Pay to Remove Ads With Google Contributor

Want an ad-free Web experience? Now you can, via Google Contributor, a pilot program that lets people donate money to rid certain sites of advertising.

Marketed as "an experiment in additional ways to fund the Web," Contributor requires a small monthly fee for you to visit participating sites without the hassle of public notices.

Google is rolling out the new service with 10 initial publishing partners, including Urban Dictionary, The Onion, WikiHow, Imgur, Mashable, and Science Daily.

You choose whether to pay $1, $2, or $3 per month, which is collected through an accompanying Google payment account, then distributed to the specific sites you visit; Google also takes a cut of the funds

In return for your donation, you'll find a thank-you message (often accompanied by a pixel pattern) in place of a Google ad. On some mobile sites, ads may disappear altogether, Gigaom reported.

For now, you can sign up online to join the waitlist and receive an emailed invite when a spot opens up.

Those early adopters who already have an invite code can get started surfing a sometimes ad-free Web.

This move, which Google told Gigaom is an example of the company's attempts to help Web publishers and content providers better monetize their readership, is turning a lot of heads. It's likely to take a bite out of Google's ad impressions, and may, in the end, prove that people actually prefer conspicuous advertisements to paying for service.

Google did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment.

In June, Google-owned YouTube took a similar approach when it rolled out a fan funding process, by which interested viewers could donate money to creators whose videos they found especially compelling. "YouTube Fan Funding" is still in beta mode, but interested users can sign up online.

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CORPORATE WATCH

Mobilink, Twitter enter partnership

KARACHI: Mobilink has joined hands with Twitter to accelerate internet usage in Pakistan and to enable its users share ideas and information instantly through Twitter’s mobile services, said a press release on Thursday. As part of the partnership, Mobilink users will not incur any data charges on Twitter usage for a limited time period, it added.

Topline Securities wins eight awards

KARACHI: Topline Securities has been ranked as the ‘Best brokerage firm in Pakistan’ for the year 2014, according to Asiamoney’s latest poll.

The brokerage was the first in Pakistan to get this award for the fourth consecutive year. Out of 12 awards for Pakistan, it won eight awards for the year.

Apple, Xiaomi trade smartphone barbs in China

WUZHEN: Top executives from US technology giant Apple and Chinese smartphone upstart Xiaomi traded light-hearted barbs on Thursday at a Chinese Internet conference, acknowledging the fierce competition between the rivals.

Apple stood in sixth place in China’s smartphone market with only a 6.9 per cent share in the March-June period while Xiaomi ranked second with 13.5pc.

Bruce Sewell, Apple’s general counsel and senior vice president of legal and government affairs, told a panel discussion at the World Internet Conference that there are “many good competitive phones in China” in a nod to Xiaomi founder Lei Jun, sitting alongside him.

But when asked about Lei’s previous claims that Xiaomi will become the world’s market leader in smartphones, he said: “It is easy to say, it is more difficult to do,” to laughter and applause from the audience in Wuzhen. Lei shot back: “In this magic land, we produced not only a company like Alibaba, but a small miracle like Xiaomi.”—AFP

BNP Paribas reorganises investment banking

PARIS: French bank BNP Paribas said on Thursday it was reorganising its corporate and investment banking activities to fold securities services into the division and bring equities and fixed-income activities closer together. The shake-up, which the bank said was to adapt to regulator changes and clients’ shifting needs, comes as the division tries to move on from a US sanctions violations case earlier this year that cost the bank nearly $9 billion.

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25 years after Lotus Notes, IBM tries to reinvent email again

Verse email from IBM is the sort of service you'd normally associate with a scrappy startup. Its mission: Make email less of a headache -- and, if possible, deal a blow to Google and its near-total dominance of the Web-based email market for individuals and businesses.

A blog post by Jeff Schick, VP, IBM Social Software, provides details about Verse in a demonstration video. Verse is designed to make mail self-organizing and tasks easier to prioritize, with people rather than messages as the basic unit of communication. Content shared between team members can be previewed without downloading, reminiscent of Office 365's handling of common document types.

Some of Verse's search and classification functionality will be powered by IBM's Watson machine-learning service. IBM's says this will "[enable] users to query Watson on a given topic and receive a direct reply with answers ranked by degree of confidence."

In many ways, Verse parallels Google's Inbox, which attempts to automatically categorize incoming email based on both the content of emails and user's behaviors with the messages. IBM also casts Verse as stronger on privacy than Google; the release notes that Verse offers functionality akin to "freely available mail services that mine a user’s inbox to increase advertising and monetize that data in other ways."

Verse was originally announced back in January as Mail Next, an overhaul to IBM's long-standing Lotus Notes product; the aim of making a user's inbox self-organizing was in the mission statement back then as well. Verse is based on the IBM Domino mail server system, and since Lotus Notes continues to eke out an existence in deployments around the globe, IBM is banking at least in part on having existing Notes users migrate into Verse.

