Hasta La Gadget!

Facebook’s crusade against pseudonyms and nicknames has just won out. After a German court ruled Facebook couldn’t force people to use their real, full names, a successful appeal from Facebook in another German court rules it can. The result? You’re stuck using your real name on Facebook. More »

Apple‘s new iOS 6.1 firmware, even with all of its new features, is still trying to fit in and become a solid upgrade to iOS 5.x. However, it’s had its fair share of problems, including battery life issues and connectivity problems. Tack one more on, though, because now it looks like anyone can break into your device, even if you have it password protected.

The exploit doesn’t appear to allow you to access the home screen, but rather just the contacts list and the photo library on the device. The process is fairly complicated, so it’s not something that you could just easily do on accident. It involves quite a few steps that require to access the emergency call section, put the device in stand-by mode a couple of times, and overall just good timing to eventually get access to the phone.

The hack will allow perpetrators to view or modify contacts, check voicemail, and look through photos by attempting to add a photo to a contact when editing them. Again, you won’t be able to access the homescreen or any other apps, so it’s not completely exploited, but getting a hold of contacts’ personal information could be all that it takes.

Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen glitches like this on iOS. iOS 4.1 back in 2010 suffered a similar fate, where users could bypass the lockscreen in order to access contacts, as well as email and even text messages. Of course, that exploit was eventually fixed in iOS 4.2, so it this latest one should be all patched up in the next iOS update, but who knows when that’ll be for sure.

[via Gizmodo]

iOS 6.1 vulnerability allows anyone to bypass lockscreen is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Intel’s freshly-revealed Web TV service will use advanced viewer monitoring systems, including a camera integrated into the set-top box to actively watch and identify those in front of the TV, to shape its service, the chip giant has confirmed. While the personalization system will have an optional shutter for those particularly camera-shy, new Intel Media chief Erik Huggers conceded, the on-demand project will nonetheless rely considerably on the viewer-tracking potential, helping advertisers craft more appropriate content and recommending more relevant shows depending on who’s watching what.

Chatter of such a system broke last year, with Intel supposedly looking at categories like age and gender to split up its viewership. Using the same sort of face-identification technology as we’ve seen on ultrabooks as well as smart TVs from Samsung, the Intel system would provide content owners and advertisers with far more useful information as to who, exactly, was consuming their shows and commercials.

As Intel sees it, the current recommendations system services like Netflix use is too blunt to be particularly effective. That’s because it works on a per-screen basis, not a per-viewer basis: everything watched by all users of a single Netflix account is combined to generate the newest suggestions, for instance, even if different members of the household have broadly different niches they individually prefer.

Intel’s system, however, would be more precise in its targeting than that. By using the Web TV STB’s in-built camera to watch the viewer as the viewer watches content, it can ascertain more accurate demographic details and tailor connected media to the right person at the right time.

Although the technology for individual identification exists, previous rumors around Intel’s tracking implementation suggested it would take a broader-strokes approach than that. Rather than logging specific members of the household, the Intel-powered STB will merely look at general demographics – i.e. membership of certain age brackets, gender, etc. – that, though a step away from exact tracking, would still unlock considerably more data than the current viewership methods. However, Huggers did say that viewers would be able to use the camera to log into specific accounts, implying far more accurate identification.

Intel’s eventual hope is that the extra information will encourage content owners to unbundle their collections of channels, something the industry has historically been reluctant to do. That won’t be the case from day one, however. As Huggers said during AllThingsD‘s D: Dive Into Media conference this week, “there are opportunities to create a more flexible environment [but] I don’t believe the industry’s ready for unbundling.”

Huggers also recognizes that Intel will face an uphill challenge trying to reassure viewers that a camera pointed out at them isn’t a privacy issue, though the physical shutter to optionally turn off the feature should go some way to helping with that. The Intel Web TV system is expected to launch sometime in 2013.

[via The Register]

Intel pushes sofa monitoring with Web TV camera plans is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

One of the most terrifying prospects we’ve heard in the past few years surrounding a gaming console – or a computer of any type, for that matter, has been re-addressed this week with the Xbox 720. This machine has not yet been confirmed as even being in development by Microsoft as of yet, but another bag of tips has been revealed with specifications and features included with the device that may set your hair on end. The first and perhaps most important of these is the idea that the included Kinect camera need to be plugged in to the machine at all times – and that it’ll be watching you constantly.

The Xbox 720 has been tipped as currently being distributed to developers under code-name Durango. Under that code-name we’ve seen a collection of information leaks large and small over the past year or so, with quite a few more than usual stacking up over the past few months. Today a source is speaking with Kotaku about this developer unit complete with a note that the features included on this unit will, for the most part, be included on the final Xbox build as well.

One element in play on this device appears to be a requirement for the new and improved Kinect camera sensor to be plugged in and active whenever you’re operating your Xbox. That’s all well and good, right? No harm in having a piece of the device plugged in as long as it’s not recording me playing Halo with uncombed hair, yes? Not if it has any implementation of Patent 20120278904 it’s not.

That patent application goes by the name Content Distribution Regulation by Viewing User. This application is for a “content presentation system and method” (the Xbox with Kinect, in this case) allowing content providers (Microsoft or whatever video company is participating) to “regulate the presentation of content on a per-user-view basis.” With this system Microsoft describes how “the users consuming the content on a display device are monitored so that if the number of user-views licensed is exceeded, remedial action may be taken.”

We must assume that this means the video being watched will throw up a warning sign, and now that the Xbox will explode into flame, of course. The same source as mentioned above has provided the image you see above this paragraph, this image coming from a specifications manual provided to developers (or so they say) here in the pre-release calm before the storm. This new Xbox 720 system will be able to not only see more “skeletons” than before (6 in one room!) it’ll have additional contact points – thumbs and all.

Have a peek at the timeline below to see more insights on what the Xbox 720 might bring later this year. And don’t forget – the Xbox 720 isn’t actually confirmed to in existence in any capacity by Microsoft as yet. We’ll hear from them soon – we hope!

Xbox 720 may be “always watching” with mandatory Kinect is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We thought we killed all those awful, horrible destroy the Internet-type bills in SOPA, PIPA and CISPA. We might’ve been wrong. Like a zombie looking for human blood or a sore loser demanding a rematch, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger and Rep. Mike Rogers plan to re-introduce CISPA to the House later this year. More »