Author Archives: Jasmine Henry

The Sony Xperia M4 Aqua Is a Powerful Waterproof Phone

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Sony Xperia M4 Aqua in water

As Sony looks to revive its ailing smartphone business, the Japanese company announces the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua waterproof smartphone.

It’s been widely reported these past few weeks that Sony’s profits aren’t looking so hot. By the time the current financial year ends on April 1st, Sony will have lost over $1 billion, losses that would be significantly worse had it not been for the phenomenal success of the PlayStation 4 which had sold just over 20 million units as of this month. One reason for their financial instability is their smartphone business; Sony just can’t compete with Apple, Samsung and co. and everyone is telling them to sell it off. Alas, those at Sony are a stubborn bunch which is why they have now announced the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua which partners processing power with a waterproof body.

On the inside, the Xperia M4 Aqua is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor (two quad core processors of 1.5 GHz and 1.0 GHz) and has 2GB of RAM. Essentially, this means that Sony’s phone is a stellar mid-range effort that will be able to handle most intensive apps with little to minimal trouble. The phone also has a a 13 megapixel camera on the back and a 5 megapixel camera up front – these are great specs on their own but given that Sony’s camera business is another thing keeping them afloat right now, your selfies and Instagram updates are certainly in good hands.

As for the waterproof side of things, the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua is offering a waterproof phone without any of those usual annoying rubber fixtures. However, waterproof does not mean indestructible and so Sony has advised the following: don’t submerge the phone in water deeper than 1.5 metres, don’t put the phone in salt water and don’t put it in chlorinated water (swimming pools etc.) and if you do get chlorinated water on it, you have to rinse it off afterwards. You’ll also need to make sure the phone is dry again before you charge it: this seems obvious but if you don’t want to accidentally blow the electrical socket/your phone up or endanger yourself, you should heed Sony’s warning.

Also providing a good reason to buy the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua is its price. Sony is selling the handset for a reasonable 299 Euros and it will be available in 80 countries (excluding the United States).

Source: Sony

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Tinder Plus to Cost More for Users Over 28

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Tinder Plus Rewind feature

Controversial dating app Tinder has ruffled feathers once more by announcing ‘Tinder Plus’, which will charge users who are over 30 years old.

Dating app Tinder is no stranger to controversy. Not only was Tinder’s CEO and founder Sean Rad forced to step down following a sexual harassment lawsuit but the app itself has been accused of trivialising the dating world by allowing users to reject or like matches by just swiping left or right.

Tinder is back at it again, it seems, as this time the free app is offering a paid service called Tinder Plus. Tinder will now be limiting likes to users but with Tinder Plus users can have an unlimited number of likes; but there’s a catch. For users aged 28 and under, Tinder Plus will cost £3.99/$6 USD per month but for those over the age of 28, Tinder Plus will cost substantially more at £14.99/$23 USD per month. While there’s the argument there that this will encourage people to be more sparing with their likes and to only like people who they really want to be romantic with, others have said that this is clearly age-based discrimination.

Other features that Tinder Plus brings with include Passport and Rewind.
With Passport, the app “lets you change your location to connect with people anywhere around the world” as users can choose between their current and new destinations to look for partners. Tinder describes it as “teleporting to a different location” but much more simple than that, it lets people arrange hookups before they get to a city and it can even help people decide where they want to visit based on who will want to hookup with them.

Rewind, on the other hand, helps to correct people’s mistakes. Accidentally swipe left on someone you really, really meant to swipe right on? Rewind corrects that and lets you go back and say that you like them instead. Pretty handy.

Source: Tinder

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Siri and Cortana Record Your Voice, Says Industry Insider

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Cortana Windows Phone

As consumer privacy fears grow and people become more concerned about their digital data, one industry insider confirms our worst fears about Siri and Cortana.

At the moment, when it comes to our digital data, we are all on high alert. Wanted NSA hacker Edward Snowden was forced to flee the United States and become a fugitive when he revealed to the world that not only do the world’s governments access our data but they keep tabs on us too. That’s why everyone is now wary and concerned about what happens to the information we share with our digital devices. Who is looking at it and is our data safe?

