Facebook Unveils a Smarter Search Engine
Now we know what Facebook is building: A better internal search system.
Speaking at a much-hyped event at Facebook HQ, founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a raft of improvements to "graph search" — that is, the ability to search within your social graph for specifics.
The search improvements involve the ability to ask questions in regular English, such as "which of my friends live in New York?" The search is now intelligent enough to rank your friends based on how much interaction you've had — so that closer friends will appear higher up the results list.
It can also search based on stories or photos you've Liked. One example Zuckerberg offered: the site can now display which of his friends have Liked the HBO show Game of Thrones. You can search for people who Like multiple products or services, which seems likely to be a bonanza for marketers.
Photos can also be ranked by which have the most Likes, based on the people most important to you in your Friends list. And one of the most useful use cases appears to be searching for local businesses that have received a thumbs-up from friends (and their friends).
Graph search starts today in beta, and will appear as a large blue search bar at the top of your Facebook page. You can sign up for the beta — or rather, join the Waiting List for a beta invite — here. Zuckerberg was careful to emphasize that Graph Search is a new and limited product. For now, it will focus on four areas: people, photos, places and interests.
Internet Emits 830 Million Tonnes of CO2 Annually
Internet is usually believed to be an
environment-friendly alternative to the traditional usage of paper for
communication. Businesses across the world are now looking to switch to
the cloud-based technology from the physical hardware. However, a study
conducted by the Centre for Energy-Efficient Telecommunications (CEET)
and Bell Labs portrays things differently - Internet and other
components of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) industry
are responsible for emitting more than 830 million tonnes of CO2
annually and are likely to double emissions by 2020.
According to researchers, the ICT
industry, which includes the web, video and voice and other cloud-based
services, are responsible for emitting about 2 percent of global CO2
emissions, equivalent to what the aviation industry releases. The report
further predicts the ICT's share for CO2 emission to double by 2020.
The report has been published in journal Environmental Science & Technology.
The researchers have also come up with
some new models of emissions and energy consumption that are supposed to
slash the carbon emissions. The study suggests setting up of models
that consider the data traffic, energy use and CO2 production in network
and other related things of the industry.
Describing the existing assessment
models as inaccurate, the study further endorses development and testing
of two new models that will help more accurately assess the energy
consumption and CO2 emissions. According to the researchers, more
efficient use of energy-efficient equipment and renewable energy sources
are likely to help minimise ICT emissions of the greenhouse gas.
Oracle to Fix Java Security Flaw ‘Shortly’
Oracle Corp. said it is preparing an update to address a flaw in its widely used Java software after the US Department of Homeland Security urged computer users to disable the program in Web browsers because criminal hackers are exploiting a security bug to attack PCs.
“A fix will be available shortly,” the company said in a statement released late on Friday.
Company officials could not be reached on Saturday to say
how quickly the update would be available for the hundreds of millions
of PCs that have Java installed.
The Department of Homeland Security and computer security
experts said on Thursday that hackers figured out how to exploit the
bug in a version of Java used with Internet browsers to install
malicious software on PCs. That has enabled them to commit crimes from
identity theft to making an infected computer part of an ad-hoc computer
network that can be used to attack websites.
The Department of Homeland Security said attackers could
trick targets into visiting malicious websites that would infect their
PCs with software capable of exploiting the bug in Java. It said an attacker could also infect a legitimate
website by uploading malicious software that would infect machines of
computer users who trust that site because they have previously visited
it without experiencing any problems.
They said developers of several popular tools, known as
exploit kits, used by criminal hackers to attack PCs, have added
software that allows hackers to exploit the newly discovered bug in
Java.
Security experts have been scrutinizing the safety of
Java since a similar security scare in August, which prompted some of
them to advise using the software only on an as-needed basis. At the time, they advised businesses to allow their
workers to use Java browser plug-ins only when prompted for permission
by trusted programs such as GoToMeeting, a Web-based collaboration tool
from Citrix Systems Inc.
