Samsung Galaxy S5, release date, price and features

Everything you need to know about Samsung's flagship smartphone for 2014.

KOREAN PHONE MAKER Samsung's rumoured Galaxy S5 is already the talk of the town, despite its present Galaxy S4 flagship still proving to be one of the most popular smartphones on the market.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 smashed sales records for the company, and the firm will hope to do it again with the release of its next generation flagship handset this year. There's already plenty of speculation about the Galaxy S5, which we've rounded up here.

Be sure to bookmark this page, as we'll update it with every new detail, feature and rumour about the Samsung Galaxy S5.

Release date
During CES in Las Vegas, Samsung revealed that it will launch its Galaxy S5 smartphone by the end of April, alongside an updated version of the poorly received Galaxy Gear smartwatch.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Samsung EVP of mobile business Lee Young Hee revealed that the firm will unveil the Galaxy S5 in March or April, while also "targeting for release around that time".

Previously, a Samsung exec reportedly let slip that the firm was planning a Barcelona reveal in February. However, knowing Samsung, it's likely that the firm will hold its own launch event, with last year's Galaxy S4 unveiling having taken place in New York in March.

SpecificationsIt might still be a few months off, but we already know almost all we need to know about Samsung's next generation flagship smartphone.

At CES, Samsung made comments that indicated the S5 could include an eye scanner. "Many people are fanatical about iris recognition technology," Lee said. "We are studying the possibility but can't really say whether we will have it or not on the S5."

A 64-bit Exynos 6 processor is expected to be at the heart of the Galaxy S5's specifications, with ARM having confirmed that it has been working with Samsung on the handset's chip. Samsung has also confirmed that its next generation smartphones will ship with 64-bit processors. 

Conflicting rumours have suggested that the Galaxy S5 will ship with a quad-core 2.5GHz quad-core processor.

As for the screen, the Galaxy S5 is widely expected to pack a 5in 2K resolution display. Rumours have suggested that this will be an LCD panel, with Samsung cutting back on AMOLED to keep production costs low. 

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is also expected to come with a fingerprint scanner, similar to the Touch ID sensor on the iPhone 5S. The CEO of technology firm Fingerprint Cards has said that he expects Samsung to release "at least two" smartphones in 2014 with this added layer of security, hinting that this feature might also appear on the rumoured Samsung Galaxy Note 4 handset.

Again like the iPhone 5S, the Samsung Galaxy S5 is also likely to launch in a gold colour version, and there's talk that the handset will launch in two different models - one with a curved screen, and one without. This comes despite speculation that its first curved smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Round, hasn't been flying off the shelves.

There's also talk that the Samsung Galaxy S5 will launch alongside Samsung's second generation Galaxy Gear smartwatch.

Other rumoured specifications include a 20MP rear-facing camera, an upgraded front-facing camera, Google's Android 4.4 Kitkat mobile operating system and, unlike the Samsung Galaxy S4, an aluminium casing.

PriceThere's no word on Samsung Galaxy S5 pricing yet, but it's likely to fetch around the same price as the Galaxy S4, which launched for around £550. µ

The 5 Most Damning Revelations In The New Chris Christie Bridge Scandal Documents

On Friday, the New Jersey legislature released almost a thousand pages of internal emails and communications related to the controversial and unexpected lane closures at the George Washington Bridge last September. The massive document dump comes just two days after the Bergen Record published emails showing that Christie aides participated and orchestrated a plan to close down routes to the nation’s busiest bridge and snarl traffic in an apparent act of retribution against the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Christie held a press conference earlier this week to deny any involvement in the scandal and to announce the termination of one close aide and his decision to reprimand another. Several Christie appointees to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have also resigned.

The new documents reveal how Christie aides defended their inexplicable decision to study new traffic patterns on the George Washington Bridge without informing local officials or their New York counterparts, fended off questions from an exasperated Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, and then stayed quiet as the press investigated the reason for the changes. Below are the five most damning revelations:

Christie’s Port Authority chairman knew about the closings.

Though Christie insisted that David Samson, his chairman of the Port Authority, was not involved in the closings, the documents show that he was aware of the new traffic pattern before testing ended on Sep. 13.

