It’s time for another Java update — and it’s a relatively big one. Oracle is releasing fixes for 42 security bugs in its highly vulnerable Java programming language today. Thirty-nine of those bugs enable hackers to hit you with attacks you may never detect.

For security professionals, Java has been the gift that keeps on giving — if the gift was a stomach virus. Despite repeated updates to the programming language, cyber-criminals continue to find new ways to exploit it. They’ve hit hundreds of thousands of nameless individuals to big-time companies such as Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook with their variety of attacks.

Oracle announced the update in an announcement yesterday, saying the patch is slated for today. The company specifically states that the 39 called-out bugs “may be exploited over a network without the need for a username and password.”

New dialog boxes for the Java browser plugin are also being released. These are warning windows that pop up whenever Java is trying to run. The type of warning you receive is based on the quality of the digital certificate of that app.

Low-risk warnings will appear if the certificate can be identified and has been signed by a certificate authority, or if the identified certificate has extra information. For these you will see either the Java logo, publisher’s logo, or a blue shield. You’ll be able to hide future warnings for publishers who provide these credentials.

High-risk apps, however, will show you a yellow warning triangle for those apps that have an untrusted or expired certificate. A yellow shield is displayed for unsigned or invalid certificates. For these apps you will have to both check a box that says, “I accept the risk and want to runt his app” and then click “run.” Or you can immediately click cancel.

As we’ve seen with the last rounds of Java updates, however, there are more untapped vulnerabilities to be found. Consider keeping Java off (and if you haven’t turned it off yet, you should do so) and waiting to see if anything is uncovered in the weeks following the release.

hat tip Ars Technica; Oracle image via Peter Kaminski/Flickr, Unsigned cert dialogue box image via Oracle

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Siri is starting to become what it was always meant to be thanks to Apple’s iOS 6.1 update that it released today.

In the latest update, Apple is enabling the purchase of movie tickets via Fandango. In other words, your “Siri, what movies are playing tonight” question can finish with “Siri, buy me two tickets to Anna Karenina.”

Additionally, the 6.1 update includes LTE support for new carriers — 36 for iPhone and 23 for iPad — and a small update to iTunes match.

“With nearly 300 million iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch devices on iOS 6 in just five months, it may be the most popular new version of an OS in history,” Apple VP of marketing Philip Schiller said in a statement.

The new consummation of the movie-ticket buying process is exactly what has been the promise of Siri all along: a personal assistant who doesn’t just find information for you but actually does things for you. Buying tickets through Siri, which is a feature only available in the U.S., could be a huge time-saver: Rather than going to a website, checking local listings, selecting a movie and showtime, and then purchasing tickets by entering your credit card information, Siri could complete the entire action in just seconds, once you’re set up with Fandango.

(More on that later, when I’ve tried it: I have not yet completed the update. Hopefully, the experience is better than Apple’s OpenTable integration for automatically getting restaurant reservations, which has some serious shortcomings.)

Other countries will presumably come later, as Apple signs agreements with appropriate services.

One other update that didn’t hit the press release but is visible in the release notes: Apple has included a new button to reset the Advertising Identifier.

Apple has taken some heat about the current user privacy settings vis-a-vis advertisers, as the on-off switch for advertising tracking was previously buried near the bottom of Settings -> General -> About on an iPhone, just below Modem Firmware and above Diagnostics & Usage. In other words, where people are least likely to find it accidentally — or even if they’re trying. To add insult to injury, even then is not a true on-off switch, as it only “limits” ad tracking.

A reset button will at least enable you to severely limit tracking by giving you the ability to constantly change their device’s advertiser ID. I’m asking Apple for more information this change, however.

Apple also noted that so far, iOS users have uploaded over nine billion photos to photo stream, sent over 450 billion iMessages, and received over four trillion notifications.

The update is free and is compatible with iPhone 3GS and up, iPad 2 and up, and fourth and fifth generation iPods.

Sept. 9 - 10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Evernote released its latest update for Mac tricked out with over 100 new features. A post on the company blog claims that this is Evernote’s most significant update yet, based off a year of a year of consideration and development. User experience is at the forefront of the redesign.