Facebook Users Can Message Mark Zuckerberg For $100
According to a Mashable report, users can pay the social networking company to send a message to Zuckerberg that would appear in his Inbox - it would otherwise normally appear in the 'Other' folder.
“In our tests from multiple accounts, it
appeared to be the case that users only get this message if they're not
one of Zuck's 16 million followers. That, however, could still be
coincidental,” noted the report.
The report further points out that the new feature could be an upgraded form of the $1 pay-to-message plan
that the social networking company has been testing for quite some
time. The company had previously hinted it would be experimenting with
other 'paid' features.
The reports of Facebook's new service comes days after the social networking site rolled out new and improved controls for content management on the social networking website. The update includes a new icon on the
toolbar, which gives users access privacy settings from whatever page
they are on.
Google Updates Gmail, Allows Adding Label, Star from Compose Box
Google has been updating its Gmail web
client for quite some time now. The recent update brought in ability to
compose a new mail with a new pop-up method, improved search engine and
deeper integration with Google+ social networking site. Google kicks off
2013 with yet another round of updates to its Gmail services.
The new update allows users to add Labels and Stars to the message from the new compose feature. Gmail
users can do this by clicking on the More options menu in the bottom
right and hovering over Label. Earlier, users needed to first send the
message and then go to their Sent folder to access the message sent,
open it and then could add a Label or a Star to the mail.
“This makes it easy to reference any other emails without ever having to
close your draft. You can even do a search or keep an eye on new mail
as it comes in". Google had launched the new Compose feature in October last year. The feature is available as an option from users' inbox.
Serious Security Flaw Spotted in Java
Security experts and researchers have
discovered a new loophole in the popular Java software that could allow
attackers to infect your computer with malware. The US-CERT group has released
an alert saying that Java 7 Update 10 and the previous versions of the
software come with the zero day vulnerability that allows attackers to
remotely run arbitrary code. The attack can be induced if someone visits
a website set up with the malicious code.
An independent malware researcher,
Kafeine, spotted the exploit "in the wild" that is being extensively
used in attacks -- on his blog on Thursday. The researcher also shared
samples of the exploit with security companies. "This could be mayhem,"
he said. "I think it's better to make some noise about it."
The exploit has already been added to
the popular Blackhole exploit toolkit used by cybercriminals, as well as
to Cool Exploit Kit, a more exclusive spin-off of Blackhole, Botezatu
said
Bogdan Botezatu, a senior e-threat
analyst at antivirus vendor Bitdefender, also confirmed the exploit.
"We reproduced the exploitation mechanism on Java 1.7 Update 9 and
Update 10. Other versions may be vulnerable as well, we're currently
analyzing whether other older updates are vulnerable,” Botezatu is
quoted by ComputerWorld as saying.
Researchers at Alien Vault Labs were able to reproduce
the exploit in a fully patched new installation of Java. “The Java file
is highly obfuscated but based on the quick analysis we did the exploit
is probably bypassing certain security checks tricking the permissions
of certain Java classes as we saw in CVE-2012-4681,” note the
researchers.
Samsung Reveals Galaxy S II Plus with Jelly Bean and Dual-Core Processor
Samsung has announced the Galaxy S II
Plus. The smartphone runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean straight out of
the box. The Galaxy S II plus will be available in two variants – one
with NFC and one without. No details of the pricing or availability of
the device are available yet.
In terms of other specifications, the Galaxy S II Plus
shows off a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus WVGA display with 800x400 pixel
resolution. A 1.2GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM power the
device. It boasts of 8GB built-in storage expandable up to 64GB via a
microSD card. Under the hood, a 1,650mAh battery powers it. The rear of
the camera houses an 8MP camera and the front has a 2MP camera for video
chatting.
Samsung launched the Note II in 2012, which improved upon the
specifications and the performance of the first generation Note. It
sports a 5.5-inch display, quad-core processor, runs on Jelly Bean and
improved upon the functionality of the S-Pen.
