Hasta La Gadget!

Android users who go outside the official Android Market must be careful which apps they install. Photo (of an HTC Droid Eris) by Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Android enthusiasts have long championed Google’s “open” philosophy towards the smartphone platform. The recent appearance of a new Trojan horse in unofficial Android app venues, however, may cause users to think twice about how open they want the platform to be.

The app in question, Android.Walkinwat, appears to be a free, pirated version of another app, “Walk and Text.” The real version is available for purchase in Google’s official Android Market for a low price ($1.54).

If you download the fake app (from unofficial markets for Android apps) and install it, it redirects you to the actual app on the Android marketplace — but in the background, it sends the following embarrassing SMS message to your entire phone book:

Hey,just downlaoded [sic] a pirated app off the internet, Walk and Text for Android. Im stupid and cheap, it costed only 1 buck. Dont steal like I did!

Egregious spelling and grammatical errors aside, the text message serves as a reminder of the risks to those willing to go outside of the official Market for apps.

“Someone downloaded the app, inserted their malware, and uploaded it onto other non-official marketplaces,” Symantec mobile team product manager John Engels told Wired.com in an interview.

In other words, if you go outside the official Market, things may not be what they seem, and there’s no guarantee that what you download is what you actually want.

Google maintains clear content policies on all apps that are uploaded to the official Android Market, and developers know well enough in advance what those policies are, and how not to break them. Whenever an app in clear violation of Google’s policies shows up in the Market — like, say, a piece of malware — Google’s Android engineers are often quick to quash it.

But if you’re not one for pesky rules and regulations and want to see what the non-Google-sanctioned markets have to offer, all it takes to access them on an Android device is for you to uncheck a box on a settings page, allowing your phone to install apps from “unknown sources.”

To a certain degree, this isn’t a huge issue for the novice user. Many outside applications are hosted on file sharing websites that users like your grandmother probably aren’t frequenting. And unless they’ve tried to install these outside applications by sideloading them, they’ve probably never unchecked the unknown source’s permissions box to begin with.

But last week’s debut of Amazon’s new App Store may have changed that. In order to install Amazon’s App Store on an Android device, you first must uncheck that permissions box. While there may be no immediate risks associated with downloading apps from Amazon’s App Store, it opens the door for users to allow other unofficial — and therefore riskier — apps to be installed on their devices, from other sources.

“As soon as you flip that switch and go away from the Android Market, which is the one place where most people go, then you are putting yourself at some risk,” security researcher Charlie Miller told Wired in a previous interview.

“The threat will persist so long as people continue to download pirated software from peer-to-peer networks,” Webroot threat research analysts Armando Orozco and Andrew Brandt told Wired.com.

They say sticking to the Android Market is your safest bet, but if you’re still compelled to go outside the official box for your apps, whether it be to Amazon’s App Store or another unofficial market, you should “scrutinize the permissions the App requests, and don’t install it if it wants access to certain functions (like the ability to send SMS messages) that the app shouldn’t need to access.”

But doesn’t staying within the confines of the Android Market defeat the purpose of choosing a platform with such an “open” philosophy? If you want a stricter, closed system with stringent regulation on its apps via a review process, you might as well buy an iPhone.

“Android users enabling sideloading doesn’t necessarily lead to piracy or installation of apps from unsafe sources,” says Alicia diVittorio, a spokewoman for Lookout Mobile Security. “In fact, it’s great to have another source for consumers to download apps from a reputable brand like Amazon.”

Indeed, Amazon’s Appstore isn’t a great deal different from Apple’s App Store: Both companies require an intense review and approval process before making any developer’s submitted applications available for purchase.

Essentially, there’s an inherent risk that comes with downloading apps for a device with an attitude of openness like the Android. Even the official Market is susceptible to infiltration by malware, as evidenced by the swath of malicious apps pulled from the store earlier this month.

But in a relatively free and open domain such as Android’s, the risk remains the price of admission.

See Also:

• Google Launches Android Market Web Store, Improves Payment System …
• Google Pulls PlayStation Emulator From Android Market
• Your Froyo Tablet Probably Won’t Support Android Market
• Google Removes Flash App From Android Market
• Android Market Apps Hit With Malware
• Independent App Stores Take On Google’s Android Market

Your soul is slowly shriveling while enduring the second work meeting of the day.

If you don’t get out soon, you’ll fall asleep. Or maybe explode. Or, worse, say something you’ll regret.

Good news, Dilbert: Your problems with the boss are over if you’re using Android, the world’s most popular mobile phone operating system. The platform offers hundreds of apps for spoofing phone calls or texts — or pulling other stunts that can help get you out of work.

Compare that to the limited variety of leg-pulling apps on Apple’s iOS platform, and you’ll see why Android is the mobile OS of choice for shirkers like myself.

April Fool’s Day is a good time to give these Android exploits a look. Get out of that work meeting by using an app to program your Android phone to send yourself a fake text or a bogus phone call.

I get them from Kim Kardashian all the time, forcing me to leave meetings to attend more, um, important business. Having to excuse oneself to go to the bathroom only works so many times when it comes to escaping a meeting.

Even better, hit the boss with pre-programmed fake text messages from Ms. Kardashian. That might get him to stop talking, or it might produce the sudden need to halt the meeting. Either way, the joke’s on him.

An Android application for bogus texting is “Fake-A-Text-Free.” The Android Market and third-party Android markets are littered with similar apps.

Then there’s the app “Fake Me Out of Here!” It’s for the truly lazy. No pre-programming is necessary for this app to make your phone ring with a fake call from anyone in your contact list.

But sometimes the boss just might have something relevant to say, but you still can’t stomach the thought of sitting through the meeting.

