Best iOS app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time

Everyone likes Apple apps, but sometimes the best ones are a bit expensive. Now and then, developers put paid apps on sale for free for a limited time, but you have to snatch them up while you have the chance. Here are the latest and greatest iOS app deals available from the iOS App Store.

These apps normally cost money and this sale lasts for a limited time only. If you go to the App Store and it says the app costs money, that means the deal has expired and you will be charged. 

Star Wars Pinball 5

Set in a galaxy far, far away, Star Wars Pinball lets you interact with the most iconic characters, and relive the greatest moments of the Star Wars universe mixed with exciting pinball action.

Available on:

iOS

Space Weather

Space weather is the concept of changing environmental conditions in near-Earth space or the space from the Sun’s atmosphere to the Earth’s atmosphere. This app tracks those conditions.

Available on:

iOS

5Coins Expense

5coins is a simple, beautiful and smart app for tracking your daily expense. It lets you know how much you are spending, when and where your money goes.

Available on:

iOS

Throwback Stories

Throwback Stories helps you create stunning Instagram Stories from your memories, providing a set of useful tools to enhance and animate your stories.

Available on:

iOS

Ella

CalcKey allows you to perform calculations right within iMessage, without even having to leave the app, so you can finally work out exactly how much your friend owes you for dinner quickly and easily.

Available on:

iOS

Metadata

Wether you shoot on your phone, DSLR, or create images in your favorite photo editing application, Metadata will show you your image measurements, DPI, file size, location data, and device information.

Available on:

iOS

Editors’ Recommendations

• Best iOS app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time
• Best iOS app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time
• Best iOS app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time
• Best iOS app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time
• Best iOS app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time

Kitchen Gadgets Gift Guide

Up your cooking game with these unique kitchen gadgets and take boring, everyday recipes to the next level. You might even find something to wrap up for the foodie in your life, like the Marcato Atlas Pasta Machine or a granite molcajete.

