Jan 27
Overnight, three feet of snow is set to blanket the east coast. Or, if you don’t have a tape measure to gauge the fall, approximately one dog’s worth.
Jan 27
Scientists have spent a lot of time trying to lengthen battery life, but safety and thickness matter, too. Just ask Boeing about that first problem — its 787 Dreamliner was grounded for months thanks to battery fires. However, a group of University …
Jan 27
Update – Facebook released a statement claiming that it was not a hack, but due to changes they made to their configuration system.
In case you weren’t aware, earlier Facebook and some of Facebook’s other services such as Messenger and Instagram went offline for a very brief period of time, which has been estimated to have been about an hour. So what was the problem? Maintenance? A server error? Or could it have been a DDoS attack?
While Facebook has yet to comment on the reason why their website and services were taken offline, the hacker group Lizard Squad has come forward and claimed responsibility for it. According to the hackers, it seems that it wasn’t only Facebook’s services that were taken offline, but other online services too such as Tinder, AIM, Hipchat, and MySpace.
Like we said the attack was very brief and it did not appear to have any lasting damage, or so we hope. Assuming the Lizard Squad’s attack was the real deal, it would be the second attack the hacker group has launched this week. Just yesterday the Lizard Squad attacked the Malaysian Airlines’ website and replaced its contents with an image of a lizard and a slogan that read, “404 – Plane Not Found” in reference to the missing flight of MH370 from 2014.
The Lizard Squad was also responsible for the spate of Xbox Live attacks last year where the hack pretty much rendered the service useless which was frustrating as many gamers had hoped to be able to play their games during the Christmas break. In any case we’ll keep our eyes peeled for more information and to see if there could have been any post-damages or leaks as a result of the DDoS.
Lizard Squad Claims Responsibility For Knocking Facebook Offline [Updated] , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Jan 27
You might recall that earlier this month during CES, we reported on a handset called the Saygus V2. Now if the Saygus brand isn’t familiar to you, we guess it’s understandable, but what made the Saygus V2 stand out from the competition was not only its pretty decent hardware specs, but the fact that it packed a whopping 320GB of storage under the hood.
320GB of storage is a lot for a mobile device – heck, there are some Ultrabooks these days that don’t even come with half that storage, so safe to say if storage is an issue or priority for you, then the Saygus V2 is a handset you should be looking at, but when can you get your hands on it? The good news is that you should be able to get it soon.
Saygus has recently announced that they have opened up pre-registrations for the handset and will run until the 29th of January, after which pre-orders for the phone will begin, but unfortunately apart from a pre-order date, it seems that we still have no idea when the phone will be released. So why pre-register when you can pre-order?
It seems that pre-registering your interest will make you eligible for special offers, so if you want more than just the handset, perhaps pre-registering your interest would be a good idea. Saygus has also stated that the phone will come with a sub-$600 price tag which we guess is to be expected given its specs and its storage. If this sounds like a phone you would be interested in, head on over to Saygus’ website for the details.
Saygus V2 Pre-Orders Kick Off On The 29th Of January , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Jan 27
Earlier this month, Samsung finally took the wraps off their first-ever Tizen handset in the form of the Samsung Z1. The specs of the Samsung Z1 weren’t particularly impressive, but then again the handset was meant for emerging markets, such as India where the phone was released. So how is the phone doing since its release?
Well a report from Business Korea (via SamMobile) has suggested that Samsung managed to sell 50,000 units of the Samsung Z1 within 10 days of its launch. According to Asim Warsi, vice president of Mobile and Information Technology at Samsung India, “The sales volume of the Z1 exceeded our expectations. I think that the new model widened consumer choice in terms of prices and product performance.”
This seems to contradict an earlier report in which customers in India appeared to have reacted poorly to the handset, claiming that some of its features were underwhelming, especially in the camera department. Of course given that the Samsung Z1 is an entry-level handset, we guess you can’t really expect too much from it.
In any case the 50,000 units sold is still pretty encouraging for Samsung, so hopefully they will take the customer feedback into consideration when thinking about creating their next Tizen handset.
Samsung Z1 Sold 50,000 Units Within Its First 10 Days , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Jan 27
According to an earlier report, it was suggested that Facebook and Instagram’s brief time offline could have been due to an attack by the Lizard Squad hacker group who probably launched a DDoS attack on the services affected. For those who might be worried that this could be the tip of the iceberg and that more damage could have been done, you can rest assured.
Facebook has since released a statement to The Verge claiming that the downtime was not a hack, but rather a change made on Facebook’s end that affected their systems, causing them to go offline. According to Facebook, it was “not the result of a third party attack but instead occurred after we introduced a change that affected our configuration systems.”
The services affected include Facebook itself, Messenger (naturally), Instagram, Tinder, AIM, MySpace, and Hipchat. It is unclear as to why the other services were affected since they aren’t owned or operated by Facebook, but it has been suggested that it could have been a domino effect from Facebook going offline that caused problems with Facebook’s identity services, either that or it was just pure coincidence.
In any case all the affected services appear to have gone back online. The outage was rather brief and lasted for about an hour, so some of you guys might have missed it or not even know it was down at all.
Facebook Outage Due To Changes Made Internally, Not Because Of A Hack , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Jan 27
The Snapdragon drama continues to unfold, of course only in rumors and leaks so far. After rumors that Samsung would be ditching the Snapdragon 810 for its own Exynos chip because of overheating issues, and with LG refuting such problems, word now is that Qualcomm is already addressing the root of Samsung’s complaints. If such is the case, the only … Continue reading
Jan 27
Dropbox has acquired Pixelapse, a service for creatives to collaborate with each other or manage their tasks. Unlike some recent acquisitions, this is not having any immediate effect on Pixelapse’s service, with the company remaining open to new sign-ups and continuing to support current users. Says the company, the service’s workflow and collaboration “experiences” will be ported over to the … Continue reading
Jan 27
Doing what they did for iOS users last month, Shazam and Spotify are teaming up again to bring the same set of features to the Android platform. This practically turns Shazam into an all-in-one jukebox for your music listening pleasure. That is, of course, if your music habits are intricately tied with Spotify’s collection. That said, Shazam has also partnered … Continue reading
Jan 27
Dogs are called “man’s best friend” for a reason. They are often the first ones to greet you after a long day and the last ones to think that you could possibly have any flaws. But before rushing out to pick up a new furry companion, there are some important things to consider. From finding a kid-friendly canine to budgeting for veterinarian visits, our dog expert and TODAY Facebook fans are dishing out what you need to know before getting a dog.
Who's in charge here?
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.