51 out of 55 mobile applications is a potential threat to the user's personal data

Protection of personal data has long ceased to be a whim. According to statistics, in the US every fourteenth American in 2012-2013 suffered from so-called "identity theft" - the use of other people's personal data in their own interests. In Russia, this problem also does not cease to grow. According to InfoWatch, in the period from 2013 to 2014 the number of leaks in Russia grew by 73%, and about 3/4 of them are also used for identity theft. And, unfortunately, our mobile devices, as a rule, possess considerable knowledge about our personalities, too, do not mind to someone about this "chat".


According to Ars Technica, a team of researchers examined the 55 most popular apps for Android and iOS, and found that they often have a tendency to send personal user data to third parties. Generally such data are e-mail-addresses, names and physical location. It is enough to set many types of fraud.

If we compare the statistics on operating systems, the picture is as follows: on iOS about 47% of the tested applications issued by geolocation, 18% reported his name and 16% reported a custom e-mail; 73% for Android applications reported by e-mail, 49% - the name, about 24% - technical parameters of the device, including the IMEI. On average, Android-3.1 application sends data to an outside domain, and iOS - 2,6.

In addition, the researchers found that 51 of the 55 applications on Android are associated with a certain domain safemovedm.com, the purpose of which remains unclear. At Google, this fact has also not commented.

All this is particularly important, given the development of mobile payment systems. And the service is so much we do not impose, as he is really comfortable. And the only deterrent is precisely the issue of security. In addition, with the development of wearable electronics gadgets are becoming more aware about the physical condition of the user. I think that many of the data will also want to keep to yourself.

Sami researchers also advise on the possible responding application with false information. While this is the only opportunity for the user to protect their personal information. However, given the nature of the data collected, the council barely pulls helpful.

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Soon Chrome for android will save up to 70% of the data for oppening webpage when the connection is slow

Google has announced forthcoming changes to Chrome that should help folks on limited internet connections save data. The change will allow you to disable automatic image loading, a very sensible approach as images often take up the majority of loading time on web pages.


The implementation is very clean in that it allows you to easily load a specific image on a page by tapping its placeholder, which is good for those articles or pages where seeing the image is imperative. Otherwise, these changes are said to bring a 70% improvement in data consumption, which is no small amount for a mobile device.


Google is aiming this feature at emerging markets, so it’ll only be available in India and Indonesia in its trial phase. There are plans to bring it to more regions, though, so sit tight and we should all have this sweet option available to us in due time.

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Xiaomi takes the wraps off a 32GB variant of the Mi 4i

As predicted, Xiaomi has today unveiled the 32GB variant of its flagship smartphone, the Mi 4i, in India. The handset will be available in a dark grey colorway and carry a reasonable price tag of INR 14,999 ($235).



The 32GB model isn’t set to face a standard release like its 16GB counterpart, though. Instead, it will be obtainable via flash sales, the first of which is scheduled to take place at PM local time on Tuesday, July 28.


As for the specifications, the Mi 4i features a 5-inch Full HD display, a Snapdragon 615 System-on-Chip (SoC) with an octa-core CPU, 2GB of RAM, an Adreno 405 GPU and a 3,120mAh non-removable battery.


If you like the sound of the Mi 4i and would like to find out how to pre-register for the flash sale that’s arranged to take place next Tuesday — hit the source link below.
Source: Xiaomi

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Samsung to Release Galaxy Note 5 One Month Ahead of Schedule

Samsung Electronics, which is losing ground to Apple’s iPhone 6, has decided to release the Galaxy Note 5 next month ahead of schedule. Also, the company will launch the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, which has a bigger screen than its popular Galaxy S6 Edge model, next month ahead of schedule as well. It is believed that Samsung tries to not only check Apple, which threatens its number one position in global smartphone market share, but also capture consumers before the release of the iPhone 6S in Sept. According to industry sources on July 21, Samsung Electronics will hold an event in New York on Aug. 13 to unveil the Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus. Recent reports suggest that the Galaxy Note 5 will feature a 5.7 inch QHD Super AMOLED display, its own Exynos 7422 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 16 megapixel main camera with optical image stabilization (OIS), along with a stylus pen. The Galaxy S6 Edge Plus will be the Note without a stylus. It will feature a 5.7 inch display, Exynos 7420 processor, 3GM of RAM, and 16 megapixel main camera. The release of the Galaxy Note series in Aug. is very exceptional for Samsung Electronics. Until now, the company has launched the Galaxy Note series after making the products debut in IFA, the world's leading trade show for consumer electronics and home appliances, which takes place in Germany every Sept. However, the company decided to move up the release date of the Galaxy Note 5 by a month this year. Also, this is the first time for Samsung to launch a “Plus” version of the Galaxy S series. Samsung is releasing the two strategic smartphones early due to its competitor, Apple. As Apple posted good sales of the iPhone 6, the company shared first place in terms of global smartphone market share in the fourth quarter last year, along with Samsung Electronics. This year, Samsung is maintaining the number one spot with 24 percent in the first quarter and 26.8 percent in the second quarter, beating Apple with 18 and 16.4 percent. However, the Galaxy S6, Samsung’s representative smartphone, is not selling well compared with Apple’s iPhone 6. It is inevitable that Samsung will take the bet with the Note 5 and the Edge Plus, its large-screened popular products, to deal with the iPhone 6, which will be out in Sept. Industry watchers say that this is why the company decided to lower the price of the Galaxy S6 Edge three months after release.


