Comcast’s merger with Time Warner Cable goes in front of the Senate on March 26th
The final word on Comcast’s merger with Time Warner Cable may be in the hands of the FCC and Justice Department, but that’s not stopping other governmental bodies from weighing in. On March 26th, the Senate Judiciary Committee plans to examine the deal’s effects on the average consumer — specifically focusing on its impact on market competition and TV and internet pricing. “The merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable touches on important policy questions bout how Americans access these valuable services,” Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy wrote in a statement. “It also presents a critical moment to discuss net neutrality principals that have allowed the internet to remain an open marketplace for ideas.” Although the hearing probably won’t affect the merger directly, it’s possible the discussion could lead to legislative changes further down the road.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment
The i’m Tracer bracelet means never having to ask ‘where’s the kid?’
The kooky folks behind the (frankly awful) i’m Watch are a mainstay at Mobile World Congress. This year they’ve got something a little more useful to show off: it’s called the i’m Tracer, and it’s the evolution of another GPS tracker the company has highlighted before. The Tracer is a wearable mashup of a GPS module and a GSM radio the Italian company hopes will help you keep tabs on your kids when it launches this summer.
We can’t blame you if that formula sounds a little familiar. The (non-final) hardware is a little clunky, thanks mostly to the battery tucked away in there. Representatives say the i’m Tracer should last for about three days of regular location updates, which means you can squeeze more prolonged use out of it than with an OG Galaxy Gear. It doesn’t help that the Tracer lacks a display too — it’s purely a bracelet for the errant human(s) in your life. At least i’m saw fit to throw an accelerometer into the mix so your kid’s tumbles are recorded for posterity, and tykes in distress can press a button to call a preset emergency contact.
It’s the iOS and Android companion app that really impresses here. The basics are well accounted for: you can view the Tracer’s location on a map, trace geofenced safe zones on a map with your finger, and thumb through a detailed history of your kid’s travels. If you’re in desperate need to find your children though, you can also fire up an augmented reality mode to display their location as a glowing blue beacon over a live image from your phone’s camera. The team is kicking around a potential price tag between €140 and €160. That’s a quite bit to spend on some plastic for your wrist, but it should stick with a kid better than a budget smartphone will. And hey, you can’t put a price on your child’s safety, right? (Don’t answer that.)
Filed under: Peripherals, Wearables
China’s Allwinner also has an octa-core chip, touts powerful graphics
Samsung, MediaTek, Huawei and even Qualcomm are now in the octa-core SoC game, but there’s always space for more. The latest member is China’s Allwinner Technology, who’s best known for making the chipsets inside many low-end devices. Much like most of its competitors, Allwinner’s UltraOcta A80 silicon — pictured above on a development board — uses ARM’s big.LITTLE heterogeneous multi-processing design, meaning it can simultaneously run on all eight cores — four low-power Cortex-A7 and four high-end Cortex-A15. The chip also features Imagination Technologies’ 64-core PowerVR G6230 GPU, which promises to deliver “a twofold increase in graphics” performance when compared to the PowerVR SGX544MP2 (as used by Allwinner’s previous flagship SoC, the A31 series).
We’ll spare you from all the nitty-gritty, but you can learn more in the source links below. Expect to see the UltraOcta A80 in affordable markets “in the next few months.”
Source: Allwinner, Imagination Technologies
Alleged iOS Security Flaw Enables Malicious Apps to Secretly Log User Touch Inputs
Researchers from security firm FireEye have revealed a new bug in iOS that enables a malicious app to monitor and log a user’s touch inputs and button uses while running in the background, reports Ars Technica. The exploit reportedly targets a flaw in iOS’ multitasking capabilities to capture user inputs, and allows for them to be sent to a remote server.
To demonstrate the flaw, the researchers created a proof-of-concept monitoring app and developed approaches to “bypass” Apple’s App Store Review process effectively. Once the app was installed on an iOS device, actions including keyboard inputs, use of the volume, home, and power buttons, screen touches, and Touch ID events were all captured. The researchers also noted that disabling iOS 7′s “Background App Refresh” setting would not disable a malicious app from logging data, as the only present solution to the problem is to manually remove apps from the task switcher.
FireEye also spoke about the flaw being identified in current versions of iOS:
Note that the demo exploits the latest 7.0.4 version of iOS system on a non-jailbroken iPhone 5s device successfully. We have verified that the same vulnerability also exists in iOS versions 7.0.5, 7.0.6 and 6.1.x. Based on the findings, potential attackers can either use phishing to mislead the victim to install a malicious/vulnerable app or exploit another remote vulnerability of some app, and then conduct background monitoring.
The group added that they are actively working with Apple to fix the issue, as the company has yet to respond. The news comes less than a week after Apple issued iOS 7.0.6 in response to a SSL vulnerability that allowed a hacker to capture or modify data from Safari in supposedly secure sessions.
The SSL security bug was also found to be present in OS X, as new research over the weekend revealed that additional apps such as FaceTime and iMessage could be compromised. Apple confirmed to Reuters that it will issue an OS X software update “very soon” to patch the bug.
