Google ‘Password Alert’ chrome extension further protects user identities
Google today announced software designed to prevent phishing attacks used by hackers which are often design to gain access to your password. To keep your account safe Google has launched Password Alert, a free, open-source Chrome extension that protects Google accounts and Google Apps for Work accounts.
Once installed, the extension will show you a warning if you type your Google password into a site that is not considered a Google sign-in page. This protects you from phishing attacks and also encourages you to use different passwords for multiple sites. The underlying message is for users to update and use different passwords for different sites. Too many people have used the same password across every site they utilize. Google hopes to encourage consumers to help prevent that.
Approximately 45 percent of hackers gain access to your password through bogus sites pretending to be websites that are used every day. Astonishingly, 2 percent of the phishing attacks are attempted while appearing to be Google mail. If you attempt to sign in to a bogus site, and the software detects the attempt, you will be notified by a message which appears on the screen.
Google’s working to constantly improve their Safe Browsing technology, which protects more than 1 billion people on Chrome, Safari, and Firefox from phishing and other methods of cyber-attacks.
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Android applications will be able to run on Windows 10
During the company’s Build 2015 developer conference, Microsoft announced that both Android and iOS applications will be able to run on the upcoming Windows 10 platform. Using the new Project Islandwood (iOS) and Project Astoria (Android) development kits, developers will be able to port their applications and games to Windows universal apps. Microsoft is letting Android developers use Java and C++ code on Windows 10, allowing applications to be quickly and easily compiled for the platform. Since the majority of the code being used by Android devs is being recycled, this will save app makers a ton of time and money in the long run.
Microsoft is urging developers to bring their code to Windows 10 with only minor changes at the start. Once the bulk of the app is built, the devs are encouraged to take advantage of some key integration points to build in Windows-specific features like Cortana, Live Tiles, Xbox Live, Holograms and more, which are all included in the Project Astoria dev kit. Microsoft has been testing its new APIs out for the past few months, specifically on the popular puzzle game Candy Crush. In fact, the Candy Crush version that’s currently on Windows is converted from iOS code using Microsoft’s new Windows APIs.
To clarify, this doesn’t mean you’ll be able to install any APK on Windows 10. This is simply just Microsoft making it much easier for Android devs to convert their applications. Microsoft has struggled over the years to keep up with the number of apps available for both Android and iOS, so for the end user, this is certainly great news. The Google Play Store will never come pre-loaded on any Windows 10 devices, but rest assured many more applications will soon make their way to the platform.
We’ll be sure to update you as we learn more.
Alcatel OneTouch POP Astro arrives to T-Mobile, LTE and voice over Wi-FI for $150
These days there is no shortage of low-priced but solid performing handsets in the Android world, with some of the best known options coming from Motorola, Huawei, and Asus. Alcatel is now partnering up with T-Mobile to bring yet another option, the Alcatel OneTouch Pop Astro.
Aside from the overly long and complicated name that we expect from Alcatel, the handset offers pretty low-end specs including a 4.5-inch TFT display with a 540 x 960 resolution, a 1.5GHz quad-core MediaTek 6732 SOC, 1GB RAM, 4GB storage, microSD, a 5MP front cam, .3MP rear cam, a 2,000 mAh battery, LTE, voice over Wi-Fi, and Android 4.4 KitKat with the Alcatel skin on top.
More from Alcatel OneTouch
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As for the pricing? You’ll pay either $179.76 off contract, or you can get it for $6.24 per month through a T-Mobile payment plan.
Should you actually get the phone? If your needs are modest, it’ll probably provide more than a good enough Android experience, but honestly, it’s hard to recommend this one when there are so many similarly priced devices that pack higher resolution displays and better processing packages. Really the only things the Pop Astro have going for it are the addition of LTE and voice over Wi-Fi support.
What do you think of the Pop Astro? Worth buying or not? For those interested, you can pick up the phone starting today.
HTC publishes Q1 2015 earnings, revenue up 25% year over year
HTC has just posted its financial results for the first quarter of 2015, showing strong improvements in overall revenue and net profit.
