If you have a rooted Android phone, and are attached to an unsecured wi-fi network, you could --- if you so desire --- drive other users on the network crazy with this Android app. The app, Network Spoofer, is free in the Android Market and has a 4.3 star rating.
It's been in the Android Market since August of 2011. However, it seems to just now hitting the popular apps section of Appbrain, which means a lot of people are suddenly picking up on it.
Did we mention it was free?
Since it's somewhat malicious, we'd have to think that it's popularity, as well as publicity such as this, whether wanted or unwanted, may end up with it being booted by Google. Thus, if you want it, get it now.
The app works by performing a "man in the middle" attack, tricking victim computers into thinking that the phone is the router, and tricking the router into thinking that the phone is the victim's computer.
With that, the app can flip images, change Google searches, redirect websites, and even rickroll victims' computers.
Notably, if you have security software on your Android phone, it may pick up this app as a virus ... it's somewhat malicious after all, and uses root heavily. Reportedly, it uses a lot of battery, as well.
Still, the overall reaction to the app is favorable, although we assume that's only for the people running the app, and not the victims.
We personally don't believe you should download and run this program --- seriously --- as we'd hate to be victimized ourselves. What it does show, however, is how vulnerable you are at an open wi-fi hotspot, which is why we are writing about it.
Perhaps feeling the heat and seeing Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) begin to melt in front of their eyes, Motorola has begun pushing an ICS update to select Xoom owners. The company had to feel somewhat abashed by being beaten to the update punch by Asus, which began updating Transformer Prime tablets to ICS last week, during CES.
Still more embarrassing had to be the fact that the Motorola Xoom is stock Android --- it should be easier to update to a new version of Android than the Asus Transformer Prime. That said, Asus has been careful with the "skin" that is places atop stock Android, and it showed in how quickly it was able to update the Transformer Prime after Google released it.
Asus, in fact, beat its own promise. It had initially said it would push out ICS on Thursday, Jan. 12. Instead, it surprised and began updating Prime tablets on Monday night.
The ICS update for the original Transformer tablet will roll out in early February, Asus has said.
Motorola is doing its typical limited rollout for a device platform update. It's done this for some time, ensuring that the update goes smoothly for a small number of owners before sending it to devices en masse.
In an email send to select Xoom owners on Friday, the company said:
"Thanks for your patience as we've waited for this project to begin. Because we are dealing with a Google Experience Device (GED) we have less insight to timing than we would usually have. However, I'm happy to announce that we will start the update this evening. Because it was delayed a few days, we will also have additional time to test; we will let it run through the weekend."
This is typical for a Motorola ROM update. For now, only a few thousand select Xoom wi-fi owners will receive the update (not devices including cellular technology, such as the Verizon version). If all goes well, Motorola will deploy ICS widely.
Perhaps feeling the heat and seeing Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) begin to melt in front of their eyes, Motorola has begun pushing an ICS update to select Xoom owners. The company had to feel somewhat abashed by being beaten to the update punch by Asus, which began updating Transformer Prime tablets to ICS last week, during CES.
Still more embarrassing had to be the fact that the Motorola Xoom is stock Android --- it should be easier to update to a new version of Android than the Asus Transformer Prime. That said, Asus has been careful with the "skin" that is places atop stock Android, and it showed in how quickly it was able to update the Transformer Prime after Google released it.
Asus, in fact, beat its own promise. It had initially said it would push out ICS on Thursday, Jan. 12. Instead, it surprised and began updating Prime tablets on Monday night.
The ICS update for the original Transformer tablet will roll out in early February, Asus has said.
Motorola is doing its typical limited rollout for a device platform update. It's done this for some time, ensuring that the update goes smoothly for a small number of owners before sending it to devices en masse.
In an email send to select Xoom owners on Friday, the company said:
"Thanks for your patience as we've waited for this project to begin. Because we are dealing with a Google Experience Device (GED) we have less insight to timing than we would usually have. However, I'm happy to announce that we will start the update this evening. Because it was delayed a few days, we will also have additional time to test; we will let it run through the weekend."
This is typical for a Motorola ROM update. For now, only a few thousand select Xoom wi-fi owners will receive the update (not devices including cellular technology, such as the Verizon version). If all goes well, Motorola will deploy ICS widely.
