Smartphone

Bad Apps

January 22, 2015 — Leave a comment

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Is there such a thing as a bad app? Well, it is hard to tell. Why? On the one hand, you newbie apps, which are jumping out in an unprecedented number. On the other hand, it all comes down to the matter of your personal preferences. However, some apps are really the bad ones. No question about it.

Here is a quick overview of the most notorious ones. Unfortunately, this list can never be a final one. Girls Around Me is not a nice thing, if you are a girl whose movement is being tracked by an app. What about the app called Me So Holly? It shows you how would you look like a Jesus. The Door of Hope is not what you think.

This app tries to cure your homosexuality in 60 days. In addition, do you really want to know Who Is Jew? This app included a list of celebrity names for such a purpose. I Am Rich app allowed you to brag around for a symbolic price of only $999,99. With the Phone Story you could see how it looks making a phone in the third world country.

So, why are we telling you this story about the controversial apps? Well, there is no such a thing as a bad app police. That is why you have to keep your eyes open and alarm the cyber community as soon as you see one. There is no more efficient way to ensure the removal of a harmful app, than through a powerful public criticism. Have you seen one?

Virus vs Virus

January 20, 2015 — Leave a comment

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What do you know, it turns out that there are two completely different types of viruses, which live in the different parts of our smartphones. On the one side, we have the good old cyber viruses, which like to move inside our shiny little gadgets we hold so dear and sometimes literally precious.

On the other side, you should be fully aware that there are some unwanted guests, which like to set up a camp on our smartphone’s surface. Both of them are equally dangerous and harmful for our health. The cyber viruses can seriously influence your mental health once they get into your smartphone.

When it comes to the living viruses, you cannot imagine what your smartphone represents for them. There is no more suitable surface for all kinds of the most serious viruses and bacteria you can possibly think about than your beloved smartphone. So, what is the moral of this story? What can we do about it?

Well, for what is worth, we should be equally careful about both sides of protection from the inside and on the outside. It is a nice thing to install and run an efficient antivirus software on your smartphone. However, you should also clean the extremely compromised surface every now and then. Right?

Wear Gloves

January 11, 2015 — Leave a comment

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When? Why? Well, it turns out that the Apple Touch ID is not as safe as we thought it was. Why? Some busy little cyber bees managed to trick the system itself. How? For what is worth, you can use pictures of someone’s fingerprints to clone the actual fingerprint and use it for a safe passage through the Touch ID system.

It sounds simple, but it is actually a tough rocket science. You need the top quality of photos, including the right angles. At the end of the day, if someone allows him or herself a luxury to expose the fingerprints for hacker’s cloning, then does he or she have the right to complain, in the first place?

This is not supposed to be our contribution to the android paranoid behavioral patterns. However, you should be fully aware that these things are the bitter reality. Do you really need to wear the gloves, all the time? Yes and no. At least you should know that even the Touch ID cannot offer you the absolute protection.

Maybe, the moral of this story is that we should not mess with the eye scanners at the next level. There has to be a way to provide a proper protection for your smartphone with no SF scenarios and gadgets. You do not need to impress anyone. All you have to do is to be efficient. Right?

You Can Or Cannot Touch This?

January 7, 2015 — Leave a comment

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The season of bad news for iPhone 6 is far from over. The new trouble has a name, and it is called the fingerprint scan flaw. Although, it has not been fully confirmed, there is a high probability that someone can hack your iPhone by using the fingerprint feature. How? Well, you can make a fake fingerprint.

Again, how? To tell the truth, it is not the rocket science, but it is also not so simple. You need to make high quality pictures of your fingerprint from the different angles. The next thing you know your Touch ID has been hacked, and the silent uninvited guest is passing through your cyber door with no warning at all.

On the other side, you do not have to worry that much. In order for this hacking thing to be fully functional, you have to make those top quality pictures the way you want them. If a proud owner of his or her fingertips allows for this to happen, then we do not have any rights to complain. Right?

Can we really do something about it, when it comes to proper prevention? We cannot use the gloves all day long, can we? Or maybe, Apple should do something about it, in order to improve the Touch ID security features. Either way, we need to change so we can play safe, as it is supposed to be. Right?

Activation Lock Deactivating Crime

December 13, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Here are some encouraging statistics. The rate of stolen smartphones has declined from 30 to 40%. We should thank Apple for this change in a crime tide. It turns out that the Activation Lock has been just the thing we needed the most. What is the use of stealing a smartphone, if you cannot use it in the first place?

As soon as someone tries to turn off Find My iPhone option on your lost or stolen iPhone, the Activation Lock will take care of it all for you. No one can hide your iPhone from you nor access the sensitive data. For all of you, who have some really important data, there is always an option to destroy your phone remotely.

It really comes as a surprise that you can do so many positive and beneficial things with a simple feature such as this one. On the other hand, the next generation of thieves would really have to be a smart one in order to deal with the smartphones and their top protection cyber measures. Right?

For the time being, we should relax and enjoy our safety. It is going to take a while before some ingenious hackers find a way to deal with this protection measure. As long as we have something simple and efficient such as the Activation Lock, we can forget about troubles of losing the most precious gadget.

