Android Apps Leaking Bank Details

Tens of millions of people around the world are using vulnerable Android apps that are leaking personal data, including bank account information and webcam access, according to new research. The study tested the 13,500 most popular free apps from the Google Play Store and found that 1074 – almost 10 per cent – used incorrect or inadequate coding. Researchers at the Leibniz University of Hannover and the Philipps University of Marburg, both in Germany, tried to hack a sample of 100 of the vulnerable apps. They were able to exploit almost half the apps, of which there are at least 39.5 million users worldwide, according to the Google Play Store :: Read the full article at Digital Life »»»»

Ubuntu for Android: Turns Your Phone Into a Full Ubuntu Desktop Computer

Smartphones and the technology that powers them continue to evolve at an incredible rate. Year after year, phones have continued to close the power gap that separates them with their traditional PC counterparts. Taking advantage of the latest in mobile processors, Canonical is set to release Ubuntu for Android. The OS effectively turns your phone into a full Ubuntu desktop computer when docked and connected to a monitor, meaning the day your smartphone could act as your primary computer is drawing nearer.

Ubuntu sits alongside the standard Android operating system, as they share the same Linux kernel. Similar to the Motorola ATRIX 4G that becomes the engine for a desktop or laptop PC when slotted into an external dock, docking your Ubuntu for Android device with a USB HDMI dock will see it automatically boot into Ubuntu. Then it’s just a matter of connecting a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse and you’ve got fully functional desktop environment.

From what’s been shown so far, the experience looks to be seamless and responsive, Ubuntu is very lightweight after all, and it seems that today’s standard dual core phone can handle the OS with ease  :: Read the full article »»»»

Samsung Phablet: The Galaxy Note Set to Sell 10 Million Units in 2012

Reuters Jeremy Wagstaff describes it as “a piece of toast” it’s wearing labels like “a device for elephants and a throwback to the good old brick of the 1980s” Snickering aside, Samsung has sold 5 million Galaxy Note phone/tablets and plans on selling 10 million units this year.

Galaxy Note is much more than a freak hit! Tech-consumer, design experts and gadget analysts reckon the surprise success of the “phablet” marks a much deeper shift in the fast-paced world of mobile devices. Launched in late November 2011, the Samsung Galaxy Note is a standout product. The most obvious thing about the Note is its size. Its 5.3 inch screen is almost as wide as the iPhone’s screen is long.

…then there’s the stylus. Apple’s co-founder, the late great Steve Jobs famously ridiculed the idea of using a pen to interact with a screen, Samsung however has embraced pointy ended accoutrements, they’ve partnered with Japan’s übercool Wacom, the market leader in digital pen technology, to come up with something less clunky than, well chunky!? Granted the stylus or s-pen is still kind of chunkyish, try writing or sketching with your finger!! Read the full article »»»»

HTC One Family 2012

HTC’s new series of flagship smartphones in the form of HTC One X, S and V have overshadowed the competition in their launch at Mobile World Congress 2012. The quad-core smartphone from HTC apparently has almost everything to be the most desirable device on the smartphone market today? Among the three models showcased during the event, HTC One X is absolutely the top model of HTC’s trio of One series. HTC has packed an absolute monster in HTC One X delivering extraordinary performance. But can HTC take on the stalwart behemoths of mobile?

HTC launched the One Series in the hope of taking the fight to Samsung and Apple, the One Series, with it’s überfast graphic chips and advanced music and photography functions is hoped to dent a stitched up market. It’s a fight that HTC has been losing, sales slumped and investors dumped shares late in 2011 on concerns the firm had lost its edge.

The Taiwanese mobile tech maker is confident it’s new models – coming to market in April 2012 –  will turn around the ailing fortunes of the world’s No.5 smartphone maker, and help to boost its annual sales volumes above last year’s level. ”We are confident this year will be … a much better year,” Florian Seiche, chief of HTC’s European operations said, referring to the number of smartphones sold. ”Even with the Q1 not being the ideal fast start right out of the gate in January, which of course we would have preferred, even with that we are very confident,” Seiche told Reuters in an interview on sidelines of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Surprisingly the Ice Cream Sandwich operating system has jelled well with the phone and improvements to HTC Sense has made it a much cleaner, easier to use experience than the previous version. Read the full article »»»»

Sony’s New Experia Smartphone Range

Kazuo Hirai is due to formally take over as Sony CEO on April 1, replacing Howard Stringer. Hirai said that while some management changes had already been identified there was still a long way to go to “explain to everybody who’s doing what.” Sony has declared a return to the smartphone business, unveiling its first smartphones under the Sony brand, but warned the group’s painful transition would not be as fast as rebranding.

“People have these lofty expectations that we’re going to have all the answers to all the problems that plague the world on April 1,” Hirai said in an interview at the Barcelona Mobile World Congress. “We’re not going to have that.”

The once-stellar consumer electronics brand is heading for what it has warned would be a much bigger-than-expected $2.9 billion annual loss, its fourth in a row. The surge of red ink has put Hirai under intense pressure from investors and ratings agencies to quickly staunch losses at the sprawling electronics group. Read the full article »»»»