Pip-Boy app now available, whether you have the actual sleeve or not
Fallout fans were going nuts over the real-life Pip-Boy sleeve Bethestha announced last June. Yes, it is an actual Pip-Boy that works with your smartphone and a companion app. It is meant to connect to Fallout 4’s in-game information.
Whether you were lucky enough to put your name to one of these Fallout 4 Pip-Boy Edition bundles or not, you will still be able to enjoy the app and its full functionality. In fact, the game is not even out yet (it comes out on November 10th), but the official Pip-Boy app has already reached the Google Play Store.
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In a nutshell, the app will allow you to interact with Fallout 4, whether you are logged into your console or not. The Pip-Boy app can remember your status and allow access to all your data. You can even play some mini-games, as well as check your Map, radio and stats. You gotta love second-screen experiences, a practice which is becoming much more popular with the proliferation of connected gadgets.
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Bethesda is definitely not staying idle until the release of Fallout 4. Fallout Shelter is one of the most fun and addictive games I have played. That one is now available, as is Fallout C.H.A.T., a new messaging application. These, along witht eh new Pip-Boy app, should keep you busy and excited until the release of the big game.
Until then, stay tuned to Android Authority for more details to come, and don’t forget to hit the comments to let us know what you think of the Pip-Boy app. Did any of you get the actual sleeve?!
The ‘Fallout 4’ Pip-Boy app is available right now
Attention future Commonwealth explorers: The Fallout 4 Pip-Boy app is available for you to download. Unlike the gap between the release of Fallout Shelter on Android and iOS, both versions are available right this very moment. More than just acting as a mobile menu setup, you can play any holotape games you find in Fallout 4 within the app (with what sounds like a version of Missile Command built in). Sounds cool, right? Well, now you’ve got another something to keep you busy until November 10th — even if you have an oversized phone.
Source: iTunes, Google Play
Mobile apps share a lot more of your data than you think
You’re probably well aware that many mobile apps want to share your data. They need your email address to set up an account, or your location to tag your photos. However, a research team has discovered that at least some of that software is sharing more than you might be comfortable with. On average, 110 Android and iOS apps sent data to three separate internet domains. That’s not necessarily a problem by itself, but that info sometimes goes to places you’d rather not send it (say, medical search terms sent to marketers). Also, this info sometimes arrives in combinations that could be used to track your behavior, like your name and location.
Via: Ars Technica
Source: Technology Science
Free app brings local news broadcasts to Android, iOS and Roku
We’re living in a cord-cutter’s world where everyone seems to be ditching their cable and satellite subscriptions in favor of the cheaper alternative: streaming. The problem is, when we clense ourselves of all those pesky cords we also lose a wide range of local news broadcasts. NewsON is a new app available for Android, iOS and Roku that offers video content from a total of 118 stations in 90 different markets. The app features live and on-demand newscasts, clips from the station that can be accessed at any time and even the ability to post real-time tweets about the news coverage.
Source: TechCrunch
Google hopes to reboot its low-cost Android phone program
Google’s Android One program was supposed to help the developing world go mobile and promote ‘pure’ devices full of Google services, but that’s not how it panned out — the phones flopped as both customers and vendors preferred heavily customized Android devices. However, the search giant may not be giving up just yet. Wall Street Journal sources claim that Google is planning to relaunch Android One in the “coming months” with a more relaxed policy that reflects some lessons learned. It’s reportedly loosening the strict hardware requirements, which made it difficult to compete on price and launch phones quickly — companies now have their pick of multiple parts. That’s important in India, where even a small discount can lead to a competitive edge.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Google hopes to reboot its low-cost Android phone program
Google’s Android One program was supposed to help the developing world go mobile and promote ‘pure’ devices full of Google services, but that’s not how it panned out — the phones flopped as both customers and vendors preferred heavily customized Android devices. However, the search giant may not be giving up just yet. Wall Street Journal sources claim that Google is planning to relaunch Android One in the “coming months” with a more relaxed policy that reflects some lessons learned. It’s reportedly loosening the strict hardware requirements, which made it difficult to compete on price and launch phones quickly — companies now have their pick of multiple parts. That’s important in India, where even a small discount can lead to a competitive edge.
