Microsoft’s Curtain Call Keynote at CES gets the Pogo Treatment

The end of an Era. Microsoft has drawn the curtain on an industry institution, The Microsoft Keynote at CES. For the past 15 years they have had a grip on the podium that kicks off America’s largest consumer and electronics show. This is the show that every Technoid worth his weight in silicon attends. Like Mecca it is every noids duty to make the journey at least once in their life time. With Steve Ballmer and Ryan Seacrest taking center stage for Microsoft’s final keynote address to the CES the attending Technorati seemed to have given the final show a collective Meh. Still Ballmer did his best to emulate a living human being with an intact sense of humor.

In honor of this auspicious occasion Australian techno - doff doff – remix masters Pogo have pulled together a salute to the partnership. It’s funny, it’s moving and it will get you tapping your toes. With the highlights of 15 years of keynote events presented in 120 seconds Pogo have packed in the memorable moments. With enough source material to give the best reality TV show an entertaining run for its money Pogo selected from 11 Bill Gates speeches – blue screen of death included -, 4 speeches from pre-eminent monkey man Steve Ballmer, 8 celebrity guests – including the Rock – and far too many interview sweaters to count. Read the full article »»»»

Charlie Miller! iOS Developer Ditched By Apple

Famed tech security researcher and hacker – NSA, Accuvant Labs – Charlie Miller has been blacklisted by Apple after he discovered, reported and then opened-up a potential vulnerability within iOS apps. Exploiting the flaw – later patched by Apple – Miller created an app that made it possible to steal data from, and take control of, other iOS devices. Further, Miller managed to get the app through the stringent Apple approval process and had the app posted on Apples App Store for a short while. In 2008 Miller won a $10,000 cash prize at the hacker conference Pwn2Own for being the first hacker to find a critical bug in the MacBook Air. The next year, he won $5,000 for cracking Safari. In 2009 he also demonstrated an SMS processing vulnerability that allowed for complete compromise of the Apple iPhone and denial-of-service attacks on other phones. Read the full article »»»»

AOC’s Incredible iPhone Docking Monitor

AOC, creators of displays great and small has added a twist  to the humble LCD monitor. Making HDMI inputs look old school AOC’s new e2343Fi monitor includes a docking station for your iPhone or Touch. While the e2343Fi may look like your standard 23″ monitor it’s SRS speakers and integrated Apple interface makes this monitor perfect as a mini multimedia studio. Once the brains of the operation is docked your iPhone’s display is automatically mirrored on the 23″ LCD, in it’s full high definition glory. AOC isn’t stopping at adding a docking station to your monitor either, rumors suggest a combined USB connectivity and dock has already been prototyped. AOC’s new multipurpose monitor along new prototype displays will be on show at the much anticipated CES 2012. AOC is coming prepared with many tricks up their sleeve.

Integrating a dock into the base of the LCD display is just another way AOC is added more function to LCD panels. Other models in AOC’s range also include tricks like USB powered displays, touch screen, 3D and picture frame functions. In the case of the e2343Fi with your Apple device docked the monitors SRS speakers and LED back-light display are at the iPhone / Touch’s disposal, playing tunes and displaying video at will. The monitor also includes the usual array of PC and HDMI inputs to meet day to day demands. Read the full article »»»»

Facebook Ordered to Overhaul Privacy Controls

Following on from Facebook’s earlier order/agreement with the US Federal Trade Commission – FTC – over allegations it had a deceptive privacy policy.

Under the proposed settlement Facebook will have to submit to independent privacy audits but will not have to fix what it has done in the past.

Facebook must now overhaul privacy protection for more than half a billion users outside North America after a three-month investigation found that its privacy policies were overly complex and lacked transparency.

The probe by the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) at the US company’s international headquarters in Dublin found users risked unknowingly publicising personal details.

Users might not be aware, for example, that uploading their photos made them publicly searchable until they changed the setting on their Facebook page.

Facebook’s Ireland office handles all of its users outside the United States and Canada :: Read the full article »»»»

IBM Predicts Mind Reading Machines

Century-old technology behemoth IBM has done some pretty wild things in it’s time. They’ve dragged us from Keypunch through Typesetting and on to Supercomputing technology. So when the behemoth makes a prediction, the world listens, even when it’s outlandish. IBM has predicted a near future in which machines read minds and recognise who they are dealing with. Each year since 2006, IBM has released Five-In-Five, a list of 5 predictions for the future of tech, 5 innovations that will have a profound effect in the next 5 years. The latest IBM Five-in-Five predictions were based on social trends and research which the New York State-based company expected to begin bearing fruit by the year 2017. You might want to start practicing being nice to machines, IBM says “Imagine you will be able to walk up to an ATM machine to securely withdraw money by simply speaking your name or looking into a tiny sensor that can recognise the unique patterns in the retina of your eye” Read the full article »»»»