Boing Boing » android

Controlling a robot arm with an Android phone

Cory Doctorow — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 20:33:33 +0000

Paul sez, "This past semester, three engineering grad students at the University of Toronto (myself and two others) created an Android app for a course project that allows for wireless and intuitive control of a robotic arm from an Android-powered smartphone. We're pretty proud of the results (the link is to a demo we put together) and have released the code open source."

Android Robotic Manipulator Demo (Thanks, Paul!)

Access files on locked, encrypted Android phones by putting them in a freezer for an hour

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 17:42:50 +0000

This is alarming, if true: according to a group of German security researchers at the University of Erlangen, if you put a locked, encrypted Android phone in the freezer for an hour and then quickly reboot it and plug it into a laptop, the memory will retain enough charge to stay decrypted, and can boot up into a custom OS that can recover the keys and boot the phone up with all the files available in the clear. The attack is called FROST: "Forensic Recovery Of Scrambled Telephones," and it requires a phone with an unlocked bootloader to work.

At the end of 2011, Google released version 4.0 of its Android operating system for smartphones. For the first time, Android smartphone owners were supplied with a disk encryption feature that transparently scrambles user partitions, thus protecting sensitive user information against targeted attacks that bypass screen locks. On the downside, scrambled telephones are a a nightmare for IT forensics and law enforcement, because once the power of a scrambled device is cut any chance other than bruteforce is lost to recover data.
We present FROST, a tool set that supports the forensic recovery of scrambled telephones. To this end we perform cold boot attacks against Android smartphones and retrieve disk encryption keys from RAM. We show that cold boot attacks against Android phones are generally possible for the first time, and we perform our attacks practically against Galaxy Nexus devices from Samsung. To break disk encryption, the bootloader must be unlocked before the attack because scrambled user partitions are wiped during unlocking. However, we show that cold boot attacks are more generic and allow to retrieve sensitive information, such as contact lists, visited web sites, and photos, directly from RAM, even though the bootloader is locked.

FROST: Forensic Recovery Of Scrambled Telephones

Why Andy Ihnatko switched from an iPhone to an Android

Mark Frauenfelder — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 20:28:01 +0000

My friend, the technology journalist Andy Ihnatko, traded in his iPhone 4s for a Samsung Galaxy S III. Here's the first of his "three-part epic" for TechHive in which he explains why he did it.

I find that typing on an Android device is faster and much less annoying than typing on my iPhone. It's not even close.

This example also points out some of the philosophical differences that often allow Android to create a better experience for the user. Why is the iOS keyboard so stripped-down? Why can't the user customize the experience? Because Apple's gun-shy about adding features at the cost of simplicity and clarity. They're not wrong; it's a perfectly valid philosophy, and usually an effective one.

But sometimes, an Apple product's feature lands at the wrong side of the line that divides "simple" from "stripped down." The iPhone keyboard is stripped-down.

If you don't like how Android's stock keyboard behaves, you can dig into Settings and change it. If you still don't like it, you can install a third-party alternative. And if you think it's fine as-is, then you won't be distracted by the options. The customization panel is inside Settings, and the alternatives are over in the Google Play store.

But I'll be honest: the fact that the Samsung Galaxy S III doesn't suddenly go bip-BONG! and stick a purple microphone in my face when I'm mentally focused on what I'm writing is reason enough for me to prefer the Android keyboard.

Seriously, Apple. This is the single iOS quirk that makes me hate my iPhone. Every time it happens, it yanks me out of my task, and as I scowl and dismiss the microphone, I wonder if you folks put a lot of thought into this feature. "Press and hold to activate speech-to-text" needs to be a user-settable option.

Also, I wanted to mention that Andy has a terrifically entertaining podcast called The Ihnatko Alamanac, where he covers comics, technology, and other stuff that he expounds upon in colorful ways.

Why I switched from iPhone to Android

Robots say the craziest things

Cory Doctorow — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 11:21:09 +0000

This morning, while hurrying down the concourse at La Guardia Airport, I tried to dictate a text message to my Nexus 4 while wheeling my suitcase behind me. It got the dictation fine, but appended "kdkdkdkdkdkdkdkd" to the message -- this being its interpretation of the sound of my suitcase wheels on the tiles.

