Amazon adds Machine Learning For Better Product Reviews

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June 22, 2015

According to CNET latest news, Amazon is looking to overhaul the product review system at the online store with the help of machine learning algorithms that will turn up more helpful reviews.

The changes are currently being made on the platform and will slowly surface better reviews for both customers, according to the report.

According to the spokeswoman, Julie Law, the most useful reviews will surface more often than other reviews.

The algorithm will filter out fake reviews, bad first-day reactions and out-dated reviews and will take some time to make some real-world effects.

To make the review system work better, the machine learning algorithm will give prominence to newer reviews by verified Amazon buyers and also the reviews that other users find more useful, i.e., voted it up.

The whole system will see changes and the older product reviews, which are basically average of all customer reviews, will see the real change.

In short, relevant product reviews will find better place compared to non-relevant ones.

Furthermore, the new machine learning algorithm will highlight the new product changes and will surface the latest reviews on the modified or latest version of the product. This will keep the current buyer informed and not rely on older reviews for the purchase.

With the new system update, more products will see better reviews which are relevant to their current state, covering all the new changes accordingly.

Amazon is currently loading the new review systems in United States, though for now there is no current plan for expanding to other countries.

The changes are inevitable as the current product review system is full of flaws and is exploited easily by paid reviews. The machine learning algorithm will take some time to learn and become more efficient in the as time goes on.

Has anything to add to the story? Comment below and let us know.

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Wiko Ridge 4G Launches in Nigeria, Available from Today

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passyjango

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June 22, 2015

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Europe’s fast growing mobile brand, Wiko is launching a new smartphone. Wiko Ridge 4G launches in Nigeria today and will be available in retail stores in the country.

Ridge 4G comes in a super-light and slim elegant design with superfast 4G LTE built-in for seamless streaming and superfast download.

A Brilliant Display

The Ridge 4G offers a full-laminated 5-inch IPS screen protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The display looks brilliant with 720 x 1280 pixels resolution.

With its Sony lens and Philips flash, the 13-megapixel main camera guarantees great shots, whatever the conditions. What about selfies? The 5-megapixel front camera is your perfect ally.

Wiko Ridge 4G sports the efficient 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad-core processor clocked at up to 1.2GHz. Add the generous 2GB RAM and a smooth experience will be a given.

Wiko Ridge 4G is loaded with Android 4.4.4 with a simple brand UI on top. The smartphone is available in is also available in Black and Grey, Black and Bleen, Black and Clementine, as well as Arctic Gold.

Speaking on the launch, Channel Marketing Manager, Wiko, Mr. Adebayo Adams said that by introducing Ridge 4G into the Nigerian Smartphone market,

“Wiko has again demonstrated its commitment to consistently offer varieties, freedom and quality to everyone in Nigeria”.

Ridge 4G is coming about two months after Wiko unveiled the Wiko Getaway, another sleek smartphone in the Nigerian market.

Ridge 4G will be available in retail stores in Nigeria starting today and will be going at a price of 45,000 Naira.

The Wiko brand launched in Nigeria in October last year with its array of phones which includes Wiko Highway, its flagship, Highway Signs, Rainbow, Bloom, Lenny, Sunset, Fizz and Goa, along with feature phones, Kar-3, Riff and Lubi-3.

All the Wiko phones, which are approved by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), come with the tagline, “Game Changer,” a message that appeals to the free-spirited, passionate, adventurous and independent nature of today’s youth.

Twitter Project Lightning is here, Humans are Taking Over

By

Nitish Singh

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June 19, 2015

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According to Twitter official blog, Twitter is planning big changes on how the news feeds of Twitter users are populated. Project Lighting promise a human curated news feed for a more engaging experience.

Social Media platforms have always been the topic of news media and today Twitter is offering the biggest of them all with the new Twitter Project Lightning.

The event based manual feed generation aka Twitter Project Lightning can create new excitement around the struggling Twitter platform, which in recent times have failed to attract new customers due to crappy news feed, which was populated with irrelevant posts.

Twitter Project Lightning will offer new editorial content for the twitter feed, all divided according to the topic, such as World Cup or an important news like a terrorist attack.

The need for the algorithm will be minimised and the content on the Twitter news feed will be filtered by human editors who will choose the best audio, video or photos for the relevant event.

