Jurang Tayo

Kamis, 18 April 2019

Google pulls popular Chinese Android apps over large-scale ad fraud - Engadget

Google pulled a number of popular Android apps from the Play Store after BuzzFeed News has discovered a large-scale ad fraud scheme their developers were pulling off. Six of those apps were by DU Group, a developer that spun off from Chinese tech giant Baidu a year ago. (Baidu, however, still owns 34 percent of the company.) DU's properties include the immensely popular Selfie Camera app that's been downloaded over 50 million times from the Play Store. Ad fraud researcher Check Point found that it contains code that causes the app to automatically click on advertisements without the user's knowledge.

Users don't even need to fire up the app: the clicks happen even if the application isn't running, which means it can drain battery and consume data. This fraudulent action happens with ads served with Google's AdMob and Twitter's MoPub, further showing how bad actors are exploiting Twitter's ad platform. Back in March, BuzzFeed News reported a massive ad fraud scheme that also exploited MoPub by hiding video ads behind legit banner advertisements.

In addition to fraudulently clicking on ads, the DU Group apps involved in the scheme -- Omni Cleaner, RAM Master, Smart Cooler, Total Cleaner and AIO Flashlight, aside from Selfie Camera -- also hid their affiliation with the company. They didn't disclose that they were collecting data and sending it back to China, as well.

BuzzFeed News discovered DU Group's involvement after examining 5,000 popular apps on the Play Store. It found a lot of more apps involved in ad fraud other than the six DU Group applications, though, proving that it's a major problem Google needs to address. Arete Research Senior Analyst Richard Kramer told the publication that Google needs to do more to solve the issue. "Ad fraud is simply the norm in China (and for many other apps), and... Google should be doing far more to prevent it, even if it would materially reduce sales. They cannot claim ignorance of, or deny the problem," he said.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.engadget.com/2019/04/18/google-pulls-android-apps-ad-fraud/

2019-04-18 08:53:31Z
52780271315658

Facebook says it ‘unintentionally uploaded’ email contacts of 1.5 million users: report - Fox News

Facebook said on Wednesday it “unintentionally uploaded” email contacts of 1.5 million new users since March 2016, a report said.

New users were being asked to verify their accounts with their email passwords, a process that in some cases saw users' email contacts uploaded to Facebook, the company told Reuters in a statement.

TECHNOLOGY IS 'A CRIME SCENE' AND FACEBOOK 'BROKE DEMOCRACY,' JOURNALIST WHO EXPOSED CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA SAYS

“We estimate that up to 1.5 million people’s email contacts may have been uploaded. These contacts were not shared with anyone and we are deleting them,” Facebook said. The company noted that users who had their contacts imported would be notified.

The company told Reuters that last month it stopped offering email password verification for users signing up for the first time

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

Facebook has been under fire for privacy-related issues, including a data scandal where Cambridge Analytica obtained 87 million Facebook users’ personal information without their consent.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.foxnews.com/tech/facebook-says-it-unintentionally-uploaded-email-contacts-of-1-5-million-users-report

2019-04-18 07:20:18Z
52780271164900

Google pulls popular Chinese Android apps over large-scale ad fraud - Engadget

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.engadget.com/2019/04/18/google-pulls-android-apps-ad-fraud/

2019-04-18 08:20:55Z
52780271315658

Samsung shares tumble amid concerns its foldable phones are breaking - CNBC

Shares of Samsung Electronics dropped more than 3 percent on Thursday after multiple accounts emerged of its cutting-edge folding phone breaking ahead of the device's retail launch.

The phone, named the Galaxy Fold and priced at $1,980, has only been given to gadget reviewers so far, but several people have reported that their screens appear to be disconnecting and permanently flashing on or off.

Samsung started taking pre-orders for the Galaxy Fold last weekend, but quickly ran out of availability, suggesting supply is constrained at least until its retail launch.

The wider technology sector in South Korea also saw declines on the day, with shares of SK Hynix and LG Electronics declining 1.25 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.

Samsung's stock decline was related to the early reports of the Galaxy Fold breaking, said Daniel Yoo, head of global strategy and research at Kiwoom Securities. On top of that, investors were also responding to concerns about Samsung's part in the roll out of the next generation 5G wireless standard, he added.

"With Qualcomm and Apple deal, expectation for 5G was very high," Yoo said.

Apple and Qualcomm settled a longstanding legal dispute over royalties earlier this week, with the settlement including a payment from Apple to Qualcomm as well as a chipset supply agreement, suggesting that the Cupertino-based tech giant will buy Qualcomm's chips for future iPhones.

Analysts had previously said that the dispute between Qualcomm and Apple could slow down Apple's plans to support next-generation 5G networks, with the former being one of the top suppliers of chips that can connect to 5G networks. The agreement opens up the possibility that Apple could release a 5G iPhone sooner than expected with Qualcomm's modem technology.

At present, however, Samsung's Galaxy S10 and Fold devices are "leading" the way among phones with 5G potential, according to Yoo.

"If there is any chance of demand slowdown due to quality control, this will have quite significant negative impact on the IT sector as a whole," Yoo said, noting that demand for chips in the first half of 2019 was already weak.

For its part, Samsung said in a statement that it was looking into the reports of broken Galaxy Folds:

A limited number of early Galaxy Fold samples were provided to media for review. We have received a few reports regarding the main display on the samples provided. We will thoroughly inspect these units in person to determine the cause of the matter.
Separately, a few reviewers reported having removed the top layer of the display causing damage to the screen. The main display on the Galaxy Fold features a top protective layer, which is part of the display structure designed to protect the screen from unintended scratches. Removing the protective layer or adding adhesives to the main display may cause damage. We will ensure this information is clearly delivered to our customers.

