Special guest: David Artuso from CellHelmet

MISC 

• Edward: Facebook’s entry to stock market not so good as expected: $38, then $42 and then the day ended at $38 but it will reach over $100 so worth buying now
• Edward: LTE starts big time in Eurotrashland , now also for smartphones not only USB sticks and routers
• http://www.cultofmac.com/167907/waterproof-your-iphone-with-this-amazing-japanese-condom/ The Japanese phone condom (?!)

Apple 

• No rumors!

Google and Android

• Edward: already 8 million pre-orders for Samsung Galaxy SIII / S3
• Edward: Siri-clone of Samsung stolen and available for all Android 4 phones
  http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/19/3031621/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-rom-leak-s-voice-available-android-4-0

Microsoft 

• Edward: Windows 8 UI will be more primitive, no transparent windows and glossy effects, what the duck?
  http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/18/3029547/microsoft-windows-8-drops-aero-glass 

App Picks

• Diana – ColorNote https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.socialnmobile.dictapps.notepad.color.note&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDNd
• Alli – CardMunch http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/cardmunch-business-card-reader/id478351777?mt=8 Thanks, Patrick!
• Edward – WhatsApp 2.0
• for Windows Phone, now profile picture can be set:
  http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/218a0ebb-1585-4c7e-a9ec-054cf4569a79
• David – Pic Collage http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/pic-collage/id448639966?mt=8

Follow Alli on Twitter
Follow Diana on Twitter
Follow Edward on Twitter

Call the Just Another Geek Site Google Voice number, and leave us a message! (304) 884-JAGS (5247)
Download the episode directly here. Subscribe via iTunes. Add our RSS podcast feed.

Calabasas, Calif. – May 7, 2012 – Musubo, the creator of mobile accessories that seamlessly merge fashion and protection, today announces four new additions to its collection of unique, eye-catching carrying solutions. Designed for iPhone 4/4S, the Ripple, Sexy, Eden and Double X cases bring fresh and exciting designs to your device, allowing you to showcase your distinctive style and taste while keeping your phone perfectly protected. Inspired by Tokyo street fashion, Musubo cases turn the real into surreal, ignite the imagination and spark conversation.

“Just in time for summer, Musubo accessories bring color and freshness to case design that hasn’t ever been seen before,” said Jeff Galant, CEO of Smart IT USA, Musubo’s exclusive U.S. distribution partner. “The cases are truly original and imaginative without compromising functionality or protection.”

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Once I saw this press release, I was off to the Musubo booth at CTIA, where Jeff Galant gave us a tour and description of the entire new line.

Enjoy!

A basic feature of most password managers is data encryption using ciphers such as AES and Blowfish. A cipher is simply a mathematical formula which uses a string of characters (encryption key) and a user password to turn plain text into something unreadable.  To read the information a hacker needs access to the encrypted data, encryption key, password and the formula used to encrypt the data.

One way to access the encrypted data is to obtain the device. A password manager can’t stop a thief but it can provide an alert if a person obtains your device, starts your password manager, and enters the wrong password.

Another way to access your data is to obtain a backup, however some operating systems embed a device identifier so that decrypting them is nearly impossible without the unlocked device.  For example, iOS uses information from the Keychain to protect backups. Apple provides developers with access to store data in the Keychain for additional security.

The next challenge for a hacker is trying to obtain the encryption key. To make this as difficult as possible, most password managers do not store the encryption key in the app but use a formula and the user password to derive it. These formulas are generally referred to as Hash function and often include “SHA” in their names.

The master password is the key element stopping a hacker from accessing your data. It is very important that password managers avoid storing the master password in the app itself. However, as the Elcomsoft study explains, many password managers do store the master password, or an easily decipherable version of the master password, in the app itself.

This leads to a common question. If the master password isn’t stored in the app, then how does it know if the user entered the right one? Good password managers use a sophisticated Hash algorithm, applied over and over to the master password to produce a derived value or “hash” of the master password. This hash should be stored in a secure place such as the Apple Keychain. When a user enters their password, the same Hash algorithm is performed to see if the derived value is the same. It’s important to note that calculating the master password from the hash is virtually impossible.

If a hacker can’t find the master password in the app, they must try guessing it using techniques generally referred to as password recovery attacks.

The first line of defense is choosing a long master password containing many types of characters. If you limit the master password to four digits, there are only 10,000 possible combinations. If you increase the length of the master password to 8 alphanumeric characters, the number of combinations increases to 8 (characters) to the 38th power (26 alpha + 10 numeric) and even more if you include special characters such as “!@#$%”. Even a supercomputer would take a very long time to generate all possible combinations.