In fact, Samson even wrote an angry email to New York Port Authority Official Patrick Foye, a Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) appointee, accusing him of leaking information to the press. “He’s playing in traffic, made a big mistake,” he wrote:

Christie officials knew that the new traffic patterns were causing massive congestion and raising safety concerns. Still, they continued the “study.”

Christie appointees Bill Baroni — the Deputy Director of the Port Authority — and David Wildstein — director of interstate capital projects — were told on the very first day of the study (Monday) that the new traffic patterns were causing massive delays in Fort Lee and impeding public safety. Fort Lee Police Department Chief called the new traffic pattern a “miserable failure.” Still, the officials kept the bridge lanes closed for three additional days:

Officials were also told that the tests were “very expensive and labor intensive”:

A PowerPoint presentation prepared after three days of snarled traffic, titled “EARLY assessment of the benefits of the trial.” The conclusion: “T.B.D.” (To be determined):

Officials also could not say how long the new traffic pattern was intended to last.

Port Authority officials blamed the traffic on the Mayor of Fort Lee.

On Sep. 12, Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich wrote a personal letter to Baroni, “in hopes that a recent decision by the Port Authority will be reversed quietly, uneventfully and without political fanfare.” Sokolich remarks that the lane closures have “wreaked havoc upon our community,” “emergency vehicles are experiencing tremendous response time delays,” and complains that he had “received absolutely no notice of this decision” or “obtained any response to our multiple inquiries.” “[T]ry as we may to understand its rationale without the benefit of a response from the Port Authority, we are reaching the conclusion that there are punitive overtones associated with his initiative.”

He then reveals that Port Authority Police Officers had been advising local residents that the traffic was “the result of a decision that I, as the Mayor, recently made”:

Christie appointees lashed out at their New York counterparts for complaining about the study.

Foye blasted Christie officials for closing done the lanes, sending a scathing e-mail in which he chronicled the “dangers created to the public interest.” Foye promptly reversed the decision to close the lanes:

As Foye continued to request public disclosure and communication about the traffic changes, Wildstein described him as a “piece of crap” in an email to Michael Drewniak, Christie’s chief spokesman. Drewniak also attacked Foye in November.

Christie appointees tried to squash press stories about the study.

After reporters from the Wall Street Journal, New York Daily News, the Star Ledger, and other outlets began sending press inquires about the lane closures in September and then again as the controversy heated up in November, Christie appointees repeatedly instructed the press team to keep quiet and avoid comment.

Baroni specifically told Foye to avoid any public discussion about the matter:

After one staff member asked, “Has any thought been given to writing an op-ed or providing a statement about the G.W.B. study?” “Or is the plan just to hunker down and grit our way through it?” Wildstein replied, “Yes and yes.” Christie appointees repeatedly instructed press aides not to respond to reporters’ questions.

Suicide Rate Among Young Veterans Has Tripled, Report Finds

At least 22 veterans commit suicide every day and young male veterans under the age of 30 are three times more likely to commit suicide when compared to civilian males in the same age bracket, according to a new briefing released Thursday by the Department of Veteran Affairs. The number of veteran suicides largely remained unchanged between 2009 to 2011, but the number of male veteran between the ages of 18 to 24 who committed suicide increased by a rate of 33 per 100,000 over the three year period.

Young veterans in the high risk age category had a suicide rate of 79.1 per 1,000, while other American males had a suicide rate of 25 per 1,000, as NBC News pointed out. The study found that overall, male 

veterans between the age of 18 to 24 and female veterans were most likely to commit suicide. About 

70 percent of male veterans who committed suicide took their lives with firearms, while nearly 80 percent of female veterans died as a result of poison or firearms. What’s more, veteran suicides among those enrolled in the Veteran Health Administration (VHA) decreased by about 30 percent, but suicides among veteran non-enrollees soared by 60 percent.

Lead study author Dr. Janet Kemp, the VA’s National Mental Health Director for Suicide Prevention, suggested to the military paper Stars and Stripes that while the reasons for veteran suicides are unclear, soldiers have to deal with factors like readjusting to civilian life and dealing with both physical and mental combat injuries.

