Instabridge’s free Android app lets you automatically share Wi-Fi networks with your Facebook friends. Available in a handful of European countries, the app works by taking advantage of the Facebook Connect authentication tool, which lets users to log on to websites with Facebook credentials.
To share a Wi-Fi network through Instabridge for the first time, you must type in your network’s password, which is encrypted and stored on Instabridge’s servers.
Unlike Apple, Google doesn’t impose a Draconian policy on developers. Third-party rendering and JavaScript engines get the green light on any Android-based device, jailbroken or not. This means that Firefox is free to use its Gecko rendering engine, and Opera isn’t limited to a “mini” browser.
via Which Web Browser Should You Run On Your Android Device? : Web Browser Grand Prix: Android Circuit.
Sandia cyber researchers linked together 300,000 virtual hand-held computing devices running the Android operating system so they can study large networks of smartphones and find ways to make them more reliable and secure. Android dominates the smartphone industry and runs on a range of computing gadgets.
Newly released malware PlaceRaider sounds like science fiction: It’s Android malware designed to build 3-D models of users’ apartments for burglars and assassins. But PlaceRaider–developed by a team at Indiana University–is very real. The new malware was built as an academic exercise, and it exposes security flaws that government agencies would love to use. More importantly, it also exposes unintended mobile functionality that large companies like Google could easily monetize.
via New Android Malware Is A Burglar’s Best Friend | Fast Company.
Note again that this is a proof of concept and not actual malware in the wild. It does inspire me to cover any phone or tablet camera with some kind of opaque tape.
Goggle’s response.
While Android remains free for anyone to use as they would like, only Android compatible devices benefit from the full Android ecosystem. By joining the Open Handset Alliance, each member contributes to and builds one Android platform — not a bunch of incompatible versions. We’re grateful to the over 85 Open Handset Alliance members who have helped us build the Android ecosystem and continue to drive innovation at an incredible pace. Thanks to their support the Android ecosystem now has over 500 million Android-compatible devices and counting!
via The Benefits & Importance of Compatibility | Official Android Blog.
From: Google has dropped an Android-shaped bomb on China’s mobile market
Baidu, for one, is in negotiation with a number of companies to develop smartphones using Baidu Cloud, a system that sits on top of Android and strips out Google’s services, replacing them with its own, Chinese versions. Given Google’s statement and the fact that it directly rivals Baidu, the Chinese search giant would be justified to feel Google may have scared existing Open Handset Alliance partners away from working with Baidu Cloud.
It’s worth noting though that Baidu has steered clear of calling Baidu Cloud an OS, likely in order to position its offering as one that supplements Android rather than supplanting it.
At first glance, the idea may sound a bit silly. Why would NASA trust the operation of a satellite to a Nexus One? Surely NASA could design their own platform to power these spacecraft?
They could, but the question is, why should they? The PhoneSat program is part of the larger Small Spacecraft Technology Program, which aims to leverage the incredible advances made in consumer technology to create cheaper spacecraft. Ames engineer Chris Boshuizen explains that NASA should embrace the latest consumer technology, rather than constantly reinventing the wheel
Run a DLNA, DNS, DDNS, Email, FTP, Proxy, SMS, Time, Web and/or WebDAV server!
Run your own free DLNA, DNS, Dynamic DNS, Email, FTP(S), Proxy, SMS Gateway, Time, HTTP(S) and/or (secure) WebDAV server (yes, 10 different servers)! From one all-including app: Servers Ultimate. You can even run multiple instances of the same server type at the same time for most! We can’t list all the features because of the limited amount of text, so below you can find a summary of most of the features.
MIPS is a processor licensing company that battles ARM, which dominates the tablet and smartphone market. But MIPS late last year sprang a surprise by announcing a US$99 tablet, in conjunction with a manufacturer called Ainol, based on its processor and running Android 4.0. The tablet was among the cheapest and among the first at that time with Android 4.0, but this year Google took the honors of releasing the first Android 4.1 device with Nexus 7, which runs on a quad-core ARM processor.
Telefonica has shown a prototype phone using Firefox OS, the new open HTML5-based operating system from Mozilla, and explained its reasons for adopting a fledgling OS in the face of huge competition from iPhone and Android.
Firefox OS will let the operator balance its “strategic dependence on Android” and allow for the creation of cheaper devices that offer the same user experience, claimed Telefonica Digital chairman and CEO Matthew Key, at an event in London.
via Telefonica Shows Off Firefox OS Prototype, Reveals Plans | TechWeekEurope UK.
Real Push-To-Talk + Chat/Text/Messenger. Supports 1:1 and groups. All for FREE
via TiKL Touch Talk Walkie Talkie – Android Apps on Google Play.