Google+ on Tuesday added "auto-amazing" photo and video tools for telling artful life stories at the online social network, ramping up its challenge to Facebook.

"Google aims to revolutionize photography," Google senior vice president Vic Gundotra said while introducing a host of new social networking features at an art gallery in San Francisco.

Photo and video sharing are among prime uses of online social networks. Gundotra said that Google+ users upload about 1.5 billion images weekly.

He also announced the that number of people who use Google's two-year-old social network at least once a month has climbed to 540 million from about 300 million early this year.

Facebook still dominates the world of online social networking, boasting more than a billion users.
Google hoped to bolster the popularity of its social network with the addition of photo and video editing tools that automatically provide users with professional quality images and custom-made movies.

Tools for automatically editing images and even creating mini-animated sequences of images or moment-capturing action shots were added.

An "auto-awesome eraser" feature allow Google+ users to make unwanted people or objects in images disappear.

Google also beefed up search image search capabilities, increasing the number of terms that can be used to find specific pictures.

The list of a thousand new terms included snow, beach, kiss, hug and sunset. Searches for such terms find pictures with the objects, people or actions even if they are not tagged with caption information.
"You can say the name of your loved one, at the beach, with sunglasses, and Google+ will bring up that image," Gundotra said.

The power of Google's data centers and software were also aimed at videos uploaded to the social network.

Video tools offered to automatically analyze video clips and images, and then weave them into movies complete with synched music sound tracks.

"Google+ has created an auto-awesome movie for you," Gundotra said while showing off new features.

"This is not some little client editing system; this is the power of Google machine learning applied to photos and videos."

Google+ also unveiled improvements to its "hangouts" features that let people video conference free at the social network.

For example, organizers of hangouts can oust unwanted participants or turn up the volume on others.
"We are not building a service for lightweight sharing," Gundotra said.

"We are building a service where you can trust Google with the full resolution of your memories. And we are just getting started."

Reference:
http://gadgets.ndtv.com/social-networking/news/google-gets-new-image-and-video-editing-tools-improved-image-search-439174

More details appear to have been leaked regarding LG's first curved display smartphone, rumoured to be called the 'G Flex'. This time, it comes in the form of live images and a hands-on video posted by technology journalist Frederico Ini of Telefe Noticias, who seems to have received a prototype unit.

The Verge spotted the images first and claims that it received some information about LG's upcoming curved display smartphone from Frederico as well.

As per the site, the yet to be officially announced LG 'G Flex' smartphone is curved from top to bottom, unlike Samsung's Galaxy Round which bends from sides and is being said to come with 6-inch curved OLED display. Further the device sports LG's signature design which means it comes with rear-mounted physical buttons for power and volume controls, much like company's flagship smartphone, the LG G2. The site suggests that the smartphone is likely to sport a 13-megapixel rear camera, again similar to the LG G2. The video reveals that the LG 'G Flex' would come with similar features as found in other LG's high-end smartphones.

The latest leaked images and video suggest that the launch of the LG 'G Flex' is not far and LG might soon join Samsung with the launch of its first curved display smartphone.

Last week, a report revealed that LG, in an attempt to gain both technological and market leadership, will launch its first smartphone mounted with curved display next month. The report claimed that the curved display smartphones are being developed according to their release schedules.


Reference:
http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/lg-g-flex-curved-display-smartphone-spotted-in-new-live-images-video-436112

Security researchers are calling LinkedIn's new mobile app, Intro, a dream come true for hackers or intelligence agencies.

"I'm flabbergasted by this," Richard Bejtlich, the chief research officer at the computer security company Mandiant, said in an interview Wednesday. "I can't believe someone thought this was a good idea."

Intro is an email plug-in for iOS users that pulls LinkedIn profile information into emails so that the sender's job title appears front-and-center in emails on a user's iPhone or iPad.

Some bloggers have hailed it as a smart play by LinkedIn to get more mobile action and to get users to stop thinking of the service as a static website they visit every couple of years to update their employment status.

But security researchers have taken issue with the way the app works. Intro redirects email traffic to and from users' iPhones and iPads through LinkedIn's servers, then analyzes and scrapes those emails for relevant data and adds pertinent LinkedIn details.

Researchers liken that redirection to a "man-in-the-middle attack" in which hackers, or more recently, intelligence agencies, intercept Internet traffic en route to its destination and do what they will with it.

Iranian hackers used that tactic to intercept dissidents' Gmail accounts in 2011, by hacking into DigiNotar, a Dutch certificate authority. The National Security Agency is accused of using such tactics to snoop on Google traffic, according to recent revelations by Edward Snowden.

