Page 886 – GadgetByte Nepal

Is Google Play tracking you?

GadgetByte

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September 16, 2016

Security Researcher Mustafa Al-Bassam from London after entering McDonald’s, his Android phone prompted him to download the fast-food chain’s mobile app. After the incident, he checked his phone which is running Android newest builds and soon discovered that it’s almost impossible to prevent Google Maps collecting your location.

As you may know, Google Play services are capable of constantly tracking Android users’ movements because it uses features like nearby to create “location awareness.”

As Google explains in a blog post:-

“One of the unique features of mobile applications is location awareness. Mobile users take their devices with them everywhere, and adding location awareness to your app offers users a more contextual experience. The location APIs available in Google Play services facilitate adding location awareness to your app with automated location tracking, geofencing, and activity recognition.”

In other words, Google Play’s APIs are responsible for this continuous tracking, not Android’s location APIs.

That means if a mobile user with one of the newest Android builds tries to switch off location for Google Play (Apps > Google Play Store > Permissions), they’ll get a pop-up window warning them that turning location off for Google Play will disable that feature on every single app installed on their device.

What if you uninstall Google Play and/or Google Maps?

You won’t be tracked but you’ll have to manually update each of your apps. Some app might not even work anymore without the installation of Google Play services.

According to the recent reports, Google has acknowledged that was a bug and stated:-

“We identified a bug affecting a small number of users in a recent release of the Google Play. For users in the error state, the Google Play app was unable to obtain GPS, causing it to make frequent unsuccessful requests and use the battery. We will be rolling out a fix in the next few days.”

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Hack an Android phone and win $200,000 from Google

GadgetByte

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September 16, 2016

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Hack an Android phone and win $200,000 from Google

Google has announced a hacking contest, Project Zero offering a $200,000 first prize to vulnerability hunters around the world if they can find a way to remotely hack an Android device knowing nothing more than its phone number or email address.

Although $200,000 is being offered to the first winning entry, there are other prizes on offer (a second prize of $100,000, a third prize of at least $50,000 offered to additional winning entries.)

As exploit researcher Natalie Silvanovich explains, the competition hopes to improve the security of Android: –

“There are often rumours of remote Android exploits, but it’s fairly rare to see one in action. We’re hoping this contest will improve the public body of knowledge on these types of exploits. Hopefully this will teach us what components these issues can exist in, how security mitigations are bypassed and other information that could help protect against these types of bugs.”

Google’s competition will run for six months, with exploits that successfully target Android Nougat on Google Nexus 5X and 6P devices eligible for entry.

Click here to know the Project Zero security contest rules

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Nokia set to make a comeback with two new android phones

GadgetByte

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September 15, 2016

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Nokia set to make a comeback with two new android phones

The rumor mills have been going on for quite a while about Nokia phones making a comeback. And it certainly looks like HMD global (or HMD), the company set to release the Nokia-branded phones, will release two new Android-powered devices by the end of 2016. And if some rumors are to be believed, the company might release three mobile phones. But first, let’s talk about HMD.

HMD is a new Finnish company that has struck a deal with Nokia to use the Nokia-brand on phones. So, the Nokia that is releasing, isn’t made by the old Nokia company we know. Currently, Microsoft has the sole rights of all types of Nokia phones. But that deal is going to end in the second half of 2016. After this transaction ends, HMD will be the sole global licensee for all Nokia-branded products for the next decade.

In a press release, HMD said, “the remainder of Microsoft’s feature phone business assets, including its Hanoi manufacturing facility, and global distribution, fulfilment and supply chain networks, will conditionally be acquired by FIH Mobile Limited (FIH), a subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industries (trading as Foxconn Technology Group). HMD has signed an agreement with FIH and Nokia Technologies to establish, on closing of the Microsoft transactions, a collaboration framework to support the building of a global business for Nokia-branded mobile phones and tablets. This agreement will give HMD full operational control over sales, marketing and distribution of its Nokia-branded devices, with exclusive access to the pre-eminent global sales and distribution network to be acquired by FIH from Microsoft, as well as access to FIH’s world-leading device manufacturing and engineering capabilities, and its growing suite of proprietary mobile technologies and components”.

HMD has also mentioned that the company’s board will consist one Nokia representative. And it will be investing $500 million dollars in the next three years.

