What is a black box and how does it work?

 Now that investigators have concluded the missing Malaysia Airlines jet crashed into the Indian Ocean, the race is on to find the wreckage and recover the black box in hopes of solving the mystery of flight MH370.

But search crews are on a tight deadline to find the so-called black boxes before a battery-powered ping the devices emit fades away. The devices are designed to send out those signals for at least 30 days after a crash – but it has already been 17 days since flight MH370 went missing and poor weather is hampering search efforts.

Why is finding the black boxes so important to the investigation?

Because without it investigators may never be able to piece together exactly what happened to flight MH370.

What is a black box?

Black boxes may be one of the most important pieces of technical equipment on board a plane, despite the fact they do nothing to help the plane while it’s in the air.

Airplanes actually have two black boxes, made up of two separate pieces of equipment – a cockpit voice recorder, which records all of the sound and conversations that happen in the cockpit, and a flight data recorder, which records the planes operating functions.

Each unit is fitted with an underwater locator beacon (ULB) that is activated as soon as the recorder comes into contact with water – this is what creates the “ping” that investigators use to locate the device.

It is usually located in the tail of the plane because it is usually the last part of the plane to make impact.

Despite its name the device is actually bright orange, making it easier to spot in wreckage.

Cockpit voice recorder

Obviously, the point of having a cockpit voice recorder is so investigators can play back conversations between the pilot, copilot, and whoever else may have entered the cockpit to piece together what went wrong.

But trained investigators are also able to listen for engine sounds, stall warnings, or emergency alarms that could provide evidence into a mechanical problem.

According to the U.S. National Transportation and Safety Board, the cockpit voice recorder must hold at least two hours of audio.

Flight data recorder

Flight data recorders can record a number of parameters including, the time, altitude, airspeed, direction, and vertical acceleration of the flight, as well as more technical things like the movement of individual flaps on the wings.

According to National Geographic, the data saved on this recorder can help investigators to eventually produce computer-generated re-enactments of the crash.

The recorder must hold a minimum of 25 hours of flight information.

How does the black box survive a crash?

Black boxes are designed to withstand catastrophic events.

According to National Geographic, one black box recorder called the L-3 FA 2100 underwent testing that included being exposed to a 1,110°C fire for an hour and 260°C heat for 10 hours. The devices are also designed to operate from -55° to +70°C. This is done with high-temperature insulation.

Black boxes are also encased in corrosion-resistant stainless steel or titanium shells.

The ping transmitted from the ULB is able to transmit from as deep as 14,000 feet.

Can the black box survive underwater?

Yes.

The black box from Air France flight 447 wasn’t found until two years after the plane crashed into the Atlantic on route from Rio De Janeiro to Paris in June 2009. It remained intact despite being lost beneath two miles of ocean.

Google's going to build the perfect human, and it might save your life

Google may have history's greatest vehicle for exploring the web, but its latest project is much, much more ambitious: it wants to explore the human body. And we mean fully explore it.
Google is setting out to collect genetic and molecular information from 175 people (and thousands more after, we're told) in order to create a picture of a perfectly healthy human being, according to the The Wall Street Journal.
The project is called Baseline Study and is being headed up by Google X's Dr Andrew Conrad, with the objective to collect data that will help to detect things like heart disease and cancer much earlier on.
Witness the fitness

Needless to say, this could potentially play a big part in Google's wearable tech plans too. Currently that exists at the humble Google Fit platform, which comes packed with Android Wear. It's basic, but a clear indicator that bigger plans are in motion.
But it's not the only one with this idea. Apple is also on a massive health kick right now, announcing its Health Kit app at WWDC, which will not only keep an eye on users' health but allow for that information to be shared their doctor.
And how could we forget the ongoing rumours of Apple's fitness-focussed iWatch?
At the same time, Google is also working on a smart contact lens that won't just make you look like rad cyborg, but will monitor your glucose levels too.

60-inch rollable TVs coming up... seriously!

Forget curved TVs – you will be able to roll this one in your suitcase and take it with you on your vacations. That’s a promise that South Korean giant LG has just made to the world.

