Software News

Last week we've announced that the Ubuntu 12.10 wallpaper contest emerged, which took place on Flickr, whcih ended on August 28th.

It took only two days to decide the winner, and today, August 31st, we are proud to announce that Canonical packed and uploaded the winning photos on the daily build of the upcoming Ubuntu 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal) operating system.

This time there are fewer, therefore only twelve new wallpapers were added, not including the default one, which looks unchanged from the previous Ubuntu release.

In order of appearance, the names of the default wallpapers in the Ubuntu 12.10 are: A Little Quetzal by Vlad Gerasimov (VladStudio), Below Clouds by kobinho, Blue Dandelion by Jaorizabal, Green Plant by Simon Schlegl, Cairn by Sylvain Naudin, Early Morning by Robert Katzki, Frozen by Fernando Garcila Redondo, H by Manuel Sagredo, Pantano de Orellana by mgarciaiz, Roof Tiles by Finn Sturdy, Vanishing by James Wilson, and Gran Canaria by ALF.

The wallpapers were created by community members. Congrats to the authors of these beautiful photographs! Without further ado, these are the 12 new default official wallpapers of Ubuntu 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal):







On October 18th, Ubuntu 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal) will become the 17th release of the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution.

Powered by Linux kernel 3.5, Ubuntu 12.10 will be supported for two years and it will include default apps like Mozilla Firefox 16, Mozilla Thunderbird 16, LibreOffice 3.6, and much more.

Ubuntu 12.10 will have a much improved Unity user interface built on top of the GNOME 3.6 desktop environment.

Don't forget to visit our website next week, on September 6th, for a detailed report on the first Beta release of Ubuntu 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal), where we will unveil more of Quantal's new features!

About Ubuntu

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution for your desktop or server, with a fast and easy install, regular releases, a tight selection of excellent packages installed by default, every other package you can imagine available from the network, and professional technical support from Canonical Ltd and hundreds of other companies around the world.

Via: The New Wallpapers of Ubuntu 12.10

This year's IFA trade show in Berlin, Germany, is where the great brands on the consumer IT market have chosen as the stage for their 4K super-large displays.

As the title says, we will talk about LG' model here, although we should probably say it up front that we'll show as much as we'll tell.

The 84-inch TV features a native resolution of 3,840 x 2,160, or UD. It is named 84LM9600 and cand handle 3D as well as it can 2D (the refresh rate is, thus, 120 Hz or a multiplier of it). 

The company brought several of these things to its large booth and set them up near another important product lineup: OLED TVs.

We'll write about those separately though. For now, gaze upon the great wonder that is the first 3D UD TV in the gallery below.


Via: IFA 2012: LG's 84-Inch UD 3D TV, 3,840 x 2,160 Resolution

The new GK106 graphics chip from Nvidia seems to be ready for primetime, as many samples have already left the TSMC gate and ended up getting photographed on the internet. This graphics processing unit will enable Nvidia to make more money, as the GK104 on the GTX 660 Ti takes up quite a large chunk on a 28nm wafer.

Nvidia’s GK106 was rumored to have 768 CUDA processing units, but we have a feeling there will be more than double the units on the GK107 GPU used on the GT 640 video cards.

We believe there will be 1152 CUDA cores present inside the new Kepler GPU from Nvidia, but not all of them will be activated.

The hardware experts from videocardz.com have reportedly managed to get their hands on some clear pictures of the new GPU.

It doesn’t seem that much smaller than the GK104, but there is the possibility that the comparison images were not scaled properly.

Via: Nvidias GK106 Kepler GPU Pictured

Mozilla has been working on bringing down memory usage in Firefox for a while now, but accelerated efforts about a year ago with the MemShrink project. Since then, the big problems with Firefox have been fixed, so the latest big patch is actually for add-ons.

Firefox 15 has a fix that should prevent the most common and problematic add-on memory leaks. The fix should be great for performance and memory usage, in most cases, but it can cause issues in some isolated situations.

What's more, the fix doesn't guarantee that all add-on leaks have been plugged, that's clearly not the case. Which is why Mozilla is urging add-on developers to test their creations and see if they leak. After all, who's in a better position to fix leaky add-ons than the people who created them?

"To ensure people continue to have a good browsing experience while using the add-ons they love, please do your part in testing your add-ons. The fix in Firefox 15 handles most instances of Zombie Compartments, but that doesn’t mean they can’t still be created," Mozilla wrote.

Zombie Compartments are memory compartments created by add-ons that remain in memory even though they are no longer used, a classic memory leak. This happens because add-ons store parts of a website in memory even after users close the tab it was being used for.

The fix in Firefox 15 addresses this issue. But there are other ways in which an add-on can cause memory leaks and the fix may still not work for all zombie compartment leaks. The problem is that leaks can be hard to pinpoint and discover, especially by developers who may not have great experience testing their code in various use cases.

"This MDN article includes pointers on how to find these types of leaks and how to avoid them. The main take-away is this: don’t hold any references to DOM objects after the document is closed. Your help in testing both the add-ons you’ve created and the add-ons you use is vital, and greatly appreciated," Mozilla added.

Via: Firefox 15 Fixes Add-On Leaks, but Devs Are Encouraged to Test Their Add-Ons to Be Sure

Developer Funcom has revealed that its recently launched MMO The Secret World has managed to sell only 200,000 units since it was launched in the early days of July.

The company says that sales were lower than expected and believes that The Secret World was affected by the mixed reviews that the game received from various outlets and by the competition it faced in the MMO space.

Just before The Secret World was launched, ArenaNet announced that its own much-awaited title, Guild Wars 2, would be released on August 28 and Blizzard also chose the same period to reveal that it was delivering the Mists of Pandaria expansion for World of Warcraft on September 25.

A financial focused statement from Funcom reads: “The Company will concentrate its new development on more focused, systems-driven games that have a high degree of community and player interaction. These games require less time and development cost to bring to market.”

Funcom has also reported that it has concluded a number of cost-cutting measures designed to ensure “that all of the live games as well as the company are cash-flow positive.”

The developer will continue to look for ways of attracting more players to The Secret World, although it is not clear whether the plans include going free-to-play at any point in the near future.

Funcom also says that it will change its focus and create smaller online games for the foreseeable future, aiming for less resource use and smaller development cycles.

The Secret World is an MMO that aims to combine traditional combat mechanics against a variety of supernatural creatures with a lot of puzzles and a story that is linked to three secret societies and how their actions impact the real world.

We have a full Softpedia review for The Secret World.

Via: The Secret World Sells Just 200,000 Copies Since July Launch

The Nintendo Wii U isn’t a difficult platform to make games for, at least according to Steve Lycett, the executive producer of the upcoming Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed, who revealed that the platform has a few great surprises, including its amount of memory.

