Google explains how Android detects malware before it gets out of hand

Hummingbad, Ghost Push, and Googligan — malware that didn’t stand a chance against Google’s DOI metric.

Security! No, really, security. That word is practically synonymous with the Android operating system, which is why the Android Developers Blog is always taking about it. In today’s installation, Megan Ruthven, Software Engineer for Android, writes about how the development team developed a metric to help identify Dead or Insecure (DOI) apps floating around in the Play Store.

If you remember back to Marshmallow, Android introduced the Verify apps functionality to scan devices for any Potentially Harmful Apps (also known PHAs). Over time, some devices stopped checking in with Verify apps. This usually occurs when you’ve switch phones or something more pressing is happening in the background. If it’s the latter situation, that’s because there’s an app installed on your device that refuses to identify itself against the Verify apps database. The Android dev team is using the statistics from those apps devices to find other offensive ones:

A device is considered retained if it continues to perform periodic Verify apps security check ups after an app download. If it doesn’t, it’s considered potentially dead or insecure (DOI). An app’s retention rate is the percentage of all retained devices that downloaded the app in one day. Because retention is a strong indicator of device health, we work to maximize the ecosystem’s retention rate.

Therefore, we use an app DOI scorer, which assumes that all apps should have a similar device retention rate. If an app’s retention rate is a couple of standard deviations lower than average, the DOI scorer flags it.

You can read more about the formula employed by the Android development team in the blog post. Thus far, the DOI metric managed to flag over 25,000 apps related to three well-known malware families, including Hummingbad, Ghost Push, and Googligan.

Nintendo’s next mobile game lands on Android Feb 2 [update]

They’ll figure it out eventually, right?

Update: A tweet from Nintendo’s main Twitter account has clarified that Fire Emblem will launch for both Android and iOS on the quoted date of February 2. Hooray!

Original story: Nintendo is following quickly behind the launch of Super Mario Run with another mobile title from its coveted IP. Instead of focusing on turning a popular game into a weird, single-hand mobile spin, we’re getting a strategy game backed by a rich heritage. The next game will be Fire Emblem: Heroes, and based on current information it seems like iOS will be getting it first once again — thankfully Android won’t be far behind, if at all.

Fire Emblem isn’t one of the Nintendo franchises that sets the whole world ablaze like Zelda, Mario, or even Kirby, but its following is still massive. Bringing this world to mobile as a grid-style strategy game makes a lot of sense, as these games typically encourage users to sit and play for hours on end. What Heroes brings to mobile is an impressive online component, allowing you to put your armies against your friends to see which is the better tactical mind.

Nintendo has set a February 2 launch date for Fire Emblem: Heroes on Android, which seems to be later than the launch of “soon” for iOS simply based on Nintendo’s history of making hitting Apple’s platform a priority — expect Apple to have the exclusive for just a bit, but thankfully it won’t be months this time around. Like before, you can pre-register to grab the game from its Play Store listing right here.

Meitu, the Chinese beautifying photo app: Here’s why everyone is using it

Forget about Prisma. Meitu is the latest photo-editing app to go viral.

The Chinese app has been around since 2008, but it landed in the US in early January and already has about 430 millions outside of China. It’s been installed on 1.1 billion devices and counting and has generated over 6 billion beautified photos for its 456 million monthly active users around the globe. You’ve probably seen those photos on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, because everyone seems to be using Meitu.

Here’s everything you need to know about Meitu.

What is Meitu?

It’s a free photo-editing app for iOS and Android. It uses facial recognition with augmented reality to combine your actual face with a virtual look. Meitu’s name means “beautiful picture”. It is supposed to give your selfies a “hand-drawn look” and is described as a “one-touch photoshop for enhancing your beauty”. In our opinion, it gives you the appearance of an anime – widened eyes, slimmer jaws, and all.

The developer behind Meitu, which had a $4.5 billion initial public offering last year, makes other popular apps such as AirBrush and MakeupPlus, both of which utilise its patented technology.

How does Meitu work?

Pocket-lint reviewed the iOS version of Meitu in the US.

