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Microsoft to drop support for older versions of Internet Explorer
zdnet.com on 08/07/2014 at 8:02pm (UTC)
 If you’ve stubbornly resisted upgrading Internet Explorer on an older PC, you might be forced to act soon. (Of course, if you work for a company that has stubbornly insisted on making you use an ancient version of IE, this is good news.)

Starting January 12, 2016, Microsoft is changing its list of supported Windows configurations. Effective that date, the company said in an announcement today, “only the most recent version of Internet Explorer available for a supported operating system will receive technical support and security updates.”

Support for the five-year-old Internet Explorer 8 will be dropped completely. It goes into the same bucket as Windows XP, which reached its end-of-support date in April 2014. Microsoft will not release security updates for Internet Explorer 8 after the first Patch Tuesday of 2016.

That’s likely to affect a lot of people: Net Applications says IE 8 is the most popular single browser version worldwide, installed on more than 20 percent of all PCs running a desktop OS, including many that are still running Windows XP.

IE8-dominant-Aug-2014
Worldwide browser usage (desktop OS only) July 2014. Data from NetMarketShare.com
StatCounter says roughly 6 percent of all web traffic uses that ancient browser.

Internet Explorer 9 and 10, which have a combined share of more than 15 percent, will be supported only on three older platforms, where later versions can’t be installed.

IE 9 is supported in Windows Vista (SP2 or later) and Windows Server 2008 (also SP2 or later). Windows Vista will reach its end-of-support date in 2017.

IE 10 is the only supported version for Windows Server 2012.
That leaves Internet Explorer 11 as a required upgrade for all PCs and devices running Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2012 R2. (It’s installed by default with Windows 8.1.) Excluding surviving Windows XP machines, that means about 98 percent of all Windows PCs in use worldwide will be required to have Internet Explorer 11 installed to continue to receive security updates.

As with Windows XP, there’s no Redmond “kill switch” for older IE versions. If you or your business want to continue using an older, unsupported browser configuration, nothing except common sense will prevent you from doing so.

For businesses that still rely on internal apps that require older Internet Explorer versions, Microsoft is strongly recommending Enterprise Mode for Internet Explorer 11, released in April 2014. Skip the rambling five-paragraph introduction and look to the middle of today's IE blog post:

"Enterprise Mode…offers enhanced backward compatibility and enables you to run many legacy web apps during your transition to modern web standards.

Today we are announcing that Enterprise Mode will be supported through the duration of the operating system lifecycle, to help customers extend their existing web app investments while staying current on the latest version of Internet Explorer. On Windows 7, Enterprise Mode will be supported through January 14, 2020. Microsoft will continue to improve Enterprise Mode backward compatibility, and to invest in tools and other resources to help customers upgrade and stay up-to-date on the latest version of Internet Explorer."
If that's not an option for a large business, they'll need to pay for a custom support contract.

This change shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, and it's a relatively leisurely schedule. The new, more rapid cadence at Microsoft makes it much more difficult to maintain compatibility with older versions. Moving the vast majority of the customer base to a single supported platform is essential if Satya Nadella's changes in the engineering organization are going to be truly capable of keeping up with aggressive competitors.

In an unrelated backward-compatibility development, Microsoft also announced today that .NET Framework 4.5.2 will be the only supported version for .NET 4 applications:

We will continue to fully support .NET 4, 4.5, 4.5.1, and 4.5.2 until January 12, 2016, this includes security updates as well as non-security technical support and hotfixes. Beginning January 12, 2016 only .NET Framework 4.5.2 will continue receiving technical support and security updates. There is no change to the support timelines for any other .NET Framework version, including .NET 3.5 SP1, which will continue to be supported for the duration of the operating system lifecycle.
 

Asus announces Fonepad 7 for Indian market at Rs 8,999
zeenews.india.com/ on 08/07/2014 at 7:56pm (UTC)
 Taiwanese company Asus on Thursday announced its Fonepad 7 tablet for the Indian market at a price tag of Rs 8,999. The Fonepad 7 is a 7-inch palm-sized Android tablet which supports Android 4.4 KitKat operating system.

The Fonepad 7 runs on a dual-core Intel clover trail atom processor with hyper threading technology. It is a dual SIM gadget with a display of 1024x600 pixel resolution and also features 1GB of RAM, 4GB of internal memory which is expandable up to 64GB with a microSD card.

It sports a 2MP rear camera and a 0.3 MP front camera. The connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, micro USB port along with USB On-the-go support. It comes in four colour options- black, white, red and blue.

