Apple loses FaceTime patent retrial vs VirnetX, and pay $302.4 million

Reuters reports that a federal jury in the Eastern District of Texas has ruled in favor of VirnetX, ordering Apple to pay $302.4 million in damages. This particular case has been going on since 2010, and in the last verdict, a jury ruled Apple owed more than $600 million to the "non-practicing entity (read: patent troll) over technology used in FaceTime. However, in August the appeals court threw that ruling out, saying jurors may have been confused by references to the first iteration of this case.

According to Bloomberg, it's still not over. Now the US Court of Appeals will have to make its own ruling, and VirnetX needs to win there in order to actually get paid for its patents. Even that probably won't be the end, since Reuters says VirnetX is also suing Apple over newer security features and its iMessage system.


Source: Reuters, Bloomberg  

Read More

Facebook gives select Pages to tag their products

Facebook has begun testing an experimental feature that allows businesses running Pages to tag their products, according to Business Insider. The publication has spotted the option in their account and confirmed the ongoing test with the social network. What does it mean for buyers like us?  Well, when you click on a tagged product, you'll be taken straight to a dedicated page where you can read more information about it.

“To provide Page admins with more tools to drive organic product discovery, we're testing the ability to tag products in photos, videos and posts," a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement.

"Organic" discovery means that there's no paid advertising component to tagging products this way yet, but it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine Facebook somehow monetizing the feature in the future.

While it's unclear if or how Facebook will implement product tagging broadly, the feature could be an attempt to improve the social network's search and ad targeting capabilities. Apple tagging its AirPods in a Facebook post could, for example, help more people see information about AirPods when they search for them on Facebook.

A Facebook spokesperson told BI that the company is testing the ability to tag products in photos, videos and posts to "provide Page admins with more tools to drive organic product discovery." In other words, it's a free way for companies to advertise their goods and make them more visible to potential buyers. Besides product tagging for Pages, the social network has also started testing yet another Snapchat-like feature for Messenger. It's a tool you can use to make an ephemeral compilation of photos and videos that you can embellish with stickers and scribbles, similar to Snapchat Stories.

source: Business Insider

Read More

Watch angry man smashes iPhones and Macs at Apple Store in France

Apple customer support is often rated highly throughout the world, but that doesn't mean the company always avoids unhappy customers. A disgruntled customer in France entered an Apple Store in Dijon yesterday and calmly smashed devices in front of Apple staff and customers. At least 10 iPhones were smashed with a boule metal ball (used in a French bowls game), alongside a MacBook Air.

French media reports suggest the angry man, who actually calmly smashed devices, was complaining about his consumer rights and a refund. The man appears to have been detained outside the store, and there are no reports of injuries apart from the broken Apple equipment. Hopefully the angry man purchased multiple AppleCare protection plans, otherwise that's going to be a costly bill for thousands of dollars of property damage.

Watch it here:







source: bienpublic.com, Kekess__ YouTube

Read More

Security researcher found multiple vulnerabilities in the D-Link DWR-932B router

Security researcher Pierre Kim has discovered multiple vulnerabilities in the D-Link DWR-932B router that's available in several countries to provide the Internet with an LTE network. Kim privately reported the security flaws to the Taiwan-based networking equipment manufacturer D-Link in June and received no update from the company. So, he went public with details of the vulnerabilities after obtaining CERT's advice.

D-Link DWR-932B LTE router is allegedly vulnerable to over 20 issues, including backdoor accounts, default credentials, leaky credentials, firmware upgrade vulnerabilities and insecure UPnP (Universal Plug-and-Play) configuration.

If successfully exploited, these vulnerabilities could allow attackers to remotely hijack and control your router, as well as network, leaving all connected devices vulnerable to man-in-the-middle and DNS poisoning attacks.Moreover, your hacked router can be easily abused by cybercriminals to launch massive Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.

The Dlink DWR-932B is a LTE router / access point overall badly designed with a lot of vulnerabilities. It's available in a number of countries to provide Internet with a LTE network. 