The company today announced that it has been able to create an 18-inch OLED panel that has enough flexibility to roll into a tube of 3cm radius without affecting the function of the display.

“This proves that LG Display can bring rollable TVs of more than 50 inches to the market in the future,” the company claims. That isn’t all – LG Display has promised that it is working on a 60-inch panel now, and it should be able to roll out the bigger rollable (pun unintended) panels by 2017.

“We are confident that by 2017, we will successfully develop an Ultra HD flexible and transparent OLED panel of more than 60 inches, which will have transmittance of more than 40 per cent and a curvature radius of 100R, thereby leading the future display market,” In-Byung Kang, Senior Vice-President and Head of the R&D Center at LG Display, said.

The 18-inch flexible OLED panel that the company unveiled today has an HD resolution of 1200 X 810 with almost 1 million mega-pixels. The panel’s curvature radius is 30R.

LG says it used high molecular substance-based polyimide film as the backplane of the flexible panel instead of conventional plastic, which afforded it the maximum curvature radius. In addition, the polyimide film helps keep the display really thin and really flexible.

The transparent OLED panel currently boasts 30 per cent transmittance (the transmittance of existing transparent LCD panels is around 10 per cent) – which means that the pictures look much better and less hazy. The company says it has lowered the haze of the panel which is generated by using circuit devices and film components to a level of 2 per cent.

Calling the tripling of transmittance and lowering of haze a ‘breakthrough development’, LG has significantly managed to improve the technology level of the transparent display.

Now You Can Board The World’s Largest Cruise Ship With Google Street View

From the World Cup Stadia in Brazil to the temples of Angkor Wat, from the Grand Canyon to the Great Barrier Reef, Google Street View has been letting you travel to beautiful places from the comforts of your sofa. And now, it welcomes you aboard the world’s largest and most luxurious cruise, Allure of the Seas.

You can tour the exciting ship with its ravishing dinning hall, swimming pool, ice skating rink and sun deck.

The ship can accommodate 54,000 passengers apart from the crew for restaurants and shopping street.

It’s a treat to see some unique activities happening on the ship including the acrobat training in Aqua theatre and a trip across the zip line. There’s also a 200ft rock wall in the ship and boasts a merry-go-round. How exciting is that!

The virtual tour around the ship excites and enthralls the onlookers to pay a real visit and this was the strategic reason for the collaboration between Google Maps Business View – the commercial arm of Google’s Street View- and the RoyalCaribbean.

Viewers can take a sneak-peak into the rooms, but they can’t wander around just anywhere.

The boarders will now better expect as to what are they going to experience and what their money is going to buy them.

“Consumers go online to research their holidays and this is the closest they can get to actually being on board.”, Jo Briody of the cruise line said.

The 1184 ft long and 222,900 tonnes heavy Allure of the Seas is a compaction of enormous fun and entertainment.

Take the tour here. 

Apple and IBM join forces to push iPhones and iPads into the enterprise

SURPRISE, Apple and IBM have announced a mutual embrace that will give the world's large enterprises better mobility.

We hear better mobility and we think mobile phones. We aren't wrong, The firms said that they have "forged a global partnership" that will bring tried and tested IBM enterprise services to the shiny pocket botherers iPhone and iPad.

We are in solid press release territory here, and the talk is of "transforming" enterprise mobility.

This will happen on a few fronts, for example the plan is to release 100 enterprise tools, including apps, and build up cloud services for iOS including device management and security features.

As part of the deal Big Blue will sell enterprise flavoured iThings to its customers, while the two companies will work on business specific software. IBM and Apple do not appear to have much in common, but the two are convinced that they will make the marriage work, if only for the sake of the enterprise.

"iPhone and iPad are the best mobile devices in the world and have transformed the way people work with over 98 percent of the Fortune 500 and over 92 percent of the Global 500 using iOS devices in their business today," said Apple CEO Tim Cook.

"For the first time ever we're putting IBM's renowned big data analytics at iOS users' fingertips, which opens up a large market opportunity for Apple. This is a radical step for enterprise and something that only Apple and IBM can deliver."

