meltdown and spectre bug questions - Security Discussion

Just like every other person I'm trying to find out what devices are affected.
But what I keep finding is
ALMOST every blah blah blah Intel blah blah arm.
But what I really want is a list of devices
Which Samsung devices?
Which Google devices?
I don't care about the patches out today as what devices are originally affected..
Then I want to know if there is a fix and how to go about getting it.
(I'm sure most old android devices will not get an update, almost zero tv's will be updated and no idea of the internet connected cars and security systems)
As far as I can tell the bugs has no bearing on any thing that I don't have online.
(This must have been the bug the cylons used to decimate their opposition, from all the fear I have been hearing and seeing online)

nutpants said:
Just like every other person I'm trying to find out what devices are affected.
But what I keep finding is
ALMOST every blah blah blah Intel blah blah arm.
But what I really want is a list of devices
Which Samsung devices?
Which Google devices?
I don't care about the patches out today as what devices are originally affected..
Then I want to know if there is a fix and how to go about getting it.
(I'm sure most old android devices will not get an update, almost zero tv's will be updated and no idea of the internet connected cars and security systems)
As far as I can tell the bugs has no bearing on any thing that I don't have online.
(This must have been the bug the cylons used to decimate their opposition, from all the fear I have been hearing and seeing online)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For these exploits to work, someone has to physically have your phone. Only Meltdown has been partially addressed, and the mitigation has a noticeable impact on performance.
However, if your data is encrypted and you have separate passwords (long for boot) and short for screen, you are safe in most cases. If your phone is off, it would only take a State actor to get your data. All others will have no luck. And if you know that your phone had been in someone's hands, then either replace the phone or wipe and reinstall everything.

Nobody outside of cloud providers or big corps should worry about this stuff.
So, don't worry about it. The attack vector is very specific, and it just isn't worth doing to anyone with a mobile / desktop machine.

Related

Does this worry you?

http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/11/24/android.data.exploit.fix.may.be.limited.to.23/
Watch the video too--what do you guys think?
xredjokerx said:
http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/11/24/android.data.exploit.fix.may.be.limited.to.23/
Watch the video too--what do you guys think?
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Click to collapse
nope...doesn't worry me
OK, it is a real vulnerability, but because you have to know the file name on the SD card, what is the exploit really stealing? Only if some application stores its files on SD, and names this super secret file the same for everyone. Also, if the file is in plain text, then it is not really super secret to start with.
Real vulnerability, but easily mitigated by encrypted sensitive data. If you lose your phone, you have the same problem - I don't think you can remote wipe an SD card, and the thief could pop it out before you do anyway.
So, no real worry IMO.
Google is aware of the issue but has unusually said that the fix will come only with Android 2.3, or Gingerbread. The company didn't explain why it couldn't or wouldn't patch earlier versions but may leave many devices vulnerable due to the fragmented nature of Android updating, Cannon said.
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--from the article
Not to defend Samsung because via my experience with the captivate it has confirmed my belief that their support is terrible, but my first thought upon reading that paragraph was that if Samsung had issued a statement like there would already be 50 posts bashing samsung and their lack of dedication to provide good service to their customers.
Not worried at all. Nothing on my phone to steal.
What does worry me is this statement: "Google is aware of the issue but has unusually said that the fix will come only with Android 2.3, or Gingerbread."
We may never see Gingerbread for this device, that's what worries me the most.
Google should make a patch for existing OS available as well as addressing it in 2.3. Especially since they can't make manufacturers build new releases.
I don't have anything on my phone that would put me in jeopardy anyway, so no.
WTF, really? If you went to a website that started downloading stuff in the background, wouldn't you use task manager and close the browser and/or turn off your data connection as soon as possible? You can clearly see at :55 where it starts downloading a file.
It sucks that Android 2.2 has a vulnerability, but it's all about user behavior. I've gone without an actively scanning virus scanner on my Windows desktop for the last 4 or 5 years and have never once gotten accidentally infected. Security is more about user behavior than it is about fixing every single possible flaw, including those that require knowing the exact path of the files you want to steal from someone.

A quick comparison of "apples and others."

