WhatsApp Encryption: All You Need To Know

After adding the feature to share files over WhatsApp, the developers have now added a new and probably the best feature to WhatsApp. The end-to-end encryption. This feature will ensure that the user's messages are only read by the person for whom the message is meant to be. The messages can't be read by anyone else, not by WhatsApp, not any cyber criminal, not even by any law enforcement agency.

Jan Koum, one of the founders of WhatsApp made the announcement regarding this over his Facebook page saying that the company has been working on this feature for the last two years. "We’ve been working for the past two years to give people better security over their conversations on WhatsApp… People deserve security. It makes it possible for us to connect with our loved ones. It gives us the confidence to speak our minds. It allows us to communicate sensitive information with colleagues, friends, and others. We’re glad to do our part in keeping people’s information out of the hands of hackers and cyber-criminals"-Jan Koum.

So, what does the end-to-end means, and, how exactly it works on WhatsApp?
WhatsApp encryption uses ' The Signal Protocol'. It has been designed by Open Whisper Systems.
Explaining, WhatsApp says that "once the session is established, clients do not need to rebuild a new session with each other until the existing session state is lost through an external event such as an app reinstall or device change." Explaining how the messages are encrypted, WhatsApp said- "clients exchange messages that are protected with a Message Key using AES256 in CBC mode for encryption and HMAC-SHA256 for authentication. The Message Key changes for each message transmitted, and is ephemeral, such that the Message Key used to encrypt a message cannot be reconstructed from the session.” It also says that calls, large file attachments are also end-to-end encrypted. One drawback of this feature is that it may cause the delivery of messages a bit late.

Users should know that this feature is enabled by default in WhatsApp. so, if you have the latest app installed on your smartphone, then your chats are already been encrypted. Unlike Telegram, the encryption cannot be specialized for time required, i.e. you can't turn off this feature.

Users should also know that they need to be on same version of the software to use this feature. so, if you and your friend have recently updated their software and you chat with him/her you will see a message saying "Messages you send to this chat and calls are now secured with end-to-end encryption. Tap for more info." when you tap on the message, a pop up menu that will explain about the end-to-end encryption. To verify if the encryption is working good, the user needs to click over the verify button. This will take the user to a page with a QR code and a string of 60 numbers.
And if your friend is near you, scan their QR code with your phone with the given option. if the code matches, a green tick comes and you are good to go.

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IPL on Your Mobile Phone!!!!

IPL 6 has started. But this time due to very tight schedule we are not able to celebrate the real enthusiasm of the matches. If you are also the victim of your tight schedule then you can enjoy the IPL matches on your mobile phones. We have come up with the list of some apps that will make this IPL season more savoury for you.  These apps help you to watch the IPL matches live on your mobile phones. These apps are free and work on IOS, Android, Blackberry and Windows Phones.

1.       espn cricinfo

it is an official application of ESPN cricinfo, that presents every aspects of the match on your mobile. After installing this app on your cell phone you can enjoy the entire international, ICC tournament, English County Championship and IPL matches. Apart from these you can have news related to cricket, commentary, cricket highlight videos and expert’s opinion just one click away. Apart from these the magazine of ESPN cricinfo is also available here that can be watched with audio-video. With the help of special selection you can watch the situation of your favourite team. There is a special ‘push notification’ option through which you can receive Live score alerts. This app is available for Android, Blackberry, Windows and IOS users.

2.       Cricbuzz Cricket Scores and News:

If you are enlisted in those cricket lovers, who not only concerns about the match result, but also have a keen interests in the records made in the cricket matches, then, the  ‘Cricbuzz Cricket Scores and News’ app is especially for you guys. Here you can not only get the cricket score alerts but also keep an eye on player’s profile. You can also know the current rating of your favourite team or any player. The live updates of International matches, ICC tournaments and IPL matches are also available here. Apart from these you can read editorials related to cricket. And the best part is that you can even share the match score through SMS, email or any social networking sites. This app is available for IOS, windows, Blackberry and Android.

3.       Official Pepsi IPL 2013 for Blackberry 10

This app is available in the apps world for new OS of Blackberry – Blackberry10. With this app users of OS 10 can get the latest updates regarding IPL 2013. This 3 MB app is available for free at the ‘apps world’.

 4.       Nextgtvmobile

It is a television app which installs a small TV in your mobile. In this TV you can add your favourite channels and thus watch programmes broadcasted on those channels. Just add sports channel in this TV and watch the IPL matches. Thus you can watch the IPL on road while walking, or driving, or even in your office. This app is for Androides and can be downloaded from ‘Google Play’.

5.       IPL Score and Schedule

This app helps you to get latest updates of IPL on your screen. You can’t watch matches through this app, but it can keep you updated with latest info. This app also, can be downloaded from ‘Google Map’.

6.       I.P.L ringtones and others

With this application you can easily download ringtones and wallpaper regarding IPL. Every beats regarding IPL will be installed in your cell phone, which you can use as your ringtone. You can also download wallpapers regarding IPL teams, and, can be used for further requirements.

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Onavo: The App That Will Save Your Data Tarrif And Thus Your Money

It happens many times that your data limit ends and you are not aware of that. And, the further data uses costs your main balance. If you are the regular victim of this type of problem, then there is an application that will keep an eye on your data usage.

Onavo Extended is a free app built for iPhone and Android that crunches down the data used for apps for email and web browsing. Thus, if you are fixed data plan, this app should be the first thing to download. The app can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play. Unless, you are among those who don’t care about their money.

There are some other applications also available in the market for data monitoring. But Onavo not only tracks the data usage but also notifies on set quotas. Also, the app analyses the other apps for their data-hogging nature and notify you. Even when you are installing a new app, it notifies whether the app is data hog type or not.

Once the application is installed, it runs in the background. Thus, at any time you can see its colored bar charts to know how much data and eventually the money you have saved. The app may help to extend the data plan by upto 5 times.

The streamed data to your phone cannot be compressed at the moment, e.g. streaming through Spotify or Skype. But it can handle any data downloaded like emails and images.

 There are two versions of Onavo-

Onavo Extend-it extends your data plan by up to 5 times

Onavo Count- it monitors your data and thus controls your data bill.

It can also be downloaded from the website www.onavo.com

Some features of this app has been categorised here-

    CONTROL:

1.      Provides a simple and clear report

2.      Know the spaces where you spent your data

3.      Catch the data hoggers

    REDUCE:

1.    Enables data compression

2.    Helps you to smartly utilize your data.

3.    Use apps wisely.

    SAVE:

1.    Less data usage, thus less cost

2.    No more over usage charges.

3.    Tension free roaming.

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LG Optimus Vu: A Step Towards Challenging Samsung's Supremacy

Although, Samsung is now the leading mobile company in today’s scenario, with its different flagships such as Samsung Galaxy Note II with improved form factor with a stellar hardware upgrade in respect to its previous version “Note”, the rivals are already nipping at the company’s heel. We are to look here at two new quad-core phablets and see if they are any near to compete with the Note II

LG Optimus Vu

Whenever we think of  Phablets, a large screen comes in our mind, but the LG’s flagship ‘Vu’ is just humongous. This is mainly due to its squarer 4:3 screen. The diagonal measurement of phone screens is 5 inches; so this proportion is always going to make for a wider display while compared to other 5-inch devices that use the widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio.

    

PROS

The Phablet’s big screen gives the user a delightful experience while reading or browsing your favourite websites. Even in the direct sun, the Phablet gives no hindrance. Photos, games and movies are rendered withrich colour complexion and optimum saruration. With this, the 4:3 aspect ratio causes not that good experience with the widescreen videos. Still, the Optimus Vu provides great overall performance, playing full HD videos smoothly, easy and unhindered support of high definition games, and, with these, seemless multitasking. The camera is capable of good clicks. And the video recording is mind blowing- with a powerful microphone that captures clear audio with less ambient disturbances

CONS

The phone is just too wide, so, cumbersome to hold during the phone calls. There's a shortcut button on the top of the Phablet that lets us access Notes, the app where we can pen notes quickly with the associated stylus. But, the dilemma is, the phone does not have a slot to carry the stylus. And the last, the Vu doesn't delivergood battery backup, lasting less than 10 hours in the day.

The Phablet has the price of abour Rs. 29,000 in India.

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New Introductions From HP- ENVY x2 & ENVY 23

HP has announced three consumer notebooks introducing multitouch display including a hybrid PC with unique design that provides people with choices to access information.

These notebook PCs are the first HP product that will be loaded with Microsoft Windows 8. The HP envy X2 is an influential PC with advantages of both notebook and a tablet. It is an ultrathin hybrid PC that has a detachable screen which becomes a full tablet when separated from the keyboard via  a seamless magnetic latch.

The HP SpectreXT TouchSmart Ultrabook and HP ENVY TouchSmart Ultrabook 4 are multitouch ultramobile PCs.

 HP ENVY x2

The HP x2 is a 11.6 inch diagonal HD touchscreen capable display notebook which solves the dilemma of people opting what to take with them- a notebook or a tablet. Thus, giving the consumers the power of a notebook along with a tablet in a single stylish and lightweight device. The device features a sleek aluminium finish body and an innovative magnetic hinge yhat enable the smooth guidance of the tablet into place. The whole setup weighs only 3.1 pound, while the tablet portion weighs just 1.5 pounds.

The screen provides a superb visual experience both indoors and outdoors with its ultrawide viewing angles and bright , 400 nit In-Plane Switching Panel. The notebook is provided with an HD webcam in the front and an 8 MP camera on the back, enabling the users to capture high-quality photos and videos.

