Apple Keyboard Hack Proved Possible
Slashdot reports that Apple keyboards are vulnerable to hackers’ attacks due to the complexity of their inner workings, which include RAM and flash memory. According to the report, the hack can potentially place keyloggers and malware directly into the device’s firmware.
To make matters even worse, the author of this “proof of concept†has also published the presentation and code in a PDF that’s free to download for anyone on the planet. The vuln is undoubtedly enticing to hackers, some of which are likely to create one or more exploits for the flaw in question. To better understand how this discovery has turned into a potential security issue, we offer you a few excerpts from the published document.
For ethical reasons, the ï¬rmware modiï¬cation we describe is benign. The ï¬rmware is modiï¬ed so that the LED under the CAP S LOC K key of the keyboard will flash momentarily when the keyboard is ï¬rst plugged into a system. However, malicious payloads can be developed by individuals with mal-intent. Read more
Google To Challenge Windows and Mac
Rumours that Google are working on a desktop operating system, to rival Windows and the Mac OS have been floating around the web for a while and they’ve generally been dismissed but now it’s official. Google Chrome OS is due to hit the streets some time in the second half of 2010. Whether or not the good folk at Microsoft and Apple will be quaking in their boots remains to be seen but on past experience Google certainly has the clout to make it happen and the Android OS for smart phones is already starting to have an impact.
Chrome OS is designed to run on standard x86 PC hardware, as well as ARM chips and the ever popular Intel Atom used in the majority of netbooks. It’s going to be based on a Linux kernel and according to Sundar Picha, the Google Engineering director who broke the news on his blog, key user-inspired features will include near-instant startup and email download Read more
iPhone OS 3.0 Officially Released
After a painfully long wait, Apple has finally released the much-hyped iPhone 3.0 Software Update, delivering improved functionality and tons of new features to iPhone and iPod touch users worldwide. Two days from now, the iPhone 3G S will also be available to the public. The device will “unlock†the complete set of new features available with iPhone OS 3.0.
“The new iPhone OS 3.0 is a major software release packed with incredible new features and innovations for iPhone customers and developers alike. It will keep us years ahead of the competition,†said Philip Schiller (Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing) back in March, when the company previewed the first developer beta of iPhone OS 3.0. Read more
iPhone 3G S Features
Apple has officially announced the launch of its fastest and most powerful iPhone called iPhone 3G S.
It is almost same in the shape but it has some new features added including the the camera of the new iphone is upgraded to 3 megapixel with auto focus, Tap to focus, Video recording, VGA up to 30 fps with audio and lot more other features listed below
New Features Added with To iPhone 3G S
- 3MP camera with autofocus, auto exposure, automatic white balance, low light sensitivity, macro mode, photo and video geotagging
- 3.5-inch Multi-Touch display with 480 x 320 pixels resolution at 163 ppi Read more
Zune HD Goes Against iPod Touch
Microsoft is planning to release an alternative to Apple’s iPod Touch devices in the fall of 2009 under the Zune brand umbrella. At least for 2009, the Redmond company will continue to sell the now traditional versions of its digital music player along with the new device, but it indicated that moving forward the evolution of Zune would be synonymous with Zune HD. The Zune HD portable media player would be made available exclusively in the US this fall, Microsoft revealed.
“The Zune music player is an integral part of the overall Zune experience, and we’re proud to be growing and extending our offering beyond the device,†revealed Enrique Rodriguez, corporate vice president of the Microsoft TV, Video and Music Business Group. “Delivering on Microsoft’s connected entertainment vision, this news marks a turning point for Zune as it brings cross-platform experiences and premium video content to living rooms around the world.†Read more
Altair Leaps on iPhone, iPod touch
Published by Gameloft under license from Ubisoft Entertainment, Assassin’s Creed: Altair’s Chronicles is now available for iPhone and iPod touch users running Software Update 2.2.1. The publishers tout the title as being recommended for fans of action, adventure, and historical games.
Connoisseurs (console players) needn’t any updates as far as the game’s plot goes, but iPhone and iPod touch owners might be interested in knowing that Assassin’s Creed: Altair’s Chronicles takes place in Jerusalem, 1191 AD – the time when the Third Crusade between the Crusaders and Saracens was tearing the Holy Land apart. Read more
How to Rebuild the iPhoto Library
Apple has posted / updated a Support document online outlining the particularities of rebuilding your iPhoto library. Last modified this weekend, the knowledge base article contains (rebuilding) instructions for users of iPhoto 6 or later.
According to Apple, “iPhoto includes a feature that allows you to rebuild the currently selected iPhoto library. Sometimes rebuilding the library may resolve issues such as the library appearing to be unreadable, missing photos, or other issues related to reading the iPhoto library structure,†the company explains. Read more
Using camera-readable barcodes
Microsoft has released both a new highly reliable & resilient computer-readable graphical code called “Tags†that are designed for rapid recognition and interpretation to enable people to post graphical objects on web sites, business cards, corporate literature, etc. and enable the average cell phone to:
1. READ/INTERPRET A TAG
It will enable the camera on the cell phone to capture the graphic through a viewfinder that is shown on the phone’s screen and interpret it into an Internet URL.
2. VISIT/SAVE/EMAIL THE URL
Once interpreted, the URL is then fed into the phone’s Internet browser for immediate resolution. The URL can also be automatically emailed or stored for future reference. Read more
Fruity PC Comeback
apricot
Those of you who have been around computers for a few years may well remember the Fruit Wars of the early 1980s, indeed one of the very first home computers I wrote about was the Tangerine, back in the late 1970’s. In fact it was little more than a very large printed circuit board, smothered in logic chips, and you had to add your own keyboard and light bulbs, but it was a start… Anyway, soon afterwards we had more useable machines from the likes of Apple, and Apricot, not to mention quite a few lemons, though to be fair I don’t remember anyone actually using that name. But the rest, as they say is history, with only one fruity PC maker managing to survive.
Anyway, this preamble is by way of reintroducing the Apricot brand, last owned by Mitsubishi though by the late 1990s it had all but disappeared. Read more
Beware of Russian iPhony
Visitors to Russia should be on the alert for cheap iPhones, according to an item on Englishrussia.com. The scam is simple; someone comes up to you in the street, apparently in distress because they don’t have enough money for a train or plane ticket. You look like a helpful sort of person and they offer to sell you their iPhone for a bargain price, so they can get home. It looks just like the real deal, and the seller offers to show you it is working, he (or she) switches it on and the Apple logo appears on the screen, but it quickly disappears; the battery is dead they explain, but it will be okay when you charge it up. Having parted with your money you hook said iPhone up to a charger, only to find that it’s a clever fake. What you have bought is a very convincing iPhone case, with a simple backlit screen with the Apple logo illuminated a small battery powered light bulb. Oh yes, and you get a small chunk of metal, to give it the right weight.
