Important announcements
A major vulnerability in Ethereum freezes 280 million dollars
An estimated $280 million worth of the cryptocurrency Ethereum is locked up after a user accidentally deleted the code necessary to access the digital wallets hosted by the company Parity Technologies. The vulnerability impacted the “multi-sig” digital wallets launched through Parity since July 20. Multi-sig wallets, short for multiple signature, are popular with cryptocurrency startups because they require more than one person to agree before any currency gets moved around.
You can read more here.
Chrome will soon prevent unwanted website redirects
As part of its ongoing efforts to expand user protections on the web, Google has announced new features for Chrome which will block unexpected website redirects as well as pop-ups. Google said that redirections are often due to third-party content embedded in the original page and often not intended by the page’s author. The Chrome 64 release, which is scheduled for January 23, 2018, will block any redirects from third-party iframes unless the user was interacting with it.
More info are available here.
The Bixby button can now be fully disabled
Samsung is launching an update that fully disables the Bixby button preventing it from waking up the device due to accidental presses. The button has been a subject of criticism ever since the launch of the Galaxy S8, and users have been using workarounds or hacks to disable the functionality right from the start before Samsung eventually counteracted them. In addition to the option to disable the Bixby button, the latest update also adds new features such as the ability to place calls with the voice assistant.
You can read more here.
Top new products
OnePlus 5T
OnePlus 5T will have a 6.01-inch Full HD+ display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 octa-core processor and a 20MP front camera. It will come with a dual primary camera with a 20MP sensor and a 16MP sensor.
More info here.
Meizu Pro 7
Meizu Pro 7 will have a 5.2-inch Full HD Super AMOLED display, a MediaTek Helio P25 octa-core processor, 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. It will come with a 1.9-inch Super AMOLED secondary display on the back and a 3000 mAh battery.
More info here.
Asus Pegasus 4S
The Pegasus 4S has a MediaTek 6750T processor, a 5.7-inch HD+ display and a 4,030 mAh battery. It comes with dual primary camera with a 16 MP sensor and an 8 MP sensor.
More info here.
Top interesting info
Intel announces a partnership with its rival AMD to produce a new laptop chip
AMD explains that it has “designed a semi-custom graphics processor unit (GPU) that will be integrated into a new Intel multi-chip processor package. The new product, designed by Intel, integrates an Intel Core processor, semi-custom Radeon graphics chip, and second generation High Bandwidth Memory (HBM2) into a single package”.
You can read more here.
AWS launches new S3 encryption and security features
After several incidents in which Amazon Web Services customers left important data unprotected on the internet, the company is rolling out some new security features designed to make it easier to protect their data. The new encryption features for the S3 storage service allow customers to specify that any file entering a unit of storage in S3 will be encrypted by default. Customers will also be notified if they make a configuration change that leaves data unprotected.
More info can be found here.
Project Loon has provided internet to 100,000 people in Puerto Rico
Alphabet‘s Project Loon has delivered internet services to 100,000 people who have been hit by the Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico with the help of helium balloons. These balloons are called HBAL199 and HBAL237. These fly 18000 meters above the land. With the help of algorithms they can ascertain where internet is required. However the downside to this service is that since it is a solar powered electronic set, it can provide services only during daytime.
You can read more here.
