Tech News Today for August 8, 2016
Tech News for August 8, 2016
Mark Gurman, formerly of 9to5Mac has brought his secret inside source over to Bloomberg where today he is reporting on some leaked info about the upcoming iPhone, a device that we expect to be announced in the Fall and which will be critical to Apple's holiday sales. Gurman says there will be a new dual-camera system and a reengineered haptic feedback touch sensor home button that doesn't click . He also writes that the dual-camera system will be exclusive to the larger version, which might be called the iPhone 7 Plus. And, sorry headphone jack fans, he still says the newest phone won't have that port. So have your dongles at the ready. Read more at bloomberg.com
An unpatched Android flaw leaves millions of Android devices vulnerable to root access giving a hacker full control of the data and hardware. In this case, the flaw is called “Quadrooter” and Check Point researchers unveiled the flaw at length at the Def Con security conference this weekend. The vulnerability affects Android devices with Qualcomm chips, which is a majority of Android devices. Qualcom has a 65 percent share of the market. There were a total of four security holes demonstrated, and, as is usually the case when it comes to “Android Security Vulnerability” stories: You must be tricked into installing an illegitimate app, as in NOT from the Play Store. That would make the change to let the hacker in. Read more at zdnet.com
Goodbye, free Hulu, unles you're still using your parent's password for the paid version. That's still free, but possibly not legal. Thanks to the tip from Sailior Lion on Twitter that internet streamer Hulu is getting rid of its free tier in order to focus on its two premium subscription services. Recode says there's a third subscription service in the works to launch next year. However, today we had a hint of the future of the new Yahoo as they announced a new streaming service called "Yahoo View," which will allow you to see the five most recent episodes of ABC, NBC, and Fox shows for free, through Hulu. Read more at recode.net
Oracle has confirmed with security news site Krebs On Security that its MICROS point of sale service has encountered a breach of security. This is potentially very significant as the MICROS credit card system is used widely in restaurants, bars, hotels and retail sites, totaling around 330,000 cash registers worldwide in 180 countries. Oracle asserts that payment card information is encrypted in transit, but its unclear the depth of the breach beyond their vanilla statement. But security experts told Krebs that the Russian cybercrime syndicate known as the Carbanak Gang could be involved. They’ve stolen more than $1 billion from banks, hospitality, and other merchants in recent years. Oracle is forcing users to choose a new password as they log in. Read more at krebsonsecurity.com
A new kickstarter wants your new instant messaging app to be your morning toast. The Verge reports that the Toasteroid is $12,000 to its $150,000 funding goal to create a kitchen gadget that toasts messages or drawings into your daily dose of carbs. And you control it all with an app. Read more at theverge.com
Megan Morrone and Jason Howell are joined by Jason Abbruzzese of Mashable to discuss Walmart's acquisition of Jet.com. Tech News Today streams live weekdays at 4PM Pacific, 7PM Eastern at twit.tv/live. You can subscribe to the show and download it on-demand at twit.tv/tnt