Nokia 808 PureView Has a Monster 41-Megapixel Camera

BARCELONA — Thought that Symbian was dead? Think again: at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Nokia has just announced the 808 Pureview, a flagship Symbian device with a 41-megapixel camera.

You read that right, 41 megapixels – Nokia has made this happen by combining Carl Zeiss optics and Nokia-developed pixel over-sampling technology. High megapixel count does not equal quality photos, of course – we’re looking forward to seeing how PureView tech works in real life.

Of course, the PureView technology will be coming to upcoming Nokia phones as well, so get used to phones having crazy megapixel numbers in the near future.

The 808 PureView also features something called Rich Recording, which lets you record “crisp, clear audio (…) up to a thumping 140 decibels,” says Nokia.

The rest of the specs mostly spell mid-range: a single core 1.3 GHz CPU, a 4-inch, 360 x 640 pixel screen, 512 MB of RAM and 16 GB of storage.

The device will retail for 450 euros, hitting the market in May.

And, going back to the question we asked at the beginning – whether Symbian is dead, as many have predicted – Nokia declined to say. In any way, even if 808 PureView is the last Symbian we see, at least the PureView technology will live on in other handsets.

source:mashable

How to identify fake Facebook profiles?

Facebook has become an essential communication tool in our day-to-day lives. The social networking giant, which filed for IPO last week, has been consistently making efforts to boost user security on its platform, and stave off spammers, scammers and fake users. Barracuda Labs, a global multi-disciplinary research and threat analysis firm has conducted a study to identify ways in which Facebook users can spot fake Facebook profiles.

Barracuda analyzed 2,884 active Facebook accounts to identify key differences between average real user accounts and fake accounts created by attackers and spammers.

According to the study:

• 97 percent of fake profiles are created using women’s names, and 58 percent claim to be interested in both men and women.
• The fake profiles averaged 726 friends, while the authentic ones averaged just 130.
• 15 percent of the actual profiles had no status updates, while that figure soared to 43 percent for the fakes.
• Fake accounts use photo tags 100 times more than real users, 136 tags per four photos versus one tag per four photos

“Likes, News Feeds and Apps have helped lead Facebook to its social network dominance and now attackers are harnessing those same features to efficiently scale their efforts. These fake profiles and apps give attackers a long-lived path to continuously present malicious links to innocent users,” said Dr. Paul Judge, chief research officer at Barracuda Networks.

Barracuda Labs has also come up with an infographic, to list out the common characteristics of fake Facebook user accounts. Have a look at it here.

source:buzzom

New Solar Charger for iPhone

The Solar Power Dock from Netherlands-based manufacturer A-solar and solar tech company Intivation was unveiled earlier this week at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona. It charges iOS devices such as the iPhone and iPad with a little help from the sun and is small enough to fit in your pocket.

With a durable built-in battery, a small solar panel and strong rubber-finished casing, the Solar Power Dock can keep devices running when you’re far away from an outlet. The price: $105.
The internal battery stores an impressive 6,000 milliamp-hours (mAh) at full capacity, a bit more than your average solar charger, like the Solio. After 12 to 16 hours in the sun, the Dock will have a full charge, able to juice up your iPhone with about four hours of talk time. It can still soak up energy on cloudy days, too. However, the Solar Power Dock has only enough capacity to charge the iPad up to 60%More of an Android person? The Solar Power Dock also features an integrated USB output, so it can be used for charging other kinds of phones besides iPhones.



source:mashable

NASA Computers Hacked 13 Times in 2011

It seems not even the high-tech NASA is safe from digital intruders: The space agency’s computer systems were breached by hackers 13 times last year, according to Congressional testimony this week.

“These incidents spanned a wide continuum from individuals testing their skill to break into NASA systems, to well-organized criminal enterprises hacking for profit, to intrusions that may have been sponsored by foreign intelligence services seeking to further their countries’ objectives,” said Paul Martin, NASA’s inspector general, in his Congressional testimony released on Wednesday.

“Some of these intrusions have affected thousands of NASA computers, caused significant disruption to mission operations, and resulted in the theft of export-controlled and otherwise sensitive data, with an estimated cost to NASA of more than $7 million,” he continued.

Martin gave Congress detailed information about some of the attacks.

In one instance, the agency discovered late last year an intrusion into its system by hackers working through a China-based IP address. Martin said that the hackers gained full access to the network of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, allowing them to view, copy, delete and otherwise tamper with classified information.

Before closing the door behind them, the hackers uploaded software allowing them access to other NASA systems and managed to adeptly hide their digital tracks.

In a separate event, hackers managed to grab computer access codes from more than 150 NASA employees. According to Martin, the agency failed to move quickly enough to ensure that those hackers wouldn’t be able to use the codes to gain access to its networks.

According to Martin, the “sophistication” of cyberattacks against NASA has been steadily increasing. He added that NASA spends more than $1.5 billion annually on “IT-related activities,” which includes approximately $58 million for “IT security.”

Martin also pointed out what NASA stands to lose when its computer systems are compromised by hackers.

“Some NASA systems house sensitive information which, if lost or stolen, could result in significant financial loss, adversely affect national security, or significantly impair our nation’s competitive technological advantage,” said Martin. “Even more troubling, skilled and committed cyber attackers could choose to cause significant disruption to NASA operations, as IT networks are central to all aspects of NASA’s operations.”

The news of the NASA hacks comes at a turbulent time for cybersecurity in the U.S.

On Friday, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation said that hackers could top terrorists as the main threat to the U.S. in the near future. Meanwhile, Congress is debating two competing cybersecurity bills intended to bolster the government’s defenses against digital attacks.

Does the news of the successful hacks against the high-tech NASA come as a surprise to you? Let us know in the comments below.

source:mashable