tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59703311493348281712024-03-13T21:10:39.663+05:30TechcitTechcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.comBlogger98125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-39284566144705156682012-06-27T20:12:00.000+05:302012-06-27T20:12:00.204+05:30Huawei to launch Windows 8 phones, new branding campaign <br /><P>China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, the world's No.6 handset maker, may produce computer tablets running Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system after choosing the same system for its handsets, a senior executive said on Thursday.</P><br /><P>The Shenzhen-based firm, which wants to increase its market share by selling mobile phones under its own name, will also spend $200 million on advertising this year to boost its brand awareness, said Shao Yang, chief marketing officer of Huawei Device, the division that sells dongles, handsets and tablets.</P><br /><P>"We need to learn how to get close to people and understand people. That's something we lack," Shao said in an interview.</P><br /><P>To boost margins in the highly competitive handset market that has eroded margins of some handset makers, Huawei is pushing into the higher-end segment. As a result, its average selling price doubled this year from last year, Shao said, without giving details.</P><br /><P>Huawei plans to ship 50-60 million smartphones globally this year, up from 20 million last year and 3 million in 2010. The company's gross profit margin dropped 6.5 percentage points to 37.5 percent last year.</P><br /><P>Huawei, founded by chief executive Ren Zhengfei in 1987, has diversified into consumer devices with its Vision smartphones and MediaPad tablets as its core telecoms gear market has stalled. Last year, Huawei recorded sales of 44.62 billion yuan ($7.02 billion) for consumer devices, a rise of 44.3 percent.</P><br /><P>(Reporting by Kazunori Takada; Editing by Matt Driskill)</P><br /><P><A href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/technologyNews/~3/PPBCD3YkcbE/us-huawei-tablets-idUSBRE85K06U20120621" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</A></P>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-86295262203311372792012-06-27T17:06:00.000+05:302012-06-27T17:06:00.418+05:30Paper ties US and Israel to FlameExperts say Flame is one of the most sophisticated threats ever seen Accusations the US and Israel jointly created the computer virus Flame have been printed by the Washington Post newspaper.<br /><P></P><br /><P>It quoted unnamed "Western officials with knowledge of the effort" as its sources.</P><br /><P>The powerful malware was discovered after the UN noticed data disappearing from PCs in the Middle East.</P><br /><P>The Post said the US National Security Agency, the CIA and Israel's military had collaborated on the project.</P><br /><P>It had "intended to slow Iran's nuclear program, reduce the pressure for a conventional military attack and extend the timetable for diplomacy and sanctions", the newspaper said. </P><br /><P>Reuters subsequently reported that current and former Western national security officials had told the news agency the US had been involved in making the virus.</P><br /><P>The BBC has been unable to confirm or disprove the allegations.</P>Continue reading the main story <br /><BLOCKQUOTE readability="5">This cyber-onslaught that Iran has been facing is actually helping it to become a really serious cyber power in its own right ”<br /><P></P></BLOCKQUOTE>End Quote Mark Phillips RUSI Flame is thought to have been first noticed when Iran's servers were taken offline in April following a malware attack on key oil terminals.<br /><P></P>Covert action <br /><P>A later report by anti-virus company Kaspersky Labs said there had been 189 attacks in Iran, 98 in Israel and Palestine, and 32 in Sudan. </P><br /><P>A "former high-ranking US intelligence official", who it said had spoken on the condition of anonymity, told the Washington Post: "[Flame] is about preparing the battlefield for another type of covert action.</P><br /><P>"Cyber-collection against the Iranian programme is way further down the road than this."</P><br /><P>Iran has said it is now able to defend itself against the malware and clean up infected PCs .</P>Under siege <br /><P>But the attacks could lead the country to develop its own sophisticated cyber-capabilities, Mark Phillips, a research fellow at defence think tank the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), told BBC News.</P><br /><P>"If it did originate from the US and/or Israel, Iran is going to feel under siege as a result of a number of attempts - a previous one was Stuxnet - and will seek to improve its cyber-defences," he said.</P><br /><P>"The better you are at detecting cyber-actions, the better you are at infiltrating others. </P><br /><P>"This cyber-onslaught that Iran has been facing from Stuxnet through to Flame is actually helping it to become a really serious cyber-power in its own right, which would not have been an intended effect of whoever developed Flame."</P>Nation-state involvement <br /><P>Security experts call Flame one of the most complex threats ever seen, suggesting a nation state rather than individual hackers are likely to have been behind its development.</P><br /><P>"The reason [sources] may want to stay anonymous is because of the sensitive nature of technologies and capabilities involved," said Mr Phillips.</P><br /><P>"We're probably stuck with a situation where we'll only have this speculation for a foreseeable future."</P><br /><P>The Israeli embassy in London declined to comment.</P><br /><P><A href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18517841#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</A></P>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-88217271236828808872012-06-27T13:34:00.000+05:302012-06-27T13:34:00.101+05:30London 2012 – Android and iPhone Game Review<P>As Olympic fever reaches new heights in the UK, what better time to launch the Official London 2012 game for Android.</P><br /><P>There are two versions of the game, free and paid (paid version gives you 3000 points and 5 max stamina points) , and an initial small download. The full size of the game is 72mb, so enable wifi before you launch it the first time..</P><br /><P>On first launch, you are required to set up you character. You can choose a variety of faces and hair styles for your male or female character.</P><br /><P>The first thing event I entered was 100m, the controls are simple. Hold two fingers on the screen to assume the start position, let go when the gun is fired…then tap the screen like mad to get some speed up. Be careful not to go too fast though, you will stumble and slow down.</P><br /><P>As you can see from the screen shots, the graphics are pretty good, as such I’d imagine you need a fairly speedy handset to play it. It also eats through the battery as the handset is put through its paces.</P><br /><P>Here is the full list of eatures:</P><br /><BLOCKQUOTE readability="27"><br /><P>- 9 Olympic events: 100M, 110M Hurdles, 100m Freestyle, Double Trap, Triple Jump, Pole Vault, 100m Butterfly, Kayak (K1) and Archery</P><br /><P>- Train and customise your athlete with over 220 items</P><br /><P>- 3 game modes: Training / Olympic / Challenge – 8 languages: Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish</P><br /><P>- Easy to play – difficult to master</P><br /><P>- Enjoy authentic London 2012 Olympic venues</P></BLOCKQUOTE><br /><P>The creators have also created a nice you tube clip if you want to see the game in action before you download it. Click HERE</P><br /><P>There are three events unlocked initially, the others require you to complete certain tasks successfully before you can try them.</P><br /><P>There have been some comments on the Play Store about the permissions that the app requires to run. It does seem concerning that an app of this nature needs access to SMS, Camera, Contacts and Phone calls. Hopefully the creator will re-visit this or at least explain why such permissions are required.</P><br /><P>Personally, I like the game, and it is a good way to waste a bit of spare time.</P><br /><P>Links: Android Free, Android Paid, iTunes App Free, iTunes App Paid</P><br /><P><A href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/coolsmartphone/uJxV/~3/EVaVA3SlzpE/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</A></P>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-77196130175770350072012-06-27T10:20:00.000+05:302012-06-27T10:20:00.703+05:30Facebook scraps Credits currencyMany games have already converted Facebook Credits into their own currencies Facebook is ditching its own money system, Credits, and will convert the balance of its members' accounts into their local currencies.<br /><P></P><br /><P>Previously, app developers wanting to charge users for virtual goods or other premium features sold via the network had to use the service.</P><br /><P>Facebook said it was making the change to "simplify the purchase experience".</P><br /><P>The move may help boost the firm's profits. It takes a 30% cut of all transactions made on its network.</P><br /><P>A post on its developer blog also announced that it would allow app creators to charge subscriptions from July. Game publishers Zynga and Kixeye had already been allowed to test out the feature.</P>Confusing conversions <br /><P>Facebook had previously market Credits as a "safe and secure way" to make online payments, allowing users to buy them by credit card, PayPal or via prepaid cards sold at retailers.</P><br /><P>Members were encouraged to buy large sums at one time by the promise of discounts - for example 50 credits cost $5 (£3.20) but 2,360 credits cost $200, representing what the firm termed an "18% bonus".</P><br /><P>However, third-party developers tended to subsequently convert Credits into their own in-game currencies, making it harder for users to keep track of what they were spending.