DroidRzr News

Google I/O [Day 1] - Google Play Music All Access

Thu, 16 May 2013 23:28:10 +0000

This may not be an Android specific announcement, but it's worth mentioning nonetheless. Yesterday at the Google I/O press keynote, Google announced Google Play Music All Access. It is a revamped version of Google Play Music that brings an exciting new feature, full access to streaming music like Spotify or Rdio. If you combine the new All Access feature of Google Play Music with your own music library, you get one powerful music solution.

Unfortunately, this Google service isn't free like many others, but the price is nothing to freak out about. $9.99 a month gets you unlimited, ad-free streaming of over 18 million songs on your Android device or any computer with a web-browser. But wait, as if that wasn't good enough, if you sign up for the All Access feature before June 30, you get All Access for $7.99. That's $2 less than competitors like Spotify and Rdio. Plus, it works seamlessly like any other Google app on your Android phone.

On top of the All Access debut, Google decided to revamp the existing Google Play Music app to include the new feature and totally redesign the app. It takes after many of Google's recent design changes, mimicking the Google Now card-style interface.

If you're in the market for a new music streaming service but have a collection of your own, Google Play Music with All Access sounds like a perfect solution. Tack on the cheap $7.99 early adopter price and the deal just became that much sweeter.

Visit/Join the DroidRzr.com G+ community

Thu, 16 May 2013 22:52:24 +0000

DroidRzr.com on Google+

With all the great new features and design for Google + coming out of this year's I/O I thought it would be a good time for all of us to start using G+ a bit more.

If you're like me you have a G+ profile but rarely visit or use it. When G+ communities were added a few months ago it was perfect for Droidrzr.com to set one up.

So I now task you all to visit and join our Community on G+

Droidrzr.com G+ Community

I have a post HERE for all of you to comment, introduce yourself and give us your username from this site.(So we know who you are. ). This will also give others the opportunity to follow you and as we follow more people we will all hopefully start using G+ a bit more.

In that post I have instructions on how to add your Username/Nickname to your G+ profile so others will see it when they hover over your real name.

Thanks for listening and helping us continue to build our community.

Google I/O [Day 1] - Galaxy S4 Google Variant

Wed, 15 May 2013 19:01:47 +0000

Well, readers, Google I/O is off to the races and I've been listening to it starting at the keynote this morning. This is obviously a very exciting event for the entire Android community and I want to keep you all informed of the major happenings as they unfold.

Three and a half hours in and, no we don't have any X Phone info, but we DO have info on the Google variant of the Galaxy S4!

For the most part, the device is the same as it's carrier branded brothers, boasting 16GB and 4G LTE but it will come from the factory with an unlocked bootloader and will have a "pure" Android experience. This will be very appealing to Galaxy users who may not have enjoyed the TouchWiz launcher experience. It wall also get updates as they are available, with no delay due to the carrier rebranding and rebloating the OS.

It will retail for $649 and will be available directly through the Google Play store. As of now, AT&T and T-Mobile are the only carriers that will support this variant and it will be available on June 26, 2013.

We, of course, will keep you posted on any additional major announcements as they come out!

HOW TO Root and Flash Recovery On The HTC ONE!

Tue, 14 May 2013 23:26:32 +0000

One of the easiest things you can do is root a phone with an unlocked bootloader. If you have rooted your device manually though you may not know the method. The above method shows you how to first flash a custom recovery then install root.

HOW TO Unlock Bootloader HTC One All Versions!

Tue, 14 May 2013 23:23:40 +0000

Check out the above video to see just how easy HTC has made it to Unlock the bootloader on their latest flagship device with their HTCdev website. Everything is pretty simple and if you can follow directions then you can unlock the bootloader on your HTC One!

HTC One Unboxing!

Tue, 14 May 2013 03:02:49 +0000

After Unboxing the HTC One this weekend it is easy to see why this is the Flagship device. It comes equipped with a Snapdragon 600 quad core processor clocked at 1.7Ghz, 2GB Ram, and a 1080p display! This looks to be a really sweet device!

Who's got your back?

Wed, 08 May 2013 17:24:35 +0000

A 2013 guide illustrating which companies help protect your data from the Government.

