As developers for tablets and smartphones we like to keep abreast of the latest mobile technology developments . This is a daily digest of mobile development and related technology news gathered from the BBC, the New York Times, New Scientist and the Globe and Mail to name a few. We scour the web for articles concerning, iPhone, iPad and android development, iOS and android operating systems as well as general articles on advances in mobile technology. We hope you find this useful and that it helps to keep you up to date with the latest technology developments.
iPhone 6 NFC and Wallet A Real Possibility
Next week all of us are anticipating the new iPhone 6 (or whatever Apple will call it) to be launched. The September 9th event could prove to be a huge event for Apple with a new line up of iPhones being announced but also the much anticipated iWatch could be in the mix as well. We will also get final dates for iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite respective releases which shouldn’t be to far away on either. When it comes to the iPhone 6 and iOS 8, there is an ever increasing rumour that we will also see a
The post iPhone 6 NFC and Wallet A Real Possibility appeared first on AlliOSNews.
FBI probes 'Cloud' celebrity leaks
The FBI looks into allegations that the online accounts of celebrities have been hacked, leading to intimate pictures being posted online.
VIDEO: FBI to investigate celebrity hacking
The FBI are investigating after many famous women have had their nude photographs posted online anonymously after being hacked.
Can geeks rescue science education?
Would you take your kids to a geek festival?
Windows XP: Your upgrade experiences
Readers share their experiences of replacing their operating system
VIDEO: The most future-proof profession?
BBC News talks to Ian Lowe, a blacksmith who teaches other people an ancient art he believes to be future-proof.
FBI Addressing Leak Of Nude Celebrity Photos
ANTHONY McCARTNEY, Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The FBI said Monday it was addressing allegations that online accounts of several celebrities, including Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence, had been hacked, leading to the posting of their nude photographs online.
The agency did not say what actions it was taking to investigate who was responsible for posting naked photos of Lawrence and other stars. Apple said Monday it was looking into whether its online photo-sharing service had been hacked to obtain the intimate images.
Lawrence, a three-time Oscar nominee who won for her role in “Silver Linings Playbook,” contacted authorities after the images began appearing Sunday.
Naked images purporting to be of other female stars were also posted, although the authenticity of many couldn’t be confirmed. The source of the leak was unclear.
“This is a flagrant violation of privacy,” Lawrence’s publicist Liz Mahoney wrote in a statement. “The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence.”
The FBI said it was “aware of the allegations concerning computer intrusions and the unlawful release of material involving high profile individuals, and is addressing the matter.”
“Any further comment would be inappropriate at this time,” spokeswoman Laura Eimiller wrote in a statement.
Apple Inc. spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said the company was investigating whether any iCloud accounts had been tampered with, but she did not give any further details.
“We take user privacy very seriously and are actively investigating this report,” she said.
Actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead also confirmed that nude photos of her were posted online.
“To those of you looking at photos I took with my husband years ago in the privacy of our home, hope you feel great about yourselves,” Winstead posted on Twitter. Winstead, who starred in “Final Destination 3″ and “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” wrote that she thought the images had been destroyed.
“Knowing those photos were deleted long ago, I can only imagine the creepy effort that went into this,” Winstead wrote.
The FBI has investigated previous leaks of nude celebrity images, including leaks involving Scarlett Johansson, Mila Kunis, Christina Aguilera and footage of television sports reporter Erin Andrews in a Tennessee hotel room. Those cases resulted in convictions.
How widespread the hacking of celebrities photos was is not immediately clear. Some of the images were quickly denounced as fakes.
Some cybersecurity experts speculated that hackers may have obtained a cache of private celebrity images by exploiting weaknesses in an online image-storing platform.
“It is important for celebrities and the general public to remember that images and data no longer just reside on the device that captured it,” security researcher Ken Westin wrote in a blog post Monday. “Once images and other data are uploaded to the cloud, it becomes much more difficult to control who has access to it, even if we think it is private.”
Private information and images of celebrities are frequent targets for hackers. Last year, a site posted credit reports, Social Security numbers and other financial info on celebrities, including Jay Z and his wife Beyonce, Mel Gibson, Ashton Kutcher and many others.
Johansson, Kunis and Aguilera were hacked by a Florida man, Christopher Chaney, who used publicly available information to hack into the email accounts of more than 50 people in the entertainment industry.
“I have been truly humiliated and embarrassed,” Johansson said in a tearful videotaped statement played in court at Chaney’s sentencing in December 2012.
“That feeling of security can never be given back and there is no compensation that can restore the feeling one has from such a large invasion of privacy,” Aguilera wrote in a statement before Chaney’s sentencing.
