Android Pay no longer works if you unlock your bootloader, and that’s a good thing
Yes, Google has blocked Android Pay if you unlock your bootloader. My biggest question about it all is ‘why did it take so long?’
Quietly and without any fanfare, Google disabled the ability for Android Pay to make payments on phones with unlocked bootloaders; landing in line with its previously held policy of not allowing rooted phones to access the payment system. It’s frustrating to some, but it’s the right move and it’s in line with Google’s vision for the security of its platform and services.
Android, as built by Google and not modified or having native security features disabled, is really secure. Security chief Adrian Ludwig speculates that one day we’ll see U.S. presidents use Android (thanks, Obama) because it’s safe and you have complete control over where and how your data is shared. But all that goes away once you start changing settings, enable USB communication or unlock your bootloader.
An unlocked bootloader is not secure, and when money is involved security is paramount.
It can be frustrating for a power user or enthusiast, but it’s time we realize that Android is not built just for us. It’s built for everyone — including people who may have unlocked their bootloader without understanding the implications of it all. These are the people who need to be protected from something on their phone that might be able to get access to their bank account or credit card information.
This doesn’t just protect the person with the unlocked bootloader, either. When a bank or card issuer has to eat the cost of a fraudulent charge, it doesn’t happily consider it a fact of doing business — it wants to limit these instances as much as possible. Interest rates and service fees are how the banks and card issuers make money from us, and raising one or the other (or both) is what happens when the expenditures column get’s bigger due to fraudulent charges from insecure systems. In some cases, the banks and card issuers just skip payment methods like Android Pay altogether before they get to that point. By keeping Android Pay from running on potentially compromised phones, it helps Google get more companies on board. For example, Chase took forever to join Android Pay — and there are plenty of other banks yet to join. Not doing everything possible to make the service secure would be a great way to scare them off and keep it from happening.
Thankfully, you don’t have to unlock your bootloader to manually update your phone since you can sideload update packages if you’re impatient. Maybe one day developers will make use of Android’s native app data backup service so we won’t have to use Titanium or something similar to keep our app data in place. In the meantime, if we unlock the bootloader we lose Android Pay. It’s that simple.
Google’s not trying to stop anyone from unlocking their phone’s bootloader, nor is it trying to turn Android into something that’s not “hacker friendly” (the good kind of hacker). We can still unlock the bootloader to root or to run a different version of Android or just because we want to, but we can’t use Android Pay — a service owned by Google and never intended to be open — if we do it.
Daily Briefing: Can you see this, America?
Grab a beer and a whiskey, it’s Friday, October 21st. Here’s what’s making news today.
It’s crappy outside, a typical fall day in Toronto. Leaves strewn everywhere, a bitter winter chill in the air. I almost turned the heating on. Instead I put on a nice, warm sweater and spent the day on the internet.
Except the internet had a very bad day. I couldn’t stay in touch with half of my colleagues due to an ongoing denial of service attack on a single DNS company, likely perpetrated by a coordinate botnet aimed at a central point. A lot of security researchers are going to be up late tonight examining what happened, but suffice it to say, this doesn’t bode well for the reputation of the many embedded devices that were reportedly hacked to perpetrate this attack. I’m no conspiracy theorist, but perhaps this will be a wakeup call for manufacturers to, you know, add the protective measures necessary to ward off easy infection. Scary stuff. Quite appropriate for around Halloween!
And with that, today’s big news stories!
LG is giving up on modules
Like a G6, if G6s are plain smartphones without modules. Or something. According to Korean daily ETNews, LG has abandoned its modular approach to smartphones after the gambit did not pay off in the G5. The phone’s successor, ostensibly the G6, will be a bit more approachable. But will it blend?
Verizon Pixel and Pixel XL already have an update waiting for it
Verizon announced today that both the Pixel and Pixel XL will receive an update that helps improve Wi-Fi connectivity. And we thought Big Red would skimp us on software updates.
Android 7.0 making its way to the Moto G4 and G4 Plus
The Moto G4 and G4 Plus are officially receiving their Android 7.0 Nougat update overseas, which hopefully means that your phone is next. More
Android Pay self destructs if you unlock your bootloader
As it should. More
LG V20 pre-orders live at Sprint
The LG V20 is now available to pre-order at Sprint for a ridiculous $33 per month for two years, or $792 outright. It’s not as bad as AT&T, but it’s close. The phone arrives October 28.
