Candy Crush Named Most Popular App

The era of the Gameboy looks to have officially come to an end as new data reveals spending on smartphone games overtook the handheld console market for the first time last year.

San Francisco-based analytics company App Annie found global spending on games in Apple and Google’s app stores surpassed the amount spent on games for devices such as the PS Vita and Nintendo 3DS for the first time in early 2013.

By the end of last year the amount spent on mobile games apps was roughly three times the size of the handheld gaming market.

London-based games developer King was behind the most popular smartphone game in the world last year, Candy Crush Saga. King is thought to earn as much as $900,000 a day from the app and the company is planning to float on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York later this year.

App Annie’s Marcos Sanchez said: "Watching the Candy Crush phenomenon internationally was very exciting. They've set the bar high for not only the UK, but the world when it comes to building an app that is both fun and profitable."

Brits were the third biggest spenders on iPhone and iPad apps in 2013, behind Japan and the US, while the UK ranked fifth for spending in the Google Play store. Temple Run 2, Snapchat, BBC iPlayer and WhatsApp messenger were among the most popular apps in the UK.

The findings come just weeks after Japanese games maker Nintendo warned it was set to make a loss of £200m this year.

The Super Mario and Donkey Kong creator has being damaged by the rise of smartphone gaming, with consumers opting for mobile games over purpose built handheld devices, an area in which it has traditionally been dominant

PlayStation Games For Smartphones

Sony announced Thursday that it will form a subsidiary called ForwardWorks to develop games for iOS and Android devices in Asia.
The move makes Sony the latest console game company to move into smartphone apps, following rival Nintendo.
Nintendo's first smartphone app, Miitomo, was released in Japan last week. But Miitomo is more like a social experience than a traditional game. The app asks users questions about themselves, and then shares those answers with friends.
Sony ( ) appears to be taking a different route. The company said it will offer "full-fledged game titles" and use existing PlayStation games and characters in new apps.

Japan-based Sony has previously dabbled with smartphone gaming without much success.
In 2012, the company launched PlayStation Mobile in an attempt to bring Android smartphone games to its dedicated handheld console, the PlayStation Vita. Sony has also promoted a range of Android smartphones with "PlayStation Certified" branding, including a handset from Sony Ericsson with a PlayStation-style controller.
But PlayStation Mobile failed to catch on, and few titles were released for the service. The "PlayStation Certified" branding also flopped, and Vita has failed to find commercial success.
Details on Sony's plans for ForwardWorks are thin, but it appears to be the company's latest effort to fill a void in the handheld sector.

How to Remove Icons from the OS X Mountain Lion Dock

Removing an item from the Mac OS X Mountain Lion Dock is as easy as 1-2 (there is no 3):

Just drag its icon out of the Dock, as shown in the top part of the figure, and it disappears with a cool poof animation, as shown in the bottom part of the figure.


Choosing Remove from Dock from the item’s Dock menu is another way to make the item go away.

You can’t remove the icon of a program that’s running from the Dock until you quit that program. Also, note that by moving an icon out of the Dock, you aren’t moving, deleting, or copying the item itself; you’re just removing its icon from the Dock.

The item is unchanged. The icon is sort of like a library catalog card: Just because you remove the card from the card catalog doesn’t mean that the book is gone from the library.

The Dock in earlier OS X releases included icons for the Documents and Applications folders; the Dock in Mountain Lion does not, at least not by default. Having those folders in the Dock is convenient, and you should consider adding them to your Dock if they aren’t already there.

If you upgraded to Mountain Lion from Lion, on the other hand, the Documents and Applications folders will appear in your Mountain Lion Dock, unless you removed them prior to upgrading.

Invention Of Transparent Plane

If you’re a jet-setter who feels that air travel has lost some of its luster, then put your seat back in its upright position and get ready for a thrilling ride. Aerospace company Airbus has just announced that in the future, their planes will not only mimic the flight efficiency of a bird’s skeleton, but that the cabin walls will also be see-through! Although the new design may alarm those with a fear of flying and/or vertigo, the less faint-of-heart are sure find the prospect of soaring through the sky in a transparent plane quite enthralling.

If you, like us, enjoy flying, you could one day be able to enjoy the clouds, the birds and even the stars thanks to the futuristic technology. At a press conference at London Airbus, engineering executive vice-president Charles Champion discussed the other features that planes will have by 2050, which include seats designed to fit the body shape of  travelers, relaxation zones, a fully-stocked bar and holographic pop-up gaming displays and in-flight entertainment powered by the heat of passengers’ bodies.
However, the most innovative part of the plane’s design comes from the bird bone-esque structure. It would provide strength where needed and allow for an ‘intelligent’ cabin wall membrane which would controls air temperature, as well as being see-through.

