With Twitter accounts hacked, users urged through email to change passwords

This morning Twitter sent out a network-wide email to its users whose accounts were compromised, and urged them to change their passwords.

Users have been calling out Twitter for its vulnerable account authentication for some time now, but the social network still remains mum about the apparent holes in its security. Today Twitter was finally subject to its largest attack, which due to its scale, forced the company to send user-wide alerts via email notifying its users that their accounts have been compromised.

In an email sent this early this morning, Twitter had acknowledged that accounts had been compromised by a third-party site, and urged its users to change their passwords. We checked Twitter and noticed that many compromised accounts were used to tweet spam, but the original users have been able to regain access to them.

Here’s what Twitter said in the email:

“Twitter believes that your account may have been compromised by a website or service not associated with Twitter. We’ve reset your password to prevent others from accessing your account.

You’ll need to create a new password for your Twitter account. You can select a new password at this link: https://twitter.com/pw_rst/…

As always, you can also request a new password from our password-resend page: https://twitter.com/account/resend_password

Please don’t reuse your old password and be sure to choose a strong password (such as one with a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols).

In general, be sure to:

Always check that your browser’s address bar is on a https://twitter.com website before entering your password. Phishing sites often look just like Twitter, so check the URL before entering your login information!

Avoid using websites or services that promise to get you lots of followers. These sites have been known to send spam updates and damage user accounts.

Review your approved connections on your Applications page at https://twitter.com/settings/applications. If you see any applications that you don’t recognize, click the Revoke Access button.

For more information, visit our help page for hacked or compromised accounts.

-The Twitter Team”

Earlier last month, Dennis Jones and his Twitter handle @blanket was hacked, which lead him to discover a mature black market for hacked Twitter, Minecraft, and YouTube accounts. Each account can sell for as little as $60. Digging deeper, we discovered that hacking Twitter accounts as basically become child’s play. Many “hackers” are simply teenagers who browse forums like hackforums.net. These communities are full of tutorials that can guide anyone step-by-step through taking over coveted Twitter handles. These forums are also a proliferating marketplace for selling or trading programs used in malicious virtual attacks, including cracking passwords.

We reached out to Twitter and inquired about how many accounts have been compromised, and who was responsible for the attack. We’ll update you once a spokesperson gets back to us.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Apple Logs 3 Million iPads Sold in Three Days

                                                                                  (Image Credit: Joanna Stern/ABC News)

Take that, analysts! That’s what Apple is saying this morning after announcing that it has sold 3 million iPad Minis and fourth-generation iPads since going on sale Friday.

While Apple didn’t break down sales between the two, analysts at Piper Jaffray predicted Apple would only sell 1.5 million Minis in the first few days.

Apple sold 3 million of the new iPads in the first weekend of its launch in March. But with that version it had WiFi and 3G-4G units on shelves at launch. With the Mini, only the WiFi version launched this week; the 3G-4G versions will launch later this month.

In addition to the Mini, Apple also released a slightly updated version of its larger iPad. The fourth-generation iPad has a new processor and dock connector. With the sales of both products combined, Apple is calling this a launch weekend record for the iPad.

The iPad Mini joined a few other popular smaller tablets on the market, including the $199 Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD. Asus, the maker of the Nexus 7, has reported its sells close to 1 million units a month.

The new iPad, which starts at $329, has a smaller 7.9-inch screen than the regular 9.7-inch iPad. While the Mini has a lower-resolution screen, it still has all the same capabilities as the other iPad since it runs iOS 6, the latest version of Apple’s operating system for the iPhone and iPad.

Despite the recent superstorm, the Mini was sold out at various stores in New York City this weekend. Apple has begun to allow customers to reserve the tablet online and pick it up in-store the next day.

“We set a new launch weekend record and practically sold out of iPad minis,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. “We’re working hard to build more quickly to meet the incredible demand.”

As a result of last week’s executive shakeup at the company and predictions of lackluster iPad Mini sales, Apple’s stock dropped to less than $580. Apple was trading at $582.72 a share this morning.

Source : abcnews[dot]go[dot]com

iPhone 5 Hits 5M in Sales in Opening Weekend

                                                                 (Image Credit: Credit: Joanna Stern / ABC News)

It’s all about the fives. Apple announced this morning that 5 million of its iPhone 5s were sold in the first weekend, setting a record for opening-weekend iPhone sales. The phone, which has a larger 4-inch screen, faster processor and LTE data transmission, went on sale online Sept. 12 and in stores at 8 a.m. local time Friday. In the first 24 hours of pre-sale, 2 million phones were purchased online.

