Google cancels Christmas? Why Android can't remember December

Zero-index error in coding for month picker in 'Jelly Bean' means that you can't add birthdates in December to your contacts.

If you've got Android 4.2 on your device - whether phone or tablet - congratulations: you've got the most modern version of Google's mobile operating system.

However, you might discover a problem if you're trying to add peoples' birthdays to your contacts, and they happen to be born in December. Reason: Android 4.2 doesn't include December as a month for peoples' birthdays.

That means that anyone who has 4.2 will have to wait for 4.2.1 to roll out if this is important. At the moment, it's not clear when that might be. Though Google is apparently aware of the problem, it will need to make the update, package it and get it distributed via carriers and thus to the majority of Android devices running 4.2, or directly to owners of Nexus devices.
The problem was first spotted by Android Police, which wrote:

File this one under How did Google not have a test for this? Got a birthday or anniversary in December? Sorry - Android 4.2 doesn't know what December is. Well, rather the People/Contacts app that comes stock and is part of the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) doesn't. Wait... what?
We couldn't believe it either, but it's true. Google forgot to include December. As in, there are 11 months in a year. January after November. Christmas is ruined. Santa is dead. At least we'll save money on buying presents, right?

Here's the discussion on the Android code site, where it was first raised on 14 November by a user who complained "Today I was inserting birthday of a friend in my contact list so that I can sync the birthdays in my calendar. I noticed that the December month is missing. When I pressed new event the calendar came but it was not having the option for the month December."

The cause turns out to be a subtle but common one in the world of programming: an off-by-one mistake, where the array that's used for the month references is zero-indexed, so it goes {0,1,2,3… 11}. But the month numbers go {1,2,3….12}. If you shift the index by 1, but forget to allow the highest value of the array to be 12 rather than 11, you'll kill December.

As one of the commenters on the Google thread explains, having tracked down the offending tweak (itself fixing a crashing bug): "It checks "maxValue" and resets it to ".length - 1" it's too high. But DatePicker.java (line 140) sets maxValue to 12 and the string array "months" is only 12 entries long so maxValue gets truncated to 11 by the new check in this commit which in the end will skip "December" as it is the 12th and last month.

The name of the Google staffer who made the change on Friday September 28 is clearly shown in the commit file (it was before lunch, too, so can't blame that).
This ought not to affect existing contacts with December birthdays, because this is a flaw in the input method, not the data store.

Another staffer at Google has spotted the error, and it's now a filed bug (and the programmer who caused it is cc'd in).

So another subtle coding error victim - to add to the Zune leap-year bug and (as far as we know, though it's never been acknowledged) Apple's daylight savings time alarm bug.

Now the only question is how long it will take for this to roll out.

Source: guardian.co.uk

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Samsung Galaxy Note 2 set for innovative apps

If you are a happy Samsung Galaxy Note 2 owner and are running the latest software version on your device, there’s a good chance that you have already had a chance to preview the impressive multi window features that some carriers in the US recently made available in recent updates.

The multi window feature allows true multitasking on that gorgeous 5.5-inch display and lets users bring up two core windows which they can run two apps simultaneously, switching between each one with ease or just letting the two apps run for however long they want.

This feature isn’t available for all Galaxy Note 2 owners yet, but we’ve just heard that the multi-window mode is set to get even better, with Samsung updating the official S-Pen SDK to version 2.2.5, which will now allow developers to create new and innovative apps that specifically make use of the multi-window feature.



If you consider yourself to be a decent software maker on the Android platform, you can proceed to Samsung’s website here and try out the new S-Pen SDK for yourself. Samsung also makes a note to say on their website that the new multi-window feature is dependent on whether carriers have enabled it or not. We told you here how Sprint had already given users this feature in a recent update, while there are also whispers that the multi-window feature will ship with the Verizon Galaxy Note 2 out of the box as well – whenever Verizon decides to release it of course.

The question is though, what custom apps would you like to be able to use which feature integration with the multi-window? It’s early days yet, but we have already seen some underground tinkering with the multi-window feature. A new mod for the Galaxy Note 2 on Sprint adds a lot more multi-window compatibility, than what Samsung initially offer natively. Using the mod, you’ll be able to add any app into the multi-window feature, not just the ones that Samsung has official support for.

