The XDA Crew at the Big Android BBQ

Have you ever wondered who is behind the XDA-Developers website? Here are some of the people that work to create great content for the community and keep everything running smoothly. Check out this video to see all the XDA people that attended the BBQ.

There were a few awesome booths this year at the Big Android BBQ. We took a tour of the event and checked out some of the best booths.

We had a lot of fun at the Big Android BBQ which was made possible by our sponsor UMi. Their latest phone, the UMi plus, has 4GB RAM, a 4,000mAh battery, and stock Android for $149. Click here to check it out!
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Samsung Pay to Launch in 3 New Countries, New Features Coming

Samsung Pay was able to jump ahead of the other mobile payment services in part because Samsung acquired LoopPay back in February of last year. They ended up announcing Samsung Pay the very next month, but the service wasn't launched until August. Samsung Pay was first introduced in both the United States as well as South Korea and Samsung has been working hard to get it widely adopted ever since.

The company has had an advantage over other mobile payment services because of the technology it uses. Instead of requiring the payment terminal to be upgraded for contactless payments, Samsung Pay will actually work with payment systems that only support magnetic stripes. Samsung is able to do this by transmitting the credit card data to the terminal's swipe slot using an an electromagnetic field.

Samsung has just announced that Samsung Pay will be launching in Malaysia, Russia and Thailand by the end of the year. This brings the total number of countries that Samsung Pay is available in up to 10. Similarly to the announcement that Google recently made with Android Pay, Samsung Pay has also partnered up with MasterCard to offer a simplified and fast online payment and checkout option.

In this latest announcement, Samsung also talked about three new features that will be coming to their mobile payment service in the near future. Starting in November, users of Samsung Pay will be able to find deals from retail locations that are close to them. Another feature coming in November is the ability to use Samsung Pay for in-app payments thanks to a partnership with select merchants. Samsung say this feature is coming to Velocity, Raise, Fancy, Hello Vino, Wish, Touch of Modern and promises that more will be coming too.

With the company's latest financial partners (Capital One and USAA), Samsung Pay now supports over 500 banks and credit unions that represent over 85% of the debit and credit card market in the United States.

Source: Samsung Newsroom

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HTC’s Q3 Financial Results Reveal $57 Million Loss

Since the glory days of the HTC Evo 4G, HTC has failed to make significant waves with most of their smartphone products. Even the much venerated HTC One was unable to dethrone its Samsung flagship counterpart. Continuing on that downward trend, it seems HTC is still struggling to recover from the financial issues they've been having all year. HTC has been able to slow down their continual revenue loss each quarter, but their efforts haven't been enough to actually bring a net profit to the company. Although, HTC fans and investors can still point to the fact that there is a slight upward trend in revenue each quarter when they discuss how the company is improving the business.

For the third quarter of 2016, HTC was able to bring in $700 million in overall revenue. This is good news for the company because the earnings are actually up 18% when compared to the second quarter of this year. The overall revenue for HTC in the third quarter of 2016 is also up by 4% when compared to the third quarter last year. HTC attributes this short-term success due to how well the company did in September when revenue was up 42% compared to August, and up 31% compared to last September.

Unfortunately, HTC was still unable to bring in any profits for the quarter. It's unclear exactly where all of the money is distributed, but it's possible they are investing in future technology, future designs, or simply pumping it into the company's marketing budget. We have been hearing rumors about the HTC Ocean series of phones and how HTC is attempting to innovate when it comes to how we interact with our smartphones, so it's possible that they are betting big on some unannounced project.

Still, for the third quarter of this year, HTC actually lost $63 million, which adjusts to be $57 million post-taxes. This is much better performance than we have seen from HTC in the past, but there still isn't any profit to be found. The company will either need to bring down costs somewhere, or they will need a new product that boosts sales to finally be able to take them out of the red.

Source: HTC (PDF)

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Bootloader Unlock Achieved on Verizon-based Google Pixel

Back when the Google Pixel duo were still in the leak stages, there were reports that the Verizon based Pixel devices would come with their bootloaders locked, and with no way to officially unlock them in a straightforward manner. This created an important distinction between the carrier-unlocked Pixel as it was sold directly from Google, and the carrier-locked Pixel sold from Verizon, despite having virtually no differences in hardware.

