Google explains why it’s not fixing web security in old Android phones
You might not be happy that Google isn’t fixing a web security flaw in your older Android phone, but the search giant now says that it has some good reasons for holding off. As the company’s Adrian Ludwig explains, it’s no longer viable to “safely” patch vulnerable, pre-Android 4.4 versions of WebView (a framework that lets apps show websites without a separate browser) to prevent remote attacks. The sheer amount of necessary code changes would create legions of problems, he claims, especially since developers are introducing “thousands” of tweaks to the open source software every month.
Ludwig suggests a few things you can do to avoid or mitigate problems, though. For a start, he recommends surfing with browsers that don’t use WebView but still get updates, like Chrome (which works on devices using Android 4.0) and Firefox (which runs on ancient Android 2.3 hardware). Hackers can’t abuse the vulnerable software if you’re not using it, after all. The Googler also tells app creators to either use their own web rendering tech or limit WebView to pages they can trust, like encrypted sites.
The advice should help if you’re either a tech-savvy user or write apps. However, it still hints that quite a few people will remain at risk until those older releases of Android ride into the sunset. Many Android device owners aren’t aware of alternatives to the stock Android browser, or can’t easily get them (you have to jump through hoops to install Chrome if you can’t use the Google Play Store, for instance). Also, there’s no simple way to tell whether or not an app is using WebView. The chances of an attack are low if you’re careful, but it could take a long, long while before the majority of Android gadgets are truly safe from WebView-related web exploits.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Internet, Mobile, Google
Via: Android Police, Wall Street Journal
Source: Adrian Ludwig (Google+)
Most Surface Pro 3 models are on sale for $75 off today on the Microsoft Store site
The Microsoft Store website is currently holding a special sale on most models of the Surface Pro 3. The sale ends at the end of the day today, but until then four of the five versions have a $75 discount.
‘Doom’ designer John Romero tells you about the game while playing it
Most Blu-rays and DVDs these days come with filmmaker commentary tracks, but it isn’t too often you get to hear a game developer give play-by-play while running through something they created. That’s the thrust behind the latest episodes of Double Fine Productions‘ “Devs Play” YouTube series, spotted by Polygon. Here we have one of Doom‘s co-creators John Romero playing a handful of maps from the legendary first-person shooter that runs on basically any platform. He breaks down everything from the work that went into differentiating it from id’s other FPS Wolfenstein 3D, how the team used texture irregularities to denote secret rooms and even how he’s watched speed runs that not even he can replicate. Oh, and he designed the first level last, incorporating everything he’d learned throughout the other missions to make the initial one the most interesting.
Perhaps best of all? Seeing just how enthusiastic Romero remains about the game some 22 years later. Well, that and his luxurious mane of course. There are 10 episodes total running between 10 and 20 minutes each, and we’ve embedded the first clip below. Each is presented in 1080p60 and makes for excellent Chromecast material, if you ask us.
Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Via: Polygon
Top Rated Windows Games for tablets (or anything else running Windows 8 for that matter)
Windows Central Roundup: Top Windows 8 Games
We are taking a slight change of pace for this week’s roundup. Instead of focusing on apps for Windows Phone, we are going to take a look at a few of the top rated Windows games.
An HP Stream 8 tablet was left under the tree with my name on it this past Christmas. While my Windows Phone is my primary device for gaming these days, I’m finding the 8″ Windows tablet can hold its own rather well. I think in many respects a tablet is more amenable to gaming than a laptop or desktop, especially when touch screen controls are in play.
I’ve plucked four gaming titles from the Windows Store (plus a few honorable mentions) that I have found to be nice gaming options when you need the elbowroom a tablet offers. Many of these gaming options are available for your Windows Phone and I’ll add the download links with those titles for the Windows Phone Store and make not if the version is available for low-memory Windows Phones.
Verizon: no data roll-over, we don’t care if customers leave as a result
Not only limited in quantity but still in usage time as well.
When dealing with fixed allocations of monthly data usage, conceivably, a conscientious customer will ration their consumption in the first part of the month, and may inadvertently find themselves with an abundance of packet communications remaining for the latter half. In a typical situation, this is all-but-wasted. When T-Mobile announced that it was going to be allowing users to “roll-over” their data into the following month via its Data Stash service, it seemed like a breath of fresh air; all the more so when AT&T followed suit.
Verizon Wireless, however, has no intention of giving its customers this benefit, nor does it care how many (if any) people defect out of disgust. The company’s Chief Financial Officer, Fran Shammo, was quoted in an interview this past Thursday as saying, “We’re a leader, not a follower.” The CFO then further hammered in the point by adding that, “We did not go to places where we did not financially want to go to save a customer… and there’s going to be certain customers who leave us for price, and we are just not going to compete with that because it doesn’t make financial sense for us to do that.” Bold words, to be sure, but then again given the company’s recent performance results, it can afford to make such claims.
