Facebook’s new easier-to-manage ‘Privacy Shortcuts’ rolling out globally

Managing Facebook (FB) privacy settings can be a daunting nightmare. Facebook’s new “Privacy Shortcuts” is designed to make sharing items as transparent as possible with always-visible privacy button on the top toolbar. The update also brings “an easier-to-use Activity Log, and a new Request and Removal tool for managing multiple photos you’re tagged in.” The new Facebook privacy controls are rolling out globally starting on Friday and will arrive for all users by the end of the year. For the full details on all of the new changes, be sure to visit Facebook’s Newsroom here.

-By Raymond Wong | BGR News

Want to contact a stranger on Facebook? Pay $1

NEW DELHI: Several months after Facebook started testing promoted status messages, the social networking website on Friday said it will start "a small experiment" around paid messages.

In a statement posted on Facebook, the website said that it is making several changes to efficiently deliver messages that Facebook users get. As part of the new measures, it is rolling out an experimental feature that will allow a Facebook user to send a priority message to other user even if he is not a 'friend' at a nominal charge of $1. The current rate for the message is not final and Facebook may change it in future.

The service will be initially available only in the US and number of messages that can be send to a user will be capped at one per week.

"We've heard that messages people care about may not always be delivered or may go unseen in the Other folder," the website noted in the statement.

It then explained that currently there are two kind of mail boxes Facebook users have. The Inbox is where they get messages from their friends while the Other is where the messages from strangers go.

"Facebook Messages is designed to get the most relevant messages into your Inbox and put less relevant messages into your Other folder. We rely on signals about the message to achieve this goal," the website noted in its statement. "Today we're starting a small experiment to test the usefulness of economic signals to determine relevance. This test will give a small number of people the option to pay to have a message routed to the Inbox rather than the Other folder of a recipient that they are not connected with."

The feature can also be used by the Android users of Facebook Messenger. To use Facebook Messenger on Android, users don't have to be a member of the social networking website.

Earlier Facebook had started an experimental feature that allowed people to promote their status message so that it reaches all their friends. Currently the feature is available to select users in several countries and costs $7 per status message.

-Javed Anwer, TNN

Wireless phone charging in cars planned by Toyota

Charging your smartphone while driving could soon be a simple process needing no cables or adaptors, but using a special wireless mat.

Toyota plans to introduce the system for mobile devices in 2013 in its new Avalon sedan, using a charging standard known as Qi (pronounced "chee").

Chrysler wants to offer a similar option in its Dodge Dart model.

One analyst told the BBC the feature was likely to become mainstream in the months to come.

The wireless charging option will be a part of Toyota's $1,950 (£1,200) "technology package", said to be available from next spring.

To charge a device, a driver will simply have to place it on the mat, though the handset has to have a Qi protocol integrated in it.

Currently, Qi wireless charging is supported by 34 mobile phone models, including the LG Google Nexus 4, Nokia Lumia 920 and HTC Windows Phone 8X.

There are also add-on systems for other smartphones.

"Pioneering the ability to charge with no wires or connectors by simply putting devices in the car console is an intuitive innovation which reflects Toyota's continuing commitment to improve the consumer experience," said Randy Stephens, chief engineer of Toyota Avalon, in a statement.

Magnetic induction

Qi works via magnetic induction that involves transmitting energy over a magnetic field.

Inductive charging plates have been around for several years, and have been integrated in some mobile phones, such as the Palm Pre.

But in 2008, the Wireless Power Consortium, which has more than 100 members, including Samsung, Nokia, HTC, Motorola Mobility and Sony, signed an agreement for an open standard for wireless power, called Qi.

This means that any Qi-enabled handset is compatible with any Qi charger, regardless of the brand.

General Motors announced in 2011 plans to introduce a pad using magnetic induction in its Chevrolet Volt, but so far it has not happened.

An Israeli firm, Powermat Technologies, is currently placing charging pads for mobile phones in numerous public venues around the US, including Starbucks.

There are companies investigating wireless charging via induction for electric cars, which works by having a charging pad on the floor of your garage.

The technology is finally becoming mainstream, according to Shaun Collins, an analyst at consultancy firm CCS Insight.

"Wireless charging is emerging after some years in the wilderness, and is now being adopted [more and more]," he told the BBC.

"The technology is starting to take on much more prominence with the devices [such as the latest] Nokia Windows 8 phone that has wireless charging in it.

"There's a slight dilemma for mobile devices though, as we're constantly striving to get thinner devices but by adding an infrastructure inside a device can compromise the thinness."

-BBC News

7 tips to create secure passwords

It is absurdly easy to get hacked. Chances are most people will get hacked at some point in their lifetime. The best they can do is delay the inevitable by avoiding suspicious links, even from friends, and manage their passwords. How do you come up with different, hard-to-crack passwords for every website and still remember them all? Here were some tips from Jeremiah Grossman, chief technology officer at WhiteHat Security, and Paul Kocher, who runs Cryptography Research.

