Thursday 28 August 2014

Moto X+1: Anticipation from Motorola’s Forthcoming Flagship Device

Moto X+1
Motorola: - The Revival

Motorola has revived its reputation once again as a tech giant following major changes in its ownership & management. It rocked the smartphone universe last year following the releases of: Moto G, Moto E & Moto X. All three devices were unique in their own respect & earned wide acclaim among users upon its release. Moto E was well known for its budget friendly yet feature packed package, Moto G for being a mid range behemoth & Moto X for combining finesse with innovation & simplicity. This year also, Motorola has promised its users at least 3 devices, an upgraded version of the bestseller Moto G, an Android powered smart-wear & Moto X+1.


Moto X+1: -

Following the release of Moto X, Motorola techies realized the need of a much more powerful as well as sophisticated device available at an affordable price to compete with the likes of smartphone giants like Samsung & Apple. Thus the Moto X+1 was born. A detailed description regarding the expected features of this device has been presented below. 

Hardware Specifications: -The Moto X was powered by a 1.7 GHz Krait processor, which handled all applications decently. The Moto X+1 on the other hand is rumoured to be driven by either an over-clocked Snapdragon (at 2.45 GHz) 800 quad-core processor or its successor, The Snapdragon 801. It will be complemented by 2 gigabytes of RAM hoping that would allow the device to chew through processing operations with ease, thereby improving user experience. The GPU unit is also likely to be improved, as the device is known to sport an Adreno 330 unit.

Camera: - a 12MP/13MP primary camera is rumoured to be present on the device complimented by a 2MP secondary camera. HD recording feature is also likely to be available.

Screen & Storage: - Screen size is likely to be increased to a 5.2-inch Full HD display providing a visually delightful experience. An AMOLED display will be used along with the standard Corning Gorilla Glass 3 providing the screen the much necessary muscle to withstand daily rigors of life. 2 versions of the devices are likely to be available in terms of storage: a 16GB one & a 32 GB one.

 • Design: - Reports suggest the design of Moto X+1 would be largely based on its predecessor in terms of ergonomics & structure. Though larger in size, it should be comfortable to handle. Some unique customizations along a symmetrical dual speaker at the top is likely to be present on the device.

Software: - The device is likely to be powered by the latest Android OS, i.e. Kitkat 4.4.4. As usual, a revamped UI combined with some unique & innovative tweaks should be present as well.

Price: - 

Though Motorola has always aimed to manufacture budget friendly devices, Moto X+1is rumoured to command at least a minimum price of $400, though upgraded versions are likely to cost more.

Though it is confirmed that, Motorola is going to announce Moto X+1 on 4th September this year, release dates haven’t been confirmed yet with reports suggesting that the device is likely to be released it the slot of 10-25th September. Well known for its products, customers are eagerly waiting for the release of Motorola’s this year’s flagship device & one can only hope that it’s worth the wait.

Harmful Apps Can Hack Gmail Apps As Proved By US Researchers


Gmail
According to some US researchers’ study, it is possible to hack into the accounts of Gmail, which can be almost 92% successful. It is mainly done by utilizing a weak point in the memory Smartphones. The researchers themselves were able to have access to a range of apps, which are in Gmail, by masking harmful software as a different downloaded app.Gmail was one of the simplest to access from the trendy apps as it was tested.

What is Phishing? 

Phishing actually is not the single technique used by the researchers to get the user’s information. The Chase Bank app lets the users to pay through checks by getting the image of the check by means of the phone camera. The hackers can do another attack, with the help of the advantage of this characteristic. A particular phone can put down a check by trapping a picture of it. The infected app captured the picture. This can help hackers to have entry to bank account info including the signature of the user.

