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.
Google reveals that Android N will be called... Android Nougat!
The developer previews of Android N have been available for a little while now, giving a tantalizing taste of what’s to come. But one thing has been missing: the name.
After months of teasing and misdirection -- there can't be many people who weren't expecting to see Android Nutella -- Google has officially announced that Android 7 (probably) will be known as Android Nougat.
At long, long last, Google Maps on Android and iOS has multiple destination support
Google Maps has long been helping walkers, drivers and cyclists get from A to B. But for far too long, the desktop version of the navigation tool has been more powerful than the mobile version -- which is silly, really, as the mobile app is the one you're going to use while, you know, traveling.
Today, Google is rolling out an important new feature to the mobile app -- the ability to configure a route with multiple stop-off points along the way. Getting from A to B is great, but sometimes you need to go via X and Y. Now you can.
Amazon subsidizing unlocked smartphones with ads -- a big win for Prime members
When Amazon launched its Kindle 'with offers', some folks likely groaned at the prospect of getting a discount on the device in exchange for advertisements. Me? I loved it. Seeing advertisements doesn't bother me, and I find a lower cost for the hardware to be a reasonable trade-off.
Today, Amazon announces that it is expanding the program beyond its own hardware. Prime members exclusively can now buy unlocked Android phones with ads on the lock screen. If you are OK with this, you can score some extreme discounts -- up to 50 percent off! Initially, there are just two devices being offered, the Moto G (2016) and BLU R1 HD.
Report of Google making its own smartphone is rubbish
Google is rumored to be working on a smartphone of its own that would help it "tighten its grip on mobile software and see it compete directly with the iPhone", according to a report from The Telegraph. The information comes from the usual "sources familiar with the discussions", who are all too often making the news because some fellow writers have no filters whatsoever.
To folks completely unfamiliar with the mobile space this report would make sense. It has all the right ingredients for that, but fortunately using just a small dose of common sense one can immediately call this report for what it is -- rubbish. Here's why.
There's a fix on the way to address OnePlus 3 memory management and color calibration issues
The OnePlus 3 is the first 'flagship killer' that has been available to buy without an invite. Reviews (and we'll have one written up soon) have been overwhelmingly positive, but a couple of issues have surfaced.
Some users have been disappointed to find that their handset does not take full advantage of its 6GB of RAM, while others bemoan poor color calibration of the Optic AMOLED screen. We've already shown you how to manually tweak memory settings, but an official update is on the way to address not only memory and color issues, but also to increase performance of the OnePlus 3.
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