Archive for March, 2017

Samsung Launches Galaxy S8 & S8+

Posted in Commentary with tags on March 29, 2017 by itnerd

Samsung just announced the launch of the Galaxy S8 and S8+. This is more than just a phone launch for Samsung. It’s a reboot for the company following the exploding Note 7 debacle. They have to hit the S8 and S8+ out of the park or risk having their market share erode. Based on what I see, they have something that might do just that.

The S8 will come to the table with a big 5.8-inch display. If that’s not big enough, you get 6.2 inches on the S8+. One wonders how you will fit either phone in your pocket. Having said that, Both displays are also SuperAMOLED panels with QuadHD (2960×1440) with Samsung’s always-on display feature.

The CPU is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor. You get 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage on board. A microSD slot allows you to add additional storage. It runs Android 7.0 with the “Samsung Experience 8.0” layered on top. Plus you get the new Siri competitor Bixby. More info on Bixby can be found here. But it promises to be game changing for the company. Samsung is also first to market by having Bluetooth 5.0 on board. Plus you get a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor alongside the camera which is a 12MP sensor for the rear and 8MP camera on the front of the phone. There’s also facial recognition and an iris scanner for security purposes. Before you ask, yes there is a headphone jack. I guess they lacked courage. But it hasn’t affected the ability to be water resistant as it sports IP68 dust/water resistance. There’s also a docking station option called Dex which allows it to be connected to a monitor or TV effectively turning it into an Android-run PC.

Now onto the most anticipated part of the phone. The battery. There’s a 3,000 mAh battery in the S8 and a 3,500 mAh battery in the S8+, both with fast charging. To make sure that they don’t explode, the batteries were put through what Samsung describes as their toughest battery tests ever. Because they know that if even one of these phones explodes, it’s game over for them from a PR standpoint.

Samsung will be opening up pre-orders on March 30th and it will be available for sale on April 21st. Samsung isn’t confirming pricing for the Galaxy S8 and the S8+ at this point. Several colors including black, gray, and silver will be available.

So, will you be getting an S8 or S8+? Please leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

UPDATE: Telus reached out to me to say that their customers can pre-order online starting today! Deliveries start as early as April 17. To sweeten the deal and get the most out of their new smartphones, Telus customers who pre-order the new Samsung S8 and S8+, will also receive the Samsung Gear VR with controller.

Windows 10 Creators Update… Here’s What To Expect

Posted in Commentary with tags on March 29, 2017 by itnerd

Microsoft is in the process of rolling out the Windows 10 Creators Update, the latest major update to its current desktop operating system. Here’s what you can expect from the Creators Update:

  • Visual previews of tabs in Microsoft Edge.
  • Edge now has built-in support for ebooks.
  • Microsoft Paint now lets people create models in 3D.
  • Picture-in-Picture mode for videos. Essentially you can now have a small window with video playing on it placed on top of any other application.
  • Night Light: A baked in feature in Windows that will allow you to change the color and tone of display so that it doesn’t pain your eyes to look at the screen at night.
  • Dynamic Lock: The feature first requires you to pair your phone or tablet with the computer. Once done, it will automatically log you out everytime you’re away from desk (or technically speaking, the device is out of the computer’s proximity).
  • Native support for surround sound.
  • Ability to scribble and make notes on Microsoft’s Maps app.
  • Game mode: It “ensures” your computer is always maximizing its resources for an optimal gaming experience.
  • Built-in support for mixed reality handsets.

It should hit Windows Update on April 11th, but if you know where to look, you can get it today. Not that I would if I were you as there is the remote possibility that a critical bug will be found and addressed between now and April 11th. Plus, hardware and software vendors may need the additional time to do updates of their own to make sure that they can play nice with this update. The update will be free to all. More info can be found here.

 

Guest Post: DocLogix Discusses 8 Reasons Why Companies Should Treat Information As an Asset and Manage It Properly

Posted in Commentary with tags on March 29, 2017 by itnerd

When thinking about company assets, it’s usually financial or other material income and possessions that come to mind. Company directors tend to ignore another valuable asset – organization’s informational inventory.