Power-wise, the concept plane would be equipped with ‘classified’ technology that would reduce fuel burn, emissions, waste and noise.
Charles Champion said: “Our research shows that passengers of 2050 will expect a seamless travel experience while also caring for the environment. The concept cabin is designed with that in mind, and shows that the journey can be as much a voyage of discovery as the destination.”

With its see-through aircraft cabin, passengers of the future will get a get a window on the world as they fly through the sky.
For this plane with it's 'intelligent' cabin wall membrane and interactive games, may be everyday air transport in 2050.

World's First Electric Cars

Electric cars are a variety of electric vehicle (EV). The term "electric vehicle" refers to any vehicle that uses electric motors for propulsion, while "electric car" generally refers to highway-capable automobiles powered by electricity. Low-speed electric vehicles, classified as neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) in the United States, and as electric motorised quadricycles in Europe, are plug-in electric-powered microcars or city cars with limitations in terms of weight, power and maximum speed that are allowed to travel on public roads and city streets up to a certain posted speed limit, which varies by country.

While an electric car's power source is not explicitly an on-board battery, electric cars with motors powered by other energy sources are generally referred to by a different name: an electric car carrying solar panels to power it is a solar car, and an electric car powered by a gasoline generator is a form of hybrid car. Thus, an electric car that derives its power from an on-board battery pack is a form of battery electric vehicle (BEV). Most often, the term "electric car" is used to refer to battery electric vehicles.

Electric cars are significantly quieter than conventional internal combustion engine automobiles. They also do not emit tailpipe pollutants, giving a large reduction of local air pollution, and, can give a significant reduction in total greenhouse gas and other emissions (dependent on the method used for electricity generation). They also provide for independence from foreign oil, which in several countries is cause for concern about vulnerability to oil price volatility and supply disruption. But widespread adoption of electric cars faces several hurdles and limitations, including their current higher purchase cost, patchy recharging infrastructure (other than home charging) and range anxiety (drivers' fear that electric energy stored in the batteries will run out before reaching their destination, due to limited range of most existing electric cars). Recharging can take a long time; however, for long distance driving, many cars support fast charging that can give around 80% charge in half an hour, using public fast chargers.

As of September 2015, there are over 30 models of highway legal all-electric passenger cars and utility vans available for retail sales, mainly in the United States, China, Japan, Western European countries. By mid-September 2015, about 620,000 light-duty electric vehicles have been sold worldwide out of total global sales of one million plug-in electric cars sold since 2008. The world's top selling highway-capable electric car is the Nissan Leaf, released in December 2010 and sold in 46 countries. Global Leaf sales passed the 200,000 unit milestone in December 2015, and the Tesla Model S, released in June 2012, ranks second with over 107,000 units sold worldwide.

World's First Solar Airport Quits Paying Electricity Bills

 

Fed up with their hefty electricity bill, managers at Cochin International Airport in southern India took matters into their own hands.

Three years ago, they began adding solar panels -- first on the roof of the arrivals terminal, then on and around an aircraft hangar. The success of those initial efforts led to a much bigger endeavor.

"We wanted to be independent of the electricity utility grid," Jose Thomas, the airport's general manager, told CNNMoney.

Last year, the airport commissioned the German company Bosch to build a vast 45-acre solar plant on unused land near the international cargo terminal.

The plant came online in August, making Cochin the world's first fully solar-powered airport.

The tens of thousands of panels generate on average slightly more than the roughly 48,000-50,000 kilowatts of power that the airport -- the seventh busiest in India -- uses per day, according to Thomas. Surplus energy is fed into the wider electricity grid.

The big project cost around 620 million rupees ($9.3 million), a sum the airport expects to save in less than six years by not having to pay electricity bills anymore. It also estimates the solar plant will avoid more than 300,000 metric tons of carbon emissions from coal power over the next 25 years.


At a time when solar power has become much cheaper in India, Cochin's initiative has drawn national and international attention.

Indian Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju visited Cochin in January and told reporters that authorities have directed other airports around the country to start using at least some solar power.
Kolkata's international airport, which is bigger and busier than Cochin's, is planning to build a solar plant covering as much as 70 acres this year that would reduce its electric bill by a third, according to Siga Judson, the airport's general manager.

Cochin has received a visit from engineers from Liberia's airport authority who were interested in the solar installation. George Airport in South Africa, meanwhile, is developing a solar project of its own.

