Hasta La Gadget!

Most smartphone users know that your shiny new device won’t stay shiny and new very long if you don’t use some sort of protection film on the screen. If you slip an unprotected smartphone into your pocket along with keys or other small items, odds are you’ll pull it out with scratches all over the display. While most screen protector films are only designed to reduce scratches, or reduce glare a new project promises to do more than keep scratches away.

Temasek Polytechnic (TP) and A*STAR’s Institute of Materials Research and Engineering’s (IMRE) have announced a new nano-engineered screen protector that is able to turn ordinary handheld device screens into 3-D displays. A company called Nanoveu Pte Ltd will market the new screen protector film. The company says that this unique plastic film could also be used as next-generation security tokens by banks and corporations.

By adding this new nano-engineered screen film to your smart device, any display on a smartphone or tablet becomes a glasses-free 3-D accessory able display content in portrait or landscape modes. The film is said to be less than 0.1 mm thick. The company behind the film says that is a piece of plastic with about half a million perfectly shaped lenses engineered onto its surface using a proprietary nanoimprinting technology.

To go along with the special screen film, the company has also developed two apps with one for Android and one for iOS. These applications allow users to convert normal 2-D photos into 3-D content. The company also plans to release a software development kit allowing game developers to convert existing games into 3-D versions. The development team is also working on using the same technology to decode PIN numbers sent online as a cheap or alternative to bulkier and more expensive battery-operated security tokens. The company offers no timeline on when the film and related applications will be available.

[via IMRE]

Screen protector film lets ordinary handheld devices display 3-D content is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Samsung‘s much-touted GALAXY S 4 flagship handset, which was launched with quite the fanfare early last month, isn’t available to the public yet, only going up for pre-order in certain markets. That hasn’t stopped the handset from being rooted, however. Specifically, the folks over at XDA have rooted the Exynos 5 Octa 8-core variety of the smartphone.

This news was first reported by Android Authority, which spotted a rooting guide for the handset on the popular XDA developer forums by a long-time and trusted poster. While this is good news for those who have already pre-ordered the handset and want to root it without delay, the sticking issue is that the rooting guide is only for the Exynos 5 (GT-I9500) model.

While this is certainly good news for those destined for that particular version of the handset, it’s not for those who receive the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 model, which is the majority of the United States and the United Kingdom. That means those of use located in either location – or others slated for the Qualcomm variety – will have to wait a tad longer until a guide rolls out for the non-Exynos 5 model.

And, of course, if you decide to give the guide a go when your Exynos-version GALAXY S 4 shows up, keep in mind that you’re taking on a bit of risk. We’ll be keeping an eye out for the Qualcomm rooting method whenever it becomes available, so stay tuned. For now, you can check out the guide in its full glory over at XDA here.

[via Android Community]

Samsung GALAXY S 4 rooted before hitting shelves is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week the Facebook Phone has been revealed. Unofficially, of course, but in a run-down of the software that comes within the device more in-depth than we’d otherwise be skeptical about. What we’ve got here is a midrange smartphone from HTC that runs the big news: Facebook Home. This software is at once a simple app for Android AND a user interface that takes over Android fully. The HTC smartphone hardware is almost like an afterthought.

We had a quick look at what Android Police discovered today, HTC Facebook phone should have you covered for all the gruesome details. If you’re all about the hardware, however, all you need to know is this:

1. 4.3-inch 720p Display
2. AT&T 4G LTE
3. 5-megapixel back-facing camera
4. Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor (same as Galaxy S III)
5. Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean

This device’s pricing structure will be very, very interesting. If Facebook has enough clout to create a smartphone without a need for voice and text messaging service, they may very well be creating a whole new segment in the mobile smart device industry. If they release this device for something more like $50 USD with a 2-year contract with AT&T, they’ll be better off not releasing the device at all.

Or perhaps an inexpensive not-the-best-but-decent smartphone is exactly what Facebook needs to start their smartphone party off right? This release will certainly center around the software experience first and foremost – maybe the marketing for this release will be successful with just talk of how this will be the one true Facebook Phone?

Based on what we know – or what we think we know – about the software experience being presented by Facebook this week, this device will need to be all about the hype.

Would you buy the smartphone outlined above if it were packing the Facebook Home user interface over Android? Let us know! Then join us later this week as SlashGear covers the Facebook event live and in-person! That’s Thursday, April 4th at 10AM PST, don’t miss it – stick close to the Facebook tag portal right up and through that time!

