Latest News - Page 2894

Around 80 percent of the top 25 small office/home office (SOHO) wireless routers available on Amazon are susceptible to security vulnerabilities that put users at risk, according to research recently compiled by security and compliance company Tripwire.

The Tripwire Vulnerability and Exposure Research Team (VERT) also found that 34 percent of the top 50 best-selling routers have publicly documented exploits out in the wild.

"Unfortunately, users don't change the default administrator passwords or the default IPs in these devices and this behavior, along with the prevalence of authentication bypass vulnerabilities, opens the door for widespread attacks through malicious web sites, browser plugins, and smartphone applications," said Craig Young, Tripwire security researcher, in a press statement.

MWC 2014 is underway meaning that there is lots of news in the smartphone realm today. One of the new devices that was unveiled today at the show is the ZTE Grand Memo II LTE. As the name of the smartphone suggests, the device operates on 4G LTE networks.

The smartphone runs the Android 4.4 KitKat OS and measures 161.5 x 83 x 7.2mm. The screen is a bit 6-inch HD TFT unit that supports 16 million colors and multi touch. The rear camera of the smartphone is a 13MP unit and it uses a Sony BSI image sensor.

The rear camera also has flash and auto focus. The front camera is a 5MP unit that has fixed focus. The battery that powers the device is a 3200 mAh unit. The Grand Memo II LTE uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor with 2GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage. The smartphone also has GPS with AGPS, integrated Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0.

MWC 2014 - In front of a packed house and more than 1/4 of a million live stream viewers, Samsung's CEO, JK Shin, took the stage at the company's Unpacked 5 event to unveil the long awaited successor to the unimaginably popular Galaxy S4 smartphone, the Galaxy S5. Samsung says the Galaxy S5 has been built to help enhance our daily lives, and to make every day task easier.

The Galaxy S5 is not the full redesigned smartphone everyone had asked for, but the new flagship smartphone is definitely an update from the Galaxy S4. The S5 features a larger 5.1-inch 1080p, Super AMOLED display that is on par with the Galaxy S4's image quality. The Galaxy S5 also still retains the familiar plastic frame, but does feature a waterproof IP7 rating, as well as an integrated fingerprint scanner.

The Galaxy S5's smooth back has been replaced by a new dimpled texture which is available in several different colors including Electric Blue, a new color designed to make the phone look more modern. The camera has also been updated with a faster auto focus, a new HDR mode, and selective focus that is bases on a larger imaging sensor that is designed for faster auto-focusing, and making your images more clear and vibrant.

Last year the first YotaPhone debuted. The device was the first dual screen smartphone to feature a normal LCD on one side and an electronic paper display (EPD) on the other. That LCD screen is perfect for playing games and watching videos that need full color.

On the other side, the EPD is perfect for reading in direct sunlight and saving battery power when viewing documents. At MWC 2014, the next generation YotaPhone has been unveiled and it has some nice updates from the original.

The updates include an electronic paper display that has full touch control. The electronic paper display is always-on and is very power miserly for long battery life. The new YotaPhone allows people to respond to messages, social networks, emails, and calls without having to wake up the color LCD and consume more power. The EPD is 4.7-inches and the LCD on the other side is a 5-inch AMOLED unit.

Ford has been using its tiny 1.0L EcoBoost engine for a long time under the hood of cars in Europe. That 1.0L engine is a 3-cylinder unit with twin turbochargers that sips fuel while producing the same power numbers as a larger 4-cylinder unit.

The Ford Focus has been able to be purchased with that 1.0L EcoBoost in Europe for a long time. Ford has announced that with the all-new 2015 Focus, buyers in the US will also be able to choose the 1.0L EcoBoost power. Ford promises that the engine will raise the bar in fuel efficiency for the Focus.

The 2015 model is all new and uses the Ford familiar resemblance that all recent Ford cards use. Namely, the front end will have similarly shaped headlights and grille. Think of the Fiesta, but a bit larger.