“While we have sold out of our initial supply, stores continue to receive iPhone 5 shipments regularly and customers can continue to order online and receive an estimated delivery date,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement this morning.

For now,  iPhones are slated to ship within three to four weeks through Apple.com.

Despite complaints about Apple’s new Maps app, which replaced Google Maps in the new iOS 6 operating system, 100 million iOS devices have been updated to the new software. Since launching, many people have complained about misplaced points of interest and important missing places. Still, iOS 6 has been the fastest iOS software download.

Some analysts predicted that Apple would sell as many as 10 million phones in the first weekend;  company stock was down 2.1 percent in pre-market trading.

Still, Apple seems on track to beat Samsung’s latest achievement. Samsung recently announced that it had sold more than 20 million Galaxy S 3s -  the iPhone 5′s closest rival – in 100 days. Samsung and Apple have been involved in ongoing intellectual property disputes in the United State  and around the world over smartphone technology.

Check out our full review of the iPhone 5 and our overview of iOS 6 here.

Source : abcnews[dot]go[dot]com

Hostage situation unfolds over Facebook, ends peacefully

Definitely a tense situation for several hours this morning, police were able to end a hostage situation safely with Facebook in the mix.

Covered in detail on the New York Times earlier today, a hostage standoff in Pittsburgh ended without harm today after police successfully convinced 22-year-old Klein Michael Thaxton to give up peacefully. However, it’s possible that a few Facebook comments also helped encourage the military veteran to release his 58-year-old hostage. Around 8 a.m. this morning, Thaxton entered a large office building and took the elevator to the 16th floor. Thaxton entered the offices of CW Breitsman Associates, a company that handles employee-benefits programs for outside businesses, and took CEO Charles Breitsman hostage. It’s unclear if there was a previous relationship between Thaxton and Breitsman prior to this incident.

While some reports from people previously inside the building indicated that Thaxton was carrying a rifle, Thaxton was armed with a kitchen knife and hammer when he took Breitsman hostage. Police also thought that Thaxton could have been carrying some sort of explosive in addition to the firearm. 

As Pittsburgh police gathered outside the building to begin negotiating, Thaxton started posting depressing status updates on his Facebook page. In one of the posts, Thaxton stated “‘this life im livin rite now i dnt want anymore. ive lost everything and I aint gettin it back.“

During the day, Thaxton attempted to reach out to family members as well. In one of the updates, Thaxton posted “welln pops youll never have to woryy about me again you’ll nevr need to by me anything no need to ever waste ur hard earned money on me. i’ll live n jail you dnt want me around anymore thats kool bye…i love u assata sis.” As the hostage situation become more public, more of Thaxton’s friends and family posted to the page in an attempt to encourage him to give up without harming himself or others. 

According to Boston.com, police wanted to keep the Facebook page open at first in order to keep Thaxton talking and hoped that he would release more specific details about the situation inside the office. Regarding the use of the Facebook page, Pittsburgh police chief Nate Harper stated “It helped because it let the suspect know people cared about him. It was helpful because he was focusing on Facebook rather than harming the victim.”

As the hostage situation continued, police noticed that some people were encouraging Thaxton to continue the standoff. At this point, police moved quickly to cut off his access to the page. According to Harper, the people that left those messages could be charged as accessories to the crime.

After the comments started becoming more distracting, Harper also told the local press “We would hope his friends would stop communications on Facebook, let our trained negotiators deal with this matter.”

Around 2 p.m., police negotiators and Thaxton’s mother convinced Thaxton to give up and end the public spectacle that he was watching on television within the offices of CW Breitsman Associates. Thaxton has been charged with aggravated assault, kidnapping and terroristic threats for his actions today. Breitsman was unharmed during the incident and was reunited with his family shortly after the hostage situation came to an end.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Walmart taking iPhone 5 pre-orders Friday morning, cheaper than competitors

Walmart will be taking pre-orders for the iPhone 5 at its US stores from Friday morning – for a price that undercuts its competitors.

Following the unveiling of the latest iPhone in San Francisco on Wednesday, it’s possible many owners of the 4S are already looking at their device like it belongs in a museum. It’s a safe bet many will be chomping at the bit to rid themselves of their ‘ancient’ handset in favor of the new one, with its bigger screen and faster processor.