Evernote is a popular digital notebook that lets people capture information from around the web and organize them into accessible lists. Like a notebook, it can be used for anything from staying on top of daily tasks, remembering things, saving favorite webpages, conducting research, planning trips, and collaborating on projects. Evernote is available across multiple operating systems and platforms and has been through five iterations since its inception in 2007.

Upon opening Evernote 5 on a Mac desktop, users are now presented with a left panel that offers shortcuts to frequently used and important notes, as well as the five most recent notes. Notebooks have also received a makeover. Personal and Shared lists are now combined on one screen, which you can sort and search by name or owner.

The new Atlas view presents all notes on a map because geography is often relevant to creating context for the lists, and The Note List now has a Card View which presents notes in Pinterest like “beautiful squares.” The Note Editor and search functions have also received improvements. Watch this video to see the new Evernote for yourself:

Earlier this month, Evernote released a preview of the Evernote 5 for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, which is coming soon. These major changes arrive six months after Evernote raised $70 million in its fourth found of institutional funding. The company has raised $166 million to date and is valued a $1 billion.

Now you can add that as a life event on your timeline, tell the world who you’re having the baby with, add a location … and even tell the story of how it came to be.

Fortunately, that part is optional.

Source: Facebook

Tell the world that you’re expecting a baby

This will definitely not please misanthropic fans of Unbaby.me, the Chrome extension that blocks all babies from your Facebook newsfeed and replaces them with pictures of bacon or puppies or — apparently — partially-clothed women.

But then again, maybe they won’t see it anyways.

And anyone who is having a baby, plus most of their friends and family, will be happy to get the news. Especially, of course, grandparents.

Who are, after all, only on Facebook for the babies.

Source: Facebook

Expecting a baby?

photo credit: Sergiu Bacioiu via photo pin cc

The company shaped the new version based on feedback from users. It offers a whole new platform with a rebuilt backend and enhanced user interface. Now, the scheduling capability is front and center. Those seeking transportation have the ability to book vehicles in advance, and Taxi Magic’s technology will factor in a variety of conditions to intelligently judge what time the car should arrive. The app looks at real-time traffic and weather conditions, as well as data regarding the overall demand for taxis around that date and time.

Taxi Magic’s system also retains user information to make the booking and paying process even easier. Frequently used addresses are saved so riders can simply tap their location. And the app accepts three payment options: cold, hard cash; credit/debit in the cab; or mobile payment.

These features apply for both advance scheduling and on-demand service. Flagging down ground transportation can be tricky, particularly during peak hours or in cities where the demand far outweighs the need (*cough* San Francisco *cough*). Ringing up a cab company is no guarantee that a car will arrive in a timely manner (or at all), nor is standing spread-eagled on a corner, inevitably in the rain. Taxi Magic conveniently provides estimated arrival times, so rather than twiddling your thumbs and wondering if a cab will ever come, you can track the progress of nearby vehicles.

Calling a cab using Taxi Magic does not automatically mean it is reserved. Taxi Magic sends the requests to the dispatches of the fleets it works with, but it is still up to the individual drivers to take the fare. One of the most exciting features in the pipeline is a percentage rating that will tell bookers the likelihood a car will come. Users can make transportation decisions accordingly. A rating of 20% may mean it is time to look into a bus or break out the walking shoes.

Taxi Magic marketing director Matt Carrington shared with me a few bits of back-seat wisdom.

“Most taxi drivers don’t want to go to remote parts of town because most fares are in denser areas,” he said. “There is a battle between driver and rider going on. A big concern is that a rider will ditch the ride, and drivers want to get the best fare possible. We factor in what the service level looks like, so if a taxi does not come, users won’t be upset.”

Taxi Magic currently operates in 42 markets across the US and has 25,000 vehicles in its system. Each city has distinct characteristics that impact the way the app operates. For example, Taxi Magic has a major presence in San Francisco, where it is infamously challenging to find a cab due to the fact that, on a per capita basis, SF issues an appallingly low number of taxi licenses.

In a place like New York City, where cabs are ubiquitous, residents do not rely on apps to hail cabs. In the time it takes to call and book a cab, at least five empty ones have probably driven by. The sedan service (similar to Uber) does well, however, as New Yorkers seem to appreciate riding in style. DC has a number of independent cab companies and drivers, which can make quality regulation a challenge. Taxi Magic has met with great success in LA due to that city’s sprawling geography, because people require cars often and are used to paying large fares.

