Microsoft has received reports of "a small number of targeted attacks" based on a vulnerability in Internet Explorer 9 or earlier versions, and the company has issued a security advisory to help mitigate the risk of compromise.
Security researcher Eric Romang identified the exploit code on a server used by the "Nitro" hacking group, believed to have exploited the Java zero-day vulnerability reported last month.
Yunsun Wee, director of Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing Group, says that a security patch is being developed and that Microsoft customers should deploy the company's Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET). He also advises blocking ActiveX Controls and Active Scripting by setting Internet and local intranet security zone settings to "High" and configuring IE to either prompt before running Active Scripting or to disable Active Scripting entirely. However, he notes, this may affect website usability.
Security firm Rapid7 advises that Internet users try a different Web browser. "Since Microsoft has not released a patch for this vulnerability yet, Internet users are strongly advised to switch to other browsers, such as Chrome or Firefox, until a security update becomes available," the company said in a blog post on Monday.
Rapid7 develops the Metasploit penetration testing tool and has updated the software to include the new exploit, which means security administrators need to take steps to defend against the exploit immediately.
AlienVault, another security firm, says that "whg," the Chinese hacker believed to be behind the PlugX RAT malware, also appears to be involved in the creation of this latest exploit.
"We know that the group actively using the PlugX malware, also called Flowershow, had access to the Internet Explorer ZeroDay days before it was uncovered," Jaime Blasco, labs manager at AlienVault, said in a blog post. "Due to the similarities of the new discovered exploit code and the one discovered some days ago, it is very likely that the same group is behind both instances."
The group in question is the known as the Network Crack Program Hacker (NCPH), a Chinese hacker group that operates out of Zigong in China's Sichuan Province. According to Blasco, the similarities in the attack techniques suggest that "whg" is involved.
Cybercriminals are taking aim at your website. Is your security strategy up to the challenge? Also in the new, all-digital 10 Steps To E-Commerce Security issue of Dark Reading: About half of the traffic to e-commerce sites is machine generated--and much of it is malicious. (Free registration required.)
Today’s announcement from Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook, in which he addressed dissatisfaction with Apple’s new Maps app in iOS 6, is not the first time Apple (AAPL) has apologized to its customers. The company gave free cases or rebates to iPhone customers during the “Antennagate†glitch in 2010 and issued $100 rebates to customers who bought the first iPhones in the summer of 2007, before Apple dropped the price by $200 only two months later, in September.
But how Jobs and Cook go about making amends is revealing. Fortunately, both put their names beneath written statements, Cook in today’s announcement and Jobs in his letter to Apple customers regarding the iPhone pricing issue. Let’s compare and contrast, yes?
There are differences right at the greeting. Jobs’s letter begins, “To all iPhone customers:†whereas Cook’s begins “To our customers,â€. The first sounds like an announcement, the other like a letter. The first is officious, the second has a chummier “our.†The first ends in a formal colon; the second has a softer comma.
Cook: At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.
Jobs: I have received hundreds of e-mails from iPhone customers who are upset about Apple dropping the price of iPhone by $200 two months after it went on sale. After reading every one of these e-mails, I have some observations and conclusions.
The first words out of Cook’s pen are “At Apple.†Jobs? “I.†La compagnie, c’est moi. In fact, Cook never uses the first person in his letter once; Jobs uses it four times.
Cook also gets the apology out front. Jobs has some throat-clearing to do first. There will be recompense, but first we must be schooled.
Cook: We launched Maps initially with the first version of iOS. As time progressed, we wanted to provide our customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps. In order to do this, we had to create a new version of Maps from the ground up.
Jobs: First, I am sure that we are making the correct decision to lower the price of the 8GB iPhone from $599 to $399, and that now is the right time to do it. iPhone is a breakthrough product, and we have the chance to ‘go for it’ this holiday season. iPhone is so far ahead of the competition, and now it will be affordable by even more customers. It benefits both Apple and every iPhone user to get as many new customers as possible in the iPhone ‘tent.’ We strongly believe the $399 price will help us do just that this holiday season.