IBM chairman, CEO and president Ginni Rometty agreed and issued some kind words toward Cupertino.

"This alliance with Apple will build on our momentum in bringing these innovations to our clients globally, and leverages IBM's leadership in analytics, cloud, software and services. We are delighted to be teaming with Apple, whose innovations have transformed our lives in ways we take for granted, but can't imagine living without," Rometty said.

"Our alliance will bring the same kind of transformation to the way people work, industries operate and companies perform."

Frebble Brings Long Distance Lovers Together: Now Feel Your Lover's Hand via Gadget

If you're the mother who works far away from home and kids, or if you are one of those innumerable long distance lovers who always wished being able to feel your love despite being online, guess what? Your prayers have been answered!


As per the IANS, scientists have created a wireless accessory - Frebble - which lets you hold your partner's hand from anywhere in the world, Daily Mail reported Monday. Frebble can be used alongside video chat services such as Skype, Facetime and Hangout so that people can see, hear and feel each other.

Frebble uses haptic technology to mimic the sensation of someone giving you a reassuring squeeze of the hand, using a pair of two small devices.When the Frebble is squeezed by one person, the corresponding gadget will apply pressure to the back of a partner's hand, to simulate holding hands. The device can be used with video chat services Skype and Google Hangouts. A multicolour LED will indicate connection status and when a squeeze is waiting. The gadgets will be able to be recharged using a micro-USB cable and will work with Google Chrome version24 or higher and Firefox version 16 and higher.

Frebble is the brainchild of entrepreneur Frederic Petrignani, of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. He is currently raising funds on Kickstarter to put the devices into production.

Another leak confirms that Windows 8 is a goner, Windows 9 coming this year

MICROSOFT WILL ANNOUNCE Windows 9 before the year is out, according to the latest leak from reliable Russian mole Wzor.

According to the rumour, Windows 8.1 Update 2 will be released in August, drawing a line under Windows 8, with Windows 9 - assuming that will be its moniker - to be announced within a couple of months. Beyond that, Windows 8 will be patched, but not enhanced.

The Wzor rumour echoes that of ZDNet analyst Mary Jo Foley, who made nearly identical claims last month, further fueling its credibility.

Wzor was among the first to confirm the return of the Start Menu and Microsoft climb downs over the Modern or Metro interface in Windows 8.

According to a translation on the My Digital Life forum, Wzor said, "Windows 9 will be announced this fall, Microsoft's advertising budget this time will be fantastic. The slogan of a promotional campaign will be "You want Start button and new menu and you will get that".

"On the advice of marketing experts, flaws of Windows 8 will be accepted and used as lessons for developers while releasing Windows 9."

This is the first major leak from Wzor after the closure of his website, following the reprimand of a Microsoft employee for being the source of such leaks, and shows that despite this, the well has not completely dried up.

Wzor also suggested that development has been delayed as Microsoft overhauls its product activation systems, primarily to stem the traffic in illicit versions of Windows in China.

The Chinese government has denounced Windows 8 as spyware and ordered its government departments not to use it.

Naked selfies extracted from 'factory reset' phones

The firm, called Avast, used publicly available forensic security tools to extract the images from second-hand phones bought on eBay.

Other data extracted included emails, text messages and Google searches.

Experts have warned that the only way to completely delete data is to "destroy your phone".

Most smartphones come with a "factory reset" option, which is designed to wipe and reset the device, returning it to its original system state.

However, Avast has discovered that some older smartphones only erase the indexing of the data and not the data itself, which means pictures, emails and text messages can be recovered relatively easily by using standard forensic tools that anyone can buy and download.

The company claims that of 40,000 stored photos extracted from 20 phones purchased from eBay, more than 750 were of women in various stages of undress, along with 250 selfies of "what appears to be the previous owner's manhood".

There was an additional 1,500 family photos of children, 1,000 Google searches, 750 emails and text messages and 250 contact names and email addresses.

The company said: "Deleting files from your Android phone before selling it or giving it away is not enough. You need to overwrite your files, making them irretrievable."

It was not made clear by Avast whether they extracted data from all 20 phones.

