Open Source Active Display Implementation Added to ChameleonOS

We’ve given much coverage recently to applicationsthat simulate the  Moto X‘s Active Notifications functionality on other devices. Since applications already exist to bring this functionality in a non ROM-specific manner, you may be wondering why we would feature a ROM-based solution. Well, when these additions are made to a fully open source ROM, with commits clearly visible and usable by other developers, we pay close attention.

When deciding what new features to add to ChameleonOS, XDA Senior Member 0xD34D decided that the ROM should incorporate functionality similar to the Moto X’s most known and copied feature. Rather than just adding the code and not sharing it, the developer has opened up the code so that others can use it in their own ROMs. Coming in at five commits (three to android_frameworks_base and two to Settings), the code is easily transplantable to other ROMs. However, since ChameleonOS started off by basing itself on CyanogenMod, ROMs that start from another base may have unresolved dependancies.

So what do you get in this implementation of the feature? The features, as stated by the developer:

• Instantly turns the device screen on and displays notifications as they arrive
• Up to 8 notifications displayed in a horizontal strip that can be viewed by touching the notification icon
• Short notification description can be displayed around the outside of the center ring
• Touch the center ring notification to view the full notification
• Unlock the device, open the app for the current notification or dismiss the current notification
• Set a re-display time to have active display remind you of your pending notifications
• Adjustable brightness level for when active display turns the screen on
• Pocket mode which allows active display to turn on once you remove the device from your pocket or bag

More information about ChameleonOS’s implementation can be found in the feature thread. To learn more about the specific commits the developer added to bring Active Notifications to ChameleonOS, head over to this post.

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Grand Theft Auto 5 Makes More Than $1 Billion in First Three Days

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. today announced that Grand Theft Auto V, the latest release from the GTA series, has achieved worldwide retail sales of more than $1 billion during its first three days on sale, according to Company estimates. Take-Two Interactive Software company owns Rockstar Games, maker for the best selling video game till now, they believe this marks the fastest that any entertainment property, including video games and feature films, has reached this significant milestone.

“Grand Theft Auto is a cultural phenomenon and Rockstar Games continues to redefine what can be achieved in interactive entertainment,” said Strauss Zelnick, Chairman and CEO of Take-Two. “We are incredibly proud of the extraordinary critical and commercial response to Grand Theft Auto V.”

Developed by series creator Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto V is currently available for the PlayStation 3  and the Xbox 360. You can check our unboxing and gameplay below.

Free Messaging Apps Are Unsafe, Claims Hackers

 The free text messaging app on your phone can be used to occupy your personal information. Hackers and cyber security professionals have claimed that internet companies can access a mobile user’s chat logs and phone data, which includes location, contacts, mail and much more, through some of the free texting apps.

As per TOI, a team of young hackers demonstrated on Sunday how text messages sent through a Chinese free texting app can be decrypted. They said foreign governments could also be using this method to access data for surveillance or spying.

Participants at The Hackers Conference in Delhi on Sunday said the government wasn’t utilizing the potential of hackers despite its websites increasingly coming under attack.

However, hackers are increasingly becoming part of the IT industry and contributing as security experts. “Hackers are paid around Rs 1 lakh per month by social networking sites, search engines and software companies, he said, adding that some of these hackers are just teenagers, says Kishlay who further said:

“Hacking is like an art which needs skill to master. It is also like science, extremely logical. Today private companies use ethical hackers to make themselves secure. We know of companies that pay hackers more than they spend on developing software,” said Kishlay Bharadwaj, 24, a freelance security analyst and organizing member of the conference. 

White hat hackers are for the good, no matter if they work for any company or for safeguarding the nation from cyber threats.

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iOS 7 To Be Launched On September 10

 September 10 is the date we’re currently marking in the diaries for the iPhone 5S and 5C reveal, and that may have just been reinforced by a claim that we’ll see the release of iOS 7 that very same day.

According to an email sent to developers from Nuance, the company behind Siri, the general availability date for iOS 7 is set for September 10.

The Next Web contributing writer Owen Williams posted the below email from Nuance to his personal blog, it reads:

As you are probably aware, iOS 7 GA will be released on September 10th.

The NDEV Program has pre-qualified that SpeechKit 1.4.5 works properly on iOS 7, but we encourage you to conduct own testing to ensure that when the upgrade happens, your Nuance speech services continue to work seamlessly.

It asked developers using its API to conduct testing to ensure that their services work on iOS 7 even though its SpeechKit 1.4.5 is pre-qualified to work properly on iOS 7. Nuance is the voice recognition focused company which has also worked on Siri, Apple’s intelligent voice assistant.

Historically, Apple has released iOS Golden Master versions to developers on the same day as the announcement of new iPhones, giving developers time to test their apps with the final version of the new iOS before its release it to the general public a couple of days before the launch of the new iPhone.

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Alleged Motorola Droid 5 Leaked Images

 Motorola doesn’t seem to let go of the sliding keyboard. According to images posted on Chinese social network Weibo, Motorola has a new smartphone in its pipeline for Verizon. The DROID 5 is rumored to continue the DROID 4′s tradition and sport a 5-row slide-out QWERTY keyboard with a larger 4.3- or 4.5-inch screen. It is also said to support wireless charging and NFC. The photos show Verizon’s logo and it wouldn’t be surprising if the DROID 5 also supported the carrier’s 4G LTE network, considering its predecessor did likewise.

