As good as GPS is at helping smartphones guide you, the technology isn't very precise and doesn't work reliably indoors.

Apple is trying to improve that with a new iBeacon system, which comes with last week's iOS 7 software update for iPhones and iPads.

Better location information will improve a range of features, including recommendations based on what's popular nearby. It will also enable ads and coupons from nearby retailers and potentially allow mobile ordering and other transactions.

The technology also promises to work better indoors, particularly in multi-story environments such as shopping malls and stadium concourses.

Major League Baseball showcased some of iBeacon's potential Thursday in front of about a half-dozen journalists at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. MLB's free At The Ballpark app can customize fans' experience from the moment they get off the subway or out of their cars.

For instance, MLB officials showed how its app can offer bonus features such as video when fans are within a few feet of landmarks. The stadium map is customized based on the entrance used and the fan's seat, and a coupon pops up the moment the fan walks into a souvenir shop.

Phones can do some of this now, but not as well.

Eric O'Brien, director of wireless product development for baseball's interactive business, MLB Advanced Media, said the new technology is precise enough to deliver coupons right at the door, not 10 feet past the store.

He said GPS technology can be a half-mile or so off at times, and supplemental location technology such as cellular and Wi-Fi signals are more complicated to configure. With iBeacon, a handful of sensors are placed around the stadium to enable specific functions.

So far, Apple has said little publicly about iBeacon, other than that it uses a low-energy variant of Bluetooth wireless technology to pick up data from sensors, or beacons. Apple recently released technical specifications for software developers such as MLB to incorporate the technology into apps.
MLB officials temporarily installed several beacons around Citi Field for Thursday's demonstration. It plans to use the technology more extensively next season. Each ball club is expected to adopt its own set of features based on its fan base and stadium configuration.

The beacons will work with the iOS version of At The Ballpark.

The Android app won't get the new features initially, but O'Brien said the 4.3 version of Android has a way to use Bluetooth to determine location. That version came out in July and is in only a few devices, including Google's Nexus 7 tablet.

Fans can already use either app at stadiums to upgrade seats, buy copies of songs played over the loudspeakers and view maps and menus for vendors. A few stadiums even allow fans to order food and merchandise from seats.

O'Brien said iBeacon could eventually improve those features by letting the vendor know, for instance, where the fan is sitting without needing to enter the seat number.

Using iBeacon, MLB's app could also keep track of visits, even if the fan didn't check in or open the app. That way, it can extend different types of offers to first timers and regulars.

Those worried about privacy will be able to turn off location services for the entire device or for specific features. MLB also plans to offer additional settings in its app. Officials say the idea is to keep it to features fans want.

"We want to help out fans," O'Brien said. "We don't want to creep them out."

Supporting earlier rumours of an October launch for the HTC One Max, a new rumour suggests the company would hold an event on October 17, dedicated to the alleged new phablet.

According to E price, a Chinese technology site, the Taiwanese-based handset maker will launch the rumoured HTC One Max phablet next month and will likely be priced at 23,900 New Taiwan Dollars, which translates to about Rs. 50,300 approximately.

The HTC One Max has not been officially unveiled yet, but we have tons of details about the rumoured device thanks to multiple leaks. The HTC One Max will be a bigger version of the HTC's 2013 flagship smartphone, the One.

Rumours have suggested that the alleged phablet will come with a fingerprint scanner, which could be the highlight of the device and could be found usage for authentication process to unlock the phone or for mobile payment authorisations.

Rumoured specifications of the HTC One Max include a 5.9-inch Super LCD full-HD (1080x1920) display, 1.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm processor, Ultra Pixel camera, Fingerprint Scanner and would run Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.

According to recent claims, the Taiwanese giant would adopt the old Qualcomm processor for the production of company's first phablet. The reason for going with an old chipset is the insufficient supply of Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processors as the same chipset has been used by a number of handset makers.

With the HTC One having been comfortably established in the market for a good while now, the launch of HTC's first phablet is expected to strengthen the portfolio of the Taiwanese handset maker. With the launch of the HTC One Max, the company will also join the phablet race with Samsung and Sony which already offer the Galaxy Mega 6.3 featuring a 6.3-inch display and Xperia Z Ultra sporting a 6.4-inch display, respectively.

 

Samsung's Galaxy Note 3 could get a makeover soon with a new flexible display replacing the conventional display, if a rumour is to be believed.

 

A report in Korean media suggests that the South Korean giant is planning to launch the Galaxy Note 3 in a new avatar that's sporting a flexible OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display. The site also suggests that the alleged Galaxy Note 3 with flexible display will not be produced in huge numbers and will be available as a limited edition device.

The site further notes that the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 with OLED display might be unveiled ahead of Samsung Electronics Show to be held in Las Vegas at CES 2014.

The news comes amidst LG and Samsung announcing end of dispute over next-generation display technology patents earlier on Tuesday. Both South Korean giants, Samsung and LG, have agreed to end a year-long battle over display technology patents that spawned a series of lawsuits. LG Display and Samsung Display respectively are the world's number one and two display panel manufacturers, and had locked horns over a number of patents for next-generation display technologies for TVs and other devices.