Destroy the phone

Google responded that Avast used outdated smartphones and that their research did not "reflect the security protections in Android versions that are used by the vast majority of users".

It was recommended by Google that all users enable encryption on their devices before applying a factory reset to ensure files cannot be accessed.

This feature, said Google, has been available for three years, although it is not enabled by default, which could leave less tech-savvy users open to attack.

Apple has had built-in encryption for its hardware and firmware since the release of the iPhone 3GS.

The hardware encryption is permanently enabled and users cannot turn it off.

Additional file data protection is available, but must be turned on in the settings menu.

Independent computer security analyst Graham Cluley said that if a user is serious about privacy and security they should make sure their device is always "protected with a PIN or passphrase, and that the data on it is encrypted".

However, Alan Calder, founder of cybersecurity and risk management firmIT Governance, told the BBC that erasing data, even after it has been encrypted, will not be enough to completely protect your device.

"Google's recommended routine for protecting the data only makes it harder for someone to recover the data - it does not make it impossible," he said.

"If you don't want your data recovered, destroy the phone - and that has been standard security advice, in relation to telephones and computer drives, for a number of years. Any other 'solution' simply postpones the point at which someone is able to access your confidential data."

China blasts the iPhone as a 'national security threat'

THE GLORIOUS People's Republic of China has slammed the Apple iPhone as a "national security threat" because of its ability to track and timestamp its user's location.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, a report by Chinese broadcaster CCTV took aim at the iPhone's "Frequent Locations" function, which tracks and timestamps a user's location if switched on, blasting it as a threat to the country's national security, much like it did with Windows 8.

The state-owned broadcaster quoted researchers who said that those with access to the "extremely sensitive data" could gain knowledge of the broader situation in China or, dramatically, "even state secrets".

The Wall Street Journal reported that the broadcaster cited the Snowden disclosures as its reason for concern, calling US technology firms' databases a "gold mine". It also quoted officials who said that China needed stronger data protection laws, and that Apple would need to "take on any legal responsibilities" if any data leaks caused harm.

China might not have anything to worry about soon, however, as the loss of a lawsuit by Apple could see the iPhone, along with the iPad, removed from shelves in the country.

Earlier this week, it was revealed that a Bejing court ruled in favour of Chinese firm Zhizhen Network Technology in its ongoing court case against Apple, ruling that the firm's Siri digital assistant infringes the company's patents.

This, if Zhizhen gets its way, could see Apple iPhones and iPads slapped with a sales ban across the country. Apple said it will appeal the ruling.

Samsung shuns Google, launches its own Galaxy Apps Store

SAMSUNG has launched the Galaxy Apps Store, its own app store for Samsung Galaxy owners, as it looks to take some of Google's Play store revenues.

Essentially a replacement for the firm's recently shuttered Samsung Apps service, Samsung's Galaxy Apps Store offers "hundreds" - yes, hundreds - of apps designed exclusively for devices like the Galaxy S5 and Galaxy S5 Mini.

Samsung said in a blog post, "Samsung Electronics launched Samsung Galaxy Apps, an app store that offers hundreds of apps exclusively available to users of Samsung Galaxy mobile devices.

"An improvement upon its predecessor, Samsung Apps, the new app store features apps that will allow greater customisation of mobile devices and will also function as a platform to offer various promotions and discounts."

Apps are split into three categories, Best Picks, Top, and For Galaxy. Best Picks, unsurprisingly, allows users to find highly recommended apps, while Top shows those that have been downloaded the most.

The For Galaxy section, Samsung explains, is split into four categories - Galaxy Gifts, Galaxy Essentials, Apps for Professionals and Galaxy Specials.

Samsung says, "Galaxy Gifts offers premium apps exclusively for Galaxy devices. Galaxy Essentials delivers must-have apps for Galaxy devices. Apps for Professionals is the home of business focused apps and other services that fully utilise the features of Galaxy devices. Galaxy Specials lets users download apps specifically created by using Samsung SDKs."

