Thursday, February 11, 2016

How to Improve Your Memory

Improving Emotional HealthA strong memory depends on the health and vitality of your brain. Whether you're a student studying for final exams, a working professional interested in doing all you can to stay mentally sharp, or a senior looking to preserve and enhance your grey matter as you age, there are lots of things you can do to improve your memory and mental performance.

You can boost your brain power at any age

They say that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but when it comes to the brain, scientists have discovered that this old adage simply isn’t true. The human brain has an astonishing ability to adapt and change—even into old age. This ability is known as neuroplasticity. With the right stimulation, your brain can form new neural pathways, alter existing connections, and adapt and react in ever-changing ways.
The brain’s incredible ability to reshape itself holds true when it comes to learning and memory. You can harness the natural power of neuroplasticity to increase your cognitive abilities, enhance your ability to learn new information, and improve your memory at any age.

Improving memory tip 1: Give your brain a workout

By the time you’ve reached adulthood, your brain has developed millions of neural pathways that help you process and recall information quickly, solve familiar problems, and execute familiar tasks with a minimum of mental effort. But if you always stick to these well-worn paths, you aren’t giving your brain the stimulation it needs to keep growing and developing. You have to shake things up from time to time!
Memory, like muscular strength, requires you to “use it or lose it.” The more you work out your brain, the better you’ll be able to process and remember information. But not all activities are equal. The best brain exercises break your routine and challenge you to use and develop new brain pathways.

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Sunday, September 20, 2015

Google fixes an Android Lollipop lockscreen bypass bug - how bad was it?



Google issued its first monthly Android security patch for Nexus devices a few days ago, and one of the items in the changelog was quite interesting. Google patched a lock screen bypass vulnerability that was present in Android 5.0and higher. That’s certainly a serious bug, and something that would be a real problem if it was out there unpatched.
However ,even though the patch has been deployed, many reports are treating this as an apocalyptic security problem for Android. But that’s all due to a fundamental misunderstanding of how Android works.
The flaw in question was discovered by University of Texas researchers and relies on the password field on the lock screen. So right off the bat, this vulnerability only applies if you’re using a password lock method, because it has a text field. A pattern or PIN lock does not present such a field, even if you enter your code incorrectly multiple times. You need that text field because the hack relies on pasting text into that field to crash the lock screen.
Google has patched Nexus devices with build LMY48M and noted that there were no active exploits of this vulnerability in the wild. However, many of the news reports on this issue have pointed out with hyperbolic concern that there are still about one-fifth of Android devices from Samsung, LG, and others running un-patched versions of 5.x. What these hysterical warnings fail to take into account is that none of those phones were vulnerable in the first place.
The flaw relies entirely upon a stock build of Android like you’d find on Nexus devices. All other OEMs have modified lock screens and camera apps. Many also have their own keyboards that don’t work with the bug. Just to make sure, I’ve tested a Samsung Galaxy S6, LG G4, and 2015 Moto G, and none of them seem to be vulnerable. You can’t paste into the password field at all. So what does this mean? Virtually every device with this bug has been fixed, and there’s no need to panic.
This is how software patches work when handled responsibly — an issue is reported, a patch is issued, and the method is disclosed. There’s nothing unusual about this flaw, and there aren’t millions of phones out there with broken lock screens. Don’t believe the hype.
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Saturday, September 19, 2015

A New Name has been given to Sony’s Project Morpheus .

Sony's Project Morpheus Has A New Name

Sony has been divulging more about its virtual reality gadget however so far it has been known by its pet name, Project Morpheus. As of not long ago. At the Tokyo Games Show, Sony uncovered that it is currently called… PlayStation VR. 

So there you have it, Sony has chosen not to run insane with its classification but rather adhere to the nuts and bolts – this is a VR headset for PlayStation all things considered.
PlayStation VR still doesn’t have an official discharge date however we are are looking forward to see in 2016 in real time.
No more Morpheus
Venture Morpheus was initially reported at GDC 2014, yet it wasn’t until E3 this year when we began to see a greater amount of the diversions that would be accessible for the VR headset – including Battle Zone and London Heist.
PlayStation VR will be dispatching into a somewhat swarmed commercial center, with any semblance of the HTC Vive underway and greater and better forms of the Oculus Rift arriving thick and quick.
In our grasp on PlayStation VR audit, we said that: “There’s still work to be done – edges were unpleasant and items appeared a bit not exactly their HD show – yet Sony is plainly resolved to resolve these before it comes to showcase.”
Getting the name right is one  Major Piece of this.
Also, if the recently renamed PlayStation VR headset is to be the first to truly take the standard by tempest then it’s going to advantage more from having a basic, elucidating title than something funkier yet significantly more ambiguous.