Alcatel announces four new unlocked devices under $170
Who likes affordable smartphones? Alcatel has got four coming out. The Alcatel Pop 4S retails for $170 and features a 5.5-inch 1080p display, octa-core processor, and a 2,960mAh battery pack. The POP 4 Plus is the low-end variant, coming in at $120 with a Snapdragon 210 and 720p display. And the PIXI 4 is available in 5-inch and 6-inch screen sizes with quad-core chipsets, and they’re going for $80 and $120, respectively.
GIF keyboards come to the official Messenger app in Android 7.1
If you’re running Android 7.1, you’ve got a few nice features to look forward to over the short-lived 7.0: app shortcuts, circular icons (I guess), and image keyboards. The first of those image keyboards is built right into the official Google Keyboard (version 5.2), as discovered by Android Police. You can only access it right now in the official Messenger app, and even then it’s a bit buried, but it’s a good start!
Instagram is testing live video
Of course it is.
Much of America’s internet stopped working today
A Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack against one of the biggest DNS providers in the country brought down many popular sites in the U.S. today, including Netflix and Twitter. Dyn, the company at the center of the coordinated “strike,” dealt with at least three separate incursions throughout the day, disrupting web traffic from east to west.
Have a great weekend!
Watch Samsung VR’s first scripted series this weekend
Assuming you still have a phone to slot into your Gear VR, you’ll have something new to watch this weekend. Invisible is the first scripted series on the Samsung VR platform, and is helmed by Edge of Tomorrow and The Bourne Identity director, Doug Liman. The way Wired describes it, Invisible sounds pretty cool. The six-episode series follows the lives of an ultra-rich, but reclusive family with its hands in just about everything. The reason for living in secrecy? Well, as you might be able to guess from the show’s name, certain family members can disappear in plain sight.
A handful of the short (all are under 10 minutes) episodes are available on the Samsung VR website right now if you want to give them a look. Or, you can just peep the 360 degree trailer below and call it a day.
Via: UploadVR
Source: Samsung VR
Why the Internet fell apart today
If you were on the internet on Friday morning, congrats! You were one of a lucky few who maintained their connectivity in the face of a massive, nationwide DDoS attack against part of the Domain Name System (DNS), a crucial piece of digital infrastructure which, when offline, cripples our ability to access the internet. But despite its importance, the DNS is often overlooked — much like the rest of the behind the scene mechanisms that make the internet work. So before you go resetting your router to see if that clears things up (hint: it won’t), let’s take a quick look at what the DNS does and how it managed to break so spectacularly earlier today.
In the early days of the networking, routing data between two computers might require that you know the target machine’s IP address, a 12-digit string of numbers like 192.168.1.1. Even in the early 1980’s when the “internet” was still the DoD’s ARPANET project and consisted of just 320 interconnected computers, trying remembering all 320 IP addresses would be like trying to memorize the address and occupant of every house in your neighborhood.
So, the internet’s architects developed the DNS, a giant, decentralized database that translates domain names to IP addresses much in the same way that telephone operators used to manually route calls through their switchboards. So when you type “Engadget.com” (aka the top-level domain or TLD) into your browser, the DNS company that hosts that domain converts “Engadget.com” into the 12-digit IP address and routes your request accordingly, starting with the TLD, so that your computer knows where to look for the website data it’s trying to load. What’s more, the DNS automatically updates these registries so if Engadget ever switches hosting companies and its IP address changes, typing “Engadget.com” into a browser will still work.
The DNS is a hierarchical system. At the very highest level, you’ve got the “root servers”. There are 13 of them in all and they handle requests for information about TLDs. So if you type “www.Engadget.com,” it won’t be able to find the exact listing in its zone files — simple text documents that map domain names to their respective IP addresses — but it will return a record of the “.com” TLD and shunt the request to the next server down, the TLD server.
TLD server then looks for “www.Engadget.com” in in its zone file. As before, the TLD server won’t find the full “www.Engadget.com” listing but it will find record of “Engadget.com”. With that information in hand, the request is kicked down to the domain-level servers.
By the time that a request reaches a Domain-level server, it’s only one step away from being fully routed to its destination website. These servers are essentially “the guy who knows the guy” you’re looking for. Domain servers look at the record for Engadget.com, determine that the domain should be www — as opposed to ftp, for example — and then looks up the site’s IP address in their zone files before completing the routing operation.