Is the multi-window feature on the Galaxy Note 2 receiving daily usage from you, or are you waiting for developers to add some innovative new apps first?

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Source: product-reviews.net

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Black Ops 2 patch 1.04 in the works for PS3

There are numerous reasons being thrown around as to why Black Ops 2 on the PS3 is experiencing major freezing problems, crashing, and other connection related issues when playing online, but we’ve been impressed by the rapid release of updates to try and find a solution to these issues. In the last 24 hours we’ve heard directly from Activision, and they’ve stated in so many words that Black Ops 2 patch 1.04 is being worked on for the PS3.

The moment Black Ops 2 update 1.03 went live we published details about this attempt to fix problems with the PS3 version, although this led to more discussion in relation to new issues appearing after the patch. PR readers confirmed that hard resets still needed to be done after installing the latest update, and crashes continued to plague certain gamers but it’s worth pointing out not all users are affected. In fact we’re now running Black Ops 2 on a PS3 Slim and also the latest Super Slim, and strangely we’ve had constant freezing on the Slim but no problems on the newer PS3.



Black Op 2′s first double XP weekend ended up a nightmare for a lot of PS3 gamers, although Activision didn’t try and defend their position and instead confirmed on their support website that problems still remain. They said COD: Black Ops 2 had received a patch to fix the freeze/lock-up problems, which some people are meeting when playing the PS3 online, although “some customers” still have problems with their PS3 freezing and they’re doing “everything” possible to fix these lock-ups and to find a solution. You can see the exact statement here, which shows Black Ops 2 patch 1.04 will likely release within the next few days in another attempt to fix the PS3 problems.



Do you have any problems that need fixing in Black Ops 2 patch 1.04? You might want to see our article from earlier today about the UK first week sales of Black Ops 2 being less than expected, and is reportedly less than the two previous Call of Duty games for first week sales in the UK.



We took the screenshot above when looking for parts that you can see at different areas of the map when you leave the zombie bus. You need to hunt for parts and take them to set locations, which then allow you to build different items that can be used in your effort to withstand the endless onslaught of zombies. We personally love the shield that allows you smash zombies flying, although you miss out on gaining valuable points for purchasing guns when using the shield.

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Source: product-reviews.net

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Intel CEO Paul Otellini to Retire in May

Intel Corporation today announced that the company's president and CEO, Paul Otellini, has decided to retire as an officer and director at the company's annual stockholders' meeting in May, starting an orderly leadership transition over the next six months. Otellini's decision to retire will bring to a close a remarkable career of nearly 40 years of continuous service to the company and its stockholders.
"Paul Otellini has been a very strong leader, only the fifth CEO in the company's great 45-year history, and one who has managed the company through challenging times and market transitions," said Andy Bryant, chairman of the board. "The board is grateful for his innumerable contributions to the company and his distinguished tenure as CEO over the last eight years."

"I've been privileged to lead one of the world's greatest companies," Otellini said. "After almost four decades with the company and eight years as CEO, it's time to move on and transfer Intel's helm to a new generation of leadership. I look forward to working with Andy, the board and the management team during the six-month transition period, and to being available as an advisor to management after retiring as CEO."

The board of directors will conduct the process to choose Otellini's successor and will consider internal and external candidates for the job.

In addition, the company also announced that the board has approved the promotion of three senior leaders to the position of executive vice president: Renee James, head of Intel's software business; Brian Krzanich, chief operating officer and head of worldwide manufacturing; and Stacy Smith, chief financial officer and director of corporate strategy.

During Otellini's tenure as CEO -- from the second quarter of 2005 through the third quarter of 2012 Intel:

● Generated cash from operations of $107 billion

● Made $23.5 billion in dividend payments

● Increased the quarterly dividend 181 percent from $0.08 to $0.225

From the end of 2005 through the end of 2011, Intel achieved record revenue and net income. During this period, annual revenue grew from $38.8 billion to $54 billion, while annual earnings-per-share grew from $1.40 to $2.39.