With a late report evaluating the VR business is going to hit 30 million headset shipments by the year 2020, there’s a dreadful enormous cut of the pie that Sony could get hold of with PS VR.
Stay Tuned for more updates on this.

Android Lollipop Bug Allows Anyone to Bypass Your Lock Screen Easily

android lockscreen bypass

Most of the bugs you’ll find on your gadget are ones which can only be exploited by a highly-informed hacker or an expert of this domain. Not every time, though, you need to be a hacker to get into someone’s phone.

A new bug in Android’s lock-screen passwords can allow even a non-hacker to intrude your privacy. A combination of hundreds of characters is all that’s needed for the OS to crash in the hands of the exploiter. The bug was discovered by researchers at University of Texas.

From the lock-screen, you enter the emergency dial window and from there you bombard the phone with these commands.The researcher John Gordon also uploaded a video of the bug’s proof on a Google Nexus 4.

It affects Android phones running on unpatched versions of Lollipop between version 5.0.0 and 5.1.1, or before build LMY48M. That means more than 20 percent of all Android devices are affected by it. Google has already released a fix on the version 5.1.1 of the OS on its Nexus devices.

It may or may not affect other Lollipop users, too. Protecting yourself is easy enough. Just don’t use a password to lock your phones. Thankfully, Android comes with other methods including PINs and patterns too, so you aren’t short of options.

Or you can once again try not to give your phone to any strangers, ever, which is certainly an even easier way.
Be Cautious. 

Friday, September 11, 2015

Everything New You Missed From Apple’s Mega Event

apple

Apple may have announced the new iPhones and iPads at its September 9th announcement, but there is a lot more stuff which goes through largely unnoticed, either at or in the aftermath of the event. Here is a post which covers everything else that happened:

iPhone 6S, 6S Plus come with 2 GB RAM & the iPad Pro 4 GB

The lack of RAM in Apple devices has long been a documented issue and Apple seldom upgrades hardware unless it absolutely needs to. This time, things have been taken one step further in that domain, as the new iPhones now thankfully come with 2 GB RAM, as confirmed by Apple Support. Before you mention that Samsung has it since the Galaxy S4, let’s not forget that management is the name of the game, here.
What’s more is that its Surface competitor, the iPad Pro comes with 4 GB RAM, unthinkable by Apple’s standards and equal to what the base MacBook Pro includes. This was confirmed by Adobe.

3D Touch: ‘Peek’ or ‘Pop’

It is hard to fully describe the overhauled Force Touch technology in the new iPhones without trying them out first. The pressure of the finger is calculated by the distance between the backlight and the glass screen.
‘Peek’ opens up a small window in a menu for further options or previews. It can bring up additional content in apps. ‘Pop’ allows you to go to actually go inside that app. Both of these work together for a variety of functions in different apps. 3D Touch can bring huge improvements in other areas such as gaming as well.

iOS 9 is coming on September 16th

While the new iPhones will naturally come with iOS 9 installed, the OS veterans will be able to get a taste of the new software on the 16th of September. The OS with its new apps, software improvements and more will be coming to iPhone 4S and later, iPad 2 and later, and all the iPad Minis.

Apple Watch gets slightly better, cooler

The Watch is getting new leather bands from Hermes and a red Product Red band. New rose & gold colours are coming for the Watch Sport. Three new apps, Messenger, GoPro and AirStrip will come pre-installed. The new Watch OS 2 will be coming alongside iOS 9 on September 16th. Already there are over 10,000 apps made specially for the wearable.

Apple TV

The Apple TV is another major announcement from the event though a lot of people look over it due to its limited use in unsupported markets. The $149 media box now comes with Siri and has new remote with a mic, touch-sensitive area and a gesture recognition built-in. There’s also emphasis on gaming thanks to support for all those Made for iPhone game controllers.

Adobe Photoshop Fix

Then you have the Adobe Photoshop Fix, a new app built for the new iPad Pro. Its Sketch app features support for the Apple Pencil, too and offers varying amounts of pressure sensitivity. Photoshop Fix comes with auto face detection for quick edits.
“We’re excited about the capabilities of the iPad Pro for our customers and we’re building new apps that take full advantage of the large screen, precise stylus, and power of iOS 9 multitasking to really bring professional level workflows to the iPad.”