The Notebook also features the best sounding and richest audio experience with its Beats Audio TM. An optional stylus is provided with the notebook for writing, drawing and navigating with accuracy.

The HP ENVY x2 also enables easy sharing and connection with friends and family. It consist of a new application namely HP Connected Photo for seamless sync of photos across multiple devices and also offers basic editing options and instant sharing capabilities for various social networks.

The device has a solid state memory which enables it for faster startup and improves reliability.

The device will be available in India from January 2013 at Rs 59,990.

HP ENVY 23

HP ENVY 23 is a  new AiO(All In One) desktop, is a TouchSmart desktop, having a 23-inch HD display that can deliver stunning graphics on its full 1080p resolution with multitouch technology and claims an ultra-thin design and powerful performance. The desktop is powered with the latest Intel Core i5 processor and 1 terabyte hard disc, along with Beats audio technology and TrueVision HD camera.

The fundamentals of the system are built around a high definition 23-inch touchscreen display that delivers a stunning graphics on its full 1080p resolution. The screen provides a 16:9 aspect ratio at a 1920X1080. While there are certainly more expansive displays available, the 23-inch configuration has become the genuine standard for most larger desktops in recent years. It provides enough screen real plantation to be useful without crowding your desk. The frame that supports this display is very stable and stylish without looking overly useful like other opponents. The center base of this frame is curved slightly and provides a comfortable resting place for the wireless keyboard when not in use

HP Envy 23 is provided with an HDMI connection that can be used for a gaming console or other HDMI source on the display. This PC could quite literally become the hub of all online and entertainment activity and helps to eliminate additional displays in the room.

The HP Envy 23  provides a Blu-ray drive and a TV tuner. 

This helps it further conduit the gap between a  PC and an entertainment center.

This PC is now available in the Indian market at Rs 71,990.

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GALAXY CAMERA: The Android Boosted Camera

Everyone wants to keep a record of his past. People do it mainly by clicking picture or they make videos. And, keeping picture of their every great moment has always been popular. Not in the present world, this custom has been followed since ages. Earlier, people used to keep portrait of their unforgettable moments. But now, the era has come of digital camera, in which, people take snapshots and keep it in their gazettes like computer or disks.

samsung galaxy camera

And now, Samsung has launched a new android running digital camera. This has been named Galaxy Camera by the company and is powered by Android 4.1 (Jelly beans). The addition of Android in a digital camera has added many special features that cannot be imagined with the other digital cameras. the camera can record video in slow motion and thus give a bizarre feeling without the need of playing any video in slow motion.

The camera comes with an amazing set of 65 editing features on board, thus giving one the opportunity of editing their pics with ease. The Auto Face Calibration feature helps us to edit the picture in precise detail and with ease. The Galaxy Camera comes at the price of Rs 29,990 in India

samsung galaxy camera

The features like-

• Instant upload to a tablet via Wi-Fi without any need of any external router.
• The camera features remote triggering through any Android phone or tablet.
• The Samsung’s Allshare Play Technology in this camera uses the Camera’s HD video recorder to record and relay action to other member of any multiplayer game.
• Voice control option allows the user to control various functions such as 'Zoom in' and 'Shoot' through voice.
• It is advertised to have a 21x super long zoom lens
• Back up photos in the cloud automatically

The main specification of the camera are-

o   16.1 Megapixel lens

o   2.35 x 4.16 inches touchscreen

o   Auto and manual modes including aperture priority and shutter priority

o   8GB internal memory, 32 GB SD card support

o   Intel Infeon XMM6262 Communication processor

o   Application processor: Samsung Quad Core, Exynos 4412 processor

o   3.7 Volt, Lithium Ion, 1650mAh battery

o   Weighing 300g

o   Wi Fi, Bluetooth, GPS

o   Editing Modes, Camcorder, DivX®, Geo-tagging,  HD Recording, HD Playback, Video Share, TV-Out, Online Image Uploading

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WhatsApp Messanger: Boon for Mobile Texters!!

If you want some application that will send messages through your mobile free of cost then WhatsApp messanger is the answer for this. It is a cross-plattform mobile messaging application which allow us to exchange messages without having to pay for messages. WhatsApp uses the save internet data plan thet we use for email and web browsing, thus there is no cost to message and stay in touch with our friend.
Also, we can create groups, send each other unlimited images, video and audio messages. The WhatsApp application is available for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone and these phones can all message each other.