In addition to financial performance, Intel, under Otellini's leadership, achieved notable successes in areas of strategic importance. During this period, the company:

● Transformed operations and the cost structure for long-term growth

● Achieved breakthrough innovations, including High-K/Metal gate and now 3-D Tri-gate transistors; and dramatic improvement in energy efficiency of Intel processors

● Reinvented the PC with Ultrabook devices

● Greatly expanded business partnerships and made strategic acquisitions that expanded Intel's presence in security, software and mobile communications

● Delivered the first smartphones and tablets for sale with Intel inside

● Grew the vast network of cloud-based computing built on Intel products

Source : techpowerup

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Hitman Absolution held back by current gen, next game 'technologically impressive'

Io Interactive has admitted that it was held back from achieving everything it set out to with Hitman Absolution, due to the "limitations of the current technology".

Speaking to Trusted Reviews, art director Roberto Marchesi revealed that Microsoft and Sony's aging Xbox 360 and PS3 systems "limited the game", but added that "working with a proven platform is not necessarily a bad thing".

"It's always a give and take," he said. "You also have to balance it with the gameplay; is it really a loss to the game or not? Sometimes you have an idea and you think it's really good but when it gets removed from the game and no-one notices maybe it wasn't such a good idea to begin with.

"We have learned so much compared to when the consoles first came out, we can push so much more."

Marchesi revealed that the studio is "actually making a game now [i.e. not Hitman!] that is impressive from a technological point of view."

Whether that's a next-gen title or not, though, Marchesi isn't saying.

However, regardless of what platform that title is scheduled to hit, Marchesi doesn't expect the first wave of next-gen titles to be anything more than 'upscaled' versions of current generation counterparts.

"The first games that will come out for the next generation of consoles will probably be just like an upscaled version of everything," he continued.

"All the textures will be ramped up twice, the resolution, everything… it's just going to have more polygons – that's really just a brute force approach to making great-looking games and in a way it's much more of a challenge doing it with this current generation."

Despite Marchesi's comments, Hitman Absolution is certainly one of the better looking games on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 - but looks aren't everything.

Hitman Absolution releases on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC tomorrow, November 20.

Source : videogamer

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Google Wireless Could Be Google Fiber in Your Pocket

Back when Google was floating the idea of what would eventually become known as “Android”, there was a lot of speculation that Google could be making their own phone and offering calling for free — subsidized by ads rather than your wallet. History, however, has shown that’s not what actually happened… but it may have shown us the direction that Google was heading with their operating system that is now on three-quarters of wireless devices.

700 MHz LTE

The rumors of Google getting into the telephone business resurfaced when they participated in the bid for the 700 MHz spectrum in 2008 (officially known as “Auction 73″. Eventually the spectrum was awarded to Verizon and is currently serving our their flavor of LTE.

Google had originally asked for four types of “open” access:

• Open applications: Consumers should be able to download and utilize any software applications, content, or services they desire;
  
• Open devices: Consumers should be able to utilize a handheld communications device with whatever wireless network they prefer;
  
• Open services: Third parties (resellers) should be able to acquire wireless services from a 700 MHz licensee on a wholesale basis, based on reasonably nondiscriminatory commercial terms; and
  
• Open networks: Third parties (like internet service providers) should be able to interconnect at any technically feasible point in a 700 MHz licensee’s wireless network.

Some think Google’s participation in Auction 73 wasn’t to obtain the spectrum, but to force the price of the spectrum higher so the winner (whoever it might be) would be bound by “open” access requirements that Google and the FCC had worked out if a certain threshold price was met.

Unfortunately, only the first two “open” requests were included in the requirements that made it to Verizon’s LTE service.

White Space

Over-the-air television stations in the U.S.A. have almost entirely converted to a digital signal. The majority ceased their analog transmissions by February 2009. A few low-power stations remain that are scheduled to shut down no later than September 2015. Switching to all-digital meant that some space was freed up in the spectrum that had previously been occupied by television broadcasts.

This “white space” has long been a target of companies to utilize for data service. Who’s been pushing for use of this white space? You guessed it: Google.

Fiber

Google is already rolling out their Fiber service in select cities in the U.S.A. This has brought not only television services, but upload/download speeds of up to one gigabit to homes. To put that in perspective, with the Cable connection I have at my location I can’t seem to get more than 2Mbps down, and only around 200Kbps up.

Other than its limited deployment, what’s the downside? Customers are tethered to their home to use the service. As soon as they leave for school or work, they leave their Google service behind.