The new iPhones are coming September the 23rd

There are new Upgrade and Apple Care+ programs announced, which are largely irrelevant to us. The new iPhones however will be released on the 25th of September in select markets. Wider availability should follow soon after that. Investors have low expectations, as always, but that may not stop the company from shattering the sales records once again.

Saturday, September 5, 2015

Lenovo Vibe S1 Comes With a Dual Front Camera Setup

lenovo vibe s1

The smartphone market right now is so ambiguous that all it needs is one special feature to distinguish yourself from others. The new Lenovo phones do exactly that.

The Vibe S1 uses the selfie-boom totally to its advantage. While others like Sony improve sensors and even add front-facing flashes, this phone puts not one, but two cameras above the front panel.

If you’ve followed the industry for long you’ve probably guessed why. Lenovo uses the same refocusing technique which HTC used for its One (M8) flagship couple of years back. As a result, the regular 8 megapixel camera takes your photo, while the second 2 megapixel camera measures the depth of field vision to replicate human binocular vision. You can also get a plugin flash accessory for selfies in low light conditions.
lenovo-vibe-s1-12
There are a few photo modes built-in for you to mess with. ‘Blur’ allows you to refocus anywhere on your selfie (up to 3 focal plains). ‘Bokeh’ allows you to stylize or edit your selfies. ‘Cut Out’ allows you to make a collage or crop and place your photo with any modified back. You can also get better Night Vision thanks to the combination.

The rest of the phone is quite acceptable by today’s standards. The front, in case you think we forgot, also comes with a 5” display with Full HD resolution. The phone just has a 7.8mm thickness with a 132g weight.

Under the hood, you get a MediaTek octa-core processor with an impressive 3 GB RAM and 32 GB internal storage, which is expandable. The back also has a 13 megapixel BSI sensor. You get 4G LTE for connectivity.
Not much else is announced about the phone. Pricing is set at $299. It will be available in two colors in November.


Skype Overhauls Android and iOS Apps for Better Consistency

Skype
In the era of Hangouts and FaceTime, a lot of people can forget that Skype is still kicking around. The latest development from the Microsoft-owned telecommunications application is a refinement and upgrade to its existing applications on portables.

Rather than using its own Windows Phone-like software tweaks and controls, it has taken inspiration from the corresponding operating systems of iOS and Android.

On iOS, you get on-screen keys on the bottom for main controls. You get can use swipe gestures like on other system apps for checking your messages or making calls. There is a new built-in enhanced search feature, too.
skype-for-iosThe iPad version has also been overhauled as well with the new search engine, location sharing, sending/receiving of photos, seeing URLs and more.

Similarly, on Android the app takes a page out of Google’s Material Design. A new floating action key is debuted for quick management of the basic Skype features like making calls and conversations.

Controlling forms are heavily inspired from the overall Android design. Unviewed messages are displayed better with a new clock icon at the top.
skype-for-androidThe Windows Phone updates stays as it is, though, but a new app is currently being built from scratch for Windows 10 Mobile so that’s not so bad. The updates are not big but will offer better continuity with the design choices of their respective OSes.

Thursday, August 20, 2015

World Bank aims for global deal to stop oil well flaring

The World Bank is aiming to set a global standard to stop the routine flaring of unwanted gas from oil wells, in an attempt to end the pollution and waste of resources that it creates.
The bank's executives hope to persuade all the world's largest oil-producing countries and companies to sign up to the plan, arguing that it would both cut greenhouse gas emissions and improve access to energy in low-income countries.

