Keep your Mobile Phone Safe at a Public Charging Station

This is not an uncommon problem. Your cell-phone is running out of battery, you need to make an urgent call but left the charger at home. What do you do next?

If you are at an airport or a shopping mall, it is not that big a problem because these places often have charging stations installed that can be used to charge the battery of almost any mobile phone. It doesn’t matter whether your phone requires a Micro-USB connector, a Mini-USB or a 2mm charger, the kiosk will have a suitable charging port for you.

Mobile charging stations are convenient but at the same time, there’s a level of security risk associate with them.

Security researchers have warned that public charging stations may be configured to upload malware on your phone and, at the same time, data can also be downloaded from the mobile phone while the battery is getting charged.

Keep your Phone Safe While Charging at a Public Kiosk
There are basically two ways to charge a mobile phone’s battery. You can either use a power cord that plugs directly into an electric outlet or you can use a USB based charger that draws power from a computer’s USB port. If a charging station internally uses the latter option, it may put your phone data at risk.

It is however relatively simple to keep your phone secure even while charging it at a public kiosk. Just remember to power off your phone completely before connecting it to the charging station and you should be safe.

The mobile charging stations installed at airports can be considered safe but the same may not always be true for other public kiosks that are operated by unknown people. If you have no option but to use such kiosks, do turn off the phone first.
Digital Inspiration

One Charger Fits All In 2012

The GSM
Association’ s recent announcement
at the Mobile World Congress 2009
that we would all be using universal
mobile phone chargers by 2012
should be warmly greeted . Many
people I know have a pile of
chargers locked up somewhere in
their closet for different mobile
phones, sometimes from the same
manufacturers ’ . This can be a source
of frustration particularly if one
mistakenly took the wrong charger
on a journey or completely forgot to
take any along. This development
came about as a result of an
agreement reached between the
GSMA and 17 leading mobile phone
operators and manufacturers such
as , Nokia, Orange, Samsung etc. and
the aim is to make the standard
chargers available from the 1 st
January 2012. When implemented ,
the universal chargers will have a
similar Micro- USB charging interface
and therefore provide a wide range
of benefits to consumers’ and the
environment alike. These benefits
range from environmental protection
by its consumption of less energy,
waste reduction and relative
longetivity when compared to current
available terminals.
Furthermore , consumers’ will now be
able to use the same charger for
future handsets which means that
when one either takes the wrong
instrument on a journey or
completely forgets it at home he can
be sure of finding an alternative in
any available charger. In addition,
this would imply that user
dependence on mobile phone kiosks
could be significantly reduced and
manufacturers would not need to
produce so many chargers again
thus resulting in the possibility of
further reduction in the cost of
mobile handsets due to the fact that
chargers would now be produced
and sold as separate items from
mobile phones . Although this
standardisation plan is said to be
“ ambitious” and still in its early
stages , it is clear that if successful we
would all be beneficiaries .
TechSling Weblog

Now Use Google Cloud Print without a Phone

Google Cloud Print is an interesting
web service that brings wireless
printing (well, sort of) to your home
without any complicated set -up or
hardware upgrades. Once Cloud
Print is enabled , you’ ll be able to
send documents and emails to your
local printer for printing from
anywhere over the Internet.
Google Cloud Print currently
supports printing only through
iPhones and Android mobile phones
but if you find that limiting , here ’s a
new Chrome extension that will let
you print documents even from your
desktop without requiring a phone.
It adds a little Cloud Print icon to
your address bar whenever you are
viewing a PDF, a Word document or a
text file in the Chrome browser
( video demo) . Clicking that icon will
show a list of all printers that are
connected with your Google Account
– select any one to start a print job
that you can later manage from the
Cloud Print dashboard .
This works only with files that are
already on the web and if you are
print your local documents with
Cloud Print, you first need to upload
them online. Thank you @NirmalTV

Reliance mPay - Use your Reliance Mobile as a virtual HDFC Bank credit card

In yet another step forward towards mobile banking, Reliance Communications and HDFC Bank have launched India’s first virtual credit card.

Anyone who has a HDFC Bank credit card and a Reliance mobile can use this service and as per current estimates, around 15 lakh people qualify under this. The card do away with the need for carrying a physical card but instead the mobile phone work as the payment instructor.

Thus the Reliance Mobile becomes the Credit Card while the mobile number becomes the Credit Card number.

Reliance mPay service can be used at various merchant establishments but initially it will be used for payment of Reliance Mobile bills and Reliance Energy electricity bills.

HDFC Bank already has a virtual credit card called NetSafe, which can be used for online shopping.

The advantage of having a Virtual Credit Card is that there are less chances of misuse as a PIN has to be entered at the time of usage. So, even in case of mobile phone loss, the credit card details cannot be used as there is no magnetic reader, signature, or CVV number which is used for authentication.

The concept has been successfully tested in Asian countries and would eventually become a preferred medium of transaction owing to its convenience and safety.

Digital Inspiration

PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHENEVER YOU'RE USING A PC AT A PUBLIC PLACE (Like INTERNET CAFES..ETC).

PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHENEVER YOU'RE USING A PC AT A PUBLIC PLACE (Like INTERNET CAFES..ETC). CHECK THE REAR OF THE PC AND SEE IF THE BELOW DEVICE IS THERE..IF SO..DO NOT USE IT!!!!

New storing device fits at the end of the keyboard cable connecting to the PC specialized to save all typed keys in it… Mostly could be used in net cafes, exhibitions, hotels and airports therefore be careful especially the people who use the internet in these places to enter their bank accounts online or any other important sites.After you enter the bank account and leave the PC it will be easy to open your account again as all what you have typed has been saved in the Black device. Therefore, you should check the PC for any suspicious piece behind it before using the net in public places for important sites.