SpaceX plans to reach Mars by 2018

Elon Musk’s SpaceX isn’t dilly-dallying on its space exploration plans. Its founder has previously said he wanted to bring humans to Mars in 10 years. And it seems the first step is being taken. Musk announced on Twitter that he plans to send Dragon, the vehicle designed to fly people and cargo to Mars, by 2018. “Planning to send Dragon to Mars as soon as 2018. Red Dragons will inform overall Mars architecture, details to come,” the tweet said.

There isn’t much information on it yet but another tweet from Musk says, “Dragon 2 is designed to be able to land anywhere in the solar system. Red Dragon Mars mission is the first test flight.” However, no plans of sending a human to Mars just yet. “But wouldn’t recommend transporting astronauts beyond Earth-moon region. Wouldn’t be fun for longer journeys. Internal volume ~size of SUV.” According to SpaceX, the Dragon’s first manned test flight is about two or three years away.

Source: CNET

Google Calendar now helps you find time for office meetings

Google Calendar is hoping to become your best productivity tool. Its latest update for the Android app introduces Find a Time feature. It’ll look at everyone’s schedule to determine what the best time to hold a meeting would be based on when everyone is free (or at least as close to that as possible. It’ll then give you several suggested times to choose from. If there is no time when participants will be available, the Calendar will “look at which conflicting meetings can most easily be rescheduled.”

This feature, of course, needs everyone to keep their calendars updated. Find a Time only works using Google Apps for Work or Google Apps for Education. It works similar to how Calendar’s new Goals feature works but applied to the office.

Source: The Verge

Tangerine launches new iOS mobile app decked with security features

Tangerine is boasting its new Mobile Banking App comes with some first-to-market innovations meant to increase the security and ease of use of their iOS app. The new features include EyeVerify, VocalPassword, and In-App Secure Chat. EyeVerify introduces eye scanning technology into the app. It makes use of Eyeprint ID technology for quicker client identification. VocalPassword, developed by Nuance, makes use of voice authentication technology and requires you to just say a simple phrase to get access into your account. The app also introduces Secure Chat for mobile, saying they’re the first to bring fully-authenticated chat using Genesys technology and made in partnership with IBM. It lets you use the app to do things like change addresses or make a lump sum payment on their mortgage. An Android version of the app is said to arrive in the coming months.

Privates app lets you take back a text before your recipient opens it, prevent screenshots

Ever given into a drunken text or sent one off in a fit of rage that you’ll later regret? Well, a new app hopes to help you out with that unfortunate message. Privates can help you recall a text or picture message before your recipient opens it. You just need to tap on the Recall button to get the message back. This’ll delete the message from Privates server. If your recipient is glued to their phone, you’ll have to act fast.

The app boasts of having screenshot prevention, meaning your recipient can’t take screenshots and send it to others. Of course, physically passing around the phone is a different story. Privates has three levels of security: Mild, Wild, and Insane—which will delete unread messages after either 24, 12, or three hours, respectively. There’s also a Reactions feature that will show you the facial expression of your recipient when they see the message. It’s initially available for iOS but will be coming to Android and Windows soon.

Source: The Telegraph