Google to test ultra-high-speed wireless Net technology

In an application to the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Monday, Google requested permission to conduct tests in California across wireless spectra. Of particular interest, is a rarely used millimeter-wave frequency that's capable of transmitting vast amounts of information through the air.

The application, signed by Google Access and Energy division chief Craig Barratt, documents a 180-day test the company says will provide "valuable insight into Google's technology innovations and potential business plans and strategy." Though much of the application is redacted in order to protect confidential data, the tech giant states that the purpose of the test is to "expeditiously test radios in a way that is likely to contribute to the development, extension, expansion or utilization of the radio art."

Apple releases new iPads

Apple (AAPL, Tech30) unveiled new editions of the iPad and iPad Mini at an event in California on Thursday, Oct. 16, where it also announced that its new Apple Pay system will launch on Monday, Oct. 20.

The new tablets -- the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini -- both come with TouchID fingerprint sensors, which previously were only available on the iPhone. You can use the TouchID to make purchases online with Apple Pay, though it won't work at cash registers in stores the way the new iPhones do

The Air 2 is just 6.1 millimeters thick, 18% smaller than the previous iPad Air. It's also got a souped-up processor, improved Retina display and a camera that takes panoramic photos up to 43 megapixels.

Both of the new iPads will be available for preorder on Friday and will ship by the end of next week. They're available in gold in addition to the traditional silver and dark gray.

The Air 2 starts at $499 for the 16-gigabyte, WiFi-only version, while the same version of the Mini 3 goes for $399.

The 64-gig Air 2 is $599, while the 128-gig version is $699; for an additional $130, you can get a version in each of those sizes equipped with cellular data connectivity. Apple is also cutting prices for the older iPads.

Easy Explanation on Cloud Computing

This is very funny - Has anyone seen the trailer of an upcoming movie “Sex Tape”, stars Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel; the couple make a sex tape, which goes missing. This conversation  then ensued

Cameron Diaz: “How do you forget to erase your sex tape?”

Jason Segel: “It kept slipping my mind and then the next thing I knew it went up - it went up to the cloud.”

Diaz: “And you can’t get it down from the cloud?”

Segel: “Nobody understands the cloud. It’s a mystery!”

And there we have it, "The Cloud" made it to the Hollywood but it ain't a mystery,lol. So, i have decided to do a simple write-up on "The Cloud"

What Is the Cloud Used For?

The cloud makes sharing documents, photos and pretty much any type of file easy, using any device running any operating system. All you need is an Internet or cellular connection. But the power behind the cloud is storage and Everything as a Service.

Special servers in a company's cloud do nothing but hold data. Lots of data. Think of your own computer, which probably holds upwards of 500 gigabytes (GB) of data. Compare that to Microsoft's cloud servers, which hold a combined total of more than 400 petabytes. That's like 100,000 hard drives and that's just one company's cloud resources.

Network operators, content distributors set their sights on Africa

 After several years of Internet infrastructure investment, with increased local content generation and Internet users, Africa seems to be getting the attention of major global network operators and content distribution networks.

In 2010, about 60 infrastructure providers, ISPs and tech experts met in Nairobi to discuss ways to interconnect more within the continent and exchange more content.

Back then, Google was the only vendor in the room and had started operations in Africa with a willingness to explore ways to help the continent maximize its infrastructure and in the process lower connectivity costs. This year, Akamai, Cloudflare, Interxion and Jaguar Networks are present at the Africa Peering and Interconnection Forum in Dakar, Senegal, and have expressed interest in increasing services in the region.

amazing!!! New computer malware communicates via sound waves

Scientists have developed a new malware that transmits information between computers using high-frequency sound waves inaudible to the human ear.

This allows the malware to transmit keystrokes and other sensitive data even when infected machines have no network connection.

The new malware uses high-frequency audio signals to bridge the 'air gap' - a type of security where network is secured by keeping it separate from other local networks and the Internet.

Using just the built-in microphones and speakers of standard computers, the researchers from Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing, and Ergonomics were able to transmit passwords and other small amounts of data from distances of almost 65 feet.

Should Microsoft kill Windows Phone?

It's been nearly four years since Microsoft first released Windows Phone, and what it has gotten after many millions of dollars in development and marketing costs, plus its $7.2 billion acquisition of Nokia, is this: a worldwide smartphone market share of less than 3 percent. And that number has been going down, not up.

Ask any smart businessperson whether that investment is a good one, and you'll get a straightforward answer: no. Over at Microsoft, though, they think differently. Rather than abandoning Windows Phone, they're doubling down and making an even bigger bet on the struggling smartphone operating system. A company with Bill Gates' DNA will never willingly admit defeat, but in this case it may be time to do just that and instead hitch its mobile wagon to Android.

The numbers explain why this might be the best option at this point. They're not pretty. The latest figures from Strategy Analytics show Windows Phone with only a 2.7 percent worldwide share of the smartphone market in the second quarter of 2014, compared to an 84.6 percent market share for Android and 11.9 percent for iOS. That 2.7 percent figure is down from 3.8 percent a year earlier. And even that understates how badly Windows Phone is doing. In the second quarter of 2014, shipments of all smartphones were up 27 percent compared to a year previous -- but Windows Phone shipments fell in that year, from 8.9 million devices in the second quarter of 2013 to 8 million devices in the second quarter of 2014.

CryptoWall, a ransomware program, held over half a million computers hostage, encrypted 5 billion files

A file-encrypting ransomware program called CryptoWall has infected over 600,000 computer systems in the past six months and held over 5 billion files hostage, garnering more than $1 million for its creators , researchers found.

The Counter Threat Unit (CTU) at Dell SecureWorks performed an extensive analysis of CryptoWall that involved gathering data from its command-and-control (C&C) servers, tracking its variants and distribution methods and counting payments made by victims so far.

CryptoWall is "the largest and most destructive ransomware threat on the Internet" at the moment and will likely continue to grow, the CTU researchers said Wednesday in a blog post that details their findings.

The threat has been spreading since at least November 2013, but until the first quarter of this year it remained mostly overshadowed by CryptoLocker, another ransomware program that infected over half a million systems from September 2013 through May.

CryptoLocker asked victims for ransoms between $100 and $500 to recover their encrypted files and is estimated to have earned its creators around $3 million over 9 months of operation. The threat was shut down at the end of May following a multi-national law enforcement operation that had support from security vendors.

CryptoWall filled the void left by CryproLocker on the ransomware landscape through aggressive distribution using a variety of tactics that included spam emails with malicious links or attachments, drive-by-download attacks from sites infected with exploit kits and through installations by other malware programs already running on compromised computers.