Facebook phone: it could well be launched next Thursday

Specialized sites will see the sign to launch a smartphone Facebook: the social network invites the press on 4 April to come "discover his new home on Android."

It all started with an invitation to a press conference. "Come and see our new home on Android," it is written. An invitation that comes from Facebook. It did not take much for the site Techcrunch bet on the unveiling of the "Facebook Phone" in this event. Despite repeated denials of Mark Zuckerberg, the rumors are persistent and have continued to swell in recent months. Everyone expects that the social network has a smartphone under its own brand.

Which ignited the powder? The Federal Commission for commissions (FCC), U.S. agency responsible for regulating communications, gave the green light a week ago in the marketing of HTC Myst. Phone supposed to be the result of a close collaboration between the Taiwanese manufacturer HTC, Facebook and AT & T says the site generation technologies. This phone will probably be an Android smartphone highlight the features of the social network.

As for the "house" referred to the invitation, it could be the home screen of the phone. A screen taking up the homepage of your Facebook account: the news feed, applications, etc. But this is not the first time that rumors of a Facebook phone is a collaboration HTC - Facebook Phone. Already in the summer of 2011, the manufacturer launched the Salsa and ChaCha, which incorporated a specific button to access the social network. At the time, many believed that it was the first incarnation of Facebook branded smartphones, but success was not at the rendezvous.

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Twitter: seven years, 200 million active users and a video

It is a special day for Twitter. Like all March 21, the social network further blowing out a candle. 

 A seventh birthday without special announcement but still the opportunity to give some figures.

More than 200 million active users that are the baguette for more than 400 million tweets every day. Twitter users are, however, choose not to write messages but use the platform to follow such news.

In his sixth birthday, Twitter has put forward 140 million active users and more than 340 million tweets per day.

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When doctors use the iPhone as a Microscope

In the wilds of Tanzania, scientists have tinkered with their iPhone a microscope and a hand lens, as part of their research on a disease affecting children.

We already knew the multiple functions of the iPhone, but Apple probably had not planned to do a research tool for scientists. And yet ... In the wilds of Tanzania, doctors were able to create a microscope by combining their iPhone with a simple hand lens.  

They sought to detect worms, causing a serious health problem affecting mainly children.

"This is the first time that this technology (simple) is used to diagnose intestinal parasites," said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at Toronto General Hospital (Canada) and lead author of the study published this week in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Less accurate but very practical

In this clinical study, they examined samples of 199 children who came from the island of Pemba in Tanzania to test different treatments against intestinal parasites. Results, "iPhone-microscope" could diagnose infection with intestinal worms in 70% of samples by detecting eggs of these parasites.

If the iPhone microscope is not as sensitive as a small laboratory microscope (which costs about $ 200), these researchers believe that with a few adjustments, it might also be useful, especially in rural, remote and poor. For the benefit of this device is that it is inexpensive and quick to implement. In addition to eight dollars a magnifying glass, the researchers also used a flashlight to illuminate from below the stool sample contained in laboratory glass slides in order to photograph them. The set only cost $ 15, if we do not take into account the price of mobile phone.

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Facebook has a facelift

The site has unveiled a new version more suited to mobile and more oriented photos.

The info. Facebook a facelift. The group announced Friday the new version of its news feed (newsfeed) and the profile page of its users (timeline). The group insists its ambition for this new presentation, the most important for many years and gradually appear on the accounts in the coming weeks: "It is easy to see [the newsfeed] as a single stream of content but we have a more great goal, "immediately announced the group's CEO Mark Zuckerberg during the presentation Thursday night at the group's headquarters in California. That Facebook wants "the best custom log possible." What's new?

More space for images. For this, the new newsfeed is more room for photos, which is already the proportion rose from 25% to 50% between November 2011 and January 2013. "When we launched the news feed, it was mostly made ​​up of texts," said Mark Zuckerberg. "Now that we all have cameras in our pockets, on our phones, the majority of content is pictures." The main column expands so to allow photographs to appear in a larger format. Facebook founder also highlights third-party applications such as photo sharing Instagram and Pinterest are very popular among young people.

