Nokia X, X+ and XL: What’s different?

 

 

 

 

 

Nokia had recently surprised us all by announcing not just one but three smartphones – the X, X+ and XL – running on its own forked version of the Android OS. The Finnish handset vendor is now planning to launch the first of the phones in this series in India tomorrow. These three models in the company’s X series bring slightly different set of specifications, with the X and X+ being more or less similar in almost all departments, and the XL being the biggest of them all. Here we take a look at how these phones vary from one another in terms of specifications.

To begin with the looks and display, all the three phones bring the Nokia’s polycarbonate plastic finish and come in a plenty of color options. In term of display, while both the Nokia X and the X+ come with an exactly same 4-inch WVGA (800×480 pixels) display, the XL dons a bigger 5-inch display but with the same resolution.
On the hardware front, all the three phones are powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon dual-core processor clocked at 1GHz, however vary in terms of RAM. In fact, RAM size is the sole differentiator between the X and the X+. While the Nokia X brings 512MB of RAM on-board, the X+ comes with slightly better RAM at 768MB. The XL too gets 768MB of RAM. The 4GB of internal storage space with up to 32GB of microSD support remains the same in all the three phones.
Talking of the camera, the X and X+ come with 3-megapixel rear camera and lack a front-facing camera, while the XL sports better 5-megapixel rear and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. These devices all have dual-SIM capabilities and come with similar connectivity options.
The XL, being the biggest amongst the three phones, comes with a bigger battery at 2,000mAh and promises to offer up to 13 hours of talktime on 3G, while both the X and the X+ come with a 1,500mAh battery, which the company claims give up to 10.5 hours of talktime on 3G.

 

R@ke$h------TECHMASTRO: Hijacking of browser settings tops the list of us...

R@ke$h------TECHMASTRO: Hijacking of browser settings tops the list of us...: Hijacking of browser settings tops the list of user complaints made to search engine Google as cyber criminals change them using ma...

Hijacking of browser settings tops the list of user complaints made to search engine Google as cyber criminals change them using malicious software.

Modification of the settings is done without users' knowledge to generally force hits on a particular website, increasing its advertising revenue.

"So, you're trying to download a free screensaver or game or something else you really want. But later you find out that game came bundled w ..

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/29826318.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Hijacking of browser settings tops the list of user complaints made to search engine Google as cyber criminals change them using malicious software.

Modification of the settings is done without users' knowledge to generally force hits on a particular website, increasing its advertising revenue.

"So, you're trying to download a free screensaver or game or something else you really want. But later you find out that game came bundled with a malicious programme that's trying to ..

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/29826318.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Google Chrome bug allegedly allows attackers to eavesdrop and record your voice.

 

An alarming bug has been discovered in Google Chrome that could allow attackers to surreptitiously record your voice and everything around you. Israeli web developer and entrepreneur Tal Ater discovered the problem last September while working on a JavaScript speech recognition project. After seeing no concrete action from Google to fix the problem, he has now posted proof to his personal website.

According to Ater's description, the flaw is possible because of the way different parts of Chrome were designed. While there is a clear indication to users on the tab bar when a website has activated your PC's mic or camera, there is no way to display such a notification on popup windows. Thus a website which has been granted permission to use your microphone (such as Google's own homepage, when voice search is enabled) can quietly spawn popups in the background which will inherit the permission but not display any indication that they are recording you.
Websites could thus be compromised, and a user might never know that a pop-under page has opened behind their open browser window. A user would have no way to know such a window is open, and it could be disguised as just another ad.
Compounding the problem, Chrome remembers permissions granted to pages that use the HTTPS protocol, trusting them to be secure. Thus, users aren't even asked to confirm whether they would like to allow a page to activate the mic.
Ater says he contacted Google on September 13 2013 and was informed less than a week later that the root causes problem had been identified. Five days after that, a patch had been developed. Ater says he was nominated for a reward under a Google scheme that pays up to $30,000 (approximately Rs. 18,72,300) to ethical developers who discover and report such bugs.
However the patch was never released to the public or applied to future releases of Chrome. Ater claims that Google does not believe that there is anything wrong with the way Chrome behaves. In a statement to UK news site The Register, Google said, "The feature is in compliance with the current W3C specification, and we continue to work on improvements."
We attempted to recreate the problem and confirmed that Chrome tabs with voice input enabled do display a pulsing red dot in the tab bar, but do not cut off the microphone when the user switches to another tab or program. We were prompted for permission the first time we used a voice input feature on any website, but not on subsequent uses. Furthermore, there is no indication outside of Chrome that anything is being recorded. This means that background windows are indeed capable of recording a user's voice and surroundings without his or her knowledge.

