How to install KitKat on Galaxy S2 with CM 11

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_9O7o13bNUpPcHK04vErUq9D5SOyDc9QI_DLeaGowo8CISO6650X0A-SftxKG8FAxJxyJCbrKSZarbHDvlKPOlTJVUZlcJBhzjrRKkWVZ-17CHBL2tXc6wIEB3aIZuZEaCE0NNhKR7hw/s1600/galaxy-s2-cyanogenmod.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_9O7o13bNUpPcHK04vErUq9D5SOyDc9QI_DLeaGowo8CISO6650X0A-SftxKG8FAxJxyJCbrKSZarbHDvlKPOlTJVUZlcJBhzjrRKkWVZ-17CHBL2tXc6wIEB3aIZuZEaCE0NNhKR7hw/s1600/galaxy-s2-cyanogenmod.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">The Galaxy S2</span></i></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <section class="mainArticleContent" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><h2 style="font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Warning</span></h2> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The <a href="http://www.androidpit.com/custom-roms-beginners-and-experienced-users" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_top">installation of custom ROMs</a> is risky, so if you do not follow the procedure properly, you can end up with an unusable phone. Back up all your data first, charge your battery and proceed with caution. Neither AndroidPIT nor myself will be held responsible for any damage done to your phone as a result of this process.</span><h2 style="font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Prerequisites</span></h2> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'll assume that your Galaxy S2 (I9100) is <strong>rooted </strong>and you have already made a Nandroid backup of your system. If you're not rooted and are unsure how to root your Galaxy S2, check this <a href="http://www.androidpit.com/rooting-galaxy-s2" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_top">S2 root tutorial</a>. You should also backup your app data too as this process will wipe your device.</span><h2 style="font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Downloads</span></h2> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://download.cyanogenmod.org/?device=i9100&type=nightly" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Download the latest CM 11 Nightly for the Galaxy S2 I9100</a>. As always, there's nothing preventing you from flashing a newer version, once it is available.<br />Also download the Google applications package for KitKat: <a href="http://d-h.st/EIM" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">gapps-kk</a></span><h2 style="font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Install Android 4.4 on the Galaxy S2 KitKat with CM 11</span></h2> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Since your S2 is rooted, we will use the good old custom recovery method. As a reminder, here is the procedure:<br />1. Download both zip files given above on your Galaxy S2.<br /><br />2. Place both files in the root directory of your S2.<br /><br />3. Turn off the Galaxy S2 and restart in Recovery Mode (Home + Power + Volume Up until the logo appears or the third vibration and release).<br /><br />4. Perform a factory reset by selecting and confirming the option "Wipe Data/Factory Reset" then "Wipe Cache". Some users prefer to ''Format System'' / ''Wipe Dalvik Cache'' at this point too.<br /><br />5. Then select "install zip from sd card" and locate the CM 11 zip you downloaded before.<br /><br />6. Click "Yes" to confirm.<br /><br />7. Next, flash the gapps zip file.<br /><br />8. Return to the main Recovery Menu and select "Reboot System Now".<br /><br />The first reboot on CM 11 may take a few minutes. Let us know how you like it!</span></section><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Via:</b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> </span><a href="http://www.xda-developers.com/android/phoenix-rises-from-the-ashes-samsung-galaxy-s-ii-receives-official-cyanogenmod-11-nightlies/" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">XDA Developers</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> </span><b style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Source:</b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> </span><a href="http://download.cyanogenmod.org/?device=i9100&type=nightly" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">CyanogenMod </a><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;" /><b style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Thanks to</b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> </span><a href="http://www.androidpit.com/how-to-install-kitkat-on-galaxy-s2-with-cm-11" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Androidpit </a></span>

How to install KitKat on Galaxy S2 with CM 11

The Galaxy S2 Warning The  installation of custom ROMs  is risky, so if you do not follow the procedure properly, you can end up with ...

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Firefox Launcher for Android

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1OsjQ4214SoS6Zqan2Bj9Dty5EwUbr9RZp6DTBI-O1h3-sChalINZkkeoCKXYWpoxWU3a0fXXluLlbhyphenhyphenTZL20EZNTBu5Bgh2SuTT39M1k7Z6ONp0QVejXFumYakwmOOh59QAxj9ZqCNc/s1600/Firefox-Launcher-for-Android.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1OsjQ4214SoS6Zqan2Bj9Dty5EwUbr9RZp6DTBI-O1h3-sChalINZkkeoCKXYWpoxWU3a0fXXluLlbhyphenhyphenTZL20EZNTBu5Bgh2SuTT39M1k7Z6ONp0QVejXFumYakwmOOh59QAxj9ZqCNc/s1600/Firefox-Launcher-for-Android.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">The Firefox Launcher offers you recommendations and smart searches will recommend apps you already have installed, along with other ones that match a searched keyword. In the morning, the prediction bar suggests apps related to the weather. Think of the information you might hear on the radio during morning drive time. In the afternoon, the recommended apps might lean toward your calendar, local businesses (to find a restaurant for the evening) and some news apps so you can check what has happened that very day.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">When you use the search feature on the launcher, related apps and websites you've visited appear on the phone. And the links go pretty deep. As an example, if you search for Katy Perry, instead of seeing the Spotify homepage, the launcher will reveal a Spotify shortcut to the singer's artist page. And if you search for 'news' or 'tech', you will see cards with relevant information to your search, including videos.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">The app still has some work in front of it, before undergoing beta testing.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;" /></span><br /> <div class="s_media s_media_full" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 526px;"><tbody> <tr><td width="181"><div class="left" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 5px 0px;"> <a class="s_zoom" href="http://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/108630-image/moz-a.png" id="hs_108630" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="Screenshots from the Firefox Launcher for Android" data-src="http://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/108630-thumb/moz-a.png" height="300" src="http://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/108630-thumb/moz-a.png" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.7s ease; border: 1px solid rgb(230, 228, 228); height: auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; transition: all 0.7s ease;" width="176" /></span></a></div> </td><td width="172"><div class="left" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 5px 0px;"> <a class="s_zoom" href="http://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/108631-image/moz-b.png" id="hs_108631" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="Screenshots from the Firefox Launcher for Android" data-src="http://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/108631-thumb/moz-b.png" height="300" src="http://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/108631-thumb/moz-b.png" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.7s ease; border: 1px solid rgb(230, 228, 228); height: auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; transition: all 0.7s ease;" width="167" /></span></a></div> </td><td width="173"><div class="left" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 5px 0px;"> <a class="s_zoom" href="http://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/108633-image/slip.png" id="hs_108633" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="Screenshots from the Firefox Launcher for Android" data-src="http://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/108633-thumb/slip.png" height="300" src="http://i-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/108633-thumb/slip.png" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.7s ease; border: 1px solid rgb(230, 228, 228); height: auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; transition: all 0.7s ease;" width="168" /></span></a></div> </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="3" width="526"><div class="s_info_1 align_center"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Screenshots from the Firefox Launcher for Android</span></div> </td></tr> </tbody></table> </div> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">source: </span><a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/futurereleases/2014/02/05/preview-of-firefox-launcher-for-android/" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Mozilla</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> via </span><a href="http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/05/firefox-launcher/" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">TechCrunch</a></span>

Firefox Launcher for Android

The Firefox Launcher offers you recommendations and smart searches will recommend apps you already have installed, along with other ones t...