Both men are offering up a defense of how things got to where they are today, but doesn’t Jobs’s defense seem more full-throated? Cook’s is more, “Hey, we had this thing, we wanted to make it better [leaving out the blood feud Apple has been having with its former Maps provider, Google], so we had to redo it.†Jobs’s is, “I know this is right. Let me explain to you why I know that it is right. It’s even better for you if we do this. We’re doing this.â€
Cook: There are already more than 100 million iOS devices using the new Apple Maps, with more and more joining us every day. In just over a week, iOS users with the new Maps have already searched for nearly half a billion locations. The more our customers use our Maps the better it will get and we greatly appreciate all of the feedback we have received from you.
Jobs: Second, being in technology for 30+ years I can attest to the fact that the technology road is bumpy. There is always change and improvement, and there is always someone who bought a product before a particular cutoff date and misses the new price or the new operating system or the new whatever. This is life in the technology lane. If you always wait for the next price cut or to buy the new improved model, you’ll never buy any technology product because there is always something better and less expensive on the horizon. The good news is that if you buy products from companies that support them well, like Apple tries to do, you will receive years of useful and satisfying service from them even as newer models are introduced.
Cook takes an opportunity to get on message here, mentioning some impressive-sounding stats to remind people how popular the iPhone is. He holds out the promise that Maps will get better (particularly if people use it more), and he acknowledges that there has been “feedback†by greatly appreciating it.
Jobs is still in professor mode. “Being in technology for 30+ years …†is one of those false-modesty things people say. It’s like Buzz Aldrin saying, “I know a thing or two about long flights.†It can be charming, but it doesn’t come across that way here. Jobs later writes, “This is life in the technology lane.†Or, as the popular Internet meme says, “Deal with it.†Jobs continues his lecture by explaining the futility of waiting for the best price or the best product. He’s not wrong, but this is cold comfort to someone who just saw the price of his phone drop by a third.
Cook: While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.
Jobs: Third, even though we are making the right decision to lower the price of iPhone, and even though the technology road is bumpy, we need to do a better job taking care of our early iPhone customers as we aggressively go after new ones with a lower price. Our early customers trusted us, and we must live up to that trust with our actions in moments like these.
Cook makes a bold move here, suggesting that people use competing navigation apps and sites, while Apple makes Maps better. Of course, downloading apps from the App Store sends money to Apple, so there’s some upside for Apple if people do that. But including real competitors such as Nokia and Apple’s erstwhile partner, Googleâ€"who offer free, Web-based mapsâ€"can’t be called self-serving.
Jobs is still making his case. His double “even though†sentence construction betrays his frustrationâ€"don’t we all understand how the tech business works? Nevertheless, he is willing to acknowledge that people are unhappy and something should be done to rectify it (he still hasn’t said what that is, yet). Some of this has a whiff of the “I’m sorry if I offended anyone†nonapology. Jobs isn’t backing down from his multipart argument defending Apple’s pricing move, but given the kerfuffle this has generated, he will take some steps to defuse the situation.
Cook: Everything we do at Apple is aimed at making our products the best in the world. We know that you expect that from us, and we will keep working nonstop until Maps lives up to the same incredibly high standard.
Tim Cook Apple’s CEO
Jobs: Therefore, we have decided to offer every iPhone customer who purchased an iPhone from either Apple or AT&T, and who is not receiving a rebate or any other consideration, a $100 store credit towards the purchase of any product at an Apple Retail Store or the Apple Online Store. Details are still being worked out and will be posted on Apple’s website next week. Stay tuned.
We want to do the right thing for our valued iPhone customers. We apologize for disappointing some of you, and we are doing our best to live up to your high expectations of Apple.
Steve Jobs Apple CEO
Cook wraps it up neatly. He reasserts his first paragraph, while reminding people that Apple aims to make the best products in the world (by the way, from a corporate communications point of view, there’s nothing wrong with putting “Apple†and “the best in the world†in the same sentence.) By saying that Maps should and will live “up to the same incredibly high standard,†Cook is also leaving room that the standard in question is not only a goal, but already a reality for Apple’s other products and services.
