Android ‘Jelly Bean ‘ Up Next! Stay Tuned

December 7th, 2011 Omar Khan | Print this Article

With a string of crazy names for previous Android versions like Donut, Eclair, Frozen Yogurt (FroYo), Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich its not shocking that the next one would be names after a delicious treat and in alphabetical order no less. Jelly Bean is the rumored name for the next version of Android which comes after Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS).

What version number for this release will be is still unclear, come to think of it, we don’t even know the version number for ICS yet. It could be 2.3.6 or 4.0 or whatever Google decides to make it. Having said that, ICS has some major functional, architectural and and layout changes so the next round of game changing upgrades might just get pushed to Jelly Bean instead of ICS.

Why a new release is coming out so soon when ICS is still in Alpha phase is a little baffling. But it seems like the powers that be will make us wait for watch.



Duqu Worm Command & Control Servers Scrubbed

December 2nd, 2011 Omar Khan | Print this Article

Hackers erase all data from Duqu C&C servers, close spy operation

The hackers behind the Duqu botnet have shut down their spying operation and erased all data on the 12 known command & control servers that were used to control all computers infected with Duqu on October 12, 2011 as per Kaspersky Lab, a Moscow-based security firm.

Experts say that Duqu was designed by advanced hackers and were most likely backed by a government. Earlier reports suggested that Duqu was an off-shoot of the highly sophisticated Stuxnet worm which attacked Iran’s nuclear program by sabotaging their centrifuges. Duqu creators scrubbed all their command & control servers which were being used to manage the infected computers globally and then made sure they had not left any traces behind. All servers going as far back as 2009 were completely erased of all data. After their scrubbing operation was completed, the attackers updated the OpenSSH versions on all servers from 3.4 to 5.8 to make sure no other cyber criminals stole their servers and possibly because the newer version has some functions that were of use to the attackers.

Experts say that this phase of the operation has been shut down but that is not to say that they will not return with an even more scary worm. Initial research showed that the worm used zero-day exploits to infect systems.

Its a scary thought that the hackers who made this worm are still out there and might even be working on scarier version.



Pakistan bans obscene words from text messages

November 22nd, 2011 Omar Khan | Print this Article

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has released a list of words that should be banned from text messages in Pakistan

In another move to curb the freedom of Pakistani citizens, the telecommunication regulatory authority in Pakistan has banned over a thousand words from being transmitted in text messages. Spokeswoman for Telenor Pakistan stated that telecom providers received a letter from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to start blocking text messages that have obscene words.

The words that PTA suggests be blocked mostly comprises of swear words or sexually explicit terms which also included mild words like idiot and fart. The letter stated it was a legal order under 1996 law to prevent people to send information via telecommunications system which is obscene, false, indecent or fabricated.

There were 50 phrases using the word “fuck” and 17 involving “butt”, alongside 17 variants on “tit” and 33 on “cock”. As well as 1,109 wonderfully rude English words, the PTA also banned 568 in the national language Urdu. The list includes a lot of common everyday words that may or may not be considered offensive.

The PTA is clearly quite perceptive, too, and has included a bunch more – what’s the word? – figurative phrases too. They include gems such as “strap-on”, “beat your meat”, “crotch rot”, “love pistol”, and — wait for it — “flogging the dolphin”. I can only guess at what that one means.

Being a Pakistani myself, 90% of the words are those which I heard last when I was in grade 5. How the telecoms manage to block it is still to be seen as the technology is not 100% accurate.

Content Filtering ENGLISH



Google Music Event “These Go To Eleven”

November 12th, 2011 Omar Khan | Print this Article

Google hints at a Google Music event with phrase from "This is Spinal Tap"

Google Music has been running in Beta mode for a while but with the latest invites going out to the media, it seems like the music store is finally out of the testing phases and on the verge of going live.  Invite have gone out for an event next Wednesday, November 15th, 2:00 PST. The invite did not specifically mention Google Music but certain music references indicate there might be something to the rumors floating around. The event will be streamed live on the Android YouTube channel.

Google has not been forthcoming about what the event will be about so there is still speculation on what it can be. However, Android chief Andy Rubin had said at the AsiaD conference in October that Google was very close to launching a new music offering at the time. In my previous post about Google Music, I had listed the number of labels Google was talking to and reports suggest that it has been successful in signing with only EMI but a deal with Universal was close to being finalized.

Its been speculated that the new service will be closely linked to Google+, the web giants social networking platform. What this will all be about will only be revealed on the day, lets just wait and watch.



Adobe Flash Player Mobile Development Stopped

November 10th, 2011 Omar Khan | Print this Article

Further development of Adobe Flash Player mobile will discontinue once version 11 for Android and Blackberry is complete

Adobe confirmed on Wednesday that it is dropping Flash Player for mobile browsers and focusing its efforts on developing HTML5 which is now supported on mobile devices.

“This makes HTML5 the best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms. We are excited about this, and will continue our work with key players in the HTML community, including Google, Apple, Microsoft and RIM, to drive HTML5 innovation they can use to advance their mobile browsers” says Danny Winokur.

Flash on mobile devices will be focused on enabling Flash developers to package native apps with Adobe AIR for all the major app stores.  We will no longer continue to develop Flash Player in the browser to work with new mobile device configurations (chipset, browser, OS version, etc.) following the upcoming release of Flash Player 11.1 for Android and BlackBerry PlayBook however they will still be releases critical bug fixes and update for existing configurations. The stop in further development of Flash will allow Adobe to concentrate their investment in HTML5 and  innovate advance gaming and video with Flash to benefit the industry.