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AndroidPIT app v. 2.1 released: new design, great functions & more

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn6JOzl-fKN35e-K2-fogno-wBTKjeTlSz95TCVNZHko0pi2wVtSeA5BGMHr9FNbyzTFDzLHcHqxYugm2Fq4toiBmllFBzERPhCDVkQ0kpwh290kyUr-VTBBvfT5puokOrOI2Cu5njc8k/s1600/new_app_annoucment_v4_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn6JOzl-fKN35e-K2-fogno-wBTKjeTlSz95TCVNZHko0pi2wVtSeA5BGMHr9FNbyzTFDzLHcHqxYugm2Fq4toiBmllFBzERPhCDVkQ0kpwh290kyUr-VTBBvfT5puokOrOI2Cu5njc8k/s1600/new_app_annoucment_v4_.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">AndroidPIT </span></i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Our app’s interface has been refined and optimized with version 2.1, which you can see right away on the first page with a view of new applications, news articles, tips & tricks as well as new posts in the forum. Another novelty: the navigation menu is now accessible by tapping on the AndroidPIT logo on the left. This allows you for quicker access to the content that you want to see.</span></span><br /> <figure style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="androidpit app 2 1" src="http://fs01.androidpit.info/userfiles/3971960/image/whatsapp/androidpit-app-2-1.jpg" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.7s ease; border: 1px solid rgb(230, 228, 228); height: auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; transition: all 0.7s ease;" /></span><figcaption><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With the new app, be on top of app news at a glance. © AndroidPIT</span></figcaption></figure><figure style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="androidpit app 2 1 2" src="http://fs02.androidpit.info/userfiles/3971960/image/whatsapp/androidpit-app-2-1-2.jpg" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.7s ease; border: 1px solid rgb(230, 228, 228); height: auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 3px; transition: all 0.7s ease;" /></span><figcaption><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">News, Tips & Tricks as well as active threads from the forum on the welcome page. © AndroidPIT</span></figcaption></figure><h2 style="background-color: white; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">What are the changes?</span></h2> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Here are the changes brought by version 2.1:</span></span><br /> <ul style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> <li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A new welcome page which presents applications, news, tips & tricks and recent posts in the forum at a glance</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Simplified functionality with a menu bar on the left hand side</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Tips & tricks for applications: the best deals in the Play Store</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">New design</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Many bug fixes to enhance your user experience</span></li> </ul> <div class="installButton" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> <figure class="installIcon"><a href="http://www.androidpit.com/androidpit-app-v-2-1-released" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Source </span></b></a></figure></div>

AndroidPIT app v. 2.1 released: new design, great functions & more

AndroidPIT  Our app’s interface has been refined and optimized with version 2.1, which you can see right away on the first page with a v...

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HTC exec confirms that a wearable device is on the way

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY25TsEN1yo84CNYFamVl35n0lD6vR8v1sqpZ1rQBkQs5MfXFhh7i7oandmzB-QDph9sonFzSvHCLsV3IKu3hqyulO3VEix_4gZKfmygzTv2WkV5098LlXHGMMzYKMV9yFHJMiJBs7E7Q/s1600/gsmarena_001.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>HTC </i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY25TsEN1yo84CNYFamVl35n0lD6vR8v1sqpZ1rQBkQs5MfXFhh7i7oandmzB-QDph9sonFzSvHCLsV3IKu3hqyulO3VEix_4gZKfmygzTv2WkV5098LlXHGMMzYKMV9yFHJMiJBs7E7Q/s1600/gsmarena_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></a></div> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">According to the executive, the company has been looking at the now fashionable category of wearable devices for quite some time.</span><span id="more-61836" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> Battery technology and LCD light problems have been the biggest issues during the upcoming product’s development.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Furthermore, the CFO of HTC Chang Chialin expressed optimism about the company’s outlook for 2014. The company plans to significantly revamp its marketing in order to turn around its fortunes. The execs admitted that HTC’s efforts in the area have been “not very good”.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Finally, </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;">Bloomberg</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> confirmed that a replacement of the HTC One is on the way. Alleged photos of the device appeared on a </span><a href="http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_m8_shows_its_face_in_newly_leaked_live_photos-news-7749.php" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">couple</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> of </span><a href="http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_m8_first_live_picture_is_here_has_two_rear_cameras-news-7739.php" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">occasions</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> today. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Source :<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-05/htc-sees-new-devices-and-fresh-marketing-push-driving-turnaround.html" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> | Via </span><a href="http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/5/5384284/htc-wearable-device-coming-this-year" style="background-color: white; color: #999999; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The Verge</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"> </span></span>

HTC exec confirms that a wearable device is on the way

HTC  According to the executive, the company has been looking at the now fashionable category of wearable devices for quite some time....

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Apple closer to mass producing sapphire displays

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_YoCiJmsEW1wKtEP7hfGSZ6khH6sPFBiGPS5jwLIyx5MgMN6fdB2GBQtJiaw2bXxyfhUd7hol9L9pGr_wxIb25FuPPA2Lp3dw6a5KbBmRjdL1YO4YJ_dLrzHoSo5vh2lAjz8PJJXy7a0/s1600/apple-iphone-touch-id_610x384.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finger ID</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_YoCiJmsEW1wKtEP7hfGSZ6khH6sPFBiGPS5jwLIyx5MgMN6fdB2GBQtJiaw2bXxyfhUd7hol9L9pGr_wxIb25FuPPA2Lp3dw6a5KbBmRjdL1YO4YJ_dLrzHoSo5vh2lAjz8PJJXy7a0/s1600/apple-iphone-touch-id_610x384.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></a></div> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.9950008392334px;">Speculation has been running rampant about Apple's plans for </span>mobile devices with a sapphire screen<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.9950008392334px;">. Those plans finally appear to be firming up, with </span><a href="http://9to5mac.com/2014/02/06/exclusive-apple-just-procured-enough-sapphire-crystal-furnaces-to-make-100-200m-5-inch-iphone-displays-in-arizona/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2964bf; cursor: pointer; line-height: 19.9950008392334px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">9to5Mac reporting</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.9950008392334px;"> Thursday that the electronics giant is getting ready for massive production of sapphire displays.</span></span><br /> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 19.9950008392334px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 19.9950008392334px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">9to5Mac, with the help of analyst Matt Margolis, unveiled that the iPhone maker recently placed a large order with GT Advanced Technologies for furnaces and chambers used in making sapphire displays. According to 9to5Mac, GT Advanced has already received 518 furnace and chamber systems, which would let it build 103 million to 116 million 5-inch displays per year. (Another 420 machines are still on order, which would nearly double that production output.) GT Advanced also has ordered Intego Sirius Sapphire Display Inspection Tool components, which would work to make sure that the displays meet high-quality standards, 9to5Mac reported.</span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 19.9950008392334px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Apple late last year signed a contract with GT Advanced to produce sapphire-based materials at Apple's new facility in Arizona. Apple has already used sapphire for the surface of the rear camera lens for the iPhone 5 and the ID fingerprint sensor in the iPhone 5S. // <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57618514-37/apple-closer-to-mass-producing-sapphire-displays-report-says/">CNET News</a></span></div>

Apple closer to mass producing sapphire displays

Finger ID Speculation has been running rampant about Apple's plans for  mobile devices with a sapphire screen . Those plans finall...