When asked about the distinction between Notes and Verse, Schick replied in an email: "Notes is a rich client that IBM will continue to invest in. Verse is a Web-based experience that changes the paradigm on how people will work. IBM's mail service will support both Notes and Verse, giving our clients and business partners the ability to choose which option they prefer. If you are already running Notes, we protect your investment in IBM's mail service and allow users to seamlessly access Verse."

Apart from Notes users, another major audience for Verse may be users, period, as IBM is apparently preparing to offer Verse to most anyone who wants it. This is a major pivot from business -- and echoes Apple's path into businesses as it become a favorite of rank-and-file users (and one of IBM's new partners for enterprise applications). 

IBM hasn't disclosed how it plans to monetize Verse. With ads out of the question, the service will likely be free for individuals, with the advanced workgroup and Watson-powered analytics features available for paying customers. It's also possible that IBM may be looking to monetize Watson indirectly through Verse: examining the ways Verse users interact with Watson, using the data to further refine Watson's own intelligence, then adding monetizable Watson features 

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HALF A BILLION TERRORISTS: WhatsApp encrypts ALL its worldwide jabber

WhatsApp has announced that it will encrypt all its 600m users' text messages by default, which is a serious stride forward for privacy - and one which will no doubt be criticised by spooks and police worldwide.

The rollout, announced today, was described by the app maker as the "largest deployment of end-to-end encryption ever.” The feature will, it's hoped, safeguard messages from eavesdroppers by encrypting chats between people.

There are limits to Facebook-owned WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption. So far, it only covers text messaging (as opposed to group messages or pictures), it only works on Android, and it remains open to potential man-in-the-middle attacks because there's no way to verify the identity of the person you're messaging.

Whisper Systems – the company behind the TextSecure software used for the encryption – said in ablog post that it was working on those issues, but nevertheless seems justifiably pleased with itself.

"We have a ways to go until all mobile platforms are fully supported, but we are moving quickly towards a world where all WhatsApp users will get end-to-end encryption by default," it said.

WhatsApp is estimated to have 600 million monthly active users cranking out billions of messages every day.

The open-source TextSecure software allows two devices to exchange encryption and decryption keys in a way that an eavesdropper and the TextSecure servers cannot crack. Assuming WhatsApp uses the same system, and hasn't compromised it for the feds, WhatsApp can't decrypt messages in transit, and TextSecure encrypts data at rest. It uses Curve25519, AES256, and HMAC-SHA256 to protect chats over the wires.

The software also provides perfect forward secrecy by using new AES keys for each message: if an attacker is able to decrypt one text, past messages cannot be cracked using that unique key.

Apple's iMessage system, according to Cupertino [PDF, page 30], works along the same lines, except Apple manages a central database of public keys: every registered iThing and Mac has its own private-public key, with the public keys stored in the iCloud, and every message sent to someone is encrypted using the public keys for each of the recipient's devices.

This means a message sent to someone can be delivered simultaneously to each of the receiver's devices. If the feds were able to persuade Apple to silently and secretly create an extra public-private key pair for a target, with the g-men holding the private key to decrypt the chatter, well, that's another matter. Apple says it cannot decrypt messages because it doesn't hold users' private keys.

Wider picture

In the bigger scheme of things, simple and everyday messages and personal information wrapped up in hard-to-break encryption may soon become the norm. Up until now, encryption has either required extra effort or technical knowledge, use of a special service, or trusting third parties not to reveal your details even when faced with secret government orders.

Or to put it another way: when you are communicating with your mother or father over encrypted text, it's game over for crims and other miscreants, and a huge headache for the NSA and GCHQ.

US and UK government officials – and even the EU's top cop – accuse technology companies of hindering efforts against terrorism by encrypting data. With the head of the FBI demanding front-door access to encrypted phones, unbreakable encryption is not for the little people, in the authorities' eyes.

And yet Whisper Systems got $455,000 from the US government [PDF, page 17] to fund TextSecure development.

Speaking of money, the founder of WhatsApp, Jan Koum, announced yesterday that he had given $1m to the FreeBSD Foundation.

The Foundation "has helped millions of programmers pursue their passions and bring their ideas to life," he wrote on Facebook. The issue is personal for him: "I started using FreeBSD in the late 90s, when I didn’t have much money and was living in government housing. In a way, FreeBSD helped lift me out of poverty – one of the main reasons I got a job at Yahoo! is because they were using FreeBSD, and it was my operating system of choice. Years later, when Brian and I set out to build WhatsApp, we used FreeBSD to keep our servers running. We still do."

WhatsApp was bought for $19bn by Facebook, with the deal going through last month. ®

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Facebook rolls out standalone Groups app to improve focused communications

Early this week there were discussions about Facebook at Work, including ZDNet posts on the pros andcons of the idea. Facebook just announced a dedicated Groups app for iOS and Android that makes it easier to communicate with project teams, family and friends.

Groups remain a part of the full Facebook application, much like Messenger, but pulling it out as a dedicated app makes it more efficient and much more functional. In my experience, I am much more likely to use Facebook services with dedicated apps, rather than access message and group communications from within the Facebook app.