Security researchers say LinkedIn essentially does the same thing in the name of a new mobile feature.

"'But that sounds like a man-in-the-middle attack!' I hear you cry," Bishop Fox, a security consulting group, wrote in a blog post. "Yes. Yes it does. Because it is. That's exactly what it is. And this is a bad thing. If your employees are checking their company email, it's an especially bad thing."

LinkedIn has responded to some of those concerns in an amended blog post Thursday. The company notes that customers must opt in to the app and that, once they do, their email is encrypted to and from LinkedIn's servers. The company also notes that LinkedIn does not store any email on its servers.

But researchers note that, in order for LinkedIn to stick changes into an email, they must decrypt it and then encrypt it again en route to its recipient, adding a new layer of insecurity to email in transit.
"I worry LinkedIn is not going to treat this as the holy grail for people's email, even though it is," Bejtlich said. "The risk is that you essentially trust a box, run by LinkedIn, with your email. It's a target for someone that wants to get to your email. All the fears people now have about email - that they will be intercepted by intelligence agencies for instance - are present."

LinkedIn has not had the best security profile. After the service was hacked last year, 6 million user passwords popped up on a Russian message board, revealing that the company used only bare basic security protocols. And last month, the company became the target of a class-action suit by users who said it was improperly accessing their data.

Bishop Fox, the security consulting firm, called the app "a dream for attackers" and enumerated specific concerns in a blog post. Among them: By giving LinkedIn access to their emails, users may be waiving their rights to attorney-client privilege. The consultancy also warned users that, by opting into Intro, they may be "in gross violation" of their employer's security policies.

"I don't think people who use this are seriously thinking about the implications of LinkedIn seeing and changing their email," Bejtlich noted. "These changes are done in the name of a feature, or speed, but it just completely breaks the idea that email traffic is going where it should go and no place else."

© 2013, The New York Times News Service        

Reference:
http://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/news/linkedins-new-mobile-app-called-a-dream-for-attackers-437059

Now you can move images and videos from a smartphone to another tablet just by touch!
Scientists have developed a new technology whereby a ring, structure nail or wristband acts as a user interface allowing files to be transferred directly from one screen to another by touch.

The new InTouch user interfaces can allow you to touch a file on one screen, for example, with a structure nail and transfer it through the nail to your friend's smartphone or even to your car.

From end user viewpoint the data transfer between devices is currently handled using memory sticks, short-range point-to-point connections (for example, Bluetooth) or the cloud (sharing services).

The solution, developed by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, allows files to be received, sent and shared more easily than before.

The InTouch user interface operates with touch screens and allows file transfer either directly or via a cloud service.

The new concept also enables entirely new kinds of interactive devices and product categories, and opens up new business possibilities, researchers claim.

Areas of application might include digital devices, cars, the manufacturing industry, logistics and health care. There is a patent pending for the technology.

Reference:
http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/intouch-interface-developed-allows-media-transfer-via-touch-between-devices-435130

Chinese scientists have indicated through experiments the possibility of getting online on Internet with the help of signals sent by light bulbs (Li-Fi) instead of Wi-Fi.

A one-watt LED light bulb may connect four computers to Internet under the principle that light can be used as a carrier wave instead of traditional radio frequencies, as in the case of Wi-Fi, said Chi Nan, an information technology professor in Shanghai's Fudan University, Thursday.

A light bulb with embedded microchips can produce data rate as fast as 150 megabits per second, which is faster than the average broadband connection in China, said Chi. He leads a Li-Fi research team including scientists from the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, reports Xinhua.

Data rate refers to the rate at which circuits or other devices operate when handling digital information.
The term Li-Fi was coined by Harald Haas from the University of Edinburgh, Britain, and refers to a type of visible light communication technology that delivers a networked, mobile, high-speed communication solution in a similar way as Wi-Fi.

People should be excited to view samples of Li-Fi kits, as these are cost-effective and efficient. Ten such samples will be on display at the China International Industry Fair starting Nov 5 in Shanghai.
The current equipment for wireless signal transmission is expensive and less efficient, said Chi.
"Millions of base stations have been established for strengthening the signals of cell phones, but most of the energy is consumed for their cooling systems," she explained.

"The energy utilization rate is only five percent," said Chi.

The number of light bulbs that can be used is practically limitless compared with base stations. Chinese people are replacing the old-fashioned incandescent bulbs with LED light bulbs.