The researcher found that D-Link wireless router has Telnet and SSH services running by default, with two hard-coded secret accounts (admin:admin and root:1234).
Hackers can simply need these credentials to gain access to vulnerable routers from a command-line shell, allowing them to perform man-in-the-middle attacks, monitor Internet traffic, run malicious scripts and change router settings.

Another Backdoor D-Link DWR-932B LTE router has another secret backdoor that can be exploited by only sending "HELODBG" string as a secret hard-coded command to UDP port 39889, which in return launch Telnet as root privileges without any authentication. 

A small push button on your router, labeled WPS, stands for Wi-Fi Protected Setup, a 'so-called' security feature that allows anyone to connect to your wireless network with a PIN, instead of your actual Wi-Fi password.

The PIN for the WPS system on D-Link routers is '28296607,' which is hard-coded in the /bin/appmgr program.

D-Link's remote firmware over-the-air (FOTA) update mechanism is also vulnerable.
The credentials to contact the FOTA server are hard coded in the /sbin/fotad binary. The user/password combinations are qdpc:qdpc, qdpe:qdpe and qdp:qdp.

"It's notable the FOTA daemon tries to retrieve the firmware over HTTPS. But at the date of the writing, the SSL certificate for https://qdp:qdp@fotatest.qmitw.com/qdh/ispname/2031/appliance.xml is invalid for 1.5 years," Kim writes.

No restriction about the UPnP permission rules in the configuration file for the vulnerable D-Link router, allowing anyone on the LAN to add their own Port forwarding rules from the Internet to other clients located in the LAN.

There are more security issues surrounding the vulnerable router, but Kim points out that the router with a big processor, sizable memory (168 MB) and good free space (235 MB) is so badly secured that it would be trivial for attackers to use this router as an attack vector.


source: Pierre Kim github

Read More

A pre-ordered matte black iPhone 7 Plus arrived exploded

So what’s the latest feature Apple ripped off from its top smartphone rival Samsung? Apparently, Apple was jealous that Samsung’s exploding Galaxy Note 7 is stealing some of the iPhone 7’s airtime, so it built an exploding smartphone of its own.


An image of a seemingly exploded, badly damaged iPhone 7 Plus surfaced on Reddit Wednesday, and some media outlets (as well as social media) are already comparing this to the seemingly never-ending Samsung Note7 Explodegate.

All joking aside — and before other sites catch wind of this story and go crazy with it — this clearly appears to be an isolated incident, at least for the time being.

Reddit user kroopthesnoop posted the first photo of the phone,

The image above was posted by Reddit user “kroopthesnoop” on Wednesday, claiming a coworker had pre-ordered it and that it had arrived in that condition and it shows a matte black iPhone 7 Plus that certainly looks like it exploded. Unlike Samsung’s somewhat widespread Galaxy Note 7 problem that was due to a battery defect, however, this iPhone exploded while in transit, according to the phone’s owner. When he received the iPhone he ordered and took it out of the box, this is what he found.

Details are scarce for the time being. “Something happened between the factory and delivery,” is all the phone’s owner had to say in his thread on Reddit. Apple hasn’t commented publicly and neither has UPS, but one or both companies will likely have to investigate the matter when the phone’s owner contacts Apple for a replacement.

 In later updates to the Reddit post, he claims Apple and AT&T are aware of the incident, and will send a replacement phone. 

Read More

PicsArt adds Prisma-like effects to photos and video inside your phone

PicsArt today launched a brand new pair of apps for iOS, adding Prisma-like effects for photographs and videos to the visually stimulating toolbox that lives inside your phone. The company also launches a Remix Me feature, turning photo adjustments into a social experiment not entirely unlike what we saw with the now-defunct Dubble app.

Both apps process effects on your phone, rather than in the cloud, making the app significantly faster than Prisma.

Watch the video from Techcrunch:



Unfortunately the said apps is not available for Android as of now, but there is Art effect similar to Prisma but not as good as the new apps for iOS.

Update!  Just today PicsArt for Android updated now with Remix Me feature.