If you happen to be one of these people, or if your current phone is on its last legs and the iPhone 5 seems like a fine replacement, you may be interested to know that Walmart will be taking pre-orders for the new handset at its US stores from Friday morning – for a price that undercuts its competitors.

The retail giant is offering the 16GB version of Apple’s new phone with a $189.97 price tag, as part of a two-year contract. Meanwhile, Apple, AT&T and Verizon will be selling the same phone for 10 bucks more – $199. Walmart’s prices for the 32GB and 64GB versions aren’t known.

Those choosing to buy the new handset from the store are asked to pre-order in person. In return for a $25 deposit, you’ll be given a reservation card, needed for when you collect the phone a week later.

Walmart is also slashing the price of the old iPhone 4S from $148 to $89.97, with a two-year contract. Even cheaper is the iPhone 4, going for just 97 cents with a two-year contract. That’s down from $48.88. If the iPhone 5 seems a little on the pricey side but you’d still like to bag yourself an iPhone, you have choices.

Many analysts believe sales of the Cupertino company’s new smartphone will break all records, selling 10 million units even before the end of the month. The iPhone revolutionzed the handset market when it burst onto the scene in 2007, and in the intervening years has sold a staggering 244 million units.

Users upgrading from an earlier iteration to the new model will gain a lighter, slimmer device with a larger screen, a faster processor, 4G LTE compatibility, and a better camera.

It’ll be available for pick-up on September 21.

[Source: Bloomberg, LA Times]

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Explosion Spotted on Jupiter: A Comet or Asteroid?

A bright flash was spotted on Jupiter early Monday morning, and astronomers are trying to figure out exactly what hit it.

The flash was first spotted by Dan Peterson, an amateur astronomer from Racine, Wisc., who saw the flash through a telescope. He posted about his sighting on the Association of Lunar & Planetary Observers message board with the subject line, “I observed an explosion on Jupiter this morning!”  He reported that the explosion occurred inside the southern edge of Jupiter’s northern equatorial belt of clouds.

“My best guess is that it was a small undetected comet that is now history, hopefully it will sign its name on Jupiter’s cloud tops,” he wrote.

Astrophotographer George Hall of Dallas was shooting video of Jupiter at the time and caught the flash on camera at 6:35 a.m. Monday.

Glenn Orton, a senior research scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said he believes a frozen comet may be the culprit.

“Most things in that part of the solar system are called Jupiter-family comets,” Orton said. “They’re ice balls that move in and have started co-orbiting around Jupiter. ”

The explosion doesn’t appear to have left any trace, Orton said. It was quickly swallowed up by Jupiter’s thick atmosphere.  Orton said he and other researchers will publish a paper about their observations in the next few months.

In August 2009, a space rock hit the planet leaving a giant black mark and sending debris into Jupiter’s clouds. In June 2010, another explosion caused an Earth-sized fireball to emerge from Jupiter, much like Monday’s sighting. Orton believes Monday’s impact was about the same size as that in 2010.

“It’s the big gravitational vacuum cleaner of the solar system,” Orton said.

Source : abcnews[dot]go[dot]com

Amazon’s New Kindle Fire and Kindle Paperwhite Shown in Ads Before Launch

Amazon is scheduled to hold a press conference Thursday morning in Santa Monica, Calif., where it is expected to release its new Kindles. But it looks like the company let the cat out of the bag early this evening with some TV ads showing the new products.

Airing during the NFL Kickoff, the ad showed two devices that appear to be the new Kindle Fire, Amazon’s 7-inch tablet, and a new Kindle e-reader. The new Fire appeared to have a larger bezel, or frame, around the screen, as well as a webcam. The previous version of the Fire, which Amazon said it sold out of last week, lacked a camera.

The new Kindle e-reader appeared to be thinner and have a whiter display. According to The Verge, the new Kindle will have a Paperwhite display, which may be a lot like Barnes & Noble’s Nook with Glowlight.

There are some images of the devices in the ads on Twitter.

“New #Amazon Kindle Touch on NFL broadcast?” @dmresearch tweeted with this photo.

“New  # Amazon Kindle Fire on NFL broadcast? http://pic.twitter.com/oBj53fv7,” @dmresearch tweeted.