Nintendo is getting ready to release the Wii U later this year and, while a price or a release date have yet to be revealed, plenty of developers who are working on games for the new home console have shared their opinions.

Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed executive producer Steve Lycett is the latest developer to share his thoughts about the Wii U, saying that he and his team at Sumo were surprised by the performance and the specifications of the home console.

According to Lycett, surprises always arise when working on a new device but, with the Wii U, there haven’t been any big challenges.

"There are always surprises and unexpected challenges when you develop on a new console," Lycett told ONM. "When we first got our hands on the kit, the first surprise was the capability of the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). We'd been worried that we might need to re-engineer all the effects and shaders in the game, but they worked just fine."

When compared with other current-generation platforms, like the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, the Wii U is quite adequate and definitely overtakes them in a crucial area: that of memory, as the new device has a bigger amount of RAM than its competitors.

"The Wii U looks as good as any of the HD platforms. The Wii U has way more memory, so we can take advantage of that with less compression on elements and textures, so it will look all lovely and shiny."

As of yet, however, the Wii U still doesn’t have a concrete release date or price. Nintendo is expected to reveal these two crucial bits of information next month, during a conference in New York City.

Via: Developing for Nintendo Wii U Is Surprisingly Easy, Studio Says

Germans have always been very keen about their privacy. Well, maybe they haven't always been this way, but they certainly are now. Things like taking photos in public are very frowned upon, apparently, not to mention your friends using a tool to tag you faster in their photos.

But no, this is not about Facebook's facial recognition system again, this time around it's about the app center.

The Federation of German Consumer Organizations, VZBV by its German acronym, a group of consumer watchdogs, have issued an "ultimatum" to Facebook to stop handing over data on users to third-party apps without user consent.

The group takes issue with the fact that, since the App Center was introduced, Facebook has even fewer safeguards to ensure that users are properly informed about their actions.

That is, users can simply click "play game" for example and will be directed straight to that app, not to the interstitial screen asking them to authorize the app to access their data.

Some info on what the app needs is listed below the button in grey-colored font.

What's more, this is only displayed the first time, clicking the button implies consent and the info won't be shown the next time you visit the app's page.

The German group has a problem with this, actually, it says it's illegal under German laws which require specific consent from users. This regression of Facebook's already poor privacy settings has prompted the VZBV to ask Facebook to remedy the situation or face legal actions. It has a week to comply.

Germany has a history of some strict and sometimes exaggerated privacy demands, but that's not really the case now. The fact is, Facebook's change makes it much easier for users to dismiss the data sharing warnings. It probably boosts app usage, which is what Facebook wanted, at the detriment of user privacy.

Via: German Consumer Group Issues Ultimatum to Facebook Concealed App Data Sharing

We’ve talked about ASUS’ intention of making a new dual GPU video card some time ago, but the company has bluntly denied any such plans so we gave up on the idea also. Now there is some new info available that suggests the Taiwanese giant is actually working on an Ares successor, but that’s not going to be a dual Pitcairn card like it was initially rumored.

The hardware enthusiasts at EXPreview have reportedly managed to snatch a picture of what’s supposed to be a dual GPU video card that’s using AMD GPUs.

The card in question is surprisingly based on two Tahiti XT GPUs and thus it is actually ASUS’ own AMD Radeon 7990 version.

This could also be a dual AMD Radeon HD 7970 video card as there are many clues that point towards the fact that AMD’s dual Tahiti implementation will likely have a different setup, frequencies and TDP than a Radeon HD 7970 X2.


Via: ASUS Secretly Working on AMD Radeon HD 7990 Dual GPU Video Card

This past Saturday, a female giant panda living in a Chinese breeding center successfully delivered its fourth cub so far. Immediately after birth, the animal is seen picking up its offspring in its mouth and carefully placing in on its belly, where it can keep it safe and lick it clean.

Although the mother panda did handle the cub with extreme care, veterinarians stepped in and took the baby panda from it.

Their goal is to run tests to make sure that the cub is in good health, and to keep it in an incubator at least until the risks of something bad happening to it are at a minimum.

Given the fact that pandas are only now beginning to make a recovery in terms of their worldwide population, it comes as no surprise that considerable efforts are made to keep cubs alive whenever one happens to be born in captivity.




Via: Giant Panda Gives Birth in Chinese Breeding Center [Video]

Tests run on various portable Macs following the release of OS X 10.8.1 this week have yielded disappointing results regarding the much-expected improvements in battery life for MacBook owners.

Although some developers have been able to confirm a significant battery life spike in their testing of Apple’s first point-release update to Mountain Lion, real life tests tell a completely different story.

The most affected Macs seems to be any portable model with a Core i5 and Core i7 processor from 2011 and 2012, according to OS X Daily.

After carrying out admittedly-unscientific tests on several such machines, the site concluded that Core 2 Duo computers seemed to be the least impacted. Their battery mileage remained “mostly the same in Mountain Lion as it was in Lion,” according to the report.

A lowdown of the reported tests shows that OS X 10.8.1 did close to nothing to improve the battery life on the respective MacBook Air models.

MacBook Air 13″ Core i7 (mid-2012)
OS X 10.8.1 – 4:36
OS X 10.8 – 4:33

MacBook Air 13″ Core i5 (mid-2012)
OS X 10.8.1 – 4:48
OS X 10.8 – 4:31

MacBook Air 11″ Core i5 (mid-2011)
OS X 10.8.1 – 3:26
OS X 10.8 – 3:32

MacBook Air 11″ Core 2 Duo (late-2010)
OS X 10.8.1 – 5:45
OS X 10.8 – 5:47

Considering that the tests are unscientific, and that a single extra process running in the background can eat up anything between ten minutes to an hour of battery life, OS X 10.8.1 seems to bring no change whatsoever to the power management department.

In fact, the tests also showed that MacBook Air 2012 models are the most affected. The site’s 8+ hours achieved in testing with OS X Lion a few months ago have been cut in half.

Granted, any Li-Ion battery will hold a slightly smaller charge after months of heavy usage, but such a dramatic change is clearly abnormal.

It may be worth pointing out that Apple said nothing about including a battery drainage patch in OS X 10.8.1. They’re probably still working on it and, hopefully, it will be resolved in OS X 10.8.2 (currently in beta testing).

Via: OS X 10.8.1 Doesnt Improve Battery Life for Everyone

Facebook has added smileys, hearts and other emoji elements to its Messenger application for iPhone and iPad aficionados.

New features in Facebook Messenger 1.9 iOS include the addition of smileys, hearts and other emoji to messages, the ability to click the person's name at the top of your conversation to view their Facebook Timeline, and improved "new message" sounds.

