80 percent of wireless routers for small offices face vulnerabilities

Michael Hatamoto | Hacking, Security & Privacy | Feb 24, 2014 3:48 PM CST

Around 80 percent of the top 25 small office/home office (SOHO) wireless routers available on Amazon are susceptible to security vulnerabilities that put users at risk, according to research recently compiled by security and compliance company Tripwire.

The Tripwire Vulnerability and Exposure Research Team (VERT) also found that 34 percent of the top 50 best-selling routers have publicly documented exploits out in the wild.

"Unfortunately, users don't change the default administrator passwords or the default IPs in these devices and this behavior, along with the prevalence of authentication bypass vulnerabilities, opens the door for widespread attacks through malicious web sites, browser plugins, and smartphone applications," said Craig Young, Tripwire security researcher, in a press statement.

Continue reading: 80 percent of wireless routers for small offices face vulnerabilities (full post)

ZTE Grand Memo II LTE packs 6-inch HD TFT display

Shane McGlaun | Mobile Devices | Feb 24, 2014 2:05 PM CST

MWC 2014 is underway meaning that there is lots of news in the smartphone realm today. One of the new devices that was unveiled today at the show is the ZTE Grand Memo II LTE. As the name of the smartphone suggests, the device operates on 4G LTE networks.

The smartphone runs the Android 4.4 KitKat OS and measures 161.5 x 83 x 7.2mm. The screen is a bit 6-inch HD TFT unit that supports 16 million colors and multi touch. The rear camera of the smartphone is a 13MP unit and it uses a Sony BSI image sensor.

The rear camera also has flash and auto focus. The front camera is a 5MP unit that has fixed focus. The battery that powers the device is a 3200 mAh unit. The Grand Memo II LTE uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor with 2GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage. The smartphone also has GPS with AGPS, integrated Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0.

Continue reading: ZTE Grand Memo II LTE packs 6-inch HD TFT display (full post)

Samsung unveils Galaxy S5 during Unpacked event at MWC 2014

Charles Gantt | Mobile Devices | Feb 24, 2014 1:45 PM CST

MWC 2014 - In front of a packed house and more than 1/4 of a million live stream viewers, Samsung's CEO, JK Shin, took the stage at the company's Unpacked 5 event to unveil the long awaited successor to the unimaginably popular Galaxy S4 smartphone, the Galaxy S5. Samsung says the Galaxy S5 has been built to help enhance our daily lives, and to make every day task easier.

The Galaxy S5 is not the full redesigned smartphone everyone had asked for, but the new flagship smartphone is definitely an update from the Galaxy S4. The S5 features a larger 5.1-inch 1080p, Super AMOLED display that is on par with the Galaxy S4's image quality. The Galaxy S5 also still retains the familiar plastic frame, but does feature a waterproof IP7 rating, as well as an integrated fingerprint scanner.

The Galaxy S5's smooth back has been replaced by a new dimpled texture which is available in several different colors including Electric Blue, a new color designed to make the phone look more modern. The camera has also been updated with a faster auto focus, a new HDR mode, and selective focus that is bases on a larger imaging sensor that is designed for faster auto-focusing, and making your images more clear and vibrant.

Continue reading: Samsung unveils Galaxy S5 during Unpacked event at MWC 2014 (full post)

Updated YotaPhone with touch control electronic paper screen debuts

Shane McGlaun | Mobile Devices | Feb 24, 2014 1:35 PM CST

Last year the first YotaPhone debuted. The device was the first dual screen smartphone to feature a normal LCD on one side and an electronic paper display (EPD) on the other. That LCD screen is perfect for playing games and watching videos that need full color.

On the other side, the EPD is perfect for reading in direct sunlight and saving battery power when viewing documents. At MWC 2014, the next generation YotaPhone has been unveiled and it has some nice updates from the original.

The updates include an electronic paper display that has full touch control. The electronic paper display is always-on and is very power miserly for long battery life. The new YotaPhone allows people to respond to messages, social networks, emails, and calls without having to wake up the color LCD and consume more power. The EPD is 4.7-inches and the LCD on the other side is a 5-inch AMOLED unit.

Continue reading: Updated YotaPhone with touch control electronic paper screen debuts (full post)

2015 Ford Focus to get 1.0L EcoBoost in the US for the first time

Shane McGlaun | Electric Vehicles & Cars | Feb 24, 2014 12:34 PM CST

Ford has been using its tiny 1.0L EcoBoost engine for a long time under the hood of cars in Europe. That 1.0L engine is a 3-cylinder unit with twin turbochargers that sips fuel while producing the same power numbers as a larger 4-cylinder unit.

The Ford Focus has been able to be purchased with that 1.0L EcoBoost in Europe for a long time. Ford has announced that with the all-new 2015 Focus, buyers in the US will also be able to choose the 1.0L EcoBoost power. Ford promises that the engine will raise the bar in fuel efficiency for the Focus.

The 2015 model is all new and uses the Ford familiar resemblance that all recent Ford cards use. Namely, the front end will have similarly shaped headlights and grille. Think of the Fiesta, but a bit larger.

