Gooligan is a malware that hides within Android applications found mainly outside the Play Store, but it has recently been found that multiple apps available on the Play Store are also infected by it. The malware utilizes two vulnerabilities (Vroot and Towelroot) prevalent in pre-Marshmallow Android builds to root devices and gain access to email information, as well as authentication tokens, including those of your Google account. Gooligan then uses this unauthorized access to install applications from the Play Store itself. This of course, is done to increase the revenue associated with in-app ads. Additionally, the afflicted accounts are made to leave a 5-star review for the concerned app, without the user even being aware of what's going on.

If your device is running on Android Lollipop or an even lower version of the Android OS, Gooligan can affect your device. The secret malware was found by a cyber security firm called Check Point and they have since reported that Gooligan can access Gmail, Google Photos, Google Docs, G Suite, Google Play and Google Drive on all the 1 million plus devices that it affects right now. In response to the report, Adrian Ludwig, head of Android Securities, has explained that so far, the malware, which is a variant of the previously discovered Ghost Push, has not shown any intent to steal information and has instead been only associated with promoting in-app revenue through falsified reviews and unauthorized app installations. Google has since revoked all affected tokens and has banned multiple affected apps from the Play Store.

In the words of Check Point, "Gooligan potentially affects devices on Android 4 Jelly Bean and KitKat, and 5 Lollipop, which is over 74 percent of in-market devices today. About 57 percent of these devices are located in Asia and about nine percent are in Europe,"

In order to check and see if you are affected by Gooligan, enter your email address and see for yourself at: https://gooligan.checkpoint.com/

Head over to https://forum.youmobile.org/downloads/ to find all the latest updates for your smartphone.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

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Android M is just around the corner and as its announcement nears, and rumors about more and more plausible features of the platform's next version come to surface each and every day. We already have a pretty good understanding of what Android M is going to be all about, but we are certain that Google has a lot of hidden functionalities hidden up its sleeve.

 

One of these might be granular, user-manageable app permission controls. All versions of Android after 4.3 Jelly Bean have allowed users to grant or revoke app permissions after they've installed a given app, but this functionality is deeply hidden in the OS itself and can't be accessed without a third-party app, with the most popular being App Ops (requires root for certain versions), making it a bit tricky to access it.

 

 

Android M might finally bring this undoubtedly handy feature up front and allow users to manage permission to their heartfelt content. There might be a dedicated menu in Settings that deals with app permissions. Also, it's rumored that on the next versions of Android, you won't need to grant various permissions before you install an app from the Play Store, which is a slightly cumbersome task that usually requires you to tap "yes" in a handful of dialogs.

 

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Samsung has made it official today that the company expects to lose over $3 billion (3.5 trillion WON) during the remainder of this year and the first quarter of the next. However, the South Korean electronics giant is hopeful that it will get back on its feet from the second quarter of 2017. As you can guess, that expectation is largely based on the success of the Galaxy S8, which will be released around that time.

Q4 2016 alone is estimated to cost Samsung a whopping $2.2 billion dollars in losses. Things will brighten up a bit in Q1 2017, as Samsung will expectedly see a less daunting drop in profits with a loss of $800 million. Now that the Note 7 is gone for good, they will be manufacturing and marketing the S7 and S7 Edge with renewed vigor to make up for at least some of the losses.

What remains to be seen is how much the Note 7 incident will affect the Samsung name as a trusted brand. To focus on this point in particular, it was stated at the end of the report that the company will prioritize, "enhancing product safety for consumers by making significant changes in its quality assurance processes."

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

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Things are really not looking good for Samsung at all as a brand new serious issue has just surfaced in the form of a lawsuit for something that was previously unknown and unheard of. Daniel Ramirez is a construction worker who has filed a lawsuit against the South Korean electronics giant for allegedly selling defective and explosive Galaxy S7 Edge smartphones. He stated that the incident occurred in Ohio, where he was working in a bookstore and the S7 Edge was in his pant pocket. The phone wasn't being charged or even used while it caught fire and caused Daniel to receive second and third degree burns. He tried to grab the smoking smartphone and throw it out of his pocket, which burned his right hand as well. This was followed by the S7 Edge proceeding to literally explode in his pocket causing horrible injuries.