Does the HTC Facebook Phone belong in your pocket? is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s time to check out the Facebook Phone early – a full software build from the device has been leaked and it would appear that HTC is, indeed, onboard. What we’re having a look at here is a full APK (application for Android) that will live inside the device code-named HTC Myst. This device has been leaked before, and according to the leak Android Police has secured, (and promises isn’t an April Fools joke,) it’s set to be a real oddity in the market.

Hardware: HTC Myst

The first place we’ll be seeing Facebook’s new software is the HTC smartphone still code-named “Myst”. We’ll likely see this device shown by HTC later this week with the name “Facebook Phone by HTC” or something equally appropriate. The device is being delivered as – more or less – an idea palm-sized smartphone made to compete with the size segment Apple is still king of at the moment.

• HTC Myst (code-name)
• 4.3-inch display, 720p
• AT&T 4G LTE
• 1GB RAM
• Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor (MSM8960) (same as Galaxy S III)
• 5 megapixel camera on back
• 1.6 megapixel camera on front
• Sense UI 4.5 (Facebook Home modifications onboard)
• Bluetooth 4.0
• Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean

Sound like the mid-range winner for you? Will Facebook offer this device for sale straight from their site? That might be a winning situation – something like Google Play does with the Google Nexus smartphone and tablet lineup?

Facebook Home App

Facebook Home will be essentially a Home Screen Replacement app. If you’re working with Android on your smartphone, you’re able to download a variety of Home Screen Replacement apps that will allow you to work with a user interface that’s totally different from what you’re working with right out of the box. Here with Facebook Home, it would seem that everything will be just a bit different – from your lockscreen down to your settings.

Some interesting bits and pieces discovered in the Facebook Home APK thus far:

• TouchWiz permissions (for future Samsung smart devices)
• Icon changes (simple differences making Android look more “Facebook-like”)
• Google button (indicating Facebook’s willingness to use Google – not just Bing)
• Chat Heads – a new way this user interface handles your contacts
• Facebook Apps out-of-box integration

Given what we’re seeing here in this, effectively a full leak of Facebook’s intentions, it would appear that the HTC Myst will be a device that works with Facebook Home, one of the first (or only) Facebook Phones on the market. Otherwise it may be that Facebook releases Facebook Home as a stand-alone app you can download yourself for your own device – wouldn’t that be fabulous?

The Full Story

We’ll be live in-effect at the Facebook event later this week – stay tuned to SlashGear for the big show, starting Thursday, April 4th at 10AM PST! Make sure you have a peek at our Facebook tag portal until then and keep up to date on all things Facebook coming your way!

Facebook Home leaked – the HTC Facebook phone spills its guts is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Recently, several iOS developers became victims to an iMessage DDoS attack that crashed their app and inhibited their devices. The attacks were executed using a simple AppleScript, where the attackers are able to send out an unlimited, fast-pace amount of messages to the recipient. Depending on the content of the message, the app would either crash, or would shell out notifications at an annoyingly, alarming rate.

The good news for right now is that the attacks only seem to be limited to a small group of people, and only to devices that have been jailbroken. However, the bad news is that anybody, jailbroken iPhone or not, can become a victim to these attacks. One of the victims, Grant Paul, stated, “What’s happening is a simple flood: Apple doesn’t seem to limit how fast messages can be sent, so the attacker is able to send thousands of messages very quickly.” It also looks like the hackers are using throwaway emails, so simply blocking their email will not solve the issue.

Another victim, iH8sn0w, stated that he was attacked on Wednesday night. He received a blast of messages saying “Hello Human” and “We are Anonymous…” He was able to track down the sender’s email. The developers have discovered that the attacks originated from a Twitter account that sells UDIDs, and that the account was also responsible for facilitating the installation of pirated apps.

While these attacks are small now, they have the potential of becoming widespread. All the attacker needs is your email address. These attacks are able to stall your device because you would need to clear you iMessage queue in order to perform any other actions. Another version of the attack involves mass sending of unicode characters and/or large messages, which ends up crashing your iMessage app and prevents you from re-opening it. Right now, there are no real solutions to the problem besides disabling your iMessage app. Hopefully Apple is able to come up with an effective solution soon.

[via The Next Web]

iMessage DDoS attacks foreshadow a bigger threat is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.