Researchers Hack Mobile Data Communications

  Researchers plan to show today how to break the encryption that protects information sent over the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), a standard commonly used to send data to and from mobile devices, and from other devices such as smart meters. This breach makes it possible to listen in on data communications such as e-mail, instant messages, and Web browsing on smart phones, as well as updates from automated industrial systems.  The researchers, who will make their announcement at the Chaos Communication Camp, a hacker event taking place near Berlin, Germany, previously cracked the Global System for Mobile Communications...

Read More

Thin Displays as Wristbands

The U.S. Army is testing a prototype "watch" that's lightweight and thin and has a full-color display. This display is built on flexible materials encased in a rugged plastic case and can be worn on a wristband to display streaming video and other information. It uses newly developed phosphorescent materials that are efficient at converting electricity into red, blue, and green light, which means the display needs less power to work. Most phones, laptops, and TVs today use liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) controlled by electronics built on glass. To make more energy-efficient displays that are controlled by flexible electronics, which...

Read More

A Flexible Color Display

Researchers at HP Labs are testing a flexible, full-color display that saves power by reflecting ambient light instead of using a backlight. The prototype display's pixels are controlled by fast-switching silicon transistors printed on top of plastic. If the technology can be commercialized, the display will compete with liquid crystal screens as well as other low-power color flexible displays in the works. "Our goal is to make a display with the color saturation of newsprint that can be manufactured for about $10 per square foot," says Carl Taussig, director of the Information Surfaces Lab at HP's Palo Alto, CA, research center. At...

Read More

Energy-Harvesting Displays

Adding solar cells to liquid-crystal displays could help recover a significant amount of energy that's ordinarily wasted in powering them. Two research groups have created light filters that double as photovoltaic cells, a trick that could boost the battery life of phones and laptops. Over 90 percent of the displays sold this year will use liquid-crystal display (LCD) technology. LCDs are, however, tremendously inefficient, converting only about 5 percent of the light produced by a backlight into a viewable image. The LCD in a notebook computer consumes one-third of its power. This type of screen remains dominant because manufacturers...

Read More

Why Google Wants Motorola

Google announced today that it has agreed to acquire the smart-phone manufacturer Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. In a statement, Google said the deal was largely driven by the need to acquire Motorola's patent portfolio, which it said would help it defend Android against legal threats from competitors armed with their own patents. This issue has come to the fore since a consortium of technology companies led by Apple and Microsoft purchased more than 6,000 mobile-device-related patents from Nortel Networks for about $4.5 billion, in early July. Battle lines are being drawn around patents, as companies seek to protect their...

Read More

Personal Security

Many medical implants, such as insulin pumps and pacemakers, are equipped with wireless radios that let doctors download data about the patient's condition and adjust the behavior of the implant. But these devices are vulnerable to hackers who can eavesdrop on stored data or even reprogram the implant, causing, for example, a pacemaker to shock a heart unnecessarily. While it may be possible to engineer new, more secure implants, millions of people are walking around with vulnerable devices that can't be replaced without surgery. An anti-hacking device presented this week at the annual SIGCOMM communications conference in Toronto may...

Read More

Five Ways Apple Should Spend Its $76 Billion

Last week, Apple reported that it now has reserves of $76 billion in cash, short term securities and long term securities. As many wags pointed out, that's more than the cash-strapped U.S. government has left. On Tuesday, Apple also briefly surpassed Exxon Mobil to become the world's most highly valued company, at more than $340 billion in stock-market valuation. With tens of billions of dollars to throw around and super-high investor confidence, shouldn't Apple reinvest in some cutting-edge R&D that could make it even more successful? Apple has already shown the value of introducing unique new technologies for its products: the...

Read More

New System Swaps the Cash Register for an iPhone

  Square, a new startup based in San Francisco and headed by Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey, opened its doors amid much hype and fanfare last week. But some experts are already questioning whether the company will be able to sustain itself. The startup hopes to make it make it big by allowing virtually anyone to accept credit card payments by connecting a simple reader to a mobile device. Dorsey, Square's CEO, envisions the technology being used by small businesses, street vendors, and even individuals who want to sell a couch on Craigslist or collect money from a friend. However, some experts question whether the device will find...

Read More

Can Video Kill the Credit-Card Form?

The days of tediously having to punch in credit-card details whenever you make an online purchase may be numbered, thanks to a new payment system that turns any webcam into a credit-card reader. Created by San Mateo, California-based Jumio, the new system, called Netswipe, not only makes online transactions simpler, but also improves security, says company CEO Daniel Mattes. The company's management team includes Facebook cofounder Eduardo Saverin. Netswipe prompts a customer to hold up his credit card to his webcam. An on-screen video feed guides the customer to hold it within a template so it can capture the details. "It takes about...

Read More