WhatsApp launches Research Awards to tackle social science and misinformation

To tackle social science and misinformation, WhatsApp is commissioning a competitive set of awards to researchers interested in exploring issues that are related to misinformation on WhatsApp. The company said that it would welcome any proposals related to social science or discipline. WhatsApp Research Awards will provide funding for independent  research proposals that are designed to be shared with WhatsApp, Facebook, and wider scholarly and policy communities. Since these are unrestricted monetary awards, it will offer investigators an option to extend their existing research portfolio. It will accept applications from individuals with established experience studying online interaction and information technologies, as well as from those who are seeking to expand their existing research into these areas. The company also made it clear that no WhatsApp data will be provided to award recipients, and all data from award research efforts will be owned by the researcher. It also said that the program will make unrestricted awards of up to $50,000 per research proposal. All applications will be reviewed by WhatsApp research staff, with consultation from external experts. The applications for applying to this award are due by 12 August and all the applicants will be notified about further actions via email by 15 September. WhatsApp Spokesperson said: WhatsApp cares deeply about the safety of our users. Through this new project, we look forward to ...

JioMoney app vulnerability said to have exposed users’ Aadhaar details; Reliance Jio denies it

According to an independent security researcher, a vulnerability in Jio's JioWallet app said to have exposed personal data of the users. The Aadhaar numbers were exposed along with details like date of birth, when did they verify SIM card and their JioMoney account MPIN. C.S. Akshay who is an independent security researcher started digging the JioMoney code when the service’s customer support was unable to resolve a grievance. In a Tweet, Akshay said: “Absolutely irritated, I messed with Jio Money with [which] the issue resided and boom, a vulnerability was discovered.” However, he deleted the Tweet on the subject after getting a call from Jio. Though Jio never publicly announced how many users are enrolled on JioMoney, the company encourages all its subscribers to download the entire Jio suite of apps, which includes JioMoney. Jio on the other runs its own payments bank, it has also partnered with many companies including insurance. It also has partnerships with Uber, Sodexo, Snapdeal and Dominos Pizza. It’s unclear if this incident has reached to RBI yet. Interestingly, this isn't the first time Jio has had a vulnerability in its app ecosystem. Back in 2017, Imran Chhimpa figured out a way to auto-fetch Jio users’ details from their phone numbers with a ...

boAt Rockerz 275 Wireless Neckband-Style water-resistant earphones launched for Rs. 2499

boAt, popular for its audio accessories has launched Rockerz 275, its latest Neckband-Style earphones. It has 12mm dynamic drivers and Premium CSR8635 Chipset for clear audio output. It utilizes a gleaming housing, flexible headband and an in-ear design to create a seal between the ear tips & your ear canal providing a locked-in, comfortable, noise-isolating in-ear fit for any activity while delivering clear and dynamic sound. Highlights of boAt Rockerz 275 12mm dynamic drivers for high definition audio and power packed bass Impendance: 32ohm; S/N ratio: 102dB at 1KHz; Frequency response: 20Hz-20kHz Sweat and water resistant (IPX5) Powered by Qualcomm CSR8635 chipset with support for  dual pairing and Qualcomm audio technology with distortion free audio performance and talk-time extension Smooth grip make sure your earbuds don't fall out no matter what the activity is Bluetooth 4.1 with the aptX codec technology offers studio-quality sound Audio is automatically paused and the headset channels the cell phone calls seamlessly. One can also get instant call alerts with the in-built vibration alert feature. 150mAh battery promises up to 10 hours of playback time, gets full charged in 2 hours with the included USB cable and just 20 minutes of charging offers 1-2 hours of run time The boAt Rockerz 275 ...

Huawei patent hint at smartwatch with built-in Bluetooth earbuds

Huawei has filed a patent that hints at a smartwatch that comes with a set of built-in Bluetooth earbuds. However, we don't know many details about the Watch, but what we know is that the company is considering different ways to store a pair of wireless earbuds inside a smartwatch. According to the patent sketches, there seems to few ways to store the earbuds within the watch. One of which is through a capsule with a spring mechanism that opens and shuts with a snap, or magnetically attached and stored in the watch band itself. It might come with water-resistant and would also have active noise canceling. It would provide a way to answer calls and adjust the volume without flipping your wrist. The patents are approved on June 28th by the World Intellectual Property Organization and hint at what might be coming from Huawei. Since these are just patents, it doesn't mean that the company might never launch it. To remind you, Huawei was also approved for a gaming smartwatch patent in May. Source | Via

Samsung demo real-time 5G scenarios with Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), 5G-powered smart city applications with Cisco and Orange

Samsung Electronics and Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) which is Russia’s largest telecommunications operator and digital services provider, announced that they have used Samsung’s 5G network and devices to successfully demonstrate a series of 5G scenarios including HD video calls, ultra-low latency video games, and high-definition video streaming. The demonstration zone was set up in the exhibition hall of the Popov Central Museum of Radio Communications in St. Petersburg. The company has also allowed the attendees to make HD video calls and play a football simulation video game on Samsung’s 5G prototype tablets. It is capable of providing impressive user experience by dramatically reducing the response rate between devices. Samsung for the trails has used 5G end-to-end solutions including 5G routers (CPE, Customer Premise Equipment) and prototype tablets, 5G radio access unit, virtualized RAN and virtualized core network. To remind you, Samsung and MTS signed an agreement to expand and upgrade MTS’ network with LTE-Advanced Pro and IoT features back in the second half of 2017. Since the announcement in February, Samsung and Cisco along with orange started friendly-user trial has been running for a month and a half across multiple homes in Floresti, Cluj district, Romania. The trial makes use of Samsung’s 5G solutions including the ...

