Apple Watch eyed by 1 in 4 people, says survey

The Apple Watch is of interest to a quarter of people polled in a recent survey. Apple

Wearable devices remain a niche product, with only 1 in 10 people polled in a recent survey saying they own a smartwatch. But the Apple Watch may prove to be a game changer, if that same survey is any indication.

Of the more than 15,900 adults polled in the US and UK by GlobalWebIndex, 1 in 4 said they're interested in Apple's new wearable, which went on sale last Friday. GWI's online survey, conducted in March and early April, elicited responses from 8,010 Internet users in the UK and 7,890 users in the US aged 16-64.

Apple has entered a brand-new market for itself with its smartwatch. The company hadn't created a new device since it launched the iPad in early 2010, and it needed to try to prove it could still innovate. Competing with a slew of rival devices from Samsung, LG, Sony, Motorola and others, the Apple Watch is designed as a smartwatch, health and fitness tracker and luxury item in an attempt to appeal to a wide audience.

The watch seems to be off to a good start, based on estimates of preorders. On April 13, financial services firm Cowen and Co. estimated that total Apple Watch preorders around the world hit about 1 million units during the first weekend of availability. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster also projected the same number for the opening weekend. On April 27, research firm Slice Intelligence said about 1.7 million watches had been preordered since April 10.

But the Apple Watch is facing the supply and demand issues that typically plague new Apple products. Of the 1.7 million preorders estimated by Slice, only 376,000 units, or 22 percent, had so far been delivered as of Monday, according to the research firm.

During Apple's second-quarter earnings conference on Monday, CEO Tim Cookrefused to reveal any hard sales numbersfor the watch, saying only that customer response has been "overwhelmingly positive." Cook acknowledged that demand for the watch is greater than supply and said Apple is "working hard to remedy that," but he added that he was "generally happy how we're moving on with the ramp."

Based on GlobalWebIndex's first-quarter "GWI Device Summary" report, released Wednesday, demand for (or at least interest in) the watch is healthy among a variety of buyers. Of current smartwatch owners, as many as 70 percent said they're interested in the Apple Watch. The gadget is also an item of interest to 44 percent of iPad owners and 40 percent of iPhone owners.

Among other types of buyers, 44 percent of "early tech adopters" -- people who say that having the latest tech products is very important to them -- are interested in the Apple Watch. The watch has caught the attention of 39 percent of "premium purchasers" -- those who tend to buy the premium version of a product. But even among those considered "price conscious" -- people who say price is more important than the brand name -- 26 percent said they're interested in the Apple Watch.

The Apple Watch is available in three different flavors -- the entry-level Sport version, the midlevel Apple Watch and the luxury Apple Watch Edition. The Sport version starts at $349, the Apple Watch at $549 and the Apple Watch Edition at $10,000.

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Still no word on when Windows 10 becomes available

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at the Build conference Wednesday. CNET

Microsoft spent much of a three-hour-long keynote address at its Build developer conference Wednesday talking up Windows 10.

But it held off answering one key question: when will the new version of its widely used operating system arrive?

Microsoft said in March that Windows 10 would launch this summer in 190 countries and 111 languages. However, chipmaker AMD, a longtime Microsoft partner, may have spilled the details earlier this month when its chief executive, Lisa Su, said in a call with investors that the release date was pegged for late July.

Many anticipated some clarification on the release date during Wednesday morning's presentation. But the company remained mum.

Windows 10 is touted as a simpler, more modern OS that seamlessly ties together desktops, laptops and smartphones. CEO Satya Nadella called it not just another release of Windows "but a new generation of Windows."

"Windows 10 represents a new generation of Windows built for an era for more personal computing, from Raspberry Pi to the holographic computer," Nadella said. "Where the mobility of the experience is what matters, not the mobility of the device."

Convincing the world that Windows 10 adds enough new features and technology to push the software forward and gain mainstream acceptance is themain goals of Microsoft's developers conference. But more broadly speaking, it's a test of whether the longtime technology titan can regain its swagger.

Microsoft  not only turned off consumers with Windows 8, but it also drove them away. The 2-year-old software powers less than 15 percent of all computers in the world, according to NetMarketshare. That's well below its 6-year-old predecessor Windows 7, which powers more than half the desktop market, and it's even below Windows XP, now 14 years old, which commands nearly 20 percent on desktops.

With Windows 10, the company has gone back to basics, marrying the look and feel of Windows 7 with more modern design touches. The Start Menu is front and center again, and Microsoft is hoping to appease power users and those that depend on Windows in the workplace after Windows 8 was soundly rejected worldwide.

Gone is the tiled interface, once called Metro, that became the splashy and controversial face of Windows 8. But we can expect live tiles -- those interactive squares central to that design -- to live on. In an early look at the Start Menu during the Windows 10 unveiling in September, live tiles for social media accounts like Facebook and Twitter were present alongside squares for email and Skype.