Taxi Magic is the flagship product of RideCharge Inc, a company based in Alexandria, VA. RideCharge was initially founded in 2007 to facilitate ground transportation for business travel, and the company was ahead of the game when it launched Taxi Magic as early as 2009. Since then competitors like Cabulous and cab4me have cropped up, Taxi Magic still dominates the field. It has recieved $20M in funding to date from Concur and Veolia Transportation and will soon cross the 50 employee threshold.

Google updated its iOS application for Gmail today, which has been widely criticized for not having as much functionality as its Web and Android counterparts.

The update now allows you to e-mail using the “send as” feature and provides new options for notifications. New e-mail can now be pushed to you as banner messages or as the bar the rolls down from the top of your screen in iOS 5, as well as regular alerts and notifications pushed to your screen when its locked.

Lastly, the app now supports persistent login. Prior to this update, users were often logged out of their Gmail accounts and were prompted to re-enter their login credentials when accessing the app. Now, the app remembers you the first time you login, eliminating the extra step.

Gmail for iOS was last updated in December, and that included a new notification sound for incoming e-mail, a vacation responder, and custom signatures. It also added a drawing feature called Scribbles, which allows you to draw an image with your fingertip and attach it to an e-mail. Google first released the app in November, but it had to be removed from the app store due to login issues. After returning, it remained a disappointment, prompting former VentureBeat editor Heather Kelly to call it a “slightly tricked-out version of Gmail’s mobile web app.”

This round of updates does improve the app, but it’s still missing key features, such as the capability to manage multiple accounts. The Android version of Gmail has had this function for awhile. It’s obvious why Google would skimp on developing for iOS, but it may be alienating many customers who are loyal to the e-mail service but still prefer an iPhone.

You can download the app here.

via The Next Web; Image via Meghan Kelly/VentureBeat

Streaming music service Spotify is rolling out a new version of its desktop software for Windows and Mac today, adding a handful of new features and improved functionality.

Version 0.8.3 of Spotify includes the ability to create custom radio stations based on a particular playlist or album, much in the same way Pandora does with artists or genres. That station will then play music that’s similar to the playlist/album of your choosing. The feature is sure to delight the subset of people who like to mix corny hip-hop with twangy country oldies.

The new version also includes a new “Instant Search” feature, which allows you to hover over search suggestions as you type to get instantly rendered results in the main view. While this is a small change, it’s definitely the little things that count, such as past additions like crossfading and gapless playback.

The company is also boosting Spotify’s social sharing capabilities in the latest software version. The HTML code that will embed a “play button” on other websites/blogs, which launched last month, can now be obtained by right clicking on any album, playlist, or track. The company has also added custom short URL spoti.fi for Twitter as well as deeper Tumblr integration that lets users share music content from Spotify directly to their Tumblr page. Sharing is a key component of Spotify’s success, with Facebook’s Timeline integration being attributed to its massive user growth in the last year.

Spotify is also trying to raise awareness of its new app platform, which brings tons of social features to the streaming service. Yesterday, the startup added two apps — Tastebuds.fm and Fellody — that allow its users to find a new romantic interest base on their musical tastes and discover new music from their social circles.

The new version of the app is rolling out to users now, and it should be completed over the next few days. Those who don’t want to wait can download the update from Spotify’s website.

Screenshots via Spotify

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Apple released the latest update to its mobile operating system, iOS 5.1.1, today. The update fixes a few minor issues pertaining to the camera as well as a bug in the iPad.

Specifically, the update makes the high dynamic range photography capability more reliable when using a shortcut that allows you to take pictures without unlocking your phone. For those who don’t know, HDR in Apple devices takes three photos at different exposures which are then melded together to create a photo that’s evenly exposed and full of detail throughout the range of dark to light. Apple says the update will also make syncing bookmarks and your Reading List in Safari more reliable.

The iPad had a bug in it that switched its data connection from 2G to 3G, which has been patched in the new OS.