 

Hijacking of browser settings tops the list of user complaints made to search engine Google as cyber criminals change them using malicious software.

Modification of the settings is done without users' knowledge to generally force hits on a particular website, increasing its advertising revenue.

"So, you're trying to download a free screensaver or game or something else you really want. But later you find out that game came bundled w ..

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/29826318.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

How to avoid strangers' emails from landing in your Gmail inbox!

Google recently announced a Google+ integration with its emailing service that allows people to send emails to any Google+ user without knowing their email id.
The feature would not expose a user's email address until they reply to that email, but it sure would lead to an undesirable spam-like clutter in the Gmail inbox.
However, since the feature, which is to be rolled out in a couple of days, isn't as tough to undo, as it appears, users can simply `opt-out` of it without much of a hassle.
According to Cnet, users can turn off the `by default email via Google+ feature` by clicking on the Settings menu and under the General tab clicking on the said feature and choosing a setting they are most comfortable with.
Users can choose from options like 'Circles', 'Extended Circles' or 'No One' and save the changes to switch back the good old emailing sending feature.

 

iPhone 5: Apple Doing Something Different

Apple is doing something different with the iPhone 5. It’s creating the iPhone 5C to replace the iPhone 5 and turning the iPhone 5S into its flagship smartphone product. How is it any different from what Apple’s done before? Normal procedure for Apple was to just lower the price of the previous year’s model to take the silver spot on the iPhone podium.

This time, the iPhone 5 gets a plastic back piece to replace the metal one, some designer colors to catch the eye, iOS 7 and some first party software and some hardware tweaks. Then it is designated a new product, the iPhone 5C and simply replaces the iPhone 5 at a cheaper price.

The fly in that ointment is that iOS 7 isn’t quite as polished as it needs to be, with screen elements moved around and parts of the Control Center truncated, giving it a feeling of being unfinished. There is no real customization options as to what app buttons are shown.

Fortunately, all versions of the iPhone 5 are “Jailbreakable,” allowing these minor problems and many others to be fixed. Jailbreaking is the term used to define the process of gaining administrative access to a mobile device, in this case Apple mobile products, to remove usage restrictions that are locked by the factory. It is the exact same process, figuratively, of “rooting” an Android phone.

Owners of the iPhone 5 are chomping at the bit to Jailbreak their devices because waiting for Apple’s incremental updates to iOS 7 is driving them crazy. IOS 7.1 is still in the developers’ hands, but supposedly it will bring back user defined buttons, as opposed to pressing text for an action, which is a bit confusing when you don’t know what button does what until it’s actually pressed. But the decision to go that route is certainly Apple doing something different for the iPhone 5.

The thing about Apple that generates such a level of love/hate with its users is cutting them out of the design process loop. Apple decides how things should look and function and then simply deploys. Now it looks as if they’re trying to get a feel for what their users want.

That’s probably a very good idea. With the humongous Chinese market about to crack wide open for Apple, it would be a bit embarrassing for them to discover their iPhone 5S have been hacked to use the Android operating system simply because users are displeased with the way iOS 7 functions. As it stands, they probably aren’t too pleased about users Jailbreaking their devices now.

On a lighter note, the latest thing to wow iPhone 5 users, especially international travelers, is the dual SIM case that allows SIM cards to be switched out on the fly. The company, Digirit, calls it the SIM+ Case and it replaces the iPhone 5’s original back piece with one that fits into the SIM card slot and provides slots for two SIM cards. It comes with software that allows the two cards to be switched without even having to power down the phone. The company is in its first round of crowdfunding and plans an early 2014 release.

One would suppose that something else Apple is doing that’s different is inspiring third-party developers to participate in the evolution of the iPhone 5.

Google Helpouts: A to Z of Aid

Google launched an all new service called Google Helpouts to assist users with any query they might have. Google Helpouts put you in touch with experts in a particular field regarding which you have a query and you can then ask questions and resolve your issue. Helpouts include everything from experts on grooming, cooking, health experts, fun activities and also hardware and software experts. 

