Pregnant woman in Sydney suffers second degree burns because of charging iPhone 7

iPhone 7 charging

By tech2 News Staff /  14 Nov 2016 , 19:03

A pregnant woman in western Sydney went to sleep with an iPhone 7 charging on her arm, and woke up to second degree burns on her hand. On visiting the doctor, she was advised a visit to the hospital. Apple has sent the phone for testing by a senior technician in California. Apple has confirmed to News.com.au that it is investigating the matter with Pelaez.

Apple also offered Ms Tan Pelaez a replacement iPhone, but she did not want it as she had lost faith in the company. Pelaez has been a long time Apple user and has not previously faced any problems with products by the company.

On returning the phone, Apple executives had said that the source of the burn injuries could not have been the phone as the phone was designed to cut off power on overcharging. Pelaez has visited the emergency room in the hospital twice because of the burns, and is exploring the option of plastic surgery to fix the scarring.

This is the second such incident from Sydney, Australia in recent memory. A biker had to punch the phone off his leg after the device burst into flames following a fall. An Apple iPhone 7 had reportedly exploded in China three days ago, after a 50 centimetre fall. For those fearing a repeat of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Fiasco, there were reports of over 30 Note 7 devices exploding over a course of a week.

Microsoft has announced that it will be bringing the entire Visual Studio IDE to macOS this month

visual studio microsoft

By tech2 News Staff /  14 Nov 2016 , 18:07

Microsoft has announced Visual Studio for Mac at the Connect(); conference this month.

For the first time in its history, Microsoft is bringing its Visual Studio development tool to the Mac. As Microsoft explains in its blog, “At its heart, Visual Studio for Mac is a macOS counterpart of the Windows version of Visual Studio.” The IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is designed to feel familiar to a macOS user, while still offering the cross-platform and cloud-based development capabilities of its Windows counterpart.

This IDE will reside alongside Visual Studio Code for macOS, which is a stand-alone, cross-platform text editor for developers.

Microsoft’s sudden interest in cross-platform development seems to stem from a deeper desire to connect with developers, regardless of their OS of choice, and offer them a common, connected platform to work on.

Microsoft has shown tremendous interest in cross-platform development this year, notably with their acquisition of Xamarin. Xamarin started out as a cross-platform development tool for developing iOS, Android, Windows and Mac apps. With its acquisition, Microsoft integrated its workflows into Visual Studio itself.

As TechCrunch suggests, Microsoft has realised that the future depends on cloud-based tools and services like Azure and that’s also where the company is making its money. If more developers start using Visual Studio, more developers will inevitably start using Microsoft’s Azure cloud services.

For developers, this is a win-win anyway.

Microsoft pays hackers $120,000 for compromising the Edge browser

the Microsoft Edge browser

By tech2 News Staff /  14 Nov 2016 , 18:05

Teams from Beijing security firm, Qihoo and South Korean Hacker Lokihardt both managed to compromise the Microsoft Edge browser on Windows, and bagged bounties of $120,000 each. Each team or contenstant is given three attempts to compromise the target, with each attempt having a time limit of four minutes. Lokihardt managed to gain system level access in as little as 18 seconds.

The hacks were showcased at PwnFest, an event related to the ongoing Power of the Community information security conference in Seoul, Korea, according to a report in The Register. It was the first time that a VMware Workstation was successfully attacked with only remote code execution, and no interaction by the end user.

The PwnFest is a yearly event where major tech companies offer rewards to hackers for owning certain products. Targets for the hackers this year included Microsoft Edge, Google Pixel, Microsoft Hyper-V, Google Chrome, iOS, the Safari browser,  Adobe Flash and VMWare Workstation. The event also has a Lord of Pwn trophy given to the team with the most successful attacks, and if there is a tie, the award is decided based on technical merit of the hacks.

The prize money ranges from $80,000 for the Safari hack, to $150,000 for the VMWare and the Hyper-V attacks. The exploits are not publicly disclosed, and the companies usually take measures to plug these security holes.

Volkswagen enters talks with SAIC over Audi collaboration, making existing partners uneasy

The logo of German car maker Audi is seen outside a garage in Vienna, Austria, September 29, 2016. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

By Aditya Madanapalle /  14 Nov 2016 , 17:50

Volkswagen’s Audi AG said on Monday that it was in talks with China’s SAIC Motor Corp Ltd for a long-term collaboration, which dealers for its existing joint venture say would cause them “potentially fatal damage.” Reuters reported on Saturday, citing a source familiar with the matter, that the two sides had signed an agreement that could pave the way for Volkswagen’s joint venture with SAIC, China’s largest automaker, to make Audi brand cars.

Audi cars are now made in China through a joint venture with China FAW Group Corp, providing a lifeline to the state-owned company whose own brands have struggled with falling sales. An early entrant to China, the world’s largest car market, Audi is the best-selling premium car brand although it is rapidly losing ground to newer car models from Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz and non-German automakers such as Toyota’s Lexus and General Motor’s Cadillac.

Audi has been slow to introduce new products, hurting sales growth, so Audi dealers are generally losing money, existing Audi dealers said in a letter to the automaker in response to the talks. “The interests of Audi dealers will be further damaged if your company sets up a new sales company in China,” they said. The dealers, in the letter seen by Reuters, requested Audi to collect their opinions and guarantee their rights before making a final decision.

