Kaspersky Lab uncovers new Android and iOS spying tools

Mobile spy CCTV

Security company Kaspersky Lab has published a new report uncovering previously undiscovered Remote Control System (RCS) Trojans that work on both Android and iOS. It's also mapped their massive international command and control network.

The Trojans are part of the allegedly 'legal' spyware tool, RCS, also known as Galileo, developed by the Italian company, HackingTeam. Kaspersky's researchers were able to map the presence of more than 320 RCS command and control servers in over 40 countries. The majority of the servers being found in the United States, Kazakhstan, Ecuador, the United Kingdom and Canada.

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Google Glass can help you survive the zombie apocalypse

Return of the Living Dead 4: Necropolis Zombie

Still trying to justify the cost of Google Glass to yourself, or your significant other? The ability to use it to evade zombies and get fit in the process might not be enough to tip the balance, but it’s certainly another tick in the 'for' column.

Immersive fitness app Zombies, Run! has been adapted to work with Google’s wearable. If you’re not familiar with it, the app essentially turns a real-world jog into a journey through the zombie apocalypse. On Android and iOS it’s pretty much an audio-only affair, but the Glass Edition changes that.

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CloudPhysics helps deliver reliable storage for virtual data centers

Cloud storage

Storage is often at the heart of many of the problems companies encounter when running their data centers in the cloud.

Analytics specialist CloudPhysics is looking to help admins pinpoint and resolve storage-related issues with a new Storage Analytics product. This uses big data analysis techniques to predict problems and issue Smart Alerts so that issues can be fixed before they become critical.

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Microsoft selects Opera as default browser for its Android phones

x2-nokia

Earlier today, my colleague Wayne Williams reported that Microsoft is releasing its first Android phone. While not the first smartphone from Nokia to be powered by Google's operating system, it is the first under Microsoft's leadership. Let that sink in for a minute -- Microsoft is releasing a device powered by Linux. Has hell frozen? Are pigs flying? Surely, this is the sign of the apocalypse.

Every smartphone needs a default browser however, and the Nokia X2 is no exception. Sadly, Microsoft has not ported Internet Explorer to Android -- I would welcome that in the future though. No, it has chosen a different browser as default and it is not Chrome or Firefox, but Opera.

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Logitech brings Nest control to Harmony

logitech-harmony-ultimate

Logitech, which owns the Harmony brand of universal remotes, has recently been updating the line. We finally saw new remotes, along with a keyboard that can control all of your home theater equipment. Most recently the company even added support for Amazon's Fire TV and the Hue lights.

Now Harmony becomes even more friendly to home automation, with the company announcing it is now compatible with Google's latest toy -- the Nest thermostat. "Now, there’s no more pausing the movie to grab a blanket or turn on the AC. With this free update, you can view and adjust your Nest Thermostat settings directly from the color touch-screen on your remote. Large arrows on the touch screen allow a quick and simple temperature adjustment, and even support multiple thermostats in different areas of your house", the company announces.

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IrfanView adds new features, widens support to legacy image formats

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Irfan Skiljan has unveiled IrfanView 4.38, a major new build of his popular Windows image viewer and editor that’s free for personal use.

Despite the minor revision number, IrfanView 4.38 is packed with a significant number of new features, as well as newly added support (via a plugin) for legacy image formats stretching back to the days of 8-bit computing.

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Collect, organize and share your web research sources with Zotero

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It’s extremely easy to research almost any topic online, but that’s not necessarily a good thing. You can be drowning in links and PDFs before you know it, and browser bookmarks simply aren’t enough to keep everything under control.

Zotero is a smarter solution for organizing both online and offline research. It’s aimed at a professional audience who need a quick and easy way to create bibliographies and properly formatted citations, but the core technology really does have something for every web researcher.

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Digital payments set to reach $4.7 trillion by 2019

mobile ecommerce

A new report from research specialists Juniper shows that the annual transaction value of online, mobile and contactless payments is just over $2.5 trillion this year and is set to reach $4.7 trillion by 2019.

The largest increase in spend will occur through remote physical goods purchases, buying things online in other words. This is partly due to increased activity in emerging markets such as China, with the online retailer Alibaba accounting for 20 percent of global B2C (business to consumer) and C2C (consumer to consumer) online retailing worldwide in 2013.

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Microsoft launches its first Android smartphone -- the Nokia X2

X2

At the Mobile World Congress (MWC) back in February, Nokia surprised people with a new Android-powered smartphone series. The Nokia X line consists of the X, X+ and XL, with the devices designed to fit somewhere between Nokia's low-end Ashas and high-end Windows Phones. There was speculation that once Microsoft had taken over the Finnish manufacturer's mobile business that this new line would be killed off -- keeping the focus solely on Windows Phone devices -- but that turns out not to be the case.

Today Microsoft announces the Nokia X2, which the tech giant introduces "as the newest addition to the expanding Nokia X family of affordable smartphones designed to introduce the 'next billion' people to the mobile Internet and cloud services". Like the Nokia X, the new device gives users access to both Android apps and popular Microsoft services, like Skype, Outlook.com, and OneDrive.

