Apple to launch iPad 5 and iPad mini 2 on October 22

Apple will have another launch event that is scheduled on October 22, 2013. Tim Cook would likely launch the rumored iPad mini 2 upgrade and the iPad 5.

The iPad mini 2 is rumored to feature a Retina Display and a higher 1024 x 768 pixel resolution screen than its predecessor.

I also expect a better A7X processor and an improved battery performance.

Samsung's New 13-megapixel camera technology better low-light images

Expect a big camera upgrade on the next Samsung flagship phones as the biggest smartphone manufacturer revealed their new camera technology for better low-light images and stabilization.

The Korea based company announced that it developed a new camera module that improves a lot of areas. It features a 13-megapixel sensor and called ""the world's highest-performance camera module".

The highlights of this new camera module are:

* new and improved optical image stabilization technology. It corrects angular errors of up to 1.5-degrees off target. It reduces blur and increases sharpness.
* It also uses less power.
* It can shoot up to 8 times brighter images in the dark.

Faces of Facebook: Profile pictures of 1,277,258,153 Facebook users

You can now check your own profile pictures on the Faces of Facebook app (http://app.thefacesoffacebook.com/). It's an app developed by Natalia Rojas of Creative Technologist Freelance. It uses Facebook's API to display a chronological collage of 1,277,258,153 Facebook users profile photos.

The collage is clickable and you can zoom in and zoom out.

You can also connect your Facebook account and it would find your profile photo among the billion user's on the page. It will also highlights your friends on the map with a large white dots.

It also noted that they are not breaking any Facebook privacy rules because they don't store anyone's private information, pictures or names.

New Smaller Microsoft Surface tablet to be Announced

Microsoft will soon announce their new Surface tablets which includes a smaller screen version to take on Google's Nexus 7 and Apple's iPad Mini. They will have an announcement event scheduled in New York on Monday. Microsoft will release an update to its Windows 8 operating system on October 17. Windows 8.1 is designed for smaller touch screens, which have become popular because they are cheaper and easier to carry. The previous version of Windows 8 was limited to tablets with 10-inch to 12-inch screens.

Apple: New iPhone Won't Store Fingerprints

A Wall Street Journal reported that iPhone 5s which is equipped with a fingerprint scanner will not store actual images of users’ fingerprints on the device according to an Apple spokesman.

They said that the new Touch ID system will only store “fingerprint data,” which remains encrypted within the iPhone’s processor. It uses the digital signature to unlock itself or make purchases in Apple’s iTunes, iBooks or App stores.

In practice, this means that even if someone cracked an iPhone’s encrypted chip, they likely wouldn’t be able to reverse engineer someone’s fingerprint.

However, in my last post "NSA able to hack your smartphone" are you really sure that the NSA can't access your fingerprints? and you'll never know what will they do with it.

NSA able to hack your smartphone

A report by German media has discovered the capability of NSA to hack into smartphones, including the so-called super-secure Blackberry.

NSA documents in the possession of Edward Snowden and seen by der Spiegel said iPhones, BlackBerry devices and Google's Android mobile operating system are all able to be hacked.

They said that the NSA can take contact lists, SMS traffic, notes and location information about where a user has been. The NSA has set up working groups to tackle each operating system, to gain secret access to the data held on the phones.

der Spiegel also mentioned that the NSA are proud of how much data it can get out of an Apple iPhone and how they can use this to hack the computer they sync with.

They use "scripts" which enable additional access to at least 38 iPhone features. Blackberrys have been hackable since 2009, where agents could see and read SMS traffic. But the NSA lost this ability after the Canadian company changed the way it compresses its data. Britain's GCHQ intelligence agency helped them to regain access to BlackBerry data and share them the process on how to hack it.

The cache of documents also reveals that the NSA has succeeded in accessing the BlackBerry mail system, which was known to be very secure.

BlackBerry has always claimed that its mail system is uncrackable, I guess it's no longer the case.

LG unveils the G Pad 8.3 tablet

LG present the G Pad 8.3 tablet on Sunday. They hope the G Pad 8.3 tablet will challenge Apple's rumoured iPad Mini. The LG G Pad 8.3 is the firm's second stab at the Android tablet market, after its original LG Optimus Pad failed to make much of an impact.

The LG G Pad 8.3 is a top-end tablet device, it features an 8.3in 1920x1200 full HD touchscreen and a quad-core 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor. It runs on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

LG has skinned the Android mobile OS with the same custom user interface found on its LG G2 smartphone, and will furnish the tablet with its own software features such as Knockon and Slideaside.

The LG G Pad 8.3 also features dual 5MP and 1.3MP cameras, 16GB of internal storage and a 4,600mAh battery.

It will be available across the US and Europe from November, although there's no word on pricing yet. LG has said however that it will be available in both black and white.

Check back soon for our hands-on with the LG G Pad 8.3 at the IFA conference in Berlin.