Scott Peterson | Liaison | Getty Images
About 140bn cubic metres of gas per year, or about 4 per cent of world production, are burnt off by the oil industry in flares.
The electricity that could be generated using that gas would exceed Africa's entire power consumption today.
Many large oil-producing countries, including Russia, Norway, Kazakhstan and Angola, and companies including Royal Dutch Shell, Statoil and Total, signed up to the initiative launched by the bank in April, pledging for the first time to end routine flaring from oil production sites by 2030.
Those producers are responsible for about 40 per cent of the world's flaring.
However, several other large oil-producing countries, including Saudi Arabia, the US, Canada and Nigeria, and companies including ExxonMobil and Chevron, have not yet endorsed the plan.
Anita George, the World Bank's senior director for energy, said she wanted the commitment to end flaring to become a "de facto global industry standard".
She added that the bank was "working very closely with a number of other countries" about joining the initiative. The flaring project is intended to be an important part of the bank's contribution to the Paris talks on an international agreement to tackle the threat of climate change, which start on November 30.
When unwanted "associated" gas is released during oil production, burning it off in a flare is often the easiest way to dispose of it safely. But flares generate local pollution, including black carbon — a component of soot — as well as heat, light and noise.
They also contribute to the threat of global warming by releasing carbon dioxide, although unburned gas vented into the air has a more potent effect, and waste resources that could be put to productive use.
Russia has been by far the world's largest waster of gas in this way, according to World Bank data, followed by Nigeria, Iran and Iraq.
Flaring rose sharply in the US as a result of the shale oil boom that began in 2010, in spite of efforts to control it. Natural gas vented and flared in the US rose from 4.7bn cubic metres in 2010 to 7.4bn cu m in 2013, according to the country's Energy Information Administration.
Saudi Arabia has flared relatively little: it was the world's ninth-largest flarer in 2012 — the most recent year for which data are available — despite being the second-largest producer of crude oil, behind Russia.
Persuading Russia, which is suffering financial strain because of low oil prices, to join the initiative has been a significant success for the World Bank, but it still needs to persuade many of the other leading countries for flaring to come on board.
Several European countries, including Britain, Germany and the Netherlands, have also not yet endorsed the commitment.
Chevron said it was "actively evaluating the appropriate role for Chevron to take in this initiative". It and Exxon are part of an earlier World Bank project, the Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership, which works on finding ways to make use of associated gas.
Exxon has made a commitment to end routine flaring from new projects. However, it says in a statement on its website that it needs "business environments with the right conditions, including available markets, nearby infrastructure and appropriate regulations" to capture gas instead of flaring it.
It adds: "Many of these conditions are not currently available in some locations where we operate."

Saturday, August 15, 2015

2 Year Old Gives Birth To Own Twin Shocking

7 Secret Tricks to Lose Weight At Any Age


Unfortunately as we get older the battle of losing weight gets more and more difficult.
With the years and aging our muscles and joints get less cooperative and they hurt more, which makes exercising difficult and we are getting less physically active with each day.
But that`s not the only thing that makes the process of losing weight difficult. Our metabolism slows down too. Statistics show that in average we burn 1 to 2 % fewer calories every decade and all this is due to losing muscle mass and putting on some fat.
According to Brian Durbin, a NSCA-certified strength and conditioning specialist and personal trainer, it is easy to lose pounds if you know the roadblocks and how to work around them.

1. Pick Up Those Weights

People often complain that they can`t lose weight as they used to before, but what they don’t know is that all this is a result of muscle mass. Muscle is more metabolically active than fat, which means that it requires more energy and elevates your metabolism. This also means that in case you lose muscle your metabolism will slow down.
50 year old man in average has 20% less muscle mass than he used to have when he had 20 years. Relating to this issue Durbin said “The good news is you can turn all of this around with a well-structured weight-training routine”. And she also added “It can increase your muscle mass and help you regain the ability to lose weight like you were able to 20 years ago.”

2. Keep An Eye On Those Hormones

With the years our hormones can also make us problems and lead to storage of fats. That`s why you should regularly check your thyroid, adrenal glands, and other hormone levels.  Actually testosterone is the most important among them since it enables you to stay fit and to reduce weight. This hormone has a role in the regulation of blood glucose levels which is essential for losing belly fat.

3. Go Easy On Those Joints

No matter how young you are having joint pain will surely stop you from being active. The worst thing about this is that once the pain starts it never ends the situation can only get worse and never better.
The best thing you can do is focus on activities that are easy for your joints like walking, swimming or jumping in the pool. Aquafit is the most exciting among these and still it can burn many calories.The extra resistance the water creates means that your body has to work that much harder, and can burn up to 30% more calories in the process.
If you are not that type of person who would enjoy in walking and swimming there is an alternative for you like yoga and cycling.

4. But Don’t Go Too Easy

You should never feel pain while you are exercising, but you should still work hard enough to sweat. The process of losing weight is not an easy thing to do it requires a lot of effort. But however if you are doing everything correctly your body will be only better and never worse.

5. See a Physical Therapist

Consulting a physical therapists is recommended both for people who are suffering from some kind of pain and for those who don’t. They will give you advice which activities to avoid and which to repeat more often, also they will tell you how exactly you should do the activities for better results.

6. Change That Diet

You should know that
Source: http://www.healthylifeland.com/7-secret-tricks-to-lose-weight-at-any-age/

How we know what lies at Earth's core



We can't journey to the centre of the Earth, but that hasn't stopped us finding out what is down there.

