smartphone

T-Mobile has fixed a bug that let hackers get sensitive personal data just by using a phone number. In theory, it could have been possible to collect details on all the company's customers, though T-Mobile denies this. The problem was discovered by ... Karan Saini, a security researcher who discussed the problem with the Motherboard Vice website. The site then approached T-Mobile about the problem. It said "we were alerted to an issue that we investigated and fully resolved in less than 24 hours. There is no indication that it was shared more broadly." (Source: vice.com ) The bug had to do with T ... (view more)

Microsoft says it won't add any new features or devices for Windows 10 Mobile. It's a sign that hopes Windows 10 would revive the company's smartphone presence have largely failed. While what was then called Windows Mobile was once technically the ... most common smartphone operating system, it faded behind Apple's iOS and Google's Android as smartphones became more widely used. The attempt to relaunch under "Windows Phone" failed to make a breakthrough, and the system fell well under a one percent market share. The most recent figures suggest just one in every three thousand phones ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Richard A. writes: " Dear Dennis, I am so glad I found your website! I have a major problem with my Samsung S6 Edge (with Android Marshmallow). Recently I started receiving full screen pop up advertisements on my phone - these ads ... are appearing even when my phone is idle! At first they appeared every few days but now these full screen advertisements are popping up every few hours. I have NO idea where they are coming from. I searched google for 'block popup ads android' and came across an article suggesting it is possible to disable notifications from apps by adjusting the ... (view more)

A $30 tracking device could make it easier to find lost wallets or other items, but there's a big catch. While the "TrackR" range works fine around the house, if you lose your wallet while away from home, you may be reliant on other people having ... subscribed to the service. The range is billed as being the smallest tracking devices on the market. It comes in two models: the $30 TrackrR wallet 2.0, which is a two millimeter thick credit card-sized device for putting into a wallet, and the $25 TrackR Pixel, which is a similar size to a quarter coin but a little thicker, designed ... (view more)

A British bank is testing ATMs that let customers take out money using their phone rather than a bank card. It says the technology could be safer than using a card because there's less room for hackers to steal details. Withdrawing money without a ... card isn't a completely new idea. One rival bank already allows users to get cash out using a smartphone app that generates a unique code that they can then type in to the phone to get money. The idea is to remove the need to carry a card, for example on a night out. The new system from Barclays would be even quicker to use however, and ... (view more)

Some cheaply made Android phones are reportedly sending copies of text messages to a Chinese source every 72 hours. The official explanation is that international customers have unintentionally received handsets with a "feature" designed for Chinese ... users. A security firm named Kryptowire made the discovery. It found that hidden software preinstalled in phones was contacting a Chinese server every three days and passing on details including contacts lists and call logs. The software also sent back daily updates with the full content of text messages and location data. (Source: ... (view more)

The Department of Justice has argued that police have the right to force anyone in a searched property to unlock phones with a fingerprint lock. Lawyers disputing the argument say that would go beyond the reasonable scope of a search warrant. It's ... the latest development in the ongoing development of privacy and search laws as technology evolves . For example, previous cases have concluded that police can't force somebody to provide a passcode or password to unlock a phone, because it would breach the Fifth Amendment's measures on self-incrimination. However, law enforcement ... (view more)

What's worse than a bunch of smartphones catching fire? A company that recalls them, reissues them, and the reissued ones also going up in flames. That's what's happened to Samsung with its Galaxy Note 7 handset, which ultimately led the company to ... permanently discontinue and abandon the model altogether. Launched in August, 2016, the Samsung Note 7 originally received great reviews and was listed by some as not only among the best Samsung phones, but also the best of any phones running the Android operating system. Like previous Samsung Note models, it has a huge screen that ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader William O. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have a Samsung smartphone with a 16 GB SD card, which I use to store all my pictures and videos. I have taken the SD card out of my smartphone and placed it into an SD card reader, so I can copy ... files over to my computer. I get about 13% through the transfer and then I get an error message that says: 'Error 0x8007045D: the request could not be performed because of an I/O device error.' I then have the option to skip the current file; when I click that, the transfer resumes, but then it says it will take over 1 day to complete the transfer ... (view more)

Varying attitudes around the world to cellphone use are reflected in two new policies. India is to mandate 'panic buttons' in cellphones, while a German city has taken drastic measures to keep phone users safer. The Indian rules begin to take effect ... next January when all cellphones on sale will have to include some form of panic button. The measure is designed to deal with growing fears for safety on the streets, particularly among women. Officials reportedly concluded that while cellphones make it much easier to call for help than in the days of relying on payphones, the process of ... (view more)