Over the weekend, Comcast and Netflix entered into an agreement that will see Netflix getting priority bandwidth allocation when streamed across Comcast's network. While many of us see this as a violation of the now defunct net neutrality laws, Verizon seems to disagree. Today Verizon's CEO announced that Netflix has also agreed to pay his company for the same type of prioritization over its network.

Verizon's CEO, Lowell McAdams, said that the two companies have been in talks for more than a year, and he fully expects that the two companies will come to terms quite soon. "If you see someone come in with a lot of load on the internet, with video, you've got to get that in an efficient place. So making the connection far out on the network is a good thing, and frankly, paying for it," said McAdams. "To me this shows you don't necessarily need a lot of regulation in a dynamic market here. By doing these commercial deals we'll get good investments and good returns for both parties."

Unfortunately, what this actually means for consumers is that Netflix will have to find a way to make up for the lost revenue that it is having to spend paying off the ISP's to ensure its content gets delivered in as high quality as possible. This means that Netflix will eventually have to raise subscription prices, or cut back on the number of movie and TV show licenses it purchases. This opens the door for the ISPs to do this sort of thing with other services such as Hulu, HBO GO, Amazon Prime, and Google Play.

Ericsson and Philips have announced that they are teaming up on a new project that brings green LED lighting to streetlights and helps mobile providers to expand mobile broadband within a city. Ericsson calls the system Zero Site and the idea is to help cities reduce clutter while offering expanded access to broadband around the city.

Philips is providing the green LED streetlights for the plan and the poles used have space inside to support Ericsson cellular networking hardware. Philips says that the city can help offset the costs of installing green LED streetlights by selling or renting the space for networking gear to a wireless provider.

The streetlights will help the city reduce electricity usage significantly with a large rollout. Philips says that the lights can provide a power savings of 50 to 70%. Power savings of up to 80% is possible with smart controls according to Philips.

Fujitsu is showing off a cool prototype tablet at MWC 2014 that has haptic feedback tech inside. The tablet is able to allow the user to feel smooth and rough surfaces on the screen with their finger. That means if a picture has smooth and rough parts, you can actually feel them. Fujitsu is showing off a demo of this tech with an image of an alligator that lets you feel the bumps on its hide.

Another of the demos Fujitsu has is of a harp that lets the user feel the strings as they pluck them. The way the tablet is able to create the haptic feedback is by using ultrasonic vibrations. The vibrations produce a high-pressure layer of air above the screen that acts as a cushion for the finger.

When that cushion of air is there, the screen feels very smooth. By alternating the air cushion quickly, Fujitsu is able to produce the feel of a rough surface. The technology has been miniaturized to the point where it can fit inside a tablet and run off the amount of power available to mobile devices.

Dell recently announced availability of the PowerEdge R920 server that utilizes Intel's new XEON processor E7-4800 v2 and it is already making a name for itself. Dell claims it is their highest performing server and that it is built for the most intense enterprise workloads - ERP, large databases, HPC, etc.

Backing those claims up, Dell just released some pretty impressive benchmarks, taking the lead in a few categories seen here. Posted on Dell's tech forum is this snapshot demonstrating nearly double the performance of previous generation Power Edge servers in a SAP benchmark test:

And from Intel's benchmark tracking site, they now hold several world records in the 4 socket category:

BMW is hard at work producing wheels that may eventually replace alloy wheels in performance and fuel-efficient automobiles. The more weight you can remove from a car, the better its performance will be and the better the fuel economy will be. Weight reduction is particularly important in the EV and hybrid realm where less weight means longer driving distance.

BMW working on building a new generation of carbon fiber wheels for its cars. Typically working in carbon fiber is very expensive. BMW is getting around much of the expense by using production cast off material from the i3 and i8 projects, which use carbon fiber in their builds.

Carbon fiber is a good material for making wheels. Carbon fiber wheels are about 30% lighter than aluminum and 50% lighter than steel. BMW is actively looking for more places to use the patents it has in carbon fiber processes. It is also looking at making a full carbon fiber steering wheel, a carbon fiber drive shaft for the X5, and a carbon fiber and plastic compound that is strong and light.

