For a little while now it has been thought that the P in Android P stood for Popsicle -- based largely on speculation and the fact Google shared some popsicle-related images on Instagram. But it seems that this is wrong.

A new leak -- this time courtesy of Huawei -- suggests that Google has gone with a nutty theme for the upcoming Android 9.0.

Continue reading →

Chrome's Incognito Mode is handy for those times you want to hide your browsing history from others on a shared system -- whether it's because you want to keep a birthday gift secret, or there are just sites you visit that you’d rather keep private.

Now the same feature is coming to YouTube. Having already undergone a period of testing, Incognito Mode is rolling out to Android users around the world, making it easy to hide evidence of the videos you have been watching, or the type of content you have been searching for.

Continue reading →

OnePlus is no stranger to launching multiple versions of its flagship-killing handset, and things are no different with the OnePlus 6. Joining the existing line-up soon is the OnePlus 6 Red -- and the price is pretty appealing.

While previous models of the OnePlus 6 have borne the tag "The speed you need", this one is also billed as being "The Red you need". Kitted out with 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM, and powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, speediness -- as well as redness -- should not be a concern.

Continue reading →

At Mobile World Congress Shanghai, OnePlus CEO and founder Pete Lau said that his company is determined to make a proper entry into the North American market and is working with US carriers to make it happen.

OnePlus has also said that it is looking to produce a 5G phone in 2019, and it will take advantage of its relationship with Qualcomm to make this happen. For current and future OnePlus owners, the company also made commitments about software and security updates.

Continue reading →

Samsung has typically unveiled new models in the Galaxy Note series towards the end of the third quarter, but this time around the South Korean maker is speeding things up.

The upcoming Galaxy Note 9 will make its public debut on August 9, during the second Unpacked event of 2018. We do not know yet when it will actually hit store shelves, but, knowing Samsung, interested buyers should be able to snag one shortly after that.

Continue reading →

DRM is something that's usually associated with streaming music and video, but there's no reason that it can't be put to other uses. Proving this, Google has started using a form of DRM to improve app security by verifying that APKs originate from the Play Store. It's a system that works much like signed drivers in Windows.

The aim is simple: to improve the security of Android users by ensuring that they are using genuine apps that have not been tampered with in any way. Google is not referring to the new system as DRM, saying instead that it is adding a "small amount of security metadata on top of APKs to verify that the APK was distributed by Google Play".

Continue reading →

Google has unveiled a new look for users' accounts, making information clearer, improving transparency and adding new options.

To make it easy to find information, Google has added a search function and there's also a cleaner look to aid navigation. Building on the previous update to Security Checkup, your Google account now also highlights settings you can change to improve your security.

Continue reading →

Researchers at RiskIQ have uncovered a scam app that seeks to steal information and launches advert clicking to make money for the scammers.

The app is advertised as a battery saver. The twist here is that though it will actually do what it says and cut battery use, it does a lot of nasty stuff too.

Continue reading →

An Amazon Prime membership is a great thing, especially if you take advantage of all of its offerings. The free 2-day shipping by itself makes it worthwhile for many, but the Prime Video streaming service puts it over the edge -- there are so many great movies and TV shows available, you could easily forgo Netflix to save money. Following Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods, the membership can even get you discounts on groceries -- only in some areas of the country for now, however. There are even more perks, so ultimately, Amazon Prime is worth the cost, even after the recent price increase.

One of my favorite membership benefits, however, is the Amazon Prime Exclusive Phone program. If you aren't familiar, this is where Prime members can get discounts on quality Android smartphones. There is a small trade-off for the savings -- some Amazon apps and widgets are pre-installed on the device, including Alexa. With that said, the use of the apps is optional, so it really shouldn't be a big deal. Quite frankly, I'm sure some hardcore Amazon users will find having the apps is a plus. Today, two new Motorola phones join the aforementioned program -- the high-end Moto Z3 Play and the affordable Moto G6 Play.

Continue reading →

Google has never really shown much interest in podcasts -- despite their age and popularity -- but today this changes. The company has launched a new Android app called simply Google Podcasts complete with ubiquitous AI for personalized suggestions.

Available in 47 languages, the app currently provides access to a collection of around two million podcasts, but this number is likely to grow very quickly. Google boasts of integration with Google Assistant and Google Home, the main benefit of which is being able to start a podcast on one device and continue on another.

Continue reading →

Google is rolling out a series of changes to Android Messages, one of which makes it possible to send text messages from the comfort of your computer. Called "Messages for web" the feature enables users to use a desktop web browser to send SMSes rather than their phone.

While this is almost certainly the biggest and most exciting changes for Messages, Google is also pushing a number of other new features to the app, including Smart Replies, GIF search and link previews.

Continue reading →

Cryptocurrency mining malware has become a serious problem recently, and it seems the latest people to fall victim to the threat are users of the Android emulator Andy OS -- also referred to as AndY and Andyroid.

The emulator makes it possible to run Android software within Windows or macOS, but it appears that the installation harbors a dark secret -- a GPU miner trojan that secretly mines for Bitcoin. Over on Reddit there are large numbers of upset users trying to find out what's going on.

Continue reading →

Google is improving the offline translation skills of Google Translate with an injection of AI in the form of neural machine translation (NMT).

The use of on-device AI helps to dramatically improve the quality of offline translations, and works in much the same as online translations do. The use of neural machine translation helps to improve accuracy by looking at complete sentences, rather than translating word by word.

Continue reading →

As the world increasingly turns to mobile devices to access the internet and conduct business, so firms are eager to put out their own apps.

But new research from security ratings company BitSight reveals that many companies may be rushing out apps that have vulnerabilities which could lead to data leakage, privilege abuse, unencrypted personally identifiable information (PII), and credential theft.

Continue reading →

A security researcher has discovered a vulnerability in the OnePlus 6 bootloader. The flaw makes it possible for someone to boot arbitrary or modified images -- even if the bootloader is locked.

Exploiting the vulnerability requires someone to have physical access to the phone, and after this it is a relatively simple task to restart the handset in fastboot mode. From here is would be possible to load a modified boot image, including one that has root access.

Continue reading →