Items tagged with Android
OnePlus has something up its sleeve for next week, and what exactly it is we don't know. OnePlus India is teasing an unveil for March 3rd. While we aren't sure what it is, OnePlus has reportedly made it clear that it's not a new phone or commercial product. The teaser video on the OnePlus India website shows something constructed out of metal, what exactly it is we have no idea, but it looks intricate with precision fit and finish, maybe a gimbal of some sort? But it's not a commercial product... We're perplexed. We do know that the unveil isn't for the OnePlus 8 that fans of the brand are looking forward to. While the new product launch is a mystery, there has been something OnePlus 8...
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Users of Gmail on Android devices may have noticed that there is an issue that prevents some from being able to empty their trash. The same flaw prevents some users from being able to empty their spam bin as well. Not all Android devices are impacted by the issue, but those who are have no "Empty trash now" or "Empty spam now" options on their devices. However, there is a workaround for those who are having this issue. The first workaround isn't ideal as it involves the user giving up on deleting spam or emptying their trash bin on the Android app and heading to the web app to perform the deeds. The other workaround for the issue involves rolling back to an earlier version of the Gmail app. This...
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As with many things in life, when it comes to mobile app security, you win some and you lose some. So it goes for Google and its Play Store. A new 2019 Mobile App Thread Landscape Report put together by RiskIQ pegs the Play Store as being the second most dangerous place to download apps, in terms of the number of malicious apps that were hosted last year. At the same time, the Play Store showed a big decline in malicious apps in 2019. This is somewhat of an important ranking, considering that users downloaded over 200 billion apps in 2019, and spent more than $120 billion in app stores around the world, according the report. Looking ahead, the RiskIQ expects both figures to be even higher for...
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A new security vulnerability has now been detailed that exposes portions of your device’s Wi-Fi traffic to nefarious individuals. The Kr00k vulnerability was disclosed today by ESET researchers presenting at the RSA Security Conference. The problem lies with Wi-Fi chips that were manufactured by Broadcom and Cypress Semiconductor, and Kr00k would allow anyone with the proper tools within close proximity to your Wi-Fi network to bypass WPA2 encryption. Kr00k takes advantage of a period of a time when a device disconnects from a network either when roaming from access point to access point, or when it is forced off in a suspicious manner. After the targeted device then reconnects to the network,...
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Sony has announced a new flagship smartphone called the Xperia 1 II. The strange name marks the second edition of the device that first launched roughly a year ago. Highlights of the new Xperia 1 II include the claim of being the world's first smartphone with up to 20 fps continuous shooting capability. The camera array is a triple-lens setup with a 3D iToF technology and ZEISS optics with a T coating just for the smartphone. The three 12MP sensors of the camera array have focal lengths of 16mm, 24mm, and 70mm respectively, and support advanced photo technologies. The cameras also have continuous autofocus and auto-exposure that performance AF/AE calculations at 60 times per second. Sony also...
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There are many ways for one to monitor their physical surroundings and possessions, but these methods are not always accessible or inconspicuous. Haven: Keep Watch uses an Android device’s sensors to monitor an area and watch out for unwelcome guests; its stable version was released this past December. Haven was co-developed by Edward Snowden and the Guardian Project with the support of the Freedom of the Press Foundation. It is both an open source project that is available on GitHub and an app that can be downloaded on Google Play. It was originally released in 2017, but has been updated over the past few months. Anyone can download Haven, but it was particularly created with journalists,...
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Ever since Microsoft efforts to rule the mobile world with Windows 10 Mobile fizzled out, the company has been on a mission to bring many of its software products to Android and iOS. The latest move by the company to spread its wares around comes with the announcement that it will make Defender software available on both popular mobile platforms. The company has previously made Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) available to both desktop-based Windows and macOS platforms. By extending support to Android and iOS, Microsoft taps into an install base that is measured in the billions. As you're well aware, Android has particularly been a focal point for frequent malware attacks,...