If you haven’t played the “bathroom card” too many times, excuse yourself and leave your phone behind. Then secretly record the meeting. Sure, it might be illegal, but nobody has to know. Play back the recording a month later, and you’ll know why you exited stage left.

Some apps to help perform this nefarious deed are appropriately named: They are called “Informant,” “Secret Recorder” and, among others “Spy Recorder Voice Recorder.”

For the 007 diehards, why not secretly record video as well? Yep, there are apps for that.

One of them is called “Spy Phone.” Position your phone, which looks like it’s off, at the correct angle and it starts recording video, and nobody will be the wiser. Another app, the “Android Spy Camera,” promises to secretly take pictures with “no flash and no shutter sound.” You better hope that app lives up to its promises or you may find yourself wishing you could attend a work-related meeting.

So what’s next? You’ve successfully left the meeting. Now it’s time to take this exploit to the next level.

Sure, you could hit the local tavern for the afternoon. But why be so sheepish? Don’t put your Maxwell Smart tendencies to waste.

Go ahead and hit the Bahamas. After your fourth beach-side margarita, you’ll have completely forgotten about that work meeting.

Best of all, your boss won’t even know your lathering up with sunblock. That’s because he’ll think you’ve been abducted to one of the world’s most notorious prisons.

That’s right, go ahead and use FourSquare to check in, or Facebook to “like,” the Diyarbakir prison in Turkey by using GPS-spoofing apps to fake your global positioning. Many apps allow for this digital teleportation, and they are apply named with titles like “Fake GPS Location,”  ”My Fake Location” and, among others, “GPS Route Simulator.”

Better yet, don’t even bother showing up to work. Send your boss a spoofed e-mail from your doctor, informing the Big Kahuna that you’ve got leprosy. There’s a bunch of apps for that. Search for them under “fake email” in the Android Market.

The practice, of course, is legally questionable.

What’s more, the e-mail spoofs might help you get a wage increase without having to explain your new tan.

Upon your return from Diyarbakir, send your boss a spoofed e-mail from your competitor with a message saying the company wants to hire you away.

Sure, it might backfire. Your boss might not give you a raise and instead point you to the door.

But don’t fret. You still got an ace up your sleeve: You used one of a host of Android apps, including “Call Recorder – Total Recall” or “HTC Call Recorder Widget” or tons of others to secretly record a telephone call between yourself and the boss. If you were able to catch him saying anything untoward — like dissing his boss — you might have all the leverage you need to keep yourself in clover indefinitely.

Sure, extortion and clandestine phone recording are illegal. But no worries, the cops might go easy on you if you can hook them up with Kim Kardashian.

Photo: Kardashian image/BiggerPictureImages.com/Flickr

See Also:

• Hacker Spoofs Cell Phone Tower to Intercept Calls
• Spoofed Cell Phone Texts Post Malware Threat
• Guilty Plea: Phone Phreaks Use Caller-ID Spoofing
• Cyberwar Hype Intended to Destroy the Open Internet
• Hackers Brew Self-Destruct Code to Counter Police Forensics
• Anonymous Caller? New Service Says, Not Any More

While T-Mobile’s staying coy about the Sidekick 4G’s availability, RadioShack went ahead and gave us the final piece of the puzzle: according to one of its latest tweets, said Android phone is heading to the Shack on April 20th. Oh yes, this just so happens to be the rumored date for the G-Slate and G2X as well. Coincidence? Only time will tell, and let’s hope that this doesn’t end up being an April Fool’s joke — well, at least the Shack would have something to blame if it actually misheard the information over the phone.

RadioShack to get T-Mobile Sidekick 4G on April 20th originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 04:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If there was one thing that bothered us most about the Xperia Play, it was the dearth of original PlayStation games we could, you know, play on it. That’s getting a shot in the arm tonight with the introduction of five PS One titles to the Android Market: Syphon Filter, MediEvil, Cool Boarders 2, Destruction Derby, and Jumping Flash. Each is priced at £3.99 in the UK, with the first two games on the list also being available in five languages. That pricing translates to $6.38 when the games are accessed from the US, but we imagine the final pricing may differ once the Xperia Play lands stateside. And yes, the Xperia Play will be your only way to access these for now (R800i is its codename), leaving the rest of us Android PS One lovers with a bunch of games to envy and one less emulator to enjoy. The Android giveth, and the Android taketh away.

Update: Sony Ericsson wants you to know that since the Xperia Play is, in fact, an Android handset, it won’t be restricted to just those five PS One games — it will also feature quite a few titles that you can also find on the Android Market and even a few temporary exclusives like Backstab and Dungeon Defenders Second Wave. Still, it’s a little light on actual PlayStation gaming… See the full list in the press release after the break.

Continue reading PlayStation One games appear in Android Market, predictably restricted to Xperia Play (update)

PlayStation One games appear in Android Market, predictably restricted to Xperia Play (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 16:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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An early prank this isn’t. Based on our sources (and the pictorial evidence above), Sprint’s fixing to whack a full Benjamin from the current $299.99 asking price on its Samsung Galaxy Tab starting on Sunday, making it one of the more affordable ways to get your hands on a 3G-enabled tablet of any kind — let alone a Froyo-based slate that’s received its fair share of compliments. Granted, the original Tab is aging at this point, and we still aren’t sure we’d be down for selling our cellular soul for two years just to get a spiffy up-front discount, but hey — at least you know the option awaits you. Oh, and if spending $429.99 sounds a lot better than $199.99 in addition to 24 months of obligation, that’ll apparently also be possible.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Continue reading Sprint dropping Galaxy Tab to $200 on contract starting April 3rd

Sprint dropping Galaxy Tab to $200 on contract starting April 3rd originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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