Humans have been all over the Earth. We've conquered the lands, flown through the air and dived to the deepest trenches in the ocean. We've even been to the Moon. But we've never been to the planet's core.
We haven't even come close. The central point of the Earth is over 6,000km down, and even the outermost part of the core is nearly 3,000 km below our feet. The deepest hole we've ever created on the surface is the Kola Superdeep Borehole in Russia, and it only goes down a pitiful 12.3 km.
All the familiar events on Earth also happen close to the surface. The lava that spews from volcanoes first melts just a few hundred kilometres down. Even diamonds, which need extreme heat and pressure to form, originate in rocks less than 500km deep.
What's down below all that is shrouded in mystery. It seems unfathomable. And yet, we know a surprising amount about the core. We even have some idea about how it formed billions of years ago – all without a single physical sample. This is how the core was revealed.
One good way to start is to think about the mass of the Earth, says Simon Redfern of the University of Cambridge in the UK.
We can estimate Earth's mass by observing the effect of the planet's gravity on objects at the surface. It turns out that the mass of the Earth is 5.9 sextillion tonnes: that's 59 followed by 20 zeroes.
There's no sign of anything that massive at the surface.
"The density of the material at the Earth's surface is much lower than the average density of the whole Earth, so that tells us there's something much denser," says Redfern. "That's the first thing."
Essentially, most of the Earth's mass must be located towards the centre of the planet. The next step is to ask which heavy materials make up the core.


Tuesday, August 11, 2015

198 Million People Are Using Ad Blockers, Costing Publishers Over $21.8 Billion

ad blockers

In its third annual report, PageFair has once again collaborated with Adobe in order to publish a report on the latest figures regarding the scale and growth of global ad blocking software usage. The report also serves to highlight the economic impact associated with ad blocking, as well as the existing and potential impact of ad blocking in the mobile advertising domain.

According to the report, ad blocking has risen globally by 41 percent since last year, with 198 million active users currently making use of ad blocking browser extensions in 2015. Moreover, the estimated loss of global revenue to publishers due to blocked ads is over $21.8 billion.
While the aforementioned users only represent 6 percent of the global internet population, their ad blocking habits account for 14 percent of the global ad spend. The report adds that the global cost of advertising is expected to reach over $41 billion by 2016.

Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox users account for 93% of all ads blocked on the internet


Demographically speaking, the report classifies young and tech savvy male internet users as those that are likely to block ads. Furthermore, those who browse gaming websites have an even higher probability of using ad blockers. On the other hand, elder and technologically challenged internet users who visit health and charity websites are unlikely to block ads.
In the here and now, Google Chrome is the main player in the growth of ad blocking, partly due to the ease with which ad block extensions can be installed on the browser. To make matters worse for advertisers, Chrome has successfully captured the mainstream browsing market from internet explorer over the last few years.

Adblocking-growth-across-the-globe-e1439206131130


As such, Google’s browser alone is responsible for 126 million active ad block users in the second quarter of 2015. It is followed by Mozilla Firefox, and together they account for 93 percent of ad blocking.


iOS 9 will make it significantly easier to block ads, forcing advertisers to rethink their marketing strategies


While mobile devices account for 38 percent of all browsing in the second quarter of 2015, the report states that ad blocking is currently in an underdeveloped state on the platform, with a mere 1.6 percent of ad block traffic. However, with Apple’s upcoming iOS 9 making it possible to block ads, ad blocking browser plug-ins and apps are expected to become more common on mobile devices, and the platform is likely to become a key player in the ad blocking game.

Thursday, August 6, 2015

16 Year Old Pakistani, Sumail Hassan, Becomes a Millionaire by Playing Dota 2

sumail hassan

Sumail Hassan has earned himself $200,000 after a month as a professional Defense of the Ancients 2 (Dota 2) player in the US. Originally from Karachi, the 15-year-old moved to Chicago along with his family back in 2014. Being located in the US served as a great opportunity for him, as it allowed him to play Dota 2 on a faster internet connection with less latency and lower pings than he had previously experienced.

Eventually, Sumail shot to fame by doing exceptionally well in the North American in-house gaming league. It was at this point that he caught the attention of one of the biggest e-sports teams, Evil Geniuses. He was recruited by the team’s manager, Charlie Yang, who himself had been a Dota 2 player in the past. Sumail went on to help his team win the Dota 2 Asian championship in China earlier this year in February.

