BlackBerry's masterplan may be phone-powered tablets and laptops

This could soon power your computing arsenal

BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins has revealed that the company is working on ways for smartphones to power all of our computing devices and provide users with a unified syncronised experience.

Speaking to ABC News upon the US launch of the BlackBerry Z10, Heins said folks are fed up with carrying around multiple devices and that there's no reason why a smartphone can't carry the load.

He said: "We are talking about a mobile-computing experience that makes sure that for you as a user, you only have to carry one computing device.

"Then you get peripherals around it that make your life much more easy than it is today carrying a tablet, carrying a smartphone, carrying a laptop, going to your office and having a desktop."

Succeeding where Moto failed?

It seems that Heins is referring to laptop dock similar to the one Motorola tried (and failed) with its Atrix line of smartphones, or a tablet dock similar to the ASUS Padfone.

He would not be drawn on exactly the solutions he had in mind but said all will be revealed at the BlackBerry Live expo in Orlando, Florida in May.

He added: ""There are various configurations you can think about,"

"We are working on a few of those, so allow me to not comment on those in depth. But we will talk about a few of those concepts at BlackBerry World."

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/blackberry-s-masterplan-may-be-smartphone-powered-tablets-and-laptops-1140137

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Apple fixes password reset security flaw, iForgot page back online

iForgot page is back online

Apple has plugged a worrying security hole that allowed an unauthorised party to change a user's Apple ID password just by using the correct email address and date of birth.

The worrying flaw, discovered on Friday, allowed hackers to send a modified URL to the company's iForgot webpage and reset a user's password without having to answer additional security questions.

The company soon responded by temporarily removing the iForgot page from the web and promised it was "working on a fix."

Now, less than 24 hours later, the iForgot page has been restored and the problem has been resolved, according to the iMore website which has verified that the hack is no longer active.

Dancing the two-step

The discovery of the simple work-around came just one day after Apple rolled-out the two-step verification security tool.

This requires users to confirm their identity through a "trusted device" like an iPhone or iPad, whenever changes are made to their Apple ID or iCloud account.

However, such was the rush to sign-up for the simpler (there's no need for security questions) and more secure account protection tool that when yesterday's problem emerged, there was a three-day queue to switch.

This left those stuck with the old password reset method vulnerable until Apple fixed the flaw late on Friday night.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/apple/apple-fixes-password-reset-security-flaw-iforgot-page-back-online-1140133

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