Since we are already living in information-based economy, the way that companies manage information becomes a very important factor in their overall success in the market. Studies show that 83% of businesses mismanage and fail to take advantage of their company’s information, while information management is slated to grow rapidly, with Chief Data Officer demand growing 90% by 2019.

Companies that do not control their information are not in charge of the essence of their enterprise. They often find out that critical data is unavailable or lost at decision time. They also tend to be late when it comes to orders, payments or agreements, have higher activity costs and bigger mistake rate, since they cannot efficiently access their information. For example, an agreement that can be negotiated and signed in one day often takes more than a week. As a result, employees and clients usually lose trust in such organization, and employee turnover rate can be high.

DocLogix is a document and process management solution that helps companies properly deal with their overall informational assets. “If cash flow is the bloodline of a company, then information is its oxygen,” says Aurimas Bakas, board member of DocLogix. “Only the companies that balance those two vital processes will win against the competition, as only the managed information creates value.”

Here’s how automated information management works: all possible contracts, proposals, employee information, communication, tasks, responsible employees, and task progress becomes visible in one system, in real time. All information flows according to automated workflows ensuring the highest possible performance and accuracy.  The system is accessible remotely, from anywhere, and accurately shows who is working on which projects, which tasks are lagging behind and what needs more input from managers.

Here is the list of all the advantages of ECM (enterprise content management system):

  1. Better and quicker decision making. When a company installs ECM, a manager can instantly get all the information about current processes, and doesn’t have to rely on the one person familiar with that particular task or that one department of the company. Smart notes, reminders and controls for the assigned tasks will be issued so that everything is visible and performed on time. Decision making accelerates by a factor of three.
  1. Attractiveness to investors. Companies that have sharp information management practices are usually much more attractive to potential investors, as they appear to be information-savvy and accurate in their processes, thriving in the information age.
  1. Increase in transparency. Every employee can now check the status of a certain document or process, depending on their privilege level, so the company becomes 100% transparent.
  1. Going paperless and save. Thanks to the system, paper documents generated within the organization decreased by 60%. Costs for document printing and transfer get reduced by about 60%.
  1. Saving time. Document preparation takes up to 20% less work time.
  1. Easy dealing with compliance issues. ISO, Health & Safety and financial compliance becomes easily achievable to any organization.
  1. Increase in productivity. Companies that manage their information properly can achieve a significant productivity increase. For example, since DocLogix reduces workload related to the information, workload-related to information management can be reduced by 35%, meaning that more time might be dedicated to the primary production-related duties. Prepared templates and clear processes allow users to prepare documents correctly on the first attempt.
  1. Cooperation and responsibility. The company will have an overall increased cooperation and responsibility. Sometimes production companies have one irreplaceable person, because he keeps a lot of company information about tasks, employees and how things should function. With DocLogix, all information is stored in a structural environment, thus all employees are able to reach it based on their access level. Smart notes, reminders and controls for the assigned tasks will be issued so that everything is performed on time.

DocLogix is a unique ECM platform, recognized in 2016 as the most progressive in the world, flexibility being its biggest strength. Any workflow or document form can be customized, while different solutions can be offered, such as office management, contract management, project management and so on.

Guest Post: NordVPN Discusses The Erosion Internet Privacy By The US House Of Representatives

Posted in Commentary with tags on March 29, 2017 by itnerd

On Tuesday U.S. House of Representatives approved a resolution allowing ISPs to collect all possible data about their subscribers and selling it to third parties, we at NordVPN have noticed a sharp increase in inquiries from American Internet users worried about their privacy: the inquiries surged by 86% in the past few days.

ISPs might be allowed to collect data that includes precise geolocation, financial information, health information, children’s information and web browsing history.

If the House votes to approve the rollback of strict FCC’s privacy regulations that would have banned ISPs from selling subscriber’s data without their consent, then U.S. consumers will be forced to look for their own methods to stay private.