*****WARNING*****
THIS IS AN OPINION THREAD. YOU MAY OR MAY NOT AGREE BUT THIS IS ALL OPINION!!!
*****WARNING*****
I usually get about 3 questions per day about my phone (Captivate) and why I picked it over an iphone. I'm a travelling warranty rep and so I'm on my phone a lot, and come across dozens of people a day with my line of business. This is usually one of the more frequet questions, and I decided I would just post this on my facebook as well.
I want feedback on this little short story I wrote about why I picked my Droid device over an iphone, and I figured this would be the best place to put it. I want feedback! Yes I am a little biased, but not without valid reason.
If you can actually point out a valid legitimate claim that I am at fault on, then please do so. That may be a little hard to do as this is just an opinion thread, and boy am I full of them. Flame or follow, go right ahead.
-----------------------------------------
Here's a quick comparison of apple vs Android software.
When Apple releases a new OS, whether a minor update or an upgrade, you have to wipe out all of your data (or rather, it does it for you). Of course, you can just sync your phone with itunes and then do a restore. Sure, it's easy enough.
The next thing is though, that when you do sync with itunes, you have to resync every single file and piece of music, each picture, etc, all over again, even after you've done it once. Considering all of those syncs I've done on others phones have taken well over 20 minutes to sync, for just a couple hundred songs and maybe 50 pictures, it's a pain when you want to go back and add ONE thing and have to do it all over again. Fun, huh?
There are other ways to go about adding individual files and such to iphones, but that involves jailbreaking and setting up custom networking interfaces with your phone, which typical iphone users wont know how to do.
Droid really has all that to begin with. Want to add a file? Just connect the phone to your PC via USB cable (I had 2 included with mine) and tell the phone to mount the storage, I did this by dragging down the menu bar and hitting one button that said "Select to copy files to/from your computer." That makes it show up in the PC as a standard flash drive or removable storage device. Add files accordingly, without having to spend 30 minutes syncing just to get one file. Drag, drop, and you're done.
Next, is jailbreaking. apple programs all of their OS's to fix exploits that have to be programmed in order to jailbreak their phones. If you have the newest version of apple software on your phone, chances are you'll be waiting for quite some time in order to be able to jailbreak. Then, IF the jailbreak is any good (and you don't brick -- or kill) your phone, you can generally unlock it (use it on a different carrier, which is usually the sole reason to jailbreak it) assuming they ALSO have a working unlock for it. You may be able to jailbreak it, but you wont always be able to unlock it.
There's a similar thing you can do for Droid phones, it's called rooting the phone. There's a very large difference though, in what is actually done. Jailbreaking an iphone basically requires new code to be injected into the software in order to bypass restrictions that apple specifically put in place to keep "malicious" software off of their devices. In other words, according to apple, jailbreaking is malware (something apple is supposed to be immune to also according to them). Jailbreaking is frowned upon by apple because it gives you power over your device to do things they don't want you to. Of course, you have to basically bust it out of jail (hence the term jailbreaking) in order to do so to free it from its bonds of restriction apple forces upon its devices. Rooting a Droid phone is nothing more than enabling administrator mode on your device. Its basically if you log onto your computer, you need administrator privledges to be able to do certain things... this is root. Root is a Linux term, basically meaning root controlls everything. No restrictions. Logon as administrator, and that is the same as root pretty much. No needing to jailbreak, no bonds needed to be freed, nothing. Jailbreaking = your friend is in jail, and you have to bust him out. Rooting = You're a CEO and you just took over the whole company. Root is God mode, jailbreaking is rescue mode. Got the difference? Good.
