Nokia Just Launched Its Own Voice Assistant “MIKA” For Some Special Purpose

At this year’s Mobile World Congress, Nokia will demonstrate their new digital assistant called MIKA or Multi-purpose Intuitive Knowledge Assistant. Not a regular voice assistant like Siri, Cortana, and Alexa, MIKA is specially crafted for the telecommunication sector where it will be able to help the engineers with voice-activated access to information and save their time.

We recently heard about Nokia with the launch of the Nokia 6 smartphone, but it is a work of HMD Global carrying the Nokia brand name. The original Nokia has been living a low profile since it sold its smartphone business to Microsoft. However, last year, the company made news with some internet speed records and lawsuits against Apple. 

In 2017, Nokia has arrived with something new, a voice-activated digital assistant. Although, it is not something we haven’t seen in the past. The digital assistant, known as MIKA (Multi-Purpose Intuitive Knowledge Assistant), is designed with a different utility in mind.

Instead of being a commercial voice assistant for everyday users to make online bookings and play music, MIKA will be used by engineers and operators in the telecom sector. It will help them access information using voice commands reducing their focus on less important things.

Nokia AVA, a cognitive service platform, is the driving force behind MIKA. The digital assistant leverages augmented intelligence and automated learning. It facilitates a plethora of tools, documents, and data sources. MIKA – accessible on web and mobile – can suggest network problem solutions based on what it has observed on other networks.

Nokia notes that their digital assistant can save around an hour of productive time in a day. The company is prepared to demonstrate their ambitious digital assistant tech at the Mobile World Congress 2017.

What do you think about MIKA digital assistant? Drop your thoughts in the comments.

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How Your Android’s Pattern Lock Can Be Cracked In Just 5 Attempts

Pattern lock on Android smartphones is probably the quickest and easiest way to gain access to the device. A group of researchers has a created a computer vision algorithm which is capable of cracking complex pattern locks with an accuracy of 87.5% after analyzing a video recording. As a protective measure, you can use fingerprint input method on your smartphone.

Afew days ago, Fossbytes wrote about the list of the most popular (dumbest) passwords of 2016. You might be wise enough to consider a tough password for your devices and online accounts. But if you think that pattern lock is more secure than common passwords, your thinking will change after reading this story. 

According to a new research published on Phys.org, it possible to crack a smartphone’s pattern lock in around five attempts, after which the device gets locked. It is possible by recording a video of people entering pattern lock on their phone.

The story isn’t as childish as it sounds. You’re not supposed to decipher the pattern from the video afterward. But a computer vision algorithm developed by the researchers – from Lancaster University, Northwest University of China, and the University of Bath – is assigned to do this task.

The algorithm can work with an accuracy of more than 80 percent for complex patterns and crack them in 5 attempts. In fact, they were able to crack simple pattern in the first attempt with 60 percent accuracy.

The software doesn’t even need to look at the screen to crack the pattern lock. It understands the movements of user’s fingers relative the smartphone from the video. After analyzing a video, the algorithm suggests a bunch of possible patterns.

Overall, a total of 120 unique patterns were checked. The researchers note that patterns involving more lines and complex shapes are easier for the algorithm to crack.

The attack can be done on any smartphone. Pattern locks are primarily used on the smartphones running the Android operating system. In the case of iOS devices, Pin lock is mostly used.

How to protect yourself?

It would be hard to protect your Android or any other smartphone from the digital eyes out there in the wild. Recording a video of you entering your pattern lock on your Android smartphone is an easy task for any shoulder surfer in subways.

If we consider a practical scenario, even if a person records a video, it would be hard to gain physical access to your smartphone.

If your Android smartphone has a fingerprint sensor, you can prefer it over the pattern lock. Alternatively, you can cover your fingers while entering the pattern lock. Moreover, keeping a simple pattern lock help as the algorithm finds it difficult to crack.

Did you find this helpful? Drop your thoughts in the comments.

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Google Claims That Chrome Browser Now Reloads Web Pages 28% Faster

Short Bytes: When a web browser reloads a web page, around hundreds of network requests are sent to various domains to validate the content of the web page. Google has updated Chrome browser to validate only the main resource while reloading. It will make the page reload process around 28% faster.

Anew update to Google Chrome web browser will make web pages reload 28% faster from now. They have made small changes to the reload feature which has so far remained unchanged since years.

When you click the reload button, the web browser validates all the links and content present on the web page to see if they’re fresh or not. Thus, it has to initiate numerous requests for a single web page.