With the new Facebook Groups app, you can easily organize your groups so that the most used ones appear at the top of the launch page. It is also much easier to jump into a group and communicate and then jump over to another group. In the Facebook app itself, groups appear within your News Feed so communication is not as distinct as within the Groups app.

Notifications for each group are managed within the Facebook Groups app. You can also discover other groups to join within the app.

We use Microsoft Lync to communicate via messages in my office, but most people are also on Facebook. I still try to keep Facebook separate as a personal sharing tool though and am not planning to use Facebook for work any time soon.

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Nokia N1 Android tablet causes a surprise

Nokia is launching an Android-powered tablet, marking the Finnish company's return to consumer electronics.

The surprise launch pits the firm against Microsoft, which completed its takeover of Nokia's previous mobile-devices business in April.

The N1 tablet is due to go on sale in China towards the start of 2015, ahead of other countries.

Nokia said it was not making the device itself, but had licensed its brand, design and software to a third-party.

Taiwanese manufacture Foxconn is the licensee.

"This is a great product for Nokia fans and everyone who has not found the right Android tablet yet," said Sebastian Nystrom, head of products at Nokia Technologies, who announced the product at the Slush technology conference in Helsinki.

One company watcher was startled by the move.

"I'm surprised how quickly Nokia has decided to do this. But equally if Nokia was going to do anything with its brand, it was going to have to do it quickly," said Ben Wood, chief of research at CCS Insight.

"The brand has been in a consistent state of freefall over the past three years, so if they are going to extract any value from it they needed to do it sooner than later."

Microsoft sells Nokia-labelled kit of its own, including the Lumia 2520 Windows RT-powered tablet.

Earlier this month, it unveiled its first Lumia smartphone without the Nokia name. But it indicated that it would continue using the brand on its less powerful "feature phone" line-up, saying it had the right to do so for up to a decade under the terms of its $7.2bn (£4.6bn) takeover.

It is not clear whether Nokia's announcement affects those plans.

"There's no question Microsoft will not be a little frustrated that at a time when it's trying to defocus the Nokia brand, here is something that resurrects it prematurely," said Mr Wood.

"In some respects it will also cause a bit of confusion."

The only comment from Microsoft was a brief statement: "This is a Nokia announcement and is not associated in any way with Microsoft."

Android skin

The N1 is a 7.9in (20.1cm) aluminium-framed tablet, whose design resembles the iPad Mini.

Unlike Apple's device, however, it is powered by Google's Android 5.0 operating system, features an Intel Atom processor and has a Micro-USB slot. The planned retail price is $249 (£159).

The N1 features a 64-bit Intel quad-core Atom processor and an aluminium shell

It runs Nokia's own Z Launcher user interface - known as a skin - on top of Android.

The previously announced software allows owners to draw letters on the tablet's screen with one of their fingers to search for related content and changes the apps presented on the machine's home screen according to the time of day and the device's location.

"For Nokia, the advantages of licensing are considerable. Nokia can enter the mobile device market without needing to worry about manufacturing, supply chain management, stock control or hardware distribution," said Ian Fogg, director of mobile analysis at research firm IHS Technology.

But, he noted, previous partnerships had not lived to expectation.

"The Symbian venture over a smartphone OS ran into the ground amid bureaucracy and differing partner visions," he said.

"Nokia failed to establish successful licensing of its Series 60 software. The Intel partnership with Meego [an operating system] was aborted after just one year in as Nokia switched to Microsoft.

"And, Nokia has only just extricated itself from the choice of Windows Phone. Nokia must execute much better with licensing and mobile devices this time if it is to succeed."

Nokia reported a return to health in October after it posted a third-quarter net profit of 747m euros ($935m; £597m) thanks to the work of its network equipment, mapping and software divisions, which had previously been weighed down by its loss-making hardware business.

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Mellanox To Team With IBM On $425 Million US Supercomputer Program

Things are looking well for Israel’s Mellanox Technologies, Ltd., a supplier of high-performance, end-to-end interconnect solutions for data center servers and storage systems. In the past week the company has been selected to take part in a $425 million project funded by the U.S. Department of energy to construct supercomputers, had its tech chosen by Minnesota Supercomputing Institute at the University of Minnesota, and today it announced the development of the world’s fastest EDR 100Gb/s InfiniBand switches.

The American project will be conducted at two of the country’s premier national labs Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory together with IBM and NVIDIA.

Mellanox’s EDR 100Gb/s solutions were selected as key components of new supercomputers at the two facilities. The hybrid supercomputer design will interconnect thousands of compute nodes containing both IBM POWER CPUs and NVIDIA GPUs via Mellanox’s EDR 100Gb/s InfiniBand-based solutions, providing one of the most advanced architectures of its kind for high-performance computing applications, the company said.

“Organizations and research facilities are required to process and analyze more information than ever before and to do it in less time,” said Michael Kagan, CTO, Mellanox Technologies. “Mellanox interconnect solutions deliver the highest performance and scalability, and provide the most advanced roadmap that paves the road to Exascale computing. We are excited to collaborate with IBM, NVIDIA, ORNL and LLNL to build the most advanced supercomputers in the world.”