Continue reading: 2015 Ford Focus to get 1.0L EcoBoost in the US for the first time (full post)

Netflix to pay off Verizon too, to prevent content being held hostage

Charles Gantt | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Feb 24, 2014 12:10 PM CST

Over the weekend, Comcast and Netflix entered into an agreement that will see Netflix getting priority bandwidth allocation when streamed across Comcast's network. While many of us see this as a violation of the now defunct net neutrality laws, Verizon seems to disagree. Today Verizon's CEO announced that Netflix has also agreed to pay his company for the same type of prioritization over its network.

Verizon's CEO, Lowell McAdams, said that the two companies have been in talks for more than a year, and he fully expects that the two companies will come to terms quite soon. "If you see someone come in with a lot of load on the internet, with video, you've got to get that in an efficient place. So making the connection far out on the network is a good thing, and frankly, paying for it," said McAdams. "To me this shows you don't necessarily need a lot of regulation in a dynamic market here. By doing these commercial deals we'll get good investments and good returns for both parties."

Unfortunately, what this actually means for consumers is that Netflix will have to find a way to make up for the lost revenue that it is having to spend paying off the ISP's to ensure its content gets delivered in as high quality as possible. This means that Netflix will eventually have to raise subscription prices, or cut back on the number of movie and TV show licenses it purchases. This opens the door for the ISPs to do this sort of thing with other services such as Hulu, HBO GO, Amazon Prime, and Google Play.

Continue reading: Netflix to pay off Verizon too, to prevent content being held hostage (full post)

Ericsson and Philips unveil LED streetlights with broadband connectiv

Shane McGlaun | Connectivity & Cloud | Feb 24, 2014 11:47 AM CST

Ericsson and Philips have announced that they are teaming up on a new project that brings green LED lighting to streetlights and helps mobile providers to expand mobile broadband within a city. Ericsson calls the system Zero Site and the idea is to help cities reduce clutter while offering expanded access to broadband around the city.

Philips is providing the green LED streetlights for the plan and the poles used have space inside to support Ericsson cellular networking hardware. Philips says that the city can help offset the costs of installing green LED streetlights by selling or renting the space for networking gear to a wireless provider.

The streetlights will help the city reduce electricity usage significantly with a large rollout. Philips says that the lights can provide a power savings of 50 to 70%. Power savings of up to 80% is possible with smart controls according to Philips.

Continue reading: Ericsson and Philips unveil LED streetlights with broadband connectiv (full post)

Fujitsu haptic sensory tablet lets you feel images on the screen

Shane McGlaun | Mobile Devices | Feb 24, 2014 11:16 AM CST

Fujitsu is showing off a cool prototype tablet at MWC 2014 that has haptic feedback tech inside. The tablet is able to allow the user to feel smooth and rough surfaces on the screen with their finger. That means if a picture has smooth and rough parts, you can actually feel them. Fujitsu is showing off a demo of this tech with an image of an alligator that lets you feel the bumps on its hide.

Another of the demos Fujitsu has is of a harp that lets the user feel the strings as they pluck them. The way the tablet is able to create the haptic feedback is by using ultrasonic vibrations. The vibrations produce a high-pressure layer of air above the screen that acts as a cushion for the finger.

When that cushion of air is there, the screen feels very smooth. By alternating the air cushion quickly, Fujitsu is able to produce the feel of a rough surface. The technology has been miniaturized to the point where it can fit inside a tablet and run off the amount of power available to mobile devices.

Continue reading: Fujitsu haptic sensory tablet lets you feel images on the screen (full post)

Dell launches the PowerEdge R920 server and takes benchmark record

Kalen Kimm | IT/Datacenter & Super Computing | Feb 24, 2014 11:08 AM CST

Dell recently announced availability of the PowerEdge R920 server that utilizes Intel's new XEON processor E7-4800 v2 and it is already making a name for itself. Dell claims it is their highest performing server and that it is built for the most intense enterprise workloads - ERP, large databases, HPC, etc.

Backing those claims up, Dell just released some pretty impressive benchmarks, taking the lead in a few categories seen here. Posted on Dell's tech forum is this snapshot demonstrating nearly double the performance of previous generation Power Edge servers in a SAP benchmark test:

And from Intel's benchmark tracking site, they now hold several world records in the 4 socket category:

Continue reading: Dell launches the PowerEdge R920 server and takes benchmark record (full post)

BMW to make carbon fiber wheels using waste from i3 and i8

Shane McGlaun | Electric Vehicles & Cars | Feb 24, 2014 10:33 AM CST

BMW is hard at work producing wheels that may eventually replace alloy wheels in performance and fuel-efficient automobiles. The more weight you can remove from a car, the better its performance will be and the better the fuel economy will be. Weight reduction is particularly important in the EV and hybrid realm where less weight means longer driving distance.

BMW working on building a new generation of carbon fiber wheels for its cars. Typically working in carbon fiber is very expensive. BMW is getting around much of the expense by using production cast off material from the i3 and i8 projects, which use carbon fiber in their builds.

Carbon fiber is a good material for making wheels. Carbon fiber wheels are about 30% lighter than aluminum and 50% lighter than steel. BMW is actively looking for more places to use the patents it has in carbon fiber processes. It is also looking at making a full carbon fiber steering wheel, a carbon fiber drive shaft for the X5, and a carbon fiber and plastic compound that is strong and light.

Continue reading: BMW to make carbon fiber wheels using waste from i3 and i8 (full post)

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