smartphone

Infopackets Reader Nathan J. writes: " Dear Dennis, I recently received an email stating that hackers have hacked my phone. As proof of their hack, they gave me the last 2 digits of my phone number. They claim to have uploaded spying software on my ... phone and have supposedly 'caught me' visiting raunchy websites. To keep this quiet, they are demanding bitcoin payment of $800 USD. How can they hack my phone like this? Can they hack my PC too? Should I be worried? " My response: This is yet another version of the same scam that is currently going around the Internet. Related: How to Fix: Hackers ... (view more)

Google has apologized for remotely switching on "battery saver mode" on some Android phones. It says it was an internal test that was mistakenly rolled out. Battery Saver is an optional mode first added to the Android system in 2014. It aims to find ... a balance between reducing battery drain and maintaining convenience and functionality. The mode is effectively a collection of settings changes. These include reducing background processes (activity by apps the user isn't actively using), cutting down on screen animations, and stopping apps from automatically updating. It also disables ... (view more)

Windows 10's next major update will add a couple of features to make life easier for people with an Android phone. Using text messages and accessing photos on the PC will be possible without having to touch the phone. The services are both in a new ... built-in Windows 10 app called Your Phone. However, to use the new features, phone owners will also need to install "Microsoft Apps" from the Google Play Store on their handset. (Source: 9to5google.com ) Typing Possible On Full Size Keyboard The messaging tool covers SMS text messages. Users will be able to see the latest batch of messages received ... (view more)

Google is to launch a dedicated "good news" feature on its gadgets and services. It calls it "part of a balanced news diet." The good news in question is designed to avoid too much subjectivity. For example, the algorithm would have not have ... reported to Cleveland Indian fans that the Chicago Cubs won the World Series back in November of 2016. The category will not also cover the more traditional "good news" feature that appears at the end of some TV news broadcasts such as skateboarding ducks or lost kittens being found. While such stories are momentarily uplifting, they don't necessarily ... (view more)

Samsung Provokes Debate with Claims that Smartphones Are The Most Secure for Cryptocurrencies Last month, leading Samsung author Joel Snyder penned a blog post in which he made the bold assertion that smartphones encompass the best security for ... owning, trading and managing cryptocurrency. He put this down to the Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) in which smartphones, and particularly those developed by Samsung, operate. A trusted execution environment (TEE) is a secure area of a processor found on smartphones (not PCs), originally developed in 2010 by Open Mobile Terminal Platform ... (view more)

Google has been tracking mobile device users movements even when they have "Location History" switched off. It turns out users need to turn off a less well-known setting to stop tracking altogether. The issue doesn't just affect devices running ... Android. Some iPhones are also affected if they have Google apps such as Maps or Search running. In theory, switching off the Location History setting on your device or in a Google account will prevent the company tracking and storing location information. The immediate effect is visible as the timeline feature in Google Maps will stop updating. ... (view more)

The next edition of the Google Android operating system for phones and tablets will include measures to help users spend less time on their mobile devices. The update also makes notifications more useful and addresses battery life problems. The ... changes come in a new version of the operating system that's officially called Android 9.0 but nicknamed Android Pie (or "Android P"), continuing a pattern of naming updates after food. It's already available for Google's own Pixel phones and will then start gradually rolling out to other models, though older handsets may not get the update. ... (view more)

A newly discovered malware exploit offers hackers an incredible level of control and access. Fortunately the creators appear to be highly targeting their victims, though it's still a threat to ordinary users. Dubbed Skygofree, the malware affects ... users of the Android smartphone operating system. It is said to give the people behind the malware the ability to remotely carry out 48 different operations on an infected phone. These include targeted controls not previously seen, as well as more common malware exploitations. Some of the 'normal' options for the malware creators include the ability ... (view more)

Two of Apple's big investors want the company to tackle 'smartphone addiction' among younger users. They say failing to address the problem now could hurt the company's value in the long term. The call comes from investment management company Jana ... Partners, along with the managers of retirement plans for teachers in California. Between them they hold around $2 billion of Apple Stock, though that is only around one fifth of one percent of the entire company. (Source: bbc.co.uk ) They cited research that says using smartphones too much can mean students don't get enough sleep and pay less ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jenna R. writes: " Dear Dennis, I installed Google Drive on my system a while ago but it stopped working; I reinstalled the program only to find that Google Drive has been replaced with ' Google Backup and Sync '. Now when I plug ... in a USB thumb drive to my computer, I see this annoying popup message in the lower right hand corner of my screen asking if I want to backup my photos. This also happens when I plug in my smartphone. Despite clicking ' Remember my choice for this device' and 'Not now' (pic), it never remembers that I don't want to use this feature. It's incredibly ... (view more)