Signal to remove support for SMS messages on Android to improve security

by Hansraj Agrawal | Oct 13, 2022 | Technology

With an aim to prioritise security and privacy, encrypted messaging app Signal has announced that it will soon stop supporting SMS messages on Android.

The platform said it has “now reached the point where SMS support no longer makes sense”.

“In order to enable a more streamlined Signal experience, we are starting to phase out SMS support from the Android app,” the company said in a blogpost.

“You will have several months to transition away from SMS in Signal, to export your SMS messages to another app, and to let the people you talk to know that they might want to switch to Signal, or find another channel if not,” it added.

The change will only affect users who use Signal as their default SMS app on Android.

“If you do use Signal as your default SMS app on Android, you will need to select a new default SMS app on your phone. If you want to keep them, you will also need to export your SMS messages from Signal into that new app,” the company said.

According to Signal, it is removing SMS support for the Android app to prioritise security and privacy, ensuring people aren’t hit with unexpected messaging bills, and creating a clear and intelligible user experience for anyone sending messages on Signal.

“The most important reason for us to remove SMS support from Android is that plaintext SMS messages are inherently insecure. They leak sensitive metadata and place your data in the hands of telecommunications companies,” the messaging app said.

“With privacy and security at the heart of what we do, letting a deeply insecure messaging protocol have a place in the Signal interface is inconsistent with our values and with what people expect when they open Signal,” it added.

–IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Microsoft brings animated avatars to ‘Teams’ software in metaverse push

by Hansraj Agrawal | Oct 13, 2022 | Technology

Microsoft has announced to bring your digital avatar right into its video conferencing software ‘Teams’.

With the new update, the company will bring ‘animated avatars’ to Teams in its premium section ‘Microsoft Teams Premium’ with features like AI-generated tasks and meeting guides.

The update is set to arrive in December in preview, and the cost is expected to be $10 per user per month, said the company during its at ‘Ignite 2022’ event.

“We are introducing Teams Premium meeting offering that includes Intelligent Recap, a powerful new AI experience, like a virtual assistant during meetings even in your absence. It creates tasks, automatically generates chapters from the meeting, and shares personalized highlights from the recording,” the tech giant added.

“Nearly 51 per cent of GenZs envision working in the metaverse in the next two years. Mesh avatars for Teams lets users create custom avatars to represent themselves so they can take a break from the camera but still have a physical presence in Teams meetings,” the company added.

Teams Premium section also includes other features such as AI-powered live translations for captions, enabling meeting participants to view captions in any of 40 spoken languages so that everyone can join the discussion in the language of their choice.

Earlier this week, Microsoft and Meta partnered to bring Microsoft Teams to the Quest headsets soon.

–IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Spam messages, once a menace on SMS platforms are now all over WhatsApp

by Hansraj Agrawal | Oct 13, 2022 | Technology

Spam messages, infamous for flooding the SMS platforms, have now become a new menace on instant messaging platform WhatsApp. 95 per cent of Indians confirmed receiving spam or promotional messages on WhatsApp, findings of the latest survey conducted by the social media platform LocalCircles revealed.

The survey received over 57,000 responses from citizens located in 373 districts of India. It had 62 per cent of respondents as men, while 38 per cent of respondents were women. 45 per cent of respondents were from tier-1 cities, 32 per cent from tier-2 and 23 per cent from tier-3, -4, and rural areas.

It further showed that one in every two Indians receives four or more promotional messages on WhatsApp every day. 22 per cent, nearly one in every five, confirmed that they receive over 8 such messages.

“51 per cent of the citizens are receiving 4 or more promotional or spam messages on their WhatsApp despite the provision to report spam or block numbers,” the survey said.

All the respondents (100 per cent), on the other hand, revealed that they receive spam and promotional messages through SMS daily.

SMS messages should “not be confused with communication from government or any other authorized source” and it “is a misuse of citizens’ personal data”, the survey said.

68 per cent of the respondents said that they receive over 4 spam messages through SMS. It was followed by 51 per cent of respondents facing similar problems with WhatsApp.

“There have been media reports over the last few months that the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) has decided to levy fines ranging from Rs 1,000 per violation for 0-10 breaches, Rs 5,000 each for 10-50 violations, and Rs 10,000 each for more than 50 violations by registered telemarketers,” it added.

However, no official notification has been issued in this regard.

In 2021,WhatsApp made it mandatory for its users to receive messages from WhatsApp Business.

“While users resisted this initially and started using alternate platforms like Signal and Telegram, over time most gave up and accepted the revised terms,” the survey said. The messages were based on the usage of WhatsApp and data from Facebook.

The highest number of promotional messages received on WhatsApp was about selling real estate, financial services and providing healthcare services.

To put an end to spam messages, 77 per cent of the people said that the telcos and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) must work to embed a “Mark Spam” option in the messages to make it easier for the users to report.

“While TRAI can’t do much to address WhatsApp spam, 77 per cent of mobile subscribers want it to work with telcos and enable a Report Spam feature within the SMS as the current reporting mechanisms aren’t found to be user friendly. Then there is a need for strong action to be taken against spammers once people report them,” the report added.

