Samsung's may come with 4GB RAM smartphone soon

Think the 3GB of RAM in the Galaxy Note 3 was a lot? Samsung was only getting started. The company has just unveiled the first 8-gigabit (1GB) low-power DDR4 memory chip, which could lead to 4GB of RAM in a multi-layered, mobile-sized package. Moving to the higher-bandwidth (3.1Gbps) DDR standard should also provide a hefty 50 percent speed boost over existing DDR3-based chips, even though the new silicon uses 40 percent less power than its ancestors. Samsung is only promising mass production of the new RAM sometime in 2014, but it's already clear about the target audience. The technology will go into laptops, smartphones and tablets with Ultra HD displays, where additional memory will be crucial for powering all those extra pixels.

How secure are SD cards?

The hardware hacker Bunnie Huang gave a talk at the Chaos Compute Club Congress where he offered some good news and some bad news. The good news? SD cards contain powerful, handy micro controllers that are useful to hackers and hobbyists. The bad news? SD cards are woefully insecure.
In a detailed and readable post, Huang describes the exact problems with Flash memory. In order to reduce the price and increase the storage space, engineers have to fight a never-ending form of internal entropy that slowly but surely scrambles the data on every Flash drive.
Huang writes:

Flash memory is really cheap. So cheap, in fact, that it’s too good to be true. In reality, all flash memory is riddled with defects — without exception. The illusion of a contiguous, reliable storage media is crafted through sophisticated error correction and bad block management functions. This is the result of a constant arms race between the engineers and mother nature; with every fabrication process shrink, memory becomes cheaper but more unreliable. Likewise, with every generation, the engineers come up with more sophisticated and complicated algorithms to compensate for mother nature’s propensity for entropy and randomness at the atomic scale.

To take up arms against these errors, SD cards are essentially over-engineered to ensure an acceptable level of data retention. They also contain firmware that can, for example, change the visible available space on the card without changing the actual available space. This means you could sell a 2GB card as a 4GB card – your computer wouldn’t notice a difference until it started filling up that fake space. You can, incidentally, check your cards with this tool.
Here’s the worse news: because these cards contain firmware, this firmware can be updated. Huang reports that most manufacturers leave this update feature unsecured. In other words, don’t ever assume a Flash device is empty after you wipe its contents. For example, the card could make a copy of the contents in a hidden memory area or it could run malicious software while idle.
And the good news: Huang also notes that these cards could be reprogrammed to become Arduino-esque open source microcontroller and memory systems. “An Arduino, with its 8-bit 16 MHz microcontroller, will set you back around $20. A microSD card with several gigabytes of memory and a microcontroller with several times the performance could be purchased for a fraction of the price,” he writes.
So, in short, destroy your SD cards if you have any dirty info on them and keep your eyes peeled for ultra-small, ultra-fast Arduino hacks.

Another Android Engineer Reportedly Moves to the Robotics Team

Google has plenty of hush-hush projects at one time, most recently there was the barge in San Francisco Bay, which has had some questions answered recently. Then there is the robotics project, could it be household robot maids, delivery drivers, or simply new manufacturing systems? Whatever it is they are working on in that warehouse, they are eating up everything in sight. Google has acquired smaller tech companies, quietly, as well as bigger tech companies like Boston Dynamics, and now, they have taken another member of the Android team.

Romain Guy is a very popular Android engineer, we are used to seeing him at Google I/O and as a user on an Android subreddit. That very same subreddit is where he made the announcement, or random comment, that he has made the move, and followed fellow Android team member and creator, Andy Rubin.I’m glad you like my photos. “I am working on Andy’s new project indeed.” is all Guy had to say. In fact, the comment came from a topic of wallpapers, so it couldn’t have been more random. Though it is pretty big news, and is now being treated as such. The move made by Romain Guy, is one that just makes sense. Guy has been with Google since 2007, being one of the top software engineers, and having a masters in computer science. Guy is one of the picture perfect employees for Google, and we are all excited to see what they bring out of those warehouses.

The project has piqued a lot of interests around the world, wondering exactly what is going on in there, though little has been said. Rubin has only made comments about manufacturing and logistics, but the interweb is a crazy place, with high hopes for something bigger and better. Robots who deliver packages has been brought up, with the use of the Google self driving car. No matter what Google says they are doing with the project, people will speculate, until the day we get an official launch.

What is it that you are hoping they are working on, a delivery-bot, or a new maid-bot? Or perhaps you believe they are just trying to better the world of manufacturing for small tech devices. On behalf of the AndroidHeadlines team, and our readers, congratulations Romain Guy on the move. We are anxiously waiting to see what you have in store for us next.

Samsung to unveil new Exynos chip at next year CES

Samsung is preparing to announce some Exynos news at the upcoming CES in Las Vegas. We’re not sure whether this will be a whole new processor, or just an update to existing Exynos 5 Octa series.
For those who don’t know, the Exynos 5 SoC uses ARM’s big.LITTLE architecture and is found in some versions of the company’s flagship devices, namely Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3 (as well as some other devices like Meizu MX3). However, the Note 3 rocks a newer version of the chip (Exynos 5420) which should get the update to enable Heterogeneous Multi-Processing (HMP) capability. This in turn will allow all eight cores (four Cortex-A7 and four Cortex A-15) to work at the same time when needed. On the other hand, the Exynos 5410 which powers some Galaxy S4 units won’t get this capability.

And that’s not all. We know that Samsung wants to make a 64-bit chips and perhaps it uses the big show to announce first such products. This chip, let’s call it Exynos 6, will most-definitely come with HMP capability as well as some other enhancements that should provide sufficient power for today’s mobile users’ needs… More to come, obviously.

Via: SamMobile

Internal documents reveals NSA reportedly planted spyware on electronics equipment

A new report from Der Spiegel, based on internal National Security Agency documents, reveals more details about how the spy agency gains access to computers and other electronic devices to plant backdoors and other spyware.
The Office of Tailored Access Operations, or TAO, is described as a "squad of digital plumbers" that deals with hard targets -- systems that are not easy to infiltrate. TAO has reportedly been responsible for accessing the protected networks of heads of state worldwide, works with the CIA and FBI to undertake "sensitive missions," and has penetrated the security of undersea fiber-optic cables. TAO also intercepts deliveries of electronic equipment to plant spyware to gain remote access to the systems once they are delivered and installed.