Watch my Sample (Android) :

 

source: via Techcrunch

Read More

HP spoke about the previous firmware update blocking third-party ink

Following a recent update that blocked some third-party ink cartridges fore its printers, HP formally apologized to customers this week for how it communicated about the change. Earlier this month, the company updated its firmware making cartridges made by other companies unusable on its printers. HP cited quality and security reasons for switching up its authentication process. Those third-party options are typically cheaper and as you might expect, customers weren't happy about not being able to use those supplies.

HP admitted in a blog post that it "should have done a better job of communicating about the authentication procedure." The company says the reason for the update was to "ensure the best customer experience" and to block any third-party cartridges that don't contain an HP security chip and infringe on its intellectual property. In other words, the company apologized for the lack of communication, but defended the decision to push the update. 

"We will continue to use security features to protect the quality of our customer experience, maintain the integrity of our printing systems and protect our IP including authentication methods that may prevent some third-party supplies from working," HP COO Jon Flaxman explained in the post.

To try and remedy the dust up with its customers, HP is offering an optional software update that will remove the recently added security feature. 

The company says it will take about two weeks for the second update to be ready, but when the time comes, customers can find information here.  http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Inkjet-Printing/

source: HP

Read More

Logitech's latest webcam is for the livestreamers: C922 Pro Stream

With eSports shaping up to be a half-a-billion dollar industry this year, and it would be a good time to step up your livestreaming game if you're hoping to get noticed among the packs of Twitch streamers and YouTubers. Enter Logitech's latest webcam: the C922 Pro Stream, designed specifically for gamers with 1080p streaming at 30 frames per second and dynamic background replacement to make your face streams really pop.

The C922 is Logitech's first webcam since the introduction of the HD Pro C920 way back in 2012. While the earlier iteration quickly became the gold standard for professional streamers and video bloggers, the latest version builds on that success with a new 60 fps setting at 720p to keep the stream in sync with gaming's fast framerates. (Although it's a step down in resolution.) Logitech also worked directly with XSplit to tune the C922 specifically for its game broadcasting software.

The Logitech C922 Pro Stream Webcam is optimized for razor-sharp streaming and recording on channels like Twitch® and YouTube®, with an arsenal of tricks up its sleeve to help your stream stand out from the crowd.

Rounding out the features, the C922 also boasts sharp autofocus and automatic low light correction to compensate for the flashing lights of your computer screen. For audio, the C922 packs two omnidirectional, noise-cancelling microphones. As for that background replacement function, Logitech says the camera uses "intelligent shape recognition" to separate the subject from the background without the need for a green screen – meaning you can place yourself in front of your game stream or at least just block out the view of your gaming den behind you.

The C922 Pro Stream is available on Logitech.com for $99. There's also a Best Buy exclusive version that comes with a tripod and three-month license to XSplit, or a C922x variation available on Amazon that skips the tripod in favor of a six-month XSplit license.

source: Logitech

Read More

Beware "Ransomware" has been floating around in the Internet

A ransomware has been floating around for about a week, a type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid.


    "although ransomware is usually aimed at individuals, it's only a matter of time before business is targeted as well"

Cerber is a ransomware-type malware that infiltrates systems, encrypting various file types including .jpg, .doc, .raw, .avi, etc. Cerber adds a .cerber (some variants add .cerber2 or .cerber3) extension to each encrypted file. Following successful infiltration, Cerber demands a ransom payment to decrypt these files. It is stated that payment of the ransom must fall within the given time frame (seven days), otherwise the ransom amount will double. 

When infected, a victim's data files will be encrypted using AES encryption and will be told they need to pay a ransom of 1.24 bitcoins or ~500 USD to get their files back. 

Unfortunately, at this point there is no known way to decrypt a victim's encrypted files for free.

When first run, Cerber will check to see if the victim is from a particular country. If the computer appears to be from any of the following countries, it will terminate itself and not encrypt the computer.

