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Tag: leaks

  • New Nexus 7 To Cost $229 For 16GB, $269 For 32GB [Rumor]

    Are we going to see the new Nexus 7 at next week’s Google event? There’s a good possibility, and it’s becoming even more likely after the latest leak.

    Android Central received a tip and photographic evidence from an unnamed retail source that claims to have the prices of the new Nexus 7. The image shows that the 16GB model of the new Nexus 7 will cost $229 and the 32GB new Nexus 7 will cost $269.

    As you can already see, the rumored prices are a slight bump up from the $200 and $250 price tags on the current Nexus 7 devices. Even then, the new prices are still insanely affordable, especially when you consider what’s reportedly inside the new tablets.

    Last week, supply sources within China said that the new Nexus 7 would come equipped with a new Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 CPU, a 1980×1200 display, a 5MP rear camera and a 1.2MP front camera. The new CPU is definitely the star of the show as its a pretty sizable upgrade from the Tegra 3 CPU in the original Nexus 7.

    Unfortunately, the leak doesn’t give us any more information. We’re still waiting to hear on whether or not Google will launch the new Nexus 7 alongside Android 4.3. There’s a good chance as Google typically announces new Android versions alongside announcements of new Nexus hardware.

    Now the only question is whether or not Sundar Pichai will announce both, just one or neither at the Google event next week. Previous reports have pegged both Android 4.3 and the new Nexus 7 for a July launch so it’s only natural for one to assume that next week’s Google event and today’s leak are no mere coincidences.

    Of course, we’ll be watching out for any announcements out of Google next week regarding software and hardware. They still owe us for that relatively boring Google I/O keynote so here’s hoping they have something good in store.

  • Edward Snowden Isn’t Leaving Russia Anytime Soon

    Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor that leaked the agency’s surveillance programs to newspapers all over the world for the past two months, is currently holed up in a Moscow airport as he awaits news on his asylum requests. It seems, however, that he doesn’t want to leave Russia anytime soon.

    RT reports that Snowden’s lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, has said that the whistleblower has no plans to leave Russia at the moment. Last week, Snowden formally submitted a request that he be granted temporary asylum in Russia. It looks like that temporary asylum may last longer than he anticipated as the U.S. is doing its best to make sure he isn’t granted asylum anywhere else.

    Interestingly enough, Kucherena also says that Snowden may request full Russian citizenship in the future if his asylum requests to South American countries don’t pan out. Of course, he will have to gain asylum in Russia first, and that may be somewhat problematic.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this month that he would grant Snowden asylum only if he stopped leaking secrets that harm the U.S. Later on, he said that “any activity of [Snowden] that could damage US-Russian relations is unacceptable for us.” Snowden is reportedly finished with leaking so it shouldn’t be too much a problem going forward.

    Snowden’s main concern now is the U.S. Kucherena says that he’s afraid “of torture, and that he could get executed.” It’s certainly in the realm of possibility as being convicted under the Espionage Act can lead to an execution sentence. He could agree to return to the U.S. if the Obama administration agreed to not charge him with violating the Espionage Act, but that’s a long shot.

    For now, Snowden will continue to live out of the transit zone in a Moscow airport. If he is ever granted asylum in Russia, he will be given all the rights and privileges of a Russian citizen. Even then, however, his life will probably never return to anything resembling normal.

  • Edward Snowden’s Asylum Search May End In Venezuela

    The question of just where NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden is going to wind up may be a bit closer to getting an answer. Those in contact with Snowden have suggested that Venezuela stands a good chance of being where he ends up.

    Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua have all offered Snowden asylum, though he reportedly applied in over 20 countries. Guardian journalist Greg Greenwald, who originally published the documents that Snowden leaked concerning the NSA’s domestic surveillance program, told Reuters today that Snowden would likely be choosing to go to Venezuela.

    Greenwald later backtracked from those comments a bit, saying on Twitter and in an interview with the Guardian that he did not mean that Venezuela is where Snowden would go, only that it was likely the best option of the three.

    Snowden is currently in the transit zone of the Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow. Legally speaking, that part of the airport is a bit of a limbo, as it is between the departure gate and formal entry into Russia. That means that, technically speaking, it isn’t Russian soil. While the legal protection of a transit zone is limited, the Russian authorities appear not to be expending much effort to extract Snowden, whose exact location remains unknown.

