Transparent 3D computer unveiled

TED fellow Jinha Lee has been working on the SpaceTop 3D desktop in collaboration with Microsoft.

LONDON: A transparent computer that allows users to reach inside and touch digital content has been unveiled at the Technology, Education and Design (TED) conference in Los Angeles.

TED fellow Jinha Lee has been working on the SpaceTop 3D desktop in collaboration with Microsoft.

Allowing people to interact with machines in the same way they do with solid objects could make computing much more intuitive, he told the BBC.

He can see the system coming into general use within a decade.

The system consists of a transparent LED display with built-in cameras, which track the user's gestures and eye movements.

The design was inspired by what he sees as a human need to interact with things.

"Spatial memory, where the body intuitively remembers where things are, is a very human skill," he said.

Translating this to the digital world will enable people to use computers more easily as well as complete more complex tasks.

"If you are working on a document you can pick it up and flip through it like a book," he said.

For more precise tasks, where hand gestures are not accurate, there is a touchpad. It will allow, for example architects to manipulate 3D models.

Your car is the next big smartphone accessory

Automobile giants at the world's biggest mobile fair are showing off a new technology that turns a car into a smartphone accessory.

BARCELONA: Automobile giants at the world's biggest mobile fair are showing off a new technology that turns a car into a smartphone accessory, allowing a driver to use cutting-edge apps without veering off the road.

Called MirrorLink, and adopted by 85 big manufacturers from Ford to General Motors, Chrysler, Nissan, Honda, Hyundai, BMW, VW, Fiat or Renault, it connects a smartphone and car entertainment system with a two-way audio, video and data link.

"People are using their smartphone applications and services 80 percent of the time. The other 20 percent when they are not using them is when they are in the car," said Jorg Brakensiek, technical coordinator for the Car Connectivity Forum.

"For the driver there is no really safe mechanism for the driver to do that," he told AFP at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

MirrorLink requires a compliant car entertainment system and a smartphone with the software, which can be downloaded.

Drivers then can access their favourite apps.

The apps must meet legal requirements for screens that face drivers, for example the text must be a certain size and some functions such as typing must be disabled while the car is moving.

"The basic assumption is that the phone comes with the application," said Brakensiek.

"You use the car as an accessory."

Eventually, the MirrorLink technology will feed other data from the car to the smartphone, such as speed, location and even weather. That information can be used to develop new applications or improve other services, such as traffic news.

The Car Conectivity Forum, which groups nearly all car manufacturers, was set up to develop the technology two years ago.

The first MirrorLink compliant car entertainment systems have been released by the likes of Sony and JVC, for installation into existing vehicles.

The next step will be for manufacturers to build them into cars before sale.

The new technology avoids problems posed by the "smart car" in which manufacturers weld a SIM card into a vehicle so as to offer driver services such as navigation, SOS response and door unlocking, as well as paid-for entertainment.

One challenge is that the SIM card built into the car ties the owner to one operator for the car's life -- up to 15 years. To overcome this, car makers are trying to agree on a standard way to program the sim card by remote.

"From out point of view, remote SIM management becomes a key enabler, it becomes a game changer," BMW's project manager for telematic control units, Markus Kaindl, told a symposium at the mobile congress.

But there are other drawbacks, too.

Much of the hardware built into a car cannot keep up with the mobile industry's fast-pace developments, the car owner must pay for the SIM contract, and each manufacturer has its own platform for applications, making it difficult to attract developers.

Yet the "smartcar" services may live on alongside the MirrorLink technology, industry analysts said, especially in high-end cars.

General Motors, one of the leaders in the field with its OnStar service offering navigation and help for drivers, announced before the show it will embed 4G connectivity in all 2015 model cars in North America.

At the mobile show this week, it showed off an impressive concept car, a Cadillac, with all the latest connected gadgets.

It has streaming movies, dedicated apps, and a system that alerts an absent car owner that something has hit his car, and even lets him view the surrounding area on his smartphone via on-board surveillance cameras.

9 tips to make your passwords hack-proof

Rarely does a week go by without news of another hacking incident.

NEW YORK: Rarely does a week go by without news of another hacking incident, whether it's Chinese hackers accused of breaking in to The New York Times' computer systems or Burger King finding its Twitter account taken over by pranksters.

Security threats aren't new and have long been part of online life. But the increased attention on them makes now a good time to review ways you can protect yourself. If nothing here feels new, that's good, as it means you've been doing the things you need to do to keep your accounts safe from hackers. Although there's no way to completely eliminate threats, minimizing them will go a long way.

