Technology

HTC One M9 pictures reportedly leaked ahead of official launch

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Pictures of HTC’s new model called One M9 has reportedly been leaked out just days before its scheduled launch.

According to the Verge, Mobile Geeks has come across online listings of HTC’s new flagship – expected to be called the One M9 – which provide a full set of specifications and press images alongside a price of 749 euros in Germany.

The leaked pictures show that the new phone will have a 2GHz octa-core Snapdragon 810 processor, 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage plus microSD expansion.

Genes involved in Allergies, Asthma identified

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Scientists have identified over 30 genes that drastically affect an antibody that is involved in allergies and asthma.

According to the researchers from Canada, the UK, Sweden and the US, found that the genes are concentrated in eosinophils, a white cell that ignites inflammation in asthmatic airways. The genes indicate when the eosinophils are activated and primed to cause the most damage.

Skin cells can produce sperms, eggs

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In a breakthrough, researchers led by an Indian-origin scientist, Azim Surani, have shown that stem cells from the skin of two adults of the same sex can be used to make egg and sperm cells.

Scientists at Cambridge University collaborated with Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science and used stem cell lines from embryos as well as from the skin of five different adults.
Experts had earlier created live baby mice using engineered eggs and sperm, but until now have struggled to make human version of these ‘primordial germ’ or stem cells.

Microsoft developing app for finding friends on Windows phone

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In a bid to go head-to-head against Apple’s Find My Friends, Microsoft is reportedly building an app called People Sense, which would integrate Bing Maps with messaging and calling features.

The app, currently code-named Buddy Aware, will provide real-time location info for the people you follow along with detailed directions to contacts’ locations and calling and messaging baked right in, reported The Verge.

However, it is not yet clear when it will be released.

ANI

Apple to allow users to help test upcoming iOS releases

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Apple is reportedly getting ready to allow users with public betas to test its upcoming iOS releases, a report said.

Apple’s iOS 8.3, which introduces support for wireless CarPlay, new emoji, and easier Google logins, is expected to be released in beta form via the firm’s AppleSeed program in mid-March, reported The Verge.

An even more crucial beta is going to follow iOS 9, Apple’s next milestone release, after it releases the software at WWDC this June.

Microsoft developing People Sense app for finding friends on Windows phone

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In a bid to go head-to-head against Apple’s Find My Friends, Microsoft is reportedly building an app called People Sense, which would integrate Bing Maps with messaging and calling features.

The app, currently codenamed Buddy Aware, will provide real-time location info for the people you follow along with detailed directions to contacts’ locations and calling and messaging baked right in, reported The Verge.

However, it is not yet clear when it will be released. (ANI)

Robots bad news for humans, finds study

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Fascinating as they may look and sound, but robots in the long run, are bad news for humans, a new study warns.

Researchers simulated an economy featuring two types of workers — high-tech employees who produce new software code, and low-tech workers who produce human services (such as artists, teachers priests etc), Press Herald reported.

Over time robots “can leave all future high-tech workers and, potentially, all future low-tech workers worse off”, the researchers wrote.

Microsoft updates Windows Defender to remove Superfish adware

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Microsoft has updated its Windows Defender to remove the Superfish adware which reportedly made Lenovo users susceptible to attacks.

According to the Verge, researchers are reporting that Windows Defender, Microsoft’s onboard anti-virus software, is now actively removing the Superfish software that came pre-installed on many Lenovo computers. Windows Defender will also carry the task of resetting any SSL certificates that were bypassed by Superfish, and restore the system to proper working order.

Sun’s magnetic field controls heliosphere’s shape much more than previously thought

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A new study of the solar system suggests that astrophysical jets are driven by the sun.

As the sun skims through the galaxy, it flings out charged particles in a stream of plasma called the solar wind, and the solar wind creates a bubble extending far outside the solar system known as the heliosphere.

For decades, scientists have visualized the heliosphere as shaped like a comet, with a very long tail extending thousands of times as far as the distance from the Earth to the sun.

NASA announces winners of first Mars challenge

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NASA has announced the winners of its first Mars Balance Mass Challenge that asked for design ideas for small science and technology payloads that could provide dual purpose as ejectable balance masses on spacecraft entering the Martian atmosphere.

Texas-based Ted Ground was awarded $20,000 for his idea to study the Martian atmosphere by releasing material that could be seen and studied by other Martian spacecraft in orbit and on the ground.

Mark Zuckerberg likens Facebook access to police service 911

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in a recent interview with Bloomberg, compared access to the social network with access to critical services like 911.

According to the Verge, Zuckerberg said that he considered the model to be most similar to is 911 in the US, adding that even if one had not paid for a phone plan, the person could always dial 911 , and if there is a crime or a health emergency or a fire, one get basic help.

YouTube set to launch paid subscription model in next few months

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YouTube is set to unveil a paid subscription model in the coming months.