Source: Wall Street Journal
Code in the Galaxy S6 Edge isn’t as secure as you think, Google researchers reveal
Google security researchers decided to dig into the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge to see what they could find as far as vulnerable code goes. Suffice to say, what these Googlers found wasn’t good news.
In their digging, 11 vulnerabilities were found that have the potential to be used for creating files within the system privileges for stealing personal data, such as the user’s email. Potentially even more dangerous is that these vulnerabilities could be used to advance an application’s permissions to obtain even more data.
Google sent their findings to Samsung, and got a quick response saying that eight of the major issues had been fixed in an October Maintenance Release. The other three will be fixed in a November Maintenance Release, though it wasn’t mentioned how long these updates will take to get to carrier-branded units.
“It is promising that the highest severity issues were fixed and updated on-device in a reasonable time frame,” Google researchers said.
The goal of this experiment was to see that if the security measures that were put in place across the Android platform could prevent the exploitation of these vulnerabilities in a manufacturer’s code. The results were a hit-or-miss, in some cases. For instance, SELinux, a defense mechanism put in the Android code by default, made it difficult to exploit these vulnerabilities, but some bugs in the code allowed SELinux to be disabled, giving Crackers a wide open field to play in.
For those of you interested, you can find all of the hard details on these vulnerabilities and more at the source link below.
source: Google
via: Computer World
Come comment on this article: Code in the Galaxy S6 Edge isn’t as secure as you think, Google researchers reveal
PuzzlePhone wants you to fund its modular smartphone
If you’re enamored with modular smartphones but aren’t convinced that Project Ara will pan out, you can now pour your money into an alternative. PuzzlePhone has launched a crowdfunding campaign to get its namesake upgradable handset into your hands. Plunk down at least $333 and you’ll get a complete Android phone divided into a Spine (the 5-inch LCD, frame and speakers), Brain (processor and camera) and Heart (battery and secondary tech), all of which you can replace without having to toss out the rest of the device.
Via: The Verge
Source: Indiegogo
Pre-order the Meizu Pro 5 at Gearbest.com
The recently announced Meizu Pro 5 is available for pre-order at Gearbest.com now. This phone is a BEAST. The processor that came in Samsung’s flagships in 2015, the Exynos 7420(Note 5, S6, S6 edge, etc.)is the heart that powers the Meizu Pro 5 but comes at a much lower price. Other features in the Meizu Pro 5 are an AMOLED 5.7″ 1080p display, dual-SIM capability, 32GB or 64GB, 3GB or 4GB of RAM respectively, a 21MP camera, Android 5.1 a non-removable battery and a gorgeous metal build.
Meizu isn’t well known in the U.S. to the general public yet, but with phones like this, they will be the next Huawei who built the latest Nexus 6P. This is a phone that is really worth checking out. This phone is unlocked and is designed to work on networks such as T-Mobile and AT&T.
If you want to pre-order the Meizu Pro 5 click this link to head on over to Gearbest.com. I’ll be putting in a pre-order myself for this phone. I love the 5.7″ inch AMOLED display and know the Exynos 7420 processor is a powerhouse as I experienced its speed in the Samsung Galaxy Note 5. To top it all off, the Meizu Pro 5 looks stunning in photos. If you’re into premium smartphones, check this one out.
Specifications:
 Basic Information
Brand: MEIZU |
 Hardware
CPU: Exynos 7420 |
 Network
Wireless Connectivity: 3G, A-GPS, GPS, WiFi, 4G, Bluetooth, GSM |
 Display
Screen type: Capacitive, Corning Gorilla Glass |
 Camera
Camera type: Dual cameras (one front one back) |
 Media Formats
Picture format: PNG, JPEG, GIF, BMP |
 Other Features
I/O Interface: Type-C |
 Battery
Battery Capacity (mAh): 3050mAh Built-in Battery |
 Package Contents
Cell Phone: 1 |
 Dimensions
Product size: 15.67 x 7.8 x 0.75 cm / 6.16 x 3.07 x 0.29 inches |
The post Pre-order the Meizu Pro 5 at Gearbest.com appeared first on AndroidGuys.