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HTC : smart marketing for salvation

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtsYYtohb7Ska115YqOnozgxaCF7K4HKoJfmNwC2cm6G1SIUd1mlzUPyKTGlLe3tkBj7W6UZKsiv5Z23bMaplj5xGtRLjrZft9sRTEFM7TObuYxryMCs7OuhEqPQvDhfvh1Kx9ujhRv2k/s1600/htc-logo-quietly-brilliant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtsYYtohb7Ska115YqOnozgxaCF7K4HKoJfmNwC2cm6G1SIUd1mlzUPyKTGlLe3tkBj7W6UZKsiv5Z23bMaplj5xGtRLjrZft9sRTEFM7TObuYxryMCs7OuhEqPQvDhfvh1Kx9ujhRv2k/s1600/htc-logo-quietly-brilliant.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">HTC</span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">HTC is a company that's in trouble, both at home in Taiwan and in the US. Despite that, the company seems quite positive that it will be able to recover this year and it is laying it all on smartwatches, the next HTC One, and a renewed marketing effort.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Although HTC has never truly disappeared from the market or from consumer's consciousness, it has been losing ground, and losing fast. While it remained at fifth spot in comScore's recent market share figures, it has dropped out of the top five smartphone shipments based on IDC's report. Pair that with losing patent lawsuits to Nokia left and right as well as legal issues with former executives on its home front, the embattled company can really use a breather.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That reprieve might come soon, at least according to CFO Chang Chialin, who is projecting a rather positive outlook for 2014. That hope might come from the company's new devices, one of which is, unsurprisingly, a smartwatch. According to HTC Chairman Cher Wang, the company has already been investigating smartwatches and other wearables in years past, but were mostly foiled by battery and display technologies of that period. Now it seems that HTC has found solutions around those and is likely to out its first ever smartwatch soon. The company is also hoping that the upcoming successor to the HTC One will also enjoy a period of success and popularity that the current flagship experienced.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But HTC believes it has another ace up its sleeve to bring it out of the darkness. Chairman Wang said that the company will be renewing its marketing efforts this year. This statement may come as a bit of a surprise, considering how HTC's aggressive marketing push last year, which saw the hiring of Robert Downey Jr., didn't really seem to make waves in the market. HTC isn't disclosing details about its marketing budget, though it's hard to imagine it would come close to how much Samsung is infamously spending for the same purpose. But as Wang said, it's not the size of the budget that matters but how you spend every bit of it. //<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-05/htc-sees-new-devices-and-fresh-marketing-push-driving-turnaround.html">Bloomberg</a></span>

HTC : smart marketing for salvation

HTC HTC is a company that's in trouble, both at home in Taiwan and in the US. Despite that, the company seems quite positive that it...

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Samsung : Galaxy SV launch date

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuITz3pkJhetJiy-ZjJ726Qyz1VoNAPgU0h8KVy_h2mvXKrNpRA3Ev88vElfYGwB2yT0LYUG9892mbPL-CA6cAQOr5H7xZSrBVuS-Peu44AcA5BjJ5lCH8FDUbHtvdvY2cHi8HBlUel88/s1600/samsung.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuITz3pkJhetJiy-ZjJ726Qyz1VoNAPgU0h8KVy_h2mvXKrNpRA3Ev88vElfYGwB2yT0LYUG9892mbPL-CA6cAQOr5H7xZSrBVuS-Peu44AcA5BjJ5lCH8FDUbHtvdvY2cHi8HBlUel88/s1600/samsung.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Galaxy SV launch date</span></i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 17px; margin: 0pt 0pt 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The South Korean company has sent out invitations to a February 24 event in Barcelona.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 17px; margin: 0pt 0pt 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Samsung looks set to be taking the wraps off its latest flagship smartphone on the first night of this year's Mobile World Congress. The special event is scheduled to kick off at 8pm CET and will be streamed live on Youtube.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 17px; margin: 0pt 0pt 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Although the company's existing premium handset, the Galaxy SIV, is one of the most popular in the world in terms of sales, it hasn't had quite the consumer impact that Samsung had hoped.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 17px; margin: 0pt 0pt 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Indeed, in a recent interview with Bloomberg, Samsung executive Lee Young Hee accepted that the SIV wasn't as big a hit as it could have been because it wasn't sufficiently different from the handset it replaced and that the company wouldn't be making the same mistake again.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 17px; margin: 0pt 0pt 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"For the S5, we will go back to the basics. Mostly, it's about the display and the feel of the cover," she said.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 17px; margin: 0pt 0pt 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Then there's the latest iPhone which, thanks to its 64-bit processor, separate chip dedicated to fitness and motion tracking, plus its fingerprint scanner, has yet again set a new smartphone benchmark.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 17px; margin: 0pt 0pt 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This means that Samsung has a lot of ground to make up and that the Galaxy SV will be more than just an incremental improvement over the SIV.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 17px; margin: 0pt 0pt 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">According to noted analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, the new phone will push screen resolution and size up another notch. It is expected to have a 5.2-inch 565 ppi display and a 16-megapixel rear-facing camera.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 17px; margin: 0pt 0pt 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The processor and RAM will also be beefed up but Samsung isn't yet ready to go to 64-bit. However, like Apple, it will be incorporating a fingerprint scanner into the device.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 17px; margin: 0pt 0pt 20px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One potentially groundbreaking feature could be 3D gesture recognition, meaning that an owner could wave in the phone's general direction in order to control it, rather than having to physically make contact with the screen. // <a href="http://www.mysinchew.com/node/95629?tid=179">My Sinchew</a></span></div>

Samsung : Galaxy SV launch date

Galaxy SV launch date The South Korean company has sent out invitations to a February 24 event in Barcelona. Samsung looks set to be ...

