Google kills 5 features, merges Insights with Trends

Google trimmed news "badges" and more as part of year-long house cleaning aimed at sweeping out unpopular, outdated or unneeded features at its online properties.

"It is really important to focus or we end up doing too much with too little impact," Google senior engineering director Yossi Matias said in a blog post.

"So today, we're winding down a bunch more features -- bringing the total to nearly 60 since we started our 'spring' clean last fall."

Features being eliminated included AdSense for Feeds, which let website publishers earn revenue by placing ads in RSS feeds, and Classic Plus, which allowed users to upload images to use as backgrounds at Google.com.

Google will consolidate online storage of data in Picasa and Drive, giving users five gigabytes of memory space for free overall for both services and options to pay for more capacity, according to Matias.

On October 15, the company will stop displaying "Badges" awarded for story-reading achievements at its online news pages and no longer show recommended sections.

Google Insights for Search was meshed into an improved Google Trends service that lets people compare search patterns in varying places, categories and time periods at google.com/trends.

An Android application that guided people to nearby places of interest was pulled from the Google Play online shop because the capabilities can be found in the version of Google Maps software for mobile devices.

"We want people to have a beautifully simple experience when using Google," Matias said.

"These changes will enable us to focus better so that we can do more to help improve the products that millions of people use multiple times a day."

Week-long cyber attacks cripple US banks

US banks have been buffeted by more than a week of powerful cyberattacks, but the mystery surrounding their perpetrators lingers.

One expert said on Friday that he was suspicious of claims of responsibility purportedly made by Islamists angry at an anti-Muslim movie made in the United States, explaining that the widely-circulated internet postings might have been an attempt to deflect attention from the true culprit.

"In the intelligence world, we call that a 'false flag,'" said Mike Smith, whose web security company Akamai has helped analyse some of the attacks.

The postings, published to the web earlier this month, suggested that an obscure Islamist group had taken revenge on American financial institutions for the " Innocence of Muslims," a low-budget US film that ridiculed Muhammad, revered by Muslims as the last of God's prophets.

Since then at least half a dozen banks - including the Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Citigroup - have witnessed traffic surges and disruptions. Not all have confirmed they were the victims of an online onslaught, but such surges are a hallmark of denial-of-service attacks, which work by drowning target websites with streams of junk data.

Such attacks are fairly common and generally don't compromise sensitive data or do any lasting damage. Still, they can be a huge headache for companies that rely on their websites to interact with customers.

Most say the recent spate of attacks has been unusually powerful. PNC bank, which was hit on Thursday, has never seen such a strong surge in traffic, spokesman Fred Solomon said in a telephone interview. Smith said he estimated the flow of data at 60 to 65 gigabits per second.

Smith said the profile and power of the attack made it an unlikely fit for the religious youth that the internet postings called upon to join in the anti-US campaign. He explained that politically-motivated hackers - often called hacktivists - usually flood the web with appeals for support and post links to software that can turn followers' personal computers into crude cyberweapons.

Twitter and online chat rooms then explode with activity, as casual supporters pile in to coordinate attacks.

"You're not seeing that with this particular set of attacks," Smith said. "At the same time... the attack traffic is fairly homogeneous. It's not this wide cornucopia of attacks that's coming at you that you see with a hacktivist attack."

So who is behind the campaign?

Cybercriminals often use denial-of-service attacks to shake down smaller websites, but major US banks make unlikely targets for a protection racket.

Could a state actor be at play? US Senator Joe Lieberman, without offering any proof, said he believed the assaults were carried out by Iran in retaliation for tightened economic sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies.

Smith demurred when asked who could be behind the campaign, although he said there were "only a handful of groups out there that have the technical ability or incentive" to carry it out.

In any case, the online attacks appeared to be easing. Solomon, the PNC bank spokesman, said while traffic remained heavy on Friday the flow was gradually returning to normal.

Doug Johnson, with the American Bankers Association, echoed that assessment.