___
Associated Press writers Raphael Satter in London and Mae Anderson in New York contributed to this report.
Apple Fixes iCloud Bug Blamed For Massive Leak Of Nude Celebrity Photos: Report
Apple appears to have fixed a bug that some have speculated could be the possible source of this weekend’s massive online leak of celebrity nude photos.
The bug, known as “ibrute,” appears to have been first noted on the social coding site Github. It allowed hackers to access an individual’s iCloud data by exploiting a weakness in Apple’s “Find My iPhone” service, according to Engadget.
The problem was that Apple’s service didn’t employ so-called “brute force protection,” which meant that anyone who wanted to break into a person’s iCloud could repeatedly enter a large number of passwords without fear of being locked out, according to The Next Web.
Late Sunday, one or more anonymous users uploaded what were allegedly nude photos of dozens of celebrities, including Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence and Sports Illustrated model Kate Upton, to the image-sharing site 4chan. The anonymous user or users claimed the photos were obtained via Apple’s iCloud, according to The Independent.
While the hackers’ actual methods have yet to be established, many onlookers have speculated that they may have exploited the Find My iPhone bug to obtain the photos.
Apple iCloud brute-forcer: https://t.co/KPMflz80W4 – apparently FindMyPhone doesn’t have brute force protection… related to celeb hacks?
– Ross (@Hypn) September 1, 2014
It appears Apple has already fixed the “ibrute” security flaw. HackApp, the anonymous coder who claims to have discovered the hack, said Monday that Apple has “patched” the bug for the most part (though it apparently still persists in some regions of the world, according to a separate Reddit thread).
The end of fun, Apple have just patched FindMyIphone bug. So ibrute is not applicable any more.
– HackApp (@hackappcom) September 1, 2014
To see if Apple really had patched up the bug, The Next Web attempted to exploit the Find My iPhone hack early Monday and was “locked out [...] after five attempts, meaning [...] Apple has patched the hole.”
HackApp has denied playing any part in the leak, tweeting Monday that he or she does not know of any relation between “ibrute” and the mass posting of photos on Sunday.
I have to repeat once again THERE IS NO any evidences, that #ibrute was involved in this incident. If you have any, I look forward
– HackApp (@hackappcom) September 1, 2014
But before that, in a Twitter conversation with The Next Web’s Owen Williams, HackApp did admit “that someone could [theoretically] use this tool” to hack into a celebrity’s iCloud and rip photos and videos.
While we still don’t know for certain what caused the hack, this is a good time to activate two-step verification for your device, a safe way to protect yourself from many common hacks. Over at Forbes, there’s a nice rundown on how to do so.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment from The Huffington Post.
UPDATE, 4:15 p.m. — Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris told Re/code that the company is “actively investigating” the issue.
Jennifer Lawrence Requests Nude Pics Investigation
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The FBI said Monday it was addressing allegations that online accounts of several celebrities, including Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence, had been hacked, leading to the posting of their nude photographs online.
The agency did not say what actions it was taking to investigate who was responsible for posting naked photos of Lawrence and other stars. Apple said Monday it was looking into whether its online photo-sharing service had been hacked to obtain the intimate images.
Lawrence, a three-time Oscar nominee who won for her role in “Silver Linings Playbook,” contacted authorities after the images began appearing Sunday.
Naked images purporting to be of other female stars were also posted, although the authenticity of many couldn’t be confirmed. The source of the leak was unclear.
“This is a flagrant violation of privacy,” Lawrence’s publicist Liz Mahoney wrote in a statement. “The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence.”
The FBI said it was “aware of the allegations concerning computer intrusions and the unlawful release of material involving high profile individuals, and is addressing the matter.”
“Any further comment would be inappropriate at this time,” spokeswoman Laura Eimiller wrote in a statement.
Apple Inc. spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said the company was investigating whether any iCloud accounts had been tampered with, but she did not give any further details.
“We take user privacy very seriously and are actively investigating this report,” she said.
Actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead also confirmed that nude photos of her were posted online.
“To those of you looking at photos I took with my husband years ago in the privacy of our home, hope you feel great about yourselves,” Winstead posted on Twitter. Winstead, who starred in “Final Destination 3″ and “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” wrote that she thought the images had been destroyed.
“Knowing those photos were deleted long ago, I can only imagine the creepy effort that went into this,” Winstead wrote.
The FBI has investigated previous leaks of nude celebrity images, including leaks involving Scarlett Johansson, Mila Kunis, Christina Aguilera and footage of television sports reporter Erin Andrews in a Tennessee hotel room. Those cases resulted in convictions.
