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Hacking pervert jailed for six years
He spied on victims via webcams, hacked email accounts and used blackmail A 32-year-old man from Santa Ana, California, has been jailed for hacking into the computers of young women and teenage girls, in order to blackmail them into providing him with sexually explicit pictures. Luis Mijangos broke into over 100 computers and stole personal information by infecting their machines with malware that allowed him access to email accounts, webcams and in some cases, intimate images and videos. Police arrested him last year following an extensive investigation, and he has now been sentenced to six years imprisonment. Wheelchair-bound Mijangos supplemented his income as a freelance computer consultant by hacking and stealing financial information from his victims. In at least one case he posed as a young girls boyfriend and tricked her into sending him nude photos. When she caught on he told her that he would post them online if she didnt send more. He read victims emails and IMs, watched them through their webcams, and listened to them through the microphones on their computers. Often, he then used the information he obtained to play psychological games with his victims, prosecutors said. He built malware that was almost impossible to detect, masking itself from common anti-virus programs, and also stole bank details as well as pictures of his victims naked. One victim, a college student, reported him to campus police and was subsequently threatened by Majangos after he listened in on the report, which she made via her computer microphone. She said in a statement that she was afraid for her safety, and did not leave her dorm room for a week after the episode. He also posted nude pictures of women on their friends MySpace profiles when they refused to cooperate with him. Mojangos, who is an illegal immigrant and has a medical condition, apologised to his victims and said that he is ready to do the right thing and stay out of trouble. Presumably, he wont have any choice, for the next six years at least anyway. He was sentenced yesterday at the US District Court for the Central District of California.

Google infinite scroll search results on the way?
No more clicking onto new pages of search results… Google is testing out a number of new features that could change the way the most relevant results are displayed in a search, according to QueryClick. The search giant is said to have confirmed that it is testing a new interface which shows results in a scrollable filter. This will mean that users dont have to go on to a new page to load more results, as scrolling down will automatically load more results. Christopher Liversidge of QueryClick said: Googles decision to test infinite scroll results comes less than a year after they were forced to deny they were doing exactly that, when a report surfaced in November 2010 that they were already working towards creating these results. While these reports were found to be based on search results caused by a Chrome extension called FasterChrome, the potential for these kinds of results obviously interested Google. QueryClick has decided that the experimentation with new features on search results shows that Google is keen for users to enjoy as many results as possible without the need to click through page after page. Over the past year its become clear that Google has made a number of tweaks and changes to the way they display their results, in order to make them more accessible to the user, Liversidge continued. For example in July 2010, it was revealed that they were making big changes to their image search and image search ads, including larger thumbnail previews, a hover pane, a new landing page, and of course, instant scrolling. This means that we could soon be seeing a lot of other features included in the search page, something that will be welcomed by many if it means less trawling through page after page of results. The new format will work in the same way as Google images, which places a button at the bottom of the page which invites users to show more results.

HTC Omega Windows Smartphone Images Leaked Online
The HTC Omega is a phone that’s been doing the rounds online for some time and now some images have leaked of the new device. The images show a standard looking HTC smartphone, but in a dashing combination of silver and white. From the picture the Omega looks as if it could be made from aluminium which would be a great addition. In terms of specification we know quite a lot about what to expect from the HTC Omega. A 3.8 inch touch-screen is rumoured to be present which runs at a resolution of 800*480 pixels , while it’ll be powered by a 1.5 GHz processor. Onboard memory weights in at 16GB while RAM looks to be 512MB. Both an 8 mega-pixel rear-facing camera and a front-facing camera are expected , while the HTC Omega will run on Windows Phone 7 presumably with the Mango update pre-loaded. The HTC Omega is expected to be announced on September 1st and once we hear any more about the smartphone we’ll let you know. Source

