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Google withdraws complaint against Apple in ITC, is no longer trying to ban iDevices from the United States
Well now, what do we have here. In August Google’s subsidiary Motorola Mobility filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission alleging Apple’s iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices infringe on seven of Motorola’s patents. This complaint gained particular attention not only because it was, more or less, Google’s first offensive [...]
Read More »Android apps will seamlessly run on Windows 8, thanks to a partnership between AMD and Bluestacks
Windows Store may only have a few thousand apps when Windows 8 is launched but Windows 8 tablets and PCs running on AMD processors will have access to hundreds of thousands of more apps. Hundreds of thousands of Android apps and games, to be more specific.
AMD has teamed up [...]
Read More »Google has modified the layout of Google.com, making it look more like Bing — anyone else see it?
Over the years people have accused Bing of copying Google, or at least making changes to Bing that make it appear to be more Google-ish. With a new change to Google.com, it may actually be Google copying Bing.
I was running a search query on Google.com when I noticed the [...]
Read More »US Navy develops malware for smartphones that will “steal your life”
PlaceRaider. The name sounds like a gamer tag someone would use on Xbox. It isn’t a gamer tag, however. (Well it might be but not in the context of this article.) PlaceRaider is the name of a new malware developed by Robert Templeman from the US Naval Surface Warfare Center [...]
Read More »Warrantless surveillance by American government has increased by 662% since 2001
We already know about the once-secret but now-public warrantless wiretap program, Terrorist Surveillance Program, run by the National Security Agency that spies on Americans (and non-Americans). There is also a possibility of the NSA spying on the general American public without good reason, if a former NSA director is [...]
Read More »Internet Explorer blocks more malware than Chrome and Firefox, according to a study
Internet Explorer has a bad rap when it comes to security, primarily thanks to the prolonged usage of IE6 by the general public. If an independently-conducted study is to be believed, Microsoft has really turned things around with Internet Explorer 9. More specifically, a study by NSS Labs says Internet [...]
Read More »Be careful what you rent — rent-to-own computers from seven companies spied on users, stealing passwords and photographing… sex
You know those scary stories you hear about how a hacker took control of someone’s webcam and videotaped or photographed them without their knowledge? Yeah, well, it turns out hackers aren’t the only ones doing such things — companies that rent out computers do such things, too.
The Federal Trade [...]
Read More »[Android] Try to keep up with the simple but awesome game Tap! Tap Faster!
Fast-paced games are common, but simple ones are few and far between. Fun, simple ones? You’ll have better luck winning the presidency. However, Tap! Tap Faster! is one of those apps that manages to break the mold. Though the concept behind it is incredibly simple, it manages to suck you [...]
New Java vulnerability in Java 5/6/7 bypasses Java security sandbox, affects 1 billion users worldwide
Is it open season on Java? Or has the season for Java never ended? Who knows. I do know, however, that yet another vulnerability has been discovered in Java. This time the vulnerability affects Java 5, Java 6, and Java 7, meaning roughly one billion users around the world are [...]
Read More »IEEE, a group of tech experts, leaks almost 100,000 usernames and passwords — login information for Google, Apple, and Samsung employees
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (aka IEEE) describes itself as “the world’s largest professional association for the advancement of technology”. The IEEE is not only home to many big names in the scientific and engineering community but many IEEE members are also employees of big tech firms (Google, [...]
Read More »Fake “Microsoft Windows Update” e-mail will steal your Gmail, Windows Live, Yahoo, or AOL passwords — be careful
E-mail threats are a non-stop nuisance. After the recent “Important Changes to Microsoft Services Agreement” malicious e-mail, we have another swipe at Windows users. This time the e-mail comes in the form of a phishing attack.
An e-mail from “privacy@microsoft.com” with the subject of “Microsoft Windows Update” is hitting inboxes [...]
Read More »For years, Microsoft has been secretly limiting online passwords to 16 characters — despite leading users to believe otherwise
When you register for a new Outlook.com e-mail address, you are told your password can be a maximum of sixteen characters. While there are, of course, security implications with limiting passwords to sixteen characters, what is worse is how Microsoft has been lying to us for years.
