Month: June 2015

Apple announced a huge number of additions to its mobile OS at WWDC 2015

Apple has taken the wraps off iOS 9 at its yearly WWDC event in San Francisco. The latest version of the company’s popular mobile operating system doesn’t make any big visual changes, but offers numerous app tweaks, improvements to Siri, new multitasking features for iPad users, and much more.

First up, Siri will be getting a big upgrade with iOS 9, with the company beefing up the service to compete with Google Now. Apple’s personal assistant will be much more context aware with the new release, giving users the ability to make commands such as “remind me about this later” when looking at a piece of content. Siri is also getting a new, more colorful look in iOS 9, and “Siri Suggestions” will debut, offering context aware contact and app recommendations in Search.

.

There are plenty of additional tweaks to the service. For example, if you’re into yoga, an appropriate app will be recommended when you get up in the morning, and track suggestions will automatically pop up when you plug in a set of headphones.

The new release will also see event invitations added automatically to Calendar, and will provide deep links between Search and third party apps, allowing users to get suggestions and jump straight into relevant apps.

Multitasking comes to iPad

The new OS will also introduce some new multitasking features for iPad users, most notably a new Split View that allows users to use two apps side-by-side. The feature is activated by swiping in with one finger from the right of the display, with app switching handled by swiping down from the top right.

Picture-in-picture video will also arrive on iPad with iOS 9, allowing users to resize and move around videos. Lastly, there’s a big new feature coming to the iPads, with the ability to use the keyboard like a trackpad via two finger gestures.

The new multitasking features will be available to iOS 9 users on iPad Air and iPad Air 2, as well as iPad mini 2 and iPad mini 3.

Apps

iOS 9 will also bring introduce a number of improvements to apps, with a new toolbar coming to Notes, providing formatting options, interactive check lists, drawing tools and a new way of viewing entries based on attachments.

Maps is also getting a big upgrade with the addition of a new Transit view, showing public transport routes, with step-by-step directions. Users can click on a train station to see which lines are running through it, and Apple has taken the time to map stations, giving users more detailed directions about which entrances and exits to use than you’ll find on competing services.

Next up is News – a news aggregation app that allows users to pick their favorite publications and topics (there are more than one million of the latter on offer), with the service creating a personalized feed. If you’re familiar with services like Flipboard, then you’ll know roughly what to expect from News, but the app looks to have some nice features, including support for animations, videos and a slick-looking gallery view. It’ll launch first in the US, UK and Australia.

Apple Pay hitting the UK

The company also announced that its mobile payments service – Apple Pay – will make its way to the UK in July, with more than 250,000 retail locations at launch. The service is also being expanded in the US, with support for more retailers, more banks, and more in-app payments using the service.

Apple Pay will also be improving when iOS 9 hits, with the ability to add store and reward cards. The company also announced that PassBook will become Wallet, putting everything from flight boarding cards to credit cards in one place.

The rest

On other fronts, Apple says users can expect an extra hour of battery life after installing the new version of the OS, and it will bring with it a new low power mode that extends uptimes by an additional three hours when juice starts getting low.

There were also a number of announcements for developers at the conference, the biggest of which was is an update to the company’s development language, now known as Swift 2. There are numerous enhancements and changes on the way here, the biggest of which is that the language will be going open source, with compilers available for OS X and Linux by the end of the year.

iOS 9 will be compatible with the same set of devices that are capable of running the current iOS 8 release (see above). The Developer Preview of iOS 9 will be available today, while the public beta will hit this July. Rather wait for the polished public release? It’s scheduled to land in the (Northern hemisphere) Fall of 2015.

References:http://www.gizmag.com/

OpenEars Bluetooth headphones promise quick and easy binaural recording

• Binaural recordings are different to regular stereo recordings for a number of reasons. The sound perceived by the ear/microphone closer to the sound source arrives earlier (inter-aural time difference or ITD) and is louder (inter-aural level difference or ILD) than that further away from the sound source. Additionally, the sound arriving at the furthermost ear will be slightly modified as a result of traveling around the head and being reflected off surfaces around the head (masking and head-related transfer functions or HRTFs).Since, binaural recordings don’t offer much of an advantage for studio recordings since studios aren’t that interesting spatially, the technology never really took off for musical artists. However, its ability to provide the acoustic impression of another space makes it more applicable to recordings in the outdoors or locations with interesting acoustic spatial qualities, such as concert halls. It is these markets Binauric is targeting with its OpenEars headphones that are the subject of a crowdfunding campaign.

  In addition to the 25 Hz to 22 kHz in-ear speakers, the headphones feature MEMs condenser microphones with a frequency range of 18 Hz to 23 kHz. The wireless units feature an inline volume control connect to iOS or Android devices via Bluetooth and boast a play and record time of 6 hours on a single charge. They can be fully recharged in under an hour, with a 15 minute fast charge providing 1.5 hours of playback time. The headphones are also designed to be water repellent and dust- and sweat-proof.

