Protect yourself against these bogus iOS apps

Bogus apps targeting shoppers have found their way onto Apple's iOS App Store, putting users at risk right before the holiday season. These apps supposedly imitate legitimate services from companies like Foot Locker and Nordstrom, harvesting personal information or credit card numbers from users, or even locking down their devices and then demanding a ransom to restore access.

 Look out for obvious errors

Before you rush to slam that download button, scan an app's page for any glaring mistakes. These apps are frequently developed internationally, which means you might notice odd characters, spelling errors or strange grammar in an app's name or description.

Next, before downloading an app, take a look at the developer's page to get a better sense of how legit they are. Take Foot Locker, for example. When you tap into the app's page on the App Store, you'll see the developer (Foot Locker, Inc.) listed directly below the app's name. Tap into that and you'll see their other offerings — Champs Sports and Footaction, which are other (legitimate) Foot Locker brands, so you know you're getting the real thing. 

If a developer's page is filled with other apps that look suspect, don't trust it. When The New York Times reported on the App Store's problems Sunday, it included a screenshot from a developer named Footlocke Sports Co., Ltd. — a clear attempt to ape Foot Locker that was littered with apps with no connection to sportswear.

Some developers have a special branded page to make all of this even more clear — Final Fantasy-maker Square Enix, for example, ha

Sharper, more vibrant HDR videos are now available on YouTube

YouTube, the world's largest and most popular video service, now supports HDR content for sharper, more vibrant picture quality.The company announced HDR (High Dynamic Range) support in January, and now it's finally live.HDR videos have higher contrast, wider dynamic range of colors, brighter whites and blacker blacks. "Simply put, HDR unlocks the most spectacular image quality we've ever streamed," a blog post states.

YouTube videos that support HDR will be playable on all 2016 Samsung SUHD and UHD TVs, as well as HDR-compatible TVs with a Chromecast Ultra.An HDR badge will appear when the video is played. There will also be a "shelf of HDR videos on the 4K tab on compatible TVS" according to a YouTube spokesperson. An HDR search filter will come in the future.

To get the HDR ball rolling, YouTube's compiled a playlist of HDR videos for the launch from creators such as MysteryGuitarMan, Abandon Visuals and Jacob + Katie Schwarz.TV makers and content providers like Netflix have been telling everyone for years that HDR is the future. YouTube's finally getting with the program.

Free charging for Tesla owners is getting phased out

For Tesla owners, the free lunch is about to end.

Every Tesla owner so far has enjoyed free access to the company's supercharging stations, the network of quick battery chargers that pepper highways throughout the world. But come 2017, using these supercharging stations will no longer be free for new Tesla owners.

If you order a Tesla after Jan. 2017, or if you've pre-ordered a Tesla that won't arrive by April 2017 (likely the Model 3), you may want to save some money for fueling. Tesla said in a blog post the new refueling fee will be "less than the price of filling up a comparable gas car." Still, it's a pretty significant change that may affect a potential customer's decision to invest in a Tesla.

Nevertheless, this deal does promise that new Tesla owners will be given "400 kWh of free Supercharging credits (roughly 1,000 miles) ...annually." So supercharging is still free if you won't be traveling a whole hell of a lot.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk had already warned Model 3 owners that supercharging would no longer be free, and today's news makes it official. Tesla says it's creating the new fee so it can reinvest in its network of supercharging stations — not so that it can boost its profits:But if you already own a Tesla, congratulations, you lucked out. You will be able to use Tesla's network of supercharging stations for free, for as long as your Tesla operates.

Amazon cuts $40 off Echo to celebrate its 2nd birthday

If you've been on the fence about getting an Amazon Echo, today's your lucky day. Amazon isslashing $40 off the voice-controlled tube, bringing the device down to $140 from its regular price of $180.The limited time discount is in celebration of the Echo's second birthday. The smart home controller/speaker launched in late 2014 to Amazon Prime members through an invite-to-buy system.

Since its launch, the Echo has gone on to become a hit for Amazon and consumers. Users, including yours truly, have praised the Echo for its easy-to-use Alexa voice commands and growing support for devices and services.

The Echo landed on Oprah Winfrey's famous "Favorite Things" list in 2015, and is gaining mainstream acceptance as evidenced in its cameo in season two of Mr. Robot.

Amazon's limited-time price cut also couldn't have come at a better time. With the launch of the cheaper $130 Google Home on Nov. 10, Amazon is providing a good incentive to not buy Google's connected speaker.

As I said in my review, both the Amazon Echo and Google Home are nearly neck and neck. There are still some things each device does that the other doesn't but that gap will likely shrink once developers get access to support Google Home.The Echo still has the upper hand when it comes to third-party support and you can even buy into the Echo ecosystem with the even cheaper $50 Echo Dot (which come in a six-pack).Amazon didn't say how long the discount will last, so if you're looking to build a smart home and don't trust an always-listening Google device you'd better act fast.