You see while [...]
Read More »[Windows] View detailed information about the elements of the periodic table with pElement
There is tons of information known about each and every element known to mankind, but accessing it is another story. Most of it is scattered by the winds throughout the internet, some appearing on Wikipedia’s info boxes but most hidden throughout the mountains of text one might expect to find [...]
[Android] Can’t hear your own phone? Increase the volume of your speakers and headphones with Volume+
Many phones max out at a pathetically low volume level. Is yours one of them? Don’t try to strain yourself to hear it anymore–Volume+ is a free app that’s here to help. It raises your volume level by exploiting Android’s native equalizer settings and artificially boosting the volume.
Volume+ [...]
Read More »Skydiver stands on top of one plane while holding the tail of another plane [Amazing Photo of the Day]
![Skydiver stands on top of one plane while holding the tail of another plane [Amazing Photo of the Day]](http://cdn.dottech.org/media/2012/09/this_is_not_ashraf-290x160.jpg)
Okay, this is insane. The following photo is of an Austrian skydiver standing on top of a plane (a glider) in the sky while holding the tail end of another plane (another glider) that is flying upside down above him. If you think that sounds crazy, wait until you see [...]
Read More »Create eBooks (PDF, ePub, and more) out of Wikipedia articles with Book Creator
Thanks to the popularity of always-on broadband and mobile devices, Wikipedia is only a click away for many people. However, what if you want to be able to access Wikipedia offline. Or, maybe print Wikipedia articles. What do you do? There are, of course, many options to download Wikipedia for [...]
Read More »Microsoft releases new update to plug Internet Explorer exploit — get this now even if you got the earlier one (both 32-bit and 64-bit are supported)
Earlier this week dotTech brought you news about a vulnerability affecting Internet Explorer. Microsoft realized the significance of the vulnerability and quickly issued a hack-and-slash Fix it utility to patch the vulnerability. Aside from the fact that the earlier Fix it apparently didn’t support 64-bit machines, it also wasn’t a [...]
Read More »iPhone 5 vs Galaxy S III: Drop tests show iPhone 5 is very durable, survives falls much better than the Galaxy S III
Today is the official release date for the much anticipated iPhone 5. While the features of the iPhone 5 may be nothing special for Android fans, how does its durability fare? As we have seen in the iPhone 4S vs Galaxy S III vs HTC One X drop test, the [...]
Read More »[Android] Securely back up all of your photos, videos, contacts, messages, and more using G Cloud Backup
One of the coolest things about Android is its deeply integrated synchronization with Google. All of your settings, contacts, and emails are instantly uploaded to secure servers off in Googleville, USA, where they’re safely stored in case you need to access them to either download onto a new device or [...]
Security researchers remotely hack iOS and Android, steal data (photos, videos, contacts, etc.)
At the EUSecWest 2012 conference in Amsterdam, there is a Mobile Pwn2Own contest in which security researchers — or hackers, if you want — try to demonstrate their prowess at hacking mobile devices. The two best hacks of the day? A hack by a Certified Secure team that exploits a [...]
Microsoft releases patch for Internet Explorer vulnerability, download the fix now to stay safe
You know that Internet Explorer vulnerability affecting Internet Explorer 7/8/9 on Windows XP/Vista/Win7 dotTech recently posted about? Yeah, well, it looks like Microsoft is on the ball with this one; they have just issued an easy-to-apply ‘Fix it’ to patch the vulnerability. According to Microsoft, “applying the Fix it solution, [...]
[Windows] Instantly hide all open windows and cycle through them one by one with PutAside
On Windows 7, hitting the Win+D keyboard shortcut automatically minimizes all of your windows and shows the desktop. It has some pretty big issues, however: it’s either all windows at once, or none at all. You can’t hide only Chrome or only Notepad, leaving Command Prompt and Paint open. You [...]
Seemingly real Microsoft e-mail is spreading malware, be careful
Whether it be through Windows or its online services, Microsoft touches the lives of many, many people around the world on a daily basis. So when an e-mail from “Microsoft <servicenotification@email.microsoft.com>” with the subject of “Important Changes to Microsoft Services Agreement” magically appears in the inbox [...]