Most of the concern surrounds messages that we’ve sent via the Internet or our mobile phone networks, such as emails, texts or instant messages. The last place that people would assume we’re being snooped on is via Siri and Cortana, the voice activated virtual assistants that can be found on iOS and Windows devices (respectively). Unfortunately though, one industry insider suggests that Siri and Cortana are actually recording us.

That suggestion comes from a user that goes by the name of FallenMyst who recently revealed all on reddit. The information, they say, comes from their new job at Walk N’Talk Technologies. In a comment, the anonymous poster described their job duties:

“I’m given an audio file (sound bite) and the corresponding text based translation (how the phone translated the speech). My job is to listen to the file, compare it to the text and provide feedback on how correctly the sound bite was interpreted by the phone. If the text and speech are a perfect match, I just move on. However, if the phone either translated something incorrectly due to a heavy accent or loud background noise, I note that in my evaluation.”

FallenMyst went on to explain that “I heard everything from kiddos asking innocent things like “Siri, do you like me?” to some guy asking Galaxy to [do something inappropriate and physically impossible]. I wish I was kidding”.

While it makes sense that companies have to run some analytics to figure out the performance of their voice controlled software, it is certainly disconcerting to know that masses upon masses of our audio data is being sent all over the world for employees to listen to. Not only this but this surely means that our data is being saved somewhere, so is it possible that a hacker could access this information? FallenMyst may have made this up of course, but it seems unlikely in the fact of recent reveals that Samsung’s voice controlled smart TVs send our audio through a similar process. Either way, it’s incredibly disconcerting.

Source: BGR

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New Wearable ‘Grasp’ Gives You Your Own, Portable Teacher

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Grasp final protoype

As more and more wearables are released, one designer creates ‘Grasp’, a wearable that teaches its wearers how to do things.

We need to face it: the wearable revolution is coming and there’s nothing we can do to stop it. Soon everybody will be wearing hi-tech gadgets, from barely noticeable fitness bands to stylish smartwatches to goggles that people strap to their faces either outside of the home or in front of their games consoles. What’s important though, is that wearables aren’t just gimmicks and that they actually improve our lives in some way. Sure, Google Glass may let us take pictures as we’re out and about and it may even provide us with maps, but can’t we already do that stuff with our smartphones?

Looking to be a genuinely useful wearable is Grasp. Created by Akarsch Sanghi, an interaction designer from Copenhagen, Denmark, Grasp aims to help its wearer with physical tasks. Worn like a pirate’s parrot, right on the shoulder, Grasp is a little chunky and more than a bit unsightly but equipped with a camera, a speaker, a microphone and even a laser pointer, it has plenty of benefits.

The idea is, that with Grasp if you’re doing something such as painting a portrait or even cutting up some meat, someone else is able to have a first person view of what you’re doing. This way, they can directly instruct you on what (or what not) to do and aid the task at hand. The speaker allows you to hear instructions, the mic allows you to ask questions or reply to what they’ve told you and the laser pointer can be used to outline what to do when verbal communications just doesn’t cut it.

Sanghi explains that “It is the idea of having a companion looking over your shoulder and instructing you while learning something new irrespective of distance” and so there’s the potential there for teaching without borders. Those who wear Grasp could be on the other side of the world form the teacher and they’d still be able to learn just as well as if the teacher was in person.

Sadly, there’s no word on whether Grasp will be released as a consumer product, or what sort of price it would be, but you can find out more information at the source.

Source: Akarsch Singh

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New Rock Band Game Coming to PS4, Xbox One?

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Rock Band logo

Despite the Rock Band series being dormant for several years, a new report suggests that creator Harmonix is looking to revive Rock Band on PS4 and Xbox One.