Jobs finally comes to the payoff in his penultimate paragraph, laying out the terms of the rebate. He even includes some fine print about “who is not receiving a rebate or any other consideration,†which seems like it was added by some lawyers at the last minute. He uses the word “apologize†in his last sentenceâ€"his first expression of any contrition. Cook’s more conversational “extremely sorry†appears all the way up in his third sentence. Jobs also reminds people that Apple is awesome by referring to “your high expectations.†Mistakes have been made, but don’t doubt the overall excellence of the organization, both CEOs seem to say.
Last, note the different signatures. Again, Cook goes for the conversational, with “Apple’s CEO.†You don’t usually see CEOs use the possessive in their title. Jobs follows that more-traditional path with a simple “Apple CEO.†Nobody possessed Steve Jobs.
12:41PM EST September 29. 2012 - LOS ANGELES (AP) â€" Phil Orlins knows everything about producing TV in three dimensions. The ESPN producer has captured the undulating greens of Augusta National and the flying motor bikes of the X-Games for ESPN's 3D channel. But he can only guess how well his shows resonate with viewers. That's because 3D audiences are so small they can't be measured by Nielsen's rating system.
"The feedback on The Masters was fast and furious. You could go on Twitter at any moment, and there'd be comments coming in every minute about 3D coverage," said Orlins while giving a tour of a production truck at this summer's X-Games. "But then you go to some other events where it's pretty quiet."
Orlins' problem is that fewer than 115,000 American homes are tuned into 3D channels at any one time. That's less than a hundredth of the 20.2 million-strong audience that saw television's highest-rated show, "NCIS," this week.
3D viewership is so tiny that The Nielsen Co.'s methods are unable to capture any meaningful data about viewers' programming preferences.
ESPN 3D is one of nine 3D channels that launched in the years following the late 2009 release of James Cameron's "Avatar." The 3D blockbuster won three Oscars and ranks as the highest-grossing film of all time, garnering $2.8 billion at the global box office.
"Avatar" was supposed to change everything. Enthusiastic television executives expected the movie to spur 3D's transition to American living rooms, boosting sales of TVs and, they hoped, getting people to pay for 3D channels.
That never happened.
Only 2 percent of TVs in the U.S. are able to show 3D programming, according to the most recent data from research firm IHS Screen Digest. That's about 6.9 million sets out of 331 million. After this year's Christmas buying rush, IHS expects the number of 3D-capable televisions in homes to jump to 19.3 million, mostly because many new larger TVs automatically include the technology. If you're in the market for a big-screen TV, you're likely to wind up with 3D, too. Even so, 3D TVs will amount to fewer than 6 percent of all sets.
"We've learned with every passing day that we were ahead of the curve further than we thought we were," said Bryan Burns, the business leader for ESPN 3D. "We hit the on-ramp earlier than we realized at the time."
At movie theaters, 3D has attracted lots of viewers. But not at home. There's a supply problem: 3D TV is expensive to produce, so there's not a lot of it. Of the content out there, some isn't very good. There's an equipment problem: Some people find the special glasses required for 3-D TV uncomfortable. And there's a money problem: Many wonder if it's worth the extra cost.
"It was kind of fascinating to me, but it's not all there," said Tim Carter, a graphic designer in Sarasota, Fla., who bought a large 3D TV with other high-end features last year for about $1,800.Today, the average 42-inch 3D television costs about $900, according to IHS -- about $200 more than similar-sized, more basic models. A 3D TV tends be more expensive because 3D is one feature common to TVs with bigger screens. It is usually grouped with other upgrades that matter more to consumers, including motion-smoothing technology and light-emitting diodes that are more energy-efficient and display color contrast better than traditional liquid crystal display sets.
"There's very little direct consumer demand" for 3D, said Tom Morrod, a TV technology analyst with IHS in London. "They don't see a value with it. Consumers associate value right now with screen size and very few other features."
A 3D TV contains a high-tech chip and software that translates 3D video feeds into the right- and left-eye images that create the 3D effect for people wearing the right glasses. In some cases, special glasses can cost an extra $50 or so.
