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Seagate released employee tax data in phishing attack
Tax season is upon us (sorry for the reminder), and apparently if you want the W2-form information of thousands of Seagate employees, past and present, all you have to do is email and ask for it. A company spokesperson confirmed the phishing attempt to Krebs on Security, saying that on March 1st a Seagate employee released 2015 W2 info to someone believed to be acting in official capacity for the storage-minded outfit. Yep, it's pretty similar to what happened with Snapchat recently.
Huawei Ascend W2 shows up prematurely, packs color-matching backlit soft keys (hands-on)
After the official product shot leaked in late May, we knew it wouldn't be long before Huawei's Ascend W2 makes an official appearance. Well, today's the day, but as the company's second-ever Windows Phone device, the W2's appearance at Mobile Asia Expo was surprisingly low key. According to the spec sheet at Huawei's booth, this affordable phone comes with a 4.3-inch 800 x 480 display (looked like IPS to us) and a 1.4GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8230 SoC (same as the W1 but faster) with 512MB RAM. There's 8GB of built-in storage along with microSD expansion -- the slot is located next to the removable 1,700mAh battery plus full-size SIM slot, all underneath the red or yellow back cover. Even though Huawei doesn't hide the fact that the W2 is a low-cost device, it's actually not too shabby. Most notably, the three usual soft keys are color backlit and will match your desired theme in Windows Phone 8. As a bonus, the touchscreen has a glove mode -- as featured on several other more recent Huawei phones -- for the cold winter days. There's still no price or date announced just yet, but since this particular model packs a TD-SCDMA radio for China Mobile, folks outside China will have to wait for the WCDMA variant. For now, we have a hands-on video for you after the break. %Gallery-192374%
Huawei Windows Phone appears in render, said to be the Ascend W2
It feels almost unfaithful to the Ascend W1 to be looking at a potential sequel already, but that's what evleaks claims this is. How he got the image we have no idea, and neither do we have any price or specs to go with it -- it's just this lone render of a Huawei handset running Windows Phone 8 in Chinese. There was actually a previous leak back in April (shown after the break), which also purported to be the Ascend W2 and which did come with some detail: a 720p 4.3-inch display, Snapdragon S4 chip, 8MP rear camera and 1GB RAM for $289. However, today's picture fails to match up with the earlier one in a number of respects, not least in the shape of the bottom edge and in the position of the front camera / sensor opening next to the earpiece, which means the only certainty here is that they can't both be right.
Cowon W2 shown in its natural tradeshow habitat, running Windows 7
Werefore art thou, UMPC? Oh look, Cowon found you. The Cowon W2 MID / UMPC / tablet / something has been spotted in the wild, running Windows 7 and thwarting typical efficient interaction methods. The Atom-powered device was caught by AVING running in both portrait and landscape modes, and even paired up with a pint-sized USB QWERTY keyboard. It does look a little chunky under those harsh tradeshow lights, but there's a certain charm to the device's OS optimism. Hopefully we'll be able to play with one soon, but there's still no word on a US launch.
Cowon W2 spec'd, priced, and dated for Korean consumers
That lovable little Windows 7-powered Cowon W2 MID has gotten two steps closer to reality this week with a price tag and release date. In order, 599,000 to 739,000KRW (equivalent to $533 and $658 in US, respectively) and Monday, January 25th. Unfortunately, those only apply to Korea only, but if you are thinking of importing, how about we take a look at the full specs list: 4.8-inc WSVGA screen, 1.3GHz Intel Atom Z520, 1GB RAM, 60GB or 80GB HDD, Bluetooth 2.0, 802.11b/g WiFi, two USB one miniUSB ports, and a battery promising 10 hours idle / 7 hours video playback. Yeah, we're not sure about that netbook-caliber processor either, but surely that MID form factor makes up for something... right?
