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1
Feb

Apple Watch Edition will reportedly be stored in special safes inside Apple Stores


The gold version of the upcoming Apple Watch could be stored in safes installed inside Apple Retail Store. 9to5Mac:

The safes will likely be used to carry both to-be-sold inventory as well as to store demo units from the show floor overnight. The custom-designed safes will be outfitted with Apple Watch MagSafe chargers in order to keep the demo units charged up and ready to go for the next day of business.

Apple has said in the past that the Apple Watch Sport will have a starting price of $349, but it has yet to comment on the cost of the gold and rose gold Edition collections. Rumors have ranged from over $1000 to up to $10,000. Given the small size and high value, like jewelry, some form of security certainly makes sense.

The Apple Watch ships this April.

1
Feb

Windows 10 on Xbox One and why it goes beyond gaming


Last week Microsoft presented to the world a unified ecosystem from the television down to a smartphone with Windows 10. We knew this was coming, hence the name change to Windows Central and our expanding Xbox coverage.

With Microsoft’s unification, they revealed that the Xbox One is a part of their long-term vision, and the Xbox brand will stay in Seattle despite continuous rumors of it being spun off. So, for those of you that tend to ignore Xbox news, I’m here to show why you shouldn’t automatically dismiss and instead embrace it.

1
Feb

Top free antivirus apps for Android


There are a ton of options when it comes to antivirus apps on your Android phone or tablet — but there are only a handful of truly free ones. Many offer free features, with more robust features available as at a premium or subscription basis. You can get just as many great features from an unrestricted free app however. And in this case we’re talking all-the-way free.

So while we still contend that you don’t necessarily need a virus scanner on Android, it’s still a conversation we’re going to have, and we’re going to look at some of the apps that are currently available.

All of these apps offer the basics like virus and malware scanning, but a few also have features that go beyond, like app managers, app locks, privacy controls, phone finder, remote wipe and more. So if you’re looking for a great free antivirus app for Android, look no further than these apps.

1
Feb

Help! My Android has malware!


What to do if you think you’ve got an infected Android phone or tablet

We’ve talked about antivirus apps for Android a little, specifically if you really need to use one at all. It’s a good thing to talk about and sort through all the FUD and nonsense about malware on our smartphones and tablets.

Today, we’re going to talk about what to do if you think you might be infected by malware. There’s always plenty of discussion (and sometimes a bit of fear-mongering) about how to prevent malware on Android, but very little about what to do if it happens to you. Prevention is still the best idea, whether it’s from careful monitoring of the things you do or by using an app to monitor for you, but you can survive a malware attack.

1
Feb

Amazon’s Echo lets you control iTunes, Pandora and Spotify with your voice


Amazon Echo

If you accepted an invitation to buy Amazon’s Echo speaker, you’ve noticed that the device didn’t have a vast musical vocabulary at first — you could tell it to play iHeartRadio or Prime Music tunes, and that’s about it. You’ll have a better time of things from now on, though. Amazon is rolling out an update that lets you use your voice to steer iTunes, Pandora radio or Spotify on your mobile device . It’s not super-sophisticated, but you no longer have to reach for your phone just to skip tracks. And in case millions more songs won’t keep you entertained, there’s also a “Simon says” command that you can use to prank people (or simply tell them something) from across the home. We’d argue that the biggest upgrade to the Echo would be getting to buy one, but these new features will do in a pinch.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Peripherals, HD, Amazon

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1
Feb

Watch us play The Golf Club tonight for your chance to win a free game


Every weekend, Windows Central streams an Xbox One game or two on Twitch for 1-2 hours and gives out free games to the cool people who join us during the stream. It’s like a live podcast, only you also get to watch a game while chatting with our awesome readers and viewers!

Tonight at 8pm Central (9pm Eastern, 6pm Pacific), we’ll be playing The Golf Club from HB Studios. The Golf Club is the most serious golf sim available on Xbox One, with unique asynchronous multiplayer and a powerful course editor. We want you guys there, chatting along. So we’re giving out five Xbox One codes, plus several Playstation 4 and Steam codes!

Just follow me on Twitch.tv/Eastxtwitch, watch along, and participate in chat for your chance to win. You can also watch the event right here live or after the fact.

1
Feb

Secret Mail shortcuts: Ten gestures to speed up your iPhone email!


Apple’s Mail app for iPhone and iPad has a ton of features you can invoke at the tap of a virtual button. It’s what makes it simple and accessible even to first time iOS users. If you play around with it for a while, however, you’ll discover a bunch of gesture shortcuts as well. Once you get used to them, they can really speed up and expand your workflow.

Pull to search

Just like on the Home screen where you can touch and pull down to access Spotlight search, you can touch and pull down from any mailbox to bring up search for mail. Start typing and Mail will show you any messages that match.

Pull to refresh

Pull-to-refresh, originally created by Loren Brichter for Tweetie, is now ubiquitous in iOS. Any time you want to check for new messages, just touch the mailbox screen and pull down — further than you would for search — until you see the refresh spinner.

Swipe to go back

Another system-wide gesture, any time you’re in a message or mailbox, you can swipe to go back to the mailbox the message is in, or the account the mailbox in in. It’s especially handy for those with bigger phones.

Mark as unread

To quickly mark a message as read, touch it and swipe from left to right. To mark it as unread again, just repeat the gesture. You can swipe just far enough to see the big blue button, but if you keep swiping all the way across, you can skip the tap and really speed things up!

Flag and trash

To quickly trash or flag a message, touch it and swipe from right to left. You can tap the big orange flag button to flag it, or the big red trash button to delete it. You can also just swipe all the way across to save yourself a tap and send it straight to the trash.

