The Download Blog

Android phones susceptible to freezing cold boot attacks

The next time you're looking for your misplaced Android smartphone, check the freezer. It's possible, however unlikely, that someone is trying to hack into your data using a new FROST attack method.

Researchers at Friedrich-Alexander University in Germany have learned that it is possible to access personal information on Android 4.0 smartphones using a chilling technique.

Called FROST, or forensic recovery of scrambled telephones, it amounts to placing the phone in temperatures of -15 Celsius for roughly 1 hour. After removing from a freezer, you must repeatedly power on and off the phone and hold down the … Read more

Lost without TweetDeck? Try these alternatives

The folks at Twitter announced Monday that the standalone TweetDeck apps for mobile will no longer be supported after May of this year. While Twitter says that it is putting more resources toward the Web version (which can easily be used on the desktop), there are surely plenty of people who are upset that their beloved mobile clients are going away.

For those of you looking for an alternative to TweetDeck, here are a few mobile apps that should prove adequate for your tweeting purposes.

TweetDeck alternatives for iOS

Tweetbot ($2.99) is an extremely popular Twitter client for good … Read more

A look at Intego's 2013 security software for OS X

If you are considering security software for your Mac there are a number of options out there, including those from popular companies like Sophos, Symantec, and Intego. There are both free tools and paid subscriptions to choose from.

A while ago I gave Intego's SecurityBarrier X6 suite a spin, which in testing has been found to be one of the better-performing anti-malware tools for OS X; however, the software did require a bit of a technical approach that was not too appealing to the average user.

In order to cater to a broader range of people, with its 2013 security suite … Read more

VideoGhost allows you to watch online videos in the background

Have you ever wanted to watch the latest movie trailers and music videos or stream shows in the background while you work? Now you can with a little homegrown program called VideoGhost from Greedy Glutton Software.

How does it work? VideoGhost can be installed on your computer or run as a standalone product. After launching, you will see that it is a third-party browser with a controllable opacity setting and options to stay fixed on your desktop. The process is relatively simple with these hot keys:

Set URL to the video you want. (Alt+Up) Resize to desired resolution and … Read more

Apple could let you sell your iTunes content to other people

Want to sell that movie you bought on iTunes but never watch? You may be able to one day if a new Apple patent filing ever comes to life.

Published today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and filed last June, an Apple patent application named "Managing Access To Digital Content Items" conjures up a system for legally selling or loaning iTunes items to another person.

The method involves transferring digital access rights from the original owner to someone else. Once those rights are transferred, the new owner would gain access to the content while the … Read more

Original Angry Birds free for iPhone, iPad customers

The most popular mobile-gaming franchise in the world is now a bit easier for you to get your hands on.

Customers who head over to the App Store today will find that the iPhone and iPad versions of Angry Birds are available for free. Previously, the iPhone version was on sale for 99 cents. Angry Birds HD for the iPad was available for $2.99. Rovio previously offered free versions of the titles, but those were limited to only a few levels. Those now appear to be gone from the App Store.

Angry Birds was the game that kicked off … Read more

Chrome for Android gets server-accelerated browsing

Taking a page from Opera and Amazon playbooks, then writing on it some more, Google is using its own servers to speed up page loading on its mobile version of Chrome.

The feature, called proxy browsing, is enabled in the Chrome 26 beta for Android, though it must be manually activated through the chrome://flags interface by selecting "Enable Data Compression Proxy." With proxy browsing, a server with a fast Internet connection and more processing horsepower than a mobile device loads the Web page on behalf of that mobile device.

The chief advantage of the approach is that … Read more

Why more mobile OSes are good for you

commentary How do you feel about Firefox as an operating system? Or Ubuntu on your phone or tablet? Is Windows Phone 8 worth switching to? BlackBerry 10 means that the company formerly known as RIM isn't dead yet, right? And what the heck's a Tizen, anyway?

Depending on the OS, these questions and more will begin to plague mobile phone reviewers, phone providers, and consumers at large within the year at the most, and probably sooner.

Some people think this is a bad thing.

Yesterday's IDC report that smartphones will overtake feature phones in global sales this year … Read more

Telly for iOS udpates to 2.0, adds Vine-like capability

Telly, the popular video-sharing platform that was once known as Twitvid, has today released a major update to its iOS app. Jumping to version 2.0, Telly for iOS now makes it significantly easier to watch content, share with friends, and even add a bit of polish to videos before sharing.

Now, when you're ready to share, you can do so with selected individuals or private groups. This makes it easy for recipients to reply with either text or their own videos, from right within the Telly app.

Also new is a nifty landscape mode that the company is … Read more