Coolgent: My phone has just detected that UC Browser is using Phone Camera at background! Is it normal?
There has been many reports to cases like this. Almost all big tech companies are guilty of tapping users' information without users' consent. From Apple to Facebook, etc.
Some apps that come pre-installed on Android phones may have up to 146 flaws, according to a report released last Friday (15) by Kriptoware, a company specializing in digital security. The issue is even more acute when it is found that the vulnerability is present in devices from 29 different companies. The research was sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security of the United States.
Among the main flaws found, are the installation of apps without user authorization, audio recording without the cell phone owner knowing, changes in system settings, among other less or more serious bugs. As the Wired publication highlighted, the largest volume of manufacturers are small and concentrated in Asia, but there are also industry giants such as Asus, Sony, Samsung, and Xiaomi.
The companies cited in the survey were immediately notified as soon as the study was completed. Samsung, for example, minimized the problem and stated, through an official note, that Android Security does the job of protecting the user in these cases. "Since we were notified by Kryptowire, we have promptly investigated the applications in question and determined that the appropriate protections are already in place," said Samsung in a statement to the U.S. press.
Tom Karygiannis, vice president of products for Kriptoware, told Wired: "Samsung applications can be used by third parties in the supply chain to gain access to information without disclosing it or requiring permissions. The current design of the Android Security framework does not prevent this from happening today.
In 2018, Google launched a tool called Build Test Suite, which is responsible for just looking for and finding this type of flaw. However, it was not very emphatic about the possible improvements. "We appreciate the work of the research community that collaborates with us to solve and responsibly disseminate issues such as these," he said in a statement sent to Wired.
As The Next Web rightly warned, when a user downloads an infected or failed app, there is still the possibility of deleting it. However, the flaws detected by the survey are in OEM applications, those that are factory installed on manufacturers' systems, so-called blockware, which often prevents their removal.
Dark Mode as a graphical interface option has become an increasingly common feature. More than a fashion, the interest in design with dark modes and more intense contrasts also have technical support: the dark graphics interface results in battery savings of up to 60% in extended sessions of use. However, for this to happen, the user needs a smartphone equipped with an OLED-type screen. Also known as dark mode, the feature is present in Android 10, iOS 13 and apps like Instagram.
The difference between LCD and OLED Using a dark theme with black backgrounds instead of white and other lighter colors ends up resulting in power savings only on OLED displays (also included are variants of this technology, such as AMOLED, Super AMOLED and Dynamic AMOLED from Samsung).
This is because of the nature of this type of display. When an OLED screen displays a black image, the pixels that form the space in which black is being displayed on the screen are effectively turned off. So if the graphical interface of the system or app you use is predominantly dark, the battery consumption of the phone drops dramatically, as most of the screen is turned off in effect.
LCD screens, on the other hand, do not allow portions of the display to be turned off according to the prevailing color. In LCD screens (usually IPS type in cell phones, such as Zenfone 6 and iPhone 11) no matter the color of the pixels: the entire display is always on even in dark mode, which means that the power consumption ends up not being affected by these devices.
How big is this saving? The PhoneBuff channel on YouTube has put the theory to test the amount of battery that is saved when using dark interfaces on mobile phone with an OLED screen. In the test, the site used a robot that simulated the normal use of an iPhone XS Max with dark mode enabled in one and disabled in the other.
The results were very expressive. In two hours of use, the battery of the dark-themed iPhone was 88%, while the light-themed phone had already dropped to 83%. In four hours of testing, the difference in power consumption becomes more significant: the XS Max with dark mode features 72% against 57% of the device running with the iOS light interface. At the end of the experiment, the light-screen iPhone XS Max completely drained the battery after 7 hours and 33 minutes, when the dark-mode iPhone still had a 30% charge.
In addition to the channel-driven test, there are also official Google estimates that revealed that the combination of OLED and dark interfaces could result in power savings of 63%. One effect of these results is the new Android 10 promotes support for triggering dark themes through the operating system settings.
