Hasta La Gadget!

Apple’s iOS clung to the top-spot for smartphone platform share in the US in Q4 2012, new research suggests, maintaining more than half of the market, though the gap between AT&T and Verizon sales has narrowed. iPhones made up 51.2-percent of the US smartphone sales, Kantar World Panel claims, while Android dropped a little to 44.2-percent, a fall of just 0.6-percent year-on-year.

In comparison, Apple saw growth during the period, rising from 44.9-percent of the same market back in 2011. Windows Phone grew slightly, from 2.2-percent to 2.6-percent, but according to the research firm’s figures, RIM was the biggest marketshare loser, its BlackBerry platform dwindling from 6.1-percent in 2011, to just 1.1-percent in 2012.

As for share by carrier, AT&T maintains the top-spot for smartphone sales, though only just, with 33.3-percent of the market. Verizon has closed the gap, however, being just 1.3 points behind. Together, the two carriers represent the lion’s share of smartphone sales.

Interestingly, the raw figures don’t quite tell the whole story. According to Kantar, more than a third of new iOS users were transitioning from another smartphone platform, and Android deserters represent a greater chunk of those moving across. “19-percent of iOS sales over the last year were derived from Android users, compared to 9-percent in 2011″ analyst Mary-Ann Parlato said of the stats, with the trend most evident among Verizon subscribers, where 30-percent of iOS sales were of former Android users.

iPhone the Q4 smartphone champ says Kantar as Android deserters grow is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Making fake meat in a lab sure isn’t easy, but 3D printing promises to revolutionize the process. The only downside: a 3D-printed hamburger will set you back $300,000. More »

A group of researchers from Canada has announced that they have devised a new silver nanoparticle coating for condoms that could help to completely inactivate HIV and other STDs. According to the researchers, condoms have a 15% failure rate and to help improve the effectiveness of condoms the team of researchers from the University of Manitoba soaked condoms in a solution packed with microscopic silver nanoparticles.

According to the researchers, the treated condoms were able to defeat all HIV and herpes in lab experiments. According to researchers, when their silver nanoparticle condoms contacted HIV, the infectiousness of the virus was completely inactivated. Silver has been used as a disinfectant for many years. We’ve seen silver nanoparticles used in things in the technology world as well, such as keyboards with antibacterial properties.

The scientists say that when silver is turned into tiny nanoparticles that it becomes more effective at fighting bacteria and viruses. The small size of the tiny particles of silver allows them to be applied to a polyurethane condom without changing the condom size or shape. The scientists do admit to not completely understanding exactly how the silver nanoparticles are able to neutralize HIV and other viruses.

The scientists believe that it’s possible the silver ions released are able to attach to the virus and prevent the virus from binding to cell receptors in the host body. The scientists also believe that an alternate method of activity could be that the silver nanoparticles change a key protein on the surface of the virus to stop it from sticking the host cells. The scientists also report that silver nanoparticles don’t cause inflammation associated with other antiviral or antimicrobial substances condoms have been coated with in the past, such as nonoxynol-9. The next stage in research will be animal testing, so commercial availability is still a long way off.

[via National Post]

Silver sheath of death kills STDs is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you’ve ever studied genetics in school or college, you’ll know that the structure of DNA is a double helix. You likely know that DNA carries all of our genetic code. While traditionally we think of only double helix DNA, scientists from Cambridge University in England have made an interesting discovery.

According to the researchers, a quadruple helix is also present in some cells and is believed to relate to cancer in some ways. According to the researchers, controlling these quadruple helix structures could provide new ways to fight cancer. The scientists believe the quadruple helix may form when the cell has a certain genotype or operates in a certain dysfunctional state.

Scientists have been able to produce quadruple helix material in test tubes for years. The material produced is called the G-quadruplex. The G refers to guanine, which is one of the base pairs that hold DNA together. The new research performed at the University is believed to be the first to firmly pinpoint quadruple helix in human cells.

The team of scientists were able to produce specific antibody proteins designed to track down and find to regions of human DNA rich in the quadruplex structure. The antibodies were tagged with a florescence marker so the emergence of the structures in the cell could be tracked and imaged. The researchers were able to determine that most frequent occurrence of the quadruple helix DNA arose during the “S-phase” when a cell copies DNA prior to dividing. The G-quadruplex could be implemented in the development of some cancers according to the researchers and they believe that it could be possible to make synthetic molecules that contain the structure and block the runaway cell proliferation that cause tumors.

“The existence of these structures may be loaded when the cell has a certain genotype or a certain dysfunctional state,” said Prof Shankar Balasubramanian from Cambridge’s department of chemistry.

“We need to prove that; but if that is the case, targeting them with synthetic molecules could be an interesting way of selectively targeting those cells that have this dysfunction,” he told BBC News.

[via BBC]

Scientists at Cambridge University find quadruple helix DNA in human cells is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

2012 was not a great year for security. From the “epic hack” of Wired’s Mat Honan to the breach of Dropbox and the breakdown of barriers at Blizzard (not to mention countless smaller incidents), last year held frequent reminders that what you put online is never truly safe. Google has, in the wake of such public failings, began pushing its two-factor authentication with a pretty heavy hand. But even that system has its short comings, and Mountain View is looking for ways to shore up users’ accounts. In particular the web giant is exploring hardware authentication options and experimenting with a device called YubiKey — a USB-based token system. The research will be unveiled in a paper being published later this month in IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine, and includes preliminary work on a protocol for using a hardware device to unlock an online account. If carrying around and jacking in a USB key sounds too cumbersome, fear not. Google is also working on a wireless version of the platform that could be embedded in a cellphone or even a piece of jewelry like a ring. We may never ditch the password entirely, but we can hope.

Filed under: Misc, Google

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Source: Wired, IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine