The entrepreneur who made a crazy $16,000 smartphone now wants to build a $999 blockchain phone

The entrepreneur who made a crazy $16,000 smartphone now wants to build a $999 blockchain phone

The Finney devices would be able to share data, battery power, and computing power with other Finney devices.

Moshe Hogeg is the cofounder and CEO of Sirin Labs.  (Amir Cohen/Reuters)
The startup said on Tuesday that the $999 (£742) smartphone and the $799 (£593) PC will sit under a new device range called "Finney" and that they will be "secure open source consumer electronics for the blockchain era."

The founder and CEO of Sirin Labs is serial entrepreneur Moshe Hogeg — an eccentric Israeli who convinced Leondardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy to attend the launch of his first phone. In addition to Sirin Labs, Hogeg is also the founder of messaging app Yo!, photo-sharing startup Mobli, and venture capital firm Singulariteam, which has raised around $202 million (£150 million).

Hogeg told Business Insider ahead of the Finney announcement that the yet-to-be-built devices will be able to share data, battery power, and processing power with other Finney devices (sometimes a cable will be necessary).

But there's one condition: these resources can only be offered in exchange for the company's SRN cryptocurrency. "You share the value [of your resources] and get value in exchange," said Hogeg.

Sirin Labs needs to raise tens of millions of dollars to fund Finney's development. Hogeg plans to do this by issuing a new cryptocurrency and selling some of it to investors in exchange for legal tender or other cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin. "We need around $50 million (£37 million) to build the phone," Hogeg said. "If we get $75 million (£56 million) we can build the computer."

Assuming the money is raised for Finney, then the phone will take around nine months to develop, while the PC will take six months, Hogeg said.

The Finney devices will run on Sirin Labs' Shield OS, which would be designed to support a number of blockchain applications. The company writes on its website that Shield OS would be able to support a crypto wallet, encrypted communications, and a P2P resource sharing ecosystem for payment and apps.

Hogeg is exceptionally bullish when it comes to the blockchain to the extent that he told Business Insider on August 31 that he wants to invest in every Israeli blockchain startup there is. "I actually think it's underhyped," said Hogeg, who plans to invest anything from a few thousand dollars to a few million in local blockchain startups.

Sirin Labs is also willing to work with other phone manufacturers to promote the adoption of Finney, in the same way that Google has done with Android. The company will need another $25 million (£18 million) to fund the development of Shield OS for OEMS.

On the topic of Sirin's premium Solarin phone, Hogeg said: "The company has pivoted from luxury phones to mass market electronics. We released some of the man power we didn't need and hired new ones that are focused on blockchain.

"The company is going in a new direction. We still sell the line but we're not planning to keep developing the line. We're not going to invest more money."

Get A Better Whatsapp Experience With These 4 Hacks

Get A Better Whatsapp Experience With These 4 Hacks

The Whatsapp has already changed the means of communicating with each other. This app has become so successful that now people use it more than the SMS service provided by the mobile network. In the recent past year, the Whatsapp has become the top app for chat, sending and receiving files and now for voice and video chats too. Apart from all these, this app can do other things also which very few people know.

In this article, I am going to tell you about those four features of the Whatsapp that can make your experience much better than before.

1. Whatsapp Web:

With the Whatsapp Web, the Whatsapp has gone beyond the Smartphone’s and people can use it on the laptop or desktop computers too. With the Whatsapp Web, anyone can use all the features of Whatsapp on the big screen. It doesn’t end here. While using the Whatsapp on the computer, your Whatsapp on the Smartphone will be completely synced with the web version so you can save all your conversation on the Smartphone too. But with this, you can do an incredible hack too. By saving your cell phone number as a contact on your phone, you can send files either from a computer to your Smartphone or Smartphone to your computer. Just send any file on your number and you will get it on both platforms.

2. Contact Icon:

Do you have any person with whom you talk a lot on Whatsapp? If you have then I have a good news for you. There is a feature of the Whatsapp that allows you to create a contact icon on your home screen which can directly lead you to the conversation of that one contact with whom you talked a lot. All you have to do is to hold the tap on that particular number till it gets selected. Then click on the colon in the top right corner of the screen and tap the add chat shortcut option. It will create a shortcut on the home screen which can direct you directly to the conversation.

3. Star Messages:

Giving your messages the star status can make the use of Whatsapp much faster and effective. With this, you can save these messages in a separate folder which can be seen at any time. Moreover, by tapping on one of these star messages, you will be directed to the time of the conversation when you either received or sent that message.