Marcato Atlas Pasta MachineThe machine might be made in Italy, but that home-made pasta’s going to be made right in your kitchen! And also Italy if you live in Italy.Amazon$74.99WishlistPepper Mill Imports Traditional Copper Coffee Spice MillThis is what you pull out when you want everyone to know you’re serious about your pepper.Walmart$71.99WishlistBOJ Commercial Grade Manual Can Opener with Angled BarThis is a can opener designed for the back of a busy restaurant, but there’s plenty of great ways you could use it – a little catering business, a fundraiser or food service, tailgating, or a big group picnic.Amazon$76.95WishlistBella electric ceramic tea kettleCombine the timeless style of an old fashioned ceramic kettle with modern features like a 1200 Watt heating element, LED lights, and more.Amazon$49.99WishlistInstant Pot Duo60 6-quart 7-in-1 pressure cookerI’m not even sure why we’re writing a description about this. It’s a 7-in-1 pressure cooker that could make yogurt if you want. If you don’t have one already, you should. And if you do have one, you’re probably too distracted thinking about the pot roast you’re cooking right now.Amazon$99.99WishlistOXA Powerful 4-in-1 Hand BlenderA hand blender like this might not get all the chunks out, but it’s a lot less expensive and a lot easier to use than the big cahunas. Plus, who doesn’t enjoy a chunky salsa or a little fruit pulp?Amazon$39.99WishlistKitchenAid 7-Speed Digital Hand MixerIs there a better time for a digital hand mixer than the holiday season? So much baking! So many cookies. Plenty of stuff to use one of these on.Amazon$49.99WishlistBialetti 12-ounce Stovetop Espresso MakerIf you are into really strong coffee, and one tiny cup of espresso just isn’t enough, you might want to invest in this. It doesn’t quite make espresso because it doesn’t have that much pressure, but the result is a drink that’ll remind you of mornings in Italy.Amazon$26.74WishlistGourmia Cordless Electric Milk Frother & HeaterEverybody knows the best part of any coffee drink is the milk foam. If you search your heart and know that to be true, this is the machine you need to start with before making your daily cappuccino.Amazon$39.99WishlistStar Wars R2-D2 coffee pressI mean, sure, if you need help hiding the technical layouts to the Galactic Empire’s largest, most deadly weapon he can do that. But if what you really need is just a nice cup of coffee to wake up with, he can do that, too.Think Geek$29.99WishlistVictoria Cast Iron Bacon Press and Meat WeightYou’ll feel like the shift cook in the back of a 60s-style diner with this meat weight. You’ll also cook your bacon and paninis a lot faster.Amazon$29.17WishlistImusa 8-inch Granite MolcajeteThis little mortar and pestle is perfect for guac or salsa. You can make it in the bowl and it’s nice enough you don’t have to transfer to something else. Just grind and serve!Amazon$13.99WishlistMicroplane Classic Zester/GraterShred your cheese and veggies with ease using this grater. Just, you know, don’t grate too close. No one wants that.Amazon$10.36WishlistWestmark Germany Heavy Duty Stainless Steel Wire Cheese SlicerYou know what kitchen gadget you should never have to worry about? Your cheese slicer. Do you have one? Is it working? Buy one of these and all the cheese you buy will know it’s not staying unsliced forever.Amazon$12.79WishlistZalik 5-blade spiralizerPasta noodles are so old fashioned. Get with the times and make veggie noodles. They’re healthier, more colorful, and some even add all new flavors to otherwise boring dishes. Also, Sweet Potato Noodles are awesome.Amazon$24.99WishlistLavatools Javelin Pro digital meat thermometerNo one likes undercooked meat. Take the mystery out of your cooking with this meat thermomter and cook like a pro.Amazon$49.99WishlistTempered Glass 10-piece nesting bowlsThere’s nothing worse than wasting space to store your bowls all around the kitchen, and then wasting time to find the right one. These nesting bowls fit inside eachother, saving space and time.Bed Bath and Beyond$29.99WishlistMusic Notes Measuring Spoon SetMeasuring spoons are a critical thing in everyones kitchen, but they don’t have to be boring and plain. These musical note ones add some style and fun to the everyday task of measuring your stuff.Uncommon Goods$52.00WishlistBottle Cleaning Beads set of 2Use these cleaning beads to reach the bottom of those long tumblers and water bottles that you just can’t reach otherwise.Uncommon Goods$5.99WishlistStar Wars R2-D2 Measuring Cup SetThis set breaks R2-D2 down into different measuring cups at every level. There are no hidden tactical plans inside, so I don’t think this is canon.Amazon$20.00WishlistPioneer Woman 6 Quart Portable Slow CookerSlow cookers speak for themselves, but these beautifully designed options are even more desirable. Treat your loved ones to a slow cooker they won’t be ashamed to have on the counter.Walmart$25.00Wishlist

How are you liking Google’s AR Stickers?

AR Stickers are a ton of fun – just make sure you’ve got plenty of battery.

Google finally launched AR Stickers for the Pixel and Pixel 2 on December 11, and at least for me, it’s resulted in a lot of time spent placing porgs, stormtroopers, and Demogorgons all around my apartment and everywhere else I go.

AR Stickers are already quite impressive even after just a few days of being available to the public, and with them now out and about, we thought it’d be fun to check in with our forum users to see how you all are taking to Google’s latest software trick.

Here are some of your answers.

Ca_lvn
12-11-2017 07:53 PM

“

This one is a battery killer and phone heater kind of fun to play with for the kids though

Reply

dsignori
12-12-2017 11:10 AM

“

The animation in the Stranger Things characters is awesome … Eleven takes out the Demogorgon 🙂

https://photos.app.goo.gl/zGS1Y8VhAWMPKlHI3

Reply

Retinella
12-11-2017 02:13 PM

“

AR is fun for a little while but it kills the battery, at least it did when I had the iPhone X.

Reply

Larzuk
12-11-2017 01:00 PM

“

this is friggin awesome!

Reply

Now, we’d like to pass the question on to you – How have you been liking AR Stickers?

Join the conversation in the forums!