Now, this is an incident that reportedly occurred on May 30, which is more than three months before the Note 7 was even officially revealed. In light of the recently occuring battery related fires originating from the Note 7 and its worldwide recall by the manufacturer, ClassAction.com has taken it upon themselves to sue the OEM over this tragic incident. They want a worldwide recall for the S7 Edge, just like Samsung did with the Note 7. Not only is this the first time that we are hearing about the S7 Edge catching fire and exploding, but this is also the only time that such an unfortunate accident seems to have happened while the phone was not even being charged. We will have to wait and see what Samsung has to say about this.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

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Recently, the Wall Street Journal (Chinese Edition) has published a piece about a new business contract between Apple and Samsung. According to their source in South Korea, the 3-year contract requires Samsung to supply OLED smartphone panels to Apple for upcoming iPhones in 2017 and beyond. Although the rumor regarding this contract has been around for a while now, this adds new credibility to it. Arguably, Apple is still talking with JDI, LG, Sharp and AUO before the deal becomes final.

The article adds previously unknown details by stating that this order involves production and supply of about 100 million 5.5-inch AMOLED displays that are possibly meant to be used in the iPhone 7s. Judging by Apple's current trend of reserving the larger 5.5-inch panels for their "Plus" models, chances are that these will be used to make the iPhone 7s Plus rather than the regular 7s. Whether they will still be calling it "7s Plus" or not, remains to be seen.

Previously, famous Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo had stated that Apple will not be releasing any OLED phones before 2018, but he has changed his opinion in light of the new situation. Now, Kuo is of the opinion that Apple will release at least one version of its future iPhones in 2017 with an OLED display. Rumors and predictions also suggest that Apple could be going back to the glass-metal design of the iPhone 6 and it is perhaps for the best.

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Samsung has just made it official that the exploding Galaxy Note 7 smartphones are a real problem which according to their research and reports, may happen to one in every 42,000 units. Samsung Mobiles president Koh also stated that they have so far found 35 incidents around the world in which the Note 7 had shown signs of excessive heating, catching fire or even exploding while being charged. In light of these incidents, the smartphone will be recalled all around the world as a safety measure and as expected, sales have stopped for now as well.

Samsung hopes to replace all the Note 7 smartphones to their customers in roughly two week's time. The battery related problem will perhaps be solved by the South Korean giant over time, but a massive damage has already been done. The exploding smartphones have not only put a blemish on an otherwise perfect series of Note devices, but the bad reputation will definitely affect the sales of Samsung smartphones in general, especially when Apple is about to unveil the iPhone 7 this month.

Saikat Kar (the-enthusiast)

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Samsung Philippines tweeted a photo mocking Apple's latest iPhone 6 Plus. Apple's CEO Steve jobs said in the past on the matter of large smartphones "No one is ever going to buy a big phone," The quote from Jobs dates from July 2010 at an event related to antenna-gate (iPhone 4 release)... However, Apple's made a pretty big 5.5" Smartphone!

 

As you may recall Apple released the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus at 4.7" and 5.5", respectively, a display size for smartphones, which Samsung embraced long ago. Naturally, the comment on Samsung's side is snarky and goes "Guess who surprised themselves and changed their minds."

 

While at it, let's also remember another popular Apple ad regarding the perfect phone size, released back when the iPhone 5 became the company's flagship.

 

 

Source

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An officer in Mountain View, California noticed a prototype vehicle travelling in a 35 mph zone at a speed of 24 mph resulting in traffic congestion. "As he approached the vehicle he realized that it was Google's self-driving car" said a post by the police department. The officer also contacted the operator to learn about the steps followed by the vehicle for choosing speed depending on roadways and make the operator vigilant about impeding traffic.

Google's self-driving car project gave response on the official Google+ page and clarified that they have put a limit to the maximum speed (i.e. 25 mph) for safety reasons. The company said most of these stops occur owing to growing curiosity of people and their desire to get a closer look. They want people to perceive the car as friendly and approachable, rather than intimidating by making them zoom scarily through neighbourhood streets. Google also said that their vehicles have driven 1.2 million miles for testing without getting a ticket. Well, that's quite an achievement and also human equivalent of 90 years of driving experience.