Forget the dictionary

If your password can be found in a dictionary, you might as well not have one. Hackers will often test passwords from a dictionary or aggregated from breaches. If your password is not in that set, hackers will typically move on.

One site one password

While cracking into someone's professional profile on LinkedIn might not have dire consequences, hackers will use that password to crack into, say, e-mail , bank or brokerage account where more valuable data is stored.

Come up with passphrase

The longer your password, the longer it will take to crack. A password should ideally be 14 characters or more in length if you want to make it uncrackable by an attacker in less than 24 hours. Consider a passphrase, such as a favorite movie quote, song lyric, or poem, and string together only the first one or two letters of each word in the sentence.

Just jam on keyboard

For sensitive accounts, Grossman says he will randomly jam on his keyboard, intermittently hitting the Shift and Alt keys, and copy the result into a text file which he stores on an encrypted, password-protected USB drive. "That way, if someone puts a gun to my head and demands to know my password, I can honestly say I don't know it."

Store passwords securely

Do not store your passwords in your in-box or on your desktop. If malware infects your computer , you're toast. Grossman stores his password file on an encrypted USB drive for which he has a long, complex password that he has memorized. He keeps password hints, not the actual passwords, on a scrap of paper in his wallet.

Ignore security questions

There is a limited set of answers to questions like "What is your favorite colour?" Hackers use that information to reset your password and take control of your account. So, enter a password hint that has nothing to do with the question itself.

Use different browsers

Grossman says, "Pick one browser for 'promiscuous' browsing: online forums, news sites, blogs — anything you don't consider important. When you're online banking or checking e-mail , fire up a secondary web browser, then shut it down." That way, if your browser catches an infection when you accidentally stumble on an x-rated site, your bank account is not necessarily compromised.

-Nicole Perlroth, New York Times

Forsaking Facebook - one slap at a time

LONDON: An Indian-origin computer programmer in the US claims to have increased his productivity after he hired a woman to slap him in the face every time she catches him looking at Facebook.

Maneesh Sethi placed an advertisement on the classified website Craigslist to recruit someone willing to monitor what he was looking at on his laptop, Daily Mail reported.

The computer expert and writer, from San Francisco, now pays a female employee five pounds ($8) an hour for striking him in the face whenever she spots him wasting time on social media.

Sethi claims the unusual motivational system has helped him boost his productivity from just 35 percent to around 98 percent in a working day.

Writing on his blog, Sethi said he felt embarrassed after calculating he wasted around 19 hours every week looking at Facebook or other social media websites.

-IANS

New, an app that can hack your smartphone camera and spy on you

London: US military experts have demonstrated a new smartphone app that can turn your mobile's camera into a spying tool for cyber criminals, secretly beaming images of your house, chequebook and other private information back to them.

The software can even build up a 3D model of your house, from which the hackers can inspect your rooms, potentially gleaning information about valuables in your home, calendar entries as well as spying on you.

The app 'PlaiceRaider' was created by US military experts at Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Indiana, to show how cybercriminals could operate in the future, the Daily Mail reported.

The creators even demonstrated how they could read the numbers of a cheque book when they tested the Android software on 20 volunteers.

As long as the app could be installed on the users phone, it can instantly begin beaming back images from the phone when it senses the right conditions, and software on the other end can then re-construct maps of the visited room.

The team gave their infected phone to 20 individuals, who did not know about the malicious app, and asked them to continue operating in their normal office environment.

The team said they could glean vital information from all 20 users, and that the 3D reconstruction made it much easier to steal information than by just using the images alone.

Researcher Robert Templeman said their app can run in the background of any smartphone using the Android 2.3 operating system.

Through completely opportunistic use of the phone's camera and other sensors, PlaceRaider constructs rich, three dimensional models of indoor environments.

"Remote burglars can thus "download" the physical space, study the environment carefully, and steal virtual objects from the environment (such as financial documents, information on computer monitors, and personally identifiable information)," researchers said.

PlaiceRaider will silently take photographs, recording the time, location and orientation due to the sensors within most modern smartphones.

It will then delete any blurred or dark shots, before sending the rest back to a central server, which can reconstruct the user's room, based on information such as phone orientation.

Then the hacker can explore the user's property at will - for instance, scanning the room for calendars, private details on computer screens, and cheque-books or card details.

"We implemented on Android for practical reasons, but we expect such malware to generalise to other platforms such as iOS and Windows Phone," Templeman said.

-PTI

Twitter guide: Express yourself in 140 characters

Users of Twitter, the ultimate medium in succinct social interaction, have been coming up with some creative ways to express themselves in 140 characters or less. Below is a guide to some of the many terms and symbols you might encounter on the microblogging site.