The study notes that the VHA has made significant strides to address mental health concerns and has decreased the rate of suicide among older veteran health care enrollees and those with mental health issues. But, those enrollees do not always receive adequate treatment. In some cases, patients with mental issues commit suicide while waiting for months to access help. And limited access to a mental health specialist is an issue that will likely still be a burden for future veterans: returning troops, 15 percent of whom suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, would still have to wait to see a specialist only after the VHA deals with its current backlog of 900,000 unprocessed medical claims.

Best Television Apps For Android

Posted: 12 Jan 2014 07:20 AM PST In 1920’s JL braid had invented a device which changed the face of communication. Yes it’s Television ( TV). After 1928 lot of development came, many new gadgets came, got established and gone. Today in this 21st century the most used electronic gadget is smartphones. I am not going further deep into the evolution of smartphones my job is to point out some of the top TV apps for android devices. Nothing is available for free. Internet data is required for using these apps. You could watch your favorite serials, movies, and even channels using these apps. I am going to list down the top TV apps on android phones. BBC Player You may have heard about BBC ( British Broadcasting Corporation ) don’t misunderstand that this app is created by them. This app is exclusively for BBC channel lovers. By using this android  app you could figure out what’s all happening around you and you need not to be worried about missed programs because he / she could watch it by typing the name of the program on the search box. This feature is only available for 6-7 days after the program release. Internet connection is required for running this app 3G or Wifi would do be the best. This is one of the best TV apps for android phones or tablets. Vevo Videos Vevo videos is yet another android TV app. This application was first launched for iPhone and later android version of the app was released. During the time of release there were lot of complaints about the app that it has high loading time and all. Sooner an update came and it fixed all the bugs now this app works flawlessly on android devices. With a single tap you could share the videos with your friends on social media’s like Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon etc. With this app you could watch all leading television channels. This app requires a good internet connection. 3g or Wifi would be the best bet.  Sky Go Sky go is another android app which enables you to watch television programs on your 3 or 5 inch mobile. This gadget transforms your mobile into live TV and the video quality provided by this app is great. This was listed among the top live TV app by cnet. This app requires subscription for viewing,  that cannot be considered as a negative point according to me. The website of this app has 6 different categories you could select your favorite category and watch your favorite channels and programs.  Crackle Crackle is one of the best android TV app which enables you to watch your favorite channels and TV shows on your 3 or 5 inch mobile screen. It enables you to watch TV shows, movies and all other TV  programs for free. The main advantage of this app is that it’s updated daily.  Another main advantage of using this app is that it is available in all most all nations. This app requires a good internet connection. 3g or Wifi connection would be the best bet. Conclusion Hope you all loved reading my list of top tv apps for android. If you want to add more apps to this list please do mail me or use the contact us page of the blog. Please do share your feedback with us under the comment section of the blog.

Pebble Unveils its Second Smartwatch, Pebble Steel

Posted: 10 Jan 2014 05:00 AM PST It was only a year ago that Pebble released its first smartwatch at  CES 2013. Now at this year’s event the company has launched its second generation model, the Pebble Steel. At $100 more than the original, the Pebble Steel looks stylish and a little more like a traditional watch than  its predecessor, yet is still built around the high-end materials. Eric Migicovsky, CEO for Pebble, has said that whereas the first smart watch  had a sporty feel, this time round the design has gone back to more classic aesthetics, with a steel-based look.  He added that the Steel is more suited to formal occasions, without compromising on practicality.  The hardier shell and Gorilla Glass screen give the impression of greater durability. Pebble has come a long way since first releasing its smartwatch. The small company had never before been  to China, spoken to mass manufacturers or considered the implications of industrial design and production efficiency.  Yet here we are a year on, with Pebble users numbering over 300,000. Migicovsky says that  Steel’s design is a lot more modular, so if any parts are not produced to spec, then it is not  necessary to scrap the entire watch, proving that the company has learned a great deal on its journey. The Pebble Steel comes in a choice of natural steel grey or black and comes with a leather strap  to match whichever colour you decide on. Included in the packaging is a full set of tools for  adjusting the new straps and a new magnetic charging plug. The whole thing just has a more premium feel. The Steel is noticably smaller than the original, yet has the same display and is slightly heavier.  The company has also added an RGB LED to the front of the watch, which is used to display the  charging status, although this will be made available to app developers. Internally the Steel remains pretty much the same. It has e-paper display,  a battery and a memory that has been increased to 8MB. Migicovsky is hoping that in the future there will be more apps available to expand the Pebble Steel’s  functionality as a smartphone companion. Apparently more than half of the company’s staff are working  on software for the wearable devices and the CEO won’t stop “until we have Drugwars on the Pebble.” [Image via ablogtowatch] SOURCE: http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/6/5276698/pebble-steel-launch-interview-ces-2014 The post Pebble Unveils its Second Smartwatch, Pebble Steel appeared first on TechBeat.