Once you download and open Meitu, it’ll bring you directly to the core “hand-drawn” experience that lets you create a selfie like the examples at the top of this article. However, every time after that, you’ll go to the main screen and see the following menu options:

• Editing – Edit your photos with basic tools like auto-enhance, frames, stickers, text, blur, a magic beauty brush, and more.
• Camera – Take a photo (or upload from camera roll) – with or without a vignette or even a blur effect enabled – and apply one of the dozen filters available, whether that be “youthful” or “sunlit” or various other ones for “selfie”, “food”, or whatever. You will also see buttons at the top that let you access a timer, give yourself a face lift, or enabled a night mode.
• Retouch – This is basically the Photoshop section of the app, where you can enhance your skin, get rid of acne and wrinkles, slim down your face, add highlights, erase dark circles, and even make yourself look taller.
• Tips – Confused? No worries. If you can understand Mandarin, you can go here to see several tips and tricks on how to use the app.
• Hand-drawn – The star feature in Meitu. Tap it to take a photo (or upload a photo), and from there you can select one of the beauty filters also available in the Camera screen. After, you can apply one of six effects that will change the shape of your face and eyes, as well as the colouring and effect of your photo, and even the texture of your hair. The end result is like an anime, though Meitu calls it a “painted” photo.
• Collage – This does exactly what you think: lets you grab several photos from your camera roll and arrange them in a collage. You can use one of the templates or create your own. There’s also features for decorating a collage.
• Auto beauty: If you just want to quickly slim your face and firm your skin in a hurry, this option will let you do just that.
• Meipei – This is a download link to Meipei, an app that lets you apply stickers and effects to video clips.

After you finish editing your selfie, you can save it to your phone or share it via all the usual channels, like Instagram or Facebook.

Why is everyone using Meitu?

Why pay for a nip and tuck when you can just tap and save?

Commenters have given the app glowing reviews, and it currently holds a five-star rating in the US app store. While the novelty of the app might quickly wear off, you’ll be impressed at how well it works. Besides, like those beloved Snapchat lenses, it’s just cool to see yourself in a whole new light. The app is available on both the iOS and Android app stores, and it’s free on both platforms, so there’s no reason to not at least try it. The iOS version also supports for the iMessage App Store.

Examples of Meitu creations:

#meitu #TRUMP #win pic.twitter.com/zsLEdeY2UA

— ButterGo (@ButterGo) January 17, 2017

I don’t know, I think this really captures the real me, ya’ know? #Meitu pic.twitter.com/8GB3Osumbp

— Liana Brooks (@LianaBrooks) January 19, 2017

You are welcome. #meitu pic.twitter.com/gG6Zinqeaa

— Roo Reynolds (@rooreynolds) January 19, 2017

Nintendo’s ‘Fire Emblem Heroes’ arrives on Android next month

If you’ve been yearning for a Fire Emblem game to play on the go that isn’t relegated to a portable gaming system, maybe the upcoming Fire Emblem Heroes will do the trick. It’s a tactical role-playing game (think Final Fantasy Tactics) where “fate has brought two warring kingdoms together in a bitter clash.” Naturally. During today’s Fire Emblem Direct stream, it was announced that you’ll battle it out on an 8×6 grid.

You’ll also level up familiar characters and fans will “find the battle intensity they’ve come to expect from the series” (more info resides right here). It looks like in-app purchases are all but confirmed as summoning orbs — they call in additional heroes for help during battle — will be doled out after a fight, or you can buy them with cash. How much are those doggies in the window? Footage showed a purchase screen with a 35-pack costing $20, with a 3-pack running $1.99.

Pre-registration (alerts for when it’ll be released) starts January 19th, with the game itself coming out February 2nd on Android. Folks with iOS devices will have to wait until sometime “soon.” Have a Fire device? Bad news because the stream specifically mentioned Google Play as a vendor.

The ‘DJ Hero’ and ‘Guitar Hero Live’ team is joining Ubisoft

Freestyle Games, known for its work on Guitar Hero Live and DJ Hero under publisher Activision, has a new home. The team has joined Ubisoft and will be renamed to Ubisoft Leamington — based on its location in the UK. A post on UbiBlog says that the studio will collaborate with Ubisoft Reflections, whose past projects include Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate and last year’s Watch Dogs 2, in addition to Ubisoft’s worldwide teams on their AAA projects.

