Smell of the future: Moodo creator shows off his smart aroma machine

If you love smart home devices and live or work in a place that is in dire need of an aromatic upgrade, your interest it probably heavily piqued by Indiegogo-funded smart smell device Moodo.

A small cube-shaped device produced by longtime fragrance company Agan Aroma, the Moodo allows you to use a smartphone or tablet to create your own special blend of smells. Buyers can browse through a growing list of over 30 scent compounds, four of which are added at a time to the device as modular plastic cups — much like Kuerig’s K-Cups. Once inserted into the Moodo, users then use an app on their device to control the level to which each smell is diffused into their environment.

“On our app, we automatically recognize what scents have been inserted into the machine,” said Agan Aroma CEO Yoav Avidor in an interview at this year’s CES conference in Las Vegas, “And then our perfumers created precurated combinations that always work together well based on which perfumes are inside the box.”

Each scent added to the Moodo will last for up to 60 hours at maximum volume of release, and can fragrance an area up to 600 square feet. Avidor says that for most users, each scent should last between one and two months before it needs replacing.

With an immense array of custom scent combinations and the ability to control them with an incredible amount of control on your smartphone or tablet, the Moodo is an interesting addition to the smart home marketplace, and one that many with dogs, kids, or other smell-inducing creatures in their lives will likely very much enjoy.

The device can be purchased on the company’s website, with starter kits running between $190 and $210, depending on the size of the battery that you choose to purchase with the new device.

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Best Touchscreen Gloves for Winter 2018

What are the best touchscreen gloves? The ones that keep your hands warm and actually work!

There are still a few weeks left in winter, and that means that using your phone outside is uncomfortable and makes for frigid digits. That is, unless you have some awesome touchscreen gloves that let you use your phone with toasty phalanges.

Not all gloves of this nature work very well, so here are the best of the best to keep you texting even when Jack Frost is nipping at your butt.

• Mujjo double-layered touchscreen gloves
• Agloves
• The North Face ThermoBall Etip
• Glove.ly Classic Touch Screen Glove
• Moshi Digits
• Elma luxury Italian leather gloves
• Women’s Gloue gloves
• Nanotips

Mujjo double-layered touchscreen gloves

These dual-layer gloves are Mujjo’s response to customers asking for something a bit thicker for colder climes. They added a layer of wool (just like grandma used to do!), so you can now have your phone and keep your hands warm too. For $35, that’s not a bad deal at all.

Silicone grips all over the palms of these gloves make sure your phone doesn’t slip out of your hands in slippery weather, and Mujjo has made it so that you can use any fingertip, knuckle, and even the palm or heel of your hand. It’s almost like you’re wearing nothing at all… Nothing at all… Nothing at all!

See at Amazon

Agloves

These acrylic gloves have ten-finger functionality, meaning you can use any finger to use your phone, while keeping warm.

They come in black, red, brown, navy, or white and in a few different sizes depending on the color you choose, with pricing starting around $7. These aren’t the thickest gloves around and probably won’t do the trick when temps drop below zero, but what are you doing standing around long enough to use your phone when it’s that cold anyway?

See at Amazon

The North Face Etip

As a Canadian, I can attest to The North Face’s quality. The Etips are a little on the bulky side for touchscreen gloves, so movement is somewhat difficult, but they work exceptionally well, even in colder weather.

They come in men’s and women’s sizes and styles, so there’s an for everybody, with pricing starting around $40. Pricing starts around $40.

See at Amazon

Glove.ly Cozy Touch Screen Glove

Glove.ly Cozy gloves (around $9 to start) let you use any part of your hand to control your phone. They’re not for arctic temperatures, but they’re warmer than most of the thinner touchscreen gloves you might find.

If your screen gets smudged and dirty, you can use the built-in microfiber label to keep it clean, and magnets hidden under the logo help to make sure you don’t lose a glove.

They come in small or medium/large, so make sure you choose the right size.

See at Amazon

Moshi Digits

Moshi’s gloves are nice and thick and woolly, making them perfect for places where the winter game is strong. The $30 Digits are the Wirecutter’s top pick, since they work well while also keeping your hands toasty, and in their testing, they found that the raised rubber lines and dots provide such good grip that they could use their phone one handed.