Also its Switch-IB EDR 100Gb/s InfiniBand switch systems will be integrated into the HP-deployed, 712-node supercomputer at the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute at the University of Minnesota, making it the first EDR 100Gb/s InfiniBand large-scale cluster in the United States.

“Being a part of the first U.S. EDR 100Gb/s InfiniBand large-scale cluster gives the company great pride,” said Gilad Shainer, vice president of marketing at Mellanox Technologies. “Switch-IB’s low latency, unparalleled bandwidth, and removal of congestion and bottlenecks on the network enable MSI to increase application performance while dramatically reducing their operational expenses.”

Finally, the company set a world record for port-to-port latency of less than 90ns. Switch-IB has 36-ports of 100Gb/s to provide 7.2Tb/s of switching capacity and ultra-low latency and power consumption. Compared to the previous generation of InfiniBand switches, Switch-IB delivers nearly twice the throughput per port with half the latency.

Compared to the previous generation of InfiniBand switches, Switch-IB delivers nearly twice the throughput per port with half the latency, boasts Mellanox.

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Nokia launches N1 Android tablet, an iPad lookalike, just six months after selling handset unit to Microsoft

HELSINKI— Finland’s Nokia launched a new brand-licensed tablet computer on Tuesday which is designed to rival Apple’s iPad Mini, just six months after the company sold its ailing phones and devices business to Microsoft for over US$7 billion.

Nokia, a name which was once synonymous with mobile phones until first Apple and then Samsung Electronics eclipsed the Finnish company with the advent of smartphones, said the manufacturing, distribution and sales of the new N1 tablet, will be handled under license by Taiwan’s Foxconn.

The aluminum-cased N1, which runs on Google’s Android Lollipop operating software but features Nokia’s new Z Launcher intelligent home screen interface, is due to be in stores in China in the first quarter of next year for an estimated price of US$249 before taxes, with sales to other markets to follow.

• How Nokia’s new CEO plans to revive the struggling wireless company even as the market stalls
• Microsoft Corp unveils Lumia 535 smartphone at cheaper price, but without Nokia name

s

Sebastian Nystrom, the head of products at Nokia’s Technologies unit, said the company was looking to follow up with more devices and will also look into eventually returning to the smartphones business by brand-licensing.

“With the agreement with Microsoft, as is customary, we have this transition and we can’t do smartphones … We have a time limit. In 2016 we can again enter that business,” Nystrom told Reuters.
“It would be crazy not to look at that opportunity. Of course we will look at it.”

Microsoft last week dropped the Nokia name on its latest Lumia 535 smartphone, which runs on its Windows Phone 8 operating system, but still uses the brand for more basic phones.

After the Microsoft sale Nokia was left with its core network equipment and services business plus its smaller HERE mapping and navigation unit and Nokia Technologies, which manages the licensing of its portfolio of patents and develops new products such as the N1 and the Z Launcher.

Asked about rumours that Nokia was looking to re-enter the handset market, Chief Executive Rajeev Suri said last week he was looking into ways to bring the brand back into the consumer market through licensing deals.

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Hackers lurk in hotel Wi-Fi

WASHINGTON, 17 November 2014: Hackers have developed a scheme to steal sensitive information from top executives by penetrating the Wi-Fi networks of luxury hotels where they stay, security researchers said last week.

A report by Kaspersky Lab said the “Darkhotel” espionage effort “has lurked in the shadows for at least four years, while stealing sensitive data from selected corporate executives traveling overseas.”

Kaspersky said about 90% of the infections appear to be located in Japan, Taiwan, China, Russia and South Korea, but that the executives targeted include those traveling from the United States and other countrie

“The infection count numbers in the thousands,” the report said.

“The more interesting traveling targets include top executives from the US and Asia doing business and investment in the (Asia-Pacific) region.”

The hackers are able to compromise hotel Wi-Fi networks, and to then trick executives into downloading malicious software that can allow their information to accessed remotely.

“These tools collect data about the system and the anti-malware software installed on it, steal all keystrokes, and hunt for cached passwords in Firefox, Chrome and Internet Explorer; Gmail Notifier, Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo and Google login credentials; and other private information,” the report said.

“Victims lose sensitive information — likely the intellectual property of the business entities they represent. After the operation, the attackers carefully delete their tools from the hotel network and go back into hiding.”

Kaspersky researcher Kurt Baumgartner said the attacks are highly sophisticated.

“This threat actor has operational competence, mathematical and crypto-analytical offensive capabilities, and other resources that are sufficient to abuse trusted commercial networks and target specific victim categories with strategic precision,” he said.

Targets have included corporate chief executives, senior vice presidents, sales and marketing directors and top research staff at companies in the electronics, defence manufacturing, finance, automotive and pharmaceutical industries, among others. Some law enforcement, military and non-governmental officials have also been targeted.

“From our observations, the highest volume of offensive activity on hotel networks started in August 2010 and continued through 2013, and we are investigating some 2014 hotel network events,” Kaspersky said.

The researchers said the risk can be mitigated by using a virtual private network that protects data.

