Windows 10 in China drops Bings for Baidu

Together, we will make it easy for Baidu customers to upgrade to Windows 10 and we will deliver a custom experience for customers in China, providing local browsing and search experiences. Baidu.com will become the default homepage and search for the Microsoft Edge browser in Windows 10. Baidu's new Windows 10 distribution channel, Baidu "Windows 10 Express" will make it easy for Chinese Internet users to download an official Windows 10 experience. Additionally, Baidu will deliver Universal Windows Applications for Search, Video, Cloud and Maps for Windows 10.

Google said to be under US antitrust scrutiny over Android

Google Inc. is back under U.S. antitrust scrutiny as officials ask whether the tech giant stifled competitors' access to its Android mobile-operating system, said two people familiar with the matter.

The Federal Trade Commission reached an agreement with the Justice Department to spearhead an investigation of Google’s Android business, the people said. FTC officials have met with technology company representatives who say Google gives priority to its own services on the Android platform, while restricting others, added the people, who asked for anonymity because the matter is confidential.

We all know who these "technology company representatives" are. Remember "Fair"search?

That being said, the more investigations into technology giants, the better.

From radio to porn, British spies track web users

Before long, billions of digital records about ordinary people's online activities were being stored every day. Among them were details cataloging visits to porn, social media and news websites, search engines, chat forums, and blogs.

The mass surveillance operation - code-named KARMA POLICE - was launched by British spies about seven years ago without any public debate or scrutiny. It was just one part of a giant global Internet spying apparatus built by the United Kingdom's electronic eavesdropping agency, Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ.

Severed pig's head.

Is Android a monopoly?

Google doesn't hold a monopoly over the entire smartphone market, and it doesn't have the same level of influence globally. But in the two areas where its Android operations have aroused regulatory scrutiny, the United States and Europe, Google enjoys a practical stranglehold over the mobile operating system market - thanks to Apple's non-participation and Microsoft's chronic failure to compete. It's arguable that other tech giants, such as Apple and Amazon, are better subjects for antitrust investigations, but US and European authorities are right to at least consider the circumstances of Google's relationship with its hardware partners.

I don't know if Google has a monopoly over the phone market - and neither do you, because the laws regarding monopolies are ambiguous, incredibly complex, and differ per jurisdiction and sometimes even per sector - but I do know that as far as I can tell, Google isn't blocking anyone from shipping Windows Phone devices, nor is it stopping developers from publishing applications for other platforms or even in other Android application stores, nor does it stop anyone from taking Android's code and building something that competes with it (see China and Amazon, for instance).

In fact, we should thank Google for building and releasing Android, because without it, iOS would've evolved a lot slower, we'd have less choice, and we could've even been stuck with just iOS and something from Microsoft - much like on the desktop.

That being said - I'm always in favour of keeping very close tabs on powerful companies like this, and in my view, the Microsofts, Googles, and Apples of this world should always be kept an eye on. Better yet, in an ideal world, all code in our computers and mobile phones should be open - from operating system to firmware - because of how crucial they've become to our society, but alas, that will never happen because reasons.

iOS ad-blocker Crystal to allow ads through for payment

Eyeo is now reaching out to developers of other ad-blocking tools to cut deals that allow certain ads to pass ads through their filters, too, in exchange for payment.Mr. Murphy said he has taken Eyeo up on its offer, and plans to implement an option within his app whereby “acceptable” ads will be displayed to users. The feature will be switched on by default, Mr. Murphy said, and he will receive a flat monthly fee from Eyeo in return. Mr. Murphy declined to disclose the fee, but said he expects to make less money from Eyeo’s payments than from sales of the app itself.

So, they sell their ad-blocker in the App Store, and then double-dip by also effectively allowing ad brokers to sell ads to him. Kind of scummy.

The Apple bias is real

That's justified bias. That's relevant context derived from history and experience. Without it, we'd be reciting facts and figures, but no meaning. Megabytes and millimeters matter only after they've been passed through the prism of human judgment, and we shouldn't pretend that it can, or should, ever be unbiased.