How to use Smart Lock to unlock your phone automatically

Using Smart Lock is an easy way to mix security with convenience — keep your Android locked unless you want it unlocked.

Introduced with Android 5.0 Lollipop, Smart Lock lets you set things up so that your phone unlocks its screen when certain conditions are met without entering your password or PIN or fingerprint. You’ll find the setting is the Security section of your phone settings, and you begin by tapping it and entering your PIN or passphrase.

Once enabled, Smart Lock has five ways it can intelligently keep your phone unlocked for you but locked if anyone else happens to find it. You might not see every option on every phone so take a peek at your user manual if you can’t find a setting.

On-body Detection

On-body Detection uses your phone’s motion sensors like the accelerometer or gyroscope to keep it unlocked while it’s in your hand, your pocket or a bag. If it senses that you’re in motion and you’ve unlocked your phone with any other method it stays unlocked. When things stop moving it locks the screen.

Of course, if you have unlocked the screen it will stay unlocked when someone else is carrying it, too. On-body Detection tries to “learn” the cadence of how you move, but it’s far from perfect and not something that should ever be considered secure — it’s simply a convenience feature. To set it up:

• Tap On-body Detection in the Smart Lock settings menu
• Toggle the slider switch

Just remember that it may take a few minutes for your phone to realize it’s no longer on your body and should lock the screen, and if someone else picks it up they won’t have to enter your password or fingerprint to use it.

Trusted Places

Trusted Places uses what’s called geofencing to keep your phone unlocked when you’re in a specific area and locked everywhere else.

Geofencing uses your phone’s location system to define a small area around a specific point inside a virtual fence. The software can tell the rest of the system whether your phone is inside or outside of that fence, and things like unlocking your screen can happen while you’re inside the fence. Geofencing is used for a lot of things, not just Smart Lock.

You’ll need to set up a location for your home and work places, and for Trusted Places to work you’ll need to have location turned on and an internet connection. Once you’ve enabled location (any of the three options are suitable) you can set up Trusted Places like this:

• In the Smart Lock settings menu, tap Trusted Places, then tap Home
• Tap Turn on this location and you’ll be asked to choose a “Home” address if you haven’t already set one up
• Set up other places to keep your phone unlocked by tapping Add trusted place

Geofencing is only as accurate as your phone’s location sensors. As long as apps like Google Maps or turn-by-turn navigation work for you, Trusted Places will work. And be just as accurate. Just remember that your phone doesn’t know who is holding it, just where it’s being held and will unlock itself for anyone inside a Trusted Place.

Trusted devices

Your phone can stay unlocked as long as it is connected to a specific Bluetooth device (or in the proximity of an NFC tag on older models) using the Trusted devices setting.

Bluetooth has a very limited range. We sometimes wish it were longer, like when we walk away while wearing headphones, but that limit (in the neighborhood of 30 to 40 feet) is perfect to use as a leash for Trusted devices. As long as you have a good connection to any Bluetooth device — your watch, a luggage or key tag, your car, anything — your phone will stay unlocked. Once the connection drops it locks itself.

You probably were prompted to set up Trusted devices when you first pair a new Bluetooth device, but you can do it manually like this:

• Tap Trusted devices in the Smart Lock settings menu
• Tap Add trusted device then tap Bluetooth
• Choose a paired device from the list

Trusted NFC tags that have been set up previously will continue to work, but you can no longer modify or set up a new Trusted NFC device.

As mentioned, the Trusted devices setting is dependent on your Bluetooth connection. When your phone senses it doesn’t have a good connection to any Bluetooth device you have specified it will lock itself. When it si connected it stays unlocked, so if another person has your phone and your watch or keys (or whatever devices you used) it will stay unlocked!

Trusted face

You can use the front-facing camera on your phone to scan your face and unlock it using the Trusted face option.

We’ll start by saying that this isn’t designed for security — anyone with a half-decent photo of your face can use it to unlock your phone. It’s not the same thing as using Iris scanning on a Galaxy phone or Face ID on an iPhone, and is simply using facial recognition software -— the same facial recognition you see in Google Photos. It’s another convenience setting and one that’s kind of cool.