Dark mode in systems and apps As the industry has progressively replaced LCD screens with OLEDs, the trend is for dark interfaces in systems and apps to become more frequent. In addition to systems that offer the possibility of using an interface with darker tones, there is also support for new features via apps: Instagram already offers the option in its latest versions and it is also expected that the new features will arrive at WhatsApp soon.
An independent developer proved that Windows 10 can be light enough to run even on a calculator. He installed the Windows 10 IoT Core version, made for the Internet of Things, in a Prime Graphing Calculator, HP's color touchscreen model. The handset has modest hardware, with a specification that includes a 400 MHz processor, 32 MB RAM, and storage of only 256 MB, about two thousand times less than a traditional computer.
Windows 10 IoT Core is a simplified version of the system for devices like Raspberry Pi. It doesn't support complex programs made in the classic way of the system, but it can run apps available on the official store. Still, the developer was forced to make some adjustments so that the calculator could identify the software.
User @imbushuo described the process on Twitter last week. First, he showed that there was a conflict that prevented Windows 10 from booting and, because of the small screen of the calculator, he couldn't see the error code. Two days later, he returned to the social network to confirm that a simple adjustment in the memory management unit made it possible for the Microsoft system to start.
So far, the developer has not detailed the procedures he carried out on the device to enable it to become compatible with Windows. He didn't make it clear which system resources are working and which can't be used because of the limitation imposed by the hardware. The project is available for consultation in the GitHub repository.
WhatsApp was the most downloaded app in the world in the month of October. The messenger had almost 71 million installations in the period, a number that includes Android and iPhone (iOS) users. With 8% of downloads, Brazil was the second country that contributed the most to this result, behind only India, responsible for 39% of app installations.
TikTok came second in the list, having been downloaded more than 66 million times. The duo formed by India and Brazil retains their position in the application downloads charts with 41% and 7% of the installations, respectively. Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram complete the "top 5" of the report, made by the consulting firm Sensor Tower.
WhatsApp and TikTok are the most downloaded apps of the third quarter of 2019
The top five apps downloaded globally in October from the Google Play Store and App Store were the same as in September. The only difference is in the positions occupied by Facebook and Messenger, which changed ranks when compared to the previous month.
The sixth place was occupied by SHAREit, a file-sharing service, followed by Club Factory, a platform that sells several products at factory prices. The "top 10" of most popular apps in the two main stores ended with YouTube, the video editor Likee and Snapchat.
Check out the top 10 most downloaded apps in general and on Google and Apple systems below.
Finally, Google confirmed the speculations on the purchase of Fitbit by announcing that they are buying the fitness company for $ 2.1 billion. This acquisition was being reported a few days ago when news about Google's intentions first emerged on the Internet. The situation was viewed controversially by experts, as some sites were optimistic and others expressed concern.
The recent merger points to a possible attempt by Google to maximize efforts in the smartwatches market. The company already has Google Fit and Wear OS for other brands' devices, but has not offered the device itself to the public yet.
Google's products in operation do not offer real competitiveness against Apple Watch and Samsung, which dominates this market. The company has already made a necessary change in its systems to improve its appeal to users of these two major brands but has not yet reached the threshold of the market leaders in this segment.
The purchase of Fitbit seems to be what was missing for the company to advance in the world of wearables now they have access to toolkits capable of offering users a product of excellence as Apple and Garmin, points out Rick Osterloh, head of the hardware department of Google.
"By working closely with Fitbit's team of experts and bringing together the best AI, software, and hardware, we can help encourage innovation in wearables and create products to benefit even more people around the world," says Osterloh.
Due to the amount paid by Google, it can be assumed that the company is interested in using all of the hardware already produced by Fitbit and focus solely on improving its healthcare software, or perhaps creating a new one.
Some sites have pointed to the benefits that such a merger can bring to users. Fitbit has a lot to offer to Wear OS because it has over 28 million active profiles that are already trained to use the application to improve health. By having access to these insights, Google can stand up to the best smartwatches and fitness apps on the market.
