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Yesterday, Samsung dropped the bomb at the North American International Auto Show,  announcing  its energy storage subsidiary SDI is readying a next-gen electric vehicle battery that crams enough oomph to cover distances of up to 372 miles on a single cycle and packs a mighty quick charge feature. In addition to the ability to regain 310 miles of driving in about 20 minutes of charging, the hi-tech battery also comes in an efficient, lightweight body that weighs 10 percent less and involves less components. The South Korean tech heavyweight hopes this innovation will clinch its spot as a leading electric mobility manufacturer. Here’s what the company said: The development of the fast charging technology is making a rapid advancement thanks to its technological know-how in materials and processes that vastly decreased the resistance inside a battery cell. With a 20min charge, you can have a driving range of up to 500km which is 80 percent of the capacity. This means that on

It appears the much-awaited Galaxy S8 might hit the shelves earlier than expected. A new report suggest Samsung  is considering releasing a limited batch of its upcoming flagship handset ahead of its official launch. Citing undisclosed “industry” sources, South Korean news outlet The Investor  speculates  the smartphone could start shipping as early as February or March. “There is a possibility of the S8 phones being showcased a month or two ahead of the actual release date,” an anonymous insider told the publication. The report runs counter to previous rumors suggesting the S8 could  make its debut  at Mobile World Congress in February as well as more recent gossip hinting the possibility of a  postponed launch  in mid-April. According to The Investor, Samsung has its goals set on shipping a much higher volume of its new flagship device compared to previous years. There’s no mention of the exact number, but to give you some context, the manufacturer shipped 45 million units

Uber has settled on Wixom, Michigan as the base for its new autonomous vehicle research center, which will focus on embedding the company’s self-driving system into cars. Michigan is one of the hottest areas for tech and auto firms trialling self-driving tech. This gives Uber easy access to several automakers that could become potential partners in the future, when the ride-hailing firm rolls out its self-driving taxis in major cities. See Also:   Northwest U.S. drivers won’t hand the wheel to self-driving cars Uber started to look into a Michigan base of operations in September, but only finalized the location this month,  according to Detroit Free Press . It has not said if it will test its self-driving vehicles on public roads in Michigan, as it does in Pittsburgh and Arizona. “We will be focused on integrating our technology into automakers’ vehicles,” said Sherif Marakby, Uber vice president of global vehicle development. “We started a few months ago on recruiting and

What is a backdoor? By definition: "Backdoor is a feature or defect of a computer system that allows surreptitious unauthorized access to data, " either the backdoor is in encryption algorithm, a server or in an implementation, and doesn't matter whether it has previously been used or not. Yesterday, we published a story based on findings reported by security researcher Tobias Boelter that suggests  WhatsApp has a backdoor  that "could allow" an attacker, and of course the company itself, to intercept your encrypted communication. The story involving the world's largest secure messaging platform that has over a billion users worldwide went viral in few hours, attracting reactions from security experts, WhatsApp team, and Open Whisper Systems, who partnered with Facebook to implement end-to-end encryption in WhatsApp. Note:  I would request readers to read complete article before reaching out for a conclusion. And also, suggestions and opinions are alway

In an unusual episode of bullies turned into victims, an anonymous hacker has breached a popular pay-for-hire mobile hacking agency known for selling surveillance and data extraction solutions to intelligence and law enforcement organs. Motherboard  reports  the vigilante attacker has lifted 900GB of data from Israeli firm Cellebrite  and provided the publication with a copy of the stolen information. The retrieved data includes customer credentials, databases and immense amounts of technical data describing the company’s products. Cellebrite’s bestseller is the portable Universal Forensic Extraction Device (UFED) which has the capacity to rip data from a wide variety of smartphones as long as the UFED-user is in possession of the handset. Once plugged in, the UFED can pull data like SMS messages, emails and call logs. The Israeli firm has purportedly been supplying a number of US government agencies as well as authoritarian regimes from the likes of Russia, the United Arab E

Apple’s 2016  MacBook  Pro was the first of its kind not to receive the coveted ‘buy’ recommendation from Consumer Reports. The recommendation to pass on Apple’s newest laptop offering stemmed from inconsistencies that saw users report anywhere from 3.75 to 19.5 hours of battery life. After a software fix, and a re-test over the holidays, Consumer Reports altered its rating to ‘buy.’ To resolve the issue Apple  issued a software fix to take care of an “obscure and intermittent bug” caused by turning off browser caching during the testing. The move is one Consumer Reports implements on all laptop tests and is designed to simulate real world browser usage According to Consumer Reports: With the updated software, the three MacBook Pros in our labs all performed well, with one model running 18.75 hours on a charge. We tested each model multiple times using the new software, following the same protocol we apply to hundreds of laptops every year. In the second test, the MacBook

Snapchat just addressed one of its most pressing problems: gaining a following. Launching today for some  Android  users and for  iOS  (and the rest of the Android crowd) shortly after, Snapchat’s universal search finally gives you a way to find new followers — or help them find you. While undoubtedly fun, the service continually met with criticism over the difficulty of gaining new followers. Snapchat users basically had to gain followers by sharing their username (or Snapcode) outside the service, hoping for influencer mentions, or adding everyone under the sun and hoping they reciprocated. None of these created a clear path for influencers from other platforms to dive in head-first to Snapchat. After the acquisition of  mobile search startup Vurb  last year, many assumed it would somehow get rolled into Snapchat in the near future. Once it shut itself down recently, the implication seemed clear that Snapchat had swallowed the company. Reportedly heading for a 2017 IPO

Posting comments onto a popular live stream can be a fruitless activity, with conversations moving so fast no one has time to see your message. Good news for those of you who want the attention: you can now pay to highlight comments and pin them to the top of live  YouTube  videos. Press the new dollar bill button next to the text box and you’ll be able to move a slider that determines the length your comment will be pinned, as well as the price you pay. Super Chats are highlighted in bright colors and big text, and can be pinned for up to 5 hours. Really though, it’s less for the commenters and more for the streamers. It’s an easy way for them to make a bit of extra cash from their biggest fans. Of course, there’s the matter of web hooligans; just think of the damage bratty rich kids can do. And though YouTube says you’ll be able to ban certain words or users, trolls have been getting around filters since the dawn of time. It’s bad enough policing a live stream when the comm

While reports about the upcoming  Galaxy S8  have been  relentlessly   rolling in  the past few weeks, the latest Samsung-related rumor suggests the company may be finally readying its  long-speculated  futuristic bendable handset for release. Citing undisclosed sources, The Korea Herald  reports  the mobile heavyweight could soon launch a smartphone with an outward-facing panel that folds out into a 7-inch tablet in the second half of this year.  The anonymous insiders told the South Korean publication Samsung is expected to ship over 100,000 units of the fold-out device in the third quarter of 2017. If the alleged number is anything to go by, it seems the company will be targeting the device to a niche audience – or perhaps has premium price point in mind. The phone-maker purportedly initially had plans to build a fold-in handset but ultimately ditched the idea, fearing users might find it inconvenient to unfold their device anytime they use it. Samsung was first said to be