If you’re looking for the best in touchscreen gloves, these may be just that for you. Only available in light gray, but at least it goes with everything?

See at Moshi

Elma Italian leather gloves

If you love the luxurious feel of genuine Italian Nappa leather and wouldn’t mind only paying $25 for that feeling, then have I got the gloves for you.

These gorgeous gloves come in a few different colors and come lined with either fleece or cashmere (for $10 more). Amazon reviews say that the touchscreen fingers work incredibly well, the gloves fit well, look awesome, and keep your hands nice and toasty. Hell, for $20-$30, you could grab a few pair. Just make sure you choose the right size before checking out.

See at Amazon

Women’s Gloue gloves

These cashmere-lined gloves come in red and black are just for the ladies. They feature a touchscreen forefinger and thumb and come in red or black, starting at only $14 for the red pair.

The stylish button cuffs with a bit of the lining visible make these really stand out and the price is right to grab both!

See at Amazon

Nanotips

Don’t feel like buying a brand new pair of gloves? Nanotips makes it so you don’t have to. Just paint a coating onto the thumbs and fingertips of your favorite gloves and they become touchscreen gloves.

The efficacy of Nanotips really depends on the what material your gloves are made of, and you may see varying results with different pairs of gloves. Nanotips does make a leather formula and one for fabric/acrylic, so make sure you choose the correct formula. Pricing starts around $17.

See at Amazon

Got a favorite?

Do you have a favorite pair of touchscreen gloves? Do you even use them? Let us know in the comments below!

Updated January 2018: Added pricing for each item, removed the 180s Sustain, and added the Elma and Gloue gloves to the list.

LG will stop releasing new phones every year

A new strategy to cope with 11 quarters of consecutive losses.

While Samsung and Apple dominate the global smartphone market, LG continues on its never-ending struggle.

The company’s mobile division has been losing money for 11 consecutive quarters at this point, and in an attempt to try and fix this, LG’s Vice Chairman, Cho Sung-jin said that the company will be shifting away from releasing new flagship phones every single year.

As a response to a question regarding the LG G7, Sung-jin said:

We will unveil new smartphones when it is needed. But we will not launch it just because other rivals do. We plan to retain existing models longer by, for instance, unveiling more variant models of the G series or V series.

A few days before this, a spokesperson for LG said that the company would be ditching its G-series branding in favor of something new for the G7 in an effort to help boost sales. Sung-jin’s mention of the G-series has us uncertain what’s going on with the name of the phone, but no matter what happens there, this is a big change for LG.

Yearly flagship releases have become a norm of the industry, and in some cases with companies like OnePlus, a bi-yearly thing. We aren’t sure what to expect from “more variant models” of LG’s phones, but supporting current models for longer than other companies is something that we’re sure some our readers will be able to get behind.

LG G7 (2018 flagship) rumor roundup: Everything you need to know

Here’s what you need to know about the WhatsApp group chat security flaw

Relax, nobody is going to be hacking your WhatsApp messages, at least not this way.

A lot of talk went down yesterday about a new way to exploit WhatsApp and bypass the end-to-end encryption the company likes to mention that it has whenever it can. I’ve seen tweets and comments that run the gamut from “it’s FUD” to talking about some backdoor that Facebook had installed.

The good news is that it’s neither. In fact, it’s not really one of those things you need to be concerned about and instead is one of those things that make you wonder how it ever happened in the first place because it’s pretty sloppy. But don’t worry — it will be fixed long before anything happens.

What it is

Researchers Paul Rösler, Christian Mainka, and Jörg Schwenk at Ruhr-Universität in Bochum, Germany released a research paper (.pdf link) that found a peculiar flaw in WhatsApp’s group chat administration. WhatsApp offers the same end-to-end encryption for group chats that it does for individual chats, and that usually means we should be able to feel safe in knowing that the things we say won’t be read by anyone who shouldn’t be reading it unless one of the group members lets it happen.

Apparently, it’s theoretically possible for a stranger to add themselves to a group chat on WhatsApp. “Theoretically” and “possible” being the key words here. I’ll explain.

WhatsApp offers group messaging that uses strong end-to-end encryption.

