Ignorance of digital dangers puts consumers at risk

Technology users are putting themselves at risk by ignoring how their personal information is being stored and the potential security risks that go hand in hand with digital devices.

This is the conclusion of a round table panel of security experts put together by hosting company UKFast. According to the panel the buzz of social media and the ever-evolving digital scene has created an ignorant culture of technology consumers.

Panelist Hugh Boyes from the Institution of Engineering and Technology at the University of Warwick, believes consumers need to realize exactly what their device is capable of, and precisely what information it holds. "People don’t understand exactly what these devices can do. Take a fitness band, for example. The product isn't actually the wristband; it's the data that is inside it. Yet no one is aware of this. The internet is everywhere, and so in turn, we give our personal information out everywhere. Things like social media, loyalty cards and GPS tracking for instance -- these things all require our personal information. No one hesitates in giving it away if it means being able to use a particular app".

This giving away of information is driven by a culture of convenience says Robert Fuller, director of Innevate, "Because things often seem to happen seamlessly, it doesn't lend itself to people having to think about what processes are involved".

This is echoed by Lawrence Jones, CEO of UKFast, "People are obsessed with speed and usability -- the faster and easier they can achieve something, the better. Even if that means storing your card details, passwords and personal details in the same place or using the same password for everything. It may be more convenient but it's significantly less secure".

Zain Hyed, director of security at Hybrid believes if consumers understood the risks, they would take greater care when handing out their personal details, "After all the Heartbleed media coverage, only 4 in 10 people actually changed their passwords. You'd expect everyone to change their passwords just to make sure they were secure, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. It’s the culture we are living in today -- no one understands the dangers".

The panel offers a number of tips for consumers to ensure that they stay secure. These are:

* Make sure that you install all patch updates and keep your software up to date.

* Have different passwords for each account, then if hackers get old of one password they can’t access your other data.

* Use long passwords, numbers/symbols and full phrase passwords are most effective.

* Read the news -- find out if any services or companies you use been hacked and what you need to do about it.

* Find out where your data is stored and how safely before trusting an organization with your information.

Videos of this and previous round table discussions can be found on the UKFast.tv website.

Image Credit: JJ Studio / Shutterstock

Apple introduces a new 16GB iPod touch with iSight camera

Last week Apple quietly introduced a new entry-level iMac. This week it’s added a new entry-level iPod touch to the Apple Store, and slashed the price of existing models.

The new iPod touch comes with 16GB of storage, a 5-megapixel, 1080p rear iSight camera and color-matched wrist strap loop. It’s priced at $199. The price of the 32 and 64GB models of have been slashed to $249 and $299 from $299 and $399 respectively

Apple previously offered a 16GB iPod touch, but it cost more and didn’t have the camera or strap.

The new device is available in the usual color choices -- black, space gray, pink, yellow, blue, and (Product)RED.

The new 16GB iPod touch is available to buy through the Apple Store now and comes with free shipping and engraving.

HTC vows to quickly offer Android L on all One (M7), (M8) models

Taiwanese maker HTC is now, undoubtedly, at the pinnacle of timely Android upgrades. It was among the first to announce and deliver KitKat, and now it is stepping up to the plate once again by revealing its Android "L" plans.

HTC says all of its One (M7) and One (M8) smartphones will receive Android L within 90 days of getting the final bits of code from Google. That means both unlocked and mobile operator-branded versions of its two most-recent flagships; One (M7) -- as the original One is referred to by HTC now -- arrived more than a year ago, while One (M8) was launched in late-March, 2014.

HTC promises to deliver timely Android upgrades as part of its HTC Advantage program, which is a no-cost option that adds a couple of major benefits to users. You can read more about it here.

HTC adds that other smartphones that are part of the One "family" will get Android L following the two One flagships, which means later than the first 90 days of availability. You can read more about the latest version of the open-source operating system here.

Now if other major Android manufacturers would follow in HTC's footsteps...

Google I/O 2014 Day 1: What you need to know

Google I/O 2014 started yesterday and, thanks to a lengthy first-day keynote, the search giant has already made plenty of headlines one after another. And for good reason, as it unveiled new software, new hardware (albeit none of it was Nexus-branded) and a number of sweeping changes to its portfolio. Say what you will, but Google sure had plenty of interesting things to show without even announcing a new Nexus tablet (as we were used to in the past two years).

The amount of information from the conference is overwhelming, so here is the tl;dr version.

Android Version "L"

This year, Google decided not to officially launch a new version of Android, but to showcase the "L"-named preview instead. This will give developers more time to bring their apps up to speed before Android "L" is released.

What's new? Well, there are some design changes here and there (some minor, some more important, coming from Android 4.4 KitKat), the ART runtime is now set as default (bringing extra battery life and graphics performance), search is better, security is improved courtesy of Samsung's KNOX, tweaks to notifications are added, and developers get more APIs. Oh, and there is 64-bit support, so Android makers can soon tick that box too in the specs sheet (much like Apple has already done for about nine months).

Google also announced Android One, a program designed to help makers of low-end Android devices offer a consistent experience. How? Through guidelines, of course, which involve some minimum requirements.

Android now has one billion active users per month, who send 20 billion text messages, walk a combined 1.5 trillion steps and take 93 million selfies per day. Impressive. I wonder what "active" means, and how the data was collected.

Android Auto

My colleague Wayne Williams already discussed Android Auto here, but the gist is Android is making its way into cars using your smartphones and tablets. You will get information from Google Now, and it is supported by 28 auto makers like Audi, Volvo and Volkswagen (which are part of the Open Automotive Alliance). And, yes, it competes against Apple's CarPlay.