Impact of the hacking through apps

The hacking was experimented on an Android mobile, but as per the researchers, it might work on any other operating system like Windows as well as the iOS system. The researchers utilized a harmful application to check the activity on an Android Smartphone. The impact starts while the user downloads such a malicious app. This app does not work until the user begins using one of the intended apps of Gmail or even the Chase Bank. By using data in the common memory, the harmful application traces out what the mobile user is doing on another app. The malware after that launches a false login window to get back the data provided by the user into the intended application. This is chiefly called a phishing attack, which the hackers mostly use to get sensitive economic data.

It has been generally assumed by the users and also the developers that these apps can never interfere with one other simply. Researchers proved that this statement is not right, and one app, in fact, considerably is able to affect another and this causes some harmful effects for the user. The hackers can get access by making a user to fix a seemingly risk-free app for example phone wallpaper. They expose a lately revealed public side channel, which does not need privileges. This trait allows methods to share all the data capably and is rather common, because all of the downloaded apps of the mobile interact with single operating system.

Thus, all the users must be always careful about these hackings. They should download apps from only the reliable sources. Generally, in most cases, popular apps are the source of hacking. In order to avoid these, it is better to check your Smartphone or the tablet on the regular basis. You have to be certain that apps that are the genuine one are the just ones that you installed. If any unnecessary app or the seemingly harmful apps are downloaded, uninstall it immediately.

Wednesday 27 August 2014

Deciding Which New Phone Is The Best For You


Deciding which new phone is best for you comes down to what features you cannot live without. Keep these options in mind when you go shopping.

Office Demands vs. Home Business

Smartphone
                                               Image via Flickr by Sergey Galyonkin

A Smartphone that can handle multiple email accounts is essential for work but has little utility for home use. Blackberry devices, including the Blackberry 10, support POP email accounts and corporate servers that run Microsoft Exchange and Outlook Web Access. The downside for these phones is the general lack of an app store to give added business value.

If you're running a business from your home, try the iPhone 5S. Email connectivity is still possible across multiple accounts, including POP mail, IMAP and Microsoft Exchange, and you have access to the iTunes app market. The disadvantage you'll run into here is price -- about $600 without a contract.

Taking High Quality Pictures

Cameras on today's phones rival any standalone point-and-shoot on the market. Android phones and Windows phones dominate this segment of the industry with the Nokia Lumia 1021 leading the way with its 41-megapixel camera. This Windows phone's ZEISS element lens and PureView technology combines seven megapixels into one, enabling DSLR-quality photos with just a button touch.

On the Android side, the Samsung Galaxy S5's 16-megapixel camera provides high-end camera options that still best anything Apple has out there at the moment. The phone also incorporates real-time HDR technology, white balance presets, image stabilization, multiple focus settings and white balance presets.

Power to Run Your Apps

What good is it to have millions of apps available for download if your phone doesn't have enough RAM to run them? If you like to run a ton of apps at once or use your phone for graphic heavy games, you need a device that can handle the increased power demands. Samsung makes the devices with the highest RAM (random access memory) now available, including the Galaxy Note 3 (3GB of RAM). Sony's Xperia line of phones also features 3GB of RAM and comparable processor speeds to the Samsung Galaxy series but has lower display resolution.

Into the Future: Multiple media outlets confirmed that Samsung developed the world's first 4GB RAM chip for a smartphone back in 2013. That's enough power to run most desktop applications.

Phone Security Features

Keeping sensitive business information on your phone? You need a device that can keep your data secure and prevent access even if you lose it or someone steals it. Built-in fingerprint scanners on the iPhone 5S, HTC One Max and Samsung Galaxy S5 make certain that only you can unlock your phone. Remote data wiping for phones using Android or iOS operating systems helps you and your company cut sensitive information should the phone fall into the wrong hands. Take advantage of cloud storage features on the Android or iTunes app markets so your data doesn't need to live on your phone.

