Items tagged with Android
Huawei has found itself in more than a little bit of trouble with the sanctions handed out against the company by the Trump administration. The sanctions prevent Huawei for using a licensed version of Android on its devices and from using Google apps and services on its devices. Despite the ban, Huawei is moving forward with the unveiling of the Mate 30. The Mate 30 will launch at an event in Germany on September 18 according to a source cited in a Reuters report. The Mate 30 is a 5G smartphone and will be Huawei's first major flagship device that will launch without licensed Android and Google services. Google has confirmed that the Mate 30 can't be sold with licensed Google apps and services...
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Nintendo fans wanting a new game to play on their iPhone or Android device will be glad to hear that Mario Kart Tour finally has a launch date. The game will land for both platforms on September 25. The launch date for the game was tipped by the game's Apple App Store page and by tweets from Nintendo. The game will see Mario and his pals racing around the world with courses inspired by real-world cities and classic Mario Kart courses. Destinations will be featured in tours that rotate every two weeks. Some of the characters will get variations that feature local flavor. Pre-registration for Mario Kart Tour is now available! For more details, please click here: https://t.co/loB3wf6eOv#MarioKartTour...
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You can forget about the next version of Android being called queijadinha, qurabiya, queen of puddings, or any other dessert that begins the letter "Q." As part of a more inclusive rebranding effort, Google is moving away from the traditional dessert-themed naming scheme, and calling the next major build of its mobile operating system simply Android 10. Well, it was fun while it lasted. Perhaps the most memorably build up to this point, in terms of the name, was KitKat. Google partnered with Nestle for the tie-in to Android, and in doing so, it made the guessing game all the more fun for ever subsequent build of Android—would the name be an actual dessert, or a candy brand? "As we continue...
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It seems as though every few weeks that we hear about a new Android malware or adware scheme that has invaded the Google Play Store. Unfortunately, we today have to report on yet another adware scheme that was uncovered by the security gurus over at Trend Micro. The adware has been identified as AndroidOS_Hidenad.HRXH, and it was preloaded on 85 apps found in Google Play. According to the security researchers, the adware was primarily disguised as either a photography or gaming app. What's most alarming, however, is that these 85 apps were cumulatively downloaded over 8 million times by unsuspecting Android users. A small sample of the adware apps on Google Play. According...
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Motorola has a pair of new smartphones coming soon, and some details on the devices have leaked from reputable leakers. The smartphones are the Motorola One Zoom and the Motorola One Pro. The devices are variants of the same smartphone and details were leaked by Evan Blass and Roland Quandt, both notable for their accuracy with smartphone leaks. Both the Motorola One Zoom and Motorola One Pro have the same design with thin bezels and a back with a blocky, rectangular raised area that has four lenses. The leaked details claim that the primary sensor will be a 48MP unit, and there are ultra-wide and telephoto lens to help add versatility to photo taking. The Motorola logo that is directly under...
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OnePlus is getting ready to launch a line of big screen televisions, and after a year of collecting feedback from its users, has decided on a name: OnePlus TV. The company decided to keep the branding simple, though the decision was "harder than you could imagine" due to receiving "so many creative names" since kicking off its TV naming competition. "Yes, we are going to call our very first smart TV product 'OnePlus TV'—simple yet to-the-point—as we believe there's no other name that can best represent our value, vision and pride than naming it with our own brand," a community consultant stated on the OnePlus forums. Source: OnePlus OnePlus also designed a logo, shown above. The logo...
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Have you noticed your Android handset depleting its battery at a faster clip than usual? If so, the culprit could be a recent update to Google Play Services. There have been multiple reports of unusually fast battery drain on various Android phones running Google Play Services 18.3.82, suggesting there is a bug with the software. This does not appear to affect any single make or model Android phone—any Android device running the latest version of Google Play Services is prone to shortened battery life, compared whatever the normal run time might be. Source: Artem Russakovskii (via Twitter) APKMirror founder and Android Police writer Artem Russakovskii noted the disparity on Twitter, as...
