Whatsapp introduces Video Calls for Android- Beta Version

Some users are reportedly getting the video call feature for WhatsApp.The world’s most used instant messaging service has been getting new features recently. The updated GIF support, document sharing and different emoji for example.

These quality of life changes were not in a particularly high demand, unlike video calling.

The Most Demanded Feature: 

WhatsApp users have demanded video calling ever since the option to call other WhatsApp users has become available. It had some issues at the beginning but they were eventually resolved or diminished to some extent.

The small changes mentioned earlier have been coming to the instant messaging app over the past few weeks. However these changes didn’t warrant as much attention as video calling is getting now.

Available for Beta Users:

The video calling feature is becoming available for users at random. It is limited to the recent beta version of the app only. This requires that both of the people have video calling enabled on their version of WhatsApp. If they do not have video calling enabled they just get a regular call instead.

The video calling UI shows up even if the other person does not have the video calling enabled for them. They will also see a video calling option in their call logs but tapping it would just get you an error.

If you have video calling option available, when you tap the call icon on top of a chat, both video call and regular call option are available. Only a few lucky users seem to have access to this new feature however there is a way to get it running on your WhatsApp as well.

How to enable video calling:

According to Android Police,

We’ve had success forcing video calling to activate by wiping app data and logging in again. You can try this, but make sure you back up your chats first.

Remember this only works for the beta version of the app. We do not recommend trying this on the regular Google PlayStore version of WhatsApp.

For those who want to try out the beta, here’s the Android APK for sideloading.

Million Hacked IOT Devices broke the internet

A massive Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack against Dyn, a major domain name system (DNS) provider, broke large portions of the Internet on Friday, causing a significant outage to a ton of websites and services, including Twitter, GitHub, PayPal, Amazon, Reddit, Netflix, and Spotify.

But how the attack happened? What's the cause behind the attack?

Exact details of the attack remain vague, but Dyn reported a huge army of hijacked internet-connected devices could be responsible for the massive attack.

Yes, the same method recently employed by hackers to carry out record-breaking DDoS attack of over 1 Tbps against France-based hosting provider OVH.

According to security intelligence firm Flashpoint, Mirai bots were detected driving much, but not necessarily all, of the traffic in the DDoS attacks against DynDNS.

Mirai is a piece of malware that targets Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as routers, and security cameras, DVRs, and enslaves vast numbers of these compromised devices into a botnet, which is then used to conduct DDoS attacks.

Since the source code of Mirai Botnet has already made available to the public, anyone can wield DDoS attacks against targets.

This time hackers did not target an individual site, rather they attacked Dyn that many sites and services are using as their upstream DNS provider for turning internet protocol (IP) addresses into human-readable websites.

The result we all know: Major sites and services including Twitter, GitHub, Reddit, PayPal, Amazon, AirBnb, Netflix, Pinterest, and so on, were among hundreds of services rendered inaccessible to Millions of people worldwide for several hours on Friday.

"Flashpoint has confirmed that at least some of the devices used in the Dyn DNS attacks are DVRs, further matching the technical indicators and tactics, techniques, and procedures associated with previous known Mirai botnet attacks," Flashpoint says in a blog post.

This type of attack is notable and concerning because it largely consists of unsecured IoT devices, which are growing exponentially with time. These devices are implemented in a way that they cannot easily be updated and thus are nearly impossible to secure.

Manufacturers majorly focus on performance and usability of IoT devices but ignore security measures and encryption mechanisms, which is why they are routinely being hacked and widely becoming part of DDoS botnets used as weapons in cyber attacks.

An online tracker of the Mirai botnet suggests there are more than 1.2 Million Mirai-infected devices on the Internet, with over 166,000 devices active right now.

In short, IoT botnets like Mirai are growing rapidly, and there is no easy way to stop them.

According to officials speaking to Reuters, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the FBI are both investigating the massive DDoS attacks hitting DynDNS, but none of the agencies yet speculated on who might be behind them.

Most Popular DNS Server 'Dyn' attacked by DDOS - Popular Sites get offline

Cyber attacks are getting evil and worst nightmare for companies day-by-day, and the Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is one such attacks that cause a massive damage to any service.

Recently, the Internet witnessed a record-breaking largest DDoS attack of over 1 Tbps against France-based hosting provider OVH, and now the latest victim of the attack is none other than Dyn DNS provider.

A sudden outage of popular sites and services, including Twitter, SoundCloud, Spotify, and Shopify, for many users, is causing uproar online. It's because of a DDoS attack against the popular Domain Name System (DNS) service provider Dyn, according to a post on Ycombinator.

DNS act as the authoritative reference for mapping domain names to IP addresses. In other words, DNS is simply an Internet's phone book that resolves human-readable web addresses, like thehackernews.com, against IP addresses.

