Technology Mania : 02/09/17

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Surfing internet, excess use of social media networks like Facebook can make you lose track of time

Image: Reuters

09 Feb 2017 , 15:58

Facebook addicts, take note! Using the social networking site or surfing the web may impair your perception of time, warn researchers including one of Indian-origin. Using well-established internal clock models, researchers attempted to separate the roles of ‘attention’ and ‘arousal’ as drivers for time distortion. They found that Facebook-related stimuli can lead to an underestimate of time compared to general internet use, but that both lead to a distortion of time.

In the study, Lazaros Gonidis and Dinkar Sharma from the University of Kent in the UK monitored the responses of 44 people who were shown 20 images for varying amounts of time. Five of the images were associated with Facebook, five had more general internet associations with another ten as neutral ‘control’ images. Those taking part had to say whether the image they had just seen had been visible for a short or long time.

The key finding was that people tended to underestimate the time they had been looking at Facebook-related images to a greater extent than other more general internet related images, but that in both cases time was underestimated. This suggests that Facebook-related images affect time by changing how we pay attention to them. The findings are likely to have implications for future study into addictive behaviour. The study was published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology.

PTI

Apple iCloud stores deleted browsing history almost indefinitely, analyst

By tech2 News Staff / 09 Feb 2017 , 15:47

If you’re in Apple’s ecosystem, you’ll need to take a bit more care when deleting your browser history. It turns out that iCloud stores all browsing history, including ‘cleared’ history dating back at least a year, and maybe even longer.

Vladimir Katalov, CEO of Elcomsoft, the maker of various hacking tools, tells Forbes that he discovered this issue when browsing the history on his own phone. Using the Phone Breaker tool developed by his company, he found that iCloud keeps a record of data, even deleted data, going back at least a year.

Apple syncs data between your Apple devices using iCloud, a remote server that syncs data between clients. Servers normally do need a log of deleted data as well to ensure that syncing happens properly, but this data is usually obfuscated to outsiders.

In this case, Katalov and other experts that Forbes consulted appear to believe that Apple simply forgot to make the necessary changes to the platform.

Speaking to a senior ACLU analyst, Forbes has discovered that while the information is available online, it’s almost impossible to access without the username and password of the person whose phone has been compromised. Essentially, law enforcements and criminals will find it almost impossible to access.

If this is indeed something that Apple simply forgot about, the fix should be quite simple.

The best way to avoid getting caught up in this whole hassle is to simply disable iCloud syncing features, particularly on Safari.

Google launches Android Wear 2.0, an evolutionary upgrade to the smartwatch OS

Image Credit: Google

By tech2 News Staff / 09 Feb 2017 , 15:15

Google has launched Android Wear 2.0, the newest version that will power smartwatches. The upgrade was announced last year during Google I/O 2016 and the update is a few months late than what was originally planned. The company has not made any revolutionary changes to the smartwatch experience to change how we look at smartwatches. Instead, the company has added updates to many key components of the operating system which will enable faster access to the things that you performed on your Android Wear-powered smartwatch.

Image Credit: Google Android

Android Wear 1.0 was a bit complicated and most of the operations that you wanted to perform seemed more complex than they should be. Google focused on improving this by removing the complexity. The first important change that you will se is the presence of better Watch Faces and an easier way to change Watch Faces.

Image Credit: Google

Google has changed the fundamentals of watch faces by adding space to show information from the system as well as third-party apps like Uber, Nike and other fitness or weather apps. This is done by collecting the information using the Complications API. The process to change Watch Faces is as easy as flicking left or right instead of long pressing on the screen to go to a screen where you can change the watch faces.

Image Credit: Google Android

The second most important improvement is the introduction of standalone apps that don’t need companion apps on your smartphone. You don’t need to install separate apps on your smartphone to help run the Android Wear apps. You can now access Google Play Store on the watch and install new apps without the need of a smartphone. The interface of Android Wear 2.0 is more in line with the Material design guidelines with more emphasis on cards where each notification will get a full screen for its expanded view.

Image Credit: Google

Another significant improvement is the addition of Android Pay to Android Wear 2.0. You can use your Android Wear 2.0 powered Smart watch to pay using Android Pay. One thing to note is that the smart watch should be equipped with NFC and your smartphone must have a locked bootloader.

Image Credit: Google

Google has improved other things like the Google Fit app for Google Android Wear where it now supports more type of workouts and exercises. One interesting thing to note is that Android Wear 2.0 comes with a keyboard to type your responses on. One would obviously not use that keyboard to write long articles or something huge in size. The major thing that makes the keyboard on Android Wear 2.0 significant is that you no longer need to swipe across a Qwerty layout screen to type a message. Instead, the keyboard is powered using the powerful prediction engine of Google Keyboard which works surprisingly well. You can also handwrite messages or use smart reply for Google Assistant.

Last but not the least, Google has added Google Assistant to Android Wear 2.0 making it a significant improvement over Android Wear 1.0 and Google Now. This is almost like Google Assistant on Google Home or Google Pixel smartphone. One thing to note is that Google has changed its philosophy after realising that one does need some physical input to operate Android Wear, making the presence of buttons and dials mandatory on the new models of watches; a far cry from what it was earlier.

The world’s first Google Station Wi-Fi hotspot will be set up in Pune

Image: Google

By tech2 News Staff / 09 Feb 2017 , 14:53

It’s official, India will be the first country in the world where Google will deploy Google Station. It’s a fast Wi-Fi initiative that aims to bring high-speed internet access to public areas.