</P><br /><P>"Since we introduced Credits in 2009, most games on Facebook have implemented their own virtual currencies, reducing the need for a platform-wide virtual currency," the firm's product management director Prashant Fuloria told developers.</P><IMG alt="Facebook App Store" src="www.techcit100.net23.net/public_html\/60772274apps.jpg" width=304 height=210> The news follows the launch of Facebook's app centre in the US <br /><P>"With local pricing, you will be able to set more granular and consistent prices for non-US users and price the same item differently on a market-by-market basis."</P><br /><P>The news comes less than a fortnight after the firm launched an app centre in the US to promote software on its network. </P><br /><P>One analyst told the BBC that there was sense in simplifying its processes, but the move carried risks.</P><br /><P>"The problem with Facebook Credits was that it was pretty restrictive," said Ian Maude, head of internet at Enders Analysis.</P><br /><P>"Doing this takes the headache away from Facebook of having to force people to use its system. </P><br /><P>"It still takes part of the revenue which is much more simple, but the danger is that it could end up with a 'farmers market' - a less cohesive solution in which there are a multitude of payment solutions being offered on its network."</P><br /><P><A href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18519921#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</A></P>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-40565244061744021392012-06-27T06:21:00.000+05:302012-06-27T06:21:00.060+05:30Habbo unmutes to hear from usersChief executive Paul LaFontaine promises to read "every word" Habbos write Troubled children's social network Habbo Hotel has moved to deal with fallout from revelations that the service was frequented by paedophiles.<br /><P></P><br /><P>Users are being invited to suggest ways to make the site safer following the suspension of its chat facility.</P><br /><P>Habbo's owner, Sulake, is operating a separate temporary site called The Great Unmute where they can post their thoughts.</P><br /><P>Experts said that Habbo must end its reliance on human moderators. </P><br /><P>At launch the site was inaccessible for many and Paul LaFontaine, Sulake's chief executive, tweeted: "We have so many users hitting the site we had to increase processing capacity by 400%. Keep it coming!"</P><br /><P>The temporary site was originally scheduled to be taken offline at 8pm BST, but Mr LaFontaine said that limit would be extended to "make sure everyone gets the chance to input their story".</P>Habbo's future <br /><P>Habbo temporarily removed its chat facility last week after Channel 4 reported that the service was routinely being used by adults to engage children in explicit conversations about sex.</P><br /><P>"For a full week since Channel Four's report went on air, my team has worked tirelessly to create the best possible solutions to the challenges we face from a small minority," said Mr LaFontaine.</P><br /><P>"Now it's time to allow our loyal and legitimate users a brief chance to have their say before we finalise our plans for Habbo's future." </P>Continue reading the main story <IMG alt="image of Jane Wakefield" src="www.techcit100.net23.net/public_html\/59374461janepic.jpg"> Jane Wakefield Technology reporter <br /><P>The comments on the Great Unmute website seem, so far, to be very positive. </P><br /><P>One described Habbo as "not just any social community" but a place to hang out with friends.</P><br /><P>Another suggested experienced Habbos could act as moderators, while others said it was up to parents to monitor their children's activities on the site.</P><br /><P>Some participants said that the current system of reporting inappropriate conversations worked well enough, while others called for automatic bans if users were caught by moderators talking about inappropriate topics.</P><br /><P>Most of the Habbos felt that the Channel 4 report was not a true representation of the site and that paedophiles in the hotel were the exception rather than the rule.</P>As well as written comment, Habbos will also be able to upload multimedia content.<br /><P></P><br /><P>"The Great Unmute is a chance to get creative in new ways; the site will allow multimedia content, giving users a real chance express their views in a responsible way with a watching world," said Mr LaFontaine.</P><br /><P>"You have my word, my team and I will be reading every comment, looking at every picture and watching every video clip. My commitment to you right now is to deliver the safest possible user experience." </P>Behaviour profiling <br /><P>Some believe that the answer to the problems experienced by Habbo could be solved by investing in technological solutions.</P><br /><P>Adam Hildreth, chief executive of Crisp Thinking, a firm which provides monitoring technology for hundreds of online children's games, told the BBC: "The current Habbo model is completely flawed. 200 moderators for over 70 million messages each day is never going to work."</P><br /><P>"Habbo has to invest in some clever technology, whether they develop it themselves or use a third-party. Otherwise they are fighting a losing battle," he added.</P><br /><P>Crisp's technology employs behaviour profiling and is used by online children's games, including Moshi Monsters and Bin Weevils. It is often used in conjunction with human moderators.</P><br /><P>The tech has also recently be used by the Metropolitan Police to analyse chat logs of a man suspected of online grooming.</P><br /><P>"It is able to distinguish between kids being kids and an adult pretending to be a kid," said Mr Hildreth.</P><br /><P><A href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18518785#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</A></P>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-90763427908002504952012-06-27T02:39:00.000+05:302012-06-27T02:39:00.251+05:30Fetch delivers prestigious award for Hotels.com<P>Scoops Best Use of Mobile Marketing at Marketing Society Awards</EM></P><br /><P>Award-winning mobile marketing agency, Fetch Media, added another trophy to its cabinet at this week’s Marketing Society Awards, scooping Best Use of Mobile Marketing for its client, online hotel booking service, Hotels.com. Hotels.com’s brief to the agency was to establish a strong mobile presence, hit growth targets and boost market share. Its main aim was to increase global traffic through mobile, acquire new customers by increasing visibility and launch products throughout the year, targeting global markets.James Connelly, Managing Director at Fetch Media, said: “Fetch and Hotels.com have collaborated over the past 18 months to build and implement a mobile strategy that delivers for the business. The results are paying dividends in terms of revenue and users, so we are very pleased to be recognised by Marketing Society and the industry.”</P><br /><P>The global marketing campaign was launched across 42 markets on the Android and iPhone Operating System platforms.</P><br /><P>Fetch advised on the design of an easy-to-use app to help customers find and book a hotel room quickly. Hotels.com built the app in-house.</P><br /><P>Fetch also helped the brand create relevant app store content and search optimisation to increase the number of downloads after the launch. </P><br /><P>To keep the app at the top of the app store travel rankings, Fetch targeted bursts of advertising across key times of the day and days of the week.</P><br /><P>Tracking mechanisms were in place for the marketing team to collect data in smartphone app usage to enhance customer relationship management.</P><br /><P>The app reached Number One in the travel category of iTunes in 29 countries and was in the Top Ten in all 42 countries.</P><br /><P>Christelle Chan, Marketing Director at Hotels.com, said: “We are living in a very exciting time with the emergence of mobile as a new platform and we, at Hotels.com, are greatly honoured to be recognised as being at the forefront of mobile marketing. Our objective is to seamlessly embrace the post-PC era with the help of Fetch’s expertise, which is a great contributor to our success.”</P><br /><P>Beating off competition from Pizza Express, Cadbury and ASOS, the judges said it was the clear winner for its ‘phenomenal global results’ and for meeting all of its clear objectives.</P><br /><P><STRONG>About Fetch Media</STRONG></P><br /><P>Fetch Media is an award-winning, full-service mobile marketing agency based in London and San Francisco. Managing mobile and tablet campaigns in over 50 countries, the agency works with leading brands to deliver best-in-class strategy, creative, media planning/buying and tracking services. Clients include Hotels.com, Sony Music, Atlantic Records, Badoo and William Hill.</P><IMG src="www.techcit100.net23.net/public_html\/s.gif"> <br /><P><A href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GomoNews/~3/nxuXvvZUhb8/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</A></P>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-28783837073796101932012-06-26T23:26:00.000+05:302012-06-26T23:26:00.449+05:30Youngsters want SMS integrated into social networks<P><STRONG>Rating: Survey for tyntec shows strong potentilal for OTT services, too</STRONG></P><br /><P>A Pan-Atlantic survey carried out for mobile interaction specialist, tyntec, has found that UK youngsters embrace mobile social networking more than US counterparts. The survey -conducted by YouGov – reveals that 66 per cent percent of UK mobile users aged between 16-24 check Facebook and Twitter on the go daily, as opposed to just 37 per cent percent of Americans. The poll of 2,000 UK/US smartphone users show the so-called ‘millenial’ demographic in the UK is more advanced when it comes to using emerging cloud-based mobile services. A surprising statistic, however, is the number of youngsters seemingly unaware of so-called OTT (over-the-top) messaging services like Whatsapp.</P><br /><P>40 percent of US millennial consumers were unaware that such applications even exist compared to 27 percent of UK.