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Got a credit card equipped with a contactless payment chip? Then watch out next time someone bumps into you in the street - they may have just mugged you with an app.

Contactless cards use near field communications (NFC) chips to exchange your payment details with a merchant's till, and some smartphones also come equipped with NFC chips to let you use them as a wallet. Now security researcher Thomas Skora has written an app that turns any NFC phone into a reader and successfully read card numbers, expiry dates, transactions and merchant IDs from German credit cards.

The app, called paycardreader, was removed from the Google Play store yesterday, but Skora has also placed the source code on GitHub, a code-sharing website, and says the app doesn't actually save the swiped data, it just displays it.

It is possible that more malicious app developers could use similar methods to actively steal data though - an investigation by Channel 4 television in the UK earlier this year revealed it was possible to swipe details via a phone and use them to make purchases on Amazon.

The Carat app, however, promises to provide recommendations to improve the battery life of your iDevice. It basically tells you what's draining the most power, though it doesn't give out precise usage stats. When a user opens the app, data about your device is sent in the background to Carat's cloud servers, which will revert with results and remedies within a week. The app also intros something known as the J-Score. This is basically a percentile figure that tells you how your device has fared compared to other similar gadgets out there. For example, a J-Score of 75 means you're doing better than 75% of other Carat users out there.

Privacy is maintained, as the app doesn't collect personal data — merely usage-related info. To make things transparent, the app will let you know what information is being collected. Users can share their experiences on popular social networks as well. It might not work as well as those task-killer apps on Android, but considering that there aren't many such tools in the iTunes App Store, Carat is a catch.

NOTE: Due to the immense popularity of the app, its servers are currently struggling to keep up with the user load. Therefore, results might take a lot longer than a week to reach you. Patience is a virtue, and don't look a gift horse in the mouth.


Developer: AMP Lab
Price: Free
Size: 1.2 MB
Platform: iOS
Download: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/carat/id504771500?mt=8

This device said to be able to smoothen and tighten dimpled skin caused by cellulite in a safe and painless manner. Taking over 20 years of engineering research, the Home Cellulite Smoother was developed in France, and sports motorized rollers that rely on gentle suction and massaging pulsations in order to stimulate fat metabolism. Each purchase comes with five treatment heads, cleaning wipes, and 20 replacement filters to get you started right out of the box.

A company called Baby Alert, introduces us to The Elite Pad System, placed between the carseat and its cloth cover, the Elite Pad System is activated when a child is placed in the seat. The System will then sound an alarm six seconds after a you walk more than fifteen feet away from a vehicle while your bundle of joy is still in their car seat. It seems so ridiculous to think a device like this would be necessary, but when you are not the parent that typically drops off your child, well, lets just say I’d much rather be safe than sorry…

This simple device is easy to install, comes with a keyring alarm, works with wireless technology, and has all the necessary fail safes, like low battery indicators, and self testing features and with different packages, meant to protect from one to three kids, starting at only $69.95 I guess it makes an excellent baby shower gift and it gives you valuable protection against the unthinkable. Available at www.babyalert.info

The Technopark-Technology Business Incubator (TBI) at Trivandrum launched an interesting cooking device named MAID that can auto-cook a variety of dishes. An acronym for Make All Incredible Dishes or Microwave Android Integrated Device, the device will also make using a microwave easier, with a better a simplified UI.

Created by SectorQube Technolabs, the device is said to cost about Rs 7000, reports IANS. SectorQube Technolabs CEO, Sabarish Prakash said, "This is the latest generation of microwave ovens and it literally knows to cook every dish. Connecting to the internet at home, one can select the dish of choice from the website and download the recipe and ingredients' list using MAID". People who already own a microwave can also use this service, by installing the MAID console into their appliance.

MAID also supports video recipes, which can be downloaded from http://www.maid.sectorqube.com/. The device also offers voice assistance to take you through the cooking process, and also intimates you when the dish is ready. While the device does seem very useful for novice cooks, the website reeks of male chauvinism. Too bad that people who are innovative enough to make life easy in the kitchen, consider their wives fit only for cooking and cleaning!