Watching home movies on disc requires a 3D Blu-ray player that can cost another $120, and each set of 3D Blu-ray discs costs about $27, according to IHS.
TV distributors now don't charge specifically for channels like ESPN 3D. But 3D channels are only "free" if you're already paying up for a pricey package. They're bundled with add-ons like HD service and high-definition digital video recorders. For a DirecTV subscriber, for example, that means a $200 high-definition digital video recorder and $10 per month for HD service.
All that for the privilege of watching 3D at home in your pajamas.
Because of the cost, Carter said he's mainly sampled free 3D movie trailers provided on-demand by his cable TV company. A trailer for the latest "Transformers" movie didn't make him more enthused. "One of the robots pops out at you, and it felt forced." He said that 3D effects aren't noticeable much of the time. While he said he's not knocking the technology, he's disappointed with the way it's being used.
Sluggish demand for 3D on TV has caused programmers to hit pause on rolling out new shows and channels.
In June, DirecTV turned its 24-hour channel, n3D, into a part-time network that only shows special event programming like the Olympics, in part to avoid the heavy use of reruns caused by a lack of new material. Last year, AT&T dropped ESPN 3D from its lineup, saying the $10 per month cost to subscribers wasn't justified given low demand.
So far, ESPN 3D is the most aggressive network in terms of shooting original 3D productions. It has about 140 per year. It also has the widest distribution, according to research firm SNL Kagan, no doubt because popular sports network ESPN includes it in negotiations with distributors. Though few own the hardware to watch the channel, ESPN 3D now pipes into 60 million U.S. homes.
Without extra subscriber fees, though, it could be difficult to make a big business out of 3D production, especially because it's more expensive than 2D. Every 3D camera set-up requires two cameras. They have to be mounted on a special computerized rig that aligns them. And someone in a back room has to adjust a knob that determines how cross-eyed the lenses are. That can require twice the manpower for the same camera position, boosting costs when revenues aren't going up very much.
Advertising, the other pillar of the TV channel business, is also hampered because of the lack of audience data.That has resulted in an odd arrangement. Companies that run advertisements on ESPN 3D, like movie studios, actually have their ads played a second time in 2D on ESPN and other channels so they can meet their goal of reaching a measurable number of people, Burns said. That uses up 2D commercial airtime that might have been sold to other customers.
3D TV is not a complete bust. While he wouldn't say if it's profitable, Burns said ESPN 3D is still a revenue-generating business that is "doing well," because of how the network accounts for revenue from distributors and advertisers. Burns and others expect that as more TVs are sold with the capability, the more viewership will grow, just like it did for high-definition sets and programs a few years ago.
"It took five years before reporting systems caught up and we knew who actually had the service," Burns said of the launch of HD. "It's not unfamiliar territory to us. We've been down this road before."
For TV signal providers, carrying 3D channels before they really become mainstream wins them points with their savviest technophile customers, the kind who jumped on the HD bandwagon early -- a decade ago.
In many ways, though, the comparison to HD isn't a good one.
Watching 3D is a problem for about 6 percent of Americans with certain eye problems, according to Dr. Dominick Maino, a professor with the Illinois College of Optometry. They simply can't see in 3D or suffer dizziness or nausea when watching.
And it won't get the same push that HD got by the hundreds of TV stations that switched to high-definition broadcasts in the last few years. Nor will it benefit from the nation's switch from analog to digital TV broadcasts in 2009.
Another awkward point: Some people just don't like 3-D. In a phone survey last November of 1,300 Americans who had seen 3D TV, Leichtman Research Group found that 38 percent rated it poorly at 3 or below on a scale of 10. That's twice as many as rated it excellently, at 8 or higher.
"It's one of those examples where seeing isn't believing, thus far," said Bruce Leichtman, president of Leichtman Research. "That's certainly not a great place to start."
IDG News Service - Google-owned Motorola Mobility launched its first smartphone with an Atom processor from Intel, the companies announced at an event in London on Tuesday.