Just under a decade ago, the music rhythm game genre made up a whopping 10% of games in homes. Plastic guitars and drum kits would be wheeled out at parties with everyone laughing at a missed note or competing to be the best, virtual rock god. But then in 2008, at the height of the genre’s success, the global recession hit and suddenly people had significantly less money to spend on things like plastic peripherals that could only be used with one game franchise. As a result, the genre soon died out with Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock in 2011 and Rock Band 3 in 2010 being the last music rhythm games of their kind.

While those franchises died out, interest in them never really did. This has been demonstrated by the fever pitch surrounding the new Rock Band DLC that’s been released recently, as well as the excitement when it was revealed that Harmonix had released a survey about a new Rock Band game. And now it seems that they’re making good fan interest as a new source suggests that a new Rock Band game will be released on PS4 and Xbox One in time for Christmas.

That info comes from the (usually correct) publication Bloomberg. While their source didn’t do much more than confirm the game’s existence, it’s clear what a new Rock Band game would need in order to be successful: it would have to be cheaper. It cost gamers hundreds of dollars to buy those plastic guitar, drum and microphone controllers for the game before and today, in an age of massive free to play experiences people are less inclined to fork out that same kind of money. Therefore, a new Rock Band would have to be priced appropriately to win fans over once more.

Furthermore, with hundreds of games released as DLC for previous Rock Band games, it would be incredibly helpful to cash-strapped gamers if a new Rock Band game let us use all of that DLC. It’s not as though developer Harmonix would lose out as they could continue to sell those DLC track packs and make a profit. That would make buying the new Rock Band affordable, at least.

If the rumours are true, we’ll likely see the new Rock Band game at E3 in June. We’ll keep you posted.

Source: Bloomberg

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Lenovo Admits It Should Have Known About Superfish’s Flaws

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Lenovo logo

Chinese company Lenovo has loaded adware on many of its machines, and it has now been revealed that it could leave users vulnerable to hacks.

Ads, we realise, can be annoying. As far as a form of revenue goes, it’s important for Internet users that they aren’t intrusive, they aren’t annoying and they don’t scream audio in the next browser tab whilst you’re trying to browse the web. We can’t avoid them entirely so most of us just get on with it. Unfortunately, that’s not the case for those who use Lenovo computers as those users are now at risk thanks to the Chinese company’s ad policies.

To explain, Lenovo preloads adware into its devices. Adware is software that automatically displays or downloads ads onto your computer; while it’s generally annoying, it’s not usually harmful. The reason why Lenovo’s adware (called Superfish) is such a problem is because it does the following:

“[Superfish] installs a self-generated root certificate into the Windows certificate store and then resigns all SSL certificates presented by HTTPS sites with its own certificate.”

According to PC World, that leaves “a weakness that hackers could potentially use to steal sensitive data like banking credentials or just observe your web surfing activities.” Keep in mind that Lenovo is the biggest manufacturer of computers in the world and so millions of people across the globe are now vulnerable.

How could Lenovo have possible missed this? That’s a very good question and Lenovo CEO Peter Hortensius said this week that “We should have known that going in that that was the case. We just flat-out missed it on this one, and did not appreciate the problem it was going to create… we are taking our beating like we deserve on this issue.”

His explanation doesn’t really answer the question since it seems mind-boggling that a company with as many smart minds as Lenovo didn’t realise that a piece of software designed to disrupt SSL certificates (SSL certificates are what make sure that the data passed between your browser and the server stays private) couldn’t be intercepted to steal user data.

What is hopeful is that Lenovo has promised not to install Superfish onto any more of its devices and PC World also has a guide you can use to find out if your PC is affected and how you can uninstall the software.

Source: Re/code

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Apple to Launch a Public Beta Program for iOS

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iOS8

In order to prevent future operating systems from having bugs at launch, Apple is preparing to launch a public beta system for iOS.

Touted as a massive overhaul to Apple’s iOS operating system, iOS 8 was meant to bring new health and fitness features to users of Apple’s mobile devices. With apps like Healthbook that collected data from all health related apps and could even push that information towards your doctor, many people were excited to download it upon release.