Normally this all happens on the backend and the process is completely seamless from the user’s perspective. However, hackers can (and just did) attack the companies that run these DNS services. When a service is knocked offline, every site hosted on that DNS goes down as well, unless you know that site’s specific IP address of course.
This is is what US authorities believe happened Friday morning. A group of unknown cyber-attackers launched a huge Dedicated Denial of Service (DDoS) attack — in which small streams of data are funneled to create an unrelenting tide of traffic that overwhelms a site’s servers — against Dyn, a major DNS service. They shut Dyn down for hours. This, in turn, caused a swath of sites that Dyn works for — including Twitter, Spotify, the New York Times, Reddit, Yelp, Box, Pinterest and Paypal — to go dark on Friday morning until the company was able to recover.
Unfortunately, defending against DDoS attacks and the botnets that are used to launch them, is not a particularly easy task. The most common solution, according to CISCO, are firewalls, which act as the network’s watchdog, inspecting data packets and determining their source. If a firewall detects suspicious network activity it will alert the rest of the system. Networks may also incorporate load balancers — systems that spread network traffic out over multiple servers so that no one unit is overwhelmed. Remotely triggered blackholes (RTBH), instead, reroute and drop malicious traffic before it can even enter the network in the first place. Or, if you’re savvy like Pornhub, you’ll simply host your network on multiple registered DNS servers so that even if one goes down, traffic will simply be rerouted to a different service.
That said, there’s no such thing as a perfectly secure network. DDoS attacks like these will continue to occasionally occur for the foreseeable future. But with proper network design and implementation, we’ll be able to mitigate their debilitating effects.
Nomu S10 and Nomu S30 unboxing initial impressions
We recently received review units to two of Chinese handset maker Nomu’s new unlocked smartphones, the S10 and S30. Launching this week, the devices are powered by Android 6.0 and feature IP68 waterproof protection. Moreover, they each boast a downright insane battery at 5,000mAh capacity. In terms of specs to price ratio, the handsets come in rather aggressively at $100 and $230, respectively.
A Qualifying Statement
We’ve only had these phones in our possession for a few days, so do not look for this to be a comprehensive review. Rather, this will be more of a piece that details what comes in the box, how the devices stack up against each other, and what we think of them so far. A full review will follow in the coming weeks.
Quick Comparison
While the two phones do share a number of features and traits between them, there are are obviously going to be differences. Here’s a quick breakdown of each model.
Nomu S10
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow
- 5.0-inch display at 1280 x 720 pixel resolution; Gorilla Glass 3
- Quad-core Mediatek 1.5GHz processor
- 2GB RAM
- 16GB internal storage; microSD expansion card slot for 32GB
- 8-megapixel (interpolated to 13-megapixel) rear camera
- 5-megapixel front-facing camera
- Dual-SIM
- 5000mAh battery
- 2G GSM：850/900/1800/1900（B5/B8/B3/B2）
- 3G WCDMA：900/2100（B8/B1）
- 4G FDD-LTE：800/900/1800/2100/2600（B20/B8/B3/B1/B7）
- TDD-LTE：2300(B40)
Nomu S30
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow
- 5.5-inch display at 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution; Gorilla Glass 4
- Octa-core Mediatek 2.0GHz processor
- 4GB RAM
- 64GB internal storage; microSD expansion card slot for 32GB
- 13-megapixel (interpolated to 16-megapixel) rear camera
- 5-megapixel (interpolated to 8-megapixel)front-facing camera
- Dual-SIM
- 5000mAh battery
- 2G GSM：850/900/1800/1900（B5/B8/B3/B2）
- 3G WCDMA：900/2100（B8/B1）
- 4G FDD-LTE：850/900/1900/2100（B5/B8/B2/B1）
- FDD-LTE：800/900/1800/2100/2600(B1/B3/B7/B8/B20)
What’s In The Box?
We’re not sure if the review units we received are actual retail model boxes but we suspect they might be. But, with that said, it’s a no-frills experience that doesn’t give you any more than it needs to. The cardboard box is brown and features only the Nomu brand embossed on the top; the bottom has a sticker with the model number and serial number.
Inside you find the phone, a pair of headphones, and a wall charger and USB cable. The outlet plug, for what it’s worth, is not going to work here in the United States. You’ll want to either get an adapter or just use one of your existing units to plug the cable in.
The quick-start guide details the basics of the phone, indicating where all of the ports and buttons are. It does have multiple languages, one of which is English.