How widespread the hacking of celebrities photos was is not immediately clear. Some of the images were quickly denounced as fakes.
Some cybersecurity experts speculated that hackers may have obtained a cache of private celebrity images by exploiting weaknesses in an online image-storing platform.
“It is important for celebrities and the general public to remember that images and data no longer just reside on the device that captured it,” security researcher Ken Westin wrote in a blog post Monday. “Once images and other data are uploaded to the cloud, it becomes much more difficult to control who has access to it, even if we think it is private.”
Private information and images of celebrities are frequent targets for hackers. Last year, a site posted credit reports, Social Security numbers and other financial info on celebrities, including Jay Z and his wife Beyonce, Mel Gibson, Ashton Kutcher and many others.
Johansson, Kunis and Aguilera were hacked by a Florida man, Christopher Chaney, who used publicly available information to hack into the email accounts of more than 50 people in the entertainment industry.
“I have been truly humiliated and embarrassed,” Johansson said in a tearful videotaped statement played in court at Chaney’s sentencing in December 2012.
“That feeling of security can never be given back and there is no compensation that can restore the feeling one has from such a large invasion of privacy,” Aguilera wrote in a statement before Chaney’s sentencing.
___
Associated Press writers Raphael Satter in London and Mae Anderson in New York contributed to this report.
Iran clerics 'must accept internet'
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urges Iran’s clerics to be more tolerant of the internet and new technologies after recent criticism from hardliners.
Google 'discourages' old browser use
Google has started showing old versions of its search page to people using out-of-date versions of web browsers.
How To Make The Most Of Your Sleep Tracker
By Amir Khan for U.S News
A good night’s rest can do wonders for your health, and these days, there are a ton of devices that promise to help you improve the quality and quantity of your sleep simply by tracking it. However, many of these devices just shove data into your face without giving you any advice on how to use the numbers to change your habits — though sleep experts say when used properly, sleep trackers can be a great tool.
Why should you track your sleep? Doing so can not only help you stay awake during that midday meeting, but also help you avoid some serious health problems, says Beth Malow, chief of Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Division of Sleep Disorders. “When we don’t get enough sleep, seven to eight hours every night, we feel worn down,” she says. “Our brains don’t function as effectively, we don’t think as clearly and we tend to be more cranky or moody. But there are also a bunch studies that link not sleeping enough to diabetes and obesity because a poor night’s sleep affects our metabolism.”
The first step to making the most out of your sleep tracker is to understand that it’s not perfect, says Brandy Roane, a behavioral sleep specialist with the University of North Texas Health Science Center. “They’re only as good as the algorithms used,” she says. “Don’t marry yourself to the numbers it’s giving you because several factors can affect them. Instead, use the numbers as a guide.”
While some devices are only for tracking sleep, they don’t necessarily do a better job than fitness trackers, which often have the function built in, says Roane, who recommends using either the Fitbit Flex or Jawbone UP.
Trackers typically overestimate the amount of time you sleep, Roane says, and a good rule of thumb is to subtract a half-hour to hour off the amount of time it says you slept. “You typically have to set the device when you go sleep and let it know when you wake up,” she says. “We often spend time in bed that isn’t sleeping. It can take anywhere from five to 15 minutes, or longer for some people, to fall asleep, which it doesn’t take into account.”
The trackers also tend to exaggerate how often you wake up during the night. “What it’s doing is using the movement of the device to determine if you’re likely asleep or likely awake,” Roane says. “If you have a bed partner, like a spouse or pet, if they move around near the device it might pick up that activity and think you’re awake.”
Once you understand the caveats of these devices, you can begin using the data they give you to make changes in your patterns, which starts by being more aware of your sleep habits, Malow says. “The devices give you as sense of how much sleep you get and how restless you are at night,” she says. “Looking at the data can help you notice that every time you have coffee after 2 p.m. you are more restless that night.”
You should look at the data documenting the time you go to bed each night, Roane says, and try to establish a set bedtime every night. “If you notice there’s a lot of variability in the times, try to set up a consistent time to go to sleep and wake up,” she says. “Constantly varying the time can lead to ‘social jet lag’ and can make you feel like you’ve just traveled across multiple time zones.”
You can also use the data to start a conversation with your doctor about your sleep habits, Malow says. “When people bring me their records, what I find is that it enables us to have a different kind of conversation,” she says. “They’re more engaged, they’re more interested and that makes them more likely to make a change.”
