Jul 15

Automated shoulder surfing makes it easier to steal passwords, isn’t very tubular, brah (video)

Posted in: Android, BlackBerry, camera, interface, ios, research, security, smartphone, Software, Today's Chili, touchscreen, ui, video
Here’s something mildly terrifying to chew on: researchers in Italy have developed a way to automatically harvest anything you type on your smartphone’s touchscreen, using only a camera placed over your shoulder. The software, created by Federico Maggi and his team from the Politecnico di Milano, takes advantage of the magnified touchscreen keys you’ll find on most iOS, Android and BlackBerry devices. Because these magnifications often pop up in predictable positions, the spying system can recognize and record them with relative ease, with the help of a camera aimed at a targeted display. And it’s not like bobbing and weaving around will help evade its watchful eye, since the apparatus can instantly detect sudden movements and adjust its gaze accordingly. Researchers say their tool is capable of accurately recognizing up to 97 percent of all keystrokes and is fast enough to transmit copied passwords in “quasi real-time,” which must be music to a lazy criminal’s ears. Tiptoe past the break to see the beast in action and spend the rest of your life in an everlasting state of fear.

Continue reading Automated shoulder surfing makes it easier to steal passwords, isn’t very tubular, brah (video)

Automated shoulder surfing makes it easier to steal passwords, isn’t very tubular, brah (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jul 15

Google Maps brings live traffic coverage to 13 European countries, makes work weeks even shorter

Posted in: app, application, car, europe, germany, Google, maps, navigation, smartphone, Today's Chili, uk
The next time you head out for a leisurely Sunday drive along the autobahn, you might wanna take a minute to consult Google Maps’ live traffic feature, now available in Germany and 12 other nations across Europe. Announced earlier this week, the new addition offers regularly updated coverage of all highways and major thoroughfares in countries like Spain, the Netherlands and Switzerland, while bringing more detailed street-level data to users in the UK. Europe’s road warriors will also be able to use a legend to learn about traffic patterns at specific times or days of the week, making it even easier for you to micro-manage your summer getaway to the Swiss Alps. Learning how to fit all your luggage into the back of a Twingo, however, is another matter altogether.

Google Maps brings live traffic coverage to 13 European countries, makes work weeks even shorter originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jul 2011 10:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Pocketnow  |  sourceGoogle LatLong  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 15

Motorola Photon 4G gets the bargain bin treatment at Wirefly, Walmart

Posted in: 4G, Android, cdma, dual-core, DualCore, Google, motorola, pre-order, smartphone, Sprint, tegra 2, Tegra2, Today's Chili, walmart, WiMAX

Pew pew. Those are the sounds we instantly hear whenever we come across Motorola’s Photon 4G. Sadly, the soon-to-be dual-core star of Sprint’s smartphone lineup won’t come pre-loaded with a laser soundboard on July 31st, but it can be pre-ordered now — for a significant markdown. All it takes is a quick internetting trip to either Wirefly or Walmart, where this WiMAX handset’s up for a $20 – $40 discount. It’s not a massive price chop on par with free, but it should move some yellow-tinged operator inventory. If walking the straight and narrow’s your bag, you could still always opt for the direct carrier two-year contract option — but why? Hit the source to get yourself in line for this cut-rate beast.

Motorola Photon 4G gets the bargain bin treatment at Wirefly, Walmart originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jul 2011 02:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jul 14

iRiver’s Vanilla Android phone and tablet leak out, a few cubes short of 80s infamy

Posted in: Android, korea, mobile, smartphone, Smartphones, tablet, tablets, Today's Chili

Remember that iRiver MX100 we spotted a few weeks ago? Yeah, well it’s about to hit Korean retail shelves soon with a new name, more specs and a smaller Android-based smartphone stablemate. The marketing snapshots taken by Cetizen show off both the wildly titled Tab (really?) and little brother Vanilla (really?) rocking Android 2.2 like it’s still 2010. Clearly iRiver’s not employing the best in branding here, opting instead for a middle-of-the-tech-road, “Clear Glass Look” me-too approach. Just look at these specs: the 3G, Flash-ready, 7-inch LCD tablet’s running a rumored 1GHz Hummingbird processor with a 5 megapixel camera, up to 32GB of expandable storage and Bluetooth. While its handset bretheren putters in with a 3.5-inch WVGA LCD display, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, 4GB of storage and unknown processor. These new additions to the Google mobile army won’t be topping nerds’ must-have wish lists, but they should do for Moms and other less tech-obsessed denizens of our free world. Hit the source for additional shots of these white-washed beauties.