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More Apple services coming to Microsoft Xbox, Windows 11: Details here

by Hansraj Agrawal | Oct 13, 2022 | Technology

Microsoft announced the integration of Apple’s iCloud and Microsoft Photos app in Windows 11 at its annual Surface event on Wednesday. The American software giant says the integration will help iPhone users with a Windows device to access all their photos and videos via Microsoft Photos app. To enable the integration, Windows 11 users need to install the iCloud from the Microsoft Store and sync it with the Photos app. This integration is currently available to Windows Insiders, with availability for all Windows 11 users beginning in November.

Alongside, Microsoft also announced the availability of Apple Music on Xbox. It is the second Apple streaming service coming to Microsoft Xbox – first was Apple TV. Both the Apple Music and Apple TV apps are also coming to Windows next year. “We’re making it easier than ever for customers to access their iPhone photos and the entertainment they love from Apple on their Xbox and Windows devices,” said Carmen Zlateff, VP, Windows User Experience.

Besides the above services-related updates, Microsoft announced the Surface Laptop 5, Surface 9 Pro, Surface Studio 2+, and more.

Surface Laptop 5

Powered by 12th Gen Intel Core processors based on the Intel Evo platform, the laptop comes in 13.5-inch and 15-inch screen size variants. It boots Windows 11 operating system and supports a 10-point multi-touch screen with Dolby Vision IQ. It offers 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB LPDDR5x RAM variants with an option of 256GB, 512GB and 1TB SSD storages. It features Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 for wireless connectivity. Other features include Thunderbolt 4 USB-C, 3.5mm headphone jack, Dual studio microphones, and HD front facing camera.

Surface 9 Pro

Surface 9 Pro comes in two variants, one powered by 12th Gen Intel Core processor and another by Microsoft SQ 3 5G processor built in partnership with Qualcomm. It sports a 13.3-inch PixelSense Flow screen of 120Hz refresh rate, and supports Dolby Vision IQ and 10-point multi-touch. The Intel processor powered variant comes with 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB RAM options, and up to 1TB storage. The variant powered by Microsoft SQ3 processor offers 5G connectivity. It comes with 8GB and 16GB LPDDR4x RAM options, and up to 512GB storage.

Surface Studio 2+

Powered by 11th Gen Intel Core H-35 processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 discrete GPU, it sports 28-inch PixelSense touchscreen. It comes in 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD configuration. Other features include USB-C with Thunderbolt 4, 3.5 mm headphone jack, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.

Microsoft Designer

It is a new graphic designing app in Microsoft 365, launched at the event. It uses artificial intelligence to help users automatically get a variety of unique images and designs based on their idea or content.

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Toyota admits data of nearly 300,000 customers exposed since July 2017

by Hansraj Agrawal | Oct 13, 2022 | Technology

Automaker Toyota has revealed that personal information of nearly 300,000 customers may have been exposed since July 2017.

In a statement, the car maker said that e-mail addresses and customer management numbers of some customers who subscribe to “T-Connect” have been leaked.

In total, 296,019 cases were found to have been leaked.

“We sincerely apologise for causing great inconvenience and concern to our customers,” the company said.

In addition, the personal information that may be leaked is the e-mail address and customer management number, and “other information such as name, phone number, credit card, etc. is not affected,” it added.

From December 2017 to September 15, 2022, a third party was able to access part of the company’s source code on GitHub.

“It was discovered that the published source code contained an access key to the data server, and by using it, it was possible to access the e-mail address and customer management number stored in the data server,” said Toyota.

The source code was made private on GitHub, and on September 17, “we changed the access key for the data server, etc., and no secondary damage has been confirmed”.

Toyota is now individually sending an apology and notification to the registered email address of any customer whose email address or customer management number may have been leaked.

It said that the incident was caused by the inappropriate handling of the source code by the development contractor company.

“At this time, we have not confirmed any unauthorised use of personal information related to this matter, but it is possible that spam e-mails such as ‘spoofing’ or ‘phishing scams’ using e-mail addresses may be sent,” said Toyota.

–IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Apple to sell ad space for TV+ next year during sports league : Report

by Hansraj Agrawal | Oct 13, 2022 | Technology

Tech giant Apple is reportedly discussing with media agency and network executives about the possibility of selling advertising space on its Apple TV+ streaming service, maybe as early as next year.

The tech giant’s advertising chief Todd Teresi has led meetings with holding company executives to sell video advertising space, citing DigiDay, MacRumors reported.

Citing an anonymous source, the report claims Apple has not asked one agency’s network to put aside client dollars in the fourth quarter, suggesting the ad time could be available in early 2023.

As per the report, Apple is aiming to triple its ad revenue from $4 billion per year to double-digit figures by expanding its advertising to more apps and services, and Apple executives see TV+ as having untapped potential.

Currently, the company’s advertising spots are spread over display ads in its News and Stocks apps, as well as for apps in the App Store, across iPhone, iPad and Mac.

Apple also already generates revenue on Apple TV+ with commercials during MLB Friday Night Baseball streams, although those spots are sold by MLB, the report said.

In 2023, it will be the exclusive home of Major League Soccer for the next 10 years, with ad space and sponsorship deals shared by both Apple and MLS.

In May, it was reported that Apple’s senior vice president of services Eddy Cue had restructured services management to focus more on streaming and advertising.

–IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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