Find a security flaw and United Airlines will pay you in… miles
In the world of digital security, bug hunting is the practice of finding holes in a corporation’s security and selling it back so the problem can be quietly fixed. Companies such as Microsoft know that it’s far cheaper to pay researchers up to $100,000 up-front, rather than facing a massive public security breach shortly afterward. United Airlines has just started one of its own bug hunting programs, but the airline treats security experts much like it does its disgruntled passengers. Rather than just pay fees out in cold, hard, useful cash, the Joffrey Baratheon of airlines has decided to offer united air miles as a bounty.
The announcement comes just a few weeks after both the FBI and TSA asked airlines to start looking for theoretical hacks to their in-flight WiFi. It was prompted after security researcher Chris Roberts joked on Twitter that, on a United flight to Syracuse, he was able to access the airplane’s oxygen mask controls. Naturally, he was met by FBI agents as soon as the plane touched down, and was promptly banned from flying with the airline.
As Wired points out, United have clearly missed the point with its bug hunting program, since it discourages people from looking for in-flight vulnerabilities. The rules also seem to discourage people from looking for issues that could hijack a plane, something that Hugo Teso claimed he could do at least two years ago. Instead, hackers are asked to poke holes in United’s terrestrial operations, including its online authentication, mobile apps and remote code executions.
If, however, you’re able to find and prove a remote code execution, you could receive a maximum payout of one million miles for your trouble. Although, knowing United as we do, there’ll probably be some subclause that means you can only use your reward every third Sunday, and then only on the now-axed Newark to Columbia route.
Filed under: Transportation, Wireless, Software
Via: Wired
Source: United
New VR game lets you be the bullet
Remember Superhot? It let you dodge bullets by controlling time à la The Matrix, but a new VR game takes that premise even farther by making you the bullet. Drift is a game for Samsung’s Gear VR, developed by a pair of programmers during the course of Oculus’ Mobile VR Jam. The idea is pretty simple: after a bullet is fired from a gun, your viewpoint changes to its trajectory. Time is considerably slowed down and you can alter the bullet’s path by looking left or right. You move around the bizarre orange environment past the crash test dummy-like characters until you spot your target: the green guy.
It reminds us a bit of the iconic intro to Lord of War, which tracks a bullet from fabrication to kill. Drift is more of a gangster take on the idea, and lets you refine your search using red “trails” left behind from previous failed attempts. Players can also seek bonuses to unlock achievements and get improved slow motion control. The developers chose the orange and white LoFi look to suit the mobile constraints of the Gear VR, but told Polygon they’re considering an Oculus VR PC version with better quality. They plan to expand the idea with new environments “to make a more complete and challenging experience,” but if you happen to have a Gear VR, you can try out the beta right now.
https://player.vimeo.com/video/126716070?color=990000&title=0&byline=0&portrait=0
Filed under: Gaming, Wearables, Samsung
Via: Polygon
Source: Oculus Mobile VR Jam
Google’s self-driving cars will crisscross Mountain View starting this summer
Google‘s self-driving car may be cute, but the Mountain View-based giant is dead serious about it. Following the introduction of the bug-eyed two-seater in May 2014, Google announced it’s now ready to let a fleet of 25 self-driving cars loose on the roads of Silicon Valley.
“Loose” may be an overstatement though, as the cars won’t be fully autonomous – as required by California regulations, a human will be in the driver’s seat at all times, ready to take over should the complex software driving the car found itself in difficulty. The cars will be equipped with steering wheels and pedals, controls that Google hopes to make obsolete within a few years.
Google’s cars have reportedly drove themselves over 1.7 million miles since 2009, but not without incidents. Google revealed earlier this week that its vehicles were involved in 11 minor accidents so far. That sounds very little, but the rate is actually higher than the national average of 0.3 incidents per 100,000 miles. However, Google claims the higher incident rate is because the national average is grossly under-reported. Most of the 11 accidents were caused by other cars, according to the company.
Beginning this summer, 25 self-driving prototypes will crisscross Mountain View and the surrounding areas at a top speed of 25 mph. Google will launch a website for the community to report feedback on the trial and offer regular updates on its findings.