Mobile Phone Review Round Up: Samsung Galaxy Pro, Nokia X7, Samsung Tocco Icon, Sony Ericsson XPERIA neo and HTC Salsa
TechRadar Samsung Galaxy Pro review Verdict The Samsung Galaxy Pro is a slippery little fish. We want to praise it for its keyboard, but berate it for its screen. Samsung could have helped matters by offering a higher resolution on the screen. If you want a handset of this design, take a look at the HTC ChaCha or Nokia E6. But dont forget the Sony Ericsson Xperia 10 Mini Pro which, while it is a side-slider, is teeny or, indeed, any of the larger side-sliders that offer a more desirable, larger screen. – Check out all the Samsung Galaxy Pro deals at OMIO today! Nokia X7 review Verdict There are nice things we can say about the Nokia X7. It has good hardware design, a basically pleasing screen and good battery life. And Symbian Anna is a step in the right direction. But we just arent sure where Anna is headed in the long term, and that alone could make the Nokia X7 a blind alley. And it doesnt do anything supremely well. If you are a Nokia fan and want a top quality camera you should be looking at the Nokia N8. If you want a superb physical keyboard, then the Nokia E7 is worth your attention. Great social networking integration? Go Android instead, with something such as the HTC Sensation. With those bases covered, its tricky to see precisely where the Nokia X7 fits in. – Check out all the Nokia X7 dealsat OMIO today! Cnet.co.uk LG Optimus Me P350 review ConclusionYou might have expected LG to better the Optimus One with the LG Optimus Me. Sadly, the Me is inferior in all but a few areas. The screen is smaller, the processor isnt any faster and the cameras still mediocre. Check out the Samsung Galaxy Fit, HTC Wildfire S and Optimus One before laying down your moolah. – Check out all the LG Optimus Me deals at OMIO today! Orange Rio II review ConclusionThe Orange Rio II improves over its predecessor with a neater design, 3G and an updated operating system. Issues such as poor battery life, no Wi-Fi, unresponsive touchscreen and a generally slow processor take the edge off its performance, but you have to remember its costing you well under 100. If youre considering a BlackBerry 8520, but begrudge spending over 100 for a phone that lacks 3G, wed recommend you seriously consider the Rio II. Its cheaper and in many ways provides a superior experience. – Check out all the Orange RIO II deals at OMIO today! Pocket Lint Samsung Tocco Icon review VerdictOverall, the Samsung Tocco Icon isnt a massive step up from the Tocco Lite, but the inclusion of a capacitive touchscreen is certainly a compelling reason to buy if you liked the original phone. The compact chassis, slick design and ease of use also add to the package, while the features such as the straightforward audio player and the sneaky fake call function may appeal to some. While the screen is large, the resolution isnt great and that combined with the fact that theres no 3G connectivity means that web browsing isnt brilliant, although it is just about usable. Likewise, the social networking offering is very basic. What you really miss out on, however, is all the fun that youd get opting for an entry-level Android phone with much more potential. If your budget is tight, then the Samsung Tocco Icon offers you a reasonable touchscreen experience for your cash. – Check out all the Samsung Tocco Icon dealsat OMIO today! Trusted Reviews LG Optimus 3D review Verdict Theres plenty to like about the Optimus 3D, including its fun 3D features, fast processor and beautifully bright and vivid screen. However, problems with displaying 3D images on the screen and the phones short battery life mean that its not the must-buy handset that many were expecting. – Check out all the LG Optimus 3D deals at OMIO today! Reghardware Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo Android smartphone review VerdictThe Sony Ericsson XPERIA Neo has much of the cool technology sported by Sony Ericssons top-notch Xperia Arc but at a fraction of the price. Its not as slim, but if you can put up with the bulk, its really a bit of a bargain. – Check out all the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Neo deals at OMIO today! Vodafone Smart Android smartphone review VerdictThough it runs Froyo and has a capacitive screen, the Vodafone Smart has been ruthlessly built down to a price. Despite that, for talking, e-mailing, texting, navigating and social networking its up to the job. Yes it falls down when faced with more demanding tasks, but a 75 mobile will never be the gaming or multi-media platform that a 400 1GHz Snapdragon handset is. The Orange SF is a better phone but then its twice the price and still doesnt support Adobes Flash player – Check out all the Vodafone Smart deals at OMIO today! HTC Salsa Android smartphone review VerdictThe HTC Salsa is a solidly built smartphone with a good screen, reasonable camera, fine UI and an emphasis on social networking, thanks largely to its clever Facebook button. This latter will endear it to bookers, but otherwise it doesnt stand out strongly from HTCs ever-expanding range of handsets. – Check out all the HTC Salsa deals at OMIO today! Tags: htc, Mobile Phone Review, Orange, samsung, Sony Ericsson, vodafone