There is a huge market for these cars. According to a study done by IHS Automotive in January, it is expected that close to 250,000 self-driven cars would be sold each year globally by 2025.

 

 

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OnePlus One co-founder, Carl Pei, revealed that the Chinese smartphone manufacturer sold more than 1 Million units of its flagship phone "OnePlus One" last year (2014). The company will focus on refining its operations and improving its customer service in 2015. "This period that we have now is a very good time for us to become a lot more professional," - said Carl Pei.

 

He noted that the next generation OnePlus flagship phone, allegedly dubbed OnePlus Two, is expected to arrive in about six months, and revealed that the company is also working on a separate handset model. "I think its going to be a phone catering to a different type of audience. Perhaps for those who appreciate design over specs," Pei said.

OnePlus One is available in two storage capacities: 16 GB Silk White ($299) and 64 GB Sandstone Black ($349).

 

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We are in a world that doesn't respect Patents. Looks like a New Court-War is Coming, this time it's between Samsung and Nvidia, Nvidia has initiated patent lawsuit actions against Samsung and Qualcomm. The issue lies in the GPUs used in Samsung's product, specifically the Qualcomm Adreno, ARM Mali and Imagination PowerVR graphics architectures.

 

Nvidia has filed its patent infrigement complaints with both the US International Trade Commisssion (ITC) and the US District Court in Delaware. The company wants the ITC to block shipments of the Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablets utilizing the aforementioned GPU architectures. Additionally, the GPU maker also insists the Delaware court to award it damages for the patent infringement. Since 1993, Nvidia has spent over $9 billion in research and development and states that its IP strategy is to earn a return for its investment by patent licensing. However, its negotiations with Samsung hit the rock.

 

 

With Samsung, NVIDIA''s licensing team negotiated directly with Samsung on a patent portfolio license. We had several meetings where we demonstrated how our patents apply to all of their mobile devices and to all the graphics architectures they use. We made no progress. Samsung repeatedly said that this was mostly their suppliers' problem. - Nvidia Official statement.

 

 

VIA

 

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Two roommates, one with the Apple iPhone 6 and the other sporting the Samsung Galaxy S6, had a heated argument over which model is the better smartphone. The fighting intensified until both men smashed beer bottles and used the jagged edges to stab each other. One of the men received a beer bottle blow to the back of his head.

 

The police investigation found that alcohol was involved as both roommates had been drinking. The incident took place in Tulsa, Oklahoma before 1am early this morning, and the cops initially weren't sure if there would be charges filed. Both of the men involved were taken to an area hospital for treatment.

 

Local television station KTUL reported that its photographer asked the cops which phone was better, a question most likely met with an icy stare. Luckily for the cops and the neighbors, no BlackBerry or Windows Phone users joined the fray.

 

News Video [KTUL]

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Finally the verdict is in - the long standing case between Apple and Samsung has come to an end and both of the tech giants have issued a joint statement to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Thursday, informing that Samsung has agreed to pay Apple $548 million over the patent violation case. The amount is same as that of the final settlement amount ordered by the courts, but way below the $1 billion plus damage Apple was initially awarded in 2012 and further less than $2.75 billion the company had planned to get over the infringement case.

Interesting thing to note here is that, the statement given by Samsung also says the following: "Samsung further reserves all rights to reclaim or obtain reimbursement of any judgment amounts paid by Samsung to any entity in the event the partial judgment is reversed, modified, vacated or set aside on appeal or otherwise". We're not absolutely sure what factors might help Samsung to get a "reimbursement" from Apple, and Apple looks a bit perplexed as well, because it claims Samsung has no right to get any kind of reimbursement. Here is the statement given by the iconic American company: "Apple disputes Samsung's asserted rights to reimbursement".

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It isn't very often that Apple finds itself on the receiving end of a lawsuit as it is usually they who are suing other OEMs. However, in a somewhat rare turn of events, Apple was sued earlier by the existing division of Nokia Corp. over patent infringements in Asia, Europe and the US. Although most people think that "Nokia" got sold off to Microsoft, the truth is that the Finnish company had only sold off its telecommunications business to the Windows giant in 2014 and not the entire company.

