Sony Xperia Z5 dual: Future ready smartphone - Thehindu.com

Japanese electronics major Sony launched its new Xperia smartphones this week - Z5 and Z5 Premium - priced at Rs.52,990 and Rs.62,990.

The phone comes with the same design and look as the Xperia’s Z series. Other than the dedicated camera button for the quick launch camera app, the addition seems to be the fingerprint scanner on the side. What is interesting is the positioning of the scanner: the power button doubles up as the scanner. No other phone has a scanner on the side.

The Z5 is also IP65 and IP68 certified which means it is dust proof and water proof. We held the phone over a stream of running water and it functioned properly even after the cold bath.

The phone’s 5.2-inch screen has a good 427 pixel density and there were no problems with viewing angles. Watching videos and gaming is also a good experience, combined with the with a good sound system.

The Z5’s 64-bit octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, along with a 3GB RAM unit, can take most of the things thrown at it, including heavy games.

The smartphone’s camera is the best of the features on the phone. The camera, in combination with several modes that are usually seen in all Z series phones, can take wide angle pictures. The rear camera is 23-megapixel camera and the front camera is five-megapixel.

The phone carries 2,930 mAH battery.

In terms of connectivity, the phone supports dual 4G nano-SIM cards and also VolTE, which Reliance’s Jio Infocomm will launch by the year—end. Also, the Z5 comes loaded in terms of storage. It has 32 GB internal memory that can be expanded to 200 GB.

See more- http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/review-of-sony-xperia-z5-dual-future-ready-smartphone/article7802574.ece

Regime urged to manage more on Cyber Crime: Talk Talk Telecom

A leading business group has pressed the government to get more action on cybercrime after hackers seized the personal data and bank details of up to 4 million TalkTalk customers.

Constabulary are looking into a ransom demand sent to the telecoms company after its main executive, Dido Harding, said a person claiming to be the hacker had contacted her immediately and demanded money in exchange for the information.

Oliver Parry, the Institute of Directors’ senior corporate governance adviser, told the BBC that police should make cybercrime an urgent priority, but added that societies “are ultimately responsible for protecting their customers’ data”.

There have been doubts around how well TalkTalk secured its customers’ data after Harding admitted she did not know whether details, including names, addresses and bank account numbers were inscribed. It was the company’s third major data breach in the past yr.

Parry said: “The risks need to be reviewed regularly by the panel of directors, who must assure they recognize where the likely threats are coming from and are devised in case the worst comes about.

Professor Mark Skilton, an IT consultant and academic at Warwick Business School, said: “Large-scale data theft is increasingly large business for professional cyber criminals.

“The value of personal identity data records and news report details is increasingly high as it can be used in masquerading identity to commit theft of other data; or grant direct access to personal bank account money and fraudulent transactions.”

Proof of adequate cyber security could be made a term of government contracts, said Hazel Blears, the former MP who has been counterterrorism minister and a member of the parliamentary intelligence and security committee.

“The time is quickly drawing near when we have grown to have a debate in this country about do we expect companies who are taking massive amounts of public data to be able to demonstrate that they are putting in place the necessary security precautions... about whether there needs to be a better regulatory framework,” Blears told BBC Radio 4’s Today program. “We could manage it through a code, we could manage it through government contracting. We have set out our critical national infrastructure to protect – power, water, all of those things that are vital to the nation. We could say to companies: we are not starting to undertake with you unless we are perfectly sure that you have selected the necessary measures.”

Facebook's New Universal Search

Facebook provides marketers a Twitter Moment-like experience with new universal search. Facebook users already had the power to search for updates posted by their friends, but Zuck and company have now resolved to widen the search function to make all public offices.

The move will dramatically increase the pool of up-to-the minute content that users can look for. It may give Facebook the Twitter-like ability to show users trending discussions and issues that are journalized on the platform in near real time. Since Facebook posts are personal and often respond to events or trends, the new search capability could pose a threat to products like Google Trends.

