Microsoft loses top engineer to Google

Microsoft's greatly respected engineer and software designer, Blaise Aguera y Arcas has reportedly left the software maker to join its rival Google.

Aguera y Arcas had been involved in a variety of development projects at Microsoft including some on augmented reality, wearable computing and natural user interface and was also heading the development of Bing Maps service.

According to the New York Times, the engineer would now be working on machine learning at Google.

The reason for quitting the software maker hasn't been disclosed, but Aguera y Arcas confirmed that he has joined Google.

The report said that defections of prized personnel to Google could be a sore spot for Microsoft as the search giant had earlier hired former Microsoft VP Kai-Fu Lee to run its research facility in China.

Aguera y Arcas joined Microsoft in 2006 through its acquisition of his start-up, Seadragon Software, the report added.

iPhone 5S powered by Samsung A7 processor: Report

Recent findings by a Japanese firm have reportedly pointed to an evidence of the potential use of Samsung's A7 processor in Apple's latest iPhone 5S.

Earlier Chipworks' analysis had also pointed to a chip-level relationship between the two tech companies.

However, after a thorough dissection of theiPhone 5S by Nikkei Electronics, the team found a Samsung manufactured A7 processor inside the phone, Cnet reports.

According to the report, the A7 is Apple's newest processor that is used in the iPhone 5S, iPad Air, and iPad Mini Retina and is the first 64-bit processor to be used in a consumer smartphone.

Nikkei Electronics said that the A7 is built on Samsung's 28-nanometer manufacturing process, which is more advanced than the 32-nanometer Samsung process used for the older A6 chip.

Meanwhile, a source familiar with global contract manufacturing relationships, revealed thatApple had been working with TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company), the largest chip contract manufacturer in the world and Globalfoundries could also be a potential source of manufacturing, the report added.

Next-gen video games to let you see through walls

Imagine playing a video gamewhile moving freely throughout your house!

A revolutionary new technology that uses radio signals to track a person through walls and obstructions could change the way video games are played, scientists say.

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed the new high-resolution, 3D motion tracking system dubbed "WiTrack," which can pinpoint a person's 3D location to within 10 to 20 centimetres - about the width of an adult hand.

"Imagine playing an interactive video game that transforms your entire home into a virtual world. The game console tracks you as you run down real hallways away from video game enemies, or as you hide from other players behind couches and walls. This is what WiTrack can bring to video gaming," said Dina Katabi, a professor of computer science and engineering and co-director of the MIT Centre for Wireless Networks and Mobile Computing.

Earlier this year, Katabi and her graduate student Fadel Adib unveiled WiVi, a system that detects humans through walls and can track the direction of their movement using WiFi signals.

Based on this earlier work, Katabi and Adib developed WiTrack in collaboration with Rob Miller, a professor of computer science and engineering, and graduate student Zach Kabelac.

In comparison to WiVi, WiTrack has significantly higher accuracy and can track both two-dimensional and three-dimensional movement using specialised radio waves, as opposed to WiFi signals.

WiTrack operates by tracking specialised radio signals reflected off a person's body to pinpoint location and movement.

The system uses multiple antennas: one for transmitting signals and three for receiving.

The system then builds a geometric model of the user's location by transmitting signals between the antennas and using the reflections off a person's body to estimate the distance between the antennas and the user.

WiTrack is able to locate motion with significantly increased accuracy, as opposed to tracking devices that rely on wireless signals, said Adib.

The system's ability to track motion through obstructions could make it particularly useful not only in gaming, but also in tracking elderly patients at high risk of falling.

Current approaches to fall detection require individuals to continuously wear sensors or install cameras in the person's home, researchers said.

While WiTrack does not require individuals to wear sensors or install cameras, it can still detect falls with very high accuracy.

India fourth most vulnerable to cyber attacks on gamers in 2013

India is among the four countries that faced the highest number of cyber attacksaimed at gamers in 2013, security solutions provider Kaspersky Lab today said.

India, which faced 2.07 lakh attempts, followed Russia, Vietnam and China in that order.

The number of such attacks could go up as millions are expected to receive games as Christmas presents, especially with the launch of newer versions of popular gaming platforms like PlayStation and the Xbox, Kaspersky experts warned.

The PlayStation 4 will be launched in India on December 18, but announcement on the launch or availability of Xbox One here is not yet known.

The company has identified 4.6 million pieces of gaming focused malware.