The Razr i is the first smartphone with a 2.0GHz Atom Z2460 processor: Existing Atom smartphones run at 1.6GHz. The faster clock speed will result in smoother browsing and better video performance, according to Eric Reid, general manager for Intel's Mobile and Communications group.
The smartphone still uses version 4.0 of Android, although it will be possible to upgrade it to Android 4.1. Motorola has not set a date for the upgrade's availability.
The Razr i has a 4.3-inch screen with a resolution of 960 by 540 pixels, and an 8-megapixel camera. The camera starts up in one second, and there is also a dedicated button for taking pictures, Motorola said. The specification also includes a 2,000mAh battery, NFC and a splash guard to protect it in the rain, the company said.
The smartphone will start shipping in October in countries including the U.K, France, Germany, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. No pricing was announced.
The launch of the Razr i comes almost nine months after the companies announced a partnership at the CES conference in Las Vegas. Motorola is not the only company to release phones based on Intel's Atom Z2460 processor: Others have been launched by ZTE, Orange and Lenovo.
These phones are just the first steps on a long road for Intel if the company wants to challenge the dominance of ARM in the market for power-efficient processors.
The first half of next year will see the launch of products powered by Intel's Z2580 processor, which will add support for LTE and also promises to double the performance of the Z2460 thanks to the use of two cores instead of one, Intel said.
The addition of LTE is a must if the company wants to break into the U.S. market, and is also becoming more important in parts of Asia. Existing Intel-based smartphones have to make do with HSPA when accessing the Internet.
The upcoming Z2000 processor will also make it possible for Intel to power low-cost smartphones, where much of the growth is and will be going forward. The first of those phones will arrive in the beginning of 2013, according to Intel.
As the PC market stutters, mobile devices are becoming increasingly important for Intel. Worldwide sales of PCs in the second quarter showed no growth over last year, while sales of smartphones grew by 42.7%, according to data from market research company Gartner.
Besides smartphones, Intel also wants to power tablets running Android and Microsoft's Windows 8.
The IFA consumer electronics show, which took place in Berlin in the beginning of September, saw the launch of a number of products that will go on sale later this year. Windows 8 is due to start shipping on Oct. 26.
On Monday, Intel also said it will be possible to run Android on tablets based on the company's upcoming Clover Trail processor, but the company didn't say when the first such products will arrive. Previously, Intel had said that Clover Trail was optimized for Windows 8.
Send news tips and comments to mikael_ricknas@idg.com
Reprinted with permission from IDG.net. Story copyright 2012 International Data Group. All rights reserved.
Only five million iPhones sold opening weekend? What a disappointment. Consumers obviously hate the new, boring smartphone from Apple, which announced Monday that people are in fact clamoring for the iPhone 5, which is sold out in some locations.
"Demand for iPhone 5 has been incredible and we are working hard to get an iPhone 5 into the hands of every customer who wants one as quickly as possible," said Apple CEO Tim Cook in a statement.
The iPhone 5 went on sale Friday and was met with long lines at Apple Stores around the world. In the U.S., Sprint stores reported sellouts on the East Coast by about mid-day. Apple's retail partners, Walmart, Target, and Best Buy, appeared to have limited stock of the device when compared to Apple's own retail stores, which received the lion's share of shipments.
Based on the official sales numbers from Apple, it looks like some analysts might need to fine-tune their forecasting methods. Earlier this month, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster predicted that Apple would sell between 6 and 10 million iPhones 5's opening weekend.
Five million iPhone 5s falls well short of that estimate, but still represents a 25% increase in sales when compared to 2011's opening weekend for the iPhone 4S, which sold 4 million devices. One has to wonder if Apple could have met some of the analyst predictions if the initial supply had been larger. Apple took 2 million preorders for the device in just 24 hours when it became available on Apple's website.
For now, availability for the iPhone looks as though it will remain scarce for at least a few weeks. "While we have sold out of our initial supply, stores continue to receive iPhone 5 shipments regularly and customers can continue to order online and receive an estimated delivery date," said Cook. "We appreciate everyone's patience and are working hard to build enough iPhone 5s for everyone."
The iPhone 5 is available in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. The iPhone 5 will launch in 22 additional countries on September 28.