Google says its software has already mastered driving under normal conditions, and it gets smarter all the time. The software powering Google’s cutesy prototypes is actually the same as the one running a fleet of Toyota and Lexus factory models that Google has been using for several years now. The information collected by each vehicle is fed into the entire fleet, meaning that Google is amassing huge amounts of info every day. However, Google still needs to prepare for all the unexpected conditions that could appear on the road, and this almost infinite potential for edge cases is what’s going to make or break the project.
As for when commercial self-driving vehicles will hit the road on their own, project lead Chris Urmson said that it’s close to five years. Unfortunately, Google said the same thing in 2012. But who said it’s easy to create a self-driving car?
Are smartphones really harmful to our health?
It’s the year 2015 and mobile technology has completely engraved itself into our lives. We all spend so much time with our smartphones, tablets and wearables that it can be easy to forget that there used to be a time when none of that stuff was around. But with the ever-growing number of connected devices constantly being added to our lives, many folks around the world have been attempting to ascertain whether or not connected devices are actually extremely harmful to our health – not only when it comes to poor posture when using our devices, but also when talking of radiation effects on the body. Can radiation emitted from mobile devices actually harm us? A group of 200 biological and health scientists from around the world are trying to make this concern public knowledge, and they’re calling on the UN to help them.
In a report published by Russian news organization RT, these scientists from all different parts of the world are advocating for the United Nations, World Health Organization and various national governments to help develop strict regulations concerning cellphones (and other mobile devices) that create electromagnetic fields.
Dr. Martin Blank, from the Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics at Columbia University, warns:
Putting it bluntly (cellphones) are damaging the living cells in our bodies and killing many of us prematurely… We have created something that is harming us, and it is getting out of control. Before Edison’s light bulb there was very little electromagnetic radiation in our environment. The levels today are very many times higher than natural background levels, and are growing rapidly because of all the new devices that emit this radiation.
Now, Dr. Blank’s opinion isn’t being formed out of the blue, and is absolutely backed up by proven facts. But we should talk about specifics before we all start breaking out the aluminum foil.
Electromagnetic Radiation
Before we get any further, let’s talk about electromagnetic radiation and how it can be harmful to us. For starters, your cellphone does produce a certain amount of radiation. You can thank your Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G and LTE connections for that. But radiation can be found in all other aspects of our technological lives as well – radios, televisions, microwaves and more. The real factor we need to look at here is the difference between ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, and how the two types affect us differently.
Ionizing vs. non-ionizing radiation
Radiation that produces enough energy to move around atoms in a molecule, but not enough to remove electrons completely, is known as non-ionizing radiation. 
Examples of non-ionizing radiation include microwaves, sound waves and visible light, just to name a few. In contrast, ionizing radiation does have enough energy to move around tightly bound electrons from atoms, which in turn, creates ions. This much more powerful form of radiation encompasses ultraviolet, x-rays and, yes, even gamma rays.
Non-ionizing radiation ranges from extremely low-frequency radiation through microwave and infrared radiation. The Environmental Protection Agency explains:
Extremely low-frequency radiation has very long wave lengths (on the order of a million meters or more) and frequencies in the range of 100 Hertz or cycles per second or less. Radio frequencies have wave lengths of between 1 and 100 meters and frequencies in the range of 1 million to 100 million Hertz. Microwaves that we use to heat food have wavelengths that are about 1 hundredth of a meter long and have frequencies of about 2.5 billion Hertz.
When talking of ionizing radiation, higher frequency ultraviolet radiation starts to have enough energy to actually break chemical bonds. This is why so much precaution needs to be taken when being exposed to x-rays or ultraviolet rays. X-ray and gamma ray radiation have very high frequency, beginning in the range of 100 billion billion Hertz and very short wavelengths like 1 million millionth of a meter. The EPA says “(This type of radiation) has enough energy to strip off electrons or, in the case of very high-energy radiation, break up the nucleus of atoms.”
So, what about smartphones?
Our smartphones produce non-ionizing radiation, but at an extremely low frequency level. All of the connections going to and from your mobile device all operate at different frequencies.
- Wi-Fi connections operate between five main frequency ranges: 2.4GHz, 3.6GHz, 4.9GHz, 5GHz and 5.9GHz
- Bluetooth operates on the 2.4GHz band
- Cellular connectivity in smartphones operate on a multitude of frequencies, anywhere from 700MHz to 2.7GHz
All of these connections produced by our smartphones don’t come anywhere close to the radio frequencies found in x-rays or ultraviolet rays.