The total number of attacks on gamers was 11.7 million globally.

"On an average, users were hit by 34,000 attacks related to gaming malware daily," Kaspersky said in a statement.

Russian gamers were the worst hit, as hackers made over 8.81 lakh attempts on them, while Vietnam saw 5.03 lakh attacks and China saw 3.76 lakh attacks.

Spain saw 1.39 lakh attacks, Poland (1.27 lakh), Turkey (1.21 lakh), Taiwan (97,843), Thailand (92,914) and Italy (75,155).

"Gaming has an ever increasing fanbase, which also means that the number of potential victims for cyber criminals is rising as well. The cyber criminals are taking a lot of effort into their attacks and we can see the upsurge in sophistication," Kaspersky Senior Virus Analyst (Global Research and Analysis Team) Christian Funk said.

Especially in times like Christmas, when a lot of new games are being released, gamers need to be attentive to stay secure, he added.

Kaspersky said cyber crooks sell access to people's gaming accounts stolen from attacks to gaming companies themselves.

Earlier this year, Kaspersky detected a major espionage campaign on a range of multiplayer online games makers with source code and other valuable data stolen.

"Malware types target specific games, like the hugely popular Minecraft. Earlier this year, a fake Minecraft tool built with Java promised to give the player powers such as banning other users, but was stealing usernames and passwords in the background," Kaspersky said citing an example.

Also, when Grand Theft Auto V was launched, various websites offered fake downloads to access the game for free.

"When users tried to get the game, all they got was malware, a classic example of powerful names getting abused to lure victims into downloading malicious code," Kaspersky said.

Other attacks include those through emails attempting to lure users into handing over data or money with the promise of discounts or cheap gaming goods.

Twitter, the new platform for stars to promote brands

Besides appearing in commercials and other marketing campaigns,  Bollywood  celebrities have now started using Twitter   to promote the brands they endorse, says a new report.

A study of tweets of Bollywood stars by social media analytics firm 'To The New' reveals that around 9 per cent of discussions on Twitter by celebrities are based around promoting their own brands.

The 'Bollywood Twitter Index' says nearly half of actress and fashionista Sonam Kapoor's tweets are related to brands she promotes.

Known for her unique sense of style, the 28-year-old Kapoor endorses endless number of brands and products.

The report says around 48 per cent of Sonam's tweets are related to brands.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who has the largest number of followers on Twitter, also uses the microblogging site to promote brands and about 4 per cent of his tweets are related to brands, points out the study.

Salman Khan used 11 per cent of his tweets for promoting brands, while his contemporary Shahrukh Khan did it only for 2 per cent.

Hrithik Roshan, who was last seen in the superhero film 'Krrish 3', did it for 7 per cent of his tweets, Deepika Padukone 5 per cent and Priyanka Chopra 3 per cent.

Aamir Khan, who has played the bad guy in the upcoming 'Dhoom 3', has remained absent from Twitter for most of the time this year, finds the report.

The majority of conversations, around 27 per cent, that Bollywood celebrities indulge in are about promoting their work or films.

Stars also like to share their personal experiences or interact with their fan base using Twitter. About 24 per cent of tweets are contributed toward both these activities.

Only 4 per cent of their tweets are related to social causes, it says.

Nokia launches 6-inch Lumia 1520 at Rs 46,999

 Nokia has launched its new flagship smartphone, Lumia 1520 in the Indian smartphone market. The handset is the first Nokia device with a 6-inch screen and quad-core processor and was unveiled globally in Abu Dhabi in September. At Rs 46,999, it is among the most expensive Nokia smartphones in the market.

Lumia 1520 has a full HD (1080p) display and runs on a 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, the most powerful in the world right now. On the back, this handset sports a 20MP PureView camera with optical image stabilization.

The handset also has 2GB RAM, 32GB internal storage and supports microSD cards for expandable storage. Powered by a 3,400mAh, Lumia 1520 has connectivity options like 2G, 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, microUSB and NFC.

"With the Nokia Lumia 1520, the first 6-inch Lumia smartphone, we're significantly expanding our Lumia portfolio applying our industry leading design," said P Balaji, managing director, Nokia India.

Vipul Mehrotra, director - smartphone devices, Nokia India, Middle East and Africa said, "Large screens are increasingly becoming popular among smartphone users and imaging is one of the key factors that define a good smartphone. With the Nokia Lumia 1520, we have boosted the Lumia design to a large 6-inch screen, with the clearest and sharpest display offering people a better way to tell their stories."