A further detail that can help Google and raise its bar is the battery issue. Fitbit is the only company that was able to launch devices with the longest battery life, such as Ionic and Versa. They can stay connected for 4 to 5 days, surpassing even the powerful Apple Watch and its autonomy of 18 hours. Until the recent Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 reaches approximately two days.
Despite these benefits, some people believe that the purchase by Google can bring problems for Fitbit users. An example of this is the issue of the virtual assistant. The current Versa 2 features Amazon's Alexa, and Google already has Google Assistant on the market.
The expectation is that Alexa will give way to Google Assistant over time, but some believe that the Amazon assistant will not be gone completely since Google is announcing that users will have the option to choose which one to use, as well as decide what to do with their data already gathered in Fitbit.
This is another issue of concern because users are concerned that Google will use the information collected from Fitbit to generate health ads for them. However, Rick Osterloh clarified that this will not happen.
"Fitbit's health and wellness data will not be used for Google ads. And we'll give Fitbit users the option to review, move or delete their data," says Google's Hardware Manager.
Adobe Max is one of the largest conferences in the creative industry, bringing together developers, graphic designers, and business leaders to learn about the latest technological advances in the industry. These include sneaks, experimental projects by Adobe engineers that, over time, often end up being integrated into the company's official products.
But in this year's edition, the conference hosted the presentation of a particularly interesting 'sneak': a feature called 'About Face', capable of detecting (through machine learning) if the face of a picture has been manipulated in some way through graphic editing. In other words, the creators of Adobe Photoshop now let us know when a face has been 'photoshopped'.
All you need to do is apply 'About Face' to the image, and the tool will estimate the odds of that manipulation, a process that is very easy to do today thanks to multiple kinds of software. 'About Face' is not just about the face as a whole (as a facial identification algorithm could do) but about each pixel, providing a heat map of areas of the image that are likely to be altered.
The increasing number of fakes and deepfakes, especially as a means of disseminating hoaxes through social media, and the influence this is having on the reputation of those affected, as well as on public debate, is encouraging large companies to invest in new technologies capable of automating the detection of this kind of manipulation.
In the case of deepfakes it is more complicated because the technology evolves rapidly, but with traditional fakes, which are often the product of the use of Photoshop, tools such as 'About Face' can be remarkably useful.
Other AI applications presented in Adobe Max
But Adobe Max 2019 has also made it possible to release other sneaks based on the use of artificial intelligence.
All In: Have you ever had the problem of wanting to take a group photo without being forced to stay out of it? Well, this tool allows just that: take a photo in which you don't appear and add yourself from another photo taken in the same area, without noticing the photoshopping.
Sound Seek/Awesome Audio: Do you have audio clips where you just say "aahhh", "Uhm" and repetitive sounds like that? The 'Sound Seek' tool also uses machine learning to delete them with a single click. If the problem is environmental noises or the presence of echoes, 'Awesome Audio' will take care of cleaning the fragment to obtain a professional sound.
Microsoft announced, on Monday (4), the launch of the new Office application for mobile, which brings together Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in the same environment to facilitate the use of all productivity services. In addition to all the functions already existing in the current programs, other features were incorporated to improve the application, such as a new dashboard for quick access. The app is available for Android and iPhone (iOS) users in the testing phase.
Anyone can use the features of the new Office app for free, without having to log in. However, if you want to store and access your files in the cloud or make use of different profiles, you need to enter your Microsoft login details. According to the company, the new application reduces the need to switch between various applications during use and decreases the consumption of space in the phone's memory.
On the main screen, the application will allow the user to start their tasks from a menu with three main actions: make quick notes on Sticky Notes, scan documents and photos through Office Lens and access the screen for editing texts, spreadsheets, and presentations. The home page also displays a history of recently edited documents.
Among the new features of the application is the ability to take a photo or document and turn it into an editable Word file with just one touch. The same happens with printed tables, which are automatically transformed into Excel spreadsheets when they are photographed. PowerPoint, in turn, can help the user create a presentation easily after selecting the images on the phone.
