[NEWS]Angry Birds Space Trojan Uses GingerBreak

The stellar success of Angry Birds has catapulted Rovio from a small time software developer to a household name all across the globe. With the latest addition to the Angry Birds franchise, Angry Birds Space, Rovio has produced yet another runaway hit. Some crafty hackers, though, are looking to take advantage of your love for Angry Birds with a new Trojan that uses the GingerBreak exploit. An Android Trojan discovered this morning by Sophos Security is making its way onto smartphones across the world, posing as Angry Birds Space.

The malicious software, identified as Andr/KongFu-L, is an altered, but fully functional version of the official game by Rovio. The app, when launched, uses the GingerBreak exploit that we're all very familiar with here at Rootz. The Trojan roots vulnerable devices and installs some malicious code that makes your device part of a botnet. It then swipes information, allows your device to launch URL's, and download further code from remote servers.

According to the security report, the Google Play Store version is safe, as is the Amazon App Store's. However, several third-party app stores have been infiltrated. Sophos declines to say exactly which ones, though. Any device that's vulnerable to GingerBreak could potentially be at risk, and that's a great many of them. This is of particular concern to the rooting community, as we commonly download apps from a number of sources outside the Play Store. Just be sure that you're getting your apps from trusted sources, and not through file-sharing services like 4-Shared or just any random website.
source rootzwiki

Read More

News|11 new PSone classics hit the PlayStation Store including Tekken

Sony has just added eleven new titles to the PlayStation Store for Android PlayStation Certified devices. The new games include the following: International Track & Field, Tekken, Ridge Racer Type 4, Grandia, Toy Story Racer, Toy Story 2, Mickey’s Wild Adventure, Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire, A Bug’s Life, Rascal Racers and Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee.

Obviously not all of the games are gems but there are some decent titles including Track& Field, Tekken, Grandia and Oddworld. Each game costs £3.99 and is available to download now. Let’s hope many more titles are on the way. PlayStation Certified Xperia devices include the following: Xperia PLAY, Xperia S, Xperia ion and in Japan the Xperia arc, Xperia acro and Xperia acro HD. The Sony Tablet S and Tablet P are also PlayStation Certified devices.

credit :XPERIABLOG

Read More

[News]HTC might stop bundling Beats headsets with their phones

HTC bought a controlling share in Beats Electronics a while back and started bundling premium Beats headsets with some of their phones and incorporating audio know-how into the phones themselves. Now HTC might be rethinking the practice and there might not be any more Beats headsets to be found in HTC retail boxes.

An HTC product exec, Martin Fichter, talked to CNET and said that headphones aren’t a deciding factor when choosing a phone. Beats technology, however, will continue to be used in the phones – the special equalizer has been opened up so that third party products can use it, and loudspeaker design has also benefited from Beats.

Fichter didn’t say HTC will never again put a Beats headset inside a retail box, but the prospect has become highly unlikely. The HTC One S was only a regular headset to be found in the box. It did, however, have the aforementioned Beats stereo enhancement software onboard.

Beats Audio recently bought MOG, a music streaming service, so it’s clear that HTC’s dedication to music remains strong, bundled Beats headset or no. We’ll see how it goes with future HTC models.

Source

Read More

Polaroid 7 inch tablet getting an Android 4.0 upgrade

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 6

   
• Email

A few months ago Polaroid introduced a line of tablets running Google Android 2.2 and Android 2.3. Now it looks like the company is getting ready to release a new model sporting Google’s latest software.

The Polaroid PMID701i showed up recently at the FCC website. It’s a 7 inch tablet with Google Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

While the operating system is new, the rest of the specs are pretty lousy. The tablet includes:

• 7 inch, 800 x 480 pixel display
• 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A8 CPU
• 512MB RAM
• 4GB storage

The good news is the PMID701i does feature a capacitive multitouch display, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, and a microSDHC card for extra storage. Polaroid says the tablet should get up to 6 hours of battery life while surfing the web, or 5 hours while watching videos with WiFi disabled.

While the tablet sports Android 4.0 goodies such as a new tabbed web browser and user interface, it does not appear to be a Google certified device. It ships without the Google Play Store, and the user manual instead suggested downloading the Amazon Appstore in order to install third party apps.

There’s no word on the price for this tablet yet, but given the specs, my money would be on really, really cheap.

Read More

NEWS|NOKIA|Is this Nokia Lumia PureView? We hope not

What we have for you here are two leaked slides, which allegedly show a concept design and the actual specs of the upcoming Nokia Lumia PureView. It should be the Windows Phone twin of the Symbian-based 808 PureView.

According to those slides, the Lumia PureView should pack a 4.3-inch HD screen, a dual-core 1.5GHz Krait processor, Adreno 320 graphics, a 41MP camera sensor – same as on the Nokia 808 PureView with 1080p video recording and Windows Phone Apollo ticking inside.

Well, the specs sound quite right for a next generation WP flagship and Nokia would certainly be bringing the PureView technology to its Lumia range, but that design is plain ugly. We know that the huge sensor mandates a thicker profile, but that's just ridiculous.