Super-high-end 5" Android phone from China's Oppo

Cory Doctorow — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 04:14:38 +0000

A high-end Chinese electronics company called Oppo has announced a super-deluxe, $500 5-inch Android phone called the Find 5, with some amazing specs:

As the name suggests, the Find 5 has a 5-inch display with a 1080p display, something we saw on the impressive HTC Droid DNA. Inside of the Find 5′s sharply designed chassis, you’ll find Qualcomm’s speedy quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2GB of RAM, 16 gigs of storage and an NFC chip. Yes, the Droid DNA has the same internals. But Oppo one-ups that handset by giving the Find 5 a 13-megapixel rear shooter. There’s a 1.9-megapixel camera up front.
The phone uses Google’s Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system and, like Google’s Nexus 4, will run on HSPA+ and GSM networks but not LTE.

Chinese Phone Packs All the Best Specs Into a Sexy Package [Nathan Olivarez-Giles/Wired]

New features in Glympse, a location-sharing mobile app I like

Mark Frauenfelder — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 17:54:00 +0000

For the last year or two I have been using a free location–sharing app on my iPhone called Glympse. It's purpose is simple: when you are driving somewhere to meet someone, the app generates a URL so they can see where you are on a map and track your progress as you are driving.

Today, Glympse introduced a new version of the application, and it has interesting improvements.

Glympse Groups allows users to share and interact via common activities, such as sporting or industry events, meetings or social gatherings. Glympse reveals group members’ real-time locations on a map for a set amount of time, encouraging local interaction and social discovery.

Glympse allows users to automatically schedule location updates to everyone associated with a specific calendar event, virtually replacing the need for “Running Late” or “On my way” emails, texts or phone calls.

When Glympse first debuted, it made it fast and easy for users to “Share Your Where” with others, for a specified period of time without creating yet another network. Now, the new Glympse turns the tables and makes it just as easy to ask your friends, family, and colleagues, “Where are you?” With the new “Request a Glympse” feature, users simply send a request via text or email and recipients can instantly accept and start broadcasting their location for the given time period.

Get Glympse in the App Store and Google Play

Android Jelly Bean is sweet

Cory Doctorow — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 14:15:21 +0000

I got an over-the-air update to my Nexus Galaxy last night, and I'm now running version 4.1 of Android, AKA Jelly Bean. My preliminary impression: holy shit, this is awesome. Fast! Like a time-lapse of my old phone with all the waiting edited out. Haven't tried the voice-search yet, but I will.

Free/open Android-based games console raises $2MM+ on Kickstarter in one day

Cory Doctorow — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 17:00:34 +0000

The Ouya is an Android-based games console design that's been floated on Kickstarter. It's done spectacularly well, garnering over $2.3MM in the first day (now closing in on $4MM), far in excess of its target of $950,000. So much money has been raised, in fact, that the project's founders are now asking supporters for ideas on what to do with all the extra: "The biggest thing for us right now: we are working on our stretch goals, what we can do if we raise more money. It might take us a few days to figure that out, and we want your help."

Ouya's pitch is pretty awesome: a handsome, blobjecty console that is built on free/open source software, free SDKs to level the playing field to developers, with no publishing, licensing or retail fees. They promise easy-to-root hardware, and warranty support for rooted systems, and openness to hacker-designed peripherals.

Have at it: It's easy to root (and rooting won't void your warranty). Everything opens with standard screws. Hardware hackers can create their own peripherals, and connect via USB or Bluetooth. You want our hardware design? Let us know. We might just give it to you. Surprise us!
Specifications:
* Tegra3 quad-core processor
* 1GB RAM
* 8GB of internal flash storage
* HDMI connection to the TV, with support for up to 1080p HD
* WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
* Bluetooth LE 4.0
* USB 2.0 (one)
* Wireless controller with standard controls (two analog sticks, d-pad, eight action buttons, a system button), a touchpad
Android 4.0

OUYA: A New Kind of Video Game Console (via Engadget)

Police Tape: an ACLU mobile app to secretly record the police

Cory Doctorow — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 23:00:54 +0000

Police Tape is an Android app from the American Civil Liberties Union that is designed to allow citizens to covertly record the police. When activated, it hides itself from casual inspection, and it has a mode that causes it to send its recording to an ACLU-operated server, protecting against police seizure and deletion.

Citizens can hold police accountable in the palms of their hands with "Police Tape," a smartphone application from the ACLU of New Jersey that allows people to securely and discreetly record and store interactions with police, as well as provide legal information about citizens' rights when interacting with the police. Thanks to the generosity of app developer OpenWatch, the ACLU-NJ is providing Police Tape to the public free of charge.