This move sees Samsung edging away from Google, much like it did recently by equipping its latest smartwatch, the Samsung Gear 2, with its own Tizen operating system rather than Android.

iPhone and iPad users are at risk of data theft by Gmail app hacking

THOSE ACCESSING Gmail on iOS devices could be at risk of having their data stolen, Lacoon Mobile Security has warned.

The security firm said that the vulnerability has been made possible through Google's failure to implement a technology to prevent attackers from viewing and modifying encrypted communications exchanged with the web giant.

Lacoon chief information security officer Avi Bashan explained in a blog post that websites use digital certificates to encrypt data traffic using the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocols, but in some instances those certificates can be spoofed by attackers, allowing them to observe and decrypt the traffic.

"During a routine analysis of the Gmail iOS app we unexpectedly came across a vulnerability which enables a threat actor that is performing a man-in-the-middle attack to view, and even modify, encrypted communications," Bashan said.

"In general, secure communications rely on encryption, [that is,] SSL, between an app and the back-end server to prevent prying eyes from seeing into content during transmit.

"The problem with using just SSL is that a threat actor can impersonate the back-end server by creating a spoofed SSL certificate. The certificate is essentially a validation that the server is who it claims to be, in this specific scenario, that back-end server is Google's Gmail."

Bashan said that by impersonating the legitimate server with a man-in-the-middle attack through the use of a spoofed SSL certificate, the threat actor can defeat the encryption to view and even modify all communications in plain-text, including passwords, emails, and chats.

"In iOS, a threat actor can install a configuration profile which contains the root Certificate Authority (CA). The configuration profile is an extremely sensitive iOS file which allows to re-define system functionality parameters such as device, mobile carrier and network settings," he explained.

"The root CA is what enables the threat actor to create spoofed certificates of legitimate services... the configuration profile is very simple to install. More so, many legitimate enterprise policies demand its installation."

Lacoon found that the Gmail iOS app does not perform certificate pinning and as a result a threat actor can perform a man-in-the-middle attack and open up the Gmail encrypted communications so the victim does not receive any indication of suspicious activity.

"We were quite surprised by this finding because Google had implemented certificate pinning for their Android Gmail app. Clearly, not implementing this for iOS was an oversight by Google," Bashan added.

Lacoon's research team informed Google about this problem on 24 February, with Google having recognised the flaw and validated it. According to Lacoon, it was told that Google was going to fix this issue, though it said that the vulnerability still exists.

Lacoon said that to mitigate the attacks, users and businesses should check the configuration profiles of devices in their enterprise to ensure that they do not include root certificates, and make sure that employees use a VPN or any other secure channel when connecting to enterprise resources.

YouTube: Slow Buffering Is Totally Your ISP's Fault

YouTube wants you to know that if you're experiencing playback issues, blurring video or excessive buffering, it's probably your Internet service provider's fault.

Taking a cue from Netflix, YouTube has initiated its own Video Quality Report to let users know what type of performance they get from their ISP.

YouTube initially rolled out the Video Quality Report at the end of May, along with a video explaining why YouTube-suckage is totally not YouTube's fault. Mashable covered the survey's initial rollout, but what makes this worth revisiting is an additional detail noticed by Quartz.

If your ISP isn't YouTube HD Verified (as my ISP is), it's possible that you might see a blue banner affixed to a video letting you know why video playback is sub-optimal.

It isn't clear how long these banners have been around, but a Google Help article does exist for the banners; their appearance is reminiscent of some of the shade Netflix threw at Verizon last month. At the time, Netflix started showing messages to certain ISP users, which put the blame on slow video buffering directly on their ISP.

Verizon responded by sending Netflix a cease and desist letter over the messages. With Netflix and Verizon, the drama also includes lots of back and forth over issues related to paid peering deals. Netflix has agreed to pay ISPs, such as Comcast and Verizon, to ensure better throughput between the two network systems.

Although YouTube has long had its own free peering agreements with ISPs, we're not aware of any paid peering deals for YouTube that have become public. In June, the Federal Communications Commission said it will try to obtain any details of deals between ISPs and content providers — including YouTube.

Buffered streams are bad for business

Although YouTube's name and shame campaign against ISPs is fairly mild compared to that of Netflix, the very fact that the video service finds it necessary to alert users about how Internet traffic and interconnected networks function is telling.