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and now it also found in Asia including Philippines

If the victim is not from one of the above countries, Cerber will install itself in the %AppData%\{2ED2A2FE-872C-D4A0-17AC-E301404F1CBA}\ folder and name itself after a random Windows executable. For example, when we performed our analysis of the ransomware it named itself autochk.exe. It will then configure Windows to automatically boot into Safe Mode with Networking on the next reboot using the following command:

C:\Windows\System32\bcdedit.exe" /set {current} safeboot network

Cerber will then configure itself itself to start automatically when you login to windows, execute as your screensaver when your computer is idle, and set a task to execute itself once every minute. In this phase, when the ransomware is executed it will show a fake system alert and begin a restart process.

Cerber ransomware distributed via spam e-mail attachments (using infected .WSF and .DOC files) or Cerber ransomware is delivered by a rogue document attached to spam emails. Once users open the document, they are encouraged to enable malicious macros - the ransomware then starts to encrypt victims' data

Here some user who commented and message me and confirmed they have encounter Ransomware, unfortunately I can not help..

You can check some removal guide posted by experts below :

• https://www.pcrisk.com/removal-guides/9842-cerber-ransomware
• http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/the-cerber-ransomware-not-only-encrypts-your-data-but-also-speaks-to-you/
• http://sensorstechforum.com/remove-cerber-3-ransomware-restore-cerber3-encrypted-files/

Good Luck and Remember DO NOT CLICK any suspicious link or open spam email..

Read More

Japanese engineer invent's typhoon turbines harness storms' energy

A Japanese engineer named Atsushi Shimizu has designed a new type of wind turbine that can harness energy from something more powerful than a strong breeze. Shimizu's creation, which looks like a huge, upright egg beater, can withstand typhoons (or hurricanes, depending on where you live) and turn their destructive power into usable energy. Unlike ordinary turbines, it can stay standing even when assaulted by intense winds and rain, thanks to an omnidirectional vertical axis and blades with adjustable speeds. That makes them perfect for their creator's home country, as well as other places frequently visited by storms, such as China, the Philippines and the US.

Shimizu says the energy from a single typhoon can power Japan for 50 years, and with the help of his turbines, the country could become a "super power of wind." Even if his creation can capture all that energy, though, it will likely be tough finding a way to store 50 years' worth of power at this point in time. We might not have the battery tech capable of that just yet.


Shimizu's company installed a prototype earlier this year in Okinawa, and it's now gunning to build one either on the Tokyo Tower or at Japan's National Stadium, where the Olympics will be held in 2020.

Source:  Challenergy

Read More

Facebook roll out Messenger "Secret Conversations" end-to-end encrypted that can also self destruct

You probably don’t want Facebook snooping on your private conversations, so may have steered clear of Messenger previously, but the good news is the social network now lets you send private messages to friends which can only be read on the device of the person you're communicating with -- and not by Facebook itself.

Facebook Secret Conversations started being tested on a limited basis three months ago, but is now available to most users.

It lets you create end-to-end encrypted one-to-one secret conversations though the Messenger app for Android and iOS (not through Facebook on the web), and you can currently send text, photos and stickers. You can also set a timer to have your messages disappear from the conversation.


It’s very easy to send a secret message, just follow these steps:

1. From the  tab, tap 
2. Tap Secret in the top right
3. Select who you want to message
4. If you want, tap "timer icon"  in the text box and set a timer to make the messages disappear after seen.

Or

1. Select one on your contact list and create a message

2. Tap on (!) icon

3. Tap the Secret Conversation

4. Now compose a message and if you want it to self destruct of disappear  Tap the (timer icon)  and set your time..

Secret conversations are currently only available in the Messenger app on iOS and Android, so they won't appear on Facebook chat or messenger.com. They're also only visible on the device where you create the conversation and the device the recipient uses to open the conversation.

Watch a sample video how it works:

Read More

Germany and India Bans Facebook From Collecting WhatsApp Data

A month ago, the most popular messaging app WhatsApp updated its privacy policy and T&Cs to start sharing its user data with its parent company, and now both the companies are in trouble, at least in Germany and India.

The Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information Johannes Caspar even ordered Facebook on Tuesday to delete all data that has already been forwarded to WhatsApp since August.Both Facebook, as well as WhatsApp, have been told to immediately stop collecting and storing data on roughly 35 Million WhatsApp users in Germany.