Der Spiegel: Inside TAO -Documents Reveal Top NSA Hacking Unit
Der Spiegel: Shopping for Spy Gear - Catalog Advertises NSA Toolbox

According to the report, the NSA has planted backdoors to access computers, hard drives, routers, and other devices from companies such as Cisco, Dell, Western Digital, Seagate, Maxtor, Samsung, and Huawei. The report describes a 50-page product catalog of tools and techniques that an NSA division called ANT, which stands for Advanced or Access Network Technology, uses to gain access to devices.
This follows a report that the security firm RSA intentionally allowed the NSA to create a backdoor into its encryption tokens.

"For nearly every lock, ANT seems to have a key in its toolbox. And no matter what walls companies erect, the NSA's specialists seem already to have gotten past them," the report said. The ANT department prefers targeting the BIOS, code on a chip on the motherboard that runs when the machine starts up. The spyware infiltration is largely invisible to other security programs and can persist if a machine is wiped and a new operating system is installed.
With the exception of Dell, the companies cited in the report and contacted by Der Spiegel claimed they had no knowledge of any NSA backdoors into their equipment.
In a blog post Sunday, a Cisco spokesperson wrote:

At this time, we do not know of any new product vulnerabilities, and will continue to pursue all avenues to determine if we need to address any new issues. If we learn of a security weakness in any of our products, we will immediately address it. As we have stated prior, and communicated to Der Spiegel, we do not work with any government to weaken our products for exploitation, nor to implement any so-called security 'back doors' in our products.

The NSA declined to comment on the report but said the TAO was key for national defense.
"Tailored Access Operations (TAO) is a unique national asset that is on the front lines of enabling NSA to defend the nation and its allies," the agency said in a statement. "We won't discuss specific allegations regarding TAO's mission, but its work is centered on computer network exploitation in support of foreign intelligence collection."
The end does not appear to be in sight for the revelations from the documents obtained by Edward Snowden, according to Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who first collaborated with Snowden to publish the material. In a speech delivered by video to the Chaos Communication Congress (CCC) in Hamburg on Friday, he said, "There are a lot more stories to come, a lot more documents that will be covered. It's important that we understand what it is we're publishing, so what we say about them is accurate."

Samsung reportedly hits 40 million tablet sales in 2013

Most of you know that Samsung is one of the bigger Android tablet manufacturers around. There’s also ASUS, Acer and a few others that are pretty popular. But for the most part, you see people with Samsung tablets. Which is why I’m actually surprised to see that Samsung has only just now passed the 40 million mark for tablet sales this year. Compared to the Galaxy Note 3 which sold 10 million in just two months, and that’s just one phone. When we are talking about tablet sales, we are talking about all their tablets. Even ones not released in 2013. Right now, Samsung has released three variants of the Galaxy Tab 3, and then the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition.

During Samsung’s Analyst day back in November, the company revealed that it was looking to sell more than 40 million tablets this year. Thanks to some company insiders it appears they’ve just passed the 40 million mark. Once more, about 12 million of those sales came in the last three months. So that obviously the launch of the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition helped out. Honestly, I’d buy the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition over all of the Galaxy Tab 3′s. What else helped, is that many carriers handed out the Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 pretty much for free. I know Sprint was selling it for $50 on Contract a couple months ago.

While 40 million is still a huge number, I was kind of expecting more from Samsung. Although the Android tablet market isn’t really mature like the phone market is just yet. But Samsung is already looking to step up it’s game in 2014. With rumors of a Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 and 8.4-inch Lite versions. Along with the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2-inch tablet. So Congrats to Samsung for hitting the 40 million mark, let’s see how well the others do this year. I believe ASUS may come pretty close to Samsung. Thanks to their popular Transformer line and making the Nexus 7 again this year.

Report shows new Apple patent will improve Siri

A newly awarded Apple patent describes a technology that would allow the Siri voice-based virtual assistant that’s currently available on various iOS devices to help with photo cataloging and image searching in the future, MacRumors reports. The patent, called “Voice-Based Image Tagging and Searching” and awarded to Apple on December 26 after being filed earlier in March, identifies photo management as a time-consuming chore on mobile devices.It proposes “a simple, intuitive, user-friendly way to tag photographs” that includes “voice-based photo-tagging, automatic photo-tagging, and voice-based photo searching implemented at an electronic device.”
By combining “speech recognition techniques with intelligent natural-language processing” technology, the future Siri assistant may be able to let users tag themselves and others in images by saying a phrase as simple as “this is me at the beach.” The software would be able to recognize the person referenced as “me” and use his or her name as a more appropriate tag, which could be then automatically applied to other pictures as well.
Then when the user would then ask Siri to “show […] photos of me at the beach,” the app would be able to show relevant photos. Siri would be able to identify and tag multiple users in more complex phrases such as “this is me and my wife at the beach” or “this is us at the beach.”
In addition to faces, the app would also be able to recognize buildings and landscapes.

Via: MacRumors

Source:USPTO

Online Holiday Shopping Was Dominated By Smartphones, iOS

It was certainly a very merry Christmas for online shopping, which grew 16.5 percent over last year thanks in great part to smartphone browsing and iOS sales.
Mobile traffic reached its highest-ever peak during the holiday season, accounting for 48 percent of all online traffic—up 28.3 percent from 2012, according to the annual IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark.
A large part of that browsing was conducted on smartphones, which drove 28.5 percent of all online traffic, while shoppers used tablets for 18.1 percent of the traffic generated during the holiday season, according to the IBM report. When it came to actually going to checkout with a purchase, though, tablets were king with 19.4 percent of all online sales made via slates, while smartphone users generated 9.3 percent.
Tablet users were also more likely to spend more, averaging $95.61 per order, whereas smartphone users usually spent around $85.11, IBM reported.