With more and more video content delivered over-the-top (that is, over the Internet), the quality of that video stream becomes increasingly important. When quality fails, users are quick to blame the content source — especially if other websites seem to work just fine.

If a user experiences downtime and buffering from a service or site too many times, he or she will be less likely to use it. Content services want to be shielded from some of that blame, and pass it off to what they see as the ultimate gatekeeper: the ISP.

The real question is: Does this naming and shaming really have any impact? It would be one thing if users could pick and choose their ISP, but most of us have one choice and one choice only (the same is true for cable TV).

Google goes down as Search throws up server error

GOOGLE SUFFERED a major outage on Friday, leaving its internet search engine out of action for many users.

Google has yet to acknowledge the downtime that began at around 10.30am on Friday, but users have taken to Twitter to mock the outage.

One user said, "Google is down. THIS IS BING'S TIME TO SHINE," while another added, "To all those affected by #google crisis, you'll be happy to knowaltavista.com is still functioning brilliantly."

The outage has seen Google's search engine throwing up a 500 error message, which suggests that the firm has been suffering from an intermittent server error.

This message reads, "500. That's an error. The server encountered an error and could not complete your request. If the problem persists, please report your problem and mention this error message and the query that caused it. That's all we know."

It's unclear what was causing the error, nor is it known to what extent the outage reached. Here at The INQUIRER, we have been able to access the Google search engine without interruption, and it appears the service is now back up and running for most.

Google's search outage comes just a day after some users were left unable to access Gmail, with the webmail service instead showing a 502 error page which said, "The server encountered a temporary error and could not complete your request. Please try again in 30 seconds."

Google has yet to comment on the outage, but we have contacted it for comment.

Android bug leaks your location via WiFi

YOUR ANDROID DEVICE could be telling the world where you are and where you've been.

According to a report by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a vulnerability introduced in Android 3.1 Honeycomb means that anyone can use your WiFi connection to get a coherent overview of your location and travels.

Preferred Network Offload (PNO) is a service within Android that allows the phone to search for and connect to WiFi networks, even while the screen is switched off. The result is reduced battery consumption and lower data usage, however it comes at a price.

A device with PNO activated that isn't connected to a WiFi network can be intercepted by anyone within WiFi range. The hacker can then read a list of the last 15 WiFi networks (SSID) that the device has last connected to. This will include public WiFi hotspots with plain English names to which the service has connected but not actually logged in, for example "Pub Chain - Croydon" or "Tommy's Coffee Public WiFi".

Putting that information together, along with saved private WiFi credentials, creates an eerily accurate map of the phone's movements.

Although most chains anonymise their SSIDs to a generic name, such as the name of the provider - for example, The Cloud - or the chain - for example, Starbucks - the MAC address is also shown and therefore is traceable with a bit of extra digging.

A Google spokeman told the EFF, "We take the security of our users' location data very seriously and we're always happy to be made aware of potential issues ahead of time. Since changes to this behaviour would potentially affect user connectivity to hidden access points, we are still investigating what changes are appropriate for a future release."

In the meantime the EFF, which recently launched a lawsuit against the National Security Agency (NSA) for withholding information about zero-day security flaws, suggested disabling the PNO feature under advanced WiFi settings, acknowledging that it might cost a bit more in data charges and battery life, but it also warned that not even this worked on some handsets, citing US-only Motorola phone the Droid 4 as an example.

At present, the recently announced Android L mobile operating system is still under development, so we might yet see a fix in the final release

Is this the most secure smartphone in the world?

The Blackphone has been designed first and foremost to protect the owner’s privacy as data security becomes increasingly important to consumers amid NSA spying revelations and data hacking concerns.

Priced at $629, the smartphone runs ProvatOS, an Android-based operating system and has features which optimises the phone’s security.

These include a remote wipe to delete data at any time, secure file storage and transfer, browsing, voice, video and text, using encryption technology. It’s also bundled with privacy-enabled apps and security subscriptions.