When you use the Internet, you entrust your conversations, thoughts, experiences, locations, photos, and more to companies like Google, AT&T and Facebook. But what do these companies do when the government demands your private information? Do they stand with you? Do they let you know what’s going on? This report will allow us to recognize and applaud those that do and condemn those that don't.

Out of the following 6 categories:

Requires a warrant for content
Tells users about government data requests
Publishes transparency reports
Publishes law enforcement guidelines
Fights for users' privacy rights in court
Fights for users' privacy rights in Congress

...guess which major company didn't earn so much as a single star!

Survey Says.....Ding .....

It's worth noting that Apple and AT&T are tied in second for worst scores.

In this annual report, the Electronic Frontier Foundation examined the policies of major Internet companies — including ISPs, Mobile/Telco providers, email providers, cloud storage providers, location-based services, blogging platforms, and social networking sites — to assess whether they publicly commit to standing with users when the government seeks access to user data. The purpose of this report is to bring forth incentives for companies to be transparent about how data flows to the government and encourage them to take a stand for user privacy whenever it is possible to do so.

For the 2013 report, the EFF used the following six criteria to assess company practices and policies:

Require a warrant for content of communications. In this new category, companies earn recognition if they require the government to obtain a warrant supported by probable cause before they will hand over the content of user communications. This policy ensures that private messages stored by online services like Facebook, Google, and Twitter are treated consistently with the protections of the Fourth Amendment.

Tell users about government data requests. To earn a star in this category, Internet companies must promise to tell users when the government seeks their data unless prohibited by law. This gives users a chance to defend themselves against overreaching government demands for their data.

Publish transparency reports. We award companies a star in this category if they publish statistics on how often they provide user data to the government.

Publish law enforcement guidelines. Companies get a star in this category if they make public policies or guidelines they have explaining how they respond to data demands from the government, such as guides for law enforcement.

Fight for users’ privacy rights in courts. To earn recognition in this category, companies must have a public record of resisting overbroad government demands for access to user content in court.1

Fight for users’ privacy in Congress. Internet companies earn a star in this category if they support efforts to modernize electronic privacy laws to defend users in the digital age by joining the Digital Due Process Coalition.

For the full report and in-depth analysis, please visit the EFF's site and full article: https://www.eff.org/who-has-your-back-2013?support_whyb=1

A big thanks goes out to stealthmouse for bringing this article to light.

A MONSTER thanks goes out to the EFF for standing by our sides and fighting for us and the rights of all!

Help them by taking action when possible: https://www.eff.org/action

And donate/support their efforts if you can: https://supporters.eff.org/donate

PULL OUT THE BIG GUNS! ACLU ASKS FTC TO INVESTIGATE CARRIERS’ LACK OF ANDROID SECURITY UPDATES

Wed, 08 May 2013 16:40:10 +0000

Another huge stone has been cast in an effort to force wireless carriers and handset makers to provide regular security updates to Android mobile devices.

ACLU principal technologist and senior policy analyst Christopher Soghoian brought the issue to light earlier this year at the Kaspersky Lab Security Analyst Summit where he said millions of Android devices were multiple versions in arrears and vulnerable to not only attacks on their personal digital information, but potentially physical attack as well.

In the complaint written by Soghoian, the American Civil Liberties Union asks the FTC to investigate Verizon, AT&T, TMobile and Sprint Nextel, adding that the carriers’ reluctance to patch security vulnerabilities in Android phones is a deceptive and unfair business practice.

Further, the ACLU requested that the FTC force carriers to warn customers about unpatched vulnerabilities, allow customers with vulnerable phones to escape their contracts without early termination penalties, and provide that customers may exchange at no cost their phones for another that receives regular security updates, or return the phone for a full refund.

The FTC already came down hard on mobile hardware manufacturer HTC in late February (article here: http://threatpost.com/htc-settlement-could-alter-mobile-security-and-privacy-landscape-022513/ ), when a settlement was reached after a complaint was filed against HTC America charging them with putting the security and privacy of customers at risk by failing to provide regular security patches to Android devices. HTC, at significant costs, will have to not only develop at release patches, but establish a program that injects security into its development processes, submit to security assessments for 20 years and provide adequate security training for its developers.

If the FTC decides to investigate, Soghoian stated they won’t know about it until the investigation is over and a settlement is reached.

