Thinkware Dashcam Review

By George Harding

This small device gives you a recording of your view out the front window of you r car. It attaches to the windshield with a sticky patch and connects with the power socket in your car with an included cable.

The list of features is impressive! In addition to recording in normal mode, additional modes are incident recording, parking surveillance and manual modes.

Normal recording mode keeps a record for pre-set interval lengths, from 1 minute to about 2 hours. Incident recording means that when an impact occurs, the period 10 seconds before and 10 after are automatically saved for evidentiary purposes. Manual recording lets you record when you want. Recording for all modes is 1080p and 30 fps.

The cable used to attach the dashcam to power only allows connection to a power outlet like that previously used for a cigarette lighter. Having no way to connect to any other power source prevents one from learning the features of the product anywhere but inside a car with the motor running.

Many of the controls for the dashcam are available through a downloadable app for your iOS or Android phone. This tool only works when it connected to the dashcam by Wifi.

To connect to WiFi, you must press the WiFi button on the dashcam, look in Settings/WiFi for Thinkware and connect to start the network. A password only needs to be entered once. Then go back to the app and connect to WiFi. Normal and other modes of recording are suspended while in WiFi mode.

A microSDHC card is included, which provides 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of recording space, depending on the model. There are several sections in the card in which data are stored.

GPS is built in and speed and location are stored as data is recorded.

Two additional features are LDWS (lane departure warning system) and FCWS (Front collision warning system) which give you safety warnings to help you drive safely.

The included Quick Start Guide (English and French) is a very helpful source of info for both setting up and operating the dashcam.

The Thinkware Dashcam is a compact, useful device to keep a record of your driving and provides data when an incident occurs.

www.thinkware.com
Price $225 (Amazon)

Google Docs Phishing Attack

The sophisticated attack appeared to come from a trusted source asking you to open a Google Document. If you clicked, it took you to a page to open the "Google Docs" app with your Google account. This granted access to your email account and contacts.

Google said it stopped the attacks in one hour.

Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says anyone who clicked on the link should check their Google App permissions and remove the one called "Google Docs." You can do that by clicking this link.

It's unclear how widespread the attack was, but reporters at publications including BuzzFeed, CNN and Motherboard tweeted that they'd receiving the phishing email, as had many of their sources.

According to threat intelligence firm Cisco (CSCO, Tech30) Talos, at the peak of the attack its customer base saw around 150 messages sent per minute. The firm said the impact to the general population was likely much larger. (Talos declined to share its customer base figures.)

On Wednesday afternoon, "Google Docs" was a global trending topic on Twitter, meaning a lot of people were talking about the attacks.

In a statement to CNNTech, a Google spokesperson said the attack affected fewer than 0.1% of Gmail users. (Gmail has over one billion monthly active users, and 0.1% of that total would be at least one million accounts.)

Google said contact information was accessed and used in the attack, but no other information was exposed.

"We protected users from this attack through a combination of automatic and manual actions, including removing the fake pages and applications, and pushing updates through Safe Browsing, Gmail, and other anti-abuse systems," the company said in a statement.

It's not clear who was behind the phishing attempts. This attack spread quickly -- the fake Google Docs app read users' contacts and sent more phishing attempts to their contacts.

PowerBee

By George Harding

This drone can do remarkable things. It does not fly alone, but rather flies with a group of similar drones and can form patterns in the sky.

Each drone carries 9 RGB color-changing LED lights which can be used to create patterns, logos and animations. It is limited only by your imagination!

What is most interesting is that a fleet of PowerBees can be directed to  perform in formation.

This attribute can be used to portray a vivid design in ghe sky. The array can be controlled by as few as one person.

PowerBee includes intelligent collision avoidance and safety zone control to protect operational safety.

When flight is combined with a source of music, positioning and movement of the drone array can be coordinated to produce an impressive performance.

www.powervision.me

Price unknown at this time

MSFT Win 10 S

Microsoft hopes a new Windows 10 operating system called Windows 10 S will usurp Chromebook's domination in education and provide a better way for students to learn.

The new version of Windows, announced at an event in New York Tuesday, is targeted at teachers, students, artists and creators. It's got features very similar to that of Chrome OS in Chromebooks, which dominates the education market.

It has a traditional Windows 10 desktop look, and will only run applications downloaded from the Windows App store. That means all applications will be verified and secure.

Windows 10 acts like a "container" that will run secure apps. A version of Microsoft's Office Suite will also come to Windows 10 S.

The container model is similar to that of Chrome OS, which can use only apps available in the Chrome Web Store. Chromebooks populate classrooms in the U.S. and Sweden, and their adoption is growing in other parts of the world.

Acer, Dell, Asus, HP and other PC makers will offer education PCs with the new OS starting at $189. The PCs will be available this summer. The OS is free for all schools, and Office 365 is also free for teachers and education providers.

Until now, education providers like the University of Phoenix -- which is a big user of Surface tablets -- were mainly using the regular OS. But with Chromebook adoption growing, it remains to be seen if Windows 10 S could be a challenger.

Windows 10 S is "inspired by students and teachers," said Terry Myerson, executive vice president of the Windows and Devices Group, during the event.

The OS will be easy to use, it'll be easy to log into, and apps will be tuned to students to promote learning. There is new content for STEM education for the OS. Microsoft also showed off a Arduino-based robot, created as part of a STEM lesson plan. The OS will also support Minecraft Education Edition, which is popular with students.

Magellan RoadMate 6630T-LM

By George Harding

You can’t tell from this product name, but  I was interested in testing  the dash cam that is a part of the product.