In addition to some minor bug fixes, Facebook Messenger 1.9 also lets you and your friends know how soon to expect a reply, thanks to the ability to see who's active.

Facebook Messenger supports English, Bokmål, Norwegian, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, and Turkish.

The app is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad and requires iOS 4.0 or later.

Download Facebook Messenger (Free)

Via: Download Facebook Messenger 1.9 iOS

Security researchers have revealed the existence of an advanced persistent threat that has been making the rounds since April 2011. Identified as Backdoor.Hikit, the malware carries some interesting aces up its sleeve.

Hikit has a number of four main components: a dropper that compromises the system (currently unknown), a dynamic-link library (DLL) file which offers backdoor functionality, a kernel drive that’s in charge of monitoring network traffic, and a client tool that’s used to connect to the backdoor.

According to experts from security firm Symantec, it all starts with the unknown dropper which installs a DLL backdoor onto the compromised device. This backdoor then installs the driver component that allows the attacker to communicate with the infected computer.

In order to avoid being catalogued as malicious, the DLL component is signed by two different digital certificates, one of which has already expired.

However, Hikit has an even more interesting feature. Unlike many other pieces of malware, Hikit doesn’t attempt to contact its command and control server once it infects a device. Instead, the kernel is designed to wait for the attacker to initiate communications, significantly reducing the threat’s operational capabilities.

In theory, this would make it more difficult for the attacker to reach the compromised device because in most cases internal networks are located behind a firewall and a router, but as it turns out this isn’t an issue.

Experts from Mandiant have found that the malware actually targets computers located in the sub-network that exposes the organization’s services to the Internet (DMZ).

“DMZ exposes services over the Internet and typically has less restrictive firewall rules (eg. allows HTTP/HTTPS traffic over ports 80 and 443), which will allow the attacker to contact and communicate with compromised computers,” Branko Spasojevic of Symantec explained.

Via: Cybercriminals Hijack Servers Remotely with Hikit APT

The latest Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich update for Samsung Galaxy S III has finally reached Australian shores.

This is maintenance release 2 update, so expect some minor changes to be added, as well as some bug fixes.

Keep in mind that the update is currently available only for Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone sold by Vodafone in Australia. However, we expect the update to be launched by other carriers as well.

According to the carrier, the update is released in stages, so not all Samsung Galaxy S III owners will receive it at the same time.

This update is available via Samsung Kies desktop software or OTA (over the air). As we already mentioned, this maintenance update has been designed to address some small bugs and introduce some minor features.

Via: Vodafone Australia Rolls Out Android 4.0.4 ICS Update for Samsung GALAXY S III

Sony has cleared things up concerning its Cross Buy system for the PlayStation Vita handheld console, confirming that the feature, which gives PS3 owners of a game a free copy for the Vita, would be made available in North America, not just in Europe.

PS Vita owners were treated with a big surprise last week, when Sony confirmed the Cross Buy system, which allows someone who gets a PS3 game like PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, to receive a free copy of the same title for the PS Vita.

Sadly, judging by statements from Sony’s Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida, it seemed that the system was going to be released only in Europe.

Now, Yoshida has posted a new statement on his personal Twitter account, confirming that Cross Buy would also be released in North America.

As of yet, the only territory that has yet to be confirmed is Japan, but Yoshida says that a decision will be made soon.

Via: Cross Buy System Will Be Available to PS Vita Owners in North America, Sony Says

Contradicting the very person who discovered the SMS spoofing bug in the iPhone operating system, security company AdaptiveMobile says the flaw detailed by hacker Pod2g is, in fact, serious.

AdaptiveMobile released a whitepaper today to dispel some of the myths surrounding the recent iPhone SMS vulnerability which could allow scammers to ‘spoof’ the sender of a text message.

“While mobile operators have recently come under fire for this exploit, AdaptiveMobile argues that the source of the problem is the handset, not the network.”

Then the company goes to say that “Apple has responded to these claims, acknowledging the weakness, but without any stated intention of remedying the situation,” which is mostly true.

Mostly, because Apple believes “One of the limitations of SMS is that it allows messages to be sent with spoofed addresses to any phone.”

Therefore, the company “urge[s] customers to be extremely careful if they're directed to an unknown website or address over SMS,” it said.

Apple also said to use iMessage instead, because it’s more secure. However, AdaptiveMobile insists that the Cupertino company is not acting in good faith.

It claims this flaw is “not a network problem because the 3GPP specification – which outlines how modern mobile phones and networks operate today – discusses the security implications of this field in all phones and give recommendations on how to avoid malicious use of this.”

Cathal McDaid, security consultant, AdaptiveMobile, said his company tested this issue on Android, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry and Symbian devices, “and most of them simply ignore the ‘reply address’ field or display both the ‘real’ originating address and the reply address as per the specification recommendations.”

“The iPhone, so far, is the only device which does not comply with these security recommendations,” said McDaid, adding that “Apple has left a significant vulnerability in its handsets which could allow consumers to be fooled and hand over personal details to hackers and criminals.”

In an email interview with Softpedia, hacker Pod2g outlined some of the aspects surrounding the SMS spoofing flaw he’d just discovered, including his own take on the matter: “I don't consider SMS spoofing to be that dangerous,” he said.

He'd know. He's one of the famous hackers who jailbreak your iPhone. Also, he never even bothered Apple with this discovery in the first place.

Via: iPhones SMS Flaw Is Really Dangerous, Says AdaptiveMobile

With a release date for the “Thor” sequel for August 2013, Marvel is quickly moving to get the whole thing completed ASAP and then off into post-production. A new villain has been found in Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje.

Variety confirms the casting news.

The actor, who has made quite an impact in previous outings like “Oz,” “Lost,” “The Thing” and “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,” will play the villain, second fiddle to the main baddie played by Christopher Eccleston.

“Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje has joined the cast of Marvel's 'Thor: The Dark World' as one of the lead villains, playing the dual roles of Algrim the Strong and Kurse,” Variety says.

The film is already shooting on location in London. Chris Hemsworth reprises his role as the (very handsome) God of Thunder, Thor.

Via: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje Is Villain in Thor: The Dark World

Officials at the Northrop Grumman Corporation announce that the communications support structure for the next-generation NASA James Webb Space Telescope has just passed a Critical Design Review.

The milestone maintains the development of the telescope, sunshield and spacecraft on track for a 2018 launch date. Northrop Grumman is under contract with the American space agency's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), in Greenbelt, Maryland, to build most of the JWST.

The CSS is the structure that supports the massive telescope's data link to ground stations operated by NASA on Earth. Maintaining this connection at optimal parameters is difficult because the JWST will orbit in the L2 Lagrangian point, some 1.5 million kilometers away.