"I believe it's tapering off," he said.

BlackBerry 10 smartphones pics leaked online

The images of Research In Motion's (RIM) upcoming smartphones, which will launch next year, have reportedly been revealed online. 

The pictures showed both the full touchscreen devices BlackBerry L Series and N series. 

They also showed a long-awaited BlackBerry 10 phone with a full qwerty keyboard, the Telegraph reports. 

According to the paper, briefly posted on video sharing site Vimeo, the film appears to be an internal pitch for marketing agencies, and was apparently posted by the editor. 

BlackBerry site Crackberry.com copied images before the film was removed. 

Meanwhile, the embattled Canadian mobile maker reported a narrower than expected quarterly loss, sending its shares up nearly 18 per cent.. 

RIM reported a net loss of 235 million dollars for the second quarter, ending September 1, compared with a profit of 329 million dollars for the period last year. 

The firm increased its cash to about 2.3 billion from 2.2 billion dollars.

Wi-Fi & routers: All you wanted to know

The modern home has broadband , tablets, smartphones, laptops and PCs. Naturally, Wi-Fi has become the new buzzword in connectivity. Not only does the technology let you break away from wires, but it also allows different users to share an internet connection. What's more, it has other purposes too, such as the ability to transfer files between devices, wirelessly print documents and more. 

So if you're wondering about how you can go wireless at home,

Wi-Fi or Wireless-LAN (WLAN) is a standard that allows devices to communicate with each other using a Wi-Fi router as the central hub. All devices with Wi-Fi connect to the router via which data exchange takes place. 

Depending on the router used and the surrounding conditions — such as walls, physical obstructions and other wireless networks in the vicinity — Wi-Fi networks can have a range of around 20-25 feet indoors.

Every wireless network (including cell towers, cordless phones) uses radio waves to communicate and transmit data. Devices that use radio waves are tuned to a particular frequency . This allows them to communicate freely with each other, without any kind of interference from another wireless device. 

The 2.4GHz sticker that you see on the router means that it transmits data at that frequency. Most gadgets use this 2.4GHz frequency to transmit, which leads to network congestion and interference. Due to this, newer Wi-Fi routers use the less-crowded 5GHz frequency band, which provides better transfers when compared to a 2.4GHz one. 

However, higher the frequency of a wireless signal, the shorter its range. So a 2.4GHz router may cover a larger area than a 5GHz device. Besides, 5GHz signals do not penetrate solid objects as well as 2.4GHz signals, thus limiting their reach.

While the technology was released to the public in 1997, with time, Wi-Fi has been updated with new standards to meet the increasing bandwidth demands of the latest devices. Wi-Fi standards 'a' and 'b' are now nearly non-existent . Both of these standards provide very low bandwidth to transfer data, making them quite impractical to use in today's world. 

Wi-Fi standard 'g' , which uses the 2.4GHz frequency to transmit data, is the most common standard in use currently. It has a theoretical maximum transfer rate of 54Mbps, and is more tolerant to signal interference than the previous standards. 

Wi-Fi 'n' is the latest standard that features a much higher theoretical speed of 300Mbps. The latest laptops, smartphones, and tablets support the 'n' standard. Wi-Fi 'n' can use either the 2.4GHz or the 5GHz frequency to transmit data. It also provides better signal strength due to improved signal intensity, but is more prone to signal interference.

There are three kinds of routers: Single band, dual band and simultaneous dual band. Single band routers operate at the 2.4GHz frequency, and do not support the 5GHz band at all. 

Dual band routers support both bands (2.4GHz and 5GHz), but can work with only one band at a time. If a router is working at the 5GHz 'n' mode, older devices that don't support 'n' won't be able to connect to it. The user will then have to set up another router at 2.4GHz, or change the setting of the router to use the 2.4GHz band. Simultaneous dual-band routers can work with both bands at the same time, thus providing for more flexibility and speed.