So what about Driods? When you flash a new OS (install an updated/upgraded operating system), does it erase everything? Well, in the past day I've flashed 3 different OS's including having gone back to the stock ROM that AT&T included with all their phones, rooted, unrooted, updated and reverted several times today and I have yet to lose any information. I haven't synced, backed up, done anything to preserve my data, and I've gone from 2.1 to 2.2 to 2.2.1 to 2.2 to 2.1 back over again and haven't lost a thing besides the call history and my text messages. And if I REALLY wanted to, I could have backed those up as well.
So what's all this about OS versions and everything? Well, if you're an iphone user, your OS version probably wont be anything more than a number and a couple of features, unless you jailbreak. Minor bugfixes and such, fixing exploits so people can't jailbreak as easily, and maybe adding a couple shiney new features and that's really about it. The flavor is, well, apple pie. The next version of the apple OS will still be apple pie, maybe with a little more cinammon. The next version will be apple pie, maybe with more apple. The next version will be apple pie and it may even include a worm, removed (or maybe even left in there) with the next batch. It'll always be apple. With Droid, there's not so much apple. I had an OS earlier today that was strawberry. My next was chocolate. After that was grape, then orange, then a giant chewy moist brownie with vanilla ice creamed drenched in chocolate syrup and whipped cream. With apple, all you get is pie. With Droid, you get eclairs, ice cream and more, and you get it how you like it. How about some Gingerbread now? There may even be pickled herring for those that want it later.
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Remember this was just an off the wall comparison, I didn't go as far in depth and be as technical as I'd like to have, but I did have to be a little redundant as most all of my iphone using friends need things explained to them several times before they understand. If I missed any points, feel free to share. Sorry if I hurt your feelings over anything (this was an opinion thread, remember?)
I would enjoy an orange flavored one myself.
I'm enjoying my froyo (frozen yogurt for those of you that don't know...and if you don't........) for now but when i get the chance I'll probably enjoy a bit of gingerbread .
The best of 3 worlds
I´m enjoying my Windows Mobile Leo with the chance to use Froyo/Gingerbread and soon WP7 as well
dbzfanatic said:
I'm enjoying my froyo (frozen yogurt for those of you that don't know...and if you don't........) for now but when i get the chance I'll probably enjoy a bit of gingerbread .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was my little bit about ice cream at the later part though I probably should have said yogurt.
Sent from my I-897 with GT-I9000 kernel and froyo stuff with gingerbread kb and other nifty little tweaks using XDA App
orb3000 said:
I´m enjoying my Windows Mobile Leo with the chance to use Froyo/Gingerbread and soon WP7 as well
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Click to collapse
I am glad to see some windows users are doing that as well, I had a windows mobile phone and I completely juggled the idea of going to linux on my phone for quite some time until I just ended up deciding against it (back when I hadn't even flashed my first ROM) because I needed it strictly for work. Now I have some room to play around. My biggest concern was the lack of functionality on my device, which is always the kicker. WSince I still have the phone laying around and it's still completely functional, I may have to try it now
I recently bit the bullet and goldcarded 3.14 onto my Leo, partly as I was fed up waiting for O2 to release it, and partly to dabble with Android again (I'd done it on my Blackstone and found it meh).
I run SPB MS on the Leo which I find the best interface.
Now I can easily flip between the two, still prefer WM but then SPB MS5 isn't out for consumers yet (dammit pull your finger out!).
Prefer huff n puff to angry birds, but AB has more levels.
So if I fancy playing any games or using any apps that are only available on android I can now use them, but as for it replacing WM as my main OS, it's still too "clunky" for my liking.
Either way, at least both started the year with working alarm clocks, unlike iphones

