Sneaky snake bites Android

Google operates a more laissez faire attitude to its apps for the Android smart phone than Apple does for iPhone and there are both good and bad sides to this.

The downside was revealed this week when the F-Secure forum reported that what at first appeared to be a harmless game of snake (you know the one where you try to get the big line of dots to eat the little dots) was actually a GPS spy.

That is a really cool tracking device which basically turns someone's smartphone into a sort of tag which tells you where they are at all times.
I say cool because it reminds me of a high-tech gadget from a James Bond movie. In reality the spy would probably be used by people who want to know what their boyfriend/girlfriend/partner/spouse is up to.
The only benign use I can think of for the application is to keep track of where your kids are.

It is now up to Google to either destroy the app or remove it from the Android marketplace. But is it still the job of consumers to make sure that an app is safe before they download it on their phone. That safety check could be something as simple as Googling the app to see what people have said about it.

Android goes to War

From Short Circuit through to the Terminator I and II movies we have always fantasized about sending robots into war. While that vision is not fully true (unless you count drones) it seems that the decision to equip American soldiers with the Android smartphone could still save lives.

Lt. Gen. Jeff Sorenson believes that the deployment of the Android and other smartphones to the US army could happen within the year.

In anticipation of that moment a competition has been created to see who can design the best apps for military use. Among the front runners is a special app which designs training programmes to allow soldiers to prepare physically and mentally for going into war.

In terms of logistics and communication, using Android OS has obvious benefits as soldiers could contact each other easily out in the field. But they would more likely use the Android for making calls home. However, security of the phone lines would be of upmost importance.
What you don't want though is for the Android to be a distraction, for instance if you received a call just as you were hiding from the enemy.
Given that the US army is so chronically overstretched and underfunded at the moment too it would be interesting to see if this one comes to fruition or whether it is just another piece of propaganda.

Android hits 100,000 Apps: Best of the Week's News

As usual Tech Radar is leading the way with the news this week that Android has hit 100,000 Apps. This information should be qualified - there are about 85,000 Android apps on the market right now as 15,000 have been taken off. Google does not put its apps through the same rigorous testing as Apple.
Furthermore Marc Chacksfield wrote that the news would not necessarily have Apple CEO Steve Jobs sweating: "At this rate, the Android Market could feasibly catch up with the iPhone App Store. But it's not about quantity but quality – and this is where Apple is still winning."
Music Week also carried the story noting that the app milestone was a significant increase from the 5,000 apps available for the Android in June 2009.
The Retail Digital blog asked whether smartphones were outsmarting us?
Jordan Robertson of the Associated Press, wrote: “Your smart phone applications are watching you. Lookout Inc. scanned nearly 300,000 free applications for iPhone and Android and found that many of them secretly pull sensitive data off users' phones and give them to 3rd parties without notification."
Given this terrifying information Laura Canter advises us to be careful about what apps we are using and to turn them off once finished. But, she asks, are apps really worth it?

The Best Android Travel Apps

Here's a look at a couple of the best new Android smartphone travel Apps.

Swift boarding

Currently only present in the iTunes store for iPhone, Android users who have problems hanging on to their boarding card will soon have use of this app.
Amazingly this new app will turn your Android phone into a mobile boarding pass with a bar code which can be scanned at the gate.
You just have to join the BA executive facility, which is free of charge. Having regularly found myself in a position to check in online but with no printer in reach, my first thought was that this is a fantastic app.
My second thought was that surely there are some security issues with being able to have your boarding pass on an Android phone? However I suppose it's just as likely that your boarding pass gets stolen as your Android. Also the pass would have to match your passport to be of any use.
The app will be functional on certain popular routes including London Heathrow to New York.

Postcards

This Android app is really cool as it allows you to take a photo, and then send it anywhere in the world as a postcard for a minimal postage fee. Sending the old style postcard within the United Kingdom is only 99p while it costs £1.49 for postage to the rest of the world. Currently its available as a free download in the iTunes store.