Dish Network

Given all the activity in wireless and their success with Google Fiber, it shouldn’t be hard to believe that Google is interested in becoming a wireless service provider. They’ve already tipped their hand with 700MHz LTE and White Space, and they already have proved they have what it takes to be an ISP with Google Fiber. All they need is the spectrum to get into the wireless game. All of which lends credibility to the rumors that Google may be in talks to deploy a wireless network utilizing Dish Network’s spectrum.

What does this mean to you?

Google is all about data. Keep in mind that Google also has Google Voice for VoIP phone calls and Google Talk for audio and video chatting. You don’t need “voice” service to make or receive phone calls — data works just fine. Besides, look at how you use your smartphone — how much time do you spend using it as a “phone” compared to everything else?

Google could offer a data-only plan that ties into Google Voice for “traditional” calling that would be all digital. This would cut expenses of the wireless network and help wide-spread deployment happen quicker than if both data and voice were being deployed.

In the U.S.A. we currently we have four primary players in the cellular industry: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint. All four are “traditional” cellular carriers, and they’re all stuck in the past. They have legacy customers they have to support on outdated technology, which prevents (or delays) them from opening new services and focusing on data rather than voice.

Google, on the other hand, would have nothing “legacy” to support. They’d be able to deploy the most up-to-date technology with emphasis on data speeds and services.

Phones would need less chips, fewer radios, and not as many antennae, which would reduce costs, held reduce the size of smartphones and tablets, and maximize battery life.

Google could take everything they’ve learned from Google Fiber and offer a subset of that to “Google Cellular” or “Google Wireless” subscribers. They could even offer the same type of content to homes using Google Wireless as they do to homes with Google Fiber — with the obvious speed limitations inherent to wireless versus fiber.

Last, and probably most obviously, an additional player in the field, one unencumbered with legacy technology and outdated ideas of what a “cellular carrier” is “supposed to be” would shake up pricing and offer more options to consumers.

Any way you slice it, Google as a wireless carrier would be a very good thing where the consumer wins.

Source : pocketnow

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Shelf Life Of A Techie Is 15 Years!

The rate at which technology is changing, older engineers have to put it much more effort to do the same job that the newly trained engineers are able to do in jiffy.   


Monday, November 19, 2012:  Techies are much in demand these days, especially with technology advancements rolling out at a fast pace. But if you think that being a techie secures your future, well, it is time you think again. Unlike other professions, where your years of experience reflect on your increasing capability, sadly, it is not true for techies. 

Commenting on the issue, V R Ferose, MD of Germany-based SAP’s India R&D Labs said, "The shelf life of a software engineer today is no more than that of a cricketer - about 15 years. The 20-year-old guys provide me more value than the 35-year-olds do."

The rate at which technology is changing, older engineers have to put it much more effort to do the same job that the newly trained engineers are able to do in jiffy. And if they take this competition lightly, they are likely to become less relevant for the job. It is to be understood that skills are fast becoming redundant in this age.

There is no more local PC or local servers storing all information. Today, cloud computing has changed the dynamics by centralising IT infrastructure and applications and catering to multiple users over a network, usually the internet.

Things are changing in all fronts. Mukund Mohan, CEO of Microsoft's startup accelerator programme in India also feels that the shelf life of certain developers have gone down by an year. He told TOI, "My daughter developed an app for iPhone 4. Today, she is redeveloping the app to make it smarter for iPhone 5. Five years ago, developers were talking Symbian (the Nokia operating system). Today, it's not very relevant. You have to look at Android or iOS or may be even Windows 8 to stay relevant."  

Source: news.efytimes.com

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Get Ready To Pay High Telephone Bills

Service providers will soon increase the call charges and withdraw the schemes from this year onwards. 


Monday, November 19, 2012:  Get set for another hike in your telephone bills as the service providers are about to increase the tariffs. The hike is courtesy the increased spectrum price, which the companies will have to pay to the government and ultimately will be revived by overcharging the subscribers.

The telecom companies have decided to charge more and withdraw offers and discounts due to high price of the spectrum. Some online reports suggest that the phone bills will now be increased due to the 2G spectrum auction. This is said to be a pre-planned move which was being considered for some time now. The companies are expected to rise the call charges and wrap up all the schemes and offers provided to the subscribers from this quarter itself. “These would also lead to a 25-30 per cent improvement in voice-per-minute realisations over the next four quarters,” reports Business Line. 