The security team said that travellers should be extra cautious about software updates and should use software with protection against a broad range of threats in addition to viruses.

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Cake Boss Star Arrested for DWI In NYC, police say

Cake Boss star Buddy Valastro has been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, and he did not go down without a fight.

New York City police officers pulled over Valastro in his 2014 yellow Corvette around 1 a.m. in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood on Manhattan, according to Page Six. Cops followed the celebrity baker for 12 blocks as he swerved down the street in his sports car.

“You can’t arrest me,” he told the police, according to New York Daily News. “I’m the Cake Boss.”

Valastro’s breath reportedly “reeked like booze.” Officers administered a Breathalyzer test which the TLC star failed, blowing a .108. The legal limit is .08 in New York.

The head baker at Carlo’s Baker in Hoboken, New Jersey will be arraigned on drunk driving charges on Thursday, according to Page Six. He lives in East Hanover, New Jersey with his wife and four children.

“He was driving erratically… He should stick to boating,” an officer joked with Page Six.

The police had to come to Valastro’s rescue earlier this summer when he and his family became stranded near the Verrazano Bridge on his 36-foot-boat named “Killin’ It.” Cops and firefighters both had to come when the boat couldn’t navigate through thick fog.

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پانچ سال کی عمر میں مائیکرو سافٹ سرٹیفائیڈ پروفیشنل

برطانیہ میں پانچ سال کی عمر میں پاکستانی نژاد برطانوی شہری آیان قریشی مائیکرو سافٹ سرٹیفائیڈ پروفیشنل امتحان پاس کر کے دنیا کے کم عمر ترین کمپیوٹر پروفیشنل بن گئے ہیں۔

برطانیہ کے شہر کووینٹری کے رہائشی آیان قریشی نے پانچ برس کی عمر میں مائیکرو سافٹ سرٹیفائیڈ پروفیشنل کا امتحان دیا تھا۔

آیان کا خاندان سال 2009 میں پاکستان سے برطانیہ منتقل ہوا تھا۔ آیان کے والد آئی ٹی کنسلٹنٹ ہیں۔

آیان اب چھ برس کے ہو گئے ہیں اور انھوں نے اپنے گھر میں ہی ایک کمپیوٹر نیٹ ورک قائم کر رکھا ہے۔

انھوں نے بی بی سی سے بات کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ امتحان مشکل تھا لیکن مزے کا تھا۔جس میں سوالات کے مختلف جوابات میں سے ایک منتخب کرنا تھا۔ اس کے علاوہ ہاٹ سپاٹ سوالات اور کسی مسئلے کو حل کرنے سے متعلق سوالات شامل تھے۔

آیان کے مطابق وہ چاہتے ہیں کہ ایک دن برطانیہ میں امریکی کی سلی کون ویلی کی طرز پر ٹیکنالوجی حب ’ای ٹیکنالوجیز‘ قائم کریں گے۔

آیان کے والد عاصم نے بی بی سی کو بتایا کہ ٹیسٹ کی زبان سے متعلق آیان کو سمجھنا سب سے مشکل کام تھا لیکن وہ اس کو سمجھ گیا اور اس کی یادداشت بہت اچھی ہے۔

عاصم نے اپنے بیٹے کو تین سال کی عمر میں کمپیوٹر سے متعارف کرایا تھا۔ اس میں انھوں نے اپنے پرانے کمپیوٹرز سے آیان کو کھیلنے دیا تاکہ وہ اس کے ہارڈ وئیر اور مدر بورڈ کو سمجھ سکے۔

’میں جو کچھ بھی اسے بتاتا تھا تو اگلے دن اسے سب یاد ہوتا تھا تو اس پر میں نے اسے زیادہ سے زیادہ معلومات بتانی شروع کیں۔‘

انھوں نے مزید کہا کہ’ اتنی چھوٹی عمر میں کمپیوٹر کی وجہ سے منفی اثرات مرتب ہو سکتے ہیں لیکن آیان نے اس موقعے سے فائدہ اٹھایا۔‘

عاصم کے مطابق ان کا بیٹا روزانہ دو گھنٹے کمپیوٹر کے آپریٹنگ سسٹم اور پروگرام انسٹال کرنے کے بارے میں سیکھاتا تھا۔

جب آیان مائیکرو سافٹ کا امتحان دینے آیا تو امتحان لینے والے امیدوار کی عمر کے بارے میں کافی فکرمند تھے تاہم ان کے والد نے یقین دہانی کرائی کہ ان کا بیٹا اپنے طور پر اس کو کر لے گا۔

یہ ٹیسٹ عام طور پر ان لوگوں کا لیا جاتا ہے جو مستقبل میں آئی ٹی پرفیشنل بننا چاہتے ہیں۔

آیان کی والدہ مومنہ کے مطابق’وہ بہت خوش اور فخر محسوس کرتی ہیں، میں یہ دیکھنا نہیں چاہتی کہ وہ ہر روز ایک نیا عالمی ریکارڈ قائم کرے لیکن میں چاہتی ہوں کہ یہ جو کچھ بھی کرے وہ بہترین ہو۔‘

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US spies on mobile phones from the sky

San Francisco - US justice officials are scooping up mobile phone data from unwitting Americans as part of a sophisticated airborne surveillance program designed to catch criminals, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Small aircraft deployed by the US Marshals Service from at least five major airports have been taking to the skies with "dirtbox" equipment designed to mimic signals from cell towers, according to the Journal.