Initial Impressions
Taking the phone out of the box and powering it on, you get the sense that these phones are rugged and ready for various conditions. Indeed, the IP68 ratings, utilitarian design, and general aesthetics signal the S10 and S30 are the sort of phones that a construction worker, contractor, or field worker might enjoy having. They’re not unlike what Kyocera is doing with its DuraForce line.
Both models have very distinct and angular corners with rubber edges. The S10 has a little bit more of a rough and tumble build that looks like something out of Battlestar Galactica. Moreover, the orange and black colors look sharp and unlike anything else we’ve spent time with.
The S30, for its part, doesn’t look to be as waterproof or built to spill. In fact, we had to double-check and triple-check that it was IP68 rated before putting it into water. The back of this one has more of a plastic shell with carbon fiber design and silver aluminum/titanium side. It would easily pass for an early generation of Droid from Verizon and Motorola.
Android
Hey look, it’s a nearly stock Android experience! Props to Nomu for not doing much to mess with the look and feel of the phone. It’s easy for a Chinese hardware maker to put a “foreign” spin on things that doesn’t resonate with US buyers. Fortunately, it appears that there’s not much done here to customize the interface.
With that said, the icons look like something you’d find in an old version of Android, perhaps something around the Ice Cream Sandwich and Jellybean era. It confused us at first, because we though, “wasn’t this supposed to be Android 6.0?” Alas, it does run Marshmallow, but with an interesting approach.
Looking through the settings we see a number of options that don’t come standard with Android. Be it gestures, flip to mute, or other subtle tweaks, it’s a nice mix additional options. And, while they may not be something we specifically use, there’s nothing here that feels out of place. If someone were just getting into Android or smartphones, we see things that would actually appeal to them or make the experience better.
While there are a handful of the major Google apps present on the S10, you’ll have to head to the Play Store to pick up a few of them. Present are Calendar, Chrome, Gmail, Google, and Play Store. You’ll need to manually install others such as YouTube, Hangouts, Drive, Mesenger, or Google+.
The S30, by contrast, had nearly all of the above (no YouTube) as well as Photos, the full suite of Google Play clients, and Android Pay.
Sound and Camera
We tested the speakers out on both models and found the S10 to get really distorted at the higher volumes. Moreover, it was a flat and unappealing experience. Perhaps related to a couple of water droplets that were still on the speaker, we heard some minor rattling or extra noise that should not have been present. The S30, by comparison, was louder and more full.
Same thing goes for the camera. The S10 is so-so, if not a little less than desired, while the S30 comes in with more of what you’d hope for in a smartphone. Keeping price in mind, we can see where corners have to be cut. It’s not always the RAM and storage that makes the difference; sometimes it’s the internal components, too.
In short, the S10 is probably around a 2/5 stars with the S30 closer to a 3/5 stars. We’ll get a better sense for both the audio and camera features over the coming days and weeks.
Waterproof Protection
We’re always reluctant to put phones into water, even when they carry a certified rating. our philosophy is that unless you absolutely have to, there’s no reason to tempt fate. And, while these two phones do protect the ports and speakers, there’s always that slight risk that you could “do it wrong”.
With that in mind, we did submerge both phones into water, albeit briefly. It just so happened that it had rained for two days straight here at the office. Going outside, we found a couple of puddles in which to dunk the phones. Both continued to work immediately after and in the hours to follow.
We are compelled to tell you, however, that the S30 seems to be just ever so wonky at times. It’s hard to say if it’s related to the water or something else in the hardware and software, but the home screen likes to bug out. By that we mean it acts as if you were long pressing on it to change the wallpaper. It flits and flickers and a quick press of the home key brings things back in line. We also saw traces of this when navigating around the device in various apps, too.
A Note About Network Support
One of the best features of most unlocked phones is the almost universal support for GSM carriers. Here in the US we have two major players competing on the GSM 4G LTE front, AT&T and T-Mobile. Verizon and Sprint, for their parts, offer their own 4G technology with CDMA.
Every so often a phone comes along that sounds so appealing on paper that you simply can’t pass it up. That is, until you look closely at the supported networks. Alas, the Nomu S10 and Nomu S30 don’t have the same support for 4G LTE that you might expect or hope for in the US.
While there are a few frequencies allowed for, you’re going to have a tough time getting nationwide coverage, especially at higher speeds. Take a look at the respective carrier bands and frequencies and you may end up with 3G speeds at best.