We really hope that, if these slides are indeed real, Nokia will choose a different design for its Lumia PureView smartphone.

Source | Via

Read More

[NEWS]Android ICS Xperia firmware certified for Xperia arc, arc S, neo V and ray

New firmware (4.1.A.0.562) was certified by the PTCRB for four 2011 Sony Xperia handsets – the Xperia arc, Xperia arc S, Xperia neo V andXperia ray. Whilst it is difficult to know exactly what this firmware represents, the likelihood is that this will be the Android 4.0 ICS Xperia update. So why do we think this is ICS?

Well the beta ICS firmware versions for the Xperia arc S and Xperia PLAY were both prefixed 4.1.X.X.X. Also Sony Mobile has confirmed that the first 2011 Xperia handsets to get the Android 4.0 update will be the Xperia arc S, neo V and ray. The only thing spoiling this theory is that the original Xperia arc has also been certified with the same firmware and SM recently confirmed a late May launch for the arc. Either way, this still looks like ICS firmware to us, which means the countdown to Android 4.0 for Xperia users has begun.

Thanks Pratik!

Read More

News|Samsung Galaxy W gets its Value pack update

As promised, the Value pack for the Samsung Galaxy W has now started rolling out in Europe as OTA or via Samsung Kies. Currently, only users in Slovakia and Romania are able to get it, but more countries should follow soon.

Based on Android 2.3.6, the Value pack update aims to bring ICS-like features to smartphones that won't be getting an Android 4.0 update. The most prominent new feature is the popular Face Unlock, which Samsung tweaked for improved security.

The highlights list continues with a new Camera icon visible while shooting videos, which allows you to take photos without interrupting your recordings. The Value pack also brings some new Accessibility updates allowing you to end a phone call with the Power key and changing the text size in the Contacts, Calendar, Messaging and Memo applications.

If you are too impatient and you know your way around flashing a custom ROM, you may follow the Via link below to get the firmware before it has hit your country.

Via

Read More

News : Face unlock for Samsung Galaxy S requires blinking, is better than ICS face unlock

After some hesitation, Samsung is finally delivering the promised Value pack update for the original Galaxy S. The new firmware adds some Ice Cream Sandwich features to the Gingerbread-tasting Galaxy, including Face unlock.

It turns out, though, the Face unlock is actually better than the one present in the stock Android ICS, which is easy to bypass with a photo. Samsung’s team responsible for the value pack heard those concerns and made this unlock option more secure.

The solution is very clever in its simplicity – the user has to blink before the phone would unlock. And that’s not something a photo can do.

Sure, it can still be bypassed – with a video – but it’s much harder to do, while it doesn’t complicate the unlock procedure much (people blink naturally all the time).

The Value pack is currently rolling out in Korea, but it’s still unclear when it will reach the rest of the world. Officially that is, as the leaked Value pack firmware was made available pretty quickly through unofficial channels.

Source | Via

Read More

News : Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi gets Android 4.0.4 update, beats everyone to it

After getting Ice Cream Sandwich in the beginning of the year, the Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi has now beat everyone to the chase, even Google’s own Galaxy Nexus, and has starting to receive an update to Android 4.04.

That being said, the update is incremental and doesn’t bring major new features, rather small bugfixes and enhancements.

Some of them include faster screen rotation, better support for Exchange, improved camera performance in still shots and video and a new option in Settings which allows you to set a delay for the lockscreen after turning the screen off.

There’s no information about Verizon’s version of the XOOM, Galaxy Nexus and the Nexus S getting the Android 4.0.4 update. Motorola has started notifying registered XOOM owners via email for the upcoming over-the-air update, which is scheduled to hit their devices later in the day.

Source

Read More

[NEWS]Sony Mobile files patent for a “sensor-equipped” display

Following on from last week’s news that Sony Mobile was looking to secure a patent to control your mobile via “head movement”, it now has another up its sleeve. Sony Mobile has filed a patent for a sensor-equipped display. This basically includes a light-transmissive display made out of an opaque material behind which a sensor would sit.

The idea is that you could place a sensor such as a front-facing camera, proximity sensor, illuminance sensor or fingerprint sensor behind the display. As the display is light-transmissive it would be able to detect light passing through it. This would mean that Sony could use more real estate for the display and less for worrying about room for the sensors that normally sit at the top of the phone. We don’t know how well this would work in practice but it sounds very interesting nonetheless.

Via Unwired View.

Read More

[News]Samsung Galaxy S III alleged official photo and specs leak

The Samsung Galaxy S III rumors keep coming in and different sources are starting to agree on some key specs. You should still take what the rumors say with a pinch of salt, but these seem slightly more credible than most of the previous ones.

An anonymous tipster told GSM Helpdesk that the Galaxy S III will measure 131 x 64 x 8 mm and weigh 125g (the Galaxy S II is 125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5 mm, 116 g).

The screen will be slightly smaller than previously rumored - 4.7" with 720p resolution - and will use SuperAMOLED Plus HD technology. That's regular RGB matrix in 1280 x 720 pixel resolution.