Light is said to be working on a smartphone prototype with 9 cameras

Light — the company behind the L16 camera, which packed 16 lenses into one pocket-sized device is said to be upping its smartphone game with not two, not three, but nine cameras. If reports from Washington are to be believed, the company is experimenting with prototype phones featuring between five and nine camera lenses on the back. According to Light, the multi-lens array on its current working on prototype can shoot up to 64-megapixel shots, promising a better low-light performance and depth effects. Either way, this shift towards cell phone photography looks fitting for Light. We have already started seeing phones with four cameras (likes of Huawei P20 Pro, HTC U12 Plus) and there are rumors about the upcoming LG flagship; V40 which is said to pack five lenses into front and rear cameras. We believe Light is capable of stuffing more cameras into a phone, after all, it has done once by including 16 cameras into one. The report says that Light will be announcing a phone with its camera technology later this year, so the wait is not so long. Source

ASUS Zenfone 5Z with 6.2-inch FHD+ 19:9 display, Snapdragon 845, up to 8GB RAM, AI dual rear cameras launched in India starting at Rs. 29999

ASUS just launched its flagship Zenfone 5Z smartphone in India at an event in Delhi. It was introduced at the MWC earlier this year, packs a 6.2-inch Full HD+ 19:9 Super IPS display with notch design and 90% screen-to-body ratio with AI Display for auto color temperate adjustment, is powered by Snapdragon 845 SoC with support for up to 8GB RAM, runs Android Oreo with ZenUI 5.0, has a 12-megapixel rear camera with support for OIS, Sony IMX363 sensor and 0.03s  Dual-pixel PDAF along with AI scene detection to detect 16 type of scenes automatically and has a secondary 8-megapixel rear camera with 120-degree wide-angle lens for portrait shots and shoot images with wider view. It also comes with an 8-megapixel front-facing camera with auto portrait and Selfie panorama modes and has Face unlock apart from fingerprint sensor on the back. It  packs dual speakers with five-magnets and NXP Smart amplifier, and DTS Headphone: X for 7.1-channel surround sound  and comes bundled with Hi-Res Audio earphone, in addition to protective case. It comes with a 3300mAh battery with ASUS BoostMaster fast charging as well as AI charging. ASUS Zenfone 5Z (Z5620KL) specifications 6.2-inch (2246 × 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19:9 2.5D curved glass Super IPS display with 500 nits Brightness, 95.4% ...

Researchers find LTE Mobile Standard weakness allowing DNS spoofing, website fingerprinting

LTE mobile device standard used by millions of users across the globe is designed to fix many of the security shortcomings in the predecessor standard known as Global System for Mobile communications. Now, researchers have discovered faults in LTE that allow attackers to send nearby users to malicious websites and fingerprint the sites they visit. This attack works because of the weakness built-into the LTE started itself and the most crucial weakness is a form of encryption that doesn’t protect the integrity of the data. Since there is a lack of data authentication, it is possible for an attacker to manipulate the IP addresses within an encrypted packet. The weakness within the LTE is dubbed as aLTEr and researchers claim that attackers can cause the mobile device to use a malicious domain name system server that, in turn, redirects the user to a malicious server duping as Hotmail. Other two weaknesses involve the way LTE maps users across a cellular network and leaks sensitive information about the data passing between base stations and end users. The paper published by researchers says that attackers require about $4,000 worth of equipment and must be within one mile of the targeted user. Since the weakness is the result of a design ...

US Govt temporarily lifts ban on ZTE, allows to update phones and other equipment

The US Commerce Department has temporarily lifted a portion of the ban on ZTE. The company had to pay $1 billion fine and is now authorized by the United States to continue supporting the existing equipment and consumer devices. This also is designed to keep the company's infrastructure running and allow it to deliver software/security patch updates to its smartphones. However, the restrictions are only lifted until August 1st and it is not clear what will happen after the deadline. But reports suggest that ZTE is expected to fully comply with the agreement it made with the US government by then, meaning the ban may be fully lifted. Going back in time, ZTE was banned from using American tech back in April for failing to follow through with penalties it received for violating US sanctions to Iran and North Korea. Since the ban, the company has been unable to procure necessary parts and software needed to operate its business and sell products. This new order will allow ZTE to at least partially resume operations but indeed targeted at allowing for maintenance and the benefit of customers, and not the deployment of new products. President Trump himself personally got involved in the matter and pushed US to cut a deal with ZTE to ...

ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 6GB RAM, 16MP front and rear camera version will finally go on sale this July for Rs. 14999

ASUS just launched the Zenfone Max Pro M1 smartphone in India back in April, and the phone went on sale from May 3rd in 3GB RAM with 32GB storage version and the 4GB RAM with 64GB storage versions starting at  Rs. 10,999. At the launch the 6GB RAM with 64GB storage version with 16MP primary rear and 16MP front camera for Rs. 14,999 in June, but it did not happen. Today at the Zenfone 5Z launch event the company has announced that the top-end Zenfone Max Pro M1 variant will finally go on sale in India exclusively on Flipkart starting this July. ASUS Zenfone Max Pro (M1) 6GB RAM specifications 5.99-inch (2160×1080 pixels) Full HD+ 18:9 2.5D curved glass display with 1500:1 contrast ratio, 85% NTSC color gamut, 450 nits brightness 1.8GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 636 14nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 509 GPU 6GB RAM with 64GB storage, expandable memory up to 2TB with microSD Android 8.1 (Oreo) Dual SIM (nano + nano) 16MP rear camera with LED Flash, PDAF, 1.12μm pixel size, f/2.2 aperture, secondary 5MP camera 16MP front-facing camera with soft LED flash, f/2.2 aperture Fingerprint sensor, Face unlock 3.5mm audio jack, 5-magnet speaker, NXP Smart Amp Dimensions: 159x 76x 8.46mm; Weight: 180g Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, ...