Paranoid Android finally releases Android 5.1 builds for Nexus devices
Paranoid Android fans with Nexus devices have been suffering for quite some time. Well, don’t you worry, as today is your lucky day! The team has announced via a blog post that the new version of the popular ROM is now available for a select list of Nexus devices.
Unfamiliar with Paranoid Android? Android geeks shouldn’t be, so let’s tell you a bit about them. Paranoid Android makes one of the most popular Android ROMs out there. In fact, they are the biggest ROM aside from CyanogenMod, which makes them an important part of the developer community. They have been forced to go through some major changes lately, though, as OnePlus has hired a large portion of the team’s talent.
While we are not sure this is the direct cause of the delays to Paranoid Android’s Android 5.1 release, the team does state it’s because they “are missing the manpower they had in the past on their core team.” I would bet my money on this being about the people who left for OnePlus! Regardless, the team has brought most supported Nexus devices up to speed with the supported legacy devices.
There are a couple caveats, which we should go through before telling you more about the new build. The team has been working very hard to get this build done, but they haven’t been able to finish everything just yet. As a result you will be missing cool features like Theme Engine, Quick Settings Reordering, App Ops, Advanced Power Menu and Immersive Mode. Also, keep in mind you will have to flash Google Apps.
Without further ado, let’s talk about the newly supported Nexus devices! Today’s release adds Android 5.1 support to the shamu (Nexus 6), hammerhead (Nexus 5), mako (Nexus 4), flounder (Nexus 9), flo (Nexus 7 2013) and grouper (Nexus 7 2012). This leaves only cellular-capable tablets and the Nexus 10 out of the loop, but it’s only because they don’t have the devices in hand. They do suggest owners of these devices come test their builds if they are willing. You can contact Evan Anderson at evananderson@aospa.co if interested.
Paranoid Android is also announcing they are easing up on releases from now on, due to obvious reasons. Instead of offering weekly releases, they are switching to a “release when appropriate” schedule. Makes sense, even if it does sadden us. Hopefully they can get more team members on board soon! As for now, Nexus device owners can go ahead and download the necessary files from their official distribution site. Also, try to help them with coding through gerrit if you can, they need it now more than ever.
Samsung’s profits down again as it misreads demand for newest phones
Samsung predicts that its earnings from April-June of this year will likely be down four percent from last year, suggesting that sales of its newest flagship smartphones have failed to hit the mark. However, it will still be the company’s highest quarterly profit since Q2 2015. The company’s forecast is thin on details — revenue is also down 8.4 percent from the same period last year– but many analysts think supply shortages have stymied sales of Samsung’s S6 Edge. The WSJ‘s sources say that the company struggled to match production to the demand of customers, who wanted the curved Galaxy S6 Edge over the original S6, initially predicting to sell four Galaxy S6 smartphones for each S6 Edge. At the same time, the company’s lucrative component business, which puts parts in rival phones as well as PCs, will likely have another strong quarter, putting an equally strong spotlight on the mobile arm’s struggles.
Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Tablets, HD, Mobile, Samsung
Source: Samsung
The Universe might contain millions of hidden black holes
Black holes are, by definition, impossible to see by conventional methods and are often further obscured by thick blankets of dust or gas. But that’s not an issue for NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR). It can peek through the obscuring layers and monitor the black holes via the high-energy X-rays that they emit. And, after a recent survey that spotted five previously unknown supermassive black holes in the centers of various galaxies, NASA researchers now think there could be millions of of them dotting the Universe like the holes of an intergalactic colander.
“Thanks to NuSTAR, for the first time, we have been able to clearly identify these hidden monsters that are predicted to be there, but have previously been elusive because of their surrounding cocoons of material,” said George Lansbury of Durham University in a statement. “Although we have only detected five of these hidden supermassive black holes, when we extrapolate our results across the whole universe, then the predicted numbers are huge and in agreement with what we would expect to see.” The team’s research has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal.
Filed under: Science
Source: NASA
Sony’s Hiroki Totoki says that Sony will never get rid of its mobile business
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Early this year, there was talk that Sony was considering getting rid of its mobile business due to continued poor performance in all its key markets. Sony Mobile CEO, Hiroki Totoki, has spoken about this matter, and more, in an interview to Arabian Business, closing the door on the possibility of Sony Mobile ever being sold off or exiting the smartphone market. On the topic, Totoki said:
“The speculations arose because in 2014 we made a huge loss as a mobile business. It mainly came from the write-off of the goodwill of our impairment asset. When we bought back Ericsson’s share [in 2012], we bought back 100 percent of it. And obviously that price was high. We had to write it down and it made a substantial loss for the company.
“But this was an accounting loss and did not impact our cash flow. Our cash flow is very healthy. But the accounting loss was so huge — that’s why people have speculated like this. Before that rumour, we exited the VAIO business, which was the PC business. That led people to think that Sony would exit the smartphone business, as well. But the smartphone business is very different from PCs.