In a WhatsApp group chat one or more of the original members is an administrator. From the server’s point of view, that means that these people are able to add and remove people from the group. Everything is good so far, even though the way it works — an administrator sends a signal to every member of the group with his or her signing keys and in return, each member sends a return message with their signing keys then the originator of the message notifies each member that there is now a new person in the group — is a bit of a kludge in order to create a good user interface. If you’re not an administrator, the only thing you know is that you see a message that Jerry is now a member of the group. You can either accept that or leave the chat.

A similar flaw was found with group messaging through Signal.

The problem is that WhatsApp isn’t properly authenticating these group management requests on its own servers. A WhatsApp server needs to properly ID the sender of a message that would add a person to a group chat. The person sends a message that IDs both the group and the member it wishes to add and the server checks to make sure the person who sent it is actually a chat administrator. These messages aren’t end-to-end encrypted, and instead use standard transport encryption — the message coming from a chat administrator and going to a server that requests a user be added to a chat is not signed by the sender with their encryption key.

This means a WhatsApp server can add any user it wants to any group, at any time. The server can, not another user. That’s important, and it means any privacy expected in a WhatsApp group chat depends solely on trusting the WhatsApp chat server. That defeats the entire purpose of end-to-end encryption, which is designed so that privacy is guaranteed even if a server is compromised because only the sender and recipient can decrypt a message.

And then the internet loses its collective mind because that’s what the internet is really good at doing.

This won’t happen but still needs fixing

The only way this flaw can be exploited is by someone with access to the server doing it. That means a server gets compromised, or an employee goes rogue, or a three-letter government agency files a warrant. Any of those things could happen, might have happened in the past, and could even be happening right now. But one other thing needs to be considered — you’ll know if it happens to your chat.

You are notified whenever a person is added to a group chat, encrypted or not.

The first thing that a server does after a member is added is notify every other member of the group that “Jerry was added to the chat.” You will see the message telling you someone was added, and so will everyone else. When Jerry arrives to the private chat party with his bad jokes and cheap beer, and nobody invited him, that’s going to be a sign that something’s wrong and nobody should consider anything they are about to type as private. Pack up and move to another chat without Jerry and maybe even a different service that won’t let him crash.

So nobody is going to be able to secretly check out your encrypted group chat, but this still undermines end-to-end encryption in every possible way. It needs to be fixed right away, and maybe even the whole group management method needs to be revamped. At the bare minimum, we all need to scratch our heads and wonder how something like this slips by programmers and code auditors. It’s a ridiculous premise that will never be exploited, but still.

What you need to do

Nothing, really. Appreciate the work done by Rösler, Mainka, and Schwenk in finding this flaw because security researching is a thankless and often mind-numbing job, but past that you don’t really need to change your routine at all. A method of authenticating the request to add a member to an encrypted group chat will be sorted out by the folks who keep WhatsApp’s wheels spinning shortly and this will change from a flaw that will never be exploited to a flaw that can no longer be exploited at all.

What’s important is that you were paying attention, because the next flaw might very well be one that does need action on your part. And there will be another flaw, so make sure you keep paying attention.

Yup, the LG V30 is beautiful in its new ‘Raspberry Rose’ color

I wish more manufacturers took risks with colorful phones like this.

LG just announced it was making a new V30 color, dubbed “Raspberry Rose,” a week ago — so naturally, we tracked it down at CES 2018 to see what it was all about. And yes, it’s absolutely stunning in this new color.

Now most people would agree the V30’s design is quite good, and the combination of shining glass and smooth lines suits it in just about any color. But this new Raspberry Rose is so different from the rest of the current crop of V30 colors that it’s wonderful to see.

The only bad part about the Raspberry Rose V30 is that it won’t be available worldwide.

Oddities with custom brand names for colors aside, “Raspberry Rose” is actually a pretty accurate description of what this color looks like. It definitely isn’t just a plain red, nor is it light enough to be considered pink. In regular lighting at a glance it’s more like a light raspberry color, but with less light it gets very deep into a nice red rose color. The color-shifting property comes mostly in the back glass, which actually sports a bit of texture underneath for a neat effect when it shines in the light.

Of course the metal frame is also a matching red shade, though without some of the color shifting properties it has a narrower range of color depending on lighting. It’s just barely noticeable when you’re holding the phone from the front, but from some angles you do get those little glimpses of the red, reminding you that your V30 is special.