These security and encryption tools are designed to prevent users from leaving a trail of information behind as they navigate the digital world.

The company behind the phone, SGP Technologies, is actually two firms recently joined together, one specialising in hardware design, the other an encryption communication service.

In a blog post about the company, CEO Toby Weir-Jones explains: “Our industry is pretty good at selling security tools to enterprise and government, and we have good relationships with the private citizens who already “get it.” But more people can benefit from what we offer.”

For anyone worried about their digital data and who has access to it, here’s the answer.

cityam

Get ready for the new social network – Emojili

If you find Facebook overwhelming and Twitter just too much, a new social network aims to make communication even simpler.

Emojili, set to launch later this year, will only allow its users to send emoji to each other.
Even usernames on the system will be emoji – and over 10,000 people have already signed up.

‘We’ve just passed 10,000 usernames reserved, the firm said on its Twitter feed.

‘Fortunately there are more than 250,000 possible two-emoji combos, so most are still available!’

The site was set up by Londoners Matt Gray and Tom Scott, who say they were inspired by Yo, which allows users to simply send the word Yo.

‘The two of us had the idea at about the same time — we weren’t sold on it until we realized that usernames should be emoji too,’ said Gray.

‘At that point, we burst out laughing and realized we had to build it.’

However, the pair have so far refused to say exactly how the app will work.Earlier this year it was revealed Apple is working to expand the diversity of the hugely popular emoji characters for the iPhone.

Following complaints that the current character set was not diverse enough, the firm said it was working with the standards body that controls them.

Because Emoji have to be displayed on different devices, they are tightly controlled by the Unicode Consortium.

At present the list of characters contains dozens of faces of people that appear to be white.
However, only two of the symbols seem to be Asian and none are black.

Since 2010 a basic list has been developed and maintained by the Unicode Consortium – a Silicon Valley-based non-profit organisation made up of major computer firms, software producers, user groups and others.

It does this to ensure that different devices and mobile carriers can share a basic set.

The latest disclosure came after Apple boss Tim Cook was emailed asking if the firm was going to address the issue.

The diversity of emoji was also questioned in a petition posted to DoSomething.org calling on Apple to increase the ethnic diversity found within its emoji keyboard.

‘Of the more than 800 Emojis, the only two resembling people of color are a guy who looks vaguely Asian and another in a turban,’ it says.

‘There’s a white boy, girl, man, woman, elderly man, elderly woman, blonde boy, blonde girl and, we’re pretty sure, Princess Peach.’

Cheap USB chargers are 'a real danger’

AN AUSTRALIAN Fair Trading Office has warned people of a "real and present danger" that they have invited into their homes, the cheap USB charger.

Cheap knock-off device chargers are associated with several things, especially dangerous incidents.

Many times a simple charging process has turned a piece of hardware into a smokey melted lump and on some occasions more damage has been done.

However "more damage" is not strong enough to describe the incident in New South Wales that has prompted the warning from Australian Fair Trading commissioner Rod Stowe.

Stowe, reacting to a report that a knock-off charger started a fire that killed a woman, said, "These devices pose a serious risk of electrocution or fire," and recommended that no one buy or sell them.

The problem for many is that an official charger is often the more expensive option, and in some areas a knock-off is the only type available.

Many firms have been associated with such incidents, and some have looked to address the problem. Apple for example, has offerred an amnesty where people can swap bad for good for a small fee. Another option from Apple is the free swap that applies to some users of its iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S handsets.

After realising that its standard charger could overheat the firm offered the free swap programme earlier this year.

"Customer safety is always Apple's top priority, and we have voluntarily decided to exchange every affected power adapter for a new, redesigned adapter, free of charge," it said.

"We encourage customers to exchange any affected adapter for a new one as soon as possible".

According to a report at the Guardian the unfortunate woman who led to the New Zealand warning was using a $5 charger. The store where she is said to have bought the charger has been shuttered. 

Thanks To Fleshlight You Can Now Have Sex With Your iPad

After more than two years of development, the sex toy company behind the male masturbatory aid Fleshlight has sprung a product that finally allows men to have sex with their iPads.