Meanwhile, Samsung officially unveiled the Galaxy Note 3 phablet at the sidelines of IFA 2013 in Berlin. The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 comes with a 5.7-inch full-HD Super AMOLED display, and weighs about 168 grams and at 8.33m wide, is both lighter and slimmer than its predecessor. It is powered by 1.9GHz Octa-core processor and a 3GB of RAM and a 13-megapixel rear camera
alongside 2-megapixel front camera. It is powered by 3,200mAh battery and runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. The Galaxy Note 3 is available in 32GB and 64GB storage variants, and has been launched in India at Rs. 49,900.

The number of people surfing the Internet using mobiles in India, the world's second largest mobile market after China, is set to touch 164.8 million by 2015, a report by global consultancy firm KPMG said on Tuesday.

KPMG's 'The SMAC Code ? Embracing New Technologies for future business' report further revealed that Indians hooking on to social networking sites provides opportunities to firm's for using social media to engage customers, brand building, product launches, etc.

"The mobile Internet users in the country are expected to grow from 4.1 million users in 2009 to 164.8 million in 2015 at a CAGR of 85 percent," the report revealed.

India has emerged as the second largest mobile market globally, behind only China. With over 870 million mobile subscribers, businesses are jumping the opportunity, it said.

"Indian Internet users are also increasingly using social media, which in turn is providing opportunities for enterprises to leverage social media strategy for engaging with customers, brand building, product launches and for knowing their customers," it added.

The social media usage is primarily driven by the rising number of active Internet users, who are accessing Internet through host of devices, it said.

"Enterprises are increasingly leveraging social media for customer engagement and brand building, as more and more individuals are becoming active Internet users and using social media," it added.

Besides, the proliferation of smart devices and rising mobile Internet usage has supported growth of active Internet users in the country, KPMG's report said.

"Social media platforms are not only restricted to the social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, rather extended to various forms of social media including YouTube, blogs, social bookmarking, geo-location sites and daily deals," it added.

As the social media modes differ, so their application and priority from business to business. Moreover, changing business dynamics influences enterprise decision to select a social media platform, the report said.

On the global social media scene, KPMG said: "The social commerce market is forecast to reach USD 30 billion by 2015.

Leading global retailers are spending between 20-25 percent of their advertising budget on social media channels."

Nearly 90 percent of the top global banks use social networking to achieve customer engagement, it added.

Mobile technologies can be used to cut the cost of a financial transaction by up to 80 percent, it said.

Indian social networking site Worldfloat has introduced a search engine that will help users access realtime news, information and images while networking.

Worldfloat.com founder Pushkar Mahatta said the new feature would help the company widen its userbase. He said the new feature on India's homegrown social networking site would work like the search engines of global players like Google and Yahoo.

"The new search engine is one of its kind in India. No other site has the facility of social networking as well as search engine which sources news from all over the world on a real-time basis by automatic algorithms," Mahatta said.

Worldfloat.com, which was launched in June 2012, claims to have nearly 30 million users in 62 countries across the world. A substantial number of them are in India.

Mahatta said with the introduction of new features, Worldfloat has become unique in many ways as even the global players like Facebook don't have search engine facilities.

"Right now social networking and search engine are separate media. We want Worldfloat to be a bridge between social networking and searching the world," Mahatta told IANS.

Worldfloat would soon introduce "sharing" feature in the search engine by which users will be able to share news and information with other users and connect with people of common interest, Mahatta said.

"People interested in technology can meet with the other people interested in technology; similarly doctors can meet doctors, architects can meet architects from various cities of the world," he said.

Mahatta said the company's long-term plan is to create not just a search engine but a "social search engine" which will help connect people from all over the world with common interest.

"While Facebook is stuck with its graph search within its friend circle, Worldfloat is taking a far wider approach to connect people from all over the world with common interest," he said.

Along with the news search, Worldfloat has also developed image search facilities.

"It works like Google images, but it has several additional features like it sources photographs of news from all over the world in sequence of time," he said.

An iOS 7 user has discovered a worrying security flaw within the software, which enables calls to be made while the iPhone is locked.
The flaw can be exploited using the emergency call screen that can be accessed from the lock screen. Once the phone's keypad is open, any number can be dialled by repeatedly tapping the call button.
In a video shot by iPhone users Karam Daoud and passed onto Forbes, tapping the call button numberous times causes the screen to go black and the Apple logo to appear.
After that, the call to any number, including international and premium phone numbers is completed as if the phone were unlocked.

Any number, any time

"Once the black screen appeared, it was pretty clear that this is a bug," says Daoud from Ramallah in Palestinian. "You can dial a number anywhere, any time."
He also claims to have repeated the trick on older iPhones running older versions of iOS and enjoyed further success, so it appears the problem is not confined to iOS 7.
The bug is the second security flaw uncovered within iOS 7 since its release in midweek. The first lockscreen vulnerability allowed access to the device's photos and email. However, that required a much more complex combinations of presses and swipes.
Apple says it is working on a fix for the first issue, but is yet to comment on the more recent discovery.

It looks like Google is getting rid of the black navigation bar it places on its sites and introducing a new menu which looks like the Chrome app launcher placed upside down.

