iT Rumors: Nexus

Google could launch 'Nexus TV' Android

Google isn't giving up its living room ambitions. The company is said to be working on a "Nexus TV" device that will run Android, stream video from services like Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube, and play a selection of video games. The rumor comes from The Information's Amir Efrati, who cites an anonymous Google employee. The device is said to be ready for launch as soon as the first half of next year, according to the report.

Rumors of a Google-made Android set top box go back to July of this year, when The Wall Street Journal reported that such a device was demoed by Andy Rubin behind closed doors at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Sources told the paper at the time that the box included a Kinect-like motion sensor and could be controlled with an Android smartphone. Today's report from The Information corroborates these details (though a motion sensor is not mentioned), and adds that a purpose-built touchpad remote could be included with the set-top box. Google reportedly showed off a version of the box to developers as recently as this fall.

It's said that the device will not support live broadcast, which would mean Google could avoid the hassle of trying to bring traditional content providers on board. That's a task that's so far proved impossible for other companies: Intel abandoned its efforts to launch an internet set-top box after failing to secure such deals, and it's rumored that an Apple television device has been delayed for similar reasons. If the Nexus TV reports are accurate, Google seems to be pursuing a similar strategy as Amazon, which is rumored to have a set-top box of its own set for next year.

Google has launched a number of products to attempt to gain a foothold in the living room, starting with the ill-fated (but still living) Google TV operating system that manufacturers built into smart TVs and other devices. It later announced the expensive Nexus Q (which never officially went on sale), and this year it began selling a small HDMI dongle called the Chromecast, which streams from just a few services and costs $35. The latter has seen some success, but it's a device with a simple feature set. A fully-fledged Nexus TV set-top box that runs Android would be in a different category — though today's report suggests it will be "aggressively priced."

Via: The Verge

Android 4.4

Only five weeks after the Android 4.4 flagship Nexus 5 started shipping, Google has released an over the air update that addresses some of the flaws found in the software. If you have the Nexus 4, 5, or 7, get ready for Android 4.4.1 to hit your device.

When the Nexus 5 was launched, it felt like an amazing piece of hardware that was somehow left unfinished before releasing it to the public. There were some strange bugs in audio, the camera was almost unusable if you needed a quick photo, and even if you took your time the chances of getting a great shot compared to other smartphones wasn’t particularly high.

There was also some odd spacing issues in the UI where icons didn’t line up, and when you put all of these things together it was frustrating to see a device with so much potential fall short. Fortunately, Google has acted swiftly to fix these problems by releasing Android 4.4.1 to Nexus devices.

Source : Geek.com

Bogdan Alecu, a system administrator at Dutch IT services company Levi9, discovered that by bombarding a Nexus device with numerous Flash SMS in succession without dismissal the device will eventually reboot. While this isn’t a serious vulnerability it is still concerning since anyone can reboot a Nexus device without the owner of the device knowing it since they won’t know about the message unless they look at their phone.

Alecu said that if the smartphone receives around 30 flash messages that are not dismissed it begins to act erratically. The most common behavior is that the device will reboot itself. If a PIN has been setup then the owner will not know that their device is not connected to the network if they don’t look at it. During this period no messages, calls, or any notifications will be received by the device.

On rare occasions the Nexus will not reboot but will temporarily lose network connectivity. As soon as connectivity is restored the device will be able to make and receive calls however accessing the Internet over the mobile network will no longer work. To resolve this problem the device has to be rebooted.

This vulnerability was presented by Alecu Friday at the DefCamp security conference in Bucharest, Romania. A live test using a Nexus 4 running on Android 4.3 and its screen unlocked showed that when 30 flash messages were received and not dismissed did not result in a reboot. The device however became unresponsive and any attempts to lock the screen did not work. The device was eventually rebooted to make it operate normally again.

A second attempt to recreate the issue also failed to immediately reboot the device because only 2 of the 20 flash messages sent arrived on the device. After all 20 messages arrived, the device rebooted when the screen was unlocked.

Alecu said that he discovered this vulnerability a year ago and has confirmed that it is present in the Google Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 phones running various Android 4.x versions including the latest KitKat. He tried contacting Google regarding this vulnerability however only got an automated response. A member of the Android Security Team responded last July stating that the problem will be fixed with the release of Android 4.3 however apparently it still hasn’t.

Via : PCWorld
Read more at http://thedroidguy.com/2013/11/google-nexus-smartphones-vulnerable-rebooting-via-sms-attack/#18wOUZbHxClw31MS.99