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iOS : Google Maps Will Alert You to Faster Routes

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYcSPc51fJlymbIWzMkwZ33BG9wX67F1cdU6-lvnp1bqDUjdSA_AfB1mN8vWE8ZibWgPnmJP9viYEN5mlLotpGRWjG9gTX0BvkaB-Xiu5j_vk1ftht6_zRNKsdWY85L1Y9NiF8Mi03ZbQ/s1600/google-maps-reroute.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYcSPc51fJlymbIWzMkwZ33BG9wX67F1cdU6-lvnp1bqDUjdSA_AfB1mN8vWE8ZibWgPnmJP9viYEN5mlLotpGRWjG9gTX0BvkaB-Xiu5j_vk1ftht6_zRNKsdWY85L1Y9NiF8Mi03ZbQ/s1600/google-maps-reroute.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Google Maps</span></i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We can pretty much all agree that being stuck in traffic sucks, right? Well, we have some good news. Google wants to help you outsmart gridlock, and save some time on the roads with a useful new Maps feature for iOS.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Web giant this week rolled out an update to <a data-ls-seen="1" href="https://itunes.apple.com/app/id585027354" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Maps for iOS</a>, which will give you more information about traffic right when you need it, allowing you to avoid a dreaded bumper-to-bumper situation. When you're in Navigation mode, the app will now alert you when a faster route to your destination is available.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The app may tell you, for instance, that there's traffic up ahead, and you can save 10 minutes by taking a different way. From there, you'll have the option to reroute, or you can select "no, thanks" to continue on your potentially not-so-merry way.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The feature is, of course, only available in areas where navigation is supported. The update brings the iOS version of the app up to speed with its Android equivalent, which received the same feature last month.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 23px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 9px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The latest feature comes after Google back in August added real-time incident reports from its newly acquired crowd-sourced traffic app Waze to its Maps apps. This means that when Waze users report accidents, construction, road closures, and other incidents, the information now appears in the Google Maps apps for Android and iOS. // <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2430316,00.asp">PCMag</a></span></div>

iOS : Google Maps Will Alert You to Faster Routes

Google Maps We can pretty much all agree that being stuck in traffic sucks, right? Well, we have some good news. Google wants to help y...

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From Google Play Store : Bright red Nexus 5 now available in India

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCcLwxz_6iyEDQC6ThMhpcnUEE_60MAvZj1OF_ObuGTJCEqXJDVtvHSJs0IfCCMg7zukD41jzpnQt6PMNtb8suiEUFXliYfCOnevDfGBid-gLjvagi2BXikVDhJdaRW87sy3TwpOQDZsk/s1600/N5Red.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCcLwxz_6iyEDQC6ThMhpcnUEE_60MAvZj1OF_ObuGTJCEqXJDVtvHSJs0IfCCMg7zukD41jzpnQt6PMNtb8suiEUFXliYfCOnevDfGBid-gLjvagi2BXikVDhJdaRW87sy3TwpOQDZsk/s1600/N5Red.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>red Nexus 5</i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Google and LG have announced the Nexus 5 smartphone in a new bright red colour option which is now available in India through Google Play </span><b style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://play.google.com/store/devices" rel="nofollow" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.1s linear 0s; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.1s linear 0s; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">store</a></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">. Google is offering the LG made Nexus 5 Bright Red with same configuration as the other Nexus 5 models. The bright red version of the phone is available in 16 GB and 32 GB models for Rs 28,999 and Rs 32,999 respectively.</span><br /> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.7px; line-height: 23px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.7px; line-height: 23px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"> The Nexus 5 has a 4.95-inch IPS display with full HD resolution and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. Nexus 5 houses a powerful quad-core 2.3 <abbr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="click here to know more about GHz">GHz</abbr> Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 mobile system-on-chip, 2 GB RAM and runs Android 4.4 KitKat out of the box. Recently, Google has released the new Android 4.4.2 KitKat update for the Nexus 5 devices to add some performance improvements.</div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.7px; line-height: 23px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <br /></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.7px; line-height: 23px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <br /></div>

From Google Play Store : Bright red Nexus 5 now available in India

red Nexus 5 Google and LG have announced the Nexus 5 smartphone in a new bright red colour option which is now available in India throug...

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AT&T Offers $450 Credits to T-Mobile Customers to Switch Carriers

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihSghRB7AS3FMgt3Hb6KsyHRqUReL5ANGrBMKlhyphenhyphenQ32tgGcPsReyW94dNt1K_LYuDWmRGFxWvOeocMkpfRJmifW_kEgZqvk2bxL0mtycv4WH2zkNWIBTFlnpodKI4kyDqpWbCbS10F9MM/s1600/AT&T+Offers+$450+Credits+to+T-Mobile+Customers+to+Switch+Carriers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihSghRB7AS3FMgt3Hb6KsyHRqUReL5ANGrBMKlhyphenhyphenQ32tgGcPsReyW94dNt1K_LYuDWmRGFxWvOeocMkpfRJmifW_kEgZqvk2bxL0mtycv4WH2zkNWIBTFlnpodKI4kyDqpWbCbS10F9MM/s1600/AT&T+Offers+$450+Credits+to+T-Mobile+Customers+to+Switch+Carriers.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">AT&T Offers $450 Credits For T-Mobile Customers To Switch Carriers; T-Mobile Stays Calm and Calls It A ‘Desperate Move’ (Photo : Reuters)</span></i></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">Desperate times call for desperate measures. The New Year is bringing some serious competition between the U.S. wireless carriers. AT&T is offering T-Mobile customers up to $450 credit for switching carriers. The latest move by AT&T is an effort to stop T-Mobile from winning over its customers. The </span><a href="http://www.att.com/att/switcherpromo/#fbid=Fm9j300_DGv" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold !important; line-height: 24px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: auto 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank"><strong style="list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: auto 0px; padding: 0px;">offer</strong> </a><span style="line-height: 24px;">lasts only for a limited time and any T-Mobile customer can join AT&T to avail the credit, starting Friday, January 3.</span></span><br /> <div style="line-height: 24px; list-style: none outside none; margin-bottom: 30px; outline: auto 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In order to avail the credit, T-Mo customers will need to surrender their phone and sign up with AT&T. The credit is broken into two parts, $250 for the phone, based on its model and condition and another $200 credit for signing up with AT&T.</span></div> <div style="line-height: 24px; list-style: none outside none; margin-bottom: 30px; outline: auto 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">T-Mobile does not seem panicked by the move, as the carrier is determined that CES 2014 will bring some of the most irresistible plans.</span></div> <div style="line-height: 24px; list-style: none outside none; margin-bottom: 30px; outline: auto 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"This is a desperate move by AT&T on the heels of what must have been a terrible Q4 and holiday for them. I'm flattered that we have made them so uncomfortable!" T-Mo's CEO John Legere <a href="http://newsroom.t-mobile.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=251624&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1887805&highlight" rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold !important; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: auto 0px; padding: 0px;" target="_blank"><strong style="list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px; outline: auto 0px; padding: 0px;">said</strong> </a>in response to AT&T's new plan. "We used AT&T's cash to build a far superior network and added Un-carrier moves to take tons of their customers - and now they want to bribe them back! Consumers won't be fooled...nothing has changed; customers will still feel the same old pain that AT&T is famous for. Just wait until CES to hear what pain points we are eliminating next. The competition is going to be toast!"</span></div> <div style="line-height: 24px; list-style: none outside none; margin-bottom: 30px; outline: auto 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">T-Mobile's growth is undeniable as the company started offering lower prices, no contract services, cheap international calling and data plans to its customers. The company has shaken the wireless industry and forced other carriers to adopt similar measures to retain its subscribers. T-Mobile recent said that it added 1 million subscribers in the third quarter, bringing the total user-base to 45 million, half of Verizon and AT&T's customer bases. But the growth rate has worried other carriers and has started a so-called price-war. // <a href="http://www.hngn.com/articles/21188/20140104/t-offers-450-credits-mobile-customers-switch-carriers-stays-calm.htm">Hngn</a></span></div>

AT&T Offers $450 Credits to T-Mobile Customers to Switch Carriers

AT&T Offers $450 Credits For T-Mobile Customers To Switch Carriers; T-Mobile Stays Calm and Calls It A ‘Desperate Move’ (Photo : Reute...

