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If you're the sort who overspends at the mall, you may need a firm reminder to watch your budget. How does an ever-vigilant handbag sound? Finder.com.au could soon make one: meet the iBag , a prototype carryall that locks you out if it believes you're going to splurge. The Arduino -powered bag automatically shuts tight at those times you're most likely to shop. Outside of those moments, it uses GPS to warn you when you get too close to favorite stores; ignore the alert and it will both record when you take out your wallet as well as send a text message to a trusted partner. iBag is primarily a publicity stunt meant to highlight the dangers of credit card debt, but it might become a reality. The site is asking potential customers to register their interest, and it may sell both men's and women's versions of the bag for $199 AUD ($173 US) if there's enough demand. SOURCE

Late last year, Samsung found itself in trouble over claims it had secretly spied on Apple and Nokia documents to gain a better position in patent deals. It denied any wrongdoing, saying it hadn't done so wilfully, and now US judge Paul S. Grewal has finally drawn the same conclusion. PCWorld reports that the US District Court for the Northern District of California ruled Wednesday that the Korean company could not have used confidential information for its patent licensing talks with Nokia, a deal that was extended in November , because it already knew all of the terms ahead of the leak. The court considered sanctions against Samsung after the company's legal negotiator, Dr. Seungho Ahn, had reportedly told Nokia that its terms with Apple "were known to him," even though they were marked "highly confidential -- attorneys' eyes only." Up to 50 Samsung employees were said to have been given non-redacted copies of Apple documents by its external counse...

Usually I don't write to you, since im just a small editor in a tech blog. In older posts Ive putted something about donations. Let me explain clearly the situacion: Im running out of resources, some bills and house stuff are quite breathing on my neck, and they're tooking a lot of time from me. Of course, this is not your problem, this is not your issue, so you ask "why he's telling me this shit? am I his salvation source?" Well, really not, but you can make the difference. Any amount of money will be REALLY appreciated. Also, to convert this blog to a single dot com domain. No more blogspot thing, just a single address and you'll in. Im planning to keep in Google's blogger system, is quite easy and fast to deploy. Just need to catch 1500 USD at main total, but right now any amount will help me a lot. Do you want something to help you? Just hit me on comments and will search for it and put in the blog. That's it! Again, paypal address is luigivsf@...

Apple's iOS in the Car, which we first met last summer at WWDC, may soon make an official debut. In fact, the dash-friendly interface has been hiding right under our noses in the public version of iOS 7.0.3. Developer Steven Troughton-Smith managed to capture an early version of the interface in action by emulating a vehicle display on his desktop -- he posted a video walkthrough of the pre-release software today. The current iteration appears to include a full-screen map, with simple touch controls and indicators framing the top and bottom. There's even a software home button, which can be used to switch between apps and return to the (currently nonexistent) home screen. Based on today's demo, you'll be able to enter a destination directly into the vehicle by speaking a search term, or by searching on a connected iPhone or iPad. Current functionality appears to be limited to basic location entry and map readouts, but it's definitely a work in progress -- anoth...

The last time we heard from Itzhak 'zuk' Avraham, he was at Defcon 2011 showing off an Android app that let even inexperienced users poke around networks for weak links and vulnerable computers. Now his company, Zimperium, is rolling out a new mobile intrusion protection app (or zIPS, for short) to help users figure out when their phones are subject to sneak attacks. There's no shortage of mobile antivirus apps out there, but according to MIT Technology Review Avraham doesn't think the prevailing approaches are up to snuff. Many of them check downloaded files for known malware signatures, but zIPS' machine learning system helps it figure out how your smartphone normally works and detects changes that may be symptomatic of something sketchy. That includes detecting seemingly benign apps that later download malicious payloads, man-in-the-middle-attacks and still more mobile nastiness. Currently zIPS is enterprise-only, but a consumer version is in the works and...

