Vodafone unveils phone-charging sleeping bags and shorts

Vodafone has unveiled unique sleeping bags and shorts for charging mobile phones in this summer’s Isle of Wight festival in the UK. The Sleeping bag and shorts have a technology that charges your mobile devices while walking, sleeping or even dancing. The devices harvest body heat and movement to increase the battery life of your mobile device.

The sleeping bags and short pants launched by Vodafone are called ‘Recharge Bags’ and ‘Power Shorts'. They contain special printed circuits that convert the user’s body heat or any movement whether sleeping, dancing, walking in to power for their mobile phones.

The technology for the Recharge Bag and Power Shorts was developed by Vodafone in collaboration with the University of Southampton’s Electronics and Computer Science Department. The technology called "smart fabric" is ideal for campers in outdoor events and can become a 24-hour power source for the users.

According to the company, if you sleep in the Recharge Bag for eight hours it will generate battery life that will give the user 11 hours of standby time, or 24 minutes of talk time; whereas walking in the Power Shorts will give the user over four hours of battery life. It uses thermal energy from the sleeping bag to create energy and kinetic energy from the shorts to power your mobile devices.

Google's Project Loon explores balloon-powered Internet access

The pilot program, Project Loon, took off this month from New Zealand's South Island, using solar-powered, high-altitude balloons that ride the wind about 12.5 miles (20 kilometers) - twice as high as airplanes - above the ground, Google said.

Like the Internet search engine for which Google is best known, Project Loon uses algorithms to determine where the balloons need to go, then moves them into winds blowing in the desired direction, the company said.

By moving with the wind, the balloons form a network of airborne hot spots that can deliver Internet access over a broad area at speeds comparable to 3G using open radio frequency bands, Google said.

To connect to the balloon network, a special Internet antenna is attached to buildings below.

The Mountain View, Calif-based company announced the project on its official blog here, and its website www.google.com/loon/.

The 30 balloons deployed in New Zealand this month will beam Internet to a small group of pilot testers and be used to refine the technology and shape the next phase of Project Loon, Google said.

Google did not say what it was spending on the pilot project or how much a global network of balloons might cost.

Google has also developed self-driving vehicles, which the company says could significantly increase driving safety.

Those vehicles are beginning to gain support from lawmakers in places like California, where a bill legalizing their operation on state roads was signed into law last by Governor Jerry Brown.

AppleCare

According to an Apple employee who attended last Thursday's town hall meeting between Apple's tech employees and company VP Tara Bunch, changes are coming to AppleCare and AppleCare+. A person familiar with the matter said that a number of changes will be referred to as the "One Apple" brand.

The biggest change has to do with how Apple iPhone models will be repaired. An anonymous active Apple employee who could not reveal her name, said that under the current process, someone bringing in a broken Apple iPhone has the unit exchanged for a 'like new' refurbished model whether the exchange is done at an Apple Store on through the mail. Under the new guidelines, Apple will try to fix the busted device right there in front of the owner with the target of handing the customer his own unit-repaired-back to him./Apple Stores, which currently have parts in stock to repair the speakers, receivers, home buttons, the vibrator motor and battery, will be adding more parts next month. Starting in June, Apple Stores will have the capability torepair and exchange displays. By July, Store employees will be able to deal with cameras, sleep/wake buttons and logic boards. Additionally, employees will be able to use advanced diagnostic tools that will more rapidly give them a diagnosis on what is ailing a broken iPhone allowing users to more quickly find a problem with an Apple iPhone and repair it.

The new in-house repair policy will start in the U.S. and will then get expanded overseas. Apple says it will save $1 billion dollars making the change. For those whose device is out of warranty, in-house service will cost extra based on the device. Apple has already started the new changes at certain locations with customers response being mostly positive. Apple is also looking to expand its home advisory employees which currently number 4,200. Apple wants to double the number of these employees on a year-over-year basis to cut overhead and also to have a larger pool of potential employees to choose from. 