The only sad part about the Raspberry Rose V30 is that it’s seeing a limited release in only certain markets — a fate bestowed on so many of the best “special edition” colors. South Korea gets it first, of course, followed by a wider Asia expansion and then parts of Europe. No plans are being made for a North American release.

LG V30

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• Join our LG V30 forums

Facebook Messenger Kids comes to Amazon Fire tablets

A new way to keep an eye on who your kids are talking to.

Last December, Facebook launched Messenger Kids as an app for youngsters to safely communicate with one another and family members. Following this, it’s now expanded to Amazon’s line of Fire tablets.

Messenger Kids is targeted at kiddos 13 years and younger, and it allows them to have access to a lot of Messenger’s regular features in a more secure environment. They can send GIFs, use stickers to add to photos that they take, and even make group calls over Wi-Fi.

The UI’s been tweaked to be brighter and more kid-friendly, and to help give parents/guardians some added peace of mind, messages can’t be deleted or hidden and you have full control of contact lists to ensure your young ones aren’t talking to people they shouldn’t be.

Facebook Messenger Kids is available to download from Amazon now.

Amazon Fire tablets

• Amazon Fire 7
• Amazon Fire HD 8
• Amazon Fire 7 Kids Edition
• Amazon Fire 8 Kids Edition
• Amazon Fire HD 10

See more at Amazon

After a decade, Dropbox quietly files for a public stock offering

Just a week after Spotify quietly filed to become a public company, it looks like another hot tech firm is doing the same. According to Bloomberg, Dropbox has just made its own filing to become an IPO in the US. The cloud-based file sharing company was valued at $10 billion just a few years ago and has been moving steadily towards a public offering for a while now.

Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are the leading this listing, according to Bloomberg, with other banks on tap to fill supporting roles in the IPO. The site notes that Dropbox hopes to list in the first half of the current year. While Snapchat continues to lose money, it’s IPO was still a big deal. Dropbox is reportedly bringing in $1 billion per year in revenue, making it likely that its IPO will be even more successful, notes Bloomberg.

Source: Bloomberg

Cubinote prints colorful sticky notes from your smartphone

Even with all the reminder and to-do apps out there, plenty of people are still fond of physical sticky notes. And if you don’t want to pick one over the other, there’s a startup trying to bring the best of both worlds together. Cubinote is a Bluetooth- and WiFi-enabled printer that pairs with an iOS or Android app to make sticky notes on the fly. The company says the product could come in handy if you, say, want to leave it at your home office and send reminders or other random notes to it from your workplace. Or if your parents don’t live in the same city as you and you want to send them messages every now and then.

This works well because while the Cubinote features Bluetooth, it’s also a WiFi device, making it possible to connect to your phone from a long distance. It’s essentially like connecting to a Nest Cam or another Internet of Things product. One of the best parts about it is that the sticky paper it prints doesn’t leave any residue where you place it, so you don’t have to worry about the notes dirtying up your monitor, desk or anywhere else you stick them.

The only downside is that it’s not cheap: Cubinote’s pricing its namesake sticky note printer at $149, which seems like a lot of money for such a niche product. If you like it, though, you can pick it up in March from Amazon and other retailers.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.

Lenovo’s robust lineup of new devices sets the stage for 2018

A standalone Google Daydream VR headset. One of the first Google Smart Displays. An eSIM-ready convertible. Those are just a few of the products Lenovo launched here at CES 2018, and the year’s only just beginning. We spoke with the company’s director of worldwide consumer-product marketing, Wahid Razali, about the most intriguing of Lenovo’s new devices and tried to get a hint at what’s coming next. See for yourself what we learned in video above.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.

Skype is adding an option for encrypted conversations

Soon, your chats on Skype can be just as secure as conversations on Signal, the service used by US Senators. Microsoft is integrating the open source Signal protocol, used by WhatsApp, Google, Facebook and Signal itself, into test versions of Skype as ‘Private Conversations’ for end-to-end encrypted communications.

There are a few restrictions: You can’t turn an existing chat into a Private Conversation, and must start each one by sending a request to one of your contacts. They don’t carry over between devices, so if you switch platforms, you’ll have to send a whole new request. And finally, Private Conversations are currently available in preview only for Skype Insiders, the service’s beta tester community.

Via: Windows Central

Source: Signal blog, Skype: Private Conversations