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Companies like Microsoft have been telling us that passwords are dangerous and insecure for years, and leading companies in the tech industry are finally doing something about it. The latest is Google, which is making it possible for Android users to login to Google services using your fingerprint instead of a password -- that is as long as you're running Android 7 or later, which should be most of you reading this. Google is using a combination of FIDO2, FIDO CTAP, and W3C WebAuthn standards to enable this functionality on Android devices. So, while this kind of password-less login functionality has been available for quite some time in native mobile apps and services (like authenticating...
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The finish line is in sight for Google when it comes to the Android Q operating system. The company released its first developer build of Android Q way back in March, and now the final development build (Beta 6) has been released to the public. With the release of Android Q Beta 6 comes the final API 29 SDK for app developers. Google explains that this final beta build includes all the "features, system behaviors, and developer APIs that you’ll find in the final platform, so it gives you everything you need to get your apps ready." Google warns, however, that changes made to improve Android performance, battery life and security -- as with previous major Android releases -- may...
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Last year Google was hit with a massive $5 billion fine by the European Commission. Along with that fine, Google was forced to implement new screens to ask users if they wanted additional browsers and search engines on the device at setup. Google has found a way to make lemonade out of the lemons given to it by the European Commission and has started to charge search engine providers. The new Android "choice screen" that the European Commission forced Google to adopt will land in early 2020 for users in Europe and will allow them to pick the default search engine that is featured in the home screen widget. Google will also install the app associated with the search engine choice the user makes....
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When Apple announced its monthly subscription gaming service called Apple Arcade, everyone expected Google to launch its own similar service. It's taken Google some time to launch a competing service, but it seems that service is here. Google is now testing a service called Google Play Pass. Google's Play Pass service calls out access to games and apps indicating it won't just be an arcade offering. The app images are from the signup page allegedly seen by an unnamed reader and sent to Android Police. The signup page offers a subscribe link and calls out a monthly fee of $4.99. App users will appreciate that the Play Pass notes there are no purchases, no ads, and all in-app purchases are unlocked....
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Security researchers at ESET have discovered an active ransomware campaign targeting Android users, thus ending a two-year decline in this form of malware in Google's mobile ecosystem. And unlike past ransomware campaigns, this one employs "some unusual tricks" to attract victims, and then spreads to contacts through text messaging. ESET is calling this ransomware strain Android/Filecoder.C (just Filecoder from here on out). It is primarily distributed by way of malicious posts on Reddit and the XDA Developers forum, the latter of which is a popular hangout for Android developers and enthusiasts. These posts lure victims by promising salacious material, such as porn-related content and sex simulators,...
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The Nintendo Switch is an excellent game console, one that is uniquely flexible for playing games on your big screen TV or in portable form. If you happen to own one of the earlier models, it is also hackable. Now thanks to Switchroot, a group for open source development on the Switch, the nifty console can be modded with an Android port, which in turn opens the door for GeForce NOW support. This is a very specific hack, though. NVIDIA's Tegra X1 system-on-chip (SoC) powers the Switch, a previous version of which contained a hardware vulnerability. While technically a potential security vulnerability, the flaw can be exploited to install emulators and unauthorized software. The caveat is that...
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Google's Fast Pair technology has been updated with an interesting new feature that users of connected Bluetooth devices will find useful. There are also a bunch of new products that are compatible with Fast Pair technology. Google is talking up some of the upcoming experiences for Fast Pair aimed at improving Bluetooth device management. One of the updates is True Wireless Stereo (TWS) that is gaining momentum in the market. With TWS continuing to grow, Google wants to build-in system-wide support. TWS headsets with Fast Pair will gain the ability to broadcast individual battery information for the case and earbuds. That means that compatible devices will be able to show the charge level of...
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