Fonepad 7 is built to last for around 10 hours of 720P video playback or 30 hours of 3G talk time. Asus has exclusively partnered with Flipkart to sell the Fonepad 7.
 

XOLO launches Hive UI based 8X-1000 smartphone for Rs 13,999 in India, what’s on offer?
techcircle.in on 08/07/2014 at 7:53pm (UTC)
 Late last month, Lava’s sub-brand XOLO had launched Win Q900s, its first smartphone to be running on the Windows Phone 8.1 operating system for Rs 11,999 in India. The company has now further expanded its range of smartphones in the country with the addition of 8X-1000. The device sports a 5 inch display and is powered by ‘HIVE’ user interface, which is built on Android operating system and offers a host of new features and enhancements.

According to the company, the UI also allows users to join in and become a part of the development team (taking a cue from Chinese smartphone sensation Xiaomi are we!). The smartphone is available for Rs 13,999 in the country.

What’s on offer?

A made in India, made for India platform, HIVE offers a number of customised UI elements that include:

Connect: A platform where technology enthusiasts can partner with the company to make HIVE better by constantly connecting, collaborating and sharing new ideas. The best ideas that are voted up by the community are then rolled out as updates.

Edge: A personalisation and digital content delivery platform for emerging artists, musicians and photographers to collaborate with the company to design exclusive themes, ringtones and wallpapers.

Fusion X: Integrated with last.fm, Fusion X enables artist recommendations based on what the user is listening to. It is also tightly integrated with YouTube, wherein users can access trending songs by their favourite artist.

In terms of controls, the conventional straight line bar slider gives way to circular controls, while ‘quick settings’ include a toggle switch that lets you alternate between dual SIM cards for calls and messages. Contacts provide a unified view of the message threads and the call logs of every contact.

HiveIn addition, HIVE also has a built-in ‘chameleon widget’ that provides quick information on weather and calendar, apart from notifications regarding missed calls, SMS and email. Every time the wallpaper is changed, the widget picks the most prominent colour from the background and blends with it.

Here is a look at the specifications of the device.

The smartphone sports a 5 inch HD IPS capacitive touchscreen display (1280×720 pixels resolution) with 294 ppi pixel density and runs on the Android 4.4 KitKat operating system with Hive UI. It is powered by a 1.4GHz Octa-core MediaTek MT6592M processor and has 2GB of RAM. The internal memory of the device is 16GB that can be further expanded up to 32GB with a microSD card.

XOLO 8X-1000 has an 8 megapixel autofocus rear camera (with Exmor R Sensor) with Flash that can also record full high definition videos (1080p) at 30 frames per second and a 2MP front facing camera for video calling. Additional features of the camera include scene detection & tuning, High Dynamic Range (HDR), vertical & horizontal panorama capture, geo tagging, live filters, face beautification, and voice capture, etc.

On the connectivity front, the device has Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi (with Wi-Fi Direct), 3G as well as a microSD card slot and a microUSB port. The dimensions of the device are 140mm x 70mm x 7.9mm, and it comes with GPS (with A-GPS support) and dual-SIM capability. The company has provided a 1,920 mAh battery in the device, which it claims will provide up to 11 hours of talk time, 31 hours of music playback, and 352 hours of standby time.
 

Asus Chromebox CN60 mini PC with Google Chrome OS introduced in India starting at Rs 21000
Mobiletor.com on 08/07/2014 at 7:51pm (UTC)
 The Asus Chromebox CN60 mini PC running on the Google Chrome OS has been launched in India for a reasonable starting price of just Rs 21000, though that the cost can more than double when it’s fitted with the most high-end components which are being offered as configuration options at purchase point. If you’re wondering what you can do with this tiny desktop, you could hook it up to an external display such as a monitor or large TV screen and treat it as a work or entertainment companion.

The Asus CN60 Chromebox embeds the latest generation of Intel Haswell processors and arrives with virus protection built into it. Because it’s a Chrome OS mini machine we’re talking about, latest software updates are beamed to it without requiring your interference. The tiny PC is a neat option for you if you’re concerned about saving space in your home or workstation setup. It boots up really quick, within a matter of 7 seconds, in case you’re asking. Also, this VESA mount-compatible desktop happens to be perfectly capable of video playback in 4K resolution.