The ACLU says that an iPhone version is "coming soon," though it remains to be seen whether something so potentially controversial passes muster with the App Store.

Police Tape

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean "fast, fluid, and beautifully designed"

Rob Beschizza — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 14:51:10 +0000

Dieter Bohn on the latest version of Google's Android operating system: "compared to what [iOS and Windows Phone] bring to the table today, I think Jelly Bean is a stronger offering, especially if you're a participant in the Google ecosystem." [The Verge]

VLC on Android

Cory Doctorow — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 15:40:57 +0000

VLC, the world's greatest video player, is now in beta for Android. It's a bit shaky, but it's also amazing news. (via LifeHacker)

Essential mobile adventure games

Rob Beschizza — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 14:16:18 +0000

Konstantinos Dimopoulous offers the 10 adventure games you must play on iOS. Android gamers have plenty to choose from too (albeit buried in Google Play's "Puzzle" section), including the just-released director's cut of Broken Sword.

PGP founder creates secure voice mobile app, bets people will pay for privacy

Cory Doctorow — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:00:33 +0000

PGP creator Phil Zimmerman has launched Silent Circle, an encrypted phone-call app for Android and iOS. The service will likely cost $20/month, for which Zimmerman does not apologize: "This is not Facebook. Our customers are customers. They're not products. They're not part of the inventory" (from CNet).

Silent Circle's planned debut comes amid recent polls suggesting that Internet users remain concerned about online data collection (or at least are willing to tell pollsters so), with Facebook topping health insurers, banks, and even the federal government as today's No. 1 privacy threat. Yet even after a decade of startups that have tried to capitalize on these concerns, consumers spending their own money remain consistently difficult to persuade that paying for privacy is worth it.
Zimmermann hopes to overcome this reluctance by offering a set of services designed from the start to be simple to use: encrypted e-mail, encrypted phone calls, and encrypted instant messaging. (Encrypted SMS text messages are eventually planned too.)

Silent Circle | Worldwide Private Encrypted Communications (via O'Reilly Radar)

Android screen lock bests FBI

Cory Doctorow — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 23:13:06 +0000

A court filing from an FBI Special Agent reports that the Bureau's forensics teams can't crack the pattern-lock utility on Android devices' screens. This is moderately comforting, given the courts' recent findings that mobile phones can be searched without warrants. David Kravets writes on Wired:

A San Diego federal judge days ago approved the warrant upon a request by FBI Special Agent Jonathan Cupina. The warrant was disclosed Wednesday by security researcher Christopher Soghoian,
In a court filing, Cupina wrote: (.pdf)
Failure to gain access to the cellular telephone’s memory was caused by an electronic ‘pattern lock’ programmed into the cellular telephone. A pattern lock is a modern type of password installed on electronic devices, typically cellular telephones. To unlock the device, a user must move a finger or stylus over the keypad touch screen in a precise pattern so as to trigger the previously coded un-locking mechanism. Entering repeated incorrect patterns will cause a lock-out, requiring a Google e-mail login and password to override. Without the Google e-mail login and password, the cellular telephone’s memory can not be accessed. Obtaining this information from Google, per the issuance of this search warrant, will allow law enforcement to gain access to the contents of the memory of the cellular telephone in question.
Rosenberg, in a telephone interview, suggested the authorities could “dismantle a phone and extract data from the physical components inside if you’re looking to get access.”
However, that runs the risk of damaging the phone’s innards, and preventing any data recovery.

FBI Can’t Crack Android Pattern-Screen Lock

Sony Xperia S reviewed

Rob Beschizza — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 14:38:21 +0000

Vlad Savov reviews Sony's Xperia S for The Verge. With a 1280x720 display, 12 megapixel camera and a dual-core CPU, it's the company's first major new design since buying out Sony-Ericsson. How does it do?

The Xperia S isn't a bad phone, it's just not particularly good at any one thing. I find this disappointing because Sony's brand ethos has always been about conquering the heights of technology, not settling for a moderately good device in the middle of the pack.

Dead on arrival, in other words. You can tell Sony is trying hard to catch up, however, because the edition of Android on it is only 14 months old.

Who should know what's happening in your computer? Who should control it?