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BlackBerry sues Seacrest’s Typo over iPhone case

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijo1qFVAqi_mNVtc94L1J7_46CMlonDZEh877JHxZbRbMoNnrhZSEwdmpEmWEavnkt-2n2iiwfeVGRZHOaQGRTZJ2fwplghoiAHFMytpqjBC4AnjvMXbRybCLnisQCRVYFHuKdk_wIn6I/s1600/blackberry--621x414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijo1qFVAqi_mNVtc94L1J7_46CMlonDZEh877JHxZbRbMoNnrhZSEwdmpEmWEavnkt-2n2iiwfeVGRZHOaQGRTZJ2fwplghoiAHFMytpqjBC4AnjvMXbRybCLnisQCRVYFHuKdk_wIn6I/s1600/blackberry--621x414.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17px; text-align: start;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">BlackBerry is seeking a court order blocking Typo from infringing its intellectual property, Typo’s profits from infringing products and triple damages.</span></i></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> BlackBerry Ltd., the smartphone maker that withdrew plans to sell itself and go private last year, sued Ryan Seacrest’s Typo Products LLC alleging it copied designs for a keyboard case.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The company said Typo’s product, an external case for Apple’s iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s with an integrated physical keyboard, infringes patents and designs used in the Q10, a keyboard-equipped smartphone BlackBerry released last year.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Typo chose to copy BlackBerry’s iconic keyboard design as embodied in, among others, BlackBerry’s Q10 smartphone, seeking to trade on BlackBerry’s commercial recognition and goodwill, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company said in a complaint filed today in federal court in San Francisco.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Seacrest, the radio and TV producer and host of American Idol, is founder of closely-held Los Angeles-based Typo, according to the company’s website. The disputed product is scheduled to begin shipping this month, according to the complaint.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Although we respect BlackBerry and its intellectual property, we believe that BlackBerry’s claims against Typo lack merit and we intend to defend the case vigorously, Erika Gutierrez, a spokeswoman for Typo, said in an e-mailed statement. We are excited about our innovative keyboard design, which is the culmination of years of development and research.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Apple isn’t a defendant in the case.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Android devices</span><br /> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">BlackBerry has over the years lost business to Apple and Google Inc.’s Android devices. Its share of the global smartphone market tumbled to just 1.7% in the third quarter from 4.1% a year earlier, according to IDC.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Last month BlackBerry co-founder and former chief executive officer Mike Lazaridis walked away from a possible takeover plan and reduced his stake in the smartphone maker after it ended an attempt to sell itself.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Following the collapse of a $4.7 billion buyout by Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. in November, BlackBerry ended its strategic review, opting instead to raise $1 billion in convertible debt and seek a new CEO. Former Sybase Inc. chief John Chen was named executive chairman and interim CEO.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">BlackBerry is seeking a court order blocking Typo from infringing its intellectual property, Typo’s profits from infringing products and triple damages. It also asked for an order forcing Typo to take infringing products off the market.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">BlackBerry rose as much as 1.6% before ending the day with a 0.5% loss at $7.61 in Nasdaq trading. //<a href="http://www.livemint.com/Consumer/niYCkDARs1o7NvcUBG9geI/BlackBerry-sues-Seacrests-Typo-over-iPhone-case-design.html">Livemint</a></span>

BlackBerry sues Seacrest’s Typo over iPhone case

BlackBerry is seeking a court order blocking Typo from infringing its intellectual property, Typo’s profits from infringing products and t...

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Best Buy selling iPhone 5c for free

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrK3-1ZaUHlZt5Vvl4z57-sSJnS4nUqN_lrjSAbTPCEnu_i7ik8P9cVLYL4oHWvrTpCzgno13Cswkam4jKrvybBMmU5oVA4cwLtyjitDhDcLkDi3ChK5Yjbnmp6ffv2CM25ZYW4My6RfM/s1600/iphone_5c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrK3-1ZaUHlZt5Vvl4z57-sSJnS4nUqN_lrjSAbTPCEnu_i7ik8P9cVLYL4oHWvrTpCzgno13Cswkam4jKrvybBMmU5oVA4cwLtyjitDhDcLkDi3ChK5Yjbnmp6ffv2CM25ZYW4My6RfM/s1600/iphone_5c.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><i><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">Best Buy will offer the iPhone 5c for free with a two-year contract from Verizon, AT&T or Sprint. </span><span class="credit" style="text-align: left;">(<span class="photographer">Ahn Young-joon / AP</span>)</span></i><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Best Buy is putting the <a class="taxInlineTagLink" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/services-shopping/electronic-devices/apple-iphone-PRDCES00000002.topic" id="PRDCES00000002" style="color: black; text-decoration: none;" title="Apple iPhone">iPhone 5</a>c on sale again, this time offering it for free for those who sign up for a two-year service contract with Verizon, AT&T or Sprint.</span></div> <div class="p402_premium" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <div style="padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The deal is available Friday and Saturday only.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Best Buy has been discounting the iPhone 5c, one of two new Apple smartphones released in 2013, for months, gradually dropping the price from its original $99 retail price tag.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div> <div style="padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Besides the iPhone 5c, Best Buy will also offer the iPhone 5s at a lower price, dropping it to $124.99 with a two-year service contract from Verizon, AT&T and Sprint. The iPhone 5s normally costs $199 with contract.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In addition to Apple, Best Buy said it will also offer the Samsung Galaxy S 4 for free, the HTC One for $29.99 and the LG G2 for $49.99, all by signing a two-year service contract.</span></div> <div style="padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The special prices are available Friday and Saturday at Best Buy stores, Best Buy Mobile stores and BestBuy.com.</span></div> </div> <i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Via : <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-best-buy-iphone-5c-free-apple-20140103,0,3105183.story#axzz2pQ1DC9bR">latimes.com</a></span></i>

Best Buy selling iPhone 5c for free

Best Buy will offer the iPhone 5c for free with a two-year contract from Verizon, AT&T or Sprint.  ( Ahn Young-joon / AP ) Best Buy...