    Snowden arrived in Moscow last month after leaving Hong Kong, where he initially fled just before his leaks went public. While Russia has declined to extradite him to the United States, President Vladimir Putin has expressed his desire that Snowden find somewhere else to settle. Snowden has been conducting his search for asylum from the airport.

    Whichever of the three countries Snowden chooses, he is likely to have some difficulties getting there. American authorities have revoked his passport. Moreover, it is entirely likely that the U.S. will pressure its allies between Moscow and Latin America – of which there are, to put it mildly, quite a few – to block any plane Snowden is believed to be on from using their airspace.

    That being the case, you can bet that, unless something goes wrong, Snowden’s choice won’t be made public until he is safely on the ground in whichever country he chooses.

  • Leaked NSA Slide Reveals PRISM’s Brother – Upstream

    In early June, The Washington Post and The Guardian revealed through leaks provided by Edward Snowden that the NSA was in cahoots with major tech companies in a program called PRISM. In short, the leak claimed that the NSA could collect data directly from these companies’ servers, although the companies allegedly involved denied any involvement.

    Since then, a number of new leaks have shown just how PRISM works. It doesn’t indiscriminately gather up any and all information as previously thought. Instead, it goes through a system that tries to automatically remove any information pertaining to American citizens while retaining information on potential foreign threats. Unfortunately, the system isn’t perfect, and PRISM still collects a lot of data on American citizens. Even worse, the information collected can be used under a variety of circumstances.

    Now, fast forward to today – The Washington Post has published a new slide that reveals PRISM’s brother. The system, called Upstream, is a program that collects communications from the infrastructure that connect America to the rest of the world via underwater fiber cables.

    Leaked NSA Slide Reveals PRISM's Brother

    As you can see in the slide above, the NSA encourages its agents to use both services in unison to collect data on potential targets. It makes sense as PRISM is only useful for data that’s stored on tech companies’ servers. Upstream would allow them to collect data as it’s being transferred to and from the U.S. via underwater cables.

    You may also notice that the slide lists four names at the bottom of Upstream’s description – Fairview, Stormbrew, Blarney and Oakstar. What’s interesting about these is that nobody knows what they are. A previous report indicated that Blarney may be a system used to collect metadata being transferred along fiber cables. As for the other three, we can only assume that they are similar systems being used to collect or analyze data, much like PRISM’s Scissors, Nucleon and Pinwale.

    In short, the above slide indicates that the NSA has tapped into the Internet itself to collect data on targets. Unlike accessing information on servers, however, you can’t be targeted when you’re just pulling information straight from the source. Google learned this the hard way when it was caught accidentally pulling information from unsecured Wi-Fi routers with its street view cars. Something tells me the NSA won’t suffer the same consequences as Google did though.

  • Edward Snowden Predicted U.S. Response To His NSA Leaks

    In early June, Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor, worked with The Guardian and Washington Post to release a number of leaks regarding the NSA’s spy programs. In that first week, The Guardian also released a video interview with Snowden in which he touched upon the programs and why he decided to become a whistleblower.

    Now, The Guardian has released the second part of its interview with Snowden. It was filmed last month, but it seems more appropriate now than ever before as he accurately predicts how the U.S. will respond to his activities:

    In the month since this interview was recorded, a lot has happened. Snowden fled Hong Kong to avoid being picked up by the FBI and is now at a Moscow airport awaiting replies to his asylum requests. As for back home, the NSA and its affiliates have been caught lying to Congress twice. Members of Congress are also calling for legislation to scale back the agency’s power, while others, including President Obama, defend the agency saying that everything must be kept secret for a secret reason while assuring us that Americans are not targeted (spoilers: they are).

    Some intrepid filmmakers from Hong Kong have even already made a movie about Snowden. It’s pretty good.

    Even after all of the above, none of this is over by a long shot. Various outlets are still publishing Snowden’s leaks, and there’s always the chance that he could be arrested and sent back to the U.S. If that ever happens, however, he says that an encrypted treasure trove of NSA data will be unlocked and shared with the world.

  • New PRISM Slides Reveal How The NSA Collects And Analyzes Data

    When the NSA spy programs were leaked in early June, President Obama and his administration assured Americans that the programs were subject to rigorous oversight. We already knew that wasn’t exactly true, but new slides published by the Washington Post further confirm this.