Online shopping proclivities don't end at just the type of device—Apple fans tend to spend more on their mobile devices and it turns out they drop more coin when shopping online as well. According to IBM, online holiday season sales were five times more likely to be settled on Apple gadgets than Android-based devices. Apple's iOS mobile operating system was the platform used for 23 percent of online purchases during the holidays, as users of Google's Android OS drove just 4.6 percent.
"On average, iOS users spent $93.94 per order, nearly twice that of Android users, who spent $48.10 per order," IBM said. Apple's iOS also led overall traffic on e-tail sites, driving 32.6 percent versus Android's 14.8 percent.
And it turns out that as annoying as users find advertisements on social media, they are pretty darn effective. IBM reported that shoppers referred from Facebook averaged $72.01 per order with their purchases. Pinterest-referred shoppers averaged even more, at $86.83 per order.
"However, Facebook referrals converted sales at nearly four times the rate of Pinterest referrals, perhaps indicating stronger confidence in network recommendations," IBM's research team said.
The IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark, which tracks millions of transactions and analyzes terabytes of raw data from 800 nationwide retail sites, boasts the title of the industry's only real-time, cloud-based digital analytics platform.

American technology companies lose billions after revel of NSA scandal

The National Security Agency scandal exposed by whistleblower Edward Snowden has cost American technology companies billions of dollars in lost revenue as governments and companies in its important export markets of Asia refuse to entrust the handling of sensitive data to US companies. An analysis of financial filings from technology giants IBM and Cisco by The Independent on Sunday reveals the two businesses have seen sales slump by more than $1.7bn (£1.03bn) year-on-year in the important Asia-Pacific region since Mr Snowden revealed in June that US companies had been compromised by the NSA's intelligence-gathering in the clandestine Prism programme.

"US companies have seen some of their business put at risk because of the NSA revelations," said James Kelleher of equity research firm Argus Research.
China is high on the list of those countries now shunning US companies. Mr Kelleher said this may be payback for the US government saying it did not trust China-based Huawei to be independent from Chinese military and intelligence agencies. Despite operating in every other major country, Huawei, the world's biggest manufacturer of telecommunications equipment and a privately owned Chinese company, has been prevented from winning major communications contracts in the US.
IBM, one of the world's largest information technology suppliers, saw sales in its Asia-Pacific region drop 15 per cent from mid-August to mid-October, compared with the same period in 2012. That was twice as severe as the decline in "pre-Snowden" quarters.
Revenue declines at Cisco, the San Francisco-based communications manufacturer, were even more pronounced, with sales down 8.75 per cent in the quarter after the Snowden allegations, compared with just 2.84 per cent in the three months before.
Cisco warned in November that its sales could fall as much as 10 per cent this current quarter, as new orders in emerging markets declined. Chief financial officer Frank Calderone said that the NSA spying had been cause for a "level of uncertainty or concern" with Cisco's international customers, and part of the reason for weakening demand.
IBM declined to comment but stressed that it was not one of the companies named as having provided customer data to the NSA. Mr Kelleher said that the effects of the NSA allegations added to tougher sales conditions in China, whose economic growth rate has slowed during the year.
However, the American firms' revenue losses may not be confined to Asia. The German government has called for home-grown email and internet providers and there have been talks between several countries of creating network infrastructures that bypass the US.
A survey by the Cloud Security Alliance, an industry standards organisation in the US, predicted the Prism programme could cost cloud computing firms between $35bn and $45bn in lost orders over the next three years. It said that Canada, Germany, France and other European countries have rules requiring companies to guarantee data privacy.
Jean-François Audenard, the cloud security adviser to France Telecom, has said: "It's extremely important to have the governments of Europe take care of this issue.... If all the data of enterprises is going to be under the control of the US, it's not really good for the future of the European people." France has already invested ¤135m (£113m) in cloud technology with French businesses.
Earlier this month, technology company executives from America's biggest firms, including Apple, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Twitter and Facebook, had a meeting with President Barack Obama to rein in the electronic spying campaign amid concerns about its impact on their reputations.
Apple, which is among the companies asked by security services to hand over personal data, has been particularly insistent, recently demanding the right at least to explain how it co-operates with US intelligence. Currently, it is effectively gagged by them from explaining how much information on its customers it hands over to the NSA.
The reason behind Apple's concerns became clear last week when it emerged just how huge was the deal it was negotiating with China Mobile. The partnership it announced on Monday with the largest mobile phone carrier in the world will be worth billions of dollars of extra sales of the iPhone 5 and 5c.
Views are split among investors, but some analysts suggest that the deal could boost annual revenues by as much as $10bn.

Apple Once Again Requests for Permanent Injunction Against Samsung

 

Here we go again! Apple has filed a motion in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, asking the court to grant the company another injunction hearing by no later than the end of January next year. If successful, the move would ban a number of Samsung handsets from being able to be sold in the United States.
Sort-of.

This past November, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit basically opened the door for Apple to make its request, finding that Judge Lucy Koh erred in initially denying Apple a permanent injunction against Samsung devices that infringe on three of its patents: Those related to its rubber band, tap to zoom, and pinch to zoom touchscreen features.
"We find no reason to dislodge the district court's conclusion that Apple failed to demonstrate irreparable harm from Samsung's infringement of its design patents. Accordingly, we affirm the denial of injunctive relief with respect to those patents. However, with respect to Apple's utility patents, we conclude that the district court abused its discretion in its analysis and consequently remand for further proceedings," the ruling read.
Here's the kicker though: Apple is seeking its permanent injunction by arguing, in part, that Samsung "will not incur any significant hardship from an injunction because it has stopped selling the particular models found to infringe and claims to have developed design-arounds to Apple's patents," reads Apple's filing.
In other words, Apple is asking the court to forbid Samsung from selling products it doesn't still sell.
If that sounds confusing, it's understandable. However, Apple is also arguing that the injunction is necessary because "Samsung frequently brings new products to market" and that the move would allow Apple to better address new devices should the company feel that they, too, infringe on Apple's existing patents.

