Android 4.1.1 Vulnerable to Reverse Heartbleed
Google announced last week that Android 4.1.1 is susceptible to the Heartbleed OpenSSL bug. While Android 4.1.1 is, according to Google, the only Android version vulnerable to Heartbleed, it remains in use in millions of smartphones and tablets. Android 4.1.1 devices have been shown to leak significant amount of data in a “reverse Heartbleed” attack.
Facebook Open-Sources PlanOut, a Framework for Online Field Experiments
PlanOut is Facebook’s language for online field experiments supporting “A/B tests,” factorial designs, and more. According to Facebook, PlanOut makes possible to separate experimental design from application code and allows experimenters to concisely describe their designs. Facebook claims to be using PlanOut to run over a thousand experiments each day that involve hundreds of millions of people.
Google Releases First Development Kit for Project ARA, its New Modular Smartphone Platform
Google has released a Module Developers Kit (MDK) for Project Ara, an initiative that aims to develop a free, open hardware platform for creating highly modular smartphones. The MDK defines the Ara platform for module developers and provides reference implementations for various design features. Main goals of the ARA platform are being low cost and creating a rich module ecosystem.
Facebook Launches App Links To Make Deep Linking Between Apps Easier
At its F8 developer conference, Facebook announced App Links, an open, cross-platform solution for app-to-app linking aiming at making it easier for developers to link to other applications from their own apps. Besides Facebook, many companies have announced their support for App Links, including Parse, Dropbox, and Spotify. Android, iOS, and Windows Phone are currently supported.
Firefox OS 1.3 Adds New Technologies For Mobile Developers
Mozilla has announced that a new Firefox OS version is now available to Mozilla partners. The update includes many new features for both users and developers. The new OS version is already available on a new ZTE mobile phone, the ZTE Open C.