Health2Sync: Tech For Diabetics Posted: 10 Jan 2014 04:00 AM PST At CES’ Hardware Battlefield, H2 debuted its Health2Sync technology.  This is a amalgamation of hardware  and software which is aimed at helping diabetes sufferers manage their glucose levels by providing them with a  digital solution to their physical problem. Following one’s glucose levels is a tedious job, which always has to be done correctly. Writing down glucose readings  into a physical booklet isn’t very useful, as it is time consuming and being able to interpret the data is anyone’s  guesswork. On top of this, it is easy to forget and annoying to do.  Patients who need to track their blood sugar  often don’t do it nearly enough as they should do. That is where Health2Sync comes to the rescue.  They want to change the process completely.  The firm has built an stylish hardware solution to make the process of tracking your blood sugar levels as  simple as possible. Basically, Health2Sync is a cable that plugs into the standard data port of most legacy  glucometers and into an iPhone or iPad audio jack. A small square is on the cable, allowing it to interpret the  data incoming from the glucometer.  The resulting hardware and software collaboration, is a tool that allows a  user to sync their glucose readings quickly to their iOS device. The client software for Health2Sync allows users to tag their various readings with useful categories:  When you took the reading (i.e., before or after a meal), what you ate, did you exercise etc.  The user can also  set low and high bands for their blood sugar levels. Data from their various category readings are then plotted  for them, showing how often they meet, exceed, or fail in their desired blood sugar range.  People with diabetes  can use their current glucometer in the manner they always have but with a daily Health2Sync data transfer,  they can quickly draw a picture of their blood sugar over time and that they can better understand the data.   Also, if they have permissions enabled, they can share the data with loved ones and caregivers. Health2Sync has cuurently raised $300,000 and has an Indiegogo campaign up and running to  finance the capital costs of its first set of devices.  The Health2Sync cable will retail for approx $35.  According to the company, between 8- and 15% of the population suffers from diabetes, meaning there’s a  big market for this product. [Image via boatingtimesli] http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/07/h2-launches-health2sync-a-tech-savvy-way-to-help-diabetics-manage-and-track-their-glucose/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29 The post Health2Sync: Tech For Diabetics appeared first on TechBeat.

Sony Joins Smartglass Fray With Sony Smart Eyeglass Posted: 10 Jan 2014 03:00 AM PST What did we say about this year’s CES? Wearable tech is going to be big, and it seems that every pundit who took on this position is being proven correct. While many consumers seem to be fixated on smartwatches, we really can’t turn a blind eye on another piece of wearable tech: the smartglass. Google Glass has certainly led the way in this regard, but other players are not far behind. At the CES, Sony jumped into the bandwagon by announcing the Sony Smart Eyeglass. While it’s not exactly like Google Glass – it’s more of an answer to Microsoft’s Oculus Rift, which has got gamers quite excited – the wearable device does have potential. Aside: Oculus Rift has a lot going for it, since virtual reality has been part of science fiction dreams the world over. Of course, there is the practical detail of having to get used to VR experience, but I suppose we will all get used to it at some point, not to mention technology improving to the point of removing “side effects” such as nausea! Showing the Sony Smart Eyeglass off at CES, the manufacturer sure got some attention – some of it positive, some of it not so good. What no one can deny is the fact that the device is not all that ready for gaming yet. There is also the “small” matter of the display being bright green. Some of us feel nostalgia when we think of the bright green text display on ancient CRT monitors, but for smartglass technology, that’s not really optimal, is it? Sony says it can be adjusted, though. On the upside, critics say that the Sony Smart Eyeglass provides a more “cohesive experience”, combined with the head-mounted display. While it is too early to make predictions, especially since the product is not at 100 percent yet, the mere fact that more players are joining the game says a lot about the future of smartglasses. Again, this is exciting, but I wouldn’t hold my breath for things to reach the optimal consumer experience level this year. [Images via PCWorld & gizmodo] The post Sony Joins Smartglass Fray With Sony Smart Eyeglass appeared first on TechBeat.

