How to print from Google Nexus tablet

Third-party printing apps in the Google Play store offer a few ways to print from an Android tablet, but Google has its own solution as well: Google Cloud Print. It connects a home printer to the web, where webconnected devices like Android tablets and smartphones can see and use it. 

Although the technology works a bit more smoothly with printer models classified as "Cloud Ready," you can also use an older printer — as long as that printer is connected to your computer. You need a free Google account and the company's Chrome browser installed on the computer that is connected to the printer. You also need Google's Cloud Print app from the Play store on your tablet or smartphone to manage print jobs and printer options. 

A bit of setup is involved before you can start printing, including registering the printer with the Google Cloud Print service using the Chrome browser. You can find instructions, answers to common questions, a list of Cloud Ready printer models and troubleshooting guides at support. google.com/cloudprint. 

If you have updated your device to Android 4.4 (KitKat), a built-in printing function is included; the Talk Android site has a how-to video.

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BlackBerry is not for everyone: CEO

BlackBerry's interim chief executive said reports of the death of the company "are greatly exaggerated."

Former Sybase CEO John Chen said in a letter to customers that BlackBerry is returning to its roots, refocusing on delivering devices and services to business users.

Chen was brought in as the interim chief executive and executive chair after talks to sell the company collapsed last month.

He said in the letter that the company is aware that "BlackBerry is not for everyone."

Blackberry quickly lost dominance as the leading smartphone maker after the 2007 launch of Apple's touchscreen iPhone and the 2008 introduction of Google-powered Android phones.

Chen notes that competitors are circling but that BlackBerry is "very much alive, thank you."

Chen said BlackBerry has substantial cash and said he'll refocus the company on four areas, including the handset business. Chen put more emphasis on BlackBerry's mobile device management business, which allows IT departments to manage different devices connected to their corporate networks. He also emphasized BlackBerry's popular BlackBerry Messenger application. And he mentioned embedded QNX software systems, which are used in-vehicle infotainment systems and industrial machines.

BGC analyst Colin Gillis said a letter meant to reassure customers is needed. The much-hyped BlackBerry 10 system, its latest phones, flopped. The company disclosed in September that it would book nearly a billion dollars in losses related to unsold phones and the company announced last month it was no longer for sale.

"They are being targeted pretty heavily. Their customers are up for grabs," Gillis said.

Focusing on business users is probably the only move Blackberry has left, Gillis said.

"It's a much smaller business. This is the niche player. You can build phones for those people in that niche. You can have a decent little business," Gillis said. "Enterprise customers who like keyboards. There's not really a good keyboard device out there. Some people like keyboards. I personally don't love typing on glass."

Gillis said he expects Chen to name himself CEO soon because he's not acting like an interim CEO. "He's signing all this stuff as CEO," Gillis said.

Shares of BlackBerry rose 4 cents to $6.37 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq.

The decline of the BlackBerry has come shockingly fast. The BlackBerry, pioneered in 1999, changed the culture by allowing on-the-go business people to access wireless email. Then came a new generation of competing smartphones, and suddenly the BlackBerry looked ancient. Apple first showed that phones can handle much more than email and phone calls with its iPhone. In the years since, BlackBerry been hammered by competition from the iPhone as well as Android-based rivals.

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Google filters inappropriate words from Android 4.4

 Google has reportedly banned a list of more than 1,400 English words deemed inappropriate for the users of latest Android KitKat. 

The latest version of Android has a special directory of words, like intercourse, coitus, screwing, lovemaking, butt, geek, and medical terms like gonadatrophia, irrumination, thud, LSAT, pizzle, as well as related to reproductive health and undergarments like Tampax, lactation, preggers, panty, braless, uterus, STI, condom which do not appear in the autocomplete feature of the OS, Wired reports.

However, the filter for this directory can be disabled in the Google Keyboard settings, which makes all words both swipeable and available for autocomplete, the report added. 

According to the report, the bizarre dictionary has a zero tolerance policy on morphine, demerol and barbituric acid precursor malonylurea, while marijuana, methamphetamine and even bong are allowed in it. 

Islam-related words Sunni and Iftar are censored, but many others related to the Muslim faith and other religions are acceptable, the report added.

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Microsoft working on single update for Windows, WP, Xbox

 Microsoft's new unified operating-system is reportedly codenamed "Threshold" which is said to include updates of all three OS platforms, Xbox One, Windows and Windows Phone. 

Microsoft executive vice president Terry Myerson recently mentioned the codename in an internal email, which refers to the wave of operating systems across Windows-based phones, devices and gaming consoles, ZDNet reports. 

Microsoft plans to support the same core set of "high value activities" across platforms, like documents, decision making, IT management. 