A couple other minor fixes include an update to AirPlay, software that streams content between Apple devices, which was having trouble with video playback in “certain circumstances.” Apple also killed a bug that showed an “unable to purchase” message when a purchase had been successfully executed.

iOS 5 was originally introduced in October when the iPhone 4S was released. Its latest update was announced at the newest iPad’s release in March. You can download the update by heading over to iTunes, or in your iOS settings under “Software Update.”

hat tip Ars Technica

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Google updated its Maps application to version 6.5 for Android today, and with the update comes a new Navigation home screen for Ice Cream Sandwich users, faster maps on high-pixel-density devices, and new public-transit options.

The most noticeable part of the update will go to owners of newer Android phones with high-pixel-density screens, including the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Samsung Galaxy S II, and Motorola Droid Razr. The update enables higher resolution map images that take better advantage of the screen, resulting in a crisper look. A side-by-side comparison below shows how Maps has been altered for such devices:

For Android 4.0+ users, Google has redesigned the Navigation home screen “to make it easier to enter a new destination or select from recent and favorite locations by swiping left or right.”

Those who depend on Google for public transit directions (like me!) will also be happy with the update. With 6.5, you can prioritize which transit mode (like bus or subway) you would like to take. Transit directions and schedules are available for 475 cities around the world. The update gets the app one step closer to HopStop-level functionality.

Users who want the Google Maps update can download it now from the Google Play store.

Watch Google’s video about the update below:

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Is your Kindle Fire frustratingly slow? You’re not alone, as many owners of the tablet have complaints about performance. But thankfully, it seems Amazon is listening.

The company says that an over-the-air update, due within two weeks, will alleviate many of the Kindle Fire’s issues with performance and its multitouch screen, the New York Times reports. Additionally, the update will add a much-needed privacy feature: the ability to cover your web browsing history tracks (oddly, the NYT suggests this will be a great way to help you better cheat on your spouse).

For many Kindle Fire owners, the update can’t come soon enough. There are widely reported slowdown issues with the Kindle Fire’s browser, and its multitouch screen at times seems to have a mind of its own. These issues are easy enough to fix with software updates — thankfully for Amazon. But other issues with the tablet, including its lack of an external volume control, are impossible to fix, and consumers will just have to learn to live with them (consider it part of the cost for a $200 tablet).

The NYT speculates that Amazon will likely deliver a newer Kindle Fire tablet this spring, which falls in line with plenty of rumors surrounding a larger, more powerful Amazon tablet on the horizon. While the Kindle Fire aims for the low-end tablet market, the larger tablet, which is said to sport a 10-inch screen and quad-core processor, would be a direct competitor to Apple’s next-generation iPad.

Indie Games are no longer listed in the New Arrivals section of the Marketplace, nor the Genre listings. Instead, they are found through a tile labelled Game Type.

The Xbox Metro dashboard update went live on Dec. 6 and brought with it a host of new features. In the shake up though, the XBox Live Indie Games (XBLIG) channel has been replaced with an Indie Games tile, which some developers are worried might be missed by gamers, or could eventually disappear altogether. In addition, the Bing search engine on the dashboard is failing to return results for many Xbox Live Indie games. Searching for ‘Dead Rising’ yields a multitude of results, but searching for ‘Applejack’ or ‘Avatar Battle Bees’ returns no relevant findings.

Mommy’s Best Games boss Nathan Fouts spoke to Eurogamer explaining his concerns, “There’s a revolving tile that currently also links you to Indie Games but it’s sort of random if someone will see that or even if IG will be listed there next week.” He added that “the truly disheartening news is that the ‘games’ tab on our game console is now several pages away from the start……simply getting to the main portal for Arcade, Games on Demand or Indie Games, or for that matter my own game library is a chore.”

The dashboard has also brought with it more advertising, as Microsoft looks to target adverts to individuals, based on their behaviors. The new layout is an “advertisers dream”, according to Fouts, but this means that “every single page main page now has an advertisement on it, there are dozens of secret little places to feature things, and it’s easy to get lost.”

Cthulhu Saves the World developer Robert Boyd, is also concerned about the new dashboard, and thinks that it will probably result in reduced sales: “It feels to me that Microsoft is trying to promote individual games more but hide the [XBLIG] channel as a whole. I think this will result in less sales overall, but only time will tell.”

