Obama renews push for comprehensive cybersecurity legislation
Barack Obama’s last effort to get some cybersecurity legislation through Congress stalled in 2011, when it successfully cleared the Republican-held House, but withered in the Senate. After some high-profile attacks on government social networking accounts, Sony and others, he’s resurrecting those plans. It will be one of the many things the president discusses during his upcoming State of the Union address, but he is delivering a preview of those plans today in a speech at the Department of Homeland Security. Obviously many of the details will need to be worked out by Congress, but Obama is pushing for some liability protection for companies that quickly respond and share information about attacks. The White House says there will also be strict requirements for the protection of personal data.
Some of those protections for the consumer were already proposed on Monday, such as the creation of a federally mandated privacy standard and disclosure requirements for companies that fall victim to hacking. There is still some concern, though, about what the guidelines will look like regarding the collection, retention and sharing of data related to cyber threats. Especially when the government is still struggling to win back trust lost over the NSA scandal.
Much of today’s proposals focus on beefing up law enforcement’s abilities to investigate and prosecute cybercrimes, however. The president wants to give authorities the ability to prosecute for selling botnets, spyware and stolen credit card information — even if those sales are overseas. He also wants to give courts the ability to shut down botnets, especially if they are used in a denial of service (DoS) attack designed to bring down a website or service. One thing that will not be allowed though, is for companies to retaliate on their own against those that attack them.
Lastly, Obama announced plans for a cybersecurity summit on February 13th, that will take place at Stanford University.
How these proposals shake out remains to be seen. With the opposition controlling both the House and the Senate, President Obama faces an uphill battle getting any legislation passed. Not to mention his track record on issues of cybersecurity and personal privacy is spotty at best. In addition to the ongoing NSA scandal, the White House appointed Michael Daniel as its Cyber Security coordinator, who has freely admitted to his lack of technical knowledge.
That being said, the administration has done quite a lot to strengthen the nation’s digital defenses (and offenses) and the president has made it a focus of his time in office. In addition to creating rules of engagement and shifting both Homeland Security and Military resources to cyberprojects, he’s also pushed to create a cybersecurity insurance market to help protect private industry from online threats.
Filed under: Internet
Source: Reuters
Motorola promises to push Lollipop OTA soon
Luciano Carvalho, one of the software engineers at Motorola, announced a quick update on his Google+ wall as to when Motorola devices from 2013 and 2014 will be getting the Lollipop OTA. People are getting really impatient still stuck on KitKat.
This is no news that some people across the world are getting Lollipop based OTA pushes on their Moto devices. Luciano revealed that is just a limited soak test roll out to check if there are any unwarranted bugs that might slip in the final release and promises that this update will be pushed to a wider audience once they get a green signal.
Users of the 1st generation of Moto devices need to update their Motorola Update services to receive the update. If it’s not showing on your list of compatible apps or does not show any kind of update, be assured that it will be soon.
According to Luciano, they are currently working to crush most of the bugs since 5.0 was way too buggy and porting an entire update to other devices gives birth to even more bugs since the way things interact are different for different devices and Google only validates stuff for Nexus Devices.
Anyhow, Moto chaps can expect the update soon enough.
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HTC One M8 developer and unlocked models get Android 5.0 update
As promised, HTC is ready to deliver its Android 5.0 update in a very timely manner. A tweet today from VP of product management Mo Versi tells us that the unlocked and developer editions of the One M8 are receiving Lollipop updates. According to replies in his tweeter stream some users are already getting the software.
Keep in mind that these are not branded by carriers and that those models are still waiting for the Android 5.0 update. But, given the speed in which HTC has been moving, I would not be surprised if we saw those trickle out in the next few weeks.
HTC One (M8) Unlock and Dev Owners! We have received TA from Google on Lollipop + Sense 6. OTA will be out starting tonight. #HTCAdvantage
— Mo (@moversi) January 13, 2015
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Imation slims up the design of their Link Mobile Express 2-in-1 Micro USB flash drive and gives it a USB 3.0 upgrade
One of my favorite aspects of doing what I do is being able to follow companies and set product lines as the mature. Often times the first year product is a solid concept, but the design and/or functionality could use some work. In this instance Imation took their base 2-in-1 Link Mobile Express micro USB […]
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Galaxy S5 Lollipop updates rolling to owners in the UK
Samsung has steadily been pushing OTA updates around the globe for Android 5.0 for their flagship Galaxy S5. We know it went over well in Poland, Russia, Malaysia and Spain. Next on the mega OEM’s list is a roll out that is currently underway in the UK. While the update does bring the device more […]
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32GB Nexus 9 in Sand color makes its debut on the Play Store
Everyone likes choices. We like choices in the apps we use, storage size, screen size and even in device color. Physical device color, while possibly a small aspect to consider when choosing to spend your money, it is still a choice you get to make. until today your color choices for the Nexus 9 tablet […]
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Samsung Tizen-powered Z1 smartphone will have access to many Android apps
If you ask Microsoft, they can tell you that smartphone applications can make or break a new entry into the smart device ecosystem. With the imminent launch of Samsung’s Z1—a Tizen-powered smartphone—in India possibly as early as today, Samsung will instantly feel the pressure of consumers needing apps for their device.
