Tag: china
Zombie virus infects 1 million Chinese cell phones
by admin on Nov.12, 2010, under Handheld Devices, Tech News
The downside of having smarter phones is that they are easier to hack. China is finding this out the hard way. More than 1 million cell phones in China have been infected with a virus that continually sends out text messages, costing the country’s citizens $300,000 a day (2 million yuan), according to Shanghai Daily (via InformationWeek).
The ‘zombie’ virus is hidden in a fake anti-virus app. Once installed, the virus sends all of the names and phone numbers on a user’s SIM card to the hackers, who automatically take control the phone and send spam texts to friends and family. The texts are usually full of links that will infect others with the virus or are sent to pay-to-text phone numbers, racking in cash for the hackers. The virus infected one million users by the end of the first week of September and has continued to grow since then. China’s National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team Center is working to solve the problem.
Like always, copycat viruses have already begun to appear and the country is having a difficult time tracking down those responsible for the virus.
A troubling trend
As the smartphone market continues to evolve, more exploits, hacks, and viruses will likely appear on phones worldwide. A recent prediction by Imperva drives this home. “We expect exponential growth in the number of incidents related to mobile devices in the next few years. From theft or compromise of information in these devices, through massive infection campaigns, and up to frequent exploit of the vulnerabilities introduced into the server side.”In July, a security company discovered that a series of Android wallpaper apps were bundled with a virus that steals personal information. The virus sent the user’s phone number, subscriber identifier, and voicemail number to an unknown location in China. Luckily, that virus didn’t end up costing users millions in overages.
By Yahoo News
China’s Tianhe-1A is world’s fastest supercomputer !
by admin on Oct.28, 2010, under High End Tech
It happened. China just passed the US and the world with the reveal of the world’s fastest supercomputer. The fully operational Tianhe-1A, located at the National Supercomputer Center in Tianjin, scored 2.507 petaflops as measured by the LINPACK benchmark. That moves it past Cray’s 2.3 petaflops Jaguar located at Oak Ridge National Lab in Tennessee. Tianhe-1A achieved the record using 7,168 NVIDIA Tesla M2050 GPUs and 14,336 Intel Xeon CPUs consuming 4.04 megawatts. Knowing that 10 petaflops is within reach by 2012, we’ll see if Tianhe-1A can maintain its title when the new Top500 supercomputers list is released next week.
By Nvidia (Engadget)
Lenovo making its own videogame console !
by admin on Aug.29, 2010, under Console Gameing, Tech News
Chinese PC maker Lenovo
has announced plans to develop its own video game console for the Chinese market. The new platform’s name, EBox, not only invokes images of Microsoft’s own Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles, it will also come with a proprietary Kinect-like control scheme that will recognize shapes and movement without the need for a controller.A 40-strong team of engineers was spun off Lenovo earlier this month to create Eedoo Technology, the firm tasked with development of the Ebox. The console is expected to make its debut this November and hit the market by the first quarter of 2011. A price point has yet to be nailed down a bit lower but Lenovo estimates it to be a bit lower than the US$ 300 Xbox 360.Eedoo Technology boss Jack Luo believes they will be “the world’s second company to produce a controller-free game console, behind only Microsoft.” The EBox won’t aspire to HD-level graphics and hardcore gameplay, however, with Eedoo following Nintendo’s more casual-centric gameplan for the Wii.”Our product is designed for family entertainment. EBox may not have exquisite game graphics, or extensive violence, but it can inspire family members to get off the couch and get some exercise,” Luo said. He believes they will be able to sell more than 1 million EBoxes annually after the first two to three years.The EBox will come bundled with around 30 games. Sixteen “global video game developers” have reportedly already signed on to develop games for it.
By QJ
RIM BlackPad tablet priced at $499 when it ships in November?
by admin on Aug.09, 2010, under Handheld Devices
Come on, admit it, you want to believe that RIM is working on a tablet called the BlackPad don’t you? You’d better, because Apple Daily is piling on with more unsubstantiated rumor this morning. So, in addition to the 9.7-inch display, Bluetooth, WiFi, and front- and rear-facing cameras already mentioned by Bloomberg’s sources, Apple Daily claims that Quanta won the bid to manufacture the tablet with plans to ramp up for 2 million units starting in September (for a November retail launch) with another 8 million planned for 2011. The price? $499 is the target, naturally.
By Engadget
HTC starts selling phones in China under its own name
by admin on Jul.27, 2010, under Handheld Devices
It’s long been the case that if you wanted a HTC handset over in the world’s most populous nation, you’d have had to look for its rebadged variant under the Dopod brand. But, as of today, that is no more. The prolific Taiwanese phone maker has decided that its name is now recognizable and valuable enough in China to be put on its own hardware and is kicking off a campaign with four own-branded phones. The Wildfire and Desire we’re all familiar with already, while the Tianxi looks like a mildly tweaked HD2 and the Tianyi is a mix-and-match of design elements from the rest of HTC’s portfolio. The company’s also announcing a partnership with China Mobile to bring these puppies to market, so it’s looking like smooth sailing ahead. Full PR after the break.
By Engadget