While I agree with the article, there is one thing that tends to stand out in reviews of smartphones: while non-iPhone reviews always highlight the things the reviewed device lacks compared to the iPhone, the reverse is rarely - if ever - true.

Which has nothing to do with bias, and everything with a lack of empathy. Tech journalism is almost exclusively an American affair, and all of these reviewers carry iPhones themselves. This is perfectly fine, were it not that they seem to be incapable to put themselves in someone else's shoes and look at all the things, say, an Android user in Germany would have to give up were she or he to buy an iPhone.

I'm buying the iPhone 6S in a few months, and you can expect me to not make that mistake.

Pebble unveils Pebble Time Round

Relatively shortly after the Pebble Time and Time Steel, Pebble has announced the Pebble Time Round - and, you guessed it, it's a round Pebble. It looks absolutely fantastic, so much so that it makes you wonder why they bothered with the Time and Steel to begin with. Much like other round Android Wear watches, this thing further drives the point home that round is the way to go for those of us who want to wear a watch, and not a mini smartphone.

Pebble Time Round is faithful to timeless watch design while being a true Pebble at heart. The beautiful, always-on, e-paper display discreetly camouflages the smarts within.

At 7.5mm thin and weighing just 28 grams, Pebble Time Round is the thinnest and lightest smartwatch in the world.

It's $249, and there's a trade-in program in place for Pebble Time and Steel backers who may want to switch to the Round.

Apple, Microsoft abandon pro-privacy stance

The following companies just betrayed billions of people.

Apple, Microsoft, Adobe, Symantec, and a handful of other tech companies just began publicly lobbying Congress to pass the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA), a bill that would give corporations total legal immunity when they share private user data with the government and with each other. Many of these companies have previously claimed to fight for their users' privacy rights, but by supporting this bill they've made it clear that they've abandoned that position, and are willing to endanger their users' security and civil rights in exchange for government handouts and protection.

Wait, you mean to tell me all that talk about caring about users' privacy was just shallow PR speak gullible people fell for?

I'm so surprised.

After App Store attack, Apple urges devs to validate Xcode

Following the successful attack on the iOS App Store this week, in which hundreds (and maybe even thousands) of applications were infected with malware and distributed by the App Store, Apple has published a support document urging developers to validate their installation of Xcode.

We recently removed apps from the App Store that were built with a counterfeit version of Xcode which had the potential to cause harm to customers. You should always download Xcode directly from the Mac App Store, or from the Apple Developer website, and leave Gatekeeper enabled on all your systems to protect against tampered software.

This successful attack on the App Store is fascinating in that it raises a whole number of interesting questions. First, how many applications have been infected with this attack? The number seems to keep on growing - from a few dozen to hundreds and even thousands - and includes several high-profile, popular applications like the Chinese WeChat (installed on virtually every Chinese iPhone), but also popular games such as Angry Birds 2. In fact, according to SourceDNA, several of the infected applications are still live in the App Store.

Second, how many more applications have been infected with other types of malware? If so many popular applications with this malware could be uploaded to and distributed by the App Store, you have to wonder how many more types of malware are currently lurking in the App Store that we don't know about yet or that haven't been detected by Apple.

Third - and this isn't really a question but more of a tongue-in-cheek pondering - does this attack make iOS the least secure mobile operating system? This single attack alone has definitely successfully infected more iPhones than the total number of Android phones that have ever been infected - which I find strangely hilarious. WeChat alone has about 500 million users, and is installed on pretty much every Chinese iPhone, and several other of the infected applications are also hugely popular. Depending on how many people installed the infected updates, and how many of the applications 'overlap', we're definitely looking at millions of infected iPhones, possible even more.

To quote Apple's own Phil Schiller - "be safe out there".

