Computer Insecurity

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Rod McCall

I should qualify this post by saying that I am not a computer security researcher or expert but I do work in a research centre which works extensively in this area. Anyway it seems that over the last week or so we have had quite a few interesting stories, some more surprising than others.

The BBC reports that researchers at Germany’s Erlangen’s Friedrich-Alexander University have managed to retrieve confidential information from an Android phone by placing it in the freezer. With some sense of irony the feature known as data scrambling was introduced in Android 4.O Ice Cream Sandwich. All it apparently took was placing the phone in the freezer for an hour.

According to The Register, Google also suffered a security fault which would in theory allow anyone to bypass the two-step authentication process. Apparently Google was made aware of the bug last year but only fixed it recently.

One of my favourite cloud tools Evernote experienced problems after hackers gained access to all user ID information prompting Evernote to put out a system wide password reset to all customers. In general this flags up (along with the Google problems) the problem of storing sensitive date in the cloud.

The David-Besse nuclear power plant in Ohio. Image: Creative Commons/Wikipedia/NCC

This time closer to home we recently had a distinguished lecture at SnT by Prof. Paulo Veríssimo of The University of Lisbon. As well as being an excellent speaker his talk was as interesting as it was frightening. He basically suggested that the IT security of power grid installations is far worse than the public perhaps believes. Indeed he said we should be prepared for a major disaster due to hackers making their way into power installations. If you think that is not possible don’t forget that “someone” managed to hack into Iranian Nuclear facilities using the Stuxnet worm but that also this worm had infected other installations. Also in 2003 the D avid-Besse nuclear plant in Ohio suffered a five hour outage of it’s safety systems due to the SQL Slammer Worm. One is rapidly coming round to the idea that wind power may be a better idea than first thought.

Review: Oovoo

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Rod McCall

There is little on this earth to beat the expensive Cisco telepresence rooms that you can find across the world, but at several hundred Euros per hour they are not the cheapest option. So for the rest of us there are: Skype, Google and Oovoo. I basically decided to try Oovoo after the quality of Skype got so bad that I was forced to start looking elsewhere.

Here is a brief list of the good points:

Group chat with up to 12 people without a subscription (depends on platform)
Ability to set up web chat room for those without an Oovoo account
Ability to decide what resolution you broadcast in including framerate and resolution (subject to hardware support, max 1HD video per call)
Good quality video and audio
Available for Mac, Windows, iOS and Android, Windows 7 offers by far the best user experience
Screen sharing (paid for option)
Call phones (paid for options)
Works well on modest Windows computers including Netbooks
Ability to record a call
You can login with Facebook (not tested as I am not on Facebook)

Now for the bad points:

Not compatible with Linux either via the web or the client
You need a good Mac to run Oovoo; older hardware is quickly overwhelmed leading to poor quality video and a VERY slow computer
Sending files is limited to 25mb
Support for receiving HD video varies across platforms meaning blank windows quite a bit on certain machines.
Your data is NOT encrypted so unlike Skype it is easier for hackers eavesdrop on your conversations
Advertising supported in the free version; much like Skype

In general Oovoo seems better at maintaining quality during long calls than Skype, indeed the indicator of call quality in general seems much more accurate than on Skype. In general this indicates if the computer is overloaded or the connection is deteriorating. This is handy and means you can start killing applications or reducing video quality if problems set in.

In conclusion Oovoo’s ability to let you connect to anyone via the web chat options makes it a relatively open platform. You also get lots of features for free including HD and group chat. Call quality is generally very good but it is very dependent on the settings and hardware of the computers you are using. Also the Mac version is poor as it really eats up resources and does not seem to be as reliable or complete as it’s Windows sibling. In general it is worth trying out.

In Search of a New Skype?

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Rod McCall

Image from Oovoo.com Website

After about eight years of using Skype am I the only one who has found that the quality has started to get worse? I pay for Skype both for calls to landlines and also for the premium service so I expect a little better. Common problems are:

Poor video quality, even on reasonable connections
Disconnections after 5-7 minutes
Freezing videos

Some of these problems were in the past due to having other Internet apps open such as Mac Mail, but even now with other apps off the problems have returned. I find this especially frustrating and more problematic within group video calls. Checking the Skype for Mac forums also reveals many others are getting more angry.

I am in the process of trying Oovoo which is also free and offer among other things HD video, screen sharing and multi-party video calls (even with non-registered users) for free. So far I’ve had a mixed experience; with the desktop client being generally good and the web based video being pretty unreliable (but more about that another time). In general though when it works the call quality is much better than Skype. Oovoo is available for Mac, Windows, Android and IOS. Oovoo also claim that “independent research” shows that their platform is preferred to Skype.