The last thing we want to do is endorse something that you end up buying only to find out it doesn’t work in your area. After all, a smartphone is rather dumb if it has not data to support it.
Understanding that our readers are not entirely US-based, we are certainly not going to write this one off. There are obviously going to be users who may benefit from such a device. We’ll do our best to put together as thorough of a review as possible in the next few weeks and circle back.
Where to Buy
Already set and looking to pick one of these up? There are a number of places to do so, including Gearbest, Everbuying, Geekbuying, and AliExpress. As part of a launch event, you can head to Nomu’s promotional page to check out more details. As a refresher, the Nomu S10 runs $100-$120 while the Nomu S30 fetches approximately $230.
In the meanwhile, feel free to learn more at the links below:
- Nomu S10: http://nomu.hk/product/s10
- Nomu S30: http://nomu.hk/product/s30
- Nomu Official FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/nomumobile/
What is Google Chromecast and why should you care?
Google Chromecast is a device you can use to send things from a small screen to your big screen TV.
It’s super easy to figure out, set up, and use. With it, you can send a YouTube video on your phone to a TV, or you can send a website on your computer to your TV. And that’s just two of the possibilities. To help you learn what Google Chromecast is, how it works, and what it can do, Pocket-lint has explained everything you need to know about the affordable HDMI dongle.
What is Chromecast?
Google launched the first $30 (£30) Chromecast in 2013. It’s an affordable HDMI dongle that lets you wirelessly “cast” content to a television. It basically makes most TVs smart. Then, in 2015, Google launched $30 Chromecast 2. It’s faster, more responsive, and just as affordable. And it arrived with an updated Chromecast app that serves as a one-stop shop for finding compatible apps and specific content across those apps.
In 2016, Google introduced the $69 (about £50) Chromecast Ultra, which works identically to its predecessors but uniquely offers the ability to cast 4K streams. Google also offers a $35 Chromecast Audio. Unlike the other three Chromecasts, Audio lets you wirelessly “cast” to speakers. That means your old speakers will essentially be turned into modern day speakers capable of playing music streamed from your devices.
For more information on Chromecast, check out these guides:
- Chromecast 2 review: Make any TV smart, effortlessly
- What is Google Cast for Audio?
- Chromecast now has a guest mode: Here’s how to turn on the feature
- What is Google Chromecast and why should you care?
- Roku Streaming Stick vs Google Chromecast
- Amazon Fire TV Stick vs Google Chromecast vs Roku Streaming Stick
- What is Google Chromecast and why should you care?
How does Chromecast work?
Requirements
In order for Chromecast to work, you need to plug it into an HDMI input on a TV/display as well as an open USB port on your TV/display (or an open power wall outlet). You also need a compatible Android device or iOS device with the latest version of the Google Cast app installed, or you need a compatible Windows computer, Mac computer, or Chromebook computer with the latest version of the Chrome browser installed. It’s important that your Chromecast and device or computer are connected to the same Wi-Fi network. Otherwise, you cannot cast to your TV.
Set up Chromecast
Check out Pocket-lint’s separate guide on how to set up Chromecast. The process involves plugging your Chromecast device into your TV’s HDMI port and a power source (either via USB on your TV our a wall outlet), then in installing the Google Cast mobile app on your mobile device to begin the setup process, and following the app’s setup instructions (also available here).
The app will automatically find your Chromecast and prompt you to connect it to the same Wi-Fi network connected to your mobile device. You can also set up Chromecast to work with your computer. Simply install the Chrome browser on computer, and then navigate to chromecast.com/setup from the browser to setup Chromecast (or you can quickly install the Google Cast extension).
- Google Chromecast: How to set up Chromecast and get started with it
Things you can do
With Chromecast, you can cast movies, TV shows, and photos from Cast-enabled apps on Android smartphones, Android tablets, iPhones, and iPads. You can also cast entire sites or tabs from the Chrome browser on Windows desktops, Windows laptops, Mac desktops, Mac laptops, and Google Chromebooks. There’s no remote required. To manage your Chromecast, use the Google Cast app or Google Cast browser extension.
You can also cast your Android screen to your TV. Simply open the Google Cast app and tap the navigation drawer. From there, tap the Cast Screen button and select your Chromecast device.
How to cast
Check out Pocket-lint’s separate guide on how to cast with Chromecast. But in a nutshell, all you have to do – once you set up Chromecast – is tap the Cast button from a Cast-enabled app such as YouTube on your mobile device, and the content will instantly appear on your big TV. From Chrome browser on your computer, you can also tap the Cast button in a video player like YouTube.
