‘Coin Pocket’ Becomes First Bitcoin Wallet App on iOS After App Store Policy Change
Earlier this month, Apple updated its App Store review guidelines to allow for “approved” virtual currencies in apps. Now, Coindesk (via The Next Web) reports that Bitcoin wallet app Coin Pocket has launched in the App Store, becoming the first app on iOS that allows users to send and receive the virtual currency.
Bitcoin wallet app Coin Pocket
In addition to Coin Pocket, gift card purchasing app eGifter has also received an update to now accept Bitcoin as a form of payment. Earlier this month, betting app Betcoin also appeared on the App Store with in-app Bitcoin spending capabilities. Its developer, Omri Cohen, noted that the app was an experiment to test what Apple would allow ahead of the policy change on virtual currencies in apps.
Prior to its policy change, Apple displayed past tendencies to remove and deny apps that promoted virtual currencies, notably asking the developers behind private messaging app Gliph to remove the app’s Bitcoin sending capabilities. With the launch of Coin Pocket however, it is now likely that users will be seeing many more Bitcoin-related apps in the App Store provided they follow Apple’s guidelines.
Coin Pocket [Direct Link], eGifter [Direct Link], and Betcoin [Direct Link] are all free apps for iOS devices and can be downloaded through the App Store.
[Discussion] Problems with Android 4.4.3: How deep does the rabbit hole Go?
We reported yesterday that a number of Nexus devices, namely the Nexus 5 and Nexus 4, have been experiencing problems with Android 4.4.3. While it appears that not every owner is experiencing the quoted issues, it does still seem very widespread, and some of the issues are quite debilitating considering the software update was supposed to fix the existing issues in Android 4.4.2.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like the issues are only restricted to the Nexus 5 and Nexus 4. Issues on the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 have also been reported and reader Rachine S Vernon commented that the issues have even been spotted on the Motorola Moto X, which has apparently negatively impacted the dialer app.
The Android 4.4.3 update is only available to a handful of devices at the moment, however it’s clear that this wasn’t the update that many of us expected or were hoping for. Whether Google is willing or even able to issue fixes for the new issues is currently up in the air as Google has not yet responded to these issues, however, the fact that it took so long just to release Android 4.4.3 as an incremental update isn’t a comforting omen.
We want to hear from you if you are suffering issues on a device that you currently updated to Android 4.4.3; let us know what device and what you are currently experiencing in the comments below.
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How would you change the Roku 3?
When we’re recommending media streamers, our first thought is always toward the Roku 3. After all, it’s got the best features of the Roku 1 and 2, a motion gaming remote and, slightly belatedly, now even supports YouTube. Our question, if you choose to accept it, is what you’d want Roku to add for a (theoretical) Roku 4? For our part, we’d love to see native live TV support, so we wouldn’t have to switch between that and the Chromecast during the World Cup. Got a better idea? Come to the forum and share it.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Engadget Product Forums
Autonomous camera drone lets you shoot your own action scenes
If you want to record a bike ride or some other adventure by yourself, you typically have to wear an action camera. Going that route is fine for a first-person view, but what if you want some more dramatic shots? That’s where Hexoplus’ crowdfunded Hexo+ camera drone comes into play. The robotic hexacopter captures aerial footage of your expeditions simply by detecting where you are (or rather, where your phone is) and following along — you only have to set a preferred distance. It’s fast (43MPH) and stabilized, too, so it should keep up even if you’re racing across hilly terrain.
Should you like the idea of starring in your own sports movie, you’ll need to pledge at least $499 if you want a Hexo+ and already have a GoPro camera on hand; $699 will get you both the craft and a camera. That’s a lot of money just to get yourself in the frame, but it might be worthwhile if it gives you the production quality you usually only see from a big studio. You’d better hope that the FAA gets its drone rules in order before Hexoplus’ planned May 2015 ship date, though. After all, you don’t want to get into a legal battle over your airborne magnum opus.
Source: Hexoplus, Kickstarter
Want to hijack people’s PCs? Pay them a few cents
Apparently, hackers wanting to control PCs are wasting their time with elaborate botnets and vulnerability exploits — all they may really need is some pocket change. A study found that between 22 to 43 percent of people were willing to install unknown software on their PCs in return for payments ranging from a penny to a dollar, even when their OS flagged the app as a potential threat that required permission to run. While you might think that respondents would naturally be a bit suspicious, that wasn’t usually the case. As researcher Nicolas Christin notes, just 17 people out of 965 were running virtual machines that limited the possible damage; only one person went in fully expecting trouble, according to exit surveys.
It’s no surprise that you can get someone to compromise security if you say the right things. Just ask Kevin Mitnick, who breached networks by getting logins from overly trusting workers. However, the study also suggests that it would make more financial sense for hackers to pay targets directly rather than to pay for a botnet. Since people don’t seem to attach much monetary value to their security, criminals could pay roughly what they do now to steal data while avoiding the use of unreliable bots and equally sketchy bot sellers.
The study isn’t a big one, so it’s difficult to know if the results would be consistent on a larger scale. Also, people looking at tasks in Mechanical Turk are already eager for money; it may be tougher to pay for control of a PC when the offer comes out of the blue. Even if the voluntary infections would be lower in practice, though, the finding is a friendly reminder to always treat unfamiliar code with caution, no matter how much profit you’ll make by installing it.
[Image credit: Zack Jones, Flickr]
Filed under: Internet
Via: Nicolas Christin (Twitter 1), (2)
Source: Carnegie Mellon University (PDF)
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