Mayur's Posterous

NVIDIA CEO hints at Tegra 3-powered Nexus 3

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This is what the Tegra 3 Kal-El processor is capable of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_Tegra#Tegra_.28Kal-El.29_series

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Android@Home Lets You Control Your Lights & Appliances Wirelessly

 

Google has just unveiled the Android@Home framework, a set of protocols for controlling light switches, alarm clocks and other home appliances through any Android device.

The search giant’s ambitious plan intends to turn the home into one connected device. During a demo Tuesday at Google I/O in San Francisco, the company showed off the capability to control lights via an Android tablet. Android@Home essentially makes it possible to control wireless or connected devices.

Google also showed off a new type of Android device: a home theater system called “Project Tungsten.” Google rigged several speakers to the Android OS and, using an Android tablet, controls the speaker system. Google also demonstrated how the system can start playing music just by swiping a near-field communication-enabled CD case in front of the “Project Tungsten” setup.

Don’t expect to be controlling your home light switches with Android@Home next week, though. Google has partnered with companies such as LightingScience to bring compatible appliances and devices to the market, but they won’t debut until the end of the year.

Google unveiled the framework now so that developers can get a head start on building apps on top of the new protocols.

via mashable.com

 

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Google I/O 2011: Keynote Day One

Android 2.4 "Ice Cream Sandwich" confirmed!

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B&N Nook Color update released, brings Froyo, apps, and Flash, we go hands-on (video)

We've been waiting for this day: our little reader would finally become a big boy tablet -- without having to resort to any sort of hackery. We knew it was coming and, as of now, owners of the Barnes & Noble Nook Color should be receiving notices that their devices are ready to drop those training wheels and run some proper apps. Flash web browsing, downloads, games, e-mail, it's all here. Click on through for our impressions and a video of the update in action.

Obviously the biggest addition here are the apps themselves, and sadly we're not talking full Market access -- nor access to any of the standard Google applications like Gmail or Maps. Barnes & Noble has its own set of libraries that software developers must include and use, providing the unified experience the company wants to bring to its little ecosphere, making the look and feel of apps jive with the rest of the system. As to which apps will be available, we saw a number of games, cooking helpers like Epicurious, and, yes, Angry Birds -- though we weren't able to get the latter to install successfully.

To that end, frequently used apps slot right in next to your most recently read books and magazines, and browsing for them in the store is just like hunting for printed titles, even carrying over the same categories -- or genres, as it were. The stock browser now includes Flash support and things perform reasonably well, but there was some noticeable lag at times when playing videos or scrolling about on pages with animations. Performance is generally good, but there are definitely some responsiveness issues and it's safe to say your Nook won't exactly be making any owners of dual-core Honeycomb tablets jealous when it comes to performance.


The reading experience has also been improved, with proper page turning animations, important for those who need a little visual flair with their reading. Reading can now be done in landscape mode for anyone so inclined, while books can include videos and animations. No, you won't be seeing a dramatic recreation of Jean Valjean stealing bread, but you might just find some how-to videos in cookbooks showing you how to properly activate your yeast.

Some children's books are also being updated, adding "read and play" functionality that mixes simple games and challenges in with the text and pictures. In one Dr. Seuss book we were presented a picture of multiple white dogs and were asked to tap on the one wearing roller skates. We found it.

There are a number of other tweaks coming, too, including beta access into a new social portal. This lets you see what friends are reading, taunt them for their Twilight addiction, and even guiltily request to borrow a copy of Breaking Dawn. This has the potential to make the Nook's lending functionality far more useful than it is now.


Ultimately this latest update turns the $250 Nook Color into a fine entry-level tablet with a comfortable size, nice screen and a rather accessible price. That said, this is still a far cry from the pure Android tablet experience that many enthusiasts want. In other words: this isn't likely to stop those Nook hacks that we've come to know and love over the years.

Update: Barnes & Noble indicates the software will be pushed to WiFi-connected devices over the "coming weeks," but if you just can't wait you can download your update here.

Update 2: We've added some further pictures and a more detailed video.

via engadget.com

 

Android devices: BEST INVESTMENT EVER.

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Android in space!

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Gingerbread OTA now available - xda-developers

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Keep checking, guys :)

I'll wait for a stable release of CM7 to come out.

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Androidify App - Make your own Android avatars!

I'll be posting mine soon :D

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Sentio UI as launcher replacement for Android phones.

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This is why Gingerbread is delayed for Nexus One owners.

Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) Data Stealing Vulnerability

By Xuxian Jiang, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, NC State University
While working on an Android-related research project, I came across a data stealing vulnerability in Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). This vulnerability is of the same nature with the one reported by Thomas Cannon during last November on Android 2.2 (Froyo). That particular bug is supposed to be fixed in Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) -- see the links here, here, here, and there.

Unfortunately, our finding here is that the patch contained in Android 2.3 is not an ultimate fix and can still be bypassed. We have a proof-of-concept exploit with a stock Nexus S phone and are able to successfully exploit the vulnerability to steal potentially personal information from the phone. The attack works by requiring the user to visit a malicious link. Based on the experiments with one of our Nexus S phones, we have leveraged the vulnerability to

  • Obtain the list of applications that are currently installed in the phone;
  • Upload the applications (located in /system and /sdcard partitions) to a remote server;
  • Read and upload the contents of any file (including photos, saved voicemails...) stored on the phone's /sdcard. Note that to do that, the exact pathname/filename needs to be known.

I notified the Google Android Security Team on 01/26/2011 and was pleased/impressed to receive their response within 10 minutes. After that, we exchanged emails, including a critical piece of exploit code, to better understand the nature of the vulnerability. From the interaction, I can tell that they took this issue seriously and the investigation was started immediately without any delay. Also, I need to mention that this attack is not a root exploit, meaning it still runs within the Android sandbox and cannot grab all files on the system (only those on the /sdcard and a limited number of others).

The vulnerability is now confirmed and I was told that an ultimate fix will be included no later than the next major release of Android. We are not aware of any active exploitation of this issue.

For responsible disclosure, I will not publish the details of the vulnerability until an ultimate fix is out. However, I would like to share the common intention by informing users about the potential risk (and absolutely NOT about how to exploit), which is the reason why I created this webpage.

Before the ultimate fix is out, there are several ways we can take to mitigate this threat. For example, we can temporarily disable Javascript support in the Android browser or switch to a third-party browser for the time being (e.g., Firefox). We can also choose to unmount the /sdcard. But that may greatly affect the usability of the phone. Users are also encouraged to be cautious when viewing unfamiliar websites.

Finally, I'd like to thank Nick from the Android Security Team for verifying the presence of this vulnerability and keeping me informed as this fix progresses. 

Related links:

Last modified: Janurary 28th, 2011

 

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Android Event 02-02-2011 explaining Honeycomb features using a Xoom

 

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