Decentralised platform Ethereum is hiring a dedicated security team for 2.0

The Ethereum Foundation is hiring a dedicated security team to ensure the next version of the decentralised platform is as robust as it needs to be.

A lot of money relies on the security of Ethereum. The explosion in DeFi (decentralised finance) means there is now $4.3 billion "locked up" in Ethereum apps – an increase of 442% over the past three months. Yet, this is tiny compared to the figures we could be discussing in a few years as DeFi growth continues and more use cases...

4 August 2020 | Blockchain

Huawei’s replacement for Google Mobile Services is coming along nicely

huawei android google alternative hms 5 huawei mobile services

Building a replacement to Google Mobile Services (GMS) is a gargantuan task, but Huawei is doing a rather good job.

US sanctions, as they stand, means that Huawei will no longer have access to American hardware and software going forward.

The hardware side presents challenges, but Huawei already makes important components like chipsets in-house (and they're impressive, too.)

Losing access to Google's services and having to build an ecosystem which competes with...

29 July 2020 | API

Congress wants Apple and Google to clamp down on foreign apps

Congress is calling on Apple and Google to clamp down on apps that weren’t born in the USA (cue Springsteen).

Trump’s administration is currently mulling a complete ban of any Chinese software but, while that debate is ongoing, Congress wants the two largest mobile platform holders to begin clamping down on foreign apps in less radical ways.

The Congressional Committee on Oversight and Reform has sent two letters to the CEOs of Apple and Google to request they probe...

15 July 2020 | Android

Microsoft acquires Movial developers to work on Android for Surface Duo

Microsoft has acquired developers from Movial to develop the custom flavour of Android for the Surface Duo.

Surface Duo is an exciting new smartphone/tablet hybrid from Microsoft which requires a custom flavour of Android. The “foldables” category is still emerging and Microsoft is betting on it early to make up for its Windows Phone failures.

Microsoft previously contracted the development of the Android-based OS for the Surface Duo out to third-party development...

8 July 2020 | Android

Health and fitness app downloads jumped 47% in Q2 as COVID-19 spread

Now is a great time to be a health and fitness app developer with the category witnessing 47 percent growth in Q2 2020 over the previous year.

Research from Sensor Tower found downloads increased dramatically over the months when COVID-19 was spreading the fastest.

As a virus which predominantly affects the respiratory system, it's clear that people have been trying to get their health regimes in order.

Part of the reason for the increase in demand will also be...

5 June 2020 | Developer

Veracode: Open-source libraries cause security flaws in 70% of apps

Research from Veracode suggests that 70 percent of apps have security flaws due to their use of open-source libraries.

The application security firm set out to determine the risk one flawed library can pose to software. For its The State of Software Security (SOSS): Open Source Edition report, Veracode analysed 351,000 libraries across the Veracode platform database of 85,000 applications.

On an initial scan, 70 percent of applications were found to have a security flaw...

27 May 2020 | Hacking & Security

Windows 10 will soon support Linux GUI apps along with GPU acceleration

Microsoft has announced that full Linux GUI apps will soon be supported in Windows 10 along with GPU acceleration.

During this year’s BUILD, the first to be entirely virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Microsoft pledged to improve its Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) with full GUI app support and GPU hardware acceleration.

Microsoft had already announced that it would be adding a full Linux kernel to Windows 10 with version two of WSL later this month, but the GUI...

20 May 2020 | Linux

Microsoft guides Flutter developers on building Surface Duo apps

Microsoft has released a guide on how to build apps for the dual-screen Surface Duo using the Flutter SDK.

The company's flagship developer event, BUILD, begins tomorrow. Like many events this year, it will be entirely virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year's event is likely to be a big one, and it seems Redmond is preparing developers early.

Flutter will require little introduction for many of you; but, for the rest, it's Google's UI toolkit for building native...

18 May 2020 | Android