Blackberry co-founders consider making offer for the company

Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin have confirmed that they are considering an offer for Blackberry.

They set up Blackberry in 1984 and have an 8% stake in the company.

Fregin was vice president of operations until he retired in 2007. Lazaridis left his role as vice-chair of Blackberry’s board in May. They have since founded venture fund Quantum Valley Investments.

Blackberry has reported a quarterly loss of almost $1bn last month, with rising competition from Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android devices.

Fairfax Financial, Blackberry’s largest shareholder, has offered $4.7bn for the company, and it has until 4th November to consider other proposals.

Microsoft forks out $100,000 to researcher who found security bug

James Forshaw, a British researcher, has been rewarded $100,000 (£63,000) for finding a critical security flaw in the Windows 8.1 operation system.

Forshaw found a "mitigation bypass", which is a hack that circumvented the security systems built into Windows 8.1, which would have allowed hackers access to the system.
Forshaw commented on his discovery: "I think I originally came up with the winning idea sitting at home, pondering what I could do. When it comes to vulnerability testing, though, the eureka moment is more about the final working proof of concept. There are so many stumbling blocks that can trip you up along the way that you just can’t get too excited too quickly."

 

Ultrasound chip enables gesture control for mobile devices

Ultrasound technology can be used to enable mobile devices to be controlled by gestures.

An ultrasound chip is inserted into a phone or tablet and uses sound waves to interpret hand movements.

The gesture control can apparently work up to a metre away from the mobile device.

As it uses sound rather than sight, the sensor can recognise gestures from a 180-degree field. It can also be used in the dark.

Norwegian start-up, Elliptic Labs, is currently in talks with Asian handset manufacturers to get the new chip embedded in mobile devices.