DataWind and UN Launch App Development Contest for Women's Empowerment
DataWind and the United Nations Office
for Partnerships in coordination with the other international bodies -
Agnite Education, American Digital University, Applications for Good and
Equal Access International - have announced a ‘Global Apps to Empower’
competition.
Under the competition, the app
developers have to create apps that encourage women's empowerment in
various sectors including jobs and entrepreneurship, education and
conflict resolution. Winning apps will be receive cash prizes and the
opportunity to have their apps listed in DataWind’s Ubislate educational tablet, the commercial version of the Aakash tablet.
The competition will be held from now through April 30, 2013 while the winners will be announced in July 2013. Visit www.AppsToEmpower.org for more and detailed information on contest rules, a complete list of judges, deadline and submission guideline.
Nokia Launches Lumia 920 and 820 in India, Announces Lumia 620
NOKIA LUMIA 920
The wait is finally over. Nokia has
announced the availability of its first Windows Phone 8 powered devices
in India. The Lumia 920 and the Lumia 820 will be available from
tomorrow in select cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad,
Bangalore and Calcutta. They will be made available in the rest of the
country in the due course of time.
Features of Nokia Lumia 920 :
The Lumia 920 has an MRP of Rs. 38,999.
- Designed with a polycarbonate shell, and come with PureView
technology, however, without the massive sensor of the original 41MP Nokia 808 PureView
(despite the 920 being 10.7mm thick).
- 8.7MP camera
with an LED 'pulse burst flash', which is capable of 1080p HD video
recording at 30 fps.
- Features floating lens technology, which
supposedly rivals the optical image stabilization (OIS) of DLSRs, and
enables the sensor to capture more than 5-10 times the light of regular
smartphone cameras.
- 4.5-inch curved
glass IPS LCD display, which with Nokia’s PureMotion HD+ technology,
delivers a “better than HD resolution” of 1,280x768 pixels (WXGA).
- Touchscreen will also be navigable with gloves on.
- Nokia Lumia 920
supports wireless charging with Qi interoperability standards.
- 1.3MP front facing camera with 720p HD video recording
- Weight
of 185 grams
- 2,000 mAh battery rated to deliver up to 17 hours
of talktime, and 400 hours of standby time.
- It will surprisingly not
come with a microSD card slot.
NOKIA LUMIA 820
The 9.9mm-thick Nokia Lumia 820
has an MRP of Rs. 27,559 and is almost identical on the specs sheet,
except for a smaller 4.3-inch 800x480 pixel AMOLED display, and the lack
of a PureView camera - 8MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics and dual-LED
flash instead (also capable of 1080p HD video recording), coupled with
front-facing VGA camera.
Features of Nokia Lumia 820 :
- Nokia Lumia 820 also supports wireless
charging, when coupled with a removable shell case, which will ship with
the device.
- Smaller 1,650 mAh battery that’s rated to
deliver up to 14 hours of talktime, and 330 hours of standby time.
- Unlike the Lumia 920, it supports a microSD card slot, up to 32GB.
NOKIA LUMIA 620
It was also showcased at the event. Pricing and availability of the Lumia 620 will be announced in February,
but Nokia has said that its pricing will be between the current price
of the Lumia 610 and the Lumia 710. Your guess of the price is as good
as ours.
Features of Nokia Lumia 620 :
- 3.8-inch handset with a ClearBlack WVGA display
- Powered
by a 1 GHz dual-core processor
- 512 MB of RAM
- 5MP camera.
- MicroSD card slot that supports up to
64GB of storage.
- Lumia 620 come
in a selection of shades, each of which have switchable backs thanks to
a single base layer on top of which the coloured shell sits.
- The Lumia
620 comes with a 1,300mAh battery with a stand-by time of 330 hours and
14.6 hours of GSM talk time.
- Included is a VGA front camera
for video conferencing along with a Wi-Fi radio that can handle a/b/g/n
type connections.