Cory Doctorow — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 20:41:09 +0000

My latest Locus column is "What’s Inside the Box," a discussion of whether owners, users or third parties should be able to know and/or control what their computers are doing:

The answer to this that most of the experts I speak to come up with is this:
The owner (or user) of a device should be able to know (or control) which software is running on her devices.
This is really four answers, and I’ll go over them in turn, using three different scenarios: a computer in an Internet cafe, a car, and a cochlear implant. That is, a computer you sit in front of, a computer you put your body into, and a computer you put in your body.

Cory Doctorow: What’s Inside the Box

Android lets apps secretly access and transmit your photos

Cory Doctorow — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 18:19:00 +0000

Writing in the NYT's BITS section, Brian X. Chen and Nick Bilton describe a disturbing design-flaw in Android: apps can access and copy your private photos, without you ever having to grant them permission to do so. Google says this is a legacy of the earlier-model phones that used removable SD cards, but it remains present in current versions. To prove the vulnerability's existence, a company called Loupe made an Android app that, once installed, grabbed your most recent photo and posted it to Imgur, a public photo-sharing site. The app presented itself as a timer, and users who installed it were not prompted to grant access to their files or images. A Google spokesperson quoted in the story describes the problem, suggests that the company would be amenable to fixing it, but does not promise to do so.

Ashkan Soltani, a researcher specializing in privacy and security, said Google’s explanation of its approach would be “surprising to most users, since they’d likely be unaware of this arbitrary difference in the phone’s storage system.” Mr. Soltani said that to users, Google’s permissions system was ”akin to buying a car that only had locks on the doors but not the trunk.”

I think that this highlights a larger problem with networked cameras and sensors in general. The last decade of digital sensors -- scanners, cameras, GPSes -- has accustomed us to thinking of these devices as "air-gapped," separated from the Internet, and not capable of interacting with the rest of the world without physical human intervention.

But increasingly these things are networked -- we carry around location-sensitive, accelerometer-equipped A/V recording devices at all times (our phones). Adding network capability to these things means that design flaws, vulnerabilities and malicious code can all conspire to expose us to unprecedented privacy invasions. Unless you're in the habit of not undressing, going to the toilet, having arguments or intimate moments, and other private activities in the presence of your phone, you're at risk of all that leaking online.

It seems to me that neither the devices' designers nor their owners have gotten to grips with this yet. The default should be that our sensors don't broadcast their readings without human intervention. The idea that apps should come with take-it-or-leave-it permissions "requests" for access to your camera, mic, and other sensors is broken. It's your device and your private life. You should be able to control -- at a fine-grained level -- the extent to which apps are allowed to read, store and transmit facts about your life using your sensors.

Et Tu, Google? Android Apps Can Also Secretly Copy Photos

Communist tablet?

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:56:30 +0000

This story is sketchy and unsourced, but it claims that the Chinese Communist Party has commissioned its own Android tablet, a boondoggle that costs twice as much as an iPad and comes with a state-run miniblogging app, an app for reading state newspapers, and an app for reading official announcements. I'm blogging it because even if it turns out to be a hoax, I want to stick it in the rock-tumbler for potential inclusion in a science fiction story. (Thanks, Steven!)

CyanogenMod, the free/open port of Android, gains traction

Cory Doctorow — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 22:08:34 +0000

Here's a good brief look at the state of CyanogenMod, a free/open fork of the Android operating system that lets you do a lot more with your tablet/phone. I really like the way that CyanogenMod exerts force on the Android ecosystem: back when Google was unwilling to ship a tethering app (even for "Google Experience" phones like the Nexus One), CyanogenMod gave users the choice to tether. I think that the number of users who went to the fork freaked out both Google and the carriers, and in any event, tethering quickly became an official feature of Android.

Now CyanogenMod is toying with the idea of a Banned Apps store, consisting of apps that were banned from Google Marketplace for "no good reason" (generally because they threatened Google or the carriers in some way). It's hard for users to get upset about functionality restrictions that they don't know about, but once their friends get the ability to do more, they'll clamor for it, too.

And Google has a strong incentive to keep up with CyanogenMod's functionality: once you've rooted your device and installed a new OS on it for the first time, it's pretty easy to keep on doing it for future devices. I know I worried a lot the first time, and laughed through subsequent installs -- and the process just keeps getting easier. It's really in Google's interest that Android users not get the CyanogenMod habit, and the best way to prevent that is to keep up with CyanogenMod itself, even if it means sacrificing a little profitability, and that's good for users.