The second line of defense to a password recovery attack is to make it difficult to submit a guess. In the Apple environments, this can be done by storing the hash in the Apple Keychain so the hacker would need to get through two levels of security. In metaphorical terms,this would be like breaking into Fort Knox only to find the vault of the Bank of England.

All security systems are vulnerable to attack and experts such as Elcomsoft do a good job of describing these risks. However, good security software can make hacking your data an   extremely difficult undertaking. While not invincible, a well designed password manager offers considerably more protection than commonly used alternatives.

by Marc Bolh
Founder & CEO of Ascendo
Developer of DataVault Password Manager

The colors pop, and most of their cases are textured, so they feel good as well as look good. I really liked the ease of changing the back plates to quickly give your phone a whole new look.

Lewis showed me some hot covers that fit on the MacBook Air, but explained they didn’t have Macs to just leave sitting out. Lucky for him, I happened to have a Mac in my purse! So I took it out and he tried on the cover. Even though I had a skin on it, the snap cover fit quite well, and looked really nice.

Apologies for this week’s sound – it just wasn’t cooperating!

MISC 

• CTIA – awesome! No Windows phones (Edward: but yes! focus 2 from samsung was there! no window 8 tablets?) Samsung was not represented at the show, only Pepcom
• Facebook refocuses on mobile but : how to upload higher resolution photos to facebook??? but still no iPad version
• 2 new great SF movies WITH COOL GADGETS coming end of May: Men in Black 3 (big cellphone from sixties not healthy? ) and Prometheus (with indoor GPS system via laser-scanning)

Apple 

• ios6 coming for sure now – spotted in new icloud notifications functionality – (beta) coming for sure now during WWDC in June – spotted in new icloud notifications functionality
• 5.1.1 iOS released and even for 3 years old 3GS getting this upgrade and yet new Windows Phone 7.5 phones don’t get windows phone 8 in october
• Edward: angry: bought all tools in PAPER for iPad but still not yellow color for marker, what the duck?

Google and Android

• galaxy note got update to ICS / android 4.0 and it kicks ass
• HTC One series of phones is impressive

Microsoft 

• no apps for PDF annotation for windows phone
  - adobe’s can only view on windows phone but can annotate in ios and android versions – couldn’t find any PDF annotation app for windows phone AT ALL. So not only apps for windows phone have less features but also less table (the same audio streaming apps crash more often)
• Edward thinks about getting Samsung Focus Note (or Samsung Omnia Note) i.e. Windows 8 RT powered Samsung Galaxy Note – because of digitizer pen that is gazillion times better than ANY touch pen

App Picks

• Diana – Pops https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pops.app&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5wb3BzLmFwcCJd
• Alli – Notability (iPad only) http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/notability-take-notes-annotate/id360593530?mt=8 $.99
• Edward: Windows Phone: Handwrite Notes: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/cd5ac782-a615-4ae3-9615-c1c096f561a9
• Edward: iPad: Good Reader (mainly PDF viewer but I use it mainly for PDF annotating, I LOVE THIS APP VERY MUCH):
  http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/goodreader-for-ipad/id363448914?mt=8

Giveaway – PayAnywhere. Email alli@justanothergeeksite.com and tell us why you want it!

Follow Alli on Twitter
Follow Diana on Twitter
Follow Edward on Twitter

Call the Just Another Geek Site Google Voice number, and leave us a message! (304) 884-JAGS (5247)
Download the episode directly here. Subscribe via iTunes. Add our RSS podcast feed.

MISC 

• The Kindle Fire is no longer on fire…sales share drops to 4%
• Draw Something loses 5M daily users (15M down to 10M) in 30 days.  Are people getting bored with it or is it Zynga?
• eye controlled user interface coming, among others in windows 8, google glasess, etc, Eurotrash company from Sweden works on it: http://www.tobii.com/ – not science fiction!
• How many times does your cell phone ring before it goes to voicemail? Why do the carriers now allow consumers to control this?
• iDrive – http://t.co/61UzR50k 5 GB free for starters, $4.99/month. Actual automatic backup.

Apple 

• Edward: apple is manufacturing iPad 2 units with new technology: less power consumption and slightly faster processor but only after unpacking unit and going to settings one can recognize whether old or new iPad 2 is given unit
• Samsung loses major defense in patent infringement case due to delay in providing mandated code.