More options

When you touch and swipe a message from right to left, in addition to flag and trash, you can also tap the big gray more button for additional options, including: reply all, forward, flag, mark as unread/read, move to junk, move message, and notify me…

Swipe Settings

If you don’t like the default behavior of the mark, flag, and trash swipe gestures, you can change them via Settings > Mail > Swipe Options. For example, if you prefer “archive” to “trash” simply choose that instead.

Hide the keyboard

Sometimes, where you’re responding to a message, you want to see more of it. Maybe you forgot the exact question you’re trying to answer, or you want to refer to something specific. No matter the reason, all you have to do is touch the message above the keyboard and swipe down to hide it.

Stack drafts

When composing a mail message, touch the title bar — where it says New Message — and swipe it down to temporarily store it as a draft while doing or checking something else. You can keep multiple draft cards open at a time, and tap them to get a rolodex interface just like tabs in Safari.

Jump to drafts

You can tap the compose button any time to start a new mail message, but if you tap-and-hold on it, you’ll be shown a list of your recent drafts so you can pick up right from where you left off.

Move an address

If you have a contact in the To: field but you want to move it to CC: or BCC:, you don’t have to delete and re-add it. Instead, just touch it and drag it right to where you want it.

More secrets

If you just can’t get enough of this stuff, and want to learn more of the secrets to iPhone mastery, check out our ultimate guides and secrets and tips pages. And if we missed any of your favorite Mail tips, add them to the comments below!

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1
Feb

Russian Samsung Galaxy S4’s seeing Android 5.0.1 Lollipop updates


Looks like those Exynos sporting Samsung Galaxy S4 owners in Russia are starting to see a hefty update roll out to their devices. It is being reported that Android 5.0.1 Lollipop is starting its push in the country to the GT-I9500 variant of the device and is coming in at a rather enormous 1049MB. It […]

The post Russian Samsung Galaxy S4’s seeing Android 5.0.1 Lollipop updates appeared first on AndroidSPIN.

1
Feb

Marriott is no longer fighting for permission to block WiFi hotspots


Couple Sitting In Hotel Lobby Looking At Digital Tablet Smiling

Marriott wants you to know that it’s completely done trying to block guests’ personal WiFi connections — it has even given up convincing the FCC to give it permission to do so, a spokesperson told Engadget. The company already announced that it won’t be keeping people from using their own MiFis and hotspots in hotel rooms, but its official statement at that time said it “will continue to look to the FCC to clarify appropriate security measures network operators.” See, the hotel chain still wanted the FCC to let it continue blocking personal WiFi in its business and convention centers in order to protect guests from rogue internet connections, or so it claimed.

Unfortunately for Marriott, tech juggernauts Google and Microsoft came forward to lobby against that request, though it was the statement issued by FCC chairman Tom Wheeler himself a few days ago that became the final nail in the coffin. In it, he blasted the chain for wanting to go against the Communications Act, which “prohibits anyone from willfully or maliciously interfering with authorized radio communications, including Wi-Fi.” So, yes, you should be able to use your phones as hotspots or your MiFi anywhere you want within Marriott’s premises. If anybody says otherwise, just show them this statement by Marriott Global Chief Information Officer Bruce Hoffmeister:

Marriott International has decided to withdraw as a party to the petition seeking direction from the FCC on legal Wi-Fi security measures. Our intent was to protect personal data in Wi-Fi hotspots for large conferences. We thought we were doing the right thing asking the FCC to provide guidance, but the FCC has indicated its opposition. As we have said, we will not block Wi-Fi signals at any hotel we manage for any reason. And, as of January 15, we provide free Wi-Fi to all members of our Marriott Rewards program who book directly with us. We’re doing everything we can to promote our customers’ connectivity using mobile and other devices, and we’re working with the industry to find security solutions that do not involve blocking our guests’ use of their Wi-Fi devices.

[Image credit: monkeybusinessimages/Getty]

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1
Feb

Google paying hackers to help secure your Android experience


Personal Data Privacy and Security Act TheHackerNews

It is no secret that Google has been offering huge bounties to researchers and hackers for finding bugs in the Chrome browser and other Google software. Indeed, Google has recently announced that over $4 million has been awarded in the last five years, and they are now opening things up to include the Google Play Store and more, in an effort to bring better security to the ecosystem surrounding Android.

This sort of bug hunting usually makes the news around Black Hat conventions and other ‘hacker’ get-togethers, where teams of security minded users compete for awards as much as $1 million a piece to prove significant security vulnerabilities in software. We most often hear of these competitions focusing on the web browser, with Google Chrome usually coming out unscathed.

Google vulnerability rewards winners

Due to the success of these sorts of events, it is getting harder and harder for researchers to hit pay dirt for hacking, so Google is taking a new approach.

Google will contact researchers that have discovered bugs in the past, instead of enticing them with awards, they will just be giving them cash. Each research case will be valued at up to $3133.70, paid in advance, with no need for a proven bug. Google’s security team just wants a second opinion on aspects of the Google Play Store and more.

Best of all, all Google built apps for Android and iOS are now included in the scope of the Vulnerability Reward Program.

Google Application Sucurity

In the end, all of us Android users should be very happy with this move. As a small, yet significant, example, the Google Play Store has its own built-in antivirus tools, checking apps in the store and blocking them if needed. Outside researchers will now help make sure that the antivirus tools themselves are free of flaws.

Google’s head of product security group, Matt Moore, will be announcing more information on this new program soon. We’re sure you’ll hear all about any flaws that may be revealed with this initiative. Hopefully, this will keep Google off of the 2015 version of our list of biggest hacks for a year.

Do you think using ‘hackers’ is the right way to go here, or should security remain an in-house thing?