Windows Phone 7 rant

I am a die hard WM user - never used any other OS. Was awaiting WP7 for months!
It is a dumb blonde! Pretty, but useless.
1. Keyboard is good, but no option to longpress for numbers
2. Phone dialler - no option to dial name of contact on phone dialler
3. Can't search calendar for specific appointments
4. Office hub is useless - can't organize in folder, ending up with loooong list of documents.
5. Word mobile is hopeless for formatting compared to WM6.5
6. Adobe PDF documents - can't be organized in folders. Can't even rename files
7. No video calling
8. The stupidest thing: Can't transfer files from PC to phone. What the ^$%^$ !
I have to go to Dropbox every time!
Buy an android phone lol
6.5
Stay with a WM 6.5 device. I kept my FUZE but after some time with the Focus would NEVER use it or any other WM device again. I felt a lot like you do at first, but that quickly wore off the more I used WP7. If you already bought it and feel the way you do, sell it and get something else. I used to see a lot of rants like this months ago but see almost no posts like yours recently. I think you should have posted this months ago, you might have found some allies, but not today.
JamesAllen said:
Stay with a WM 6.5 device. I kept my FUZE but after some time with the Focus would NEVER use it or any other WM device again. I felt a lot like you do at first, but that quickly wore off the more I used WP7. If you already bought it and feel the way you do, sell it and get something else. I used to see a lot of rants like this months ago but see almost no posts like yours recently. I think you should have posted this months ago, you might have found some allies, but not today.
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Click to collapse
Well said. I was going to say pretty much the same thing. I struggled going from WM to WP at first (I still miss swype dearly) but after a few days of WP7 I could never go back despite some shortcomings.
Goodbye 6.5
The things I thought I could not live without in WM6.5 have turned out to be silly. I don't know why I felt that way. Anyway, many apps I used on 6.5 are now available on WP7, and more coming daily. The news of the potential features in Mango take away many if not most of my concerns.
I think we need to remember that WP7 is very young still, iOS didn't have copy and paste also when it came out... Give it a year or so I'm sure WP7 will be up there.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA Premium App
My grouse is that WM 6.5 had so many features that have been stripped down to the point that WP7 is inconvenient. Why strip down Office to a bare minimum? Why remove the smart dialler in the phone? Why remove the long press for numbers in the keyboard? Why no USB functionality? Moreover, there are inconsistencies within WP7 itself. Why no voice GPS? E.g., why no search option in calendar? Why no zune support for synching data files? Why no wifi tethering?
I am not comparing WP7 to other OS. I am comparing it with Microsoft's own previous product. 6.5 to 7 is meant to be an upgrade, but it is actually a downgrade.
Why deliver a stripped down product when the previous product (6.5) had all these? And now, they have to catch up with "updates" with all the attendant bad publicity, and poor sales.
They had 3 years to get it right. They had at least 8 months in the beta testing when people clamored for copy-paste.
Stupid clowns.
buskanam said:
My grouse is that WM 6.5 had so many features that have been stripped down to the point that WP7 is inconvenient.
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Click to collapse
Agreed.
Why remove the smart dialer in the phone? Why remove the long press for numbers in the keyboard? Why no USB functionality?
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Click to collapse
Agreed.
Why no Zune support for synching data files?
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Agreed.
Why no wifi tethering?
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That is a biggie, agreed. And let us not forget custom ring tones (sure you can sideload, but really MS screwed the pooch here).
I am not comparing WP7 to other OS. I am comparing it with Microsoft's own previous product. 6.5 to 7 is meant to be an upgrade, but it is actually a downgrade.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In some important ways it is a downgrade, in other ways it is an upgrade. All in all WP7 may be better due to newer/faster hardware, yet the FAIL of lackluster Bluetooth integration, no rSAP, no custom ring tones, no way to sync files easily, no wireless tethering, etc, etc and yes etc is really a let down. MS always seem to go three steps forward and two steps back, then perhaps release ONE of the two 'lost' steps like it is a huge improvement and technology advancement. If MS does not get their act together and release what many consider normal features, the Android market will leave MS in the dust.
MS can do much better, so what is keeping them from reaching some simple goals every other major phone OS has been doing for many years (including MS' 6.x)? THAT is the real question.
I think the worst thing is the wifi sleep issue that no one can seem to find a fix for. I bought one a week ago and its been sitting in the box while I use my desire. I just can't use it properly without having the option to leave wifi on
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA Premium App
CdTDroiD said:
I think the worst thing is the wifi sleep issue that no one can seem to find a fix for. I bought one a week ago and its been sitting in the box while I use my desire. I just can't use it properly without having the option to leave wifi on