Taiwan Rules

December 10, 2014 — Leave a comment

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Our hats off to Taiwan. Why? Well, they have conducted a thorough check of the smartphones, which circulate in its market. As a result, we have a list of 12 models, which do not comply with the privacy protection requirements. Maybe, it is more advisable for us to be a little bit more precise about this one.

One of the latest privacy related controversies included the so-called Chinese Apple or Xiaomi. According to some security experts, Xiaomi smartphones have a firmware option to send all user data secretly and with no authorization back to China. What a nightmare for the Taiwan authorities, isn’t it?

Apple, Samsung, HTC and Xiaomi are the major smartphone brands in Taiwan. So far, Sasmung, HTC and even the Xiaomi itself have expressed the unconditional willingness to cooperate closely with the strict Taiwan privacy regulations. The funny thing, though, is that Apple keeps silent about this one.

No need to ask you about the moral of this story. Right? Can you imagine the USA or China of imposing similar privacy related requirements. Oh, what a lovely sight that would have been. We can only dream about it, or we can put some additional pressure on our governments follow Taiwan’s indicative example.

LaLaLaLa

November 30, 2014 — Leave a comment

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This is a lot of “las”. What is the thing with this 4XLa? This is undoubtedly a ground shaking concept, if it is to be true and fully functional, which can change the IT landscape beyond recognition. In plain English, we can describe this device as the mobile Google Translate. And, that is only the beginning.

With the 4La you can focus on a certain person and ensure that all background noise is eliminated. In addition, you can get a rough, but an immediate translation. All of these in a discrete hearing device, you will hardly notice. You can connect it with your smartphone or include some kind of smart glasses.

Then, how come we have not heard a little bit more about it? Maybe, this is only a baby concept. There are so many practical issues to be solved first. What is going to happen with the price itself? This way it looks like a list of wishes for some IT enthusiast. Additionally, who is to carry out this idea, in the first place?

For what is worth, we sure hope that this story will not end up with a simple lalalala song. We need the SF concepts, such as this one to keep us warm at night. However, in order to function on a daily basis, we would need something more realistic and practical. Keep on dreaming. Keep on imagining.

The Poisonous Lollipop

November 30, 2014 — Leave a comment

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This is what happens when you expect unreasonably too much. Very similar to a situation when you fall in love. You ask, expect and desire too much. At the end of the day, your house of cards collapses in a second. We have strived for the true miracles the Lollipop was supposed to deliver in the Android world.

So, what do we got in return? The Lollipop is designed to work on all devices, which run on Android. However, the alarming number of users has begun reporting some extremely problematic things associated with the new Android 5.0. The apps are disappearing. Your device is slow in performance.

Let us not forget to mention the battery, which loses precious minutes instead of ensuring the additional time for your smartphone. On the other hand, the regular updates can be very dangerous for the well-being of your device. Is this something we can characterize as the warming up trouble?

Or, maybe there is something more serious taking place in the background? It would be unwise for Google to treat these complaints as the manifestations of the spoiled users, who are accepting nothing less than a pure perfection. In the meantime, we have to look for some other candy.

Samsung Galaxy vs Nokia 3310

November 29, 2014 — Leave a comment

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It is a ridiculous thing to even try comparing these two mobile phones in the very first place. Who could have done such a thing and what could we possibly prove with that? Luckily for us, there are some busy little bees with some funny and original unorthodox ideas. This is what we got as a result.

The very purpose of some very painful experiments for our dearest shining gadgets was to prove how far we have gotten with our progress. Really, once a proud pioneer of the promising mobile revolution looks like a primitive toy compared to its younger smartphone relatives. Yet, this is notnthe whole story.

It turns out that our old little fellow is more resistant in both real and cyber worlds. How could that be? It is quite simple actually. If you try to break it, you will have to put some additional effort. On the other hand, if you want to hack it, you have to forget about it. Sometimes, being primitive has its advantages.

So, which one should you use? The modern one, of course. Why? So, you can enjoy all those shiny apps. Then why was it necessary to destroy two phones to make only one point? Believe it, it was totally worth it. This is a nice reminder that we have not achieved anything remarkable. We have merely improved it.

Lock ‘n’ Roll

November 19, 2014 — Leave a comment

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So, what is your excuse to keep forgetting to lock your smartphone? For the absolute majority of people this is an unbearably annoying thing. In addition, according to some researches and statistics you can lose up to one hour each month for locking and unlocking your smartphone. Is that all?

Some people are skeptical for a reason when it comes to the lock phone protection efficiency. That should not be much of a trouble for a skillful hacker. On the other side, a lucky finder of your smartphone could give you a call, if he can access its phonebook in the first place. Who wants to lock it after these reasonable arguments?

Now, let us move to the positive side of your smartphone being locked for the most of the time. With a password protection you are buying yourself some invaluable time to resolve your situation with a stolen or lost phone. Now, it is the right moment for you to think twice about locking your smartphone.

How hard could it be? This is a reasonable investment of your time, which can save you more time and money in advance you would have to spend in dealing the consequences of the cyber attack aftermath. Better to lose a couple of minutes each day for unlocking and locking thing, than to say goodbye to your smartphone.