Magellan has made navigation devices for many years, but only recently have they included a dash cam. A navigation device shows you a map with you in the center. It uses GPS info to allow your location to change on the map as you drive around. One of the most useful aspects of the device is the ability to direct you to an input  destination by map and by voice.

Recent improvements also allow you to find and select as a destination stores, restaurants, gas stations and more. Traffic info can also be helpful to you as you choose the fastest route.

The 6630T-LM includes a video camera that shows a picture on its screen of what you see outside of your windshield. The view can be recorded and played back later. In the event of an accident or you can take a picture.

A unique feature is the ability to record shortly prior to an accident and shortly after, giving you pictorial evidence you may need.

Recordings  can be viewed either with the dash cam unit or with a separate app downloadable toon your laptop.

The product comes with the RoadMate, windshield mount, power adapter, User Handbook and an 8 GB SDHC card.

One of the first things you are to do is download the latest software and maps. You need a WiFi connection to do this and the device needs to be connected to power. Unfortunately, the only power connector is one that hooks up to the power plug in your car. It would help to have a connector for a wall socket of USB connector cord, since the downloads are lengthy.

I had difficulty attaching  RoadMate to my windshield. The pictorial instructions in the Handbook weren’t helpful, but finally I figured it out.

New Bluetooth Speaker Protocol

Meet Tempow, a French startup that can make your Bluetooth speakers more versatile. The company has been working on a new implementation of the Bluetooth protocol in order to let you play music from your phone on multiple speakers and headphones at once.

Bluetooth speakers have become a common gift and a hit item in consumer electronics stores. Most people now have multiple Bluetooth speakers and headphones at home. While it’s nice that you don’t have to use cables anymore, it can be quite frustrating that you can only play music on one device at a time.

Many manufacturers avoid this issue by relying on Wi-Fi and different protocols, such as Spotify Connect. This is also Sonos’ main selling point. But most speakers are still Bluetooth only.

Tempow is replacing the Bluetooth driver on your phone so that you can send music to multiple Bluetooth devices at once. It works with standard Bluetooth chipsets and all Bluetooth audio devices out there.

It only works on Android as it requires some low-level modifications. As a side note, Apple has developed its own Bluetooth chipset for the AirPods, and the company is probably going to reuse this proprietary chip in all its devices.

After pairing the Bluetooth devices with your phone, you can activate them one by one, enable stereo by differentiating left and right speakers and adjust the volume individually. In other words, it works pretty much like a Sonos system.

Tempow thinks its technology could be valuable for smartphone manufacturers. That’s why the company has been negotiating with them to license its technology.

MSFT Hardware Sales

Four little words from Microsoft CFO Amy Hood describe the tragic state of Microsoft's mobile experiment: "negligible revenue from phones."

Phone sales for the current quarter were bad, falling $730 million from the same period a year ago, Microsoft executives said Thursday during the company's second-quarter earnings call. But they can't fall much further: Hood was referring to a forecast of the current quarter ending in June, when sales of all Microsoft-branded phones will apparently trickle off into oblivion.

Microsoft also said it suffered lower-than-expected sales of Surface Pro products, with an overall drop of 26 percent in Surface revenue. Third-party hardware partners appear to be doing better, however: Microsoft said that sales of its Windows 10 Pro operating systems grew by 10 percent, as more PC vendors were able to sell premium PCs that used Microsoft's more advanced operating system.

Why this matters: Microsoft's hardware woes contrast sharply with the welfare of the company as a whole, as Microsoft's cloud services bolstered the bottom line. Microsoft reported profits of $4.8 billion on $22.1 billion in revenue, up 28 percent and 8 percent, respectively, from a year ago. "I'm proud of the progress we've made," said Satya Nadella, chief executive of Microsoft. While the company has repeatedly insisted Windows Phone isn't dead, however, the slow fade of its own phones doesn't help the platform's prospects.

Down go Windows phones, and Surface too

The Windows phone woes come as no surprise, given that sales of Microsoft's devices have spiraled ever downward quarter after quarter. Microsoft's market share in the mobile phone market is in the single digits within the United States and struggles overseas, as customers jump ship for Android and iOS. Microsoft essentially paid $7.17 billion for a Nokia phone business that went nowhere.

Microsoft also seemed to put meager effort into its most recent update for Windows phones, the Windows 10 Mobile Creators Update, which lacked major features.

Third-party partners like HP are still free to continue making phones, and Microsoft does continue to support the operating system with patches and upgrades within its Insider program. Some have speculated that Microsoft may finalize its plans to bring the entire Windows 10 ecosystem onto one common code base, making a "phone" a PC that can be carried in your hand. For now, however, Hood's words appear to be one of the nails in the coffin of the Windows phone.

An unexpected surprise was how Microsoft's Surface tablets fared. Microsoft's Surface revenue fell to its lowest point in the last five quarters, with just $831 million in total revenue. Part of that might be attributed to seasonality, as Microsoft reported a high-water-mark for Surface revenue, $1.3 billion, during the fourth calendar quarter of 2016. Microsoft attributed the drop to competition to what it called "product end-of-lifecycle dynamics."

The company didn't explain this term, but most likely it means that customers are turning away from Microsoft's aging selection. Microsoft hasn't refreshed the Surface Pro series since Oct. 2015, when it launched the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book. Next week, Microsoft is expected to launch a new device, possibly branded as a Surface, for the education market. Most speculate it will be a rugged, clamshell device, running the rumored Windows 10 Cloud OS.

Microsoft didn't say much about its Xbox business, simply noting that gaming revenue came in at $1.9 billion. Xbox Live subscribers rose from 46 million a year ago to 52 million.