribbed texture. The redefined design makes it easy to hold and the quality seems sturdy.

The new smartphone is waterproof as long as it falls in one meter deep water and doesn’t stay there more than thirty minutes. Behind the removable back you’ll find the card slot for microSDs and a battery that cannot be removed.

The third generation Moto G will be faster thanks to its 1GB or 2GB of RAM and 1.4GHz quad-core Snapdragon 410. The battery life performed well on tests, with 25% left after being used for fifteen hours which included sending and receiving emails, handling notifications, an hour of music playback over bluetooth and more than an hour of browsing.

The latest Moto G comes with Android 5.1.1 and some apps that you can use or replace if not needed. One noteworthy app is Motorola Migrate which works flawlessly at transferring all data from another Android and getting contacts and calendar notes from an iPhone.

The camera also got a face lift. This is the same thirteen pixel one used on the Nexus 6 which delivers good pictures details, faithful colors and decent stability. If you’re into selfies, you should know you’ll get a five mega pixel camera which might lack crisp details at full resolution.

What prices are we looking at? You definitely won’t have to break the bank for the new Moto G which has starting point of 180$, but it doesn’t come too cheap if you prefer the 16GB version with 2GB of RAM.

To sum up, the pros of the Moto G 3rd gen outweigh the cons. We’re looking at a good camera and battery life, a sturdy build with waterproof feature and a card slot for microSDs, with the only disadvantage being the price and the plastic that could start showing signs of wear in time.

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Apple Dot Com Redesign – A Sort-Of Face-Lift

August 7, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

The big A just got a face-lift, and their Apple dot com website that went live today is redesigned. There’s no Store tab present anymore, and the company removed the store.apple.com domain. This is a huge change for Apple’s website which is considered to be one of the biggest online retailers in the world.

The buying experience has been changed to keep up with the times, and now when you finish browsing for products, and decide to buy one, you’ll not be transported to a separate store, and both actions can be accomplished on the same page.

My personal experience with Apple’s store was not that great. It’s not the fact that I just hate keeping a ton of unnecessary tabs open, subsequently draining my RAM one cell at a time, but I just hate swapping, and going back and forth when there’s an easier way to do it.

More filters, and more sub-pages for landing pages make the buying experience more intuitive, thus making giving customers all the tools necessary to buy Apple product.

There’s a unified shopping cart now – welcome to 2015 Apple; and whatever you wish to put in there, will follow you wherever you go on the website, and a drop down sort-of menu will showcase what you’re spending money on.

After you’re set on what to buy from Apple, a single page appears where you can select all your traditional choices, and if you want to extend the warranty or not.

Apple dot com is witnessing 1 billion users traffic each year, from 40 different countries across the globe.

Apple’s website, according to Alexa.com, is in the top 50 most visited websites in the world, and its traffic rankings put it at number 34 in the US. Here’s some food for thought. The majority of users that visit Apple dot come are female, and the browsing location is school related.

It’s unsure at the moment if the whole website is going to be temporarily taken down whenever a new product will hit stores, just like they did with their Store page every single time a new device, or gadget was about to be launched.

What we do know is that the new redesigned Apple dot com was launched without a hitch today, and it hasn’t experienced a single second of down time.

But why redesign the store? To fit the ever growing mobile platform of course. Sure, switching to the Store app, and back to the original page isn’t that hideous on desktop, but when you’re on mobile, it can get a little bit tricky.

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Peek in your neighbor’s yard with the DJI beginner drone

August 6, 2015 By Nancy Young Leave a Comment

Ever wondered what decorating style your neighbor chose for his garden? The new DJI beginner drone is quickly becoming known as highly accessible, intuitive and easy to control.

The DJI Phantom 3 Standard was designed with first time drone pilots in mind. Based on the DJI Phantom 3 Professional and Phantom 3 Advanced, the drone manufacturer strove to come out with a new model that would enable drone newbies to explore their curiosities without having to break the bank.

Let’s take a look at the more technical stuff. The DJI beginner drone can record clips at thirty frames per second with a high quality ninety four degree distortion free lens. You’ll get 12 megapixels photos both in DNG RAW and JPG. And you can use your wireless connection to see almost in real time what your camera sees with the DJI Go app.

This sounds like a futuristic description from a sci fi book by Philip K Dick, but with drones becoming more and more accessible to the public, we’re probably going to have many of them flying over our heads soon.

DJI’s latest model also comes with an updated remote controller. This is an upgraded version of the DJI Phantom 2 Vision remote controller. As newly added features, it has an incorporated wifi range extender as well as a wheel that allows the users to angle the camera faster and easier.

What else does DJI Phantom 3 Standard include? It has GPS stabilization and can fly for twenty five minutes due to the interchangeable Intelligent Flight Batteries that were especially created for the Phantom 3 series.