</P><br /><P>A high proportion of the youngers in the UK (52 percent) and US (61 percent) users were also interested in having SMS integrated into social networks.</P><br /><P>According to tyntec’s CEO Michael Kowalzik, “This indicates a trust level and familiarity with SMS which presents huge opportunities for Internet players and operators alike.”</P><br /><P>Kowalzik continued, “The survey shows some interesting discrepancies between younger UK and US mobile users.</P><br /><P>Previously, we would have assumed that this demographics’ mobile Internet usage would have been similar, however it seems that the UK mobile audience is more Internet savvy across the board.”</P><br /><P>The research shows that UK users are the heaviest users of social networks via mobile devices.</P><br /><P>15 percent say that they use these platforms on smartphones more than five times a day, compared with 8 percent of Americans.</P><br /><P>Naturally, tyntec has a solution which would enable mobile network operators to build on the opportunities reveled in this survey.</P><br /><P>Its tt.One solution enables companies to deploy OTT services both quickly and easily, allowing both to capitalise on new revenue streams, the company claims.</P><br /><P>It also says that the solution bridges the telecoms and web worlds with mobile phone numbers – giving companies the means to enable seamless communication with SMS and voice.</P><br /><P><A href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GomoNews/~3/94pkQHxoJ1A/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</A></P>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-28051809782608290352012-06-26T22:23:00.003+05:302012-06-26T22:23:29.306+05:30Hide Files in Image Files !!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGXuNP6IvhyZ4sxRdN6RkzQ7Ov7AGxeOz5IAedG6QdssI8jiNhcwFWLsOn-cD5yxdAWNM0723YzX3E_0D0bpCysXnQuR_M3S8Qlq1nxCb8Uy7xYBvtAjb98E3KUsg9-wVZVr4d6MjtPcVO/s1600/hide-files-in-a-picture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGXuNP6IvhyZ4sxRdN6RkzQ7Ov7AGxeOz5IAedG6QdssI8jiNhcwFWLsOn-cD5yxdAWNM0723YzX3E_0D0bpCysXnQuR_M3S8Qlq1nxCb8Uy7xYBvtAjb98E3KUsg9-wVZVr4d6MjtPcVO/s320/hide-files-in-a-picture.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I have got a trick to hide files in image files !!!<br /><br /><br />Here it is :<br /><br />
<ul>
<li> You require WinRAR installed on your PC for this trick.</li>
<li> First add your files to .rar and i.e. say files.rar</li>
<li> Say you have a image as img.jpg</li>
<li> Now, save files.rar and img.jpg in c:\ drive.</li>
<li> Click start >> Run</li>
<li> Type cmd</li>
<li> Now in command prompt type cd..</li>
<li> Again type cd..</li>
<li> Type copy /b img.jpg + files.rar new.jpg</li>
</ul>
<br /><br />-------------- Please Note --------------<br /><br />>> This command will concatenate the two files into the new file new.jpg<br />>> Don't type files.rar + img.jpg instead of img.jpg + files.rar.<br />>> Now, (size of new.jpg) = (size of img.jpg) + (size of files.rar) .<br /><br />-------------------------------------------<br /><br />Now, we have new.jpg consisting of both img.jpg and files.rar .<br /><br /><b>Accessing the files :</b><br /><br />Double click new.jpg and img.jpg can be viewed.<br /><br /> Now, to access files.rar :<br /><br /># Right click on new.jpg >> Select Open With >> Choose Program...<br /># Select WinRAR archiver.<br /># Now, simply Extract your files !<br />
<br />
<br /><a href="http://goo.gl/G8Nvg" target="_blank">View the original article her</a>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-57866133668724237732012-06-26T19:31:00.000+05:302012-06-26T19:31:00.500+05:30US regains supercomputer crownThe IBM team behind the world's fastest computer. IBM's Sequoia has taken the top spot on the list of the world's fastest supercomputers for the US.<br /><P></P><br /><P>The newly installed system trumped Japan's K Computer made by Fujitsu which fell to second place.</P><br /><P>It is the first time the US can claim pole position since it was beaten by China two years ago. </P><br /><P>Sequoia will be used to carry out simulations to help extend the life of aging nuclear weapons, avoiding the need for real-world underground tests.</P><br /><P>It is installed at the US Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. </P><br /><P>"While Sequoia may be the fastest, the underlying computing capabilities it provides give us increased confidence in the nation's nuclear deterrent," said National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) administrator Thomas D'Agostino. </P><br /><P>"Sequoia also represents continued American leadership in high performance computing." </P>Adding processors <br /><P>The computers were ranked according to a test known as the Linpack Benchmark which gives each computer a petaflop/s score (quadrillion floating-point operations per second).</P><br /><P>Sequoia tested at 16.32 petaflop/s, compared to K Computer's 10.51 petaflop/s.</P><br /><P>To make the figure more understandable, IBM said Sequoia was capable of calculating in one hour what otherwise would have taken 6.7 billion people using hand calculators 320 years to complete if they had worked non-stop. </P><br /><P>Although the US's efforts helped secure it the lead, its overall tally of three computers in the top 10 was worse than six months ago when it had five.</P><br /><P>China and Germany both have two supercomputers, while Japan, France and Italy have one.</P><br /><P>But IBM proved to be the leading manufacturer claiming five out of the top 10 spots.</P><br /><P>David Turek, vice president of deep computing at the firm, told the BBC his company had been preparing to retake the top spot for two years. </P><br /><P>"Substantial planning went into this. We knew the day would come."</P><br /><P>Sequoia is 1.55 times faster than the Fujitsu model, and uses over 1.5 million processor cores.</P><br /><P>In comparison the Japanese model has less than half the number of CPUs (central processing units).</P>Energy efficient <br /><P>The IBM supercomputer is also more energy efficient than the Fujitsu model. </P><br /><P>Sequoia consumes 7.9 megawatts compared to the K computer which uses 12.6 megawatts. </P><br /><P>Mr Turek described Sequoia as the "pinnacle of energy efficiency" and said the reaction had been "very enthusiastic."</P><br /><P>"Government laboratories in Europe have already expressed interest," he said.</P> CM-5/1024 designed by Thinking Machines was the first supercomputer on the list. <br /><P>The list is published every six months by German Professor Hans Meuer and US-based Professor Jack Dongarra. </P><br /><P>Prof Dongarra told the BBC it was unlikely that another manufacturer would overtake IBM in the next year.</P><br /><P>"Sequoia is very impressive," he said.</P>273,930 times faster <br /><P>The first computer to take the top position on the list was the CM-5/1024 in 1993, designed by Thinking Machines. </P><br /><P>According to Prof Dongarra, Sequoia is 273,930 times faster. </P><br /><P>"A calculation that took three full days to compute on the Thinking Machines in 1993 today can be done in less than one second on the Sequoia," he said.</P><br /><P><A href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18457716#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</A></P>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-40393678509734064962012-06-26T15:31:00.000+05:302012-06-26T15:31:00.429+05:30US, Israel made Flame virus to thwart Iran: report The United States and Israel collaborated to create the Flame computer virus as part of an effort to slow Iran's suspected nuclear weapons drive, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.</P><P>The newspaper, citing "Western officials with knowledge of the effort," said the sophisticated malware was designed to spy on Iran's computer networks and send back intelligence used for an ongoing cyberwarfare campaign.</P><P>The Post said the US National Security Agency and CIA worked with Israel's military on the project.</P><P>A number of reports had linked Israel and the United States to Flame and another virus called Stuxnet which caused malfunctions in Iran's nuclear enrichment equipment.</P><P>US officials have not publicly discussed the matter except to say that they are focused on cyber efforts as part of defense and intelligence.</P><P>"This is about preparing the battlefield for another type of covert action," one former high-ranking US intelligence official told the Post.</P><P>The Russian security firm Kaspersky, first credited with discovering Flame, said last week the malware had strong links to Stuxnet.</P><P>Kaspersky said its research shows the two programs share certain portions of code, suggesting some ties between two separate groups of programmers.</P><P>The New York Times reported June 1 that President Barack Obama accelerated cyberattacks on Iran's nuclear program and expanded the assault even after the Stuxnet virus accidentally escaped in 2010.</P><P>The cyberattack, aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons and keeping Israel from launching a preventive military strike, sowed widespread confusion in Iran's Natanz nuclear plant, the Times said.</P><br /><p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/us-israel-made-flame-virus-thwart-iran-report-201613612.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-69751614554445001922012-06-26T11:56:00.000+05:302012-06-26T11:56:00.175+05:30Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Might Debut with Android OS ''Jelly Bean''<P>News is coming in that the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 may feature the upcoming Android 5.0 operating system, also known as Jelly Bean.</P><br /><P>Samsung is supposedly prepping the device for an October launch in order to compete with the upcoming Apple iPhone 5. The company reportedly thinks that by releasing the smartphone/tablet with Android 5.0 it would do better in the market against the newest model from Apple. Google is expected to announce Jelly Bean at its I/O developer conference next week. Until that time, not much is know abut OS 5.0, other than it might include a new voice-control system.