Using the @ symbol

So you have set up your Twitter account, chosen a username and Twitter handle -- the name that is preceded with a "@" symbol (@twitter, for example) -- and you can get ready to send your first tweets. While tweets without the "@" symbol join the stream of millions of tweets being sent around the world, those with the symbol can be directed to specific people or lists of people. For example, to express one's love of Lady Gaga to the artist herself, one could type "@ladygaga I love your music" -- though the "@username" can be inserted anywhere within the tweet. To direct a message to more than one person simply use more than one "@" symbol -- "@ladygaga, @justinbieber I love your music" for example.

To check the celebrity you are tweeting is really who they claim to be look for the "tick" symbol next to the account name which indicates Twitter has verified the account; note regular Twitter users do not have this symbol next to their account.

Joining in with #

Want to join in with a conversation on Twitter? Then the hashtag (#) is your friend. The # ties tweets together around a common topic, allowing users to follow all the tweets about a certain topic. For example, if #LadyGaga were trending and one wished to join in with this trend, one would use the hashtag followed by the message -- for example "#LadyGaga nominated for an EMA." Twitter has a constantly changing list of the top ten trending topics along the left hand side of the site, many of which uses the # symbol and typically reflect current news topics or trends.

Basic abbreviations

DM vs. RT

DM and RT are probably the two most commonly used Twitter abbreviations, DM stands for direct message and RT for retweet. Sending a direct message makes the conversation private between two Twitter users and text shared in this way is not visible in the Twitter stream. In order to send a DM both users must be following each other. A retweet is a way a sharing tweets that you find interesting. Users can retweet other users regardless of whether or not they follow each other.

More advanced abbreviations

TBH

Those familiar with text message or IM speak are probably aware that "TBH" stands for To Be Honest and is typically used to express an opinion; the acronym is also popular among Twitter users.

OH

OH stands for "overheard" and is typically used by Twitter users to refer to an anonymous source; for example: "OH @ladygaga drops song with @justinbieber #exciting" (she hasn't).

+1

This spillover from Google+ is used on Twitter as one would use a "like" on Facebook, in that it indicates approval for a tweet or piece of news.

|

| is typically used to separate out statements in Tweets or to separate the retweeters' comments from the tweet they are retweeting; for example "Can't believe this | link to article."

A comprehensive guide to Twitter acronyms was published by thenextweb.com

-HT

Google Play now allows Indian developers to charge for apps

New Delhi: Smartphone apps are serious business, though developers of Android apps were left in limbo. In India, developers were only allowed to publish free apps, and this had limited the potential for innovative apps because of lack of incentive.

Recently, India has made it in to Google's official list of countries where developers can register as certified Google Checkout merchants, thus allowing Indian developers to put out paid apps.

"The move was overdue for some time now," said Ashish Sinha, founder of Pluggd.in, a website focused on local start-ups. "This will pave the way for creating business models around innovative Apps. Android is big in the Indian smart devices space, and this will help fuel development of the localised Apps, too."

P R Rajendran, Director of Next Wave Multimedia, a Chennai based company that has published more than ten apps on both Apple iTunes as well as Google Play, said, "We have lived with this condition for some time now where we literally run two companies, and are subject to dual taxation". He added, "This is a welcome move on the part of Google."

So far, Indian developers needed to go to a country where Google Checkout merchants are allowed, such as the US, and register a local bank account in the name of a US resident, in order to sell apps on the Google Play Store.

Google has been on a roll in India, with its recent launch of services that were previously unavailable in the country. Earlier this month, Google launched its voice guided turn-by-turn Navigation service in India. Google Maps Navigation makes good use of the long-standing features of Google Maps for mobile. The features include powerful Google search and voice search capabilities, which allow users to find local destinations by typing or speaking an address or business name.

Voice search on Google Maps Navigation is only available in English yet. Google’s search tools go a distance in assisting the user. For instance, ambiguous queries and words that are misspelled are corrected and clarified without requiring the user to enter an exact address, and the optimal route from origin to destination is quickly calculated.

Importantly here, although Google Maps app itself is a free download from Google Play and the access to navigation isn’t charged for either, the Google Maps app does require an Internet connection and users are responsible for any mobile data charges they incur while using the app.

Speaking at the launch of these services, Darren Baker, Product Manager for Google Maps, said, "Our goal in developing Google Maps is to provide users with the most comprehensive and accurate online maps in every country, and to share the features and benefits of Google Maps as widely as we can."

-IBN Live

Now, get insured against Facebook hacking

A UK-based information privacy company has launched Britain’s first social media insurance, which would protect web users against reputational damage, account hacking and ID theft, in case their social site accounts are hacked. Hacking of users accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media sites are quite common, where another user logs in and posts derogatory or offensive messages, and can cause huge damage to an individual or business’s image.

Justin Basini, CEO of the company providing the service, ALLOW, said that insurance “perhaps wouldn’t have been needed a few years ago.”

“That’s all changed now. Every internet user faces a certain level of risk that one day a digital criminal will target them or that they will suffer damage to their reputation,” the Daily Mail quoted Basini, as saying.