The human touch will finally give a new path to the limited growth of the Twitter platform and many will find the Twitter feeds more relevant and useful.

On the other hand, Facebook users still complain, how the algorithmic feed fails to deliver the best topic out there.

To add to the story, the venture capitalist and Twitter investor has encouraged the twitter team to implement the project and hire more human editors during the tenure.

With other tech giants moving towards human needs (Linkedin and SnapChat), it is quite evident that machines always need a human touch before being released for the humans.

Compelling stories can be identified by the algorithms, but the story changes completely when the time comes to pick up the best piece for the event.

So, what do you think about the new Twitter project lightning? Will it change your perspective towards twitter or you are still going to stay away from the platform? Comment below and let us know.

Microsoft releases a $140 PC on a Stick, iBall Splendo

By

Nitish Singh

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June 19, 2015

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Microsoft’s intent to stimulate the PC market is quite evident. The latest move by Microsoft is to partner with iBall to release a portable PC on a stick for just $140 (9000 INR, 28,000 NGN). And, you will be surprised by the hardware the PC on a Stick carries.

For the uninitiated, the Stick PC, known as iBall Splendo will be powered by Atom Quad Core processor, 2GB of RAM and 32 GB of inbuilt memory.

The PC on a Stick uses the latest Windows platform, the Windows 8.1 and with Windows 10 near the release date, the future version of the stick PC can see a change in the operating system version.

Other key features of the iBall Splendo PC on a Stick are connectivity options such as plugging it into any TV that sports an HDMI male plug. Once connected, it will be able to do an array of functions such as play movies, small games, and others.

Virtually you will be able to transform the stick to a whole PC that will have features such as multi-channel digital audio, normal USB port, micro USB port, Wi-Fi, HD graphics and inbuilt Bluetooth 4.0.

According to the official iBall blog, the team believes in the future that offers portable devices, powerful enough to meet the demands of the user.

The iBall Splendo is targeted at users who do not have a central way of entertaining themselves and like to carry the powerful PC on a Stick with them for instant gratification.

The iBall Splendo will come with a 1-year warranty and is perfect for people who like to travel a lot. For example, they can just carry the device and plug it into the hotel TV for full immersive entertainment.

With technology improving as each day passes, it tough to speculate what we would have in the future.

Do you like the story? Comment below and let us know!

Samsung promises fix for Galaxy Phones Keyboard Bug

By

Nitish Singh

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June 19, 2015

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Yesterday, we covered news of a Samsung keyboard bug that left more than 600 million Samsung Galaxy Phones vulnerable. If you are still in shock, there is some bit of good news as Samsung is promising a fix.

Basically, the keyboard bug allows a hacker to exploit the update mechanism in Samsung’s customisation of the SwiftKey keyboard to listen in on calls, take over your camera, as well as read text messages.

Samsung is promising fixes for the keyboard bug. In an official blog post, Samsung played down the risk, dismissing the vulnerability as mild and claiming that the possibility of a Samsung Galaxy phone being hacked are extremely low.

With Samsung, one of the biggest phone manufacturer taking positive steps towards the basic security of the smartphones, the user for now seems safe.

According to the blog post, Samsung will be releasing an update for Samsung Galaxy phones through their KNOX security system.

Samsung also mentioned how KNOX security system prevents the kernel from getting infected by the hacker’s code, claiming there is no need to worry about the fiasco.

Currently, there are four major Samsung smartphone models that are infected. They are Samsung Galaxy S6, S5, S4 and S3. There are also other models which are infected and needs to be resolved.

The good news is that the flagship smartphones, Galaxy S6, S5 and S4 and other Samsung Galaxy phones with KNOX security system will see an automatic update in the coming few days.

However, the likes of the Galaxy S3 family and other Galaxy phones without KNOX will have to wait for a firmware update, according to the officials. The S3 firmware will be tested in the labs before being released for the public.

The Samsung official blog also mentioned that the Samsung phone users should let the automatic updates ON for receiving the update that will fix the keyboard bug.

You can visit the official blog post for further information on how to check whether the automatic updates are ON or OFF.

What do you think about Samsung move on the whole security fiasco? Comment below and let us know!