To set up Trusted face:

• Tap Trusted face in the Smart Lock settings menu
• Tap Set up and follow the on-screen directions to scan your face

Depending on the camera hardware inside your phone this will take a minute or two. You’ll need to position your face inside a defined area and watch for feedback that it’s scanning it. It’s not hard.

If you’re not getting accurate results using Trusted face you can refine the way your phone “sees” your face by using the Improve face matching setting.

• In the Smart Lock settings menu, tap on Trusted face
• Tap Improve face matching
• Tap Next and follow the on-screen prompt

Just remember that any photo of your face that’s in focus can be used to unlock your phone — including photos you have posted on Facebook or other social media. Never think of Trusted face as a high-security option.

Trusted voice

You can unlock your phone using the same “OK Google” phrase you use for Google Assistant by setting up Trusted voice.

Actively listening for your voice while the screen is off takes processing and battery power, so you’ll not find the feature available on every Android phone. Once your phone hears the “OK Google” phrase it needs to check and make sure the inflection and tone match what it recognizes as your voice, and if it decides it’s you speaking it will unlock itself. Your phone will need to hear you clearly to be able to make the match, and if it does you won’t have to enter a password or scan your fingerprint.

To set up Trusted voice:

• Make sure that you’ve enabled and set up the “OK Google” hotword for either Google Assistant or Google Now
• Open the Google app from your app drawer
• Access the settings menu by tapping the icon in the top left side (the Hamburger menu)
• Tap Voice then tap OK Google detection
• Look for any or all of the following settings and enable them:
  • From and screen
  • Always on

Once complete, you can add a Trusted voice in the Smart Lock settings menu by taping Trusted voice.

As mentioned, not every phone supports Trusted voice. Even if your phone does support the feature, it will only be as accurate as the keyword to trigger Assistant or OK Google is. If you have trouble getting your phone to recognize your voice to use Assistant or OK Google, for example, you have a heavy accent or trouble speaking clearly, you’ll have the same issues using it. On recent phones using newer hardware, it uses very little battery and you’ll probably never notice it, but it can also have a dramatic impact on battery life on older phones.

Convenience versus security

None of these methods is as secure as a PIN, pattern, password, or fingerprint. We shouldn’t forget that. But in many cases, they can be much more convenient, and making it convenient to unlock your phone makes it more likely that you’ll set it up with a screen lock in the first place. A locked screen with Trusted face (for example) is much more secure than a phone with no screen lock even though it can be fooled with a good photo.

That’s the goal of Smart Lock — to get you to lock your phone and your personal data. When everyone uses a good screen lock it becomes harder for a phone thief to use or resell them and the incentive to steal a phone in the first place goes way down. Not only are you protecting your data and any data you have about your contacts, you’re helping everyone when you lock your screen.

Take a minute and set up a good screen lock and use Smart Lock to make things easy if you haven’t already!

The Morning After: Thursday, December 14th 2017

Hey, good morning!

In cased you missed it, we got driven down an actual highway while wearing a VR headset, did cartwheels in a next-generation VR device and heard all about T-Mobile launching a TV service. That last one has nothing to do with VR. Yet.

Its “world-scale” tracking is surprisingly solid.
Cartwheels in VR are possible now, with HTC’s Vive Focus

After fully unveiling the Vive Focus, HTC finally allowed lucky folks like Richard Lai to properly test out the six-degrees-of-freedom (6DoF) standalone VR headset. For the first time, you can actually walk around in VR without being tethered to a PC or confined to a fixed space. It’s a truly mobile virtual reality solution — more so than smartphone-based VR headsets, which only let you look around on the spot (3DoF). We had a play.

The ‘mind off’ Symbioz car sells us the future of commuting.
Renault’s concept EV drove me at 80MPH while I wore a VR headset

With fully autonomous vehicles just around the corner, Renault is trying to imagine how we can spend our free time once we surrender the wheel to robots. That involved Steve Dent being plugged into a VR headset while still at the wheel of Renault’s prototype EV. While it was still zooming down a French highway.