In case you bought the Pixel from Verizon despite their past history with locked bootloaders, here is a bit of good news. The Firewater dev team has announced that they have managed to unlock the bootloader on the Verizon variant of the Google Pixel.

unlocking a verizon HTC, err "Google" Pixel is so easy its barely fun. @therootninja @jcase Maybe we'll release someday. Maybe. http://pic.twitter.com/elnq1kx2HP

— fire water (@firewaterdevs) October 26, 2016

Before you jump on and celebrate, do keep in mind that the dev team, known famously for their SunShine unlocks and S-Off solutions for HTC devices, has not yet released the unlock for the device. There is a "maybe" attached to their announcement, indicating that there is a possibility that this does not get released for the public at large.

There could be a few reasons why one would prefer buying the device from Verizon rather than from Google. One of the main draws for people often is the trade-in value that they receive when they hand in over their older devices, which can be as high as $200. This removes the hassle of selling a device which otherwise would not command such a high value in the second-hand market. The other reason often is staggered payment plans, but since Google is also offering the same with the Pixels in the USA, this does not stand as strongly.

The Pixel devices on Verizon do come with bloatware, but the bloatware can be disabled and uninstalled. Early reports mentioned that the Verizon based devices would have their updates routed through Verizon, though it was later clarified that both the Verizon and non-Verizon Pixels would receive updates at the same time. The locked bootloader still remains a valid concern for XDA readers, that is until the devs release their unlock solutions.

The reasons to not buy the Google Pixel from Verizon continue to shrink down. Still, I would personally avoid Verizon, just out of principle.

What are your thoughts on this development? Did you purchase your Pixel from Google, or from Verizon? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: Twitter: Firewater Devs

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Join XDA at Droidcon UK & London Hack Weekend!

The largest Android developer conference in Europe is once again almost upon us as Droidcon UK returns to the Business Design Centre in London and XDA is sponsoring the conference. The event is a great opportunity to meet some of the biggest names in the industry, listen to some inspiring talks, enter to win loads of prizes and ask any questions you may have for the XDA staff, this year we will also be joined at the booth by staff from Honor. Attending the event for XDA this year are:

The event will be a lot of fun as always and with some great prizes up for grabs including Nextbit Robins and Aukey accessories be sure to drop by the XDA booth between talks. You can find the full programme here and just a few of the talks here:

Keynote: VR and AR – Technologies 40,000 years in the making

"Virtual and Augmented reality are at once both sparkly brand new, and descendants of humanity's most ancient arts. Google's Chief Game Designer will bring some perspective to the origins of these technologies, why they matter to us in terms of evolution and storytelling, and give an overview of how Google is now supporting them with tech like Android N, Tango, Daydream, and Spotlight Stories."

Android Application Security, The Right Way

"In this talk you will discover the typical attack surfaces of an Android application. We cover the importance of code protection, implementing secure coding practices, strong crypto implementations, executing in a secure environment and hardening network communications. You will walk away with best practices and common pitfalls to create secure applications."

Optimising apps built for the next billion users

"More users are unable to make it through the day on one full charge on their device and have to rely on their battery packs. Battery consumption, which is a side effect of sub optimal usage of resources, is quickly becoming one of the main reasons why applications are being uninstalled by users.

In developing nations where the next billions user are, things like network conditions and types of devices available are quite different when compared to developed nations. One has to factor in aggressive optimisation techniques to ensure that consumption of resources is kept low."

Building a framework with Clean Architecture

"The complexity of many Android apps are already surpassing that which was previously only the domain of desktop and enterprise software. Gone are the days of the simple app which just acts as a thin layer on top of your backend (well for us it is at least). We've grown to expect features such as offline support where in some cases complex business logic must be handled client side. It's become clear that you need architectures to match this complexity. While there have been many attempts to solve this challenge, over the last couple of years, the concept of Clean Architecture has gotten more and more attention in the Android developer community."

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Droidcon London Hack Weekend

But the fun doesn't end there! Even after the talks have ended there is still plenty to get involved with as the Droidcon London Hack Weekend begins. Running from Friday 28th till Sunday 30th at CodeNode, the annual Android hackathon gives you a chance to take part in team challenges for some great prizes, while getting the chance to try out the latest tech and learn a thing or two. Entry is free, all you have to do is register here.

Are you attending Droidcon UK this year? Leave a comment below!

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BlackBerry Launches the DTEK60, Available for $499

BlackBerry is determined to remain in the smartphone market for as long as it can. In this endeavor, the company also had to take the tough decision to drop its hardware division, and concentrate solely on its security and enterprise solutions, one of their biggest USP's.