The Durr Vibrating Watch Will Mess With Your Perception Of Time Posted: 10 Jan 2014 02:00 AM PST Time is a strange thing. When you’re engaging in a fun activity, minutes and hours just seem to slip by and you’re left left wondering where the time went. Yet on the other hand if you’re stuck in a boring meeting or are made to endure something you really don’t enjoy, then the time drags and what is actually a short period of time, can feel like eternity. A watch designed by Theo Tveterås and Lars Marcus Vedeler, has been created to draw attention to the difference between our perception of passing time and how it actually passes. Named Durr, the watch is very simple in design. It is a solid, colourful disk that vibrates every five minues. The Norwegian duo who make up the company Skrekkøgle, were inspired to produce this unusual type of time piece  after they realised how fast their days seemed to be passing, especially when they were busy working in the studio. They knocked together a protype and tested it while out enjoying a few beers. “We were surprised and excited about how tangible time suddenly seemed,” Tveterås says. The duo have now put together something more refined. Inside it is made up of Arduino parts, while externally it is covered with a variety of colourful housings. It is finished with a simple thin leather strap. The Durr watch’s hardware is as simple as the look. “We like the idea of single-purpose objects,” Tveterås explains. “It has a calmer, more specific purpose than, say, a smartphone or a smartwatch.” They have found that after wearing the watch for six months, it has added an undeniable “rhythm” to each day, allowing them to look back at the segmented parts of their day and review what they have done. Not everyone likes to be reminded that time is passing away though. Tveterås explains that they have had “feedback from other people using it that it acts a little like a countdown for life, which wasn’t the intention at all. But the memento mori aspect is very fascinating too.” You can purchase the Durr watch for around $122. [Image via Skrekkøgle] SOURCE: http://www.wired.com/design/2014/01/a-vibrating-watch-that-messes-with-your-perception-of-time/ The post The Durr Vibrating Watch Will Mess With Your Perception Of Time appeared first on TechBeat.

Intel Debuts SD Card-Sized Computer Posted: 10 Jan 2014 01:00 AM PST Intel has just unveiled Edison. A new computer which is housed inside an SD card, which has built-in Wi-Fi connectivity and it can support multiple operating systems. Brian Krzanich, Intel CEO, has said the goal of Edison is to give wearable tech manufacturers a go-to option when they need a computer to power their devices.  “Wearables are not everywhere today because they aren’t yet solving real problems and they aren’t yet integrated with our lifestyles,” Krzanich explained. “We’re focused on addressing this engineering innovation challenge. Our goal is, if something computes and connects, it does it best with Intel inside.” Below is an excerpt from the Intel Press release at CES: Intel CEO Brian Krzanich demonstrated Intel-developed designs for wearable devices including smart ear buds with biometric and fitness capabilities, an always-on smart headset that integrates with existing personal assistant technologies, and a smart wireless charging bowl. Krzanich announced strategic collaborations with luxury retailer Barneys New York*, the Council of Fashion Designers of America* and international design house and curator Opening Ceremony* to explore and bring to market smart wearable technology. He debuted Intel® Edison, a new Intel® Quark technology-based computer housed in an SD card form factor with built-in wireless capabilities and support for multiple operating systems. Krzanich disclosed a global “call to innovation” campaign with the Intel ‘Make it Wearable’ challenge. CEO said Intel plans to offer elements of McAfee mobile security products for free to help guard today’s most popular mobile devices and will introduce Intel Device Protection technology this year to improve enterprise security of all Intel-based Android* mobile devices. He unveiled the Intel Security brand, which will be used to identify all Intel security products and services, and said that McAfee products will transition to the Intel Security brand over time. Krzanich stated that Intel is the first microprocessor company to support devices that combine the best of Windows* and Android* operating systems in a single device. Intel Inside Wearable Devices Krzanich announced Intel® Edison, a new Intel® Quark technology-based computer housed in an SD card form factor with built-in wireless capabilities and support for multiple operating systems. From prototype to production, Intel Edison will enable rapid innovation and product development by a range of inventors, entrepreneurs and consumer product designers when available this summer. “Wearables are not everywhere today because they aren’t yet solving real problems and they aren’t yet integrated with our lifestyles,” said Krzanich. “We’re focused on addressing this engineering innovation challenge. Our goal is, if something computes and connects, it does it best with Intel inside.” Increased Data and Device Security Krzanich also unveiled the Intel Security brand, which will identify Intel products and services in the security segment, and disclosed plans to transition McAfee* products to the Intel Security brand while retaining the familiar red shield. “The complexity of keeping digital identities safe grows as mobile applications and devices become a more important part of our daily lives,” Krzanich said. “Intel’s intent is to intensify our efforts dedicated to making the digital world more secure, and staying ahead of threats to private information on mobile and wearable devices.” Krzanich announced that Intel plans to offer elements of McAfee’s award-winning security solutions for mobile devices for free. These data and device protection solutions help guard today’s most popular mobile devices, including Apple* iPhone, Apple* iPad and Android* devices. More details will be announced in the coming months. As corporate “bring-your-own-device” programs have grown in popularity, many firms have prohibited Android*-based devices that weren’t compatible with their companies’ security requirements. Intel Security this year will offer Intel Device Protection technology, which will help Intel-based Android* mobile devices meet most security standards for use at home and work. With Raspberry Pi and others on the market already, all we can do is wait and see if Intel can pull it off with this one.  One thing is for sure.  I will be trying to get my hands on one! [Image via ibtimes] SOURCE: http://bgr.com/2014/01/07/intel-edison-sd-card-computer/ The post Intel Debuts SD Card-Sized Computer appeared first on TechBeat.