Thomas said airports generally have plenty of vacant land that can be used for solar panels. But he said it's a lot easier for smaller facilities to become fully solar-powered because they use less electricity.
Cochin is already working to expand its solar-power base to meet increased demand from a bigger international terminal it's building.

One smaller new plant is expected to be ready by the end of April, and the airport is also planning to put reinforced concrete over a canal and cover it with panels.

Paypal Developing a Password You Can Ingest

PayPal is developing a new generation of edible passwords which stay lodged in your stomach to let you log in.

Jonathan Leblanc, the company’s top developer, said that the devices would be powered by stomach acid and include mini computers.

He said that technology had become so advanced that it allowed ‘true integration with the human body’.

The next wave of passwords will be edible, ingestible or injectable and will remove the need for what he called ‘antiquated’ ways of confirming your identity, such as fingerprint scanning.

Typing in a password will become a thing of the past too, he added.

Mr Leblanc, the Global Head of Developer Evangelism at PayPal, said in a presentation called ‘Kill All Passwords’ that he wants to ‘put users in charge of their own security’.

He said that passwords as they are now were not working and that users need to ‘harden it with something physical behind it’.

Edible capsules could check the person’s glucose levels or blood pressure before beaming out encrypted data, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Other possibilities include silicon chips which are put under the skin and ‘wearable computer tattoos’ which send information via a wireless connection

A diagram of a chip used in his presentation shows a device that has sensors, a wireless transmitter, photo detectors, a power coil and a temperature sensor.

Mr Leblanc said PayPal was currently carrying out hackathons to develop vein recognition technologies and heartbeat recognition bands to go round a person’s wrist.

But he cautioned that the company has no immediate plans to use such devices

Mr Leblanc said: ‘I can’t speculate as to what PayPal will do in the future, but we’re looking at new techniques – we do have fingerprint scanning that is being worked on right now – so we’re definitely looking at the identity field’. 

In a statement PayPal later said that Leblanc's comments were meant as blue skies thinking and that the company was not actually developing edible passwords.

A spokeswoman said: 'We have no plans to develop injectable or edible verification systems.

'It's clear that passwords as we know them will evolve and we aim to be at the forefront of those developments. We were a founding member of the FIDO alliance, and the first to implement fingerprint payments with Samsung.

'New PayPal-driven innovations such as one touch payments make it even easier to remove the friction from shopping. We’re always innovating to make life easier and payments safer for our customers no matter what device or operating system they are using.' 

Edible passwords would be the latest breakthrough in biometrics after it emerged that a new app lets you use your face to log in to a website instead of using a password.

True Key takes a photo of your face with the computer’s camera and stores it for later use.

When you want to use a password-protected website such as your email, the app scans your face and matches it with its records - removing the need for a password.

Security experts have long bemoaned how easy it is to break passwords, not least because one of the most popular is the word ‘password’.

The most widely used in 2014 was '123456' followed by ‘password’ and '12345678', according to one survey.

Another problem is that the average person has to remember 19 passwords but one in three said they struggled to remember them all.

Weekly Deals on Kaymu

BlackBerry users fight back against WhatsApp Discountinuation

 

BlackBerry owners have launched a petition to fight WhatsApp's decision to stop supporting the software later this year.

WhatsApp announced this weekend that its BlackBerry OS app will be discontinued by the end of 2016. This is unlikely to come as a huge surprise to many, considering BlackBerry's measly share of the global smartphone market, but users were quick to fight back against WhatsApp's decision with the launch of an online petition.

The petition reads: "WhatsApp decided to stop supporting BlackBerry 10 at the end of this year. This is non sense [sic] a lot of people still use the platform daily. I hope WhatsApp/Facebook sees [sic] this. At least give us the service with no updates. Please share this with your friends! WhatsApp will hear us [and] care about us."

The petition had 120 signatures at the time of writing which, given BlackBerry's share of the smartphone market, could be all of the company's userbase.

WhatsApp and Facebook have yet to respond to the petition.

WhatsApp will also end support for Nokia’s Symbian S40 and S60 operating systems, Android versions 2.1 and 2.2 and Windows Phone 7.1. These operating systems "don't offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app's features in the future", according to WhatsApp.
"This was a tough decision for us to make, but the right one in order to give people better ways to keep in touch with friends, family and loved ones using WhatsApp," the company added.

WhatsApp reflected on happier times for BlackBerry, saying that BlackBerry and Nokia commanded 70 percent of mobile devices when the messaging app launched in 2007. This figure has now shrunk to less than one percent, and WhatsApp noted that Apple, Google and Microsoft now account for 99.5 percent of smartphones sold globally.