Handling a Heavy Workload

How long your phone can hold a charge can mean the difference between getting work done on the road and a desperate search for a wall outlet. PC Mag's own testing crowned the Huawei Ascend Mate2 as the leader in battery life with more than 30 hours available on a single charge. If you've never heard of the phone, that's because it's manufacturer only started offering smartphones in the United States in 2014. If you'd like a device with a more established sales history in the US, try the Droid Maxx. This phone has over 19 hours of battery life and full access to the Android app market and a 10MP camera.

Decide with Special Features

Some proprietary features set phones apart from the rest of the pack. If you have relatives and friends scattered across the country, you may want an iPhone to leverage FaceTime for more personal communication. Are you a person who hates typing on a touch screen? Try a phone like one from the Galaxy Note series, which incorporates a stylus for hand writing your notes.
Special features are no sign of a phone with staying power, however, so it's important to look at all factors before making a final decision.

Choosing the phone that's best for you comes down to how you view its importance in your daily life. Take these tips and go forth to make informed choices.

Tuesday 26 August 2014

Apache Hadoop Project


Apache Hadoop
Apache Hadoop is the open source project that acts as the agenda for storage and processing large amount of data. The Apache Hadoop project mainly aims at the development of the open source software that will be used for consistent, accessible and scattered or better known as distributed computing. It is highly designed to scale and balance up from single servers to thousands of machines, each providing local advance computation and high storage capacity.

The license under which it is developed is Apache License 2.0 and it is developed for cross platform so it can be termed as interoperable. Hadoop is built under the Apache top level project which is the community of large number of people. It is developed by the people of this community and since it is the open source community people from all over the world have given the ideas and many of them have contributed to it in many ways.

The project contains some modules which can be explained as follows:

Hadoop Common: It is the common functions and utilities that supports and maintain the other Hadoop modules.

Hadoop Distributed File System: It is also called as HDFS. Basically it is a distributed file system which provides and gives high-throughput access to many application data. It is one of the main modules of the project.

Hadoop YARN: It is theagenda for not only job scheduling but also cluster resource maintenance and management.

Hadoop MapReduce: MapReduce isa YARN-based module for implementation of parallel processing of large data sets.

History of Hadoop

The history of Hadoop is quite interesting. Earlier around 2004 there was simply Google file system paper then in the mid came Google MapReduce paper. In 2005 nutch uses MapReduce. Then in the starting of 2006 Hadoop got separated from Nutch and then finally around the mid of 2008 Hadoop became Apache project. The large community of this project was formed and then the development of Hadoop project started.

Hadoop Distributed File System includes the following features: 

•  Very Large integrated Distributed File System

– contains around 10K nodes with 100 million files supporting system with capacity of 10 PB.

•  Undertakes Commodity Hardware

– All the files are fully or partially replicated to handle hardware and software failure.

–Itdetects all kinds of failures and recovers data from them with maximum accuracy.

•  Enhanced for Batch Processing

– Basically data locations are exposed such that computations and other calculations can move to wherever data exists in.

– It also provides very advanced and high comprehensive bandwidth.

So these are some advanced features of HDFS or Hadoop distributed file system that have really made the project successful.

Following are the advantages of Hadoop project:

• Flexible

• Fast

• Secure

• Scalable

• Reliable

• Cost effective


• Cross platform

• High storage capacity

• Failure resistant

• Data Replication to prevent failure.

So these are some amazing features that have really helped Hadoop to become a successful project and no doubt it has been adopted by many famous companies like Facebook, Amazon, Google, Yahoo, IBM, etc. So it’s really very successful project with highly advance features.

Some other projects related to Hadoop are Ambari, Avro, Cassandra, Pig, Hive, Chukwa, Spark etc. All of them are related to big data and cluster computing. In later posts we will also discuss about some other projects related to big data to stay connected.

Monday 25 August 2014

Lockitron – Smart Keyless Entry System

Lockitron
Lockitron is a device that is capable of locking and unlocking deadbolts locks through remote control namely a smartphone. The gadget has been designed by Apigy,based in Mountain View, California, which is an easy to install app connected smart home solution that can turn any common deadbolt into a smart keyless entry system.