The cover, at a cost of 3.99 pounds a month, will pay for legal advice and support if someone suffers an online attack and seeks some form of redress.

The insurance includes the cost of disabling accounts, suppressing offensive material and stopping any legal action triggered by hacking, for example if a hacker posts illegal material under a victim’s name, the paper said.

The insurance is available via the ALLOW Protect service, which also allows users to monitor how their personal data is used online, it added.

-HT

A Class to Teach You How to Use Google

Think you know how to use Google? Think again.

One of the search engine’s biggest strengths is its simplicity — type anything into the search box and you’re off. But people could get a lot more out of Google, the company says, if they learned a few expert techniques, like searching by color, time or image. So Google is offering a free online course to teach search skills.

“It’s like a car you never take out of first gear,” said Dan Russell, whose title at Google is the joyful-sounding über tech lead for search quality and user happiness. “Sure, you can drive around town just fine, but if I show you second or third gear, you can get a lot more done. You could be a Formula One racing car driver. There’s all kinds of stuff there, but man, once I show it to you, you’ve got power.”

Google first offered the class in July, when 155,000 people signed up and improved their search skills 40 percent on average, according to assessments before and after the course. Registration for the next course began Tuesday morning and the first class is Sept. 24. There are three classes a week for two weeks, each a 50-minute video plus quizzes. Students can watch the videos anytime, but if they watch them at class time, they can participate in forums with other students and teaching assistants. (People can also watch the videos without signing up for the course, but they will not get a certificate of completion — potentially the new sign of cache alongside college diplomas on office walls.)

When Mr. Russell is not teaching, he studies how people use Google. What he has discovered, which he says is true across computer applications, is that most people learn the minimum amount that they need to get the job done and then stop exploring. They rarely change default settings, for example, or try out advanced features.

But do people really need a course to teach them how to use Google? Not at the most basic level, Mr. Russell said, but Google often adds new features and people can get more out of the search engine if they know about them. For example, he said, many people don’t realize that they can drag an image into the search box to find out what it is, rearrange news results by date or convert 20,000 leagues to miles. (Gadgetwise has a few tips.)

“If you don’t have any idea what’s possible, you won’t think to frame your questions that way,” he said. “It’s for everyday people who really want to make their Google searching more effective, more efficient and more accurate.”

The people who signed up to learn how to use Google the first time were diverse in age and experience — not just people new to the Internet — and 65 percent were outside the United States.

As for Google, anything that increases usage is good for the bottom line, Mr. Russell said.

Mr. Russell has long taught classes about Google to teachers and librarians, but Google had the idea for a class for the public after witnessing the popularity of a Stanford online class on artificial intelligence taught by two Google scientists. If people were interested in learning about something as complicated as artificial intelligence, many more were surely interested in learning about something much simpler, how to search Google. Google also plans to make available its software for teaching these types of courses, which are called massive online open courseware, and to offer more online courses itself. Next up: an advanced search class.

-By Claire Cain Miller, @NyTimes

Using a Computer Before Bed Can Disrupt Sleep

By ANAHAD O'CONNOR

THE FACTS

In today’s gadget-obsessed world, sleep experts often say that for a better night’s rest, Americans should click the “off” buttons on their smartphones and tablets before tucking in for the night. Electronic devices stimulate brain activity, they say, disrupting your ability to drift off to sleep. But according to the National Sleep Foundation, more than 90 percent of Americans regularly use a computer or electronic device of some kind in the hour before bed.

Increasingly, researchers are finding that artificial light from some devices at night may tinker with brain chemicals that promote sleep. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute showed that exposure to light from computer tablets significantly lowered levels of the hormone melatonin, which regulates our internal clocks and plays a role in the sleep cycle.

In the study, published in the journal Applied Ergonomics, the researchers had volunteers read, play games and watch movies on an iPad, iPad 2 or PC tablet for various amounts of time while measuring the amount of light their eyes received. They found that two hours of exposure to a bright tablet screen at night reduced melatonin levels by about 22 percent.

Studies of college students using computers at night have suggested similar effects on melatonin. And researchers say melatonin suppression may not only cause sleep disturbances, but also raise the risk of obesity, diabetesand other disorders.

To be on the safe side, the authors of the latest study suggest limiting computer use before bed, or at the very least dimming your screen as much as possible.

-NyTimes & Flickr

Early laptop designer Bill Moggridge dies at 69

New York: Bill Moggridge, a British industrial designer who came up with an early portable computer with the flip-open shape that is common today, has died. He was 69.

The Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum said Moggridge, its director since 2010, died on Saturday from cancer.

Moggridge is credited with the design of the Grid Compass, a computer that had a keyboard and yellow-on-black display that sold for $8,150 when it was released in 1982. It was encased in magnesium and seen as rugged, and was used by the US military. The computer made its way into outer space aboard the space shuttle Discovery in 1985.