System Requirements:

iPhone
Compatible with iPhone.
Requires iOS 3.1 or later

Blackberry
BlackBerry OS 4.6 or above
BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) or BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES)

Nokia
Minimum requirements:
Unlimited data plan!
Nokia Series 40 phone.
Nokia S60 3rd edition, 5th edition, Symbian^3,
Symbian Anna, or Symbian Belle Operating System

Supported devices:
Nokia C3-00 · Nokia C3-01 · Nokia X2-01 · Nokia X3-02 · Nokia X2-00
Nokia Asha: 201 · 300 · 302 · 303 · 306 · 311
Symbian: X7 · E6 · N8 · C6 · C7 · E7 · 500 · 600 · 603 · 700 · 701 · 808
S60 5th edition: Nokia 5800 · Nokia 5530 · Nokia 5230 · Nokia 5233
Nokia 5235 · Nokia N97 · Nokia N97 mini · Nokia X6 · Nokia X5-01 · Nokia C6
Nokia C5-03 · S60 3rd edition: Nokia 5700 · Nokia 6110 · Nokia 6120 · Nokia 6121
 Nokia 6124 · Nokia 6700 · Nokia 6290 · Nokia E51 · Nokia E63 · Nokia E66
 Nokia E71 · Nokia E90 Communicator · Nokia N76 · Nokia N81 · Nokia N81 8GB
Nokia N82 · Nokia N95 · Nokia N95 8GB · Nokia 5320 · Nokia 5630 · Nokia 5730
 Nokia 6210 · Nokia 6220 · Nokia 6650 fold · Nokia 6710 Navigator · Nokia 6720
 Nokia 6730 · Nokia 6760 Slide · Nokia 6790 Surge · Nokia C5 · Nokia E52
 Nokia E55 · Nokia E72 · Nokia E73 · Nokia E75 · Nokia E5 · Nokia N78
 Nokia N79 · Nokia N85 · Nokia N86 8MP · Nokia N96

Unsupported carriers:
C3-00 devices on Telcel in Mexico (please go here for more info)
Vodafone in Portugal
VIVO in Brazil
Claro in Argentina
Airtel, Idea, Vodafone, Tata Docomo and possibly others in India

Windows
Requirement:
Windows Phone 7.5 or higher

App requires:
location services
data services
microphone
music and video library
push notification service
phone identity
camera
contacts
camera

Download link:
http://www.whatsapp.com/download/

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Thermoacoustic Refrigeration

Thermoacoustic refrigeration is a type of refrigeration in which sound energy is used for creating the cooling effect. Thus no harmful chemicals are required. Firstly, let us understand what does the thermoaccoustic means-‘Thermoacoustic’ or thermoacoustics explains the relation between heat and sound. It is a science that explains how sound energy can be converted to heat or vice versa, and explains how to realize the conversion practically by means of special kind of engines and refrigerators.

Now, talking about refrigeration-it means the removal of heat from cold place and dumping it to relatively hot place (thereby further cooling the cold place) by means of some kind of ‘mechanical work.

•         The Principle of REFRIGERATION: The main principle of refrigeration is to pump heat from lower temperature to higher using work input. In case of thermoacoustic refrigeration, a   high pressure waves are employed for the required heat transfer. This pressure wave is generated from high frequency sound wave.

Main parts of thermoacoustic Refrigerator-

•      Two main parts

–     Driver

•      Houses the Loudspeaker

–     Resonator

•      Houses the gas (in this case Helium)

•      The hot and cold heat exchangers

•       houses the Stack

Working of the Thermoacoustic Refrigeration(part by part):

•      Moving coil Loudspeaker

–     Inside 2 magnets with metal coil between them, current is induced causing coil to move

–     Creates sound waves up to 200 dB!

•      Resonator—where gas cooling and compression take place

–     Uses inert gas, commonly Helium

•      Stack

–     Series of small parallel channels through which pressure and velocity of waves change

–     In between the heat exchangers

•      Heat Exchangers        

–     Hot heat exchanger to remove excess heat

–     Cold heat exchanger for refrigeration

 

Advantages

•      Uses sound for refrigeration –no harmful chemicals (CFC’s, HFC’s, HCFC’s)

•      Few moving parts—more reliable

•      Not harmful to the environment

Disadvantages

•      Most efficient is approaching 40% of Carnot limit

•      20-30% overall efficiency 

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mechanical wear and tear sensors-Boon for Machines

A new type of wireless sensor has been developed by the scientists at The University of Manchester. this sensor will be able to remotely monitor mechanical parts and systems. the merit of this sensor is that it can be seamlessly fitted inside  motors, wheel bearings, gearboxes, diesel engines and door mechanisms, in which faults can occur.
Once the sensors are fitted, they would be enable to check the health of the parts to be remotely monitored by computers which would then use the data to predict which parts require maintenance or need replacing - before they actually fail.

This could lead to a new scenario in the workshop of the mechanical industries wih no failure and zero accidents due to it. Also, it would schedule the time when the parts require maintainance like lubrication, change of parts, etc. Thus will help in in proper scheduling and production in the workshop.

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