That in turn tricks mobile phones into revealing unique identifying numbers and general locations, according to the report.

The name "dirtbox" was said to be derived from an acronym of Digital Recovery Technology Inc., the Boeing subsidiary that makes the device.

The range of aircraft in the program covers most of the US population, the Journal reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the operation.

Details of flights were not given, but they were said to take place regularly with each outing potentially gathering data from tens of thousands of mobile phones.

The Journal reported that the US Justice Department declined to comment for the story other than to say that its agencies comply with the law when it comes to surveillance.

Mobile phones are programmed to connect with the closest signal tower, but trust signals from towers or imposters when it comes to making decisions, hackers have demonstrated.

Boxes in planes could automatically assure mobile phones they are the optimal signal tower, then accept identifying information from handsets seeking connections.

Fake cell towers could then pass connections onto real signal towers, remaining as a conduit with the ability to tune into or block digital transmissions.

Hackers refer to such tactics as "man-in-the-middle attacks."

The Journal quoted American Civil Liberties Union chief technologist Christopher Soghoian as calling the program "dragnet surveillance" that is "inexcusable."

The program is reportedly in place to reveal locations of mobile phones associated with criminals or those suspected of crimes, but collect data about other handsets that connect, according to the Journal.

After sifting through data collected, investigators could determine the location of a targeted mobile phone to within about three meters, the report indicated.

Similar devices are used by US military and intelligence officials operating in other countries to locate terrorist suspects, according to the Journal.

Trust in US authorities has already been shaken by revelations about a sweeping Internet surveillance program.

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Top Features That Android 5.0 Lollipop Comes With

Google has released its new Nexus devices, the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9, and both come with the new Android 5.0 Lollipop, one of the most expected OS releases this year.

Google started the first beta for Android 5.0 Lollipop back at their I/O conference that was held in June 2014. It seems that many developers enjoyed this new OS but at the same time all the press was full of information about it too.

It seems that Google worked really hard on their Android 5.0 Lollipop and came with some great features which made a lot of Android fans anxious to get their “hands” on the new OS version.

If you don’t know about what features we’re talking about, then don’t worry because we will mention a few of them below.

Great Media Feature

The Lollipop supports USB audio so that you can plug in your headphones, speakers, microphones. To make things even better, the new Android OS supports 5.1 and 7.1 sound system.

Hardware integration 64bit support

The 64bit computing ability is the future and it seems that Google understood that. Android 5.0 Lollipop supports 64bit CPU and Android RunTime Library, which will speed up your device even more. It’s clearly that more and more developers tend to go move to the 64bit platforms, since it’s just a matter of time until all devices will run on 64bit software and components.

Greater Email Integration

Google finally understood that synchronizing email with a great interface will make a lot of people want this new OS so badly. Now, the calendar is synchronized with Gmail and Inbox applications, which will remind users about some important things that they have settled in their calendar.

For example if you bought a flight ticket to somewhere, the new application will now automatically mark the travel date and it will remind you so that you won’t miss the flight.

Design

Google was quite smart by trimming down the interface in order to make the device perform better. It’s clearly that the simpler Lollipop is, the more success it will have. This way, the OS will work just fine on the older devices too. However, the Lollipop comes with some realistic motions and shadows on the top of the application icons to make the look better. At the same time, Google brought a few new colors and the notification panel looks better and it has some realistic animations.

Better Security

If until now, you knew that Android is one of the most vulnerable mobile operating systems, then this new will make you happy. The Android 5.0 Lollipop OS comes with a better security which will keep hackers away from it.

Google added a device encryption ability, which will automatically lock all your data on a stolen or lost device. They integrated Knox into Lollipop, which was one of the smartest ideas they ever had, making Android safer than ever before.

More Battery Life

Another big problem that Google was trying to fix was the battery usage on the devices that are running on their mobile OS. The new Android 5.0 Lollipop comes with new features which will make your smartphone work better than before.

The new OS comes with a new battery saver feature which will kick on when your device battery is lower than 15% and it will be able to hold the device “alive” for 90 minutes more. At the same time, when you will charge your device, you will notice an estimated time until the device will be fully charged.

Settings

The new Android OS comes with a new setting feature which will let you get to your most used settings much faster, by swiping down the screen. Also, a new battery icon was introduced in the menu, where you will notice how much remaining battery (percentage) your smartphone has. At the same time, the old Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS buttons are still there. Also there is a new feature that will allow you to adjust brightness settings manually.

Smart Lock Feature

If you are a person who uses a lot of Android gadgets such as smartwatches, then you will enjoy this new feature. This will allow you to connect your devices to each other and link the security feature protection. This way, your smartwatch or any Bluetooth-based headphones will be able to unlock your device. For example, this will be great if you are driving and want to unlock your device using your headphones.