This year signifies the 30th anniversary of the Macintosh computer, and who better to reflect on this achievement than the almighty creator Apple? Cupertino has dedicated a corner of its website to such a retrospective, the focal point of which is an inspirational video starring several fans who talk about what Macs have meant to them (embedded below). After learning that Moby is still a thing and that Macs represent a "truly worldwide democratization of creativity," you can peruse a slick, interactive timeline that walks you through all the iterations and how innovative each one was. You can also tell Apple about your first Mac and what you used it for, with that data populating polls around the site. There are worse ways to kill time, so if you've got some to spare, head to the source link and bathe in Cook & Co's glory -- then head on over to our forum to wax poetic about your first Mac. SOURCE

Sony had a tiny surprise to share just ahead of the Tokyo Games Show: the PS Vita TV, appearing from inside SCE President Andrew House's jacket pocket. Having already announced a new, slender PS Vita handheld less than an hour earlier, Sony showed off this minute console -- roughly the same footprint as a smartphone -- that plays Vita games, PlayStation games and streams video content, as well as music and video from Sony's own store. It can also connect with multiple PS3 DualShock controllers, allowing for proper, responsive gaming -- something we're not quite used to getting from something so tiny. You could see it as a brutal counterstrike from the PlayStation team against the cheap, mini-console likes of OUYA and GameStick, even Huawei. Aside from contemporary Vita titles and indie games, you can also tap into an ever-increasing catalog of hits from yesteryear -- something that the Android and iOS platforms also dip their feet into, but with the peace of mind (read...

The disassembly ninjas at iFixit are usually focused on splitting open the newest gadgets to see what's inside. Today, in honor of the Mac's 30th birthday, they've turned their tools on a thing from the past: the original Macintosh 128K. As is to be expected, there weren't any wild revelations regarding the 128K's innards when given the full teardown treatment. However, iFixit found that the old machine, perhaps unsurprisingly, is much easier to tinker with than its modern counterpart, the iMac, thanks to an uncomplicated interior design and the fact that it doesn't have any adhesive, anywhere. Before you go diving into your old machine, however, be careful, as both the power supply and CRT run at voltages high enough to fry careless would-be modders. Want to see all of the OG Mac's innards for yourself? The source has got what you need. SOURCE

Apple isn't colluding with the NSA to hand over user data and CEO Tim Cook wants you to know that. In fact, Cook feels so strongly about this issue of security that he's gone on record saying the government would need "to cart [Apple's employees] out in a box" to get access to its servers. That choice soundbite comes from a sitdown interview, airing tonight on ABC, during which Cook elaborates on what he sees as public misperception stemming from the recent NSA scandal. To counter that, Cook said he's been "pushing very, very hard" for more transparency into Apple's internal practices, a move he hopes would help to set the record straight with the general public. Cook is also expected to touch upon other topics outside of the NSA breach, like the company's heavily-anticipated plunge into wearables, and the measures Apple takes to maintain secrecy surrounding its product roadmap. SOURCE

Netflix has been rolling out a 'post-play' experience (shown above) on various platforms since late 2012, but not everyone is a fan of how it jumps to a new episode automatically. That's not a problem anymore, since TechHive points out that now there's a toggle in your Netflix account settings (under playback settings) that keeps it from playing the next episode automatically. By default the feature is on, although as Netflix explains, it still requires a prompt of some kind to keep going after a couple of episodes have played. The post-play UI remains intact no matter what you choose, so watching the credits for every last best boy, grip and "no animals were harmed in the making of" will still require jumping on the remote to zoom back in. Of course, if your main concern is of House of Cards moving on an episode or two after you've dozed off, then this will fix it. Like other settings it's locked to individual profiles, so turning it off for the ki...