The idea here is to always maintain the spacecraft in the same relative position in regards to the Sun-Earth-Moon system. While in L2, the telescope can always maintain its tennis court-sized heatshield oriented towards the three bodies, preventing any stray light from entering its sensitive detectors.

With the new advancement, the communications support structure that will go on the actual spacecraft is now ready for fabrication. During the launch and the journey to L2, the purpose of the CSS will be to store the folded communications antennas JWST will use to phone home.

These antennas will only be deployed after the entire telescope unfolds in space. Given its massive size, engineers could not possibly fit the entire JWST in a single rocket. Therefore, they opted to fold it up. Contact with Earth is established via the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN).

“This progress represents a steady path forward on spacecraft subsystems,” explains Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems JWST Spacecraft Manager, Andy Cohen.

“We've accelerated the structural build of the spacecraft by four and a half months, and have completed qualification testing for the engineering model of the command and telemetry processor, our main onboard computer, responsible for all spacecraft operations and fine guidance of the telescope,” he adds.

In addition to the new CSS CDR, Northrop recently completed a preliminary design audit for the solar array that will power the spacecraft. The component can now move into the detailed design phase, while concluding with another in-depth assessment.

NASA is developing the JWST as a successor to the veteran Hubble Space Telescope, in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

Via: JWST Communications Support Structure Passes Critical Review

Apple has quietly added subtitles to some of the marketing videos for the company’s latest products, such as the new MacBook Pro with Retina display, and iCloud, the web-based suite of services replacing MobileMe.

After airing three commercials that seemed to target the less-savvy Mac user, Apple is now offering the option to watch its promotional videos with subtitles, perhaps to make it easier to remember technical details, or to better make out what Bob Mansfield is saying when he decides to change his tone from one word to another.

Jokes aside, it’s a thoughtful touch on behalf of the Cupertino, California-based giant. Non-native English speakers will undoubtedly welcome the change.

From what we’ve noticed, not all the videos on Apple’s site offer subtitles. For now, it seems only the new MacBook Pro and iCloud ads are important enough to deserve transcripts of what the Apple executive team has to say.

Watch the new MacBook Pro video

Watch the new MacBook Pro TV ad

Watch iCloud video

Watch iCloud TV ad

Via: Apple Adds Subtitles to Promo Videos

Welcome to A Gamer’s Week, our regular 7-day recap of the most important news in the gaming industry.

Gamescom 2012 took place this week and it’s been a veritable cornucopia in terms of news, as many big companies made important announcements during the expo held in Cologne, Germany. You can follow our complete coverage at this link.

We also posted two reviews this week, for Prototype 2 and for Hybrid, and we also had a quick look at The Political Machine 2012.

In case you want some more extra reading, you can check out our ongoing Crusader Kings II diary and a special Weekend Reading piece about Valve and how it doesn't need to release a Half-Life 3 to please fans.

Let’s start our weekly recap with Monday, when we heard Blizzard detail some of the changes it’s going to make to the classes of Diablo 3 with the release of patch 1.0.4. Sony also took the chance to defend its PlayStation Vita handheld console and revealed that its sales figures are quite acceptable.

Tuesday saw the pre-Gamescom 2012 press conferences of both Electronic Arts and Sony. The highlight from EA was the full-length multiplayer trailer for Need for Speed: Most Wanted, while Sony opted to show off the new Cross Buy system for the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita.

On Wednesday we heard Valve publicly dismiss a rumor that said it was going to present the long awaited Half-Life 3, or at least Half-Life 2: Episode 3, at Gamescom 2012. EA also took the chance to show off the Match Day feature that will be included in the upcoming FIFA 13.

Tuesday saw the long awaited release of the Team Fortress 2 Mann vs. Machine update, which finally adds a cooperative mode to the multiplayer-only shooter. Blizzard also released the opening cinematic of its upcoming World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria expansion.

Friday was when we heard about the special Contracts multiplayer mode from Hitman: Absolution and that EA will release an impressive Battlefield 3 Premium Edition, which includes the shooter, the Battlefield Premium DLC bundle, and another add-on.

On Saturday, we heard about OnLive's tough situation, as the cloud gaming company might be taken over by another corporation. We also got to see the stunning cinematic trailer Valve released for its upcoming Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

That's it for this week but continue visiting the Games section of Softpedia as we've got an array of great content planned for the following weeks.


Via: A Gamers Week: August 19

GetGlue, the application that lets you know what’s on TV, has been promoted to version 3.0 in the Apple App Store for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.

AdaptiveBlue has included a personalized guide for TV, movies, and sports based on what your own tastes, the ability to get recommendations for shows you plan on watching, as well as the ability to check-in and chat with friends.

You can now use the app to check out the best clips, photos, and articles for your favorite shows and movies, as well as to get notifications regarding key premieres, finales, and other major events. Finally, GetGlue 3.0 lets you unlock stickers and other rewards.

GetGlue is compatible with iPad and requires iOS 5.0 or later.

Download GetGlue for iPad (Free)

Via: GetGlue 3.0 for iPad Adds Personalized TV Guide

AMD released a couple of days ago, on August 15th, version 12.8 of the AMD Catalyst video driver for Linux platforms, brining production support for the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin) operating system.

So, as usual, the newly released AMD Catalyst 12.8 (based on the fglrx 8.982 release) graphics driver has no official announcement from AMD.

However, now that the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin) distribution is officially supported, users should get it and test it, and report back the performance.

AMD Catalyst 12.8 video driver is available for both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures, and it offers production support for the following Linux-based operating systems: Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Novell SUSE Enterprise Linux, openSUSE Linux and Ubuntu Linux.

Download the AMD Catalyst Linux Display Drivers 12.8 right now from Softpedia.

Via: New AMD Video Driver Supports Ubuntu 12.04 LTS

Retina displays are only now starting to become a reality. They're not going to be common let alone the majority for a long time to come, but it's nice to see browser makers get ready for the eventual switch. We've already seen Chrome roll out a retina display-ready UI.

Now, a proposal for CSS4 would enable websites to allow browsers to select high-res images if they're running on devices with retina or hidpi displays.

The proposal came from Apple, obviously, and it's already in WebKit. Note that this is restricted to background images for now, not regular <img> tags.

In fact, Chrome 21, the latest stable release as well as Safari 6 already support the feature. The image-set specification, part of the CSS4 proposal, is designed to give the browser options, for both regular resolution and high resolution graphics.

Of course, web designers already had the tools to do this, media queries. The advantage of using image-set is that the browser gets to choose which image to display, the website only provides options.

