Android World Update # Best Android apps for dieting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle [August 2013]

Android News, Rumours, and Updates The latest in android news, rumours, and updates, including device news and apps!

Best Android apps for dieting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle [August 2013] Aug 5th 2013, 19:59, by Harrison Kaminsky "I'm on a diet" is probably one of the most popular phrases to be uttered by anyone on this side of the planet. In a world where food rules all, we certainly have to watch what we eat and how much of what we eat. Android developers have certainly done their part to help out dieters in ways that were not even imaginable ten years ago. Check out my list of the top five dieting apps available for Android devices. 1. Diet Assistant: Like most other dieting apps, the Diet Assistant app was created to actively help its users to maintain a steady diet and lose weight. But it not only allows the user to enter their own weight and set a target weight, it also recommends specific diets and meal options personalized to the user's tastes. Vegetarian? No worries. Diet Assistant includes meal plans for vegetarians, pescatarians, low GI, high-protein diets, and many more. It's not only meant for losing weight, but also for maintaining it and helping to make a healthier lifestyle for yourself. The app includes dedicated shopping lists for specific diets, an in-app forum for discussion of diet tips/tricks, a built-in BMI calculator, charts for diet monitoring, a database backup option, and an intuitive widget for the home-screen. The pro version, which costs $2.99, also includes the ability to create your own diet plan through the Custom Diet Editor. Play Store Download Link (Free) Play Store Download Link (Paid) 2. Calorie Counter- MyFitnessPal: MyFitnessPal isn't your average calorie counter. This application has over 3 million different foods in its database, complete with nutritional information and other important details to know about the food you're putting in your body. The app's sleek UI makes it very simple for users to navigate and does not involve much of a learning curve. Your data from MyFitnessPal syncs with the web, which will allow you to log in from both a computer and a mobile device to add information to your profile and track your progress. All of your data is backed up you know you'll never lose it. There's also a social aspect to the app. You can easily add your friends, so you know you'll always have a support group to diet with. You're not alone! Play Store Download Link 3. Fooducate: This is an application that's gotten its share of rave reviews in the Play Store. Although Fooducate doesn't have quite the database that MyFitnessPal does, with only 200,000 unique food products, it does take the features a step further. You can scan the barcodes of food products in grocery stores which will give you additional details not found on the box, and will also offer healthier alternatives that can be found in the store. The app gives each scanned food a "nutrition grade" ranging from A to D. You'll learn about different foods and ingredients such as excessive sugar, tricky trans fats, high fructose corn syrup, controversial food colorings, additives and preservatives, genetically modified organisms (only in pro version), additives and preservatives, artificial sweeteners and more. Users have reported that the app really does work and has helped them with their diets and weight-loss goals. The premium version, which costs $4.99 in the Play Store, has no ads, priority support, GMO information, and personalized ratings for heart health, low cholesterol, hypertension, vegetarian, and vegan profiles. Play Store Download Link (Free) Play Store Download Link (Paid) 4. My Diet Coach: My Diet Coach is focused on keeping the user motivated and focused on his/her diet in order to succeed in their weight loss goals. No guarantees, but the app states that it will keep you on track, help you to resist food cravings, temptations, emotional eating, exercise laziness, and other obstacles through motivational arguments, guidelines, helpful and necessary reminders, notifications with your goal and motivational photos. The app also offers perseverance tips, and a food-cravings timer.  Users have said that the app actually works, and there's certainly no better way to judge effectiveness than by asking the users themselves. In the Pro version, which costs $2.99, users are given a diet and meal planner, BMI/BMR calculators, a diet journal and a weight tracker with charts and graphs. Play Store Download Link (Free) Play Store Download Link (Paid) 5. LiveStrong Calorie Counter: Although I hate to advocate for anything with Lance Armstrong's name attached to it at this point, the LiveStrong Foundation's health and wellness app is simply one of the best available on the Play store. The LiveStrong Calorie Counter is more than just a calorie counter. The app tracks calorie, fat, carbohydrate, and protein intake in seconds, giving users access to the MyPlate web platform at LiveStrong.com, which has a database of over 1.3 million different food products. What makes this app different from the others is that you can track your exercising and activity as well, with thousands of exercises/activities in the database. This calorie counter personalizes daily goals based on your intake, an easy to use progress chart, a motivational community that will inspire you to stick with your goals, water tracking to make sure you stay hydrated, daily reminders to keep you on track, and constant web syncing to keep all of your devices up to date with your most recent data. Play Store Download Link (Free) Play Store Download Link (Paid) …aaand of course if you just feel like eating junk food, go grab the Epic Meal Time game from the Play Store… Is there anything we missed? Please let us know in the comments. Happy dieting! Come comment on this article: Best Android apps for dieting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle [August 2013] Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

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Android World Update # Security researcher highlights risks of Google’s weblogin for one-click authentication in Android

Android News, Rumours, and Updates The latest in android news, rumours, and updates, including device news and apps!