Given the success of CyanogenMod, it should be no surprise that the project is continuing to evolve and grow into new areas. Koushik Dutta, one of the CyanogenMod team members, would like to see an App Store for root apps and apps that are "getting shut down for no good reason." The idea seems pretty handy from a user perspective, and as Dutta points out, could even help fund the CyanogenMod project.
Apparently, Dutta approached Amazon with his idea of bundling their AppStore in CyanogenMod with the provision that Amazon would give CyanogenMod a portion of the sales. Sadly, Amazon brushed Dutta off, so it would appear that this isn't going to happen in the short term. Still, it appears there are a number of users on Google+ that are excited about the project, so hopefully it will come to fruition. Dutta's proposed store would be open-source so it would be available to any custom ROM, not just CyanogenMod.

CyanogenMod Enjoys User Growth, Considers Launching A Banned App Store (via Digg)

Cute ABC book for Android

Cory Doctorow — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 19:10:48 +0000

Wuffabet is a new Android app for small kids: an ABC book with great illustrations and music and really cute animations (it also has some very good nonstandard animal choices, like U for Urchin (sea urchins), F for Flying Squirrel, N for Narwhal, O for Octopus, and Y for Yaffle!). It was created by Chad Essley, who's done animations for Sesame Street. A nice option for post-present-opening lulls and new phones/tablets.

Wuffabet!

(Thanks, Chad!)

Technology confuse lizard! Lizard no like!

Dean Putney — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 03:43:20 +0000

Why ant no tasty? Lizard mind no grasp concept of menu selection! AAAAAAAARRRRGH! Lizard crush microprocessors!!

I also originally found this as a GIF. Thanks to theortolan for Submitterating the video! [Video Link]

Sprint loaded spyware on its Android phones

Cory Doctorow — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 02:47:17 +0000

Alan sez, "TechCrunch and others are reporting that a program called "Carrier IQ" that comes pre-installed on Sprint phones has some pretty amazing spyware capabilities, right down to keylogging everything you do on the phone."

Note the careful use of the words “record,” “provide,” “inspect,” and “report.” It’s obvious from this video that the application has access to the information in question, and whether it records, provides, inspects, or reports it is simply a setting they can choose. The purposes for which CIQ says their software is installed — identifying trending problems in the fleet, for instance — don’t seem to me to require the level of access the software has granted itself. Add this to the fact that users are not informed at any step of the fact that their information is passing through “quality assurance” layer (sometimes before the user layer itself is aware of it), and their indignant denial begins to ring hollow.
Furthermore, as many developers have pointed out, the mere presence of the software is detrimental. Removing the software has reportedly improved performance and battery life. Furthermore, secure handshake information over wifi is passed through the software unencrypted, something that has little to do with carrier quality assurance. And if that information is cached even temporarily, that’s a security risk.

CarrierIQ, makers of the rootkit/spyware, threatened legal action against Trevor Eckhart, the researcher who reported on this, and backed down after EFF took up his case.

Carrier IQ Video Shows Alarming Capabilities Of Mobile Tracking Software (Thanks, Alan!)

Galaxy Nexus teardown reveals a repair-friendly, tinkerable phone

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:15:17 +0000

iFixIt tears down the Galaxy Nexus, the latest "Google Experience" phone (a phone that ships with a stock Android installation and no telco/manufacturer crapware installed) and finds it to be admirably tinkerer/repair-friendly. The device is held together with standard screws, and very few of the components are glued together, meaning that it will be fairly straightforward to repair.

The phone is meant to ship next week, and I've already pre-ordered mine (I'll let you know how it works out). I've owned two other Google Experience phones (the Nexus One and the Galaxy S) and been very happy with them.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus Teardown (via Wired)

Twitter buys secure communications company that helped hack the Arab Spring

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:07:43 +0000

Twitter has bought a company called Whisper Systems, who make a secure version of the Android operating system as well as suites of privacy tools that are intended to protect demonstrators, especially participants in the Arab Spring. Many speculate that the acquisition was driven by the desire to hire CTO Moxie Marlinspike, a somewhat legendary cryptographer.