The phones that will be released will be packing lots of features. If rumors are to be believed, HMD will release two new flagship phones. They will sport a 5.5-inch and 5.2-inch quadHD AMOLED display. These devices will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 821/820 chipset with octa-core processors. Nokia phones’ camera have been nothing short of amazing in the past and the trend is set to continue with these devices. These phones will feature a 22.6 MP graphene camera. They will be running on Android 7.0 Nougat. The larger version will run on 3GB RAM while the smaller version will run on 2GB RAM. Please note that the specs might be different once the device is released.

New Nokia phone's rumored design. — New Nokia phone’s rumored design.

One of the devices is rumored to be named Nokia C1 while the other device’s name isn’t known until now.

I am really excited about an Android-powered Nokia phone and think that it will be a hit. People all over the world have loved Nokia for a long time and it has a lot of history. But the journey will sure be extremely hard for HMD. The company needs to make a powerful device with a price that can fit people’s budget or it could fail miserably like Blackberry, or Nokia itself.

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ZTE Launches Budget-Oriented L5 and L5 Plus Smartphones in Nepal

ZTE

Yural Maskey

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September 15, 2016

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ZTE Launches Budget-Oriented L5 and L5 Plus Smartphones in Nepal

Evolution Enterprises, the official distributor of ZTE smartphones in Nepal, has launched 2 affordable smartphones — ZTE L5 and L5 Plus. The ZTE L5 is priced at Rs. 8490 and the L5 Plus carries a price tag of Rs. 9,990.

Both the ZTE L5 and L5 Plus comes with a similar look and feel (candy bar), but the L5 has inferior specs compared to the L5 Plus. Both the phones have a big 5-inch display, but the L5 has a 480P resolution and the L5 Plus has a 720P resolution. Both these phones are powered by a 32-bit MediaTek processor clocked at 1.3 Ghz, but L5’s CPU is a dual core compared to the quad-core processor of L5 Plus. Memory wise, both offers 1GB of RAM and 8GB of onboard storage with microSD card support upto 32GB.

Like with the display and processor, there’s a slight difference between the camera of the L5 and L5 Plus. Both these phones use the same sensor, but L5 has a modest 5MP rear camera and the L5 Plus has an 8MP shooter. Up front, both the phones offer 2MP selfie camera.

Despite google announcing the Android 7.0 Nougat last week, the ZTE L5 and L5 Plus are still running on 2-years old Android 5.1 Lollipop. Obviously, this shouldn’t be a major letdown for first-time smartphone buyers and for someone looking to get an entry level phone, but we kind of hoped the phone had Marshmallow 6.0 at least. In terms of connectivity, both the phones have two dedicated SIM card slots with 3G support, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth, and GPS. Powering these device is a 2150mAh battery which should provide decent battery backup considering the specs.

ZTE L5	ZTE L5 Plus
– 5-inch 480*854 IPS display	– 5-inch 720*1280 IPS display
– 1.3Ghz Dualcore SoC (MT6572)	– 1.3Ghz Quadcore SoC (MT6580)
– 1GB DDR3 RAM	– 1GB DDR3 RAM
– 8GB ROM; microSD upto 32GB	– 8GB ROM; microSD upto 32GB
– 5MP rear camera with Flash/ 2MP front	– 8MP rear camera with Flash/ 2MP front
– 2150mAh battery	– 2150mAh battery
– Price: Rs. 8490	– Price: Rs. 9,990

Lalitpur Mobile Complex organizes Bloggers meet; updates about Lalitpur Mobile Expo

GadgetByte

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September 15, 2016

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Lalitpur Mobile Complex organizes Bloggers meet; updates about Lalitpur Mobile Expo

Lalitpur Mobile Complex organized a Bloggers meet on 14th of Sept. at Lalitpur Mall. Purshottam Basnet, chairman of the Mobile Complex, started the program by giving a brief information about Lalitpur Mobile Expo that had started on the 9th September.

The Mobile Expo has been an annual event for the last three years. And this year it’s better than ever as it features smartphone companies like Samsung, Huawei, Gionee, Microsoft, Lava, Lenovo and DTC. All these brands are giving discounts on most of their products. Basnet said, “All the items sold in the expo are genuine products. We are also offering a warranty on the products”.
Click here if you want to know about the deals you can get at the Mobile Expo.