Although there were many portable computers being developed around that time, Grid Systems Corp. won the patent for the clamshell design with the foldable screen hinged toward the back of the machine, said Alex Bochannek, a curator at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.AP Photo/Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum

Moggridge pushed for this foldable design when it was realized the flat-panel screen, keyboard and circuitry could all fit snugly together.

"In terms of the industrial design of the enclosure, Moggridge was instrumental in proposing that," Bochannek said. "He came up with that particular form factor."

Until that point, portable computers resembled portable sewing machines that weighed more than 20 pounds (nine kilograms) and had a big handle, he said.

It was after using the machine that Moggridge's ideas about design began to change, Bochannek said. His work began to focus more on how people interacted with devices, rather than just making sure they were enclosed well.

Moggridge authored the books "Designing Interactions," which was published in 2006, and "Designing Media," published in 2010.

"Beloved by the museum staff and the design community at large, Bill touched the lives of so many through his wise council, boundary-pushing ideas and cheerful camaraderie," said Caroline Baumann, associate director of the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, in a statement.

He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Karin, and two sons Alex and Erik.

-IBN Live

11 things to do with your old Apple iPhone

New York: In case you haven't heard by now, Apple is unveiling its latest iPhone on Wednesday. That leaves the question: What should you do with your old one?

The new phones will join some 244 million iPhones sold since the first one launched in 2007. Some have been lost or stolen. Some of us are still hanging on to our old gadgets in some futile attempt to resist the constant upgrade cycle that technology companies are forcing on us.

But it's fair to say that millions of iPhones are languishing in desk drawers or gathering dust. Here are a few things to do with yours to keep it from meeting that fate once you buy the iPhone 5.

1. Give it to your kids so they stop taking yours...

Every parent, aunt and uncle knows that no toy in the history of toys has ever been as appealing to a kid as an iPhone. They are shiny, they have games and grown-ups use them for important things. More importantly, they are either off-limits or doled out in limited quantities as a reward for, say, sitting still for a minute. Load up your old iPhone with games and give it to a deserving child in your life.

2. ...or to your mom so she can finally see the light

Alternately, if a Luddite adult has been thinking of taking the plunge into the world of smartphones, your old iPhone may help him or her get over the hump. If you have an iPhone 4 or 4S, you might also find someone who's still hanging on to an earlier model and give them the gift of an upgrade. You may just buy a friend for life (or at least until iPhone 6 comes out).

3. Use it as a teeny-tiny iPad

You'll be able to watch videos, send email and search Wikipedia for random facts to end cocktail-party disagreements with your decommissioned iPhone - as long as you have a Wi-Fi connection. There's even a camera, which means you can avoid being that guy (or gal) at the concert who's turning heads for taking photos with an iPad.

4. Donate to charity

Several charities accept old phones for donation, though it's worth remembering that these groups likely won't physically give your old phones to people in need. Rather, they work with phone recyclers and sell your donated phones to them.

A nonprofit group called Cell Phones for Soldiers will take your "gently used" phone and sell it to recycling company ReCellular. It will then use the proceeds to buy calling cards for soldiers.

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence works with another recycling group in a similar manner. About 60 percent of the phones it collects are refurbished and resold. The money goes toward supporting the coalition. The remaining 40 percent of the phones are recycled, according to the group's website. It pays for shipping if you are mailing three or more phones.

There are a few more suggestions from New York's Department of Environmental Conservation at: http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8818.html .

5. Alarm Clock

Do you still use that old radio alarm you bought for your college dorm room in the 20th century? Join the 21st century by turning your old iPhone into an alarm clock. Hide it in a different spot in your bed each night for an added challenge.

6. Sell, sell, sell!

Join the eBay hordes and sell your phone for a few hundred bucks if you can. There will likely be a flood of the gadgets soon after people start getting their new phones, so it might make sense to wait a little.

A company called Gazelle, meanwhile, will make an offer for your old phone based on its condition, your phone carrier and other information. A 32 gigabyte iPhone 4S on Verizon Wireless, for example, was recently going for $237 if it's in good condition and $90 if it's broken.

Glyde.com also offers to help you resell your old phone. A recent check showed the above 4S getting roughly $325 to $350 after fees are deducted - provided there is a buyer. A "speed sale" that guarantees to sell it in seven days will get the seller slightly less money.

7. Trade in at GameStop

The video game retailer offers cash or store credit for old iPhones (along with iPods and iPads). The service is only available in stores and not online. A 32 gigabyte iPhone 4S on Verizon will get you up to $335 in store credit or up to $268 in cash.

8. Stream music

Stick that baby in a speaker dock, spring for a Pandora subscription ($36 per year) or Spotify ($10 per month) and bam, you have a stereo.

Or try SoundCloud. Although it's meant to let you create and share music with people, it's also a good place to listen to DJs you like or discover new ones. TuneIn, meanwhile, will let you listen to online radio stations playing music, sports, news or talk shows.

9. Keep as a backup in case you lose your fancy new one.

Nearly one-third of cellphone owners have had their gadgets lost or stolen, according to a recent survey from Pew Internet & Pew Internet & American Life Project.