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree 100%. This issue and another big Wi-Fi issue are the bane of my existence on WP7. Anyone have trouble connecting to different Wi-Fi networks? This is by far the biggest nuisance I deal with. What I mean by this is, for example: I am at work all day connected to the office Wi-Fi. I come home and my Quantum refuses to connect to my home network. It tries to connect for about 15 seconds or so, then eventually gives up. The only way to get it behaving properly is to reboot the phone. Turning Wi-Fi off then back on, disassociating with all remembered networks, etc. all do nothing. Don't know if this is unique to me because there is just something specific about the networks I am connecting to that creates "The Perfect Storm" and throws the Wi-Fi off, or if this is a widespread problem. Either way, I can't wait until it is resolved.
lynxinteractive said:
I agree 100%. This issue and another big Wi-Fi issue are the bane of my existence on WP7. Anyone have trouble connecting to different Wi-Fi networks? This is by far the biggest nuisance I deal with. What I mean by this is, for example: I am at work all day connected to the office Wi-Fi. I come home and my Quantum refuses to connect to my home network. It tries to connect for about 15 seconds or so, then eventually gives up. The only way to get it behaving properly is to reboot the phone. Turning Wi-Fi off then back on, disassociating with all remembered networks, etc. all do nothing. Don't know if this is unique to me because there is just something specific about the networks I am connecting to that creates "The Perfect Storm" and throws the Wi-Fi off, or if this is a widespread problem. Either way, I can't wait until it is resolved.
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Click to collapse
I don't get this issue at all mate, i pretty much do the same - connect to a network at work, then go home, it automatically connects fine for me at either location. I also connect to Wifi networks at my parents and GF's mum's and it connects flawlessly to either one without any hassle.
Though i must admit, the ability to keep wireless on even when the phone goes to sleep is a must! It will however stay on if you plug the phone into its charger, though not always convenient.
lynxinteractive said:
I agree 100%. This issue and another big Wi-Fi issue are the bane of my existence on WP7. Anyone have trouble connecting to different Wi-Fi networks? This is by far the biggest nuisance I deal with. What I mean by this is, for example: I am at work all day connected to the office Wi-Fi. I come home and my Quantum refuses to connect to my home network. It tries to connect for about 15 seconds or so, then eventually gives up. The only way to get it behaving properly is to reboot the phone. Turning Wi-Fi off then back on, disassociating with all remembered networks, etc. all do nothing. Don't know if this is unique to me because there is just something specific about the networks I am connecting to that creates "The Perfect Storm" and throws the Wi-Fi off, or if this is a widespread problem. Either way, I can't wait until it is resolved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't get this issue either except on my nook and I think my wireless router @ that location is the issue (pretty sure of it). The WPA only a select few ip addresses on certain mac addresses for some reason so if the address is taken by another device it doesn't connect I thought my router was smart guess I was wrong but once I forget the network and then reapply the security settings it connects, I have no problem with my other router.
After purchasing an Acer Iconia a500 , I realized that it isnt just WP7 users who whine and complain about the latest upgrades , its tech wide ! I mean some of the gripes you have are laudible ,but in the long run 6.5 is done , so if you long for that experience it wont last , sure theres still some people using Windows 98 , XP , but at some point it becomes so outdated it becomes useless, you will find wm 6.5 fits this category , sometimes you have to go back to go forward and that is the case with WP7 !
Trust me the "copy paste" function is useless , I havent even used it yet (or missed not having it) , As I said I have a tablet with Honeycomb on it , its really irratating hearing all the babies crying about updates , the damn OS has been out for a month and these crybabies are whining "it doesnt do this ,it doesnt do that" , the thing is like most devices that are new it will not have certain things right off the bat , yes the device can be rooted a plus , but somethings cant be changed yet , just like the missing api's wp7 , that stuff will come , theres so many talented people in XDA , JUST RELAX AND ENJOY THE RIDE!,
Vintage144 said:
After purchasing an Acer Iconia a500 , I realized that it isnt just WP7 users who whine and complain about the latest upgrades , its tech wide ! I mean some of the gripes you have are laudible ,but in the long run 6.5 is done , so if you long for that experience it wont last , sure theres still some people using Windows 98 , XP , but at some point it becomes so outdated it becomes useless, you will find wm 6.5 fits this category , sometimes you have to go back to go forward and that is the case with WP7 !