All of these connections combined don’t come anywhere close to the radio frequencies found in x-rays or ultraviolet rays. In fact, the only effects that these types of radio frequencies can have on the human body don’t have anything to do with cancer or tumors… but it has everything to do with how hot your smartphone gets.
An increased amount of radiofrequency energy from smartphones can actually cause some harm to your body by means of tissue heating, but this doesn’t take place as often as you might think. Most of the energy produced by frequencies from mobile phones is absorbed by the skin and other superficial tissues, which results in a negligible rise in temperature in the brain and throughout other portions of the body.
The World Health Organization goes on to say:
To date, research does not suggest any consistent evidence of adverse health effects from exposure to radiofrequency fields at levels below those that cause tissue heating. Further, research has not been able to provide support for a causal relationship between exposure to electromagnetic fields and self-reported symptoms, or “electromagnetic hypersensitivity”.
Okay, so the World Health Organization themselves claim that there are no proven short-term effects smartphones can have on the human body (aside from a small amount of tissue heating). But what about the long-term?
The World Health Organization categorizes cell phone radiation emissions as ‘possible human carcinogens’.
The majority of epidemiological research examining long-term risks performed in the past have focused specifically on the association between brain tumors and cell phone use. Now, cellphones didn’t become part of our lives until the 90’s, so researchers and scientists are having trouble performing the necessary research. Many types of cancers aren’t detectable until years after the interactions that led to the tumor, so current studies can only really assess those cancers that become evident within shorter periods of time. Even so, the WHO explains that “results of animal studies consistently show no increased cancer risk for long-term exposure to radiofrequency fields.”
But, seeing as how the World Health Organization can’t disprove the fact that cell phones emit harmful radiation, the organization is forced to categorize these emissions as “possible human carcinogens”, even though, time and time again, extensive research studies have shown that there’s not even a faint clue that radiation from cell phones can cause cancer.
Are we really at risk?
Take a look at the video below. That’s Dr. Martin Blank, the face of this 200-scientist operation that claims unregulated use of radio frequency radiation from cell phones, Wi-Fi and other means are becoming a public health crisis. To be fair, this group isn’t only talking about cell phones in their argument, but it is one of the highlighted examples in their public awareness video and on their website.
Don’t get me wrong… the point of this isn’t to call out these scientists on their bluff, because they’re not bluffing. Radiation being produced by electronic devices is a concern, though it’s not as bad as they’re making it out to be. Telling the public (and the UN) that cell phones are “killing us prematurely” is in fact correct… but it also instills a sense of fear into folks who don’t know enough about the subject to disagree. I’m not an advocate against human safety in the slightest, but throughout the group’s appeal, cell phones are a major part of the argument, and they shouldn’t be. Sure, smartphones rarely ever leave our sights nowadays, but they’re not anywhere close to the main cause of brain tumors, cancer or any other harmful diseases out there.
Circling back
If you don’t want to take the risk, there are certainly a few things you can do to remove this type of radiation from your life. In general, the further away you are from your cell phone, the less radiation will make its way through your body. Using either a Bluetooth or, better yet, a wired headset to receive phone calls will help a bit, too. You can even travel to a “white-zone” (radiation-free area) that’s been mandated by the government. In fact, the group of scientists is actually advocating for the creation of more radiation-free zones around the nation.
So to answer the question, yes, your smartphone may technically be ‘killing you’, but so are a number of other everyday items like microwave popcorn and canned tomatoes. But unlike these potentially harmful foods, there is no solid evidence to back up the claim that radiation emitted from cell phones, tablets or wearables will give you any form of cancer, tumors or any other harmful disease.
Do you think we should be concerned about electromagnetic radiation emitting from our smartphones? If not, do you have any concerns on the topic? Be sure to voice your opinions in the comment section below.
Console publishers Konami and Square Enix switch focus to mobile
Konami and Square Enix are two of the largest and most well-known publishers in the console gaming space, but according to recent comments by both companies, the two are turning their attention to the mobile market. This isn’t just a safe hedge, both companies are looking to aggressively pursue mobile gaming as their main focus.
According to a translated interview with Nikkei Trendy Net, Konami’s new CEO Hideki Hayakawa says that the company will be looking at mobile as it main platform going forward.