One of the best things you can do is to make sure your password is strong.

If someone's able to guess the password to your email or Facebook account, that person can post or send embarrassing things on your behalf. Someone was able to access Burger King's Twitter account recently and changed its profile picture to a McDonald's logo. If a banking or Amazon account is involved, someone could pay bills or buy iPads under your name - with your money.

What's worse, getting a password to one account is often a stepping stone to a more serious breach. Someone can use your email or Facebook account to send spam and scam messages to your friends, for instance. And because many services let you reset your password by sending an email to your address on file, someone with access to your email account can reset passwords and gain access to all sorts of things. If the compromised password is one you use for work, someone can snoop around for files on your employer's network with trade secrets or customers' credit card numbers.

Here are ways you can keep your password strong to ward off that initial intrusion:

* Make your password long. The recommended minimum is eight characters, but 14 is better and 25 is even better than that. Some services have character limits on passwords, though.

* Use combinations of letters and numbers, upper and lower case and symbols such as the exclamation mark. Some services won't let you do all of that, but try to vary it as much as you can. "PaSsWoRd!43" is far better than "password43."

* Avoid words that are in dictionaries, even if you add numbers and symbols. There are programs that can crack passwords by going through databases of known words. One trick is to add numbers in the middle of a word - as in "pas123swor456d" instead of "password123456." Another is to think of a sentence and use just the first letter of each word - as in "tqbfjotld" for "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."

* Substitute characters. For instance, use the number zero instead of the letter O, or replace the S with a dollar sign.

* Avoid easy-to-guess words, even if they aren't in the dictionary. You shouldn't use your name, company name or hometown, for instance. Avoid pets and relatives' names, too. Likewise, avoid things that can be looked up, such as your birthday or ZIP code. But you might use that as part of a complex password. Try reversing your ZIP code or phone number and insert that into a string of letters. As a reminder, you should also avoid "password" as the password, or consecutive keys on the keyboard, such as "1234" or "qwerty."

* Never reuse passwords on other accounts - with two exceptions. Over the years, I've managed to create hundreds of accounts. Many are for one-time use, such as when a newspaper website requires me to register to read the full story. It's OK to use simple passwords and repeat them in those types of situations, as long as the password isn't unlocking features that involve credit cards or posting on a message board. That will let you focus on keeping passwords to the more essential accounts strong.

* The other exception is to log in using a centralized sign-on service such as Facebook Connect. Hulu, for instance, gives you the option of using your Facebook username and password instead of creating a separate one for the video site. This technically isn't reusing your password, but a matter of Hulu borrowing the log-in system Facebook already has in place. The account information isn't stored with Hulu. Facebook merely tells Hulu's computers that it's you. Of course, if you do this, it's even more important to keep your Facebook password secure.

* How do you keep track of these passwords? There are programs you can buy, if you're willing to put your trust in them. I use an Excel spreadsheet, but I encrypt it with its own password - a rather complex one. I am well aware that if the file gets compromised, all my services go with it. In fact, I once had it on a USB drive, which I had in a backpack that got stolen. I had to spend several hours changing passwords on all my accounts, just in case someone managed to break the password to that file. As a precaution, don't name that file "passwords." Name it something generic and boring.

* Ideally you'll have a system for creating and remembering passwords without needing the spreadsheet. For example, you might have a string that's constant, such as "?t7q1b9f8j2o0t0l1d!" (the acronym for "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" with my area code and ZIP code reversed and a few special characters put in). To vary it, you could add the first two letters of the website you are using to the front and the next four to the end. Or put the consonants in front and the vowels at the end, with every other letter capitalized and the letter O replaced with the number zero. So for Amazon, it would be "mZn?t7q1b9f8j2o0t0l1d!Aa0." Just try to guess that!

Of course, I'm not smart enough to have a system like that for myself.

Whatever system you adopt, it's good to change your password - and system - from time to time. And if there's reason to believe your password might have been compromised, change it immediately.

One other thing to be aware of: Many sites let you reset your password by answering a security question, such as the name of your pet or the name of your high school. Of course, these violate good password practices by requiring you to use something that can be easily looked up. Others ask for your favorite movie or hobby. That might not be easily looked up, but your tastes change over time. Furthermore, because these questions get repeated from site to site, the answers you use violate the rule against repeating passwords.