    In four new slides published over the weekend, we have been given a better look at how PRISM operates. All we knew before was that it collected data from major Internet companies, and even then, those same companies claimed that the NSA couldn’t pull data directly from them. Well, they were kind of telling the truth as the first slide reveals the FBI puts “government equipment on private company property to retrieve matching information from a participating company.” The worst part about all this, however, is that the information collected by the FBI is sent to the NSA “without further review.” In other words, there’s very little oversight.

    New PRISM Slides Reveal NSA's Lack Of Oversight

    To be fair, there is some oversight. The above slide details how an analyst for the NSA submits a request for information about a new surveillance target. That request goes to a supervisor who will either endorse or deny the request based on a reasonable belief that the target is a “foreign national who is overseas.” The fun part is that “reasonable belief” is defined by 51 percent confidence on the part of the analyst. Good to know that NSA analysts must at least be a little over half confident.

    The next slide reveals how the information from private companies is analyzed. It shows an automated process that replaces oversight from human analysts with that of a computer. Data, upon arriving at the NSA, is filtered through a number of systems with code names like PRINTAURA, SCISSORS, NUCLEON, PINWALE, MAINWAY and MARINA. These systems filter data based upon type. For example, voice data is sent to NUCLEON and video data is sent to PINWALE.

    The NSA does employ two systems called FALLOUT and CONVEYANCE that try to automatically reduce the amount of information on Americans that’s collected by everything else. It’s something, but the reliability of computer systems to sort out data belonging to Americans from data belonging to foreign nationals isn’t exactly trustworthy.

    New PRISM Slides Reveal NSA's Lack Of Oversight

    The third slide shows how each target being surveilled is assigned a case notation. This allows the NSA to follow the movement of targets, and in some cases, perform real-time surveillance. The Washington Post explains that “the NSA may receive live notifications when a target logs on or sends an e-mail, or may monitor a voice, text or voice chat as it happens.” It’s noted that the availability of real-time surveillance depends on the provider so not every company allows it.

    New PRISM Slides Reveal NSA's Lack Of Oversight

    Finally, the fourth slide reveals the database that the NSA uses to look up information on targets. Besides looking like a badly built Web site from the mid-90s, the slide also reveals that there were 117,675 active surveillance targets in the database as of April 5. The good news is that not everybody is being watched, but the bad news is that information belonging to innocent Americans is still being picked up as “incidental data” as part of the surveillance on these targets.

    New PRISM Slides Reveals NSA's Lack Of Oversight

    As far as leaks go, this has been one of the more interesting ones, but there have been damaging leaks as well. It was recently revealed that the U.S. spies on not only its enemies, but its friends as well. Germany and France have both demanded that the U.S. come clean on claims that it has spied on its leaders and people. The two countries are even threatening to block trade negotiations over the spy program revelations.

    We’re not done with the leaks either as the government believes Edward Snowden was able to get away with pretty much everything related to the NSA and its spy programs. It’s only a matter of time before more of it is published, and all of it may be leaked if something were to happen to Snowden.

  • Somebody’s Already Made A Movie About Edward Snowden

    Well, that was fast.

    I humorously pondered earlier this week that a movie based on Edward Snowden’s life would be eventually made. Little did I know that a group of Hong Kong filmmakers would join forces to make a five minute short film about Snowden’s leaking of NSA documents and his run from a U.S. embarrassed by the revelations.

    Here’s the details of the film:

    We are a band of independent and amateur filmmakers in Hong Kong who were both excited and puzzled as to why Snowden chose to come to Hong Kong. While nearly every media outlet wanted to get their hands on him, we decided to produce a short fictional video to depict his experience in HK, and how it would have affected certain parties: Namely, the CIA contingent based in HK who would be tasked to find Snowden. The Hong Kong Police who would be stuck in between the US and China. And the journalists who want to get the scoop. It was also important for us not to ‘twist’ Snowden’s character. We really knew little about him. Although he is a central character, he is not the most prominent. It is more about the maelstrom of events surrounding him.