According to Google Plus Daily, the drop down launcher will offer nine popular Google services, namely Google+, Search, YouTube, Maps, Play, News, Gmail, Drive and Calendar in a 3x3 grid each represented by the icon and name of the service. The launcher also has a More button at the bottom clicking on which will make eight other Google services -Translate, Books, Offers, Wallet, Shopping, Blogger, Finance and Photos - appear.

Update: Google has officially confirmed the changes coming to the navigation bar via a blog post and also given a glimpse at its new logo. The company also confirmed that both the changes will be rolling out worldwide gradually.

Earlier, a screenshot of the new navigation bar was posted by Google+ Help community member, Gerson Castaneda, following which Google+ Community Manager, Justine Rivero acknowledged that the new menu will roll out over the next few weeks.

As a screenshot in the report points out, a message saying "Welcome to the new way to find your favorite Google products. Click the grid to have a look" will be displayed under the app launcher button.

The new launcher is visually appealing and features different Google services as apps rather than offering them as hyperlinks placed on the top of the page in an omnipresent black navigation bar. It's also a much more minimalistic way of putting a link to all Google services while the user is accessing one of them.

However, one of the disadvantages of this launcher is that a lot of users might not realise it's even there as the app grid is hidden till the user clicks on the launcher button.

It would also be the first time that even YouTube will display the Google navigation bar. The video sharing service currently doesn't feature the black navigation bar seen on other Google services.

As per Google Plus Daily, the new navigation launcher has been in testing for almost half a year with Google Operating system, a Google focused third-party website receiving the first screenshots of the launcher in February.

However, it's worth pointing out that Google had tried to implement a similar menu called Google menu, replacing the black Google bar, in November 2011. But the lack of positive feedback lead to its removal and Google placed all service shortcuts on the black bar in February 2012.

Lenovo has launched a new range of gaming PCs that include the all-in-one IdeaCentre Horizon 27, IdeaPad Y510p and the IdeaPad Z510 for the Indian market. All the three newly launched devices are based on Windows 8 and equip high-performance graphics and audio for a seamless gaming experience, notes the company.

The Lenovo IdeaCentre Horizon 27 is an all-in-one PC that supports multi-touch and doubles up as a table PC. It features a 27-inch display and runs Intel Core i7 (Third generation - Ivy Bridge). It is powered by Nvidia GeForce GT 620M 1GB/2GB graphics with DirectX 11. It also features stereo speakers with Dolby Home Theatre V4 and weighs around 8.6 kilograms. The Lenovo IdeaCentre Horizon 27 will be available in India from next week, at a price of Rs. 1,36,500 (taxes included).

The second gaming PC unveiled is the Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p which features a 15.6-inch full-HD LED Glare display. It runs Intel Core i7 processor (Fourth generation - Haswell) and is powered by dual NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M 2GB graphics with use of Ultrabay technology. It comes with 8GB RAM and includes 1TB of Hard disk drive. Other features include backlit accutype keyboard with touchpad, USB 3.0 Port, HDMI output, 720p HD Webcam and Dual Digital Array Microphones. The device also features JBL speakers with Dolby Home Theater v4. The Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p will be available in India from next week in Dusk Black colour, at a price of Rs. 69,990 (taxes included).

Last of the newly launched gaming PCs is the Lenovo IdeaPad Z510 which runs on Intel Core i7 processor (Fourth generation - Haswell). It features a 15.6-inch display and comes with up to 16GB DDR3L RAM. The device includes Intel Wireless Display (WiDi) Technology that enables streaming the content to a device with bigger display. The IdeaPad Z510 also comes with OneKey recovery, that makes data backup and recovery easy, notes the company. There are stereo speakers with Dolby Theatre certification for audio enhancement. The Lenovo IdeaPad Z510 has been priced at Rs. 50,990 (taxes included), and will be available from the middle of October.

Commenting on the launch Shailendra Katyal, Director- Consumer Business, Lenovo India said, "Lenovo is fostering its growth in the PC+ era through these multi-media devices that will add a new dimension to our existing portfolio of Consumer products and redefine the concept of gaming in India."

In the latest fallout from Edward Snowden's intelligence disclosures, a major U.S. computer security company warned thousands of customers on Thursday to stop using software that relies on a weak mathematical formula developed by the National Security Agency.

RSA, the security arm of storage company EMC Corp, told current customers in an email that a toolkit for developers had a default random-number generator using the weak formula, and that customers should switch to one of several other formulas in the product.

Last week, the New York Times reported that Snowden's cache of documents from his time working for an NSA contractor showed that the agency used its public participation in the process for setting voluntary cryptography standards, run by the government's National Institute of Standards and Technology, to push for a formula that it knew it could break.

NIST, which accepted the NSA proposal in 2006 as one of four systems acceptable for government use, this week said it would reconsider that inclusion in the wake of questions about its security.

But RSA's warning underscores how the slow-moving standards process and industry practices could leave many users exposed to hacking by the NSA or others who could exploit the same flaw for years to come.

RSA had no immediate comment. It was unclear how the company could reach all the former customers of its development tools, let alone how those programmers could in turn reach all of their customers.

