WebUSB API- Connect USB with Internet, SECURELY

Two Google engineers have developed a draft version of an API called WebUSB that would allow you to connect your USB devices to the Web safely and securely, bypassing the need for native drivers.

WebUSB – developed by Reilly Grant and Ken Rockot – has been introduced to the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Incubator Community Group (W3C WICG), is build to offer a universal platform that could be adopted by browser makers in future versions of their software.

Connecting USB Devices to the Web

WebUSB API allows USB-connected devices, from keyboards, mice, 3D printers and hard drives to complex Internet of Things (IoTs) appliances, to be addressed by Web pages.

The aim is to help hardware manufacturers have their USB devices work on any platform, including Web, without having any need to write native drivers or SDKs for a dedicated platform.

Besides controlling the hardware, a Web page could also install firmware updates as well as perform other essential tasks.

However, the draft API (Application Program Interface) is not meant to be used for transferring files to or from flash drives.

"With this API hardware manufacturers will have the ability to build cross-platform JavaScript SDKs for their devices," Google engineers wrote in the draft project description.

"This will be good for the Web because, instead of waiting for a new kind of device to be popular enough for browsers to provide a specific API, new and innovative hardware can be built for the Web from day one."

Privacy and Security Concerns

The Google engineers also outlined security concerns.

• WebUSB will include origin protections, like a type of the Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS), to restrict the Web pages from requesting data from other domains except the one from where they originate.

This means a Web page could not be able to exploit your USB device to access your PC, or your important files or any files that your computer or the USB device itself may hold.

• To address the issue of USB devices leaking data, WebUSB will always prompt the user to authorize a website or web page in order to detect the presence of a device and connect to it.

For now, the WebUSB is only a draft of a potential specification, which hasn't been officially adopted by W3C. WebUSB remains a work in progress at the current, though you can check out the full WebUSB codebase on GitHub.

This Real Hoverboard Can Go up to 10,000 Feet, Unlike Those Exploding Ones

The Flyboard Air is a hoverboard that puts all those other exploding vehicles to shame, since it actually hovers up to 10,000 feet in the air, according to a YouTube video of its prototype's first test run uploaded Saturday. Jet skier Franky Zapata of Zapata Racing is the man behind the somewhat terrifying mode of transportation.

In the video, Zapata launches himself high over a body of water — and survives with a smooth landing. 

Source: 

Aptly dubbed the Independent Propulsion Unit, the literal hoverboard can ride for 10 minutes to a frightening top speed of 93.2 miles per hour, according to the YouTube video. 

Getting humans to fly isn't entirely new ground for Zapata and his company, since they rolled out the water jetpack Flyboard in 2011,Gizmag reported. Unlike the attachment-free Flyboard Air, the original Flyboard was linked to a jet ski using a thick hose, which would use the water to launch the rider into the air. 

But don't get too excited about flying over those plebes on your morning traffic commute, since the Flyboard Air probably won't hit the market in 2016.

Facebook uses Artificial Intelligence to Describe Facebook for Blind Users

Today the Internet has become dominated by images, and it’s the major feature that got Facebook to a Billion daily users.

We can not imagine Facebook without photos, but for Millions of blind and visually impaired people, Facebook without photos has been the reality since its launch.

But not now! Facebook has launched a system, dubbed Automatic Alternative Text, which describes the contents of pictures by telling blind and visually-impaired users what appears in them.

Blind and visually-impaired people use sophisticated navigation software known as screen readers to make their computers usable. The software turns the contents of the screen into speech, but it can't "read" pictures.

However, Facebook's Automatic Alternative Text or AAT uses object recognition technology that can decode and describe photos uploaded to the social network site using artificial intelligence and then provide them in a form that can be readable by a screen reader.

Video Demonstration

ATT tool, led by Facebook's 5-year-old accessibility team, has already made its way to iOS devices and would soon be available for Android and the Web as well.

