Consumer & Gadgets

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain A team of researchers at the security firm ThreatFabric is reporting on their website blog page that they have found instances of a new kind of malware in Android apps downloaded from Google Play that attempt to steal banking login information. They have named the new...

Google new smartphone, Pixel 6, to be released later this year, will be powered by a new proprietary chip. Google on Monday unveiled a new flagship Pixel smartphone powered by its first mobile chip to put artificial intelligence in people's hands. Pixel 6 models set for release later this year,...

David Choffnes, executive director of the Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute at Northeastern, says most customers who use a QR code don’t realize their information is being tracked. Credit: Adam Glanzman/Northeastern University Diners could be serving up a lot more than just their burger order if they use the contact-free QR...

Credit: CC0 Public Domain When Android and Apple operating system updates started giving users the option to put their smartphones in dark mode, the feature showed potential for saving the battery life of newer phones with screens that allow darker-colored pixels to use less power than lighter-colored pixels. But dark...

Credit: CC0 Public Domain The mobile apps installed on our smartphones are one of the biggest threats to our digital privacy. They are capable of collecting vast amounts of personal data, often highly sensitive. The consent model on which privacy laws are based doesn't work. App users remain concerned about...

Electron microscope (left) and formula (right) of bolometer device. Credit: Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) Thermal-imaging sensors that detect and capture images of the heat signatures of human bodies and other subjects have recently sprung into use in thermostats to check facial temperatures for contactless COVID-19 screening at...

Credit: IMEC From Augmented Reality games to automatic car locks: Gauging the location of devices is becoming increasingly important in modern life. Except that the precision we demand is far beyond the reach of GPS or Bluetooth. With Ultra-Wideband (UWB) micro-location technology from imec, the location of objects in a...

Credit: CC0 Public Domain New technology is being trialed at selected parks across the UK to count people using phone signals, providing valuable data that can be used to improve safety and services. WiSeBoxes use signals from smartphones to estimate how many people come near to the counter. They have...

Credit: CC0 Public Domain Users of Android devices can unlock the display by entering a pattern. This function is convenient and thus popular—however, less secure than locking with a PIN. An international research team thus recommends implementing a blocklist on Android devices that prohibits the 100 most popular patterns, which...

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain There are numerous malware detection and antivirus apps for mobile devices running the Android operating system. However, a team in China introduces a new approach that can detect malicious activity at the source code level. They provide details in the International Journal of Information and Computer...

Credit: Google, CC BY 3.0 Samsung looks to be ready to unveil some new flip and foldable phones. The official announcement is expected at Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked: Get Ready to Unfold event to be held online on Aug. 11 at 10 a.m. ET / 7 a.m. PT. The electronics giant...

This Aug. 26, 2015 photo shows an Apple iPhone with a cracked screen after a drop test from the DropBot, a robot used to measure the sustainability of a phone to dropping, at the offices of SquareTrade in San Francisco. Responding to a new competition directive from the Biden White...

Credit: Shutterstock A major journalistic investigation has found evidence of malicious software being used by governments around the world, including allegations of spying on prominent individuals. From a list of more 50,000 phone numbers, journalists identified more than 1,000 people in 50 countries reportedly under surveillance using the Pegasus spyware....

Credit: CC0 Public Domain "Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun," Noel Coward famously sang in 1931, mocking British colonials who ventured out into the scorching midday sun at the hottest time of day. "The Dutch also still think the sun is their friend," says researcher Lenneke...

A new battle for dominance of the lucrative games console market is looming after US company Valve unveiled a device to rival the hugely popular Nintendo Switch. Valve, which owns gaming platform Steam, announced Thursday that it will start shipping its Steam Deck console in December with prices starting at...

Credit: CC0 Public Domain Remember LG's TV with a rollable screen? It's finally arriving in the U.S., but at a steep price. A listing on LG's U.S. website shows the LG Signature OLED R 65" Class Rollable 4K Smart TV. Although it doesn't offer an option to buy or pre-order,...

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain As of March 31, 2021, when Apple released the iOS 14.5 beta update to its operating system, Siri no longer defaults to a female voice when using American English. Users must now choose between two male and two female voices when enabling the voice assistant. This...

Credit: CC0 Public Domain This fall for tech lovers means new iPhones, which also usher in the arrival of a new version of iOS. Apple revealed the first details of iOS 15 during an online keynote address last month for its annual Worldwide Developers Conference.The update for Apple's mobile operating...

Credit: Looking Glass Holographic display maker Looking Glass has announced that it has developed two versions of its second-generation holographic display. On its website, the team at Looking Glass provide a video showing off features that buyers can expect from the two new products, the 4K Gen2 and the 8K...

Credit: CC0 Public Domain The past decade has witnessed scandal after scandal over private images maliciously or accidentally made public. A new study from computer scientists at Columbia Engineering reveals what may be the first way to encrypt personal images on popular cloud photo services, such as those from Google,...