Suspiciously, the device seen in the images is running a rather outdated version of Android 4.0.3, so it’s tough to say how old this alleged Droid 5 actually is.

It would be interesting if it will also run on the same X8 Computing System that powers the latest Motorola DROIDs as well as the Moto X, giving it features like Touchless Controls and Active Display notifications.

There’s is no news on the availability of the Droid 5, but it is expected to make its first appearance to the Verizon’s lineup. However that being the case we would also love for the company to start showing interest in India operations once again, that simply seems unlikely for the time being.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Pre Release Leaks,Rumors and Specifications

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is the next big daddy smartphone for the company after the big Note 2 launched last year at IFA Berlin. In a similar fashion at IFA 2013, Samsung will hold their Unpacked event where they plan to unveil a few of the goodies intended for the next generation of technology. The Galaxy Note 3 is the most prominent upcoming Smartphone and the world has a lot of expectations from Samsung when it comes to the Note 3, and it mostly has to do with the build quality. 

Lets start off with things we know for sure, The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will launch on September 4th at the Unpacked event in Berlin, Germany. The design of the Note 3, is going to be a mix of the Galaxy S4 and the original Note and Note 2. The new Note will still carry an S Pen with more enhanced features. The new Galaxy Note 3 is expected to be slimmer and slightly lighter than the last edition.

Hardware and Specs

According to Rumors, the new Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will have a 1920 x 1080p 5.7-inch display of the super Amoled Variety, a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 processor or an eight-core Exynos 5 Octa chipset depending on region, 3GB of RAM and Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.  The display here will get an increase from the 5.5 inch we saw last year, but the size of the Note 3 may not be that much more thanks to the “less bezel” design implemented in the new S4 which is expected to be incorporated in the Galaxy Note 3. A 13-megapixel camera setup with optical image stabilization along side a 5 MP front camera with autofocus and HD video calling. 

Although a lot of sources claim that the Note 3 will come in 32 Gb and 64 GB variants, a 16GB variant will help reduce costs, especially in countries like India where the Dollar prices are skyrocketing. The Battery is expected to be bumped up to a 3200 mAh battery providing a considerable increase in battery life.

Features and UI

If the new Note 3 does get Android 4.3, you can expect a newer version of Touchwiz UI along side some of the features carried over from the Galaxy S4 including gestures and Air View among many other new features that Samsung will design to make this flagship more popular. You can also expect the camera features like dual shot and capture, sound and shot and animated photo. 

Reports suggest that a host of new features are being designed for the new S-Pen that may also feature smart calling thanks to a secondary button on the Pen hardware.

What To / Not To Expected

The Galaxy Note 3 is not expected to be a unibody smartphone, with metal chassis, despite many claims. Although, a move in this direction could possibly put all questions about build quality to rest. 

The Global version of the Note 3 may not come with LTE, while those tied to carriers can expect an LTE variant, those who buy the Exynos based Note 3 will be greeted with 3G only speeds. The Galaxy Note 3 may be launched in a dual sim variant for markets like Korea, China and India. The Galaxy Note 3 may also be launched in aGoogle edition, however the S Pen would then become redundant, unless they make a suite of apps available for the hardware. 

Expect the Galaxy Note 3 in India as early as October for prices upwards of Rs. 45000 for the basic variant which we expect will be 16 GB.

Samsung is also planning to pair up the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 launch with several new cases and accessories along with a new smart watch dubbed “Galaxy Gear”. 

Google Starts A 'Vulnerability Rewards Program'

The Vulnerability Rewards Program is created to help and reward the contributions of security researchers who invest their time and effort in helping Google to make Chromium more secure. Through this program Google is to provide monetary awards and public recognition for vulnerabilities responsibly disclosed to the Chromium project.

The eligible bugs can be:

• An uncontrolled buffer overflow in the browser process, especially if a malicious web site can directly control the contents of the buffer.
• Most memory safety issues in the browser process, unless the possibility of arbitrary code execution can be ruled out.

• A bug that allows circumvention of the same-origin policy.
• A bug that allows arbitrary code execution within the confines of the sandbox.
• Bugs that interfere with browser security features. E.g. A bug that disrupts the location bar and lock icon. (Note that the status bubble is not a security indicator.)

• Bug that allows an attacker to enumerate recently visited URLs.
• Bugs that are not harmful independently, but can be combined with other bugs to cause harm.  For example, ignoring a “do not cache” directive might not itself be harmful but might facilitate other attacks.
• Any bug that might be High Severity, but requires unusual user action (such as terminating a tab’s process while in full-screen mode).

• A bug that allows an attacker to hang the browser.  (Note that tab hangs are not security issues if they can be resolved simply by closing the tab.)

 Reward for eligible bugs is $500, but the typical payout is usually at least $1000 as per Google. If the rewards panel finds the bug particularly severe, the value can be as much as $3133.70. Or if the rewards panel finds a report really impressive, the value can be as much as $10,000 or even beyond says Google. 

Can you find an eligible bug ? Find it to win some $$$, just to remind you guys 1 USD is about 63.10 INR.

 

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