'X' Phone, Motorola and Google teaming up to take on S IV and Xperia Z

The Samsung Galaxy S IV and Sony Xperia Z have been launched, the Z has already been shipped by the manufacturers so can Motorola be expected to stay far behind.  The 'X' Phone to be manufactured by Motorola under assistance from Google which was rumoured to be out in July 2013 has been shelved and now Motorola and Google will be launching the 'X' Phone in November, 2013 according to the top mobile site Phonearena. 

Phonearena today reported that a tipster has tipped them of the 'X' Phone being launched in November, 2013.  Taking the front glass technology to a new high, the 'X' phone will feature a 4.8 inch sapphire glass.  This glass is supposed to 3 times harder than the Gorilla glass now available on high end smart phone.

Further it has been reported that the ends or the corners will have rubber bumpers to make them more sturdier and drop proof.  The rear panel will be made out of carbon fibre.  The 'X' phone will be powered by a quad core 2 GHz Snapdragon 800 processor.  

Motorola which has always been known for producing sturdy and durable phones will give this one a 4000 mAh battery.  That could be one of the highest rated batteries in current scenario.

The display is rumoured to be a end to end full HD display with sapphire glass and long lasting battery, which will suffice your movie watching or game playing needs.  Google and Motorola also plan to sport a Sony Exmore RS sensor which is currently powering Xperia Z.  The best news of all, especially for American buyers and users is that 'X' Phone will be sold unlocked.  Which means you can pick the phone up in the store and choose the carrier of your choice.  This may add costs to the phone but they may give US citizens liberty of choosing their own carrier.   This may act as a game changer in US markets which is dominated by sale of carrier locked phones. The recent DCMA ruling about unlocked phones being illegal may have influenced the thinking of the Google and Motorola guys.  

The rumours further add that the back panel of the phone may also be used to navigate the phone.  The Motorola logo which is behind may act as a button like in the Motorola backflip phone.  However as said above this may just be rumours but there is a 80 % chance that the above phone will see the light of the day by end 2013.  

Motorola wont take the competition lying down as Sony and Samsung surge ahead in smart phone sales.  Please post your comments on the article.

Vijay Prabhu

Wi-Fi hotspots on Maps for your Android Devices try OpenSignal

One of the greatest worries for Android users is finding a suitable, powerful wi-fi hotspot with good signal strength.  There are many options available on Google Play but this one needs a mention.  The OpenSignal by Open Signal Inc is a Free App for Android devices which helps you find the best signal available with a map and further you actually help the cause of other users by pinpointing a good signal and serving it to the community.

As you can see fro the about screenshot, it is just perfect if you are always mobile.  The other features of OpenSignal are as follows :

1. Signal compass points you in the direction your signal is coming from, just walk towards it! 

2.  Wi-Fi map allows you to easily locate nearby public networks. 

3. Coverage maps allow you see the best places for signal. 

4.  Speedtest feature allows you to see the true speed of your connection.

5. NetworkRank allows you to see which carrier is best in your area. 

6. Keep track of your monthly data, text and voice usage so you don’t go over your limit. 

7. See a map of local cell towers. 

8. Help improve our coverage and Wi-Fi maps. 

9. Share your findings on twitter and Facebook and compare your connection with other users. 

10. View your history of signal readings.

11. Save your data to an SV card. 

Check out the video below and see if you like it.  If you like it download it from Google Play now.  Please post your comments regarding this App.

Vijay Prabhu

Google has killed its Reader; try out Feedly the RSS reader

Image courtesy sbx.speakerboxpr.com

First of all R.I.P. Google Reader.  Goolge has killed Reader and it will go offline from 1.7.2013.  There are many diehard Reader addicts who started their day with the feeds brought to them by the Reader.  All is not lost for them.  As the saying goes one's loss is others gain.  Feedly is another reader which has a similar API to Reader and can be a good substitute for Reader.

The downfall of Google Reader has meant that you, the readers are left in dark without any suitable options for feed aggregator.  But help is underway from Feedly.  Feedly has already announced that it will clone the Google Reader API under its project Normandy.  It has also upgraded its bandwidth and added additional servers to take care of the rush of readers who have left Reader or are in the process of leaving it.  The only visible difference in the Feedly is that instead of the 'star' in Google Reader you have to press or tap 'save' in Feedly.  Plus you can share your feeds on Twitter, Facebook and email them as well.  If you are a Google Reader fanatic, you will be surprised by Feedly.  The interface is quite the opposite of Google Reader.  Where the Google Reader was simple and stark with just list of feeds and text, Feedly gives a much more responsive visual.  It updates your RSS feeds on the go and as of now has a sync button with Google Reader.  The UI has bright and vibrant colours, feeds in sans serif, images and layout like a magazine.  If you want to change the theme, the font or the colour, Feedly lets you do it.

Staring with Feedly is very easy.  You just have to log in using your Google account.  If you are a existing Google Reader subscriber, all you Feeds, folders, subscriptions 'starred' posts will automatically be imported.  If you are not a Reader user, you will have to subscribe to the post using  Explore panel on the right side.  You can either enter the website directly into the search window or browse through the vast collection of sites based on categories.  Once you have found out what you want to subscribe to you just have to hit the  "+" button and enter the category for it.

All said and done, Feedly is a good and suitable heir to the Google Reader throne.  It is available for your desktops, Android devices and iOS devices.  

Get your desktop version for Chrome here.  Android users get your version from Google Play here and iOS users get your Apple Store version here.