WhatsApp suggested "upgrading to a newer Android, iPhone or Windows Phone" to continue using the service.

News of WhatsApp canning the BlackBerry app arrives just weeks after the company celebrated reaching the one billion user mark.
The figure had Mark Zuckerberg rubbing his hands with glee. He said at the time: "One billion people now use WhatsApp. Congrats to Jan [Koum], Brian [Acton] and everyone who helped reach this milestone!" Zuckerberg said. 
"WhatsApp's community has more than doubled since joining Facebook. We’ve added the ability for you to call loved ones far away. We've dropped the subscription fee and made WhatsApp completely free. Next, we're going to work to connect more people around the world and make it easier to communicate with businesses.

"There are only a few services that connect more than a billion people. This milestone is an important step towards connecting the entire world

Securing Your Password From Hackers

Tips To Keep Hackers Away

It is not news that cyber-crimes has doubled over the past few years and increasing cyber criminals now rely on your confidential information or account and credit card details to carry out many attacks and internet fraud. These hackers use different kinds of approach and methods to obtain individuals information. 

However you must understand that every electronic device or application connected to the internet can be hacked. Yes! And these hackers are moving closer to us by the seconds. But it’s left for you to make the process either easy or tough for these hackers. Even the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC’s) website was hacked while the presidential election was on. Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and other top sites were not excluded.

While there’s no way of knowing if your personal information has been stolen, the safest bet is to assume you’re at risk and take appropriate precautions.

Who is at risk?
Those who use the password formats below are in greater risk:

* If you use one password for all your accounts.
* If you do not change your password regularly.
* Use your Nickname, family name or family member’s name as Password.
* If your password is a word or a phrase in the dictionary or can be easily guessed.
* If you save your password on your browser or a friends PC.
* If you install malicious software or cracked versions of software in your systems etc..

The steps below reduces your password vulnerability to hackers

1. Create stronger passwords
Try to create new passwords that are stronger than those they replace – you can do this by using at least 12-20 characters, with a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, along with numbers and symbols. And avoid using words that can be found in a dictionary.
For example, a password like “NiGeriaNCitiZeN#31” is a much better password than “nigeriancitizen31,” Also, avoid easy-to-guess words, like your user name, and don’t use personal information, like your last name or your birthdates. An example of a very strong password is 8u%429rf2r666WU”$?0a (8 uniform % 4 2 9 romeo foxtrot 2 romeo 6 6 6 WHISKEY UNIFORM ” $ ? 0 alpha)

 2. Change passwords
If hackers have access to your passwords and you change them, that limits the damage the criminals can do. So take that preventive step and go into all those online accounts and create new passwords. For those that include sensitive and financial information, it may be wise to reset your passcode every three to six months.

3. Be careful with Email Attachments
Most email services like Gmail and Yahoo have a attachment preview features that enable you to read the contents of an attachment before downloading them you your system, use this tool to be sure your attachment is not a virus or a malicious code. If you are prompted to login to your account to preview an attachment ignore and delete such emails even if they are from people you know.
For example, you can get a mail from someone which has a “contract document” attachment in .html format that links to a Fake Gmail login page that will prompt a login before you can view the document.
Many email accounts both individual and business have given their authentication details to hackers through this means and the result may be devastating.

4. For website Administrators
If you manage website for your organization or for yourself, make sure you Cpanel/FTP login details are strong and use tools like “LastPass” (https://lastpass.com/generatepassword.php) to generate a strong password for all FTP and email accounts.
For websites built with WordPress, Joomla, Drupal etc, never use “Admin and Administrator” or related as username of your backend. Use third-party security plugins to secure your website and install an “SSL security” contact your hosting company or send us an email.

5. Avoid Nulled / Clooned and Cracked applications
Investing in original software might save your business and business partners from attacks by cyber-criminal.

6. Logout
Always log out of your accounts when you’re done using public computers and never save your password on a public systems.

How to Turn Off Locations Feature On iPhone and ipad

If you don’t want your iPhone and iPad tracking your every move, it only takes a few seconds to see and clear these locations and turn the feature off.

Unlike Google, thankfully, Apple’s feature is not quite as invasive, and allows you to disable it without losing essential functionality.

Follow these steps:

Open the Settings on your iPhone and then   tap open “Privacy”.

In the Privacy settings, tap on “Location Services”, then tap “System Services”.

In System Services, tap open “Frequent Locations”.

Here, you have the option of turning Frequent Locations off. It is on by default, but you may prefer that your phone not track everywhere you go.