Say Hello to New eBay App and Buy Buy

Apps may make life easier but they are also a good way of parting a fool and his money. While we can greet the new eBay app for the Android with all the excitment implied in an online auction, it also means that we can have even more ways to buy stuff at times when we could be relaxing - on the train, in the doctors waiting hall etc.
The app is now available in the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada on versions 1.6 of the Android or above. That means residents of those countries can follow their bidding wars wherever they go, with no need to spend long days indoors in order to secure a purchase.
Steve Yankovich, Vice President of mobile commmunications at eBay, said: "The popularity of eBay's mobile shopping applications is quickly spreading across the world.
"Over 50% of eBay's mobile merchandise comes from outside of the United States of America. Therefore we are taking advantage of the unique features of the Android mobile platform. The Android app uses Android voice search capabilities to make finding things easier."
However if you are looking to sell goods on eBay, the app which allows you to do so is only available on the iPhone.

Will Android outmanoeuvre iPhone?

With complaints flooding in about the new iPhone 4G, from dropped calls on the AT&T network to the unavailability of apps, it seems a good time to question the future of the platform. Especially now that its main competitor Android is building up momentum.
Without question one of the most appealing factors about smartphones is the applications which can be added to them, whether they are for playful or practical purposes.
In the past the Android OS has not attracted the same number of app developers, largely because it has not been as profitable to make them as for the iPhone, but now there are unmistakable signs that Google could be ready to outmanoeuvre Apple.
Firstly the controlling nature of Apple does not sit well with all developers and consumers. Yes Apple says that it can guarantee a higher quality of app because of its stricter policing of the markets. But many customers will not care about the quality and will be happy to have apps that do a good enough job at a lower price. Google holds all the cards in this respect as it can give away the Android OS for nothing, such is the size and heft of the company.
In June 2010 alone, 60,000 more android devices in the UK were activated than in May, when 100,000 people had tapped into the Android OS system. An even more significant figure shows that for the first time there are now more Android app developers than there are iPhone app developers.
This will be particularly relevant over the next decade as emerging markets come into play. In places such as India and China where the iPhone may be unaffordable, Google is looking to offer customers the full smartphone experience at a lower price.
By next year the Android may be outselling the iPhone. Apple may say that it aims to do what it has always done - offer a higher quality experience in niche markets. But it is clear that their latest problems will have the company sweating.

App enables Yahoo! on Android

Hard to believe it may be but only now has Yahoo! rectified for Android users the problems of trying to reach its search engine. While Hotmail and Gmail could connect with the Android OS easily via the address and email password, Yahoo! experienced some glitches in the system.
But the standalone app that has been released for the Android VoIP phone is about to change all that. Now you can send emails to Yahoo! contact from your Android, get email notification and download attachments - all the things which you would expect from your smartphone.
Yahoo! product manager Lee Parry said: "The Yahoo! Messenger and Yahoo! Mail apps for the Android offer the core features that you would expect while using a PC. They allow you to search for important messages and organize them into personal folders.
He added: "You can also view your status messages and buddy list contacts while chatting with Messenger friends."
The app also allows you to launch the instant messaging service Yahoo! Messenger. It will work on the Android 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2.
You can pick up the app in the usual manner on the Android marketplace. Customers in America can also get a Yahoo! search widget for their screen.

Are Google apps for Android safe?

While the openness of the Android app market is normally beneficial to users, it can also make them vulnerable.
According to a report by SMobile Systems, a mobile security firm, as many as one fifth of Google apps for Android can expose your data to third party hackers.
The report states: "The Android Market offers flexibility by allowing anyone to develop and publish an application to the consumer market. This presents the opportunity to easily defraud innocent consumers for financial gain. Since today’s Smartphone devices are the equivalent of mobile computers, it is logical that attackers have expanded their focus."
Google said that it was regulating the market but that it had had to remove two dodgy applications so far from the devices of Android smartphone users.
A security lead for Android, Rich Cannings, stated in the blog post that the remote application removal feature is one of many security controls that Google uses to protect Android users from malicious applications.