While India is the lucky country to get the station, the lucky city where the service will first be deployed in Pune. Google Station is a collaborative project between IBM, Larsen and Toubro and RailTel.

It’s a Rs 150 crore project that’s won by these companies as part of Pune’s Smart City initiative, reports The Economic Times.

Unlike Google’s earlier Railwire project with RailTel, the purpose of Google Station is to provide fast access to the internet in public areas and then eventually monetise the whole system. The smart city council will take a share of this revenue.

As with Railwire, Google will primarily provide the platform support required to integrate Wi-Fi access across a multitude of locations with a single sign-on process. Users will simply need to authenticate via OTP.

L&T is reportedly the ‘master system integrator’ for the project and will provide much of the infrastructure required.

Public call boxes, PA systems, environmental sensors and more will be integrated into the system.

ET reports that Google is working with the Pune government for the deployment of variable messaging displays as well.

IBM’s solutions will provide the “backbone” for Pune’s Smart City Network, the report adds.

Trump immigration ban: “If we stand and say nothing, we become a part of it,” Apple CEO Tim Cook

Image: Reuters

By tech2 News Staff / 09 Feb 2017 , 14:38

Speaking at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, Apple CEO Tim Cook took a clear stance against Donald Trump’s immigration ban saying, “If we stand and say nothing, we become a part of it, our company thrives on diversity.”

Cook was at the university to receive an honorary degree.

Just a few weeks ago, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order banning the entry of refugees and that of citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries. The ban extends to US visa holders from those countries.

The order faced immediate backlash from Americans and Silicon Valley. Almost 100 tech companies, including Apple, Facebook and Google have signed an amicus curiae brief in support of a lawsuit fighting the order.

US Federal Courts have since halted the order.

Despite the statement, Cook assured everyone at the university that Apple wasn’t a “political company”, reports Cnet.

Cook adds that “I don’t believe Apple is an activist and I don’t view myself as an activist.”

Stating that Apple is not shy, he went on to state that Apple will continue to address issues that it feels very strongly about, but that these issues are based on Apple’s beliefs and nothing else.

Xiaomi launches Redmi Note 4X in China with Snapdragon 653 and special Miku edition

Image Credit: Xiaomi

By tech2 News Staff / 09 Feb 2017 , 12:56

Xiaomi officially launched the updated version of Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, the Redmi Note 4X in China. As all the product launches, officially, this will be limited to China in terms of availability. One important thing to note is that design-wise the Redmi Note 4X is same as the Redmi Note 4. The only difference is the availability in Teal Green which is being termed as the limited edition Hatsune Miku edition, on the occasion of Valentine’s Day.

Image Credit: Xiaomi

For the uninitiated, Hatsune Miku is an extremely popular singing synthesiser app primarily popular in Japan. The popularity is such that people attend concerts where the holographic avatar of Miku is performing on stage. In addition to the ‘Hatsune Gree’, the company has also launched a variant in ‘Cherry Pink’ colour as reported by GSMArena. The entire package comes along with a stylised package, protective case and limited edition Mi Power bank.

Image Credit: Xiaomi

The company has not published detailed specs of the smartphone along or the pricing but the company is expected to release these details prior to the sales day. However, as reported by GSMArena, the internals of the Redmi Note 4X are exactly the same as the internals of Redmi Note 4. In terms of hardware, the phone will be powered by a Snapdragon 653 chipset internationally and a MediaTek Helio X20 in China (the same as on the Chinese Note 4). The current international edition of the Note 4 uses the Snapdragon 625 chip, which is slightly less powerful than the 653, but more power efficient.

Storage options will now include variants with 3GB RAM / 32GB storage, 4GB RAM / 32GB storage and 4GB RAM / 64GB storage. Unlike the Note 4, there will be no 2GB RAM variant.

Amazon rolls out free smart-home consultations to kill the confusion behind home automation

By tech2 News Staff / 09 Feb 2017 , 12:40

If you attended the Consumer Electronics Show this year, it was easy to tell that Amazon’s Alexa was present almost everywhere. From smartphones, to appliances and even little robots. So it’s easy to say that Amazon is gunning for AI with Alexa. But for that to happen, it needs more devices to be available around its customers in order to conveniently use the service.

They key idea here is to take the confusion out of the shopping experience and allow customers to quickly buy what they think is right product without pondering over anything. And Amazon’s new service helps it accomplish just this.

The Amazon Echo

The Seattle Times reports a new smart-home consultation service that will have Amazon employees come to your home and demo smart home products. After that the representatives will make personalised recommendations on what you need to buy (smart thermostats, linked plugs etc.) to make your home smarter.

While one would conclude that it adds to the confusion, it’s a win-win for Amazon here. Amazon not only gets to sell its home automation products like the Echo (and others) but its voice assistant will also make it easier for its customers to shop.

The win for the consumer here is that they get personalised recommendations on what products they need to purchase to make their homes smarter and even get to try them out. At the same any confusion regarding the possibilities of home automation are also cleared in the process.

The web page shows the three step Smart Home Consultation process which includes booking an appointment, a 1-on-1 with an expert and getting recommendations.

The Smart Home Consultations by Amazon are free and for now seem to only be available in the US market.

Amazon has yet to bring its Echo speakers to India. One of the smaller problems associated to this could be the internet bandwidth as it also happens to be one of the check boxes for US customers before anybody gets to jump on to the smart home bandwagon.