Still, there is a long way to go before making Li-Fi a commercial success. "If the light is blocked, then the signal will be cut off," said Chi.

The development of a series of key, related technological equipment, including light communication controls and microchip design and manufacturing, is still in an experimental period, according to the scientist.

Reference:
http://gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/news/forget-wi-fi-chinas-new-li-fi-network-is-powered-by-lightbulbs-434060

MICROSOFT has released Windows 8.1 after tweaking the operating system designed for various devices that had confused some users. 
 
The update is free for those using Windows 8, released last year to help Microsoft navigate the transition from traditional personal computers to mobile devices such as tablets.

The revamped version brings back the "start" button, which disappeared last year and prompted protests from some PC users unaccustomed to the tiled menu adapted for touchscreens.

"Windows 8.1 demonstrates our commitment to continuously improving the product to create a richer customer experience," Microsoft's Brandon LeBlanc wrote on the company blog.

"We are excited to have customers start updating their devices today and getting to experience new Windows devices this holiday season."

A public preview of Windows 8.1 was made available June 26. At the time, Microsoft said it had sold more than 100 million licenses for Windows 8 but that the update was planned after listening to customers.

Some analysts say Microsoft was forced to act because of slow adoption of Windows 8, which made some radical changes to the design of the desktop.

With Windows 8, Microsoft was trying to create a system that could be used on mobile touch screen devices while also serving the users of traditional PCs.

Microsoft launched Windows 8 last October, revamping its flagship system in an effort to make inroads in the fast-growing mobile segment. At the same time, it released its Surface tablet computer.

Starting Friday, Windows 8.1 will be delivered on new devices using the Microsoft operating system

Reference:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/technology/news/microsoft-releases-windows-81-after-june-preview/story-fni0bzoc-1226742068282

Multiple screenshots from a Nexus 7 (2013) tablet reportedly running Android 4.4 KitKat have surfaced online.

The latest set of purported Android 4.4 KitKat screenshots comes courtesy ZDNet which reveals the Android version running on the tablet as 'Key Lime Pie', suggesting that this is not the final Android 4.4 build. However, the new leaked screenshot reveals some important UI changes expected in the next iteration of Android.

Some of the new additions revealed by the alleged screenshots of Android 4.4 include 'Moving mosaic', a new feature which can be accessed when pressing the KitKat logo and appears to be an Android OS timeline as it shows Android's journey from Cup Cake (1.5) to Jelly Bean (4.3); new App Drawer which the site notes looks similar to the Android 4.3 but includes new icons for YouTube, Settings, Google, and Voice Search and QuickOffice app for editing Microsoft Office files.

The new leaked screenshots further reveal revamped clock, stopwatch and timer apps, and a new download section for apps and games. One of leaked screenshots also refers to a new Print feature being available when viewing an image, reportedly allowing the user to save the image as a PDF locally, or even view network printers and print out a hard copy, which was leaked earlier.

Earlier this week, a bunch of new images and a walkthrough video reportedly showing the alleged Nexus 5 smartphone running the new iteration of Google's mobile operating system surfaced on the Internet.

The new leaked live images revealed some of the new features of the Android 4.4 KitKat which include transparent notification and navigation bar; Google Photos and Hangouts replacing the conventional messaging and gallery apps respectively; a new camera launch icon is now seen sitting on the left corner of the display on the lockscreen; ability to add more homescreen panes; new wallpapers; Google Now to activate by saying 'Ok Google' from the homescreen and new boot animation reportedly borrowed from the Play Editions of Galaxy S4 and HTC One.

Meanwhile, Google in keeping with its tight-lipped ways, has not revealed its plan for the upcoming launch of Android 4.4 and Nexus 5.

Reference:
http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/android-44-kitkat-further-detailed-in-new-leaked-screenshots-432449

Whether it's a heartfelt note to a loved one or a thank you letter following a job interview, new apps are aiming to revive the tradition of handwritten notes with a high-tech twist.

Bond Gifts, a free app for iPhones, lets users write a digital message that is converted into a handwritten note. A robot called Giles at the company's New York headquarters writes the letter with a fountain pen on embossed stationery.

The notes are sent in the mail, complete with a wax seal, to the recipient.

"It's a way to marry technology with tradition. When you get the mail there's never anything good anymore because we're all communicating digitally," said Sonny Caberwal, founder and chief executive officer of Bond Gifting, which created the app.

"People might think about writing a note, but very few people actually do it," he said, adding it is a quick way to provide a personal touch.

