Daily Tech Headlines – July 5, 2016
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| Daily Tech Headlines – July 5, 2016 | |
| Number | 19 |
| Broadcast Date | JULY 5, 2016 |
| Episode Length | 7:05 |
| Hosts | Tom Merritt |
Android malware from Analytics company? old people show up on Snapchat and iOS helps organ donation.
Headlines
- Security software maker CheckPoint says at least 10 million Android devices have been infected by malware they're calling HummingBad. Check Point has been tracking the malware since its discovery in February. Hummingbad gains root access to generate fraudulent advertising revenue while gathering information. That information and access to the phones can be sold. Check Point claims advertising analytics agency Yingmob is behind the malware.
- New stats from comScore show 14% of smartphone users aged 35 and older use Snapchat up from 2% in April 2013. And 38% of 25-34-year-olds use Snapchat up from 5% in 2013. But it's still young person's game with 69% of 18-24 year olds on the service up from 24%. ComScore attributes the addition of My Stories to the growth of the platform.
- Blizzard has filed a lawsuit in California against Bossland GMBH, makers of Watchover Tyrant, a program that gives Overwatch players advantages opposing players location and aiming assistance. Blizzard claims unfair competition violation of the DMCA's anti circumvention provision and other copyright violations. Blizzard previously sued Bossland and lost over software to aid players of Heroes of the Storm.
- Google released Chrome version 51 to its stable release channel. The new version includes embedded support for Google's Cast technology, no more need for an extension. The release also allows Chrome to automatically control bitrate, quality, and resolution, although users can still tweak these if needed. Tom Mendelsohn at Ars Technica also highlighted a new feature in the Chrome 52 beta, that would allow a user to Cast a browser tab directly into a video hangout. To do this, users log into Chrome and enable Cloud Services.
- According to a press release, iOS 10's Health app will allow users to register with the National Donate Life Registry managed by Donate Life America. Steve Dent at Engadget notes that Apple is not the first tech company to make organ donor registration a part of their platform, as Facebook allowed people to register on their Timelines in 2012.
- The South China Morning Post reports that the Cyberspace Administration of China issued new instructions, forbidding news and social networking sites from publishing "unverified" news. Specifically, the instructions state “No website is allowed to report public news without specifying the sources, or report news that quotes untrue origins.” Some sites received warnings and punishment as part of the initiative, including Sina.com, Ifeng.com, Caijing.com.cn, Qq.com and 163.com, however no specifics were disclosed.
- BlackBerry announced Tuesday it will stop making its Classic smartphone 18 months after launch. However the company says it is on track to release an updated version of the BlackBerry 10 OS next month.
- Huwaei admitted that a photo used to promote its P9 phone's cameras was not taken by the phone but by a Canon EOS 5D Mark III. A picture of a woman in sunlight with a lens flare was posted on Google+ with the caption "The #HuaweiP9's dual Leica cameras makes taking photos in low light conditions like this a pleasure." Huawei told Android Police "It was never our intention to mislead. We apologize for this and we have removed the image."
- After an engine burn of 2,102 seconds, the Juno spacecraft successfully entered into orbit around Jupiter Monday. Launched in 2011, the spacecraft traveled over 1.7 billion miles. Juno's instrumentation will activate on July 7th, and then begin a 53-day elongated orbit of the planet. NASA expects that intense radiation on this orbit will mean the first data dump will come at the end of August. Despite a 1-cm thick titanium casing, the severe radiation will limit the life of Juno. Scientists hope to get 37 orbits over 20 months before orbital decay.
- Mike Ybarra, Partner Director of Program Management, Xbox and Windows Platform at Microsoft, tweeted a sneak preview of new Xbox avatars that allow characters to appear in wheelchairs. Ybarra did not give a date for the release of the new avatar options.
- Kenyan telecom company Safaricom launched its ride-hailing app Little Cab on Tuesday. The new service offers free WiFi to passengers and promises cheaper fares and higher revenue for drivers than competitors like Uber. Little Cab is available for Android and Windows phones and coming to iOS soon.
- Microsoft released a free HD Skype toll for small business called Skype Meetings that runs in a browser. For the first 60 days users can meet with up to 10 people, after that the free version will be limited to three. User can share screens and PowerPoint presentations as well. Anyone with the link can join the chat.
- The Federal Communications Commission announced that they expect the latest round of spectrum auctions focusing on the 600Mhz band to raise $86.4 billion. The proceeds for the auction will go in part toward TV companies that voluntarily gave up spectrum. Bloomberg reports the Congressional Budget Office estimated the proceed between $10-40 billion, and Bloomberg's own analyst survey averaged an estimate of $33 billion. 104 companies applied to bid in the auction. Notably, among the 4 big US cellular companies, only Sprint did not apply to participate.
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| Preceded by: "Daily Tech Headlines – July 4, 2016" |
Daily Tech Headlines – July 5, 2016 |
Followed by: "Daily Tech Headlines – July 6, 2016" |