ADSL or DSL technology is used to provide broadband connections to many households. Commonly, a phone line wire is inserted into a DSL or ADSL modem , via which your broadband connection works. 

Wi-Fi routers with built-in ADSL or DSL modems can be purchased, thus eliminating the need for a separate modem and router. It is, however, recommended that you use a separate modem and Wi-Fi router, since it turns out to be cheaper and better. Most budget Wi-Fi routers with built-in modem lack several features, and can get unstable under heavy load due to the heat generated.

If left unprotected, your Wi-Fi connection can allow your neighbours to use your broadband for free, even without your knowledge. Besides, the Indian government has made it mandatory that every Wi-Fi network has to be password-protected so as to prevent terrorists from using it. 

A simple and effective way of protecting a Wi-Fi network is by hiding its name, known as SSID (Server Set Identifier) - that is, the router will not show up when someone seeks a connection . Because if no one can see it, they can't access it. However, this will require you to manually enter the Wi-Fi name every time you want to connect to it, which can be cumbersome. 

While a Wi-Fi router comes with tons of security modes to protect the network, the most common are the WEP, WPA, WPA2. Of this, WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2) is the most advanced, secure and common protocol out there, and is mandatory on all routers after 2005. 

WPA2 has two modes: PSK or Personal mode and Enterprise mode. The Personal mode is meant for home and small office users, where data is encrypted using a 256-bit key and then sent. It allows users to set any password ranging from 8 to 63 characters. 

If none is specified, the default one [00000000] is automatically used. The WPA2-Enterprise mode has advanced security standards and is not really recommended for home or small office use.

When stepping out to buy a router, there are certain things one must keep in mind. These include what purpose (video streaming, gaming) the Wi-Fi router will be used for, how many devices will be connected to it, what kind of range you would want, whether all the gadgets you use support Wi-Fi 'g' or 'n', and so on. 

Basic router 

If you just want a simple basic router, the Netgear WGR614 for 1,500 will get the job done. The cheapest ADSL2+ and Wi-Fi router combo is the TP-Link TD-W 8951ND for 1,800, which can fulfil your basic wireless needs if you need a built-in modem. 

Router with USB support for external hard drives/dongles 

If you extend your budget to 3,000, then you can get the ASUS RT-N 13U Wi-Fi router that comes with a USB port. Connect an external hard disk to the USB port of the router, and you will be able to access the contents of the HDD from any device that is connected to the same Wi-Fi network. 

The USB port of the router also supports wireless dongles from MTS, Tata, etc, making the router a portable Wi-Fi hotspot. 

The 'workhorse' router 

Connecting a lot of devices to the router — or streaming videos or music via wireless — is going to put quite a load on it. A basic router will simply restart or hang under heavy load like this. If you are looking to connect more than 10 devices to your network, you need to buy a dual-band router. If you will be streaming standard-definition quality videos, a decent 2.4GHz Wi-Fi router like the Netgear N300 for 2,000 should get the job done. Since streaming HD videos or gaming requires a lot of bandwidth and speed, you will need to buy a simultaneous dual-band Wi-Fi router like the Linksys E2500 ( 8,000) or E3000 ( 10,000).

If you live in a building or your house is surrounded by Wi-Fi networks, buying a 2.4GHz router makes no sense due to the interference from surrounding networks. In such a case, buy a Wi-Fi router that supports the 5GHz frequency. 

This will make sure that there is no interference from other Wi-Fi networks, and ensures optimum performance. But do make sure that all your devices support the 5GHz band, before switching exclusively to it. The Linksys E2000 Advanced Wireless-N Router ( 7,000) is one of the cheapest 5GHz Wi-Fi router and provides the most bang for the buck.

New Lumia phones: Last chance for Nokia?

"The N95 was the last great phone Nokia made," says Dhruv Bhutani, a technology blogger and a Nokia enthusiast, as he recalls the Finnish company's glory days. 

Since he fell in love with N95 in 2007, Bhutani never used a non-Nokia device as his primary phone. That was until 2011, when he decided to give iPhone 4S a chance. He used it for several months and realized it was difficult to part ways with the Apple's phone. 