Samsung Galaxy Mini review
Look and feel This is a neat, small handset that feels good in the hand and is light enough to disappear into your pocket or bag. The display’s low resolution may alienate some users though Ease of use It’s easy enough to operate the Mini, thanks to Android’s intuitive system and Samsung’s minor improvements. And there’s a capacitive touch-screen, not the cheaper resistive sort Features Although this is a low-price phone, the full range of Android specialities, from GPS to Wi-Fi, are all on board Performance Although the Mini has a slow processor that doesn’t match what else is on offer, it doesn’t slow things down too much (though the insanely fast Galaxy S II or Motorola Atrix show it up of course) Battery life The one good thing about a low-res display is it’s less power-demanding and the Mini will last more than a day easily better than many Android phones Pros: Affordable, compact and good lookingCons: Low-resolution screen and slow processor Look and Feel Ease of use Features Performance Battery life Mobile Choise Total Score Verdict: A low-price phone with neat form factor and decent capabilities, but it looks better when the screen is off

The Score: RIM Ship Sinks, Samsung May Lose Apple Business
By Joe Arico | Fri Jul 01, 2011 5:06 pm BlackBerry developer Research in Motion has more problems than it can shake a stick at, while Samsung may be about to lose $8 billion. “Halo” Creators Move Into Mobile Games Everloop: Social Networking for Kids Wrinkly Neck? Get a “BlackBerry Facial” Judge Rules Google Street View Broke Wiretap Laws Samsung Ramps Up Patent War Against Apple More News > The Score is a weekly column scoring controversial events in the mobile industry. Want to get to the point? We’ll break it down and give you the score. The Setup: An anonymous high-level employee at RIM wrote an open letter, outlining all the company’s problems, effectively forcing it to respond. In the letter, the employee points out the company is failing because it didn’t challenge the iPhone when it first debuted in January 2007. Sounds right to me. Anonymous Employee: +500 points, RIM: -500 points The employee also says the company focuses too much on pleasing its investors instead of making things people actually want to buy. This guy, or girl, is on a roll! Anonymous Employee: +500 points, RIM: -500 points One more for the road: the employee also rips the company’s marketing ploy for the failing PlayBook tablet, saying it was a mistake to advertise the device’s ability to run Flash when the iPad sold 25 million units without it. True story, bro. Anonymous Employee: +500 points, RIM: -500 points RIM responded saying it has no idea who would write that kind of letter and downplayed the memo’s claims, saying there is excitement and optimism within the company about its new products. Denial is so unattractive. Anonymous Employee: +500 points, RIM: -500 points No one likes a Monday morning quarterback, Mr. Anonymous. Where was this self-touted genius while the company’s market share was plummeting to the 15 percent where sits right now? Show yourself! Anonymous Employee: -2,000 points The Score: Anonymous Employee: 0 points, RIM: -2,000 points What it means: RIM has had a week it would much rather forget. The company has reportedly scrapped plans for its rumored second tablet to focus on a new line of “super-phones” that are supposed to save the company. The only problem is that the first of these new phones isn’t due out until next year, and the company needs help now. Also, it’s worth noting these new phones RIM is so excited about run the QNX operating system, the same OS that powers the failing BlackBerry PlayBook. The OS itself has gotten good reviews, but no one’s buying it, rendering all of it moot. Making matters worse, developers are now saying that programming for BlackBerry devices isn’t worth it anymore compared to the profitability of creating apps for Apple and Google, potentially ripping a bigger hole for RIM to fall through. In the end, not much changes here. RIM’s new plans are still dead in the water and the anonymous employee is left with zero points. This is the same amount his or her salary will be when RIM figures out the person’s identity, or goes bankrupt, whichever comes first. Although given RIM’s slowness to recognize anything — as in its own demise — it’ll most likely be the latter. The Setup: Apple is threatening to take away the $7.8 billion in business it gave Samsung last year, as the two companies’ legal battle over patents shows no end in sight. Samsung is already suffering from declining profits while Apple’s business continues to thrive. The South Korean company can’t afford to watch $8 billion disappear. Samsung: -1,000 points, Apple: +1,000 points Samsung is seeking to ban the sale of iPhones and iPads in the U.S, a goal that is highly unlikely, but hell, it’s worth a shot. Samsung: +500 points, Apple: -500 points Apple has tried hard to maintain its business relationship with Samsung, but things have now gotten so messy that the company may have no choice but to cut ties. Apple is obviously happy with Samsung’s parts and would most likely rather not have to switch to the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC. This is a lose-lose situation. Samsung: -500 points, Apple: -100 Points The Score: Apple: +400 points, Samsung: -1,000 points What it Means: If Samsung and Apple are unable to continue their business partnership as a result of these lawsuits, Apple already has a fallback plan. Manufacturers will line up at Apple’s door to provide the company the chips it needs to make millions of iPhones and iPads, whether this supplier ends up being TSMC or someone else. The line outside Samsung’s door of companies ready to write $8 billion checks, however, is nonexistent. Neither company benefits from the situation but Samsung is definitely the biggest loser. It’s too bad this legal battle isn’t on the popular NBC show, as Samsung could use a $250,000 cash prize. For the top stories in mobile, follow us on Facebook or Twitter. More News: Apple (637) | Editorials & Opinion (43) | Legal (11) | Patents (6) | Problems & Issues (17) | RIM (238) | Samsung (367) | Strategies & Solutions (18) | The Score (12)