Also in India, the Delhi High Court on September 23 ordered WhatsApp to delete all users’ data from its servers up until September 25 when the company’s new privacy policy came into effect. When Facebook first acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion in cash in 2014, WhatsApp made a promise that its users’ data would not be shared between both companies.

But now apparently this has changed, which, according to Caspar, is not only "misleading" for their users and public, but also "constitutes an infringement of national data protection law" in Germany.


"Such an exchange is only admissible if both companies, the one that provides the data (WhatsApp) as well as the receiving company (Facebook) have established a legal basis for doing so." the press release [PDF] from the Commission reads.

"Facebook, however, neither has obtained an effective approval from the WhatsApp users nor does a legal basis for the data reception exist."

In response to the privacy watchdog’s decision, Facebook released a statement that it complied with EU data protection law, saying: "We are open to working with the Hamburg DPA in an effort to address their questions and resolve any concerns."

According to the watchdog, since Facebook and WhatsApp are independent companies, they should process their users' data based on their own terms and conditions as well as data privacy policies.

Read More

Facebook releases Osquery Security Tool for Windows

When Facebook engineers want to monitor thousands of Apple Mac laptops across their organization, they use their own untraditional security tool called OSquery.

OSquery, an open-source framework created by Facebook that allows organizations to look for potential malware or malicious activity on their networks, was available for Mac OS X and Linux environments until today. 

This open source endpoint security tool has become one of the most popular security projects on GitHub since its release in mid-2014 and was available for Linux distribution such as Ubuntu or CentOS, and Mac OS X machines.

So, if your organization was running a Windows environment, you were out of luck.

The social network has announced that the company has developed a Windows version of its osquery tool, too.

 


OSquery is a smart piece of cross-platform software that scans every single computer on an infrastructure and catalogs every aspect of it.

Then SQL-based queries allow developers and security teams to monitor low-level functions in real-time and quickly search for malicious behavior and vulnerable applications on their infrastructure.

In simple words, OSquery allows an organization to treat its infrastructure as a database, turning OS information into a format that can be queried using SQL-like statements.

This functionality is critical for administrators to perform incident response, diagnose systems and network level problems, help to troubleshoot performance issues, and more.

But, not today, as with the help of Trail of Bits, Facebook has finally launched the OSquery developer kit for Windows, allowing security teams to build customized solutions for their Windows networks.

"As adoption for osquery grew, a strong and active community emerged in support of a more open approach to security," reads the earlier version of Facebook's blog post provided to The Hacker News.

"We saw the long-held misconception of 'security by obscurity' fall away as people started sharing tooling and experiences with other members of the community. Our initial release of osquery was supported for Linux and OS X, but the community was also excited for a Windows version — so we set out to build it."

To get started with the OSquery developer kit for Windows, check this official documentation, the development environment, and a single script. The build is easy to install, and you can start coding right away.

source: Facebook

Read More

IPC cites Hybrid Cloud as key step towards business success

Local cloud and data center services pioneer IPC (IP Converge Data Services, Inc.) believes that Hybrid Cloud setups, a combination of public cloud infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and physical hardware-driven systems, are key business growth strategies, especially for medium to large enterprises that already have operational IT systems in place.

Businesses of today face challenges that not only dampen growth but moreso threaten their very survival. As the digital age forces companies to rely heavily on ICT (information and communications technology), business processes are changing and IT systems have become mission-critical, thus compelling CTOs to seek IT infrastructure options that bring high systems availability without breaking the bank or getting into a fight with the CFO.

A Hybrid Cloud configuration involves the use of public cloud resources combined with hosted physical machines to run and maintain specific systems for an organization. There are companies that would like to take advantage of the cloud but would also like to maintain data or applications using their own physical resources. This setup is a viable solution to a slew of business concerns, i.e. maintain control over a particular component or set of data within a system, backup and disaster recovery, security or compliance issues, and data sovereignty. In addition, the public cloud components allow companies to scale up or down as needed and pay only for what is used.

According to IPC’s director for product management & marketing Niño Valmonte, a hybrid approach enables companies to maintain control of an internally managed private cloud while relying on the public cloud as needed. Though they operate independently, they can be setup to communicate over an encrypted internet connection in order to fulfill specific tasks.