A lookup of the demon of all social media platforms was once geared toward searching for people, but it’s shifting toward the real substance of the mails. Facebook says it now hosts more than 1.5 billion searches per day, and receives more than 2 trillion posts stored in its hosts. Two trillion dollars.

Here’s how a Moment-like story can be assembled using universal search: As Facebook puts it, interesting public conversations are often attached to a liaison about a certain style or issue. “With one tap, you can find public posts about a connection, see popular quotes and phrases mentioned in these billets, and check out an aggregate overview of sentiment,” Facebook wrote in its blog.

“This feature is a first step — we count onward to people employing it and giving us feedback so we can get it even better.” That’s an important message — Facebook intends to keep establishing the feature to gather more content elements around important links.

Facebook’s universal search may affect digital marketers by increasing the number of searches Facebook members get along, which could provide a broader picture of users’ interests and purpose.

Universal search is rolling out to English-speaking audiences in the U.S. today on iPhone, Android, and background.

Amazon Launches New Fire TV

Amazon launches new Fire TV, the company’s 4K UHD-capable follow up to its successful streaming media box, beefs up specs but cuts a few small niches in the procedure. The Fire TV is a simple black box with glazed sides, a matt cover and an embossed Amazon logo. It’s non intrusive, can be obscured behind other devices and doesn’t possess a rooter, which makes it silent.

 Amazon’s New Fire TV Features

1) Setting it up

2) Easy to use

3) App support

4) Streaming video

5) Lowest Price

The remote doesn’t require line-of-stack to the box and is mere to apply, with play control buttons, a home button, back button, menu button and a directional pad with a select button.

The tip of the remote has a mike button for voice search and a small hole for speaking into. The remote is mostly solid, but it’s made of a cheaper feeling plastic than the previous Fire, TV and its directional buttons creak slightly. It simply doesn’t feel quite as well made as the previous generation.

Along the rear of the device is an HDMI port for plugging into your TV, a power port for the included power adaptor – no powering via USB here – an ethernet port, a USB port and a MicroSD card slot for adding more memory.

Those that don’t deliver a spare ethernet cable for their router can connect via Wi-Fi by tapping in their password using the outside. If the Fire TV was purchased straight off from Amazon it will arrive pre-configured with your Amazon account, which is a decent feeling.

It won’t run without an Amazon account, and I’m not quite sure why you would purchase it if you were not an Amazon Prime or Amazon Instant video subscriber.

Apple Prohibited 250 Apps That Secretly Collected User Information

Apple prohibited 250 apps that secretly collected user information. The iPhone maker made the announcement a day after researchers found hundreds of apps using Chinese advertising software that extracts "personally identifiable user information."

Apple confirmed that discovery Monday.

"We've placed a group of apps that are using a third-party advertising SDK (software development kit), developed by Youmi, a mobile advertising provider, that... gather private information, such as user email addresses and device identifiers, and route data to its company server," the California-based company said in a statement to AFP.

"This is a violation of our security and privacy guidelines. The apps using Youmi's SDK will be removed from the App Store and any new apps submitted to the App Store using this SDK will be eliminated.

"We are running closely with developers to aid them get updated versions of their apps that are safe for customers and in conformity with our guidelines back in the App Store quickly." Apple does not permit third-party applications to share data about a user without obtaining users' permission, and it rejects apps that ask users to share personal data, such as email addresses or birth dates.

Researchers at the mobile analytics firm SourceDNA said Sunday they had seen hundreds of apps that pull up personal information, saying it was "the first time we've seen iOS apps successfully bypass the app review process."

The researchers said they found 256 apps with an estimated one million downloads that accept a version of Youmi that violates user privacy.

"Most of the developers are located in China," the researchers said in a web log spot. "We consider the developers of these apps aren't aware of this since the SDK is delivered in binary form, obfuscated, and user info is uploaded to Youmi's server."