This makes for a rather interesting situation, as typically when one carrier introduces a major game-changer, the others follow suit to cash-in. See the whole $0 down, monthly installment-based structure that has become a mainstay at several carriers these days. Still, while T-Mobile is inclined to take bold initiatives and do things that its competitors wouldn’t dream of, the company has recently fallen under greater scrutiny as to just how far/long CEO John Legere can maintain this type of business strategy.
At the end of the day however, Verizon customers must now simply accept the situation and hope the company has a change of heart eventually.
CEO: “Today, Cyanogen has some dependence on Google. Tomorrow, it will not.”
Kirt McMaster, the outspoken CEO of Cyanogen Inc., has been in the news lately for expressing some controversial opinions on things like Google’s “tyrannical” control over Android or Samsung’s complete inability to build a decent mobile operating system.
But the opinions expressed on Thursday at The Information’s “Next Phase of Android” event in San Francisco are his most contentious yet. Not only has McMaster clarified his views on Google’s control over Android, but he laid out Cyanogen’s vision for a future devoid of any Google reliance.
To remove all doubts right from the get go, here’s how McMaster introduced himself: “I’m the CEO of Cyanogen. We’re attempting to take Android away from Google.” Asked to detail his vision, McMaster explained that Cyanogen wants to provide a version of Android that is open down to its core, that partners can use to build highly integrated services, in a way that is not possible right now with Google’s Android.
“We’re making a version of Android that is more open so we can integrate with more partners so their servicers can be tier one services, so startups working on [artificial intelligence] or other problems don’t get stuck having you have to launch a stupid little application that inevitably gets acquired by Google or Apple. These companies can thrive on non-Google Android.”
McMaster said Google Now is a model of a service that plugs into the core of the system, in a way third-party apps cannot. He went on to say that Aviate launcher (owned by Yahoo, one of the companies rumored to have shown interest in buying Cyanogen) could gain that sort of access to the innards of the Android OS, if it were to partner with Cyanogen.
So Cyanogen sees itself as a platform for other companies to build services that integrate deeply into Android, which is not possible with the Google-controlled Android. Won’t that infuriate Google? Of course it will, but Cyanogen isn’t worried, because its future is free of Google:
“We’ve barely scratched the surface in regards to what mobile can be. Today, Cyanogen has some dependence on Google. Tomorrow, it will not. We will not be based on some derivative of Google in three to five years. There will be services that are doing the same old bulls— with Android, and then there will be something different. That is where we’re going here.”
McMaster sees his company as a “white horse that opens the entire platform up.” “Google is running the table, and nobody likes that,” he said.
Right now, Cyanogen needs Google for its suite of services, like the Play Store, Gmail, and Maps. By imposing certain conditions to companies wishing to install these apps on their devices, Google has so far maintained a firm, if veiled, control over its platform. Companies that fork Android are shut down from Google apps, making it very difficult to create viable competing Android-based platforms. Amazon, which spent years creating alternatives to Google’s apps, is the one notable exception.
Cyanogen wants to solve this problem by working with partners, and by supporting alternative app stores. In fact, Kirt McMaster said Cyanogen would have its own app store in 18 months.
For the full transcript of the event, including commentary from Nextbit, the company building Baton, an app syncing service built into the next version of Cyanogen, check out The Information (paywalled).
It remains to be seen if Cyanogen’s grand ambitions will ever materialize. There are huge obstacles to overcome, not the least being Google’s attitude towards Cyanogen. So far, Cyanogen has enjoyed access to Google’s apps for its OnePlus and Micromax commercial implementations. It’s not clear how Cyanogen plans to play it cards, as it still needs Google to play nice for now. But its plans are clearly diverging from that.
How to disable Cortana from the task bar in Windows 10 Preview
One of the prominent new features in the task bar in the Windows 10 Technical Preview is the Cortana search box to the right of the Start button. It’s a really great tool to have close at hand, but, it does also use up quite a bit of real estate. So, it’s understandable you might want to make it go away – especially if you can’t use Cortana right now.
Fortunately, that’s really simple.
Over-hype expert Peter Molyneux warns Microsoft not to do the same for HoloLens
Famed game designer, and former Microsoft executive, Peter Molyneux has offered his own opinions on the recently revealed Microsoft HoloLens holographic headset, stating that the company should be careful not to over-promise the capabilities of the device. Ironically, Molyneux has had a long history of doing that very same thing with many of his games.
Opinion: For HTC, the only way is up
HTC’s story is one of ups and downs. Since its founding in 1997, the company made the jump from contract manufacturing (think today’s Foxconn) to successfully selling devices under its own brand. In the 2000s, HTC quickly climbed to the top of the mobile industry, thanks in part to an early bet on Android. But the good times didn’t last – market share, profits, prestige… it all went away, and HTC found itself struggling to stay relevant, pushed in a corner by Apple, and especially Samsung.
In the past two years, HTC has been as down as a company can be without closing down or selling out. “We’ve been through hell, but we survived,” an executive told us during one of the company’s regular Frequencies meetups. But can HTC do more than just survive? Can it thrive again?
