There’s been a lot of talk about the NSA and its data-gathering policies. The news sounds kind of scary. But you might be thinking that the NSA can’t have literally every foreign and domestic call made in the U.S.. That would be a crazy amount of data right? Well, yes it would be, and it kind of seems like they have it. Or at least could afford to keep it if they wanted to.
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Dropbox‘s latest experimental build brings some nifty features to the cloud storage service. Users will be able to easily share screenshots, import photos using iPhoto on OS X, the ability to send outside files straight to Dropbox, and faster upload speed for files. This merely just an experimental build, so some of these features may
Though it seems like a bit of a strange headline to lead with, it would appear that VUDU’s upgrade of their Disc to Digital software from Beta to full-fledged release may have hit a hiccup. That shouldn’t be too much of deterrent from users working with this system, on the other hand, as the details remain the same: conversion of your DVD and Blu-ray disks into digital editions accessible from wherever you’ve got an internet connection. For a fee, of course.
This service allows users to convert the video from their already owned disks into SD or HD formats for $2.00 apiece or $5.00 if they’re HD DVD. SD from DVDs costs the standard $2, as does the only format available for Blu-ray disks, HD. This system works with the UltraViolet video system so users will be able to watch on devices such as Roku, PlayStation 3 (and 4, we must assume), tablets, smartphones, Xbox 360 (and 720, more than likely), as well as your connected TV – and through the web, of course.
This system is currently working with mostly streaming services, allowing VUDU apps to stream via the web, but also with updates to iOS and Android in recent months making offline downloading a reality as well.
So what you’ve got here is a system where you put your DVD or Blu-ray into your computer, hit the “go” button, and allow this system to scan it. Once it’s scanned, you’ll have a virtual copy of that disk anywhere you can access VUDU’s webpage and/or app. This system uses Gracenote technology to recognize the contents of the disk and UltraViolet for video in cloud web storage.
UPDATE: The system has now left Beta for real – make with the converting!
This system will immediately (if not soon) be working on both Windows and Mac OS X machines and requires an internet connection as well as a DVD / Blu-ray drive to scan.
VUDU Disc to Digital meant to leave Beta today [UPDATE] is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
It’s been a little while since Google Drive‘s iOS app has been updated, but the search giant sent out an update today that is rather minor from the face of it, but can make a big difference as far as navigating and collaborating are concerned. The app now includes support for comments, as well as the ability to swipe through images.
The new commenting feature makes it easier to collaborate on documents (since that’s what Google Docs is good at in the first place). Commenting in documents allows you to give feedback to other users, and the iOS app finally supports that, letting you either create, view, reply, or resolve comments in Google Docs files.
To create a comment, it’s rather simple. Just tap, hold, and release near the point where you want to leave a comment, you’ll then get the option to comment where you tapped, or select a portion of text to comment on. You then enter in your comment and hit save. The changes will upload immediately, and other users will be able to see comments right after they’re published.
As for image swiping, it’s pretty self-explanatory. Users will now be able to swipe through a group of photos just like most other apps have been able to do for a while, and you’re also shown the number of photos that you have to swipe through, as well which photo you’re on in the group.
Before hand, the Google Drive app didn’t allow for any kind of image swiping, so if you wanted to show someone a batch of photos, you had to exit each photo and tap on the next one. It was extremely cumbersome and left many heads scratching as to how Google didn’t include image swiping in the first place. At last, though, you’ll now be able to show your friends and family those vacation pics more quickly than ever before.
SOURCE: iTunes App Store
Google Drive for iOS updates with comments and image swiping is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Apple introduced two-factor authentication (or two-step verification if you’d like to call it that) with iCloud back in March, adding an extra layer of security to its cloud backup system. However, security researchers say that iCloud is still vulnerable to a break-in if your password is stolen.
ElcomSoft, a company that specializes in password-cracking software, says that there are security holes in Apple’s two-factor authentication process, saying that “Apple’s implementation does not apply to iCloud backups, allowing anyone and everyone knowing the user’s Apple ID and password to download and access information stored in the iCloud.” When you log in to your iCloud account, you’ll have “full information to everything stored there without being requested any additional logon information.”
The company says that they were able to download an iCloud backup using login details without ever using two-factor authentication, and the physical iOS device that the backup came from wasn’t needed for credential purposes. Of course, this doesn’t mean your iCloud data is out in the open. As long as your password is secure, no one can access your iCloud backup.
ElcomSoft also mentions another security issue, which is the fact that Apple sends verification codes directly to an iOS device’s lockscreen. This means that the verification code is exposed to whoever can turn on the display and look at the lockscreen, meaning that you don’t need to unlock an iOS device in order to see the code. ElcomSoft says that the code should obviously not be displayed on the lockscreen, but rather require users to unlock the device first in order to see it.
However, two-factor authentication does prevents hackers from resetting a user’s Apple ID password, but it doesn’t keep hackers from copying or deleting files that are stored in iCloud. ElcomSoft thinks that Apple’s two-factor authentication “does not look like a finished product,” and “it’s just not as secure as one would expect this solution to be.”