Android TV

Android TV is aimed at smart TVs, giving users access to live or streamed content, search (you did not expect this, did you?), the ability to play games and view stuff from their Android smartphone or tablet.

Android Wear

As the name suggests, Android Wear is designed for wearables. It works with touch-enabled devices, and was showcased on smartwatches. It offers Google Now with voice support and apps mirroring (install an app on your Android smartphone or tablet and a wearable companion app is automatically installed on Android Wear). You can already buy two smartwatches running Android Wear, from LG and Samsung, with Motorola's offering, Moto 360, coming a bit later.

Google Services

Google also introduced a number of updates for some of its services. Google Play Games gets profiles, progress save and quests (or, targets, if you will). Google Play Services adds wearables support, more tools for developers, extra security and a wallet feature. Google Drive gives enterprise users unlimited cloud storage for $10 per user per month -- my colleague Mark Wilson has already covered it here.

Speaking of Google Drive, QuickOffice is replaced by Google Docs, Google Sheets and Google Slides, the latter of which was just introduced. And support for Microsoft Office file editing and saving is finally available. The service now has 190 million users.

What Else?

Chromebooks can now run some Android apps, Chromecast get new features (including live screen mirroring and Google+ galleries), Google Fit is introduced (yes, an Apple HealthKit rival) to provide more fitness and health-related information, carrier billing can be enabled on tablets, and Google Cloud gets some new features and improvements. Oh, and Google Cardboard enables virtual reality through a piece of cardboard -- my colleague Brian Fagioli has already covered it here in detail.

Pulse helps businesses identify and manage social media trends

Social media is increasingly important to companies, not just as a marketing tool but also to help spot trends and allow firms to react in real time.

Consumer intelligence specialist newBrandAnalytics has released a new cloud-based offering called Pulse which allows companies to monitor trending topics and conversations that impact their brand and product perception.

The pace of social media is such that businesses need to be able to react fast. To address this Pulse offers three key features. It automatically sends an alert to identify potential crises or positive social conversations before they go viral. This ensures companies stay informed of a topic's momentum without the need to manually monitor a river of social feeds.

It also does volume spike analysis which identifies trends and annotates the findings for easy sharing with team members and management. Thirdly, it has a user-friendly dashboard which blends into other newBrandAnalytics product offerings, moving from the broad social picture to detailed customer experience analysis and internal operational strategy recommendations.

"Across industries, businesses need upgraded social intelligence software that is able to provide real-time, actionable insights and recommendations," says Kristin Muhlner, CEO of newBrandAnalytics. "Pulse empowers our customers to go beyond generic social listening to provide an instant social snapshot and recommended responses, customized for their brand".

Pulse is a part of newBrandAnalytics' software suite which comprises Insight, offering local-level insights and online reputation management; Advantage, focusing on social competitive intelligence and leveraging social analysis to beat your competitors; Connect, which is a platform for strategic and credible online engagement; and Instant, providing real-time customer-reported issue monitoring. Pulse will be available to brands starting in July.

For more information on Pulse visit the newBrandAnalytics website.

Lenovo preparing a Google Glass rival

Chinese electronics giant, Lenovo, looks set to enter the wearable technology market after filing a patent for an "Electronic Device and Sound Capturing Method".

While the patent is careful to not use the word "wearable", perhaps to avoid any lawsuits with competitors, the images show a device that certainly bears a resemblance to Google Glass.

The device consists of an audio and video recorder and light-pump VOD displays from Lumus Labs, a company working on augmented reality glasses. In practice, the device would incorporate a wearable heads-up display and wireless communication through bone conduction microphones.

The product, which appeared on the United States Patent and Trademark Office website this week, is described as a recording device and it remains to be seen how it will match up against more established products in the wearable tech market.

The patent is also a bold move for the company which has yet to conquer the mobile space and is largely known through its ThinkPad range of products.

As with any patent, it does not necessarily follow that the pictured device will ever be made, but the fact that Lenovo seems willing to enter the field demonstrates the growing interest in wearable technology.

Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.

Google revs up Android Auto, its Apple CarPlay rival

As expected, one of the big new announcements at Google’s I/O conference was Android Auto which takes Google’s mobile operating system into vehicles.

Android Auto runs on your smartphone but the apps and features are mirrored and can be controlled through a touchscreen in the vehicle. The car-specific interface is a simplified version of the forthcoming (and unnamed) Android L release, with larger less distracting 'touch targets'.

You can interact with Android Auto by touch, through in-car controls, or voice -- all of which makes it a lot safer than fumbling about with your phone when you get a text message -- and the platform can be used to control navigation, music and messaging.

Like Google Now it uses contextual awareness to display information you might want to know at just the right time -- such as reminders when you get close to work or home. And because it’s all linked to your phone, you’ll get these reminders whether you’re inside or outside the vehicle.

Google says the Android Auto SDK will be made available to developers "soon" and the company has lined up 28 automakers and tech companies, including Fiat, Volvo, Volkswagen, Audi, Nissan and Mitsubishi, as part of the Open Automotive Alliance. The first compatible vehicles are expected to roll off the production line this fall.

Apple announced its own similar in-car system, CarPlay, four months ago. It will be interesting to see how the two competing platforms do and does beg the question if you switch from an iPhone to an Android, or vice versa, will you need to change cars? Or choose a vehicle based on your smartphone preference? Although there's been no word yet, I'd expect to see car makers opt to simply incorporate both systems in future vehicles.