For instance, during peak periods in the retail industry such as the holidays, applications, or even portions of applications of an order entry system  can be migrated to the public cloud, thus providing more stability. This will also allow for more flexibility and scalability.

“IPC is in the best position to help companies achieve a hybrid cloud setup that is efficient, secure and effective, being both a highly experienced Internet data center operator and pioneer cloud IaaS provider in the country,” Valmonte said. “We leverage our state-of-the-art data center facilities and robust network infrastructure to provide the entire spectrum of IT infrastructure solutions ranging from data center co-location, hosted private cloud infrastructure, hybrid cloud, virtual private cloud, and public IaaS.”

On the rise

Ease of use and customization possibilities are key drivers for businesses shifting to hybrid cloud setups. A study by the International Data Corporation (IDC), revealed that over 70% of enterprises in Southeast Asia are integrating hybrid cloud in their IT strategy. According to IDC, enterprises realize that adopting hybrid cloud is important to reduce cost and achieve business transformation, agility and scalability.

“2016 will be a big year for solutions built on hybrid cloud architectures with 65% of Asia Pacific enterprises to commit for its implementation,” said Chris Morris, Vice President, Cloud and Services, IDC Asia/Pacific.

IDC believes that the big drivers for increased implementation of hybrid clouds are IT’s continuing quest for optimized infrastructure, and the ability of solution builders to source application and infrastructure components from multiple providers to construct a hybrid cloud-based solution.

“With increasing cloud spending, many enterprises will have begun use of hybrid solutions without direct involvement. With the business unit managers increasingly buying their own cloud solutions, hybrid cloud architectures can proliferate, and sometimes not be aligned with the enterprise architecture,” added Morris.

Another study, made by Frost & Sullivan, shows that Hybrid IT is the “new normal” for companies in the Asia-Pacific. “At their core, successful hybrid cloud strategies support the delivery of high-value applications and services to the business, while at the same time driving cost and inefficiency out of the IT infrastructure,” the report said.

Hybrid cloud environments are becoming more popular in the marketplace, as they enable IT to remain flexible and respond quickly to market demands, as well as providing lines of business with the resources they need to succeed. Additionally, cloud users recognize that different workloads or applications perform optimally in differently configured environments: configurations that work well for one application or workload may not work for another. And many workloads share data that is drawn from different sources outside of where the application itself resides. As such, businesses are integrating a variety of infrastructures to create a complete, hybrid cloud environment.

Boosting digital shift

“Adopting a hybrid cloud strategy is definitely key to boosting digital transformation. It allows companies to utilize the cloud for scalability while keeping critical data and processes in check whether in their offices, or colocated in IPC Data Center. This way, companies enjoy a highly flexible and customizable IT environment,” added Valmonte. “Digital is the New Normal, and the time to make the digital pivot is now.”

According to Gartner, digital transformation has become a key factor in future business growth and success, and the latter will be defined by how well companies, organizations, and governments leverage the technology to enable partner and customer engagement across a wide range of digitized processes.

IPC, through its carrier-grade, telco-neutral data centers, provides highly secure colocation services as well as its IaaS product, IPC CloudServers, or a hybrid setup that involves both. With expertise in the full range of IT infrastructure implementations, IPC is able to efficiently assist businesses in setting up their own hybrid systems.

Learn how IPC’s infrastructure-as-a-service can solve real life business problems at cloud.ipc.ph.

About IPC®

IPC® (IP Converge Data Services, Inc.) is an Internet data center, telecommunications and cloud services company, providing local and regional enterprises with managed data services and business solutions at international standards. Certified with ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management Systems and ISO 27001:2013 Information Security Management Systems, the foundation of IPC's business is customer satisfaction, ensured through high-quality on-time service delivery, best practices, and a personalized, "boutique" approach to clients. IPC is an ePLDT company.

To know more about us, visit www.ipc.ph, Like us on Facebook, and Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Instagram, and YouTube.