Security researcher highlights risks of Google's weblogin for one-click authentication in Android Aug 5th 2013, 16:54, by Jeff Causey At the recently held Def Con 21 security conference in Las Vegas, security researcher Craig Young with Tripwire demonstrated a proof of concept for a vulnerability in the way Android handles one-click authentication for web sites and apps. The authentication method is called “weblogin” and works by generating a unique token that is used to directly authenticate users via their Google+ accounts. Young’s proof of concept demonstrated how a rogue app could steal the weblogin tokens and redirect them to an attacker. Once they have the tokens, attackers could then impersonate victims with a variety of Google services like Gmail, Google Apps, Drive, Calendar and Voice. Besides the issue with a well-constructed app being able to siphon off the weblogin token, Young points out that at the core, a major part of the problem is that a single token is used for most, if not all, Google services a user may be accessing. Thus, by getting their hands on that single token, attackers have many doors open to them. Besides accessing documents, emails or calendar entries, an attacker could login to a user’s Google Play account and remotely install apps. In some instances, an attacker could even reset passwords, effectively locking someone out of their own account. Young’s research was initially reported to Google back in February and the company has taken some steps to block some actions an attacker may try. For instance, the Google Takeout service will no longer provide a data dump for an entire Google Account and adding users to a Google Apps account requires the use of additional workarounds. In another bit of disturbing news related to Young’s research is the ability of an explicitly malicious app to get into the Google Play store and hang around for a while. According to reports, Young created an app to test the vulnerability and uploaded it to the Google Play store where it was clearly marked as malicious and users were warned not to install it. During the month it was available, until a user reported it, Google’s Bouncer service did not flag it as malicious. It is not clear whether the app was ever scanned by Bouncer or whether it “passed” the scan, but neither option reflects well on Bouncer’s effectiveness. Young also reported that most antivirus products for Android devices failed to detect the app as being malware, though one unnamed privacy application flagged it as having account access. Young and other researchers recommend IT administrators not use their Google Accounts on their Android devices if they are also Google Apps domain administrators. General users are cautioned to pay attention when apps request access to accounts on the device, especially any prompts for permission that include “weblogin” or “ID” in the description. Google should also move to give users more granular control over the use of the weblogin tokens and weblogin prompts should be more informative so users understand what they are agreeing to. source: PCWorld   Come comment on this article: Security researcher highlights risks of Google’s weblogin for one-click authentication in Android Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

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Android World Update # HTC shoots down rumor of company sale

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HTC shoots down rumor of company sale Aug 5th 2013, 15:17, by Harrison Kaminsky EETimes analyst Alice Sun has become well-known for her informed insights into the mobile phone and tech industry, and last week claimed that HTC’s chairwoman, Cher Wang, had decided to sell the company. Sun has been very reliable with her information in the past, however HTC’s China head, Ray Yam, shot down the rumors through a text message: “Based on recent inquiries related to rumors that HTC is looking to sell the company, we want to confirm that those rumors are untrue. HTC is committed to innovation and will continue to deliver new designs and products to consumers worldwide. We appreciate the support and affirmation of our customers and have new initiatives underway to further build our global presence and a full resurgence of the HTC brand.” Wang also had some assuring words for her colleagues at HTC’s corporate family day event which seemed to echo what Yam had said. Although this is just a rumor at this point, the fact that it came from a reliable source certainly brings it all into question. Only time will tell. Source: Engadget  Come comment on this article: HTC shoots down rumor of company sale Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

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Android World Update # Verizon adds low-cost Share Everything plan with 500MB of data

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Verizon adds low-cost Share Everything plan with 500MB of data Aug 5th 2013, 17:11, by Jeff Causey Verizon Wireless announced a new data plan today for consumers who may be looking for a lower-cost data plan for their smartphones. The new 500MB tier Share Everything plan includes unlimited calls and texts across multiple devices and a pool of 500MB of data per month for only $40. There is a $40 per month charge per smartphone or $10 per month per tablet. For an individual with only one smartphone, that comes up to $80 per month for only 500MB of data. For $90 that same consumer could get 1GB of data or for $100 per month they could get a 2GB plan. It is a bit of stretch to see the value in the plan compared to the options with double to quadruple the available data, but for a user on a strict budget it may meet their needs. Consumers could probably shop around for some prepaid plans to get a better deal though. The new offering comes about a week after AT&T announced their own low-cost Mobile Share package that provides 300MB of data for $20 per month with a $50 per smartphone fee, making it effectively $10 less than the Verizon plan, but with a data limit that is only 60% of what Verizon is now offering. source: The Verge Come comment on this article: Verizon adds low-cost Share Everything plan with 500MB of data Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