Bluetooth Phone – Not All Bluetooth Mobile Phones Offer The Same Connectivity

Google programmer a beginning salary of $ 500,000 'lost' - he already has a $ 3 million each year because

Thanks for all of its money , Google and Silicon Valley in the war for talent is a big winner .

Just the latest evidence of a large , successful enterprise is a story I heard from the founder of a start .

Its founding his own startup currently working at Google a " programmer " poach tried to tell us that .

$ 500,000 Salary: startup programmer had made ​​a big offer .

"They blew us away , " said the founder .

Thank you for offering the programmer did early , but Google currently 3 million dollars per year in cash payments and restricted stock units were .

(Restricted stock units , or "RSUs," to get them to the programmer will not have to buy them as stocks that are good . )

$ 3 million each year , or even $ 500,000 per year , as well as an engineer for Silicon Valley 's compensation is above average . Scott Purcell admitted that they usually keep the software engineers that make a base salary of $ 165,000 . The average base salary is $ 128,000 for a Google engineer .

But besides our 3 million engineers are outliers . Twitter engineer , senior vice president , Christopher Fry , $ 10.3 million earned last year .

And the - of - the people it wants Google to get an industry-wide reputation .

This Google Android, Andy Rubin, by removing the top and still work on the robot , the company was able to manage to keep within , for example , is very impressive .

It 's a credit to CEO Larry Page . He really bright people, highly ambitious , large -scale problems to get to work in a place where Google has made . In 2011 he took over as Google CEO before the company for startups like Facebook and Twitter was losing a lot of people . Now , not so much .

It also has a lot of the money power of Google , is a credit .

Update: On Twitter, former Googler Hunter Walk ( A VC ) Other startups warned: "Google by * worst way to recruit great for anyone with the money , then you 're left with Google you will have to do more . they do not want to keep . "

PirateBrowser - No more censorship!

PirateBrowser is a bundle package of the Tor client (Vidalia), FireFox Portable browser (with foxyproxy addon) and some custom configs that allows you to circumvent censorship that certain countries such as Iran, North Korea, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Denmark, Italy and Ireland impose onto their citizens.

This is how it looks like:

Download PirateBrowser

Version 0.6b

• Magnet link
• Torrent file
• Self extracting archive

Checksums

 md5: a23b66f7c3fdd5308fc729582a7c8101
sha1: 40ee38c8eb81d27e8cf4c385d5eccee68381f268
sha256: dfe1fd76870a89f7832a00d924ed0b32b1ff2f58c6c40899efe82773211f0713
sha512: d188c26c71572c8be5c9b80958b71156ce7d4a652c355c85dc782f9ad999d8b57f3c5fde5a781366f4ad5a80933c5f45a43a8bc101f081e1f17f6e69c4adccdb

FAQ

Does it make me surf the net anonymously?