Given that Skype is based in Luxembourg and that I also work in Luxembourg I would like to support something “local”, so please Skype don’t lose yet another customer.

Until Skype fix their problems does anyone have any suggestions?

I have also written a review of Oovoo.

Review: Google Nexus 7

Posted on November 18, 2012 by Rod McCall

Quite simply this is an excellent little tablet and given it was reduced to €189 when I bought it also excellent value! If you want more information then please read on.

The Google Nexus 7 tablet. Image copyright Google.

Specification wise the device comes with 16GB of storage and 1GB of RAM – a larger storage option is available. My version does not have 3G and it is not expandable so that is one major drawback. Also there is no HDMI out – a feature which is often found on many cheaper tablets. You also get a front facing 1.2mp camera, of course wifi and bluetooth. Plus a rather natty NFC feature that lets you easily send info/files between other tablets or devices that support this platform. You also get all the standard features such as bluetooth, GPS, accelerometer, gyro and compass. This is a quad core device and comes with good graphics capabilities. Wifi connectivity is reliable and so far I have not had any cause to reset.

The Nexus 7 comes not surprisingly with a crisp 7″ display (1280×800), which makes reading almost anything a pleasure. It also beats the much more expensive iPad Mini. That said for reading books it is still not a replacement for the traditional Amazon Kindle. The display is responsive and fonts are clear, there is not really anything to complain about here. Although like all 7″ tablets the screen can sometimes be just too small, but for everyday tasks such as basic email, calendar and document viewing it’s great. The multitouch surface is good quality and is both accurate and quick.

The Tablet comes with Android 4.2 which is very easy to use and responsive. It is a noticable improvement on earlier versions of Android. Also as this is a Google device you are among the first to receive any updates to Android. The device is quite literally switch on and use and unsurprisingly setting up Google services is quick and easy. Also adding additional email accounts for example your one from work on Exchange is no problem. For a more thorough review of Android 4 click here.

If you partner your device with cloud apps such as Google Drive, Evernote or Dropbox you will quickly have something which although it’s Android in a PC and iOS/Mac world merges easily with your everyday tasks. All are free up to a point and make life across devices much easier.

To sum up I recommend buying it as at the price I got it buying an iPad mini is really a no-brainer unless there is some specific app you really must have. Also it really is a huge step up in terms of speed and display from the cheaper sub €150 tablets such as the Xelio. Given this is Google’s early attempt at a tablet then I think Apple should rightfully be terrified.

The Good

Fast, responsive
Easy to use
Well made, feels solid and looks good
Good value for money especially if you can bag it for less than €200
Lots of Apps on Android Play store
Claimed 10 hour battery life

The bad

No HDMI out
Not expandable
Camera could be better and there is no rear facing camera
It’s not iOS so Apple people will instinctively not like it:)

North Korea Launches Android Tablet?

Posted on September 30, 2012 by Rod McCall

Well not quite the country but Talk Android reports that a company there appears to be launching a tablet. I didn’t even know that such a closed country had tablets and personally I would have through such a closed country such as North Korean would have preferred something more closed such as iOS:) I wonder if the now dead Dear Leader was their equivalent of Steve Jobs?

Full Story

Android 4 – A very quick and dirty review

Posted on June 17, 2012 by Rod McCall

Android 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) Logo Courtesy of Google

My first experiences back in 2010 of Android were always a little unpleasant, it felt unpolished especially when compared to iOS. However, I recently tried out Android 4 on a very cheap tablet, although that has since died I will write here instead about the experience of the OS. It should be noted this was a very basic tablet, a single core ARM Cortex A8 with a basic graphics processor. Thus making it about the slowest experience you can expect from anything currently on the market, however even with that limitation I was pleasantly surprised.

Multitasking Performance

I was very impressed by this, even on such a basic tablet. In general it was difficult to notice much slow down when flipping between apps. Of course the tablet I used is slow by current standards, hence the time to load applications was poor but once they were up and running for the most part problems disappeared.I often had many applications opened at once and the Android architecture made using them very pleasant.

User Experience

If you are unfamiliar with Android then the act of switching between tasks can at first seem a little hidden, this is especially true if you have just moved from the IPaD or iPhone. However, by clicking on the onscreen icon it is quick and easy to move between apps. You also just kill apps by swiping them away.