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AT&T announces free, unlimited international text, picture and video messaging for Mobile Share customers
Starting February 28th, all AT&T Mobile Share and Mobile Share Value users will be able to send text picture and video messages internationally for free. However, there’s a not-so ulterior motive behind the announcement (one that’s referenced in AT&T’s own release), as in comparison “other messaging services or applications will incur cellular data charges,” pointing a vague finger at the likes of Hangouts, WhatsApp, Viber, LINE and, well, all the other ones we’ve forgotten. The full service will be compatible with around 120 countries, while text messages can be sent to over 190 different locales.
Alongside it, AT&T’s got another offer for anyone with a global circle of friends, announcing a new international calling plan, World Connect ValueSM. It might not roll off the tongue, but will offer a-cent-per-minute calls to over 35 countries, including neighboring Canada and Mexico. The plan will be on offer to any post-paid AT&T customer, but you’ll have to stump up $5 for it when it launches this Friday.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, AT&T
BlackBerry currently has no plans for a wearable device
Wearable devices seem to be a hot trend in the wireless industry right now, but BlackBerry isn’t taking the bait… at least, not yet. When asked about his company’s plans at Mobile World Congress, CEO John Chen was very straight-forward in confessing that he has no current plans for bringing a wearable device to market. That doesn’t mean it won’t happen down the road at some point, of course, but it’s clear that this particular market segment isn’t really an area of interest or focus right now — considering the company is working hard to bring out fresh devices and is in the midst of getting back to becoming profitable, and it appears that BlackBerry doesn’t believe that such a device would really make a dent in its bottom line yet.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wearables, Wireless, Mobile
CSTM uses augmented reality to help you create the perfect custom furniture
If you’ve ever tried to find a bookcase of your own, you’ll know that finding the perfect set of shelves for all your stuff can pose quite the challenge. One new startup, CSTM, is looking to change that, putting furniture customization in the hands of anyone with an iPad. The startup launched today during a tech conference in San Francisco, and is currently on the hunt for its first 1000 customers to try the app out.
With CSTM, you point your iPad at the wall where your bookcase will go to measure everything up, and then drag and drop template shelves into the perfect array to fit your vinyl collection and oddly-sized camera equipment. Once your done, a printout from your PC can be used to create an augmented-reality version of the bookcase. After making any needed adjustments, you can then order your creation and have it shipped to your home. Based on the demo we saw, the whole process from start to finish can be done in just a few minutes — that’s faster than it took us to build our soon-to-be-extinct Expedit unit.
Source: CSTM
BlackBerry Z3 ‘Jakarta’ coming to Indonesia in April for under $200
BlackBerry CEO John Chen is here at MWC and has some device news. The executive announced progress on the Z3, the phone codenamed Jakarta (shown off above), which will be coming out to Indonesia in April. The company plans to sell the device, which is a collaboration between BlackBerry and Foxconn, for under $200. Chen also tells us that there will be an LTE version coming out to other parts of the world at some time in the future; joking, Chen mentioned that it would come out “sometime before I die.” We’re also told that BlackBerry plans to do some interesting new stuff with BBM.
Additionally, Chen also officially confirmed that a device known as the Q20, aka the Classic, is in the works, and will be coming out alongside BES 12 sometime before the end of the year. The Q20 will be a QWERTY device that will feature the “tool belt,” which means you’ll see a classic trackpad and function keys. Speaking of BES12, the new update will be backwards-compatible to older BlackBerry devices and will support iOS, Android and Windows Phone.
Developing…
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Blackberry
BlackBerry announces the Classic with physical keyboard and trackpad, coming later this year
As part of BlackBerry’s festivities at Mobile World Congress, CEO John Chen announced a pair of new devices. In addition to the Z3 (Jakarta), Chen also stated that a new QWERTY device called the Classic (aka Q20) is in the works, and will be coming out sometime later this year alongside an update to BES12. We don’t know much about the device at this point, but Chen tells us that it’ll feature the “tool belt,” which means you can expect to see the traditional BlackBerry trackpad and function keys frequently seen on the company’s older smartphones. We’ll update you as we hear more.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Blackberry
Daily Roundup: Galaxy S5, Samsung’s new smartwatches, Nokia’s Android phones, and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Samsung Galaxy S5 preview
Meet the Galaxy S5. Samsung’s newest smartphone features top-of-the-line specs, a 5.1-inch display and an interchangeable polycarbonate backside. What’s more, the S5 follows recent trends, packing a fingerprint scanner and heart beat sensor.
HTC Desire 816 hands-on
HTC’s latest handset, the Desire 816, packs 1.5GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel shooter and 8GB of internal storage, which is expandable to a whopping 128GB via the microSD slot. The capable mid-range smartphone doesn’t have a price yet, but we expect more information to surface at HTC’s March 18th launch in China.
Hands-on with Samsung’s new smartwatch trio
The Galaxy S5 wasn’t the only thing the company had planned for this year’s Mobile World Congress. Sammy released not one, but three new additions to its smartwatch line: the Galaxy Gear 2, Gear Neo and fitness-focused Gear Fit.
Nokia’s new Android smartphones
Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia is just around the bend, but the Finnish smartphone maker apparently couldn’t wait. Say hello to Nokia’s first Android handsets: the X, X+ and XL. At $122, $135 and $150, respectively, each device packs a slightly different combination of low-end specs. Read on for our impressions and hands-on photos.
Filed under: Misc
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