</P><br /><P>The Galaxy Note 2 is also rumored to sport an unbreakable plane (UBP) display. While earlier rumors called for a flexible display, the UBP display will allow for a thinner glass which will give more space for the internal parts that will be featured in the device. The unbreakable touch-screen is an earlier version of Samsung's flexible display technology.</P><br /><P><STRONG>Other Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Leaked Specs</STRONG></P><br /><P>According to leaked spec sheets, the Samsung's upcomingtablet phone is going to feature a 5.5-inch screen with a resolution of 1050 x 1680 pixels (WSXGA), giving it a very high pixel density of 360ppi. The device will also reportedly sport a Samsung Exynos 5250 dual-core processor. The clock speed for this is not yet known, but will likely be 2.0GHz.</P><br /><P>The leaked specifications sheet also indicates that the S Pen stylus will be part of the second-generation Note, as well as some features that debuted in the Samsung Galaxy S III, such as the S Voice voice-control system, S Beam, and Smart Stay.</P><br /><P>Source</EM></P><br /><P><A href="http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=19020&news=samsung+Galaxy+note+2+android+jelly+bean+5.0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</A></P>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-15252135666497025762012-06-26T08:06:00.000+05:302012-06-26T08:06:00.865+05:30Olympic portal opens on Facebook Facebook's dedicated section will let people follow their favourite athletes Facebook has announced a dedicated portal for London 2012 to allow fans to "connect with their favourite Olympians" at the Games.<br /><P></P><br /><P>The section features dedicated pages for athletes and sports, including a complete timeline history of the competition since the 1800s.</P><br /><P>The IOC said the portal would create a "social media stadium".</P><br /><P>However, restrictions on what athletes can or cannot post will restrict some content from being published.</P><br /><P>Participants are subject to tight guidelines over content posted on Facebook and Twitter, particularly in relation to brands and broadcasting deals.</P><br /><P>It restricts the posting of any video from within an Olympic venue.</P>'Ambush' <br /><P>Mark Adams, from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said that while visitors to the Games would be able to post videos and stills, athletes' activities would be curbed.</P>Continue reading the main story <br /><BLOCKQUOTE readability="6">It's impossible to think all day and all night about the next match, interacting with fans is a good thing”<br /><P></P></BLOCKQUOTE>End Quote Boris Becker "It depends on where they are," he said.<br /><P></P><br /><P>"If they're in a stadium, they can't. We have a relationship with various broadcasters around the world which provides the funding [for the Games]."</P><br /><P>In addition, he said, the IOC would be watching for any attempted "ambush" marketing.</P><br /><P>"It's something we always have to keep in our mind," he said.</P><br /><P>"It does take away money from the Olympic movement. It's something that we have to protect."</P><br /><P>Facebook, which announced the portal at its central London offices, said it hoped the portal would mean Olympics fans could interact with athletes in a way that had not been possible in previous Games.</P><br /><P>Alex Balfour, from the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (Locog) said there was now a "perfect storm" of technology to allow a "really rich experience" wherever fans were in the world.</P><br /><P>"We want make sure our Games is available to that new audience of digital consumers," he added.</P>Facebook said it would allow fans to use the network to discover footage of their favourite athletes - but some content would be geo-targeted, meaning certain footage might not be available in certain regions of the world.<br /><P></P><br /><P>Mr Adams admitted that the IOC had been slow to adopt social networking, but was now ready to embrace it for London 2012.</P><br /><P>"The way I like to think about the IOC and our relationship with social media is that the Olympics is one of the oldest social networks that has ever been. </P><br /><P>"Everyone has an experience and shares that experience with their friends and their family - everyone has an emotional attachment to the Games. We're just digitising that experience."</P>Hot water <br /><P>Former world tennis number one and Olympic gold medallist Boris Becker told the BBC that using social media could help athletes prepare.</P><br /><P>"It's very positive. It gives athletes the chance to get real opinions and real questions and to answer back. </P><br /><P>"It's fun - everyone's online anyway. It's impossible to think all day and all night about the next match, interacting with fans is a good thing."</P><br /><P>However, he warned that it was inevitable that some athletes might not think before they tweeted and so land themselves in hot water during the Games.</P><br /><P>"The world and people are not perfect," he said. </P><br /><P>"There will always be athletes who will take it out of line, but that doesn't mean that the platform is wrong."</P><br /><P><A href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18492825#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</A></P>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-66974230127786674752012-06-26T04:16:00.000+05:302012-06-26T04:16:00.263+05:30Swantee calls for 4G in UK right now<P><STRONG>Rating: Is it a level playing field though?</STRONG></P><br /><P>Olaf Swantee, CEO with Everything Everywhere (the combination of T-Mobile UK and France Telecom’s Orange UK) made a very impassioned plea to the powers-that-be in the UK to let his network start offering 4G services over its existing spectrum allocation. This was at the launch of the DigiWorld 2012 Yearbook in London. He made a very forceful argument that the status quo leaves the UK trailing miles behind other developed economies. It is so easy to feel sympathetic with Mr Swantee when the UK has traditionally led the world in the telecommunications high tech stakes. However, there’s the minor issue of level playing fields.Everything Everywhere makes no secret of the fact that it wants to operate 4G services (using LTE technology) over the 1800 MHz spectrum band.</P><br /><P>This makes complete sense if you look at the whole problem logically. Globally there are already around 20 mobile network operators worldwide who have chosen to implement 4G capable networks over 1800 MHz spectrum.</P><br /><P>On paper this gives Everything Everywhere a real boost. The snag is that the biggest market for 4G devices at present has been created in the USA by leading operator, Verizon.</P><br /><P>And Verizon certainly doesn’t use the 1800 MHz spectrum. So in terms of demand for 4G devices, the 1800 MHz spectrum proposed by Everything Everywhere doesn’t have much of a following.</P><br /><P>Mr Swantee is totally correct. There is a huge unlocked demand in the UK for 4G style connexions along with their associated high data throughputs.</P><br /><P>The major snag is that Swantee’s approach risks fragmenting the mobile data market. Plus there’s a tremendous precedent here.</P><br /><P>Rewind to 2G and in North America when there were at least four standards vying for market share in the mobile/cellular network. None of the handsets sold were multi-network.</P><br /><P>In other words, you bought a 2G device for one particular network that didn’t work on the other three network types.</P><br /><P>So, fast forward to Swantee’s Britain. His company will be selling devices that don’t work on the other 4G networks which other mobile operators roll out.</P><br /><P>Now GoMobile News</EM> is fully conversant with the fact that you can build a 4G device which will support all of the world’s different 4G spectrum allocations.</P><br /><P>The chips inside 4G devices would be able to handle all of the frequencies used worldwide but will manufacturers feel duty bound to implement the necessary receivers so that a device works on all possible 4G works?</P><br /><P>The answer is probably not. At the height of 2G’s dominance it was technically possible to build a handset which would have ‘roamed’ onto Japanese 2G networks.</P><br /><P>Did this happen? Of course, not. The number of European handset owners who would have wanted to use their existing handset on a visit to Japan was minuscule.</P><br /><P>So such devices were never introduced into North Aerican and European markets. Now fast forward to 4G devices in the UK.</P><br /><P>Who would add additional cost to their 4G devices by adding support for mulitiple frequencies when the demand is almost non-existent? No-one.</P><br /><P>But the real issue here is nothing to do with competitive pressures. If Everything Everywhere gets its way, it will leap-frog the opposition.</P><br /><P>Rival networks’ objection to this has nothing to do with innovation. It has to do with a level playing field and playing by the rules.</P><br /><P>For years, the UK government has said that it will auction off the requisite frequencies for 4G after the digital switch-over.</P><br /><P>So Everything Everywhere’s rivals have been working to that agenda. They haven’t got plans in place to operate 4G at 1800 MHz because it wasn’t suggested as a UK route to 4G.</P><br /><P>If the UK watchdog (Ofcom) wants to give in and allow 4G at 1800 MHz, then fine. But it will have to give notice to the other operators that it has drastically changed its mind.</P><br /><P>Giving everyone 12 months warning for 4G at 1800 MHz then is fine.But you’d still need to address the problem of why Everything Everywhere thinks 1800 MHz is great.</P><br /><P>It’s got loads of spare capacity since it is combining two separate networks which both operated at 1800 MHz.</P><br /><P>If you suggest to the company that 4G at 1800 MHz in the UK is fine as long as it disposes of the equivalent of one network’s 1800 MHz capacity, then it will definitely go off the idea.