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BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) Sells Security Software to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) And Other Rivals

As the popularity of BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY)‘s devices is declining in the Smartphone industry, the company is focusing more on the expansion of its mobile-security arsenal. It is making all the efforts it can for selling its mobile security software on the rival’s devices. BlackBerry has introduced a number of upgrades in its mobile security portfolio. The new security upgrades will protect devices using operating systems of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL).

Shifting focus

John Chen, the CEO of BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), focus is on mobile security segment and intends to achieve $500 million as annual software revenues. The segment of security arsenal provides specially designed security software to government agencies and business. The software helps to deal with hacking attacks and malicious software that tries to steal confidential information from employees Smartphones.

The new association

BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) has entered into a new partnership with Samsung Electronics to boost its mobile-security portfolio. As part of the new deal, Samsung will provide key products of BlackBerry’s security software to enterprise customers. It is specially meant to be installed in the employees Galaxy Smartphones and tablets that operate on Android’s operating system.

The competition

The competition from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhones and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s Android phones resulted in the downfall of BlackBerry. The touch-screen technology of iPhone and other features made the Apple devices popular among masses. BlackBerry devices lost the popularity due to the physical keyboards on its mobile phones. Also, BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) failed to take speedy measures to develop a system to get outside apps on its devices.

Comeback efforts

BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) tried to make a comeback by new version of its operating system in year 2012, but failed to mark its presence on consumer’s mind. As the customers are enamored with Android and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s devices, Chen is shifting its focus on security-arsenal portfolio to improve the financial performance of BlackBerry in the coming quarters.

Analyst Recommendations and Revisions

1-5 Linear Scale	Current	1 Month Ago	2 Month Ago	3 Month Ago
(1) BUY	0	0	2	2
(2) OUTPERFORM	1	1	2	2
(3) HOLD	25	26	23	23
(4) UNDERPERFORM	10	10	10	10
(5) SELL	2	2	2	2
No Opinion	0	0	0	0
Mean Rating	3.34	3.33	3.21	3.21

BlackBerry Limited, formerly Research In Motion Limited, incorporated on March 7, 1984, is a designer, manufacturer and marketer of wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services, it provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to information, including e-mail, voice, instant messaging, short message service (SMS), Internet and intranet-based applications and browsing. The Company’s technology also enables an array of third party developers and manufacturers to enhance their products and services through software development kits, wireless connectivity to data and third-party support programs. Its portfolio of products, services and embedded technologies are used by thousands of organizations and millions of consumers around the world and include the BlackBerry wireless solution, the RIM Wireless Handheld product line, the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, software development tools and other software and hardware. Effective May 31, 2013, BlackBerry Ltd acquired Scroon SA. In September 2014, the Company acquired Movirtu, provider of virtual identity solutions for mobile operators that allows multiple numbers to be active on single device.

On March 25, 2011, the Company purchased 100% of the shares of a company whose technology is being incorporated into the Company’s developer tools. On April 26, 2011, the Company purchased certain assets of a company whose acquired technologies will be incorporated into the Company’s products. In June 2011, the Company acquired Scoreloop. On March 8, 2012, the Company acquired Paratek Microwave Inc. During the fiscal year ended March 3, 2012 (fiscal 2012), the Company purchased 100% interests of a company, whose technology will be incorporated into its technology; whose technology offers cloud-based services for storing, sharing, accessing and organizing digital content on mobile devices; whose technology is being incorporated into an application on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet; whose technology offers a customizable and cross-platform social mobile gaming developer tool kit, and whose technology will provide a multi-platform BlackBerry Enterprise Solution for managing and securing mobile devices for enterprises and government organizations.

On April 24, 2012, the Company launched BlackBerry 7 smartphone, the BlackBerry Curve 9220, for customers in Indonesia. April 18, 2012, it launched BlackBerry 7 smartphone, the BlackBerry Curve 9220, for customers in India. On April 17, 2012, it announced availability of the BlackBerry Bold 9790 smartphone in Spain. On April 3, 2012, it launched BlackBerry Mobile Fusion, and launched four BlackBerry smartphones powered by the BlackBerry 7 operating system (OS) in Cambodia, which included BlackBerry Bold 9900, BlackBerry Bold 9790, BlackBerry Curve 9360 and BlackBerry Curve 9380. On April 2, 2012, it announced the availability of BlackBerry App World, the official application store for BlackBerry smartphones in Brunei, and it announced availability of the BlackBerry Bold 9790 and BlackBerry Curve 9380 smartphones for Cell C customers in South Africa. On March 27, 2012, it launched of the BlackBerry solution in Benin Republic. On March 15, 2012, it launched of BlackBerry services in China. On March 7, 2012, it launched the BlackBerry service in Angola.