Right now, the iPhone 5 is being sold by AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless, but a number of prepaid carriers, including U.S. Cellular and C Spire Wireless, will sell the iPhone 5 starting September 28, too. According to Apple, the iPhone 5 will be available in more than 100 countries by the end of the year.
The other big number coming from Apple Monday is news of iOS 6. The latest version of its mobile operating system became available on September 19, and Apple said that more than 100 million iOS devices have already been updated to iOS 6. iOS 6 adds a host of new features to iOS devices, such as Passbook, and makes system-wide improvements to apps such as email, Safari, Siri, and iMessage. iOS 6 is a free download.
Mobile employees' data and apps need protecting. Here are 10 ways to get the job done. Also in the new, all-digital 10 Steps To E-Commerce Security special issue of Dark Reading: Mobile technology is forcing businesses to rethink the fundamentals of how their networks work. (Free registration required.)
Even Windows 8 fans prefer Windows 7 by a two-to-one margin.
Forumswindows8.com, the self-proclaimed largest Windows 8 help and support forum on the Internet, is filled with posts on such subjects as how to try to terminate a process in the Windows 8 task manager when access is denied and the state of Winodws 8 HP printer drivers. These hard-core Windows 8 early adopters group recently polled their users. And, 50,000 votes later, they found that their memberships' favorite Windows operating system was overwhemling Windows 7.
The breakdown for favorite version of Windows, from top to bottom, was Windows 7: 53%; Windows 8: 25%, XP: 20% and Other: 2%. Research house Gartner wouldn't argue. In a Webinar, Gartner analysts Steve Kleynhans and Michael Silver argue that if your company is still using XP you want to upgrade to Windows 7 and not be distracted by Windows 8.
Kleynhans said, "Get Windows 7 done, and then you can start to experiment and dabble with Windows 8, but don't let Windows 8 derail your Windows 7 upgrade project." He continued, “"We really don't think Windows 8 will get significant traction as a PC OS in a corporate environment." Gartner's clients are certainly following that course. Those who plan on upgrading are are moving to Windows 7 and plan to skip Windows 8 for PCs entirely.
According to Kleynhans, “Windows 8 will get 20% to 25% of the corporate user base, at most, before it's replaced with whatever comes next.†In short Windows 8 adoption "will look more like Vista, [and] it won't have the installed base that we've seen with Windows 7 or XP." Why? Because Windows 8 is a “plumbing" upgrade. This is an upgrade that drastically changes the technology without adding significant improvements. In particular, he thinks most users and IT departments will find the interface formerly known as Metro to be too different to find favor and Windows 8's use of two different interfaces to be too confusing for most users.
That's not what the Windows 8 forum survey found though. Their list of weaknesses in Windows 8 started with price: 35% followed by system requirements: 26%; incompatibility 25%; Windows freezes 20%; and only then does the interface show up with 18%.. A close reading of the forum's messages find that their members really do feel that Windows 8 will be over-priced and they're finding lots of hardware driver and software incompatibility problems.
These results aren't surprising. These are users who've already committed to Windows 8. From the start, they've accepted that Metro is not going to be anything like the Windows 7 Aero interface. Gartner's userfs have no such commitment.
That said, the Windows 8 fans don't love the Metro user interface either. In their ranking of favorite Windows 8 features, Metro came in the lower-end of the pack. In order, their top favorite features were: Fast boot and shutdown, 55%; Easy installation, 50%; Internet Explorer 10, 35%; Restart/Restore capabilities, 28%; Built-in application integration, 26%; Windows Explorer, 25%; App Store, 23%; and then Metro at 22%.
Forumswindows8.com also asked their membership which mobile operating system they'd rather buy. The winner? Android with 42%, followed by Windows 8 Mobile, 29% and iPhone, 22%. This does not bode well for Microsoft making any progress in the smartphone market.
On the other hand, Microsoft did at least have the support of this Windows 8 fan group when it came to tablets. 35% of them would rather have a Microsoft Surface than an Android tablet, 33%, or the hated Apple rival iPad with 26%.