Sony Hackers Reveal “Seinfeld” Is Most Common Password
By Peter Ferenczi | Wed Jun 08, 2011 3:27 pm Analysis of stolen Sony account data found that the most common password was “Seinfeld,” along with a general weakness of passwords, suggesting users as well as companies need to get more serious about security. ITTO: Want a Job? Put Down That Phone Foxconn to Step Up Production, Keep Up With Apple Microsoft Beefs Up SkyDrive to Take on ICloud Play “Pong” on McDonald’s Billboards Angry Birds Cooks Up a Cookbook More News > The stolen usernames and password belonged to users of SonyPictures.com, and were distributed via BitTorrent as proof of hacktivist group LulzSec’s claims that it had compromised the Sony site. Security researcher Troy Hunt analyzed the now-public information and found that, along with the Seinfeld surprise, top choices of the security unconscious include: password, 123456, purple, michael, peanut and abc123. Passwords should never be real words or names because automated programs can guess them quickly. Half of the passwords were less than the minimum recommended standard of eight characters, which probably should be revised upward, thanks to new high speed password crackers that use graphics cards to conduct brute force guessing attacks. Only four percent of passwords had three of the four “types” of characters — upper case, lower case, numbers, and symbols — a practice that’s also recommended to make protect against brute force attacks. The research suggests customers are uninformed about basic security precautions that are needed to keep identity thieves and other at bay. However, if Sony Pictures had followed proper security procedures, those passwords would have been encrypted and neither LulzSec nor researchers should ever have been able to read them. The LulzSec breach was only one of a seemingly endless procession of successful attacks on Sony’s online properties. Following the theft of some 100 million user records from the company by hackers still at large, the multinational appears to have become a kind of pinata for both criminal hackers and groups motivated by politics or mischief, like LulzSec, which also recently slipped a fake news story claiming that murdered rapper Tupac Shakur was alive and in New Zealand onto the PBS website. For the top stories in mobile, follow us on Facebook or Twitter. More News: Problems & Issues (262) | Hacking (77) | Sony (49) | Seinfeld (1)

Motorola DROID BIONIC
Closely related to the ATRIX, the Motorola DROID BIONIC is a high-performance 4G phone exclusively available on Verizon Wireless in the US.