Hey, Cortana. Welcome to the Windows 10 PC... See full gallery

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Samsung S5 fingerprint flaw exposed

Many smartphones can now be unlocked with fingerprints

Hackers can take copies of fingerprints used to unlock the Samsung Galaxy S5 phone, claim security researchers.

A flaw in Android makes it possible to steal the personal information so it can be used elsewhere, said the experts from security firm FireEye.

Other Android-based phones that also use fingerprint ID systems could also be vulnerable, they said.

Samsung said it took security "very seriously" and was investigating the researchers' findings.

Stolen prints

Fingerprint ID systems are being used more and more in smartphones to unlock the devices or as a way to check who is authorising a transaction. Paypal and Apple already accept fingerprints as an ID check and a growing roster of firms that are members of the Fido Alliance are keen to use them in the same way to remove the need for passwords.

Android phones typically store sensitive data such as fingerprint information in a walled-off area of memory known as the Trusted Zone.

However, Yulong Zhang and Tao Wei found it was possible to grab identification data before it is locked away in the secure area. This method of stealing data was available on all phones running version 5.0 or older versions of Android provided the attacker got high level access to a phone.

They also found that on Samsung Galaxy S5 phones, attackers did not need this deep access to a phone. Instead, they said, just getting access to the gadget's memory could reveal finger scan data.

Using this information an attacker could make a fake lock screen that makes victims believe they are swiping to unlock a phone when they are actually authorising a payment.

In addition, they found, it was possible for attackers to upload their own fingerprints as devices did not keep good records of how many prints were being used on each device.

Mr Zhang and Mr Wei are due to present their findings at the RSA security conference in San Francisco on 24 April.

In an interview with Forbes magazine, Mr Zhang said the flaws they uncovered were likely to be widespread throughout handsets running Android 5.0 and below. Updating to the latest version of Android, version 5.1.1, should remove the vulnerabilities, he said.

The flaw is the latest in a series of problems uncovered with fingerprint ID systems on phones.

In April last year, hackers discovered a way to fool the print sensor on the S5 by taking a photograph of a print left on a smartphone screen, making a mould from the image and using that to make a replica fake finger.

In 2013, a German hacker group used a similar method to bypass the fingerprint reader on Apple's iPhone 5. Hackers from the Chaos Computer Club used a picture of a person's fingerprint left on a glass surface to make a fake finger that unlocked the phone.

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Apple Failed to Patch Rootpipe Mac OS X Yosemite Vulnerability

Sad but True! Your Apple’s Mac computer is vulnerable to a serious privilege escalation flaw, dubbed "RootPipe," even if you are running the latest version of Mac OS X.

What’s RootPipe?

Back in October 2014, a Swedish White Hat hacker Emil Kvarnhammar claimed to have discovered a critical privilege escalation vulnerability, he dubbed the backdoor as " RootPipe," in some versions of Mac OS X including the then newest version 10.10 Yosemite.

The vulnerability ( CVE-2015-1130) could allow an attacker to take full control of your desktop Mac computer or MacBook laptop, even without any authentication.

Keeping in mind the devastating effect of the RootPipe vulnerability, the researcher privately reported the flaw to Apple and did not disclose the details of the flaw publicly until the company released a patch to fix it.

Apple did release an update but failed to patch RootPipe:

Earlier this month, Apple released the latest version of Mac OS X Yosemite, i.e. OS X Yosemite 10.10.3, and claimed to have fixed the so-called Rootpipe backdoor, which had been residing on Mac computers since 2011.

However, the company did not fix the flaw in the older versions (below 10.10) of the operating system due to uncodified Apple policy on patching, leaving tens of millions of Mac users at risk.

" Apple indicated that this issue required a substantial amount of changes on their side and that they would not backport the fix to 10.9.x and older," Kvarnhammar said in a blog post on the TrueSec website.

But here’s the worse part:

Apple’s RootPipe vulnerability patch for Mac OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 is claimed to be itself vulnerable, which again left all the Mac machines vulnerable to the RootPipe attacks.

Holy Crap!

Patrick Wardle, an ex-NSA staffer and current director of R&D at Synack, claimed to have discovered…

...a new way around Apple's security fix to reabuse the Rootpipe vulnerability, again opening path to the highest privilege level – root access.

Though this time, the attack requires a hacker to have gained local privileges, which could most likely be obtained via a working exploit of other software sitting on Mac machines.

Here’s the Video Demonstration:

Wardle has demonstrated his hack attack in action in a video proof-of-concept (POC), which you can watch below:

Wardle has already reported his findings to the Apple’s security team and wouldnot disclose the details of his attack code public before the company will not issue a complete and unbreakable fix.

Now, let's just hope to get a tough fix for Rootpipe backdoor this time from Apple. Last time the company took nearly six months to release a patch that was fooled by Wardle sitting on a flight.

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Nokia's next act: A return to smartphones, report says

The Nokia N1 tablet might have a smartphone complement in 2016. Nokia

A remnant of onetime phone giant Nokia could be planning to come back to a business the Finland-based company famously abandoned not so long ago: smartphones.