“Smartphones are completely connected to other devices, also connected to people’s lives — deeply. And the opportunity for diversification is huge. We’re heading to the IoT (Internet of Things) era and have to produce a number of new categories of products in this world, otherwise we could lose out on a very important business domain. In that sense we will never ever sell or exit from the current mobile business.”
All of that really puts Sony’s position into focus, however it doesn’t completely account for the actual loses the mobile division has been making in the last year or so. But of course, Totoki has an answer for this too, saying that 2015 has essentially been “a year of big transformation” and that it hopes 2016 will yield the fruits of these improvements. With the Sony Xperia Z5 on the horizon, we can only hope that these improvements start taking effect earlier rather than later.
What do you think about Totoki’s comments? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Arabian Business via XperiaBlog
The post Sony’s Hiroki Totoki says that Sony will never get rid of its mobile business appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Ramboat: Hero Shooting Game hits the Google Play Store
Finding a good game can be hard, especially considering how many options we get in the Google Play Store. It’s a sea of apps in there, and you can’t really go testing them one by one. Need some help? Here at Android Authority we do Android 24/7 and make the time to check these fun games out. A great new game we have our eyes on right now is Ramboat: Hero Shooting Game. Let’s take a quick look at it.
So you may have noticed the game’s title is very familiar. Did you ever watch Rambo movies? This game offers an uncanny, yet fun resemblance to the style and feeling the Stallone-featuring films portrayed. The main difference is that the game is caricatured and cute… but it sure is no less intense.
This action-packed game will keep you on your toes at all times. You will have one mission and one mission only – to escape. The only issue is that your enemies don’t make that an easy feat. They will be coming from above, below, behind you and in front of you. Your enemies are all over the place, so you will have to make sure you clear the way by taking them down.
The main character is Mambo (funny, right?), but he is not Stallone alone. You can also use 9 other characters as you progress in the game, and it’s even possible to upgrade your boats and weapons.
It’s a very fun game built by Genera Games, a very popular developer with ample experience and a good list of titles in the Google Play Store. Other games by Genera include RunBot, Zombie Hunter: Apocalypse and Death Race: The Game. You know this will be a quality game!
Ramboat: Hero Shooting Game is now available from the Google Play Store and you can download it for free. They do make money via in-app purchases, though. You can buy in-game currency to speed up your progress, if you choose to support the developer. If you don’t, you should be able to have some great fun without paying cash. Might as well go try it and have some fun.
Who is playing Ramboat? Are you liking it? Come back and hit the comments to let us know how you feel about the game!
Gene-modded mosquitoes will fight Dengue Fever in Brazil
The Brazilian city of Piracicaba has a potent new weapon in the ongoing fight against Dengue Fever, which infects more than a million people annually: genetically modified mosquito lotharios Created by Oxitec of Abingdon, UK and bred locally within Brazil, these GM mosquitoes (all of which are male) are designed to crash the local population before they can spread the tropical disease. More than six million have been released throughout Piracicaba since April. When a GM male mates with a wild female, his sapper genetics cause the resulting larvae to die before they can reach adulthood. What’s more, the larvae also carry a genetic mutation that causes them to glow red under UV light, giving researchers an easy way to identify them on sight. “It gives an instant readout of how successfully you’re driving down the native population,” Hadyn Parry, chief executive of Oxitec, told New Scientist.
And driving down the native population is exactly what Oxitec is trying to do. Reducing the disease-spreading population by at least 95 percent should be enough to prevent its spread. However, that result hasn’t yet been confirmed. “In theory, if you have fewer mosquitoes you have less transmission, but in reality, this is something we still need to investigate,” Margareth Capurro of the University of Sao Paulo, told New Scientist. “You can have lots of mosquitoes with only a few infected, or very few with all of them infected. If this happens, you suppress the population but don’t affect dengue transmission.”
Still, the method appears effective enough for the FDA to look into its deployment as a preventative measure in Florida. The agency has already completed its initial review and will open its findings to public comment prior to making a final decision. Oxitec recently published its study in PLOS: Neglected Tropical Diseases.
[Image Credit: Arnulfo Franco/Associated Press]
Filed under: Science
Source: New Scientist
Google’s latest science camp for kids starts on July 13th
If you want your kids to learn something while they’re out of school but would rather not ship them to some distant summer camp, Google is about to come to your rescue. It’s kicking off the latest edition of its annual Camp Google on July 13th, and this year’s virtual educational event promises themed weeks that might just sate your young ones’ curiosity on big scientific subjects. They’ll learn what the ocean is like through underwater panoramas, for example, and watch live video chats with astronauts. The whole shebang is free, so it won’t hurt to tune in if you want your children to go back to school knowing more than they did when they left.
