iOS Personal Hotspot can be cracked in 60 seconds – Here’s how to change your password

If you’re a user of the Personal Hotspot feature on your iPhone then we’ve got a little bit of a heads up for you; don’t use the default password you’re issued!

It’s come to light that Apple’s default password issuing system for the Personal Hotspot feature can be cracked in under a minute, if you have the right equipment. Once cracked, devices that are not authorised by you could connect to your hotspot and use your internet without your knowledge.

Personal Hotspot is a feature which allows iPhone users to take their 3G or 4G mobile connection and share it with other devices, including smartphones, tablets and even laptops. It effectively transforms an iPhone into a wireless router, where the user gets to choose the name of the network and the password, or they can use a set of default details provided by Apple.

It’s this default password that can be cracked with surprising ease. A German university discovered that Apple dishes out passwords for Personal Hotspots from a Scrabble dictionary of 52,500 words, although only 1,842 different words are actually used by the system. This means that the strength of each password is pretty low, making it relatively simple to crack it with the right equipment.

The researchers were able to use a single computer to crack the password used on an iPhone’s Personal Hotspot in 49 seconds or less. Whilst the hardware required to do this isn’t feasibly available to most, it highlights the need for iPhone users to set their own unique passwords when using the Personal Hotspot feature. Here’s how to do just that;

1. Open Settings
2. Tap Personal Hotspot
3. Turn Personal Hotspot on
4. Tap Wi-Fi Password
5. Use the keyboard to delete default password and type out a new one
6. Tap Done

Try to use a mixture of letters and numbers and keep your password between 8 and 16 characters. The longer the better!

Source: Gadget Helpline

Galaxy Mini 2 not getting Jelly Bean update, Samsung says

After originally saying that the dinky and affordable Galaxy Mini 2 would be getting a boost in the form of the Android Jelly Bean update, Samsung appears to have gone back on its word.

The Korean tech company revealed a long list of its Galaxy devices which would be getting the coveted Jelly Bean update, way back in September of last year. Most of the phones and tablets on that list have since been updated, but Galaxy Mini 2 owners have been left waiting.

A recent tweet from Samsung’s Spanish division, @SamsungMobileES, confirmed that the update has been canned. Our Spanish isn’t the best, but the tweet replies to a question from a Galaxy Mini 2 owner about the update, saying that it will not be coming to the phone as Samsung cannot create the best user experience possible with it.

If we’re honest, we were surprised to see the Mini II on the list back in September. Jelly Bean is usually reserved for high-end phones and capable mid-rangers, and the Mini II falls into the entry level category below both. Its 800MHz single core processor and 512MB of RAM will likely lead to the phone becoming rather slow and sluggish once Jelly Bean gets installed, which is certainly worse than not actually getting the update in the first place.

The handset will continue to run on Android Gingerbread 2.3.6, which is the version it arrived with back in March of last year.

Source: Gadget Helpline

Nokia teases 41 megapixel EOS smartphone ahead of July 11th event

After sending out invites to a New York event on July 11th, Nokia has teased us with exactly what we wanted to hear: there is another 41 megapixel phone on the way!

Last week the Finnish manufacturer alluded to a camera-centric smartphone launch in NYC next month, with the tagline “Zoom. Reinvented” hinting at the company’s long-rumoured EOS smartphone. This latest hint pretty much confirms that a new Lumia smartphone featuring Nokia’s once experimental 41 megapixel PureView camera will be making an appearance.

The ‘EOS’ is a phone that is rumoured to feature the same 41 megapixel image sensor that Nokia debuted in the Symbian-powered 808 PureView. Since the launch of that phone back in 2012 we’ve heard countless rumours of a Windows Phone with PureView camera tech inside, and in recent months various leaks have shown such a product to be real.

The phone itself has appeared a number of times in various forms, the best leak being a review of what we believe to have been a prototype model. From the images on display in the review it looks as though Nokia will be sticking the huge camera sensor, along with LED and Xenon flash modules and a Carl Zeiss lens, in a phone body that looks a lot like the Lumia 900.

It might just be us, but Nokia’s choice of colours for these two EOS teasers matches up with Nikon’s famously bold black and yellow colour scheme – could a partnership be in the works, or could we just be looking too far in to things? We’ll find out in 21 days!

Source: Gadget Helpline

Microsoft removes Xbox One’s 24hr Internet check-in and Game Reselling restrictions

In what will be considered one of the biggest u-turns in electronics history, Microsoft has today announced that they will be removing some of the restrictions that have soured gamers towards Microsoft’s incoming Xbox One console.

Last week’s E3 gaming event in Los Angeles revealed many things but the biggest issue was the lack of DRM and always online connectivity requirements for the Sony PlayStation 4, which was the complete opposite to the previously announced Xbox One and thus placed Sony’s incoming console in a much better position and light with fans.

Microsoft however has heard the outcrys of fans and in a statement made on the official Xbox Wire News site, MS has announced that it will be dropping some of the controversial aspects of the Xbox One.

In the statement Microsoft says:

“The following changes to Xbox One and how you can play, share, lend, and resell your games exactly as you do today on Xbox 360. Here is what that means:

“An internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games – After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again. There is no 24 hour connection requirement and you can take your Xbox One anywhere you want and play your games, just like on Xbox 360.”

“Trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today – There will be no limitations to using and sharing games, it will work just as it does today on Xbox 360.”

“In addition to buying a disc from a retailer, you can also download games from Xbox Live on day of release. If you choose to download your games, you will be able to play them offline just like you do today. Xbox One games will be playable on any Xbox One console — there will be no regional restrictions.”

Which basically means that gamers will no longer need to connect to the internet once every 24 hours to play a single player game, in fact they wont need to connect at all after the game has been installed. Gamers will also be able to re-sell any of these games that they purchase as well as use a purchased game on a friend’s or other consoles!

Microsoft has said that the changes have come from the feedback of the Xbox fans (and possibly the gloating of Sony fans too) and Don Mattrick, President of Interactive Entertainment Business, who announced the changes also stated “[Microsoft] would like to take the opportunity today to thank you for your assistance in helping us to reshape the future of Xbox One“

This is absolutely amazing news for Xbox fans and could possibly sway people back to the Xbox One as so many gamers have been shocked by the strong DRM measures Microsoft was looking at implementing.

So it’s a triumph for the gamers and now a real battle is gearing up. Were you swayed to the PS4 by Microsoft’s restrictions, and if so, will you now be going with Xbox?

 Check out all our thoughts and feelings on last weeks E3 conference!

Source: Gadget Helpline