Amazon likely scheduled the ads by mistake but, either way, it’s a good teaser of what’s to come Thursday.

ABC News will be at the event Thursday morning. Stay tuned for live coverage starting at 10:30 a.m. PT / 1:30 p.m. ET.

Source : abcnews[dot]go[dot]com

Nokia CEO Hints at Windows 8 Tablet

Image credit: Microsoft

Nokia announced this morning not one but two Windows Phones, the Lumia 820 and the Lumia 920. Both phones will run the forthcoming version of Windows Phone 8, Microsoft’s operating system for phones.

But it looks like Nokia will soon turn to releasing a device running Windows 8, Microsoft’s operating system for tablets and laptops.

“We have not announced any tablets, but I think the opportunity is very clear,” Nokia CEO Stephen Elop told ABC News. “People today increasingly are looking for a common digital experience between their smartphone and tablet, with a PC, and with their gaming platform, and so there’s clearly an opportunity across there. This is something that we’re looking at very closely.”

Making a computer wouldn’t be something entirely new for Nokia. It released a netbook in 2009 called the Booklet 3G. But Elop stressed that the company’s partnership with Microsoft and its commitment to making Windows phones could make this an even better time to get into the computing game for the phone maker.

“Microsoft is introducing Windows 8 as well for PCs and tablets in the months ahead; same user experience, except taken to a larger screen size, one big family, and therefore many people around the world will gain experience with what we’re doing,” he said. “So, it’s a very, very exciting time for us.”

Additionally, because Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 are built on the same software, it will encourage developers to write apps for both platforms, Elop said.

Nokia has previously been rumored to release a Windows 8 tablet. The rumors pointed to its having a 10-inch screen and a dual-core processor. A number of company’s last week  announced their Windows 8 computers, including HP, Samsung, and Toshiba.

Microsoft will release its own Windows 8 tablet called Surface when the software is available for release Oct. 26.

Source : abcnews[dot]go[dot]com

Samsung discovers a screen size it hasn’t used yet, quickly launches the Galaxy Player 5.8 to compensate

Samsung has announced the Galaxy Player 5.8, a new media player based on its Galaxy S3 smartphone, but with an even larger screen.

The morning Samsung realized there was a screen size it hadn’t already used on a Galaxy product must have been a stressful one, but not to worry, as the new Galaxy Player 5.8 is here to ensure that glaring oversight has been rectified.

Announced by way of a press release on its Korean-language Samsung Tomorrow blog, here we have the Galaxy Player 5.8, the company’s latest Android-based, touchscreen music player.

As you’ve probably guessed, it has a massive 5.8-inch screen, boasting a 960 x 540 pixel resolution and a 16:9 aspect ratio. The design of the Galaxy Player 5.8 is highly reminiscent of the Galaxy S3, but the keen-eyed will spot the addition of stereo speakers at the top and bottom of the front panel.

Increasing the screen size by an inch over the Galaxy S3 means the overall size of the device has increased too. The Player 5.8 measures 165 x 85 x 10.8mm, making it considerably larger than the S3, at 136 x 70 x 8.6mm.

Like the S3, the Galaxy Player 5.8 uses Google Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich as its operating system, which has been covered by Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface; plus it’s available with either 16GB or 32GB of internal memory. A microSD card slot is on hand to boost this by another 32GB too.

Other features include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, a 2500mAh battery — slightly larger than the S3’s 2100mAh cell — and a forward facing camera for video calls. Samsung hasn’t provided any details on the inner-workings of the Galaxy Player 5.8, so we can’t confirm the presence of the Exynos 4 Quad processor or the exact amount of RAM.

The price and the device’s release date are similarly unknown, but it’s possible the Galaxy Player 5.8 will make an appearance at one of Samsung’s two IFA 2012 press conferences at the end of this week.

For those keeping count, the Galaxy Player 5.8 joins, in descending order, the Galaxy Player 5.0, the Galaxy Player 4.2, the Galaxy Player 4.0 and the Galaxy Player 3.6 in Samsung’s ever-expanding media player range.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

PopCap announces upcoming Plants Vs Zombies sequel

After the success of Plants Vs Zombies, a sequel seemed inevitable. PopCap's announcement of said sequel this morning proves as much.

The zombies are coming … again.