Having trouble getting to sleep? It could be your iPad, Kindle or any other screen you use for reading before turning the lights out. New research explains why this happens, but what can you do about it â€" short of going back to paper?
The Lighting Research Center at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute recently published a study explaining how readers’ beloved tablets and e-readers keep people up at night. A dark room triggers the body’s production of melatonin, a hormone that acts as a messenger telling the body it’s time to sleep, and lighted screens interfere with that message.
Any light can make it tough to fall asleep (that’s why many parents with young children bemoan the onset of daylight savings time), but light of shorter wavelengths, such as the bluish tints emitted from LED-backlit screens, suppresses nocturnal melatonin, according to the sleep study. The brighter the light and longer the exposure, the more difficulty it will cause in falling asleep.
The findings come just after Amazon introduced its new Kindle PaperWhite e-readers, which offer higher-contrast backlit displays, an answer to Barnes & Noble’s popular Nook with GlowLight. And multi-purpose tablets â€" such as the iPad, Google Nexus 7 and the newest high-resolution tablets launched last week by Barnes and Noble â€" are frequently used as e-book readers. But more vivid screens aren’t necessarily better when it comes to sleep.
“The ones that do not emit light should be better [for sleeping],†Mariana Figueiro, director of the Lighting Research Center’s Light and Health Program, told me.
She offered some tips for getting a better night’s sleep without giving up your e-reader or tablet. Figueiro recommends reducing the brightness of the screen to its minimum (which helps conserve battery life, too). Tablet users can go into “settings†to do this.
Kindle and Nook e-readers that lack a built-in light don’t allow users to adjust the screen, but because the device’s e-ink displays have lower contrast, these e-readers are less disruptive to sleep. However, Kindle Paperwhites and Nook with GlowLight should be dimmed as much as possible, Figueiro said.
Readers should also reduce the amount of time spent using the device before bedtime.
“One hour exposure is not so bad,†she said. “But after two hours, we saw significant melatonin suppression.â€
The same holds true for any lighted screen, including TVs and computers. Turn your devices off at least one hour before you plan on turning off your light and going to sleep.
In addition to reducing disruptive light, you can make other adjustments to your display that will make it easier to sleep. Most devices give users some text and display-color options for reading. For instance, in iBooks for the iPad, tapping the font icon at the top right corner of a page displays a number of adjustments for nighttime reading. Here, readers can dim the screen and choose the Night theme, which shows white type on a black field, the configuration Figueiro said was best for nighttime reading. E-readers and Kindle or Nook apps used on a laptop or other device offer the same white-on-black scheme.
Despite what your mom probably told you as a kid (“Read in bright light or you’ll go blindâ€), reading in lower light isn’t harmful, and it will make falling asleep easier.
“Low-level illumination, equivalent to a nightlight, for example, is okay with a tablet,†Figueiro said. You should also hold your device as far away from your eyes as is possible â€" and comfortable â€" to reduce the amount of light reaching the eyes. Enlarge the font size if necessary, a feature that all e-readers, tablets and reading apps offer.
If you’re still having trouble falling asleep, it may not be your device.
“All of these will help minimize melatonin suppression, but one can still be active and alert because of the task,†she said. “So we cannot blame it all on the light coming from the screen.â€
Note to readers: The new Nook HD tablets come in two sizes â€" a 7-inch device starting at $199, and a 9-inch model starting at $269. It’s available for pre-order now, but it won’t ship until Nov. 1. My editor had an opportunity to try them out at a Barnes & Noble launch event in New York City and said the new Nooks “are more than just Kindle clones.†However, we’re counting on an iPad Mini in October. While this hasn’t been confirmed by Apple, we’ve already seen accessories for them. If you’re planning to buy a tablet, let’s wait and see what Apple has in store before jumping on a tablet from Amazon, B&N or Google â€" the new iPad Mini could be competitively priced.
Ogden-based TopTenREVIEWS.com guides consumers by comparing products in the world of technology, including electronics, software and Web services. Have a question for TopTenREVIEWS? Email Leslie Meredith at lesliemeredith@technewsdaily.com.
