Instant Articles By Facebook To Be Available For All Android Users

 Facebook Instant Articles earlier announced by the company, that it would be testing IA as Beta version for Android and now today it has announced it is in fact quitting the beta version to let the feature to be used by all the Android users. That means it will have a huge audience as Android has a large base which runs into millions of users.

Instant articles could be recognized with a lightning bolt icon on top right corner. There is option to monetize the articles by the publishers by selecting to publishing their own advertisements or let FB publish their selected ads.

 Following Facebook, Google and Twitter too wanted to have their own version of Instant articles and hence partenered to have their own news tool. Apple too followed it and has it's own stand alone news app which is bundled with iOS9.

Articles clicked on search results open almost instantly. Here Google uses the cached version of the original web site contetn instead of hosting the content and hence different from Facebook and Apple. And the content is being kept open source

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Mozilla launches Firefox 64-bit for Windows

Mozilla has finally delivered a 64-bit version of Firefox. Firefox 43 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android went live.

The new browser is going to help protect your browser from malicious websites.

64 bit version speeds up the browser to access several more memory registers and help run Java Scripts faster.

Mozilla earlier launched 64 bit version for Mac and Linus but for Windows this is the first time.

It may work for Windows 7 and later releases of Windows Operating system.

https://blog.mozilla.org/futurereleases/2015/12/15/firefox-64-bit-for-windows-available/

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A new research initiative to develop Artificial Intelligence further

Artificial intelligence according to industry experts has already taken root in our daily life activities like texting, driving etc., even though it's significance is not that huge, but can be felt.

Futuristic machines are going to be lot more intelligent than the present ones is what the industry believes.

Industry heavy weights are now collaborating to launch a new non-profit research only initiative to  chart out the strategy for future AI systems. A strategy to determine and to make sure the AI  machines are supportive of humanity when functioning independently.

To quote from the blog

AI systems today have impressive but narrow capabilities. It seems that we'll keep whittling away at their constraints, and in the extreme case they will reach human performance on virtually every intellectual task. It's hard to fathom how much human-level AI could benefit society, and it's equally hard to imagine how much it could damage society if built or used incorrectly.

 Elon Musk and Silicon Valley masterminds join forces to keep forces from killing us all - PC World

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Mozilla launches Focus for iOS - Overview

Mozilla has launched a new ad-blocker app Focus for iOS, which uniquely works with Safari and in future if Apple opens up it's iOS further, will combine with Firefox to give a unique user experience.

Apple which steadfastly has opposed tracking while advocating open web makes this bold move and the app can be downloaded here.

 https://itunes.apple.com/app/id1055677337 Focus from Mozilla

Focus works with taking advantage of iOS9's content blocking API.

Gives in-depth control to systematically block ads or analytics or Tracking from Social Media networks like Facebook on any given page of the web.

 Mozilla launches Focus, a new ad-blocker for iOS - The Verge

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Samsung Galaxy S7, Google releases critical security patches for Android

Samsung Galaxy S7 is expected to have a faster processor (Qualcomm snapdragon 820) and restore the SD storage slot it had earlier removed in the Samsung Galaxy S6. 

It is also expected to be priced 10% lesser than what S6 costs in the market today to give S7 the competitive edge of high performance at a low price strategy. That could increase the dwindling Samsung market share.

The reports say it is not just a classic improvement but a dramatic one, where Qualcomm has promised a highly improved performance. Phone will support VR, Streaming media and big data.

Samsung S6 started off at $600 to $685 off-contract depending on the US carrier.

 Galaxy S7 expected to have faster processor, return of storage slot. - ComputerWorld

Google patches security flaws in its Android Nexus phone's through a security press release. These flaws could be exploited remotely through MMS, Web Pages and rogue apps.

Firmware updates are being rolled out for vulnerabilities which are numbered five of critical, 12 ranked as high and two as moderate.
 
Google patches critical vulnerabilities in Android - Computer World

source.android.com/security/overview/update-resources

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New Dorkbot threat: Microsoft together with law enforcement successfully disrupt Dorkbot network

Microsoft has been roped in by FBI together with several law enforcement agencies as it had launched a program to thwart the threat from a botnet known as Dorkbot and effectively disrupted it.

 The Dorkbot reportedly uses a ring of more than 100,000 computers.And usually attacks another 100,000 computers on an average every month there by affecting millions of computers in over 190 countries.

It basically installs itself on to the computer of a user without any intimation and executes commands remotely like stealing information from the attacked computer like logins and passwords. In fact it was widely reported that sites like g-mail, Netflix and PayPal were hacked by  hackers to steal information.

Once you have this Dorkbot installed on to your computer it will probably have installed other malware too like Scareware, Adware, RansomWare and so on.

The enforcement team advises users to run anti- malware software regularly to detect the threat and do not click unto emails from unknown receivers and download your software from known developers. And keep your system updated with latest updates of anti-malware software.

For Further reading :

What is Malware? How to protect your Mobile/PC from it?

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Overview and insight into the latest Technology news and Developments

 Here are 2015's best Android Apps picked up by Google.

Google's Picks for 2015's best Android Apps - Fox News


Rob Enderle gives deep insight in to the future of mobile and PC market on how they are going to shape ahead in the future. Both Google and Apple are looking ahead in the future for a versatile device that meets the industry demands and that which is mobile and pocket sized and is scaleable to a larger screen, that's where Android falls short, which was ideally conceived as a mobile operating system for small devices.
Also iOS conflict issues with MacOS and other detailed analysis of iOS and Android weaknesses.

 Why iOS and Android will soon become obsolete? -Rob Enderle for cio


Privacy expert Lorrie Cranor is going to replace Ashkan Soltani in January. Ms Lorrie Cranor holds a Doctorate in Engineering and Policy, Master's Degree in Computer Science and Technology and Human Affairs and a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering and Policy. With her election analysts say she may keep her focus on Consumer Privacy and Data security.

Ms Cranor's latest areas of interest include Usable Privacy Policy Project, usable and secure passwords, privacy decision making, user controllable-security and privacy and usable cyber Trust indicators.

FTC's next Chief Technologist is on a quest for better passwords - PCWorld

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