Trust me the "copy paste" function is useless , I havent even used it yet (or missed not having it) , As I said I have a tablet with Honeycomb on it , its really irratating hearing all the babies crying about updates , the damn OS has been out for a month and these crybabies are whining "it doesnt do this ,it doesnt do that" , the thing is like most devices that are new it will not have certain things right off the bat , yes the device can be rooted a plus , but somethings cant be changed yet , just like the missing api's wp7 , that stuff will come , theres so many talented people in XDA , JUST RELAX AND ENJOY THE RIDE!,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cease with this being reasonable and level-headed immediately! If you continue with this behavior, I will report you to the Mods and request your immediate removal and ban! How can we be expected to have every thread ruined with incessant back and forth bickering, passive aggressive flaming, and pathetic trolling if behavior like yours is allowed to continue on this forum?
ehh this is why i never liked windows 7
CdTDroiD said:
Buy an android phone lol
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how about you post something useful..
This guy has a lot of good points.
" OFFICE HUB"
is a joke
microsoft word is such a pain to use that formatting within the document is impossible!!
there is no way to save formatting. so If I need to write everything in red. I have to hit format every single time and then select an option. that along with the keyboard taking up the entire length of the document.
BLEH!
adobe reader is the slowest pdf viewer ive ever used!!! and i remember using an 8125 and reading pdfs on it..
The wifi issues are a pain!! they are so the carrier can force us to use there data plan. I want to use WIFI why did i buy the phone with wifi capabilities if it wont even stay on!!
The contacts are again a pain to search through.
there is no way to delete lines within a conversation..
Or Deleting multiple text messages.
Microsoft is really falling short on this one.
Vintage144 said:
After purchasing an Acer Iconia a500 , I realized that it isnt just WP7 users who whine and complain about the latest upgrades , its tech wide ! I mean some of the gripes you have are laudible ,but in the long run 6.5 is done , so if you long for that experience it wont last , sure theres still some people using Windows 98 , XP , but at some point it becomes so outdated it becomes useless, you will find wm 6.5 fits this category , sometimes you have to go back to go forward and that is the case with WP7 !
Trust me the "copy paste" function is useless , I havent even used it yet (or missed not having it) , As I said I have a tablet with Honeycomb on it , its really irratating hearing all the babies crying about updates , the damn OS has been out for a month and these crybabies are whining "it doesnt do this ,it doesnt do that" , the thing is like most devices that are new it will not have certain things right off the bat , yes the device can be rooted a plus , but somethings cant be changed yet , just like the missing api's wp7 , that stuff will come , theres so many talented people in XDA , JUST RELAX AND ENJOY THE RIDE!,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this has nothing to do with XDA.....
this has to do with Microsoft developing a poor operating software for my 499.99$ phone. This is a rant about the missing features that are obvious to a smart phone and you are saying relaxing dont worry.. this is what i purchased the phone for and it is severely lacking in a lot of areas.
professorwol said:
this has nothing to do with XDA.....
this has to do with Microsoft developing a poor operating software for my 499.99$ phone. This is a rant about the missing features that are obvious to a smart phone and you are saying relaxing dont worry.. this is what i purchased the phone for and it is severely lacking in a lot of areas.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you were missinformed of what WP7 was and could do at the time of your purchase, its your own fault... grab your 499.99$ and take it back, problem solved.
professorwol said:
this has nothing to do with XDA.....
this has to do with Microsoft developing a poor operating software for my 499.99$ phone. This is a rant about the missing features that are obvious to a smart phone and you are saying relaxing dont worry.. this is what i purchased the phone for and it is severely lacking in a lot of areas.
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I find it pretty funny people moaning about the lack of features WP7 has and how great Android and IOS are.
I had Android from the very start when hardly anyone knew what it was and i had that brick of a phone (although i quite liked it lol) called the G1.
Android was released on 1.0 software however i thought it was a practical joke no lie the battery would last 5 hours if you was lucky and the phone would heat up like a microwave oven besides the various other bugs etc including freezing up completely. It took Google 5 updates until we got the first named update "Cupcake" 1.5 before android was even half usable and had copy & paste etc. And to be honest it should of started on 1.5 so my G1 only got 1 decent update to 1.6.
Its the same with all the other android phones i have had the SE X10 did go from 1.6 to 2.3 only because legions of p*ssed off people including myself moaned at sony like there was no tomorrow when they said it would only get 2.1 (i think).
Etc Etc the point it Android is way too fragmented and buying a Android phone is like entering a lottery with regards to updates and added features etc.
Same with Apple it took them at least a year to add even copy & paste not too mention all the other stuff that was missing like MMS & Adobe Flash (ah yeah still ain't got that one).
Microsoft have given us a much better OS than both Google or Apple right off the bat and the amount of added features Mango is bringing is pretty amazing adding more stuff than 1 or 2 major android updates and even getting so things in the first year of WP7 that iPhone hasn't got after 5 years.