    The idea was hatched two days after he revealed his identity, and principal filming began on June 20th. We were also filming on the same day (23rd) when we learned Snowden had left the city. Therefore we ramped up production efforts and published our short film ‘Verax’ on the 25th. ‘Verax’ was the alias Snowden used when contacting journalists via encrypted chat services. We loved the idea of having Snowden here and the media frenzy it created. We really wanted to make a film based on such real-life news events, especially as it continued to develop. This project really tested our mettle especially when most of us had day jobs.

    The filmmakers note that they only made this for fun, and that they’re not trying to make a statement. They also say that they have never met Snowden and that this is a purely fictitious account of the events surrounding Showden’s coming out as the NSA leaker.

    Besides some bad acting from the CIA agents, it’s actually a pretty good short film. The choice to make the film more about the people around Snowden instead of the man himself makes it’s a much better film overall.

    [h/t: BuzzFeed]

  • Edward Snowden Will Release NSA Documents If He’s Caught

    Over the past month, a number of NSA spy programs have been revealed thanks to some leaked documents that came from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. It appears that he’s not done leaking either, and things could get much interesting if he’s caught.

    Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian journalist that wrote the original stories on the NSA surveillance program, told The Daily Beast that Snowden has an insurance file that contains all of the documents that he took from the NSA. The files have been given to “many different people around the world” to ensure that the “stories will inevitably be published.”

    To make things more interesting, the files that Snowden shared are all heavily encrypted. Those who have the files can not open them without the password and those passwords are hidden even from them. It’s not known how the information will be accessed, but Snowden apparently will give them full access in the event that something happens to him.

    In the meantime, Greenwald will continue to work through the thousands of documents that Snowden gave to him. He’s not going to “gratuitously publish thing” as he believes that would do more harm than good. Instead, he will be very selective in what he publishes making sure to avoid documents that detail the technical specifications of NSA systems or harm individuals within the CIA and NSA.

    As for Snowden, he’s still in Russia. To be more specific, he’s hiding out in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport since he can’t leave the transit zone on account of his passport being made invalid. In this situation, Russia could easily hand over Snowden to U.S. authorities, but Russian President Vladimir Putin says that his country doesn’t have an extradition treaty with U.S. In other words, there is no legal basis for Russia to extradite Snowden, but Putin would like Snowden to leave Russia at his earliest convenience because “it is better for us and for him.”

    Well, Snowden may leave Russia sooner rather than later, but the saga of the most wanted man on the planet isn’t going to end anytime soon. This is one for the history books, and possibly even a movie.

  • Yeezus, Kanye West’s New Album, Reportedly Leaks

    Ok, internet – you did it. You can pat yourself on the back. After days of clamoring over a possible leak date for Kanye West’s new album Yeezus, it may have just leaked for real.

    Just do a quick Twitter search for “Yeezus Leak” and you’ll find plenty of people claiming to have a source where you can get your hands on the leak. As Spin reports, it’s currently floating around the internet.

    Curious fans seem to have flooded popular leak site HasItLeaked.com – it’s currently down.

    Whatever the case, Kanye isn’t talking. Just 20 minutes ago he pointed his nearly 10 million Twitter followers to a new section of his site:

    Here’s the track list, which was leaked earlier.

    1. On Site
    2. Black Skinhead
    3. I Am God feat. God
    4. New Slaves feat. Frank Ocean
    5. Hold My Liqour feat. Chief Keef & Justin Vernon
    6. I’m In It
    7. Blood On The Leaves
    8. Guilt Trip feat. Kid Cudi
    9. Send It Up feat. King L
    10. Bound 2 feat. Charlie Wilson

    I’m not telling anyone what to do with this information. I’m just saying that the leak is out there. The album officially drops of June 18th. Carry on.

    [Image via Kanyewest.com]

  • Edward Snowden on Twitter Is Not Who You Think He Is

    It has been revealed that one Edward Snowden, a former technical assistant for the CIA, is the source of the leaked documents detailing the National Security Agency’s massive surveillance initiative that involves major tech companies like Google, Facebook, Yahoo, are Microsoft (although they deny involvement).

    Edward Snowden – he’s your whistleblower.

    @EdwardSnowden on Twitter – he’s not your whistleblower.

    In fact, he’s just an estate agent, horse racing enthusiast, and lover of family, friends, and football.