 No, it's not inteneded to be a TOR Browser, while it uses the Tor network, which is designed for anonymous surfing, this browser is ONLY intended to circumvent censorship.
The Tor network is used to help route around the censoring / blocking of websites your government doesn't want you to know about.

If you are looking for something more secure you may want to try a VPN like PrivacyIO.

Does this contain any viruses or trojans?

 There have been no modifications to any of the packages used, no adware, trojans, toolbars, etc. This is simply a tool to help people get around censorship.

Getting Started

• 1) Download PirateBrowser and save it to your computer:

  

• 2) Run the downloaded .exe file

  You may be prompted to verify the application, press "Run":
  

• 3) Select the desination folder and press "Extract":

  
  (It will create a PirateBrowser folder in the path you assign)

• 4) Go to the new directory and run the "Start PirateBrowser.exe" file:

  

• 5) The application will start up. Once connected to the Tor Network the standalone Firefox browser will open up and you can start browsing:

  


• TIP: If you want to create a icon on your desktop to start the PirateBrowser, you can right click on "Start PirateBrowser.exe", choose "Send to" and then "Desktop (create shortcut)".

The Galaxy Camera 2:Samsung Announces its Second Take at a Point-and-Shoot Android

Samsung’s mission of putting Android on every single possible slot may sound quite absurd but we actually welcomed the OS on point-and-shoot cameras. The idea of snapping and sharing photos directly from your camera wireless and conveniently does sound quite tempting to us but the execution wasn't perfect.

Here it is though, announcing its second take on the idea: the Galaxy Camera 2. The new Android-running point-and-shoot comes with a snappier processor, more RAM, a new image processor, NFC and a new design.

The basics are still the same. You get a 4.8″ 720 pixel Super Clear LCD Display at the front. Android 4.3 Jelly Bean comes pre-installed on the camera. The camera still captures 16.3 mega-pixel photos through its 1/2.3″ BSI sensor. Also you get the same 21X optical zoom, up to 3200 ISO and Optical Image Stabilisation.

However, you do get a new pop-up Xenon Flash and Autofocus Light. The Galaxy Camera 2 features 28 shooting modes in total, with additional control over focusing and exposure via the touch-screen for professionals. Videos remain at 1080p Full HD at 30fps, as well as slo-mo at 120fps.

Apart from that, you also get a 1.6Ghz quad-core processor with 2 GB RAM, 8 GB internal storage (2.8 GB is accessible), which is also expandable. Battery capacity is set at 2,000 mAh which should be enough for around 350 shots.

As for the design, we are seeing the same leathery finish as we saw on the later Samsung flagships.

We don’t know when it will be put up on retail but we should be getting more details at the CES event next week.

US judge orders NSA to stop collecting phone metadata

On Monday, a US federal judge dealt the National Security Agency (NSA) its first legal blow, ordering the intelligence agency to stop collecting data on two plaintiffs' personal phone calls and to destroy their calling history records.

In a 68-page ruling, Judge Richard J. Leon of the District of Columbia said that the NSA's collection technology is "almost Orwellian", would likely horrify James Madison (author of the US Constitution), and is likely unconstitutional in its encroachments on US persons' liberty.

According to Politico, Judge Leon found that the program appears to violate the Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable searches and seizures.

From the ruling, as quoted by the New York Times:*

I cannot imagine a more ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘arbitrary’ invasion than this systematic and high-tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every single citizen for purposes of querying and analyzing it without prior judicial approval. Surely, such a program infringes on ‘that degree of privacy’ that the founders enshrined in the Fourth Amendment.

The judge also said the the Justice Department had failed to demonstrate that collecting the mobile phone records had helped to head off terrorist attacks.

This ruling is the first successful legal challenge to be brought against the NSA's phone metadata collection program - known as "PRISM" when it originally came to light - since whistleblower Edward Snowden in June released the first of a still-flowing stream of top-secret documents concerning surveillance by the NSA and other countries' intelligence agenies.

The case was brought by several plaintiffs led by Larry Klayman, a conservative legal activist and lawyer.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a similar lawsuit in the Southern District of New York.