Developers who used RSA's "BSAFE" kit wrote code for Web browsers, other software, and hardware components to increase their security. Random numbers are a core part of much modern cryptography, and the ability to guess what they are renders those formulas vulnerable.

The NSA-promoted formula was odd enough that some experts speculated for years that it was flawed by design. A person familiar with the process told Reuters that NIST accepted it in part because many government agencies were already using it.

But after the Times report, NIST said it was inviting public comments as it re-evaluated the formula.
"If vulnerabilities are found in these or any other NIST standards, we will work with the cryptographic community to address them as quickly as possible," NIST said on September 10.

Snowden, who is wanted on U.S. espionage charges and is living in temporary asylum in Russia, disclosed secret NSA programs involving the collection of telephone and email data.

Direct-to-home television operator Tata Sky plans to invest Rs. 900 crore this fiscal on upgrading technology as it targets a 30 percent growth in subscribers.

"We will invest around Rs. 900 crore to shift to new technology that will help us expand our channel offerings," Tata Sky CEO Harit Nagpal told PTI.

The company will switch to the MPEG-4 format from the current MPEG-2 standard, enabling it to offer more than 300 channels from about 230 now. The changeover is part of Tata Sky's strategy to increase its subscriber base, which stands at 10 million.

"We have already started the process of moving over to the new technology. This is likely to be completed by July 2014.

We have to change set-top boxes of each of our customers, hence it will take so long," Nagpal said.

Tata Sky is one of six private DTH companies offering services to 56.5 million subscribers as of March 31, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

"We will grow by 25-30 percent this financial year," Nagpal said, adding that digitisation has helped to win over former analog cable customers.

DTH companies are adding 8-10 million customers every year as analog cable systems are digitised to allow all TV signals to be provided only through set-top boxes, he said.

The second phase of digitisation of cable TV systems ended on March 31 and covered 38 cities with a population of more than 1 million, according to TRAI. The whole country is expected to be covered by the end of 2014.

With the growing trend for biometric identification gradually removing the reliance on passwords, manufacturers are looking to integrate the technology into smartphones. The much-vaunted Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the upcoming iPhone 5s is an example. However, it looks like an app might soon enable similar features on a wider variety of smartphones.

Scientists have developed a new software that can enable your touchscreen smartphone to identify you by the unique way you tap and swipe on the device.

The software 'SilentSense', developed by Cheng Bo and his colleagues at the Illinois Institute of Technology, has demonstrated 99 percent accuracy in tests.

It uses the phone's built-in sensors to record the unique patterns of pressure, duration and fingertip size and position each user exhibits when interacting with their phone or tablet.

Machine learning algorithms then turn this into a signature that identifies the user - and will lock out anyone whose usage patterns do not match, 'New Scientist' reported.

The system's accuracy can be further enhanced, by enabling the smartphone's accelerometer and gyroscope to measure how much the screen moves when you are jabbing at it.

They can also pick up on your unique gait as you walk while using the screen.

In tests, 100 users were told to use the smartphone's touchscreen as they would normally. SilentSense was able to identify the phone's owner with 99 percent accuracy after no more than 10 taps. Even with an average of 2.3 touches the system was able to verify the user 98 percent of the time.

The software stops checking the user's identity when apps like games are being used. However, to maintain security, it automatically switches on when more sensitive applications, such as email or SMS, are accessed.

U.S. officials will examine changes to Facebook Inc's privacy policy to determine whether they violate a 2011 agreement with federal regulators, a Federal Trade Commission spokesman confirmed Wednesday after certain changes drew fire from privacy advocates.

Much of the criticism has focused on a proposed "Tag Suggest" feature that would use facial recognition technology to match faces in photos with public profile features, part of a broad set of privacy changes the social networking giant announced on August 29.

FTC spokesman Peter Kaplan said regulators would study the changes as part of the government's oversight of Facebook's privacy practices, which began in 2011 after Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg apologized for privacy missteps and pledged to obtain users' permission before sharing their personal data.

"As in all cases, we're monitoring compliance with the order and part of that involves interacting with Facebook," Kaplan said Wednesday.

He added that the commission had no reason to believe that the company had violated its 2011 agreement.

Facebook posted an update to its data use policies on the company website on August 29 to explain how users' personal information is used by advertisers and third-party applications.

The new policy proposal came days after the company finalized a $20 million class-action settlement related to how Facebook displayed its users' "likes" and pictures in its ads products.

Facebook said in a statement on Wednesday that it was in full compliance with the FTC and that its new policy did not grant the company expanded privileges in how it used personal data.

Intel is working on a new line of ultra-small and ultra-low-power microchips for wearable devices like smartwatches and bracelets, a bid by the company to make sure it will be at the crest of the next big technology wave after arriving late to the smartphone and tablet revolution.

The new line of chips, called Intel Quark, will ship next year and include an ingestible version aimed at biomedical uses, Intel's president, Renee James, told reporters late on Monday.

The Quark chips will be five times smaller and 10 times more power efficient than Intel's Atom chips for tablets and smartphones, she said.

"We're very committed to not missing the next big thing," James said.