Samsung has promised that many of our favorite Android apps will appear in the Tizen store in a native Tizen OS format, but if the Samsung Galaxy Apps Store is any indication of what one might expect from the Korean tech behemoth, the Tizen store could have quite a rocky start. Enter Open Mobile’s emulator app: Application Compatibility Layer (ACL), which harbors a sizable database of thousands of Android apps.
Open Mobile’s ACL app functions very similar to Linux operating systems’ emulators, so if you’re familiar with running programs of that sort, then you may have an idea of how this app functions. The ACL emulator will create an Android-like environment for Open Mobile’s featured Android apps to run in, all layered on top of the Tizen OS.
As you can see in a video provided by Tizen Experts, there does not appear to be a significant source of lag when running an app inside of ACL. The cost to battery life, on the other hand, is not seen.
Click here to view the embedded video.
ACL will be available on the Tizen store from day 1, but no word has been given as to whether or not the app is supported or endorsed by Samsung.
If you’re curious about what we might see in the Samsung Z1 spec-wise once it’s released, you can click here to read an article by Talk Android’s Valerie Richardson, which ran last month.
Source: Tizen Experts
Come comment on this article: Samsung Tizen-powered Z1 smartphone will have access to many Android apps
Motorola starts distributing Android 5.0.1 update for second-generation Moto G to kill some bugs
Back in December, Motorola started rolling out the Lollipop update for the second-generation Moto G, but like most major upgrades, it had some rather frustrating issues which made using the device somewhat tiresome, but now that’s all set to change.
Earlier today, the manufacturer announced that it’s in the process of pushing out the Android 5.0.2 update, which it claims will rectify a lot of Lollipop’s initial bugs in order to deliver a smoother, more responsive and stable user experience.
Don’t get too excited, though. Just like all OEMs, Motorola is distributing the update in stages, so it may take a little while to hit your device, but most users should see the new version on their Moto G within the next week or so.
To see if the upgrade is ready for your handset, simply head into Settings, followed by ‘About Device’, then ‘Software Update’ and tap the ‘Check for Updates’ button. If it’s available, you will be prompted to start downloading and installing it.
Come comment on this article: Motorola starts distributing Android 5.0.1 update for second-generation Moto G to kill some bugs
Android apps will run on Tizen-powered Samsung Z1, via OpenMobile ACL
What do you do if you are trying to establish an ecosystem of apps for your mobile operating system, or are simply trying to bolster the numbers a bit in order to look more attractive to consumers? If you’re Jolla or Blackberry, the answer is adding Android app compatibility. It’s something we are seeing more of as of late when it comes to smaller players in the mobile OS market, and it seems that Samsung is now getting on this train too — well, sort of.
According to SamMobile, the Tizen-powered Samsung Z1 is expected to be formally launched in India tomorrow at a price point of around $91 (Rs. 5,700). Tizen is far from established in the mobile world and so folks who purchase the Z1 handset should expect a limited number of apps to be available at launch. For those that want to jumpstart their app experience? SamMobile reports that OpenMobile’s Application Compatibility Layer (ACL) can be downloaded from the Tizen app store from day one.
Tizen doesn’t officially support Android apps out of the box, but ACL makes it possible to run a number of Android apps at speeds that would be comparable to similar spec’d Android devices. As an example of what to expect, the video below shows off WhatsApp running on Tizen thanks to ACL:
Initally ACL will offer more than a thousand Android apps, which isn’t a whole lot when you think of how many apps are in Google Play, but it’s certainly a start. Now it is worth noting that it is currently unclear if Samsung is officially supporting OpenMobile’s efforts in order to enhance the Tizen experience, or simply allowing the app to exist in its store for those that want the option. We’ll know more tomorrow, if the news of the Z1’s launch proves accurate.
What do you think, if enough Android apps are made compatible with Tizen, could this help make Tizen more appealing for Samsung fans looking for an alternative to Android? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Verizon LG G2 update includes handful of improvements
Verizon is pushing out an update, VS98027A, to the LG G2 with an improved visual voicemail interface, and additional connectivity when roaming internationally. It’s no Lollipop update, unfortunately.
AIVAnet 