Please add my site feed to your Feedly so you can receive updates on the go.  My feed address is http://feeds.feedburner.com/ALittleSomethingAboutAlmostEverything/

Vijay Prabhu

Sunday Punch : The making of a Friendship Band

The making of a Friendship Band captured realtime by Vijay Deepak Chhibber.  Every year we tie a band on our friends wrist, but do we know who makes this band possible?  A look into the making of the band.  Click http://indianfilmbar.blogspot.in/2013/03/sundaypunch24032013.html to watch the video

Vijay Prabhu

The ultimate attack : deciphering the South Korean cyber attack on 20.3.2013

All of you must have read the cyber attack on the South Korean computer network on Wednesday, 20th.  Those who don't know or have not read about the attack, here is a brief summary of the attack.  Three major banks and another three television stations in South Korea were made to go offline simultaneously at 2 pm Seoul Standard Time.  The South Korean Government later confirmed that malware was used to bring the networks down.  The sheer ferocity of the attack brings out many questions.  Is a malware inspite of its viciousness capable of bringing such huge networks down.  Lets understand its working so as to know how it took down the networks

Three major banks and TV stations had to shut down their systems in view of a cyber attack.  While some of the banks reopened there websites within matter of hours, one of the largest tv networks of South Korea, KBS is still down with following message :

KBS World Radio

We extend our sincere apology for the inconvenience caused by the sudden stoppage of the KBS website service. We are currently making our best efforts to normalize the service as soon as possible. We ask you for your patience and understanding. We will do our utmost to provide a more stable service in the near future. Thank you very much.

The sheer ferocity of the attack has bewildered many, hackers and security analysts alike.  Earlier the South Korean Government blamed North Korea of perpetrating the attack but later it was deemed as a malware attack.  Now the news has filtered in that the malware that has been identified is not capable for causing such a huge attack without a very active co-ordination between hackers and with several malwares instead of one.  The latest update from South Korean Government points out that the attack has been pinpointed to a Chinese IP address but efforts are still on to identify the attackers.

The primary malware has been identified as the “wiper”, a strain of Windows trojan which first surfaced a year ago.  This malware or a similar version of it called Shamoon attacked the energy companies of Middle East last year.  However Director of Operations for Symantec Security Response Liam O'Murchu said that the malware, which his company identifies as Trojan.Jokra, has nothing remarkable about it. "Nothing stands out about it," he said.  The execution part or "dropper" portion of the attack, effectively how wiper was used to install in the networks is still being investigated.  Nobody seems to know how or what carried the wiper aboard it.

The malware first kills the execution files of antivirus and security software then starts overwriting the Master Boot Record of the computer.  It replicates the same procedure on any other drives and mapped drives that are available.  When this is done it attempts to overwrite the MBR of unmapped drives forcing the a shutdown of the computer.  This is done through execution of the shut down command line.  Once the machine is re-booted it is unusable till the time it is formatted or restored back to its original pre malware time.

What surprising is that this malware used sophisticated time execution system.  That is ising a clock call API to check the time and execute the code at the wanted time in this case  2pm on March 20 to trigger.  This looks like a controlled detonation of code.

How did it infect the Linux and Unix machines.  The wiper installed a trojan called Trojan.Jokra on these machines and used a script called mRemote.  Once the mRemote is hacked it finds the SSH connections of Linux machines and executed the batch commands for drive wipe on on Linux, Solaris, AIS, or HP-UX. On Linux, the commands delete the /kernel, /usr, /etc, and /home directories.

The malware is not as complex as other malwares available in the wild yet it was able to take down many of the networks in South Korea.  This is more frightening especially that South Korea is in a war like situation with is neighbour.  

Please write in your comments on the article.

Vijay Prabhu

Pandora now ad free and with unlimited streaming through 2013 on Windows Phone 8

Windows Phone users may know Pandora, it is one of the best services for music lovers across the world.  Due to low penetration of Windows Phone, you may expect the big boy Microsoft to churn out some goodies for users all through 2013 and a Advertising free Pandora is one of them.  The Microsoft on 21st updated the new and handsome Pandora with unlimited streaming access all through 2013.

Pandora allows you to stream audio from your favourite radio station be it music or comedy.  Pandora is a one stop station for all. Now that it is ad free and gives you unlimited access, if you have a Windows Phone 8, this is a must have App.  Even for non music fans this may just be a good way to pass your time.  The updated Pandora has the following :

• Enjoy ad-free streaming music for free through 2013, with no monthly streaming limit
• Pin your favorite stations to the Start screen for one-touch access 
• See  what song is currently playing on your Live Tile 
• Launch Pandora in Kid’s Corner and explicit content is instantly filtered
• Access a recent stations page and easily see your current favorites
• Log in using your existing account or create a new one
• Create up to 100 stations 
• Manage stations: create, delete, and add variety to your stations
• Customize your shuffle settings
• Fine tune your stations by thumbing tracks up or down
• Go to the Store to buy songs and albums
• Filter explicit content
• Turn on higher-quality playback
Download the Pandora from Windows Phone store now.  Please post your comments on the App.

Vijay Prabhu

Tired of playing Angry Birds and Temple Run on your Android, try this one for size

If you remember in good old days we used play Pac Man on our TV.  Now a days arcade games are all but forgotten but Namco has brought to you Pac Man + Tournament.  The Tournament has been added in the latest update.  The game has got a virtual joystick at the bottom of the screen.  So if you are tired with playing the Angry birds Friends, the Angry Birds Seasons  and and Temple Run, give it a try. 

Get the game here from Google Play.

Vijay Prabhu