Hacker 'Guccifer' Jailed for Four Years

A hacker that is believed to hails from Romania who has targeted US politicians that maintain a high profile has been sentenced to a prison period of 52 months. His name is Marcel Lazar however online he is commonly known as "Guccifer". It was in May that he pleaded guilty for theft of aggravated identify as well as access of computers that were unauthorized.

Marcel Lazar is known to have targeted many individuals such as the ex-secretary of state –Mr. Colin Powell as well as many members of the Bush family. In the year 2014 Marcel Lazar was arrested in Romania for a period of 4 years on charges for his hacking. While in March 2016 Marcel Lazar was handed over to face charges in the US.

44 year old Marcel Lazar is known to have uncovered Hillary Clinton, the presidential nominees email account back in the year 2013 by breaking into Hillary's former political advisor - Sidney Blumenthal's account.

After a mere two years it has been understood that Mrs Clinton made use of her personal account exclusively and that account was connected to a server which was private at her residence in New York while she was serving as secretary of state.

A while later, it became a matter of FBI investigation that Hillarys private email was being made use of while she was at the State Department. This investigation has followed her on the campaign trail as well which is pretty recent.

Clinton's 'email gate' diced and sliced

It was some time previously in this year that Marcel Lazar stated that Mrs Hillarys private server had been hacked by him, however this claim has been denied by the Clinton campaign as there has been no breach noticed by them. At the same time, the FBI also stated that nothing has been found to state and ensure that Marcel Lazar has hacked Hillary. Marcel Lazar, prior to this, in Romania was a taxi driver by profession and in the duration of 2012-2014 is known to have hacked into approximately 100 email accounts of the US which is beyond belief.

Democratic hack: Who is Guccifer 2.0? 

It was not so long ago in June this year itself that a hacker who goes by the name "Gucffier 2.0" online claimed that he had acquired data on the Democratic National Committee as well as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The officials of the US intelligence seem believe that there is a definite link between Guccifer 2.0 and the Russian intelligence services, they also suggest that the hacking was sponsored by the state which could lead to high levels of unrest if found to be true.

However until date there has been no connection found between Marcel Lazar and Guccifer 2.0. Nonetheless investigations regarding the same are still being carried out so as to crosscheck if there is any connection as well as work towards bringing an end to the hacking.

Apple May Launch 'All Glass' iPhone in 2017

Apple’s All-Glass iPhone – 2017

One can expect an all-glass iPhone probably by 2017. Foxconn, the supplier for Apple has been developing a glass casing for the iPhone which is likely to show up in 2017 as per a report on the Japanese website, Nikkei. The latest iPhone design of Apple is believed to have a glass chassis to enhance the slowing demand of Apple’s main products.

Reports by Apple on its first decline in the sales of iPhone in the quarter which ended in March has been considering on means of countering tough competition from its opponents like South Korea’s Samsung Electronics.

Foxconn which has been assembling iPhone presently provides the metal casings for Apple and has been developing the new glass casing that would be out in 2017 according to the website report. India, the world’s third largest smartphone market after China and US, had faced a 35% fall in the market share of Apple, where 800,000 smartphones had been shipped to India, by Apple in Q2 2016. This is in comparison to the 1.2 million smartphones it had shipped during the same quarter the previous year, as per a report from Strategy Analytics.

Featuring Curved OLED Display

The latest iPhone besides an all-glass design would also feature a curved OLED display. And an addition feature which could make an appearance is something which has been considered is possibly of getting rid of the Home button.

There have been reports regarding Apple implementing the Home key within the display though till now it has not been possible. The information tends to come from an insider having access to the Chinese production company and stated that Foxconn has been working on glass bodywork for the 2017 iPhone right from 2015 and has gone through various design models.

Moreover, the report also added that it expects the 2017 iPhone model to have a glass frame, front as well as back for the complete glass build, complete with an AMOLED display panel together with a Touch ID Home key accompanied with fingerprint scanner which is inserted below the display.

However with the arrival of 3D Touch together with the latest AMOLED display technology, getting the Home Key in the display is actually a go ahead sign for the 2017 release of iPhone.