Awards nights tend to give rise to slews of app tie-ins, and for this year's Grammys, SoundHound's tossing its hat in the ring. In addition to being able to recognize songs by "listening" to them, the refreshed app comes with a dedicated page for the event that currently lists performers and nominees. Anyone who clicks SoundHound's orange button during the live broadcast on Sunday night, though, will see real-time info, the list of winners and relevant Twitter posts instead. Chances are, music lovers don't exactly need SoundHound to identify "Just Give Me A Reason" and other nominated songs. Those who find these special features useful, however, can download the app from the source links below. SOURCE

Nokia and Apple aren't the only ones making brightly colored phones, you know. Upstart Android manufacturer BLU has just released a new midrange handset, called the Vivo 4.8 HD, that's sure to appeal to those with a taste for neon and Android 4.2. It comes in neon pink or greenish yellow, along with matte black or white variants, and has a 4.8-inch, 720 x 1280 Super AMOLED display. On the inside, the Vivo 4.8 HD packs far from cutting edge tech: a 1.5Ghz quad-core chip from Mediatek, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. Yet, it crams that gear -- along with an 8 megapixel rear shooter and a 5-megapixel front-facing unit -- into a svelte, pocketable 6.9mm thick chassis. Unfortunately there's no LTE inside, but you can pull HSPA+ 42 speeds from AT&T or T-Mobile. The best part, as is the case with other BLU phones, is the price: just $249 unlocked. SOURCE

Sprint's iDEN network shutdown may have quashed hopes for an iPhone with native push-to-talk support, but that won't matter much now that Motorola and NII Holdings have brought Prip's service to iOS. The new app lets American iOS 7 users instantly speak to both fellow Prip members as well as NII's Nextel subscribers in Latin America. Many of the features will be familiar to those who tried the Android version, although the cross-platform launch introduces universal sign-ins and web-based account control; you're no longer tied to Google Play. Whether you're chatting with a friend or a whole company, you can grab Prip from the App Store today. SOURCE

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Google Glass can hold its own when it comes to voice recognition and touch, but its current software doesn't account for gesture controls. OnTheGo Platforms, however, is looking to fix that. The folks at the Portland, Ore.-based company are baking up an SDK for developers to integrate gesture recognition in apps made for Glass and other Android-based smart glasses, such as the Vuzix M100. In its current form, the solution recognizes swipes from the left and right, a closed fist and an open hand. A fist aimed at Glass' camera will fire off a countdown for a snapshot or take you to the app's home, depending on the current screen. Waving a hand in either direction cycles through pictures in the gallery. This editor was tempted to swipe his hand across the camera's view quickly, but the software is tuned to pick up slower, more deliberate motions about a foot or so away. The detection was often hit or miss, but the developers say they're in the process of refining ...

It's so big and bright that it wasn't hard to find inside Sharp's booth, even when surrounded by a sea of other televisions from the manufacturer. What you see above, folks, is an 85-inch, 8K glasses-free 3D TV from Sharp. This behemoth, ultra-high-res display is rather similar to the one from CES 2013, save for the fact you can enjoy three-dimensional content without any eye hardware. While everything about this LED TV is indeed interesting, we can't say we were too impressed by the glasses-free 3D. It is pretty easy for your eyes to get tired of the effect quickly, and at times some frames pass through so fast that it ends up making the content seem blurry -- we're not the only ones who feel this way, apparently. Aside from those things, the image is incredibly sharp; the TV was showing scenes from Life of Pi and Frozen, both of which looked stunning on the big screen. Obviously, Sharp's 85-inch, 8K 3D TV is still in the early stages, and thus it wouldn...

BMW promised, under the banner of its ConnectedDrive platform, to demonstrate some autonomous driving at this years' CES, and wow did it deliver. Labeled as ActiveAssist, the technology describes both partially and highly automated driving and we were definitely out to sample the highly automated variety. Highly automated driving, as the name suggests means the car will essentially drive itself with you sitting as passenger "up to the car's dynamic limit", or as we discovered to about 80 MPH. The prototype research cars on hand were tuned for CES by removing the external sensors to make them, more than likely, more pleasant to look at. We chose the M235i -- because who wouldn't, given the choice? -- though there was a diesel 6-series Grand Coupe as well. Seeing as the sensors were missing, the car was following a pre-defined path, but still completely reactive to its environment. The most compelling example of this was on the second lap of the infield track s...