"Apple should not have to bear the risk that Samsung's supposed design-arounds are insufficient or that Samsung will not continue its infringement with new products," reads Apple's request.
Additionally, Apple comments that the lack of an injunction would harm Apple – which releases but a few products a year – far more than it would Samsung, which releases around 50 products annually and has more than 100 or so on U.S. shelves at any particular time.
In other words, Apple feels that its meager product lineup (number-wise) is both threatened and damaged by Samsung's infringement, whereas Samsung still has plenty of business left to do should Apple be granted its injunctive relief.

"The fact that Samsung -- a notorious "staller" of Apple's patent infringement lawsuits -- refrained from exhausting all options to delay the process shows that it's not scared to death by the prospect of Apple obtaining an injunction on remand. On a similar note, the fact that Apple did not keep on fighting for an injunction over its design patents also indicates its strategic priorities," writes FOSS Patents' Florian Mueller.

Survey shows European teens are abandoning Facebook

An extensive European study has revealed that teenagers are abandoning Facebook in their droves, with the presence of their parents on the network one of the key factors. The Global Social Media Impact Study found that younger users are shifting to alternative platforms such as Snapchat, WhatsApp, Instagram and Twitter for their social media fix.

Professor Daniel Miller is on the research team and writes: “Facebook is not just on the slide — it is basically dead and buried. What appears to be the most seminal moment in a young person’s decision to leave Facebook was surely that dreaded day your mom sends you a friend request.”

“It is nothing new that young people care about style and status in relation to their peers, and Facebook is simply not cool anymore.”

Miller’s work with 16-18 year-olds in the UK found that while teens conceded that Facebook was technically superior for organizing photos, events and profiles, it has become embarrassing for younger people to be associated with the platform, particularly since their parents and grandparents arrived.

The study is on-going and hasn’t released exact statistics for social network use among younger people, but Miller notes a shift in how different platforms are being used: “The closest friends are connected to each other via Snapchat, WhatsApp is used to communicate with quite close friends and Twitter the wider friends. Instagram can include strangers and is used a little differently.”

He notes that Facebook does remain important for keeping in touch with older family members (such as brothers and sisters who have left for college), so there may be hope yet for Mark Zuckerberg’s behemoth — and of course Facebook owns Instagram, one of the up-and-coming challengers.

The 15-month study is due to be completed in 2014, and is also looking at attitudes towards online privacy: field tests in Italy found that 40 percent of Facebook users had never changed their privacy settings, while 80 percent were unconcerned about who could see their updates or access their data.

FCC clears Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4

Samsung is hoping to make a splash in 2014 with tablets. One such tablet that might help in that endeavor is the Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 (SM-T320/T325). We first got wind of it last week, and just like that, it clears the FCC.
We expect this tablet to be unveiled next month alongside the Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 (SM-T520/T525) at CES.

source: FCC
via: PhoneArena

Google toppled Apple to be the most mentioned company in the media for 2013

Every year the Dow Jones releases a listing of the top 10 companies mentioned in the media, and gives an interesting look at the highlights of the past year.  Dow Jones’ DJX Factiva unit measures the number of times a company is mentioned in the media and charts them, giving you an interactive look at this very handy information.  Last year Apple was crowned the victor, having been mentioned 165,100 times, but this year they slipped all the way down to second place at 120,451 mentions.  Google managed to take the crown this year, winning first place with 123,769 mentions.

Also notable is the number of mentions Microsoft received, which at 84,174 puts them at a fairly distant third place, not unlike the mobile market sales numbers.  Other notable mentions for the mobile world would be Sony, who came in at 46,468, and Amazon who weighed in at 35,913.  As far as mobile carriers go, Verizon clocked in at 35,897 and AT&T had a were 26,386 mentions.  Sprint and T-Mobile didn’t appear to chart despite heavy efforts on T-Mobile’s part especially to garner some more media and customer attention.

What’s more interesting is why these companies charted the way they did.  Looking at the breakdown of months vs. times mentioned, we find that Google was mentioned most during the month of May, which just so happened to coincide with both Google I/O 2013 and the announcement of the Moto X.  Apple’s largest number of mentions was in September, when the iPhone 5S and 5C launched, as well as iOS7.  Given these monumental launches it’s really interesting to see that the media talked about Google more this year during their conference and product launches than Apple, which seems to be a large paradigm shift from previous years where Apple’s conferences and products dominated the news and other media platforms.

Microsoft’s largest number of mentions didn’t even come from the Xbox One announcements in May, but rather from continued coverage of E3 in June, as well as the release of a preview version of Windows 8.1.  Windows Phone just can’t seem to catch any breaks here, except for the announcement that Microsoft was buying Nokia’s hardware division in September, taking the second place highest month for mentions of Microsoft Corp.  Will these mentions reflect on the sales of Google devices next year, and more importantly the public’s perception of Android?  2014 will definitely paint an interesting and likely different picture than we’ve seen so far, but won’t stray from the dominance that Android has enjoyed since 2010.

Alcatel officially unveils Idol X+ at $330 price tag

The long-time rumored Alcatel Idol X+ has been officially announced by TCL, which is the Chinese company that now owns the (in)famous French brand. And yes, this beast does rock MediaTek’s octa-core chip (MT6592) clocked at 2GHz. Furthermore, it packs 2GB of RAM, 5-inch full HD IPS screen, 2,500mAh battery and a 13-megapixel f/2.0 camera on the back. All this is packed into a 7.9mm-thin body, making for a that much sexier look and feel.
And there’s more. Alongside the new smartphone, TCL also unveiled Boom Band Bluetooth activity plus sleep tracker. Available inside the box to anyone purchasing the Idol X+, this is a plastic wristband (available in several colors) that can also serve as a proximity alarm in case you accidentally leave your phone behind. A companion app comes included, allowing you to manage this device, as well as track your performance over time.
The best part is the price. All this will sell starting from January 15th for 1,999 Yuan, which translates into some $330. The lack of LTE connectivity support may be a deal-breaker for some, whereas most of the world wouldn’t mind anyway. No word on global availability, though.