</P><br /><P>Personally, GoMobile News</EM> predicts that money talks. You can’t ask big bucks for 4G spectrum when one player has already got if for free.</P><br /><P>So while the UK government favours 4G as a delivery mechanism for high speed Internet, it won’t cave in.</P><br /><P>The chance to get big bucks for 4G spectrum in these harsh economic times is to appealing for the UK government to waver.<IMG src="www.techcit100.net23.net/public_html\/s.gif"> </P><br /><P><A href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GomoNews/~3/gP1yOZHUH9U/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</A></P>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-50767838434263341362012-06-26T00:59:00.000+05:302012-06-26T00:59:00.701+05:30LinkedIn sued for $5 million over data breach (Reuters) - An Illinois woman has filed a $5 million lawsuit against LinkedIn Corp, saying the social network violated promises to consumers by not having better security in place when more than 6 million customer passwords were stolen.</P><P>The lawsuit, which was brought in federal court in San Jose, California, on June 15 and seeks class-action status, was filed less than two weeks after the stolen passwords turned up on websites frequented by computer hackers.</P><P>The attack on Mountain View, California-based LinkedIn, an employment and professional networking site with more than 160 million members, was the latest massive corporate data breach to have attracted the attention of class-action lawyers.</P><P>A federal judicial panel last week consolidated nine proposed class-action lawsuits in Nevada federal court against online shoe retailer Zappos, a unit of Amazon.com, over its January disclosure that hackers had siphoned information affecting 24 million customers.</P><P>The LinkedIn lawsuit was filed by Katie Szpyrka, a user of the website from Illinois. In court papers, her Chicago-based law firm, Edelson McGuire, said LinkedIn had "deceived customers" by having a security policy "in clear contradiction of accepted industry standards for database security."</P><P>LinkedIn spokeswoman Erin O'Harra said the lawsuit was without merit and was driven "by lawyers looking to take advantage of the situation."</P><P>"No member account has been breached as a result of the incident, and we have no reason to believe that any LinkedIn member has been injured," O'Harra said on Wednesday.</P><P>Legal experts say that meaty settlements in online customer data theft cases will likely be difficult to obtain because plaintiffs will have to show that they were actually harmed by a breach.</P><P>"In consumer security class actions, the demonstration of harm is very challenging," said Ira Rothken, a San Francisco-based lawyer at the Rothken Law Firm, which handles similar cases for plaintiffs.</P><P>If it turns out that the LinkedIn breach was limited to customer passwords and not corresponding email addresses, it will be that much harder for plaintiffs to prove they were harmed by the hack, Rothken said.</P><P>Edelson, a boutique firm that has long litigated data breach and Internet privacy lawsuits, scored a success in March when it obtained a settlement against social gaming company RockYou over a 2009 data breach.</P><P>In that case, a federal judge in Oakland, California, allowed a suit handled by Edelson against RockYou to proceed on breach of contract grounds - allegations Edelson has repeated against LinkedIn. Under the March 28 settlement, RockYou denied wrongdoing, but agreed to pay Edelson $290,000 in legal fees.</P><P>The case is Katie Szpyrka v. LinkedIn Corporation, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 12-3088.</P><P>(Reporting By Basil Katz; Editing by Martha Graybow and Leslie Adler)</P><br /><p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/linkedin-sued-5-million-over-data-breach-204457165.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">View the original article here</a></p>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-9570842822981123112012-06-25T21:43:00.000+05:302012-06-25T21:43:00.517+05:30Mensch launches rival to TwitterLouise Mensch insists the new site's name is not a pun on her surname Conservative MP Louise Mensch has launched a microblogging site to rival Twitter.<br /><P></P><br /><P>Ms Mensch is a prolific Twitter user with almost 60,000 followers but said she has grown "frustrated" with it.</P><br /><P>Her new site - Menshn - aims to keep conversations on topic and allows 180 character posts - 40 more than Twitter.</P><br /><P>The site, jointly owned by ex-Labour digital adviser Luke Bozier, is only available in the US but aims to launch in the UK before the London Olympics.</P><br /><P>Discussion on Menshn has initially been restricted to the US election but Ms Mensch says it will expand to reflect users' interests.</P><br /><P>When new members join they gain 100 randomly selected subscribers, equivalent to Twitter followers.</P>'Inspiration' <br /><P>Mr Bozier said: "With all the great political forums out there, we noticed that there was no place to talk about politics live. </P><br /><P>"Whereas Twitter is not organised around topics, on menshn you have a permanent place to go online to talk about the things you're most interested in." </P><br /><P>Twitter users can organise discussions through the use of hashtags or searching by keyword and choose whose Tweets they read by following or unfollowing other users.</P><br /><P>The new site has had a largely hostile reaction from Twitter users so far, with some accusing Ms Mensch of vanity and predicting that the site will flop.</P><br /><P>The Corby MP has insisted the site's name is not a pun on her surname, as it is spelled differently, and is, rather, a play on the word "mention". </P><br /><P>Users who type "menschn.com" into web browsers are currently being redirected to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament site.</P><br /><P>Ms Mensch, who was a "chick lit" novelist before becoming an MP in 2010, said she hopes the site would attract Twitter users who find the site "frustrating".</P><br /><P>She told The Guardian: "This is an idea that I've had since Christmas. I've been a passionate user of social media since the days of AOL chatrooms, and that was the inspiration really."</P><br /><P>Last month, Ms Mensch, who says she hopes to raise venture capital backing for her new site, criticised "immoral and misogynistic" Twitter users for subjecting her to abuse.</P><br /><P><A href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18518162#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</A></P>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-7293781205992742652012-06-25T18:04:00.000+05:302012-06-25T18:04:00.377+05:30China's 'Twitter' introduces feesSina Weibo may not be afraid of domestic competition said one analyst Sina Weibo, China's biggest Twitter-like microblogging platform, has introduced a membership charge for premium features.<br /><P></P><br /><P>For a monthly fee of 10 yuan ($1.57, £1) its 300 million users can add personalised pages, voice posts and better security, among other services.</P><br /><P>The move could help return the firm to profit. It posted a $13.7m (£9m) loss for its first quarter in May.</P><br /><P>One analyst called it a "bold move", adding Twitter was unlikely to follow.</P><br /><P>Sina Weibo is introducing a total of 15 added VIP features, according to the Tech in Asia blog.</P><br /><P>It said the move built on other recent innovations added to the platform including social games and a virtual currency called Weibi.</P><br /><P>One Beijing-based business consultant noted the decision to charge fees had followed government pressure on the business to boost efforts to filter out illegal posts by some of its members, increasing its costs.</P><br /><P>"Weibo has become an indispensable tool to Chinese netizens, although some argue of late that it has become less compelling due to the restrictions," said Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA.</P><br /><P>"But for Sina of course ultimately its aim is not to run the service as a charity. </P><br /><P>"This could be a tricky situation - if they push too far to monetise they could tarnish their brand, but if they don't succeed in converting all this traffic to commercial value then it's ultimately unsustainable in the long term."</P>'Brave move' Continue reading the main story <br /><BLOCKQUOTE readability="5">[Sina Weibo] must have a degree of confidence about its own domestic position”<br /><P></P></BLOCKQUOTE>End Quote Mark Mulligan Independent media analyst While the move may prove a success for the Chinese firm, independent media analyst Mark Mulligan suggested it would be a mistake for western social networks to follow at this point.<br /><P></P><br /><P>"It's a very brave move, and I do not think it is likely that Twitter would follow a similar route, certainly not at this stage," he said. </P><br /><P>"In order to start charging for something that people expect to be free, a company has to be very confident of its market position.</P><br /><P>"Any social tool faces competition - Facebook has done a lot trying to emulate microblogging with its timeline features. If Twitter tried to [introduce fees], Facebook would capitalise on that and try to implement a much richer set of services entirely free." </P><br /><P>He added that the dynamics were different in China and Sina Weibo might not be afraid of competition since other domestic web giants, such as Tencent and Renren, had also introduced membership fees for some add-on services.</P><br /><P>A spokeswoman for Twitter said the firm did not comment on other companies, adding that its business model remained based on advertising.</P><br /><P><A href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18510214#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</A></P>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-31268158614441607842012-06-25T14:27:00.000+05:302012-06-25T14:27:00.225+05:30How the Turing Test inspired AI Artificial Intelligence, University of Sheffield Computer pioneer and artificial intelligence (AI) theorist Alan Turing would have been 100 years old this Saturday. To mark the anniversary the BBC has commissioned a series of essays. In this, the fourth article, his influence on AI research and the resulting controversy are explored.