New iOS 6.1.2 Released Soon.

Apple had recently released the iOS 6.1 which did not function as smoothly as the company had expected. The Cupertino-based manufacturer had confirmed that it takes the issues related to security of its users very seriously and thus was expected to soon deliver a fix through software update.

The release of iOS 6.1 initially brought to attention not only some security issues, but also also some battery problems that the users were facing. In addition to these troubles, users were also facing some 3G connectivity bug problems on the iPhone 4S. Further adding to the user woes, the newly launched iOS 6.1.1 that the company assured would fix these issues, introduced some new defective issues

Apple promised to repair the iOS 6.1 operating system, which is known to contain bugs. As a result, the intruder can know the passcode and access some areas on the iPhone. The most rapid improvement made ​​this week. One tech site in Germany, iFix, claiming that iOS 6.1.2 will be available for download on February 20, 2013. Even so, there has been no official statement from Apple about the exact date. Apple is aware of the dangers posed by the gap.

Earlier this week, a video was uploaded on an online site showed a fairly complicated set of buttons can take the passcode and open the photo album, call history, voicemail, even allowing hackers to mess up the phone book on the iPhone. Apple claimed to have been aware of this issue, the problem is similar to what happened in 2010. Currently, Apple is trying to fix this.

"Apple is responding to user security very seriously," said Apple spokeswoman, Trudy Muller, last Thursday. "We are aware of this weakness and promptly update the existing operating system." *** [FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | FIRMAN | KORAN TEMPO 4146]

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Guest Post: Why do Users Still Prefer Windows 7 over Windows 8?

Since the release of Windows 7, the computing field has changed significantly. In the past, desktops and laptops differed from smart phones and tablets considerably.

In the past few years, however, the lines between these device classes have been blurred. In response, Microsoft has attempted to create an operating system that bridges this gap.

However, the release of Windows 8 has been met with poor reviews and little enthusiasm. Here are a few of the reasons why people prefer Windows 7 to Windows 8.

- Familiarity
While Windows Vista was unpopular, it came with many new computers. As a result, people became used to the interface. Windows 7 was similar, and the differences between it and Windows Vista were minimal. Windows 8, however, has departed from the paradigm established in the previous two iterations of Windows, and many users are reluctant to make the switch.

This is not a new trend; many people were uncomfortable with Windows Vista partially because it differed significantly from Windows XP. If Windows 9 implements some of the interface features of Windows 8, people may be more comfortable with it.

- Strange user interface

Windows, Mac and even Linux distributions share a number of user interface similarities. Programs are accessed on the desktop or through a drop-down menu, and programs are organized in a logical manner. On smart phones and tablets, however, this paradigm does not work well, and a number of different paradigms are used.

Windows 8 implements the Metro interface, which breaks from the traditional desktop metaphor. Despite the availability of this interface on Windows mobile devices, few are familiar with it, and many elements of this paradigm seem unfamiliar on desktops and laptops.

- Two user interfaces

Because Metro differ so greatly from the traditional desktop paradigm, developers have to code specifically for it. As a result, developers have to make significant changes to their code, and many are unwilling to make the change unless Windows 8 proves to be a success. Because of this, users often have to deal with two separate interfaces when using Windows 8.

The lack of seamless integration between these two user interface paradigms makes Windows 8 awkward and clunky. With the lukewarm reception Windows 8 has received, many development companies have stated that they will not implement a Metro interface unless sales improve in the future and Microsoft commits to the Metro interface wholeheartedly. Users are reluctant to upgrade from the seamless Windows 7 interface to one that is unproven and ungraceful.

- Few advantages

Because Windows 7 and Windows 8 run similar code bases and offer similar features, most programs developed for Windows will continue to support Windows 7. In fact, many still support Windows XP.

Coupled with the lack of other advantages, there is little incentive for current users of Windows 7 to make the upgrade. Upgrading is relatively expensive, and Microsoft has not provided compelling reasons to make the transition. Almost all users of Windows 8 use it simply because it came with their computers. *** [By: ANDI G | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES]
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About the author:

Andy G is 28 years old geek from Austria. He maintains http://www.helpjet.net website dedicated to free firmware and drivers updates.

Ford's Smart Car Software Launchs

Not only smart mobile phones, now there's smart cars too. Ford, one of the American's car manufacturer announced at 2013 CES the auto industry’s first open mobile app development program, called the Ford Developer Program, making it easier for developers to create apps for drivers to use safely from behind the wheel.

The software is named OpenXC. The aim is to facilitate developers to create applications that can be installed on an operating system that has been mounted on the Ford cars.

The CAN translator with plug.  
(Picture from:  http://techcrunch.com/)

The OpenXC is a combination of Arduino and the Android operating system, which is installed on smart phones and tablets. The platform collects the recorded data from multiple sensors attached to the car body.

The boxed CAN translator.  
(Picture from:  http://techcrunch.com/)

Based on these data, developers could design the commercial applications to be offered to the car owners. Meanwhile, the car owner could get the readable information that displayed by the application.

