techSaid

Send SMS to charge your cellphone                     Out of battery? Just send a text! People living off-grid can now power their phones simply by sending a text message.A London-based company Buffalo Grid has introduced a solar-powered cellphone charging station that is activated by text message.A patchy or absent power grid poses a conundrum of problems for rural areas in the developing world, particularly in Africa and Asia, where the use of cellphones is rapidly rising.          The company's basic technology, which was recently trialled in Uganda, should help tackle this issue, 'NewScientist' reported.The battery extracts power from the solar panel using a technique called maximum power point tracking (MPPT). A 60-watt solar panel charges a battery.A solar panel's power output is dictated by environmental conditions, such as temperature and the amount of sunlight, as well as the resistance of the circuits connected to it.MPPT monitors the conditions an

Mobile threats: Android most vulnerable                    Kaspersky Lab in a recent statement said that mobile users were actively searching for software from suspicious sources and taking no precautions when launching an unknown programme - all of which makes it easier for cybercriminals to infect devices.             Kaspersky Lab's key mobile forecast for 2012 had said that cybercriminals indeed focused their attention on the highly popular Android platform, and the number of threats for it continued to grow at a rapid pace. In January 2012, the lab had less than 6,000 unique malware samples for Android in its database, but the year ended with an astounding figure of 43,000+ malicious programmes. Over 99% of new threats found in 2012 targeted Android-based smartphones and tablets, with less than 1% aimed at devices running Symbian and BlackBerry operating systems or supporting the mobile version of Java. The statement said that the most widespread Android threats