Pokémon Go begins its European invasion
Pokémon Go is undoubtedly the hottest mobile game at the moment. In the first week after its release it has skyrocketed to the top of the free and top grossing charts on both the App Store and Google Play in Australia, New Zealand and United States.
Pokémon Go has already reached over 10 million installs on Google Play, which is very impressive when you consider that it is officially available only in the three aforementioned countries. However, this changes today as the makers of the game just added one more market to the list.
Privacy warning: Pokémon Go has full access to your Google account data
Pokémon Go may be proving jaw-droppingly popular, but in the rush to catch 'em all, it seems that users have overlooked something of a privacy issue with the game. It's not unusual for apps and games to request, or require, access to your Google account but there are usually limits in place.
Not so with Pokémon Go. As reported by Search Engine Journal, iOS users have discovered that the game not only requires access to users' Google accounts, it requires full access. This is the highest level of access available to any app and if it is revoked, the game won't work.
Nintendo shares jump as Pokémon Go takes the world by storm, hitting over 5 percent of Android phones
Gotta catch 'em all! The Pokémon phenomenon, it seems, did not die. Nintendo suddenly has a surprise hit on its hands in the form of augmented reality title Pokémon Go which is already riding high in the charts. The game has proved so successful, that in the few days since its launch it has been installed on more than 5 percent of Android smartphones.
The international roll-out has been paused while developer Niantic tries to beef up its servers to cope with demand. But while US Pokémon catchers are having a whale of a time, would-be gamers in other parts of the world -- such as the UK and the rest of Europe -- are turning to nefarious sources to grab Pokémon Go APKs. The bad news is that malware writers have already picked up on the title's popularity and developed infected versions.
Consumer Reports testing reveals Samsung Galaxy S7 Active is a water-resistance FAIL
Quality in manufacturing is something I greatly value. No matter the product, I prefer things that are built to last. Quite frankly, our current disposable goods culture is not only wasteful, but bad for the environment too. It is distressing to think of all the obsolete and broken tech devices in landfills.
Rugged devices are obviously subject to obsolescence, but their durable nature makes them less-likely to break -- arguably making them last longer. The Samsung Galaxy S7 Active is a smartphone that is heavily advertised as being rugged and water-resistant, but apparently, those claims are not entirely accurate. The well-respected Consumer Reports has found one big claim to be false.
OnePlus 3 now getting OxygenOS 3.2.1 OTA
This week OnePlus introduced the first update for its OnePlus 3 flagship to add a color-accurate sRGB mode for the display and improve RAM management, among other changes. Within two days, it should have reached all users, but the company pulled it after receiving reports of upgrade issues.
OnePlus says that it has fixed those issues, which are included in the new OxygenOS 3.2.1 OTA update that is now rolling out. That is not all that is new, however, as there are also some "additional improvements" as well. Here is what you need to know.
Samsung unveils limited edition Rio 2016 'Olympic Games' Galaxy S7 edge
The Rio Olympics are coming soon, and they are not without controversy. Not only is the Zika virus scaring some athletes and reporters from traveling to Brazil, but the country is facing high crime, poor economic conditions, and sanitation concerns.
While the competition is tainted by the aforementioned things, Samsung is looking to brighten it up a bit. How, you ask? With a smartphone, of course! The company is releasing a limited-edition version of the Galaxy S7 edge with an Olympic-themed style. A version will also be created for the Paralympics in the future.
New security tool addresses Android app collusion threat
As we reported last month app collusion, where apps work together to extract sensitive data, now represents a very real security risk to mobile devices.
To address this emerging threat, component technology firm Formaltech, today is releasing FUSE, a DARPA-funded tool that detects inter-application collusion and other vulnerabilities in Android apps.
OnePlus 3 update to fix RAM problems and sRGB mode is pulled after brief rollout
OnePlus 3 users have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of OxygenOS 3.2.0 via an OTA update since the Chinese company announced the rollout. The update was supposed to address not only issues with memory management, but also introduce sRGB mode for the Optic AMOLED screen.
But a little over a day after saying the update would have hit every handset within 48 hours, it has been pulled.
Brexit pounds UK Android fans like a hammer as OnePlus 3 price soars
The OnePlus 3 is reportedly a great smartphone -- reviews have been glowing. The big selling point, however, is the low price. The company's smartphones are viewed by many to be the antithesis of the high-priced offerings of the big-names; a revolution, if you will.
Unfortunately for those in the UK, the price won't be as low for very long. Due to the infamous Brexit -- the state's decision to leave the European Union -- the British pound has lost a lot of value. As a result of the currency's decline, OnePlus is raising the price of its latest smartphone in the UK.
Android malware HummingBad generates $300,000 in monthly revenue
When we discuss mobile malware we usually look at the technological aspects, specifically how it's designed, how it spreads, what devices it targets, how it affects them after infection, and how it can removed. What we rarely get to talk about is the financial side of things, which in the case of certain types of malware is the primary interest of their creators.
Check Point has published a report on the HummingBad malware campaign, finding that it generates $300,000 a month in fraudulent revenue with a pool of 85 million infected Android devices across the globe at its disposal. In a year attackers are looking at about $3.6 million in revenue, assuming the number of devices does not expand considerably.
BlackBerry readying three new Android smartphones
In what might be a last ditch effort to regain some of its former glory, BlackBerry is planning to release three new smartphones running Google’s Android OS.
Last year, the Canadian company launched its first smartphone running Android, the BlackBerry Priv. While it was well-received by critics for its implementation of Google’s OS, the smartphone with a slide-out keyboard was unable to sell well enough to turn the tide for BlackBerry, which has steadily declined since the release of Apple’s original iPhone.
More than half of Android phones are vulnerable to encryption bypass
A newly revealed vulnerability on Android phones is able to bypass the full disk encryption on over half of devices.
The attack, demonstrated by Israeli security researcher Gal Beniamini, can allow an attacker to break through the levels of trust and privileges that are intended to ensure only legitimate code can access secret material, such as DRM keys or disk encryption keys.
Apple iOS 10 playing catch-up with Android
Apple held its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 13 in San Francisco, where Tim Cook and his team announced a wide array of new features and functionality across Apple platforms, including a major update to iOS, the renaming of mac OS X to macOS (the new version will be named Sierra) and updates to watchOS, and tvOS were also announced.
After reading about it though, I can’t help but think that we already have a lot of the features talked about in a number of Android devices and personally feel that Apple is merely playing catch-up to Android. That said, I will leave you to make up your own mind.
Google Play now allows app and game sharing with new Family Library feature
Earlier this year Google announced that Family Library -- previously only available in Google Play Music -- was making its way to the Play Store. Now the rollout is underway, meaning that it is now possible to share your purchased apps and games with members of your family.
This new feature means that a family need only buy one copy of an app rather than several if they all want to use it. It also means that there is no longer a need to create a shared 'family account' through which to download apps and games that need to be shared.
Dell waves goodbye to Android tablets, will focus on hybrid devices
While tablet sales still generate considerable revenue, the market as a whole is in decline. Industry analysts like IDC place the drop in shipments for last year in the double digits, and things do not seem to be getting better in 2016 either. This is a worrisome trend for vendors, as there is apparently nothing that can stop the bleeding. That is if we do not count hybrid devices, which seem to be catching on based on the growing sales of the Apple iPad Pro and Microsoft Surface lines.
Dell has put two and two together, announcing that it is discontinuing its Android-powered Venue tablet line The company is not getting out of the slate market altogether, as it says that the focus from now on is on two-in-one, or hybrid, devices.
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