Navigating on the device either between applications, or the the home space or back is quick and easy to understand. Some cheap tablets provide physical buttons but newer ones rely on the three touchscreen icons.

App Store/Google Play

Now comes perhaps the weakest point of the experience. Unlike Apple which vets all applications for anything from security to usability there is no such detailed analysis of Android apps, this in theory can leave you a little concerned. Also you can side load apps, this basically means you can download them from unofficial source and install them. This is much like any other computer but opens you up to many potential problems, so only do this if you must.

Another criticism you can level at Android is that some tablets (my cheap one included) do not come with a working Google Play (app store) installed. Instead you have to rely on third party ones such as Android Pit, which can work but also frequently redirect you for some apps to the non-working Google Play store. This can be avoided as I said in another article but is a pain.This problem seems to apply across many of the cheap tablets these days so it’s worth checking out if Google Play works out of the box. This is a small niggle but does remind you that Android is not such a well integrated platform as iOS.

If you are really wanting to try out the concept of cloud computing I thoroughly recommend downloading Google Drive. Here you can store all your docs online and what’s more the Google Docs (Word processor, spreadsheet and presentation) tools are available. Simply write your documents and they are automatically saved and will sync with your Mac or PC at home without any problems. The cloud print service also lets you send your documents to any on line printer that you have permission to use. This is a very neat little feature.

Perhaps the only major downside with Android is that unlike the soon to be released Windows 8 or the current iOS platform is that the app options are not as industry based as the other two. Certainly I am sure MS will ensure superb support for it’s Office suite across all versions of it’s new OS. Apple of course also have a suite of rather nice office apps that you can use. With Android though you are sadly stuck either with Google Drive (previously Docs) which is good for basic tasks or third party tools such as Documents to Go that support MS Office. While these two solutions are ok, they come nowhere near close to offering a good alternative to Office. So if reliable Office compatibility is key for you then I’d wait for Windows 8.

Built-in Apps

The built in email client is very quick and easy to set up either for Exchange or not surprisingly Gmail can be almost painlessly set up. Sadly though the movie player does have some codecs missing so it’s a good idea to check out the alternatives, MX Player being a good one to look at.

I may be wrong but so far I have been a little disappointed in the lack of ways to synchronise such as tasks from Exchange. There are third party apps available, but if course if like me you are using mixed devices from Apple and Windows, all of which support tasks this is a bit of a let down.

Overall

Overall I can recommend Android and I say that as a long time Mac and more recently iOS user. Android has now matured enough to make it a good choice and if you add to that the many more hardware options to choose from than with Apple then I think the choice is clear.

Revised Review – Low Cost Tablet: Odys Xelio

Posted on June 2, 2012 by Rod McCall

The €99 Android 4 Tablet

Revised: 7th June 2012

Related review: Google Nexus 7 Tablet

For those who are interested in a mega cheap tablet PC you could do worse than check out Conrad.de (they also ship outside Germany) who currently have an 7-inch Android 4.0 tablet on sale for €99. This is a rather basic tablet but is a nice way to see if you are interested in taking the plunge from moving from IOS to Android – I am considering dumping Mac/IOS after a near 10 year relationship. Hence my interest in this topic.

As I said this is a cheap and not surprisingly basic tablet but does seem reasonably responsive. Indeed it was happily switching between apps and playing movies without any problem. Although it should be said that the display sometimes feels a little sluggish especially when scrolling through your email folder. The display itself is generally ok but is certainly not the best available, as the resolution is a rather low 800 by 480. This means that while it is suitable for occasional reading of content or viewing videos it is not anywhere near as pleasant to read from as either an IPaD or Amazon Kindle. Pictures are also quite grainy which is a bit of a disappointment. That said it is much cheaper so you cannot expect miracles. In general though I would always favour the Kindle for reading books or newspapers, while the IPaD is ok, I generally do not enjoy using it for reading ebooks etc.

In terms of raw speed I carried out an informal benchmark using the AnTutu took which returned a score of 2866. This puts the tablet on a level with HTC Flyer from 2011, and about 20% less than other more expensive tablets that were available in summer 2011 (source: Techradar.com) therefore this is no speed demon but is fast enough for everyday tasks. Slowness is best personified when using the default browser, it frequently seems to stop at the end of downloading and rendering a page. However, downloading the free and excellent Opera Mobile Browser soon rectifies this problem. In general through this is a seven inch tablet so browsing pages is not always so pleasant given it’s size.

The user experience is overall very pleasant but this is down to Android 4 rather than the device itself. The light weight of the device makes it more pleasant to hold than larger tablets and ideal for watching a video in bed. The case is also quite solid and it feels significantly better than the Archos Tablet I played around with recently.