10. Use as a camera

At its core, a decommissioned iPhone is a hard drive with a camera. Snap photos with it. No Canon needed. You can also use the iPhone to move photos and other files from one computer to another.

11. Recycle with Apple

Apple Inc.'s own recycling program will give you an Apple gift card if it is determined to have a "monetary value." A 32 gigabyte iPhone 4S with some light scratches but in good working condition was recently estimated at $280. That's higher than Gazelle, but you'll have to spend the money at Apple. The company also accepts broken phones for recycling but you won't get any money for them.

-IBN Live

Nokia’s Lumia 920 and 820: How they look, work and feel

The new Nokia Lumia 920 (L) and 820 Windows smartphones are displayed during a joint event with Microsoft.

Nokia launched two smartphones yesterday — the Lumia 920 and the Lumia 820, both of which will run on Windows 8 OS. So what are the key features of the two smartphones? We take a quick look.

First, let’s look at the technical specifications of both smartphones.

      Wireless Charging Pillow by Fatboy

Nokia Lumia 920: This is, of course, Nokia’s flagship device. As far as technical specifications go, this has a curved 4.5-inch PureMotion HD+ screen. A dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 CPU with 1 GB RAM, 32 GB disk space and 7 GB storage in the cloud with SkyDrive for users.

Wireless Charging Plate

Nokia also promises a bigger 2,000mAh battery which is expected to last 10 hours with 3G. The Lumia 920 has NFC, integrated wireless charging and an 8.7 megapixel rear PureView camera with HD video. The phone also has “Super Sensitive Touch,” which will let users handle their smartphone even while wearing gloves. 

Nokia Lumia 820 : This is the less pricier version. The smartphone has polycarbonate unibody with a 4.3 inch screen. It is also NFC enabled with an 8 megapixel PureView branded camera. This smartphone will also support wireless charging. The 1GB RAM and dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor will ensure that there is little lag. It has 8GB space (expandable upto 32 GB) and 7 GB in SkyDrive.

Tech specifications aside here are a few new features of the Windows 8-Nokia Lumia smartphones:

Augmented reality with Nokia’s City Lens app: This means that users can now point their Lumia smartphone cameras to restaurants, hotels, etc to find out reviews about the place.

JBL speakers with wireless power-charging: Nokia has teamed up with JBL to produce special speakers that can be used to wirelessly charge the Lumia smartphones. Users can also play music from the phone, using NFC. You’ll have to buy this separately.

The new Nokia Lumia 920 charges on a JBL speaker. Getty Images

Wireless charging: This is Nokia’s biggest innovation as far as smartphones go. The wireless chargers come in all shapes, sizes and colours. They’re all Qi-compatible, which means users can choose any wireless charger. The three kinds of chargers available are: Wireless Charging Plate, Wireless Charging Pillow by Fatboy and Wireless Charging Stand. According to the official site, none of the wireless charging devices will be included in the sales package. Users will probably have to buy them separately.

Windows and the Tile system: The Lumia 920 and 820 are also major investments for Microsoft, which is probably why CEO Steve Ballmer and Joe Belfiore, manager of the Windows Phone Program were present at the launch. Belfiore pointed out how the new Windows 8 system for mobile could be easily personalised by users with the tile interface, which is definitely something new.

The most exciting bit is of course that Windows 8 finally has screenshots. Yay. The bad bit: users can’t upgrade Windows 7 phones nor will all apps written for Windows Phone 8 run on Windows 7. Lack of backward compatibility is a big downside.

The price and the shipping date of the smartphones has not been revealed as yet.

-Getty Images & FP

Now, charge your phone by simply holding it

LONDON: Next time your cellphone runs out of battery, you can charge it by just holding it in your hand, as scientists claim to have developed a new technology that turns body heat into electricity. Researchers say they have developed a way to turn body heat into electricity using nanotechnology to put tiny carbon tubes into miniscule plastic fibres and made them look like a fabric. 

The 'Power Felt' can keep your phone going for up to 20% longer just through the power of touch, meaning simply holding one, or even sitting on it, could recharge the cell, the 'Daily Mail' reported. The technology has been created by professor David Carroll of Wakeforest University's centre for nanotechnology and molecular materials in the US.

According to Carrol, it could be the first wave of inexpensive ways to produce electricity that were far more affordable than current renewables such as solar, which was being held back by the high cost.

-PTI

Logitech unveils washable keyboard K310

New Delhi: Logitech has unveiled the latest in its line of PC keyboards - the Logitech Washable Keyboard K310. From a light dusting to a rinse in the kitchen sink, this keyboard is easy to clean and dry. It also has a sleek, thin profile.

The Logitech Washable Keyboard K310 can be hand washed over and over again, and can be submerged (with the exception of the USB cable) in up to 11 inches of water.