Google: Android is still open, just not right now
Google has published a slightly petulant blog post in answer to the less-than-positive media reaction to the news that Google is keeping the Android Honeycomb OS in-house. Google’s VP of Engineering, Andy Rubin, penned the commentary in order to ’set the record straight’. After extolling the many virtues of Android, he wrote, “We continue to be an open source platform and will continue releasing source code when it is ready.”Honeycombable “As I write this the Android team is still hard at work to bring all the new Honeycomb features to phones. As soon as this work is completed, we’ll publish the code,” he continued. “This temporary delay does not represent a change in strategy. We remain firmly committed to providing Android as an open source platform across many device types.” Rubin also touched on the F-word no, not that F-word stating that work on combating fragmentation is still a priority for the company. With rumours that Ice Cream will bring all the strands of Android together, that work may just be paying off. Related StoriesMotorola Xoom gets UK pre-release price cutsBlackBerry PlayBook delay caused by AppleBing launches visually-driven iPad appIn Depth: Top 20 best free Android 3.0 appsUK police to use Toughbooks to take eStatementsRelated StoriesMotorola Xoom gets UK pre-release price cutsBlackBerry PlayBook delay caused by AppleBing launches visually-driven iPad appIn Depth: Top 20 best free Android 3.0 appsUK police to use Toughbooks to take eStatementsRelated StoriesBlackBerry PlayBook delay caused by AppleBing launches visually-driven iPad appIn Depth: Top 20 best free Android 3.0 appsUK police to use Toughbooks to take eStatementsIntel Atom for tablets: Oak Trail to appear in 35 designsRelated StoriesBlackBerry PlayBook delay caused by AppleBing launches visually-driven iPad appIn Depth: Top 20 best free Android 3.0 appsUK police to use Toughbooks to take eStatementsIntel Atom for tablets: Oak Trail to appear in 35 designsRelated StoriesBlackBerry PlayBook delay caused by AppleBing launches visually-driven iPad appIn Depth: Top 20 best free Android 3.0 appsUK police to use Toughbooks to take eStatementsIntel Atom for tablets: Oak Trail to appear in 35 designsRelated StoriesBlackBerry PlayBook delay caused by AppleBing launches visually-driven iPad appIn Depth: Top 20 best free Android 3.0 appsUK police to use Toughbooks to take eStatementsIntel Atom for tablets: Oak Trail to appear in 35 designsRelated StoriesBlackBerry PlayBook delay caused by AppleBing launches visually-driven iPad appIn Depth: Top 20 best free Android 3.0 appsUK police to use Toughbooks to take eStatementsIntel Atom for tablets: Oak Trail to appear in 35 designsRelated StoriesBing launches visually-driven iPad appIn Depth: Top 20 best free Android 3.0 appsUK police to use Toughbooks to take eStatementsIntel Atom for tablets: Oak Trail to appear in 35 designsExplained: Intel Atom for tablets: everything you need to know about Oak TrailRelated StoriesBing launches visually-driven iPad appIn Depth: Top 20 best free Android 3.0 appsUK police to use Toughbooks to take eStatementsIntel Atom for tablets: Oak Trail to appear in 35 designsExplained: Intel Atom for tablets: everything you need to know about Oak TrailRelated StoriesIn Depth: Top 20 best free Android 3.0 appsUK police to use Toughbooks to take eStatementsIntel Atom for tablets: Oak Trail to appear in 35 designsExplained: Intel Atom for tablets: everything you need to know about Oak TrailBuying Guide: HTC Flyer vs PlayBook vs Dell Streak 7 vs Galaxy TabRelated StoriesIn Depth: Top 20 best free Android 3.0 appsUK police to use Toughbooks to take eStatementsIntel Atom for tablets: Oak Trail to appear in 35 designsExplained: Intel Atom for tablets: everything you need to know about Oak TrailBuying Guide: HTC Flyer vs PlayBook vs Dell Streak 7 vs Galaxy TabRelated StoriesIn Depth: Top 20 best free Android 3.0 appsUK police to use Toughbooks to take eStatementsIntel Atom for tablets: Oak Trail to appear in 35 designsExplained: Intel Atom for tablets: everything you need to know about Oak TrailBuying Guide: HTC Flyer vs PlayBook vs Dell Streak 7 vs Galaxy TabRelated StoriesUK police to use Toughbooks to take eStatementsIntel Atom for tablets: Oak Trail to appear in 35 designsExplained: Intel Atom for tablets: everything you need to know about Oak TrailBuying Guide: HTC Flyer vs PlayBook vs Dell Streak 7 vs Galaxy TabDell Streak 7 arrives with 299 price tagRelated StoriesIntel Atom for tablets: Oak Trail to appear in 35 designsExplained: Intel Atom for tablets: everything you need to know about Oak TrailBuying Guide: HTC Flyer vs PlayBook vs Dell Streak 7 vs Galaxy TabDell Streak 7 arrives with 299 price tagIn Depth: How smartphones and tablets are taking over

Dropbox Insecure?
The article Dropbox authentication: insecure by design by Derek Newton got quite the press in the past week or so. So what exactly did he find out to come to this conclusion? Dropbox creates a config.db file in the main application data folder, a SQLite database file that can be edited with programs that can [...]

Here We Go Again: Yet Another Flash 0-day Vulnerability Emerges
Flash player users, which is the majority of Internet users, do not come to rest in past years. There is seldom a month passing by without another Flash vulnerability. Adobe today released a security advisory warning for all Flash users that describes a critical security vulnerability in the popular software. Affected are more or less [...]

HTC Sensation Officially Launched
HTC Sensation has now been officially launched.

MetroPCS Launches Samsung Galaxy Indulge 4G Android Smartphone
Samsung and MetroPCS has unveiled its new 4G LTE Android smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Indulge. The Android smartphone is MetroPCS’s second LTE smartphone after the Samsung Craft launched in Q4 2010. The Galaxy Indulge is powered by a 1GHz processor, comes with 3.5-inch full touch screen, 3 megapixel camera, slide out hardware keyboard and microSD [...]