Although it’s not required, you can install the Google Cast extension in order to get the Cast icon in your browser toolbar. From there, simply click the icon, then choose the Chromecast device you would like to cast to, and wait for the contents of your tab in Chrome to appear on your TV.
Which apps and sites are Cast-enabled?
Apps
Casting to your TV is a simple way to enjoy your mobile apps on a big screen. You can even use your mobile device or tablet as a remote and control everything from playback to volume. Within the Google Cast app, you can tap What’s On to browse content from Cast-enabled apps you’ve already installed. You can also tap Get Apps to find Cast-enabled apps you haven’y installed yet.
Visit the Google’s website to see a list of all Cast-enabled apps. Examples include Netflix, Spotify, HBO Now, Hulu, Angry Birds with Friends, Watch ESPN, Google Photos, YouTube, PBS Kids, Twitch, Pandora, and thousands more.
Sites
Some websites are Cast-enabled. Currently, YouTube, Netflix, Google Play Movies, Google Play Music, and more are Cast-enabled (see the full list here), and Google said it is adding new ones all the time. You will you know if a website is Cast-enabled when you see the Cast button on the website within the video player. For sites that are not Google Cast-enabled, you can use the Cast extension to view the content on your TV.
Why should you care about Chromecast?
Sometimes it’s just fun to experience things on a bigger display. Let’s say you’re hanging out with friends and want to show them all a funny YouTube video. Instead of huddling around your phone, you can cast it to your TV and enjoy it on the big screen. Similarly, maybe you want to show your friends a cool website… instead of crowding around your laptop, you can cast the site to your TV.
It’s easy to see the benefits of Chromecast. Plus, it’s cheap and simple to set up and use.
The looming spectre of cyberwar with Russia
In the world of cyber (as in security), the question of the week seems to be, “are we going to cyberwar with Russia?”
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest thinks so. A week after President Obama singled out Russia as being responsible for cyberattacks on targets including the Democratic National Committee, Earnest said in a briefing that the administration would be serving a “proportional” response to Putin and the gang.
That response would be reciprocation for the very public (and not particularly sophisticated) hacking we’ve seen targeting the Democratic side of this particular presidential election. This includes the DNC hacks, the Guccifer 2.0 clowning around, the targeted feeding of docs to WikiLeaks. And, if we’re going to include all the hacker toolsets, the unprecedented use of bots to influence opinion on social media in favor of the Republican candidate.
I’d totally hack Trump… if he lost a little weight
Donald Trump is now an outspoken WikiLeaks fan. This professionally combines the pussy-grabber with a man in exile because he’s been accused of rape; an exile whose ambassador has been accused of multiple sexual assaults … creating a he-man-woman-hater’s club trifecta for the ages.
No one’s hacked Trump or the RNC and spilled the beans — yet, anyway. Which is weird considering how crappy bits and pieces of Trump’s security have been shown to be, and how abysmal government organizations are proving to be at cyber defense.
As for Trump, he left his own site wide open, and his email servers are riddled with security holes. Maybe he’s been lucky, or someone on his team hired some good hackers to protect him.
But based on the cyberlaw of cyberaverages, I think one of two things are most likely: Either he’s been hacked and the crew is sitting on docs, or hacking him and/or the RNC requires nation-state level resources… and no nation is motivated to hack him. Maybe because to other nations he’s only a four. Alright, maybe a five if he had some State Department briefings on a server somewhere… and lost a little weight.
The people who like to equate zero days to missiles and suggestions of ‘stockpiles of cyber bombs’ must be pretty psyched we’re on the cusp of a cyberwar. And we are. Vice President Joe Biden added his voice to the cyber-saber-rattling when he told press “We’re sending a message. We have the capacity to do it.” Biden singled out Putin when he added, “He’ll know it. And it will be at the time of our choosing. And under the circumstances that have the greatest impact.”
Cyber World War One?
So I guess we’re going to have that “Cyber Pearl Harbor” that septuagenarian politicians have been using as a boogeyman for the past ten years, after all. But what does that even mean?
A number of pundits think cyberwar against Russia will come in the form of embarrassing Putin, his government and ruling class. Not to mention the Russian hackers who work for the government. Britain’s doing cyberwar too, but seems to be keeping far more quiet about it than we are. Law-and-war analysis blog Lawfare posits that there’s nothing new to be hacked. Because of this, they conclude, all cyberwar can do is reveal of information the US has already purloined in hacks our spies have done over time.