According to PC World, YouTube’s head of content and business acquisitions, Robert Kyncl, revealed Wednesday at the Code/Media conference in Laguna Niguel, California that the site plans to launch a subscription model within the next few months.

Kyncl said that the site was currently “fine tuning the experience for the subscription model”.

The report said that YouTube also intended to bring its paid Music Key service out of beta in a few months’ time. (ANI)

Lenovo’s Superfish bug exposing laptop users to attack

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Researchers have found that Lenovo’s Superfish bug can easily give way to attackers looking to breach the systems using the security flaws opened up by the software.

According to the Verge, Superfish is present on Lenovo laptops sold between September 2014 and January 2015, although Lenovo says no Thinkpads were shipped with the software.

Researchers have reportedly found and published a password that can turn a security flaw into an active carrier of attack.

Blackberry set to release software update for older smartphones

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Blackberry has announced that it will be soon releasing a software update – version 10.3.1 -for its older smartphones.

The update, which also contains bug fixes for latest models, will be essentially for products including the BlackBerry Z10, Z30, and Q10.

According to the Verge, for its QWERTY devices, BlackBerry is bringing over the extensive list of keyboard shortcuts that debuted on the Classic. 10.3.1 also brings the company’s virtual assistant – BlackBerry’s answer for Siri, Google Now, and Cortana – to prior BlackBerry 10 devices.

NASA’s MAVEN probe completes deep dips on Mars

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NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (Maven) spacecraft has completed the first of five deep-dip manoeuvers designed to gather measurements closer to the lower end of the Martian upper atmosphere.

“During normal science mapping, we make measurements between an altitude of about 150 kms and 6,200 kms above the surface,” said Bruce Jakosky, MAVEN principal investigator at the University of Colorado.

Twitter facing flak over 500,000 porn images appearing on platform everyday

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At least 500,000 porn images are posted on Twitter everyday however, the company has refused to do anything to protect children against it, a report said.

Pornographers are increasingly using the micro-blogging platform to target children, even with internet filters in place, reported The Daily Star.

While Facebook and Google, consented to attending a high-level summit on how to tackle web porn but Twitter failed to turn up.

Labour’s Helen Goodman, 57, left, said that online porn is a serious problem but Twitter doesn’t appear to be taking it seriously.

Man-made debris putting marine animals at extinction risk

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Man-made debris such as plastic and glass are contributing to potential extinction of some of the already endangered marine species, a study says.

“It is evident that marine debris may be contributing to the potential for species extinction,” said professor Richard Thompson from the Plymouth University in Britain.

From reports recorded from across the globe, the researchers found evidence of 44,000 animals and organisms becoming entangled in, or swallowing debris.

Plastic waste responsible for nearly 92% life-threatening cases in marine life

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Debris in the ocean, such as plastic and glass, has been having a life-threatening global impact on marine life.

Nearly 700 species of marine animal have been recorded as having encountered man-made debris according to the most comprehensive impact study in more than a decade.

Researchers at Plymouth University found evidence of 44,000 animals and organisms becoming entangled in, or swallowing debris, from reports recorded from across the globe.

MAVEN spacecraft accomplishes first Martian deep-dip campaign

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NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution has completed the first of five deep-dip maneuvers designed to gather measurements closer to the lower end of the Martian upper atmosphere.

Bruce Jakosky of the University of Colorado said that during normal science mapping, they make measurements between an altitude of about 150 km and 6,200 km (93 miles and 3,853 miles) above the surface and during the deep-dip campaigns, they lower the lowest altitude in the orbit, known as periapsis, to about 125 km (78 miles) which allows them to take measurements throughout the entire upper atmosphere.

Experimental drug defies obesity in mice

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Scientists conducted a study where an anti-inflammatory drug was able to counter obesity in mice.

According to Toshihiro Nakajima of Tokyo Medical University in Japan, the finding that a key regulator of energy expenditure and body weight is controlled by a drug-targeted inflammatory enzyme opens new possibilities for pharmacologically modulating body weight.

Black holes’ ferocious winds ‘restrict’ growth of galaxies

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A new research has revealed that black holes’ intense winds stunt the galaxies’ growth and prevent new stars from forming.

Using the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (link is external) (NuSTAR), researchers were able to use the X-ray spectra of an extremely luminous black hole (quasar PDS 456) to detect a nearly spherical stream of highly ionized gas streaming out of it.

The discovery allowed astronomers to measure, for the first time, the strength of ultra-fast black hole winds and show that they are mighty enough to affect the fate of their host galaxies.

Most sunlight damage to skin occurs in dark

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So it turns out that most damage to the skin due to exposure to sunlight occurs in dark, hours after we have actually been out in daylight.

A team of Yale-led researchers claimed that exposure to UV light from the sun or from tanning beds can damage the DNA in melanocytes, the cells that make the melanin that gives skin its color. This damage is a major cause of skin cancer, the most common form of cancer in the United States.