The device can fit over the lock control mechanism from the inside of the door while the door can be unlocked through an app on the phone or through web page control. Moreover, phones with Bluetooth Low Energy- BLE, can also unlock the door automatically when an authenticated is within range and the supplied NFC tag could be read to start a command to toggle the state of the lock.

Apigy designed Lockitron as a standalone product, based on earlier success of deadbolt replacement solutions, which can now be operational over the internet through Wi-Fi or directly from iPhone via Bluetooth 4.0. Apigy, like several hardware start-ups did encountered many problems at the time of manufacture, missed deadline due to unforeseen complications as well as quality control issues.

After successful funding campaign of two years, Lockitron has now been shipped to backer in quantity though there some minor problems with the current software with some features which were promised that seemed to be absent.

Adopted Sensor Suite with Motorized Turning Ring

Though the basic dimensions of deadbolts of US are standardized, its internal mechanics like the degree of rotation needed to activate the lock differs from each manufacturer for instance a Schlage needs a 90 degree turn to lock and unlock the bolt while products which are by Kwikset need a more substantial 120 degree turn.

To adjust the varying locking ratios, some locks have a deadbolt lever which is centrally placed in the decorative mounting plate while others place the pivot point off centre in the fascia’s lower third and to work with these roadblocks, Lockitron had adopted a sensor suite with motorized turning ring which automatically programs the locking start and stop positions, determining correct force that can also be activated by knocking.

A rubber insert grasps the deadbolt lever which can be cut or printed in 3D for an accurate fit.

Mounting Lockitron is easy, straightforward process

Mounting of the Lockitron is easy and a straightforward process which needs a Philips-head screwdriver which is included for installing purpose together with a C-shaped mounting plate which needs to be fitted between the door and decorative deadbolt plate to make a solid anchor from which Lockitron can be latched.

 The C-plate has grooves matching with common deadbolts assemblies and tabs which interlock with Lockitrons’ chassis.Installing is done by loosening the deadbolt screws from the interior door, sliding the C-plate behind the deadbolt decorative mounting plate and fitting the mounting plate into a accurate groove on the C-plate to the centre of the Lockitron.

 Thereafter, tightening the deadbolt screw ensuring that the lever turns with the least amount of resistance since deadbolts tend to be fiddly and doors are drilled with some inaccuracy. If all this is not aligned accurately there could be chances that the lever may turn out to be hard to turn. Once done the Lockitron need to be held at an angle to the door, to slip it over the tables on the C-plate, rotated till it is vertically straight up and down with the door edge and then mounted.
Lockitron Relies More on Wi-Fi than Bluetooth

Thereafter the app can be downloaded which guides the user through the process of setting up Locitrons’ software and on entering Wi-Fi network range, the app ask to connect the Lockitron with Apigy’s cloud service by taking a picture of a barcode attached to the device chassis. In Lockitron, the focus is on phone’s display at the upper right corner of Lockiron while the app flashes pattern of pulses which are captured by on board photo sensor.

The concept of Lockitron relies more on Wi-Fi rather than Bluetooth connection since Wi-Fi has a higher energy cost on the AA batteries which are included and the firmware puts Lockitron to sleep in order to conserve power. Scheduling sleep/wake is arbitrary and manual activation is limited to knocking or locking the door. At the time of leaving the home, the door is unlocked from inside and as we exit we tend to pull the door close but it still remain unlocked. We can then open the app and swipe to lock the door.

 Lockitron is a good idea and the hardware has good capabilities but its execution is not quite up to the mark. Apigy on their part are constantly making progress in updating for better Wi-Fi connection, to modify wake/sleep pattern, higher app monitoring accuracy with better mechanical operation. Moreover, the company also has plans to activate `Sense’, which is a proximity aware method of keyless entry based on Bluetooth 4.0 that was on the hyped features list.