Archos is coming at the burgeoning smartwatch space in a different way. Rather than hedge its bets on a single device offering, it's planning to release a trio of smartwatches for every end of the consumer spectrum. The water-resistant smartwatches in question don't have specific branding attached as of yet -- that will presumably come before launch later this summer -- but they are easily distinguished by screen size and display tech used. Unlike the half-baked, it-can-sorta-do-everything Galaxy Gear, Archos' smartwatch line is hewing more closely to the Pebble route. These Android- and iOS-compatible devices are designed to supplement your smartphone experience, not replace it. And so, users that buy in will have access to notifications (i.e., SMS, emails, text, Twitter, Facebook, etc.), media playback controls and, of course, a clock. What they won't be able to do is snap photos on a low-resolution camera, talk into their wrists or reply to messages. CONTINUE...

MetaWatch, the wearables business that was spun out of watch maker Fossil, has lingered at the periphery of the space for quite a while. Now, however, the outfit has teamed up with the legendary Nokia and Vertu designer Frank Nuovo, who has helped redesign both the branding and the hardware in preparation for a relaunch as the Meta. The hope is that, when this new unit launches in the spring, Meta will be able to jostle as an equal with the Galaxy Gears and Pebbles of this world. CONTINUE READING...

Among the announcements Sony dropped during Kaz Hirai's CES keynote, the Life Space UX project seemed to be most outrageous, pushing an entirely new vision for projectors. We checked out the company's CES demo booth and found out it actually goes even further than that. The prototype 4K Ultra Short Throw Projector shown on stage and in the demo is expected to cost between $30,000 - $40,000 when it launches later this year. Similar to the pricey Cinema Beam projector released by LG last year, it can sit very close to a wall even in high-brightness settings and beam a large, clearly visible image. The combination of zoom lenses, three separate SXRD microdisplays and a laser diode light source make it powerful and sharp enough to put out a 147-inch 4K image that's visible even with the lights on. Its low sleek design and modular setup (it splits apart to reveal speakers and cabinet space within) is made for flexibility and to be "harmonic" with the room when it...

Would you like an early clue as to the dominant trend of CES 2014? It's wearables, and, erm, more wearables. Another watch that's hoping to earn a space on your wrist is the LifeTrak Zone R415, which grabs a little of everything from the technology buffet with the aim of being all things to all people. From the "smartwatch" table, we've got vibrating smartphone notifications that'll let you know when you get calls, texts and emails. Then there's dynamic sleep tracking which, like the Jawbone Up, will record your slumber session and wake you when you're at your most well-rested. From the fitness tracker cart, the company has added a pedometer, calorie counter and activity tracker that'll keep you informed of how you're doing in hourly or weekly intervals. Rounding out the selection is an ECG, and by pushing the button on the side of the bezel, it'll give you your heart rate. Using just a single watch cell battery, the unit should last for...

Xbox -- and Microsoft in general -- doesn't really show up for CES . It's not hard to understand why: for a big company like Microsoft, there's no point in competing with the cacophony of voices shouting for attention. "Whenever we want, we can talk about Xbox stuff and get coverage. Why try to talk with 100,000 other things going on?" Xbox chief product officer Marc Whitten told us in an interview this week. Though Xbox isn't here to show anything off, Whitten's in town to meet with partners and, as he put it, "It's just a good time to pop up and see an environmental scan you can get in an immediate dose." After a long 2013 head down on the Xbox One launch , he's finally got a second to take the temperature and see the world outside of Microsoft's Bellevue, Wash. campus. But we're not here to ask Whitten about the past. Yes, he's "really thrilled" with the console's launch ( over 3 million sold by the end of...