Google and Android

• Samsung event and overkill?
• Sprint confirmed that Epic Touch (a.k.a. Galaxy S II) users will get an OTA ICS update, but still refuses to give a date, despite over a dozen leaked builds
• LG give Samsung something to think about by announcing the Optimus LTE 2 with 2GB of RAM (twice the 1GB in the Galaxy S3)
• Flipboard coming to Android at last
• Edward: many people say that HTC One X is still (after S3) the best Android phone just because they are being bribed by HTC (free HTC units, intercontinental flights and hotel at Frequencies conference)
• Edward: German magazine “connect” in list of top smartphones still has Galaxy Note in place number one and Edward seen Note in hands of teenagers and women too – in public here – this phone is NOT TOO BIG. If somebody says it is too big, then this somebody is simply stupid or midget or both.

Microsoft 

• Nook and Windows, sittin’ in a tree! And this love affair is only costing MSFT $30 million. Perfect for college textbooks and competition for iBooks.
• Windows 8 will not play DVDs natively (except for Media Center version)
• Edward: HTC One X android super phone (by some considered better than S3) goes on sale in USA at AT&T on Sunday May 5 (when we are recording the podcast), it’s already beating nokia on amazon (1st and 2nd: htc one x: http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Cell-Phones-Accessories-AT/zgbs/wireless/2422313011/ref=pd_ts_zgc_cps_2422313011_morl?pf_rd_p=1279002702&pf_rd_s=right-3&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=2422313011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1QQFSZBBJP7A54XB7PF7#1 )
• Edward: Nokia sued by investor for Elop/CEO lying about outlooks: http://www.rgrdlaw.com/media/cases/140_Complaint.pdf , http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2403989,00.asp
• screenshot taker installed by Joel (via remote developer unlock with Joel’s ID) failed after making too many screenshots at once, now crashing – big problem of windows phone: no integrated screenshot taker and no  apps in marketplace (the existing screen capture apps demand developer unlocked phones and does not work with most games)
• Diana spotted a Windows phone on a major network television show…on air just long enough to see the tiles, but not long enough to try and determine brand - just not long enough

App Picks

• Diana – Plan B https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lookout.labs.planb&feature=more_from_developer
• Alli – Hulu Plus http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hulu-plus/id376510438?mt=8
• Edward Windows Phone pick – Tip Tap Tones (learning Chinese sounds as e.g. Japanese language is super easy pronunciation-wise but Chinese is very difficult pronunciation-wise due to having 4 intonation types for each word / , \ , — and /\ .
  http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/e2a8f396-4b2d-4fe5-8c5f-069a79914d6a
• Edward iOS pick: Voice Reader – high quality OFFLINE text-to-speech in many languages:
  http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/voice-reader-text-to-speech/id422829104?mt=8

Follow Alli on Twitter
Follow Diana on Twitter
Follow Edward on Twitter

Call the Just Another Geek Site Google Voice number, and leave us a message! (304) 884-JAGS (5247)
Download the episode directly here. Subscribe via iTunes. Add our RSS podcast feed.

MISC 

• SLR lens attachment for iPad http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/18/padcaster-lenscaster-ipad-SLR-mount-hands-on/
• what is your preferred cloud service? (edward dumped dropbox and uses skydrive and amazon cloud drive)

Apple 

• 500 jobs more at Apple Ireland in Cork, Ireland:
  http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0420/apple-to-create-500-new-jobs-in-cork.html
  so total there 3300, but rather sales &  support jobs not R&D, funny: French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch etc support jobs also located there as jobs.apple.com shows.
  Apple has second thoughts about division in Austin, Texas?
• can you recommend me (Edward) an app for iOS to draw/hand-write on top of PDF files?
• edward was pondering to buy ipad 3 but 3 weeks waiting time prevents impulse buy, is Diana happy with her ipad 3 by now?
• this week released new eBoook about Apple has been released: “insanely simple” :
  http://www.amazon.com/Insanely-Simple-Obsession-Success-ebook/dp/B0064W5V5C/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1335707470&sr=1-1 - very good tips about design of anything

Google and Android

• Samsung to release its own cloud storage (S-Cloud) – Do you have your Google drive yet?
• Panasonic is now in the Android Phone arena
• May 3rd: launch event in London of Galaxy S3, why in London? because olympics starts there soon
• Leaked AT&T document gives dates for ICS updates: Galaxy SII May 14; Sensation and Amaze June 16
• Edward: google launched “google drive” – but no iOS client yet