Source: http://www.businesskorea.co.kr/article/11485/ahead-schedule-samsung-release-galaxy-note-5-one-month-ahead-schedule#sthash.kBsOZwCG.dpuf

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Google Maps for Android finally adds custom names for places

Google Maps added a timeline view to Android today, which allows users to easily view their location history on mobile. That's all well and good, but buried in the new timeline feature is one of the most-requested features that Google Maps has been lacking: custom place names. Pick a spot on the map, press some buttons, and type in a name. It seems like a very simple, basic functionality that every map application should have, but somehow Google Maps has neglected the feature until now.
It's very hidden, but it's there. You'll need the just-released Google Maps for Android version 9.12 (download here), which has the new "Timeline" option in the navigation drawer. The Timeline is a new feature for mobile that allows you to browse your Google Maps location history. Location history has been available on the desktop site for some time and was in the Android version until it was removed in 7.0, but now it's back.


By flipping through your location history and "editing" a place in your timeline, you'll be able to add a name to it. At the bottom of the edit place—which really only seems meant to edit your location history—will be a link that says "add a personal place." This is the magic link that will let you name a place on the map, save it, and have the point display on the map along with your custom name.
Update: HOLD EVERYTHING. There is actually a much easier way to create a custom place name.

Enlarge

Just press on the map somewhere so a place card pops up, then hit the overflow button in the upper right. You'll see an "Edit Name" button, which will jump right to the text field. Amazing that with all the blank white space on a place card they didn't make this a button.
(Thanks to Googler Zach Maier for pointing this out. Back to our regular post.)
Previously, you could star places (you still can), but those would only show Google's public name for the place. This is much nicer than a bunch of stars with incorrect business names or longitude and latitude numbers. The above gallery will walk you through the exact steps.
The downside is that the feature doesn't seem quite ready yet. The names display on the map in Google Maps for Android and show up in the search results, but voice commands like "navigate to [custom place name]" won't work. It also doesn't show up in Google Maps on the desktop or iOS yet. We're really hoping the feature rolls out to the other Google Maps clients, and, as this just hit Android today, a staggered rollout would be typical of a Google update.

It would also be nice if the feature were easier to access. Right now it's a tiny link buried several pages deep in Google Maps, and you need to have physically visited the place to rename it or at least not care about falsely entering stuff in your location history. There's also a big conflict with the "saved places" feature, which is still around. Now there are two ways to save a place.

The rest of Timeline is pretty neat (or terrifying, depending on your privacy views). Assuming you have location history turned on, the Timeline is Google's big list of everywhere you've ever been and how long you were there. It also shows transportation times and even takes a guess at what mode of transportation you were using at the time. Google uses information like this to power Google Now cards and share location with your Google+ friends.
Pictures you've taken with your phone end up in the location history, too. On Android, they're all geotagged and get uploaded to Google Photos, so connecting the two was probably pretty easy.
Swiping left and right will cycle through days, and you can tap on the month to see a little calendar view and easily jump from date to date.
You can edit or delete any individual stop from your history, including the location, transportation method, and time. Under the menu button is a way to manage your location settings, and if all of this (understandably) creeps you out, you can easily delete your entire location history.


source: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/07/google-maps-for-android-finally-adds-custom-names-for-places/

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You can now watch vertical videos in full screen on YouTube’s Android app

The latest version of YouTube for Android displays portrait mode videos in all their full-screen glory, making it easier and a lot less annoying to watch videos shot vertically.
Prior to this update, YouTube would display vertical videos in full-screen landscape mode, which kept the actual viewing area nearly as small as the preview screen. The new feature comes in handy when you’re watching Vine roundups or clips sent by your non-techie relatives.


Want to see how it works for yourself? Try this clip on your Android device.
At the moment, the new feature hasn’t arrived on YouTube’s iOS app. However, you can watch portrait YouTube videos in full-screen mode by opening the URLs in Safari.

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KitKat for the Verizon LG G2 now rolling out over the air

After reporting yesterday that the KitKat update for the Verizon Wireless LG G2 was finally ready — but only accessible via LG’s installer for Windows PCs — that same update is now officially available and rolling out over the air. If you haven’t been prompted (and don’t feel like hassling with plugging in/installing extra software), you can now jump into your Settings > About phone > Software update > Check new > to pull the update on your G2 manually.

Having rolled out for all other major US carriers), Verizon’s LG G2 finally joins its brothers and sisters in the winners circle. Aside from bringing all the usual KitKat goodies, you should see some minor improvements to LG’s UI, as well as compatibility with KitKat-only apps like Google’s recently released Google Camera app. Enjoy!

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