Commenting on the reports about the Galaxy Fold breaking, Yoo said they appeared "over-stretched."

The current concerns and correction will be "limited in the short term," with the issues faced by the device likely to be solved before its launch, he said.

— CNBC's Todd Haselton, David Faber and Kif Leswing contributed to this report.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/18/samsung-shares-tumble-amid-concerns-about-galaxy-fold-breaking.html

2019-04-18 07:49:10Z
52780270491506

Facebook collected 1.5 million users' email contacts without their knowledge - CNN

The world's biggest social network said Wednesday night that the email contact lists had been "unintentionally" uploaded to Facebook (FB) following a design change almost two years ago, and the company was now in the process of deleting them.

Facebook said the issue began three years ago when it made changes to the step-by-step verification process users go through when signing up for an account on the platform. Prior to those changes, users were given the option to upload their email contact lists when opening an account to help them find friends already on Facebook.

But in May 2016, Facebook removed language that explained users' contact lists could be uploaded to the company's servers when they signed up for an account. This meant that in some cases people's email contact lists were uploaded to Facebook without their knowledge or consent.

A Facebook spokesperson said Wednesday the firm did not realize this was happening until April of this year, when it stopped offering email password verification as an option for people signing up to Facebook for the first time.

"When we looked into the steps people were going through to verify their accounts, we found that in some cases people's email contacts were also unintentionally uploaded to Facebook when they created their account," the spokesperson added.

The company said the mistakenly uploaded contact lists had not been shared with anyone outside of Facebook. The news was first reported by Business Insider on Wednesday.

Ashkan Soltani, a former chief technology officer for the Federal Trade Commission, tweeted Wednesday evening that he thought this was "one of the most legally actionable behaviors by @facebook to date."

"I'm confident regulators will be taking a look," he said.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez left Facebook. Good for her

The incident is the latest privacy issue to rock Facebook, which has more than two billion users globally. Over the last 18 months these have included the Cambridge Analytica data scandal and the biggest security breach in its history.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has responded to criticism by promising to introduce more privacy-focused measures on the platform, such as encrypted messaging and better data security.

Facebook was also engulfed in controversy after a shooter in New Zealand livestreamed his March 15 attack on two mosques in Christchurch using the social network's video tools. The shooter killed 50 people.

Its WhatsApp instant messaging application has been accused of enabling the spread of misinformation in India.

Rob McLean contributed to this report.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/18/business/facebook-email-contacts/index.html

2019-04-18 05:49:00Z
52780271164900

Samsung says it’s investigating those Galaxy Fold screen problems - TechRadar

Following reports from reviewers earlier today that the Samsung Galaxy Fold seemingly has a durability problem, the South Korean electronics giant has offered an official statement on the matter, promising to "thoroughly inspect" the offending review units in question.

"A limited number of early Galaxy Fold samples were provided to media for review. We have received a few reports regarding the main display on the samples provided. We will thoroughly inspect these units in person to determine the cause of the matter," reads Samsung's statement.

While one report has noted a review unit with a faulty hinge pressing against the screen from the inside, it appears the most common cause of damage may have been due to the removal of a protective layer of plastic on top of the device's display, which some reviewers have mistakenly identified as a regular (and removable) screen protector.

Samsung's statement continued, "Separately, a few reviewers reported having removed the top layer of the display causing damage to the screen. The main display on the Galaxy Fold features a top protective layer, which is part of the display structure designed to protect the screen from unintended scratches. Removing the protective layer or adding adhesives to the main display may cause damage. We will ensure this information is clearly delivered to our customers."

The company has reportedly replaced most of the broken review units, so it will be interesting to see whether the problem disappears now that reviewers know not to strip-off that protective layer from the screen.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.techradar.com/news/samsung-says-its-investigating-those-galaxy-fold-screen-problems

2019-04-18 05:14:00Z
52780270491506

Rabu, 17 April 2019

Samsung's $2,000 folding phone is breaking for some users after two days - CNBC

Samsung's $1,980 Galaxy Fold phone is breaking for some users after a day or two of use. A review unit given to CNBC by Samsung is also completely unusable after just two days of use.

The phone has only been given to gadget reviewers, but some of the screens appear to be disconnecting and permanently flashing on or off.

The Verge's Dieter Bohn posted earlier on Wednesday that his phone appears to have a defective hinge with a "small bulge" that he can feel that's causing the screen to "slightly distort." Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says his "review unit is completely broken just two days in," but noted he accidentally removed a protective film on the screen.

tweet

YouTube tech reviewer Marques Brownlee also removed the film and experienced a broken display. A Samsung spokesperson had warned on Wednesday not to remove the protective layer.

However, CNBC didn't remove that layer, and our screen is now also failing to work properly. When opened, the left side of the flexible display, which makes up a large 7.3-inch screen, flickers consistently. It looks like this:

tweet

Samsung started taking pre-orders for the Galaxy Fold last weekend, but quickly ran out of availability, suggesting supply is constrained at least until its retail launch on April 26. Folks who ordered it might want to reconsider at this point.

Samsung decline to comment.

Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/17/samsung-galaxy-fold-screen-breaking-and-flickering.html

2019-04-17 18:16:35Z
52780270491506