Convenient drainage holes at the back of the keyboard allow for easy drying while key characters are laser printed and UV coated to help ensure the letters don't fade in the wash. The keys are said to last up to five million keystrokes.

It comes complete with F-keys and a number pad, and is compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. It also has twelve hot keys for instant access to Internet, e-mail, play, volume and more

The Logitech Washable Keyboard K310 is expected to be available in the US beginning in August and Europe beginning in October 2012, for a suggested retail price of $39.99.

-IBN Live

Nikon unveils Android-powered Coolpix S800c camera

New Delhi: Nikon has announced its innovative Coolpix S800c point-and-shoot camera, which is Nikon's first Wi-Fi compact digital camera running Android operating system.

The new S800c lets you capture photos and HD video, and also offers a portal to connect to social networks and popular imaging applications through an Android Operating System.

The camera has 10x NIKKOR zoom lens and the 16-megapixel CMOS sensor. Powered by Android, the camera's connection features allow users to seamlessly connect, browse and upload to their social networks, including Google+, Facebook and Twitter.

Users can also take advantage of the full functionality of Android technology to surf the web or even download applications and games onto their S800c. Just like a smartphone or tablet device, the camera has the opportunity to run camera-specific photo and video applications.

The S800c also lets users access Google Play, thereby providing access to a a plethora of applications for games, productivity and personal communication/ email. Users are also able to watch video downloaded from Google Play right on their camera.

With the S800c, users can capture full HD 1080p HD videos. It also has built-in GPS.It has a 3.5-inch touchscreen OLED monitor.

The S800c will be available in September 2012 in both White and Black for a suggested retail price of $349.95.

-IBN Live & Engadget

Spouses of dead Google employees get half of salary for 10 years

New Delhi: Google has often been ranked as one of the best places to work. This reputation has been earned largely due to amenities offered to employees, such as laundry, dry cleaning and automotive services, swimming spas, gourmet meals, on-site massage and free on-site doctors. Now we can also add post-death benefits to the list.

In an interview with Forbes, Google's Chief People Officer Laszlo Bock said that the Internet giant has "announced death benefits at Google." Under this employee benefit, rolled out in 2011 for Google's US employees, the surviving spouse or partner will receive an annual payment equivalent to the dead employee's salary for 10 years.

There is also no tenure requirement to be eligible for the benefit. In addition children of the dead employee will receive a monthly payment of $1000 until they turn 19 or 23 in case the child is a full-time student.

When IBNLive enquired whether the benefits will also be made available to Google employees in India, a Google India representative said that Google is working on a plan to implement the scheme in its India offices.

In a recent study Google India was ranked as the best place to work for in India. The company was rated No. 1 on the list for the third consecutive year.

-IBN

Top 10: New features in the new Microsoft Office

New Delhi: Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled the customer preview of the new Microsoft Office. The next release is touted to feature an intuitive design that works with touch, stylus, mouse or keyboard across new Windows devices, including tablets.

It takes advantage of cloud computing and is designed for use with the upcoming Windows 8 operating system.

The new Office will be delivered to subscribers through a cloud service that is always up to date.

Here are the top 10 features of the new Microsoft Office:

1. Touch everywhere: Office responds to touch as naturally as it does to keyboard and mouse. Swipe your finger across the screen or pinch and zoom to read your documents and presentations. Author new content and access features with the touch of a finger.

2. Inking: Use a stylus to create content, take notes and access features. Handwrite email responses and convert them automatically to text. Use your stylus as a laser pointer when presenting. Color your content and erase your mistakes with ease.

3. Included in Windows RT: Office Home and Student 2013 RT, which contains new versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote applications, will be included on ARM-based Windows 8 devices, including Microsoft Surface.

4. SkyDrive: Office saves documents to SkyDrive by default, so your content is always available across your tablet, PC and phone. Your documents are also available offline and sync when you reconnect.

5. Roaming: Once signed in to Office, your personalized settings, including your most recently used files, templates and even your custom dictionary, roam with you across virtually all of your devices. Office even remembers where you last left off and brings you right back to that spot in a single click.

6. New subscription services: The new Office is available as a cloud-based subscription service. As subscribers, consumers automatically get future upgrades in addition to exciting cloud services including Skype world minutes and extra SkyDrive storage. Subscribers receive multiple installs for everyone in the family and across their devices.

7. Skype: The new Office comes with Skype. When you subscribe, you get 60 minutes of Skype world minutes every month. Integrate Skype contacts into Lync and call or instant message anyone on Skype.

8. Reading and markup: The Read Mode in Word provides a modern and easy-to-navigate reading experience that automatically adjusts for large and small screens. Zoom in and out of content, stream videos within documents, view revision marks and use touch to turn pages.

9. Eighty-two-inch touch-enabled displays: Conduct more engaging meetings, presentations and lessons, whether in person or virtually, with these multitouch and stylus-enabled displays from Perceptive Pixel.

10. People Card: Have an integrated view of your contacts everywhere in Office. The People Card includes presence information complete with pictures, status updates, contact information and activity feeds from Facebook and LinkedIn accounts.