Additionally, AppleCare will become a subscription model attached to a person rather than a specific device. Free after care phone support will cover 1 year with possibly two years getting covered in the future. Presently, 90 days of after sales free phone support is allowed without buying AppleCare. Online charts, articles and Genius Bar visits will continue to be free.

FIRST 3D ANDROID MOBILE WITHOUT 3D GLASS

After the A116 Canvas HD, the Canvas 2 A110, Canvas Viva A72, and theCanvas A100, Micromax is introducing a fourth member to the Canvas family. Christened the A115 Canvas 3D, the device boasts of an autostereoscopic 3D display. The Canvas 3D is priced at Rs. 9,999 and will be available form the first week of May.

Just like the Canvas HD and the A110, the Canvas 3D has a 5-inch display. The A115 also houses a 1GHz dual-core processor, and runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The rear has a 5MP camera and the front has a 0.3MP camera for video calling. A 2000mAh battery powers the smartphone and Micromax claims that the device will last for up to 4.5 hours of talk time. The smartphone also supports Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi and expandable storage up to 32GB via a microSD card. The RAM and built in storage isn’t known.

Being a 3D smartphone, Micromax claims that users won’t need to wear 3D glasses to consume content on the smartphone. Users will have access to “Micromax 3D Space” giving them access to 3D videos and 3D games.

This isn’t the first time that we have seen a 3D smartphone. We have had the LG Optimus 3D and the HTC Evo 3D hit store shelves in India. The two smartphones were premium priced and boasted of glasses free 3D displays and dual rear cameras for clicking 3D images. Both the smartphones failed to catch any market attention. We have also seen some budget smartphones take a shot at 3D displays but all in vain.

How the 3D display of the Canvas 3D performs is something we will comment on once we have our hands on the smartphone. Up till now there is only one device that has given us an accurate picture of depth perception without the use of 3D glasses and that is the Nintendo 3DS. The hand held gaming console is the closest we have come to having a great glasses free 3D experience. On other devices, especially the previously launched 3D smartphones, the experience has been mostly gimmicky.

Micromax has been on roll launching budget devices in India and making a name for it self. Recently, Micromax claimed that it has sold over 1 million Canvas devices. But all hasn’t been well for the budget smartphone king. Recently Ericsson sued Micromax for infringing patents pertaining to 2G and 3G wireless technologies.

The Canvas HD, Canvas A116 and the Canvas Viva A72 have been successful budget smartphones in their respective price brackets. Will this winning streak continue with the Canvas 3D, or will the smartphone crash and burn? Stay tuned, as we will bring you the complete showdown when we get our hands on the Micromax A115 Canvas 3D.

Microsoft to hold pre-E3 2013 Xbox press event on June 10

Microsoft has booked the Galen Center in Los Angeles for a pre-E3 2013Xbox press event, on June 10.

 Microsoft has booked it to hold the event a day before E3 2013 gets underway.

The event is scheduled just a couple of weeks after Microsoft will reveal its next-generation Xbox console on May 21. The June 10 event is likely to reveal a lot more on the next version of the Xbox, and so far, Major Nelson has stated that some of the console's preliminary launch line-up would be on display there.

Rumours hovering around also suggest possibilities of celebrities showing up. Over the past few years Xbox press conferences have seen appearances by Usher, Paul McCartney and Steven Spielberg to promote their games. Expect the same this year and enjoy the ride.

Security analyst develops Android app that can hijack and crash airplanes

A security analyst has revealed how simple it is to hack into the communication link-up between a plane and the air traffic control system, and the plane’s navigation system in order to change the plane’s route or even to crash it. Hugo Teso, an analyst with German IT security company N.Runs AG, and a licensed commercial pilot has developed an exploit framework called Simon which is used by an Android app to deliver data that can instigate an attack against an airplane.


