Google is Reportedly Working on a AR & VR Hybrid Headset

We have seen multiple reports about Google working on a standalone VR headset for a while now. However, in July of this year we also saw a report that claimed the company has cancelled its plans for a standalone unit. As with most reports and rumors, they should never be taken as fact since they likely do not have all of the information.

So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Google have decided to pivot from their previous VR headset plans to something a little different.

The latest report about this mysterious device is that it will incorporate eye tracking from the user. For a regular VR headset, eye tracking could be used as an additional interaction method (instead of controllers), but it's easy to see how software and games could use this data in their products too. On the same day that this report was published, we also saw an announcement about Google acquiring Eyefluence, a company that worked on eye-interaction software.

So with this report about Google's vision for a standalone VR headset, it's easy to see why they would be interested in a company like Eyefluence. The report goes even further though and talks about how this VR headset will "map out the real-world space in front of a user." This should sound familiar as this is what Google's Tango project can do. Instead of just a typical AR headset though, the report cites a source who describes it as "bringing the world into VR."

We are likely a long way from finding out exactly what Google's vision for this headset really is. It's been known that Google feels AR, not VR, will be more successful in the long run. They might feel this way because of the work they've already been doing with Tango, or they might have a different vision of how AR or "mixed reality" can be used in our everyday lives.

Source: Engadget

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Google Announces Android Pay Partnership with Visa Checkout and Masterpass

It was just last week when Google announced Android Pay was finally being launched in Hong Kong. The company has been working at a slow but steady pace to expand Android Pay around the world, and they've also been working to add support for more local banks as time goes by.

Now, the company has just announced a new partnership with both Visa and MasterCard that will allow Android Pay to be used on a lot more online websites.

Visa has a service called Visa Checkout while MasterCard has their own online service called Masterpass. Similarly to Android Pay, Visa Checkout and Masterpass are services that make it quicker and easier for customers to pay for online purchases. Masterpass is currently available in 25 countries with over 250,000 merchants using it, while Visa Checkout is available in 16 countries with over 225,000 merchants employing the system.

With this new partnership, Android Pay will now be accepted on hundreds of thousands of new websites around the world. Just like all Android Pay purchases, customers will be able to complete their transaction using their phone or tablet's preferred authentication method instead of remembering usernames and passwords. This reduces the friction points of the checkout process for websites and apps, and has proven to increase sales and improve customer satisfaction.

For those curious, Google has even included a couple of case studies from applications like Fancy and Luxe that can be checked out both here and here (PDFs). These case studies show that merchants who include an Android Pay option at checkout see faster checkout times, fewer abandoned carts, higher conversions and increased sales. Naturally, these results will vary from app to app and website to website, but it has proven to be beneficial to both the customer and the merchant.

Source: Google Blog

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[Winner Announced + Coupon Code] Win a Pixel XL from XDA and RhinoShield

We recently held a contest to giveaway a new Pixel XL thanks to our friends at RhinoShield. Their CrashGuard bumper case has some impressive engineering behind it to give your device tremendous drop protection, while staying super minimal since it does not cover the back of your phone like a traditional case. You can read more about the honeycomb structure that contains pockets of pressurized air as well as its custom-formulated polymer makeup in our CrashGuard explainer post. But without further delay, we wanted to announce the winner of the Pixel XL: Kyle Gospodnetich. He has already been contacted.

For everyone else, RhinoShield has provided a 15%-off coupon code to be used on their website for any of their awesome products. The code is "XDAFTW" and it is valid until November 10, 2016.

In the coming days, we're going to be putting CrashGuard to the test with some pretty abusive drop tests with a Pixel XL. Stay tuned.

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Neko Collector Brings Android 7.0’s Easter Egg to Android 4.0+ Devices

Want to try out the Android 7.0 mini-game easter egg, but don't have Nougat yet? Check out the open source Neko Collector app, which brings the mini-game experience to all Android 4.0+ devices!