Volkswagen gets a larger proportion of its proceeds from the 50-50 tie-up with SAIC than from its 40 percent stake in the venture with FAW. Audi reaffirmed its commitment to FAW in the statement announcing the talks with SAIC, saying it had outlined growth plans with FAW for the next 10 years that include making green energy sport utility vehicles and sedans in every major segment. “With this 10-year plan, everything is set for future growth together with FAW, including the dealership investors,” an Audi spokesman said.

Audi will also form a new joint venture company with FAW that will be based in Beijing to focus on mobility and digital services, according to the statement.

Reuters

Dell EMC announces range of big data, cloud, storage and security products

Dell logos are seen at its headquarters in Cyberjaya, outside Kuala Lumpur in this September 4, 2013 file photo. REUTERS/Bazuki Muhammad/Files

14 Nov 2016 , 17:38

To help customers scale technology availability with IT demand, Dell EMC on Monday announced a range of products, solutions and consumption models that address cloud, big data analytics, converged infrastructure, storage, data protection and security. “Today’s organisations must embark on a digital transformation. To truly realise their digital future, we believe the vast majority of organisations will transform their IT through a hybrid cloud strategy,” David Goulden, president, Infrastructure Solutions Group, Dell EMC, said in a statement.

Dell EMC announced the expansion of its leading converged infrastructure portfolio through integration with PowerEdge servers into VxRail Appliances and VxRack System 1000 hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI). The company also announced the new Analytic Insights Module delivering all of the software, hardware and services necessary to stand up an environment for both big data analytics and cloud native application development in days rather than weeks.

Dell unveiled its Endpoint Data Security and Management portfolio encompassing technologies from Dell, Mozy by Dell, RSA and VMware AirWatch, offering data protection, backup and recovery, identity assurance, threat prevention and advanced response, and endpoint device and application management capabilities. The company rolled out updates to the Dell EMC Elastic Cloud Storage (ECS) platform, with new support for Dell EMC PowerEdge Servers.

IANS

Google pixel ,Apple safari and Microsoft edge hacked By 360 Alpha Team and walked away with $520,000 in prize money

Chinese teams kill Safari, laugh at four-second Flash hack

Power of Community The Google Pixel fell to a team of Chinese hackers alongside Apple Safari and Adobe Flash at the PwnFest hacking competition in Seoul on Friday.

Mountain View's latest offering was smashed by white-hat friendlies from Qihoo 360, who used an undisclosed vulnerability to gain remote code execution for $120,000 cash prize.

The exploit launched the Google Play store before opening Chrome and displaying a web page reading "Pwned By 360 Alpha Team".

Google will now work on a patch for the flaw.

It was the second time in as many weeks that the Pixel has been compromised.

The Pixel, pwned

The first still-unpatched zero day was developed by Qihoo 360 rival Keen Team of Tencent at the Mobile Pwn2Own event in Japan.

Hackers there showcased the exploit at the PwnFest hacking event in Seoul today showing how they could compromise all aspects of the phone including contacts, photos, messages, and phone calls.

Play Video

 

Apple's updated Safari browser running on MacOS Sierra also fell. Respected Chinese hacker outfit Pangu Team renowned for releasing million-dollar persistent modern iOS jailbreaks for free, along with hacker JH, blasted Cupertino's web browser with a root privilege escalation zero day that took 20 seconds to run, earning the team $80,000.

Qihoo 360 also breached Adobe Flash with a flick of the finger, digging up a combination decade-old, use-after-free zero day and a win32k kernel flaw to score $120,000.

It took four seconds for Flash to fall.

The hacks conclude the PwnFest whitewash, which saw Microsoft Edge hacked and the first-ever zero day exploits against VMWare Workstation on Thursday.

Qihoo 360 hackers walked away with $520,000 in prize money. ®

Global industry groups voice opposition to China cyber security law

  12 Nov 2016 , 09:48

More than 40 international business and technology organizations representing hundreds of companies on Friday expressed “deep concerns” to the Chinese government about a new cyber security law they said would likely increase the separation between China and the rest of the world economy.

Beijing has adopted a cyber security law it called necessary to counter growing threats of hacking and terrorism.

The measure, to take effect in June 2017, was swiftly condemned by overseas critics, including business and human rights groups. They said it threatens to shut foreign technology companies out of various sectors deemed “critical”, and includes contentious requirements for security reviews and for data to be stored on servers in China.

Chinese officials have said it would not interfere with foreign business interests.

In their letter, the groups warned that Beijing’s efforts to control more of China’s Internet and technology would “effectively erect trade barriers along national boundaries” while failing to achieve its security objectives.

The cyber security law would also burden industry and undermine “the foundation of China’s relations with its commercial partners,” the groups wrote in a letter addressed to the Chinese Communist Party Central Leading Group for Cyberspace Affairs.

The letter’s signatories include the Information Technology Industry Council, the Internet Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Australian Industry Group and BusinessEurope, among others.

The law’s adoption comes amid a broad crackdown by President Xi Jinping on civil society, including rights lawyers and the media, which critics say is meant to quash dissent.

U.S. Senator Cory Gardner, a Colorado Republican, told Reuters he was “extremely troubled” by the new law.

The measure “could further infringe upon the privacy of its people and potentially have a widespread impact on the international business community,” said Gardner, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific and International Cybersecurity.

Gardner said he voiced concern with Chinese officials about the law during a recent visit to the country and would press the Obama administration to address Beijing’s broader actions in cyberspace, “which threaten U.S. economic and national security.”

Reuters