    The Twitter confusion has been interesting to watch:

    The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald, the man responsible for bringing the leaks to our attention and profiling the whistleblower, has tweeted about the Twitter mix-up:

    Twitter’s Edward Snowden seems to be taking it in stride, which is good:

    Sure, it’s all funny to you I’m sure. Just wait until you’re the subject of a Twitter mistaken identity.

    Here’s the real whistleblower:

  • NSA Whistleblower Comes Out, Congress Calls For Investigation

    The NSA had a rough time of it last week. It was revealed on Wednesday that the spy agency was collecting phone records from millions of Verizon subscribers. It was revealed a day later that the agency was also collecting online records from major tech firms like Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, AOL and more. Now the whistleblower who revealed these surveillance programs has revealed his true identity.

    After publishing the leaks last week, The Guardian revealed that Edward Snowden, a former technical assistant for the CIA, was behind the leaked documents. He was able to obtain said documents thanks to his current job as an outside contractor working with the NSA.

    So, why reveal his identity so soon? He said that has “no intention of hiding” because he know that’s he done nothing wrong. Those who support whistleblowers will back him up, but the Obama administration will undoubtedly slap him with charges of violating the Espionage Act. Even so, he says he is ready to give up his life, which includes his family in Hawaii, to stand up for what he believes in:

    “I’m willing to sacrifice all of that because I can’t in good conscience allow the US government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they’re secretly building.”

    Snowden is currently hiding out in Hong Kong, but he doesn’t even know how safe that is. He may be able to seek asylum in Iceland, however, as a member of its parliament, Birgitta Jonsdottir, has said that she’ll work with her government to ensure a speedy application process in the event he decides to seek asylum with the nation.

    Back at home, the House Intelligence Committee has called for Snowden to be prosecuted. House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers said that the leaks endangered American lives:

    “Taking a very sensitive classified program that targets foreign person on foreign lands, and putting just enough out there to be dangerous, is dangerous to us, it’s dangerous to our national security and it violates the oath of which that person took.”

    Rogers then argued that Snowden could have taken the matter up with Congress to investigate any potential abuses:

    “I argue that there’s other methods. He could come to the committees, if they had concern. We have IGs that they can go to in a classified way if they have concern.”

    On the other hand, Sen. Rand Paul, who has been very vocal in his opposition to the NSA, has said that he plans to use the public outrage against the NSA to fuel a Supreme Court challenge against the agency:

    “I’m going to be asking all the internet providers and all of the phone companies: Ask your customers to join me in a class action lawsuit. If we get 10 million Americans saying we don’t want our phone records looked at then maybe someone will wake up and something will change in Washington.”

    The debate over the NSA spying programs and what to do with Snowden is just beginning. We’re going to see and hear a lot more about the NSA over the coming weeks and months as people begin to ask more questions, and lawmakers debate the effectiveness and constitutionality of spying programs.

    In short, you better strap in. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

  • Nose Leaking Brain Fluid, Not Snot, Finds Arizona Man

    Allergies can be crippling, but usually some choice drugs and patience can get even the worst allergy sufferers through allergy season. Suffering a runny nose for over a year and a half, however, is another matter entirely. An Arizona man recently found that what he thought was allergies was actually brain fluid leaking from his nose.

    According to a Fox 10 report, after suffering a leaking nose for 18 months, Joe Nagy was told by a doctor that the fluid coming from his nose was actually brain fluid. It turned out that Nagy had a hole in the membrane protecting his brain.

    Doctors told Fox 10 that such a condition can be easy to miss, since many people simply assume they have a constantly running nose. Many patients find out about the problem when the fluid becomes infected. Nagy himself developed a serious case of meningitis just before undergoing brain surgery to repair his leaking membrane.

    The surgery used cartilage from Nagy’s nose to repair the membrane. It was successful and Nagy stated he was surprised by how quickly the issue was repaired.

    “I was waiting for the dribble, you know?” said Nagy. “I was so used to it every day, I got a hanky, a cloth ready, a tissue. Nothing. And all of a sudden, it’s never come back.”

  • Samsung Galaxy S 4 Might Ship Earlier Than Expected

    Samsung Galaxy S 4 Might Ship Earlier Than Expected

    It was revealed last week that the Galaxy S 4 would be available for pre-order with AT&T on April 16. It was assumed that the launch would come sometime in May, but a new leak suggests that we could be seeing Samsung’s latest flagship device hit retail, at least in Europe, in late April.