Read More »[Windows 8] View and download the magnificent Astronomy Picture of the Day in one beautiful, sleek interface
The world is a beautiful place. So is space. Every day for the last several years, NASA has been republishing one photo a day on their Astronomy Picture of the Day service, and it’s been brought to dozens of devices through the use of dedicated apps and services. However, no [...]
New exploit allows hackers to hijack HTTPS connections
Last week researchers unveiled a new exploit that allows the hijacking of HTTPS connections, the type of connections the world relies on for secure data transfer over the Internet.
Dubbed CRIME (Compression Ratio Info-leak Made Easy), the hack exploits vulnerabilities in Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) [...]
Read More »New vulnerability in Internet Explorer 7, 8, and 9 allow hackers to remotely control your Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 computer
A couple back-to-back Java vulnerabilities hit the cyber waves a few weeks back. The cyber criminal gang that exploited those vulnerabilities seems to have developed a new zero-day attack. This time the attack has Internet Explorer in its crosshairs.
Security researchers are reporting there is a new zero-day vulnerability affecting [...]
Read More »[Android] Screen turning off while you’re reading? Keep it on with SmartStay Ex
Many people enjoy reading things on their tablets and cell phones. There’s an issue with this: if you take too long, your screen will turn itself off! Samsung solved this problem in the Galaxy S III. The S3 takes a photo with your front facing camera, and if it detects [...]
Cell phone carriers are charging customers for data they don’t use, according to a study
No one on a capped data plan wants to go over their monthly — or daily or whatever — limit because overage charges are often extreme. So you would think carriers would have a system in place to ensure accurate counting of data usage,. Yeah, not so much. According to [...]
Read More »Some brand new PCs have pre-installed viruses, according to Microsoft
In August 2011 Microsoft started an investigation into fake copies of Windows coming out of China. For this investigation, Microsoft employees bought 20 brand new PCs from various Chinese vendors and took them back to HQ to test for forfeit copies of Windows. All twenty machines were found to have [...]
Read More »[Windows] Increase drive speed by creating superfast temporary RAM disks with RAMDisk
Your computer’s hard drive is slow. It’s even slow if you’ve upgraded to the next generation of disk drive technology, a solid state drive. What’s faster? Your computer’s RAM. That’s right–there’s technology that exists to temporarily create a storage space on your RAM, making for lightning speed access speeds [...]
[Chrome] Be warned of dangerous websites before you visit them with Web Of Trust
If you’ve ever ended up with a virus on your machine because of a Google search gone wrong, then you probably wish you had some way to know whether or not that site that seems so perfect for what you’re looking for actually is what it claims to be before[...]
Hate your alarm clock? Get woken up easier with Sleep Time and a little dose of science [Android]
Are you waking up tired after hours and hours of sleep? You might think that it’s weird that, even after a beautiful 8.5 hours of sleep, you’re not as rested as you sometimes are. It turns out that it might come down to something called a sleep cycle: 90-minute periods [...]
Facebook is building a search engine, will give Google a run for its money
TechCrunch, a technology blog, holds regular ‘Disrupt’ conferences where a bunch of geeks gather to talk about geeky stuff. At the most recent ongoing conference in San Francisco, TechCrunch interviewed Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook. The interview itself is roughly 30 minutes long and has a good [...]
Read More »Over 50% of Android devices have security vulnerabilities, according to a study
When it comes to smartphone/mobile security, there are two types of malware.
First there is socially engineered malware. This type of malware, typically in the form of apps, works by tricking users into installing it and then proceeds to abuse access allowed by the operating system — such as apps [...]
Read More »Comedian shows people an iPhone 4S, tells them it is an iPhone 5, and listens as they praise the “better” iPhone 5 [iSheep moment]
Ready for a ridiculously funny iSheep moment? As I’m sure many people know by now, the iPhone 5 was unveiled yesterday but will not be available until September 21. Jimmy Kimmel, a popular comedian known for his night shows, figured this is a perfect moment to play a prank.
Kimmel [...]
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