However, there are some things your device can’t tell you, which can also have an impact on the quality of your sleep. “They don’t look at light levels or noise, which can be very disruptive,” Roane says. “If you have ambient light from electronics or a TV, it can cause you to wake up frequently.”
In addition to sleeping in a room free of ambient light, Roane recommends using your bed only for sleeping, not reading or eating, and not allowing pets to sleep with you — as hard as that may be. “Animals get up and move frequently during the night, which can cause you to wake up often,” she says.
If you put all these tips and tricks together, Malow says, you’ll feel better in no time. “The more you’re aware of your sleep and the more you make a point to get the rest you need,” she says, “the more benefits you’ll see.”
More from U.S. News:
How to Break 7 Unhealthy Habits
8 Steps to Fall Asleep Fast
The Best Foods for Sleep
My Banned Word Holiday Rant
According to the US Department of Labor (www.dol.gov), Labor Day (the first Monday in September) is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country.
Just for fun (and in honor of Labor Day and the people who work for a living), here is a list of buzzwords, biz speak and hipster droppings that should be banned from every business meeting forevermore.
Engagement – It’s not a metric; it’s a concept that can be made to mean anything you want it to mean. Using it in a sentence without defining it should be criminalized.
Native – This is the new “N” word. Like engagement, it’s a concept that can mean many things. Do you mean native to the technology, native to the culture, native to the platform? Or, do you mean, trick the user/viewer into believing that it’s real content? Perhaps you actually mean content marketing? Specify!
Big Data – Large data sets come structured and unstructured. They can be mixed and matched by data wranglers, cleaned and washed, operated on by algorithms, mined, sliced, diced and julienned (for a delightful afternoon snack). Please say what you mean. If you say “big data” in a meeting, someone may actually ask you about the data set – be prepared to answer.
Cloud – Cloud computing, SaaS, Cloud Storage? Which one do you mean? There are about a dozen other possible meanings. Ice cream castles in the air, clouds in my coffee… cloudy with a chance of meatballs! Just saying we’re going to do it in the “cloud” makes you sound… um… uninformed (and I’m being super kind).
Programmatic – Do you mean automated delivery or algorithmically planned or arbitraged? Programmatic is another cliché catch phrase that doesn’t mean anything unless you add context.
Learning(s) – Just stop! I learned, we learned, he/she/it learned – it’s the easiest verb to conjugate in the entire English language. Ugh!
Ideate – Really? People who use “ideate” clearly have no idea about the process of ideation. It should literally cost $20 every time you get the idea to say it.
Rock Star – Let me be very, very clear – there are no rock stars in any profession other than Rock music. Rap Stars don’t call themselves Rock Stars. Neither do EDM, Country, Soul, R&B, Jazz or even Folk Stars. Why on earth would anyone who doesn’t play Rock for a living think it’s OK to call someone in business a Rock Star? When you can jump across the stage and land on your knees while playing a Bb7#9 chord, screaming the lyrics (on key) with pyrotechnics exploding all around you in front of 20,000 adoring fans, you’re a Rock Star. If you’re great at media buying or HR… well, you get my point.
Scalable – As opposed to what? We’ve built a new app that can only run on three devices simultaneously, but we’re hopeful. Who says that? Even if it’s true, you’re going to lie and say it’s carrier-grade and bulletproof. Has anyone ever been in a meeting where someone said, “Our technology doesn’t scale”? Body shops don’t scale, people don’t scale, boutiques don’t scale, custom donut shops don’t scale… technology scales!
Ready for the sentence that started this rant?
Client: “Our Big Data Rock Star ideated a cloud-based, scalable, native programmatic tool set that produced excellent learnings that will help us promote engagement.”
Me: “Well, it sounds like he took it to the next level… efforting 110% to craft a best practices, robust solution you can leverage, and it’s clearly out of the box thinking… but maybe you shouldn’t try to boil the ocean… it’s got a lot of moving parts and I’m not sure it’s something you want to take ownership of, as it’s not clearly in line with your corporate values. You might be accused of punching the puppy, so the optics are all wrong. We should probably put this in the parking lot.” (I didn’t actually say that, but I really, really wanted to!!!)
By simply attributing this list of banned words to me, you will receive a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, sublicensable and transferable (through multiple tiers) right and license to exercise any and all copyright, trademark, publicity and database rights that you have in the User Content in any and all formats or media now known or hereafter devised in the future. You are further hereby granted the non-exclusive, irrevocable and unconditional right and license to describe, relate, broadcast, exhibit, transmit, publish, use, monetize, distribute and/or exploit your User Content in any such manner as you shall elect, in whole or in part, on the internet, in print and electronic form, in merchandising, publicity and advertising, or in any other media now known or hereafter created or devised throughout the universe in perpetuity. Ahh… I feel better already. Have a great holiday weekend.
