CES 2014 to feature an iBeacon-driven scavenger hunt

Though Apple won’t be at CES next week, the company will still have an impressive presence there. According to a press release from CES, the Cupertino company’s iBeacon technology will be used for a scavenger hunt during the show.The iBeacons will interact with the CES mobile app for Android and iOS. As attendees walk through the venue, they will collect badges for each iBeacon they encounter. The first three people who collect all the available badges will receive a special price from CES. Smaller prizes will be awarded to attendees who complete the hunt during the week. “This promotion is a fun and novel way to introduce attendees to iBeacon technology and encourage participants to visit important exhibits across the show floor,” said Jeff Joseph, senior vice president of communications and strategic relationships at CEA. The iBeacons use a short-range, low-power bluetooth connection to communicate with a mobile phone for precise indoor navigation. Once a phone moves within 100 feet of the beacon, the phone will receive an alert and an app can respond to this notification. For example, iBeacon technology can be used to pinpoint a person’s location within a store and offer them coupons for the products in their aisle. The iBeacons at CES are being supplied by Radius Networks, which has created a virtual iBeacon for the Mac and one for the Raspberry Pi. Continue reading →

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Having problems jailbreaking your Cellular Retina iPad mini with evasi0n7? Try this workaround

If you’ve a cellular Retina iPad mini, and having trouble jailbreak it with evasi0n7, then you’re not alone. A number of users are reporting that they’re getting stuck at Apple logo during the jailbreak process. pod2g of evad3rs team has acknowledged the issue, and has provided the following workaround until they figure out a permanent fix: Anyone with an iPad Mini Retina Cellular that can't be jb, try: 1. restore and set a passcode. 2. when evasi0n7 asks to unlock, wait… — pod2g (@pod2g) January 2, 2014 …30 seconds, then unlock (last step). Also, try that without a SIM, and please report if you had success. Thanks. — pod2g (@pod2g) January 2, 2014 So here are the steps: 1. Restore your Retina iPad mini and set a passcode 2. When you get the option to unlock your device and open the evasi0n7, wait for 30 seconds before unlocking your device. If this doesn’t help try the process without a SIM. evad3rs had released evasi0n7 1.0.2 to fix the boot loop issues with iPad 2 Wi-Fi, but Retina iPad mini users still seem to be facing issues. It is also important that you take a backup of your device using iTunes before jailbreaking your device with evasi0n7. Let us know if the workaround provided helped in the comments below. Continue reading →

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Snapchat responds to leak that exposed details on 4.6 million users

On New Year’s Eve, hackers released the partially redacted phone numbers and user names of 4.6 million Snapchat users. Snapchat responded today to the security breach with a statement explaining what happened. The company once again confirmed the existence of the exploit that allowed the breach to occur. It took advantage of a security hole in the Find Friends feature, which was added to make it easier for Snapchat users to find other Snapchatters using their address book. Though user names and phone numbers were compromised, Snapchat confirmed that no other information, including Snaps, were accessed in this breach. Snapchat also confirmed that the company is working on an updated version of the Snapchat application that will allow users to opt out the Find Friends feature. It will also take other measure to prevent future abuses of the service. To make it easy for security researchers to contact the company, Snapchat has setup an email account, security@snapchat.com, dedicated to security vulnerabilities. and explain Continue reading →

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Pebble to kick off CES with “something special” announcement

Pebble started shipping its smartwatch about a year ago, and has been steadily updating the device with new features like an upcoming app store. The company announced today that it has “something special” up its sleeve and will tell us all about this new news next week at CES.Details are not known, but the company pumps up the hype by saying the event is something that “Team Pebble has been working furiously on” and adds that “you won’t want to miss this!” Pebble will livestream the announcement on Monday, 6 January at 11 AM Pacific (2 PM Eastern). You can watch the event as it unfolds on getpebble.com. Continue reading →

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Start the New Year with 4G Access Everywhere You Go [Deals Hub]

Welcome to the new year. It’s 2014, and this is the year that you should finally have the things you need, like constant 4G internet access everywhere you go. There’s no reason you shouldn’t, especially when you can get a great deal on the Platinum Photon 4G Hotspot from FreedomPop plus 1GB of data to use every month at no cost. You can get all that from the iPhone Hacks Deals Hub and make 2014 your most connected ever. FreedomPop has a new way of looking at internet service. Rather than lock you in to an annual contract or try to force you to take on extras that you don’t want, FreedomPop gives you 500MB of data each month to use at no cost. We’ll bump that up to 1GB a month for you for all of 2014 when you get the Platinum Photon 4G Hotspot. It can connect with up to 8 devices at once for high quality media streaming, gaming, downloading, and more. You can get the Platinum Photon 4G Hotspot from FreedomPop with 1GB of data each month for just $99 from the iPhone Hacks Deals Hub. That’s a savings of 54% off the retail price. Grab this offer today and ring in the new year with a new outlook on how internet access should be done. Continue reading →

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Hackers allegedly access Snapchat’s database, leak information on 4.6 million users

Less than a week ago, a hacker group published the previously undocumented API from messaging service Snapchat and two security exploits that expose personal information about customers who use the service. Five days later, those exploits may have allowed the people or person at SnapchatDB to compile 4.6 million Snapchat records and post them to the internet.The information posted on the website snapchatdb.info allegedly contains the phone numbers, usernames and passwords of over 4.6 million Snapchat users. The data is available as a SQL dump or a CSV file and can be downloaded by anyone with an internet connection. The last two digits on the phone numbers are obscured, but the unaltered database is supposedly available to interested parties who contact SnapchatDB. Early analysis of the data suggests the leaked data only contains information on a subset of Snapchat users. An noted by Reddit users, the database includes only area codes from users in North America. Of those users, there are two Canadian area codes and only 76 of the 322 available US area codes. Over 200 US area codes are not represented in the database. Snapchat confirmed that it was aware of the exploit and patched it. The company downplayed its significance in a recent blog post. SnapchatDB said its information was compiled using “the recently patched Snapchat exploit” and it was being published in order to “raise awareness on the issue.” [Via The Verge and Jonas Wasser] Continue reading →

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Google-owned Bump to shut down at the end of this month

Popular file sharing app Bump was acquired by Google in September of 2013. Less than four months after announcing its acquisition, Bump CEO and cofounder David Lieb is back to announce that the service is shutting down in the next few weeks.Lieb explained that though the company intended to continue its work on Bump and Flock, they “are now deeply focused on our new projects within Google.” As a result, they no longer have time to dedicate to the two apps and their backend services. On January 31, 2014, both file sharing tool Bump and photo sharing tool Flock will be pulled from the iOS App Store. After this date, neither app will work, and all user data will deleted from the company’s servers. To make the transition easier for customers, Bump is providing an data export tool from within the app. Opening the app between now and the end of the month will send an email containing a link that’ll let customers download all their data. Do you use Bump or Flock? What do you think of this sudden shutdown? Continue reading →

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