Via: Engadget

Bitcoin Exchanges Shut Down In India After RBI Warning

Bitcoin exchanges in India are shutting down days after the country’s banking regulator warned users of virtual currency against security and financial risks associated with them. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had remained silent on Bitcoin over the past few weeks, even as China started clamping down on the exchanges, sending the virtual currency into a downward spin earlier this month.
A week after India’s small but growing Bitcoin community organized its first conference, and made an appeal to the country’s banking regulators for recognizing the virtual currency, the RBI said the Bitcoin users have not obtained any regulatory approvals yet, which poses several risks to anybody associated with them. This is what the RBI said:

There have been several media reports of the usage of VCs, including Bitcoins, for illicit and illegal activities in several jurisdictions. The absence of information of counterparties in such peer-to-peer anonymous/ pseudonymous systems could subject the users to unintentional breaches of anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) laws

However, the wording of the announcement from RBI leaves a question mark over the legality of not just the exchanges but also of the people who trade on them.
As we had reported earlier this month, India was just beginning to see a rise in Bitcoin exchanges, and the country’s 1,000-member strong Bitcoin community was hoping to get more merchant endorsements.
BuysellBitco.in, an Indian website offering Bitcoin exchange in the local currency, has already suspended its operations. The founder of BuysellBitco.in, Mahim Gupta, who had previously mentioned that his monthly turnover was around $200,000, could also not be reached for comments. Other Bitcoin traders, perhaps cautious that the RBI’s statements threw their own legal situation into question, were also unavailable.

Mac Pro built with removable Intel processor

Mac Pro internals.

(Credit: Apple) 

 

A teardown of the new Mac Pro indicates that the Intel processor may be removable, offering the tantalizing prospect of user upgrades, according to reports.
Apple blogs reported on Friday that a teardown reveals that the Mac Pro is socketed, which typically means the processor can be removed from the system by the user and upgraded.
For some users, that could obviate the need to upgrade the entire system down the road.

Here's what MacRumors said: "The Intel Xeon E5 processor found in the Mac Pro is indeed removable, allowing for future upgrades. All...CPUs for the new Mac Pro use the same LGA 2011 socket standardized on the Mac Pro's motherboard."
As CNET Reviews noted in its initial review, the $2,999 base model Mac Pro gets you a quad-core 3.7GHz Intel Xeon processor, 12GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and AMD D300 FirePro graphics. Upgrades possible when you order a system include a six-core Xeon CPU and a 12-core processor.
"The new Mac Pro is a professional workhorse dressed up in a very appealing high-design package. It's a stretch to say this is a computer for casual consumers, but the starting price isn't more than you'd pay for a similarly configured Windows PC," said CNET Reviews.
Speaking of features, the teardown site OWC posted a photo earlier in the week showing the Mac Pro driving six 27-inch displays, according to MacRumors.

Apple Wants Sales Ban on Over 20 Samsung Devices

Once again, Apple is looking to block Samsung from selling its smartphones and tablets in the U.S. under the claim of patent infringement. A new request made to District Judge Lucy Koh would ban more than 20 of the South Korean company’s devices, giving Apple the relief it claims it needs to prepare for “future infringement by Samsung.”
Koh previously overruled a similar request back in 2012, but Apple and Samsung’s return to court earlier this year opened the door for a fresh injunction from Cupertino. While Samsung has already modified a number of its devices to allow U.S. sales, Apple argues that these new models are designed to deceive the court, and are “not more than colorably different from those already found to infringe.”

As the world’s top competing smartphone makers, Apple and Samsung have faced off in court rooms around the world over the past few years. Most notably, the companies argued their cases in California in 2012, with the jury initially ruling that Samsung should pay Apple a little over $1 billion for patent infringement. That amount was later reduced to $600 million, until a retrial earlier this year where Judge Koh ruled that the South Korean company should pay an additional $290 million.
How Apple’s latest request for U.S. sales ban will play out is unclear, though it seems unlikely the court will actually block as many Samsung devices as Cupertino is demanding. Based on previous rulings, only devices that infringe on technology patents can be used, meaning that physical design won’t be a factor in any upcoming ban.

Source Bloomberg

Online University to start free Android programming course next month

 

An online university will start a free online Android programming course next month, offering interested applicants the first notions needed to create apps for smartphones and tablets running Google’s mobile operating system.
Spotted by a reddit user, the eight-week long course offered by the University of Maryland is directed to Sophomore- or Junior-level undergraduate students who already have some Java knowledge. However, this is a course for beginners, as the students are “not expected to have studied mobile application development.”
In order to attend it, students will need an Internet connection, a computers and “time to read, write and discuss.” An Android device is not required, as all the graded exercises will be done using the Android Emulator.
Each lesson will be comprised of video presentations and lab exercises that will help students practice what they learn. At the end of the course, students will be given a more complex final project. The students who will complete the course will receive a Statement of Accomplishment signed by the instructor of the course.
In case you’re looking forward to learning how to build your own Android apps, you should at least check out this apparently free resource to get you started.

Via: reddit

Source: Coursera

Apple wants shareholders vote against Carl Icahn's stock proposal

 
Apple is urging its shareholders to vote against a proposal to increase the amount of money the company spends to buy back stock, according to a proxy statement filed Friday.
The proposal, made by wealthy investor Carl Icahn, asks Apple to commit to at least $50 billion of share repurchases next year. It's a "non-binding advisory resolution," meaning even if Apple shareholders approve the measure, the company would not be bound to the decision. Icahn has been steadily applying pressure for an increased buyback.
Icahn's proposal (No. 10) is one of 11 proposals Apple shareholders will be asked to vote on at the company's annual shareholder meeting, which the documents revealed will be held on February 28. The proxy statement, which Apple files annually, details compensation for both executives and board members and discusses issues shareholder will be asked to vote on at the upcoming shareholder meeting.
The board's statement in opposition to Icahn's proposal tries to reassure investors that Apple is "fully committed to returning cash to shareholders," without an increased buyback program.