Talk about zero points for creativity! The law and war pundits might not be looking at the world around us, but most of us who are worried about what cyberwar might mean certainly are — and we’re more than a little worried about acts of war and the cybers. I mean, not only do we all watch films and TV, we’re painfully aware that major breaches are commonplace, that industrial control systems are not in the best of shape, and that the internet of things is definitely not our passive and always-helpful friend.
Perhaps we’ll find out that DDoS is the new D-Day. I don’t know about you, and I’m not friends with any anti-hacking hippies, but I’d really rather that my country not have to ask Russia, “shall we play a game?”
I think that to most people, this kind of war is going to be even harder to conceive than any in history: The American public will literally not understand what it looks like. As a result it will feel far less real, there will be misinterpretation a go-go, and public accountability has left the building. There will be no draft, no foxholes and no bombs, no shrapnel, no Purple Hearts, no boots on the ground, and to the outside observer, no noise, no honor, and no cost.
There won’t be any cyberwar protests, anti-cyberwar songs or movements, or hippies hoping we’ll just give cyber peace a chance. Nor will there be any ticker-tape parades for triumphant returning heroes of the cyberwar. Hell, there won’t even be a clear victor.
Images: AP Photo/Evan Vucci (Trump); AP Photo/Markus Schreiber (Putin)
Swappa’s new full service app lets you buy and sell right from your phone
Your next Swappa experience will probably be through this app.
Folks who know how to get the best deal on selling their current phone to pay for their next one already know about Swappa. It’s the best service on the planet for quickly buying or selling phones, and one of the few experiences where the buying and selling process feels safe and friendly. Most of that is due to having a live support team to help deal with problems at all times, but it also helps that Swappa is focused on being a tech reselling service specifically.
Over the years Swappa has grown to support many different kinds of phones and tablets and Chromebooks, and has even acts as a third-party system for buying and selling VR hardware now, but it’s all done through the website. That’s fine if you’re at a desk, and works well enough if you’re using a mobile browser, but the new Swappa app really pulls the whole experience together on your phone.
If you’ve used Swappa before, the app won’t surprise you. Go to the carrier you’re interested in, swipe until you find the hardware configuration you want, and you can either look at existing listings to consider purchasing or create a new listing to see your tech. Creating a listing in the app is just as quick and thorough as it is on the website, making it so you can have your phone out there for people to buy within minutes. It’s simple, straightforward, and makes the case for never really needing to use the website for much anymore.
Grab Swappa from Google Play!
Google Pixel XL first impressions: MrMobile edition
Eight years after the first Android phone hit shelves, the Google Pixel is here to solidify the concept of the “Google phone.” Onboard: upgraded intelligence, heavily optimized software, and a camera that works with the gyroscope to produce insanely steady videos. From what Alex and Daniel are saying, it does a pretty bang-up job of redefining what an Android smartphone can be. But all that promise is wrapped up in a humdrum casing that looks unfinished at best and derivative at worst. What’s more, the $649 price tag means this first-gen product needs to bring the heat if it wants to compete.
My full review in the coming days. In the meantime, join me for some initial impressions following a day on the streets of Shanghai with the Google Pixel XL
While you wait, why not catch up on Android Central’s reviews of the Pixel and Pixel XL:
- Check out AC’s official review of the Pixel XL here
- Check out Andrew Martonik’s review of the Pixel XL for a U.S. perspective
- Check out Daniel Bader thoughts on the smaller Pixel
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Google Pixel + Pixel XL
- Google Pixel and Pixel XL review
- Google Pixel XL review: A U.S. perspective
- Google Pixel FAQ: Should you upgrade?
- Pixel + Pixel XL specs
- Understanding Android 7.1 Nougat
- Join the discussion in the forums!
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Why I’m ready to ditch the Nexus 6P for the Pixel XL
When your phone starts acting up, sometimes you have to live with it.
If you follow me on social media, you’ve likely read my complaints about my year-old Nexus 6P. Frankly, my “Really Blue” Pixel XL can’t get here soon enough. I’m ready to throw Google’s last Nexus device out the window. The frequent lag, the touch-input delay, the poor battery life—things seem to have taken a turn for the worse these last six months with the Nexus 6P as my daily driver. Every day with it is a lesson in patience.