iRiver’s Vanilla Android phone and tablet leak out, a few cubes short of 80s infamy originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jul 2011 12:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Akihabara News  |  sourceCetizen  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 14

Ten One Design’s Fling mini now delivering tactile control to touchscreen gamers

Posted in: Android, controller, iPhone, ipod touch, IpodTouch, smartphone, Today's Chili
Ten One Design Fling-mini
Improved gaming controls or a full-screen view? That’s the conundrum you’ll soon be able to face if you pre-ordered Ten One Design’s Fling mini, which is now shipping. To refresh your memory, the $25 pair of springy capacitive joysticks for mobile devices — specifically iPhone and iPod Touch — cling onto your device’s touchscreen, and aim to add tactile feel and added precision. We’ve used the larger iPad variant in the past and found it worked pretty well, but we’re certainly wary about how much space the mini looks to hog up in comparison. There’s more info in the PR past the break if you’re still thinking about giving these some thumbs-on time.

Continue reading Ten One Design’s Fling mini now delivering tactile control to touchscreen gamers

Ten One Design’s Fling mini now delivering tactile control to touchscreen gamers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jul 2011 12:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jul 14

Keepin’ it real fake: Xiaomi M1 melds iPhone and Galaxy S II with custom MIUI ROM (update: no, not really)

Posted in: Android, Apple, galaxy, galaxy s ii, GalaxyS, GalaxySIi, gingerbread, Google, iPhone, kirf, rom, samsung, smartphone, Smartphones, Today's Chili
Granted, what you’re looking at is nothing more than a skillful render, but if Apple and Samsung ever made beautiful babies, this is what would be bestowed upon the world — pesky lawsuits notwithstanding, that is. The KIRF in question is the Xiaomi M1, a smartphone designed specifically for the MIUI custom Gingerbread ROM. It’s sporting a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm CPU, along with a four-inch, 854 x 480 Super LCD capacitive touchscreen display, and the usual assortment of Bluetooth, GPS, and WiFi. Users will find quadband GSM among the mix, but 3G support remains a mystery — likewise for the RAM, internal storage, and battery capacity. Pricing is an unknown quantity too, although earlier reports suggest we’ll see something in the range of RMB 1,600 (approximately $250). This potential KIRF’ers paradise is expected to ship between mid-August and early September in a variety of colors, which will be eclipsed only by the sweet smell of its unboxing.

Update: As it turns out, the M1 looks nothing like the render we’d seen. Hence, our dreams of this epic KIRF have been dashed, and the purported “real” image of this curious project is now ‘splayed for all to see. Didn’t get a chance to see the original render? Just follow the break, where you’re able to dream of what could have been.

Continue reading Keepin’ it real fake: Xiaomi M1 melds iPhone and Galaxy S II with custom MIUI ROM (update: no, not really)

Keepin’ it real fake: Xiaomi M1 melds iPhone and Galaxy S II with custom MIUI ROM (update: no, not really) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jul 2011 10:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Android Community  |  sourceMIUI Android (1), (2), PC Online (Translated)  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 14

Keepin’ it real fake: Xiaomi M1 melds iPhone and Galaxy S II with custom MIUI ROM

Posted in: Android, Apple, galaxy, galaxy s ii, GalaxyS, GalaxySIi, gingerbread, Google, iPhone, kirf, rom, samsung, smartphone, Smartphones, Today's Chili
Granted, what you’re looking at is nothing more than a skillful render, but if Apple and Samsung ever made beautiful babies, this is what would be bestowed upon the world — pesky lawsuits notwithstanding, that is. The KIRF in question is the Xiaomi M1, a smartphone designed specifically for the MIUI custom Gingerbread ROM. It’s sporting a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm CPU, along with a four-inch, 854 x 480 Super LCD capacitive touchscreen display, and the usual assortment of Bluetooth, GPS, and WiFi. Users will find quadband GSM among the mix, but 3G support remains a mystery — likewise for the RAM, internal storage, and battery capacity. Pricing is an unknown quantity too, although earlier reports suggest we’ll see something in the range of RMB 1,600 (approximately $250). This potential KIRF’ers paradise is expected to ship between mid-August and early September in a variety of colors, which will be eclipsed only by the sweet smell of its unboxing.

