Apple CEO Tim Cook has warned that UK plans to force companies to unlock encrypted communications would have "dire consequences" for both security and privacy. Cook said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph that the draft surveillance legislation — known as the Investigatory Powers bill — seems misguided. "If you halt or weaken encryption, the people that you hurt are not the folks that want to do bad things. It’s the good people. The other people know where to go," said Cook.
Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous 2 weeks or so.
Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.
Android Police coverage: Starific - Endless Reactor Bursts Into The Play Store For Free With No IAPs And Optional Ads
Watch the video below.
Read More32 New And Notable Android Games From The Last 2 Weeks (10/28/15 - 11/9/15) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
After facing criticism from government groups and animal rights activists about its treatment of captive orcas, The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that SeaWorld is moving to phase out its killer whale show in San Diego through next year. According to a company announcement, a new orca show will launch in 2017 that focuses instead on conservation efforts, one way the park can fight back against its opponents.
SeaWorld is on the defensive
Though the killer whale show is the park's flagship, SeaWorld is already on the defensive where its orcas are concerned. The 2013 documentary Blackfish exposed the stress killer whales experience during breeding — the kind of stress that resulted in the deaths of trainers. That, combined with repeat...
The recently-launched Nexus 5X smartphone from Google includes a 12.3MP rear camera. However, many owners of the phone have discovered that taking images with the Nexus 5X have resulted in photos that are upside down. Now, a Google team member has revealed the reason, as well as a solution to the problem.
UK Home Secretary Theresa May has announced legislation that will force ISPs to preserve the records of all of your online interactions and give them up to practically anyone in government, with little to no judicial oversight. (more…)
Twitch, the Amazon-owned video game streaming site, stumbled into an incredible source of new traffic when it kicked off the launch of its “Twitch Creative,” section at the end of last month with the debut of an all-episodes marathon of Bob Ross‘ “The Joy of Painting.” Yes, the “happy little trees” guy. The channel was an immediate success, and… Read More
Google's USB Type-C cable is back in stock, and you can purchase one for just $13 with free shipping. Whether you are looking to add some USB Type-C cables to your stockpile, or need something to be able to plug your new Nexus smartphone into your computer, this is a great option.
The newly-announced TAG Heuer Connected smartwatch, based on Google's Android Wear and using Intel hardware, is the subject of a series of videos posted by the watchmaker on its YouTube site.
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| Day one of sketches and exploration |
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| Storyboard organizing |
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| Alternative ending from an early draft |
Digital commissioner Günther Oettinger (CDU – EPP) is joining with European Parliament president Martin Schulz (SPD – S&D) in pressing the European Commission to create a copyright interest in links, meaning that making a link to a Web-page that contains infringing material would expose you to liability for copyright infringement yourself. (more…)
The long arm of the law wants ever more eyes, if you’ll pardon the gruesome metaphor. The UK government recently unveiled an attempt to legalize “draconian state surveillance powers.” US voices keep calling for a mythical “secure golden key” for government access to encrypted messages. Canadian police describe encryption plus legal decisions favoring online privacy… Read More
One of the most controversial aspects of the secretly negotiated Trans Pacific Partnership is its inclusion of investor-state dispute settlements (ISDS) -- a procedure that allows a corporation to sue governments to get rid of laws that undermine its profitability. ISDSs epitomize everything that's messed up in "trade" agreements, have resulted in corporations being given billions of dollars in tax-payer money in "compensation" for environmental, safety and labor laws; and, most notoriously, were used by Philip Morris to attack countries that passed laws aimed at reducing smoking. (more…)
47-year-old Mark Heryer was killed on October 11th when he was run over by a 38-Geary bus. The SFPD concluded, without investigation, that Heryer's death was his own fault. The city will not release the footage from the bus's camera -- not even to Heryer's lawyer. (more…)
When UK Home Secretary Theresa May introduced the new, sweeping UK spying bill this week, she reiterated her claim that metadata is like an "itemised phone bill" and does not contain anything harmful. (more…)
In the past few days there have been a flurry of stories about the Russian plane that crashed in the Sinai peninsula, which investigators reportedly think may have been caused by a bomb. Notably, anonymous US officials have been leaking to journalists that they believe ISIS is involved, and it’s a perfect illustration of the US government’s rank hypocrisy when it comes to the Edward Snowden disclosures.