The beginning of the end
The Nexus 6P’s performance issues started several months ago, around the time I was covering Google I/O. I remember getting frustrated at how long it took to type anything with the Google Keyboard app. I’d tap a key and then it would take about five seconds for the interface to respond. Eventually, I’d type entire sentences and wait for the interface to catch up with my input. I’d pray the end result was accurate, and for the most part it was, but penning even simple text messages became a chore.
Then I started missing out on photo opportunities. The Nexus 6P’s HDR processing became a slow crawler — a far cry from my first month with the device when it would take a mere second for the camera app to start up with a double-press of the Power button. The HDR was so slow to process that sometimes it would remain stuck and I’d lose the end result.
The HDR was so slow to process that sometimes it would remain stuck and I’d lose the end result.
I don’t always have the luxury of standing around and waiting for the phone to finish what it’s doing, so now I avoid taking photos with it altogether. There’s a reason they call it pointing and shooting, but that’s not something I am confident doing with the Nexus 6P in hand.
The 6P seemed to officially hit its edge after I updated to Nougat. Man, that was a bad idea. The touch input lag became worse, and now there are days where I’ll press down the power button and the phone will take about 30 seconds to turn on the screen. What’s worse: Despite the addition of Google’s souped-up Doze mode, the phone hardly lasts through to the early afternoon without screaming for a charge. This is no way to live life with your smartphone.
Why don’t you just factory reset, Flo?
This past year, I was deep in the throes of a major life event. Resetting my smartphone was simply not an option. I had phone numbers and message threads that had accumulated and I simply couldn’t deal with attempting to backup all of that data. As it stands, Android’s native backup abilities are still a bit half-baked, and I typically try to avoid having to attempt to restore anything precisely because it turns into a major project.
I tried a few other quick fixes instead. First, I cleared the system cache, so that I could remove any extra data leftover from the apps and APKs I had uninstalled. That didn’t help. Then, I removed any memory-intensive applications, like Facebook, Facebook Messenger, and an app I absolutely adore, Should I Answer?, which blocks spam callers. That app runs in the background and cross references the phone number calling you with a massive database before it lets the call through. However, uninstalling it didn’t help and I kept accidentally answering spam calls.
You shouldn’t have to reset your phone to fix performance issues.
Finally, I went in and turned off Developer Options. I figured that was the culprit in the first place, but still, the phone suffers from severe slowdowns from time to time. Earlier this week, for instance, I was driving an hour to Sonoma County and the 6P’s screen wouldn’t turn on despite the fact that I had Google Maps in navigation mode. I could hear the turn-by-turn directions dictated through my car’s stereo speakers, but I couldn’t actually see the route ahead. I had to pull over and manually restart the phone by holding down the power and volume up buttons. This is about the third time I’ve done this in six months. It’s really distracting to have your phone acting up while you’re driving.
The time for Pixel is now
No typical smartphone user wants to think about resetting their phone to make it run smoothly—especially after only a year with it as a daily driver. For some users, the mere thought of doing so is incredibly overwhelming.
Earlier this year, I managed to convince my mother to take the Nexus 6P for a test drive while she was overseas. She loved it; she loved the look of stock Android and how much bigger the phone was than her Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. However, I can’t imagine what she’d do if she were having the same problems as me. My mom isn’t savvy enough to do the kind of troubleshooting unless I carefully walked her through it. But frankly, no one should have to do that. This is what Google’s attempting to say with its new line of smartphones. You shouldn’t have to be a developer or a tinkerer to get your smartphone working when it’s throwing a tantrum. It should simply work, even a year after you’ve taken it out of the box.
I still haven’t factory reset the Nexus 6P because, at this point, I’m waiting for my Pixel XL to arrive. When it gets here, I can finally troubleshoot what’s been going on with the 6P these past several months. Then, I’ll do a fresh restart of Android 7.0 Nougat—or, hopefully, 7.1—and see if the phone is functioning any better. I don’t want to write off the Nexus 6P yet because it’s been quite the workhorse, but I am curious to see how Google’s last Nexus device stacks up in the long run.
Your turn
How’s your Nexus 6P holding up a year later? Is it chugging along, or just plain chugging? Let us know in the comments below!
Google Pixel + Pixel XL
- Google Pixel and Pixel XL review
- Google Pixel XL review: A U.S. perspective
- Google Pixel FAQ: Should you upgrade?
- Pixel + Pixel XL specs
- Understanding Android 7.1 Nougat
- Join the discussion in the forums!
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