You’ll only get up to 16GB of internal storage on an SSD with it and Google Drive offers about 100GB of rent-free cloud room for your content for a maximum of 2 years. An SD card reader, four USB 3.0 ports for attaching external drives, HDMI and DisplayPort outlets are drilled into the Asus device’s chassis which measures a mere 12cm x 12cm.

Asus Chromebox CN60 specifications list:

- Platform: Google Chrome OS
- SoC: Celeron 2955U, Core i3 4010U/Core i7 4600U processors
- Visuals: Intel HD Graphics
- Dimensions: 12cm x 12cm
- RAM: 2GB/4GB options
- Memory: 16GB SSD onboard storage, 100GB cloud space
- Wi-Fi dual band, Ethernet, DisplayPort, HDMI, USB 3.0
 

Expert wants to help nab Russian hackers who stole 1.2 bn passwords, user names
tech.firstpost.com/ on 08/07/2014 at 7:44pm (UTC)
 Las Vegas: The hackers are a tight knit group, 10 or 11. They live in a Russian town, and have real jobs. But in their down time, the cybercriminals have spent the past seven months gathering a hoard of personal data, stealing 1.2 billion user names and passwords in a series of Internet heists affecting 420,000 websites, according to Alex Holden, Chief Information Security Officer for Hold Security, whose firm uncovered the breach.

The Russian hackers had been collecting databases of personal information for years, but Holden told The Associated Press on Wednesday that in April the group began deploying a new online attack technique that quickly shot from computer system to computer system as unwitting infected users visited random websites.

“Their cache of stolen goods grew quite quickly,” said Holden, who has not revealed details about the websites that were breached or the names of other victims.

A native of Kiev who now lives in Milwaukee, Holden has conducted research that contributed to other exposures of major hacks, including a breach at Adobe that exposed tens of millions of customer records. He said he had been tracking the Russian criminals for seven months, but only was able to begin reviewing their massive cache of databases during the past few weeks. He timed his announcement to coincide with the annual Black Hat USA cybersecurity conference this week in Las Vegas, where it created quite a buzz.

Brian Krebs, who investigates online cybercrime and blogs about it, said his phone and email were inundated while he was at the conference Wednesday with people asking about Holden’s announcement.

“Alex isn’t keen on disclosing his methods, but I have seen his research and data firsthand and can say it’s definitely for real,” said Krebs. “Without spilling his secrets or methods, it is clear that he has a first-hand view on the day-to-day activities of some very active organized cybercrime networks and actors.”

More than a day after his discovery was revealed in a New York Times report, Holden said he had not heard from any law enforcement agencies. He said he hopes investigators do contact him and added that his firm would be happy to cooperate.

To aid consumers, Hold Security plans to open a website in the coming days where people can search —free of charge— to see if their passwords and user names have been breached. The company is also offering a $10-a-month plan for businesses that want to be notified when a breach occurs.

Chase Cunningham, lead threat intelligence agent for cloud security company Firehost, spent years tracking Russian crime syndicates with the FBI and the NSA. At Black Hat on Wednesday, he said Hold Security has “uncovered one of the largest caches of data ever seen.”

To date, Hold Security says it has only seen the Russian hackers use the personal data to spam social media, for example, hijacking a Twitter account and posting a weight loss ad. And Holden said he’s only seen payments ranging from $200 to $1500 —although he’s unsure if that’s per person or for the entire group— for creating that spam.

Cunningham said he expects the Russian criminals will do much more with their illicit collection, which could prove lucrative. ”They can make money hand over fist with this,” he said.
 

Hot launches: Smartphones of July 2014
TECH2.COM on 07/26/2014 at 9:15am (UTC)
 The Moto clan has set out some cut-throat competition in the mobile space, especially India. When we just thought how difficult it could be to dethrone the Moto devices, two companies are already in line to show they can offer more. The new Chinese entrant Xiaomi along with Asus has set the budget market on fire, while LG has finally launched its flagship in the country. Here’s a quick look at the hot launches for July.