Rajan Mathews, director, Cellular Operators Association said, “Of course, it will go up, and that’s clearly the direction of tariffs now. You can’t price the key ingredient, spectrum, at high prices and expect the operators to absorb the impact.”

Also, he said that the operators might increase a couple of paise initially and then it will gradually increase the tariffs gauging the market reaction. The hike would depend on company to company.

The GSM spectrum witnessed just five operators, which was a complete failure and same is the case with CDMA spectrum as it had no takers.

Number of new subscribers have been falling and so is the number of operators after the infamous 2G scam, and it is all resulting into a tariff hike. With high spectrum prices, companies are left with no option but to increase the tariff charges. Voice-per-minute realisations are expected to return back to normal by the end of next financial year after taking these steps.  

Source: news.efytimes.com

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iPhone's Pinch-to-Zoom Feature May be Replaced by Sensor

Auto-zoom feature would be based on facial proximity.

According to new patents filed by Apple with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office, the company is looking to replace the iPhone's pinch-to-zoom feature.

The feature that would replace pinch-to-zoom would utilize a sensor to determine the proximity of a user's face. It'll then automatically zoom and focus on what is being displayed on the screen.

The patent says the new invention would offer two modes, comfort and zoom, that provides users with a viewing experience without the requirement of touching their iPhone screen.

Apple's technology would make use of either a camera, infrared proximity sensor or SONAR sensor in order to detect how close the user's face is to the display. Calibration would require the user to hold the iPhone at various distances while it obtained data to determine the suitable display scale size.

The patent explains that the technology could use facial recognition software to establish a more accurate distance. Once the test data has been stored, the iPhone would be able to accurately provide comfort and readability to the user based on the mode they selected.

Comfort mode is designed to "maintain the visual content at a comfortable size for the user regardless of how far the display is from the user's face." The content displayed on the screen would shrink as the user's face comes closer to the device, with the screen being enlarged as the screen moves further away from the user's face.

Zoom, meanwhile, operates in the opposite fashion by providing "a convenient way to zoom in and out of visual content." When utilizing the zoom mode, when the screen is moved closer the content visibility increases. Said content would decrease in size as it is moved further away from user's face.

Source: tomsguide.com

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iOS 6 jailbreak and new iPhone 5S, 6 hardware

Last week excitement levels were raised once again after an image landed on Twitter showing an iPhone 5 that clearly included an iOS 6 jailbreak, although whether that software had been 6.01 or even if it’s more of a failbreak is unknown. You can see our article from 5 days ago here, which included the image and a few tweets from planetbeing that also led to certain expectations from jailbreakers.

When we heard that certain pieces were missing it meant we are no closer to knowing if an iOS 6 jailbreak could land for iPhone 5 and 4S in days, weeks, or months. Some people think that it might never come, but some research we’ve just found shows that there might be a much bigger plan that the hackers are working on. It seems that Joshua Hill, aka @p0sixninja on Twitter, has not been working on an iOS 6 jailbreak for iPhone 4S / 5 and he might have good reason to be busy with something else.

This article suggests that Hill is working on something much bigger, yep bigger than a run-of-the-mill iOS 6 jailbreak, and it could be that this hacker is looking at future devices like the iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 hardware. While it is obvious we, or the hackers do not know the exact details of the next generation iPhones, it seems that the focus of Hill is on a bootROM dump.

This is a task that he may never complete thanks to this never being achieved on the 4S model, which has been the case after Apple changed a few things, although it’s the view of some hackers that a change might have happened with the iPhone 5 hardware that created a few bugs to allow for a bootROM dump.



How are you holding up with the wait for an iOS 6 jailbreak for iPhone 5, 4S, and other iDevices? Head over to the source via the above link to understand more about bootrom dumps, and what it would mean for you if one is actually found. It is also worth noting that planetbeing is working on a kernel exploit, which if all the pieces are found could arrive for iOS 6 in the coming weeks. For now the recommendation from these security researchers is not to update to iOS 6.01, although we’d love to know if you did install the new software?

You might want to read about a few release rumors for the iPhone 5S, or iPhone 6 as some people like to call it, in our earlier article that are very unlikely to happen, although there’s a chance that WWDC 2013 might bring some new iPhone hardware.

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Source: product-reviews.net

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