    SamMobile received a leak that says Samsung will start shipping the 16GB Galaxy S 4 3G in two weeks. The leak says that the shipments will hit Eastern Europe, Russia and the Ukraine first.

    What’s disappointing is that it seems the 3G Galaxy S 4 will be released first with the LTE S 4 scheduled for the week of May 19. If that’s the case, we could see the 3G variant of the Galaxy S 4 released before the LTE variant in the U.S. as well.

    Beyond AT&T’s announcement, there’s been no other carriers announcing pre-order plans for Samsung’s latest flagship device. At T-Mobile’s Un-Carrier event, the carrier said that the S 4 would be available on its network in May. AT&T would most likely get it before T-Mobile so an early May release in the U.S. seems likely.

    We may still see the S 4 launching in the U.S. in late April, but FCC regulations may prevent us from seeing the S 4 before our friends in Europe get their hands on the device. Either way, it’s only a few more weeks until the Samsung faithful will be able to get their hands on the S 4.

  • Google Chromebook Pixel Revealed In Leaked Video [Rumor]

    The Chromebooks of today aren’t exactly cutting edge. The budget notebook PCs are intended to bring the power of the Web to as many people as possible through affordable hardware. That all may be changing in the future if a leaked video is to believed.

    Android Authority nabbed a fascinating teaser video that references a new Google project called the Chromebook Pixel. It features a 2560×1700 display. The only thing better would be the 15-inch MacBook Pro which sports a 2880×1800 retina display. Check out the leaked teaser video below:

    The leaked video doesn’t tell us much about the Chromebook Pixel’s hardware, but we do know that it will sport a touchscreen. Adding to the legitimacy of the leak is that it originally came from François Beaufort, a developer who has leaked previous Google products on Google+.

    Google hasn’t made any formal announcement in regards to the Chromebook Pixel yet, or even hinted that such a thing exists. The company only just recently partnered with HP for the Pavilion 14 Chromebook.

    Still, the idea of a high-end Chromebook is exciting. The only thing holding the Chromebook back with power users, besides Chrome OS’s incompatibility with traditional applications, is that they’re usually underpowered devices. The Chromebook Pixel could go a long way in increasing adoption among power users, especially with that glorious screen.

  • New Ubisoft Game “Osiris” Revealed in Leaked Trailer

    [UPDATE] Ubisoft has provided Polygon with a statement that makes it clear Osiris is a dead project.

    [ORIGINAL] While Ubisoft is busy integrating a new Montreal studio into its operations, the existing Ubisoft Montreal studio is still operating as one of the publisher’s most successful developers. The studio was responsible for classics such as the Prince of Persia series, the Assassin’s Creed series, and last year’s Far Cry 3.

    It’s known that Ubisoft Montreal is currently working on Watch Dogs, one of the most exciting reveals of last year’s E3. Now, a new leaked trailer has revealed the game Osiris.

    The game is set in ancient Egypt, and appears to be a new IP, though it’s not inconceivable that it could be related to the Assassin’s Creed series in some way. The unfinished trailer depicts some early motion capture work being done on the title.

  • Samsung Galaxy S IV Image Leaked [RUMOR]

    Samsung Galaxy S IV Image Leaked [RUMOR]

    A purported image of Samsung’s next flagship Android smartphone appeared online today. Courtesy SamMobile, the above picture depicts a device that is similar to the Galaxy S III, but with a few notable alterations.

    SamMobile credits an “insider at Samsung” as the source of the pic, and admits there is no way to confirm it’s the real thing. Still, the design seems to be in keeping with recent Samsung offerings, such as the Galaxy Note II and the Galaxy Premier. It’s almost certain to be closer to the real Galaxy S IV than, say, some of the crazy iPhone 5 mock-ups that were created in the year before that smartphone’s release.

    One thing to note about the above picture is the thinner side bezels, at least when compared to the Galaxy S III. The Galaxy S IV is already rumored to have a 4.99″ screen and a 1920 x 1080 resolution screen. Other rumored specs include a quad-core Exynos processor and a 13 MP rear camera.