More filters. Second change, the user can filter content based on their origin or nature: publications of all his friends, those of his closest friends, photos only, news pages which one is "subscriber" or games. The purpose of Facebook is clear: "we hope you get everything you want" without leaving Facebook, said Chris Struhar, technical manager of the social network. A way to retain users pressed the duration is short visits.

Profile more "mobile". Facebook also continues its development in the mobile and inspires even the presentation of the new phone website design. A small black column that lists all the pages and constantly appears to the left of the screen to avoid having to go through the home page. 

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Java: 50 faults corrected but the software remains vulnerable

The Java environment is still in turmoil. Fifty faults have been corrected in the latest update to Oracle. But it remains vulnerable to attacks and new discoveries are still gaps. Many people advise to disable it as soon as possible.

 Java: 50 faults corrected but the software remains vulnerablePosted by Hinde Benabdelhanin on 5 February 2013.At the categories A, cybercrime, NewsKeywords: fault vulnerability, Java, update Oracle
The Java environment is still in turmoil. Fifty faults have been corrected in the latest update to Oracle. But it remains vulnerable to attacks and new discoveries are still gaps. Many people advise to disable it as soon as possible.
Java security java faillure: 50 faults corrected but the software remains vulnerableJava urgency given the magnitude of faults
Major flaws were detected in the Java Oracle Adam Gowdiak of Security Explorations. In our article "Java flaw threatens 1 billion computers in the world," we explain that these faults can "circumvent the barriers in place and run malicious code on a user's machine that would visit one trapped page, potentially allowing the hacker to take control of the computer and steal information. "
Mid-January, Homeland Security declared that "this vulnerability and earlier have been widely exploited by hackers, and new Java vulnerabilities are likely to be found."
Therefore, in an emergency, Oracle has developed an update of its system. Originally scheduled for February 19, it has overdrive and proposes two weeks in advance to update the software, the Critical Patch Update. The company explains on his blog that "Oracle has accelerated the release of this update, because the active exploitation of any of the vulnerabilities affecting the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) in browsers desktops was eliminated with this Critical Patch Update. ". Obviously Oracle recommend downloading the update as soon as possible.Java under the glare of critical
Under the spotlight, Oracle is under pressure and must meet the criticisms that have been made about the discovered vulnerabilities. Despite the 50 faults corrected, 49 were critical (!), The software is still not reliable. Given the magnitude of security breaches, Oracle stated that two years would be needed to fill them. The next update is scheduled for 18 June 2013. And what about the deficit in terms of image must also manage Oracle if it is only the crisis is far from being resolved.
In addition, U.S. authorities advise disable Java. Meanwhile, Mozilla has decided to prevent the automatic startup of the plugin. Apple had excluded from its sailors decided after this update to reactivate the default for OS X Lion, Mountain Lion and Snow Leopard.
So a tip: if you do not need Java, do not take risk, disable it.

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Google Chrome does not catch up Firefox

February has just ended. The opportunity to take a look at the global market share attributed to Web browsers. The database users to 160 million unique visitors per month, covering almost 40,000 websites, Net Applications persists and signs.

For the firm, Internet Explorer regaining ground. Leader in the sector of desktop browsers is credited with 55.82%. It is early in the year it is back above the 55% mark. An upward trend could be confirmed in the coming weeks capitalizing on the release of IE10 for Windows 7.

In early 2013, the trend is also upward for Firefox that passes the new cap of 20% (20.12%). In hindsight, however, this trend appears more a form of stability.

Firefox still remains that the dolphin Internet Explorer. Google Chrome is not able to deprive him of this place and remains third. More surprisingly, Net Applications reconfirms the drop shape with Chrome widening gap compared to Firefox.

Google Chrome is credited with 16.27%, which brings it to a level comparable to that of September 2011. On February 2013, the browser has lost 1.21 points which is a lot in this kind of statistics.

Globally, this finding is not shared by StatCounter (which is based on 15 billion page views) for Google Chrome that is a leader with a steady (Chrome: 37.09% IE: 29, 82% Firefox: 21.34%).

In France and in January 2013, Google Chrome (25.9%) is Médiamétrie the most used browser to Internet Explorer (24.2%) and Firefox (22.8%). A podium actually quite compact.

Mediametrie-eStat-browser-Jan-2013

  

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