4. Whatsapp Broadcast:

Creating the Whatsapp group where all your friends and families can chat and enjoy the moment has become a notion. But sometimes when you have to say something which is not appropriate to say in the group and you think that saying it to all individuals would be a better option, and then Whatsapp also allows you to do it with one of their features. The broadcast option in the Whatsapp which you can find by taping on the colon placed in the top right corner of the screen is a feature which can send a message to everyone in the group.

20 Android Hacks That You Don’t Need To Root Your Phone

20 Android Hacks That You Don’t Need To Root Your Phone

Your Android phone offers significantly more customization options than iPhone, but for some, that just doesn’t cut it. One way to get what you want is by rooting which can work well, but it voids your phone warranty, also making it more vulnerable to malware. We have found some Android hacks that will let you customize your phone without having to root it.

20. Hack Games
You can use the Game Killer app to hack any of your favorite games. The app lets you implement new cheats and mods that you can change as you desire. You can even get free coins, lives, rewards, and get access to the locked content on your games.

19. Control Desktop From Your Phone
In case you have not heard of it already, the Google application Chrome Remote Desktop allows you to access your computer anywhere with any other device, whether a smartphone, tablet, or a computer. You can add the extension to your Chrome Browser to have two of your different devices to communicate and control nearly everything on your desktop with your Android.

18. Record Your Android Screen
There are plenty of screen recording apps on Play Store that you can get to have everything on your phone screen recorded, when you hand your phone to another person. Anything a child or a younger sibling does on your phone will not miss your eye.

17. Get Edge display on any phone
The cool edge display that came with S6 Edge can be used on any phone. Install Edge Display and customize your screen look.

16. Automate Your Android
You can get your smartphone to act on your commands using the AutomateIt app. Once installed, you can save all the commands according to your desires and have your phone work on your fingertips.

15. Run Old Games Using Android Emulator
Even with the best of new games like Ludo Star and Pokemon Go coming in, you are sure to miss the good old Mario or Sonic. You can play all of them by installing an emulator on your Android. NES Emulator is the perfect choice to get the cool old games on your Android again.

14. Control Your Smart Electronics With Your Android
You may already have figured that you can control your LED TV with your smartphone, but you can also control your AC, BlueRay player, or any other smart device with your Android phone. Apps like AnyMote and Android TV Remote Control let you control any Wi-Fi or Bluetooth smart appliance in your home.

13. Reconfigure Your Navigation Buttons
All you have to do is install the Home2 Shortcut and change the functionality of the navigation buttons on your phone just as you desire. It will make your Android a tad handier.

12. Hide Any Media From Gallery
Your phone is a personal device, but you can not always keep everyone away from touching it. So the best way is, to hide your WhatsApp images and videos from the gallery, just in case. TechViral has figured some ways of hiding the content from your gallery, whenever you desire.

11. Keep A Check On Your Calls With Automatic Call Recorder
You can get a call recording app on your Android and record all incoming and outgoing calls automatically and listen to them whenever you want.

10. Remove stock apps
The main reason why some people choose to root their phone is to get rid of the stock apps that are no good. Apparently, you can do the same without the rooting. Here are some ways you can get rid of the apps leeching your RAM and battery for no good reason.

9. Randomize Your Ringtones
You do not have to settle for just one tone for your calls and texts. Here is how you can have your phone ring a random bunch of your favorite tunes.

8. Add Soft Button Keys To Your Phone
If your smartphone does not have the soft button keys, you do not need to change the phone or even try to root it. Here are some ways you can use to add the keys to your phone.

7. Add Night Mode To Your Android
White light coming from your devices is known to disrupt your sleep cycles. Some smartphones have a built-in night mode feature, that protects your eyes in the dark. But if your’s does not, here is how you can get it without the need of rooting.

6. Run Linux On Your Android Phone
Generally, people root their phones if they want to install Linux, but this is how you can install Linux without rooting.

5. Play YouTube Videos In Background
There is not even a single person on this planet who have never desired for this to happen. Here is how you can get your phone to continue playing YouTube videos in the background.

4. Use Your Android As Another Monitor
It is not always convenient to work with a single screen, so a great option is to use your phone as an added display, both for MAC and Windows computer. Just install the iDisplay app on your Android and get to work.