The camera on the Samsung Galaxy S III is tipped at 12MP with 1080p@60fps video recording. The camera will reportedly also feature slow-mo recording, so the 60fps might be for that mode rather than producing 60fps clips.

As far as CPU goes, the anonymous tipster confirms the quad-core at 1.5GHz, but doesn’t really add anything to what the Samsung exec said a few days ago. The Galaxy S III will have 1GB of RAM (same as current model) and 32GB of built-in storage, according to the tipster.

The connectivity on the S III should see the adoption of dual-carrier HSPA for downlink speeds of up to 42Mbps, but uplink is reportedly still limited to 5.76Mbps. There are other specs mentioned - Wi-Fi a/b/g/n with Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and HDMI out (likely over MHL). None of those comes as a big surprise, either.

One final tidbit is the launch date - set for May 22, but Samsung might pull it forward to April. Another unrelated source agrees on the date - the Galaxy S III might see its launch in China pulled from May to April.

Source 1 (in Dutch) • Source 2 (in Korean)

Read More

[NEWS]Angry Birds Space releases tomorrow. Meet all the new birds first.

Rovio’s space themed Angry Birds Space marks the first real departure from their usual bird flinging action. I mean it’s still bird flinging, but this time it’s in space, which means the gravitational force in action here is a little different from the one you experience on Earth.

After a ton of promotion, including by NASA, the game is finally set to launch tomorrow, on March 22 on iOS, Android, Windows and Mac. But before you download and start playing the game, here are some short videos to familiarize yourself with the updated birds that you will be playing with in this new game.

Angry Birds Space gives you six birds to play with. Now most of these birds are the same; they just look cooler. There’s your usual red bird, who still looks as useless as ever, the awesome black bird that explodes, the yellow one who increases his speed when you tap the screen (except he’s now purple and looks like Cyclops from X-Men), the blue bird that splits into three and the big red one who is green in this game. There is just one new bird, who turns stone structures into ice, which probably makes them easier to break by other birds. Other birds from older games, such as the white, green and the orange one aren’t present in this game, which is fine because they are mostly useless.

Anyway, enough talk. You can find the videos below along with the full new trailer

Source

Read More

[NEWS]Sony announces Xperia neo L for the Chinese market

Today Sony Mobile announced a new addition to its Xperia smartphone line-up. The Sony neo L is a mid-range device that is based on the neo V and is destined for the Chinese market.

The Xperia neo L will run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich at launch (a first for Sony) and can easily be confused with the neo V as they share similar looks and specifications. However, the neo L also borrows a few design elements from the Xperia PLAY, sans the PlayStation certified joypad.

Under the hood of the Sony Xperia neo L sits a 1GHz single-core Snapdragon processor and an Adreno 205 graphics chip bundled with 512MB of RAM. The smartphone is built around a 4-inch LCD display with a resolution of 480 x 854 pixels.

At the back, the Xperia neo L carriers a 5MP snapper capable of shooting 720p videos, while a VGA front-facing camera enables video calling. At 120.0 x 61.0 x 12.8mm, the neo L is slightly longer, but slimmer than the neo V.

Here are some hands-on photos of the neo L courtesy of Sina to help you see how the device really looks.

   

Sony stays mum on pricing and time of availability of the neo L, but it has been revealed that the Chinese market will get it first. Whether it'll be also the last is anyone's guess for now.

Source | Via

Read More

[News][Galaxy SII]Galaxy S III Will Be Powered By A Quad-Core Exynos Chip With LTE On Board, Says Samsung Executive

Samsung’s Galaxy S III is becoming something of a mystery, and the longer time goes on without the smartphone being officially announced by Samsung, the larger the risk that something new and shiny will come along and steal its thunder.

An un-named Samsung executive has lifted the lid on which chip will beat at the heart of the company’s upcoming flagship phone, the Galaxy S III.
Speaking to the Korea Times, the executive took it upon himself to share some information about the as yet unreleased and, largely, unknown smartphone that will replace the ageing but ever popular Galaxy S II.

The executive claims that the new handset will sport new quad-core Exynos chip that will incorporate both LTE and CDMA capabilities. The reason for those two acronyms being involved is reportedly Samsung’s desire to rely less on Qualcomm for its radio technology. Bringing everything in-house would certainly have its benefits, though Qualcomm’s business will be fine thanks to its myriad other customers.
The chip will reportedly feature four A9 cores, not the newer A15 and is said to be of the 32nm variety. The Korea Times source also says that the hard work is already complete, and that the chips are ready to be plunged into smartphones right now.

While this is all very well and good, and the news that Samsung is bringing everything in-house for its smartphones is interesting, we would be more excited if we could have official word on when the device will be made available. We’d even just be happy with someconfirmed photos of the thing rather than having to make do with photos that may or may not be fakes.
Samsung is keeping the Galaxy S III under wraps until closer to its release date, whenever that may be, though it does run the risk of simply outstaying its welcome and becoming old news. All we need is one manufacturer to release one standout handset and Samsung willhave a fight on its hands.
Right now, it could drop the smartphone in stores and watch it sell un huge numbers. It’s almost like Samsung doesn’t like money or something!
(via Engadget)

Read More