JB rant and options ?

I cannot believe the state of JB. Its beta software at best, IMHO.
Example, when typing in a gmail body, if you backspace, the cursor loses its position in the text. And there are issues with inserting new paragraphs and such. These are elementary programming bugs. How long did they test JB before they pushed it to the servers ?
Someone needs to push out an upgrade for JB ASAP. I suspect that ASUS pushed JB out prematurely to capture better Christmas sales. If they don't issue an update its going to backfire on them.
Is there an Android repository somewhere that has global updates, not just ASUS updates ?
I'm new to the whole Android scene. I'm an experienced Linux user.
Why is Android not rooted from the get go ?
Why does hardware come locked down ?
I think Android would be a lot better OS if Google et al opened things up and made it easier for developers to contribute to it, especially prior to the major releases.
Companies want to sell devices. Why do they need to lock the OS to the device ? They already have the OS locked to the device by only supplying proprietary drivers to the OS of their liking. I understand that you might get users harming the hardware by doing illegal things, turning up the cell radio transmitter power, anyone ? But short of that, how is a smart phone different from a PC or laptop where you can easily do what you want with the OS ?
I think JB would be a better product if it was more open and everyday people contributed to its development. Imagine how much better it would be if it followed the Fedora development process whereby a few rcs were released prior to putting it into "stable".
And we could spend our time logging and fixing bugs instead of fooling around with figuring out to unlock, root and flash devices. It would be a win-win for everyone. What Google is doing now is akin to if Fedora (Ubuntu) closed their development process.
I think that Google is afraid that Android is going to get forked in some direction it doesn't like. However, if they keep going the way they are, its almost certain that will be the case anyway.
/rant
I find the wireless router industry fascinating. What does Cisco have to lose by allowing users to flash whatever they want on their hardware ? They have the best of both worlds right now... sell routers locked down for the average person and yet everyone knows how to flash them to build super routers. I think this is the direct the open handset people need to go.

How far are we from roms?