In this age of being able to rent DVDs from vending machines, would you be surprised to see wi-fi from vending machines? OK, there's a limit, but in Japan you can get wi-fi from vending machines.
No, it's not as though the vending machines dispense wi-fi into your hands, and it's not as though they punch out a wi-fi router. Instead, these new vending machines have a wi-fi system built into them, and provides free wi-fi for a radius of 50-meters around the machine.
Asahi Soft Drinks has introduced the new vending machine. Users can be connected to the wi-fi for up 30 minutes at a time, but they're kicked off after a half-hour. However, there's no limitation; they can just log on again.
Just as you might see if you login to free wi-fi in the U.S. in some retailers such as Panera Bread, when you connect to the Asahi Drinks wi-fi network you're presented with a special splash page. It has (no!) ads and info from local surrounding businesses, as well as from Asahi.
Asahi plans to install 1,000 of these wi-fi capable vending machines around Japan in the next year, with expansion to 10,000 machines in the next five years. Asahi operates about 250,000 non-wi-fi-enabled vending machines in Japan.
In this age of being able to rent DVDs from vending machines, would you be surprised to see wi-fi from vending machines? OK, there's a limit, but in Japan you can get wi-fi from vending machines.
No, it's not as though the vending machines dispense wi-fi into your hands, and it's not as though they punch out a wi-fi router. Instead, these new vending machines have a wi-fi system built into them, and provides free wi-fi for a radius of 50-meters around the machine.
Asahi Soft Drinks has introduced the new vending machine. Users can be connected to the wi-fi for up 30 minutes at a time, but they're kicked off after a half-hour. However, there's no limitation; they can just log on again.
Just as you might see if you login to free wi-fi in the U.S. in some retailers such as Panera Bread, when you connect to the Asahi Drinks wi-fi network you're presented with a special splash page. It has (no!) ads and info from local surrounding businesses, as well as from Asahi.
Asahi plans to install 1,000 of these wi-fi capable vending machines around Japan in the next year, with expansion to 10,000 machines in the next five years. Asahi operates about 250,000 non-wi-fi-enabled vending machines in Japan.
If you want to open a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia as well as its largest city, you'd better buy a wireless router. Starting in April of 2012, free wi-fi will become a "mandatory prerequisite for food operators when they apply for their license to open a new restaurant or when existing operators renew their licence."
The law applies to restaurants, cafes, pubs, bars and club lounges that are larger than 120 sq. m. in size. Kuala Lumpur mayor Tan Sri Ahmad Fuad Ismail said,
"There will be no extra charge to the licensing fee. However, operators are subjected to any charges imposed by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission or Internet service providers."
In other words, we're not adding to the charge for the license, but you (the affected businesses) will be forced to foot the bill for the wi-fi and Internet services.
Kuala Lumpur had been offering free wi-fi across 1,500 hotspots in what it called the WirelessKL service, since May 2008. Once the city's contract with ISP Packet One Networks (M) Sdn Bhd ends, the free Wi-Fi service will be terminated.
When asked why the city did not continue to provide the free WirelessKL service, the mayor said the council wanted to "give other service providers a chance to offer better connectivity and value-added service to city folk."
Translation: it's too expensive for us to continue, so we're going to make local businesses start to provide it.
While in areas like the San Francisco Bay Area, it's almost a requirement for businesses to provide free wi-fi in order to compete with rivals, it's a lot different to HAVE to provide it by law, rather than to HAVE to provide it to be competitive.
HTC has delivered on its earlier promise. It's delivered unlocked bootloaders, or at least a tool that will unlock the bootloaders on all HTC devices that were released after September of 2011.
The company added that it continues to work on making the bootloader unlock tool work on earlier devices.
On its HTCDev site, the bootloader unlocking tool now works on devices (it was there, but didn't previously), and HTC said the following devices / carriers / ROM versions were currently supported.
Amaze 4G (Mobilicity) ALL Amaze 4G (T-Mobile) ALL Amaze 4G (WIND) ALL EVO 3D (EMEA) 1.20.401.2 EVO 3D (Rogers) 1.20.631.2 EVO 3D (Sprint) 2.08.651.2 EVO 4G+ (Korea Telecom) 1.47.1010.4 EVO Design (Sprint) ALL EVO View 4G (Sprint) 2.23.651.1 Flyer (Brightstar) 2.27.1540.31_R Flyer (TUR Wi-Fi) 2.27.1127.31 Flyer (TUR) 2.27.468.1 Flyer (WWE Wi-Fi) 2.27.1114.31 Flyer (WWE) 2.23.405.3_R
[It's also said the Rezound can be bootloader unlocked, at least for now.]