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Phone companies say 'no way' to storing phone data for NSA

<div class="cnet-image-div image-REGULAR float-none" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; float: none; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin: 10px auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 610px;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img alt="" class="cnet-image" height="407" src="http://asset0.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim2/2013/12/17/national-security-agency-seal_610x407.jpg" style="border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="610" /></span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">President Obama last week signaled that he is open to reforming the NSA's bulk collection of phone metadata, including an advisory panel recommendation that phone companies or third parties hold onto the data instead of the NSA. However, phone companies apparently aren't thrilled with the idea.</span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Major phone companies argue that being required to store metadata for an extended period of time for the NSA would be costly, time consuming, and risky, according to a report from The Washington Post on Saturday.</span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">which it legally justifies under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, was revealed in documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. While <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57616313-83/judge-nsa-phone-surveillance-is-legal-and-a-vital-tool/" style="border: 0px; color: #2964bf; cursor: pointer; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Judge: NSA phone surveillance is legal and a 'vital tool' -- Friday, Dec 27, 2013">courts are split</a> about the legality of the surveillance program, the NSA is currently allowed to store phone data for up to five years.</span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One recommendation floated by Obama's hand-picked NSA reform panel was scrapping the NSA's direct collection and storage of data and instead having the phone companies hang onto it. In this scenario, the NSA would be required to get a court order on a case-by-case basis to receive specific data from the phone firms.</span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The panel's report, which was released by the White House earlier in December, urges phone companies to reach an agreement with the government to store phone metadata. But if a "voluntary approach" doesn't work, the panel said legislation may be required.</span></div> <div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: subpixel-antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19.984375px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Via: <a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57616332-38/phone-companies-say-no-way-to-storing-phone-data-for-nsa/">CNET</a></span></i></div>

Phone companies say 'no way' to storing phone data for NSA

President Obama last week signaled that he is open to reforming the NSA's bulk collection of phone metadata, including an advisory pa...

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Mobile gadgets security called biggest challenge for business

<div class="imageContainer580xX" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: auto; line-height: 19px; margin: auto; width: 580px;"> <figure class="oneUp" id="page-lede" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 35px; position: relative; text-align: center; width: 580px;"><img alt="security" class="largeImage imgId100024955 " itemprop="image" src="http://zapt5.staticworld.net/images/article/2013/02/security_phone_laptops-100024955-large.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: middle; width: 580px;" /></figure></div> <article style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px 15px; position: relative; z-index: 20;"><div class="department" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(210, 210, 210); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; overflow: hidden; padding: 7px 0px 0px;"> <br /></div> <span itemprop="articleBody description text" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><section class="page" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"> Smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices have become the target of malware and are even getting hit by highly targeted attacks known as “advanced persistent threats” that intended to steal sensitive data, according to a survey of 676 information technology and security professionals.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"> About two-thirds of the respondents said the mobile endpoints used in their organizations had been hit by malware and 40 percent also said these endpoints were the entry point for an APT-style attack aimed at specific individuals to gain access to corporate information. The Ponemon Institute’s survey, titled “2014 State of Endpoint Risk”, states that on average 63 percent of an organization’s employees are <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2082720/report-on-nsa-secret-payments-to-rsa-fuels-encryption-controversy.html?tk=rel_news" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #25a7d7; text-decoration: none;">now using mobile devices,</a> with IT managers anticipating the number of devices that have to be actively managed will rise from 5000 on average to 7000 in the next three years.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"> ”Just when many IT security practitioners were hoping to get their endpoint security risks under control, the exploding growth of mobility platforms and public cloud resources has turned these dreams into a security nightmare,” the survey report asserts. The respondents perceive “mobile devices such as smartphones” to be the <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2029540/when-alien-hardware-invades-4-keys-to-byod-success.html?tk=rel_news" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #25a7d7; text-decoration: none;">greatest potential security risk</a> in the IT environment, more than PC desktops and laptops.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"> The survey, sponsored by Lumension, indicates that more than half of the IT security experts learned of APT attacks against endpoints when they found anomalous exfiltration traffic on the network. About a quarter said the endpoint security technology they use alerted them to a possible breach and 21 percent were notified by law enforcement directly. APT attacks often commence with phishing emails to employees, Web-based click-jacking, fraudulently signed code, or digital certificates, they said.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"> As far as the applications considered to have the highest IT risk, the top three choices were: Adobe, Google Docs, and Microsoft's operating systems and applications.</div> <h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: facitweb, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.25em; margin-top: 1em;"> Personal gadgets in place at work</h2> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"> Just over half of the survey’s respondents say they have a “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) plan that lets employees use their own mobile devices for work purposes, and slightly over half of them are relying on “voluntarily installing the endpoint protection agent” for BYOD.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"> The survey also asked about perceived risks associated with third-party cloud services, and 54 percent of the respondents said their organization has a “centralized cloud security policy,” up from 40 percent that did the year before.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"> Having to focus more on endpoint security is putting pressure on IT security budgets, according to the report, with only 44 percent expecting their overall IT security budgets to increase in 2014.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"> The types of technologies the survey’s respondent expect to invest in over the next year include application control, data-loss prevention, mobile device management (MDM), device control and “big data analytics.” The most important capabilities considered for MDM by the respondents are malware detection and prevention, provisioning, and access management.</div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"> <i>Via: <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2082225/mobile-gadgets-security-called-biggest-challenge-for-business.html">PCWolrd</a></i></div> </section></span></article>

Mobile gadgets security called biggest challenge for business

Smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices have become the target of malware and are even getting hit by highly targeted attacks kn...

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Snapchat ignored security hole that lets hackers access

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfssT1I1ykntfLVSgFSoo0M_HDXAKDbucuk9N47gXd9oEa7etYEJSS_bz9B1wLGuW0tDezLX6qYKD2kRwxuMpH0RuUhmIgIM41e2uAAsDVJsaOsy2Yl-Pb6xL67gwwkI9kNfa-v0w39Xc/s1600/security.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Snapchat</i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfssT1I1ykntfLVSgFSoo0M_HDXAKDbucuk9N47gXd9oEa7etYEJSS_bz9B1wLGuW0tDezLX6qYKD2kRwxuMpH0RuUhmIgIM41e2uAAsDVJsaOsy2Yl-Pb6xL67gwwkI9kNfa-v0w39Xc/s1600/security.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></a></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 23px; padding: 0px 0px 14px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hackers could gain access to the phone numbers and names of the app's users because of a loophole in its coding and API (application programming interface), a <a href="http://gibsonsec.org/snapchat/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">new report</a> from online security firm Gibson Security has revealed.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 23px; padding: 0px 0px 14px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Snapchat were made aware of this security glitch in August, but ignored it.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 23px; padding: 0px 0px 14px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Gibson Security claim users of the photo messaging application would have their names, aliases and phone numbers discovered via the Snapchat and iOS API - even if the user's account is private, reports <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/researchers-publish-snapchat-code-allowing-phone-number-matching-after-exploit-disclosures-ignored-7000024629/" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">ZDnet</a>.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 23px; padding: 0px 0px 14px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Gibson Security told ZDNet that hackers could "automatically build profiles about users, which could be sold for a lot of money."</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 23px; padding: 0px 0px 14px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He added: "People could operate a service similar to ssndob.cc , where you could pay a few dollars and obtain the phone number and social media profiles of a person, just by their username."</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 23px; padding: 0px 0px 14px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But his "biggest worry" is that his could also be used to targeted scamming and stalking</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 23px; padding: 0px 0px 14px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"You could find someone's phone number in minutes provided you know the general area they live in," he said.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 23px; padding: 0px 0px 14px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The photo messaging app allows users to send photos and videos which can only be viewed for 10 seconds, and then vanish once they are opened.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 23px; padding: 0px 0px 14px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Snapchat turned down a $3 billion buyout offer from Facebook in November, which Gibson Security says provides further proof of the value of selling a user profile database.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 23px; padding: 0px 0px 14px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Source : <a href="http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/snapchat-ignored-security-hole-that-lets-hackers-identify-phone-numbers/story-fnjwnfzw-1226790834338?from=public_rss">News.com.au</a></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: LiberationSerifRegular, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 19px; line-height: 23px; padding: 0px 0px 14px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <br /></div>

Snapchat ignored security hole that lets hackers access

Snapchat Hackers could gain access to the phone numbers and names of the app's users because of a loophole in its coding and API ...