"Nokia made many smartphones after N95. Some good, some average and some marred by glitches. None of them came close to N95 in terms of polish, hardware and user experience," says Bhutani. "But there is one phone that is as great as N95. The one made by Apple. I find iPhone 4S a complete package, the way great Nokia phones used to be." 

Bhutani is not the only Nokia enthusiast to feel this way. As the company's phones took a beating from iPhone and Android devices, many Nokia loyalists — and India is full of them — have started doubting if the company can come back from the brink. 

"Nokia seems to be trying hard but its best always seem to fall short. The world has changed," says Bhutani. But just like thousands of other disappointed Nokia enthusiasts, Bhutani is looking forward to Lumia 920, the flagship smartphone that the company announced on September 5. Though he has found iPhones to be very good, he is ready to choose the new Lumia over iPhone 5, the greatest and latest from Apple. 

"Lumia 920 is a phone that can be the new N95. It can be perfect," he says. 

The last chance
For analysts there is no question of 'can' here. They say Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 that are powered by Windows Phone 8 'have' to be perfect. 

"If the new Lumia phones fail, it is going to be devastating for Nokia. It is really their last chance to get back into the game. If they blow this up or if it doesn't work out, it is going to be too late for them to come back convincingly," says Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst with Gartner. 

The problem for Nokia is that so far its attempts to turn things around have yielded little result. Patrick Moorhead, president and founder of research firm Moor Insights and Strategy, believes Nokia made two crucial mistakes in the past. 

"Nokia missed two major inflection points, apps and touch. While the Symbian OS had some of the first apps, Nokia didn't invest to make it a massive ecosystem with easy to use tools. It also ignored the touchscreen at a time when Apple and Google bet everything on a high quality, capacitive touch-first environment," says Moorhead. 

Nokia realized its mistake a few years ago but by that time iPhone and Android juggernauts were rolling and gathering pace. 

In the early 2011, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop wrote a candid memo to his employees. "Nokia, our platform is burning," he wrote, citing the example of a man who found his ship burning and had to jump in icy cold water. "The burning platform, upon which the man found himself, caused the man to shift his behaviour, and take a bold and brave step into an uncertain future... Now, we have a great opportunity to do the same." 

And true to the story, Nokia took a bold step. It decided to jump from 'Symbian the Burning Platform' and selected Microsoft's Windows Phone as the OS for its future phones in the early 2011. It was a jump in the icy cold water. 

The partnership bore its first fruit in October 2011 when Nokia announced Lumia 800 and Lumia 710. While the phones looked good on the paper, they were not very well received by buyers despite a marketing blitz that saw Nokia spending millions of dollars. Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 too look good on paper. But for now analysts are wary of terming them Nokia's saviours. 

Gupta believes that the new Lumia phones are flagship devices and they are going to change little for Nokia. "They will sell in limited quantities. High-end phones are one part of the story. Nokia also needs killer devices with a price of around $150 that can help it in markets like India and China," he says. 

Moorhead is optimistically cautious. "The new Lumia phones have many distinctive features that set them apart from iPhones and Android-based phones. These are features like very high-performing PureView cameras, NFC for simpler pairing with connected devices, ceramic exterior, and flashy colors. But most of Nokia's success is governed by the acceptance of Windows Phone 8. If Windows Phone is accepted, the higher likelihood Nokia will do well and vice-versa," he says. 

All eyes on Windows Phone 8
One of the reasons why the earlier Lumia phones failed to take off was Windows Phone 7.5, the OS that powered them. Bhutani believes that even though it is a beautiful OS with a fresh user interface, it lacks too many important features like Bluetooth file sharing or mass storage mode to be truly useful. 

Though Microsoft is yet to reveal details of Windows Phone 8, it seems that most of these issues have been taken care of in the new OS that powers Lumia 920 and Lumia 820. Peter Bright, who covers Microsoft for Arstechnica, a popular technology websites, believes Windows Phone 8 can match Android or iOS, which powers iPhone. 