(Please note also that the ACLU has released a spoof Christmas video [YouTube video] poking fun at the NSA, titled "The NSA is Coming to Town." You're welcome.)

Judge Leon is well aware that the government won't, and probably shouldn't, stop its intelligence operations overnight, and hence has stayed his injunction "in light of the significant national security interests at stake in this case and the novelty of the constitutional issues."

He's given the government time to appeal the ruling and said that this could take  six months.

The New York Times passed on a statement from Edward Snowden, distributed by leaked-document recipient Glenn Greenwald, lauding the decision:

I acted on my belief that the N.S.A.'s mass surveillance programs would not withstand a constitutional challenge, and that the American public deserved a chance to see these issues determined by open courts. ... Today, a secret program authorized by a secret court was, when exposed to the light of day, found to violate Americans’ rights. It is the first of many.

It's worth noting that, as Politico's Josh Gerstein points out, Judge Leon wasn't required to make a definitive ruling on the case's constitutional questions but does take account of which side he believes is more likely to prevail.

Thus, Monday's ruling does not mean that the NSA's collection program has been definitively deemed unconstitutional.

Not yet, at any rate.

*The site for the US District Court for the District of Columbia wouldn't load as of Monday afternoon, likely due to being utterly slammed with high traffic volume. The URL is courtesy of Politico.

Microsoft joins tech giants and FIDO in the fight for simpler, safer authentication

Microsoft has become a member of the FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance, a non-profit group working to design better and more standardised methods of checking identity across the internet.

The operating system, software and mobile giant joins fellow tech juggernaut Google as a member of FIDO's board of directors, according to an announcement [PDF] issued this week by the Alliance.

FIDO was set up in July 2012 by a group including online payment processor PayPal, hardware maker Lenovo and a handful of specialist authentication firms.

Since then membership has swelled to include the likes of once-dominant mobile firm BlackBerry, global payment colossus MasterCard and a raft of firms working in the fields of identity, biometrics and authentication.

The mission of the Alliance is to combat the inherent weakness of the current standard authentication method, the username/password combo.

The problems with the old approach are many and severe, with humansseemingly incapable of maintaining good password hygiene, and businesses similarly wobbly when it comes to keeping their password databases secure.

FIDO's answer is a set of standards and specifications for an authentication system based on public key infrastructure (PKI), which is still under development.

The idea is that once hardware, software and online service providers agree and adopt the standard, users should be able to use a unified system to prove they are who they say they are, to any and all services they use online.

It will work by generating key pairs for each site or service you use - the private (or "secret") key stays with you, and the public key is handed over. Then each time you want to access the site, it presents you with a challenge encrypted with your public key, which can only be decrypted by the holder of the private key, ie: you.

This does away with the problem of hacked password databases at the server side, as they'll only be holding public keys - these will be of little use to hackers, as it should be more or less impossible to figure out the private key even if you have the public one (hence the names).

Having separate key pairs for each site means sites can't pretend to be other sites and peep over each others' shoulders at what you're doing.

Encryption key, image courtesy of ShutterstockOf course, you'll still need to authenticate yourself to whatever device you're storing the secret keys on, which is where all those biometric firms come in.

Fingerprints, voice patterns, hand gesturesor even a good-old fashioned strong password should all be compatible with the standard, the good part being that even if you prefer to avoid eyeball scanners or implanted circuitry, you won't need to remember new passwords for everything, only the one for the mobile/PC/wristwatch you're using to surf the web.

Any local authentication information will be strictly kept to the local device, so again there's no risk of hackers making off with a database of everyone's bio data. There's also a two factor-version of the standard being developed, with the addition of a dongle or one-time-password generator for extra security.

There will doubtless be all manner of apps and accessories providing different spins on the system, but the point of having a unified standard is that they can all interact in the same way, meaning end-users can choose how they want to do things without putting extra workload on the platform and web service makers - they should all just play happily together.

It may all just be a pipe dream of course, but having the weight of Microsoft behind it, alongside the existing lineup of heavyweights, makes it all a good chunk more likely to come true.

There are still a few serious players missing from the list, notably Apple who are notorious for preferring to plough their own furrow in all things, but with amount of support the Alliance is building up, FIDO's ideas have a good chance of becoming a true standard that everyone will have to support.

That should be pretty good for everyone.