Microsoft 

• Woz likes windows phone more than android, what the duck?
  http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/28/2983312/steve-wozniak-windows-phone-android-comparison
• rumor: Windows 8 touch tablets will run windows phone 7 apps out of the box with use of “Microsoft virtual”  what is very likely because windows phone 7 apps are not native but .net apps i.e. silveeright or somefink
• Paul Thurrott (Windows IT Pro) and Mary Jo Foley (ZDnet) confirm infos from sources in Microsoft: no Windows Phone 8 update for Windows Phone 7.5 phones, so for example Lumia 900 will not get next OS that comes in 6 months (October) but 3-year old iPhone 3GS gets current iOS 5.1. Conclusions? Wait for Windows Phone 8 and don’t buy now!
• Microsoft patent for dual display phone so maybe Windows Phone 8 with e-ink display on one side and normal display on other side coming:
  http://wmpoweruser.com/microsoft-files-patent-for-dual-display-phone/
  .. so WHOLE SURFACE of the device may be display. See video there too.

App Picks

• Diana – SoundHound https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.melodis.midomiMusicIdentifier&feature=nav_other#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDYsImNvbS5tZWxvZGlzLm1pZG9taU11c2ljSWRlbnRpZmllciJd Andru
• Alli – Beesy http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/beesy/id499578384?mt=8
• Edward – InstaCam http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/b606738b-83a7-4c43-96fd-3c964de7f938
  and Skydrive from Microsoft (free 25GB lately if you click on free upgrade, available for other platforms too, Edward LOVES IT):
  http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/ad543082-80ec-45bb-aa02-ffe7f4182ba8

Follow Alli on Twitter
Follow Diana on Twitter
Follow Edward on Twitter

Call the Just Another Geek Site Google Voice number, and leave us a message! (304) 884-JAGS (5247)
Download the episode directly here. Subscribe via iTunes. Add our RSS podcast feed.

MISC

• Instagram bought by Facebook for $1 billion
• B-berry to release a device that will run Android apps? Isn’t this old news –
  Runtime for PlayBook?
• Kindle Touch 5.1.0 update adds international language support, landscape mode, and more http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?nodeId=200790650
  Edward installed it, landscape is great but still no multiple level of zooming of images in ebooks.
• National database to catch smartphone thieves – the big 4 are all in
• Edward yesterday was in Amsterdam and scored unique Amsterdam badge “mokum”. Foursquare is fun when traveling innit?

Apple 

• Apple allowed to defend developers in patent against Lodsys:
  http://www.fosspatents.com/2012/04/apple-is-allowed-at-long-last-to.html
• “Paper” 1.5 million downloads – hype?
• Two Mac viruses – Flashback and now Sabpab – Apple has released a removal tool

Google and Android

• Galaxy S2 in Germany got ICS
• Sony Xperia devices in Scandanavia get ICS
• Galaxy Tab 2  (7 inch) released with Android 4
• HTC One series gets a lot of hype
• Android shoots up from 33% to 64% market share in China
• Google Wallet Android app gets some privacy fixes http://www.androidcentral.com/google-wallet-updated-improvements-and-enhancements-across-board

Microsoft 

• Nokia Lumia 900 on sale, data connection issues but Nokia released update in few days – shows how important this launch is; however camera in Lumia 900 has no BSI (backside illumination) sensor so photos are inferior
• Diana went and looked at the Lumia.  Not impressed with Metro interface; easy to use, but boring to look at.  Had a great tech conversation with sales person.
• Netflix for Windows Phone up to version 2.01

• http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-57413493-64/intels-windows-8-tablet-checklist-goes-public/

App Picks

• Diana – AppBrain http://www.appbrain.com
• Alli – WordPress http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wordpress/id335703880?mt=8
• Edward – for Windows Phone: – 4th & Mayor – an unofficial Foursquare client better than official one:
  http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/c7d13b8d-9951-e011-854c-00237de2db9e

Follow Alli on Twitter
Follow Diana on Twitter
Follow Edward on Twitter

Call the Just Another Geek Site Google Voice number, and leave us a message! (304) 884-JAGS (5247)
Download the episode directly here. Subscribe via iTunes. Add our RSS podcast feed.