The organizers claimed that almost 15,000 people have visited the expo in the even with the current weather conditions of the valley. They also mentioned that the visitors have been more attracted towards Chinese mobile companies, this time around. Lalitpur Mobile Complex is set to donate Rs. 10 to Mahabir Pun’s led National Innovation Center on every purchase of a smartphone for 1 year.

The organizers are also set to conduct a Subway Surfer gaming competition on the 16^th and 17^th of September in the Mall itself. The one who scores the highest points will be declared the winner, and win a smartphone. Lastly, the company shared their plans about opening a multi-brand showroom in Pokhara stating that the necessary work has already started. The Expo ends on the 18^th of September, after which the Dashain schemes will begin in the complex.

Gionee launches new S6s in its Selfie Master lineup

Gionee

GadgetByte

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September 14, 2016

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Gionee launches new S6s in its Selfie Master lineup

After recently bringing out the F103 Pro, Gionee has launched a new handset in its Selfie Master lineup – the Gionee S6s. The S6s boasts a 13MP SONY IMX258 rear Camera and an 8MP f 2.2 aperture front camera with LED front flash and screen flash that promises clear selfies even in low light.

The phone has a metallic unibody build that carries a 5.5-inch 1080p Full HD 2.5 D water-drop glass display (with Gorilla Glass 3 protection). S6s is powered by a 1.3GHz MediaTek MT6753 processor and a Mali T720MP3 GPU. The phone has 3GB RAM and 32GB of inbuilt storage (expandable to 128 GB).

S6s also features a fingerprint scanner which can also be used for clicking photographs. The dual SIM phone (hybrid dual SIM slot) has a 3150 mAh battery and runs on Gionee’s own Amigo 3.2 UI based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. Amigo 3.2 has improvements on several fronts including Image + (Gionee’s camera software) which has time lapse, slow motion, text recognition and pic note functions.

The phone comes equipped with Gionee’s own video editor. It also allows split- window functionality so that 2 apps can run on the same screen. The phone is available in Mocha Gold and Latte Gold at a price tag of Rs. 25,999. Gionee expects the S6s to be well received in the Nepali market with around 3,000 sets sold every month.

Colors Mobile Launches Pride P20 and Pride P35 Affordable Smartphones

GadgetByte

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September 14, 2016

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Colors Mobile Launches Pride P20 and Pride P35 Affordable Smartphones

Teletalk Pvt. Ltd, the authorized distributor of Colors Mobiles, has launched two new affordable handsets – Pride P20 and Pride 35. Like other Pride series of smartphones from Colors, the Pride P20 and P35 is aimed at first-time mobile users looking for an affordable smartphone.

The Colors Pride P35 is priced at Rs. 6,395 and offers features such as 5-inch FWVGA display, 1.3GHz quad-core processor (MT6580M), 512MB RAM, 4GB of expandable storage with microSD card, 5MP autofocus rear camera with LED flash, 1MP front camera, Android 5.1 Lollipop, and 2000mAh battery.

The Colors Pride P20 is priced at Rs. 4,659 and comes with a 4-inch 480*800 display, 1.3Ghz quad-core processor (SC7731C), 512MB RAM, 4GB of expandable storage with microSD card, 3.2MP autofocus rear camera with LED flash, VGA front camera, Android 6.0 Marshmallow, and 1400mAh battery.

Colors Pride P20 is available in 3 Color Options: Black, White, and Gold.

Connectivity wise, both the Pride P35 and P20 boasts Dual SIM support with 3G HSPA+ speed of 11Mbps. The phones are currently available for purchase from different Colors retail outlets located all over Nepal.

About |Colors Mobile

Colors Mobile was launched by Teletalk in association with Teletech Pvt. Ltd.in 2009. The brand has surged beyond the competition and become Nepal’s most popular mobile. Colors Mobile is currently the highest selling phone in Nepal with 2 million users. Colors brand is able to extend its presence across several countries in the globe. Colors products come with cutting edge tech in the best value possible.

Huawei P8 Lite Saved Man’s Life

GadgetByte

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September 14, 2016

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We have heard iPhone and Samsung mobile phones saving the lives of the people. But this time, a different mobile giant is on media.