Samsung Galaxy Phones Vulnerable to Highjack due to Swiftkey Update Hack

By

Nitish Singh

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June 18, 2015

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With Samsung phones selling like hot cake, the recent news that up to 600 million Samsung Galaxy phones could be vulnerable to hackers will be disheartening for a lot of people.

According to the security researcher who investigated the vulnerability, the hacker can easily access all the information of the Samsung smartphone including messages, camera and microphone. Moreover, the hacker can also payload a 3rd party malicious app.

The culprit, in this case, is the update mechanism of Samsung’s customised version of SwiftKey, which enables a hacker with malicious intent to to modify the content of the update and load the payload without any detection from the smartphone security.

According to the researcher, the hack is done through the man-in-the-middle attack, which exploits the fact that the update is not done through a secure channel, leaving over 600 million Samsung Galaxy phones vulnerable.

You can watch the exploit below.

The video clearly shows a lack of security in the update mechanism of Samsung’s SwiftKey keyboard. The Samsung Galaxy phones gives special permissions to the updates, which seems to override the built-in Android security, which is then open for the hacker to exploit.

Another way of checking the validity of download package is bypassed by dropping spoofed malicious file with the SHA1 hash.

The vulnerability is more serious as the researcher claims that the hacker can still send in malicious payload even if the Samsung users decide to use another keyboard app.

The automatic update checker doesn’t check whether the Samsung user is using the SwiftKey or not, so whether you avoid the built-in keyboard or not, you face the same fate.

The vulnerability is going to affect the Samsung Galaxy S5 users. Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S4 mini are also reported to be vulnerable to the exploit.

According to SwiftKey, the vulnerability does not affect versions of the App that user can download at the PlayStore or Apple Store. So, these issue is unique to Samsung Galaxy phones.

Although avoiding open and insecure Wi-Fi hotspots can offer you some level of protection, it is not foolproof as hackers can still get in through messages

Samsung is reported to have released a patch to operators, but until those operators actually make those updates available to their customers, millions of users will remain vulnerable.

This issue has also brought up the issue of slow updates on Android devices. While Google releases updates fast, it takes months, years, and even forever to reach end-users.

Do, you know anyone who is using a Samsung Galaxy Smartphone? Let them know about the vulnerability.

The Web is Moving Towards Encryption: Microsoft, Reddit and WikiPedia

By

Nitish Singh

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June 18, 2015

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Security and encryption on the web is becoming more important these days. With the latest news of tech giants encrypting their connections, chances are that HTTPS connection will be mainstream soon.

One of the reasons behind the change in the security aspects of the websites or platforms is the increased hacking activity and also the attempts of spying agency to grab all your browsing data and habits.

The first in the list is WikiPedia, which recently came up with the news of encrypting all the traffic using the HTTPS protocol. This means that you can learn as much as you would like without getting embarrassed about the learning habits you exhibit.

Yahoo took this step way back in 2014, and were one of the first to offer encryption for their services.

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The latest buyer of securing their traffic is Reddit, who have declared, using their platform, that from June 29, they will stop supporting HTTP protocol and will transfer all their current traffic to SSL encryption.

They also issued an early warning for others to make their apps support HTTPS before the change, otherwise the apps will stop working.

Check Reddit announcement here.

The last of the players, Microsoft, also announced their changes to the Bing traffic. In their official Bing blog, they announced that all the Bing traffic will be encrypted by default. This means that you can only access Bing using the HTTPS protocol and not the HTTP protocol.

With four major players making changes to their security, with three doing it recently is a good indication of how privacy is becoming important not only for the consumers but also by the service providers.

With spying agencies dropping the call on all the communication, it is high time for everyone to use secure lines.

Has anything to add to the story? Comment below and let us know!

WebAssembly: A Project for Making Web Browsers Faster

By

Nitish Singh

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June 18, 2015

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The web have seen a lot of innovation in terms of performance and functionality. But there are many skeptics who think the web can see faster web browsers. And, they are right. Currently, the four giants, Google, Apple, Microsoft and Mozilla are teaming up to make web browsers faster.

The project, known as WebAssembly is an attempt by the team to make web browsers as fast as 20 times their current speed. The earlier prototypes are showing promise and the reason for this faster performance is credited to the use of bytecode, an approach that web developers and programmers are aware of.