“We’ve been through hell, but we survived”
If you believe HTC’s communication head Jeff Gordon, 2015 will be a great year for the Taiwanese company, thanks to the “best ever” product lineup and some “huge surprises.” Yes, 2014 was supposed to be a “positive” year too, and while cutting costs and increasing revenue in Q4 were positive developments, last year wasn’t what HTC had hoped for. With that said, 2015 shapes up to be different. March 1, the day the new One is set to launch, could be the day HTC begins its symbolic comeback.
HTC is promising Utopia for its MWC 2015 event
On the financial side, HTC already managed to stabilize by streamlining its portfolio, outsourcing some of its production, and other cost cutting measures. While painful, these measures allowed HTC to turn a (tiny) profit in the last three quarters of 2014. More importantly, after three years of falling revenue, HTC managed to increase its quarterly sales in Q4 2014. We’ll see if the trend continues in Q1 2015, but signs are positive.
Financial health is a reflection of a company’s product strength, and on this front as well, HTC seems to be going steady. The One flagship series isn’t a hot seller, but HTC seems to have carved a niche for itself, with its focus on design and premium build. Mind share is strong, and when people talk about attractive phones, the M8 comes up inevitably. Perhaps more important than the top of the line, the mid-range is strong as well. HTC calls phones like the Desire Eye and the Desire 820 “premium mid-range” and it has a point – these are some of the best phones you can get without spending flagship money. And the strength extends down-range, even though HTC hasn’t really tried to compete in the budget category.
The HTC Desire Eye caters to the selfie lovers
More reasons to be optimistic are in the pipeline. Due at MWC in Barcelona, the One M9/Hima will bring a few tweaks to the series’ iconic design, and a big upgrade in a key area – camera. Multiple reports point toward a 20MP camera – HTC is done with the UltraPixel experiment and with the gimmicky depth sensor found on the M8. That’s great news – the inconsistent camera experience was one of the reasons the One (M8) only scored a special mention in our best Android smartphones roundup. The M9 shapes up to be a very well balanced device that combines premium design with solid specs and a refined software experience.
HTC is not just a phone company anymore
But HTC is not just a phone company anymore. There’s talk of a smartwatch (or at least a fitness band) launching along the M9 on March 1. If HTC manages to apply some of its design prowess to the wearables category (where design is probably the #1 differentiator), it could have a hit on its hands. Also, at CES, the company talked about its ambition to connect all aspects of our lives, from our health to our homes. The whimsical Re camera is a step in that direction, though perhaps not the most promising one.
Then there are the tablets. The Nexus 9 isn’t a popular device, the way the affordable Nexus 7 was before it. But HTC probably sees the Nexus 9 as a brand enhancer, rather than a moneymaker. HTC will surely follow up with its own brand tablet, perhaps as soon as MWC. The tablet category isn’t growing explosively anymore, but for HTC, expanding in this area is still vital, after years of relying exclusively on phone sales.
To wrap up: a refined flagship; a solid mid-range; new tablets; new wearables; expansion beyond mobile; slowly improving financials. These are all reasons to be excited for HTC in 2015. What about the pitfalls?
The mobile landscape in 2015 is more competitive and complex than ever. HTC was a victim of Samsung’s cutthroat tactics, but now the Korean giant is getting a taste of its own medicine from Xiaomi. Things are in flux, and that means both opportunity and danger for tiny HTC. Because odd as it may sound, HTC is a small player – with a 0.9% sales share, it ranked 16th in Strategy Analytics’ global tracker in Q3 2014, behind Oppo and Vivo. It sold 25 times fewer phones than the leader, Samsung.
http://embed.chartblocks.com/1.0/?c=546b614dc9a61d340d999f8a&t=8d5a273b4d8afcf
HTC’s slice of the market is thinner than ever
As a small fish in a large, crowded pond, HTC needs to put out great devices, but it also has to convince buyers that its products are better than competitors from Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, LG, Lenovo/Motorola, and countless others. That requires smart marketing (an area where HTC struggled in the past, by its own admission), a flair for what consumers want, and the willingness to sacrifice profits. That’s clearly a challenge for a company that lacks the luxury of having a large, diversified group at its back, ready to support it with resources and money.
Turbulent as it may be, the current situation could give HTC the chance to snatch back some of the market share it lost so quickly since 2011. Is it now or never? Nobody can say for sure, but it’s hard to imagine HTC surviving for much longer without returning to real growth. Some voices are already calling for selling out to some cash-flush competitor hungry for international recognition. So, from that perspective, HTC’s only chance is to go up.
Amazon Prime annual membership discounted to $72 for one day only
If you’re looking to become an Amazon Prime member, now is the time to do it as the retailer is offering the annual membership for just $72, down from its usual price of $99. In addition to the discount on the membership, Amazon is streaming all ten episodes of its original series Transparent for free to non-Prime members on January 24.
AIVAnet 