Facebook says its AAT tool The more images it scans, the more sophisticated the software will become. While still in its early stages, the AAT technology can reliably identify objects and activities in categories including:

• Appearance - baby, eyeglasses, smiling, beard, jewellery, shoes and selfie
• Environment - outdoor, sky, grass, tree, mountain, snow, ocean, beach, water, wave, sun
• Food - pizza, ice cream, dessert, sushi, coffee
• Transport - aeroplane, train, bus, boat, car, motorcycle, bicycle, road
• Sports - tennis, basketball, baseball, golf, swimming, stadium

The move by the social network giant is a bigger step forward for blind and visually-impaired users, although it only works in English at the current.

So in order to see the AAT technology in action for yourself, iOS users using iOS’s built-in screen reader can Go to Settings → General → Accessibility, and activate VoiceOver.

The company will soon bring the new functionality to other mobile platforms as well as languages. You can see the video demonstration to know how AAT tool works for someone using a screen reader.

WhatsApp Turns ON End-to-End Encryption for ALL

WhatsApp is updating its messaging app so that every text message and voice call will be encrypted for the company’s one billion users.

Yes, Whatsapp has finally implemented full end-to-end encryption, as promised a year ago.

This means, from now every message, image or voice call you made will be secured by end-to-end encryption so that only you and the person you're communicating with can read the content of the message, and nobody in between, not even WhatsApp.

In other words, this also means that WhatsApp would not be able to comply with any court order that demands access to the content of any conversation happens over its service.

Starting today, you will see a notification on your WhatsApp conversation screen as your messenger becomes end-to-end encrypted, as shown in the screenshot.

"Message you send to this chat and calls are now secured with end-to-end encryption. Tap for more info." 

"This is because your messages are secured with a lock, and only the recipient and you have the special key needed to unlock and read them," Whatsapp says.

Additionally, you will be able to see a small lock icon below the profile of the recipient that ensures your conversation is secured with encryption.

"All of this happens automatically: no need to turn on settings or set up special secret chats to secure your messages," the company adds.

How to verify if someone is trying to spy on your conversation?

Well,  the latest version of WhatsApp mobile application offers you an option to verify the keys of the other users with whom you are communicating, ensuring prevention from the man-in-the-middle attack.

Whatsapp key verification can be done by scanning a QR code, or by comparing a 60-digit number, under newly introduced "verify security code" option in the WhatsApp.

"WhatsApp users can opt in to a preference which notifies them every time the security code for a contact changes."

About a year ago, Facebook partnered with ‘Open Whisper System’, company behind the popular Signal and TextSecure encryption apps, to integrate the Signal's Open source strong encryption protocol into WhatsApp messaging app.

Important Note — However, there is one point to be noted that if several users are sending texts in a group chat and one of the users is running an older version of WhatsApp that doesn’t support encrypted messages, all the conversation going through that group chat will remain unencrypted.

10 Most Important Announcement of Microsoft Build 2016

Microsoft holds a Build Conference every year and recently these developer events have transformed from snoozers to exciting occasions. Last year, the company came up with Windows 10 – a major winner, Cortana – a reliable virtual assistant and HoloLens features – detailing what the product could possess as the leading AR product.

Let’s go through the 10 most important announcements at the 2016 edition of Microsoft’s Build Conference.

Bots Everywhere

Probably the most important announcement, as far as the future is concerned, was the revelation about bots. Conversations will be the next platform for computing and it’ll be handled by AI (Artificial Intelligence) bots. These bots will respond to what people say.

Satya Nadella said that Microsoft had made an error with Tay, the teen social bot. Tay made some racist comments and was shut down after one day. It was re-enabled yesterday for a few minutes before it was shut down again due to a major glitch. Nadella said they want to get the best of humanity, not the worst. But perhaps, the bot got too close to humans and represented the real face of how humans act.

Nadella says that human language will be the next UI layer, bots will be the new apps and virtual assistants will be the new meta apps. AI will be behind it all and will be integrated into other services like Skype. Cortana is an example of an AI bot from Microsoft which works within a browser and Skype.

Bot Framework for Devs

As far as the developers are concerned, this was the best announcement. Microsoft will be making it easier than ever for Bots to communicate with any of the chat apps whether it be WhatsApp or Slack. The company also revealed some new tools for bots and gave an example of how to create a bot for Domino’s Pizza using these tools. These bots will support natural language and will be able to communicate with multiple apps.