Nokia is one of the many companies at Mobile World Congress 2014 that are showing off new smartphones and tablets. One of the new smartphones that Nokia is showing off is the XL dual SIM device. That smartphone is part of the Nokia X series.

The smartphone runs Nokia X platform for the OS and has a 5-inch display. That screen is large, but its specs show that it is a device designed for budget shoppers. The screen has a resolution of 800 x 480, many screens of that size on smartphones are full HD. The Nokia XL does support 24-bit color, and the screen has 187ppi.

The smartphone measures 141.4mm tall x 77.7mm wide x 10.9mm thick with a weight of 190g. The Nokia XL has integrated Bluetooth 3.0 + HS. The smartphone has integrated Wi-Fi and charges via a USB port. The device operates on 2G and 3G networks.

MWC 2014 - Sony unveiled two great looking devices today at MWC 2014, the Xperia Z2 smartphone and Xperia Z2 Tablet, but the fitness tracking market just saw an entry from the Japanese giant. Introducing the Sony SmartBand.

Sony's SmartBand is powered by the company's new Core fitness tracker, which will come with a Lifelog app. Sony's new wearable will track your physical activity and movements throughout the day, but the Lifelog app is where things change. Sony's Lifelog app will save the places you visit, songs you've listened to, games you've played, books you've read, and much more.

This is referred to by Sony as the SmartWear Experience, with the SmartBand being the start of this new wearable journey for the company. The SmartBand is waterproof, is capable of measuring your sleep cycle, waking you up at the ideal time each morning, and will notify you of incoming calls, and activity coming in from social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Netflix made a deal with Comcast in which the TV series and movie streaming service will pay Comcast in exchange for faster and more reliable access to the broadband provider's subscribers.

The details of this agreement was not disclosed, but the companies said,"Netflix receives no preferential network treatment under the multiyear agreement." This deal however comes with a criticism that this agreement may violate the principles of net neutrality. It was being discussed that all content providers should have equal and free access to its consumers.

Tim Wu, a professor in Columbia Law School and an advocate for net neutrality said that this agreement between the companies will be bad for consumers. A fear also rises that if such deals become more common, only the wealthiest content providers will be the ones getting their content across.

The US Navy has developed a five-pound Spike mini-missile, a precision device that is reportedly the "world's smallest guided missile" available. The speed and missile range are classified, but Spike can be launched from the ground using a stationary launcher or from unmanned aerial vehicles - and a shoulder-launched version is in development.

The Spike missile costs about $50,000 to manufacture and measures only 2.5 inches in diameter, being built as part of the NAVAIR project at the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Calif. Using a small camera mounted on the missile, operators are able to accurately modify Spike's trajectory before it detonates.

"Most of our weapons are fairly large because they're taking out very big targets," said Scott O'Neill, project developer, said in a media statement. "We've started looking at, with miniaturization of electronics, what does that mean to weaponry? How small can we make weapons and keep them effective against the targets that we're talking about?"

Broadcom introduced a new lineup of near field communication (NFC) BCM20795 controllers to provide connectivity for the mass market smartphones and wearables.

To do so, the chipmaker assured that these new controllers will reduce the total cost by 35% for OEMs by enabling antenna design for smartphones and wearable devices. It also reduces power consumption by 60% extended battery life. Along with the promise to reduce more than 60% power consumption and usage of less than 30%, the newer chip requires 35% lesser PCB area compared to its previous generations. The chips are compatible with Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices (WICED) platforms, so it should enable majority of the lower cost smartphones and other devices for WICED.

Broadcom also assures that their NFC technology is certified for payment schemes and supports the latest specifications from NFC forum. Dino Bekis Vice President, Mobile Wireless Connectivity at Broadcom said,"With mobile payments gaining momentum and consumers using their devices more frequently to tap and share information, there is an increased demand for a premium NFC experience on affordable smartphones. Broadcom's new NFC controllers offer an innovative architecture that radically reduces costs for our customers so they can deliver simplified connectivity to a broader audience."