    Also noticeable about the leaked image is the lack of a physical home button. Google has been re-designing it’s Android operating system for use with devices that have no back, home, or menu buttons, and it appears Samsung may be leading the way with buttonless devices.

    Something that is certain, unlike the image, is that Samsung has teased a big announcement of “something new” at the Computer Electronics Show (CES) next week. It certainly could be the next Samsung smartphone, but it’s more likely that Samsung will create its own event for the debut of such a big product – sometime in February is the current rumor.

    (via BGR)

  • BlackBerry 10 Smartphone L-Series Leak Video Released

    More than a month out from RIM’s scheduled unveiling of its BlackBerry 10 lineup on January 30, the leaks are already coming. Today, a Vietnamese website known for its Apple leaks has released a video preview of an upcoming BlackBerry 10 device codenamed “London.”

    The smartphone, as shown in the video, has a rear-facing camera & flash, a microSD card slot, and a removable battery. It is also rumored to have a 4.2-inch screen, which the video appears to confirm.

    The surprising thing about the video may be that the device isn’t all that remarkable. Even the BlackBerry 10 software running on it heavily resembles the Android and iOS interfaces, with a few twists. This could be worrisome for RIM fans, as not even Microsoft’s highly unique Windows Phone 8 devices have been able to capture consumers’ imaginations and make much of a dent in the iOS/Android dominated smartphone market.

    Unless RIM has a surprise waiting for January, BlackBerry 10 devices could easily fall under the shadow of Apple and Samsung, as so many other manufacturers have. In fact, it might be hard for the company not to be upstaged by Samsung, who has teased a big announcement for CES earlier in January.

    (via BGR)

  • Anonymous Celebrates Guy Fawkes Day With Defacements, Leaks And Protests

    “Remember, remember the fifth of November.”

    It’s these words that mark the beginning of V for Vendetta, the 2006 film inspired by Alan Moore’s graphic novel of the same name. In it, an anarchist fights to bring down a fascist UK government. The man, V, wears a mask inspired by Guy Fawkes, a Catholic terrorist that attempted to blow up the British parliament in 1605.

    Since the film came out, hacking collective Anonymous has adopted the Guy Fawkes mask as their identity. The group has also co-opted the already existing Guy Fawkes Day on November 5 as their own personal day of mass protests and hacking attacks. The group has already begun a number of attacks and leaks and the day is not even half-over yet.

    The big one is a supposed PayPal hack that has left 28,000 account passwords exposed.

    The Next Web reports that all of the links to the PrivatePaste pages containing the passwords have been shut down for now. Anonymous will undoubtedly post the account details on other Web sites in the near future. As for PayPal, the company’s head of PR has said there’s no evidence of a hack.

    As for defacements, The Examiner reports that Anonymous defaced NBC’s Saturday Night Live Web site and a Lady Gaga fan site. The group replaced the pages with the Guy Fawkes nursery rhyme that became world famous thanks to the V for Vendetta film. BetaBeat has images of the defacements as the Web sites are now back up in working order.

    Anonymous is also organizing a number of protests around the world today. In Britain, the group will march on parliament to reenact the final scene from the V For Vendetta film, minus the explosion.

    The group has also made known its intentions to march on the White House and governmental buildings in Canada. The latter may be difficult as Canada has just passed a law banning the use of masks during riots and unlawful protests. Using a mask during unlawful protests is now punishable by up to 10 years in prison according to CBC.

    Finally, members of Anonymous and the general public have already taken to Twitter to make 5th of November a global trend. Most are just quoting the rhyme, but some are being unique:

    There will undoubtedly be more Anonymous action throughout the day. We’ll bring you any and all updates as they occur.

  • “Password” Remains Top Password, “Jesus” Cracks the Top 25

    People: What are you doing? This is just getting sad now.

    Remember all of those password leak stories you’ve seen in the last few months? How many? One? Two? Three? More? While most of those leaks fall on the shoulders of the network security of the companies involved, they still reveal a shocking truth: People are terrible when it comes to choosing a proper password. And new data culled from these various leaks confirms this.

    It’s time for SplashData‘s annual list of the 25 most-common passwords on the internet. They say their list is “just in time for Halloween” – it’s that scary. And yeah, that fact that people are still this clueless on the incredible insecurity of their information is truly frightening.