Although a degree of backlash is to be expected with such a major dashboard change, the concerns raised by indie developers do feel like part of a wider feeling of discontent towards Microsoft. Brett Everleigh, developer of Avatar Battle Bees, says that “Microsoft take a back-seat approach and only really gets involved to take a cut of your sales and make the games slightly harder to find with each new dashboard update”. He adds that “it feels like Microsoft has abandoned the platform in favour of Windows Phone 7. But instead of admitting it they’re brushing it under the carpet and hoping it’ll go away.”

Pricing is also a point of concern for many XBLIG developers, as they are forced to under-value their games, to get people to even consider them, according to Everleigh. He points out that while Indie games on PC and iOS are also being devalued, there are a sufficient number of users on those platforms to offset the problem, which isn’t the case on XBLIG.

Microsoft has responded to these concerns in a statement, saying “Indie developers have told us they are looking for an easy route to market, which is the biggest hurdle to overcome, and we’ve provided that for them with Xbox Live Indie Games. But they’ve got to take that next step and do marketing after the launch.”

The statement continues, “”the new Xbox 360 Dashboard update provides improved ways for consumers to find great indie titles, including the ability to search with voice”, but while this voice search is a nice new feature, it doesn’t overcome the fact that some indie titles aren’t showing up in the results.

Microsoft states that it is listening to feedback from developers, and is taking it into account for future programs.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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This major update has also introduced ‘accomplishments’ to the device, the closest that Nintendo has yet come to offering Xbox-like achievements.

The update, which is now available directly through your 3DS console, adds new puzzles to the StreetPass Mii Plaza, along with a new dungeon for the StreetPass Quest game. These games are part of the unique Street Pass functionality of the 3DS, that allows users to share Miis and profile information as they pass each other on the street.

The ‘accomplishments’, added in this update, all relate directly to the Mii Plaza, and include ‘meet Mii characters from ten countries’ and ‘receive a personal greeting’. Given Nintendo’s previously reported scepticism about the value of achievements in games, it may be that these accomplishments will not spread beyond the Mii Plaza. But Nintendo is is renowned for springing surprises on its customer base, so nothing is for certain.

Another key feature of this update is the ability to transfer content, including software from the Nintendo eShop, account funds and save data, to a new 3DS console. Nintendo details this process on its support site, and users will no doubt be pleased to see this more flexible approach being taken, especially given the content locking that was seen on the DSi . There are some restrictions to the 3DS  transfer process – up to five transfers are permitted in total and there will be a waiting period applied between each transfer. In addition, content can’t be exchanged between systems with different region or country settings.

If you have a 3DS, then it should automatically request an update to this new firmware. If it doesn’t, then you can follow the procedure to perform a system update, as outlined on Nintendo’s support site.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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Update, 6:32pm PST: The update is here. Major Nelson has tweeted the following: “We are a go! The #XboxUpdate is currently on its way to all 35 million Xbox LIVE members around the world.”

2nd Update: 8:29 pm PST: Major Nelson says some users are getting a connection error message upon logging into Xbox Live (yes, happened to Dean Takahashi).

It looks like Xbox 360 users will have to wait just a little while longer for voice-activated Bing searches and TV content on their consoles.

The Xbox 360 dashboard update scheduled to go live today has been slightly delayed, according to Director of Programming for Xbox Live Larry Hryb, aka Major Nelson. “We are still working to get the release out,” he said on Twitter. “Stay tuned, we’ll have an update this afternoon (PT) on when it will begin rolling out.”

The update was originally scheduled to go live at 10 a.m. Eastern and will include a new user interface, more entertainment options, integration with Windows Phone 7, and more. Microsoft has been billing it as “the future of TV,” but not all of the promised content will make it into today’s launch. EPIX and TODAY (MSNBC) in the U.S., LOVEFiLM in the UK, Sky Go in Germany, Premium Play by (MediaSet) in Italy and Telefonica España – Movistar Imagenio in Spain will roll out today, according to an open letter from CVP of Xbox Live Marc Whitten. However, big name U.S. providers like Verizon FiOS and HBO Go will have to wait a little longer. Whitten says Xbox will continue to roll out more entertainment content in the coming months.

There is no word yet on why it was delayed. VentureBeat has contacted Microsoft and will provide an update when one is available.

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GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here!

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