Roger Chang is on the show. Will Samsung make mobile payments easier for everyone, or just be the final nail in the company’s mobile coffin. Plus Len Peralta takes on the challenge of illustrating mobile payments!
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Show Notes
Today’s guest: Roger Chang, co-host of East Meets West
Headlines:
Ars Technica reports that an update to Windows Defender includes a signature to detect and remove Lenovo’s superfish software and certificate from affected Lenovo computers. Defender doe not appear to clean Firefox or Thunderbird though which users will have to do manually. Ars has instructions. Lenovo users should make sure Windows Defender is running to take advantage of the update. Reuters reports the US Department of Homeland Security issued an alert about superfish through its National Cyber Awareness System. Lenovo CTO Peter Hortensius told ReCode “We messed up.” He added they were talking a beating they deserved it plus “We are not just curled up in a ball,” he said. “We are taking real action to make this right with our customers.”
USA Today reports that YouTube will launch a kids channel called YouTube Kids this Monday Feb. 23 for Android devices. It has a simplified interface, and a parent-controller timer that shuts down the app after a set amount of time. The home screen shows eight large tiles featuring kids programming like Thomas the Tank Engine and educational videos from Khan Academy. No word on the biggest question: Will there be Minecraft videos???
CNET reports Gemalto issued a statement Friday that it is investigating allegations that the US NSA and UK’s GCHQ stole keys to SIM Cards the company makes. In addition the world’s largest SIM card maker’s statement said “We cannot at this early stage verify the findings of the publication and had no prior knowledge that these agencies were conducting this operation.”
Reuters reports the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia has opened a case against Google to investigate complaints made by Yandex about Google’s terms for use of Google apps on Android. European regulators are considering a similar investigation. At issues is Google’s practice of requiring Android devices who want to use Google’s brand and suite of apps to restrict competing apps and services from being pre-installed.
The US Department of Commerce will scale back its role in Internet governance according to TechCrunch, columnist, Leonard Hyman. In an editorial about the future of the US’s role in ICANN he says that with the Department of Commerce ICANN contract ending in Sept, oversight of ICANN will be completely handed over to the international community by the end of the year. ICANN’s next planning session happens this June in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The Next Web reports that the US FDA has cleared genetics testing company 23 and me to market one of their genetic tests. Back in 2013, the FDA asked 23 and Me to stop selling their DNA tests because they had not been reviewed and could lead to inappropriate treatments. The company is now approved to test whether a person is a carrier for Bloom syndrome, an inherited disorder characterized by short stature, sun-sensitive skin changes, and an increased risk of cancer.
News From You:
Hurmoth sent us the Ars Technica report that Esperanza Martinez of Orange County California received a letter about canceling her Time Warner service, a letter that replaced her first name with a derogatory slang word beginning with the letter c. And Martinez never actually canceled her service. After the company was contacted by Ars Technica, Martinez received an apology and a free year of service. Time Warner blamed the issue on a third party vendor, and said they are changing their processes to prevent this from happening again. A timeline for the services? My guess is they’ll See You Next Tuesday
the_corley sent us a news story from RDMag.com revealing the National Institutes of Standards and Technology’s role in developing new tools to measure higher frequencies planned for next generation mobile communication technology like 5G. As devices reach millimeter wavelength frequencies above 10GHz, the tools to reliably and accurately measure them are incomplete. These toosl are needed to prevent interference and errors in transmission. So far NIST has produced a calibrated modulated signal source to test millimeter wave instruments and a new probe to measure electric fields operating over a 100GHz.
Discussion Section Links:
Pick of the Day: BOM.GOV.AU
Nik in wet and windy Gladstone writes:
As I wright this we have a category 5 cyclone bearing down on us. A site that many Australians may have heard of but not known how useful it is in the event of bad weather is bom.gov.au. Yes the good ol’ Bureau of Meteorology or just The Bom as us young’ins call it. It has rain radar, weather charts, satellite images, forecast, historical data, flood information, tropical cyclone information just to name a handful of features and is super useful in times of natural disaster. So if your in Australia and have some weather related event you want to know more about check out The Bom at bom.gov.au.
From Nik in wet and windy Gladstone.
Monday’s guest: Peter Wells
Tom;
You talked about the banks getting information. It is the same now with LoopPay, Google Wallet, and Apple payment systems for the banks. At this time all they get is where you spent your money. Of course everyone wants our information, however it is the establishments where we make the purchases that want it the most. They can still track us with loyalty cards. I know that Starbucks will still track me when I am able to switch to Apple Pay because I want that reward on my gold card.
For me it comes down to this…. Loop-pay how secure is it ? Per the c/net article “Right now LoopPay uses your actual credit card number, versus the ‘token’ Apple Pay uses to hide your actual information, “ So that make it the same a physical card that the criminals now steal.
So when I was looking to purchase a new cell phone I went with the Apple iPhone 6 Plus for the Apple Pay, and easier to read as I get older. I did this after reading a number of articles, and of course listening to Steve Gibson talk about the security.
If both LoopPay, and Google Wallet systems can be made to work like Apple Pay on my cell phone and not transmit anything but a token that would be great. At this time it does not look like that is the way they are going.
The thing is the criminals are going to find a way to steal our money. They of course are going to take the easiest course to our money. So until things change I feel that Apple Pay looks to be the best way to guard my money.
Thanks for the great podcast, and that is why you get a little bit of my money.
Brent Smithline
I believe Google Wallet does the same kind of tokenization that apple Pay does through MasterCard. LoopPay has said that if the banks cooperate it can also do that same kind of token protection in addition to supporting chip cards.
Our society would be completely outraged if the government were allowed to surreptitiously steam open our letters, after depositing them into our postal system, to either prosecute us or redact what we have written in them. I thought only federal prisons were allowed to do this to convicted felons in jail. Why is email considered any different, or less private than snail mail. What’s the difference in us using electronic characters to convey our thoughts verses pens or pencils……