Intel Chief Executive Brian Krzanich and James spoke on Tuesday at the company's annual developer conference in San Francisco, their first major public appearance since their promotion in May, when Paul Otellini stepped aside as chief executive.

In his speech, Krzanich said that chips made on Intel's newest cutting-edge 14 nanometer process would start shipping by the end of 2013, helping the Santa Clara, California company maintain its manufacturing lead over rivals.

Krzanich said tablets made with Intel chips and priced at less than $100 would be on store shelves in time for this year's holiday season.

He was flanked by rows of Android and Windows 8 tablets, many of them with attachable keyboards - an effort by Intel to show conference attendees it has made progress in mobile.
Intel, the world's biggest chipmaker, dominates the PC industry, but it was slow to adapt its chips to be suitable for smartphones and tablets.

Intel's focus on wearable computing - a trend that for many Americans evokes images of Dick Tracy, the comic strip detective who sported a two-way wrist radio - comes as Silicon Valley eyes sophisticated computerized watches with touch-screens and other high-tech features.

Technology companies see wearables as a growth opportunity amid signs that explosive expansion in smartphones shipments since Apple launched its first iPhone in 2007 is receding.

Last week, Samsung Electronics launched the Galaxy Gear watch, and Qualcomm, an Intel rival, launched the Toq smartwatch in a bid to showcase its technology to potential manufacturers.

Krzanich, a three-decade Intel veteran seen as the company's manufacturing guru, has said that under his leadership Intel will give much more priority to its Atom line of mobile chips. In the past, Intel's most cutting-edge manufacturing resources were reserved for making powerful PC chips, with Atom chips made on older production lines.

Processors based on technology from ARM and made by Qualcomm and Samsung account for most of the mobile market.

Intel has shown some recent signs of improvement in mobile, progress Krzanich is keen to build on. The company has promised major performance improvements in its new Bay Trail chip for tablets.

The Bay Trail chip is based on Intel's new Silvermont architecture, which is the most extensive overhaul of its mobile processors to date, with improved performance and lower power consumption

Samsung has announced a new Heterogeneous Multi-Processing (HMP) solution for its recently unveiled Exynos 5 Octa chips.

The latest move by the South Korean major is said to be the result of the criticism from competitors that claimed the Exynos 5 SoCs is not true octa-core as it could only use four cores at once. However, the company claims that with addition of the latest HMP solution for the Exynos 5 Octa chips can maximize the benefits of the ARM big.LITTLE technology.

As per Samsung, HMP solution is the powerful use model for ARM big.LITTLE technology, as it can use all physical cores at once. The software threads that come with high priority or high computational intensity can be performed by the Cortex-A15 cores while the threads with less priority can be allocated to the Cortex-A7 cores.

Commenting on the announcement, Taehoon Kim, vice president of System LSI marketing, Samsung Electronics said, "It's usually assumed that the big CPU will do all the performance-critical work, however, power-efficient little cores can handle many significant workloads all on their own, so the workload is balanced within the system."

Samsung expects the new Exynos 5 Octa chips with HMP solution will be available to users by Q4 2013. There is no word about which upcoming device will feature the new Exynos processor with HMP solution.

Earlier in July, the South Korean launched its new Exynos family, featuring the ARM Mali - T628 MP6 hexa-core GPU, offering 3D graphic processing that is two times more powerful than the previous generation of Exynos 5 Octa processors.

The Exynos 5420 processor is powered by four ARM Cortex-A15 cores clocked at 1.8GHz, with four additional Cortex-A7 cores clocked at 1.3GHz, in a big.LITTLE configuration.

Samsung and Qualcomm’s smart watch releases at this year’s IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin, Nissan is also jumping on the watch bandwagon.

Though it’s not yet certain if the watch will ever be available commercially, Nissan is understandably leveraging it as a driver’s companion. The Nismo Smartwatch connects via Bluetooth to a Nissan smartphone app and can display information about a car’s performance as well as driver stats, including heartbeat. Taking the name of its performance-focused automobiles, the Nismo smartwatch will be paired with Nissan’s high-end racing cars. Nissan is slated to show off its newest gadget during this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show, September 10 – September 22.

“Wearable technology is fast becoming the next big thing and we want to take advantage of this innovative technology to make our Nismo Brand more accessible,” explained Gareth Dunsmore, Nissan Europe’s Marketing Communications General Manager in a statement. “On track, Nissan uses the latest biometric training technologies to improve the performance of our Nissan Nismo Athletes and it is this technology we want to bring to our fans to enhance their driving experience and Nismo ownership.”

Nissan obviously believes its race car drivers are every bit an athlete as marathon runners or mountain bikers, the very people other smartwatch makers have built their wearable computers for. For instance, the company launched its “Nismo Lab” earlier this year, a mobile laboratory that captures biometric and telemetric data about the drivers as they’re careening across a race track. The Nismo smartwatch is also social and can alert drivers when they receive a new message from a social site as well as update that site on news about their drive.