    The most common password, as revealed by the study, is “password.” That remains unchanged from last year. In fact, the two three most-common passwords are the same as they were last year – “123456” and “12345678” being the other two.

    New entries on the top 25 list include “welcome,” “jesus,” “ninja,” “mustang,” and “password1.”

    Check out the complete list below:

    1. password (Unchanged)
    2, 123456 (Unchanged)
    3. 12345678 (Unchanged)
    4. abc123 (Up 1)
    5. qwerty (Down 1)
    6. monkey (Unchanged)
    7. letmein (Up 1)
    8. dragon (Up 2)
    9. 111111 (Up 3)
    10. baseball (Up 1)
    11. iloveyou (Up 2)
    12. trustno1 (Down 3)
    13. 1234567 (Down 6)
    14. sunshine (Up 1)
    15. master (Down 1)
    16. 123123 (Up 4)
    17. welcome (New)
    18. shadow (Up 1)
    19. ashley (Down 3)
    20. football (Up 5)
    21. jesus (New)
    22. michael (Up 2)
    23. ninja (New)
    24. mustang (New)
    25. password1 (New)

    “We’re hoping that with more publicity about how risky it is to use weak passwords, more people will start taking simple steps to protect themselves by using stronger passwords and using different passwords for different websites,” said SplashData CEO Morgan Slain.

    Well, it doesn’t seem to be working. We’ve known that people truly suck at picking passwords for some time, and it doesn’t seem to be changing. Want another example? Analysis of the aforementioned LinkedIn password leak showed that the top password for the leaked accounts was “link.”

    Facepalm.

  • Google Maps For iOS Pictures Leaked

    Google Maps For iOS Pictures Leaked

    Kicking Google Maps off of iOS 6 was a bad idea, and even Apple has admitted as much. The company was even warned by developers before the launch of the new OS, but ignored those warnings out of arrogance or inattention.

    The mistake, really, was Apple thinking that it could match the functionality and polish of Google Maps simply by buying up map data and coding their own software. Google Maps has over 7,000 employees working to make sure every street is accurate and that satellite photography isn’t covered in clouds or distorted. Just this past week Google released a huge update to its Street View Imagery, with pictures taken by a fleet of employees who drive around the world.

    Google has been coy when it comes to a standalone Google Maps app for iOS. Though it is inevitable that the app will eventually be released, it seems odd that Google wouldn’t already have an iOS app ready to go. It’s as if Google didn’t actually believe Apple would put its inferior Maps app into iOS 6.

    Today, we finally have some hard proof that Google is working on an iOS Google Maps app. A post over on the Ben Guild blog shows what are claimed to be three different screenshots of the software. The photos are very blurry, though, so don’t put too much stock in them. Guild also claims that the app, which in in an Alpha state currently, will be vector-based, have two-finger rotation capabilities, and will support the iPhone 5’s 4-inch screen.

    (via BGR)

  • Wikileaks Angers Anonymous By Implementing A Paywall

    Wikileaks has always been about the free distribution of information. In every interview and speech, the site’s founder Julian Assange speaks on how important freedom of speech and information is to a democracy. That may be the site’s mission, but Wikileaks is incredibly underfunded. They may have found a way to fix that problem.

    If you went to check out the GIFiles on Wikileaks last night, you would be greeted by this:

    Wikileaks Paywall

    The paywall coincides with a new GIFiles release containing over 200,000 emails from Stratfor regarding Obama, Romney and their respective parties. The emails could garner significant interest from US citizens as we head into the final stretch of the election.

    All of this would be perfectly acceptable if it was just an ad asking for support. People are angry because Wikileak isn’t asking for support, they’re demanding it. The above image is a legitimate paywall that you can’t get behind unless you donate money. One of Wikileaks’ biggest allies wasn’t too happy with it.

    Anonymous, or at least the guy who runs the @YourAnonNews Twitter feed, was livid last night in regards to the paywall.

    The sentiments expressed here were widespread throughout Twitter with many users angry that Wikileaks would force donations. It appears that the anger got through to the Wikileaks staff as they reportedly suspended the paywall. Some people, such as yours truly are still seeing it, but others are getting to the site with no problems.

    In their defense, Wikileaks had this to say about the paywall:

    UPDATE: The paywall appears to have been taken down. Users can now access the GIFiles normally without having to donate.