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Apple rejected Encrypted chat service Cryptocat for iPhone

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="495" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4D2qL-wGkfqdaQns8NYDlGYHDqujTahRmpkUT8bj5k52YuPOPKImUm32Xyme1im0rFiGP1uVLSmNcISttWMhn1QUYXxHQSdHf1jhN5beX4Zmk2E3pYlb7h5KuzEEVCbLz_0lFmqG1xhk/s640/apple-ios-7-iphone.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i> iPhone</i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4D2qL-wGkfqdaQns8NYDlGYHDqujTahRmpkUT8bj5k52YuPOPKImUm32Xyme1im0rFiGP1uVLSmNcISttWMhn1QUYXxHQSdHf1jhN5beX4Zmk2E3pYlb7h5KuzEEVCbLz_0lFmqG1xhk/s1600/apple-ios-7-iphone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></a></div> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Encrypted chat service Cryptocat has spent the past two years blocking outsiders from reading private conversations, and now it's facing a block of its own trying to get onto Apple's App Store. Developer Nadim Kobeissi took to Twitter today to blast the iPhone and iPad maker for unjustly rejecting Cryptocat for iPhone, software that was announced earlier this month. Kobeissi says he's under a non-disclosure agreement as part of the Apple developer program and cannot go into specifics, but claims that the reasons the company gave for its rejection were "illegitimate," and could threaten similar apps. "One of the reasons for Cryptocat for iPhone's rejection by Apple strongly implies that any other encrypted group chat app can be rejected," Kobeissi said in a follow-up tweet.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Cryptocat made waves for offering a simple way to let two people chat while using end-to-end encryption. The service gained international attention (and some notoriety) in light of government eavesdropping, and its use in countries where free speech was limited. That's come with some costs: Kobeissi says he's gone through extra security screenings when traveling; and fearing intrusion from the Canadian government earlier this year, he moved Cryptocat's entire network to a Swedish nuclear bunker.</span><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One thing that makes all this curious is that Cryptocat's already available on Apple's App Store for OS X, which has similar content guideline requirements. Developers need to meet those rules before software can be distributed to users, though unlike on desktop machines, Apple does not allow users to buy or install software from elsewhere on iOS. </span><br /> <i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Via :  <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/27/5249402/encrypted-chat-service-cryptocat-for-iphone-rejected-by-apple">The Verge</a></span></i><br /> <i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Image Credit :  <a href="https://twitter.com/cryptocatapp/status/403936414414696448/photo/1">CryptoCat (Twitter)</a></span></i>

Apple rejected Encrypted chat service Cryptocat for iPhone

 iPhone Encrypted chat service Cryptocat has spent the past two years blocking outsiders from reading private conversations, and now i...

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Samsung Launches Wireless Charging For Galaxy Note 3 at $70

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEfvxEjA7WM2k65d27e8f3wKslDuaO4Aro0kz5PzsGv47nlamFpFWy3Uf43FJRpiGFXAvmWa4VHQlRXWUTYe0TFbCFCuD35rhPSzLoDfB0-DGvbRnvxEjT_GieOsi9a9oj61YIar9dK5w/s1600/Samsung+Launches+Wireless+Charging.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEfvxEjA7WM2k65d27e8f3wKslDuaO4Aro0kz5PzsGv47nlamFpFWy3Uf43FJRpiGFXAvmWa4VHQlRXWUTYe0TFbCFCuD35rhPSzLoDfB0-DGvbRnvxEjT_GieOsi9a9oj61YIar9dK5w/s400/Samsung+Launches+Wireless+Charging.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Samsung Launches Wireless Charging</span></i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; list-style: none outside none; margin-bottom: 30px; outline: auto 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Samsung is bringing the ease of 'Wireless Charging' to Galaxy Note 3 owners with its latest charging S-View flip cover. The cover charges Galaxy Note 3 phablet via a Qi-compatible charging pad.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; list-style: none outside none; margin-bottom: 30px; outline: auto 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The tech giant previously launched wireless charging flip covers for Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy S4.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; list-style: none outside none; margin-bottom: 30px; outline: auto 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The new Wireless Charging S-View flip cover is no different than the usual smartphone covers that protect the device screen from scratches. Samsung's flip cover offers a small window on the top of the screen that allows Note 3 users to accept/reject calls, access camera, browse music files and check notifications, without opening the flip cover. It also wakes up the phone when the cover is flipped open. The S-View cover is made of polyutherane leather and comes in two colors, black and white.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; list-style: none outside none; margin-bottom: 30px; outline: auto 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Samsung Wireless Charging S-View flip cover for Galaxy Note 3 works with a Qi-compatible charging pad. This additional device does not come with the flip cover but has to be purchased separately.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; list-style: none outside none; margin-bottom: 30px; outline: auto 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">By placing the Note 3 with the S-View flip cover on the charging dock station, power starts flowing into the device without any cables connecting to it. The wireless functionality is efficient for users who like gaming and suing other apps, which drain the phone's battery quickly. It is also extremely convenient.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px; list-style: none outside none; margin-bottom: 30px; outline: auto 0px; padding: 0px;"> <i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Source : <a href="http://www.hngn.com/articles/20662/20131228/samsung-launches-wireless-charging-s-view-flip-cover-galaxy-note.htm">Hngn</a></span></i></div>

Samsung Launches Wireless Charging For Galaxy Note 3 at $70

Samsung Launches Wireless Charging Samsung is bringing the ease of 'Wireless Charging' to Galaxy Note 3 owners with its latest ...