VIA: Ars Technica
SOURCE: ElcomSoft
iCloud not protected by Apple’s two-factor authentication, say researchers is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Stop the presses, because it seems Dropbox is down. A lot of users have reported that files aren’t uploading to their Dropbox accounts like usual. It’s reported that users are still seeing the green checkmark attached to files, but they aren’t able to upload new files through the web interface nor the desktop apps.
A couple of us here at SlashGear haven’t been experiencing any problems, but taking a quick look at Dropbox’s status on Is It Down Right Now notes that the cloud storage service was indeed experiencing problems, with a red X next to today’s date with no ping activity going on. They say that within the past few hours, 97 users have reported problems with Dropbox.
Furthermore, server status shows that ping times have been increasing over the last week, suggesting that Dropbox service has been slowing down ever so much over the past few days until it finally gave way today. We’re not sure what the exact issue is, but Dropbox says they’re at least aware of the issue.
This is the first major outage for Dropbox in a while, and it’s guaranteed that many users were pretty upset by the downed cloud service, especially since a lot of businesses use Dropbox to collaborate on projects and such, including yours truly here at SlashGear. We’ll let you know once Dropbox is back up.
UPDATE: Looks like it’s back up and running, according to Dropbox, who says that the site “should” be back up. Let us know if you’re still having problems in the comments below.
Dropbox is down, it’s not just you [UPDATE: It’s back] is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Personal cloud provider Connected Data has announced version 2.0 of its Transporter, the bottle-shaped desktop drive that raised more than $260k on Kickstarter, as well as news of merger discussions with Drobo. The updated Transporter functionality – which will be pushed out to existing owners courtesy of a software upgrade – pares back the interface for easier link-sharing and drag’n’drop file management, as well as more granular control over which files are synchronized.
That means big folders – such as movies or music collections – can be kept solely on the Transporter itself, while other data that users might want to have ready access to, such as documents, can be synchronized across multiple devices. Connected Data also has new mobile apps, for iOS and Android, for browsing a remote Transporter and exchanging files with it (in both directions).
Meanwhile, there’s new technology which helps make firewalls more transparent, and as before multiple Transporter units can communicate with each other and create synchronized backups. Connected Data’s argument is that a local drive is more secure than entrusting your files to Dropbox, Box, SkyDrive, or one of the other cloud storage providers, while its internet-connectivity means you can still access content no matter where you are.
It’s a similar argument to what Pogoplug has been pushing for some time, though Transporter – and future hardware based on the technology – could become a much greater threat now that Drobo is weighing in. The two companies are in “merger discussions” it was announced this week [pdf link] and are currently in a 30-day due diligence process.
A collaboration wouldn’t be too great a surprise, however, given the heritage of Connected Data’s founders. The start-up’s CEO, Geoff Barrall, was in fact the original founder (not to mention former CEO) of Drobo, while other key members of the team previously worked there too.
Drobo’s multi-drive boxes have met with highly-positive feedback, not least because of the convenience of the BeyondRAID data redundancy system they use, but the range’s remote access options are comparatively lacking. Bringing the Connected Data team back into the fold would certainly address that shortcoming.
The Connected Data Transporter 2.0 will hit shelves in June, priced at $199 drive-free, $299 for the 1TB model, or $399 for the 2TB version.
Connected Data Transporter 2.0 detailed as Drobo merger talks revealed is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Google Buzz was shut down back in 2011, but Google seems to still be dealing with the service like an annoying dog that won’t go away. Google has notified its users via email that all your Buzz data will be moved to a folder in your Google Drive account. The migration will begin starting July 17, where users will begin seeing their Buzz data appear in Google Drive.
The transfer will result in two sets of files showing up in Google Drive, the first of which will contain a snapshot of the public and private Buzz posts that you have made. This will be a private Drive folder, while the second set of files will be public by default, consisting of all your public Buzz posts that can be viewable by anyone with the files’ links.
As for comments, those will also be migrated to Google Drive, but they will be saved to the user’s Drive whose post the comments appeared on, not the commenter. This could create a little friction, as commenters won’t have any control over who sees the migrated data of a post that has a comment of theirs in it, so Google recommends that you delete your Buzz content now before the migration happens.
Google also says that all Buzz files will be treated “the same as any other Drive file,” so you’ll be able to do whatever you want with them just like you could with regular Drive files. These added Buzz files won’t count against your storage limit, but you should be able to easily delete them if you don’t have a need for them.
Google Buzz originally launched back in February 2010, and while it was given the benefit of the doubt by early adopters, it eventually didn’t stand the test of time. No one used it, and it didn’t offer anything that Facebook and Twitter didn’t already offer. Google shut down Buzz in 2011 to no one’s chagrin, but eventually launched another social network called Google+, which is the company’s current social offering that seems to be doing fairly well amongst a niche audience.
VIA: The Next Web
Google Buzz’s last gasp: Drive swallows final bits of lost social network is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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