The BlackBerry DTEK60 is the second smartphone that comes out of their collaborative relationship with TCL, which is known for its Alcatel sub-branding in the Western markets. Just like the predecessor DTEK50, the DTEK60 is based off a reference design from Alcatel, and in this case, the device closely resembles the Alcatel Idol 4S. BlackBerry has upgraded a few specs off the spec sheet, making the DTEK60 a much more competitive device against the flagships of 2016.

The DTEK60 bears a metallic mid frame, sandwiched between glass on the front and back of the device. The device does have a much more premium appeal to it than its preceding DTEK device, but unfortunately, it also has a noticeably large camera hump on the back.

The DTEK60 comes with a 5.5″ QHD AMOLED display, and is powered by the still very competitive Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC. You get 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, along with the option to expand it further via a microsd card as well. The phone comes with a 3000 mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 support via the USB Type-C port. The fingeprint sensor finds space on the back of the device, and there is also a programmable button on the side. A 21MP rear shooter with 4K video recording and an 8MP front shooter complete the camera setup on the device.

The BlackBerry DTEK60 comes with Android 6.0 Marshmallow out-of-the-box, although Nougat is already planned for it. Devices from BlackBerry are amongst the best you could purchase in the Android market from a security standpoint, as the company has taken Android's security updates very seriously (something we can appreciate). The hardened security of the device works best for Enterprise users, but this also means that the devices see absolutely no third-party development. The BlackBerry Priv is yet to be rooted, so if you are looking for a phone that can be rooted, the DTEK60 should be amongst your absolute last choices.

The BlackBerry DTEK60 is available for purchase from BlackBerry's official website for $499. If you purchase the device before November 8th, BlackBerry will also drop in a Soft Shell case and a Rapid Charger as part of the deal (depending on markets).

What are your thoughts on the BlackBerry DTEK60? Let us know in the comments below!

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4G LTE Vulnerability Enables Eavesdropping on Conversations and all Data Traffic

For the privacy-minded readers on our forums, you probably steer clear of any open WiFi hotspot while you're out and about. If you're one of the lucky few who owns a select Nexus or Pixel device that is supported by Google's WiFi Assistant, then maybe you aren't so worried about using an unsecured network. But for the rest of us, we rely heavily on our carrier's 4G network to route any important financial, educational, or private data over the Internet. Unfortunately, though, it appears that our 4G LTE connection might not be as secure as we were previously led to believe. Wanqiao Zhang, a Chinese network security researcher from Qihoo 360, recently held a presentation at DEFCON 24 in August of this year describing the LTE vulnerability.

Source: Wanqiao Zhang

In the research paper, the team describes a method of forcing a targeted smartphone off of its LTE network and onto an unsecured, compromised network. The attack involves collecting the LTE device's IMSI and then tricking the device into connecting to a fake LTE network. Once the victim has connected to the compromised network, the attacker is able to perform a variety of malicious acts, including denial of service, redirection of calls/texts, or at its worst even sniffing on all voice and data traffic. Her team's demo specifically targeted the FDD-LTE networks that are currently operating in Britain, the United States, and Australia. However, Zhang says this type of attack is possible on any LTE network in the world, including TDD-LTE networks more commonly found in many Asian countries.

Sadly, the regulatory body responsible for overseeing and enforcing LTE standards had previously acknowledged this vulnerability all the way back in 2006 when they acknowledged the possibility of Zhang's man-in-the-middle attack. Recently in May, the 3GPP proposed a potential solution to the security vulnerability: refusing one-way authentication and dropping encryption downgrade requests from base stations. These measures would prevent a malicious femtocell from unilaterally hijacking your phone and downgrading its network security measures.

This vulnerability has not received much attention until security researchers wrote a paper about it last year (PDF). It was shortly after this paper was published that we saw the ACLU obtain documents that described the government's Stingray project had identical functionalities. Many still don't know exactly how the Stingray tracking devices actually operate, although people have started to draw similarities between the technology and the recently researched LTE vulnerability.

For those who want to keep their data and communications private, a VPN which uses OpenVPN and its TLS protocol will be able to keep your data private. You'll want to stay away from VPNs that use PPTP/L2TP/SOCKS connection methods as those could still be vulnerable to attacks. It's been over 10 years since the 3GPP was made aware of this issue and they have yet to implement updated LTE protocols to remedy this security hole. With readily available hardware that can pull off these attacks now, however, it will be up to you to keep your data private.

Source: The Register

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