Chrome for Android starts answering your questions in search suggestions

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/15/chrome-for-android-autocomplete-answers/

Google's as-you-type search suggestions have only offered the tiniest bit of help so far. They can handle basic math, but they won't answer questions that require more than a few numbers. However, that might soon change. Chrome for Android now has an experimental feature that answers some of your queries before you've even finished asking. Switch it on and you can get the weather, historic dates and other valuable info without ever seeing Google's usual results page. While the feature isn't all that vital when you have access to Google Now, it may save you the trouble of switching apps (or leaving the page you're on) when you just want to get a small factoid. There's also no hint as to when Google might make the feature standard on Android or bring it to the desktop, but let's hope that an upgrade comes soon -- it could save a lot of unnecessary keystrokes.

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Google

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Via: Phandroid

Source: OMGChrome

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Kindle security flaw can be exploited by hidden codes in e-books

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/16/kindle-security-flaw-e-books/

Next time you come across a Kindle e-book link somewhere other than Amazon itself, you may want to make sure it's not some dubious website before you hit download or "Send to Kindle." A security researcher by the name of Benjamin Daniel Musser has discovered that the "Manage Your Kindle" page contains a security hole -- one that hackers can take advantage of with the help of e-books hiding malicious lines of code. Once you load the Kindle Library with a corrupted e-book (typically with a subject that includes <script src="https://www.example.org/script.js"></script>), a hacker gets access to your cookies, and, hence, your Amazon account credentials.

Based on the updates Musser wrote at the bottom of the report's web page, he first discovered the flaw in October last year. Amazon patched it up shortly after he reported it, but it made its way back after a "Manage Your Kindle" overhaul. Still, he believes the issue should be easy to avoid, so long as you don't download e-books (pirated or otherwise) from websites you don't know. Aside from Kindle, another Amazon-owned service was also thrust into the spotlight earlier for exhibiting a security flaw. Audible, the company's audiobooks service, apparently allowed users to use fake emails and credit card numbers in order to download as many files as they want. An Audible spokesperson stressed, however, that transactions made using fake credit cards were "closed quickly" and that the service takes credit card fraud seriously.

Filed under: Tablets, Amazon

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Via: The Digital Reader

Source: B.FL7.DE

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MIT Made a Smartphone Control a Computer With a Simple Touch

Source: http://gizmodo.com/controlling-your-computer-with-a-smartphone-looks-aweso-1635000970

Have you ever held your smartphone up to your laptop screen and thought about how cool it would be if the two devices could work together, physically? Well now, thanks to a team from the MIT Media Lab, they can. New software lets you use your smartphone as an extra interface for a computer, and it looks awesome.

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Macy's will give you location-based discounts through your iPhone

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/15/macys-stores-get-ibeacons/

Macy's experiments with location-sensitive shopping have apparently paid off -- in the wake of a successful trial, the retail behemoth has unveiled plans to put iBeacons in all of its stores. Once they're activated this fall, you can get discounts and other promos on your iPhone as you wander through the store; you only need to install the Macy's app and keep Bluetooth turned on. There will only be regular deals at first, but an upgrade in the spring will offer department-specific discounts. You may get a special deal on a coat right as you're swinging by the men's or women's clothing sections, for instance. You're probably not going to go out of your way to shop at Macy's just to see bargains appear on your mobile screen, but this could be a useful perk if you're already a frequent customer.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Via: ZDNet

Source: Macy's

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Here's How Apple Came Up With The Apple Watch (AAPL)

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-inspiration-apple-watch-ipod-nano-2014-9

Less than a week after Apple unveiled the Apple Watch, we're learning about how the tech goliath came up with its newest product category.

The Apple Watch was inspired by the 2010 iPod Nano, according to the New York Times' Brian X. Chen.

"The watch, according to a former Apple designer, had its origin with a tiny iPod Nano Touch, introduced in 2010," writes Chen. "People attached a strap to the minuscule media player, and wore it on their wrist, listening to music while jogging."

Chen is talking about the 6th-generation iPod Nano, which had a tiny square face resembling the Apple Watch sans a strap. It looked like this:

People soon realized that one could make a DIY-smartwatch by slapping a band on the Nano. The result is something very closely resembling the Apple Watch:

Apple has clearly made an effort to burnish the Apple Watch with a luxurious face, but the genesis of their smartwatch is completely evident.

SEE ALSO: How Steve Jobs Surprised Tim Cook In 2011 By Asking Him To Be CEO

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