The watch itself looks like a well-designed digital time piece. Available in three colors — black, red and white — the watch can be controlled with just two buttons and is latched onto their wearer’s wrist with what Nissan calls a “simple, snap-fit mechanism.” The entire style of the watch is inspired by the Nismo ring, a style Nissan calls “seamless, futuristic and ergonomic.” With a lithium-ion battery and a micro-USB port, the Nismo watch is expected to last a full seven days on a charge. Though wearers will likely access a Nismo smartwatch less often than a Samsung Galaxy Gear, the latter is expected to only last a single day on a charge under normal circumstances.

Though other watches from Pebble, Samsung and Qualcomm offer more functionality, Dunsmore believes the Nismo watch could one day become more tightly integrated with the wearer’s daily life.

“Imagine if you could heat up your car on a cold day before you got into it or shut the roof of your convertible when it started raining and it was parked outside,” he said in an interview with the BBC‘s Jane Wakefield.

The end goal of the Nismo smartwatch, according to Dunsmore, is to understand exactly how a driver is feeling during a race, including emotions, heartbeat, brainwaves and the like. Future iterations of the Nismo are expected to pack electrocardiograms (ECG) and electroencephalograms (EEG) sensors inside.

Drivers who make the leap for the Nismo smartwatch, should it ever be commercially available, will receive a box made of track-recovered rubber sealed by four hexagonal screws.

The next-generation of Apple’s Mac operating system, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, will be released later than originally expected and is currently due in late October, various media outlets reported on Friday.

Citing sources familiar with the Cupertino, California-based tech giants launch plans, Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac said that the news comes despite speculation that OS X Mavericks would be released alongside iOS 7 before the end of the month.

Currently, the new mobile operating system is expected to become available alongside the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C later on this month, but there is speculation that its launch could also be pushed back until October, he added.

“Though a firm Mavericks launch date couldn’t be learned, it’s possible that Apple may plan to ship the OS after it next reports earnings, something it did with both OS X Lion in 2011 and OS X Mountain Lion,” All Things D’s John Paczkowski speculated. He added that the new Mac OS launch could also debut alongside the company’s new desktop hardware, including the forthcoming Mac Pro, iMacs and MacBook Pros that feature Intel’s Haswell processors.

Apple had never officially confirmed an exact date for the release of OS X 10.9, only committing to a fall 2013 launch window, according to Darrell Etherington of TechCrunch. Obviously, October would still fall within that launch window, but as CNET’s Don Reisinger emphasizes, the company has not committed to an official date.

“Mavericks brings an enhanced Finder, better multimonitor support, a standalone iBooks application, and improved power management to OS X-powered Macs,” Etherington said. “Developers using the preview claim that the latest builds feel very stable, though some suggest the latest version is a slight step backwards over the previous release. Either way, some had interpreted its stability as a sign of impending release, but these latest reports suggest users will be waiting a bit longer.”

Apple is set to host a special event next Tuesday. While new model iPhones are expected to be the primary focus of that event, Reisinger believes that it is possible that Apple could announce information about Mavericks and other products as well. Mavericks was officially announced in June and is currently in a beta testing phase.

Google has updated the Google Drive app for the iPhone and iPad overhauling the user interface with a card-like design in line with the interface of its other apps.


The new interface allows users to browse and preview files more conveniently as it now offers a card-style thumbnail layout. However, users can toggle between the thumbnail view and the traditional list view with the tap of a button. According to Google, the latest version of the Drive app groups files and folders more intuitively instead of mixing them together.

The update also adds new features to the app bringing it on par with the Drive Android app. The app now allows users to view and edit files in landscape mode, as well. The update also brings the ability to get the link for any Drive file in case users need to include the link in an email, add it to a note, or share it via any other medium.

To get the link for a particular file, users just need to go to the details view and tap on 'Get link' to automatically copy the link of the file to the clipboard.

Users can also moving files to other Google Drive folders or share it with a friend through the same details view.

Another new change that Google's introduced is that it's placed the Search bar at the forefront, right at the top for searching through files and folders stored in Drive.

The updated app is available in the App Store.

Earlier this year, Google had introduced file previews in the Google Drive desktop app allowing users to quickly preview more than 30 file types and quickly flip between files. The Google Drive Android app also offers card-style previews for files. It even allows users to stream video files.

FACEBOOK is drawing fire from privacy activists again, after unveiling a new policy which could turn users' data and pictures into advertising. 
 
The new plan would "dramatically expand the use of personal information for advertising purposes," said a letter this week to the US Federal Trade Commission by six privacy organisations.

The letter said the changes violate a 2011 consent order with the US watchdog agency and urged the FTC to "act to enforce its order."

If the changes take effect, the letter said, "Facebook users who reasonably believed that their images and content would not be used for commercial purposes without their consent will now find their pictures showing up on the pages of their friends endorsing the products of Facebook's advertisers."

"Remarkably, their images could even be used by Facebook to endorse products that the user does not like or even use," added the letter from the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Watchdog and three other groups.

Facebook unveiled the changes as part of a settlement of a class action settlement over the use of Facebook user names and images in so-called "sponsored stories."

According to the letter, Facebook's existing policy allowed its users to limit how their name and profile picture may be associated with advertising.

Under the newly proposed policy, Facebook says, "You give us permission to use your name, profile picture, content, and information in connection with commercial, sponsored, or related content."