<br /><P></P> Despite advances in computer technology, scientists have not been able to create a "thinking machine" that can pass the Turing Test <br /><P>Alan Turing was clearly a man ahead of his time. In 1950, at the dawn of computing, he was already grappling with the question: "Can machines think?" </P><br /><P>This was at a time when the first general purpose computers had only just been built.</P><br /><P>The term artificial intelligence had not even been coined. John McCarthy would come up with the term in 1956, two years after Alan Turing's untimely death.</P><br /><P>Yet his ideas proved both to have a profound influence over the new field of AI, and to cause a schism amongst its practitioners.</P>Knocking down naysayers <br /><P>One of Turing's lasting legacies to AI, and not necessarily a good one, is his approach to the problem of thinking machines.</P><br /><P>He wrote: "I have no very convincing arguments of a positive nature to support my views." </P><br /><P>Instead, he turned the tables on those who might be sceptical about the idea of machines thinking, unleashing his formidable intellect on a range of possible objections, from religion to consciousness.</P> Turing outlined his AI experiment while working at the University of Manchester, where a memorial statue has since been erected <br /><P>With so little known about where computing was heading at this time, the approach made sense. He asserted correctly that "conjectures are of great importance since they suggest useful lines of research".</P><br /><P>But 62 years on, now that we have advanced computers to test, it seems wrong that some proponents of AI still demand the onus be put on sceptics to prove the idea of an intelligent machine impossible.</P><br /><P>The philosopher Bertrand Russell ridiculed this type of situation, likening it to asking a sceptic to disprove there is a china teapot revolving around the sun while insisting the teapot is too small to be revealed.</P><br /><P>This can be seen as wrong-footing the scientific process of hypothesis testing and evidence collection. </P>The Imitation Game <br /><P>In fact, Turing well understood the need for empirical evidence, proposing what has become known as the Turing Test to determine if a machine was capable of thinking. The test was an adaptation of a Victorian-style competition called the imitation game.</P><br /><P>It involves secluding a man and woman from an interrogator who has to guess which is which by asking questions and studying written replies.</P><br /><P>The man aims to fool the interrogator, while the woman tries to help him.</P><br /><P>In the Turing Test, a computer program replaces the man. Turing asked: "Will the interrogator decide wrongly as often when the game is played like this as he does when the game is played between a man and a woman."</P><br /><P>Effectively, the test studies whether the interrogator can determine which is computer and which is human (although Turing did not explicitly say that the interrogator should be told that one of the respondents was a computer it seems clear to me from his example questions that this was what he intended). </P><br /><P>The idea was that if the questioner could not tell the difference between human and machine, the computer would be considered to be thinking.</P>Continue reading the main story Failing the test Turing suggested that by the year 2000 the average interrogator would have less than a 70% chance of making the right decision after five minutes of questioning.<br /><P></P><br /><P>My iPhone has more than 500 times the storage capacity he thought would be required and orders of magnitude more processing power, yet passing the test still seems a long way off.</P><br /><P>In 1990, New York businessman Hugh Loebner set up the annual Loebner Prize competition with a prize of $100,000 (£63,500) to the creator of a machine that could pass the Turing Test.</P> Loebner Prize judges have five minutes to ask questions to determine which respondent is a computer and which a person <br /><P>How the Turing Test inspired AI</P><br /><P>The AI aristocracy strongly supported the contest until it became clear how badly the machines were performing.</P><br /><P>Now in its twenty-second year, no machine has come even close to winning.</P><br /><P>Marvin Minsky, one of the fathers of AI, wrote in 1995: "I do hope that someone will volunteer to violate this proscription so that Mr Loebner will indeed revoke his stupid prize, save himself some money, and spare us the horror of this obnoxious and unproductive annual publicity campaign."</P><br /><P>No-one in AI seems to take the failure of the Turing Test as an argument against the possibility of thinking machines.</P><br /><P>Because Turing had talked about a future "imaginable machine", some of the proponents say that we will have them at a future date. But others now argue that the Turing Test simply is not the best way to measure machine intelligence.</P>AI moves on <br /><P>Despite the failure of machines to deceive us into believing they are human, Turing would be excited by the remarkable progress of AI.</P><br /><P>It is flourishing in so many spheres of activity, from robots investigating the progress of climate change to computers running the world's finances.</P><br /><P>I expect that Turing would have danced for joy in 1997 when Deep Blue defeated world champion Gary Kasparov at chess. </P> IBM's Watson beat two Jeopardy champions in a special edition of game show in 2011 <br /><P>I can also imagine him cheering in the wings of the TV game show Jeopardy when the program Watson beat the two best human opponents in the history of the American game.</P><br /><P>It is difficult to tell how any of these achievements would have been possible without the continued inspiration from Turing's original and radical ideas.</P><br /><P>In my opinion, the Turing Test remains a useful way to chart the progress of AI and I believe that humans will be discussing it for centuries to come.</P><br /><P>Noel Sharkey is professor of artificial intelligence and robotics at the University of Sheffield and co-founder of the International Committee for Robot Arms Control.</EM></P><br /><P><A href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18475646#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</A></P>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-29816781986475361102012-06-25T11:09:00.000+05:302012-06-25T11:09:00.058+05:30Fast Burst Camera (Lite) – Android App Review<P>It seems it doesn’t take long these days for a new feature built in to the latest and greatest smartphones to be ported or hacked on to other phones.</P><br /><P>Yesterday, I looked at Smart Stay (Beta) for Android, today I tried Fast Burst Camera (Lite) for Android.</P><br /><BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE><br /><BLOCKQUOTE readability="11"><br /><P>Take up to 30 photos per second with this high-speed camera applicationThis is the fastest camera app available for Android. Not even the newest iPhones are able to shoot this fast.</P><br /><P>Fast Burst Camera is capable of taking 30 photos per second.<BR>( on low-end devices, 5-10 photos per second is possible )</P><br /><P>Hold shoot button for continuous burst, or tap for fast single shots<BR>Zero shutter lag – pictures are taken as soon as shutter button is pressed.</P></BLOCKQUOTE><br /><P>The app itself is pretty easy to use, fire it up, point it at something, and then hold the button!</P><br /><P>I did find that if I kept my thumb down on the button until it stopped (97 photos), it did take a while for the app to empty it’s cache whilst it saved the images to memory.</P><br /><P>The one thing I would like is a zoom option, this is available in the full version priced at £3.45.</P><br /><P>Here are a couple of examples of photos taken with Fast Burst…along with those ‘missed it’ photo’s you are likely to get if your phone has shutter lag, like my S2. The images below are the actual size taken by the app, so a lot smaller than the normal 8mp resolution you would normally see on higher spec smart phones.</P> Just before the sand castle meets it's end.<br /><P></P><BR> This is what I normally end up with...missed the action.<br /><P></P><BR> Mid air action shot...<br /><P></P><BR> A nice water splash.<br /><P></P><BR> Doh, missed the action...again.<br /><P></P><br /><P>The app can be found in the android app store. Free version. Paid Version. I’d recommend trying the free version first to see what you phone is capable of.</P><br /><P>If you have an decent action shots, why not share them over at our forum.</P><br /><P>Thank you do my daughter for the use of her legs…though I think she enjoyed the splashing.</P><br /><P><A href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/coolsmartphone/uJxV/~3/ANSvy1MlIr0/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</A></P>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-3604868241887993382012-06-25T07:41:00.000+05:302012-06-25T07:41:00.464+05:30Challenge to China on rare earthsRare earth elements are in great demand Vietnam and Japan have opened a centre for research into rare earth minerals to challenge China's monopoly of supply. <br /><P></P><br /><P>The elements are crucial for many modern technologies including computers, TVs and wind turbines. </P><br /><P>China produces more than 90% of the world's rare earths but has enforced strict export restrictions. </P><br /><P>Vietnam, with huge untapped reserves is one of a number of countries gearing up to take advantage of worldwide demand.