LG G3
Following all the other leading phone makers, LG has finally launched its flagship smartphone G3 in India. At Rs 47,990, the LG G3 is a good pick as far as flagship Androids go. It has a rock-solid feature set backed up by very good design and build quality which makes it highly recommendable. The 2K display appears to be over-hyped, but the premium-looking device gets an excellent camera and 4G support. Read the complete LG G3 review. The 16GB variant of G3 is priced at Rs 47,990 while the 32GB model costs Rs 50,990. However, you can get it online for a price lesser by Rs 1,000. The G3 India launch offer also includes Rs 5,000 discount on the company’s all-new Android Wear-based G Watch.
LG G3 now in India
LG G3 now in India

Xiaomi Mi 3
Xiaomi made a grand entry into the Indian market with the Mi 3 earlier this month. In fact, its first batch of devices sold within an hour. The Mi 3 could be the company’s bestselling device yet and will go head-to-head with the high-end Android clan. At just Rs 13,999, it packs a Snapdragon 800, which is by far the cheapest high-end phone available in the market. It will compete with the likes of the Nexus 5, Galaxy S4, Xperia Z at nearly half the price. The quad-core processor has been being clocked at 2.3GHz and the chipset also has an Adreno 330 GPU. It includes 2GB of RAM, which is good enough to handle all those apps and services, running on the custom MiUI OS.
The hardware buttons on the right edge stick out far from the body
The hardware buttons on the right edge stick out far from the body

Xiaomi has released some benchmarks claiming that the Mi 3 is faster than some devices from big brands such as the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One. It comes with a 13-megapixel rear snapper and a 2-megapixel front shooter for selfies. Besides, it features some other standard features such as dual LED flash, f/2.2 aperture and 28mm wide angle lens. The Mi-3 comes with a pretty impressive 3,050mAh battery. Read our complete Xiaomi Mi 3 review.

Xiaomi Redmi 1S, Redmi Note
Along with the Mi 3, Xiaomi has also launched the Redmi 1S, a low-end entry level model priced at Rs 6,999, and the slightly expensive Redmi Note phablet priced at Rs 9,999. The Redmi 1S sports a 4.7-inch 720p IPS display, and the other features include 1.6GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor coupled with 1GB RAM, 16GB onboard storage, microSD card slotand a 2000mAh battery. It runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with Xiaomi’s MIUI layer on top. One can also expect an 8MP rear shooter and a 1.6MP front camera.
Xiaomi's hot-seller RedMi Note comes to India
Xiaomi’s hot-seller RedMi Note comes to India

The Note has a larger 5.5-inch 720p IPS display and boasts of 1.7GHz MediaTek MT6592 octa-core processor. Other specs include 8GB onboard storage, microSD card slot up to 32GB, 3MP rear camera, 5MP front shooter for selfies and 3100mAh battery.

Asus Zenfone series
Earlier this month, Asus launched a series of new smartphones with varying screen sizes of 4, 4.5, 5 and 6 inches. The frontrunner in Asus’ latest smartphone range is a 6-inch phablet. It runs on a 2GHz Intel Atom dual-core processor, which Asus claims is faster than quad-core Cortex A7 class ARM processors. It features a decent 1280×720 pixel IPS display, 13MP rear camera with f/2.0 aperture and a 2MP front camera for video calls and self shots. It is available in 8GB, 16GB and 32GB variants, expandable up to 64GB.

Sitting in between the higher-end Zenfone 6 and low-end Zenfone 4 is the dual-SIM Zenfone 5, which features a 5-inch screen. The Zenfone 5 also has a 1280 x 720 pixel IPS display, but sports a 8MP rear camera. It also lacks the f/2.0 aperture for low light shots. There’s the standard 2MP camera for selfies and video calls. It runs on the same 2GHz Intel Atom dual-core processor as on the Zenfone 6, so it should be just as speedy. It’s available in both 8GB and 16GB versions and you can add up to 64GB with an microSD card. Read our Zenfone 5 review, to know more about the device.

Zenfone 4.5
Zenfone is available in varying screen sizes. The above image shows Zenfone 4.5
The youngest in the Zenfone family is the 4-inch and 4.5-inch Zenfone 4. The former has a screen resolution of 800×480 pixels, while the 4.5-inch model has a slightly higher 854×480 pixel resolution. It runs on a low-powered 1.2GHz Intel Atom dual-core processor, though it should be able to handle light web browsing and gaming with little effort. Both come with 1GB of RAM, and while the larger model has a 1750 mAh battery, the 4-inch model sports a 1600 mAh battery. It has a 5MP main camera and a 0.3MP front camera, and is available with 8GB storage.The larger phone has a 8MP front camera. Both are dual SIM phones and have 1 year’s warranty from Asus.

The 4-inch Zenfone 4 has been priced from Rs 5,999, while the 4.5-inch model has a price tag of Rs 7,499. The Zenfone 5 will come in two variants – 8 GB and 16 GB models, with prices starting from Rs 9,999. Finally, the Zenfone 6 has been priced at Rs 16,999.
 

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