| Remote smartphone diagnostics: the new Carrier IQ or helpful support tool? Mar 27th 2012, 12:32 The importance of privacy has been dwindling for quite some time, and smartphones have become one of the biggest culprits. Allegations against Carrier IQ, location-based tracking, the recent concerns about Path snatching up iOS address book information -- all of these are just a few examples of mobile carriers and other wireless companies taking our personal data, selling it to the highest bidder (or using it for their own purposes) and not bothering to let us know or give us a choice. The last few aspects of our life that we choose not to share on Facebook seem to get out into the ether, whether we like it or not. And here's the scarier part: there may be companies grabbing information off of our phones right now without us knowing about it. Too much of a doomsday scenario? Perhaps, but it's important to drive home the point that it has become so outrageous over the past year that we can't help but become nervous anytime we download an app or type in a password. Is our phone secure? How can we really be sure? Can we really trust (insert carrier or manufacturer name here)? This week, the very same situation is resurfacing as Verizon and HTC have made significant moves to install remote diagnostic tools on select devices. It's all done in the name of customer support, but how can we tell this isn't just another sneaky way of snagging our personal deets and selling them to a third party without telling us? We wanted to find out, and here's what we've learned so far. Continue reading Remote smartphone diagnostics: the new Carrier IQ or helpful support tool? Remote smartphone diagnostics: the new Carrier IQ or helpful support tool? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Mar 2012 08:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | BlueStacks App Player hits beta, supports ARM-written Android apps on x86-based Windows (video) Mar 27th 2012, 12:00 We've been eagerly anticipating the full-on release of BlueStacks' App Player, so imagine our excitement, now that the software has officially made the leap from its brief alpha stage to "beta-1" status. If you'll recall, the App Player can virtually run over 450k Android apps on Windows XP, Vista and 7, all without developers needing to tweak their respective coding. Notably, this latest build has a host of updates including LayerCake, allowing x86-based machines run apps written for ARM -- and with hardware graphics acceleration, no less. Other notable goodies from the beta build include official localization in 10 countries, mock accelerometer support (arrow keys), an updated UI and Direct AppStore Access. If the mere thought of running Android Angry Birds on Windows has your interests piqued, you'll find further details about BlueStacks in the full press release and video overview past the break. Continue reading BlueStacks App Player hits beta, supports ARM-written Android apps on x86-based Windows (video) BlueStacks App Player hits beta, supports ARM-written Android apps on x86-based Windows (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Mar 2012 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  BlueStacks | Email this | Comments | |