According to an official statement by Nokia on December 21, Apple has infringed on 40 of its patents, stretched over 11 countries all around the world. All of the infringements have been noted, and filed against the Cupertino giant in courts of both Germany and the United States. To top it off, Nokia has even highlighted the fact that Apple declined the company's offer to legally license a number of its patents concerned with Nokia's inventions and introductions to the industry. It would be interesting to see how Apple reacts to the lawsuits.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

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As we dive headlong into the 2020s, it's a mobile world we are living in. Our smartphones have become the go-to device for all our online activities. As far as ordering a pizza, chatting on social media or even doing our banking is concerned, that's no news to anyone. The aspect that raises an eyebrow, however, is that gaming has caught the mobile bug just as much as everything else.

As recently as a year or two ago, mobile games were seen as "gaming lite." Sure, there was a good choice of games available, many of which were free to play. But the very phrase "mobile version" brought connotations of a poor relation to the gaming experience delivered by PC or console.

With the latest generation of smartphones, however, all that has changed. Mobile is now the platform of choice for gaming, just like it is for everything else. In fact, the mobile gaming market is roughly the size of the PC and console markets put together. That growth will only accelerate as the following new technologies take full effect over the coming months.

5G eliminating latency

The clue to the major advantage of a mobile platform is in the name. It's all about the flexibility to do what you want when and where you want without being tied to a desk or even needing to be within range of a WiFi connection. Yet right now, a patchy signal can be an issue for gamers. If you're playing a mobile eSport game, the last thing you want is to suddenly disconnect. Even worse, imagine playing a real money mobile slot game and losing your data connection at a critical moment.

5G will improve bandwidth, but also reduce latency. That means any time lag between you and other players will be negligible. So if you are playing a sports game with a friend thousands of miles away, it will be as if you are sitting in the same room using controllers on a console.

Virtual reality - for real

The VR age has experienced more than a few false dawns, but 5G will also be instrumental in making VR gaming a practical reality. It seems increasingly likely that standalone VR headsets like the Oculus Rift are a red herring and the future of VR is, like everything else, entwined with our mobile handsets.

In an interview with Metro last year, VR guru Sol Rogers predicted that by 2039, use of VR will be as commonplace as use of mobile is today. If you look at the rate of progress over the past 20 years, the only question raised is whether that timeline might be a good deal shorter.

Our heads in the Cloud

Cloud-based tech has revolutionized the way we watch movies via platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. It doesn't take a major leap of the imagination to see that gaming is almost certain to follow a similar path - especially as we enter the 5G age.

Google Stadia might have had some teething problems, but you can say that about any emerging technology. It and Microsoft xCloud will keep each other honest, and Apple Arcade is providing similar gaming opportunities for iPhone users.

 

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Samsung has officially confirmed that the Galaxy Beta Program which they had launched earlier in the year will be over by the end of the day. This confirms a report which was circulating on Weibo since yesterday. The confirmation was found in a Beta Notice which reads the following.

"Galaxy Beta programme is ending. (Dec.30 24:00)
Dear customers,
Galaxy Beta programme will end on 12/30 by 24:00 PM.
We would like to thank you for the interest and affection shown during this time, We will try to apply most of the useful opinions shared by all of you in official Nougat OS version.
After the end of Beta programme
-There will be no new Beta version release.
-There will be no individual feedback related to 'Error report' & 'Suggestion' and there is a plan to manage it via "community" only.
We would do our best to distribute the official version in January as soon as possible.
Thanks for all your support during this time and wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year.
Happy New Year ~~
Galaxy Beta Programme Team"

If things go as Samsung has it planned, then the final build of the Android Nougat OS will start rolling out to the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge by January, 2017. The good news is that the Nougat firmware updates for the two flagships will be based on the latest Android v7.1.1. Were you a part of the Beta program? If you were, what changes are you waiting to see in the final build?

Head over to https://forum.youmobile.org/downloads/ to find all the latest updates for your smartphone.

Saikat Kar (tech-enthusiast)

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