Firefox 18 Offers Upto 25 Percent Faster Performance
Mozilla recently announced an update to
its Firefox web browser, and from all the buzz surrounding Firefox 18’s
release, it seems that the update is one of the best in the history of
the popular free browser. Apart from this, in the Android update for Firefox’s browser app, there
are “new phishing and malware features to protect users from malicious
websites.” Firefox for Android now warns users against potentially
dubious and harmful websites and protects users from malicious websites.
Mozilla’s claim of up to 25 percent
speed boost in terms of JavaScript performance in Firefox 18 is down to a
whole new compiler, IonMonkey. According to Mozilla, IonMonkey makes
“Web apps and games” perform faster. It’s during those processes where
users will be able to gauge the performance difference in the new
Firefox 18 web browser. Specifically, Mozilla points us to try a web
game called BananaBread on Firefox 18 and see for ourselves the browser’s improved performance.
For MacBook Pros with Retina Display,
running on Mac OS X 10.7 and Mountain Lion, Firefox 18 finally adds
support for “high-resolution Retina Display for Mac users to make your
Web experience sharper when watching movies, playing games and
browsing.”
Not only did Mozilla release Firefox 18,
but it also released updated version of the browser’s Android app along
with fixing some known issues. According to Mozilla’s release notes, Firefox 18 also sports spiffy new features like a brand new JavaScript compiler and Retina Display support, among others.
For updating your mozilla firefox to 18 just go to HELP >> ABOUT FIREFOX and it will start taking updates from mozilla foundation.
CES 2013 Updates : Dell Offers Cheaper Tablet For Schools and Small Biz
Dell is making another announcement, this time bringing the recently-launched Dell Latitude 10 to schools and small businesses, with more affordable configurations. The Dell Latitude 10 Essential is an enterprise-ready Windows 8 tablet to be used and shared among multiple users. The new configurations retain the basic features of the tablet, but at a more affordable price.
The Latitude 10 Essential is a
full-featured Windows 8 tablet that is designed to slot into existing IT
environments and support legacy software in addition to new apps. In
order to better accommodate the limited resources of schools and
businesses, the tablet also supports the sharing of a single device
among multiple users. The 10-inch tablet is equipped with a
headphone jack, USB 2.0 port, and micro HDMI output. An integrated
Kensington lock slot makes it easy to physically secure the device at a
desk or workbench. For expanded productive use with keyboard and mouse,
Dell also offers a standalone desktop dock, which adds AC power and
charging, wired LAN connectivity, full-size USB ports, and an SD card
slot.
A 64GB version of the Latitude 10 Essentials configuration is available now, for $579, with a 32GB version coming soon for $499.
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tablet
CES 2013 Updates : Kingston Reveals 1TB HyperX Predator Flash Drive
The annual Consumer Electronics Show or CES always has a few gadgets up its sleeve that are truly mind blowing. At CES 2013,
the Kingston HyperX Predator flash drive is one such gadget. It is no
ordinary flash drive, this tech wonder from Kingston with a whopping 1 terabyte of data storage capacity. Yes, you read that right. 1TB of data on a pocket-friendly Kingston pen-drive.
Apart from its storage and speed
capacities, the Kingston HyperX Predator flash drive is housed in a
stylish metal casing of zinc alloy -- Kingston claims this makes the
drive highly shock-resistant. It also has a small key ring at one end.
Price and availability
The Kingston HyperX Predator 1TB (DTHXP30/1T) flash drive’s price hasn’t been revealed at the on-going CES 2013, as it is slated to arrive later in Q1 of 2013. However, Kingston is expected to start selling another lesser-capacity version of the flash drive, the Predator HyperX 512GB (DTHXP30/512GB) soon. It’s price? A bank-shattering US $1,750!