Surprisingly the Xelio does not work out-of-the-box with the Google Play store and instead you are forced to use AndroidPIT to download applications. This is especially annoying as often AndroidPIT directs you to Google Play then you are unable to do anything. However, it is possible to easily install Google Play which will let you download and pay for apps should you wish to do so (click here for more info).

The hardware is basic, there is for example no 3G (although that can be added via a stick) and bluetooth and GPS are also missing. The hardware itself is far behind what you will get with more expensive tablet being a single core Arm Cortex A8. That said it’s performance is adequate for most tasks although the final stages of rendering some more complex websites (in particular those with live video feeds) can at times seem slow. That said full screen video playback is generally much better than my rather old Linux based Atom N270 netbook except with certain live video services such as LiveStation. Wifi connectivity is generally ok and was markedly better in one part of my apartment which used to cause chaos with my IMac.

The device also supports up to 32GB on an external SDHC card, this works fine when installed at around around €30 is a worthwhile investment. The only issue is that often finding the SD card within the file browser can be problematic. You can also use the device via HDMI although I cannot vouch for this feature as I have yet to try it.

Pros:

Quite responsive for basic spec machine
Video playback seems ok, standard TV resolution playback is fine.
Uses Android 4, not 2.x as found in most other similarly priced tablets
Screen is quite sensitive
Not listed in the spec but it does have a microphone
Reasonable build quality for something so cheap
Setting up Google basic services is a breeze
Looks nice too

Cons

Requires hack to get official Google Android store to work, otherwise choices are very limited
Small screen with a low resolution can make reading a little less pleasant, a tablet of this size is also not perfect for web browsing
Skype audio works, the video sent from the tablet however is covered in lines (apparently a Firmware update fixes this)
The standard browser is unresponsive (replace it with Opera!)

In short this is a good buy if you want basic Internet browsing and email device that is also capable of playing videos. For me and many others it is also a good device to buy if you plan to dip your toes into the Android and cross-platform development world – more on that soon.

Updated Part

It now seems to have broken down, when the device is unplugged from the main power supply it cuts off. I have contacted the manufacturer who provided some advice, so far no luck. That said their customer service rep responded within one day which is pretty impressive for an email response in this day and age. One tip was to reflash the device, sadly this does not seem to be working right now. However, that may be due to my computer and not the tablet.

Xelio and the Google Play Store

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Rod McCall

Good news! After becoming increasingly frustrated with the Xelio’s inability to officially use the Play store I realised it is possible and very easy. You don’t need to do anything as nasty as reflashing the device or editing random text files. The tip originally comes via the Android Forum in Germany and is from Peter, so thanks to him.

Link to original tip in German

For those who would like an English translation, here goes:

I will give you the instructions exactly as I carried them out, it may be possible for example to download the software directly to your Xelio. You will however need to have your Xelio and other computer on, plus the USB cable handy. You must also have a Google account and have enabled the downloading and installation of apps outside of the Play store. You can do this from inside the Apps, settings menus.

This is quite literally a step by step guide, if you are familiar with Android you can probably skip directly to downloading the Google Play file and installing it on your device. As for the deletion of the Google account, this is listed purely as it was the advice that was posted online. I have not tried installing Google Play without doing that so have no idea whether it also works without doing it.

If you follow these instructions then you do so at your own risk!

Go to your Settings->Apps menu on the Xelio and look for Google Play. Click on it and erase all data and cache information.
Returning to the settings options, now select your Google Account. Delete the account from the list of those that are being syncronised.
Download the following file, which is a later version of the Play Store App to your computer.
Now plug in the Xelio to your computer
Turn on USB Storage when asked to do so
Copy the file you downloaded to the SDCard -> Download folder
Now eject he Xelio from the computer
Click on “Turn off USB device” on the Xelio
Now to go the download folder in the EZ File manager programme. If you cannot see it click on the top icon furthest to the left in the file manager, then the screen should change to include the download folder.
Click on the com.android.vending.x.x.x… This should now install, simply follow the on-screen instructions. For example enter your Google account details.
To check that it is working with the same files as me, some Apps may not work anyway due to genuine incompatibility. Now go to the recommendations for tablets then download Google Maps.
Click on install and wait for the Google Maps install to complete.
Now run Google maps.

If you plan on installing software again via direct download rather than via the Google Play system please note that this opens your system up to vulnerabilities.

Rod McCall

In-car systems, games and human-computer interaction

Tag Archives: android