NordVPN’s CMO, Marty P. Kamden, has said:

“Such spikes in user interest in VPNs are not unusual – whenever a government announces increase in surveillance, people turn to privacy tools. We saw similar spikes back in November when UK passed the law dubbed “The Snoopers Charter” or after the revelation about CIA surveillance by the Wikileaks. We are worried about the global tendency to invade Internet users’ privacy, and we are glad we can offer a reliable tool that helps people keep their information private. We want to stress that privacy tools are needed every day, not only during such moments – to protect yourself from ever-growing online security threats and increasing surveillance.”

A VPN encrypts user data through a secure tunnel before accessing the Internet – this protects any sensitive information about one’s location by hiding their IP address. A VPN connects a user to the Internet through an alternative path than an ISP. The only information visible to an ISP is that a user is connected to a VPN server and nothing else. All other information is encrypted by the VPN’s security protocol.

NordVPN is determined to hide and secure users’ data with features like double encryption and a strict no logs policy. From the moment a user turns on NordVPN, their Internet data becomes encrypted. It becomes invisible to governments, ISPs, third party snoopers and even NordVPN.

Welle Smart Device Turns any Surface Into A “Smart” Surface

Posted in Commentary with tags on March 28, 2017 by itnerd

Welcome to the modern world of controlling devices. Welle (pronounced vell-uh) is a smart device that instantly turns any surface into a “smart” interface using Sonar Technology through hand gestures. Welle http://getwelle.com/ gives you the ability to use unlimited simple gestures to control your favorite Internet of Things (IoT) devices, appliances, and apps – so powerful it even tracks your finger movements and recognizes handwriting. With Welle, the entire surface becomes connected to Sonar, allowing you to use hand gestures to control all your smart devices, such as lights, TVs, speakers, doors, thermostats, cameras, curtain/blinds, fans; and even PowerPoint presentations, apps, and IFTTT (If this, then that) conditional task applets, and more. Welle is launching today on Kickstarter at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1781885077/1423513448?token=74255447

Uses Most Advanced Sonar-based Gesture Control to Connect to All Kinds of IoT Devices & Appliances – Mounts on Wall

Welle works in the home, office, or anywhere with a Bluetooth connection. Simply place the tiny Welle on any convenient surface or location, or mount Welle on a wall with the included 3M stickers. Working as a universal remote for all kinds of IoT devices and appliances, Welle uses the most advanced Sonar-based gesture control, replacing the multiple traditional household remote controls for a convenient and enjoyable connected home and office experience. Welle recognizes standardized gestures and also lets you assign your own gestures or handwriting short-cuts to interact with devices everywhere in your life.

Creates Custom Gestures, Tracking, & Even Recognizes Handwriting

Welle means “wave” in German and Welle’s logo shows two fingers tracking human gestures with ultrasonic waves. Welle uses Sonar Technology, advanced ultrasonic signals used in the military, automotive and drone markets, that can accurately track human movements. Welle’s Sonar Technology transmits signal pulses and collects the reflected energy back from targets, identifying motions, gestures, and finger movements from the echoed signals. These echoes are translated into different instructions and words to IoT devices using an advanced hardware design and software algorithms. The Welle Sonar Technology tracks your fingers when you touch a surface and can even recognize handwriting motions, transforming them into customized actions. Conventional gesture detectors, such as those used in smartphones, only provide single gesture readings. In contrast, Welle provides rich information, such as trajectory data and digitized gestures, enabling a wide variety of control functions for everyday convenience.

Welle Controls Any Device, Anywhere Instantly:
• Thermostats
• Coffee makers
• Lights
• Windows shades/curtains
• TVs
• Doors
• Speakers
• Locks
• Humidifiers
• Fans/air conditioners
• Outlets
• Garage doors
• Robot arms
• PowerPoint presentations
• Creates custom gestures
• Assigns short-cuts throughout handwriting recognition or gestures (i.e. “C” for “make coffee”)
• Changes volume and tracks when listening to music
• Connects with IFTTT
• Tiny size, weighing just 3.5 ounces, with measurements of 2.97” x 1.38” x 0.64”

Open API Now Available for Software & Hardware Developers

Welle provides an open API (Application Programming Interface) for software and hardware developers to redefine gestures, creating infinite possibilities for controlling devices and apps. Welle features a well-designed API, readable documents, example codes, and a developer community with full support. For moreinformation on the Welle API, see: http://www.maxustech.com or email: support@maxustech.com.