In Dota 2, two teams of five ‘Heroes’ challenge each other in a battle to take over the other team’s base. The ultimate goal is to acquire the opposing team’s Ancient while preventing it from getting yours. While its goal may be simple, the game’s complexity comes from its range of unique characters, weapons, and spells. As an e-sport, Dota 2 offers the opportunity to earn more real-world money than any other game of its kind. Top performers are given the chance to take part in professional tournaments, where teams battle it out for millions of dollars in prize money.
Sumail is currently taking part in the Ti5 tournament which has a prize pool of over $17 million
Just prior to his 16th birthday, Sumail’s earnings as a professional gamer amounted to $200,000 in just one month. At this rate, he may end up being a millionaire in a few days, when him and his teammates will compete for the chance to win a grand prize of over $6 million at the International Dota 2 world championships in Seattle’s KeyArena.

Evil Geniuses is the second-highest ranked team going into the tournament, while its rival Team Secret is ranked the highest. The rivalry stems from a number of factors, not the least of which is the fact that Team Secret’s star player, Artour “Arteezy” Babaev, used to play for Evil Geniuses up until last December.

Interestingly, it was his spot in the team that was eventually given to Sumail. It remains to be seen whether Sumail can outsmart Arteezy at the forthcoming tournament, though their matchup will undoubtedly be seen with great interest by Dota fans across the globe.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

A Dumb Phone Can Bypass the Most Complex Computer Security Systems in the World

A Dumb Phone Can Bypass the Most Complex Computer Security Systems in the World

According to a method devised by security researchers, a normal cellphone with just GSM connectivity, and a dash of electromagnetic waves, can bypass the most complex security systems in use worldwide.

This development is enough to make defence companies (with millions invested in security no less), sit up and take notice. Normally, sensitive installations like military bases and nuclear installations,  rely on air-gapped network of computers to ensure that the system is isolated from unsecured channels.

This exploit can even penetrate air-gapped computer systems, rendering current ways of military-grade security obsolete. The discovery of this low-tech exploit can prove instrumental in extracting data from sensitive locations. The implications of such a discovery are far-reaching, especially considering the growing potentials of cyber-warfare and 
sabotage involved.

The exploit can even penetrate air-gapped computer systems, rendering current ways of military-grade security obsolete


The researchers behind the discovery of this exploit recommend that companies should restrict the use of devices that give RF signals and overhaul their existing security guidelines. According to Yuval Elovici, director of the Cyber Security Research Center at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, the exploit does involve the installation of a malware in both the phone and the computer used in the cyber attack, after which extracting data is mere child’s play.
This is possible thanks to the naturally emitting EM radiation that electronics such as computers give off and recipient devices such as phones are capable of. So in other words, the process of data extraction comes naturally, thus circumventing the air gapped network security measures currently in use today.

The exploit is, however, limited by the amount of data it can transmit. In short, they can take long if you’re trying to extract gigs of data from a compromised PC. But here’s the thing. It can also allow the attacker to get hold of the encryption keys or passwords in a minute, which can then open the door to a much faster way of data extraction. A scary prospect no doubt.

So its not just smartphones that can hack networks now, but your prehistoric Nokia or Siemens or Alcatel or Ericcson that can prove to be as deadly as their smarter cousins.

Via : Wired 

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Apple Watch Already Has 75% Share of the Wearables Market

apple watch

With all the talk of Apple Watch’s failure going around, you can be forgiven to think that Apple doesn’t hold majority of the market, since it so far has failed to provide any sales figures. That isn’t the case, however, not far from it.

According to a new report by Strategy Analytics, Apple’s smartwatch release brought about a 457 percent increase in shipments worldwide within one year of its release. 

How much does it mean in terms of market share?
75 percent. Thanks to sales of 4 million units in just three months since its launch, Apple has gained a huge lead over competitors such as Pebble and Android Wear, who had a several year head-start in the market.

smartwatch1
The big loser here was Samsung, which saw sales at just 0.4 million or one-tenth of Apple in Q2 2015, down from 0.7 million the same quarter last year. It’s market share of 7.5% was also down from from a massive 73.6% a year ago.

Other manufacturers raked up 0.9 million in sales (which was up from 0.3 million), to lead to a combined sales figure of 5.3 million units. It must be mentioned that the ‘Others’ include quite big makers such as LG, Motorola, ASUS, Sony and Pebble who all had a massive lead heading to the Watch’s launch.

Even if the reports that the sales of the Watch have slowed to a trickle now, they are still enough to make sure Apple leads by a sizeable margin. With an ecosystem of around 8,000 apps now, things may not change drastically in the near future either.

- Muhammad Sohail.