However, the launch didn’t quite go to plan and iOS 8 was plagued with bugs that weren’t solved for almost an entire fortnight. Particularly troublesome issues including the loss of the text or call function on some iPhones that had iOS 8 installed. This was tremendously embarrassing for Apple, who had talked up a storm about iOS 8 prior to release and so to prevent these launch issues in future, the Cupertino, Calif. company is reportedly looking to launch a public beta program for iOS.

The decision to roll out a public beta program follows a launch of the public beta for OS X Yosemite on Mac which was released in October, 2014. That was successful and saw Yosemite released without many big issues. Although 1 million people were able to test Yosemite, reports suggest that just 100,000 people will be able to take part of the first iOS beta – for iOS 8.3 – in March. That decision has been made to keep a “high level of exclusivity” and so the number of people allowed in is unlikely to change with the public beta for iOS 9. This makes sense given that iOS betas are usually only available for developers who pay $99 a year for the privilege.

On top of bug busting, Apple is also hoping that this will reduce the demand of unauthorised releases of iOS beta builds. It’s been a common problem for Apple in the past that people would pay for developer accounts but then sell iOS beta builds to the masses. Given that iOS beta builds are technically a work in progress, it’s no wonder why Apple wouldn’t want them floating around.

There are currently no details on how to get into the iOS public beta but we’ll keep you posted once we know more.

Source: 9to5Mac

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Sony’s Google Glass Rival to Launch in March

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Sony SmartEyeGlass

While Google Glass is still a work in progress and Microsoft’s HoloLens is still some time away, Sony prepares to launch it’s own headset called SmartEyeGlass.

Sony has not had the best of years. For the financial year ending in March the company will face a $1 billion loss as their smartphone and TV sectors fail to beat out competitors such as Samsung, Apple and LG. Just this Wednesday, Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai announced plans to focus on camera sensors, entertainment and the company’s PlayStation gaming brand.

With all that in mind, it may seem unusual then that the company is preparing to enter a brand new market with untested waters and lots of competition. Going up against the big dogs at Google who are trying to make augmented reality (AR) popular with their Google Glass headset, Sony is going to launch an AR headset of their own.

The device is still in development but it’s called the SmartEyeGlass (kudos for originality on that one) and it looks to be a partnership or Google Glass as well as a ‘lite’ version of the holographic tech demoed in Microsoft’s HoloLens headset. As the above video shows, the Sony SmartEyeGlass will use “holographic waveguide technology” in 3mm AR lenses to put info right in front of your eyeballs. Although that demo video only shows messaging, along with directions it will also have its own suite of apps. Sony has said that Facebook and Twitter have their own apps and they’ve also rolled out an SDK (software development kit) so that developers who want to have a tinker around and make software for the SmartEyeGlass can do just that.

So far, so Google Glass clone. The only glaring difference wit the SmartEyeGlass (I really do hope they change that name) is the odd attachment that it comes with. Rather than just being able to listen to your voice commands automatically, or being controlled via hand gestures, SmartEyeGlass wearers will have to use the little black gadget to swipe along its interface or press its ‘Talk’ button in order to for voice commands to be heard. That seems a little counterintuitive if I’m honest because the point of these sorts of devices is that they give you access to things easily when you’re on the go, not with fiddly controls and button presses. However, it may stop wearers from looking insane as they talk to themselves and swipe madly in front of them, so maybe Sony is onto a trick there.

Other important specs include: 3MP camera, 80 minutes of battery life (when in use), 150 minutes of battery life (when on standby) and it supports Android 4.4 (it can be connected to your Android phone too). The SmartEyeGlass goes on sale in March in the US, UK, Germany and Japan for $840, 640 Euros and 100,000 yen.

Source: Sony

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Apple Awarded Patent for iPhone VR Display

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Apple VR Headset

As the technology industry continues to embrace virtual reality (VR) headsets, Apple is getting involved too, having just been award a VR headset patent.