The Fleshlight LaunchPAD, a very real, most-definitely-not-a-hoax case for iPads, attaches to your tablet and serves as a holster for your Fleshlight, which then allows you to hump the device hands-free. All for the one-time low price of $24.95!

Why, exactly, does humanity need such a device?

"We gathered a lot of data and people are moving in masses to watching their adult content via mobile devices, so the Fleshlight LaunchPAD is the perfect accessory for men everywhere," Fleshlight spokesperson Daniel Pacheco says. "We're happy to see that men view this as an outlet of fulfilling their sexual fantasies and men's pleasure products are getting more widespread acceptance just like women's sex toys."

Assuming long-distance friends want to get close to their partners' shaky paunches, the company explains on its website how it expects the iPad case to be deployed:

The Fleshlight LaunchPAD is perfect for point-of-view content, long distance play with a friend, or enjoying a variety of your favorite films, clips, and images while using your Fleshlight product. Once fitted snuggly in place, it will maintain its position during use while allowing full access to touch-screen functionality and exposing the onboard controls, like volume and power.

Not wanting a soft launch, the company released an ad on Thursday that shows how it envisions the product penetrating the mainstream market: A couple sits video-chatting on their anniversary when the man surprises his lucky lady with a present — lingerie.

"Try it on," he says with a mischievous grin. "Right now?" she responds playfully. "Yes," he gutturally demands, tilting the iPad and attaching his Fleshlight as she begins to undress. The ad then descends into a manic fit of bouncing LaunchPADs and dubstep.

YouTube commenters, naturally, were amazed. "Is this real life?," "WHAT THE F*CK," and "Wait...this is serious?" some of them said.

Pacheco says the reaction has been immense, with more than 650,000 views on the YouTube video and mentions on several sites around the web.

We're not sure if this case will void your AppleCare warranty — neither company has said so as of Friday afternoon. The real question, for us, is will we ever trust refurbished iPads again?

Facebook reveals its legal campaign against mass surveillance

FACEBOOK HAS REVEALED its efforts to keep the Manhattan District Attorney's hands off its customers' information.

The social network, which has been accused of not being a friend of privacy in the past, has presented a more open face since last year and its first government surveillance transparency report.

In the spirit of this, Facebook deputy general counsel Chris Sonderby has published an account of the fight the firm has had in New York to oppose demands to release data relating to 381 social networkers.

"Our goal is to protect people's information on Facebook, so when a government requests data, it's a big deal to us. We have strict policies in place for law enforcement requests and have published these procedures publicly for anyone to review," he said.

"Since last summer, we've been fighting hard against a set of sweeping search warrants issued by a court in New York that demanded we turn over nearly all data from the accounts of 381 people who use our service, including photos, private messages and other information. This unprecedented request is by far the largest we've ever received - by a magnitude of more than [10] - and we have argued that it was unconstitutional from the start."

Sonderby said that of the people whose data was requested and surrendered, 62 were charged for disability fraud. His concern is that information belonging to the other 300 or so individuals was demanded for no reason.

Facebook took its opposing position to court, but was told, "As an online service provider we didn't even have the legal standing to contest the warrants."

This kind of bulk, shotgun blast of requests is not what Facebook wants to deal with, and it would prefer to be more open with its users.

"The government also obtained gag orders that prohibited us from discussing this case and notifying any of the affected people until now," he added.

"We've gone to court and repeatedly asserted that these overly broad warrants - which contain no date restrictions and allow the government to keep the seized data indefinitely - violate the privacy rights of the people on Facebook and ignore Fourth Amendment safeguards against unreasonable searches and seizures."

The firm's most recent move was filing an appellate brief to invalidate sweeping warrants and reunite it with the data that was "seized and retained". That led the government to unseal warrants and court filings, Sonderby's revelations, and informing the affected punters.

That is one victory for Facebook, and it promised its many million users that their data is important to it.

"We feel strongly that there is more work to do, and we will continue our legal fight to retrieve data that has been seized and retained by the government," he added.

"We will continue to fight on your behalf, and we recognize the importance of this responsibility. We look forward to keeping you updated about our progress."