The Board and management team are thoughtfully considering options for returning additional cash to shareholders and are currently seeking input from shareholders as part of the Company's regular review.
The Company's success stems from the Company's unique ability to combine world-class skills in hardware, software and services to deliver innovative products that create new markets and delight hundreds of millions of customers. This success has created tremendous value for the Company's shareholders.
With breakthrough products and services such as the Mac, iPod, iPhone, iPad and App Store, the Company has created huge market opportunities, and the Board and management team believe the opportunities that lie ahead are just as exciting. Given such large and global markets, the Company competes with large companies around the world, many with their own significant technical capabilities and significant capital. This dynamic competitive landscape and the Company's rapid pace of innovation require unprecedented investment, flexibility and access to resources.
Successfully innovating and executing against these large opportunities also requires careful stewardship by the Board and management team, and the Company's evaluation of capital return is conducted in the context of supporting the Company's continued business success and desire to deliver attractive returns to long-term shareholders.

The note goes on to point out that Apple's board authorized an increase of its dividend and stock buyback program in 2013, increasing its share buyback authorization to $60 billion. Apple spent $23 billion to repurchase shares in the 2013 fiscal year, but has not said how much it will spend buying back stock in the 2014 fiscal year.

Reports show online shopping for christmas not as hot as expected

Christmas Day online shopping results from PCs fell short of estimates, a new comScore report shows, despite having shown significant growth compared to the same holiday period of 2012. At $42.8 billion in spending for the 52-day period ending December 22nd, holiday shopping from computers rose 10% compared to last year, although that’s still 4% short of the anticipated 14% growth ($48.1 billion) estimate from the same company.
The report shows that online shopping exceeded last year’s numbers when looking at holidays, with Cyber Monday taking the top spot with $1.735 billion, followed by Green Monday ($1.401 billion) and Black Friday ($1.199 billion).

Desktop online shopping during November 2 – December 23 | 

Image credit: comScore

The top five product categories for this holiday season included three gadget categories such as video game consoles and accessories (on the top position) followed by consumer electronics and computer hardware, in third and fourth position, respectively. The report says smartphone sales and tablet sales were responsible for bolstering their categories – consumer electronics and computer hardware, respectively.
“Our expectations for the online holiday shopping season anticipated that consumers would spend heavily later into the season out of necessity to make up for the highly compressed holiday shopping calendar this year,” comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni said. “Unfortunately that was not in the cards, as the final online shopping week saw considerably softer sales than anticipated, including zero billion dollar spending days – although Monday and Tuesday came close.”
Fulgoni added that the six-day shorter shopping period between Thanksgiving and Christmas may explain why desktop online shopping results fell short of estimates.

Desktop online shopping – top product categories | Image credit: comScore

However, the study doesn’t include shopping numbers for mobile devices including smartphones and tablets, which were shopping weapons of choice for many buyers this holiday season. Amazon said that more than half of its customers used a mobile device to shop for Christmas. Two Recent IBM studies also showed that iOS devices outperformed Android devices both on Black Friday and on Christmas Day when it comes to online shopping.

Source: comScore (1), (2)

Former Windows boss forecasts phablets to be the future phones

 

There’s no doubt that smartphone display sizes have been getting bigger ever since Samsung first introduced its original Galaxy Note phablet in 2012 — but are phablets just a niche product or do they have a grander destiny? One-time Microsoft Windows boss Steven Sinofsky, who now serves as a professor at Harvard Business School, has written a post on what he thinks will be 2014′s major technology trends and one of them is the rise of Galaxy Note-sized devices as the de facto size for smartphones
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“Today’s phablets seem like a tweener or oddity to some — between a large phone and a small tablet,” Sinofsky writes. “In practice the desire to have one device serve as both your legacy phone (voice and SMS) as well as your main ‘goto’ device for productivity and communication will become increasingly important. The reduction in the need for legacy communication will fuel the need to pivot closer to a larger screen all the time.”
If phablets are indeed the future then that certainly bodes well for Samsung, whose Galaxy Note series is both the best-selling line of phablets and also the most highly acclaimed. Apple has reportedly been working on its own larger version of the iPhone, although that device is rumored to have a screen size of 5 inches or fewer, which would still make it significantly smaller than Samsung’s behemoth 5.7-inch behemoth Galaxy Note 3.
Sinofsky advises tech companies to ignore phablets at their own peril since they’re likely to be the future face of mobile phones going forward.

“Don’t ignore the potential of this screen size combined with full connectivity as the single device, particularly in mobile first markets where this form has early traction,” he writes.
UPDATE: Steven Sinofsky has written in to clarify a bit and has said that he doesn’t thunk phablets are “phones of the future” but are rather a form factor that ”will grow a lot, especially in markets where mobile devices are viewed as the only computer people will own.”

Source: Steven Sinofsky

Rumored claims LG is working on fingerprint Scanner for G3

It has only been a couple of months since LG launched its 2013 flagship smartphone, the LG G2. The device has received rave reviews, its design, specifications and superb camera performance have all been praised. While it may seem too soon for rumors about a successor to start circulating, the first LG G3 rumors have already started making the rounds. The latest rumor coming in from Korea claims that LG G3 will have a fingerprint scanner much like the iPhone 5S and the HTC One Max.

An Anonymous LG official is cited in the local media report as saying that the company recently made the decision to include a fingerprint scanner in the upcoming G3 smartphone, and that it is “conducting a series of tests for the product.” It is also claimed that this smartphone will be designed to sync with the Korean manufacturer’s G-Arch smartwatch and its upcoming fitness wristband. Other rumored specifications of the G3 include a 2,560×1,440 pixel resolution display, a 16 megapixel rear camera and an octacore processor made by LG. It hasn’t been said when LG intends to release this device, but it is believed that the launch might take place earlier than anticipated due to “disappointing” sales of the LG G2. Perhaps the launch might take place at the Mobile World Congress 2014 in February, but for now, take all of this with a grain of salt.