More Multifaceted Tactile Vibrations on Display

According to BGR, the 2017 iPhone of Apple would be capable of creating more multifaceted tactile vibrations on the display due to a tiny though high-performance motor which has been equipped within. The trackpad on the revamped MacBook of Apple is entirely stationary with no `click button. On the contrary, the MacBook has a system of well-designed sensors together with vibration, providing the users with the tangible feedback they are familiar to.

Those familiar with the new MacBook could confirm that the implementation is impeccable if not strange. This is the technology which will basically enable Apple to do away with the requirements of a physical Home button. This means that for the overall design and appearance of the iPhone it is likely that the phone would look and operate extraordinarily to the earlier ones. Consumer response to the latest iPhone is yet to be seen.

Top Five Features of New Macbook OS

Macbook OS Making Way for New OS – Sierra

Mac’s operating system has been exterminated making way for a new OS nicknamed Sierra. The forthcoming OS would be a free update providing a complete new user experience. Though it would not be available to customers till later in the year, news.com.au has been playing around with the beta for the past few weeks. The following are the five most remarkable features of the new Macbook OS:

1. Notification Centre 

The first obvious modification of the OS is a new background and restored Notifications Centre which is totally customised with things that are utilised the most which means that one can search for things often, pinning them in the Notification Centre to reduce the need of searching them constantly.

2. Siri Integration 

After the success of Microsoft with Cortana, Siri had been introduced by Apple to the Mac and the features can be accessed on clicking the logo in the dock, the Menu Bar or by utilising a keyboard shortcut. Inspite of the entire regular features, Siri tends to have the latest competences that have been designed only for the desktop. In order to test it, Siri was asked to show all the word documents on the Macbook and she was capable of doing so,effortlessly. This provides the possibilities of multi-tasking together with the daily task with much easy.

3. Picture in Picture

This feature is said to be a game changer with Apple, with the introduction of the ability of watching a video while simultaneously performing another task on the Mac. Basically one can float a video window from Safari or iTunes over the desktop or a full screen app. Moreover the video can be re-sized giving more or less space in completing whatever tasks one could be working on. Only a handful of sites tend to support this feature presently, though it is difficult to believe that more would not come along when the OS would be made public.

4. Copy and Paste

The upcoming iOS 10 and OS Sierra would be providing improved communication between all the Apple devices. One of the advantages is that of having your Desktop and Document folder available on all the devices, where the folders would be stored and updated in iCloud Drive, automatically. But the Universal Clipboard here is said to be the real winner. The feature also tends to make it easy in sharing information between Apple products by enabling copying from one device and pasting it on to another.

Storing Optimisation 

Sierra tends to make it stress-free to make space on the computer through the use of four choices namely-

• Store in iCloud: It tends to store all the files as well as images in the iCloud with only the recently opened items stored physically on the Mac. 
• Storage optimise: It tends to remove all iTunes movies and TV shows one has already watched from the Mac, automatically. 
• Erase trash automatically: It erases the files that are in the Trash for over 30 days 
• Reduce Clutter: It tends to collect the older documents that have been stored on the Mac for the user to decide on deleting them.

Siri's Voice to Benefit from Machine Learning Improvements in Apple's iOS 10

Extensive Improvement in Digital Personal Assistant – Siri

When iOS 10 had been introduced earlier in the year by Apple, one of the tent-pole additions in the software of the company had been extensive improvement in the digital personal assistant – Siri. Over the years, Siri has been progressing due to a focus on machine learning and new features combined in the mobile operating system, enabling third party application developers in gaining access on stock apps as well as their features. Siri would be getting a big enhancement with iOS 10 later in the year.

Siri’s voice could be more natural when iOS 10 tends to arrive this fall probably this September owing to its machine learning technology which Apple would be implementing according to an interview disclosed recently. Steven Levy had an impressive interview on Backchannel with various executives of Apple including Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services, Eddy Cue, Phil Schiller and Craig Federighi.

Plenty of focus has been drawn on Siri, with improvements and how it would impact Apple’s progress. The interview did not begin with the statement with regards to Siri but expressed as to why Siri was so important for Apple’s progress and how would the digital personal assistant become over the years as well as why iOS 10 would be a big upgrading over all that has already been upgraded over a period of time.