Given Freestyle’s history in rhythm games, maybe an upcoming project will include Ubisoft’s own Rocksmith. The last entirely new entry in the franchise that teaches you how to play guitar with a real guitar (or bass) was released in 2014. So maybe, just maybe, we’ll see a new one of those sooner rather than later.

Source: UbiBlog

A new ‘Fire Emblem’ game is coming to Nintendo Switch in 2018

Good news, Fire Emblem fans: Today Nintendo announced that the next major title in its tactical RPG series will be for the Switch — making it the franchise’s first game on home consoles in almost ten years. The bad news? You won’t be able to play it until 2018.

The announcement was almost a footnote in today’s Fire Emblem Direct, and revealed precious little about the game. All we know about the game is that it features another “full scale war” and that its the full “home console experience.” It doesn’t do a lot to bolster the Switch’s meager launch line-up, but at least it’s something to look forward to.

Source: Nintendo

‘Super Mario Run’ will hit Android devices in March

It’s-a me, Android. Nintendo’s first fully fledged smartphone game (sorry, Miitomo), Super Mario Run, is scheduled to hit Android devices in March after landing on iOS in December. The news appeared on the official Nintendo Twitter account this afternoon.

In Super Mario Run, players tap the screen to make Mario jump over obstacles and enemies as he constantly sprints through various 3D worlds of the Mushroom Kingdom. It costs $10 for the full game, though the first few levels are playable for free. Also, make sure to find a strong internet connection, since Super Mario Run doesn’t work offline, ostensibly in an attempt to combat piracy.

Android版「Super Mario Run」は、2017年3月に配信を開始します。現在Google Playでは、配信開始を通知でお知らせする事前登録の受付を行っています。ぜひご登録ください。https://t.co/2DW2TnCK6d pic.twitter.com/2QbMM6fGRh

— 任天堂株式会社 (@Nintendo) January 18, 2017

In its first four days on the App Store, Super Mario Run was downloaded 40 million times. However, Nintendo hasn’t revealed how many players have actually thrown down $10 for the complete game. Either way, that figure is due to increase in March.

Source: @Nintendo

Nintendo Debuts New ‘Fire Emblem: Heroes’ Smartphone Game, Coming Soon to iOS Devices

Nintendo today officially announced Fire Emblem: Heroes, its next planned mobile game launching on iOS and Android devices in the near future. Positioned as a tactical roleplaying game in the Fire Emblem universe, Fire Emblem: Heroes will allow players to level up popular characters from the series and engage in strategic battles.

According to Nintendo, the game features a new, original storyline focusing on two warring kingdoms coming together in a bitter clash. Players take on the role of summoners, calling various historic Fire Emblem characters into epic fights.

Each battle map is an 8×6 square designed to fit on a smartphone’s screen, where players will engage in tactical fights with multiple allies and enemies on the battlefield.

Simple controls are included, such as dragging an ally onto an enemy to attack, and a battle victory is achieved when every enemy on a given map is defeated. Nintendo says that despite the simple controls, Fire Emblem fans will find the battle intensity they’ve come to expect from the series.

Nintendo plans to make Fire Emblem: Heroes free-to-play, with optional in-app purchases.

Fire Emblem: Heroes will be available on the Google Play store starting on February 2. Nintendo did not announce a specific release date for iOS devices, saying only that the game will be “available soon.”

Back in 2015, Nintendo promised to release five smartphone games by March of 2017. The company originally said its Fire Emblem game, along with a new game in the Animal Crossing series, would be released in the fall of 2016, but Nintendo did not make that deadline. While we now have concrete information on the planned Fire Emblem game, there is still no word on when we might see the promised Animal Crossing game for iOS.

Tags: Nintendo, Fire Emblem
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Leica M10 Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

The successor to the Leica M (Typ 240), Leica makes its M series even M-ier with the M10.