 

MISC 

• Instagram!
• EasyBib http://www.easybib.com/
• thanks for the amazing info graphic, Mashable. http://mashable.com/2012/04/03/draw-something-is-taking-over-the-world/ DrawSomething!
• UK 800 numbers free to call from mobile phones http://thenextweb.com/uk/2012/04/04/at-last-uk-0800-numbers-could-soon-be-free-to-call-from-mobile-phones/
• iPhone users twice as likely to use WiFi as Android users http://mashable.com/2012/04/03/iphone-android-wifi/
• Save Money. Study Faster. Ace the Class. | Boundless http://www.boundless.com/ Can university professors survive without selling their own textbooks? Are textbooks necessary at all?

Apple 

• AT&T to start officially unlocking iPhones that are off contract

Microsoft 

• Lumia  900 reviewed everywhere. Still looks meh.
• Windows Phone apps pass 80,000 titles – http://www.forbes.com/sites/ewanspence/2012/04/03/windows-phone-passes-80000-mobile-applications/

Google

• YouTube (now part of Google’s domain) and 3D. Discuss.
• Google tablet. While it could obviously end fragmentation – will it? Did the Nexus phones?

App Picks

• Diana (Android) Wallpaper Slideshower https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.knu.mlw&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5rbnUubWx3Il0.
• Alli – Evernote http://evernote.com

Follow Alli on Twitter
Follow Diana on Twitter
Follow Edward on Twitter

Call the Just Another Geek Site Google Voice number, and leave us a message! (304) 884-JAGS (5247)
Download the episode directly here. Subscribe via iTunes. Add our RSS podcast feed.

MISC 

• World Backup Day 3/31 – Did you do a backup?
• Box.com introduces Box OneCloud http://www.box.com/business/features/onecloud/ “Box OneCloud brings together all your mobile content into the secure Box cloud. Experience productivity from anywhere and accelerate your business with a collection of mobile apps that integrate with Box to simplify and extend your workflow, while keeping content centralized on Box.”
• LG making a new flexible e-ink display that should be available in Europe soon, and in the US shortly after http://www.extremetech.com/electronics/124229-lg-begins-mass-production-of-flexible-plastic-e-ink-displays

Apple 

• http://www.cultofmac.com/156802/this-software-can-extract-your-ios-devices-passcode-contacts-call-logs-and-even-keystrokes-video/ Software that can extract your iOS devices information and even keystrokes. While not something anyone can buy, if it’’ been done once, it can probably be done again.
• Edward: Apple TV sucks badly: no iTunes U content playable via Apple TV, damn it, for god’s sake, it sucks so much.
• Edward: new Macbooks with Ivy Bridge processors coming up in next 2-3 months, probably Macbook Air -like thin but 15 inch size. Edward ponders getting Macbook Air with Ivy Bridge but only if it will have at least 8GB RAM on board (disk size irrelevant only RAM size important)

Android

• Still no stable ICS for Diana
• Edward says: Google bastards killed kenny : still no ICS for S2 in Germany – coming Middle April for non-branded S2 but for carrier-branded S2: in May! And it’s just promises. However in some countries ICS for S2 already rolled out.
• Are more people converting from iOS to Android? Edward notes that Leo Laporte now uses the Galaxy Note. (Pun intended.)

Microsoft 

• Amazon sells pre-orders of the Lumia 900 for a penny – pre-order Lumia 900 here: http://www.att.com/lumia/
• launch of Nokia Lumia 900 in USA: very important for Windows Phone but if it will fail Nokia will not go down the toilet but will re-try with Windows Phone 8 in December 2012.
• Phones with 41 megapixels and gyroscopes?!

Google

• http://techland.time.com/2012/03/30/report-google-planning-its-own-online-store-to-sell-branded-tablets/ Google planning its own online store to sell branded tablets

App Picks

• Windows Phone app pick (Edward): Easter Smash (released 2 days ago; robots and Easter in one app! yay! installed and played: funny: Integrated Circuits fall out of robotic bunnies when hit by eggs): http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/7c6702dd-8385-4661-a141-340c192e9333
  (my screenshot: http://twitpic.com/944nk0 )
• iPhone app pick (Alli): On Voicefeed http://justanothergeeksite.com/2012/03/beyond-visual-voicemail/
• Android app pick (Diana): Zite for Android (released this week) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zite&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS56aXRlIl0.

 Follow Alli on Twitter
Follow Diana on Twitter
Follow Edward on Twitter

Call the Just Another Geek Site Google Voice number, and leave us a message! (304) 884-JAGS (5247)
Download the episode directly here. Subscribe via iTunes. Add our RSS podcast feed.