From January 1st to March 31st of this year, HTC earned a total revenue of $41.5 billion, which is up a massive 25% year over year. While this is roughly $1.5 billion less than the company earned in Q4 2014, HTC is still showing many signs of progress. After taxes have been taken out, HTC earned $.36 billion in net profit, or $.43 per share. HTC expects revenue in Q2 2015 to be in the range of NT$46 billion to NT$51 billion.
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Moving into Q2, HTC is certainly putting its best foot forward. The company just recently launched the One M9 flagship at MWC a few months ago, alongside the HTC Grip, their first fitness tracker. Also announced at the show was the HTC Vive, a futuristic virtual reality headset built in partnership with Valve. HTC also recently announced in Beijing the HTC One M9+, a bigger One M9 flagship with a fingerprint sensor slated to make its way to a select number of Asian regions.
If you’re interested in learning more about HTC’s financial earnings, head to the source link below.
Microsoft shows off Windows Holographic running Windows 10 apps
When Microsoft debuted its Windows Holographic software and HoloLens headset a few months back, Windows 10 apps were mentioned as a possibility. Well, at Build 2015 today, the folks in Redmond offered a look at Windows 10 Universal apps in holographic action. During the onstage demo, apps could be placed on walls or set to float in space, and resized based on the user’s needs — something we’d only seen in videos up to this point. Of course, this means that users in different locations can collaborate on 3D models without having to be in the same room. Any Windows 10 app can be used as a hologram with the headset, so getting work done at a place other than your desk will soon be a possibility.
With those apps in play, you can overlay a hologram on top of a physical object and make tweaks without heading back to the keyboard. Just like the real and virtual robots we saw onstage, you wrangle simple changes, like the color of an LED, with gestures and the projected UI. Microsoft partnered with Case Western Reserve University to develop medical solutions for the platform, and those were shown off, too. Up-close examinations of the nervous and skeletal systems are now possible without the use of cadavers, and each of the body’s systems can be displayed as a separate model in seconds. For architects, Windows Holographic brings the ability to walk through buildings without leaving the office, or through those projects that are still just blueprints. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see what the final version looks like, but Microsoft’s vision for how we’ll work in the near-future is pretty enticing.
Your Windows 10 phone is a tiny desktop computer with Continuum
Microsoft just demoed its 2-in-1 Continuum feature on a Windows 10 phone giving the mobile device the ability to become a really tiny desktop computer. Continuum adjusts the UI of Windows 10 on a device from desktop to tablet mode based on what’s plugged into it. If you plug a keyboard and mouse into a tablet or phone, it goes into desktop mode. When those are unplugged, a pop-up asks if you want to enter tablet mode with touch input. Desktop mode includes the Start Menu and Taskbar you usually associate with a full-size computer. For anyone that travels who would like to pare down the devices they pack, this is great. Corporate Vice President of the Operating Systems Group Joe Belfiore did note that phones would need a hardware upgrade to fully implement the feature.
Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Peripherals, Software, Microsoft
iPad ‘test model’ swiped in Cupertino kidnapping
Despite Apple’s notorious love for secrecy, it famously lost a prototype device in the past (maybe even two), when one of its employees left it in a bar. Now, the company might have lost another: a 20-year-old man reported that a couple robbed his Cupertino home and took an iPad “test model” with them, along with $7,500, prescription drugs and more electronics. It’s unclear at this point what exactly “test model” means, and if it’s a prototype for an upcoming version or one for an earlier iteration. Either way, it hasn’t been returned yet, even though the couple is already in custody.
According to Mercury News, the victim was kidnapped by the duo after answering the woman’s advertisement (its nature wasn’t revealed) and meeting them two blocks away. They all drove to the victim’s house, where his guests pepper-sprayed him at knifepoint. While authorities refused to divulge more details about the tablet, we’ll likely hear more about it in case it’s an upcoming version. After all, Apple has already proven that it’ll go to great lengths to retrieve and protect its unreleased devices.