“A critical Windows component expires in 25 hours”

Please tell me I'm dreaming. While working on the new version of CTLInfo (screenshot below), I ran across an unexpected and rather scary finding: A key security component of Windows, the so-called 'Disallowed' CTL, has a validity of 15 months and is going to expire in 25 hours.

Running certutil -verifyCTL disallowed indeed confirms it on my Windows 10 machine, but like the author, I have no idea what this means. If it really is what it looks like... Wow.

Microsoft has built a Linux distribution – sort of

Late last week, hell had apparently frozen over with the news that Microsoft had developed a Linux distribution of its own. The work was done as part of the company's Azure cloud platform, which uses Linux-based network switches as part of its software-defined networking infrastructure.

While the software is real, Microsoft isn't characterizing it as a Linux distribution, telling us that it's an internal project. That's an important distinction, and we suspect that we're not going to see a Microsoft Linux any time soon.

Microsoft BeOS, and the world will be just.

Yes, the FCC might ban your operating system

Over the last few weeks a discussion has flourished over the FCC's Notification of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) on modular transmitters and electronic labels for wireless devices. Some folks have felt that the phrasing has been too Chicken-Little-like and that the FCC's proposal doesn’t affect the ability to install free, libre or open source operating system. The FCC in fact says their proposal has no effect on open source operating systems or open source in general. The FCC is undoubtedly wrong.

Be sure to actually read the article.

WSJ: Apple aims to finalize an electric car by 2019

Sources with knowledge of the matter have told The Wall Street Journal that Apple is moving ahead with efforts to build an Apple-branded electric vehicle, which it intends to deliver to the market by 2019.

After a year of feasibility studies, the group within Apple in charge of the electric vehicle project has been given permission to triple its staff, which currently employs 600 people, the Journal reported.

Either carmakers should be shaking in their boots, or Apple is flying too close to the sun.

On ad-blocking

Let's talk ad-blocking.

With the arrival of iOS 9, ad-blocking is coming to mobile in a big way, and it's causing a lot of talk all over the web. It is highlighting the internal struggle some feel about the practice, but also the hypocrisy of some of its staunchest proponents. So far, it seems like the real 'bloodbath' isn't taking place where people thought it would be - namely, publishers - but among personalities.

Popular Chinese iOS apps compromised in malware attack

According to recent reports, some versions of Xcode used by developers in China have been compromised and are being used to inject tracking codes in iOS apps without developer knowledge. Unaware of the injection, those developers then released their compromised iOS apps to the App Store which were then later approved by Apple. At the time of writing this post, the compromised apps are still available in the App store (link is external). Any user who has installed and launched these compromised apps will be a victim of these tracking codes.

This is a significant compromise of Apple's app store. Apple notoriously manually reviews all app submissions and, in comparison to Android stores, has been relatively malware-free. This is the most widespread and significant spread of malware in the history of the Apple app store, anywhere in the world.

This thing is huge. Among the affected applications is WeChat, which is used by 500 million people and installed on probably every Chinese iPhone. Here's another article with more details, but it's from a security software peddler, so get your salt.

Google’s entire codebase: 2 billion lines of code, 86 terabytes

Interestingly, the entirety of Google's codebase - from search and maps to YouTube and Google Docs - resides in a monolithic source code repository available to and used by 95% of Google engineers, or about 25,000 users to be exact.

"Without being able to prove it," a Google engineering manager said, "I'd guess that this is probably the largest single repository in use anywhere in the world."

All told, Google's services comprise 2 billion lines of code which, taken together, weigh in at 86 terabytes.

Fascinating.

New leaked images of the BlackBerry Venice

It's no secret that BlackBerry is developing its own Android-powered smartphone. Thanks to numerous renders, images and leaked specifications, we already have a pretty good idea as to what the phone might look like. In case you needed more proof, we've just obtained some new hands-on photos of the unannounced BlackBerry Venice, showing off the device's chassis, sliding keyboard and some software features.

I still can't believe it looks like we're finally going to get the keyboard slider that we deserve. I'm almost too afraid posting about it will jinx it.