All of this run using Cortana Intelligence Suite, which runs using Microsoft Bot framework. It is a cognitive services platform like computer vision and natural language which the developers can make use of. The platform includes 22 APIs, available from today.

Cortana is Now Smarter

Windows 10 Anniversary Edition will be getting a huge update in terms of Cortana’s abilities. It will understand events based on time and predict calendar appointments based on emails and texts. For example, it can identify what you were working on last night or where you were last week.

Cortana is also coming to the Xbox to help gamers find new titles and to share tips & tricks on gameplay. It will work better with third party apps, depending on the developer’s level of integration.

Skype and Bots

Microsoft is pushing Skype to be something superior compared to the rest of the communication apps. Skype will now be able to talk with Cortana, which will communicate with another bot and communicate the user commands properly.

A demo was shown on how a bot from Cups and Cakes asked for an address to complete a delivery. Cortana was a broker in the conversations and displayed a map with info on the estimated arrival time. It can also reply to people just like Google Smart Inbox replies.

All of this can work inside of a Skype call as users can add video bots to the chats.

The Next Windows 10 Update

Microsoft is calling it an “Anniversary Update” for Windows. It will include a few new features and improve Windows 10. The OS and its browser will be getting biometric authentication in a new and improved manner.

Microsoft talked about a Universal Windows Platform. It will be open and will work across all Microsoft devices, be it a smartphone, PC or HoloLens. There’s a new Linux command as well, which convert legacy apps to the app platform.

Xbox and Windows Gaming is Now Integrated

Microsoft started off with the announcement that Forza, the popular racing game, will be created as a universal app for Windows. So the same game will work on Windows and Xbox. The same goes for Quantun Break and Killer Instinct.

That desktop app converter mentioned before will also work with win32-based games. The company showed off how Age of Empires II HD can be downloaded from Steam and converted to a universal app. It works on the latest games like the Witcher 3 as well. These games get the same Live Tiles and Notifications after the conversion.

Xbox One now doubles as dev kit too. Games and apps can now be developed using any retail Xbox One. Desktop apps run fine on the Xbox and the software displays how an app would look like on a big TV screen. A preview of the dev mode for Xbox is available from today. Finally, Microsoft is creating a new unified app store which will work across PC and Xbox.

HoloLens is Now Shipping

Yes, the HoloLens is now shipping but only to developers. It is not meant for consumers and will cost a lot, but what it means is that the hardware is nearly finalised and it’s close to being on sale.

The first HoloLens app is Galaxy Explorer, an interactive set of holograms of planets and galaxies which can be manipulated via gestures. The app and its source code are available to developers now. NASA also showed off OnSight and Destination Mars for HoloLens which will let the user walk the red planet from a scientist’s point of view.

A couple universities displayed their medical apps for HoloLens. There was an anatomy program which showed a real life body and all its organs. A professor from across the country, connected as an avatar and taught a lesson to the students in great detail.

Windows Ink Improvement

Stylus will be getting improved support from now on thanks to “Ink Workspace” which consists of a few pen-powered apps. Write a sticky note with a stylus and Cortana will automatically remind you when it is time to do that task. If you draw two points of interest on a map, it will automatically tell you the distance and the directions. Dragging on text will automatically highlight it and so on.

Microsoft also showcased a bunch of virtual stencils and rulers which will help in drawing on a screen.

Universal Apps for Windows 10

A ton of games and popular apps are coming to Microsoft devices as Universal Windows Platform Apps. Microsoft showed how developers can add some new graphical styles to their apps like motion blurs and highlight effects. Developers can add some code into their apps making them Ink compatible.

The software giant showed off a new tool for developers which will let them convert all of their existing 16 million apps to the new universal platform.

Linux Command Line for Windows

Bash – “Bourne Again Shell” – will now be available in Windows. What it means is that Windows will support Linux and native Ubuntu commands and binaries will run on Windows. To top it off, Microsoft and Canonical worked on it together.

It’s a big deal for developers who had to use Linux or third party tools to code using Linux commands. Now all of that is built into Windows.