Unlike the recent M-D, the update in which Leica stripped almost every digital convenience from its full-frame rangefinder, Leica targets photography purists. It does so by removing selected low-priority capabilities, simplifying its operation and updating the design, as well as making improvements where needed or where the fans have demanded. So, for example, while the M10 lacks video, Leica adds Wi-Fi. And where it moved the drive modes off the top, the continuous shooting speed increases to 5 frames per second and with doubled buffer size of 2GB, can burst a decent number of images, even in raw + JPEG.

And I got to spend a few days with a preproduction unit. But you’ll be able to pick the M10 up for $6,595 starting this week. I don’t have UK or Australian pricing, but that converts to roughly £5,320 and AU$8,720.

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Leica M10 photo samples

In a bid to attract its current film devotees, Leica gave them their most requested change: shaving 0.13 inches (4 mm) off the depth of the camera so that it’s exactly the same as the film-based M7’s 1.3 inches (33.8 mm).

Another goal was making it possible to configure exposure settings while the camera is powered off. So Leica moved the ISO sensitivity control to the top, giving it a clever lift-to-turn, push-down-to-lock design. Though the camera technically goes up to ISO 50,000, the dial tops out at ISO 6,400 and you can only map one of the higher sensitivity values to the dial at a time. It retains the removable plate on the bottom which covers the battery compartment and SD card slot. You’ll be in there a lot, since the battery life is not very good, at least it wasn’t with the EVF and in cold weather.

The viewfinder has an increased field of view and magnification plus tweaks that make it more comfortable for folks who wear glasses. And it did seem better to me — I have trouble focusing with rangefinders, but this one wasn’t bad. I still preferred the optional electronic viewfinder though, since it magnifies the focus area and offers peaking. One downside I found is fogging in our winterish weather.

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Leica M10 slims down for the film fans

Although the sensor resolution is unchanged from Leica’s other 24-megapixel cameras, it’s new with improved light-gathering capability plus no antialiasing filter (like the Leica SL) and it’s coupled with the latest version of Leica’s Maestro II processing engine.

The photos look pretty much like other modern Leica’s. One of the nice things is that the colors in the JPEGs look exactly like the raw DNGs, unlike most other cameras.

For photo-first photographers, Leica delivers a pretty well-rounded camera. But I wouldn’t recommend this as your first Leica if you’re coming from a dSLR or mirrorless, if only because it lacks autofocus; it’s a crutch, but it’s a useful one when you absolutely have to get the shot. You can always choose to not use it.

Joy Octopus Watch Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Help your kid understand the importance of sticking to a schedule by using the app.

Xiomara Blanco/CNET

If your kid is envious of your fancy-schmancy Apple Watch, they should try on the Octopus watch for size.

It’s a smartwatch made for kids that charmingly looks like an Apple Watch, albeit smaller, more colorful and less expensive at $80 (converts to £65 and AU$110). Best of all, it’s purpose is to help kids become independent and learn self-disciplined.

You get a notification when your kid completes their chore.

Joy

Using the Octopus app on your Android or iPhone, you can schedule reminders on your kid’s Octopus watch to turn chores into a game.

When you schedule an activity or task, it pops up as a notification on the Octopus watch. After they’ve completed the task, they simply press the watch’s only button to clear the notification.

Meanwhile, you get an alert, too, when your kid crosses a job off the list, and this is where gamification comes in. The more tasks they finish, the more badge icons they get. It’s up to you if you take it up a notch with toys or ice cream.

And if they miss a task, you can sit your kid down and have a talk about responsibility and accountability, or whatever you do when your kid doesn’t finish their chores.

The Octopus-shaped night light kind of looks like the Snapchat ghost.

Xiomara Blanco/CNET

Designed for children 3 and up, the Octopus watch also helps teach the concept of time. It has three modes; one that links time to tasks (for younger children), one that teaches how to read a digital clock and one that teaches how to read an analog clock.

You can pre-order the Octopus watch in red, blue, lime green, pink and dark grey. Though it’s designed to look just like the Apple Watch, its plastic build keeps it cheap. An optional Octopus-shaped night light that also charges the watch is also available for $50.