</P>Continue reading the main story <br /><BLOCKQUOTE readability="5">It... gives them a source that's happy to ship them the raw materials rather than ask them to move into their country”<br /><P></P></BLOCKQUOTE>End Quote Tim Worstall Adam Smith Institute One of the countries worst affected by the curtailment of Chinese rare earth exports is Japan. They import around 60% of China's production primarily for use in the electronics and automobile industries. <br /><P></P><br /><P>Tokyo is so concerned about the country's reliance on China in this field that they have been keen to develop alternatives. In 2010 Japan and Vietnam signed an agreement to co-operate in the exploitation of the minerals. Vietnam is reckoned to be in the top ten in the world in terms of rare earth reserves. </P><br /><P>Now the two have opened a jointly financed technology centre to help to process and separate the ore with the rare elements then shipped to Japan. </P><br /><P>Tim Worstall is a senior fellow at the Adam Smith Institute and an expert in rare earth minerals. </P><br /><P>"What's happening with Vietnam and Japan is not in itself a decisive change but it is a symptom of other things going on in the market which are changing the supply from China to non-Chinese sources."</P> Neodymium is a crucial element in magnets for electric cars <br /><P>In March this year, Japan along with the European Union and the US submitted an official complaint to the World Trade Organisation about China's export restrictions. China says that it's curtailed supplies because extracting rare elements from ore is very damaging to the environment. </P><br /><P>But according to Tim Worstall, there is another important aspect to China's move that in some ways explains the Japanese interest in forming an alliance with Vietnam. </P><br /><P>"What China is said to be doing is reducing the exports so that the people who add the value and produce the expensive pieces of equipment move their production into China, that's something that some people are not happy to do," he explained.</P><br /><P>"That's really the background to the Japanese and Vietnamese tie up, yes it gives them an alternative source from China but also gives them a source that's happy to ship them the raw materials rather than ask them to move into their country."</P>Rare no longer <br /><P>And in Vietnam there are now projects underway in several countries to improve the exploitation of rare elements that are still crucial for the manufacture of batteries, magnets, mobile phones and other devices. </P><br /><P>"There's no shortage of rare earth ore at all and there won't be for several centuries at minimum," Tim Worstall told BBC News. </P><br /><P>"There is a shortage of the processing capacity to turn those ores into the individual rare elements but that is also being addressed. </P><br /><P>Several commentators expect that in the next few years, the current shortage of the elements will become a glut. Tim Worstall says that the situation is about to change dramatically. </P><br /><P>"I can think of three specific projects that I know that are financed and in the next two to three years will supply about 40% of the world market. I think the whole question becomes irrelevant as we get more non-Chinese supplies."</P><br /><P><A href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18508692#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</A></P>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-14007478199679825232012-06-25T04:05:00.000+05:302012-06-25T04:05:00.708+05:30Lumia owners embraced by Nokia<P> </P><br /><P>Microsoft may have decided to leave us Lumia owners out in the cold regarding the Windows Phone 8 update but Nokia have come to our aid, with the warm and comforting shoulder that a good parent should do.</P><br /><P>As of June the 27th they will begin rolling out the Tango update to all Lumia 800 ,710 and 900 owners. This update brings the long awaited feature of Wireless hotspot to Lumia 800 and 710 users. It will also bring the often forgotten Flip to silence feature that was present on Symbian devices of old back to Nokia smartphones. This feature will come to all devices.</P><br /><P>So, it may not be all doom and gloom for us. Also remember that we have got the 7.8 update coming down the line in Quarter 4 featuring a new Start screen.</P><br /><P>Do you feel this is enough or do you feel like you have been betrayed by MS, voice off in the forums and let is know what you think.</P><br /><P>Link – Forums<BR>Credit – The Verge</P><br /><P><A href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/coolsmartphone/uJxV/~3/zhtSrtm02IY/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</A></P>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-43761817834074578242012-06-25T01:02:00.000+05:302012-06-25T01:02:00.187+05:30Facebook's unique visitors slipped in May: comScore<P>Facebook's U.S. user numbers dwindled in May from April and March, according to data compiled by research firm comScore, in the latest sign that growth may be leveling off at the No. 1 social network.</P><br /><P>Last month, Facebook attracted 158.01 million unique visitors in the United States, edging lower from 158.69 million in April and 158.93 million in March, comScore said.</P><br /><P>Keeping users coming back -- or combating fatigue -- is crucial for all social media services, analysts say. Facebook is consistently trotting our new features, including the "Timeline" interface rolled out this year, and more are expected with the deal to acquire popular photo-sharing app Instagram.</P><br /><P>ComScore has changed how it counts users, making year-ago comparisons harder. Under its old methods, comScore previously said Facebook had 157.22 million visitors in May 2011, which would make Wednesday's data a year-on-year increase of just 0.5 percent.</P><br /><P>The changes comScore made generally reduce user numbers, so in an apples-to-apples comparison, user growth would look slightly bigger, a comsScore spokesman said.</P><br /><P>Users spent an average of 380.8 minutes, or more than six hours, on the site in May this year, up slightly from 378.9 minutes in April.</P><br /><P>In April last year, as measured under comScore's old techniques, users spent 374.9 minutes on the site.</P><br /><P>Facebook was heavily criticized for the handling of its initial public offering in May, and critics have also questioned the efficacy of its ads.</P><br /><P>One oft-cited reason for buying Facebook stock was the company's rapid growth.</P><br /><P>The company's shares debuted at $38, but dipped well into the $20s before recovering some ground in recent weeks. On Wednesday shares closed at $31.60, down about 1 percent.</P><br /><P>About two out of five people polled by Reuters and Ipsos Public Affairs said they used Facebook every day. Nearly half of the Facebook users polled spent about the same amount of time on the social network as six months ago.</P><br /><P>(Reporting By Sarah McBride; Editing by Bernard Orr and David Gregorio)</P><br /><P><A href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/technologyNews/~3/iZkbKYmxM4A/net-us-facebook-users-idUSBRE85J1L020120621" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</A></P>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-54465761541706894022012-06-24T21:16:00.000+05:302012-06-24T21:16:00.267+05:30Nokia 808 PureView with 41 Megapixel Camera Headed for the U.S.<P>The Nokia 808 PureView smartphone, along with its impressive 41 megapixel camera, will be available to consumers in the U.S. soon.</P><br /><P>An unlocked and unsubsidized version of the handset will be sold on Amazon.com for $700. Pre-orders for the device start later this week, and prospective customers can sign up to be notified when the smartphone will be officially on-sale.</P><br /><P>Those with the Nokia 808 PureView will be able to use a compatible SIM card from AT&T and will also be able to work under the T-Mobile network.</P><br /><P><STRONG>Nokia 808 PureView Background</STRONG></P><br /><P>The 808 PureView has a 4-inch AMOLED ClearBlack touchscreen. It features a whopping 41 megapixel camera along with Nokia PureView imaging technology, Carl Zeiss optics, and high resolution sensors.</P><br /><P>In addition to its imaging capability, the device includes full HD 1080p video recording and playback with 4X lossless zoom. The 808 PureView will also be the first phone to use Nokia Rich Recording which enables audio recording at CD-like levels of quality.</P><br /><P>Unlike Nokia's other recent smartphones, this runs Symbian Belle, not Windows Phone. It does so on a 1.3 GHz single-core processor, and will have 512MB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory. Other features include a microSD card slot, HDMI-out, Wi-Fi, GPS, NFC, and USB On-The-Go.</P><br /><P>Source</EM></P><br /><P><A href="http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=19016&news=nokia+808+pureview+tmobile+amazon+att+smartphone" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</A></P>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-65825694427589581332012-06-24T17:44:00.000+05:302012-06-24T17:44:00.718+05:30Judge grills Apple in Google smartphone case <br /><P> A U.S. judge on Wednesday strongly questioned Apple Inc's bid for an injunction against Google Inc's Motorola Mobility unit, as the iPhone maker tries to salvage its position on a key front in the smartphone patent wars.</P><br /><P>Federal Judge Richard Posner in Chicago did not make any formal rulings from the bench during the hearing, which was a chance for Apple to plead its case for an injunction against Motorola phones that allegedly use its technology. But Posner called the U.S. patent system "chaos" and said an order barring the sale of Motorola phones could have "catastrophic effects."</P><br /><P>Posner earlier this month tentatively canceled an impending trial between the two technology companies, but scheduled the Wednesday hearing so Apple could argue for the injunction.</P><br /><P>Apple has waged an international patent war since 2010 as part of its attempt to limit the growth of Google's Android system, the world's best-selling mobile operating platform. A decisive injunction in one of the U.S. legal cases could strengthen Apple's hand in negotiating cross-licensing deals, where companies agree to let each other use their patented technologies.