“We will pursue mobile games aggressively. Our main platform will be mobiles. Following the pay-as-you-play model of games like Power pro and Winning Eleven with additional content, our games must move from selling things like “items” to selling things like “features.” – Konami
Interestingly, the company mentioned a pay-as-you-play model, which will focus on offering additional content and features for cash, rather than items and power-ups typically associated with in-app purchases. We’ll have to see if this business model proves successful or not in the mobile space, as the freemium segment is by far the most popular.
The company has been having problems in the console market lately, and not just limited to its dispute with Hideo Kojima and issues with its horror demo P.T. The company has recently seen itself de-list from the New York Stock exchange and is in the process of restructuring its headquarters, both of which have been viewed as signs of internal trouble and likely cost-cutting measures for the company.
Square Enix has echoed similar sentiments, suggesting that it is becoming increasingly difficult to turn a substantial profit in the existing console market. Instead, the company’s most recent earning reports saw a huge 50 percent growth in revenues, driven by MMO subscriptions and mobile games, including its popular Final Fantasy series.
“smart devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs are spreading rapidly, while the console game markets in North America and Europe are increasingly competitive and oligopolistic” – Square Enix
This isn’t to say that these companies will be abandoning mobile completely. Popular titles, such as Metal Gear Solid V, will still be heading to consoles in the future. Instead, they are realigning their businesses to keep up with one of the fastest growing sectors in the gaming market. On the up side, this might mean that a few more high profile titles will make their way into the mobile space in the future.
Konami and Square Enix aren’t the only publishers interested in the growing mobile gaming market. EA has brought its popular Need for Speed series over to Android, SEGA has published a few mobile games already, and even Nintendo is planning a range of games specifically for mobile through until 2017 and probably beyond.
What do the gamers out there make of the news? Is it great to see more attention for mobile, or is it disappointing that two legacy companies have lost faith in dedicated consoles?
Console publishers Konami and Square Enix switch focus to mobile
Konami and Square Enix are two of the largest and most well-known publishers in the console gaming space, but according to recent comments by both companies, the two are turning their attention to the mobile market. This isn’t just a safe hedge, both companies are looking to aggressively pursue mobile gaming as their main focus.
According to a translated interview with Nikkei Trendy Net, Konami’s new CEO Hideki Hayakawa says that the company will be looking at mobile as it main platform going forward.
“We will pursue mobile games aggressively. Our main platform will be mobiles. Following the pay-as-you-play model of games like Power pro and Winning Eleven with additional content, our games must move from selling things like “items” to selling things like “features.” – Konami
Interestingly, the company mentioned a pay-as-you-play model, which will focus on offering additional content and features for cash, rather than items and power-ups typically associated with in-app purchases. We’ll have to see if this business model proves successful or not in the mobile space, as the freemium segment is by far the most popular.
The company has been having problems in the console market lately, and not just limited to its dispute with Hideo Kojima and issues with its horror demo P.T. The company has recently seen itself de-list from the New York Stock exchange and is in the process of restructuring its headquarters, both of which have been viewed as signs of internal trouble and likely cost-cutting measures for the company.
Square Enix has echoed similar sentiments, suggesting that it is becoming increasingly difficult to turn a substantial profit in the existing console market. Instead, the company’s most recent earning reports saw a huge 50 percent growth in revenues, driven by MMO subscriptions and mobile games, including its popular Final Fantasy series.
“smart devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs are spreading rapidly, while the console game markets in North America and Europe are increasingly competitive and oligopolistic” – Square Enix
This isn’t to say that these companies will be abandoning mobile completely. Popular titles, such as Metal Gear Solid V, will still be heading to consoles in the future. Instead, they are realigning their businesses to keep up with one of the fastest growing sectors in the gaming market. On the up side, this might mean that a few more high profile titles will make their way into the mobile space in the future.
Konami and Square Enix aren’t the only publishers interested in the growing mobile gaming market. EA has brought its popular Need for Speed series over to Android, SEGA has published a few mobile games already, and even Nintendo is planning a range of games specifically for mobile through until 2017 and probably beyond.
What do the gamers out there make of the news? Is it great to see more attention for mobile, or is it disappointing that two legacy companies have lost faith in dedicated consoles?