While the full lineup of offerings and pricing plans will be announced later this year, Ballmer discussed three new Office 365 subscription services.

Here are the three subscription models:

1. Office 365 Home Premium: designed for families and consumers. This service also includes an additional 20 GB of SkyDrive storage and 60 minutes of Skype world minutes per month.

2. Office 365 Small Business Premium: designed for small businesses. This service also includes business-grade email, shared calendars, website tools and HD webconferencing.

3. Office 365 ProPlus: designed for enterprise customers who want advanced business capabilities and the flexibility to deploy and manage in the cloud.

When available, each new subscription offer will include the new 2013 editions of the Office applications — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher and Access.

The customer preview is available here

-IBN

New projector smartphone, Samsung Galaxy Beam up for pre-order at Rs 29,900

New Delhi: Samsung is all set to introduce its new projector smartphone - the Samsung Galaxy Beam - in India. The phone is available online for pre-order on the Samsung India e-store. Available for Rs 29,900, you have to pay the full amount in the beginning itself.

The Samsung Galaxy Beam's 15 lumens projector allows users to display and share multimedia content anywhere on a large luminous projector screen - walls, ceilings or improvised flat surfaces.

Powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor, the phone has a 4.0-inch (480x800) TFT display. The Galaxy Beam has a 5 megapixel autofocus rear camera with flash and a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera.

The phone has an internal memory of 8GB, which is expandable up to 32GB using a microSD card. The Samsung Galaxy Beam has 768MB RAM.

Measuring 12.6mm thin, the phone has a 2000mAh battery. The Galaxy Beam was first announced back in February during MWC 2012.

-IBN

Appy ever after, with a smartphone network for lovers

A smartphone app that caters mainly for bashful Asian lovers has recorded a million downloads since its launch last November, and now the developers are eyeing new markets. Couples unwilling to share their relationship with the world through Facebook or other social media have flocked to sign up for Between, an intimate app designed for two.

"Imagine how stressful it would be if your boss followed you on Twitter, or parents added you on Facebook...Between is the new solution for such pressure," one of the South Korean developers, Park Jae-Uk, told AFP in an interview.

Between, available on iPhones and Android-equipped models, offers privacy for couples who want to swap photos, messages, schedules and short voice messages via smartphone.

Developers say some 4.6 million messages and 350,000 pictures are exchanged daily. Between was named Best Mobile App of the year at a competition for new global ventures in the Dutch city of Amsterdam.

"Facebook and Twitter may do a good job in connecting people in all sorts of ways, but we thought maybe some people want a closed and private relationship," said Park, whose VCNC company runs the app.

"So we turned our eyes to unmarried couples who need such a private relationship platform more than any other groups."

Between lets them share photo timelines, send messages and mark anniversaries, birthdays and other dates on each other's calendars.

Connection to the service is completed when both parties enter each other's phone numbers after registering. If a couple breaks up, one of them may disconnect the service and all the data will be deleted.

"No matter how hard you try to conceal information on other social networking services, it still seems like they are wide open...so we decided to base our appeal on how tightly closed and protected our service is," said Park.

The application is password-protected and is never available to more than two people at any one time.

Absolute Betweeners
Between is available in 13 languages including Korean, English and Japanese. At present it mainly targets Asian users because of their culture of keeping loving relationships to themselves.

Some 75 percent of users are Koreans, 7 percent Chinese and 6 percent Japanese.

"I take a lot of photographs with my boyfriend and needed an exclusive space to share them by phone," said 23-year-old Hong Jee-Won.

Another user, Jun So-Min, said Facebook "is way too public, so to keep a record of private content like photos and messages, I use Between. It serves its purpose well and I'm satisfied with it."

Park is now looking for growth in Europe and the United States by tailoring the service.

"The culture is a little different in Europe and the US, so we will try to cater to long-distance couples or engaged couples getting ready for marriage," he said.

Currently, 79 percent of Between users are single and 96 percent of all users are in their 20s to mid-30s.

"Between in a way represents a commitment made by couples, so we rarely see teenagers using the service...their relationship usually doesn't last long enough to take full advantage of it," said Park.

That is why VCNC's engineers plan to develop a system which backs up data for up to one month after a breakup, just in case lovers decide to reunite and reopen their accounts.

"Think of it as an adjustment period for couples," said Park, adding users quite often complain when data is wiped under the current system.

VCNC is also looking for business models from next quarter, such as advertisements and promotions related to couples such as tour agencies, flower shops and wedding stores.

The company currently relies on a one billion won ($880,312) investment made by SoftBank last year and has not yet reported profits.

"Seeing two copycats already showing up on the market, I am sure the couple-related business has great potential, because people become less hesitant to open their wallets when it comes to their lovers," said Park.

"Even though differences might exist between cultures, I believe love is universal anywhere in the world -- and that's what makes Between possible."

-AFP