Tiny, Small Enough to Bring on the Road to Meetings, Hotels, & Coffee Shops –
Pricing & Availability

Welle is tiny, smaller than a smartphone at less than 3 inches long, weighing just 3.5 ounces, lightweight and small enough to bring on the road to meetings, hotels, coffee shops, and anywhere else you go. Easy to install in just a few minutes with Welle’s app for Android and iOS users, users can setup Bluetooth connections between Welle and the target devices quickly by following the steps on the Welle app. Available October 2017, Welle will be priced at $99, with early-bird Kickstarter pricing of $59 for a limited time. For more information, see Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1781885077/1423513448?token=74255447 or http://getwelle.com/.

Here’s Some Little-Known Hacks Within Waze

Posted in Commentary with tags on March 28, 2017 by itnerd

With hundreds of thousands of users, Waze is far-and-away Canada’s most popular driving and navigation app.

While the majority of Wazers enjoy the app’s main function – navigation from point A to point B via the best route – there are other features currently under-utilized but that can improve the daily lives of drivers. Below you will find a list of features that make the Waze experience more user-friendly.

Planned Drives + Waze Calendar

Waze can connect with your iPhone, Android or Google calendar to send you a push notification reminder to let you know what time to leave based on real-time traffic conditions. Simply open the Menu => Planned drives => add a drive => search for your destination and select the time and date you need to arrive by and then hit Save. To sync this feature with your calendar, simply open Menu => Planned drives => Sync Calendar events.

Parking

Waze can help you find parking before you leave for your destination. Once you’ve planned a drive, simply tap the three dots beside the destination and select Find parking. Parking lots near your destination will appear.

ETA

The Waze app is all about empowering the driving community to connect with one another, while keeping safety as the top priority. Sharing ETAs with other Wazers prevents drivers from being tempted to use their smartphone to text while driving. To share your ETA with friends, simply tap the three dots beside your destination before you start driving. You will need to sync Waze to your mobile number via a text verification, and allow the app to access your contacts. Once setup, you can simply select “send” by tapping the three dots beside your destination and choosing who from your contact list you want to share your ETA with. They will automatically receive a text message with your estimated arrival time, eliminating the temptation to text and drive when unexpected delays hit.

Display & map

Waze takes a lot of pride in its cool turquoise branding, but recognizes that that colour scheme isn’t friendly to all eyes at all times of day. By selecting Display & map under Settings, Wazers can choose if they wish to view the map in day mode or night mode, and can select whether or not to display the map editors under “Map color scheme”.

Voice

Under Settings => Voice directions, Wazers can choose whose voice they would like to narrate the directions of their drive. Waze also currently offers voice directions in over 20 languages in addition to English. Wazers can also enjoy limited edition celebrity voices. Most recently, Dateline NBC’s Keith Morrison was added to the list of options available to drivers for a limited time.

Child Reminders

It is an unfortunate reality that children are occasionally left in the back of cars, Waze has responded to this issue by releasing Child Reminders. To access this feature, simply open Settings => General => Child reminder and select “Allow reminders.” You can also customize the message by selecting “Custom message.” This feature can be used to remind you to collect your kid, your pet, or your even your backpack from the back seat.

250,000 Canadian e-learners On Alison

Posted in Commentary with tags on March 28, 2017 by itnerd

Alison, one of the world’s largest providers of free online courses, announced today that it crossed the 250,000-learner milestone in Canada. According to data released by Alison today, the most popular courses for Canadians revolve around workplace skills including project management, human resources, food safety and mental health.

The site has grown a significant following throughout Canada, but is most popular in Ontario where 46% of the site’s Canadian users are based, followed by Alberta and British Columbia. Around 52.9% of learners are female, reflecting a trend seen in many countries where women are adopting e-learning at a higher rate than their male counterparts. Alison hosts more than 750 courses online at no charge to the user, and adds new courses each week.