Nokia has also launched a back cover for the Lumia 1520 at Rs 2,999 at the same event.

The new Nokia Lumia 1520 will compete against the likes of Samsung Galaxy Note 3, HTC One Max and Sony Xperia Z Ultra.

Government to launch 'Netra' for internet surveillance

The government will shortly launch 'Netra', the defence ministry's internet spy system that will be capable of detecting words like 'attack', 'bomb', 'blast' or 'kill' in a matter of seconds from reams of tweets, status updates, emails, instant messaging transcripts, internet calls, blogs and forums.

The system will also be able to capture any dubious voice traffic passing through software such as Skype or Google Talk, says a telecom department note seen by ET. "Intelligence Bureau and Cabinet Secretariat are currently testing 'Netra', which will be deployed by all national security agencies," the note says. "The specifications of the 'Netra' system can be taken as frozen following tests by the Intelligence Bureau and Cabinet Secretariat, and can be considered for providing multiple user access to security agencies," it adds.

The 'Netra' internet surveillance system has been developed by Centre for Artificial Intelligence & Robotics (CAIR), a lab under Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO).

To hasten its deployment, the home ministry will shortly approach DRDO to allocate additional manpower resources to Bangalore-based CAIR, which is also working with the government's telecom technology arm, Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) to formalise a strategy for tracking internet use.

The 'Netra' deployment strategy was recently discussed by an apex inter-ministerial group headed by DoT's member (technology) and included top officials of the Cabinet Secretariat, home ministry, DRDO, CAIR, Intelligence Bureau, C-DoT and Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In). The panel also deliberated on ways to respond to computer security incidents, track system vulnerabilities and promote effective IT security practices across the country.

During the meeting, it was also decided that 300 GB of storage space for intercepted internet traffic would be given to a maximum three security agencies, including the IB and Cabinet Secretariat, while an extra 100 GB would be assigned to the remaining law enforcement agencies, the minutes of the inter-ministerial panel meeting showed. Deployment of 'Netra' by security agencies is slated to pave the way for a national internet scanning & coordination centre, which India plans to establish along the lines of existing facilities in the UK, US, China and Iran.

LG Gx with 5.5-inch screen makes debut

Korean electronic giant LG has expanded its G series portfolio. The company has launched LG Gx smartphone featuring a 5.5 inch full HD screen at an event in South Korea.

LG Gx runs on quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor and is powered by Google's Android Jelly Bean operating system. The device, which appears to be similar to LG Pro, boasts of a 13MP autofocus camera at the back and a 2.1MP camera in the front.

LG Gx packs 32GB of onboard storage and 2GB RAM. The device comes with 3140 mAh battery. Connectivity options include LTE/HSPA/EV-DO, 2.6GHz broadband LTE support, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0 and NFC.

Many of the apps on the new phone are same as those found on LG G2 and LG GPro like KnockON, Pause, Smart Day, Media Time, Smart Memo and QRemote. LG Gx will be available in black and white colours.

So far, there are no details available about LG Gx's international availability and pricing.

Recently, LG launched its curved screen smartphone G Flex and OLED TV in India. G Flex made its debut in October, however, its sales were restricted to South Korea only. It is the second smartphone in the world to have a curved screen, next only to Samsung Galaxy Round. This handset has a 6-inch flexible OLED screen that is curved along the horizontal axis. The phone's 3,500mAh battery is also curved.

Why teens are abandoning Facebook

The age of 30 has become Facebook's largest user demographic.

Social media expert Michael McQueen, in what is described as the 'Levi's Effect', said teenagers were abandoning Facebook for other social networks such as Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.

McQueen said Levi jeans were a cool, young brand until parents' started wearing them and the same thing has happened with Facebook, smh.com.au reports.

In 2012, Facebook was the primary social networking site for teenagers but, this year Twitter has overtaken Facebook as the number one social networking website.

McQueen said that as teens' log-off from Facebook, people aged 30 and over were logging-in.

He said that the older generation began signing up in 2010 as a lot of these users were parents who wanted to spy on their kids.

He added that now parents were logging in to reconnecting with old school friends and people who live overseas and they have caught the Facebook bug.

Professor of Public Communication at the University of Technology, Jim Macnamara, said adults also turn to Facebook while on holidays.