Updated Evernote v3 app rolled out for Android

Mobile users who rely heavily on the Evernote app for remembering a multitude of tasks have good news in store for them. Evernote has introduced an updated version of its Evernote app for Android-powered handset owners.
The updated software app includes new features such as enhanced text editing, better security options, improved views, a refurbished widget and more. Users can now seamlessly edit, browse and link shared notebooks to their accounts.
On tapping the new Shared icon present on the Evernote home screen, the list of shared notebooks is showcased. Furthermore, editing contents is also made possible only if the individual sharing it is a Premium subscriber. It now enables quick and easy posting of notes on websites like Facebook or Twitter for sharing it with family and friends.
The updated app proffers better searching capabilities within any selected notebook. Also, the creation of a new one is no longer limited to desktop. Users simply have to select the Menu button and click on New Notebook option. Additionally, it includes augmented support for Notebook Stacks. On GPS-enabled devices, anyone can see all the notes on a map when they tap on the ‘Map’ option via menu.
The latest updated app permits adding location information to existing notes by choosing the Set Location alternative. It integrates the highly-awaited PIN lock feature which allows locking the Evernote app with a PIN Lock setup available in settings. The upgraded Evernote features revamped widgets for quick accessibility, new progress bar as well as nested tags created on the desktop. Apart from many additional attributes, the offering also boasts of performance improvements and bug fixes.
The updated version 3 of Evernote app can be downloaded via the Android Marketplace for free.

G'Five to launch Android tablet

G'Five, a Chinese mobile handset maker, is planning to launch an Android based tablet PC in India within the next one month.

The tablet will be a 7 inch capacitive touchscreen device based on Android 2.1. The choice of Android 2.1 is surprising as version 2.2 is already available in a wide variety of phones, including handsets from Indian brands such as Micromax and Spice.

Other hardware details were not disclosed. However, we expect the device to run on VIA processors, with a rating of 600 MHz or more.

Jaideep Chopra, vice president, G'Five, says, "We are ready with the product; we are just waiting for the right time to introduce the device. The pricing will be competitive with what is available in the market."

Given the fact that the tablet will be based on an older version of Android, we are expecting it to be priced below Rs 15,000 as competitors such as Olive Telecom have got devices with the latest version of Android currently selling at Rs 19,000. HCL too has entered the market with its own tablet starting at Rs 14,900.

Google’s Android System Faces More App Attacks in New Security `Frontier'

Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android mobile-phone platform faces soaring software attacks and has little control over the applications, according to security firm Kaspersky Lab.

Applications loaded with malicious software are infiltrating the Google operating system at a faster rate than with personal computers at the same stage in development, said Nikolay Grebennikov, chief technology officer for Kaspersky. The company identified 70 different types of malware in March from just two categories in September.

“The growth rate in malware within Android is huge, in the future there will definitely be more,” Grebennikov said in an interview in London. Kaspersky will offer security on Android in the third quarter of this year.

Hacking into mobile-phone software has become increasingly sophisticated, forcing Mountain View, California-based Google to remove malicious applications that were available from its Android Market store last month. The applications, which were remotely disabled, gathered information about mobile devices and could be used to access personal data.

Google spokesman Ollie Rickman referred back to the company’s comment in a blog post last month.

“We are adding a number of measures to help prevent additional malicious applications using similar exploits from being distributed through Android Market,” Rich Cannings, an Google engineer who works on Android security, said in the blog post.

Popular and Targeted

Android will run on 38.5 percent of smartphones sold this year, according to market research firm Gartner. The Google software is moving into cheaper hardware and starting to compete with high-volume, low-margin phones made by companies such as Nokia Oyj. (NOK1V)

“Any time a technology becomes adopted and popular, that technology will be targeted by the bad guys,” said Jay Abbott, Director of Threat and Vulnerability at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

The proliferation of mobile app stores at platforms from companies including Google, Apple Inc. (AAPL), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Research in Motion Ltd. (RIM) and Nokia has made the functions and devices harder to secure, said Richard Overill, a senior lecturer in computer science at King’s College, London

“It is a new frontier,” said Overill, who has been researching the industry since 1992. “It’s been an area that the criminal fraternity hasn’t gone into before because they are doing quite nicely thank you in the computer space.”

Software Code

Google, owner of the world’s most-popular online search engine, offers Android to handset manufacturers for free and allows developers access to some of its code for writing software. Apple, whose iOS software trails Android in smartphone market share, requires every application to be approved before being sold in its online store.

Android’s open model is “a benefit but equally a drawback,” said PwC’s Abbott. “Anyone can develop anything at any time,” he said, adding that the “model makes it a lot easier for people to exploit it.”

Other experts such as Overill say Android’s model may not make it more vulnerable to attack than a closed platform as its community of users can watch out for and report on any evidence of malware to ensure it gets fixed.

Aad van Moorsel, the director of Centre for Cybercrime and Computer Security at Newcastle University, said that closed systems also face threats. “The fact that Microsoft is a closed system in the personal computing space hasn’t stopped it from being attacked,” he said.

Infected Devices

Google removed more than 50 applications containing malicious code known as DroidDream last month, according to San Francisco-based mobile security firm Lookout. The code enabled the software to gain a “substantial amount of control in the infected device,” and could help to install additional applications, Lookout said.

Google doesn’t have antivirus protection on the file level within its operating system, Grebennikov said.

“The malware was not like before,” Grebennikov said. Previously mobile attacks were limited to sending text messages to premium numbers hitting the user with high charges, he said.

Kaspersky Lab, Russia’s largest maker of antivirus software, this year sold 20 percent of its shares to private equity group General Atlantic LLC. The Moscow-based company, founded by majority shareholder Eugene Kaspersky, is aiming to become the world’s largest provider of end-user Internet security software.