According to a local news story in South Africa, Huawei smartphone saved a man’s life. The lucky person is Siraaj Abrahams, age 41 from the second largest city in South Africa. He said he was robbed at gunpoint in a parking lot in August and shot at from a distance of about 2 meters. However, his P8 Lite sitting in his front pocket took the bullet and saved his life. It was reported that his heart briefly stopped after the shooting, but he pulled through and is alive to tell the tale. Surprisingly, Huawei P8 Lite smartphone is build with a plastic body, but still was able to stop a bullet from a 2 meter distance.

Soon after the incident, Huawei responded and replaced his handset with a new P9 Lite and offered him and his wife tickets for all of the home matches of the Ajax Cape Town soccer team as a VIP guest.

The above image shows how the bullet hit the back panel of the phone and stopped the bullet. Sadly the phone doesn’t work anymore, but still saved a man’s life which is great, isn’t it?

This is not the first time a smartphone has blocked a bullet. There was another incident of Huawei device saving another man’s life during general elections in Kenya. A guy named Millward Brown was almost hit by a bullet but the Huawei Mediapad in his backpack saved his life.

Researchers: AirPods might be emitting harmful radiowaves

Featured

GadgetByte

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September 13, 2016

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Researchers: AirPods might be emitting harmful radiowaves

Apple released the sleek designed AirPods- in an event held in San Francisco.

But the AirPods have started come under controversy, and it is not because you can lose them just by looking at them. Public health experts have warned that these wireless earpods could be life threatening.

AirPods use bluetooth technology for its functioning. — AirPods use Bluetooth technology for their functioning.

AirPods are sleek looking; water resistant wireless device and they can perform multiple functions. The wireless device uses Bluetooth technology. It houses a W1 wireless chip inside to powers the device. The chip is the main reason why the AirPods can perform such functions. But when in use, they emit non-ionizing radiation or low-intensity radio waves. Research shows that these radio waves are capable of wearing down the blood-brain barrier. The blood-brain barrier in our body helps in keeping out chemical toxins that are harmful to our body.

The Federal Communications Commission or FCC is an independent agency that regulates sectors related to communication in the United States of America. This organization has set certain guidelines related to the level of radio waves emission. Apple has insisted that it has followed the guidelines since it uses Bluetooth in the AirPods. However, they have not released the exact frequency of the Airpod Bluetooth emission.

Talking with Daily Mail, Dr. Joel Moskowitz, a professor at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, said,

‘We are playing with fire here. You are putting a microwave-emitting device next to your brain.’

Researchers have long been warning about the radiations resulting from exposures to cell phone, and this news is just as concerning. While the AirPods are an amazing piece of technology, they can be detrimental to public health. Therefore, until Apple tells us about the exact frequency of the Airpods Bluetooth emission, it is safer to not use the device for a time being.

Software Freedom Day is Being Celebrated at NCIT

GadgetByte

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September 12, 2016

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Software Freedom Day is Being Celebrated at NCIT

Software Freedom Day (SFD) is an annual worldwide celebration of Free Software (software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute) on 3^rd Saturday of every September. So this year on 17^th September, SFD is being celebrated all over the world including Nepal with the slogan “Freedom Matters!”.

Nepal Open Source Klub (NOSK) and the students of Nepal College of Information Technology are celebrating SFD. Also, NOSK requests every people and Open Source lovers to celebrate this event with them.

Program Details:

Date: 17^th September (Saturday), 2016
Venue: Nepal College of Information Technology (NCIT), Balkumari, Lalitpur
Time: 9 AM – 5 PM
Entrance Fee: Free

Program Highlights:

Name	Time
Registration	09:00 AM
Speakers: Mr. Mahabir Pun & Mr. Takehiro Mouri(TECHRISE)	11:00 AM
NOSKode: A coding Competition with a theme of “Free and open source software” for People.	9:00 AM- 5:00 PM
Guest Booth – IT Advisor Nepal – Pizza Cutter – Suzuki Driving School	All Day
Distro Demo	All Day
Open software Demo	All Day
Open Hardware Demo	All Day
USB Linux Installation Camp	All Day
Linux Rescue Shell	All Day
3D Movie Shows	2:00 PM
Open Source Games	2:00 PM
Talk Shows/Presentations	11:00 AM-2:00 PM
Treasure Hunt	All Day
VR Demo	2:00 PM
Photobooth and Open Art	All Day

For more details, please click here.