This morning, PopCap Games announced that it has begun work on a sequel to its critically beloved blockbuster casual strategy game Plants Vs Zombies. Courtesy the official press release:

The sequel to Plants vs. Zombies is expected to launch by late spring 2013, and will include a bevy of new features, settings, and situations, designed to delight the franchise’s tens of millions of fans around the world. No other details of the highly anticipated new installment in the franchise are available at this time, beyond the following comments from some of the game’s denizens.

So, we’ve got a vague “spring 2013″ release date, promises that the Plants Vs Zombies sequel will expand on its predecessor and not much else. With many developers we’d be concerned that this lack of concrete details indicates delays in the game’s production process, but the firm still has at least half a year to put this thing together, and let’s be honest, when it comes to the company responsible for Peggle, Bejeweled and a number of other games our mothers are unable to delete from their iPhones, we’re willing to extend the benefit of the doubt.

Perhaps realizing that the official announcement was a bit light on useful information, the PopCap PR team opted to fill its remaining space with entertaining, subject-appropriate quotes from some of the biggest stars to emerge from the Plants Vs Zombies franchise. To wit:

“Spring is crullest curlie ungood time, and plantz grow dull roots,” noted an unidentified spokesperson. “So, we are meating you for brainz at yore house. No worry to skedule schedlue plan… we’re freee anytime. We’ll find you.” 

“There was a time we relished a bracing, hearty blend of zombies, in the morning,” said Sonny F. Lower, a representative of the Flora Forever Foundation. “But first, a brisk shower and some strategic pruning are required. Tomorrow is near!”

Now, granted, taken by itself the above chunk of text is baffling gibberish, but it should serve to reassure fans that Plants Vs Zombies 2 — or whatever PopCap eventually ends up titling this thing — will exhibit the same wacky sense of humor as its predecessor. Yes, the tight, well-balanced strategy gameplay of Plants Vs Zombies and its surprisingly large offering of playable content have always been the key selling points for the game, but it wouldn’t really be a Plants Vs Zombies title without the undead scrawling borderline-legible notes to players in an effort to get just a bit closer to their delicious brains, now would it?

Oh, and while we’re on the topic, expect to see Plants Vs Zombies 2 on basically every gaming platform in existence. We have no official word on what platforms PopCap hopes to support, but since it’s nearly impossible to find a modern computing device of any kind that doesn’t offer a Plants Vs Zombies port, we’d be stunned if the company didn’t also attempt to maximize the potential exposure of its new Plants Vs Zombies sequel.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

Google axes 4,000 Motorola jobs, closes a third of offices

Google announced on Sunday that it will cut 20 percent of Motorola employees in addition to closing 33 percent of offices worldwide.

Monday morning did not arrive with pleasant news for the Motorola Mobility work force. Google, which bought Motorola in May, told staff Sunday that it will begin cutting 20 percent of its employees and closing 33 percent of its offices worldwide.

The move is inevitable, seeing as how Motorola has been struggling to be profitable, losing money in fourteen of the last sixteen quarters, reports The Wall Street Journal. This 20 percent cut will account for approximately 4,000 jobs from its 20,000 employees along with 30 out of its 90 offices slated for closure. A third of the layoffs will come after United States-based employees though it has not been specified which facilities will be affected.

In reducing its work force, Google said in its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that this change will “shift its emphasis from feature phones to more innovative and profitable devices.” Which makes sense, since Motorola will have a long way to catch up with Android giants Samsung and HTC.

According to The New York Times, Motorola aims to “stop making low-end devices and focus on a few cellphones instead of dozens.” This means a cut of 27 phone models to select, higher end editions — ones that are packed with unique features no other phones have such as the ability to recognize who is in the room based on voice or batteries that can last for days. Still, an analyst even described Motorola as being “left in the dust by the competition and kind of missed the smartphone transition,” so these ambitions are purely hopeful, to say the least.

The cuts are slated to cost Google no more than $275 million which will be recognized in the third quarter, with continuing charges to incur within the next few quarters. Google told investors that they should anticipate “significant revenue variability” as part of an overall restructuring to make Motorola a viable company again.

“While lower expenses are likely to lag the immediate negative impact to revenue, Google sees these actions as a key step for Motorola to achieve sustainable profitability,” Google stated in the SEC filing.

With Motorola in the hands of the search engine giant, do you think it has a chance to coming back with innovative mobile devices? Or is it true that it has truly been left behind by the likes of Samsung and Apple?

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com