Who owns the work of an artificial intelligence?
Modern copyright law can’t keep pace with thinking machines

This past April, engineer Alex Reben developed and posted to YouTube, “Deeply Artificial Trees”, an art piece powered by machine learning, which leveraged old Joy of Painting videos. It generated gibberish audio in the speaking style and tone of Bob Ross, the show’s host. Bob Ross’ estate was not amused, subsequently issuing a DMCA takedown request and having the video knocked offline until very recently. Much like Naruto, the famous selfie-snapping black crested macaque, the Trees debacle raises a number of questions of how the Copyright Act of 1976 and DMCA’s Fair Use doctrine should be applied to a rapidly evolving technological culture, especially as AI and machine learning techniques approach ubiquity.

One more reason to cut the cord.
T-Mobile is bringing its ‘Un-carrier’ ways to TV

AT&T and Verizon have multiplatform video efforts and soon T-Mobile will join them. CEO John Legere announced that his company has acquired video streamer Layer3 TV and plans to launch a TV service in 2018 that offers “real choice.” The magenta folks have been able to shake up mobile packaging several times over the years, so it will be interesting to see how they compete with cable, Netflix and all the other streaming options like Sling TV, Vue and Hulu — but we don’t really have any details yet.

Cut through the spin.
Net neutrality is a double-edged sword for small ISPs

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai claims that repealing Title II net neutrality rules will benefit small ISPs, so we talked to someone who runs one. Stephouse Networks serves about 1,000 people in the Pacific Northwest, and its president Tyler Booth says he has a “love-hate relationship” with the regulations.

But wait, there’s more…

• Trump signs defense spending bill that includes a Kaspersky ban
• Apple invests $390 million into Face ID and AirPod tech
• Pepsi wants a 100 Tesla Semi trucks

The Morning After is a new daily newsletter from Engadget designed to help you fight off FOMO. Who knows what you’ll miss if you don’t Subscribe.

Craving even more? Like us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter.

Have a suggestion on how we can improve The Morning After? Send us a note.

Disney buys Fox’s studios and cable TV channels for $52 billion

After weeks of rumors, the deal is done — Disney will buy up large chunks of Rupert Murdoch’s Fox media empire for $52 billion. The list of what it won’t take is shorter: the Fox News cable channel, broadcast networks and Fox Sports, which are expected to spin off as their own business. The Disney conglomerate adds the Fox movie and TV studios (including big-name franchises like X-Men, Avatar, Alien and The Simpsons), majority control of Hulu, FX cable networks and $13.7 billion in debt. On top of that, Fox is attempting to acquire the parts of UK’s Sky that it doesn’t already own, and if that’s successful then Disney will get it too.

While possible implications for the Marvel Cinematic Universe will come to any comic book movie fan’s mind first — yes, Deadpool and the Fantastic Four are included, not to mention distribution for Star Wars Episode IV — this purchase is all about Disney’s place in a changing TV landscape. As cord-cutting has increased and subscribers have shifted away from mainstays like ESPN, Disney is bulking up and preparing to launch its own streaming service in 2019 — which now has a much larger library to pull from.

As Disney moves into its BAMTech-powered internet video future, the plan is apparently to own as much contnet as possible. What’s unclear is whether regulators will allow this deal to proceed. Even though Comcast has already acquired NBCUniversal, AT&T’s proposed acquisition of Time Warner is undergoing intense scrutiny and this pairing will likely get a similar response.

Developing…

Source: Disney

Disney could soon own Sky

Today, Disney announced its intention to buy 21st Century Fox for $52 billion. It’s a colossal deal that gives the House of Mouse control over the X-Men, a number of TV channels and a majority stake in Hulu. For Brits, the acquisition has another implication: Disney could soon own Sky. That’s because 21st Century Fox is trying to buy the TV provider for roughly £18.5 billion at the moment. The deal is in limbo, however, as the UK’s Culture Secretary Karen Bradley mulls its potential impact on the media industry. Back in September, she referred the case to the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which is expected to give a report in mid-2018.