"I think WP is a good platform with an ecosystem that is far stronger than its market share would imply. I think it will survive for at least as long as Microsoft feels threatened by the growth of the smartphone, but it may never prosper," says Bright. 

Gupta agrees. "As an OS Windows Phone is nice. There is nothing wrong with it. Gartner has predicted that it can be the second top mobile phone OS by 2016 so obviously we see lot of potential and merit in it," he says. 

The problem for Nokia is that even though it finally has a viable OS with which it can build its phones, the competition is very strong. "Nokia needs a way to punch through the clutter of the rest of the market. They do have some very distinguishing features but they need something groundbreaking and exclusive. The answer lies somewhere with a connection between Windows 8 for PC and tablets and Windows Phone 8," says Moorhead. 

So far, no one outside Nokia or Microsoft clearly know what sort of connection Windows devices are going to share. But the consensus on future seems clear. All depends on new Lumias. 

"If Nokia's new phones don't do well in the marketplace, they should start preparing themselves to be a much smaller company focused on lower priced phones. Alternatively, they could prepare themselves for a sale to either Microsoft who must be successful in phones, Sony who needs more innovation, or a Chinese brand like Huawei or ZTE who need a western brand and the highest quality phone," says Moorhead. 

In Elop's memo, the man who jumped from the ship survived and lived long enough to tell his tale. "He was able to tell his story," wrote Elop. Nearly 18 months after the company jumped from the burning platform, Nokia is still swimming in icy waters.

Samsung mocks Apple fanboys in new ad

 Samsung has released a new TV commercial targeting the Apple fanboys who are lining up outside the company's stores ahead of the launch of iPhone 5. The advertisement was released on the day that Apple seeded theiOS 6, the latest edition of its mobile operating system, for older devices, and just a couple of days before the iPhone 5 hits the shelves. 

The commercial shows Apple fanboys standing in a long line waiting for the iPhone 5 outside the manufacturer's retail stores in various cities. The fans are talking about the new features of the device, like the new headphone jack on the bottom and the "all-digital connector", making fun of the two new features of the iPhone 5. The advertisement shows a guy, a Samsung Galaxy S III user, saving a spot in the line for his parents, indicating that the iPhone 5 is meant for the older generation. 

Targeting those who say that iPhone 5 is a big step forward from the iPhone 4S, Samsung's ad has one fanboy saying, "This year, we're finally getting everything we didn't get last year." Such features include a 4-inch screen and 4G, which Samsung Galaxy S III "has had for a while" and its screen is bigger. 

The commercial also reminds viewers that the iPhone 5 lacks NFC, as two S III users share a playlist by touching their phones, while another explains add-ons like watching videos while sending emails, sharing videos instantly as one Apple fanboy says that Apple will introduce these features "maybe not this time but next time, right?" 

Towards the end, Samsung goes on to show that a few Apple fanboys like Galaxy S III. 

The ad is the latest released by Samsung targeting Apple iPhone 5. Last week too the company released a newspaper ad in the US showing how iPhone 5's features look pale when compared to the Galaxy S III. The ad was panned by Apple fanboys on the internet, with some modified advertisements calling the South Korean company's current flagship "cheap plastic." Last year, Samsung had released a similar advertisement targeting the iPhone 4S, comparing the device with its Galaxy S II.

Reality about Password Hacking softwares

You might have heard about some paid password hacking softwares which claim to hack a password on entering the email account .But in reality all those softwares are fake .If you believe what they say then you are just wasting your time and money. These all softwares are fake.If there exists such a software, will there be any security on web.  And all expert engineers at Google, Yahoo and other services are not mad. They are all engaged in ensuring security of their customers ie email account owners. So, no such software exists.
So stop wasting your time and money on these foolish softwares and services and learn real Ethical Hacking methods which hackers use to access email accounts.