So a browser may choose to load the regular resolution image even if it's running on a hidpi display if the internet connection is poor or limited, for example over 3G. Of course, at this point, no browser does this, but it leaves the door open.

Here's the CSS code for image-set, in practice:


The property is vendor prefixed in Chrome and Safari, for obvious reasons. Once other browsers start supporting this, you'll see the -moz, -o and -ms versions popping up.

While WebKit already supports this, the spec is by no means final and may change by the time CSS4 comes anywhere near standardization. If you're planning to use this in anything but experimental stuff, you should keep this in mind.

Via: Chrome and Safari Start Supporting Retina Displays with CSS4 Background Images

Google has released an updated version of its Google+ (Google Plus) application for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Among other things, the app now opens posted web links in Chrome, if the browser is installed on your iOS device.

According to the Google+ 3.1 for iOS changelog, “web links in posts now open in Chrome (if installed).” Google’s Chrome web browser was released for iOS devices this summer.

Another addition to the Google+ app, teens can now join and create Hangouts, according to the Mountain View search giant. Last, but not least, an Instant Upload bug has been fixed to improve performance.

Google+ is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad and requires iOS 4.3 or later. The app is universal, meaning you download once and install it on all your devices.

Download Google+ iOS (Free)

Via: Google+ 3.1 iOS Opens Web Links in Chrome

Hey there, Linux gamers! There’s a new Humble Bundle for Android, and Linux, and Mac, and Windows, available for purchase right now, offering five entertaining games for all ages.

Humble Bundle for Android 3 comes with the following games: Fieldrunners, BIT.TRIP BEAT, SpaceChem, Uplink and Spirits. Not to mention that each game includes a breathtaking soundtrack available in FLAC and MP3 formats.

Once again, Canonical partnered with the Humble Bundle initiative to deliver these amazing games to their Ubuntu users, downloadable via the Ubuntu Software Center app.

To learn more about the games included in Humble Bundle for Android 3, watch the video above. To purchase the games, click here. Oh, remember that if you pay more than the average you can unlock Spirits!

“In other gaming news, Canonical is sponsoring the Unite Conference next week. If you’re attending – or you’re one of the fourteen thousand developers and users who voted for Ubuntu and Linux support – we listened. Unity developers, get your games ready and we will see you in Amsterdam.” - was stated in the blog announcement.

Via: Humble Bundle for Android 3 Comes to Ubuntu 12.04

It’s the second time I get to Cologne in order to report on the Gamescom trade show and once again I am impressed by how foreign a city can be to the traveler, even if its culture, economics and politics are similar to that of the place I hail from: Bucharest, Romania.

In the spirit of the Game Ideas diary that I kept for E3 2012 earlier during the year I plan to do the same for Gamescom and my first idea is for a social driven game based on the experience of discovering a new city.

My provisional name for the game is: Blitz City Assault (designed to attract the medium violence and military obsessed gamer).

The idea is that for each included city a cohort of inhabitants band together and create a list of the major attractions, ranging from cultural hotspots to little known beer halls, nightclubs, fast food joints and everything else that anyone can see or experience in that area.

The list is then split into categories and each visitor who comes to the city can choose one and attempt to see and experience as many of them as possible (maybe subcategories can be created for stays of varied length).

Blitz City Assault is a good potential example of what gamification can offer, turning an experience that is available for an increasing number of people into a simple game, where anyone can compare his results to that of his friends or to other categories that visited the same city or had the same interests.

It would work best on mobile devices or tied into a web page which already offers services or ideas linked to tourism.

My present stay in Koln would probably deny me a high score, seeing how I will only be here for four days and all of them will be dominated by video games presentations and interviews.


Via: Gamescom 2012 Diary Social Town Exploration

Since Apple hasn’t bothered to include a Retina category in the Mac App Store for owners of a shiny new $2,199 / 1,782 € MacBook Pro, three dudes with design inclinations decided they’d go the extra mile and create a hub for all the Mac apps that have been upgraded with Retina-grade graphics.

Wells Riley, Ian Hirschfeld, Alex Baldwin got together and created Retinamacapps.com, a site chock full of application icons designating the software that displays flawlessly on the new MacBook Pro’s crisp display.

Noteworthy titles include SpellTower, Things 2, Pixelmator, Skitch, CloudApp, Tweetbot (currently in alpha), Evernote, Google Chrome, Parallels, Sparrow, Transmission, VLC Player, and Apple’s own Keynote, Numbers, Final Cut Pro, Aperture, and Xcode.

Some links will take you to the Mac App Store, others will send you straight to the developer’s site. If you’re having trouble installing them in OS X Mountain Lion, this guide might lend a helping hand.

Via: All the Retina Mac Apps Now Available in One Place

Gigabyte is one of the world’s largest motherboard manufacturers and we were quite surprised to see the company venture in the UltraBook market some time ago. Sure Gigabyte made notebooks, netbook and even mobile phones besides motherboards, but getting so serious to build one of the world’s lightest and thinnest UltraBooks was really surprising.

The impression the Taiwanese company has left us was that they were getting more serious about their mobile products just like its main competitor, ASUS.

We find out today that this is definitely not the case. Gigabyte seems to be dead set on releasing mediocre products that have nothing to differentiate themselves, but absurd specifications, uninteresting features and an absurd price to go with it all.

We’re talking of course about the new Q1700 17” notebook from the company.

Everyone is glad Gigabyte has decided to build a decent office notebook powered by AMD’s Zacate Processors, but it seems the company has done everything possible to make it completely unattractive for the buyer.

Having an AMD Zacate processor is very suited for an office mobile computer and fitting it with a decent 17” that sports a higher than average resolution of 1600 by 900 pixels are both very good choices.

Sure, building a notebook and slapping a decent display on it is not going to make a successful product so we went and search for those special features that will differentiate the Q1700 from the other products on the market and convince us to buy it.

Sticking a modest AMD Brazos platform inside a rather roomy 17” office mobile computer will allow the manufacturer to add interesting features, options and specifications.

Brazos is build for netbooks and even tablets, sticking it in a 17” mobile enclosure leaves room for a larger than average battery that, coupled with Brazos’ characteristic low power usage, would leag to am impressive 8 or 9-hour battery life.

Such a long battery like would be really useful and impressive for a 17” office notebook and quite hard to implement in a small netbook or tablet.

Another useful feature would have been an extra or even two extra HDD bays to allow the user to have RAID performance and various backup options.

It really doesn’t cost too much to put in one or two empty extra HDD bays, but it’s doable when you integrate such a small platform inside such a big notebook.

The base version with a single HDD would still maintain a Brazos-like price and versions with multiple storage units would present Gigabyte with various profit opportunities.