21st Century Fox already has a 39 percent stake in Sky. Should the deal be approved, that figure will go up to 100 percent. It’s a big if, but were that to happen, Sky would join the multitude of assets that are currently in Disney’s crosshairs. Of course, the Disney deal needs to be approved too — and it’s not clear how long that will take (the consolidation of rights and media properties will likely raise some competition concerns.) But theoretically, if everything is green-lit, Disney will take ownership of Sky. What would that mean for the two businesses? For now, it’s hard to say.

Here’s how Disney described the possible team-up today:

“Sky is one of Europe’s most successful pay television and creative enterprises with innovative and high-quality direct-to-consumer platforms, resonant brands and a strong and respected leadership team. 21st Century Fox remains fully committed to completing the current Sky offer and anticipates that, subject to the necessary regulatory consents, the transaction will close by June 30, 2018. Assuming 21st Century Fox completes its acquisition of Sky prior to closing of the transaction, The Walt Disney Company would assume full ownership of Sky, including the assumption of its outstanding debt, upon closing.”

Would this mean a merging of Now TV and DisneyLife? Or a wealth of exclusive Disney content on Sky? For now, we can only speculate.

Source: The Walt Disney Company (Press Release)

Three men plead guilty to links with 2016 botnet that crashed the web

If you were using sites like Netflix, Spotify, Twitter, Reddit, and Amazon in October 2016, you may recall the service going down for a while in the middle of the month.

The cause was one of those pesky distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, and this week a U.S.-based man admitted to creating the hugely disruptive botnet that made it happen.

Paras Jha, 21, of Fanwood, New Jersey, this week pleaded guilty in a New Jersey court to violating the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act when he created the Mirai malware. Mirai infected more than 300,000 connected devices globally and was used in multiple DDoS attacks on various online services carried out by Jha and others.

As we mentioned at the start, the most significant attack using Mirai struck popular online services in October, 2016. The botnet targeted data centers operated by Dyn, a company providing internet traffic management and optimization services for many high-profile sites. When the DDoS attack was in full swing, internet users were unable to access web addresses assigned to sites serviced by Dyn, causing huge disruption and frustration in the process.

Jha isn’t accused of any direct involvement in the Dyn attack, which could have been carried out by others after he posted the Mirai code on online forums in September or October, 2017, apparently in a bid to make it harder for law enforcement to trace the botnet’s origin back to him.

But Jha did carry out his own DDoS attacks using Mirai, including on Rutger University where he had been a computer science student.

The website of well-known cybersecurity expert Brian Krebs was also knocked offline for several days by Mirai, prompting Krebs to undertake a meticulous investigation that led him to identify Jha as the possible perpetrator behind the damaging botnet.

More guilty pleas

Two other men, Josiah White and Dalton Norman, also entered guilty pleas for using the botnet for criminal gain.

White told the authorities he modified Mirai’s code so it could more effectively identify vulnerable connected devices, among them webcams and baby monitors, before infecting them to increase the power of the botnet. Norman also used his knowledge to help further increase Mirai’s reach and effectiveness.

Jha’s plea agreement reveals that he created Mirai’s code some time around July 2016. He also rented Mirai to others, and even set up a company with White to help rescue businesses affected by the botnet, “like firemen getting paid to put out the fires they started,” as Krebs put it.

Jha could face a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 when he’s sentenced in March, 2018.

Commenting on the case in a release, the FBI’s Timothy Gallagher described Jha’s guilty plea as “a testament to the countless hours of hard work and dedication by law enforcement in the fight against cyber criminals.”

Editors’ Recommendations

• CCleaner downloads are found to be infected with malware, affecting millions
• Insomniac’s ‘Spider-Man’: Everything you need to know
• Canadian man charged in 2014 Yahoo breach expected to plead guilty in the U.S.
• Laugh, cry, or just relax with the best shows streaming on HBO
• A library at your fingertips: The best free Kindle books

Three men plead guilty to links with 2016 botnet that crashed the web

If you were using sites like Netflix, Spotify, Twitter, Reddit, and Amazon in October 2016, you may recall the service going down for a while in the middle of the month.