I try to make these answers complex just like passwords, by adding numbers and special characters and making up responses. Unfortunately, some sites won't let you do that, and you'll be stopped if you try to enter a numeral when asked for a city name, for instance. These services will often send an email when a password gets reset this way, so be sure the address on file is current. Change your password and security questions immediately if you're notified of a reset you didn't initiate. You might want to contact the service as well.

While you're at it, make your username complex, too, if you're allowed to choose one. Banking sites typically do.

Some services such as Gmail even give you the option of using two passwords when you use a particular computer or device for the first time. If you have that feature turned on, the service will send a text message with a six-digit code to your phone when you try to use Gmail from an unrecognized device. You'd need to enter that for access, and then that code expires. It's optional, and it's a pain - but it could save you from grief later on. Hackers wouldn't be able to access the account without possessing your phone. Turn it on by going to the account's security settings.

Think of these measures as layers of defense. If one gets breached, there's another to back you up. But eventually, the intruders will get through. Slow them down by making each layer as strong as possible.

UMI X2 brings 1080p screen, quad-core CPU for unbelievable Rs 14,000

 

Blown away by the Micromax Canvas HD? Wait till you hear about this one. Chinese smartphone maker UMI has launched its flagship, the X2 in India, available online for Rs 14,000. The X2 is a follow-up to UMI's first smartphone, the X1.

That itself won’t grab your attention, so why don’t you take a look at the specs? For starters, the UMI X2 brings a quad-core MediaTek MT6589 processor, the same as the one in the Micromax Canvas HD. It also has a 5-inch IPS display just like the Micromax smartphone, but where the Canvas HD has a 720p display, the UMI X2 brings a full HD resolution. That adds up to 441 pixels per inch.

The UMI X2 has a 1080p display and a quad-core CPU

The UMI X2, you will remember, is one of many Chinese smartphones that are taking the world by storm, chiefly by packing in high-end specifications but at a low price tag. The high-end specifications are not limited to only the processor and the display. The 1.2GHz quad-core processor is coupled with 2GB of RAM and a PowerVR SGX544 GPU. We reckon that should be enough for any task you can think of. Well, maybe not for playing Crysis 3, but you get a fair idea.

The UMI X2 runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean out of the box. We think there will be a few customisations, but looking at the images on the company’s site, it seems the handset is running an almost-stock version of Jelly Bean. The company says it will be upgraded to 4.2 Jelly Bean by April. It is a dual-SIM handset and supports a 3G connection on one SIM, which is pretty standard. Internal storage is capped off at 32GB and UMI has also allowed for a microSD card slot, which supports cards up to 32GB.

On the rear is a 13 megapixel autofocussing camera with LED flash. The camera supports HDR mode as well as 1080p video recording. The front-facing snapper is a cool 3 megapixel unit. The back of the handset is removable, so you can replace the 2500 mAh battery, if need be. All this is packed inside a 8.9 mm thin body. UMI has gone with capacitive Android navigation keys under the display instead of on-screen buttons, but it looks like the company has kept the recent apps button instead of the legacy menu button.

Here’s another look at the key specifications of the device

• 5-inch IPS LCD with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and 441 pixels per inch
• Dual-SIM, HSPA on WCDMA, GPRS/EDGE on GSM
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g with Wi-Fi hotspot
• Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP
• GPS with A-GPS
• Accelerometer, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, magnetic sensor
• 13 megapixel primary camera with LED flash and 3 megapixel front facing cam
• 32GB internal memory, with microSD card slot for further expansion up to 32GB

However, we have to admit that the handset looks like a result of something nasty the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Nexus did when no one was looking. Of course, in light of other rip-offs coming to us from China, this is a relatively original-looking handset.

Samsung Galaxy S IV coming on March 14; to be unveiled on Apple's turf

Seoul: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said it will launch its new Galaxy S smartphone on March 14 in New York, taking its fight for market supremacy to Apple Inc's doorstep after reportedly being inundated with requests from US mobile carriers.
The Galaxy S IV model will heat up competition in the crucial US mobile phone market, where Apple surpassed Samsung Electronics as the top mobile phone seller for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2012.
It will be the first US launch of Samsung's flagship Galaxy smartphone in three years, company spokeswoman Chenny Kim said, and comes amid a Samsung advertising blitz in the United States that has including light-hearted jabs at Apple's fans.

The new Galaxy S model is expected to feature a higher-resolution display and camera than its predecessor, as well as a faster quad-core processor.