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The performance gains are done because of the direct interaction of bytecode with the processor, increasing the processing power and generating results way faster than JavaScript.

On the other hand, JavaScript has seen a lot of evolution in terms of both performance and features. Now, the developers can make fully interactive games in the web browsers. The performance part is also controlled by loading content using a minimalistic JavaScript library, asm.js, which works similar to bytecode based systems on other programming languages.

WebAssembly, aka Wasm, in short, is the answer to those who were seeking an increase in web performance apps on any machine. The use of bytecode will enable web browsers to use machine capabilities, increasing the performance of the web apps by as much as 20 times (early reports estimation.)

The biggest threat to the project is no availability of Wasm supported browsers. Early plans from the team working behind the project reveals the use of asm.js to transfer the code into bytecode understood by the browser.

With the main focus on performance as well as features, the future can be in the hands of WebAssembly and how it gets developed by the team united for the only cause.

Has anything to add to the story? Comment below and let us know!

Source: ArsTechnica

Playing Xbox 360 Games on Xbox One coming soon

By

passyjango

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June 15, 2015

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Microsoft made a lot of big announcements at its press conference at the E3 2015 event, but one of the biggest is that gamers can now play old Xbox 360 games on Xbox One.

Backward compatibility for Xbox 360 games on Xbox One consoles is a big deal indicative of the huge applause the announcement received from the crowd at the conference.

With this new backward compatibility feature, owners of Xbox One consoles will be able to play select titles of their previously purchased Xbox 360 games.

Starting today Xbox One preview members can play a selection of Xbox 360 titles they already bought with Microsoft aiming for about 100 title before the holiday.

Titles like A Kingdom for Keflings, A World of Keflings, Mass Effect, Perfect Dark, and Perfect Dark Zero are now backward compatible. In all about 21 titles are compatible. See full list

All a developer needs to do for an Xbox 360 title to become backward compatible with Xbox One is to approve it. So, you should expect the lineup of Xbox One compatible games to increase.

Gamers will be able to play their compatible Xbox 360 games on Xbox One no-matter the distribution method, whether disc, digital, or inter-console multi-player.

This means that Xbox One gamers will soon be able to play multiplayer Xbox 360 titles with their friends on the older gaming console.

The presentation was not just about Xbox One compatibility, Microsoft also unveiled about four indie titles (Tacoma, Ashen, Beyond Eyes, and Cuphead) that will be coming first to the Xbox One before other consoles.

Another big announcement was that mods created for the PC version of the Fallout 4 will be supported on the Xbox One, which means that Microsoft is about the leverage to popularity of the PC on its gaming console.

But, no doubt the ability to play Xbox 360 games on Xbox One will resonate with the Xbox crowd. It could also help the Xbox 360 catchup its major competitor the Sony PS4.

Microsoft announces Windows 10 Coming on July 29

By

passyjango

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June 1, 2015

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Microsoft has confirmed that the latest version of its Windows operating system, the Windows 10 will be available worldwide from July 29, 2015.

According to Microsoft devices running on Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 will get a free upgrade to Windows 10. I have already received a request to reserve a free update on my Windows 8.1 laptop, which I have already obliged.

Windows 10 is a key part of Microsoft’s one Windows strategy.

According to the Windows blog, Windows 10 was designed

to run our broadest device family ever, including Windows PCs, Windows tablets, Windows phones, Windows for the Internet of Things, Microsoft Surface Hub, Xbox One and Microsoft HoloLens—all working together to empower you to do great things.

Essentially, Windows 10 will be bringing back some of the iconic Windows features like the Start menu, while still retaining and improving on the best features of Windows 8.1.

According to Microsoft, Windows 10 is faster and more secure. Windows 10 will also be bringing Microsoft’s popular intelligent digital assistant, Cortana to the PC for the first time.

Windows 10 will also introduce a new modern browser, the Microsoft Edge. Office will also be getting a makeover for the new operating system.

PCs and Tablets running Windows 10 will go on sale starting July 29, which is also around the same time that existing users of Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 will be getting a free upgrade.

Windows 10 Mobile and other Windows 10 variants for other classes of devices like the Xbox will launch later.