Android Market

A vulnerability mostly affecting older versions of Google's Android operating system may make it possible for attackers to execute malicious code on end-user smartphones that use a wide variety of apps, researchers said.

What if you could privately use an application and manage its permissions to keep ill-intending apps from accessing your data? That’s exactly what Steve Kondik at CyanogenMod—the aftermarket, community-based firmware for Android devices—hopes to bring to the operating system. It’s called Incognito Mode, and it’s designed to help keep your personal data under control.

Kondik, a lead developer with the CyanogenMod team, published a post on his Google Plus profile last week about Incognito Mode. He offered more details on the feature:

I've added a per-application flag which is exposed via a simple API. This flag can be used by content providers to decide if they should return a full or limited dataset. In the implementation I'm working on, I am using the flag to provide these privacy features in the base system:

• Return empty lists for contacts, calendar, browser history, and messages.
• GPS will appear to always be disabled to the running application.
• When an app is running incognito, a quick panel item is displayed in order to turn it off easily.
• No fine-grained permissions controls as you saw in CM7. It's a single option available under application details.

The API provides a simple isIncognito() call which will tell you if incognito is enabled for the process (or the calling process). Third party applications can honor the feature using this API, or they can choose to display pictures of cats instead of running normally.

Every time you install a new application on Android, the operating system asks you to review the permissions the app requests before it can install. This approach to user data is certainly precarious because users can't deny individual permissions to pick and choose what an application has access to, even if they still want to use that app. Incognito Mode could potentially fix this conundrum, enabling users to restrict their data to certain applications.

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2011 was a huge year for the mobile gaming industry, and 2012 promises to bring even even more growth and bigger revenues. These four predictions describe changes in mobile games, the people who play them, HTML5, Android, and brands this year.

Whenever a new Kairosoft game hits the App Store, the rest of my week is ruined. No work can get done, and many late nights will be had, as my state of addiction rise to obscene levels. The developer has seen huge success on the App Store, which makes this latest move seem rather strange.

Grand Prix Story, the next game from the management sim dev, is now available via the Android Marketplace, rather than for the iPhone. Clocking in at around £3, it plays out much like past games Game Dev Story and Hot Springs Story, except with racing this time around.

You are the boss of a racing team, and you're tasked with training your drivers, getting sponsors, and then sitting back and watching them bring in the trophies. It's great fun, as you'd expect from Kairosoft, and well worth grabbing. Head over to the Android Marketplace and kiss your week goodbye.