Google now lets you use your Android phone as a 2SV security key
If you have a phone running Android 7.0 Nougat or higher, you can now use it as a FIDO security key. This new option was announced at Google Cloud Next 2019, and it makes using 2-Step Verification much more accessible thanks to the fact that people are likely to have their phones with them most of the time.
The system -- currently in beta -- can be used to access ChromeOS, macOS or Windows 10 computers running Chrome, and can replace or supplement other FIDO-based security keys like Google's own Titan Security Key.
Viber users in the US, UK and Canada can now buy a Viber Local Number for calls and texts
Viber has launched a new option called Viber Local Number which lets users in the US, UK and Canada buy a local phone number to associate with their account and use it to receive calls and texts with non-Viber users.
Viber Local Number (VLN) has been in closed beta testing for a little while, but it is now available to anyone from the supported countries that is interested. It is a similar system to that found in Skype, and will cost subscribers $4.99 per month.
Email app Spark arrives on Android ready to replace Google Inbox
Google may be shutting down its Inbox app later this week, but there are alternatives out there. In fact, the number of options available to Android users just increased.
Spark -- which has proved very popular with iOS and macOS users -- has just migrated to Android, bringing with it all manner of inbox organizing smarts. Developer Readdle says it will, "make you love email again".
Cloudflare announces free VPN service, Warp, to complement its 1.1.1.1 DNS resolver
Online privacy has become such a concern that VPN tools -- once used only by technology experts -- have now started to become far more mainstream. Android users can take advantage of Opera's built-in VPN, and there are many other services to choose from.
Adding to this list, Cloudflare has announced a new free VPN service called Warp. It will become part of the company's existing privacy-focused 1.1.1.1 DNS resolver, and just as 1.1.1.1 was designed to simplify using a DNS tool, so Warp is being billed as a "VPN for people who don't know what V.P.N. stands for".
Google publishes its Android Security & Privacy 2018 Year in Review
Google has published its fifth Android Security & Privacy Year in Review, this time looking back at 2018. While the report draws attention to some of the security and privacy improvements the company has made, it is not just about Google blowing its own trumpet.
The report shows that payouts made through Google rewards programs -- payments made to outside researchers and individuals for bringing security issues to the company's attention -- reached $3 million in 2018. Google also says that in the fourth quarter of the year, 84 percent more devices received a security update than in the same quarter in 2017.
The revolutionary LG G8 ThinQ Android smartphone is coming to America
Android fans should be in heaven right now -- there are several excellent smartphones on the market from companies like LG, Samsung, Huawei, and more. Let us not forget about Google's own Pixel phones too. Quite frankly, picking an Android device can be a bit overwhelming, but I suppose too much choice is a good problem to have!
Today, LG announces that its highly anticipated smartphone, the LG G8 ThinQ, is coming to America. Yes, if you are in the USA, you will be able to get it next month. Should you be excited? Uh, yes, because this phone has some revolutionary technology.
HUAWEI officially unveils elegant P30 Series of Android smartphones
As Apple's hardware business begins to show signs of decline, HUAWEI keeps pushing forward and succeeding. In many ways, HUAWEI has surpassed Apple in the design department. The latest iPhone smartphones are boring and ugly due to huge notches, while HUAWEI's Android offerings are exciting, fresh, and elegant. Apple has long been seen as the king of mobile photography, but HUAWEI is making huge strides here too, with superb cameras. Even on the laptop front, HUAWEI's offerings are besting Apple's much-maligned MacBook Pro (2016-2018).
Today, after several leaks, Huawei officially unveils its P30 Series of Android smartphones. There are two models from which to choose -- the P30 and the P30 Pro. The former features a 6.1-inch display, while the latter has a 6.47-inch screen. Both models have a 2340 x 1080 resolution and a very small notch (take notes, Apple). They both also share the same octa-core Kirin 980 processor -- RAM and storage will vary based on configuration. And yes, the cameras on both models should be great, but the Pro model in particular will provide an advanced photography experience.
Sign up to beta test Android Pie on OnePlus 3 and 3T
OnePlus has a decent track recording of supporting its handsets for longer than most other companies, pushing out security updates and even operating system upgrades long beyond the point at which other manufacturers have let their handsets fall by the wayside.
Having already rolled out Android Pie to the OnePlus 5 and 5T, it wasn't long before we learned that the company hadn’t forgotten about owners of older handsets. Now you can sign up to take part in a beta program to test Android Pie on your OnePlus 3 or 3T ahead of the impending launch of the Pie-based OxygenOS 9.
Opera for Android now includes a free and unlimited VPN
Opera has added a free VPN service to the Android version of its mobile web browser. Opera 51's newly-added VPN is not only free from charges, it is also free from limitations.
The feature has been added as the Norwegian software developer seeks to improve the security and privacy of web browsing for its users. The company says that it "marks a new standard for privacy and security in mobile browsing".
Copying Microsoft, Google is bringing browser choice to Android to stave off antitrust regulators
Google is no stranger to investigations into and questions about its practices, and in Europe the company has faced great interest from the European Commission for violating antitrust laws. Now, in a move that echoes that of Microsoft's Browser Choice nearly a decade ago, Google is going to give Android users the option of choosing their default web browser and search engine.
This is not something that will be happening on a global scale, however -- at least not to start with. As Google is merely keen to avoid accusations of being anticompetitive in Europe, it is only European Android users that will be affected.
Researchers find two Android malware campaigns with over 250 million downloads
Check Point Research has uncovered two massive mobile adware and data stealing campaigns, which have already had a combined total of over 250 million downloads globally.
Both target mobiles using Android, and exploit the mobile app development supply chain to infect devices and perform malicious actions.
Microsoft starts testing Android screen mirroring on Windows 10
Microsoft first introduced its Your Phone app late last year, and Windows Insiders running a 19H1 build can now try out a brand new feature -- screen mirroring.
This new addition lets users mirror an Android phone’s screen directly on a Windows 10 PC, but -- as you might expect -- this feature isn’t available to all.
Two-thirds of Android antivirus apps block less than 30 percent of threats
In one of the biggest tests of Android antivirus software ever conducted, out of 250 apps tested the majority proved to be dubious, unsafe or ineffective.
Independent testing organization AV-Comparatives put the apps to the test against an array of common threats and found that some are not properly protecting users.
Leak: OnePlus 7 could eliminate the notch with a pop-up camera
At MWC last month, OnePlus did not -- as many people had hoped -- show off the OnePlus 7, opting instead to give visitors a hands-off glimpse at a 5G prototype. But a new leak gives us an idea of what we might expect to see in the upcoming handset.
In a video, the OnePlus 7 is shown to have virtually no bezels, and a 6.5-inch screen is unencumbered by a notch or hole punch cut-out. This is thanks largely to the use of a camera that pops up out of the top of the handset.
Android Pie is still coming to the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T
Apple gets a lot of praise for the length of time it offers iOS updates to iPhone owners. Manufacturers of Android handsets, on the other hand, tend to be chastised for failing to offer OS updates for anywhere near long enough.
Bucking this trend is OnePlus, one of the few companies that does not just forget about owners of older phones as soon as a new model is released. But having promised some time ago that OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T owners would get Android Pie, users were starting to fear that the update had been ditched. Good news. OnePlus has confirmed that Pie is still in the pipeline.
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