Filed under: Science, Internet, Google
Source: Camp Google
Army scientists build smaller, tougher, cheaper solar cells
Army researchers at the Redstone Arsenal have announced a significant breakthrough in solar energy production. They’ve created a photovoltaic solar panel that is smaller, more robust and less expensive to build and operate than any other panel currently available. Virtually every solar panel currently in existence relies on a pure silicon construction, however the band gap (the wavelength of light that it can actually be absorbed and converted into electricity) of single crystal silicon is exceedingly narrow compared to the full spectrum shining down from the Sun. Not only does this mean that conventional panels are missing out on potential power, the ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths actively damage the panels by causing them to heat, warp and crack.
The Army’s panel, on the other hand, sandwiches super thin layers of metals like silver and gold between the semiconductor layers. With these added layers, the panels offer a wider band gap for energy generation and can be tuned to reflect the harmful rays as well. What’s more, the Army’s panels generate the same amount of energy regardless of the angle that sunlight is hitting it. That means they don’t have to be affixed to expensive and motorized Sun-tracking stands.
The technology is still in its very early stages, explained Wayne Davenport, Optical Sciences Function Chief of the Weapons Development and Integration Directorate, in a statement. “As with many basic research projects, the near-term benefits are sometimes yet undefined but are clearly worth the investment,” Davenport continued. “The Army’s research laboratories at AMRDEC continue a legacy of high quality research projects and I expect to see many more of these type projects transition to the Warfighter in the future.”
[Image Credit: AFP/Getty Images]
Filed under: Science
Source: US Army
‘Hacking Team’ Data Breach Confirms Firm’s Ability to Infiltrate Jailbroken iPhones
Cybersecurity firm Hacking Team experienced a data breach earlier today, resulting in 400 GB of its documents being leaked onto the Internet, reports The Guardian. The documents confirm Hacking Team’s ability to infiltrate and monitor jailbroken iPhones on behalf of government law enforcement agencies like the NSA, as noted by Macworld.
Much has been speculated before and after Edward Snowden’s release of a trove of National Security Agency (NSA) documents in 2013 about the capabilities of the United States’ agencies as well as those of allies and enemies. The Hacking Team dump reveals quite a bit more about the routine functions of third-party suppliers into that ecosystem, including specifically enumerated capabilities.
iOS users should therefore take note that the long-running concern that jailbroken iPhones and iPads were susceptible to vulnerabilities that could include access by so-called state actors appears to be confirmed by the data breach.
Hacking Team’s software would need to be installed on a jailbroken iPhone, but the firm has the ability to jailbreak and infect a phone with its software via a malware-infected trusted computer the phone is connected to. In the firm’s pricing list [PDF, requires Chrome], it’s revealed hacking an iOS device costs €50,000 ($55,242) and includes “features” like Skype, WhatsApp and Viber chats, location, contacts and lists of calls. However, this service also includes a prerequisite of a jailbroken iPhone.
Hacking Team uses a legitimate Apple enterprise signing certificate, which is used by corporations to create software that can easily be installed on employee devices, combined with jailbroken iOS devices to bypass iOS app installation protections. Additionally, Hacking Team developed the ability to create a malicious Newsstand app that could capture keystrokes and install monitoring software.
Last year, researchers working independently of each other at Kaspersky Lab and Citizen Lab discovered components of Hacking Team’s tools and how they were used by government agencies to steal data from mobile devices, but the full extent of the software hadn’t been confirmed until now.
Data breaching software and Apple devices have been in the news before, most famously in last year’s celebrity iCloud data breach, where it was discovered that hackers were using ElcomSoft Phone Password Breaker, software intended for government and law agencies, to steal usernames and passwords to access iCloud backups.
While much of the discussion around government agencies and citizen data has revolved around mass collection, Hacking Team’s software is designed to attack individual devices rather than a vast network. It’s likely that the exploits detailed in Hacking Team’s documents will be addressed and patched up in future iOS and Mac software updates.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Man makes his own Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Iron Man edition
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Many of you may know that Samsung recently released the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Iron Man edition into the wild, and frankly, it might be the biggest nerdfest a comic book and Android fan could ever ask for. Unfortunately, for those of us who don’t want to pay potentially stupid amounts of money (read: a “Tony Stark” amount of money), there may be a simpler do-it-yourself solution, which one man has taken to spruce up his device. Buying himself some appropriately coloured 3M film, one user created his own Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Iron Man edition, and we have to say the end result is pretty damn awesome. Take a look:
Topped off with an Iron Man wallpaper, it definitely fits the bill. Sure, it’s not quite the same finish as Samsung’s version of it, but if you’re keen to get your hands dirty, this might be a way for you to live out your dreams.
What do you think of this guy’s Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Iron Man edition? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Galaktyczny via SamMobile
The post Man makes his own Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Iron Man edition appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
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