3. Use Microsoft Cortana on Android
Your Google voice assistant is always there, but if you want to switch to Microsoft Cortana, it is available on Google Play Store. Here is how you can use it on your Android phone.

2. Use Data and Wi-Fi Simultaneously
You can get apps like Super Download and Speedify that boost your internet speed by combining your cellular data and WiFi for a wider bandwidth and keep you online when your WiFi suddenly stops working.

1. Control Your Android Remotely With Another One
If you are an owner of more than one smartphone, it is not very practical to carry all of them with you. The simple solution is to control all of them using any Android phone. There are some Android apps on the Play Store that will give you a control of the phones that you do not have with you.

New method on how to Download Unlimitedly with 9mobile On Office VPN

New method on how to Download Unlimitedly with 9mobile On Office VPN

Hi guys,there is a new way to browse and download Unlimitedly on 9mobile With the help of office vpn which we use to do WhatsApp Unlimited on 9mobile.
But people didn't like it as it was only able to power WhatsApp for them so a modded version was released called office vpn Ultra Which was able to power all social Medias.
But what people actually want is to know how to download with it Unlimitedly.
So today I will teach you how to browse and download Unlimitedly on your 9mobile sim.
Requirements
✔ Download Office Vpn Here
✔ Download UC mini Here
✔ Download  Internet download manager
Here
✓ Download Mcent Browser Here (optional)
✓ Download showbox here(Recommend For Downloading Movies)
HOW TO BROWSE AND DOWNLOAD UNLIMITEDLY ON 9MOBILE(UC mini method)
Step 1
Launch and connect your office vpn
Step 2
Open UC browser and start browsing for what you want to download
Step 3
Click on download then pause the file
Step 4
Long press the file then click on details
Step 5
Click on copy file url
Step 6
Then open your IDM
Step 7
Click on the "+" button at the bottom of the screen
Step 8
Select from Clipboard and you will see download menu with the file link you copied earlier
Step 9
Untick WiFi only then click start
Your file will start downloading at a blazing speed.
HOW TO BROWSE AND DOWNLOAD UNLIMITEDLY ON 9MOBILE(Showbox method)
Step 1
Open the Showbox app the click on menu(the three dash at the top left part of the screen)
Step 2
You will see options like
✓ Trending
✓ Movies
✓ TV shows
✓ News
✓ Trailers
✓ Favourites
✓ Download
✓ New Releases
Step 3
Select your preferred option then it will show a list of movies under that option,choose the movie you want to download then it will take you to the Download page
Step 4
Click on the three dots above watch Now,it will bring up a new menu then click on VLC and change it to other player
Step 5
Click close then select the movie quality you want to download
Step 6
Click watch now then it will bring up the list of available players on your phone,choose IDM
Step 7
Enter the movie name then untick WiFi only , click on start then it will start downloading at amazing speed. enjoy
Alternatively you can Launch and connect your office vpn then start browsing and downloading with Mcent Browser.
I will recommend you use Showbox for movie downloads and UC mini for any type of file. I won't recommend Mcent browser because uc mini is faster.

This open-source Android app is designed to detect credit card skimmers

This open-source Android app is designed to detect credit card skimmers

Protecting our data is a constant battle, especially as technology continues to advance. A recent trend that has popped up is the installation of credit card skimmers, especially at locations such as gas pumps. With a simple piece of hardware and 30 seconds to install it, a hacker can easily steal credit card numbers from a gas pump without anyone knowing. Now, an open-source app for Android is attempting to help users avoid these skimmers.
The CEO of SparkFun, Nate Seidle, partnered with programmer Nick Poole to develop “Skimmer Scanner.” This free, open-source Android app is built to detect credit card skimmers that are used most popularly in the area around your phone, specifically at a gas station.
Skimmers are commonly used at gas stations for a number of reasons, primarily because of how easy they are to install. Hackers only need their skimmer which costs about $10 and a master-key for the pump. Obtaining that key isn’t very hard either, as there are only a few variations that work for most pumps. Once installed, the skimmer does its work completely silently, and the hacker simply needs to return and connect over Bluetooth to grab the stolen card numbers.
Using your phone’s Bluetooth radio, Skimmer Scanner searches for a specific Bluetooth signal that is emitted by these skimmers, attempts to establish a connection, and then verifies if there is, in fact, a skimmer in the vicinity. It does this by using the default ID used by popular skimmers to search for them. What’s interesting is that, in a lot of cases, these skimmers aren’t secured or altered since the hackers will install them in “bulk.”
Skimmer Scanner is available now on Google Play, and you can also go check out the full blog post at  SparkFun’s website for more information. If you’ve ever run into this problem yourself or are simply interested in how this tech works, I highly recommend giving it a read.