Cowon's Atom-powered W2 MID gets teased, gets Windows 7
When Cowon's latest leaked back at the beginning of November we knew just about everything we really needed to know except for one crucial bit of intel: what it looked like. Now the company has thoughtfully taken care of that, throwing up a teaser page for the product that shows off a simple, sophisticated brushed metal exterior punctuated only by a pair of buttons on either side and three LED status lights. It's perhaps a bit chunky, with a wide bezel and a little more depth than we'd like, but it should be reasonably comfortable to use whenever it releases. The 4.8-inch, 1024 x 600 touchscreen LCD is confirmed, backed by a 1.3GHz Intel Atom processor that is probably going to struggle a little bit to keep up with Windows 7, which the company has chosen to bless this device's (unannounced) storage with. That's all we know for now. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
SnapTax allows you to do your taxes on your iPhone
It's a new year, which means that in a few months, taxes will come due yet again. So why not get a head start on them with your iPhone -- there is, it turns out, an app for that. TurboTax has an app coming out called SnapTax that promises to make taxes easy. All you do is take a picture of your W2 form with the camera, and then the software automatically reads the form, extracts the necessary information, and then uploads it into TurboTax's software and processes your return. Pretty amazing. There are, of course, a few drawbacks here. First is that you need to be in California. While the software will eventually work everywhere, they're beta testing in the Golden State this year only. Second is that you should have a later generation iPhone -- the optical text software works better with more processor power, so you'll have to fix fewer errors on your 3GS than earlier versions of the hardware. And finally, you'll need to have a pretty simple tax return. There are more options to handle more complicated tax issues, but basically the software is designed for a simple W2 plus maybe some extra income. Being a freelancer, I have all sorts of hoops to jump through, so I'll have to head to the accountant yet again. But hopefully this will help some of you. The app is coming later this month and will be available for $9.99. I'm not sure if that includes the actual return, but if it does, that's a bargain. If you're lucky enough to be in California and in the position to use this app, keep an eye out for it.
Atom-powered Cowon W2 leaked, could be crowding in on imaginary tablet territory
If there's one thing we like more than a flesh and blood slate tablet PC, it's one with zero launch specifics or imagery, and hopefully a dearth of specs. Cowon's delivering the former in spades, with the leak of the Atom-powered W2 MID on a Bluetooth.org certification page. Of course, calling it an internet tablet might be reading in a bit much, but it seems a good fit for Cowon's sensibilities and background up against that Atom processor under the hood. We suppose we'll just have to wait around to learn more, but this could be the start of a beautiful rumoring relationship.
Audioengine puts wires out of work with AW2 wireless iPod adapter
Earlier this year, Audioengine rolled out the practically universal AW1 wireless audio adapter, and we certainly enjoyed our time with it. Now, the outfit is making the anticipated leap to iPod-dom with the sequentially named AW2. Put simply, the kit contains two main pieces: a transmitter that plugs easily into your dock-connecting 'Pod and a USB-based receiver with a 3.5-millimeter auxiliary jack. The system operates on the WiFi frequency band and promises no dropouts, static or interference from CB radios whizzing by your domicile. We should mention, however, that you'll pay quite dearly for the privilege of beaming your tunes sans cables, though it's available now for those who don't mind at $169.[Via GadgetReview]
E308: Wii Fanboy hands-on with Wario Land: Shake It!
Hands down, Wario Land: Shake It! is the best game I've played so far here at E3. And, thanks to my persistence and rudeness, I was able to enjoy the game a lot longer than most others who've been fortunate enough to play it, not only enjoying some of the game's normal levels, but also taking part in an underwater excursion in Wario's badass sub.So, I started out on the tutorial level, which shows you all of the in-game actions Wario can perform through some handy billboards sprinkled throughout the level. I was dashing through blocks, scurrying down pipes and doing butt stomps with ease, and once I got to the end of the level, I discovered its end creature, the Murpel (odds are, that isn't spelled right).%Gallery-26293%
W2: a little iPhone wiki
Steven Frank (of Panic fame) was unsatisfied with iPhone's notes, so he decided to hack up a little iPhone optimized wiki called W2 to use instead. It actually runs server-side, so you'll need a web server with PHP. Once installed, however, it'll allow you cross-link, embed images, search, and even use Gruber's excellent Markdown syntax. And of course you should be able to access the wiki from other web browsers besides the iPhone.If you've got access to a web server with PHP and want to give notes the boot, you may want to check out the W2 free download. Keep in mind that it "is a hack thrown together in just a few hours" with potential security problems, so you'll probably not want to keep your credit card numbers on there.
Asus W2P, now with a glorious HD DVD drive
Asus is putting its money where its HD DVD slot is, adding the swanky optical drive to its new line of W2 laptops with its latest addition, the W2P. Building on the previous W2J model, this slick little number packs HDCP support, HDMI out, an ATI Mobility Radeon X1700 chip, a hybrid analog / digital TV tuner, built-in Dolby surround sound, three-flavor WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, up to 2GB of SDRAM and "a range of" Merom Core 2 Duo chips including both 4MB L2 and 2MB L2 cache versions. Unfortunately, we've got zero intel on pricing or availability for now, but we'll keep you updated on this multimedia powerhouse as more deets emerge.
