Hasta La Gadget!

There’s a report out there today appearing with the public dissemination of nearly-secret information site Public Intelligence that has the USA-centered Homeland Security organization and FBI showing Android as a threat for Malware nationwide. This report shows that because Android 2.3 Gingerbread it still a widespread operating system, Google’s own mobile system is a threat […]

Google occasionally updates its Play Store rules to weed out inconsistent or shady behavior in Android apps, and we’re witnessing one of its larger clean-ups today. The company’s new guidelines more explicitly ban device interference: titles in the Play Store can’t modify settings or other apps without permission, and they can’t install bookmarks or icons that pitch a third-party service. Google is also adamant that any in-game purchases of virtual goods must go through its billing system. As usual, new apps have to follow these guidelines right away, while developers with existing apps have a 30-day grace period to make any changes. The policies won’t necessarily stop rogue code from sneaking into the Play Store, but Google can at least say that it gave fair warning.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Internet, Mobile, Google

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Via: The Next Web

Source: Google Play Support

Motorola’s new Skip NFC smartphone key is quite possibly the simplest gadget we’ve covered at Engadget. But simple as it may be, Skip is a time saver for Moto X users. The tiny device, comprised of an NFC tag, a small piece of fabric and a pair of magnets for securing to an article of clothing, such as a pants pocket or shirt sleeve, ships for free with all Moto Maker orders, and is available as a $20 add-on if you’ve purchased your Moto X directly from a carrier. It’s also bundled with three NFC-enabled stickers that you can affix to your car, a piece of furniture or a personal accessory, like a purse or wallet.

Setting up Skip takes only a few seconds. Assuming you have NFC enabled, tap the Moto X to the Skip or one of the bundled Skip Dots, and a configuration screen will pop up prompting you to pair your device with the tag. You’ll enter your password to complete the process, then any time you need to unlock your phone in the future, all you need to do is tap the two together. Skip might not be the best fit if you keep confidential corporate data on your handset, but assuming your password serves mostly to keep prying eyes away from personal email or text messages, it should do the trick. Catch Skip in action in our hands-on video after the break.%Gallery-slideshow73405%

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google

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Let’s not kid ourselves: We don’t control the Internet, the Internet controls us. Any notions to the contrary are foolish at best, but a new Kickstarter project called Circle wants to help families fight back against the Internet’s omnipresence with hardware and software that allows individual control of devices connected to a local network.

Circle isn’t a router, like the Skydog, which was created by the Xerox PARC company PowerCloud Systems and is based on a similar concept. Instead, it’s a network device that can communicate with your router, and with all of your connected devices, offering up a filter between your existing gear and the unfiltered Internet, allowing you to set limitations for kids’ devices based on age, time, ad content and more. You can receive notifications about different types of Internet activity to your own device, too, and get reports about both “negative” and “positive” browsing, Circle claims.

In other words, Circle makes you the NSA PRISM program for your own household, but with a little bit of China’s Great Firewall thrown in the mix. You can schedule timed access to different categories of site, so that Facebook or YouTube time doesn’t get crazy, cut off access temporarily via Pause mode, turn off access once it’s time for bed, and even block ads entirely on devices that your kids use. All of this is managed via an app for iPhone.

Circle says their solution is better because it doesn’t require setting up user profiles or installing nanny software on every individual device, and because it works with your existing router, you don’t need to get an expensive replacement or change any network settings.

The team behind Circle includes Tiebing Zhang, a former network security engineer for the Department of Defense, and Honeywell Wi-Fi control systems engineer, as well as Jelani Memory, an entrepreneur with experience in design, sports, business development and much more besides. Circle definitely manages to look the part, thanks possibly to founder and Product Designer Sean Kelly, but whether it can back up those good looks with performance remains to be seen.

Circle is $150 to pre-order via Kickstarter pledge, with an anticipated delivery date of August, 2014. Nice to see a hardware startup give itself a reasonable amount of time to deliver. The startup is also looking for roughly $250,000 in total funds to make the project work, which will take the working prototype that currently exists and make it production-ready.

Google has a patent application published today (via Engadget) that would make the standard system of unlocking a device much more intelligent, using a smartphone’s built-in sensor to change your security settings on a sliding basis depending on where the phone finds itself. This would allow a user to make it easier to unlock a phone while in the comfort of their own home, while making it more difficult when the device is in a public place.

The invention is clearly designed to make it harder for a stranger or unwanted intruder to access your phone and its data when it may be easily lifted from your pocket or bag while in transit or at a public location like a cafe. In the end it’s a convenience feature, more than a security one, since the most secure option would be to use the most intrusion-resistant method of screen locking available at all times. But making things easier to access at home makes a lot of sense, in terms of decreasing friction and potential displeasure with the general user experience.

The patent as described also contains a provision that would allow for a third authentication method to be set for a second so-called “familiar area.” This would allow for a number of different possibilities, like setting different levels of security for home, work and the rest of the world, for instance. It’s a handy and noteworthy wrinkle in the patent app, since it could also make it possible to essentially set up a specific security profile required in professions where on-site security of data and mobile devices is paramount.

There are a lot of ways this could potentially be useful, in fact, and it’s one of those context-based features that Google seems to be focusing on with Google Now and recent updates to apps like Keep. In the future, you have a different phone depending on where you go, and that’s something most of the tech giants seem to be working on.