PulseWallet is going to get a lot of attention at CES this week, thanks to its point-of-sale system that allows you to pay for things with a wave of your palm. The interesting thing, though, is that PulseWallet already has a setup that lets customers pay with their fingerprints. The problem, say company reps, is that fingerprints can potentially be lifted. (Also, they're a bit messy.) So, the outfit is moving to a Fujitsu-made palm sensor, which is more secure and supposedly faster, too. Here's how it works: after you visit a store once, you can register your palm and link it to the credit card of your choosing. Then, the store will have it on hand (har) the next time you stop by. When it comes time to pay, you can swipe your palm, after which point you'll need to enter your phone number to verify it's really you. Et voilà! You've managed to pay without digging out your credit card, and without getting (as many) greasy fingerprints all over the point-of-sale syst...

Tucked in a corner of the massive North Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center is a Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG wrapped in flat black vinyl. The only things that stand out about this car are the big red brakes. That is, until you pop open a door and spy the beautiful expanse of touchscreen that extends from passenger door across to and including the instrument panel. QNX has extended on the technology we saw in 2013 with both better-looking panels and a seriously handsome interface. For instance, the system can now run Jelly Bean apps -- as demonstrated by the inclusion of iHeartRadio -- a phone/tablet app that hooks into the system for passenger interaction and full-band duplex stereo vehicle-to-vehicle calling. QNX also demonstrated its Car 2.0 platform's flexibility when it comes to navigation. Rather than just one nav platform, the CLA45 included Elektrobit, Kotei Navi & Data, Aisin AW and Nokia Here to show how the system could be integrated into any vendor environment. ...

But, if you want to send more than 1 or 5 USD, just hit me on PayPal. That's it. Im just asking for donations cuz need em to start up new projects. All of you will receive news very soon :) PS. 1 USD button removed, don't know why PayPal amount is still 0 :(

Remember the crazy year that was 2013? Among the many things we recall, expansion of the crowdfunding phenomenon is definitely one and the Kickstarter that revived Veronica Mars was a special highlight. After nine years away Veronica Mars is finally back in her hometown of Neptune, CA and of course, has a murder mystery to investigate. Series creator Rob Thomas pushed the crowdfunding (it only took a few hours to hit the goal of $2 million) and served as writer/director along with co-writer Diane Ruggiero, with most of the original cast returning as well. Take a peek at the trailer here (along with a few of the other clips that have been released) and get refamiliarized with Kristin Bell and all the rest before the flick hits "select" theaters March 14th. According to the official FAQ, digital downloads are still planned for backers within a few days of the movie's theatrical release, and it should ship on Blu-ray/DVD in May. SOURCE

Ford certainly isn't waiting until hoards of tech journos land in the Nevada desert to start breaking its CES news. The auto maker will offer SYNC AppLink as a free upgrade this year to owners of 2010 and newer vehicles. The system allows drivers (and their passengers) to use iOS and Android apps like Spotify, NPR, TuneIn and many more via voice control, keeping more attention on the highway. Ford's in-car tech is currently installed in over one million vehicles already on the road and those offered the update will add another 3.4 million to that tally. Unfortunately, the company didn't offer a detailed list of eligible autos, leaving owners in suspense until SYNC AppLink download arrives in the coming months. SOURCE

Google acquired Bump -- developer of an NFC-like file sharing app with the same name and a photo sharing service called Flock -- back in September, and both projects will shut down January 31st. CEO and cofounder David Lieb announced the discontinuation of both products on the Bump blog, saying his team is "deeply focused on our new projects within Google." That bodes well for their mission of enhancing sharing on mobile devices, but the bad news for Bump and Flock users is that this shut down means everything must go. After January ends the apps will no longer function, they'll disappear from the App Store and Google Play and all stored data will be deleted from servers (locally saved files or photos will remain in place). Any of those millions of users can still keep their data though, just open up the app anytime in the next month, and follow the instructions shown (tap the "i" menu on iOS or "More" on Android). Afterwards, Bump will send over ...