Unlocking the bootloader enables the abiliy to flash custom ROMs on the device. Other than that sort of thing, there really isn't a good reason to unlock your bootloader, esp. when your read the list of caveats. In other words, a "typical" user probably wouldn't want to unlock their bootloader.
The list of caveats is quite daunting:
a) As it had said before, HTCDev listed a number of possible issues that users needed to remember, including the possibility that unlocking the bootloader could eliminate the ability of an owner to apply for a warranty claim.
b) HTC said that unlocking the bootloader will change the software load on the device, with possible unexpected side effects. HTC warned that in the worst case scenario, it is possible that the device may be physically damaged due to overheating. It is also possible that the behavior of the device may be altered including, but not limited to, hearing aid compatibility (HAC) and specific absorption rate (SAR) values.
c) Some content on your device may be invalidated and be inaccessible due to invalid DRM security keys. This includes content that an end user may have bought from a 3rd party vendor, as well as through HTC.
d) You will still be able to receive updates to your device OTA ("over the air"), but HTC will not guarantee that updating your device via FOTA will not render your device unusable. Yep, you're taking a big chance (or at least, HTC is executing a CYA maneuver).
e) Once unlocked, you won't be able to return your device to its original, locked state. HTC said it bears no responsibility if your device is no longer usable afterwards.
Note that unlocking your bootloader is NOT the same as SIM unlocking the device. Frankly, if you didn't already know that, you probably shouldn't be trying this.
To be honest, it's great that HTC is doing this (are you listening, Motorola), but it's clear from all their T&Cs that the consumer is taking a chance by unlocking their bootloader. Once again, the typical consumer shouldn't pursue this.
HTC has delivered on its earlier promise. It's delivered unlocked bootloaders, or at least a tool that will unlock the bootloaders on all HTC devices that were released after September of 2011.
The company added that it continues to work on making the bootloader unlock tool work on earlier devices.
On its HTCDev site, the bootloader unlocking tool now works on devices (it was there, but didn't previously), and HTC said the following devices / carriers / ROM versions were currently supported.
Amaze 4G (Mobilicity) ALL Amaze 4G (T-Mobile) ALL Amaze 4G (WIND) ALL EVO 3D (EMEA) 1.20.401.2 EVO 3D (Rogers) 1.20.631.2 EVO 3D (Sprint) 2.08.651.2 EVO 4G+ (Korea Telecom) 1.47.1010.4 EVO Design (Sprint) ALL EVO View 4G (Sprint) 2.23.651.1 Flyer (Brightstar) 2.27.1540.31_R Flyer (TUR Wi-Fi) 2.27.1127.31 Flyer (TUR) 2.27.468.1 Flyer (WWE Wi-Fi) 2.27.1114.31 Flyer (WWE) 2.23.405.3_R
[It's also said the Rezound can be bootloader unlocked, at least for now.]
Unlocking the bootloader enables the abiliy to flash custom ROMs on the device. Other than that sort of thing, there really isn't a good reason to unlock your bootloader, esp. when your read the list of caveats. In other words, a "typical" user probably wouldn't want to unlock their bootloader.
The list of caveats is quite daunting:
a) As it had said before, HTCDev listed a number of possible issues that users needed to remember, including the possibility that unlocking the bootloader could eliminate the ability of an owner to apply for a warranty claim.
b) HTC said that unlocking the bootloader will change the software load on the device, with possible unexpected side effects. HTC warned that in the worst case scenario, it is possible that the device may be physically damaged due to overheating. It is also possible that the behavior of the device may be altered including, but not limited to, hearing aid compatibility (HAC) and specific absorption rate (SAR) values.
c) Some content on your device may be invalidated and be inaccessible due to invalid DRM security keys. This includes content that an end user may have bought from a 3rd party vendor, as well as through HTC.
d) You will still be able to receive updates to your device OTA ("over the air"), but HTC will not guarantee that updating your device via FOTA will not render your device unusable. Yep, you're taking a big chance (or at least, HTC is executing a CYA maneuver).
e) Once unlocked, you won't be able to return your device to its original, locked state. HTC said it bears no responsibility if your device is no longer usable afterwards.
