Anyone who's tried to tether to their iPhone or iPad will recall how iOS manages to craft its own passwords when used as a personal hotspot. The aim is to ensure that anyone sharing their data connection will get some degree of security, regardless of whether they tinker with the password themselves. However, three researchers from FAU in Germany have now worked the structure behind these auto-generated keys -- a combination of a short english word and a series or random numbers -- and managed to crack that hotspot protection in under a minute. To start, the word list is listed to around 52,500 entries, and once the testers are able to capture a WiFi connection, they used an AMD Radeon HD 6990 GPU to cycle through all those words with number codes, taking just under 50 minutes to crack with rote entry. Following that, they realized that only a small subset (just 1,842) of the word list was being used.

Factor in an even faster GPU -- a cluster of four AMD Radeon HD 7970s -- and they got the hotspot password cracking time to 50 seconds. The Friedrich-Alexander University researchers added that unscrupulous types could use comparable processing power through cloud computing. ""System-generated passwords should be reasonably long, and should use a reasonably large character set. Consequently, hotspot passwords should be composed of completely random sequences of letters, numbers, and special characters," it says in the report, which outlines the trade-off between security and usability. However, as ZDNet notes, Apple's cycled password approach still offers more protection than static options found elsewhere. Check out the full paper at the source.

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Apple

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Via: ZDNet

Source: Department of Computer Science, Friedrich-Alexander University (PDF)

Many partygoers want to keep their alcohol in check, but we don't know many who want to lug around a dedicated breathalyzer, no matter how small it may be. Tokyoflash may have found a happy medium for those drinkers by tucking a breathalyzer into its new Kisai Intoxicated watch. Blow into a sensor and the LCD will change to a color reflecting the alcohol intake: green is sober, yellow is buzzed and red is well over the line. There's also a mini-game to test reflexes in those less-than-certain moments. Buyers seeking some temperance in their lives will want to act quickly, however -- Tokyoflash will only sell the Kisai Intoxicated at a discounted $99 price during its first 48 hours on sale.

Filed under: Wearables

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Source: Tokyoflash

No need to envy your iPhone- and iPad-toting friends anymore just because they can catch the latest episodes of Bates Motel or Dance Moms on the go. Streaming apps from A&E, History Channel and Lifetime have just arrived on Android, and you can access content even if you're not a cable subscriber. Naturally, the entire roster of shows and episodes isn't available -- in some cases, you can only watch clips instead of full episodes -- but Comcast or DirecTV subscribers who log in will have more to choose from. Should you need new companions for solitary nights, hit the source links below to download the apps on your device.

Filed under: Misc, HD, Mobile

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Via: Android Police

Source: Google Play 1, 2, 3

A new generation of smartphones with Full High Definition 1920x1080 displays have arrived, the same as your living room HDTV, but with a 5 inch screen size – that is very impressive! But, how good are these new displays, do you really need all of that sharpness and resolution, and will you be able to actually see the difference? Also, how do they compare with the Apple iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S4? We’ll cover these issues and much more, with in-depth comprehensive display tests and analysis that you will find nowhere else.

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Sometimes the simplest things are the most useful, but rarely something makes me shake my head at how clever and cool it is like the Pocket Tripod 360º has. I keep thinking "why didn't someone do this before" and "what a great idea that I wish I'd thought of." I'm still blown away that the angle is adjustable like that.

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While nearly everything is moving over to a mobile experience, banking remains one of the last vestiges of the old world. But even that is slowly changing with the likes of Simple , a bank-less mobile service that mashes up the best bits of your existing bank and services like Mint. One of Simple's greatest features, though is Goals, which, as you might imagine, helps you save money for specific set goals. And starting today, Goals will be available for iPhone users.

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We knew it was in the works given the sheer quantity of leaks but, with a small sigh of relief, Huawei's Ascend P6 is now official. At the company's London launch, the handset has been revealed with a 6.18mm-thick, all-metal body that weighs in at 120 grams -- only 8 grams more than the iPhone 5, which, for the sake of context, has a thickness of 7.6mm. The 4.7-inch device comes with a 1,280 x 720 in-cell LCD display, 1.5GHz quad-core CPU and 2GB RAM. While users may be dismayed to read that the P6 has a small 8GB of storage, a microSD card slot will let you add up to 32GB more for your media perusal. The phone's primary camera is an 8-megapixel, F/2.0 BSI lens with a 4cm macro, but the vain amongst you shouldn't worry as there's a 5-megapixel shooter up front. The build of Android 4.2.2 will be skinned with Huawei's customary Emotion UI, while AV fans amongst you will be happy to see the handset boasting Dolby Digital Plus sound. A 2,000mAh battery and GSM/UMTS/HSPA+ radios round out the spec sheet, and the handset will be launching in China from June and western Europe from July, with 19 countries covered by the end of that month. A total of 100 nations will have the Ascend P6 by the end of the year, and an LTE version is due sometime in the fourth quarter. You'll be able to pick it up in black, white or pink colors from places like EE, Three, Vodafone, O2, Orange and the Carphone Warehouse in the UK. Most Europeans will have to set aside €449 ($601) for the smartphone; we're still waiting on pricing details for the UK and other countries.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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If you're lucky, your smartphone's battery can just make it through a full day, with the percentage meter dropping to the single digits as you finally get a chance to plug in. With 10 hours out and about, some handsets can't even last through dinner, though, and out of reach power outlets make juicing up at the restaurant a tad inconvenient. Beginning this summer, public power will be much more accessible in New York City. AT&T is partnering with Goal Zero to deploy Street Charge stations in a handful of parks and other locations around NYC. They'll be coming to Fort Green Park on June 18th, and will roll out to Brooklyn Bridge Park, Coney Island, Riverside Park, Rockaways, Summerstage in Central Park, Randall's Island, Governor's Island, Union Square, and Hudson River Park over the next few weeks. Each solar-powered pole, designed locally by Pensa, sports six USB connectors: for iPhones and iPads, there's 30-pin and Lightning plugs, Android and Windows Phone users can hook up to micro-USB, and everyone else can use their own cable with one of three female USB connectors.

There's three 15-watt solar panels and a 168 watt-hour battery, enabling each Street Charge to power up to six devices for several days without exposure to the sun. Sure, it's probably impractical to fill your gadget's cell completely, but if you have a few minutes to spare, you'll be able to juice up and go. You can plug in phones, tablets, cameras, or even a Pebble watch -- each cable can pump out up to two amps of 5V power, providing support for just about any USB-powered device. Each weatherproof unit will have AT&T branding, which seems reasonable, considering the carrier is footing the bill here. You should start seeing these pop up at several TBA locations in New York throughout the summer, with more stations to come if the trial's a success. Take a closer look in the hands-on video after the break.

Gallery: Street Charge hands-on

Filed under: Household, AT&T

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Source: Pensa