The developers will also get hardware in the form of CAN translator, which could translate data from various sensors in the car, such as speed sensors, in order to be understood more easily.

The OpenXC architecture. (Picture from:  http://techcrunch.com/)

According to K. Venkatesh Prasad, Ford's Head of Vehicle Design, the OpenXC is open source software. And Ford also cooperates with another vehicle manufacturers to make these devices more adept at helping the driver to drive their vehicle with more safer. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | TECHCRUNCH | BUDI RIZA | KORAN TEMPO 4109]
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Computer Virus Could be Rampant in Medical Equipment

Computer experts from the UK found that there are more than 8,000 types of viruses ready to attack computers and medical equipment health. They revealed that viral infection may be so severe that patients may ultimately died of a computer system in a medical analysis can not be changed, because the virus attacked software section.

Computer experts at one of the leading hospitals in the United States revealed that the experts managed to remove a virus attack in a week on two machines computer center. This warning has been given as part of a panel discussion in Washington DC, as reported by Technology Review of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Mark Olsen, chief security officer at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, said the hospital has 664 medical devices that operate on older versions of the Windows operating system. This means that medical devices have drawbacks because it can be attacked by a virus on its Windows system.

Experts say it can be difficult to upgrade 
old software on medical devices due
to regulatory restrictions. (Picture from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/)

Professor Kevin Fu, a leading expert in medical technology from UK explained that when the machine is infected with the virus do not always have updated equipment because of fears the threat. However, if left unchecked, it means breaking the rules imposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Where is the FDA approved the use of technology for security testing, the software against cyber threats needs to be improved. Imagine if we had a medical monitors that run with Windows systems that have been infected by a computer virus, it will slow down operations.

"Conventional malware rampant in hospitals because of medical equipment using un-patched operating system. There is little way to the hospital when the producers refused to allow the (operating system) update or security patch," said Prof. Fu. There are also concerns, medical devices could even end up being part of a botnet (a huge network of hijacked computers that are often used to send spam email).

Medical devices can be affected by the slow performance when infected, Prof. Fu told the BBC. "Imagine if you had a heart monitor device that runs Windows system and infected by a virus, the computer slows oprasional. Slowing computer course can lead to death. Sensor readings, and even analysis can be chaotic."

He said that there was no evidence of malware attacks on medical machines as a result of being targeted by hackers. Instead, he said it was more likely due to "collateral damage" of conventional malware designed to infect normal PC. "What we found is that the medical computer software has brought tremendous benefits for treatment. However, we forget that there are other threats that attack the risk of software," he said. *** [BBC | DEDI RISKOMAR | PIKIRAN RAKYAT 22112012]

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Anti-Theft Alarm for iPhone

The owners of the iPhone is certainly a little more worried if their expensive gadgets was stolen. Well, Apple has now patented anti-theft mechanism that will sound an alarm if the smartphone is stolen.

Explanations related technology patents filed with the Patent and Trademark Office of the United States last week (11/11) revealed that the anti-theft system that Apple works by detecting motion patterns of smartphones.

The title of the patent is "Acceleration-based theft detection system for portable electronic devices" or based theft detection system motion speed ​​for portable electronic devices. According to sources in the patent office, the alarm will be active once the smartphone is concerned detected a "condition of theft". These conditions are determined by the built-in accelerometer, combined with software that will decide whether a condition fit the "profile characteristic of theft" or not. Of explanation, imagine that the iPhone will be equipped with this technology "scream" when taken from their owners by violence, such mugged.

Apple is looking for a patent on a automatic alarm for the Apple iPhone. (Picture from: http://www.phonearena.com/)

Accelerometer itself used to detect how users holding his smartphone, so it can be used to detect join other matters related to the movement of the phone. Why did Apple feel necessary to patent this technology? The reason, according to Apple, is that miniaturization electronic device trend. "Rightful owners become increasingly easier to bring the device to all places, as well as thieves," wrote Apple in patent filings.

"An acceleration sensor detects the acceleration of a portable electronic device, and a controller analyzes this acceleration to determine whether a theft condition is present," Apple explains in its patent application. "If so, an alarm can be initiated. The theft prevention system can include a filter for attenuating irrelevant acceleration frequencies and isolating those representative of theft, and comparison hardware/software for determining whether the detected acceleration matches a known acceleration profile characteristic of theft. Various parameters of the theft prevention system can also be set by a user through mechanisms such as a graphical user interface."

In order to prevent or reduce false alarms, the security mechanism would filter out acceleration signals corresponding to shock or impact, which would occur if you drop your device. There's a special signal filter and theft detection circuitry to address false alarms. If a possible theft is detected, the user has a set amount of time to enter an alphanumeric passcode before the alarm sounds and/or the user is locked out of the device.

In the last two weeks, Apple has been granted the rights to at least 34 patents, including 3D video applications on mobile devices, how to play the content on the Apple TV, and the background changes to Apple's iChat video conferencing applications. However, a patent will not necessarily be realized in the finished product. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | TRIBUN JABAR 18112012]

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Guest Post: iPhone5 Financial Applications

iPhone 5 has finally officially announced by Apple in San Francisco, United States. Today iPhone 5 are not for fun and entertainment, these gadgets can also be used for your business and tracking your a personal accounts. Finance applications for iPhone 5, can be used for tracking the expenditures and revenues without any prior knowledge on accounting.