Review of Camu for iPhone
One of the newest and brightest photo taking and editing apps in the App Store is Camu for iPhone. Camu is a real time editing app that allows you to apply photo filters on-the-fly to the photos you are taking at the moment or add those effect to photos later. It then allows you to post those creations to a wide range of social networks for sharing. The beauty of Camu for iPhone is in its simplicity but don’t let that fool you: This is a powerful photo editing application. I’ve been using Camu now for a couple of weeks
The post Review of Camu for iPhone appeared first on AlliOSNews.
9 Movies Available On Demand Right Now That Are Better Than What's New In Theaters
This is how the summer movie season ends, not with a bang but with “The November Man” and “As Above/So Below” in theaters. Neither film came to nationwide audiences with the built-up anticipation of “Transformers: Age of Extinction” or “Guardians of the Galaxy”; both will be forgotten by the middle of September. Fortunately, there are other options to enjoy on Labor Day. Ahead, nine films available to watch on demand that are better than what’s new in theaters.
“Zero Theorem” (dir. Terry Gilliam)
Terry Gilliam (“12 Monkeys,” “Brazil”) is back with another weird, star-studded science-fiction movie that deals with nothing less than the meaning of life. Christoph Waltz is the lead here, but the supporting cast includes Tilda Swinton, David Thewlis, Peter Stormare, Ben Whishaw, Rupert Friend and Matt Damon.
“Dinosaur 13″ (dir. Todd Douglas Miller)
A Sundance Film Festival premiere, “Dinosaur 13″ details the battle over Sue, the largest intact Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton ever discovered.
“About Alex” (dir. Jesse Zwick)
Aubrey Plaza, Max Greenfield, Nate Parker and Jason Ritter lead Jesse Zwick’s directorial debut, a dramedy that’s been described as “The Big Chill” for millennials. Come for the typical indie movie plot twists and turns, stay for Greenfield’s acerbic truth-teller.
“The One I Love” (dir. Charlie McDowell)
The less written about “The One I Love,” the better. (Indeed, any plot description would qualify as one big spoiler.) All we’ll say is Mark Duplass and Elisabeth Moss star as a couple going through a rough patch in their relationship.
“Happy Christmas” (dir. Joe Swanberg)
Joe Swanberg’s latest feature is about family, friends, young parents and the small problems that can often snowball into something larger. Anna Kendrick plays the film’s lead, a ne’er-do-well named Jenny who goes through a tough breakup by moving in with her brother (Swanberg), his wife (Melanie Lynskey) and their son (Jude Swanberg, Joe’s real-life son).
“Snowpiercer” (dir. Bong Joon-ho)
Bong Joon-ho’s dystopian thriller is the summer’s best unseen blockbuster: a meaty, thought-provoking nightmare that doubles as a campy, wild ride. Chris Evans and Tilda Swinton lead a cast of international stars.
“Life Itself” (dir. Steve James)
Steve James’ emotional documentary about the life and death of Roger Ebert is a must-see for everyone, especially film fans who grew up reading Ebert’s prose.
“They Came Together” (dir. David Wain)
David Wain’s parody of romantic comedies (“I’ve never met anyone else who likes fiction!”) is a hit and miss affair, but maybe that’s all part of the bit. (After all, how many real romantic comedies are without ups and downs?) Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd are the cast standouts, but it’s Wain (“Wet Hot American Summer”) and his commitment to the premise that keeps “They Came Together” on track.
“Starred Up” (dir. David Mackenzie)
David Mackenzie’s “Starred Up” made a splash at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival thanks to its lead star: Jack O’Connell, who also plays the main character in Angelina Jolie’s forthcoming drama, “Unbroken.” Here, O’Connell is Eric, a violent teenager who gets sent to prison and comes face to face with his dad (Ben Mendelsohn).
VIDEO: Turning internet radio into art
LJ Rich looks at how one artist is using computer code to turn internet radio from across the globe into a unique piece of music.
Nude celebrity pictures posted online after alleged iCloud hack
Hundreds of nude images of female celebrities have been leaked, allegedly after Apple’s iCloud service was hacked
Local government calls for a local GDS
Local government needs a local version of the Government Digital Service (GDS) with dedicated in-house digital teams, says Socitm
Samsung phones to get Nokia maps
Samsung has signed a deal with Nokia to use its Here mapping service on its smartphones and the Gear S smartwatch.
Thanks for reading our digest. Opinions in the articles above are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Digital Workshed ltd.