There's no such thing as the perfect app

When you pick up your phone, what’s the first thing you do? Chances are you’re tapping on your favorite mobile app. And, according to the data, you’re not alone. Research shows that people in the US spend an average of three hours a day on a smartphone or tablet and 87% of that time is spent using apps. So, why do we spend such a huge chunk of time using apps? It’s simple: apps are what make our smartphones feel “smart.” 

Whether it’s through killer design or essential utility, apps turn our phones into our second brain. That’s time well spent. What you might not realize is that the best mobile apps are always changing. Developers comb through data on how we use their apps to uncover ways to improve them. So, that app you check hourly should never be 100% perfect by design — because, like you, it’s always evolving. “Finished” shouldn’t be a concept that app developers embrace. 

As people’s wants and needs change, products must change, too. App developers, like the ones on AOL’s Alpha team, need to embrace this. Getting an app out into the wild quickly is the Alpha team’s ideal scenario. Opening the door for feedback helps the team dive back into the development cycle to make enhancements users want. Alpha’s agile approach to apps is pretty unique. Research shows that over 50% of app developers take six months or more to design and release an app. The Alpha team sets their goal at just six short weeks. 

In the case of photo and video filter app Vivv, where the Alpha development team started wasn’t where they ended up — driven entirely by how people decided to use the app. “We launched Vivv specifically as a video application,” Drew Lesicko, GM of Alpha, explains. “No one in the market was doing color isolation for video, just images. Our hypothesis was that video was the big differentiator for the app, though we felt still images remained a key feature.”

 

But shortly after Vivv’s launch, Drew and his team were surprised by what the data told them. App users were using the photo features of the app far more than the video features. So Vivv’s developers pivoted. “More than 85% of content created in the app was still images,” Drew says. “So we immediately changed the app to default into still image mode, and updated the app to focus on pics over videos.” 

That simple yet critical data-driven change helped Vivv earn recognition as one of the Apple App Store’s “Best New Apps.” We all get smarter with age. Why shouldn’t we expect our apps to do the same?

How simple, internet-connected lightbulbs can 'go nuclear' and risk a city

Here's one reason to avoid the so-called Internet of Things: Everyday items like lightbulbs become easy targets for hackers once they're connected to a network, meaning your mood lighting can quickly turn into a serious liability.Say you've purchased a Philips Hue system, which allows you to control the intensity and color of your lightbulbs via an app. You're sitting on the couch reading a book when suddenly a little drone flies next to your window. The lights go out and your app won't respond. You're stuck in the dark.

Best-case scenario, you're the only one in the area with smart lightbulbs. But if we're talking about a possible future a few years from now, your entire block — or neighborhood or city, even — might be vulnerable, and hackers could make the whole area go dark by accessing just your lightbulbs to begin with.

Scary, right?

A video from earlier this year demonstrating how such an attack is possible is getting new attention thanks to a research paper publicized on Thursday. You can watch it above — essentially, it shows a drone flying up to a building and taking control of smart lightbulbs, which ends up looking like this:

The paper, "IoT Goes Nuclear: Creating a ZigBee Chain Reaction," concerns a vulnerability that allows bad actors to breach one internet-connected device, like a Philips Hue lightbulb, and gain access to neighboring ones.

This game about voting is 2016’s Oregon Trail

You’re not going to die of dysentery, but it might just find a way to kill your vote.

The New York Times has a modern-day Oregon Trail parody for you to play that explores the“heroic” journey Americans will make on November 8th to their polling place. Part of the publication’s series of “Op-Docs” — opinionated documentaries — covering the 2016 election, The Voter Suppression Trail is the final installment of the series.

You have three options: you can be a white programmer from California; a Latina nurse from Texas; or a black salesman from Wisconsin. The challenges you face are very different depending on your character, and reflect the unique difficulties voters face based on their race and location.

“Some paths will be more intrepid than others, particularly for blacks, Latinos and pretty much anyone who brings the kind of diversity to our polling places that they have historically lacked,” the site reads, referring to the real world voter experience. “Thanks to laws passed by Republicans to fight the nonexistent threat of voter fraud, the perils will be great. Long lines and voter ID laws, not to mention pro-Trump election observers, will try to keep these voters from the polls.”


The Times’ game is a cute, friendly way to deliver information about polling places, which is otherwise known as a “newsgame.” Newsgames aim to teach or inform players through play, rather than traditional print or video. The genre has been thoroughly explored by authors such as Ian Bogost, Simon Ferrari, and Bobby Schweizer, who penned Newsgames: Journalism at Play, together.

If you like The Voter Suppression Trail, the guys who made it — Chris Baker, Brian Moore and Mike Lacher — have a whole mess of satirical political games at GOP Arcade.