Some of the apps are free to download and some of them need to be purchased. These apps are mainly used for tracking accounts like when an online transaction is made out of your account and to view your accounts balance, these types are applications are very user friendly.

Almost all of the application can be downloaded from iTunes, there are tons of finance applications you can get. Some of the financial applications for iPhone 5 are:

Toshl Finance

This is a mobile expense tracking application with a twist. It offers extremely user friendly interface for tracking your financial expenses. With Toshl usage, users know where their money is going and can therefore change their spending habits and save some money on the long run.

Toshl provides the tools for tracking expenses, in multiple currencies (with automatic exchange ratio), syncs with cloud (so your data is backed-up constantly), allows users to tag their expenses, set up budgets and export data via Microsoft Excel, CSV, Google docs and PDF.

This applications delivers a clean iPhone expense tracking feature it is a built in application with the iPhone.  By using this application you can know where your cash is going and you can add and edit the expenses and incomes. You can also sync with the Toshl cloud. You can use either service or you can go for the paid version.

Mint.com

It is one of the earliest applications for the iPhone which can be used for tracking your business accounts or your personal finance accounts. It can be also used to connect to bank accounts for using the online transactions which pull all the data together in one place. You can download it from the mint.com website.

Fastest, easiest way of checking your account balances on the fly. It automatically itemizes all your transactions and geo-tags where you spend your money.

Mint.com's iPhone app lets you check your account balances on the fly, as long as you're connected to the Internet. When paired with a Mint.com Web account, it's the best way for financial noobs to take control of their personal finances.

Bloomberg

For experiencing the high quality features of the iPhone you must install this kind of app on your phone. It can also be used to get news and price quotes. It gives you the accurate and timely information on financial markets. It can also be downloaded from the iTunes.  It can be used to get company descriptions, market trends and analysis and much more. You can get customised results from the list of stocks that you want to follow from the market analysts.

Whether you invest in the stock market or not, it’s good to know the state of the market and the economy. Bloomberg is much better than iPhone’s native stocks app. You get up to date reports on all the major markets- Dow Jones Industrial Average, NASDAQ, Nikkei, and many more- from all around the world.

You can also look at detailed reports of individual stocks, and you can select your own portfolio to quickly monitor the state of your favored stocks. Even better, the Bloomberg app comes with a terrific news section so you can stay informed on the state of the economy. The app also looks slick, is easy to use, and loads quickly, making it the easy choice for tracking the financial world.

moneyStrands

moneyStrands is free online personal finance software with money management tips and anonymous comparisons of your spending with others who share a similar lifestyle. There's also a handy moneyStrands iPhone app.

It shows all the account balances at one place, and also transaction information can be viewed. It is a personal finance iPhone application with good money managing features. With this app you can add or delete the budgets and it can also be used to track the accounts expenditures.

People with very simple budgets will like moneyStrands. While moneyStrands could use more variety of reports and navigation could improve, the new Cash account, support for multiple currencies and data export features bumps the review score to nearly to just over 4 out of 5 points.

SplashMoney
This application made by SplashData is the iPhone and iPod touch version of the popular financial software for desktop PCs, Palm OS, Pocket PC, and BlackBerry. Unlike many of the more simple finance applications covered in this article, SplashMoney aims to be something more akin to a desktop application, offering syncing, downloading of the user’s latest account information directly from his or her bank, and more.

With the help of SplashMoney user can effectively manage their money at anytime and from anywhere. Using your mobile device or your desktop computer you must connect to the online bank of yours and from there you can easily download transactions directly into SplashMoney.

The technique of navigation is extremely easy and the interface provided by the desktop software is pretty old-fashioned and rudimentary in comparison to website of Mint.com. Several automation can be used by this one. For syncing the credit card account of yours It is required to “approve” each and every transaction when you only require a list of several activities. Your routing as well as your account number must be entered by you and all by yourself.

Bill Assistant - Bill Tracker & Reminder

If you want to avoid paying penalties for not paying the bills on time, with this app you will not have to again. With this app you get alarms when your bill is pending.  These types of apps can also be used for tracking your accounts, expenditures and revenues when you have taken any payday loans from the money lender or from the banks.

You can see which bills are due soon, see how much you are due to pay, keep a record of your payments and have the application remind you when your bills are due. This application made you feel have an on-line assistant when making a payment with easily look up the payment information you need to pay your bill, can call your supplier quickly & easily from within the application, and record payment of your bills with a few taps - log when it was paid, which payment method was used, record confirmation numbers.

Bill Assistant has the flexibility you need such as optionally record multiple payments for a single bill, record bills where the amount due is Unknown. This application is highly configurable allowing you to personalise it for your own circumstances. *** [By: JENNIE JILL | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | EDITOR: EKA]
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About the author:

Jennie Jill, a specialist in financial blogging from Manchester at payday loans. And catch her @financeport.