Samsung Galaxy S3

     Samsung Galaxy S III Jelly Bean update key features:

• Project Butter - smoother UI animations with higher frame rate
• Google Now
• Blocking mode
• Offline voice typing support
• Better notification area with expandable notifications
• Two different homescreen modes
• Pop-up play window is now resizable
• Smoother and faster web browser
• New in-call features - boost loudness and turn on/off noise
  cancellation
• Video recording pause/resume functionality
• Enhanced brightness control
• Easier widgets management
• Reorganized Settings menu

Facebook Slimmer

Facebook testing new ‘slimmer‘ Timeline layout

Social networking giant Facebook is testing out a new, slimmer Timeline layout featuring a single column of posts, instead of the current double column.
The test layout keeps the boxes that highlight friends and activities on the right side.
According to Inside Facebook, the firm is currently rolling out the test to a small number of users.
"This is a new design Facebook is testing with a small percentage of people to make navigating timeline even easier," CNET quoted a Facebook spokeswoman, as saying.
The right hand column keeps the existing boxes such as "Recent Activity," "Friends," "Photos" and "Likes," as well as any app activity displayed by users.
But with the new design, the boxes are a smaller size than posts, the report said.
Below those boxes, the test design features only whitespace where the current design would display more posts, it added.

Microsoft launches hosted ALM service

After a year in beta, Microsoft has launchedits Team Foundation Service, a hosted version of its application lifecycle management (ALM) software. Its usage, for the time being, has been limited to five or fewer users, however.

"ALM has traditionally been known to be very enterprise heavy, but [this service] could be utilized by people who may not need enterprise scale but could still benefit from tools and services to manage their projects," said Karthik Ravindran, senior director of ALM marketing and management.

There will be no cost for using TFS for five or fewer users, and it can be used for an unlimited number of projects. Subscribers to Microsoft MSDN's premium, ultimate and test pro plans will also get free access along with their subscriptions. Microsoft launched the service in conjunction with its annual developer-focused Build conference this week in Redmond, Washington.

Microsoft did not offer a date for when the service would be available for more than five users, nor how much the service would cost when it will be offered. The costs would be based on a combination of features and usage of computational and networking resources,

Run on the company's Windows Azure cloud service, Team Foundation Service is a hosted version of the company's Team Foundation Server (TFS) ALM software. The service offers most of the capabilities of TFS, including version control, work item tracking, project planning and management, build automation, and continuous deployment. Building tools are still offered only in preview mode.

TFS supports not only the development of .Net software programs for Windows, but for other languages as well, including Java, PHP, JavaScript and PHP. The service can be incorporated into Microsoft Visual Studio, Eclipse and the Mac-centric Xcode IDEs (integrated development environments).

Microsoft is initially marketing the service to smaller ISVs (independent software vendors) as well as to larger organizations that may want to try ALM without purchasing the software. In the long term, Microsoft will offer the service as a full-scale replacement for on-premises ALM, or to be used in a hybrid mode where code management is shared between in-house servers and cloud services

The hosted service does not include all the capabilities of TFS, such as the ability to easily connect the ALM services with in-house deployments of other Microsoft server-based products, such as SharePoint,

But one advantage that the hosted service would offer over TFS itself is that it is closely tied in with the Microsoft Windows Azure PaaS (platform as a service), Ravindran said. Someone building an Azure-based service can link the hosted ALM service directly with their Azure account, allowing them to "set up a continuous deployment where the bits can be seamlessly deployed into the Azure end-point,"

The service also supports distributed version control, through the use of a bridge to the open-source GIT version-control software. Developers can use their local copies of GIT to clone the code base from the service, work on the code, and then, when finished, merge it back into the canonical code base on the Team Foundation Service. "Not all companies are comfortable with their developers having local versions of all the source code. [Distributed version control] is a pretty common pattern with startups, but it's not common in enterprises," Ravindran said.

ALM software manages the development of software programs across different departments within an organization. It includes not only version-control software -- which captures all the changes of the developing code -- but also includes testing, building and deployment capabilities, as well as oversight tools for project managers and product owners. "Development of the code becomes a team process, especially as the project starts scaling,

In addition to Microsoft, other companies such as Hewlett-Packard, IBM, CollabNet, CA Technologies and Coverity offer ALM software as well.

Top 5 deadliest mobile malware threats of 2012

While the amount of malicious software focused on the growing number of mobile devices on the market remains a drop in the bucket next to the amount targeting PCs, attackers are steadily turning the devices in consumers' pockets into targets.

So far this year, several pieces of malware have popped onto the radar and underscored the growing sophistication of cybercriminals targeting mobile devices. After fielding feedback from security pros, here in no particular order is Dark Reading's list of the five most dangerous, sophisticated, and prolific pieces of mobile malware that have appeared thus far in 2012.

 

1. FakeInst SMS Trojan and its variants

"FakeInst disguises itself as popular apps like Instagram, Opera Browser, [and] Skype, and sends SMS messages to premium-rate numbers
"It is selected because it has been widely infected. There are many variants in the FakeInst family, such as RuWapFraud, Depositmobi, Opfake, and JiFake," Yang says. "Sixty percent of total Android malware we found belong to the FakeInst family. Geographically, it mainly exists in Russia. There are also samples found from all over the world."

2. SMSZombie
Also on the list is SMSZombie, which was recently spotted in third-party markets in China and has infected more than 500,000 devices in the past few weeks. The malware works by sending SMS messages to China Mobile's online payment system and "top-up designated accounts
"The amount of payment, frequency, and destination are all controlled by malware developer," he says. "It is significant because it takes extra steps to protect itself."
Once installed, it obtains Device Admin privileges and is very difficult to remove, prompting TrustGo to publish details of a manual removal process on its blog.
"We expect more Android malware will adopt similar techniques to protect themselves," he says.

3. NotCompatible
Discovered by Lookout Mobile Security in April, NotCompatible is the first piece of mobile malware that used websites as a targeted distribution method, notes Derek Halliday, lead security product manager at Lookout.
"NotCompatible is automatically downloaded when an Android browser visits an infected website," he says. "The downloaded application is disguised as a security update in an attempt to convince the user to install it."
If it successfully installed, NotCompatible can potentially be used to gain access to private networks by turning an infected Android device into a network proxy, and can be used to gain access to protected information or systems, Halliday says.

4. Android.Bmaster
Bundled in with legitimate applications, Android.Bmaster was spotted on a third-party Android app market earlier this year. The majority of the infected victims were Chinese users. Once on the device, the malware swiped sensitive data from the phone, including the Cell ID, location area code, and IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number, and caused users to send SMS messages to premium numbers.
"Analysis of Android.Bmaster's command-and-control servers indicate the total number of infected devices connected to the botnet over its entire life span numbered in the hundreds of thousands," says Kevin Haley, director of Symantec Security Response. "The number of infected devices able to generate revenue on any given day ranged from 10,000 to 30,000, enough to potentially net the botmaster millions of dollars annually if the infection rates are sustained."

5. LuckyCat
LuckyCat was the name given to a campaign of targeted attacks that struck the aerospace and energy industries in Japan as well as Tibetan activists and others. To broaden their attack, the perpetrators have brought the attack to the Android platform.
Once installed, the application displays a black icon with the text "testService," and opens a backdoor on the device to steal information.
"Luckycat is the first APT [advanced persistent threat] targeting Android platform "It is a Trojan horse for Android devices that opens a back door and steals information on the infected device."