There are many things you can do with very little money to make the Q1700 more appealing for the potential but, but Gigabyte did absolutely the opposite.

The Q1700 has a mediocre 4400 mAh battery and a single HDD bay although it’s clear from the pictures that half of the enclosure volume is wasted.

The price is baffling as the notebook is reported to cost $627 (510 EUR) and that’s amazingly expensive for a Brazos notebook that even doesn’t have USB 3.0.

What’s even more unexpected is the weight as we’ve seen so many rather large 17.3” Acer notebooks that came with AMD triple-core Phenom II processors and discrete AMD Radeon HD 5650 1GB video cards that weigh 2.85 Kg that we’re amazed that Q1700 is 2.9 Kg heavy.

There are multiple configurations integrating an E-350, E-450 or E2-1800 Zacate processors and various capacities HDDs just like any product comes with somewhat diverse components depending on what the buyer need or can afford.

We’re glad Gigabyte went for the interesting combination of AMD’s Brazos and a 17” mobile office computer, but we simply can’t explain the heavy weight, the high price, the small battery and the complete and absurd lack of any useful and interesting features.


Via: Gigabytes Q1700 is a 17 Notebook Powered by AMDs Zacate

Windows 8, the next-generation operating system from Microsoft, is nearing its official release on October 26th, and some more info on the features that users would be able to purchase for it has started to emerge.

One of the capabilities that Windows 8 will lack by default will be the Windows Media Center, which has been an integral part of previous platform releases.

According to Microsoft, the move was determined by its intent to keep costs of the platform down, and to have the retail flavor of the platform available at attractive prices.

However, users will be able to grab the Media Center should they want to do so, but it will be available as a separate downloadable package.

While no official info on the price of the download was provided, the guys over at WindowsBlogItalia claim that it would cost €9.99.

The price is not that high, especially for those who really need the Media Center in their operating system.

It comes with support for a great deal of codecs and media formats, but there are not that many people taking advantage of the feature, Microsoft claims.

However, users interested in getting this Media Center with DVD playback capabilities inside will be able to do so, by getting the Windows 8 Pro Pack or by installing Media Center atop of Windows 8 Pro.

The inclusion of support for various media files and codecs in Media Center means that Microsoft has to purchase licenses for them, and that is reflected in the final cost of Windows 8.

However, if the report on Media Center’s feature proves true, it seems that the cost saving was not as great as some might have expected.

With Windows 8 already released to manufacturing and set to hit the market in roughly two and a half months from now, specific info on the platform’s pricing will emerge soon, so stay tuned.

Via: Windows 8s Media Center Pack to Cost 9.99

CD Projekt RED, the developer behind the highly successful Witcher series of action role-playing game, believes that the introduction of post-launch downloadable content should be seen as a service to gamers and should not cost anything extra.

Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, a game director working at CD Projekt RED, has told VG247 that, “We’ve always believed in free DLCs. The thing is that we consider DLCs as a normal post sale service, which shouldn’t be priced. Back when retail games were dominant, we had expansion packs. These were really large chunks of content, which were worth their price.”

He added, “If today’s DLCs offered the same amount of content they would be worth paying for, but in most cases players think they are overcharged for what they receive. That’s why we offer expansions to our game for free. This is also a way of saying “thank you” to the people who decided to buy our game instead of copying it from an unauthorised source.”

Early on during the life-cycle of the first Witcher video game CD Projekt RED acknowledged that piracy was high for the game and that the only way of limiting its impact was to create a clear connection with the player base.

For both the first and the second title in the series the developers have created a 2.0 version, which introduces both significant bug fixes and a lot of new content, which were delivered for free to those who already purchased the 1.0 version of the games.

At the moment CD Projekt RED is working on a new intellectual property, based on the Cyberpunk pen and paper game, and plans to create a near future role-playing title that will focus on mature themes and on the impact of player choice.

The game is expected at the earliest during 2014.

Via: DLC Should Be a Free Service, Says Witcher Developer

The world’s largest CPU designer and manufacturer is working on its next-generation Haswell processor architecture. The company is apparently concentrating on the iGPU part of the new design and somewhat less on the x86 cores.

Intel has enjoyed a serious performance advantage over its main x 86 competitors, the fabless Texas-based Advanced Micro Devices, thus the company sees no reason in making a serious x86 performance jump.

Therefore, Intel will reportedly keep most of its x86 aces up its sleeve and will only trickle out some performance to tempt users to spend money on yet another Intel processor or even the whole platform.

On the other hand, on the graphics side, the company is literally quadrupling the number of 3D units inside the iGPU because of humiliating successful competition from AMD.

If AMD had been able to properly compete in the x 86 fields, we would have probably seen a 25% x86 performance improvement instead of the reported 10%.

We’ve reported here about Intel’s Haswell IDF 2012 presentation that will take place in San Francisco.

Via: Haswells X86 Processor Core to Only Bring a 10% Performance Improvement

Google has updated both the beta and the dev channel Chrome, though none of them has been "upgraded" to another major version. Google Chrome 21.0.1180.77 beta fixes a single issue with "Node::attributes."

Google Chrome 21 is already in the stable channel, so beta users should be getting ready for a bump up to Chrome 22. They'll be getting the same version as the stable channel for another week or so, though.

Speaking of Chrome 22, the dev channel has been updated to Chrome 22.0.1229.2. Google is getting ready to introduce Chrome 23 to the dev channel, Chromium 23  is already available including the "hot dog" menu icon. In the meantime, expect at least a couple of more bug-fixing updates to Chrome 22 dev.

Download Google Chrome for Windows
Download Google Chrome for Mac
Download Google Chrome for Linux


Via: New Google Chrome 22 Dev and 21 Beta Ready for Download

Google’s Nexus 7 has already been sold out in many areas and ASUS can’t seem to be making them fast enough.

Seeing how successful the 7” tablet market sector can be once the price is right and the marketing machine starts working, Samsung is preparing its own unique 7” tablet solution.

The name of Samsung’s 7” weapon is apparently Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 Student Edition and the new bundle will reach the market in the following weeks.

The tablet inside the package is reportedly just the same with the one Samsung is already selling right this minute, but the company has added a keyboard and USB adapter as part of the $249 package.

The insides are just the same, with a 1 GHz dual-core processor, a 1024 by 600 PLS screen, 8GB of storage, and a 3-megapixel camera along with a front-facing VGA webcam.

The price for the whole package will be about $250 and that means about 200 EUR for European buyers.

Via: Samsung Getting Ready with Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 Student Edition Tablet

A list of the Killstreaks and the Perks that will be included in Call of Duty: Black Ops II has been leaked online, giving players a taste of what they are in for when they launch the various multiplayer modes of the first-person shooter.

