27
Jul
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Security Researcher Demonstrates GPS Vulnerability That Could Let Hackers Track Users' Location, Take Over Phone

Posted by in News

Over at Black Hat USA 2012, security researcher Ralf-Phillip Weinmann demonstrated a vulnerability in several Android devices that utilized A-GPS to send illicit messages to the device which could, he explained, be used to send a report of the device's location any time an A-GPS message was sent or even be used to gain complete control of the device.

In describing the attack, Weinmann pointed out that, for example, a malicious WiFi network could instruct a phone to relay all future A-GPS requests, even once the device has left the WiFi network's range. This even further drives home the point that you should not join any networks you don't trust.

30
Dec
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[Update: Working As Intended] ASUS Transformer Prime GPS Performs Very Poorly Without Wi-Fi, Massive XDA Thread Ensues

Posted by in ASUS, Eee Pad Transformer Prime, News, Tablets
Last Updated: January 3rd, 2012

Update 2: ASUS has issued an official statement on the matter and determined that the Prime's GPS is functioning as intended, which for many folks means essentially non-functional.

Please note that this product is not a professional GPS device ... To avoid inconveniencing users who demand a powerful GPS device, we made the decision to remove it from our specification sheet and marketing communications. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

ASUS

That means if you're actually unable to live with your Prime without true GPS, there's not a lot to do but sell it - because ASUS isn't going to (and apparently can't) do anything about it.

20
Oct
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Dan Morrill Reveals The Real Reason Behind The Galaxy Nexus' Barometer

Posted by in Galaxy Nexus, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

Since last night's announcement, there has been a lot of speculation surrounding the Galaxy Nexus. One of the most mysterious features of Samsung's latest Nexus device is its onboard barometer. Many have been questioning why Samsung would include a barometer in the Nexus' sleek chassis, citing possibilities from more accurate weather prediction to simple altitude detection (which is partially true).

In a Google+ post today, Android Engineer Dan Morrill gave us the scoop on what the barometer is actually for, and it's more interesting than you might think.

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Morrill explains that the barometer is actually intended to speed up GPS location, because "locking onto a GPS involves numerically solving a 4-dimensional set of linear equations - 3 dimensions in space, and time."

That sounds a bit complicated, doesn't it?

09
Sep
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GPS Fix For CyanogenMod 6 On The Nexus One

Posted by in News, Nexus One (Passion)
Last Updated: September 15th, 2010

One of the most common complaints about the recent builds of CyanogenMod 6 has been that Nexus One owners’ GPS would suddenly take ages to get a fix or wouldn't get a fix at all. The most frequent solution posted has been to change your Mobile Network APN type to “default,supl” to enable A-GPS through your cellular network. However, for some people this still didn’t solve the problem, including myself.

Well, today on the CM forums, user kursed posted a fix that may be the end of many frustrated N1-ers’ woes. The fix involves resetting your location data using GPS Status with your SIM card removed, getting a fix, and then restarting your phone with the SIM inserted and getting a fix again.