Top 10 most popular courses in Canada

  1. Diploma in Project Management
  2. Diploma in Human Resources
  3. Diploma in Food Safety
  4. Diploma in Nursing and Patient Care
  5. Diploma in Mental Health Studeis
  6. Diploma in Psychology
  7. Diploma in Customer Service
  8. Diploma in Social Work Studies
  9. Diploma in Workplace Safety and Health
  10. Diploma in Operations Management

Alison is one of the world’s largest free online learning platforms for workplace skills, providing free education and skills training to 10 million learners worldwide with over one million graduates. Alison is a for-profit social enterprise with a goal to drive the cost of all education and skills training to zero. Find out more at https://alison.com.

One Good Reason To Install iOS 10.3…. Encryption

Posted in Commentary with tags on March 28, 2017 by itnerd

Apple released iOS 10.3 to the world yesterday. And in the process of doing so Apple is likely going to put itself in the crosshairs of governments and law enforcement types. I say that because iOS 10.3 brings a new feature to the table which is the Apple File System or APFS for short. Now the official party line from Apple is that Apple File System replaces the HFS+ file system that has been around for around three decades. You see HFS+ was designed when storage meant a couple of floppy disks as opposed to 128GB inside your iPhone. That means that by using HFS+, you’re leaving a lot of performance on the table. That changes as of iOS 10.3.

But the big change is the fact that Apple has really upped its encryption game. You see Apple themselves describes the encryption that is part of APFS as “strong full-disk encryption” for both files and metadata with optional “Multi-key encryption with per-file keys for file data and a separate key for sensitive metadata”. In English, that means that if someone wants to crack open your phone to get at your data, it’s likely not going to happen because there are multiple layers to the encryption. Thus if you’re law enforcement or government, you’re going to be really pissed right about now because there is less of a chance that an iPhone from a bad guy is going to give up its contents to you. Expect these two groups to get very vocal about how upset they are about iOS 10.3 shortly. To add to the fun, APFS is also coming to Apple’s computer lineup later this year. Presumably when Apple has had a chance to test all the possible combinations of storage configurations that APFS would have to deal with. When that happens, those cries from law enforcement and government will get louder. But for users who care about privacy, this is good news for them.

 

 

PRSRV: The Cell Phone Charger That Helps Improve Battery Life

Posted in Commentary with tags on March 27, 2017 by itnerd

PRSRV is an innovative, energy efficient power bank designed to preserve and extend your device’s battery life. Most cell phone users charge their phone overnight resulting in overcharging- which not only wastes energy but can overheat and damage cell phone batteries. PRSRV’s unique design prevents this by automatically cutting off electricity to the device once it is fully powered, conserving energy and protecting your device. Surplus power is then directed to charge the back up power bank, for on the go charging later.

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Features:
  • Power bank can be used in two different locations.
  • Cuts Off electricity to the device after it is 100% charged.
  • Removable credit card sized battery that fits in wallets.
  • Android + Apple compatible
Products are currently available for pre-order here

Has macOS Sierra 10.12.4 Update Fixed ANOTHER FileVault Vulnerability?

Posted in Commentary with tags on March 27, 2017 by itnerd

That’s the question that I am asking as at the moment, I am reading the release notes and more importantly the security information that is in the macOS Sierra 10.12.4 update that was released a couple of hours ago. In the security information, I noted this:

 

EFI

Available for: macOS Sierra 10.12.3

Impact: A malicious Thunderbolt adapter may be able to recover the FileVault 2 encryption password

Description: An issue existed in the handling of DMA. This issue was addressed by enabling VT-d in EFI.

CVE-2016-7585: Ulf Frisk (@UlfFrisk)

 

The thing is that the Ulf Frisk that is mentioned in this document is the same guy who a few months ago reported this exact attack scenario to the world and it was thought to have been fixed by Apple in the macOS 10.12.3 update from a few months ago. But perhaps not as we have a mention of it here in the 10.12.4 update that was released today. Or perhaps this is a different variant of the same issue that has been fixed. It’s impossible to tell as Apple didn’t spill the beans the last time this issue popped up. And I seriously doubt that if you ask them, that they’ll spill the beans now. Thus this question will likely hang out there like a hanging chad in a Florida election.