Note that unlocking your bootloader is NOT the same as SIM unlocking the device. Frankly, if you didn't already know that, you probably shouldn't be trying this.
To be honest, it's great that HTC is doing this (are you listening, Motorola), but it's clear from all their T&Cs that the consumer is taking a chance by unlocking their bootloader. Once again, the typical consumer shouldn't pursue this.
Republic Wireless, which launched with a ridiculously cheap $19 unlimited talk, text and data plan in early November, originally kept things cheap by limiting the amount of cellular bandwidth a customer could use, in what it called a "cellular usage index" (CUI, really a "fair use" cap on cellular use). Now, it's going back on that: there's going to be no cap at all.
Republic Wireless uses Sprint as a partner for its cellular component. However, everything: SMS, voice, and data goes over wi-fi if you are connected to a wireless network. While it originally said that your CUI had to be in line with its fair use policy, it's decided that term, and explicitly deciding it, is too complex for now.
Instead, since Republic Wireless is still in beta, it's going to use the beta timeframe to determine what its CUI should be. Here's what the company said in a blog post:
"We’re eliminating all usage thresholds, and with them the concern some of you have expressed about losing your membership for maintaining too large a cellular footprint. [...] Rather than revising our fair use policy, we’ve decided not to have one at all. There will simply be no thresholds, and no risk of losing service.
"At least in the short term, we’ll leave the usage charting tool (including the CUI graph) in place. We plan to update the “What’s the Catch?” page on our website so it’s unequivocally in line with our new and improved “unlimited” position. The fair use policy will be removed, and our terms of service revised. [...]
"As part of that legal amendment, everyone who has purchased or purchases a phone during beta will be guaranteed the opportunity to enjoy unlimited service, without fear of cancellation, until the end of beta. We won’t end beta until we either achieve economic sustainability or become convinced that doing so is impossible. In the event that we end beta with a decision to abandon or change our unlimited offering, we’ll give you the option of canceling for a full refund for your device at that time."
Republic Wireless' beta is closed for now, although you can sign up for updates in the future. It also uses a special type of Android phone, a modified LG Optimus, at least for now. While the price is certainly attractive, the strength (and weakness) of Android has always been the sheer variety of devices, so if Republic wants to attract more customers, fixing that "hole" would be a key.
Still, Republic has done something that the Big 4 U.S. carriers have trouble doing: listen. The most important part of the service, however, will be reliability. As it's still in beta, we'll see if Republic can keep things going successfully.
Whether it's initial cost of a cellular-connected tablet, cost of the data plan, or the easy availability of wi-fi, consumers are eschewing "connected" tablets and opting for wi-fi only devices, according to a new study by Connected Intelligence, a part of market research firm The NPD Group.
These consumers, the study said, feel that there is enough wi-fi around for them to eschew cellular data on their tablets (they need to hear the story about how we managed to order our Prius Plug-In using a cellular-capable iPad 2 while in a moving car --- no, we were not driving).
We'd agree that while, in general, we can find wi-fi for our tablets most of the time, there are times we love the ability to surf via 3G / 4G LTE. Thus, we tend to keep a cellular plan on our tablets, despite the additional cost, but with a low data tier.
Still, it is definitely expensive. For example, Verizon's monthly data tiers for iPad 2s are 2 GB of data for $30; 5 GB for $50; and 10 GB for $80. It's possible, of course, to sign up for a wi-fi tethering plan for your smartphone and defray the cost somewhat.
Most, however, are just going wi-fi only.
Connected Intelligence reported that an April study showed 60 percent of tablet owners used wi-fi only, with just 5 percent saying they intended to buy a cellular data plan within the next 6 months. In October, the number of tablet users using only wi-fi had swelled to 65 percent.
A recent study by another market research firm, Informa Telecoms and Media, said they estimated that the number public Wi-Fi hotspots will rise by 350 percent in the next four years. Whether that number is accurate is not, considering that in addition to many large retailers, restaurants and coffee shops (such as Barnes and Noble, McDonald's and Starbucks), many Mom and Pop shops are now providing free wi-fi, it's easier than ever for tablet owners to eschew cellular-enabled tablets.
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