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Apps can monitor smartphone

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4D2qL-wGkfqdaQns8NYDlGYHDqujTahRmpkUT8bj5k52YuPOPKImUm32Xyme1im0rFiGP1uVLSmNcISttWMhn1QUYXxHQSdHf1jhN5beX4Zmk2E3pYlb7h5KuzEEVCbLz_0lFmqG1xhk/s1600/apple-ios-7-iphone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4D2qL-wGkfqdaQns8NYDlGYHDqujTahRmpkUT8bj5k52YuPOPKImUm32Xyme1im0rFiGP1uVLSmNcISttWMhn1QUYXxHQSdHf1jhN5beX4Zmk2E3pYlb7h5KuzEEVCbLz_0lFmqG1xhk/s320/apple-ios-7-iphone.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">smartphone</span></i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">For iOS users, the simplest and clearest app is </span><b style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">DataMan Next </b><span style="line-height: 22px;">by Johnny Ixe. It features clear, large text that allows the app to tell you much of the information you seek in one glance.</span></span><br /> <span style="line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; margin-bottom: 1.25em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Once it is set up, the app runs in the background, gathering information on how much data you are using over a mobile data connection such as 4G or over Wi-Fi. Opening the app brings up the home page, which has a big percentage number in the middle, a counter to when the billing cycle ends and simple displays of how much you have already used on cellular or Wi-Fi. It also looks at your use patterns and predicts whether you are "safe" for the month's limit. The home page color changes from green to red as you approach the limit.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; margin-bottom: 1.25em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The app can also send alerts as you hit different percentages of your data allowance. The app costs $2.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; margin-bottom: 1.25em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">My Data Manager</b> is an alternative, available on both iOS and Android. It is a bit more fussy. It is free, though, and provides a more thorough measure of data habits. It has a quick-glance home page to report the data used in a month and how much was mobile versus Wi-Fi. It even has a section to monitor data use when you are roaming overseas.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; margin-bottom: 1.25em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you tap on the small graph icon on the bottom of the screen, the app will display a bar chart of your data use on a daily basis. You can also see a map showing where you downloaded data the most. The idea is to give you insight into your data habits so that you can modify them sensibly.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; margin-bottom: 1.25em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Another good option is <b style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Onavo Count</b>, free on Android and iOS. The Android version looks well designed, with a minimalist interface and intuitive graphs. Its home screen tells you how much of your monthly or weekly data you have consumed with a display of shading on a colored ring.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; margin-bottom: 1.25em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On the home page, it shows how your data use breaks down into categories such as video-viewing, use of social media and so on. It can also show how your use of particular apps compares with that of the average user.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; margin-bottom: 1.25em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Other possibilities are the free <b style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Data Monitor</b> by Nutec Apps on iOS and <b style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">3G Defender</b> on Android. They work similarly, but look more cluttered and feel different from the other apps mentioned here. It is also worth noting that in iOS 7 and Android 4.x, Apple and Google have included systems to see how much mobile data is being used. But you have to dig into the settings to find them, and the information is not necessarily as complete as that offered by the apps mentioned here. // <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/personalfinance/apps-can-monitor-smartphone-data-usage/2158820">Tampa Bay Times</a></span></div>

Apps can monitor smartphone

smartphone For iOS users, the simplest and clearest app is  DataMan Next  by Johnny Ixe. It features clear, large text that allows the a...

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Microsoft launches safety app for Windows Phone for India

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzJVbeR7rqiYUuxvE2VYB2n33nz_seXwZf26xAfHI8zjmTaZcefpi9ESPMmK6Trz-9VMvTqrut2cJ3qMnvNXzFr1hJ_Q9xbb4zwtMNVw8oZwDE6S35nwXAFiTni90gFQsGAW5lD_Es34I/s1600/app.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzJVbeR7rqiYUuxvE2VYB2n33nz_seXwZf26xAfHI8zjmTaZcefpi9ESPMmK6Trz-9VMvTqrut2cJ3qMnvNXzFr1hJ_Q9xbb4zwtMNVw8oZwDE6S35nwXAFiTni90gFQsGAW5lD_Es34I/s320/app.jpg" width="174" /></span></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Windows Phone</span></i></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Users can allow their families and friends to track them in real time during emergency situations by turning on the feature, which runs on Microsoft Windows Azure cloud services and Bing Map APIs. An SOS alert button also lets them connect with security agencies, police and hospitals, or send distress messages to a customized list of contacts via SMS, e-mail or Facebook.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The app was developed over six months by a group of enthusiastic Microsoft employees in India, under the Microsoft Garage intiative which lets staff explore their ideas. It follows a slew of <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/fight-back-with-mobile-safety-app-fightback-7000012249/" style="border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_self">similar apps</a> in India recently catering to heightened concerns over public safety of women, on the back of a high profile gang rape in Delhi earlier this year.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Our employees wanted to do something to enable people to feel safer in our cities. So they used their spare time to develop Guardian. Guardian is a robust personal security app with more safety features and capabilities than any other comparable app available to Indian smartphone users today," said Raj Biyani, Managing Director of Microsoft IT India.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The <a href="http://aka.ms/guardianapp" style="border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Guardian app</a> is officially available for free only for Windows Phone users in India. While Microsoft plans to eventually roll out the service to other countries, it is already downloadable and functional, according to <a href="http://www.wpcentral.com/microsoft-india-launches-guardian-safety-app-windows-phone-8" style="border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_self">reports</a>. </span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Source : <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/in/microsoft-launches-safety-app-for-windows-phone-users-in-india-7000024652/">ZDNet</a></span></i></div>

Microsoft launches safety app for Windows Phone for India

Windows Phone Users can allow their families and friends to track them in real time during emergency situations by turning on the featu...

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BlackBerry cancel two phones planned for 2014

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmGajMuwKzwbd3y9c4mb1YYSRMpgmyHIigGdVGzsSRJ-5O7zkzbN46BxrcXReUWKedfCyq-enB17heOqnp35s3teX1DQFXYetgggZwHQw7fYL-51186ThwP3RR1WET8zb-k45D_2YQNwk/s640/screen-shot-2013-05-14-at-9-34-03-am.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small; line-height: 25px; text-align: start;"><i>BlackBerry Z30 </i></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmGajMuwKzwbd3y9c4mb1YYSRMpgmyHIigGdVGzsSRJ-5O7zkzbN46BxrcXReUWKedfCyq-enB17heOqnp35s3teX1DQFXYetgggZwHQw7fYL-51186ThwP3RR1WET8zb-k45D_2YQNwk/s1600/screen-shot-2013-05-14-at-9-34-03-am.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></a></div> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hold onto that BlackBerry Z30 while you can, BlackBerry fans: It might be the last device designed in Waterloo targeted to the mass market for a long time. <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/12/23/with-new-outsourcing-deal-blackberry-cancels-two-phones/" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><em style="font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;">The Wall Street Journal</em> has spotted</a> a detail in one of BlackBerry’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week that explains how the company has decided to cancel two new smartphones that it had tentatively planned to release in 2014. The <em style="font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;">Journal’s</em>sources say that the two cancelled devices “were internally code-named Café and Kopi, and were low-cost phones aimed at emerging markets.” Given that manufacturer Foxconn has been signed to churn out low-cost BlackBerry 10 devices, it’s not surprising that BlackBerry decided to cancel these two smartphones.<span id="more-2228481"></span></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">BlackBerry CEO John Chen on Friday waved the white flag in the high-end consumer market and said that BlackBerry for the foreseeable future would only design a more limited number of devices aimed at high-end enterprise users. As the <em style="font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit;">Journal</em> details, sales of both the BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10 have been abysmally bad and have forced BlackBerry to write down around $2.6 billion in unsold inventory so far. The Journal also reports that the company is still working on at least two high-end enterprise devices that are currently codenamed Ontario and Windermere.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Chen did say that he hoped BlackBerry would be able to make devices competing on the mass consumer market in North America and Europe at some point in the future although he said that for now the company simply needed to concentrate on stabilizing its finances.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"> <i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Source : <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/12/23/with-new-outsourcing-deal-blackberry-cancels-two-phones/">WSJ</a></span></i></div>

BlackBerry cancel two phones planned for 2014

BlackBerry Z30  Hold onto that BlackBerry Z30 while you can, BlackBerry fans: It might be the last device designed in Waterloo target...

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