Andorid 4.3 Update To Be Released Soon For Sony Xperia SP

 Sony Xperia smartphone owners have been patiently waiting for the company to release the much awaited Android 4.3 update. It has indeed started the roll out process, with the update already having been released for the Xperia Z1 and the Z Ultra. Merely a couple of days back, The Xperia Z, ZR, ZL and the Xperia Tablet Z all received their Android 4.3 updates. Sony Xperia Sp owners shouldn’t worry about being left out, it appears that the update they have been waiting for might just be around the corner.

A member on the XDA developers forum, who appears to be an official beta tester for Sony, has posted a picture of his Xperia SP running Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. Moreover, a new firmware build has been certified for this smartphone just a few days back and it is believed that this might be an Android 4.3 build. Going by these developments, it shouldn’t be long before the update is finally rolled out over the air for all Xperia SP variants, C5302, C5303 and C5306. The Xperia SP is also slated to receive the much sought after Android 4.4 KitKat update, though that might not happen until we’re well into 2014. A number of other Xperia smartphones are also yet to be updated to KitKat.

Apple's 2013 in Review

 

It was another magical, amazing, revolutionary year for Apple - at least according to Cupertino. From those of us beyond the reality distortion field, however, Apple's efforts in 2013 weren't too shabby - from a complete overhaul of iOS to a more recent deal that could dramatically extend its presence in China.

There were some rough patches, of course. Apple's stock price took a tumble this year, dropping from $700 in Sept. 2012 to less than $400 by June, prompting discussion about whether Tim Cook should step down as CEO. Prices have rebounded a bit - sitting at $570 as of Monday - as people turned their attention to new iPhones, iPads, and Macs, and Cook promising "big things" for 2014.

But will we have to wait until the second half of next year for something new like we did this year? It was largely quiet in Cupertino for the first half of 2013, save for a 128GB iPad, prompting PCMag's Sascha Segan to wonder why we weren't hearing any rumors about a spring Apple event. It was not until June's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) that we got our first glimpse of what Apple was working on, from a redesigned "flat" iOS 7 to OS X Mavericks and the Mac Pro.

Apple's iOS 7 is "the biggest change to iOS since the iPhone," Cook said during his WWDC keynote. Flat was the name of the game, plus colorful icons, and an operating system that seemed to move with you. Users finally got to check it out in mid-September, when iOS 7 landed on early iPhones ahead of the iPhone 5s and 5c launches. Despite some battery-drain issues and those duped by a waterproof scam, it was largely well-received.

As usual, rumors about the new iPhones made the rounds for months, with some speculating that Apple would finally embrace the larger "phablet" form factor. When the iPhone 5s landed this fall, however, it was largely unchanged from the outside, save for the new Touch ID-enhanced home button, while the 5c arrived in array of Lumia-like colors.

There was a lot of discussion about whether the iPhone 5c was going to be a low-cost smartphone that helped Apple break into emerging markets. But at $99 with a two-year contract and several hundred dollars unlocked, the 5c was not exactly a budget device. Cook later said that Apple "never" envisioned the 5c to be a low-cost iPhone and said those who wanted to save cash could instead pick up the iPhone 4s. Most buyers flocked to the iPhone 5s, anyway, particularly the new gold version.

In April, T-Mobile became the last major U.S. carrier to land the iPhone, while just this week, Apple finally secured a deal with China Mobile. See what PCMag's Segan thinks about that deal.

The iPad, meanwhile, got its annual upgrade in October, with a Retina display iPad mini and lighter iPad Air. Prior to the Retina iPad mini's release, there were reports that it would be in short supply this holiday season due to supply constraints, but right now, the device is available to ship in 1-2 days, according to the Apple website.

Next up for Apple is the new Mac Pro, orders for which started on Dec. 19. It's much smaller than its predecessor but still packs a powerful punch. It won't arrive by Christmas, however, as Apple currently puts the ship date in February. (Check out our unboxing to tide your over.)

Fighting the Good Fight

But while Apple would surely prefer that any news about the company focus on its product releases, Cupertino did make headlines on other topics, particularly its legal battles.

There were a number of inquiries into its warranty policy around the globe, for example, most recently in Australia. Execs like Cook were also on Capitol Hill in May to defend Apple's tax strategy, while Cupertino gave up its fight to stop Amazon, Microsoft, and others from using the term "app store."

It did not give up, however, on its patent fight against Samsung. Apple was dealt a setback early in the year when a California judge dropped $450 million from a $1.05 billion Aug. 2012 settlement and ordered a new trial on certain aspects of the case. Ultimately, a jury awarded Apple $290 million of the $450 million, or about $900 million in total, but Samsung is appealing (again) and both sides will meet in the same court next year for a totally separate case.

Meanwhile, in a coup for Apple, the White House agreed to overturn a ban on iPhones and iPads imposed by the International Trade Commission, and later declined to extend the same courtesy to Samsung.

Apple was not so lucky when it came to the DOJ's e-book price-fixing case. Cupertino was found guilty of colluding with publishers to raise e-book prices and take down Amazon, charges that Apple vehemently denies. All the publishers settled with the feds before trial, but Apple soldiered on, and continues to insist that it did nothing wrong, even in the face of a court-appointed monitor.

For more from Apple in 2013, check out the links below. In the meantime, it's all systems go for Apple's new spaceship campus, while Cook has said that he finds wearables intriguing so we might just get that iWatch yet.

View NASA's new robot in video

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In order to land on the Martian surface, NASA's Mars Rover Curiosity went through seven minutes of terror: it plummeted from the sky at 13,000 miles per hour, with only a supersonic parachute and a set of rocket motors to keep it from becoming a crater. However, a team at NASA has a nifty trick up its sleeves for the next time around: a rover made of hollow rods and elastic cable that can squish and bounce. Just like the Skwish, a popular child's toy developed in the early '80s, NASA's Super Ball Bot uses the principles of tensegrity to do its job. The contraption can absorb the impact of a hard landing, pop right back up, then roll across a surface, end over end, like an extremely awkward ball.