Google has created an artificial brain using 16,000 computer processors, which amounts to over a billion connections, reports IANS. This project has been created at the company's 'blue sky ideas' lab, called Google X. A team led by Jeff Dean subsequently fed random images picked out of 10 million YouTube videos to this brain, in a bid to let it "learn" by itself.

Interestingly, the new machine chose to focus on cats. Dean says, "We never told it during the training 'this is a cat'. It basically invented the concept of a cat".

In a published report, the team states, "Contrary to what appears to be a widely-held intuition, our experimental results reveal that it is possible to train a face detector without having to label images as containing a face or not. We also find that the same network is sensitive to other high-level concepts such as cat faces and human bodies.

Tata Docomo telecom services announced a tariff plans decrease by 60 percentage for Tata Photon Plus postpaid and prepaid clients over India.

It brings down data tariff prices.

Tata Docomo Photon plus servicing is a CD-MA free based fast information service providing speeds up to 3.1 Mbps.

With  the modern plans introduced by Tata Docomo Photon Plus postpaid customers have 2 limitless data plan alternatives such as 6 GB for Rs 950 rental and 11 GB for Rs 1200.Based on the data consumption of the limit of 6 GB and 11 GB customers will be able to use  data but at a low  speed.These 2 unlimited plans also have cash back offer by Rs 100 per month for 12 months from date of purchase.

Along with this it is offering some additional facilities like,prepaid customers can have 2GB data plan on recharge of Rs 700 and post the 2GB data limit then can continue using up data but with low speed.

Besides Tata Docomo entry level packs at present charges Rs 250 that can have 1GB of data download as compared to Rs 650 before. Similarly Rs 450 pack which earlier charge Rs 750 will be offering 2GB.

Same as  Airtel's Smart byte, Tata Docomo has set up  recharge packs, which admits customers to buy additional added data services if they are crossing their high speed data limitation.In that aspect there are 2  plans in this,customers for Photon Plus postpaid  can have 1GB data for Rs 200 and 2GB data for Rs 350.It means, that clients can now go on  continuous  internet fast  usage of  their data limitation.

The latest version of the Android OS, is the Jelly Bean. The update was announced at the Google I/O 2012 developers' conference, which is currently underway at San Francisco. The company explained some of the core features of the new OS in detail, and though it's not a major upgrade, it is still something to look forward to. Apparently, the purpose is to make Android faster and smoother, as explained in the keynote address.
The Project Butter, as it is known, brings in greater responsiveness and fluidity to the new OS. Touchscreen usability has been improved as well, with quicker app transition animations.

Keyboard - The existing keyboard has been improved, offering better autocorrect functions, similar to the Swiftkey. One major addition is the offline voice-to-text feature, which previously required a working data connection. New input languages such as Hindi, Persian, Arabic, and Thai among others have been added to the system.

Camera - Some neat tweaks have been made to the camera app. Users can see a new transition effect after a picture is taken, along with a quick preview. Additionally, pinching the display will give a short preview of all the images in a vertical layout. This looks very similar to Windows Phone 7.

Notifications - The notifications bar has received a huge bump, making it more accessible. It will show previews of social network notifications (including thumbnails of photos) and even mails, instead of just a plain message like with previous iterations of Android. Users can call back or text a contact right from the notifications bar, which is another neat addition.

Voice Search - While, there's no Siri-like voice integration built into Android yet, a similar feature has been introduced. The native Google Voice Search on Android goes a step ahead with interactive responses to offer better search results. I'm not sure if it's as witty as Siri, but it's an interesting addition nonetheless.

Google Now - Google Now integrates with Google Maps to figure out your daily commuting routes. It will also give you suggestions for new routes, just in case there's heavy traffic. This means you'll have to let Google know where you're going at all times, which can be an issue for some people. It will also tell you when the next bus or the next flight is expected, and can even provide sports updates with scores. To enable this, Google Now will go through the user's search history to know which team he \ she is rooting for. Again, privacy-concious user may not appreciate this feature.

The update will be made available mid-July for the GALAXY Nexus, Nexus S, and Motorola XOOM tablets. It will take a while for other OEMs to announce the update, though.