The Galaxy S6 Active appears in Samsung Plus benefits scheme listing
It’s hardly a surprise that Samsung is planning on releasing an Active variant of its Galaxy S6 flagship smartphone. In recent days we’ve seen leaked press images, carrier-branded pictures and rumours that the rugged handset will support removables batteries and MicroSD cards. Today, the Galaxy S6 Active has been mentioned in a list detailing the devices that are eligible for the Samsung Plus reward program.
The Samsung Plus program provides additional benefits to valued customers, offering you peace of mind with each Samsung device purchased. A number of points are awarded, with the amount decreasing according to how much time has passed between the product’s launch date and when the device was registered in the scheme that has Silver, Gold and Platinum levels of benefits.
According to the list of devices below, the Galaxy S6 Active’s launch date was the same as its non-rugged siblings, although it hasn’t appeared on sale anywhere just yet. But the increased frequency of leaks would point to the Galaxy S6 Active being announced soon, with AT&T being the first carrier to offer it.
Source: Samsung
Via: PhoneArena
Come comment on this article: The Galaxy S6 Active appears in Samsung Plus benefits scheme listing
The ASUS ZenWatch is receiving its Android Wear 5.1.1 update
The ASUS ZenWatch is the latest smartwatch to be updated to Android Wear 5.1.1, in what is likely to be a staggered roll-out. LG’s Watch Urbane was the first to receive the update, and its good to see the update appearing for other members of the Android Wear family.
Reddit user Verdes8891 noticed his ZenWatch updating itself to build 1.1.1.1910765 while he was at work and was quick-witted enough to take the above image.
The update brings several features such as wrist gestures, always-on apps, and the ability to draw emoji’s on the watch display. One notable absentee is WiFi support. This is because, much like the LG G Watch, the ZenWatch doesn’t have the necessary WiFi component. The update should be hitting your ZenWatch soon, in the meantime, you can always get a sense of what Android 5.1.1 will bring by having a look at our walk-through here.
Source: Reddit
Come comment on this article: The ASUS ZenWatch is receiving its Android Wear 5.1.1 update
Amazon drops the price of the Fire Phone to £99, again
Remember Amazon’s Fire Phone? It hasn’t even celebrated its first birthday yet but you’d be forgiven for never giving the retailer’s first smartphone a second thought. In a bid to rectify the device’s original sky-high pricing, the company took a hit and dropped the cost of the Fire Phone to £99 back in January. Now it’s back. For the next week, you’ll be able to pick up the 32GB model for under a ton, with the 64GB version setting you back £179. For some reason, the 64GB model is actually £30 more than it was during Amazon’s previous Fire sale, but you’re still making a £200 saving on either O2-locked device.
Despite being a complete flop, Amazon has said that this won’t be last Fire Phone we’ll see. Like the original Kindle, the company reckons it will learn from its mistakes and come back with better devices. It could mean that today’s promotion will help clear the way for something new from the internet giant — it certainly can’t expect customers to remain interested in an aging phone that it’s all but given up on.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Amazon
Source: Amazon UK
Panasonic debuts first Firefox-powered Smart TVs in Europe
Panasonic lost some mystique when it stopped making those amazing plasma sets, but its new Firefox OS-powered 4K Smart TVs are showing a return to form. First revealed at CES this year, those sets are now available in Europe and will be rolling out to the US and elsewhere in the coming months. The Smart TV space has become crowded with players including Google’s Android TV platform, Samsung’s Tizen and Roku, to name just a few. However, Mozilla touts several unique advantages to its own platform, like plenty of HTML5 web apps including Netflix and Hulu, along with the ability to share content from any device with a Firefox browser.
New models include the curved 4K Viera 65-inch CR850 and 55-inch CR730, along with various flat 4K models in the CX series (pricing and models will vary by region, but we haven’t seen any in shops yet). Along with the smart features, Panasonic has a new wide color phosphor “4K Studio Master” picture engine it says will deliver professional color accuracy thanks to 3D look-up tables (LUTs) used by film industry color pros. The CR models also sports HDR and 10-bit color capability for more subtle gradations between colors — features that will be de rigeur for the fanciest new sets this year. Early previews are promising so far, but expect pricing to be pretty high — though not 4K OLED high.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Mozilla
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