The search giant has collaborated with over a 1000 experts (multiple in each field) and answers a multitude of questions related to anything and everything under the sun. While some queries in each section are free, most of the Helpouts will set you back by anything from $1 per minute to $100 per Helpout. The answer to your query can last from anywhere between seconds to hours, depending on the intricacy, price and the question.

Currently, the sections under which you can ask questions are Art & Music, Computers & Electronics, Cooking, Education & Careers, Fashion & Beauty, Fitness & Nutrition, Health and Home & Garden. The service could be seen as an extension of the traditional Google Search engine which offers information on anything and everything under the sun. However, post a search and you often get millions of results. Too much of something can spoil efforts and the multiple results often confuse readers than solving their problems. There already exist help forums and groups on Facebook/Twitter that provide such services. 

Currently, Google charges 20 percent of the fees charged by experts for solutions. However, health-care segment is exempt from transaction fees. Incase you’re not satisfied with the help offered, Google also refunds the amount. There’s an option to leave opinions on experts in the comments section which can also assist other help-seekers. 

"Most of the world's useful information still resides in people's heads," Udi Manber, vice president of engineering at Google said at a small briefing with reporters in San Francisco on Monday. Helpouts "opens the door to that information as well."

The service sure sounds interesting and might be good. However, currently, Google does not screen any applicants and anyone can sign up to offer services on Helpout. It might lead to some confusion with even non-experts signing up and offering services.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=K-VFC9AQM1k

Google introduces the biggest algorithm change in three years

New 'Hummingbird' algorithm will make core search better at answering longer, more complex and spoken queries

Google's latest 'Hummingbird' update aims to make Google smarter at understanding conversational search questions.

 

Marking Google's 15th birthday, Hummingbird is the biggest change to the inner workings of the world's most popular search engine sinceGoogle's "Caffeine" update in 2010, which sped up Google's indexing of sites and delivery of search results.

The Hummingbird update focuses more on Google's Knowledge Graph – an encyclopaedia of about 570m concepts and relationships that allows Google to anticipate facts and figures you might want to know about your search term.

New engine with old parts

Hummingbird isn't an overhaul that Google search users will instantly notice, however.

"In general, Hummingbird – Google says – is a new engine built on both existing and new parts, organised in a way to especially serve the search demands of today, rather than one created for the needs of 10 years ago, with the technologies back then," said Danny Sullivan of the search blog Search Engine Land.

It will benefit those using more modern forms of search, such asconversational or voice search, where you ask Google a question rather than typing keywords into the search box.

"The goal is that pages matching the meaning do better, rather than pages matching just a few words.

"Google said that Hummingbird is paying more attention to each word in a query, ensuring that the whole query – the whole sentence or conversation or meaning – is taken into account, rather than particular words," said Sullivan.

But will it really work?

Unfortunately, it's very difficult to do before and after comparisons, especially as Google has pushed out the Hummingbird update over the last month without any public announcements.

For the moment we only have Google's word that Hummingbird will make a difference, although it gave a few examples of searches that could benefit from the new algorithm.

For instance, a search for "acid reflux prescription" pre-Hummingbird produced sites with lists of drugs, but now brings up search results with more information about acid reflux treatment in general.

Likewise, a search for "pizza hut calories per slice" now links the answer directly from Pizza Hut.

It’s a smart move, but there’s a long way to go

“Apps are the biggest long-term threat to Google’s current search-based business model – people turn to apps for information on discrete services like flights rather than search,” said Ian Maude, a search analyst at Enders Analysis.

Google Now – Google’s personal digital assistant that uses context, location and knowledge of the user’s habits to preempt requests for information like flights, your daily commute and film times – has been one of Google’s attempts to fight the silos of individual apps and keep you within the Google search ecosystem. That all helps Google maintain its estimated 53% market share of internet advertising.

Google Now relies on Knowledge Graph, as well as natural language interpretation, which were both boosted by the Hummingbird update.

“Hummingbird doesn’t replace keyword search, it augments it, speeding up the process of search using natural language processes that understands conversational search or speech – it’s a smart move, but there’s clearly a long way to go.

“Right now, when I search for trains to Warwickshire, I get a list of search results for train operator websites, but I don’t yet get times for the next trains pulled into fact boxes by Google,” said Maude.

• Not everything is so straightforward in Google land, as Google's chat protocols Hangouts and Talk, suffered a privacy issue on the 26 September that saw instant messages routed to unintended recipients.