The Killstreaks are:

UAV – standard COD killstreak
Care Package – standard COD kill streak
RC-XD – like in the first Black Ops 1, a remote control RC car with explosives
Microwave Turret – a trap of microwave energy that can kill
Death Machine – the same as in the first Black Ops
Hellstorm Missile – like the Predator missle in Modern Warfare 3, can deploy a cluster bomb before impact
Multiple Grenade Launcher – a rapid fire grenade launcher
QR Drone – control a quadrotor, flying through the map and shooting enemies
AI Tank – similar to the assault drone in Modern Warfare 3
Sentry Gun – a remote controlled sentry
Orbital VSAT – like the Advanced UAV in Modern Warfare 3, cannot be taken down and reveals enemy positions in real time
Single Seeker Drone – a drone that that flies and seeks out the nearest enemy and kills them
EMP – like in Modern Warfare 3
Helicopter Gunner – control a helicopter based gunner
Lodestar – a plane that flies over the map and can be controlled to shoot rockets
Helicopter Escort –a helicopter that follows the player shooting enemy players.
Attack Dogs – like in the first Black Ops
Drone Swarm – call in a swam of drones to seek out and then kill enemies.

The revealed Perks are:

Ghost
Fast Hands – swap weapons and throw grenades faster
Dexterity – climb obstacles faster
Lightweight – run faster or for longer
Flak Jacket – like in Black Ops
Tactical Mask – resist flashbangs, concussion grenades, spikes and EMP grenades
Cold Blooded

Call of Duty: Black Ops II will be launched on November 13 on the PC, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 and a Wii U version is also planned.

Via: Leak Reveals Killstreaks and Perks for Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Since Miley Cyrus announced she was engaged to longtime beau Liam Hemsworth, the tabloids have already “married” them at least twice. As it turns out, she's really not in a hurry to tie the knot, she says in a new interview with Marie Claire.

The former Disney child star wows in a series of stunning portraits for the latest issue of the magazine. She also gushes about her fiancé in the accompanying interview and reveals that she's in no rush to marry.

In other words, don't believe everything that you read about that.

For this particular star, having a paper to read she's married doesn't really mean that much; at least, it doesn't mean more than accepting to marry a person does.

“Life is too short not to be with the person you want to be with. I don’t really care about the wedding or the piece of paper as much as I do the promise we’ve made to each other. And we want to have a long engagement,” Miley says, as quoted by People.

As expected, she also gushes a bit about her vintage engagement ring, saying Liam really did take her by surprise with the proposal, even if they had talked about tying the knot before.

“I had no input. We’d been kind of talking about [getting engaged], and I saw something like it online at one point and thought it was really pretty, but I usually wear rose gold. I just love that it’s old and has a story. And I’m happy because it doesn’t look like anything else I wear,” she says.

And, just in case you missed that part where Miley gushes over her fiancé, here's more.

“Liam and I have a really good relationship. Neither of us is super-jealous. We know each other and would never do anything to hurt each other,” she says.

Miley and Liam, one of the best looking young couples in showbiz right now, met on the set of “The Last Song,” where they also fell in love and started dating.

They were broken up for a while but eventually worked through their differences and got together again. Liam asked for Miley's hand in marriage in June this year – obviously, she said yes.

Via: Miley Cyrus Admits She Wants a Long Engagement

Philips has just introduced a new 3D LED monitor featuring a rather small 23” diagonal size. The new model is called 236G and you need Easy 3D glasses to be able to enjoy the 3D capabilities of the new unit.

We don’t really like 3D monitors at all, and this one is likely an “affordable” model – if you can call $308 (€249) affordable for a 23” computer display.

The official model number is 236G3DHSB, and the new monitor features mediocre TN display panel that sports the standard 1920 by 1080 FullHD pixel resolution and modest 170/160 viewing angles.

It comes with SmartResponse technology that gives out a 2ms response time, despite the unit having a typical response time specification of 5ms.

When watching 3D, the recommended viewing angles are quite modest – 80/12.

We must caution our readers that nowadays, most Philips-branded monitors are being manufactured by MMD Monitors & Displays.

MMD Monitors & Displays is a wholly-owned subsidiary of TPV Technology Limited.

TPV is a Hong Kong company that makes and sells AOC and Envision-branded monitors.

Currently, after it acquired a part of Philips’ monitor and entry-level flat screen TV business in 2005 and Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corporation in 2008, TPV is the largest display manufacturer in the world.

Therefore, Philips monitors might not be Philips at all, except for the brand name.

Via: Philips Shows 236G FullHD 3D LED Monitor

It is a well-known fact that traditional Chinese medicine relies heavily on the use of various animal parts.

Thus, environmentalists and conservationists have long opposed the fact that this industry requires that ivory taken from elephants and rhino horns are used for medicinal purposes.

It now seems that, apart from being linked to poaching activities targeted at elephants and rhinos, Chinese medicine need also be held responsible for a considerable decline in our world's seahorse population.

More precisely, conservationists who investigated this issue claim that as much as 150 million such aquatic creatures are killed on a yearly basis in order to prepare various cures.

Interestingly enough, rumor has it that dried seahorses are also shipped to other parts of the world, where they are illegally sold in medicine shops.

This is troubling news indeed, as it goes to show that conservation projects must also be aimed at overseeing international illegal trading operations which involve the shipment of these animals from one part of the world to another.

Apparently, according to rather old Chinese beliefs, seahorses can be used to treat a great variety of health conditions, including sexual dysfunctions and baldness.

Thai Panda informs us that Kealan Doyle, a marine biologist who took it to himself to look into how traditional Chinese medicine impacts on our planet's biodiversity, explained how, “It’s a huge underestimate. I visited stores which had something like 30,000 dried seahorses in bags piled from floor to ceiling and there are 6,000 such stores in Hong Kong alone.”

He further added that, “We are not talking about a slow decline here, this is an absolute decimation of this unique creature which has been with us for millions of years. At this rate, it will be wiped out in between 10 and 20 years.”

Hopefully, immediate measures will be taken so as to safeguard this species and keep it from becoming extinct.

Via: The Chinese Medicine Industry Stands to Destroy Our Worlds Seahorse Population

An emerging robotics company called Quantum International Corp. pursuing lucrative targets around the globe believes that robots controlled via Apple’s iPad are pushing the boundaries in improving the ways that children with autism learn and communicate.

Quantum reports on the success of robotics company Interbots which has teamed up with the Autism Center of Pittsburgh to create Popchilla, a plush robot designed to provide therapy for autistic children.

The condition prevents affected individuals from communicating properly, but autistic children appear to be more receptive to non-human entities, according to Quantum.