The Xtab A10. Its affordable price tag made sure that no rival can beat it in terms of price-to-performance ratio. This time around, the manufacturer is offering a better screen and faster performance with its Xtab 10 Plus. Of course, that hikes up a few thousand bucks in its price tag. Let's find out if this new offering manages to strike a fine balance between price and performance, just like its predecessor.

Design And Quality
The retail box includes the tablet, USB cable, and charger. The gadget measures 7.7" (l) x 4.8" (w) x 0.3" (8 mm) (d), and tips the scales at 271 grammes. It's worth noting that NXG has done a great job at delivering a slim profile. Also, it's hard to find such lightweight tablets at this price point. The build quality is good too, and the icing on the cake is the brushed metal finish on its rear.


The slate is powered by a 1.2 GHz processor, and has 1 GB of RAM. Other specs include:
A 2 MP rear and a front VGA camera
8 GB internal memory and a microSD card slot
An HDMI port, 3.5 mm jack, Wi-Fi, and a micro-USB slot with USB OTG (On The Go) support
A 3000 mAh battery.

Torque steer is a phenomenon that mostly affects front-wheel-drive cars where heavy acceleration causes the vehicle to veer to the left or right.
Take a front-wheel-drive car to a wide, open space where you can test acceleration from about 0 to 15 mph without hitting something or someone (perhaps a big empty parking lot). Take both hands off of the steering wheel and give the accelerator a brief but firm squeeze. What did you notice? For most FWD cars, you likely saw the steering wheel twisting to one side and the vehicle lurching to either the left or to the right. Some cars pull more than others, but what you just witnessed is torque steer.
Torque steer can be scary because it can be unpredictable, particularly for novice drivers. However, because you have to be on the throttle to even experience torque steer, it's not something that most people ever have to deal with. From an enthusiast's standpoint, you want less torque steer simply so that you can go faster in the direction your car is actually pointed.


How it is caused?
In a rear-drive vehicle, the half-shafts are equal in length and react identically to a load.
(Credit: Antuan Goodwin/CNET) Torque steer can be caused by a number of factors, such as a difference of traction available beneath the two drive wheels, or a difference in the inflation levels of the tires causing the two sides to grip unequally. However, the most common cause of torque steer is a compromise that is inherent to the front-engine, front-wheel-drive configuration: the transversely mounted engine.


In most rear-wheel-drive vehicles, the engine, transmission, driveshaft, and differential sit in a nice line that runs down the center of the vehicle. The central positioning of the differential means that the half-shafts that connect the wheels to the differential are of equal length. This means that the half-shafts should ideally react to forces and deform in a roughly identical manner to one another.
In most front-drive vehicles, there is no driveshaft. The engine, transmission, and differential are combined into a single package. Because this package has to still fit in an engine bay with its weight more or less centered between the wheels, the transmission and differential end up hanging off the end of the engine block to one side of the vehicle. This configuration results in half-shafts that are of unequal length.

A neural network built over the years by researchers from Stanford University and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) has managed to teach itself to recognize faces and cats.


The network consists of 16,000 processors on a cluster of 1,000 computers. After being exposed to 10 million images downloaded from the Internet, the network software learned to recognize human and cat faces, as well as human bodies, according to the researchers.

"The cool thing about this particular software was that no one was telling it that there were faces in these pictures," Carl Howe, vice president, data sciences research at the Yankee Group, told TechNewsWorld. "The software is figuring out if there are faces or not based on the fact that a lot of faces were in the data, and the neurons learned to recognize these patterns."


Training the System
The images selected were random, each picked from one of 10 million videos on YouTube. Those videos were also selected at random.

"The key to this research is that we didn't explicitly pick out particular images to train it on, such as images of a cat," Google spokesperson Jason Friedenfelds told TechNewsWorld. "Instead, we fed it 10 million random images, and it automatically learned certain recurring patterns, including roughly what a cat's face looks like. That's because, presumably, cats are relatively common on YouTube."