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Google's Nest thermostat hacked with Linux -- backdoor enabled on device

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Sometimes it feels like the whole world went and got crazy. It's true, with every passing day, all types of newfangled gadgets, doodads and wild ideas are released. Google is at the forefront, with Google Glass, self-driving cars and Nest internet-connected thermostats. Truth be told, I'm hardly a Luddite, but I am wary of having a computer and camera strapped to my head or having my home connected to the internet.

I am not scared of the technology, but of the hackers. You see, anything connected to the internet has the capability of being hacked or exploited. This makes me hesitant to embrace the connected home. Think I'm crazy? Think again. Today, popular Google TV hacking site GTV Hacker, announces it has hacked the device to enable the booting of unsigned code. If you own a Nest, hackers could have a backdoor into your home.

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Sundance web browser lets Windows users perform advanced web searches easily

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More than a decade into the browser wars, and they show no signs of abating. But while the behemoths of Microsoft, Google and Mozilla battle it out in the heavens for market share, closer to earth there’s still room for niche web browsers to make their mark.

One such browser is Sundance 4.0, which aims to carve itself a niche by providing easy access to advanced search tools, direct from the browser’s main interface.

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Russia says 'nyet' to Intel and AMD, 'da' to Baikal

Putin

It is very sad that countries cannot trust each other anymore. Maybe they never did and I am simply naïve, but I never gave a second thought as to which country manufactured my electronics. Hell, as an American I have to trust the goods from other lands -- we do not manufacture any! (OK, we do manufacture some things). But could my motherboard, Blu-ray player or cable box have secret spying capabilities baked in? I suppose so. Even sadder, I am powerless to do anything about it -- I am not about to create circuit boards in my garage.

What once may have been seen as paranoia, now becomes reality in the aftermath of PRISM and other Snowden-leaked programs. It seems every country is spying on the other, including allies. It is rumored that the USA may have directly spied on German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Germany is supposed to be a friend an ally, so if that is happening, lord only knows what the USA would do to its less friendly world neighbors. Today, it comes to light that Russia is looking to ditch computer processors made by Intel and AMD in favor of its own, presumably to prevent spying by the USA.

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Google starts testing new domain registration service -- Google Domains

URL bar

In many regards, it is rather surprising that it didn’t happen sooner -- today Google announces it is testing a new domain registration service aimed at businesses. Google Domains is currently an invite-only service, and it has taken the search-giant a very long time to get in on the website game. Once fully up and running, "businesses will be able to search, find, purchase and transfer the best domain for their business -- whether it's .com, .biz, .org, or any of the wide range of new domains that are being released to the web".

At the moment, the service is concerned only with domain registration. However, partnerships with the likes of Shopify, Squarespace, Weebly, and Wix.com suggest that storage and web building options will also be in the cards. Few details have been released about just what we can expect from Google Domains, but the About page does give something of an insight. Standard features such as domain forwarding and domain management tools are complemented by customizable sub-domains and email accounts that can be forwarded to existing Gmail addresses.

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Microsoft ups the ante with 1TB of free cloud storage for Office 365, 15GB for OneDrive

cloud-storage

Just three months ago we saw the start of the cloud storage price wars when Google slashed its prices. Today Microsoft has retaliated by offering a massive increase in the amount of free cloud storage available to OneDrive and Office 365 customers. The company's recently renamed storage service jumps from 7GB of free space to 15GB -- although those with reasonable memories will recall that it is not all that since SkyDrive customers were given 25GB free of charge. But it doesn’t end there. Every version of Office 365 will now come with 1TB of free space as standard.

The figure for OneDrive has not just been plucked out of the air. "Our data tells us that 3 out of 4 people have less than 15 GB of files stored on their PC. Factoring in what they may also have stored on other devices, we believe providing 15 GB for free right out of the gate – with no hoops to jump through – will make it much easier for people to have their documents, videos, and photos available in one place."

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Microsoft really, really, really wants MacBook Air users to buy Surface Pro 3

Microsoft Surface Pro 3 vs 2014 Apple MacBook Air

It is no secret Microsoft is marketing its new Surface Pro 3 Windows 8.1 hybrid as a direct rival to Apple's venerable MacBook Air ultrabook. As someone who owns the latter of the two I can see why. Both are premium devices that are similarly priced (Surface Pro 3 is more expensive, however, when purchased with Type Cover) and offered in near-identical configurations, power-wise, which yield comparable battery life (MacBook Air is better in this regard, even if only by mere hours). However, as I wrote in a past article, Surface Pro 3 offers extra features, like a touchscreen and tablet credentials, which can, arguably, make it more appealing.

As I said before, Microsoft's best chance of persuading MacBook Air users to switch to Surface Pro 3 is come upgrade time, as, right now at least, this upgrade, as appealing as it may be for those willing to dump OS X for Windows, is not worth the cost penalty. Microsoft appears to be aware of this, as it launched a new trade-in offer for MacBook Air owners. And, unexpectedly I might add, the Surface Pro 3 maker offers quite a bit in return.

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