Toshiba Launches Industry’s Smallest 8MP CMOS Sensor

Acouple of days back, Toshiba announced the world’s smallest 8MP CMOS sensor with 1.12 micrometer pixel size. Even with this size, it still manages to capture great quality, thanks to the back side illumination (BSI) technology, similar to the sensor currently being used in the iPhone 4. The smallest one yet Packing 8MP into a sensor that small would usually mean degradation in image quality due to the way in which the lens are packed which limits light absorption. Positioning the lens in the rear, boosts light sensitivity and allows finer image pixels in a smaller CMOS sensor. Toshiba have managed to pack in 8.08 million pixels in to a ¼-inch sensor.  This will most likely be used in upcoming mobile phones and tablets, but it could very well be used for compact cameras, as well. The new sensor will go into mass production from the end of 2011, so it doesn’t seem like the iPhone 5 would be packing one of these, or would it?

German Security Unit Points Out Loopholes in Apple’s Security

Early this week, the iPad manufacturer, Apple’s site suffered a data breach. Although the loss of data was passed as minor by the brand, it did raise a lot of questions about the security of the users’ data on the site. Now, in an official release by an IT security agency based in Germany, Apple’s iOS, in its current form is heading for a bigger fall, which by all means is preventable.

Needs fixing!

According to the official release, in German by the German Federal Office for Information Security, or the Bundesamt fur Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik (BSI), Apple’s iOS device could easily succumb to malicious code if an infected PDF file was opened on the device. Although, the system hasn’t been attacked yet, BSI senses a strong attack in the making, if Apple officials don’t fix up the flaws.


Here's an excerpt from the German press release (which can be accessed here) translated into English:

Dropbox confirms security glitch--no password required

Web-based storage firm Dropbox confirmed this afternoon that a programmer's error caused a temporary security breach that allowed any password to be used to access any user account.
The San Francisco-based start-up attributed the security breach to a "code update" that "introduced a bug affecting our authentication mechanism." Access without passwords was possible between 1:54pm PT and 5:46pm PT yesterday, the company said.

"This should never have happened," Dropbox co-founder and CTO Arash Ferdowsi said in a blog post. "We are scrutinizing our controls and we will be implementing additional safeguards to prevent this from happening again."
This afternoon's news is a significant embarrassment for Dropbox, which (despite not being located in Silicon Valley) appeared on a list of "20 Hot Silicon Valley Startups You Need To Watch," and which received a CNET Webware award in May 2009.
Dropbox had assured its users that "we use the best tools and engineering practices available to build our software, and we have smart people making sure that Dropbox remains secure."
News of the snafu began to trickle out earlier on Dropbox's discussion forums--one thread was titled "Drop box web interface was WIDE OPEN for some time yesterday"--and through Twitter in a post by privacy advocate Christopher Soghoian.
In 2008, Dropbox received $7.2 million in funding from Sequoia Capital and other investors. The company claims to have more than 25 million users of its free service.

Remote Access for Free

Remotely accessing a computer via the Internet has been possible for a long time, but the process usually involved static IP addresses or live Internet IP addresses. LogMeIn Hamachi and TeamViewer are two of the most powerful applications and they're also free to use for personal and non-commercial environments. The process involves downloading a simple utility on both the host and client computers and connecting them over a reasonably fast Internet connection. In this simple workshop, we’ll show you how to install and use TeamViewer for non-commercial use. Corporate users can create presentations, transfer important files or conduct video conferences, and service engineers can offer online help using the licensed version meant for commercial usage.

Figure 1, 2 and 3

Firstly, download the 3.4 MB free application from www.teamviewer.com on the host and client computers, which need to be controlled (Fig 1). After the download is complete, you can choose to either run the application as a standalone or install it on your PC. Don’t choose the install option if you don't own the computer (for instance, if you are running the application from a public PC (cybercafé) or a friend’s home). Once done with the installation, TeamViewer will access the Internet and allot your computer with a unique ID and password, which will be displayed on the screen (Fig 2). Now your machine is ready to either be a host PC or connect to a client PC. The computer on the other end will also have a unique ID and password, which needs to be passed on to you so that you can gain access to that computer. Key the details into the ‘Create Session’ fields (Fig 3) on the right side of the window.

Figure 4

Finally, select the type of activity you need the connection for - remote control, file transfer, or VPN.Click on the ‘Connect to partner’ icon and TeamViewer will connect your system to the host and ask you for the password (Fig 4).

Figure 5

Remote control will show you the entire screen of the other PC on your monitor, which you can control and use as you like (Fig 5). You have options such as switching sides with the host, sending crucial commands such as locking, rebooting, etc. You can also view or send video feeds if webcams are installed on either side. Voice chat is also possible.

Remotely accessing a computer via the Internet has been possible for a long time, but the process usually involved static IP addresses or live Internet IP addresses. LogMeIn Hamachi and TeamViewer are two of the most powerful applications and they're also free to use for personal and non-commercial environments. The process involves downloading a simple utility on both the host and client computers and connecting them over a reasonably fast Internet connection. In this simple workshop, we’ll show you how to install and use TeamViewer for non-commercial use. Corporate users can create presentations, transfer important files or conduct video conferences, and service engineers can offer online help using the licensed version meant for commercial usage.

Figure 1, 2 and 3

Firstly, download the 3.4 MB free application from www.teamviewer.com on the host and client computers, which need to be controlled (Fig 1). After the download is complete, you can choose to either run the application as a standalone or install it on your PC. Don’t choose the install option if you don't own the computer (for instance, if you are running the application from a public PC (cybercafé) or a friend’s home). Once done with the installation, TeamViewer will access the Internet and allot your computer with a unique ID and password, which will be displayed on the screen (Fig 2). Now your machine is ready to either be a host PC or connect to a client PC. The computer on the other end will also have a unique ID and password, which needs to be passed on to you so that you can gain access to that computer. Key the details into the ‘Create Session’ fields (Fig 3) on the right side of the window.

Figure 4

Finally, select the type of activity you need the connection for - remote control, file transfer, or VPN.Click on the ‘Connect to partner’ icon and TeamViewer will connect your system to the host and ask you for the password (Fig 4).

Figure 5

Remote control will show you the entire screen of the other PC on your monitor, which you can control and use as you like (Fig 5). You have options such as switching sides with the host, sending crucial commands such as locking, rebooting, etc. You can also view or send video feeds if webcams are installed on either side. Voice chat is also possible.