In earlier times, web page had a tendency to break more often. The reload acted as saviors in such cases. With time, websites on the internet have become more stable, and the use of the reload button is now confined to update stale content on the web page.

An update made to Google Chrome commands it to update the main resource only while reloading a web page and rely more the cached data stored on the users’ computer. Chrome will be able to reload web pages around 28% faster and reduce data usage, power consumption, and latency.

What is your experience with Google Chrome? Drop your thoughts in the comments.

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Breaking News:- Facebook Shareholders Want To Remove Mark Zuckerberg As Board Chairman

Facebook’s co-founder is currently the CEO and the board chairman. A proposal filed by shareholders, who also belong to the group SumOfUS, puts emphasis on the appointment of a new ‘independent’ chairman for the Facebook’s board of directors. This is to suit the best interests of the shareholders in the long run.

Facebook might be reaching the paradigms of success, but the company’s shareholders aren’t very much comfortable with all the powers Mark Zuckerberg has. Since 2012, Zuckerberg has been acting as both the CEO and the board chairman at Facebook. 

According to a proposal submitted by the shareholders – who are a part of the corporate power damper group SumOfUS – that there is a need for independent Chairman of Facebook’s board. “In our view, shareholder value is enhanced by an independent board chair who can provide a balance of power between the CEO and the board and support strong board leadership.” – reads the proposal.

Another thing that escalates the shareholders’ eagerness for an independent chair is the new capital structure approved by Facebook last year. It introduced new non-voting Class C stocks and aimed at fuelling Zuckerberg’s philanthropy projects for which he would be selling 99% of his shares. However, the new structure compelled a shareholder to file a lawsuit as it increases Zuckerberg’s control over the company.

Shareholders further say that the new independent chairman’s appointment would be “particularly constructive” in the times when Facebook is being accused of behaving as a promotional platform for fake news, hate speech, and other scenarios. Ultimately, it’s the Zuckerberg-led Facebook board to make a decision on this proposal.

If you have something to add, drop your thoughts and feedback.

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Gtbank Add more security to 737 Shortcode Service

If you are a client of Guaranty Trust Bank, the code * 737 # will not be new to you. We all know how easy it is to operate the GTBank 737 shortcode service. You can buy Airtime, check your balance, make a transfer etc using this short code of service. Only required for the last 4 digits of your ATM card before processing any transaction. 4-digit PIN is only for processing your transactions.

But now, GTBank has made the service even more secured. Using just the last 4 digits on your ATM card isn't secured at all; because anyone who steals your phone and wallet (where your bank card is likely to be) can use the service

Well, GTBank has looked into this and now made it more secured. The service now requires a 4-digit PIN to be able to complete transactions on the service. That is certainly a more secure approach to the service than the previous use of your card’s last 4 digits. It is a surprise that it took 11 months, but better late than never.

HOW TO CREATE A PIN ON GTBANK'S 737 SERVICE

According to the instructions on GTBank’s website, here is how to create a PIN for use on the 737 platform:

1. Dial *737*5# on the phone number that is linked to your account.

2. Input the last 6 digits of your ATM debit card

3. Create your 4-digit PIN

4. You will be asked for your 4-digit PIN to complete any transactions on the service, so do not forget it.

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WhatsApp Brought in New 'Status' Related to Snapchat Feature

Whatsapp is clearly dominating global instant messenger market at present. It has been pushing in some seriously interesting updates from the past few months, turning it for the first time into a platform for passively consuming content, similar to the way people scroll through their Facebook or Instagram newsfeeds.

According to a blog post, Jan Koum, co founder of WhatsApp made the announcement:

   We are excited to announce that, coinciding with WhatsApp’s 8th birthday on February 24, we are reinventing the status feature. Starting today, we are rolling out an update to status, which allows you to share photos and videos with your friends and contacts on WhatsApp in an easy and secure way. Yes, even your status updates are end-to-end encrypted.

This update will expire after 24 hours, and is also said to be encrypted end-t0-end. Meanwhile, you can sense that new status feature is much similar to the famous “Stories” by  Snapchat. Facebook has also started testings, a “Stories”section of their mobile app.

How to Use New WhatsApp Status Features

As you would expect, Status gets a tab of its own, in between Chats and Calls. It's easy to create Status messages, especially if you've used the aforementioned Stories feature in either Snapchat or Instagram. WhatsApp Status updates you create are visible to your contacts by default, though you can change them to My contacts except... or Only share with... as well.

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