Don’t download that app: US presidential candidates will STALK you with it
Security researchers have uncovered privacy shortcomings in the mobile applications offered by both the Barack Obama and Mitt Romney presidential campaigns.
The campaign teams of the incumbent US President and his Republican challenger have each released apps for both iOS and Android, in good time for the election on November 6.
Experts at GFI Software looked at the Android versions of both apps, discovering both to be surprisingly invasive.
Obama for America and Mitt’s VP request permissions, access to services and data and capabilities beyond their core mandate.
For example, each of the apps features the ability to cross-post on users' behalf and report back to base. One app even has a tool to encourage users to go canvassing on behalf of the candidate, which in GFI's test directed Obama supporters to an unsafe part of a US town – just north of downtown Clearwater, Florida. Read more...
Facebook launches App Store Center
Facebook is launching an App Center to recommend mobile applications based on demographic preferences as well as user ratings, just as long as they're tied into users' Facebook credentials – with a view to monetising the process eventually, of course.
The App Center won't just recommend mobile apps, it will also showcase web-based applications embedded in Facebook and even other websites, as long as they are based around the Facebook logon. Listing will be free, and users will receive recommendations based on their demographic and history rather than blanket star ratings, so the Center will look different to every customer who enters. Read more...
iOS, Android, Windows Phone: Top three for mobile apps in 2015
Which mobile platform is best for monetising apps? Apple's iOS will remain the dominant force until 2015, according to analyst Berg Insight, followed by Google's Android platform.
But snatching bronze as the third best way to turn apps into cash in 2015 will be Microsoft's Windows Phone OS, only launched last year.
Apple's iOS will remain the best platform to monetise apps until 2015, predicts Berg InsightPhoto: Cristiano Betta
Last year Apple's App Store generated revenues of €1.33bn - compared to the €80m generated by the Android platform. The analyst predicts Apple's App Store revenues will rise to €4.4bn in 2015, while Android's will swell to almost €1.5bn that year.
The Berg research report, entitled The Mobile Applications Market, notes that app downloads continue to soar: there were around 10 billion app downloads last year across all the mobile platforms - and it predicts this figure will reach 98 billion by 2015. Read more...
Rubbing an iPhone on your face won’t cure acne – FTC
The Federal Trade Commission has fined two developers who claimed their mobile apps could cure acne with flashing colour, but there's still plenty of snake-oil on sale.
Colour therapy for acne does have medical credentials, but the FTC's ruling is clear that the frequencies generated by a smartphone screen aren't even close to what's needed, making the claimed cures baseless and forcing the developers of AcnePwner (Android) and AcneApp (iPhone) cough up $1,700 and $14,294 respectively.
Around 3,300 Android users apparently shelled out 99 cents for AcnePwner, while 11,600 iPhone users had to pay twice that for AcneApp. Both applications asked users to hold the phone screen against the skin for a few hours every day, during which it would flash suitable colours: AcneApp even cited a report from the British Journal of Dermatology to back up its claims. Read more...
Phone 7 Developers Limited To 20 Apps Per Day
Microsoft is restricting the certification of new mobile apps for Windows Phone Marketplace to no more than 20 a day per developer. The move is the latest sign that Microsoft's mobile-app strategy continues to be about positioning the marketplace as a source of high-quality mobile software.
Microsoft's aim is to maintain a balance between choice and customer experience by enabling customers to see a broader and more representative assortment of new Windows Phone 7 apps, noted Windows Phone blogger Todd Brix on Thursday. Read more...
Healthcare IT spending to hit $40B this year
Healthcare IT spending is expected to reach $40 billion by the end of this year, according to a study from market research firm RNCOS.
Much of that growth will come from spending on electronic health record (EHR) systems, mobile health applications and efforts to comply with new government standards.
Boosted by increased spending on healthcare software -- which is needed for the rollout of EHR systems -- the U.S. healthcare IT market is expected to grow at a rate of about 24 percent per year from 2012 to 2014, the study said. Spending on healthcare software rose 20.5 percent in the past year, from $6.8 billion in 2010 to a projected $8.2 billion this year, according to RNCOS. Read more...