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Unofficial CyanogenMod 14 Lands on Moto X 2013

If you're looking to run Android 7.0 on your original Moto X (that came with Android 4.2), XDA Senior Member Megatron007 has brought CM14 to the device. The bug list is pretty small, so check it out!

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Homescreen Critique 07

It has been a week since the last Homecreen Critique which mean we have had a ton of new homescreen submissions to go through. Here are the best homescreens of the week.

Artist- @Feku_marwari

Who's pumped for Red Dead Redemption 2? This guy is with this custom RDR setup. Custom widgets and icons bring this whole silhouette sunset theme together.

Artist- YouColdYet

While there isn't a bunch of custom work here, a few things jump out. Custom widgets power the bottom clock on the homescreen. No xposed or root tools were used to create this look which means it can easily be remade on any device.

Apps used in this setup:

DARKMATTER – ICON PACK

Artist- Alias_z3d

This setup looks great with kustom live wallpaper and kustom widget powering this design.

Apps used in this setup:

KLWP Live Wallpaper Maker

KWGT Kustom Widget Maker

Artist- @BasirRizwan

This design based on quotes is a little different. The icon page looks random at first but the artist says that everything is organized just how they like it.

Apps used in this setup:

Brilliant Quotes & Quotations

DashClock Widget

Submit your own homescreen in this thread to be featured in the next video, here.

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New Rowhammer Exploits use Hardware Vulnerabilities to Root LG, Samsung, and Motorola Devices

Google is constantly at war with hackers seeking to maliciously exploit security vulnerabilities in their products. Back in the middle of 2014, Google assembled a team of security analysts called 'Project Zero' to report zero-day exploits to the company so they can be patched before any nefarious third-party can take advantage of the undisclosed security hole. One such vulnerability, dubbed the 'Rowhammer' exploits, involves repeatedly accessing a row of memory to cause 'bit-flips' in adjacent rows of memory. This exploit occurs in some DRAM devices and can be used to gain read-write privileges to all of physical memory even within a user-space process.

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon and Intel Labs disclosed this bit-flip exploit in certain DRAM devices manufactured in 2012-2013. At the time, however, the researchers believed that Rowhammer was not readily exploitable due to it relying on "chance hardware faults" that were mostly repelled by adapting some advanced memory-management features. But in March of 2015, Google's Project Zero discussed possible methods of exploiting this DRAM vulnerability to gain kernel privileges, however they were unsure to what extent this vulnerability could be used on other machines or operating systems. It now appears that various Android devices from LG, Samsung, and Motorola are exploitable via a new proof-of-concept attack named 'Drammer.' The new attack demonstrates a reliable method of attaining root access from a user-space app without any permissions.

One of the security researchers responsible for the proof-of-concept, Victor van der Veen, states there isn't a "quick software update" that can protect users from these types of attacks. While the attack is not completely consistent on all of the tested devices, the success rate of the exploit is still alarming. So far, the researchers have stated they were able to root the Nexus 4, Nexus 5, LG G4, 2013 Moto G, 2014 Moto G, Galaxy S4, Galaxy S5, and the OnePlus One. To give you an idea of the exploit's consistency, the team states they were able to break into 12 out of 15 Nexus 5 smartphones that they tested. On the other hand, the team was able to successfully exploit only one out of two Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphones they could test.

The team has already disclosed the exploit to Google back in July of this year and were awarded $4,000 for their efforts. Since then, Google has been working on patching this critical vulnerability and informing Android OEMs on how to patch their devices. An update to patch this exploit is said to be included in the upcoming November security update. For those of you who have devices that will not be receiving the November security update, the researchers state that they will be publishing an application in the Play Store so you can test to see if your device is vulnerable.

The team has even uploaded a video to YouTube to demonstrate the hack happening on a Nexus 5 running Android 6.0.1 with the latest October security patches.

Source: Ars Technica

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