The cause was one of those pesky distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, and this week a U.S.-based man admitted to creating the hugely disruptive botnet that made it happen.

Paras Jha, 21, of Fanwood, New Jersey, this week pleaded guilty in a New Jersey court to violating the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act when he created the Mirai malware. Mirai infected more than 300,000 connected devices globally and was used in multiple DDoS attacks on various online services carried out by Jha and others.

As we mentioned at the start, the most significant attack using Mirai struck popular online services in October, 2016. The botnet targeted data centers operated by Dyn, a company providing internet traffic management and optimization services for many high-profile sites. When the DDoS attack was in full swing, internet users were unable to access web addresses assigned to sites serviced by Dyn, causing huge disruption and frustration in the process.

Jha isn’t accused of any direct involvement in the Dyn attack, which could have been carried out by others after he posted the Mirai code on online forums in September or October, 2017, apparently in a bid to make it harder for law enforcement to trace the botnet’s origin back to him.

But Jha did carry out his own DDoS attacks using Mirai, including on Rutger University where he had been a computer science student.

The website of well-known cybersecurity expert Brian Krebs was also knocked offline for several days by Mirai, prompting Krebs to undertake a meticulous investigation that led him to identify Jha as the possible perpetrator behind the damaging botnet.

More guilty pleas

Two other men, Josiah White and Dalton Norman, also entered guilty pleas for using the botnet for criminal gain.

White told the authorities he modified Mirai’s code so it could more effectively identify vulnerable connected devices, among them webcams and baby monitors, before infecting them to increase the power of the botnet. Norman also used his knowledge to help further increase Mirai’s reach and effectiveness.

Jha’s plea agreement reveals that he created Mirai’s code some time around July 2016. He also rented Mirai to others, and even set up a company with White to help rescue businesses affected by the botnet, “like firemen getting paid to put out the fires they started,” as Krebs put it.

Jha could face a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 when he’s sentenced in March, 2018.

Commenting on the case in a release, the FBI’s Timothy Gallagher described Jha’s guilty plea as “a testament to the countless hours of hard work and dedication by law enforcement in the fight against cyber criminals.”

Editors’ Recommendations

• CCleaner downloads are found to be infected with malware, affecting millions
• Insomniac’s ‘Spider-Man’: Everything you need to know
• Canadian man charged in 2014 Yahoo breach expected to plead guilty in the U.S.
• Laugh, cry, or just relax with the best shows streaming on HBO
• A library at your fingertips: The best free Kindle books

Microsoft’s Seeing AI app for the blind now reads handwriting

Artificial intelligence took center stage at Microsoft’s AI Summit in San Francisco on Wednesday. Aside from announcing AI smarts for a range of software — from Bing to Office 365 — the tech titan is also ramping up its Seeing AI app for iOS, which uses computer vision to audibly help blind and visually impaired people to see the world around them. According to Microsoft, it’s nabbed 100,000 downloads since its launch in the US earlier this year, which convinced the tech titan to bring it to 35 countries in total, including the EU.

It’s also getting a bunch of new features. The app now boasts more currency recognition, adding British pounds, US dollars, Canadian dollars, and Euros to its tally. Going beyond the color in a scene, it can also spot the color of specific objects, like clothes. Plus, it’s no longer restricted to just short printed text, with handwriting recognition now part of its skill set. You can also customize the voice that it uses to speak its observations out loud, and set how fast it talks.

Playing with the new toy – I know it’s technically not new but #SeeingAI feels new with all the cool sassy features today 🙂 And before you ask, yes, it gets the new British notes as well as the old ones (and US, Euro & Canadian). Download and enjoy! #accessibility pic.twitter.com/XYr8VBO7Io

— Jenny Lay-Flurrie (@jennylayfluffy) December 14, 2017

Finally, a musical light detector alerts you to the light in an environment with an audible tone — Microsoft claims the tool will save users from having to touch a hot bulb or LED battery to check if it’s on. Despite the big update, there’s still no word on an Android launch.

Source: Microsoft