The “Follow Me” intelligent feature of the DJI beginner drone will have the Phantom 3 Standard following the user or an object chosen by the pilot. With the Waypoint Navigation the user will be able to set a route for the drone with various points of interest.

The DJI beginner drone will proceed to fly in circles around the requested object and will frame it in the center of the shot. You’ll be left with a beautiful cinematic video that is almost impossible to capture manually.

The quadcopter Standard version of the DJI drone costs $799 and can shoot 2.7k video, surpassing the 1080p video clips his predecessor, the Phantom 3 Advanced, can shoot.

If you’ve been planning a wedding and you just need that aerial shot in your wedding movie, then you might want to look for a photographer who owns the Phantom 3 DJI drone. And if you feel more adventurous, you can try it yourself, trusting the accessibility and stability of the DJI beginner drone.

Image sources 1, 2, 3

Graava Action Cam Does All The Editing For You

August 6, 2015 By Karen Jackson Leave a Comment

The $249 Graava Action Cam edits everything so you don’t waste time going through your footage.

We all know how tedious it can get to edit photos, or videos. You just need that spark of creativity so your friends can watch your short without taking it as a chore.

You see, Graava does all the edits automatically, and if you pre-order it right now it will cost you only $249, instead of the retail price of $399. The thing is, it uses A.I. to note what your highlights are, but you can still choose how long the highlight reel is to be. Afterwards, you just need to select a track and Graava will do the rest – as in syncing to the beat of the song you’ve chosen.

Next step – Hollywood!

The Graava Action Cam will see the light of day in February of 2016.

Besides using GPS, motion, audio, and accelerometer sensors, the Graava notes your voice cues so it can better detect what’s the highlight of the footage, and what’s not.

It can shoot 8-megapixel photos with its camera unit, and three hours of continuous video at 1080p at 30 frames per second.

It’s been quite a shock that a Kickstarter startup with just $750,000 in funding can deliver so much. Facebook, Youtube and Twitter users are drooling over this kind of devices. With video-sharing being, once again, a hip trend, the Graava Action Cam can become quite popular over night. If they play their cards right, that is.

Bruno Gregory, the founder of Graava, was almost killed by a hit and run driver while he was biking across town. Luckily for him, he managed to record everything on camera, and when the cops showed, he had evidence he could use against the person who ran him over. The perpetrator was put in jail 10 minutes later.

But Bruno notes that setting up a camera on his bike became a chore, and he usually didn’t do it because a) he had to spend more time setting it up than he wanted, and b) he had to go through hours of footage just so he can find something to edit, and a few hours after for the entire editing process.

So Bruno set out to build Graava.

It has colored holsters which you can latch onto your helmet, bike, goggles, or whatever. If you want something to be specifically added to the film, just say out loud Graava, and the action cam will take note of your vocal cue.

Once home, you just need to latch it onto the wireless magnetized stand so it will begin recharging, and dump all of the data in the editor. Easy as pie!

Image Source: 1, 2, 3,

New Do Not Track Policy Explained by Disconnect CEO

August 5, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

The present internet medium is riddled with ads – some prove to be quite useful, while others are simply outrageous, and stupid. Not only do ads scrupulously target us, but websites tend to understand something different when it comes down to the Do Not Track Policy.

The EFF, which translates to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, has just released a tougher Do Not Track Policy to ensure users across the world that websites that dwell in shady strategies will get what’s coming to them.

The advertising industry, which one may think is run by the Devil himself, usually understands the Do Not Track Policy as a Do Not Target, with ads of course. They still keep your data tightly wrapped in their servers, but they just don’t use it.

Casey Oppenheim, who is one of the co-founders of the EFF, and who also worked on this brand new policy, notes that publishers are taking advantage of this loophole, and this must stop.

Oppenheim notes in the new EFF policy that once an user opts-out of the tracking system, websites should abide by his wishes, stop collecting unique fingerprints, cookies, logs which contain browser information, and his, or hers, IP address for no more than 10 days!

An exception to the rule might be when the law requires the data to be transmitted, or when a transaction is required – either by the user, or the company which involves the user in case.

Medium is one of the initial partners that jumped on the bandwagon along with, go figure, AdBlock, the all-about-privacy search engine DuckDuckGo, and one of the top analytics company in the world Mixpanel.

With time, Oppenheim wishes that more companies will abide by their new Do Not Track Policy, thus ensuring users that surf their websites that they are privacy-friendly, and they don’t store their data for their own hidden agenda.

The big question that Oppenheim rises, and he also answers, is if the behemoths of the industry, Google, and Facebook, will abide by this new policy, and if they will try to set it as a standard of quality. Oppenheim says yes, they will, considering the fact that people who use ad blocking services are on the rise, but the growth isn’t seen in US territory, only abroad.