"We introduced the Galaxy S III in London last year, and this time we changed the venue (to New York)... as we were bombarded with requests from US mobile carriers to unveil the Galaxy S IV in the country," Samsung Electronics' mobile division chief JK Shin was quoted as saying on the Edaily news website.
The new Galaxy S model is expected to feature a higher-resolution display and camera than its predecessor, as well as a faster quad-core processor, media reports said.
Samsung Electronics unveiled its first Galaxy S during the CTIA mobile trade show in the United States in 2010, followed by the Galaxy S II at the MWC fair in Spain in 2011 and the Galaxy S III in London last year.
Samsung Electronics may have lost its lead in the US handset market but globally the $210 billion South Korean giant is expected to widen its smartphone advantage over its Cupertino, California-based rival this year, helped by a broad product line-up.
Apple investors have grown anxious about the company's prospects amid intense competition from Samsung's cheaper, Android-powered phones, and signs the premium smartphone market may be close to saturation in developed markets.
Apple shares have slumped 15 per cent this year and the company is reportedly slashing orders for screens and other components from its Asian supplier as intensifying competition erodes demand for its latest iPhone.

Samsung Electronics stock price has inched up 1.5 percent so far this year.

Tablets, notebooks for students at Rs 25 only

Panaji: Students in Goa can now get a tablet PC or a notebook for just Rs 25. The digital largesse is a part of the Goa government education department's initiative to familiarise Class V and VII students with computers in order to "prepare them for the life ahead and get them curious about the e-systems", according to additional director education Anil Powar.
"General category students will have to pay only Rs 25 while SC and ST students will have to pay Rs 10 to register for the scheme," Powar told reporters here Tuesday.
The official said that the state government was making arrangements for purchasing nearly 50,000 notebooks and tablet PCs for distribution.

General category students will have to pay only Rs 25 while SC and ST students will have to pay Rs 10 to register for the scheme.

"All the computers will have a special e-learning packages. After a day in class, the students will now be able to revise their tutions at home over the tablets," Powar said, adding that a provision of Rs.95 crore had already been made for the purchase of the computers in the last budget presented by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.
All the systems will have inbuilt security systems installed to ensure that the computers are not misused for pornographic purposes and other controversial web applications, but the education department will also take an undertaking from the student's parents before handing over the computers.
"It is a no objection certificate saying they are OK with us giving them the computers. The parents should also be in a position to both goad the students to logging onto the right websites," he said.
The Goa government was the first state government in the country to give out free laptops to students over a decade ago.

HP eyes tablet comeback with Android-backed Slate 7.

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  Reuters/Reuters - A Hewlett-Packard logo is seen at the company's Executive Briefing Center in Palo Alto, California January 16, 2013. REUTERS/Stephen Lam.
  
  

(Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co announced the launch of a $169 tablet powered by the Android operating system, a centerpiece of the company's effort to expand in mobile devices and reduce its dependence on the shrinking personal computer market.

The launch of the Slate 7 marks HP's latest foray into the consumer tablet market. It follows the 2011 failure of its WebOS-based TouchPad, which the company stopped selling after just seven weeks, citing poor demand.

Powered by Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the Slate 7 offers Google Inc services including search functions, YouTube and Gmail, as well as Beats Audio for improved sound, HP said.

The 13-ounce device also includes access to apps and digital content through Google Play, and cameras on both sides of the 7-inch screen.

HP said it expects U.S. sales of the Slate 7 to begin in April, and said the product offer a "compelling entry point" for people looking to buy tablets.

Google's Nexus 7 tablet costs $199, as does Amazon.com Inc's Kindle Fire HD.

HP also makes the ElitePad tablet for businesses, which is powered by Microsoft Corp's Windows 8. WebOS had been developed by Palm Inc, which HP bought in 2010.

The Slate7 is part of a multi-year plan by HP Chief Executive Meg Whitman to turn around the Silicon Valley icon.

HP in recent years has struggled with costly acquisitions, management turnover, governance issues, and falling sales and margins from PCs, where the Palo Alto, California-based company still has the largest U.S. market share.

Shares of HP closed Friday 12.3 percent higher at $19.20 on the New York Stock Exchange, a day after HP reported quarterly results and an outlook that exceeded analysts' forecasts.

The company's market value has nevertheless dropped by nearly two-thirds since April 2010.

HP announced the Slate 7 on the eve of the Mobile World Congress, a wireless industry trade show taking place this week in Barcelona, Spain.