While NASA scientists are still proving that the concept works and figuring out the best way to control it as it rolls, they currently believe they could hang a payload inside the contraption and drop it onto a planet with little damage at all. They've already successfully dropped an egg from ten meters, and have calculated that such a rover could land on Saturn's largest moon, Titan, with no protection other than the thick atmosphere itself. Perhaps our next extraterrestrial landing will be a little less terrifying as a result.

Google and Apple Willing to Spending Millions On Mobile Assistants

 
While manufacturers furiously introduce sharper screens and faster processors in 2014, a quieter mobile war will be waged that’s even more important than what color the next iPhone will be. According to The Telegraph, both Apple and Google are spending “hundreds of millions of dollars” on Google Now and Siri, hoping both voice assistants will become the must-have technology of the future. It’s a race that could prove to be even more important than how flat or minimal mobile software becomes.

The Telegraph’s report doesn’t reveal much that we hadn’t assumed already. Since the iPhone 4s hit, Siri has remained a big part of iOS, and has been improved upon up until Apple’s latest iOS 7 update. Google, meanwhile, released its predictive intelligence service called Google Now, which has become a key component of the company’s mobile software. So much so that its voice prowess is featured in commercials, and has become more deeply integrated in the latest version of Android 4.4 KitKat. It’s not surprising to see each company throwing big money behind these services.
“The reason we feel pretty good in terms of competition is because what we’re seeing and everything we’re building today is built on top of the foundation of core web search rankings,” said Scott Huffman, a lead Google engineering director. Huffman goes on to share an example of Google Now’s intelligence and its ability to decipher between when a user asks for pictures and when a user is simply quoting a famous movie line.

One of the biggest obstacles Google Now is facing at the moment is cataloging and verifying information so the service doesn’t merely just provide Web results to a question, according to Huffman. Instead, Google wants to ensure its voice technology can answer questions directly, and avoid providing a long list of search results that a user needs to comb through. It would be like asking a friend a question and instantly getting the exact answer you were looking for.
Apple, meanwhile, has been acquiring companies—the iPhone maker purchased start-up Topsy—to improve the quality of Siri, which has become a target for Apple criticizers. “It does feel like a bit of a race,” Huffman said. With unfathomable sums being thrown at voice-controlled assistants, the pressure to perform is definitely on. But Google is confident its search engine will leave competitors in the dust, and that relying on start-ups with a “magic idea” isn’t something it’s focused on—a clear shot at Apple.
“It’s more about the engineering talent in this being in a lot of demand,” Huffman said.

 

Source Telegraph

Samsung Wireless Charger S-View Flip Cover now Available for $70

Samsung has quite a few accessories for their devices, especially the Galaxy Note 3 and the Galaxy S4. They’ve even got some wireless charging back covers, so you can enjoy Wireless Charging on your Samsung device, like those of us with the Nexus 5, Nexus 7, or the HTC Droid DNA. Today, Samsung finally put the S View Flip Cover that has wireless charging compatibility on sale on their website. It’s going for just $69.99. It’s available in both black and white.

Basically what this S View Flip cover does, is it makes your Galaxy Note 3 able to be put on a wireless charger and charge it up. It may not seem like a big deal, but it really is. That’s the biggest thing I miss on the Moto X, coming from the Nexus 5 and Nexus 4 previously. Which each of those had wireless charging. Although, as expected the wireless charging functionality doesn’t come cheap. So if you don’t really care about the wireless charging functionality, I’d just pick up the regular S View Flip cover for the Galaxy Note 3. Which is about half the price.

For those that don’t know about the S View Flip Cover, it allows you to see the time and your notifications through the little window. Instead of waking up your entire device. It’s kind of like Active Display on the Moto X, but you need this case to do it. It is kind of cool, as I used it on the Galaxy S4 (and Yes, I know it’s been improved since then), but I didn’t really use it that much. I didn’t like the flip aspect of the cover. But that’s just my opinion.
There’s a 50% off coupon code floating around right now, however, that will not work or this item. So you’ll have to pay the full $70 for it. We’ve got the links below for you.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Wireless Charging S View Flip Cover – Black

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Wireless Charging S View Flip Cover – White

Chromecast, Chromebooks, And Kindle Fire Top Amazon’s Sales For The Holidays

 
If you needed even more proof of the Chromecasts popularity, how about being the ‘Top Selling’ product in Amazon’s Computers and Accessories category? Yep, the Chromecast even outsold all the versions of Amazon’s own Kindle Fire line, as well as other similar streaming devices like Roku 3 and Apple TV. That’s pretty impressive for Google and for the Chromecast itself, and because so many were sold during the holiday season, there are probably plenty of happy people right now who are getting to stream some of the their favorite media right from their Android devices to the big screen. Overall, alongside the Chromecast, Google’s Chromebooks and the Kindle Fire line of devices round out the trinity of top selling products on all of Amazon during the holidays. Count this as a major milestone for Amazon and Google, as Amazon usually never shares their sales results, and Google has a hand in all of the top selling products.

Cyber Monday alone might have been Amazon’s busiest day of the year, when they sold 426 items per second says the massive online retailer. That’s an astounding number. You wouldn’t think the Chromecast would top the list as the best selling item, but it really is a magnificent device and who could argue with a $35 price point? It most likely won’t come as a surprise to anyone that the tablets at the head of the seasons sales rankings were the 7 and 8.9 inch versions of the Kindle Fire HDX and the Kindle Fire, especially since the Kindle Fire line has been extremely popular for a while now.
Amazingly, Google’s own Chromebooks won in the Laptop category, and more specifically the Samsung and Acer Chromebooks, (with the Samsung model as the #1 laptop and the Acer model as the #3 laptop)which happen to be two of the least expensive models. The offering of a light and fast booting laptop at an extremely competitive price must have been too good to pass up for tons of customers this holiday season, and we wouldn’t blame them. So, who received any of these gifts this Christmas? Perhaps all three? Let us know in the comments what you think about the Chromecast being the top selling Computer and Accessories item this holiday season. You can check the full list of Amazon’s Top Selling items over at Business Wire if you’re interested.