Filed under: Tablets, Mobile, Apple
Via: 9to5mac
Source: Mercury News
Evernote’s Plus tier gives you a bit more notetaking for $25 a year
Until now, Evernote’s service options have been something of an all-or-nothing proposition: either you stick to the free, very limited tier for your notetaking or shell out $50 a year for the full Premium package. You won’t have to pay quite so much after today, though. The company has introduced an in-between plan, Evernote Plus, that unlocks a few key features at a more reasonable $25 per year, or $3 per month. You can only upload 1GB per month, but you get access to offline notes on mobile devices, automatic email-to-note conversion and a passcode lock. It’s enough to help you with some serious life organization or your schoolwork, and not much more. If you do need more, though, you’ll be glad to hear that Premium now has unlimited uploads and larger note sizes. All told, you’re more likely to pay only for the features you’ll actually use.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile
Source: Evernote Blog
iOS 8 Adoption Reaches 81% Following Apple Watch Launch [iOS Blog]
Apple’s latest distribution numbers show that 81% of iOS devices are now running iOS 8 or later, less than one week after the release of the Apple Watch. 17% of devices used to access the App Store continue to run iOS 7 and the remaining 2% are running an earlier software version.
iOS 8 adoption rose 2 percentage points since Apple shared its last distribution numbers earlier this month, with the Apple Watch launch last Friday likely contributing to the marginal increase. Apple Watch must be paired with an iPhone 5 or later running iOS 8.2 or newer.
According to mobile analytics firm Mixpanel, approximately 91% of devices were running iOS 7 at this time last year, meaning that iOS 8 adoption continues to be slower, likely due to a wide range of reasons including software bugs and excessive storage space required to install updates.
Microsoft Announces Cross-Platform Add-Ins for Office Apps, Plans to Bring iOS Apps to Windows 10
Microsoft held its annual BUILD conference for developers this morning, where it made several announcements that may be of interest to Mac and iOS users. First off, the company announced cross-platform add-ins that will deeply integrate third-party apps and services into multiple versions of Office, including Office for iOS.
Microsoft’s add-ins (which can be thought of as plug-ins) will enable a range of third-party services to integrate with Office on Windows, iOS, Android, and presumably Mac when the new Office 2016 is released. For example, Uber might be built into Outlook, letting users call for rides directly from their calendar appointments. Another example shown on stage was PicHit, an app offering a photo marketplace within the PowerPoint app.
Uber in Outlook, image via The Verge
The implementation sounds similar to Apple’s own use of app extensions, letting third-party apps interact with Microsoft’s offerings in new ways, but with Microsoft’s tools, add-ins created for one platform will work on all platforms. On stage, third-party apps integrated into Office were shown off on an iPad and an iPhone 6.
According to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, deep cross-platform app integration is aimed at preventing users from needing to jump from application to application to accomplish tasks. The company’s vision is to make it easier to use Office apps and various services regardless of the device the software is being run on, turning Office into a platform.
Microsoft is also planning to make it easier for developers to bring their iOS and Android apps over to Windows 10, its upcoming cross-platform operating system, by releasing new tools. iOS developers will be able to compile Objective C code using Microsoft’s Visual Studio to quickly create apps compatible with Windows 10.
On stage at the conference, Terry Myerson demonstrated an iPad app that had been converted to a Windows 10 app. Getting Android apps on Windows 10 is even easier, as Windows 10 includes “an Android subsystem” to support Java and C++ code Android apps are already built from. App availability has always been the major downside to Microsoft’s Windows mobile devices, as they lag behind iOS and Android when it comes to the number of apps available.
The introduction of tools to make it simple to port existing apps over to Windows 10 could be a huge boon for Microsoft, growing its App Store exponentially in the coming months.
Microsoft’s final Apple-related announcement was the introduction of a Mac version of Visual Studio Code, its former Windows-only coding app. According to Microsoft’s site, the app is free and aimed at letting developers build and debug modern web and cloud applications.
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