Just wondering how much time people think it'll take before we get even a super unstable rom
From the looks of it, it took a month just to get TWRP on the original Pixel, so probably a while. Personally, I am straying away from ROMs. I only need root so that I can get viper4android and provisioning turned off. Other than that, don't really need anything else anymore.
I don't care too much for roms, however I'm interested in a Kernel that will allow me full control of the screen colors.
I feel that will come sooner than Google will officially provide more vibrant colors.
Fingers crossed for Turkey day, more realistic that Santa will bring em.
I dare say that we'll need factory images & driver binaries to make an appearance before the ball gets properly rolling.
I'm looking forward to Lineage OS. I hope the Pixel 2 gets official support. The Pixel 1 has never had an official version of Lineage OS.
I don't need a lot of new features and mods. But Lineage does strip out some of the privacy violating stuff in Android, other crud, and gets updated weekly, making it more secure.
Currently the Pixel 2 is still on the September 5 security patch from Google. So it has not been patched for the extremely bad Krack vulnerability in wifi (which affects all platforms). In fact, no version of Android, even on the original Pixels has been patched for Krack. But Lineage OS was patched within a day of the public announcement of Krack. This means my Nexus 4 running Lineage OS is more secure than the most up to date Pixel, even though Google stopped supporting the Nexus 4 years ago. That is just an embarrassment and Google should be humiliated, but really they don't care that much about security.
(If you don't know about Krack, it completely breaks WPA2 wifi connections--which is what everyone uses--and allows an attacker to easily decrypt all of your traffic.)
By the way, Windows was patched for Krack the week before it was publically announced. Linux was patched the day of the announcement. As I said, Lineage OS was patched the next day. Apple has been vague about when there will be updates to either MacOS or iOS and just leaked to some bloggers that they are coming--Apple is the worst on security on the desktop now (though they do a lot of PR to appear great) and not good on the iPhone. Google says they have a patch, but are not clear at all about when it will come (a computer journalist/developer I was emailing with recently said to me that Android security is so bad it should be considered criminal).
Anyway, so that's an argument for at least some ROMs, beyond a need for any special features and mods.
I'm with the previous posters. I don't NEED roms...but more development is always a good thing. Remember the days when just getting all your data from phone to phone required Root and titanium? Now all that's backed up in the cloud and restores over the cloud. I was a holdout of the grandfathered UDP and NEEDED root for tethering. But now I'm on the new unlimited and save money now that my teenager is on a smartphone. I'm saving $ on the plan... Never really worry about Data and I really haven't seen a difference.
Android has come so far that each update root has become more for fun instead of necessity.
Everybody needs to settle down with this Krack paranoia. There no hacker sitting outside your window hacking your wifi.
Chronzy said:
Everybody needs to settle down with this Krack paranoia. There no hacker sitting outside your window hacking your wifi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Say what?
Chronzy said:
Everybody needs to settle down with this Krack paranoia. There no hacker sitting outside your window hacking your wifi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably not at your home (although doing that used to be a hobby, called Wardriving, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardriving, so maybe with Krack it will become popular again).
But at work, in a cafe, public places with wifi, wifi sniffing is definitely known to happen.
Further, every time I've heard some say not to worry about some "paranoid" computer security issue, it has come to pass. I can't count anymore the number of computer security disasters that were so predictable, even though they sounded crazy, that I saw them coming years ahead and then they happened.
Basically, these days, we are losing the computer security game. Between extremely sophisticated state actors and almost as sophisticated criminals, huge amounts of resources are going into hacking people in every possible way. If you can think of a hack, it almost certainly is something that is happening or will happen. I've gotten it right so many times that way, when less sophisticated people thought I was crazy. I'm telling you, just imagine something that seems really bad with computer security, sit back, wait a couple years, and it will happen.
What's worse, with Krack, there are so many people running devices that don't get supported anymore that they will be vulnerable to Krack forever. Most routers never get updates either and people don't replace them, so they will be vulnerable for a long time too.
And the people who should be protecting us (Google, banks--Equifax, ahem) don't care, because for them fraud is just and operating expense.
My advice to people is don't do anything over wifi on your phone that you expect to be secure (like banking apps, etc.). Better safe than sorry. Really, I don't think people should ever use banking apps on their phones (or things like Android Pay)--I know people who work for banks developing these things and they really don't spend money on security people (there is also an extreme lack of enough talent in this area). I'll predict it right now. One of these days some banking app is going to get hacked and thousands if not millions of people are going to lose money out of their accounts. The banks will act shocked, pass the cost on to their customers, and know all along they couldn't be bothered to prevent it.
GohanBurner said:
From the looks of it, it took a month just to get TWRP on the original Pixel, so probably a while. Personally, I am straying away from ROMs. I only need root so that I can get viper4android and provisioning turned off. Other than that, don't really need anything else anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The original Pixel had a new dual boot and system partition structure (for seamless updates), which increased the time needed to get TWRP. With luck the Pixel 2 will have the same structure, so it won't require so much work to get TWRP.
I mainly need root so adaway can change the hosts file to get rid of ads. Maybe I'll just stick with stock recovery and use one of the vpn ad blockers.
foosion said:
The original Pixel had a new dual boot and system partition structure (for seamless updates), which increased the time needed to get TWRP. With luck the Pixel 2 will have the same structure, so it won't require so much work to get TWRP.
I mainly need root so adaway can change the hosts file to get rid of ads. Maybe I'll just stick with stock recovery and use one of the vpn ad blockers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe it is confirmed to have the same file system. There are indications that there are "slots"again just like the original Pixel.
All development is waiting on the release of the kernel source for the Pixel 2. I'd imagine it'll surface close to when the next OTA comes out with the October/November security patch. Seems like they aren't interested in releasing source and factory images for the current production build. I'd imagine within a week or two it'll happen.
ryanbg said:
All development is waiting on the release of the kernel source for the Pixel 2. I'd imagine it'll surface close to when the next OTA comes out with the October/November security patch. Seems like they aren't interested in releasing source and factory images for the current production build. I'd imagine within a week or two it'll happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Factory images are live:
https://developers.google.com/android/images#walleye
:good::good:
If anyone worried about KRACK needs to stop. If you are visiting http sites stop using them viola no need to worry. It's 2017 and all sites should be using https as a standard. There is no reason for a site not to use it.
Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

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