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Google is jumping the gun a bit early today with the first official release of its Android 11 Developer Preview. We usually see the first Android developer previews land in March, so this is a pleasant surprise for those that want to get an early taste of what Google has to offer this year. “With Android 11 we’re keeping our focus on helping users take advantage of the latest innovations, while continuing to keep privacy and security a top priority,” writes Dave Burk, Google VP of Engineering. “We’ve added multiple new features to help users manage access to sensitive data and files, and we’ve hardened critical areas of the platform to keep the OS resilient...
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Imagine hitting it off with a love (or lust) interest, and then finding out the person who grabbed your attention never existed, at least not in the way you thought. Such a situation recently happened to hundreds of Israeli soldiers who fell prey to a "honey trap" campaign and contracted digital infections on their mobile phones. Hamas cyber militants made a bunch of fake profiles on various social media sites and chat services, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Telegram, and used pictures of teenage girls for the profile photos to lure soldiers into the scam. Through instant messaging exchanges, soldiers were duped into downloading dating apps containing malware. Hamas created fake...
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“Dark mode” or “night mode” has long been popular with tech users. It is also now increasingly being adopted by major apps and operating systems. However, is dark mode simply an aesthetic preference or can it provide benefits to users? Companies and services like Google, Apple, and Facebook offer or plan to offer dark mode to help reduce eyestrain, increase battery life, and decrease display flickering. Many apps and operating systems tend to prefer light user interfaces (UI). This brighter interface or “dark-on-light color scheme” was originally introduced in word processors to mimic the look of dark ink on light paper. A light UI is generally considered...
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Android Trojan xHelper haunted the Google Play Store in 2019. After several months, it appeared that the malware had disappeared. Unfortunately, xHelper was not dead but only sleeping. Security researchers at Malwarebytes Lab recently discovered that xHelper was once again infecting devices and that its reinfection seemed to be triggering off from Google Play. Android Trojan xHelper first appeared in Spring 2019 and infected over 45,000 devices. xHelper targeted users in India, the United States, and Russia. It is a malware dropper whose main purpose is to provide a backdoor to attackers. The attackers can then install other apps, steal data, or even take over the device. A Malwarebyte forum...
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Android users need to apply the latest round of security updates to their devices as one of them is meant to address a critical vulnerability in the Bluetooth subsystem. The flaw is known as CVE-2020-0022, and when exploited, it could allow arbitrary code to be run on the device with the elevated privileges of the Bluetooth daemon when the wireless module is active. A security update released on Monday addressed this flaw. CVE-2020-0022 was discovered and reported by the Technische Universität Darmstadt, Secure Mobile Networking Lab, and is considered critical on Android Oreo 8.0 and 8.1 as well as Android Pie 9.0. Attackers could leverage CVE-2020-0022 to spread malware from one vulnerable...
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It looks as though it's the end of the line for BlackBerry smartphones, as the company’s existing licensing deal with TCL Communications is coming to an end on August 31st 2020. TCL first entered into to an agreement in December 2016 to license the BlackBerry name for a family of smartphones in the KEY Series. Since that initial agreement, TCL has produced the BlackBerry KEYone, Motion, KEY2 and KEY2 LE. However, in a smartphone market that is dominated by the likes of Samsung, Apple, Huawei and Xiaomi, what was once the go-to choice for consumers and professionals in the early smartphone days is now just a faint memory to most. pic.twitter.com/jhcfVHjVqL— BlackBerry...
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Today is a big day for fans of the next-generation Razr. Motorola has just opened up pre-orders for the folding Android smartphone, which has a starting price of $1,499. The device will officially start shipping on February 6th. In the meantime, Motorola has posted a new video on its YouTube channel entitled "Caring for Razr" in which the company talks about how to... well... care for your Razr. In the video that runs for less than a minute, Motorola explains that the Razer is water repellant and can be wiped dry with a cloth. But then, the company goes on to state that the "screen is made to bend; bumps and lumps are normal." The Motorola Razr uses a complex hinge mechanism to...
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