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Android World Update # Moto X Android 4.3 update and handset performance explained by Dennis Woodside

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Moto X Android 4.3 update and handset performance explained by Dennis Woodside Aug 5th 2013, 20:10, by Chris Smith In a recent interview, Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside explained why the Moto X doesn't run Google's latest Android version, and said that the phone "has top performance where it matters." Android 4.3 and timely updates According to Woodside, the Moto X is running Android 4.2.2 out of the box as Motorola apparently didn't have access to Android 4.3 prior to its announcement. Woodside told AllThingsD that the company only saw the code only "after the software was introduced alongside the new Nexus 7." That's certainly surprising, considering that not only does Google own Motorola, but Android 4.3 has leaked quite a few times before its official launch. Not to mention that Google's Android PDK should have provided Android device makers early access to an upcoming Android OS version such as Android 4.3. Isn't Google trying a bit too much to make it look like it's not favoring Motorola in any way? We'll probably see the Search giant keep doing this sort of thing until it's finally comfortable to use Motorola as it should. Furthermore, Woodside hinted that the Moto X's Android 4.3 update could arrive in a timely fashion, saying that the company did not make a lot of changes to the OS, in order to ensure a quicker update process. Android updates are apparently a priority for the company, with the CEO revealing that 85% of the Android devices Motorola released in the past two years are running the latest version of Android – well, not counting Android 4.3 that is. Moto X performance addressed When talking about smartphone performance, Woodside likened the Moto X to Google's driverless car – Motorola apparently wanted to build "the first self-driving phone," just as Google built the first driverless car Speaking about the phone’s processor he said that the X8 system should be considered as a whole, and people should not focus just on the dual-core processor: "the combination of processor, companion chips and software" allows the new Droids and the Moto X "to always be listening for voice input without sacrificing battery life." Motorola's policy seems to be focusing on features instead of staying in the specs-only race. Woodside "takes issue with the notion that the Moto X is just a mid-range phone with a high-end price." The company has invested in certain features including the always-on voice recognition technology, the Active Display but also graphics performance: Where we chose to optimize, we are getting what we want out of the device. The Moto X is apparently a starting point for the company – and Woodside did say that other products part of the Moto X family will be launched in the future, including a cheaper model. Interestingly, the CEO was rather coy about Motorola using Intel components in future devices. He said that Motorola "continues to look for ways to work with them," without providing any specific details about future plans. The company signed a partnership with Intel before being purchased by Google, but so far the only Intel-based Motorola device is last year's Razr i. Woodside also sort-of confirmed the company's marketing budget for the Moto X, and while it didn't explicitly mention the number he did indicate that the company has "plenty of money to do the job."

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Android World Update # Google may hand over future Google Glass production to Motorola

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Google may hand over future Google Glass production to Motorola Aug 5th 2013, 19:46, by Andrew Grush As Google Glass looms ever closer to mass production, Motorola has now spoken up suggesting that they could eventually be involved in the final production process. According to Motorola's CEO Dennis Woodside, Motorola is already lending a helping hand in many internal Google hardware projects. In terms of Glass, that involvement includes the discussion of potential manufacturing issues and how the company might address them. Of course providing limited counsel isn’t exactly the same thing as helping design, build or mass produce Glass. Still, Woodside claims that Google has already talked about potentially handing production over to Motorola outright. “It could someday be an opportunity,” says Woodside. No more details are given about Motorola and Google’s plans for the wearable computer, or even when such an opportunity might actually occur. We also can’t say for sure whether the idea is to hand production solely to Motorola, or if other manufacturers might also be involved with the final hardware production. This certainly makes some sense, as this would be the quickest way to push Glass adoption further, and at the same time wouldn’t step on anyone’s toes. Keep in mind that this is all rumor and speculation at this stage. Ultimately, we can’t say for sure what Google will end up doing with Glass and for now we should take all of this with a grain of salt. What do you think, would handing over partial or full production to Motorola be a wise move? Would you like to see Google open up the Glass platform to other manufacturers?

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Android World Update # North Korean Android Tablet Without Internet Access

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North Korean Android Tablet Without Internet Access Aug 5th 2013, 18:41, by Anthony Muzonzini Android tablets are now being made in North Korea. A traveler to the country found an android device called the Samjiyon which can play games like Angry Birds but apparently cannot access the internet like most other tablets in the world. Android tablets are now being made by a host of manufacturers / © AndroidPIT   (This is a preview - click here to read the entire entry.)

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