Logically, Oppenheim will be working closely with his team at Disconnect to add the standard into their very own ad blocking app. An app that will reward publishers who abide by this policy by letting their adds roam easily to their targets.

Bye Bye Ink Cartridges, Hello Cheap Ink Bottles

August 5, 2015 By Deborah Campbell Leave a Comment

Ever wondered how much money you’re spending on home printing by buying overpriced ink cartridges? If you just summed it all up and the numbers are scary, we have some good news for you: Epson just announced their new ink bottles that hold up years’ worth of ink.

For all printing enthusiasts out there, this translates into the end of breaking the bank each time you need an ink refill. Instead, thanks to Epson, we’ll now get more for less. Their products will forever eliminate the troublesome ink cartridges and replace them with a simpler, more efficient solution.

So how does the magic work? Epson’s got it all figured out. Their EcoTanks will come with the equivalent of twenty cartridges worth of ink contained in small tanks. With the new models costs varying between $350 to $1200, this will save you a lot in the long, especially since you won’t have to think about a refill for years.

The cheapest Epson EcoTank model promises to paint you four thousand black pages and over six thousand color pages before needing a refill. Ready to order one? Then you’ll also be happy to hear refills will cost $13 for a single bottle and $52 for an entire set.

With such good news, it certainly feels like we’re stepping into the future. Let’s admit it, we’re all ready to say our adieus to the microscopic ink cartridges that could hold up so much ink. No more missing deadlines on an important thirty page paper because you only noticed at the last moment that your ink was all dried up.

Epson seems to have hit the jackpot with their new release. If we look at regular printer sales, it’s not rocket science to notice they’re either flat or declining. But not Epson. They’re looking at least at a ten percent sales increased, in comparison with their last fiscal year.

With printers technology having stalled for a good few years now, the latest release should put an end to the worldwide phenomenon of printers gathering dust in a corner with symptoms such as ink magically evaporating over night.

We’re all excited to see if Epson holds their part of the bargain, after claiming they’ve solved the most annoying problem in the printing world. Everyone’s holding their breath to see if pricier printers with cheaper ink are really a better bargain in the long run than cheaper printers and more expensive ink.

Till then, make sure to check your current ink cartridge before starting to print out a thirty page document due in one hour.

Image sources 1, 2, 3

The Metamorphosis Of The Luxury Apple Watch

August 4, 2015 By Cristopher Hall Leave a Comment

After the release of the Apple Watch in April 2015, iOS users were left wondering at the accessory’s usefulness, with impressions falling in one of the two following categories: “extremely cool” or “not worth it”. And now, under the signature of a high end brand, the Apple Watch gets a face lift and becomes the luxury Apple Watch.

With the Apple Watch selling for ten thousand dollars and some users complaining about the looks and feels, one timepiece manufacturer thought “Carpe diem!” and seized the opportunity to spin the situation in his advantage. We’re talking about Nico Gerard who has just launched its newest line, the Skyview Pinnacle.

What’s new about the Swiss luxury timepiece? It enables you to attach the 38mm version of the Apple Watch and wear both luxury and technology on your wrist at the same time. Enter the questions about practicality and comfort.

Let’s take a closer look at the weird hybrid that is the luxury Apple Watch. The side that faces outwards sports a timeless look encased in a 41mm frame. It also incorporates a date indicator and can resist at one hundred meters pressure depths. You can choose from three versions: stainless steel with either a blue or a black dial or 18k gold with a red dial.

If your finger tips are itching with excitement, you should know the wait list for the watch varies between ten to twelve months if you choose the steel version. If you want to splurge and prefer gold, you’ll have to wait between six and eight months.

But the latter version will get you digging deep in your pockets. More precisely, the gold watch costs $112,000. In comparison, the cheaper versions in blue or black will sell at around nine thousand dollars. A bargain!

Decided to spend more on a watch than most people did on their cars? Then you’ll be relieved to find out that all Skyview Pinnacle Nico Gerard watches come with a 38mm Apple Watch.

If you ever wanted to be able to know what time of the day it is by looking at either side of your wrist, then you’re in luck. The Skyview Pinnacle watch can now be preordered with a deposit of at least two hundred dollars.

The watch’s bracelet was dubbed the Papillon (French for butterfly) by Nico Gerard. But there are already some voices saying there’s not going to be anything delicate or butterfly like about the luxury Apple Watch from the Skyview Pinnacle collection.

It’s easy to imagine the luxury Apple Watch will have a bulky feeling and you’ll risk scraping it on your desk, table or laptop keyboard. And, unfortunately, not even 18k gold can make scratches look luxurious.

Image sources 1, 2, 3

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