At first blush, the move is a bit baffling. Twitter, the quintessential consumer internet service, would seem to have little need for a company that has revamped Android security from the ground up for business use. But the micro-blogging site may simply be acquiring Whisper Systems for its talent — including Marlinspike, who serves as the startup’s chief technology officer, and roboticist Stuart Anderson — and the two companies do have a certain affinity. Both pride themselves on the support they’ve provided to protesters in the Middle East.
Security and privacy guru Chris Soghoian believes Twitter may have brought Moxie Marlinspike into the fold because the micro-blogging site has developed a reputation for not having the best security. Marlinspike is an expert in SSL (secure sockets layer) encryption, and Twitter — which has yet to turn on SSL by default for all users — could use his skills to lock down its services and make life harder for phishers.

I've been worried lately about the crumbling infrastructure of the SSL system, and what it means for our ability to communicate in private, to conduct banking and ecommerce, and to have any assurance of identity online. I've been asking all the security/crypto supernerds I know about this for a few months, and to a one, they've mentioned Marlinspike's Convergence and said, effectively, "I'm not sure if it'll solve this, but there's nothing else I have any hope for."

Twitter Buys Some Middle East Moxie (Thanks, Larry!)

Astounding 3D effects projected onto a building's facade

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 05:32:27 +0000

This LG mobile phone ad "event" projected a startling and well-conceived montage of 3D effects onto a building's facade in Berlin. It's all very spectacular and beautiful -- pretty amazing for an ad (though I can imagine that if a whole city were taken over by this sort of advertising every night, it would be rather tedious). Meanwhile, I seriously covet that projector, which is blasting out enough lumens that I wonder if it incinerates small insects that stray into the path of the beam. I could get into serious mischief with one of those.

LG Optimus Hyper Facade in Berlin - Long Version (Thanks, Dad!)

HTC Rezound

Rob Beschizza — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 02:53:06 +0000

Ars Technica's Casey Johnston checks out a new Android handset designed to be good at playing music: "we're not sold"

Ice Cream Sandwich

Rob Beschizza — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:35:31 +0000

Gadget Lab's Mike Isaac take a "deep dive" into the latest version of Android, with the platform's chief engineer as tour guide.

EFF: "We are generally satisfied with the privacy design of Silk"

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 14:23:31 +0000

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has been investigating Silk, the web browser built into Amazon's new Android-derived Kindle Fire. Silk is billed as being a very fast browser, thanks to acceleration achieved by funneling all requests through Amazon's cloud servers. This may speed up network sessions, but it creates many privacy questions, since it means Amazon gets a view into your network sessions that it wouldn't otherwise have -- a copy of all the web-pages you receive.

But as Dan Auerbach reports, Amazon made some very good privacy choices in the design of Silk. First, the "acceleration" is user-configurable, and you can just turn it off if you're worried. Further, SSL connections are never intercepted, and Amazon only lightly logs your network sessions, and expires those logs after 30 days. The service isn't perfect, but it's got a lot to recommend it.

It is good that Amazon does not receive your encrypted traffic, and does not record any identifying information about your device. And there are other benefits to user privacy that can result from cloud acceleration mode. For one, the persistent SPDY connection between the user’s tablet and Amazon’s servers is always encrypted. Accordingly, if you are using your tablet on an open Wifi network, other users on that network will not be able to spy on your browsing behavior.
Amazon does not act like an anonymizing proxy, because it does not shield your IP address from the websites you visit or strip unnecessary information out of the outgoing request. Indeed, because the XFF header is set for HTTP requests, your IP is still passed through to the websites you visit. Other headers, such as the HTTP referer header, are set as normal. Thus, the website you are visiting using Silk has access to the exact same information that it would if you were using a normal browser.

EFF Gets Straight Privacy Answers From Amazon About New "Silk" Tablet Browser [eff.org]

Blackberry maker RIM offers customers free apps after outage; RIM stock continues to drop anyway

Xeni Jardin — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:45:58 +0000

Shares of beleaguered Blackberry maker Research In Motion dropped more than 5 percent today after the company tried to make up for a four-day BlackBerry outage by offering customers $100 worth of free apps and technical support. That outage was a quiet killer. But what should they have offered their loyal users? Other than an iPhone or an Android phone, I mean. Your suggestions welcomed in the comments.

VLC coming to Android

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 03:31:58 +0000

The open Android ecosystem keeps on getting more interesting. Austen Dicken, a key developer on the CyanogenMod project, is making great strides in porting VLC Player, the best, most versatile media player in the universe, to run on Android handsets and tablets.