CES 2013 Updates : Sony Officially Unveils the Xperia Z and ZL
Sony has been pretty much in line with the rumours,
the specs include a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 quad-core
processor clocking in at 1.5GHz, Adreno 320 graphics, 2GB of RAM, a
5-inch 1080p HD TFT display and a 13MP Exmor RS camera. The Xperia Z
has 16GB built-in storage, along with a memory card slot for expansion.
The Xperia Z will get LTE in certain markets. A 2330mAh brick will
provide the battery backup.
Quite frankly, we are a tad surprised to see Sony
still not considering an upgrade for the display, to either the S-LCD2
or the AMOLED family, considering most rivals are using them on their
high-end phones. Apart from that, the specs do look very impressive, and
we can hardly wait to test out the S4 Pro performance on the device.
Sony’s proprietary technologies – Clear
Audio+, Bravia Reality Display and Bravia Engine2 all combine to improve
the multimedia experience on the device.
Unfortunately, Sony has again messed up on the operating system bit, and
the phone will come preloaded with Android Jelly Bean 4.1 out of the
box. Though there is a “promised” Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update, the
release date set around the month of March looks fairly disappointing
now.Now to the Xperia ZL,
which is essentially powered by the same specs as the Xperia Z, but
with one key difference. Despite sporting the same 5-inch display, the
ZL does make some interesting number reading. While the Xperia ZL is
actually .08 inches thicker than the Xperia Z, its overall size is
slightly smaller, at 5.19-inch x 2.75-inch to the Xperia Z's 5.47-inch x
2.8-inch. The Xperia ZL also has a slightly tweaked design, with more
curved edges. Sony has said that the ZL will be released only in “select
markets”, but there is no clarity on any specifics at the moment.
CES 2013 Updates : Intel Unveils 4th Gen Core 'Haswell' and ULV Ivy Bridge Processors
Intel has confirmed the 4th generation
Intel Core processors. Codenamed Haswell, these processors are designed
for the next generation ultrabooks and convertible ultrabooks. Intel
claims that these processors are designed for “all-day battery life”,
delivering up to 9 hours battery life.
"The 4th generation Core processors are
the first Intel chips built from the ground up with the Ultrabook in
mind," said Kirk Skaugen, vice president and general manager of the PC
Client Group at Intel. "We expect the tremendous advancements in
lower-power Core processors, and the significant ramp of touch-based
systems will lead to a significant new wave of convertible Ultrabooks
and tablets that are thinner, lighter and, at the same time, have the
performance required for more human-like interaction such as touch,
voice and gesture controls."
The most interesting announcement is the confirmation of the ultra low voltage Ivy Bridge
processors. These chips will operate as low as 7 watts, allowing
forever-slimmer and lighter ultrabook and convertible designs. Intel
says that currently there are more than a dozen designs in development
based on this new low-power. The Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S Ultrabook and a
future Ultrabook detachable from Acer will be among the first to market
this spring based on the new Intel processors. These processors are now
shipping.
CES 2013 Updates : Toshiba Launches 'Touch and Type' Satellite U845t Ultrabook
Toshiba has unveiled an update to the
Satellite U845 conveniently called the U845t. The device boasts of
Windows 8 as the OS and is priced at $799 (approximately Rs. 44,300).
The Satellite U845t boasts of a 14-inch
touchscreen display with a 1366x768 resolution, choice of third-gen
Intel Core i3 or i5 CPU, 500GB hard drive with 32GB SSD and up to 6GB of
RAM. The specifications of the device are the same as the
non-touchscreen model and the price of the U845t is $50 more than the
base model of the non-touch screen variant.
In terms of connectivity, the Toshiba
Satellite U845t has an HDMI and Ethernet port, SD card slot, one USB 3.0
port and two USB 2.0 ports. The device is quite light weighing a mere
1.8kgs and is quite slim too, measuring a mere 0.8-inches in thickness.
With Windows 8 optimised for the touch
screen as well as the traditional mouse and keyboard, we have seen the
launch of a lot of laptops that boast of a touch screen as well as
hybrid devices that double up as a laptop as well as a touchscreen
tablet.