Activists said this allowed Facebook to turn virtually all user data into advertising.

"Facebook has long played fast and loose with users' data and relied on complex privacy settings to confuse its users, but these proposed changes go well beyond that," said John Simpson, Consumer Watchdog's privacy director.

"Facebook's overreach violates the FTC consent order that was put in place after the last major privacy violation; if the commission is to retain any of its credibility, it must act immediately to enforce that order."

Facebook did not immediately reply on Thursday to request to comment.

Also endorsing the letter were the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, US PIRG and Patient Privacy Rights.

AS THE password goes the way of CDs, vinyl records and dinosaurs, one new technology emerging as a front runner to replace it is literally a heartbeat away. 
 
While some technology companies have toyed with fingerprints, iris recognition and even brain waves, a Canadian-based company called Bionym is bringing out a wristband sensor which detects the user's heart rhythms.

Called the Nymi, it works on the basis each individual has a unique heartbeat which is even more difficult to replicate than fingerprints, iris or face recognition.

To be used in logging onto a computer or unlock a car door, the small bracelet is equipped with a sensor that reads the electrocardiogram (ECG) of the wearer via their pulse.

To register, the user touches a sensor on top of the wristband for about two minutes.
Once the device recognises the heart signature belongs to the registered owner, it can authenticate access to an unlimited range of electronic devices, including hotel room doors, home security systems, pads and tablets and sensitive data systems.

Once the ECG rhythm is stored, the Nymi will recognise only that unique signature.

The system communicates via Bluetooth to an app running on a designated device.

Once on the wrist, the Nymi can be used to wave over a car lock, swipe an ATM and a home alarm system.

The wristband will also be capable of emitting sounds or vibrations, alerting wearers to email or social media messages that will appear on a small LED screen.

The Nymi's launch price starts at $79 and are expected to remain under $100.

First editions will be compatible with iOS, Android, Windows and Mac OS X devices.

A promotional video for the Nymi shows someone gliding from bed to airports to hotels to cafes, effortlessly logging into devices and unlocking doors without once having to enter a password or procure a key.

Amazon has announced an update to its popular Kindle Paperwhite e-reader. New features include a higher contrast display, a better built-in light, a faster processor, improved touch technology, and a few software enhancements.

Highlight of the new software features is integration with Good reads, a book lovers' community that Amazon acquired earlier this year. This new feature will allow Kindle owners to see what their friends are reading, share highlights, and rate the books they read with other Goodreads users, all from their Kindle.

Amazon is also introducing a new child-friendly mode called FreeTime, that uses built-in parental controls to give parents a way to encourage kids to spend more time reading. It lets parents hand-select books for the kids to read, and hand out achievement badges when they hit reading milestones. A progress report keeps parents updated on total time spent reading, number of words looked up, badges earned and books finished.

New Smart Lookup integrates a full dictionary definition with other reference information about a word, character, topic or book via X-Ray and Wikipedia.

Amazon is also introducing MatchBook, a service that will let customers purchase Kindle editions of print books purchased from Amazon - past, present and future - for $2.99 or less.

The new Kindle Paperwhite (Wi-Fi only) is available for pre-order starting today at www.amazon.com for $119 and begins shipping September 30.

The new top-of-the-line Kindle Paperwhite Wi-Fi + 3G is not up for pre-orders yet but customers can sign up to be notified when Kindle Paperwhite Wi-Fi + 3G is available for pre-order at www.amazon.com. Kindle Paperwhite Wi-Fi + 3G is priced at $189 is expected to ship November 5.

Earlier this year, Amazon had introduced the Kindle Paperwhite e-reader in India for Rs. 10,999.
There's no word on the India price or availability of the next-generation Kindle Paperwhite.

 

The tech giant, which is known for nick-naming its Android mobile operating systems for smartphones and tablets after desserts, has for the first time chosen a brand-name candy for its 4.4 version that's expected to launch this fall: Kit Kat.

That's right, the new version shares a name with the chocolate candy bar with the well-known "Gimme a Break'' jingle. Kit Kat packaging will show Android's green robot mascot breaking a Kit Kat bar.

Financial terms weren't disclosed for the sweet deal between Google and Hershey Co., which makes Kit Kat. But the deal shows that naming a stadium or sponsoring a TV show can be seen as old school. The latest marketing craze may be to slap a brand name on a tech product.

Google approached Hershey about six to nine months ago for permission to use the name, said Jennifer Podhajsky, vice president of US chocolate at Hershey, which licenses the Kit Kat brand in the U.S., while Nestle owns the worldwide brand.

Podhajsky said that Kit Kat's jingle is a good fit for people taking a break to look at their smartphones or tablets. She added that the deal appeals to Hershey because Android hits the sweet spot of Kit Kat eaters, who are typically between the ages of 18 and 34.

"Kit Kat consumers are young, vibrant consumers of candy and chocolate bars, and that's a nice match with Android,'' Podhajsky said.

The Kit Kat name was unexpected since tech pundits have speculated for months that the next operating system would be called Key Lime Pie.

Marc Vanlerberghe, director of Android Marketing, said the name was chosen because Kit Kat bars have been a "favorite go-to snack among the team since the early days of Android.''