Flash Player 11 has a dozens of new features like hardware accelerated 3D graphics for console-quality gaming and premium HD video with content protection to name two. Danny Winokur also said “Flash developers can take advantage of these features, and all that our Flash tooling has to offer, to reach more than a billion PCs through their browsers and to package native apps with AIR that run on hundreds of millions of mobile devices through all the popular app stores, including the iTunes App Store, Android Market, Amazon Appstore for Android and BlackBerry App World.”

Finally he said “We are super excited about the next generations of HTML5 and Flash.  Together they offer developers and content publishers great options for delivering compelling web and application experiences across PCs and devices.  There is already amazing work being done that is pushing the newest boundaries, and we can’t wait to see what is still yet to come!”

Adobe has worked hard to push Flash to mobile devices and major OS and device manufacturers like Google and RIM have adopted the Flash Player into their operating systems. Apple however did not add Flash support to the iOS ending its support in the mobile industry. One can wait and see what Flash Player 12 will offer but that will only be on PC’s.



Amazon rolling out hundreds of apps for Kindle Fire

November 10th, 2011 Omar Khan | Print this Article

"We’re adding more apps and games every day across all categories." says Amazon Kindle VP Dave Limp

Amazon announced the release of hundreds of apps ahead of the Kindle Fire release set for 15 November, 2011. Kindle Fire which is running a modified version of Android 2.3 Gingerbread with a custom market will have apps and games from Facebook, Netflix, Pandora, Zynga, Twitter, Gameloft, Rhapsody and more available for purchase from the Amazon Appstore.

The under $200 tablet is gearing up to be a hit this holiday season. Besides the basics, Amazon is giving Kindle Fire owners free storage space on Amazon Cloud and Whispersync for books, movies etc. Consumers will get to chose from 18 million apps, movies, games, TV shows, songs and reading material. Adding popular apps and games will most likely boost sales for Amazon. Initial estimates were somewhere in the area of 250,000 Kindle Fire  pre-orders right after its launch. The tablet will be battling it out with Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablet which is priced slightly higher at $249.

Amazon said that they are constantly adding new apps to their store and will keep updating them with apps. “We started talking to app developers everywhere the day we introduced Kindle Fire, and the response has been overwhelming,” says Dave Limp, VP Amazon Kindle, in a statement. This is only the beginning — we’re adding more apps and games every day across all categories.”



The world hit by hard disk shortage

November 3rd, 2011 Omar Khan | Print this Article

World shortage may result in price hike

If you’re making a backup plan or just looking to buy hard disks for your home or business, now is the time to lock the sources and prices. Floods in Thailand have affected the worldwide supply of hard drives by as much as 25%. The world’s largest hard disk manufacturer Western Digital with its largest manufacturing plant in Thailand had to shut down its plant due to the floods in and around Bangkok. Western Digital says it could take five to eight months to get the plant operational again.

Thailand is a major hard disk manufacturer and the shut down has resulted in a 25% reduction in supply globally. Western Digital’s manufacturing operations in Ayutthaya’s Bang Pa-In Industrial Estate and Pathum Thani’s Navanakorn Industrial Estate together produce about 60 percent the company’s disks and both has to be shut down. It is expected that some production will shift to their Malaysian facility to cover some of the shortage.

Western Digital is not the only company to be affected, Toshiba’s production facility in Thailand had to be shut down  as well. Along with disk manufacturing concerns, supplier for component prices have gone up due to constraints in the supply chain. Seagate, although not affected by the floods, has been facing rising prices of parts used to manufacture hard disks.

Prices for hard disks are currently stable and selling at the same rates as last month but a drop in price is highly unlikely with the current situation.



Samsung GALAXY S and GALAXY SII reach 30 million global sales

October 30th, 2011 Omar Khan | Print this Article

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a leading mobile handset provider, has announced that its Samsung GALAXY S and GALAXY SII
smartphones have achieved a combined total of 30 million global sales.

GALAXY SII has set a new record for Samsung, generating more than 10 million sales – quicker than any device in Samsung’s history. The device also recently received five out of the total ten “Mobile Choice Consumer Awards 2011” in the UK as well as “2011 Gadget Award” for being chosen as the “best smartphone of the year” by T3, confirming it as a run-away favorite smartphone with consumers this year. It continues to gain traction as Samsung’s flagship smartphone – a stylishly designed, slim and ultra-portable device combining an unrivalled viewing experience with powerful dual-core processor performance.

Launched in 2010, Samsung GALAXY S reached almost 20 million sales, making it the highest-selling mobile device in Samsung’s portfolio to date, and another record-breaker for the company and the mobile market.

Since launching to high critical acclaim two years ago, the GALAXY S range has continued to gain popularity among consumers and propelled the GALAXY brand to one of the most recognized mobile brands in the world, with Samsung now the largest Android smartphone vendor and the second largest phone vendor overall worldwide (IDC).

Samsung Pakistan’s Managing Director, Mr. Hee Chang Yee said; “Since its launch only five months ago, GALAXY SII has seen tremendous sales success and garnered enthusiastic reviews from consumers and mobile industry watchers across the globe. This is in addition to the continued sales momentum behind GALAXY S, which we launched at Mobile World Congress 2010 as it continues to be a run-away success with consumers. The phenomenal success of these smartphones once again demonstrates how the GALAXY S smartphones are setting the standard for smart mobile technology around the world.”



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