Android rugby

Summary: Wireless IP cameras are undeniably powerful when it comes to security, but they can be expensive or difficult to set up (or both). A new IndieGogo project hopes to solve both problems and is on track to becoming the most successful crowd-funded connected home product ever.

I've previously written about my affection for home automation and monitoring tools (like Nest, Hue, Manything and DropCam) and a new IndieGogo project looks promising.

Canary is billed as "the first smart home security device for everyone." It's a simple device packed with smart sensors - controlled through your iPhone, natch - that allows you to keep your home or office safe and secure.

Canary's different from most IP cameras though, instead of the usual camera, mic and motion detector that you can monitor from your iPhone, it also monitors temperature, air quality and vibration and it does all this in a sleek and elegant package. You control it from your iPhone (or Android).

Like Nest, which learns about how you the temperature in your home, Canary also learns from your daily patterns. After a short training period, it sends you alerts you when it senses anything out of the ordinary, like sudden temperature changes (which can indicate a fire) and the sound of glass breaking and strange movement (which could mean an intrusion).

As of this writing Canary has already raised over $1.2 million, shattering its modest $100,000 goal. With only 13 days left you'll need to act fact if you want to take advantage of the early adopter pricing of $199. Canary is due to ship to IndieGogo backers in May 2014.

Cue the video:

Shares in the Canadian maker of BlackBerry smartphones peaked in August of 2007, at two hundred and thirty-six dollars. In retrospect, the company was facing an inflection point and was completely unaware. Seven months earlier, in January, Apple had introduced the iPhone at San Francisco's Moscone Center. Executives at BlackBerry, then called Research in Motion, decided to let Apple focus on the general-use smartphone market, while it would continue selling BlackBerry products to business and government customers that bought the devices for employees. "In terms of a sort of a sea change for BlackBerry," the company's co-C.E.O Jim Balsillie said at the time, referring to the iPhone's impact on the industry, "I would think that's overstating it."

Six years later, BlackBerry's stock is worth just over ten dollars a share, and on Monday it announced that it has formed a "special committee" to explore ways to sell the company or form a joint venture with another business, among other options. This was a striking declaration: although BlackBerry has been in trouble for some time-it underwent a public "strategy review" of its business plan a year ago-its decision to put up a giant, blinking for-sale sign suggests it has become especially desperate. If BlackBerry sells itself, the buyer's biggest gains will be a pile of cash, a big portfolio of patents, and some security technology. In other words, one of the companies that pioneered the smartphone market may soon end up selling itself as scrap.

BlackBerry, founded in 1984 by a pair of engineering students, Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin, was for years one of the world's most innovative builders of communications products like two-way pagers and e-mail devices. But the story of its past six years has been one of missed opportunities. First, the company failed to recognize that the iPhone could hurt it. Then it overlooked the threat of low-cost competitors in Asia. Finally, and most recently, executives threw the company's little remaining energy into a new line of high-end smartphones that failed to resonate with consumers, having arrived far too late with too little to offer.

BlackBerry, of course, wasn't the only company that made the mistake of ignoring the iPhone and the revolution it portended: engineers at Nokia, which, years earlier, had introduced a one-pound smartphone, dismissed the iPhone because, among other reasons, it failed to pass a test in which phones were dropped five feet onto concrete over and over again, the Wall Street Journal reported last year. Microsoft C.E.O. Steve Ballmer actually laughed at the iPhone. "It doesn't appeal to business customers because it doesn't have a keyboard," he said. Nokia and Microsoft, which are now building smartphones in partnership with each other, have, like BlackBerry, seen their share of the market shrink.

As early as 2009, BlackBerry's share price had fallen to less than fifty dollars, from its high of two hundred and thirty-six dollars in the summer of 2007. The "consumerization" of business technology was already underway, and the company had failed to come to grips with it: when BlackBerry users returned home and pulled off their ties, they picked up iPhones, which were a lot more fun to use. Soon, they wanted to use iPhones at work. Simultaneously, companies realized that workers would be happier and more productive buying the device of their choice, and the firms themselves, spared the expense of providing their employees with phones, would save money.

By the time BlackBerry realized it needed to reach consumers directly, it was too late. In November, 2008, the company released its first touchscreen phone, the Storm, to middling reviews. BlackBerry then turned its focus to Asia and Latin America, where the smartphone market continued to explode. For several months, the strategy worked. In Indonesia, where the company made a special push, its products held forty-seven per cent of the market by the first half of 2011, up from only nine per cent in the first half of 2009, according to the research firm Canalys. The decline in the company's stock price finally started to level off. But the plateau was short-lived: soon, a new crop of Asian companies started to build cheaper smartphones.