The user types the message and provides the recipient's address, or the app can find the address for the sender. Each handwritten note costs $5.

The app also sells and sends gifts, such as books and candles, with a handwritten note within the United States. It also keeps track of birthdays and special events.

"Remember when you a had a box of printed photos? They had permanence. We want to bring that same feeling back," said Caberwal.

Felt, an app for the iPad, also sends handwritten notes and lets users select from multiple designs, pen styles and ink colors.

Tomer Alpert, the CEO of the Telluride, Colorado-based company, said he got the idea for the app after driving home from a dinner party. He wanted to send a thank you card but was too tired to stop to find one.

Other apps converted text to computer-generated cursive font, but didn't use people's actual handwriting, according to Alpert.

"There wasn't a simple option to hand write your card and hand address the envelope, and just let someone else deal with the stamps," he explained.

With Felt, users write their message on the iPad and it is printed in their own handwriting on the card. The notes, only available in the U.S., cost $3.99.

Bond Gifting's Caberwal said some of the most interesting messages his company has seen involve the U.S. government shutdown.

"We're starting to see people write notes to Congress telling people to get back to work," he said.

Reference:
http://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/news/new-apps-reviving-tradition-of-handwritten-notes-432528

Apple is planning to reveal iPad updates at an invitation-only event later this month, the technology news website AllThingsD reported Tuesday.

The next-generation iPad is expected to be thinner than its predecessor and boast improved camera capabilities. An upgraded version of the iPad mini is likely to list an improved screen among its features.

The event will be held on October 22, according to AllThingsD. Apple declined to comment on the report, which cited unnamed sources.

The iPad remains the largest-selling tablet, according to surveys, but its market share is being eroded by rivals using the Google Android operating system.

Apple was expected to discuss its computer operating system and its laptop line at the event, timed for the start of the year-end holiday shopping season.

Apple is coming off a wildly successful launch of two new iPhone models last month. The California firm said it sold a record nine million iPhones in the three days after launching two new versions of the smartphone.

For Reference:
http://gadgets.ndtv.com/tablets/news/apple-to-unveil-new-ipad-ipad-mini-at-october-22-event-report-429736 

WOULD you buy a curved smartphone? 
 
Samsung is betting on it. The company just announced the Galaxy Round - "the world's first curved display smartphone".

The announcement comes just hours after pictures of the phone leaked on Tech Crunch earlier today.
According to the company the curved design allows users to access features of the phone even when the screen is turned off.

It also includes integrated "experiences like the Roll Effect, enabling users to check information such as date, time, missed call and battery easily when home screen is off", the company says.

It also uses something called "the Gravity Effect" allowing users to interact with the screen by tilting the device. Why it needs to be curved to do this, isn't clear.

Even while your music is playing in the background users can control their tracks by pressing on the left hand side of the device to play the previous song, or fast forward to the next song by pressing to the right.

The Galaxy Round features a massive 5.7 inch Super AMOLED display and weighs 154 grams, and is 7.9mm thin.

It runs on Android's 4.3 Jelly Bean operating system and boasts a 2.3GHz quad-core processor. It is available in 32GB and 64GB models.

So far the phone is only available for sale in Korea and will reportedly be available in "Luxury Brown" (really?) with other colors to follow.

Reference:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/technology/smartphones/samsung-launches-world8217s-first-curved-smartphone/story-fni0c1dv-1226736522305

Mozilla has announced the first update for smartphones running Firefox OS, bringing them to version 1.1. The update will add new features, support for new languages and major performance upgrades. The company detailed the new software additions in a blog post.

Among the new additions is push notifications API, which will let developers add a notification feature to the apps and reduce overall battery consumption; keyboard enhancement which will now autocorrect words that are accidentally misspelled; music search, which will add new search functionality in music player; support for more than 15 languages, and finally, MMS support that will enable sending and receiving of pictures, audio and video files via MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service).

Other major improvements in the new Firefox OS update (v1.1) are contact management enhancements which will add Gmail and Hotmail contact import; dialer suggestions; performance improvement for faster app loading time and smoother scrolling; calendar upgrade that will add direct event creation and calendar event reminders, and finally, Firefox browser downloads that will make saving images, audio and video from the browser easy.

The blog post also claims that the latest Firefox update will now be available for developer devices while the update will land the ZTE Open and Alcatel One Touch Fire soon.

The updates come alongside Mozilla's announcement to release more Firefox OS smartphones in more markets around the globe. The company announced that the second round of Firefox OS smartphone launches are expected by year's end in countries like Hungary, Serbia, and Montenegro.