Whether it’s a gimmick or even just a passing fad, few can deny that virtual reality (VR) is gathering some serious steam. With the $2 billion acquisition of Oculus VR (and Oculus Rift) by Facebook and the reveal of the Project Morpheus headset by Sony, soon more and more people will be running around with immersive screens strapped to their faces.

So far the, the uses appear to either be for gaming or commercial purposes. For example, VR in gaming can make you feel like the protagonist yourself as opposed to just playing a game in first person by looking at a screen. As for commerce, we could soon be using VR headsets to do our shopping by exploring a virtual version of our favourite retailers.

While the tech isn’t there just yet and some developers are waiting to see the sales numbers until they make software for it, one company that is fully embracing it is Apple. This month, the company was granted a VR headset patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, after initially filing the patent in 2008.

The patent explains:

“[The Apple VR headset] temporarily integrates or merges both mechanically and electronically a head-mounted device with a portable electronic device. The frame may place a display screen of the portable electronic device in front of the user’s eyes. The display screen of the portable electronic device may act as the primary display screen of the head-mounted device.”

So what’s the likelihood of this Apple VR headset coming to fruition? Well, the fact that the headset would use the iPhone as its screen is very interesting as it’s similar to a strategy that Samsung took when they matched the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 with their Samsung Gear VR headset, so this would put Apple on par with their rivals. Furthermore, it’s also an ingenious way of getting people to buy two Apple devices and it could encourage people to jump ship from Android to iOS.

In addition to this, other illustrations from the patent show that Apple is considering making some sort of handheld controller too, which would make the Apple VR headset ideal for gaming. It also shows that they’ve really thought this one out, which is a very good sign that well see the Apple VR headset in the wild eventually.

Source: AppleInsider

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Amazon Drone Deliveries Killed by New FAA Rules

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Amazon Prime Air drone

As Amazon prepares to launch its ‘Amazon Prime Air’ drone delivery service, a new ruling by the FAA may have killed the service before it got off the ground.

For quite some time now, online retailer Amazon has been gearing up to launch a service called ‘Amazon Prime Air’ which would deliver goods to customers via drones. Hoping to become a success based on the popularity of their one-day delivery program, Amazon Prime, the drone delivery service had been gathering hype ever since it was announced some time ago.

The biggest selling point for Amazon Prime Air was of course, the speed of its deliveries. In theory, if you only lived a few minutes or so from an Amazon depot, they would be able to load your lightweight order onto a drone and have a pilot fly it directly to your house. It might cost you a pretty penny but if you’ve got lots of money and little patience, that’s the type of thing you’d be willing to fork out for.

But there were always concerns of safety as ‘drone delivery service’ conjured up images of drone rotors lodged in bodies and packages clunking people on the head. It seems that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has taken these concerns into account as their new ruling on drone may have just killed Amazon Prime Air for good.

In their new policy for small unmanned aircrafts (including drones), the FAA explains that all drone pilots must be properly certified (with certification costing under $300) before they take to the skies. Drones can only be flown under 500 feet and flights must be done in daylight hours. While having to fly under 500 feet might have caused some trouble for Amazon’s drones (which would probably like to fly a little higher to avoid flying into any buildings or monuments) that’s not what put the nail in the coffin.

The FAA also explains drones can be used for law enforcement, agriculture, search and rescue, bridge inspection and real estate photography but not for things like package delivery. All of those activities make sense from a safety perspective as they can all be done in areas where people are unlikely to be walking around in large crowds and therefore the risk of a pedestrian getting a face full of rotor is significantly lower, but as package delivery isn’t on the list of accepted activities, Amazon Prime Air could be dead for now.

There is the smallest glimmer of hope in the fact that the FAA had previously banned all commercial flights of drones. This list of activities are a reflection of the fact that the FAA has changed its mind on commercial drone delivery and so they could possibly change their mind on package delivery in the future too. This is especially the case if they decide to work with Amazon to ensure that Amazon Prime Air can take place without a hitch. That’s what Amazon will be hoping for anyway, so we’ll let you know more information on that once we have it.

Source: re/code

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