</P><br /><P>Opponents of Apple, meanwhile, say the iPhone and iPad maker is using patents too aggressively in its bid to stamp out the competition.</P><br /><P>Motorola sued Apple in October 2010, a move widely seen as a preemptive strike. Apple filed its own lawsuit against Motorola the same month. Apple is also slated for trial against Samsung Electronics Co Ltd next month in California.</P><br /><P>Posner issued a series of pretrial rulings that eliminated nearly all of Motorola's patent claims against Apple, while maintaining more of Apple's claims against Motorola. That meant Apple had more to gain at the trial, which had been set to start last week.</P><br /><P>But Posner tentatively ruled that neither side could prove damages and scrapped the trial. An injunction would be "contrary to the public interest," Posner wrote.</P><br /><P>In court on Wednesday, Apple attorney Matthew Powers said it is not seeking an order barring the sale of Motorola phones. Rather, Apple would be satisfied with an injunction requiring Motorola to remove Apple's patented technology from Motorola phones within three months.</P><br /><P>That outcome would ensure the Android phones do not share some of the same features as the iPhone, a differentiation that could help Apple in the marketplace. One of the patents at issue, for instance, covers technology to stream real time video without glitches or delays.</P><br /><P>"It means we're not competing with them where they are using our technology against us," Powers said.</P><br /><P>But Posner said it may be preferable to direct Motorola to pay Apple a compulsory royalty. Forcing Motorola to adopt inferior technology, as opposed to paying a royalty, would not benefit consumers, he said.</P><br /><P>In addition, nothing would stop Apple from coming back into court after three months to claim Motorola is still infringing.</P><br /><P>"That's all we need is new actions, new suits, because there's not enough litigation worldwide between Apple and Android," Posner said.</P><br /><P>Motorola had also asked for an injunction on the one patent it is still asserting in the case against Apple. However, Motorola had pledged to license that patent - which covers an aspect of wireless communication - on fair and reasonable terms to other companies in exchange for having the technology be adopted as an industry standard.</P><br /><P>"I don't see how you can have injunction against the use of a standard essential patent," Posner told Motorola's attorneys.</P><br /><P>Overall, Posner questioned the worth of many software patents, noting deep systemic problems with the U.S. patent system.</P><br /><P>"You can't just assume that because someone has a patent, he has some deep moral right to exclude everyone else" from using the technology, Posner said.</P><br /><P>The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, is Apple Inc and NeXT Software Inc v. Motorola Inc and Motorola Mobility Inc, 11-cv-8540.</P><br /><P>(Editing by Lisa Von Ahn, Jeffrey Benkoe and Andre Grenon)</P><br /><P><A href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/technologyNews/~3/tGO6dLXMJyI/us-apple-google-lawsuit-idUSBRE85J07L20120620" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</A></P>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-86252503168415362512012-06-24T14:22:00.000+05:302012-06-24T14:22:00.081+05:30Apple fined in Australia for misleading iPad advertising <br /><P>Apple Inc was fined A$2.25 million ($2.29 million) by an Australian court on Thursday for misleading advertising of its latest iPad.</P><br /><P>The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) took legal action against Apple in March, after the computer and gadgets maker rolled out the first wave of new iPad tablets in the Australian market.</P><br /><P>The competition watchdog accused Apple of misleading customers with the description of its new iPad, which said it was compatible with a 4G mobile data network when it was not.</P><br /><P>The court determined Apple had implied "that an iPad with WiFi + 4G could connect directly to the Telstra LTE mobile data network in Australia, which it could not do," according to the verdict emailed to Reuters by the regulator.</P><br /><P>Apple "engaged in conduct that was liable to mislead the public," it said.</P><br /><P>A spokeswoman for Apple in Sydney could not be reached immediately for comment on Thursday. Apple has already promised to email all buyers of its new iPad in Australia to offer them a refund and agreed to post warnings that its new iPad "is not compatible with current Australian 4G LTE networks and WiMAX networks."</P><br /><P>Telstra Corp's network operates on a different frequency to the 4G on Apple's new iPad.</P><br /><P>Apple rolled out the first wave of new iPad tablets on March 16. ($1 = 0.9815 Australian dollars)</P><br /><P>(Reporting by Miranda Maxwell; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)</P><br /><P><A href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/technologyNews/~3/yh6JAXfCmUw/us-apple-australia-fine-idUSBRE85K03J20120621" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</A></P>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5970331149334828171.post-75110739029664402432012-06-24T10:25:00.000+05:302012-06-24T10:25:00.547+05:30Guest Post: How Liquid Metal & Gorilla Glass 2 may be in the next iPhone<P><STRONG>by Bahram Nasehi, vp & partner with Dulles Glass and Mirror</STRONG></P><br /><P><IMG class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-34493" title=iPhone5_pic alt="" src="www.techcit100.net23.net/public_html\/iPhone5pic-300x289.jpg" width=300 height=289>Liquid metal (metallic glass) may be at the forefront of the next materials revolution, which means there’s a good chance we’ll see it break though at the consumer level with the next generation Apple iPhone. Here, we look into the latest iPhone5 rumours and examine how new innovations like Liquid Metal and Gorilla Glass are made, and why they’re already well on their way towards revolutionizing consumer products.Apple CEO, Tim Cook, has promised to double down on the secrecy of Apple’s products.</P><br /><P>However, as we inch closer to the release of the new iPhone5, Apple fanboys have been talking; part manufacturers have been leaking; and rumours have been swirling.</P><br /><P>Some of the rumours with the most credibility include a new form factor with 4 inch Gorilla Glass 2 display, a new smaller dock connector (which will give added space for better speakers), and a liquid metal-glass casing, tougher than Titanium!</P><br /><P>Originally, the first generation iPhone almost went into production with a touchscreen made of plastic. That would have been disastrous due to the ‘scratchability’ of plastic.</P><br /><P>Steve Jobs righted that ship in the eleventh hour, and now the future has come full-circle in the way of Corning’s ‘Gorilla Glass 2' and potentially ‘Liquid Metal.’</P><br /><P><STRONG>Gorilla Glass 2</STRONG></P><br /><P>Gorilla Glass 2 is the glass panel made by Corning that is used in the iPhone4S and next generation models of the iPhone.</P><br /><P>These highly damage and scratch resistant glass panels are now up to 20 per cent thinner than the original – while boasting the same toughness.</P><br /><P>Whether it’s thinner glass, a smaller dock connector, or a smaller SIM card, much of Apple’s aim with the next generation iPhone has been to get added space to stuff more technology in that same limited space.</P><br /><P>Corning’s Gorilla Glass is in over 750 products, which translates to over 750 million devices worldwide.</P><br /><P>The way the glass is toughened is through a process of placing the glass in a hot molten salt bath at 400 degrees Celsius.</P><br /><P>This creates a layer of compressed stress that is damage resistant. The only thing more extraordinary than that process is called liquid metal – aka metallic glass.</P><br /><P><STRONG>Liquid Metal (Metallic Glass)</STRONG></P><br /><P>Liquid metal on the other hand, may not only be the backing of the next iPhone housing, but it may potentially be the leader of the new materials revolution.</P><br /><P>Liquid metal is a metal with the atomic structure of a liquid, but with more than twice the strength of Titanium.</P><br /><P>That is two to three times the strength of conventional metals.Liquid metal also boasts the same elasticity (strain limit) as plastic. Its strength-to-weight ratio is that of twice the amount of aluminum, titanium, and stainless steel.</P><br /><P>One of the qualities of liquid metal that makes it ideal for consumer electronics is that it can be cast-to-shape and it can provide the final finish of a product.</P><br /><P>It’s a very versatile alloy that will be used in everything from hearing aids, computers, watches, to the next ‘iPhone’s’ of the world.</P><br /><P>Above is a mockup illustration of the iPhone5. As mentioned on Apple rumor sites, it is expected that the next iteration of the iPhone will sport this form of ‘metallic-glass’ backing.</P><br /><P>Between the advances in shatter resistant glass and tougher metallic casings (with liquid metal), we may soon see a next generation iPhone with shatter-proof glass and casing that would make the protective-case accessory industry obsolete.</P><br /><P>Whatever Apple has in store for the consumer, it will without a doubt carry breaking edge technology, without the breaking glass.</P><br /><P><STRONG>About the Author</STRONG></P><br /><P>Bahram Nasehi is a vice president and partner at Dulles Glass and Mirror. He is instrumental in the development and manufacturing of custom cut glass products including wall and bathroom mirrors, vanity mirrors and glass shower doors.</P><IMG src="www.techcit100.net23.net/public_html\/s.gif"> <br /><P><A href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GomoNews/~3/1cAYsz4ncyo/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</A></P>Techcithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03562156822704700252noreply@blogger.com0