sms

Google has warned Android users to disable 2G connectivity. It says scammers are taking advantage of the outdated tech to send phishing messages and other spam that gets past all filters. 2G cellphone service was commonplace in the 1990s before ... being followed by 3G in the 2000s. 2G was the beginning of digital mobile phone connections and allowed for SMS text messaging, though it wasn't fast enough to support reliable mobile Internet services. While most US carriers have disabled their 2G networks, many handsets still support it. It can be useful as a last resort in places with either limited ... (view more)

The makers of an app that can alert parents when a diabetic child is at risk say Google's rules are making it harder to use the app. Play Store rules designed to stop malware mean the app can't send text messages directly. The app is called CamAps ... FX and works with medical devices to operate an "artificial pancreas" for type-1 diabetes, which is a hereditary condition. It connects to a glucose monitor and an insulin pump, constantly monitoring glucose levels and then delivering insulin as necessary. (Source: camdiab.com ) The BBC reports that while it's suitable for adults, the app is ... (view more)

Nearly half a million users have been infected with "The Joker" malware through the Google Play store. The malware is particularly nasty and works by signing users up to premium services without their knowledge. The malware, spotted by researcher ... Aleksejs Kuprins, was found in 24 apps with a combined 472,000 downloads - though more apps may be found later. As of this writing, the 24 known apps have been removed from the Google Play store. (Source: techradar.com ) Infected Apps Need to be Removed If you have any of the following apps installed on your phone, they should be removed ... (view more)

A consumer group has accused Apple of significantly overstating battery life on iPhones. The group also said some manufacturer's smartphones perform much better than advertised. The claims come from "Which?," a British organization similar to ... Consumer Reports in the US. It tested a range of handsets from five leading manufacturers: Apple, HTC, Nokia, Samsung and Sony. (Source: which.co.uk ) The tests were specifically about talk time: how long the battery lasts while making voice calls. That's provoked some criticism from people who argue this is only a small part of battery life ... (view more)

Windows 10's next major update will add a couple of features to make life easier for people with an Android phone. Using text messages and accessing photos on the PC will be possible without having to touch the phone. The services are both in a new ... built-in Windows 10 app called Your Phone. However, to use the new features, phone owners will also need to install "Microsoft Apps" from the Google Play Store on their handset. (Source: 9to5google.com ) Typing Possible On Full Size Keyboard The messaging tool covers SMS text messages. Users will be able to see the latest batch of messages received ... (view more)

Samsung phone owners say they were shocked to discover photos from their phone were being sent to random contacts. An update to SMS text messaging appears to have caused the bug. One user says the entire contents of his photo gallery was sent to his ... girlfriend's phone via text message. His own phone had no record of the messages being sent and the first he heard of it was when his girlfriend asked him what was happening. Other users report similar issues, with no obvious pattern as to who received the images other than being in their contacts list. Reports suggest the problem is with the ... (view more)

Facebook users have been shocked to discover it stores the phone numbers of people who've never signed up to the site, along with the SMS and voice call histories of some users. But Facebook insists that users have explicitly given permission for ... such data storage. The site's data storage and sharing policies came back under the spotlight with the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal, when a journalist revealed that information gathered about users and their friends for a psychological study was shared without permission for use in political ad targeting. Since then, many users have been taking ... (view more)

Facebook is reportedly planning to offer encryption on its messaging tools, which means that neither Facebook, nor governments could read the contents. It's also working on an option to integrate standard text messaging into its Messenger app. The ... idea is to offer end-to-end encryption, meaning that if a message is intercepted at any point between leaving the sender's device and arriving at the recipient's device, it would be unreadable. As well as being a selling point to users who worry about snooping, the tool could also mean Facebook would have a simple answer if law ... (view more)