  One group of prolific video content creators whose work Binauric believes could benefit from binaural recordings are GoPro aficionados. To this end, the company has developed OpenMics, a pair of optional standalone microphones that can be attached to a helmet (or drone) and wirelessly relay the sound to a connected GoPro via 2.4 GHz radio frequency.

• 
• OpenEars can of course be used as regular Bluetooth headphones for listening to music or for hands-free calls. Thanks to the “Hear Through” functionality users are able to listen to music and their surroundings at the same time and customize how much ambient sound they want to hear, which is a big plus for safety-conscious cyclists and pedestrians.However, you don’t have to be a skater or a bungee jumper to use OpenEars. Binauric wants users to record binaural sound with every video or photo they take and start using spatial sounds to help someone viewing the material feel like they were there with you. The headphones could also appeal to ASMR devotees, many of which have already embraced the technology.

  The companion app for iOS and Android lets users share recordings via Dropbox, email or SoundCloud, or stream them in real time.

  Binauric has taken to Kickstarter to raise funds to get the OpenEars headphones into production. If all goes well, the company expects the headphones to retail for €199 (US$222), but early bird backers can stake a claim for a pair at €119 (US$133). Delivery is estimated for November, but the team is still some way off the €125,000 goal with just over two weeks left to run.

  You can check out a binaural recording of some New York City sightseeing below, but just be sure to use headphones to get the effect.

References:http://www.gizmag.com/

 

A conference of Internet security experts is not for the faint of heart.

Hallway chatter and keynote speeches are peppered with scary stories of increasingly sophisticated hackers siphoning off valuable personal and corporate data.
In the words of one expert, the bad guys are outmaneuvering those charged with keeping the wired world safe. This despite repeated vows from CEOs and government officials to tighten security after high-profile breaches at Sony Pictures, health insurer Anthem and retailers Target and Home Depot.
The recent wave of corporate data breaches and cyber-attacks provided plenty of fodder for a weeklong cyber-security conference in San Francisco. Some 28,000 threat analysts, security vendors and corporate IT administrators gathered to talk about malicious software, spear-phishing and other attacks that can steal money or secrets from companies and consumers.
Growing concern over cyber-threats has been good for business, driving up revenue and stock prices for many security firms. But researchers say the dangers are real: Last year saw a record number of commercial data breaches and “denial-of-service” attacks, aimed at shutting down websites by flooding them with bogus traffic.
Here are some highlights from this year’s RSA conference, named for its chief sponsor, the RSA security division of tech company EMC Inc.

Many data breaches are the result of human error, especially people falling for bogus phishing emails, text messages or websites that appear to come from acquaintances or trusted companies.
Phishing attacks are a favored tactic of hackers working for foreign governments and criminal groups because they trick their targets into handing over passwords or clicking on links that install malicious programs. Verizon researchers estimate one in five phishing emails were read by their targets and one in 10 persuaded someone to open an attached file. Security firm Proofpoint says middle managers are increasingly being targeted with emails containing seemingly “official” attachments such as fax or voicemail alerts.
“It only takes one person to click” on a link or attachment and put their employer’s entire network at risk, said Verizon senior analyst Marc Spitler. As for hackers, “they don’t need a high rate of clicking because they can just churn out the emails.”
CONNECTED DEVICES, EASY TARGETS
As more home appliances are connected to the Internet, experts warn they are vulnerable to hackers intending mischief or worse. While actual hacking incidents have been rare, researchers warn that manufacturers aren’t considering security in connected devices.
In separate reports, experts at security firms Veracode and Laconicly said they found vulnerabilities in home systems that control lights, thermostats and garage door openers from a smartphone or other device. While some systems use encryption and other safeguards, the tests found others were vulnerable to hackers eavesdropping on data signals and learning residents’ habits, such as what time they leave the house and when they come home.

HACKERS GETTING MORE SOPHISTICATED
Hackers are sharing information about software vulnerabilities in a variety of industries, faster than many companies install “patches” to repair them, several researchers said. Cyber-attackers are also increasingly using programs that can scout a computer network and change behavior depending on what defenses they encounter.

Even novice hackers can get their hands on tools to carry out sophisticated attacks. “Writing malware is not the hard part anymore. You can buy it” from other hackers online, said Ryan Olson, intelligence director at Palo Alto Networks.
One common refrain at the conference is that companies must get better at detecting and containing computer breaches once they occur, since old methods of prevention aren’t working. The breaches of 2014 showed “that we’re losing this contest,” RSA president Amit Yoran said in a keynote speech. “The adversaries are outmaneuvering this industry.”
The conference also drew federal officials who urged more sharing of information about hacking attacks. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said his department will open a Silicon Valley office to build partnerships and recruit government workers with cyber-skills.

References:http://phys.org/