The application also allows you to create PDFs with your mobile camera, using photos of the device or in documents, and sign PDF documents using your finger on the screen. You can also read QR Codes and share files between phone and computer instantly.
Microsoft states that today's standalone Word, Excel, and PowerPoint applications will continue to function normally. The company says that for the time being the new service is only available on mobile phones, but will soon also be available for tablets.
Windows 10X is a new Microsoft operating system for notebooks with multiple screens. The novelty takes advantage of the features of Windows 10 and launches a more user-friendly interface for interaction with touches. It was presented at the launch of Surface Neo, the brand's first dual-screen laptop, announced along with the Surface Duo smartphone and Surface Earbuds phone. The company disclosed few details about the software, but a recently leaked document may give clues about the future of the manufacturer's latest move. See everything you need to know about the new Windows.
What changes when compared to Windows 10
Instead of developing a system from scratch, the company chose to take advantage of most of the existing features in conventional Windows 10 and implemented interface improvements to facilitate user interaction through touch. The software has smarter multitasking, organizing apps on different screens on the same device or maximizing a single program on more than one display.
Some multitasking skills from Windows 10X appear in Surface Neo's promotional video. The images show that it is possible to open apps on the same split-screen in half, move one of these apps to a second screen and expand a single program to occupy the two displays displaying different information on each side: the email app leaves the inbox on one side and a message or composition window on the other side, for example.
In Surface Neo, Windows 10X places the virtual keyboard in the horizontal portion of the screen and understands when the physical keyboard is active to take advantage of what's left of the display to display information from other apps or simulate a trackpad. Also, the taskbar now aligns the fixed app icons in the center and the wholly revamped Start Menu icons.
New Start Menu One of the new features of Windows 10X is the Start, which receives the first profound change since the arrival of Windows 8. The latest version completely abandons the idea of dynamic blocks and adopts a more Android-like look: the user touches a menu at the bottom of the screen to see a window containing the installed apps and important shortcuts to Office documents, for example.
As with the Google system, Microsoft says that the apps that appear there may change depending on the user's habits. The company, however, says that the famous menu interface can still change.
Notifications, shortcuts, and unlocking Notifications are grouped, and Action Center shortcuts (side menu on the right of the screen) are redesigned, with smaller buttons and new gradation bars for brightness and volume adjustments. Some functions previously concentrated on Start also move to this window, such as settings and the power menu.
Other features include a faster unlock system: when you light up the screen on your notebook or tablet, Windows 10X scans the user's face immediately to identify and skip the PIN. In traditional Windows 10, you need to swipe a lock screen before accessing facial recognition.
Programs and applications There is no new application in Windows 10X, but several change their design and functionality. In the official presentation, Microsoft focuses on its programs, such as the Office package and the Edge browser, but also shows third-party app icons, such as Spotify and Netflix. According to the company, the system will be compatible with classic Windows programs developed in the win32 standard, as well as with apps available at the official store. However, there will also be strong compatibility with software that runs on the web in the Progressive Web Apps format.
According to the specialized site Windows Central, Microsoft also reserves a new version of Windows Explorer for Windows 10X. The app would bring more modern design and better usability for touch screen devices. The publication had access to a list of apps that should have compatibility with the new system. These are almost all of the apps that come pre-installed on Windows, including Paint and Notepad, in addition to the Netflix app.
Release and compatible devices According to The Verge, Windows 10X will also be intended for conventional laptops, without a double screen. In this modality, the look has fewer changes compared to Windows 10, although it keeps the Start slimmer, displaying apps and documents without the design of dynamic blocks.
However, it is still uncertain when the system will be released. It is not yet available for download, and there is no public test group under Windows Insider. For now, the software is confirmed only on Surface Neo, which still has no release date and is expected only for 2020.
Science/Technology / Re: Apps Pre-installed On Android Phones Have 146 Flaws, Says Research by Techidence: 6:27pm On Nov 21, 2019