The Android 4.4 Kit Kat system is expected to launch in October. The software is now running on more than 750 million smartphones and tablets throughout the world, making it the world's most widely used mobile operating system.

MICROSOFT is buying Nokia Corp.'s devices and services business, and getting access to the company's patents, for a total of 5.44 billion euros (A$7.9 billion) in an effort to expand its share of the smartphone market, the companies announced late Monday.

Microsoft will pay 3.79 billion euros (A$5.5 billion) for the Nokia unit that makes mobile phones, including its line of Lumia smartphones that run Windows Phone software.

Microsoft is also paying 1.65 billion euros (A$2.5 billion) for a 10-year license to use Nokia's patents, with the option to extend it indefinitely.

"We are very excited about the proposal to bring the best mobile device efforts of Microsoft and Nokia together," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a memo to employees. "We are receiving incredible talent, technology and IP (intellectual property)."

Microsoft said it is acquiring Nokia's Asha brand of low to mid-level smartphones and will license the Nokia brand for current Nokia mobile products.

"This element provides Microsoft with the opportunity to extend its service offerings to a far wider group around the world while allowing Nokia's mobile phones to serve as an on-ramp to Windows Phone," the companies said in a joint statement.

Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft said it will draw from its overseas cash resources to fund the transaction. When the deal closes in early 2014, about 32,000 Nokia employees will transfer to Microsoft, the companies said.

Nokia, based in Espoo, Finland, said Stephen Elop will step down as president and CEO as the deal moves forward. The companies said he is expected to transfer to Microsoft, along with several Nokia vice presidents.

Nokia said Chairman Risto Siilasmaa will stay in his current role and assume the duties of interim CEO.
Nokia plans to hold a news conference in Finland tonight to discuss the deal.

 

If you follow up to the latest technology news, then you are aware of the relationship between Google and Microsoft. After ‘trying’ to make an official YouTube app available for Windows Phones, they still can’t seem to be able to work together. Well today you’re going to be in shock because they are now joining forces to sue the US government.

Microsoft has partnered up with Google to sue the US government over surveillance transparency. Although the government has said that it will release the total number of national security demands for consumer data for the past 12 months, Microsoft and Google think this is not enough. Both companies feel that everyone deserves the right to know which details, involving official data requests for user data, was requested. This is why Microsoft and Google have both stated yesterday that they will sue the US government to battle over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), for the sake of their customers.

We’ve seen the reaction to everyone when Edward Snowden leaked details on what the US government is up to, which was about the NSA, FISA, and PRISM and their actions against internet users. But everyone raged not only at the government but to the companies providing information for the US government. These companies included Microsoft, Google, and some others. After Microsoft admitted that they were not spying on its customers, some critics still believe they were aiding the US government to spy on people.

“Each company filed a suit in June arguing that they should be allowed to state the details under the first amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech, and in the process defend corporate reputations battered by Edward Snowden's revelations,” The Guardian’s Rory Carrol wrote.

Microsoft's legal counsel Brad Smith said in a blog post, "On six occasions in recent weeks we agreed with the department of justice to extend the government's deadline to reply to these lawsuits. We hoped that these discussions would lead to an agreement acceptable to all.”

"With the failure of our recent negotiations, we will move forward with litigation in the hope that the courts will uphold our right to speak more freely. And with a growing discussion on Capitol Hill, we hope Congress will continue to press for the right of technology companies to disclose relevant information in an appropriate way," Smith adds.

This seems to be the tech giant’s ways to boost their morale due to previous false allegations and to fight for more transparency for their consumers.

Taiwanese prosecutors are investigating allegations that three employees at leading smartphone maker HTC stole trade secrets to sell to Chinese firms, reports said Saturday.

Investigators Friday searched HTC's research and development centre as well as the suspects' offices and homes after the company accused them of stealing key interface technology, according to the Taipei-based China Times newspaper.

HTC said the three men were suspected of discussing plans with unidentified Chinese firms to acquire the technology, the report said. The technology is to be used in HTC's new Sense 6.0 smartphones, which are set to be unveiled later this year.

The men were identified as HTC's chief industrial designer, a division chief and a designer. They have not been arrested and reportedly deny the accusations.

The company accused them of stealing trade secrets and breach of trust, with both offences carrying a maximum 10-year jail term.

They were also accused of illegally claiming more than Tw$10 million ($330,000) in design fees from the company with falsified vouchers, the China Times added.

The men were said to have set up their own smartphone design companies in both Taiwan and China, according to the state Central News Agency.

"The matter is under investigation by relevant authorities. We therefore refrain from further comments," HTC said in a statement. Prosecutors were not immediately reachable.

As well as selling its own smartphones, HTC makes handsets for a number of leading US companies and supplies Google's Nexus One.

The firm has been struggling against fierce competition from international rivals, and second quarter net profit plunged 83 percent compared to last year.

According to research firm IDC, HTC held a 4.6 percent share of the global smartphone market in 2012, a sharp decline from 8.8 percent a year earlier. Samsung held a 30.3 percent stake while Apple had 19.1 percent.