The company is also about to deliver an update to Windows 8.1, known as Windows 8.1 Update 1, in 2014.

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Windows tablet sales to touch 39.3 million by 2017: IDC

The growth of smart devices like 2-in-1s and tablets is expected to fuel the volume for desktop vendors and the PC ecosystem in coming years with shipments of Windows-based tablets expected to touch 39.3 million units by 2017, research firm IDC said. 

Two-in-ones are devices that can function both as a tablet and a laptop. 

"Emergence of 2-in-1 devices, many of which will run Windows along with Windows-based tablets themselves, is expected to provide some new volume for the Windows platform as well as the PC vendors and other parts of the traditional PC ecosystem in coming years," IDC said in a statement. 

IDC said it finds that PC is still the primary computing device, its usage is nonetheless declining each year as more devices become available. 

"The Windows-based tablet market is expected to grow to 39.3 million units in 2017 from less than 7.5 million in 2013 and less than 1 million in 2011," IDC Worldwide Quarterly PC Trackers Vice President Loren Loverde said. 

However, he added that relative to the PC market size of roughly 300 million units by 2017, these Windows tablets would add just a couple per cent a year relative to PC growth. 

"Even so, these Windows devices are projected to account for 10 per cent of a combined PC and Windows Tablet market by 2016, making them an important growth segment for the PC ecosystem," Loverde said. 

The research firm forecasts that global PC shipments are expected to fall by 10.1% in 2013, slightly below the previous projection of 9.7 per cent and by far the most severe yearly contraction on record. 

The firm expects PC shipments in 2013 to touch 314.2 million units from 349.4 million last year. Shipments are projected at 305.1 million units by 2017.

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Ransom-demanding Trojan virus on prowl in Indian cyberspace

 

Cyber security sleuths have warned Indian Internet users against a potent Trojan virus in the social media and email circuit which stealthily encrypts important documents of the user and then asks for a 'ransom' to unlock proprietary messages.

The audacity of the virus has been categorised as "severe" and cyber experts say such a malicious programme has been detected for the first time which asks for a ransom of an estimated Euro or USD 300 to unlock the genuine files of a user through "anonymous pre-paid cash vouchers".

Once activated in the user's email or in the operating system, the virus jeopardises the overall security of the user's classified information.

The number of incidents, perpetrated by the virus called 'cryptolocker', however, are low in India at present.

"An advisory has hence been issued to stop its prevalence and multiplying capability in Indian cyberspace," an expert cyber cop said.

The notorious malware has got as may as seven aliases to hide its original character in the cyberspace.

"It has been observed that the variants of malware family Win32/Trojan.Cryptolocker are spreading widely. Cryptolocker is spreading via malicious hyperlinks shared via spam emails, social media, malicious email attachments (fake FedEx and UPS tracking notices), drive-by-download or as a part of dropped file from other malwares.

"Cryptolocker encrypts files located within local drives, shared network drives, USB drives, external hard drives, network file shares and even some cloud storage drives using RSA public-key cryptography (2048-bit), with the private key stored only on the malware's control servers," country's premier cyber security agency-- Computer Emergency Response Team-India (CERT-In) said in its latest advisory to Internet enabled computer users.

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Hackers targeting PNB customers: Websense

Cybercriminals tried to steal passwords of corporate and individual customers of Punjab National Bank (PNB) last week, global cybersecurity firm Websense said.

California-based Websense, which provides protection against cyberattacks and data theft, said it was able to block the intrusion, which involved a phishing attack.

Phishing involves sending emails purporting to be from reputable firms to unsuspecting individuals and also corporate entities to induce then in revealing personal and financial information like passwords, credit card numbers etc.

"Last week, Websense Security Labs came across a phishing email targeting PNB customers. The phishing attack was aimed to obtain password of corporate and individual customers," Websense regional director India, Surendra Singh told PTI.

PNB is not the client of the company, but these phishing mails were sent to several individuals and some corporate who are clients of Websense, he added.

PNB officials were not immediately available for comments. Singh said this phishing campaign requires the recipient to open an email attachment and fill in the required fields, including user ID, password, transaction password and mobile number.

Once completed the form redirects customers to a legitimate bank site, while their personal information including password credentials are sent to a server under the attacker's control, he added.

"This information is often sold by cybercriminals to the internet underworld or they use it themselves, Singh said.

There has been an increase in the intensity and number of phishing and other cyberattacks trying to steal financial information from individuals as well as corporate and Websense expects such acts to grow in the future, he added.

The firms security predictions for 2014 projects that cyber criminals will rely less on high-volume advanced malware because over time it runs a higher risk of detection.

They will instead use lower volume, more targeted attacks to secure a foothold, steal user credentials and move unilaterally throughout infiltrated networks.

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