Under the History heading, you will see all the places your iPhone has recorded.
If you tap a location, it will show frequent locations for a particular area on a map.

Go ahead and tap on a location at the bottom of the map.

Now you can see where you were, on what day, and what times.

Maybe there is a little too much information and you want to clear everything. No problem, just tap the “Clear History” button at the bottom of System Services settings page.

A confirmation will pop up and you can tap “Clear History” to delete it or “Cancel” if you change your mind.

Google Partners With Ford To Manufacture Cars With Self-Drive

Google may not manufacture its own cars after all, but rather team up with Ford to build its self-driving vehicles.
The two companies will announce that they are pairing up to make piloted cars during next month’s Consumer Electronics Show, Yahoo Autos reports.
Although that report is still unverified, the Ford partnership could add validity.
Chances are good the scoop is true, however. In November, Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. said that the carmaker would need to pair with big tech companies in order to survive the coming series of revolutions facing the transportation industry.
If Google and Ford do team up, the move could signal that people inside Google realized that manufacturing a car from scratch was unfeasible — or at least far too costly. Rather than using Ford to make its own pod cars like the one pictured above. It’s instead likely that Google will just utilize Ford cars for its own aspirations.
In terms of a timeline, if the report is true, you can expect to see the fruits of this endeavor within a few years — if not sooner.
This likely won’t be the only pairing Google makes with a carmaker. Just as it has done with smartphone manufacturers, the company could become the brains behind all kinds of self-driving cars while it leaves the hardware to someone else.

Whatsapp To Be Discontinued On Blackberry and Nokia Devices by 2016

Earlier this week Whatsapp celebrated its 7th years anniversary with its One Billion Active users, instead to break a bad news on such a good day, the team  announced that: the app will soon be discontinued on BlackBerry and Nokia devices running those company’s operating systems including the Blackberry 10 device. 

Though the new Android-powered Blackberry Priv slider phone might probaly survive this heat because it was built with Android OS.

According to WhatApp Announcement
As we look ahead to our next seven years, we want to focus our efforts on the mobile platforms the vast majority of people use. So, by the end of 2016, we will be ending support for WhatsApp Messenger on the following mobile platforms:
1. BlackBerry, including BlackBerry 10
2. Nokia S40
3. Nokia Symbian S60
4. Android 2.1 and Android 2.2
5. Windows Phone 7.1

While these mobile devices have been an important part of our story, they don’t offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app’s features in the future. 

The Nokia S40 discontinuation will deeply affect developing countries like Nigeria because most people still uses old Nokia phone. The like of Nokia asha 200 and 203, Nokia 6100, 6200, Nokia c2 and c3 just to mention a few. 

WhatsApp suggests “upgrading to a newer Android, iPhone, or Windows Phone” if you want to keep on using the service — if not, you’ll need to find another messaging service by the end of the year before the service got discontinued.

Google Announces Offline Navigation and Search on Google Maps

Google Maps has rolled out a new offline mode allowing for driving directions and search, providing access to turn-by-turn directions and several other features in areas without a reliable cellular data or internet connection.
According to BBC reports, the new features will begin rolling out to Android users later on Tuesday, and Google says the iOS roll out will follow soon. Offline search and navigation was one of the biggest announcements, nearly six months later, that feature is finally reaching users.
The option to save certain areas has existed in Google Maps since 2012, but this is the first time they have been indexed for search and navigation. That means if you save the city you live in, you will be able to search for a place to have dinner and get a response without a cellular connection. Because of space constraints, the businesses stored will have names, star ratings, and phone numbers, but no photos or user reviews.
Similarly, directions will work from average traffic time rather than loading in real-time traffic data, although the route will update as soon as the connection is restored. The initial rollout does not include transit or walking directions, largely due to space considerations, but Google says those features will be added in the months to come.
The feature will be most useful for anyone navigating without a cellular connection, either in a dead zone or a foreign country that requires a second SIM. But project manager Amanda Bishop says even standard users will notice maps loading faster, because of the erratic nature of even the best data connections.
According to Google’s research, the average phone is offline for 10 percent of the day, much of which results from simple network congestion.

Airtel Announces #100 for 1GB

Good news is here for Airtel Subscribers!!!

AIRTEL Nigeria has just introduced weekend data bundle capped at 1024mb (1GB) for just ₦100 only..

To Activate,
Dial *474*1#

To Check Data Balance,
Dial *140#.

It can be use only on weekends (Friday to Sunday).

You can now download whatever you want to download and stream online.

Thanks to Airtel.