Replacing Earlier Licensed Implementation

With the release of iOS 10, this fall, Siri’s voice would be the last of the four components which would be transformed by machine learning and a deep neural network is said to be replacing the earlier licensed implementation. Tom Gruber, head of advanced development for Siri, observed that when the responses of the assistant are yet being darned together from the central database of recordings, the machine learning tends to smooth out sentences, making Siri sound much more human.

The robotic- sounding voice of Siri has frequently been deceived and disapproved. Recently singer Barbra Streisand had contacted the CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, complaining regarding the way Siri pronounced her last name. Cook had replied that he would look into the problem in the forthcoming update which could have been a situation to the upgrade of Siri. The interview featuring executives such as senior VPs Eddy Cue together with Craig Federighi, observed that Apple had moved the voice recognition of Siri to a neural net-based system.

Enhanced Ability of Siri in Comprehending Commands

It is said that the technology has extremely enhanced the ability of Siri in comprehending commands. Federighi has commented that Apple had plenty of people working on the machine learning technology comprising of not only Siri but also things such as palm rejection for the Apple Pencil, though there is no central machine learning group.

Apple had moved Siri voice recognition to a neural-net based system for US users late one July day which went worldwide on August 15, 2014. Few of the earlier techniques seemed to stay operative, which comprises of the `hidden Markov model, though presently the system leverages machine learning techniques, together with deep neural networks, convolutional neural networks, long short-term memory units, gated recurrent unites and n grams.

Siri will still seem to look the same when users tend to upgrade, though now it has been supercharged with deep learning.

Apple says opening up iPhone NFC would ‘fundamentally diminish’ security as Australian banks resist Apple Pay

Banks Teaming to Get NFC for Digital Wallet Application

Apple has not taken well the way banks have been teaming up to get their own products on the iPhone which became clear when three Australian banks attempted to pressure the tech giant in giving it access to the iPhone’s near-field communication – NFC, chip for their own digital wallet application. NFC enables the user to tap your iPhone at the register in order to pay for the goods and services.

Apple Pay tends to permit iPhone and Apple Watch users in making contactless disbursements at merchandising outlets in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, France, Switzerland and Australia. Users need to just tap their devices on normal merchant contactless terminals for disbursement rather than utilising cash or debit/credit card.

Apple Pay will be coming to the web later in the year, supporting Apple Pay transaction on macOS also. Apple had made a formal complaint to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in reaction to conflict from Australian financial institutions in accepting Apple Pay. Apple has stated that the three largest banks of the country have formed an anticompetitive union and together have been dictating terms of new payment business models such as Apple Pay.

Enabling Banks – Weakens Security

Apple had responded to their request recently with strongly phrased letter which was revealed on Tuesday clarifying that enabling the banks in having their way would essentially weaken the high level of security which Apple has focused to have on the devices.

The NFC of the iPhone is said to be the critical piece of tech which tends to power Apple Pay and the company has kept it under lock and key which is utilised mainly for its own service. Apple Pay introduction had given rise to customer awareness in mobile expenses and hundreds of monetary institutions all over the world have partnered with Apple Pay to enable their customer to connect their bank accounts to their iPhone digital wallets. However, Australia tends to claim of only one participating bank, namely ANZ.

So far Apple has been unsuccessful in negotiating the terms with any of its competitors that seems to be jointly refusing the services.The National Australia Bank, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac Banking Corp are making efforts of challenging the digital wallet monopoly of Apple on the iPhone by appealing to the regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, of the country.

Regulator to Consider Arguments of Both Group

They desire approval to negotiate with Apple with the expectation of installing their own mobile payment scheme on the device. However, Apple is not having any of it and in its letter to the regulator has send a warning to the banks that it would not permit external parties to control its future hardware and software verdicts, particularly when they team up against the company.

It reads thus “allowing the banks to form a cartel to collectively dictate terms to new business models and services would set a troubling precedent and delay the introduction of new, potentially disruptive technologies”.

The complete letter also comprises of specific legal arguments by Apple on why the requests of the banks should not be taken ahead by the ACCC. After August, the regulator would begin to consider the arguments of the groups from both ends inclusive of Apple and the banks. No comments have been provided from the representative of the banks, to the requests for comment.