Nokia Technologies is working on a secret project that will result in the company announcing a new smartphone as early as 2016, Recode is reporting, citing people who claim to have knowledge of its plans. According to the report, Nokia would unveil the device and then license its design and name to another company that would handle production and sales.

Almost exactly a year ago, Microsoft formally acquired Nokia's phone business for $7.2 billion. The deal called for Microsoft to have the rights to use the Nokia name for a period of time and to continue producing Nokia smartphones through 2015. Nokia Technologies is one of three divisions that was not included in the sale.

Microsoft announced in late 2014 that it was abandoning the "Nokia" branding in smartphones in favor of Microsoft Lumia products. (The Lumia name had come over from Nokia.) At about the same time, Nokia announced a tablet, called the N1, that carried its own branding.

With the ban on releasing a Nokia smartphone up at the end of this year, the Finland-based company now has ample time to work on a new handset that it could announce as early as 2016.

Getting back into the smartphone business will be an important, but potentially difficult, reboot for Nokia. The company was once the dominant handset maker in the world, but failed to adapt swiftly to the touchscreen smartphone craze and soon found itself well behind Samsung and Apple. As Nokia tried to rebuild its business, customers increasingly turned elsewhere.

Since the sale to Microsoft, Nokia has been focused on build out its mapping and network equipment businesses. Nokia Technologies, which is reportedly taking on the smartphone development, licenses the company's patents to other firms. It's also charged with new product development.

According to Recode's sources, Nokia Technologies is also working on other types of products, including devices designed for virtual-reality uses.

For now, though, the focus is on the possibility of Nokia rejoining the smartphone market. It's currently unknown what the device would look like or what features it would offer. Since Nokia's N1 tablet is running Android, it's possible that the smartphone would also be an Android-based device. Launch details, including timing and availability, were also unknown.

Nokia declined to comment on the Recode report.

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The shoe that grows with a child

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.

A simple idea. Shoes that are adjustable as the foot grows. Because International/Vimeo screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

We buy, we wear, we discard, we buy again.

This is the simple cycle of the privileged West.

Not everyone has that luxury. Not everyone has the money to buy clothing for every stage of their growth (mental or physical).

Because International is a nonprofit that works with the poorest people in countries all around the world. It saw a simple problem. Children grow. Their feet grow. But how can anyone afford to give them shoes, when it seems like they need a new pair every year?

Because International - The Shoe That Grows in Action from Tobin Rogers onVimeo.

So the company's executive director, Kenton Lee came up with an idea: a shoe that can be adjusted to grow as a child does.

All it takes it some snaps, some buckles and a few buttons that hold it all together. Lee told BuzzFeed that these shoes can grow five sizes and can last up to five years.

It grows in three parts of the shoe. The front is adjustable. The sides have snaps that allow for additional width. The back has a strap, which also allows for greater width over time.

Because International works in countries such as Ghana, Haiti, Kenya and Ecuador.It relies on donations in order to distribute the shoes in bulk.

If poor kids have shoes at all and those shoes become too small, they either carry on wearing the shoes in discomfort, or just go barefoot. The latter option leaves them open to the risk inherent in, for example, contaminated soils.

It seems such a simple idea that one wonders why no one seems to have thought of it before. Of course, it's also an idea that might have its uses in the wealthy world, as well as in impoverished places.

There again, how could we possibly live without constant shopping?

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OMG! Oh My Gold! Beyonce has a special gold Apple Watch

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.

Beyonce sports an Apple Watch. And it isn't the Sport version. Beyonce.com screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

I am currently holding my breath. I fear, though, that my breath is holding me.

For I have just seen the light. Yes, the light that twinkles from Beyonce's wrist and says: "Bow down, as I display my new wares before your person."

Her new wares were worn in a scintillating photo on her own personal island of the Web. Her new wares are a gold Apple Watch, complete with a strap made of pink plastic.

I jest from my breathless, prone position, of course. The strap is golden. The links are golden. The effect is as if there is an attitude and an altitude that you will never reach.

But, wait. You'll be wondering only one thing: "Where can I get one of those gold straps, so daintily wrapped around Apple's new time(less)piece?"

It's not merely that the gold Apple Watch Edition isn't for your average citizen. It's that even those who spend the $10,000-$17,000 on one of these things won't necessarily be able to have one of the goldy-locked straps.

This is reserved for the people who are so in that all they see is their inner in-ness.

I feel sure you realize that this is how fashion marketing goes. It's all about the tears and the tiers.

First there's scarcity, then exclusivity and then the supreme exclusivity afforded to those who can afford anything but can only be bothered to be seen with something no else has. Well, no one but Karl.

I have contacted Apple to ask just how, where, when and for how much you, dear reader, will be able to purloin Beyonce's bracelet. I will update, should the secret be spilled.

Meanwhile, I suggest you pop up to your attic and see if your dad has saved his old watches in a shoebox. You might find a gold strap that will fit perfectly.

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