Ars Technica did a detailed study (here: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/12/the-checkered-slow-history-of-android-handset-updates/ ) on Android handset updates, and the numbers aren’t pretty for the four carriers in question here, as well as for a number of handset makers. Verizon, AT&T and TMobile sometimes took up to 13 months to provide updates, while many models from all four carriers never received a second update.

The ACLU complaint is 16 pages long (Downloadable from here: http://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/ftc-complaint-smartphone-security ) and goes into detail on the influence carriers have in terms of which features manufacturers are to include in smartphones, including carrier-specific apps and the removal of certain features, such as tethering capabilities, that would threaten the carriers’ revenue stream, the complaint said.

For context, the complaint cited numbers from ComScore Reports that 53 percent of smartphones used by consumers are Android devices, and that 70 percent of devices sold in the fourth quarter of 2012 were Android based. In addition, the complaint said that Google statistics show only two percent of Android devices are running the latest version of the OS, 4.2.x. Meanwhile, Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), released in 2011, is on 40 percent of Android devices, according to Google’s developer dashboard (Dashboard: http://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html )

Android malware, meanwhile, is an extraordinary problem. Research done by Kaspersky Lab indicates that 99 percent of mobile malware targets Android because of its open source nature and the ease of which attackers can get malicious applications up on the Google Play store. The level of vetting, for example, does not yet match that of Apple’s App Store.

“Widely distributed Android malware has exploited known security vulnerabilities in the Android operating system for which fixes from Google existed, but which the vast majority of consumer devices had not received at the time of infection,” the complaint said. “The wireless carriers have failed to warn consumers that the smartphones sold to them are defective, that they are running vulnerable software, and that other smartphones are available that receive regular, prompt updates to which consumers could switch. “

VIA:

http://www.aclu.org/blog/technology-and-liberty/aclu-files-ftc-complaint-over-android-smartphone-security

http://www.aclu.org/technology-and-liberty/ftc-complaint-smartphone-security

http://threatpost.com/aclu-asks-ftc-to-investigate-carriers-lack-of-android-security-updates/

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/12/the-checkered-slow-history-of-android-handset-updates/

http://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html

VIDEO- HyperDrive RLS12 Galaxy S3 Customization Overload! [FULL REVIEW]

Thu, 02 May 2013 22:15:47 +0000

It is crazy just how many Mods have been included in this Rom. It is supported by the four major carriers AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint. There are four unique themes included in the Aroma Installer Galaxy S4, XperiaZ, Sense 5, and Nexus4. There are lots of "on the fly" mods included in the Rom Control. This is a super fast rom that gets incredible quadrant scores.

Download

AT&T and Verizon Galaxy S4 Bootloaders hacked by Dan Rosenberg

Thu, 02 May 2013 17:26:56 +0000

The Galaxy S4 had a rough start in the sense of ROM and kernel development. First, the head of CyanogenMod declared publicly that there would be no official support for the Galaxy S4 because it was only a minor step-up from the S3. Then later, Dan Rosenberg said that the Galaxy S4 bootloaders would not be able to be unlocked unless they were able to be unlocked without hacking. On top of all this, AT&T announced that their variant of the Galaxy S4 would ship with a locked bootloader. It goes without saying that Verizon's variant would also be bootloader locked, as Verizon has never been known to carry such a device. So far, the Galaxy S4's development future wasn't looking too bright...until yesterday.

If you don't know who Dan Rosenberg is, then you must not have rooted your Motorola device in the past 2 years. Dan Rosenberg has rooted almost every recent Motorola device on every software version. He even unlocked the bootloaders on the RAZR HD, M, and Atrix HD. This guy is a legend. He has come to the rescue again by "hacking" the Galaxy S4 bootloaders on Verizon and AT&T. He has confirmed that this allows a user to flash custom ROMS and kernels. Sounds good right?

It does, but if you are able to get your hands on an S4 before the Verizon version of the device starts shipping, don't count on hacking it. Rosenberg is waiting until the Verizon variant of the S4 is released, and for good reason. A month gives Verizon plenty of time to get an update together to patch the exploit before the device is even released. Although you may have to wait a month before you can hack your bootloader, it is for a very good reason.

Patience, people, patience...

via @djrbliss and Phandroid