Mobile phones & tablets thread

[Jag_Warrior]

Is it for home use?

I can’t imagine why one of those voice-activated Bluetooth car speakers wouldn’t work in your home?

Yep, strictly indoor use. If a Bluetooth speaker will run off 110 volts, that might be a good way to go. Thanks. I'll look into that too.

[schmenke]

I'm pretty sure Bluetooth speakers (the ones specifically for cars) are available battery operated. Probably just a couple of AAs.

[Jag_Warrior]

I just realized, if I go that route, I'll have to upgrade the current cellphone since the current one doesn't have Bluetooth capabilities. So looks like the iPhone (if it dials and answers by voice) may be the way to go anyway, unless I can find a landline solution. I've found one decent "special needs" supply house, but it's surprising how difficult they make sorting through all the options. Most of their "voice activated" landline phones are just voice activated dialers and won't answer calls. Grrrrr!

[airshifter]

I just realized, if I go that route, I'll have to upgrade the current cellphone since the current one doesn't have Bluetooth capabilities. So looks like the iPhone (if it dials and answers by voice) may be the way to go anyway, unless I can find a landline solution. I've found one decent "special needs" supply house, but it's surprising how difficult they make sorting through all the options. Most of their "voice activated" landline phones are just voice activated dialers and won't answer calls. Grrrrr!

Most of the bluetooth car units will answer calls as well as make them using the phones voice commands, or in some cases using Google voice commands. I have a BlueAnt S4 and it answers calls just fine, as well as rejecting them if you don't or can't talk.

Just about any phone can do voice commands now, and you don't have to buy upper end to get it. There are tons of apps and they get better daily. If the person in question can simply bring up the Google bar they all kinds of things are possible. If they can't a bluetooth device or similar might be the answer. Keep in mind that Siri was simply and app that Apple purchased, and it's certainly not and exclusive feature of Apple devices. There are a number of them to pick from, with varied sets of features.

[Jag_Warrior]

Google's Android Has a Fake-ID Problem

Be careful, Android users.

Google’s (GOOG) Android operating system has a security flaw that could allow hackers to impersonate trusted applications and potentially hijack your phone or tablet, according to research released today.

The basic issue is the way in which Android checks—or rather, does not check—that certain applications are what they say they are, according to Bluebox Security, the company that identified the vulnerability. Hence the catchy name, “Fake ID.”

Verifying identity is one of the most fundamental issues online. Is someone logging into a bank account the owner of that account? Is an application what it claims to be? San Francisco-based Bluebox helps companies secure their data on mobile devices, and its staff members work to research and understand the architecture of the mobile operating systems that Bluebox builds onto, says Jeff Forristal, chief technology officer.

Each Android application has its own digital signature—an ID card, in essence. Adobe Systems (ADBE), for example, has a specific signature on Android, and all programs from Adobe have an ID that’s based on that signature. Bluebox discovered that when an application flashes an Adobe ID, for example, Android does not check back with Adobe that it’s an authentic one. That means that a malicious actor could create malware based on Adobe’s signature and infect your system. The problem isn’t specific to Adobe; a hacker could create a malicious application that impersonates Google Wallet and then access payment and financial data. The same issue applies to administrative software present on some devices, allowing full control of the entire system.

“We basically discovered a way to create fake ID cards,” says Forristal. “There are different vectors. They all come down to: I can create a fake ID card. The question is, which fake ID card do I create?”

The flaw affects Android systems from 2.1 (released in January 2010) on up, though the latest version, 4.4 or KitKat, has closed the hole as it relates to Adobe, according to Bluebox. To give an idea of scale: From 2012 to 2013, about 1.4 billion new devices shipped with the Android operating system, according to Gartner. Gartner (IT) estimates that 1.17 billion additional Android devices will ship this year.

[Mark]

For Siri you need a button press to activate it. With limited mobility that might still be an issue? I think with the latest Android you can say "ok google" without a button press?

[Storm]

So after a little bit of research and having actually decided on an iPhone 4s (yeah not with the times - or rather are not suckers ) which is now pretty cheap here, we did a u-turn and went for an unknown and newly launched Asus Zenfone 5 for the missus. Anybody here has it?

I am quietly confident that it will be well made device, Asus makes decent hardware.

[odykas]

iCloud anyone?

Reported iCloud hack leaks hundreds of nude celebrity photos

[Storm]

^ yeah read that

btw the Asus Zenfone has turned out to be a very nice phone indeed..

[Koz]

For Siri you need a button press to activate it. With limited mobility that might still be an issue? I think with the latest Android you can say "ok google" without a button press?

They have "Hey Siri!" coming in iOS 8, which might be out in a week or so.