Google said today it has acquired Fly Labs, maker of four iOS apps for quickly editing video, and will put its team to work on Google Photos. "It's a perfect match for what we built at Fly Labs, and we're looking forward to folding our technology into Google Photos," Fly said in a statement posted to its website. The company will continue to offer its four apps — Clips, Fly, Tempo, and Crop — for the next three months, and Google is giving away what used to be in-app purchases for free during that time.
The US spent five years locking its trading partners in smoke-filled rooms with its most rapacious corporate lobbyists, writing a secret trade agreement called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, all the while assuring us all that it would be great when it was done. It's awful. (more…)
Wi-fi setup is usually pretty easy: you find a space in the house, hire a team of radio experts to scan it for dead spots and an entire IT team to manage security and QoS. Then you try to connect from the back patio and discover that you can’t watch YouTube from the picnic table. To remedy this Dr. Paul Judge and Mike Van Bruinisse created Luma. This tiny Wi-Fi hotspot connects using a… Read More
Now that the BlackBerry Priv is here there's going to be more than a few people who are wondering where they can get their hands on one. And we wouldn't blame you one bit.
Here in the UK we're fortunate enough to be one of the lucky launch markets for the Priv and that means that it's going to be finding its way into peoples hands very soon. Here's where you can get your hands on one.
It turns out BlackBerry can make one hell of an Android phone.
A quality mobile experience means different things to different people, but a universal core to those experiences is the ability to enjoy using your phone without it feeling like work, even when you are using it specifically for work. BlackBerry has a long history of making people more productive through mobile experiences, but in an age where smartphones are used for play significantly more often than they are used for work, a new kind of balance needs to be struck without sacrificing those things that make us productive on smartphones. The Priv may not be the answer for everyone, but it's an answer no one else has come up with recently.
BlackBerry has assembled a thoroughly enjoyable piece of hardware, and while the BlackBerry/Android software mashup isn't perfect it's a solid first attempt.
![Debris litters the floor in MSF's Kunduz Trauma center. [Photo: MSF]](http://media.boingboing.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/MSF154371.jpg)
Doctors Without Borders released an internal report today that claims a U.S. warplane shot at people who were trying to escape the international medical aid group's hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, after the building was bombed by American forces.
EFF, the Organization for Transformative Works, and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund have filed a brief [PDF] in a Supreme Court case over "publicity rights" -- the right of famous people to veto the use of their names and likenesses in other works, like caricatures, documentaries, and biographies. (more…)
Google’s YouTube app for Android now supports virtual reality (VR) video in combination with its Cardboard VR viewer.
VR video takes the 360-degree videos you may already be familiar with a step further by using VR techniques like stereopsis and binocular disparity to give you a stronger feeling of immersion (which is what VR is all about, after all). Read More
Facebook announced this morning a new feature called “Music Stories,” that will allow users to better discover new music or share tracks with their friends. Essentially a new post format for Facebook, Music Stories integrates with Spotify and Apple Music to provide a 30-second preview of the shared song or album that can be played directly on Facebook itself. Read More
The BBC has launched a new online service letting people purchase and download shows such as Sherlock, Doctor Who, and nature documentaries by David Attenborough. The BBC Store expands on the broadcaster's iPlayer service, which allows playback of shows for up to 30 days, and is intended to one day replace DVD and Blu-ray sales. "As more viewing shifts to digital, BBC Store allows audiences to choose from a selection of recently broadcast programs, television favorites, and lost gems from the BBC archive, making it the most comprehensive collection of BBC programs ever published," said the broadcaster in a press statement.
Watch enthusiasts may not want to exchange their timeless timepieces for short-lived smartwatches, but a new product can help give their analog pieces some of smartwatches' best tricks. The product, called Chronos, is a thin disc that sticks to the bottom of a watch and can vibrate and light up to alert you of notifications. Chronos does fitness tracking too, and it can also control a connected phone in basic ways, like declining calls or skipping ahead a track when listening to music.
The follow-up to Disney's dark, live-action take on Alice in Wonderland is due out next spring, and we finally have the first trailer. In Alice Through the Looking Glass, the cast from the 2010 original returns for a new adventure, where Alice (Mia Wasikowska) must venture back into Wonderland to save the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) from the evil Time, played by Sascha Baron Cohen. James Bobin has stepped into the director's chair this time around, but Tim Burton is very much involved as producer. Alice Through the Looking Glass is set to debut on May 27th.