The company strongly believes that Popchilla can serve as a bridge between the outside world and autistic kids.

The program begins with therapists using an iPad app to control Popchilla’s movements and interact with an autistic child.

As the program moves forward, the therapists turn over the iPad controls to the child, encouraging them to use the robot to identify and express emotions, “potentially reducing behavioral frustrations,” according to the press release.

“We’ve already been amazed by the incredible evolution in robotics made possible by tablet technology, but Popchilla is one of the most innovative ideas we’ve seen yet,” said Quantum CEO Robert Federowicz. “This is exactly the sort of robotics breakthrough that we’re interested in helping to develop and deliver.”

In a separate announcement, the emerging robotics company revealed to the world that it is searching for partnering opportunities to capitalize on this new trend.

“By ushering in a new generation of tablet computers, Apple has given robot designers and application developers the ability to collaborate in the pursuit of practical, affordable mobile robotic solutions,” said Federowicz.

“A new wave of robotics taking advantage of the iPad’s ease of use and processing power is coming, and Quantum is well-positioned to help bring these innovations to market,” added Federowicz.

Via: Therapists Use iPad-Controlled Robots to Help Kids with Autism

Pantech and AT&T are about to introduce a new Android smartphone in the United States. An unannounced Pantech P9090 Magnus has just showed up at FCC (Federal Communications Commission).

This seems to be another mid-range Android smartphone, which will offer quad-band LTE support. According to the documents filed at FCC, the P9090 Magnus will be launched with NFC (Near Field Communication) out of the box.

The device is expected to be powered by Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, and it will include Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP support.

So far, these is all the information we have on Pantech's upcoming P9090 Magnus smartphone, but we suspect more details will emerge soon. Keep in mind that the device will go official in the US via AT&T. Stay tuned for more updates on the matter.

Via


Via: Pantech P9090 Magnus Gets FCC Approval, Possibly Coming to AT&T

Security researchers part of the Vulnerability Lab have identified a medium severity software filter and validation vulnerability that affects Kaspersky’s Password Manager 5.0.0.164 and older variants.

According to the experts, the flaw allows a local attacker to inject malicious code during the exportation process of a database.

“The vulnerability is located in the validation of the html/xml export function/module & the bound vulnerable name, domain, url, comment (listing) parameters,” reads the advisory published by Vulnerability Lab.

“URLs of entries are embedded in the exported HTML file without encoding XML special characters, when the URL (domain) field of an entry contains a malicious script code, this will be executed when the exported HTML file is opened in a browser.”

If exploited successfully, the vulnerability can be leveraged to persistently manipulate the application, phishing, the execution of malware, and even for stealing the victim’s passwords in clear text. All these operations require only medium interaction on the user’s side.

The researchers also provide an example of an exploitation scenario in which the attacker sends the victim a cleverly crafted login page with a specific code in the URL’s parameters.

This code calls an HTML or a JavaScript which responds to an URL with a chmod 777 command to exchange the file when processing local requests.

The unsuspecting Kaspersky Password Manager customer saves the malicious login page to the application via the AutoFill plugin.

Later, when the victim attempts to export the file in HTML format using the standard template, the malicious script is executed and the content of the file is sent back to the server owned by the attacker.

For the time being, the issue remains unaddressed. As a solution that should be implemented by the vendor, the researchers recommend the use of XML special characters in item names in the exportation of content as an HTML file.

Here is the proof-of-concept video published by the experts to demonstrate their findings.



Via: Filter Bypass Vulnerability Found in Kaspersky Password Manager

The movie-making app Avid Studio has been enhanced with a ton of new features and tweaks this week, and Avid is releasing the 1.1.1 update as a free download to all existing users. The app now supports Retina displays and features improved Library update stability and workflow.

The iPad implementation of Avid Studio 1.1.1 will properly handle scenarios when media is removed from the device but still used in a project, says Avid, the development studio behind this brilliant video production application.

In addition to the newly-implemented Retina graphics, Avid says to stay tuned for 1080p export – “we’re working on it!”

The updated version further adds alpha channel support for PNG images and can now handle videos that have been encoded with HandBrake, the popular conversion utility for OS X.

The aspect ratio issues with some specific GoPro media have been dealt with, and some occasional issues with audio fade-in have also been patched, according to the changelog.

Listed under “other improvements,” an overall improvement in performance and stability will surely be noticed by “avid” users of the program, complete with updated and localized HELP documents.

Other changes include a fixed crash when opening projects with Titles over missing media, fixed export to Avid Studio PC failure when one of the new 14 transitions is used, and a YouTube upload crash fix when the Wi-Fi gets cut off.

“Big-screen moviemaking comes to the touchscreen with Avid Studio for iPad,” says Avid. “We’ve distilled the world’s leading film-editing technology into an easy-to-use app that enables you to edit video, audio, and photos at the speed of your creativity.”

“Swiftly arrange clips in the Storyboard, make precision edits using the Timeline, and add high-quality transitions, effects, voiceover, and a soundtrack,” the company adds. “Then share your movie via YouTube, Facebook, and more—or export to Avid Studio for the PC and continue editing with even more advanced tools.”

Avid Studio iOS is only compatible with the iPad and requires iOS 5.1 or later.

Download Avid Studio for iPad

Via: Avid Studio 1.1.1 Goes Retina, Supports Media Spit Out by HandBrake

Though still contested by many, Pitbull is, without a doubt, one of the hottest and most in demand acts in music today. Still, even he needs a helping hand every once in a while.

Luckily, he gets it from none other than Shakira.

Above is the official video for “Get It Started,” the latest release with Pitbull's signature on it, a collaboration with the always gorgeous Shakira.

There is really nothing special about the concept of the clip (it tells a Romeo and Juliet-type of story, where Pitbull rescues a busty brunette from her abusive fiancé to make out with her and take her to his concerts around the world), but Shakira really manages to stand out.

Always charming even when she's not doing her trademark insane (in the best way possible) dance moves, she looks doubly so in that gold gown.

Check her out.

Via: Shakira Sizzles in Pitbull's Video for Get It Started

Built as the first Android-based tablet PC to offer a true Google experience, Nexus 7 will include a nice range of appealing features, such as Google+ Hangouts.

Launched with the new Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system right from the start, the tablet PC will provide users with the possibility to easily engage in conversations with their friends on Google’s social networking site.

You can have a look at the way in which the feature works on the tablet courtesy of the video embedded above, coming from Google themselves.

“Video chat with up to nine friends at once with Google+ Hangouts on Nexus 7. Learn how to start a Hangout in just a few simple steps,” Google notes.

Those who would like to learn more info on the device should head over to Google’s support website.

Via: Video of Google+ Hangouts on Nexus 7 Available