Around the time that BlackBerry deepened its efforts in emerging markets, it also bought QNX Software Systems, whose operating systems powered technology ranging from medical devices to computerized automobile interfaces. BlackBerry hoped to augment its own operating-system expertise-but in April of 2011, when the company introduced a tablet powered by a QNX-based operating system, the PlayBook, it flopped.

Then BlackBerry appointed a new C.E.O., Thorsten Heins, at the start of 2012. It would take a year for the firm to throw what David Pogue, the Times technology critic, called "BlackBerry's Hail Mary pass": this January, the company launched the Q10 and Z10, its most serious attempts at high-end phones that would actually be attractive to everyday consumers. While some critics praised the phones-Pogue called the Z10 "lovely, fast and efficient, bristling with fresh, useful ideas"-they have failed to sell as well as the company had hoped. In its most recent quarter, BlackBerry shipped only 6.8 million smartphones-roughly a fifth of what Apple sold during the same period.

Coming six years after the iPhone's introduction, the Hail Mary hardly stood a chance. BlackBerry had lost the game long ago.

Got an old Android tablet lying around? Here's how to repurpose it as a Chromecast receiver -- no dongle required.

(Credit: Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET)

Google's Chromecast dongle turns your HDTV into a smart TV, able to stream audio and video from the likes of Netflix, YouTube, and Google Play (with more content providers to come).

The free CheapCast app (not made by Google) enables nearly any Android device to function as a Chromecast, effectively playing the role of the TV as you stream media from your other Android device.

Why would you want to do this? Well, if you have an Android tablet with an HDMI output, you could plug it into your HDTV, then use your smartphone to drive it. Voila: free Chromecast.

I've been test-driving this interesting setup with a Verizon Galaxy S4 and a rooted Barnes & Noble Nook HD, and for the most part it's been working perfectly. Here's how to set it up on your end.

Install CheapCast on your tablet. Run the app, then tap Start Service.

(Credit: Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET)

Install and run Chromecast on your other Android device. It should scan for, and detect, your CheapCast "device."

Now run any of the three apps that are currently Chromecast-compatible: Google Play Movies & TV, Netflix, and YouTube. Once you start playing a video, you should see the Chromecast icon in an upper toolbar. Tap it, then choose CheapCast.

That's it! Now you've got yourself a poor man's Chromecast. The developer notes that the app is an early beta, so don't be surprised if you run into some glitches along the way.

Can you think of any other good uses for CheapCast, keeping in mind that both devices must be connected to the same Wi-Fi network? Or do you think it's a pointless exercise given that the tablet can already run those same apps? Share your thoughts in the comments.

For those who plan to trade in an old iPhone for a new model, it's wise to lock in that buy-back price quote a month early. Also in Update, a look at BlackBerry's fuzzy future and Google's new college textbooks.

CNET Update locks it in:

In this episode of Update, we plan ahead for the arrival of the next iPhone, which may be unveiled Sept. 10. If true, the new iPhone(s) will likely be in stores by the end of the following week.

Make the most profit on your old iPhone by locking in a buy-back price quote a few weeks before the new iPhone is announced. As we approach the launch day of a new iPhone, the trade-in value of older iPhone models can quickly drop by as much as 20 percent. Services NextWorth and Gazelle will honor a quoted buy-back price for 30 days (but that phone needs to be in the company's hands by day 30). Accounting for shipping times, it might be best to lock-in a quote around August 28, assuming the announcement is Sept. 10 and the phone launches by the end of the following week. (Or sell it yourself on eBay to make more money.)

Also in Update:

- We wonder who will buy BlackBerry as the troubled company weighs its options. And will BlackBerry launch this Z30 smartphone soon? (Or is this just another video of the A10?)

- Can Iron Man save HTC with this $1 billion ad campaign?

- College students may save some moolah by renting a textbook from the Google Play store.

Russia's Kaspersky Lab has found a backdoor in Google Cloud Messaging service (GCM) used by hackers to steal Android users' data and force them to send paid messages. The scheme is only stoppable by Google, as it relies on stolen IDs of GCM developers.