While speaking at the Hack in the Box conference in Amsterdam, Teso revealed that he could exploit a plane’s Automatic Dependant Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) system, the system that transmits the plane’s current navigation details to Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) and the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS), a communication link between the plane and the ATC, to feed in false information and cause the plane to change course or get into an accident. Teso said that it took three years to develop the Simon framework which uses information from Flightsradar24, a free website that tracks flight paths in real-time, and publicly available Flight Management System hardware and software, both of which are very similar (but not exactly the same) as the ones used in the real world. Teso showed the audience at the conference that by sending the command “visit ground” through the app using radio signals, he could force the plane to change course and crash. He also showed how he could get a plane to change its speed, altitude and bearings using the same method.

Fortunately, Teso’s system can only be used virtually at present and a hijacker would only be able to remotely control a plane if it was within the antenna range of his hacking system. Also, if a pilot somehow was able to recognize the infiltration, he could take control of the plane manually, since Teso’s system can only influence the plane when it’s in autopilot mode. Teso stressed on how vulnerable the existing ACARS was and how a plane would have no way to determine if the data being transmitted through ACARS was valid.

Teso’s hacks have been developed keeping in mind the newly updated ADS-B system which will be implemented almost globally in the coming years as a result of a directive by the US government that states that by 2020, any flights operating in its airspace should have an ADS-B system installed. Teso says that he has been in touch with airlines to fix the vulnerabilities in the ADS-B system.

Along with Shodan, the search engine that can be used to control nuclear plants, Teso’s Simon makes the rest of the 21st century sound like a very dangerous time to live in. Fortunately, at least for the time being, both Shodan and Simon are almost exclusively being used by security experts and researchers to find and seal off security vulnerabilities rather than exploit them.

Why iOS 5 is better than Android Gingerbread 2.3.3

Apple’s robust operating system has just got better with the announcement of new iOS 5. The streamlined and integrated operating system is anticipated to hit the devices by fall of 2011. Google has been one pioneer in OS stream that has looked to challenge iOS with its Android platform.

However, its new release, Gingerbread, is still far behind the bench-marked iOS. In order to better understand the key differences between these platforms following parameters should be considered:

• Social Integration – The new iOS 5 platform will be integrated with Twitter streams and the photo tagging feature on the new platform will be intrinsic. Apple has not chose Facebook but instead opted for lighter, Twitter. There are no intrinsic social integration capabilities in Gingerbread and the custom apps should instead be downloaded on the Android enabled devices to access social streams on the go.
  
  
• Free iMessage Feature – iOS 5 will allow a user in sending free messages to other iOS users without any additional costs. No such feature exists till date in Android.
• Security – iOS is a matured, stable and highly secured platform that can be leveraged by the end users under toughest of security constraints without any hassles. Android’s Gingerbread has handful of bugs and is vulnerable to attacks. Instead of getting culminated the number of attacks is instead on the rise.
• Ad-Free Content – Apple’s iOS 5 will support Safari Reader feature allowing the readers to only view text stream without any ads, scripts or videos. Android’s Gingerbread lacks the feature all together and instead relies on third party vendor apps.
• Cloud Support – Apple has changed the dynamics of the tech market by announcing iCloud on new iOS 5. The end users will be able to store data and access apps over the new iCloud feature. The data will get automatically synced up with all iOS enabled devices without any hassles. As a result, customers need not buy apps again on all the iOS devices held by them. Android’s Gingerbread does not support any custom cloud based solution and instead relies on old school of local storage.
• Split Keyboard – iOS 5 will support split keyboard interface on the devices once the solution is upgraded. Gingerbread 2.3.3 supports standard keyboards which is pretty similar to iOS 4.3.
• Multitasking Capabilities – Although iOS 5 and Gingerbread 2.3.3 fair almost equally in the parameter the edge again lies with iOS 5. The new platform if used over A5 chipset will provide better results. Similarly, if Gingerbread 2.3.3 is used over 800Mhz-1Ghz CPU will yield better multitasking experience on the go.