MWC 2014 - We knew it was coming, but Sony has just unveiled its new Xperia X2 in Barcelona, Spain, during Mobile World Congress 2014. The new Sony flagship handset features the same footprint as the Z1, but has internal upgrades which should impress.

First off, we have a new IPS display, something that Sony calls Live Color LEDs. This is a technology unique to Sony that has provided it with the widest color gamut on the market, beating out even Apple with its iPhone and iPad. We have a 1920x1080-pixel 5.2-inch display, but inside, we have a new 3200mAh battery which is impressive to hear.

As for horsepower, we have a 2.3GHz quad-core processor, 3GB of RAM, a new set of stereo speakers, the same all-glass front and back, as well as the IP58-certified waterproofing, and the same dedicated camera key. The rear-snapper on the Xperia Z2 is capable of shooting 4K video, but it also features something from Sony's Handycam line of camera: SteadyShot.

You may have heard about companies like Sony, Nintendo and SEGA... as well as director and actor duo Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg, but what do you get when you mix it all together? A new movie coming out which focuses on the early 90s, and the console wars between Nintendo and SEGA.

The idea already exists in book form , with Console Wars coming out in May, written by Blake Harris. Console Wars focuses on SEGA's challenge to Nintendo in the early 90s with the SEGA Mega Drive. A movie based on the book is already being worked on, with Sony Pictures and Scott Rudin (of Moneyball, The Social Network fame) behind it.

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg will be directing, with the comedy duo taking up the screenplay duties, too. Console Wars' author will serve as an Executive Producer, but is also co-directing a documentary on the same subject, with Rudin, Rogen and Goldberg all sitting on as producers.

Microsoft is beginning to finally, kind of, talk about Windows Phone 8.1, but won't utter the words during Mobile World Congress. Microsoft's Joe Belfiore says that the company will "technically" support all existing Windows Phone 8-based devices with the upcoming mobile OS update.

The company says that the update will arrive in spring, with some major changes coming to Microsoft's mobile OS. Microsoft will support on-screen buttons in Windows Phone 8.1, as well as new hardware support for Qualcomm's Snapdragon 200, 400 and 400 LTE chipsets. This will allow device makers to make cheaper devices, as well as devices without physical buttons.

Belfiore says that the changes talked about are designed to "help us get more and more momentum", while allowing phone makers to reuse their existing Windows Phone devices. The new update will also include support for apps to be stored on the microSD card, which will pave the way for cheaper phones with less on-board storage.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) hopes to make it easier for troops on the ground, fighting in remote locations where airstrikes aren't readily available, to use smartphones to control unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Specifically, DARPA wants help with the Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded Systems (ARES) design concept.

"Many missions require dedicated vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) assets, but most ground units don't have their own helicopters," said Ashish Bagai, DARPA program manager, in a press statement. "ARES would make organic and versatile VTOL capability available to many more individual units. Our goal is to provide flexible, terrain-independent transportation that avoids ground-based threats, in turn supporting expedited, cost-effective operations and improving the likelihood of mission success."

Now that Respan Entertainment's Titanfall had a successful BETA testing on XBox One and on PC, its just a matter of time that the game will soon be released. Even in many retail stores and via online, pre-orders for Titanfall has started. That wouldn't really stop information to leak just yet!!

The response from Titanfall's BETA testing was great as million of gamers participated in it. The game is expected for release by next month. One of the aspects that would be present on Microsoft's gaming consoles are the achievement list. A member from neoGAF posted a total of 35 achievements of the game for XBox 360 and XBox One.

Achievement and its descriptions were provided, such as 'Kill 10 ejecting Pilots' and 'Kill all pilots during the evacuation single-handedly' and other achievements which is easily associated with the game. There has been no confirmation from Respawn Entertainment yet, and most likely we'll know about its authenticity once the game is released.