Dyn DNS is used by many websites and services as their upstream DNS provider, including Twitter, Spotify, SaneBox, Reddit, Box, Github, Zoho CRM, PayPal, Airbnb, Freshbooks, Wired.com, Pinterest, Heroku and Vox Media properties.

All of these sites and services are reportedly experiencing outages and downtime, either completely or partially.

According to Dyn DNS, the DDOS started at 11:10 UTC and is mostly affecting its customers in the East Coast of the United States, specifically Managed DNS customers.

"We are aware of the ongoing service interruption of our Managed DNS network. For more information visit our status page," Dyn tweeted.

At the time, it's not clear who is behind this DDoS attack, but the company said its engineers are working on "mitigating" the issue.

Here's the statement posted by Dyn on its website:

"This attack is mainly impacting US East and is impacting Managed DNS customers in this region. Our Engineers are continuing to work on mitigating this issue.

Starting at 11:10 UTC on October 21th-Friday 2016 we began monitoring and mitigating a DDoS attack against our Dyn Managed DNS infrastructure. Some customers may experience increased DNS query latency and delayed zone propagation during this time. Updates will be posted as information becomes available.

Customers with questions or concerns are encouraged to reach out to our Technical Support Team."

What websites are down for you? Let us know in the comments below.

HP Reveals Pocket Sized Sprocket Instant Printer

Instant printing is not exactly a big market but it might just have got the boost it was looking for. The latest product comes courtesy of HP, which has announced its new pocket-sized Sprocket printer.

The printer prints 2 x 3-inch photos after being connected to your smartphone via Bluetooth. It is powered by a rechargeable battery, which takes 90 minutes to recharge but it isn’t told how long it lasts. Its dimensions of 4.53 x 2.95 x 0.87 inches, and a weight of 0.379 pounds mean you can carry it wherever you want.

The Sprocket Instant Printer also doesn’t need to rely on ink cartridges, instead relying on tiny crystals on its ZINK paper to get heated up and show colors. It supports all the popular formats such as .jpeg, .gif, .png, and more. It reportedly comes with 512 MB of storage.

HP’s mini printer comes with dedicated apps for both, Android and iOS, which can be used to customize your photos with text, filters, stickers, frames and more. Photos can be accessed using the app from both your phone’s storage, and a service like Facebook or Instagram. The phone’s camera is also supported for instant conversion.

The printer will be available in White (with Rose Gold) and Black (with Silver) colours. Pricing is set at $129.99 for the printer as well as ZINK photo papers. Additional 10-packs of these papers (with 20 papers each) cost $9.99.

So not exactly what you need, but certainly an interesting piece of technology. Share your opinion on this in the comments section

The Sirius A is a full desktop PC that fits in your pocket

Forget hulking tower PCs, here's a Windows 10 machine so small you can fit it in your pocket.

Despite it's phone-like appearance, the Sirius A, made by Dutch hardware firm Ockel, runs a desktop version of Windows 10 and has the ports needed to be hooked up to a monitor, keyboard and network.

Currently seeking funding on Indiegogo, the mini-PC also includes a six-inch touchscreen, 1080p display for use on the go, 64GB in-built flash storage, a microSD booster slot, 3.5mm audio port and a 3,000mAH battery.

But unlike a smartphone, the Sirius A also comes with two USB 3.0, a USB Type-C, HDMI, DisplayPort and Ethernet ports, as well as a 12V power input for when it is used as a desktop. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity are also included.

To ensure Windows PC software runs on the device, the Sirius A ships with Windows 10 Home 64-bit as an OS, and packs an Intel Atom quad-core processor with 4GB RAM.

Cooling is provided by a heatsink built into the aluminium casing and the Sirius also houses an accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer.

Another possible forthcoming feature is called "switch mode", which Ockel says it's working on with Microsoft to allow the device to function as a mouse or keyboard when attached to a display.

One downside for those hoping to use the portable device, measuring just 85mm x 150mm, on the go might be the battery life, which last about three hours under casual usage.

The campaign for the Sirius A has already passed its $100,000 target, raising $261,371 from 495 backers so far and has 22 days left. During the campaign period, prices start at $549, however the device will sell for $699. Ockel is hoping to ship the finished product in May next year.

Last year Ockel released the Sirius B, which has similar specs to the Sirius A but lacked a touchscreen display.

While somewhat novel, a pocketable Windows 10 device isn't entirely new. The recently released HP Elite X3 allows users to dock the six-inch phone and link it to a monitor and keyboard. The Windows Phone device can run Windows 10 apps and a limited Windows 10 desktop. However, the phone is slightly more expensive, selling for $799.