How to unroot your Android phone or tablet
Rooting your phone and unlocking its true potential is one of the best parts of the Android ecosystem, but it certainly isn’t for everyone. For one, the process is a bit complicated. Not to mention the fact that you could potentially harm your device, and tinkering with a handset can void the warranty, resulting in an unfortunate situation.
Don’t want to be part of the root club anymore? Being in Google’s protective arms is definitely nice, and it is an inconvenience that root gets in the way of updating your software over the air. Additionally, when it comes to selling a phone, many buyers want the “out of box” experience, as if the phone were brand new, which root technically detracts from.
The thing is, there’s plenty of tutorials out there for rooting a smartphone, but not as many show you how to unroot. Let’s fix that!
Unroot by using SuperSU
Many users take advantage of SuperSU, a popular tool for managing rooted devices. Among its many features is the ability to unroot your device.
The process is as simple as they get. Just open the SuperSU app and head over to the Settings tab. Scroll down and select “Full Unroot”. Follow instructions and let the phone do its thing. After it takes care of business, just restart the phone and you will be back to normal.
Unroot by using an app
Not using SuperSU? There’s a slight chance you might still be able to unroot your phone by taking advantage of a simple app. The only caveat is that these applications don’t seem to work well with every smartphone out there. It’s kind of a hit or miss.
The most popular option is Universal Unroot, which can easily get rid of root privileges in Android devices. Sadly, there’s plenty of downsides. For starters, a bunch of Samsung devices won’t work, due to a complication with KNOX. LG devices will be unrooted, but they will still show as rooted afterwards, thanks to LG’s eFuse.
I will say this is a bit of a gamble, as it costs $0.99, but that might be worth it if you don’t want to play around with your phone too much.
Unroot by using a file manager
Root access might seem like a complicated set-up, but it’s really nothing but a bunch of files on your phone. Get rid of them and root will also go away.
To do this, you will need a file manager with root access. My favorite one happens to be ES File Explorer (just turn on root access in the settings).
- Access your device’s main drive and look for “system”. Select it, and then tap on “bin”. From there, delete “busybox” and “su”. By the way, these might not be there. If that is the case, move on to the next step.
- Go back to the system folder and select “xbin”. If the files are there, go ahead and delete both “busybox” and “su”.
- Go back to the system folder and select “app”.
- Delete “superuser,apk”.
- Restart the device and it will all be done.
Unroot by installing an OTA update!
Remember we told you root gets in the way of updating? Well, that is only if you want to update the traditional way, you can still push updates manually. We won’t get into those details right now, but the trick here is that software updates tend to break root access. Most users have to root again, but if you don’t want root it’s easy to simply install your next update.
The obvious downside is that you do have to wait for an update to arrive. Oh, and don’t forget to uninstall SuperSu and any other root-related apps. Alos keep in mind that this will only work when using the stock recovery on your device.
Unroot by installing stock firmware
Taking the phone back to its original firmware is usually the best way to unroot a phone. There’s no ifs or buts here, it will work regardless of your device, ROM, kernel or recovery. This is because the firmware has all the necessary software packaged together.
The only sad part is that we can’t quite give you a tutorial. Phones have different ways o accomplishing a firmware install, so you will have to do a bit of research on how to do this to your specific smartphone. Users will need to download their specific firmware files, use USB Debugging and possibly download some PC software.
Wrapping it up
So there you have it, guys. Now you have the necessary tools for getting your phone away from the potentially dangerous world of rooting. Remember smartphone hackery is not exactly for everyone!
Have any of you guys tried these methods? Hit the comments to let us know your experiences. I have personally only used the last option. I feel like clean starts are always better, but I do have to say it makes me work and research much harder.
AIVAnet 