Important announcements
EFF criticizes ‘misleading’ iOS 11 wireless settings
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has criticized Apple for compromising iPhone users security a misleading and uninformative design. Apple recently confirmed that Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are not fully disabled when toggled off in Control Center on iOS 11. Instead, what actually happens in iOS 11 when users toggle the settings to “off” is that the phone will disconnect from Wi-Fi networks and some devices, but remain on for Apple services. Location Services is still enabled, Apple devices (like Apple Watch and Pencil) stay connected, and services such as Handoff and Instant Hotspot stay on. This is not clearly explained to users, nor left to them to choose.
You can read more here.
A Google Home Mini recorded everything 24/7 because of a bug
A hardware issue in Google Home Mini made the small speaker record everything and send the data to Google. Android Police’s Artem Russakovskii discovered this almost by accident because the Home Mini not only failed to respond when he actually tried triggering it, it was also responding, and failing, to anything it hears around it. Investigating it a bit more, he discovered that the Mini was recording everything it was hearing all day long.
More info are available here.
OnePlus has been collecting user data without permission
Chris Moore, the owner of a UK-based security and tech blog, recently published an article demonstrating that OnePlus has been gathering personal information and transmitting them without permission from the user. The collected data includes IMEI numbers, MAC addresses, mobile network names, Wi-Fi SSIDs, and the phone’s serial number. Moore states that the code responsible for this data collection is part of the OnePlus Device Manager and OnePlus Device Manager Provider.
You can read more here.
Top new products
ZTE Axon M
ZTE Axon M will have two touchscreens that can be folded so that the phone will have a screen both on its front and its back. When unfolded, it will have a 6.8-inch screen. It will come with Snapdragon 820, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of built-in storage and a single 20 MP camera.
More info here.
Kindle Oasis
Amazon Kindle Oasis has 7-inch screen and IPX8 waterproofing, which means it can be safely submerged in two metres of water for up to an hour. It has a price of $250 with 8GB of storage, and $280 with 32GB of space.
More info here.
Razer Phone
The phone will have a 5.7 inch screen, Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, 64 GB of internal storage and 8GB of RAM. It will come with Android 7.1.1 Nougat and will be officially launched on November 1st.
More info here.
Top interesting info
37,000 Chrome users downloaded a fake Adblock Plus extension
SwiftOnSecurity says the fake extension was created by a “fraudulent developer who clones popular name and spams keywords”. It was only removed by Google after an anonymous cyber security account on Twitter noticed it, and brought it to the company’s attention. The extension had the same name as the official Adblock Plus, which has more than 10 million users.
You can read more here.
Accenture left sensitive customer data exposed on servers
Accenture left four Amazon Cloud servers of sensitive data exposed, allowing anyone with knowledge of their web addresses to download the information. The cybersecurity firm UpGuard discovered that the servers held API data, authentication credentials, decryption keys and customer information related to Accenture’s cloud management platform.
More info can be found here.
Apple is working with LG Display on a foldable iPhone for 2020
LG Display will create a foldable OLED panel for the 2020 iPhone, according to unnamed industry sources. LG reportedly completed its first such prototype two to three years ago and has been improving the durability and yield rate ever since. Samsung, however, seems to have an edge over Apple when it comes to foldable smartphones . The rumoured Galaxy X featuring foldable display is said to launch next year.
You can read more here.