Keepin’ it real fake: Xiaomi M1 melds iPhone and Galaxy S II with custom MIUI ROM originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jul 2011 10:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Android Community  |  sourceMIUI Android (1), (2), PC Online (Translated)  | Email this | Comments

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Jul 13

Microsoft’s Andy Lees on Windows’ future: one ecosystem to rule them all

Posted in: console, mango, Microsoft, operating system, OperatingSystem, os, slate, smartphone, Smartphones, tablet, tablets, Today's Chili, Windows, windows 8, windows phone 7, Windows8, WindowsPhone7, Wp7, xbox, xbox 360, Xbox360

Microsoft has seen the future of personal computing, and it’s a world with a single Windows ecosystem. Windows Phone head honcho Andy Lees — who said that we won’t be seeing WP7 on tablets during Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference yesterday — still sees slates, phones, consoles, and PCs playing together in perfect harmony. His plan is to provide users with a consistent experience across all Microsoft-powered devices, though he didn’t flesh out exactly how this singular ecosystem will work. Given recent evidence indicating Xbox integration in Windows 8 and the UI similarities between the forthcoming desktop OS and WP7, it seems that Microsoft is well on its way to a consolidated future. But, only time will tell if Mr. Lees’ can deliver us from fragmentation with a unified Windows.

Microsoft’s Andy Lees on Windows’ future: one ecosystem to rule them all originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jul 2011 21:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jul 13

Huawei Ascend II on sale now, brings off-contract Gingerbread to Cricket for $180

Posted in: Android, Google, GoogleAndroid, smartphone, Today's Chili

We gotta say — we dig where this is headed. Between Virgin Mobile’s Intercept, Boost Mobile’s Prevail and Cricket’s Ascend II, it’s getting harder and harder to justify a mid-range smartphone on a post-paid carrier. Huawei’s latest prepaid smartphone has just landed on Cricket, quite a few months after we first touched it at CTIA. What’s wild isn’t the predictable design or middle-of-the-road 5 megapixel camera — it’s that $179.99 off-contract price tag coupled with a copy of Android 2.3. Gingerbread is proving tough to find even on the big boys, so having a prepaid option is all the more surprising. You’ll also get a 3.5-inch HVGA touchpanel, WiFi, a microSD slot and a 600MHz processor. Granted, you’ll likely experience plenty of lag when trying to multitask, but with an all-inclusive $55 / month plan (which includes unlimited talk, text, 411 information, international text, data and video picture messages), what’s to kvetch about?

Continue reading Huawei Ascend II on sale now, brings off-contract Gingerbread to Cricket for $180

Huawei Ascend II on sale now, brings off-contract Gingerbread to Cricket for $180 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jul 2011 18:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jul 13

Motorola’s Photon 4G ships to Sprint on July 31st: $200 on contract

Posted in: 4G, Android, cdma, Google, motorola, now shipping, NowShipping, on sale, OnSale, ship, shipping, smartphone, Sprint, Today's Chili, WiMAX

Too often, “expected summer launches” translate into “the very last day possible,” so we were happy to learn that Sprint’s latest collaboration with Motorola, the Photon 4G, will be available July 31st for the usual $200 on contract. To say the upcoming Android device will come loaded is an understatement: it’ll ship with Gingerbread, a Tegra 2 dual-core 1GHz CPU, one full GB of RAM, a 4.3-inch qHD display, dual cameras (8 megapixel rear, VGA front) and 16GB of internal memory. Not surprisingly, Sprint’s also integrating its signature Sprint ID feature into the user interface. While the device will be available to the general public on July 31st, Premier Customers will have the golden opportunity to get it online three days earlier. If you were perched on the fence about the HTC EVO 3D, this may be the only Sprint phone that’s ready to push you in either direction. Full PR following the break.

Continue reading Motorola’s Photon 4G ships to Sprint on July 31st: $200 on contract

Motorola’s Photon 4G ships to Sprint on July 31st: $200 on contract originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jul 2011 16:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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