The Company’s primary revenue stream is generated by the BlackBerry wireless solution, consists of smartphones and tablets, service and software. BlackBerry service is provided through a combination of its global BlackBerry Infrastructure and the wireless networks of its carrier partners. On February 21, 2012, it released the BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 software. It generates hardware revenues from sales, primarily to carriers and distributors. During fiscal 2012, the Company launched the wireless fidelity (WiFi)-enabled BlackBerry PlayBook tablet in 44 markets around the world. On July 21, 2011, the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet received Federal Information Processing Standard 140-2 certification.

BlackBerry Smartphones and Tablets

BlackBerry smartphones uses wireless, push-based technology that delivers data to mobile users’ business and consumer applications. BlackBerry smartphones integrate messaging including instant messaging, email and SMS; voice calling; Webkit browser; multimedia capabilities; calendar, and other applications. During fiscal 2012, it introduced 10 new smartphones and launched software updates to both its smartphone and tablet platforms. BlackBerry smartphones are available from hundreds of carriers and indirect channels, through a range of distribution partners, and are designed to operate on a variety of carrier networks, including HSPA/HSPA+/UMTS, GSM/GPRS/EDGE, CDMA/Ev-DO, and iDEN.

During fiscal 2012, its BlackBerry smartphone and tablet portfolio included BlackBerry Bold series, BlackBerry Torch series, BlackBerry Curve series and The BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. Its BlackBerry Bold series includes BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930 and BlackBerry Bold 9790. The Company’s BlackBerry Torch series include BlackBerry Torch 9810 and All-Touch BlackBerry Torch 9850 and 9860. The Company’s BlackBerry Curve series include BlackBerry Curve 9350/9360/9370 and All-Touch BlackBerry Curve 9380 Smartphone. The BlackBerry PlayBook tablet features the BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0. The BlackBerry PlayBook offers a seven-inch high definition display, a dual core one gigahertz processor, dual high definition cameras, multitasking and a Web browsing.

BlackBerry Enterprise Solution

BlackBerry Enterprise Server is software that acts as the centralized link between BlackBerry smartphones, enterprise systems, business applications and wireless networks. BlackBerry Enterprise Server integrates with enterprise messaging systems including Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino and Novell GroupWise to synchronize with BlackBerry smartphones to provide mobile users with wireless access to e-mail, calendar, contacts, notes and tasks. It also provides access to business applications and enterprise systems. In addition, it provides security features and offers administrative tools. BlackBerry Enterprise Server is required for certain other enterprise solutions, such as BlackBerry Mobile Voice System (for bringing desk phone functionality to BlackBerry smartphones); BlackBerry Clients for Microsoft Office Communications Server, IBM Lotus Sametime and Novell GroupWise Messenger (for enterprise instant messaging); IBM Lotus Connections (for enterprise social networking); IBM Lotus Quickr (for document sharing and collaboration); and Chalk Pushcast Software (for corporate podcasting).

The Company’s BlackBerry Mobile Fusion provides a Web-based interface that allows enterprises to provision, audit, and protect mobile devices including BlackBerry smartphones, BlackBerry PlayBook tablets, and devices that use iOS and Android. BlackBerry Balance helps enterprises support the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend. BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express is free server software that synchronizes BlackBerry smartphones with Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft Windows Small Business Server. BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express works with Microsoft Exchange 2010, 2007 and 2003 and Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2008 and 2003 to provide users with wireless access to e-mail, calendar, contacts, notes and tasks, as well as other business applications and enterprise systems behind the firewall.

BlackBerry Mobile Voice System (BlackBerry MVS) allows organizations to converge office desk phones and BlackBerry smartphones. BlackBerry MVS is consists of three components: BlackBerry MVS Client, BlackBerry MVS Services, and BlackBerry MVS Server. It unifies fixed and mobile voice communications. Hosted BlackBerry services bring the BlackBerry Enterprise Server features, functionality, and security capabilities in a package that is managed for end users. Hosted BlackBerry services are conveniently handled and supported by a BlackBerry certified partner from the BlackBerry Alliance Program, giving small and medium -sized enterprise (SME) enterprises the support and convenience they need.

Service

The Company generates service revenues from billings to its BlackBerry subscriber account base. It generates service revenues primarily from a monthly infrastructure access fee charged to a carrier or reseller, which the carrier or reseller in turn bills the BlackBerry subscriber.

BlackBerry Technical Support Services

BlackBerry Technical Support Services are a suite of annual technical support and software maintenance programs. The programs are designed to meet the customer’s BlackBerry support needs by offering a contact for BlackBerry wireless solution technical support directly from the Company.

Non-Warranty Repairs

The Company generates revenue from its repair and maintenance program for BlackBerry smartphones that are returned to it by the carrier, the reseller, or the customer. It generates revenue for repair after the expiration of the contractual warranty period.

The Company competes with Apple Inc., Microsoft Inc., Nokia Corporation, Dell, Inc., Fujitsu Limited, General Dynamics Corporation, Hitachi America, Ltd., HTC Corporation, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company, Mitsubishi Corporation, Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc., NEC Corporation, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Sharp Corporation, Sony Corporation, ZTE Corporation, IBM Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Notify Technology Corporation, Openwave Systems Inc., Seven Networks, Inc., Sybase, Inc. and Good Technologies.

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