Press Contact:                          Mika Calixterio

Marketing Communications Manager, IPC

mika.calixterio@ipc.ph  / +63 939 927 4737

Read More

BlackBerry’s next rumored Android phone, the DTEK60

We heard rumors that the company would be launching more Android devices, possibly one for each quarter for the next two quarters. This might be true given that a new Android phone, the DTEK60, just passed through the FCC. The filing doesn’t give us many details, but does confirm the phone’s existence.

BlackBerry reportedly leaked the phone’s specs on its own website earlier this week. If these specs are legit, the DTEK60 will be a whole lot better than the DTEK50. 

BlackBerry released its DTEK50 last month (pictured above)  

It might have:

• 5.5" diagonal, 534 PPI, 2560 x 1440 Quad HD resolution
• All-touch screen, with intuitive gesture based navigation
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 64-bit Quad-Core (MSM8996 with 64 bit Quad-Core 2+2 Kryo
• 2.15GHz / 1.6GHz), Adreno 530, 624MHz GPU
• 4 GB RAM, 32 GB Flash
• USB Type-C
• 3000 mAh 4.4V non-removable Lithium-Ion battery QC3.0 Enabled
• 21-megapixel auto-focus camera
• 8-megapixel Fixed-Focus
• Fingerprint sensor (DTEK60)
• Convenience key
• Android 6.0.1

source: crackberry

Read More

D-Wave has announced this month its largest ever quantum chip containing 2,000 qubits

Quantum computing firm D-Wave has announced this month its largest ever quantum chip containing 2,000 qubits — double the capacity of its previous biggest system. The chip is scheduled to ship next year, and if it lives up to its promise, it would solidify D-Wave’s position at the forefront of quantum computing, a potentially revolutionary field that would change computing as we know it. But despite D-Wave’s confidence, scientists and academics say the company has never proved its advantages over normal computers. 

The Canadian firm’s quantum computing chips are based around a process known as quantum annealing. This renders a set problem (like, for example, trying to find the quickest route home passing through certain points) as a topographical map of peaks and troughs, with the optimum answer to the question defined as the lowest point on that map. While regular computers using static 1s and 0s would have to traverse the entire map to find that point, quantum computers — which use quantum bits, or qubits, that represent 1s, 0s, and both at the same time — can effectively tunnel through the landscape, find the lowest point much faster.

But researchers say the benefits of D-Wave’s method have never been proved. A study published in Science in 2014 found that tasks performed on the company’s machines were no faster than conventional computers. The scientists were looking for evidence of "quantum speedup" — the signature advantage of quantum computers which holds that the more calculations you throw at them, the greater a difference in speed they show when compared with classical machines. The paper in Science did not rule out the possibility of D-Wave creating quantum speedup, but certainly found no evidence for it.

The pair note that papers published by D-Wave and partners supposedly showing its quantum advantage are generally pitting its $15 million chips against the class of processor you’d found in your laptop. What’s more, they say, testers tend to pick computational challenges that D-Wave's chips have been optimized for, giving the company’s tech a home-field advantage. This, they say, leads to impressive but misleading claims that D-Wave's technology has been proved to be "100,00,000 times faster" than classical computers.

Kuperberg adds that D-Wave’s qubits are also of low quality compared to those produced by other researchers. "Just because [their chips] are quantum, that doesn’t make them a quantum computer," says Kuperberg. "That's like saying that any invention that is influenced by air must be an airplane. Of course, it's not true; it might instead be bagpipes."

Williams noted that while it's true you can't measure the quality of a chip in the number of qubits alone, D-Wave's new software functionalities would also deliver extra power. "We are at least a decade ahead in my opinion and if we can sustain our current pace of innovation we’ll remain a decade ahead, forever," he said.

Aaronson and Kuperberg would disagree, but say they’re still optimistic about the wider future of quantum computing. Troyer, too, mentions many other promising projects, including those at Microsoft, IBM, and the University of Oxford. Indeed, there have been rumors this year that a team at Google working under one John Martinis (separate to the group testing D-Wave’s chips) are getting near to a breakthrough, with results expected in the coming years.


source: Googleblog, Newscientist

Read More