The Russian computer security firm on Tuesday said it had notified Google of a security breach in its service, which enabled the hackers to register Trojan and Backdoor malware in the network of the internet giant. "Such tactics rule out the possibility to block access to master server directly on the infected phone," the Kaspersky team warned in a statement on its website. Thus, if an Android user is lured into installing some applications containing the malware, he is doomed to have his money or private data stolen - unless Google intervenes. Blocking the accounts of GCM developers, who's virtual IDs have been compromised and used for Trojan's registration, is the only way to stop the malicious algorithm, Kasperky Lab explained. The anti-virus developers have been warning that over the past year cybercriminals have become increasingly active in targeting tablets and smartphones - especially Android devices - with malicious software. The software may often be disguised as an installation package of a popular mobile application, such as a game or a browser. Kaspersky Lab expert Roman Unuchek said a typical example of such a trap for Android users - dubbed Trojan-SMS.AndroidOS.OpFake.a - has already been detected in 97 countries. The firm has come across over 1 million different installation packages containing the malware.

Once installed, this Trojan lets the hackers steal or delete phone contacts or messages of the Android device owner, send short messages or ads linking to malware to his friends - and, ultimately, secretly send "premium" texts to certain numbers, for which the owner will have to pay a tidy sum. Another Trojan of the kind, which particularly targets Russia and the CIS countries, has been discovered by Kaspersky Lab a staggering 4.8 million times.

Both programs register within the GCM service, Unuchek notes. In some cases, Google Play Store - the resource monopolizing the distribution of all Android apps - may even warn the users of a potential danger before the installation, but many choose to ignore the warning message. According to data published on Kaspersky Lab's website, up to 12,000 new mobile threats in a form of malware are discovered monthly by the computer security firm. 99% of all such malware is said to have targeted the Android platform last year.

(CNN) -- Apple will unveil the latest version of its iPhone on September 10, according to a new report.

The news comes from All Things D, the Wall Street Journal-affiliated tech blog that has a solid track record for reporting inside Apple information.

Apple is believed to be working on a smartwatch and a TV, but neither of those products are expected to be ready for rollout at next month's event. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Likely to be called either the iPhone 6 or iPhone 5S, the phone's release date would fit the schedule Apple has established since the first iPhone was released in 2007.

The company has released a new iPhone model every year, and the release dates have all been in the summer or fall. The iPhone 5 came out in September 2012, the iPhone 4S in October 2011, and the three versions before that in the summer months.

The release date is the most recent, and probably one of the most accurate, rumors that precede this Apple release.

The upcoming Apple event will come at a unique time for the tech giant, which has dominated the smartphone and tablet markets for almost as long as they have existed. Android-based phones like Samsung's Galaxy S4 have put a dent in iPhone sales, while some critics have said the latest updates to the iPhone and iPad lack significant innovation.

READ: How Samsung is out-innovating Apple

The new iPhone will run iOS 7, the latest version of Apple's mobile operating system, which includes new typography, redesigned icons and a new color palette.

Here's a roundup of some of the speculation swirling around the next iPhone. As always with such things, take it all with a grain of salt. Leaks along Apple's supply line have become more frequent, but that doesn't mean all of them turn out to be accurate.

--The new phone will likely be the iPhone 5S and keep the same design as the current iPhone 5. The iPhone 4 was followed by the 4S, which maintained the same form.

--The company will also roll out a cheaper version of the iPhone, largely for sale in emerging markets. Reuters reported that it will cost $99 and come in five or six different colors. It may or may not be called the iPhone 5C. Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller has tossed cold water on this idea, though Apple is known for misdirection in advance of new product releases.

--Since there will be a cheaper iPhone, Apple will discontinue production of older models.

--There will be at least one larger iPhone model, with a 4.7-inch screen, a 5.7-inch screen, or both to compete with big-screen rivals from Samsung, HTC and other makers.

--The new phone will have a fingerprint scanner for added security and other uses.

--As usual, it will have a faster processor, longer battery life, and an improved camera. Not much of a stretch there -- all of these upgrades are typical of any gadget update.

Again, it remains to be seen which of these rumors and reports pan out. And Apple can be counted on for at least a few surprises.

North Korea claims the AS1201 Arirang is made from "indigenous" parts but may actually be manufactured in China.

(Credit: North Korea Tech Blog)

North Korea has introduced its own smartphone in the form of an Android-powered AS1201 Arirang. Named after a Korean folk song, the phone is reported to be manufactured in North Korea using "indigenous technology".

The Arirang made its debut on state-controlled KCNA TV when the government mouthpiece showed images of Kim Jong-un visiting a "cell phone factory".

As one might expect, not everyone buys the claims of a phone being built in North Korea. Even the propaganda site North Korea Tech Blog posits that the Arirang is likely manufactured in China before being boxed up in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Save for its "high in pixels" camera, we don't know much about what kind of user experience the Arirang phone offers. Taking a closer look at the device, we see what appears to be a stock Android build, likely a generation or two behind Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.

Of course the Arirang probably won't be of much service to many North Koreans, as the country places tight restrictions on Internet use.