Zuckerberg speaks on Facebook's role in maintaining election integrity

Zuckerberg speaks on Facebook's role in maintaining  election  integrity

On Thursday afternoon, Mark Zuckerberg went live on Facebook to discuss Facebook's role in maintaining election integrity. Zuckerberg, who had just returned to work from paternity leave, said that he hoped that Facebook would be a force for good democracy.

The company is currently working with the US Government regarding the Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Although they did not find much evidence of facebook being used by Russian groups in the beginning, they did uncover a lot later. He added that whatever evidence was found was handed over to congress. "We will continue our investigation into what happened on Facebook in this election. We may find more, and if we do, we will continue to work with the government. We are looking into foreign actors, including additional Russian groups and other former Soviet states, as well as organizations like the campaigns, to further our understanding of how they used our tools. These investigations will take some time, but we will continue our thorough review."

Facebook will also be making political advertising more transparent, in order to stop interference wherever possible. "We're going to bring Facebook to an even higher standard of transparency. Not only will you have to disclose which page paid for an ad, but we will also make it so you can visit an advertiser's page and see the ads they're currently running to any audience on Facebook. We will roll this out over the coming months, and we will work with others to create a new standard for transparency in online political ads," said Zuckerberg. Facebook will also strengthen the review process for these ads.

They also plan to increase investment in security and election integrity, and partner with election commissions across to the world and inform them of online risks in their elections. They are currently working with Germany on their upcoming elections this weekend. "In 2016, people had billions of interactions and open discussions on Facebook that may never have happened offline. Candidates had direct channels to communicate with tens of millions of citizens. Campaigns spent tens of millions organizing and advertising online to get their messages out further. And we organized "get out the vote" efforts that helped as many as 2 million people register to vote who might not have voted otherwise. Many of these dynamics were new in this election, or at much larger scale than ever before in history, and at much larger scale than the interference we've found," Mark reiterated.

But he admits that it is "a new challenge for internet communities to deal with nation states attempting to subvert elections" and stressed on Facebook's commitment to democracy.

How to Scan Documents Using Your Smartphone

How to Scan Documents Using Your Smartphone

Our smartphones have become very powerful gadgets, the computing power within them can achieve a lot if put to use in the right way. We have heard of scientists who “mine” computational power from smartphones all over the world to complete tasks but today, we’re going to be looking at one of the easiest ways to get more from your smartphone, such as scanning a document.

It’s not once I have seen someone take a picture of a document, maybe for safe keeping or to send it to someone, I have done this too and that’s how I came about Quick PDF Scanner and Cam Scanner. Most people preffer the latter from the former, they literally work the same way, but I like what I like and that’s Quick PDF Scanner and here’s how it works:

Once you fire up the application, you are met by a homescreen that will, by default, show you up to 5 previously scanned documents, that’s if you have been using the app like I have. There is a floating camera icon and that is what you should pay attention to.

Tapping it opens up a view finder that you will use to scan the document you want. The process is automatic, once you align the document to the grid lines, the lines turn from white to green and if a second or so, the image is captured and processed.

After processing, you can edit the image by changing how it looks, I recommend sticking to original or magic – if you scanned a black and white document. Next you can share the document, crop it and if you are up to it, you can use the OCR (Optical Character Recognition) feature which recognizes the text in your document and allows you to edit, but keep in mind this doesn’t always work. If you are pleased with the document, you can go ahead and save it on your phone or share it, either as a PDF, .doc file or as an image. There’s even an option to send the scan directly to a printer.

So far, Quick PDF scanner has worked perfectly for me, in good lighting and with a well printed document, the scans come out looking great. The quality of the scan is very dependent on your phone’s camera, if your camera doesn’t take great photos, no amount of magic can make it scan a document well.

So why should you use an app to scan a document instead of just taking a picture? Well, like I mentioned, dedicated scanning apps offer better quality and they get rid of the background where you had placed your document, any more questions? There’s a comment section below.

Here’s a free business idea, if you have a great camera phone and are feeling entreprenuerial, why not start a scanning business, using your phone? Oh wait, you can’t actually start that scanning business because everyone with a smartphone knows about this now, or can you?