The team trained a 9-layered locally connected sparse autoencoder with pooling and local contrast normalization on the 10 million images in the network's dataset. A sparse autoencoder is a learning algorithm. The basic version isn't as good as the best hand-engineered features, but the features it can learn are more useful for a range of problems. More sophisticated versions of the algorithm are as good as, or better than, features coded by hand.

The network was trained using model parallelism and asynchronous Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD).

Kitty Spotter
The researchers concluded that it's possible to train a face detector without having to label images as containing a face or not. Previously, building a face detector required images labeled as containing faces, often with a bounding box around the face. This made it difficult to solve problems where labeled data was scant.

Further, the neural network will recognize faces even if the images viewed are slanted or made larger or smaller than the norm.

The researchers trained the network to recognize 20,000 object categories from ImageNet with nearly 16 percent accuracy. This is 70 percent better than results from previous state-of-the-art technology.

ImageNet is an image database for researchers and educators.

The neural network did more than recognize cats; it reportedly assembled a digital image of a cat by combining together features from various images of cats it had stored.

Twisted infrared light beams have propelled wireless data transmission to a dazzling 2.56 terabits per second via a system developed by a multinational team of researchers led by the Optical Communications Laboratory at the University of Southern California.

The process, called "orbital angular momentum" (OAM) multiplexing, essentially twists beams of light so that they can carry more data, more quickly than ever before.

Broadband cable supports the transmission of around 30 megabits per second; this system transmits more than 85,000 times that amount.


Twisted light beams are particularly powerful because they can encode tremendous amounts of data, and twisting them in various ways and directions only increases that data capacity. It far exceeds anything possible with radio frequencies such as those currently used for WiFi and cellular communications.

"With optics, you can encode more data than you can with radio waves.

you can download ESCORT Live for free and then turn your Smartphone (either IOS or Android) into a radar detector by joining ESCORT Nation.

Just by downloading the new ESCORT Live 2.0 ticket protection app, you will get access to a portion of the ultimate live alert network.  This app let’s you know where ticketing threats might be. With ESCORT Live on your smartphone, you can track speed traps and cameras before you are in their range, giving you time to slow your butt down, you will also be able to receive automatic reminders for previously marked threats.

For full access to Escort Live’s premium features, like their patented GPS full feature set including:  vehicle speed; posted speed limit data; over speed limit alerts; compass and directional headings and detailed threat information including time sensitive, ‘heat-mapped’ color coded warning icons for fast, safe and more accurate responses or full access to real-time radar and laser alerts received by other detector users in the area, you should be prepared to spend $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year.

G-Technology's new range of USB 3.0 storage solutions are said to be able to deliver speeds which are 10 times faster compared to USB 2.0, and half a dozen times faster than FireWire 800. Basically, this would translate to (in theory, anyways) that you can transfer a couple of full-length movies from a G-Technology USB 3.0 drive to a computer in a matter of minutes.

Let us take a closer look at what the G-Technology Mobile Family is able to offer – starting off with the G-DRIVE slim that is perfect for just about any notebook user. As its name suggests, the G-DRIVE Slim comes in an ultra-slim form factor that does not skimp on style either, boasting a high-performance USB 3.0 interface as well as a thin design. It has a lightweight aluminum chassis that offers up to 500GB of storage space, and does not need any external AC power supply. Expect the 500GB G-DRIVE slim to retail for $109.99.


As for the
G-DRIVE mobile and G-DRIVE mobile USB 3.0, they will feature versatile USB 3.0, FireWire 800 and FireWire 400 interfaces, although the mobile version carries USB 3.0 only. Regardless, both models will come in 1TB, 750GB and 500GB flavors, and are bus powered, retailing for $189.99 and $159.99 for the 1TB model, with the more expensive one being the version with FireWire support.

Those who want something that takes up less space can settle for the G-DRIVE mini, where it boasts a 2.5″ 7,200 RPM hard drive alongside an all-aluminum enclosure that ensures your precious data inside remains protected from knocks and bumps, and it can be USB 3.0 or FireWire bus-powered. You can pick it up in 750GB and 500GB capacities for $169.99 and $159.99, respectively.