Commenting on the expansion plans, Jay Sullivan, Mozilla Chief Operating Officer said, "The positive market reception of the first Firefox OS smartphones demonstrates that people like the user experience and openness we're building with Firefox OS. We continue to enhance Firefox OS to deliver the best experience for the many people around the world buying their first smartphones. We are looking forward to seeing the response to the next round of Firefox OS launches."

Reference:
http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/firefox-os-update-11-announced-with-new-features-performance-upgrades-and-more-430568

Apple will put an improved 8-megapixel rear camera sensor on the fifth-generation iPad and the second-generation iPad mini, if KGI Securities' analyst Ming-Chi Kuo's prediction is to be believed.

The analyst's predictions have been pretty accurate in the past.  Kuo mentions that the new camera module will feature a larger aperture, similar to the one found on the recently launched iPhone 5s. He has also indicated that the ASP (Average Selling Price) of the camera lens module will increase by 10 to 20 percent due to this change.

In a note (via MacRumors) the firm said, "We predict Apple (US) will launch new iPad 5 and iPad mini 2 (so called retina iPad mini) in 4Q13. As the tablet market becomes increasingly competitive, Apple could upgrade the camera as a selling point for the new iPad in a bid to increase competitiveness. We expect the upgrade will include 8MP rear camera, up from 5MP, and larger aperture. Lens module ASP will rise 10-20 percent on this optics spec upgrade."

Apple has not focused much on the rear cameras of its iPad tablets, at least not when compared to its focus on the iPhone's camera. The current-generation iPad and iPad mini both sport a 5-megapixel camera without an LED flash.

It's not clear if the other components of the next-generation iPad and iPad mini's camera modules will also be upgraded to make them on par with the iPhone 5s camera. The iPhone 5s camera includes a True Tone Flash that feature a white LED and an amber LED which work with software algorithms to adjust flash intensity and colour temperature. It also offers a Slo-Mo mode to shoot slow motion video at 120 frames per second at 720p.

Kuo also mentions that the Retina display equipped iPad mini will launch in the fourth quarter of 2013. Interestingly, a new report indicates that Apple will be unable to widely roll out a new version of the iPad mini with a high-resolution "Retina" display in October, citing people who work in the company's supply chain as a source. These people added that Apple's supply chain is only now gearing up to make Retina displays for the iPad mini, which means the tablets could be available in only limited quantities this year, if at all.

Apple is expected to unveil the new iPad tablets at an event in October, however, there's no official word from the company on the same. 

An Indian-origin scientist in US has developed a new feedback system that allows robots to operate with minimal supervision and could eventually lead to autonomous machines.

The system may lead to robots that think for themselves, learn, adapt and use active critique to work unsupervised.

Developed by Dr Jagannathan Sarangapani, from Missouri University of Science and Technology, the system makes use of current formation moving robots and introduces a fault-tolerant control design to improve the probability of completing a set task.

The new feedback system will allow a "follower" robot to take over as the "leader" robot if the original leader has a system or mechanical failure.

In a leader/follower formation, the lead robot is controlled through a nonholonomic system, meaning that the trajectory is set in advance, and the followers are tracing the same pattern that the leader takes by using sonar.

When a problem occurs and roles need to change to continue, the fault tolerant control system comes into use.

It uses reinforcement learning and active critique, both inspired by behaviourist psychology to show how machines act in environments to maximise work rate, to help the new, unmanned robot to estimate its new course.

Without this, the follower wouldn't have a path to follow and the task would fail.

"Imagine you have one operator in an office controlling 10 bulldozers remotely," said Sarangapani, the William A Rutledge - Emerson Electric Co Distinguished Professor in Electrical Engineering at S&T.

"In the event that the lead one suffers a mechanical problem, this hardware allows the work to continue," said Sarangapani.

The innovative research can be applied to robotic security surveillance, mining and even aerial manoeuvring.

Sarangapani believes that the research is most important for aerial vehicles. When a helicopter is in flight, faults can now be detected and accommodated.

This means that instead of a catastrophic failure resulting in a potentially fatal crash, the system can allow for a better chance for an emergency landing instead.

The fault tolerance would notice a problem and essentially shut down that malfunctioning part while maintaining slight control of the overall vehicle.

"The end goal is to push robotics to the next level," said Sarangapani.

"I want robots to think for themselves, to learn, adapt and use active critique to work unsupervised. A self-aware robot will eventually be here, it is just a matter of time, he said.