Google policy change requires apps like Facebook to update via the Play Store (updated)

Google just released a new Play Store version (4.0.27) that, at first glance, contains only very minor tweaks -- except for one little thing. A new policy change will no longer permit any apps to update without going through the Play Store's internal system. That won't affect most software, but there's a notable exception in Facebook, which recently added auto-downloading to the latest version of its Android app, allowing it to bypass Play. The new policy seems designed to put a stop to that kind of thing, but you never know -- it could be just be a coincidence.

Update: Google has reached out to clarify that it also posted the policy changes to its Developer Console with the following statement:

Google Play Program Policies have been updated. See "Content Policies" section, which clarifies that "An app downloaded from Google Play may not modify, replace or update its own APK binary code using any method other than Google Play's update mechanism." Google Play is a trusted source for Android application downloads, and we are committed to providing a secure and consistent experience. Learn More.

[Thanks, Thomas]

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Google, Facebook

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Source: Google Play

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/26/google-policy-change-play-store/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Sony Stereo Bluetooth Headset SBH20

The Sony SBH20 stereo Bluetooth headset does more things than probably any other Bluetooth headset we've ever tested. You can use it to make calls or listen to music. Or you can connect it to a pair of exercise-friendly headphones and go for a run. Or you can use it for wireless audio on your home stereo system. It even has NFC to pair with compatible devices with a single tap. And it does all this for just $49.99. It could almost be our favorite new stereo Bluetooth headset, except noise cancellation isn't great and it doesn't do voice dialing. But for a jack-of-all-trades stereo headset, this one's tough to beat.

Design, Fit, and Pairing
It isn't hard to figure out Sony's design inspiration here. The SBH20 looks exactly like an iPod Shuffle. From the tiny, clip-on design, to the multitude of colors (black, white, pink, orange, and turquoise), it's easy to confuse the headset with Apple's portable music player. That's fine by me, since it's sleek and discrete. It's also reminiscent of the Jabra Clipper Bluetooth headset, which itself is a clip that attaches to your clothing. But Sony has bested both Jabra and Apple with its design here, as the clip on the back of the SBH20 can be rotated in a circle, which ensures you'll be able to secure it however you'd like, in whichever position you find most agreeable.

The device itself is a 1.31-inch square that's 0.48-inch thick. I tested the white model, which is made of sturdy plastic with a matte finish, and a silver clip on the back with Sony's logo. Depending on how you fasten it, there's a volume rocker on top, a power port on the right, and a Power button, status light, 3.5mm headphone jack, and microphone on the left. The face has a Play/Pause/Call button in the center, flanked by Previous and Next track buttons. Although these buttons are highlighted with a clear, shiny overlay, they're the same exact color as the rest of the device, which makes them difficult to see. And they're completely flat, with barely any clicky feeling, so I never really knew whether I pressed the right button until I heard it through my earbuds.

The SBH20 comes with a set of in-ear headphones, with three different rubber tips so you can get a good fit. I found both the medium and large-size tips to be quite comfortable, and the in-ear design really helped block out surrounding noise. The earphones are designed to be worn around your neck, so one earbud wire is longer than the other. But in general, the primary wire that leads up from the SBH20 is a bit short. You basically need to wear the SBH20 at your chest in order for the headphones to reach your ears. That's fine for making a call, but if you just want to listen to music, it would've been nice to have a longer wire so you can put the SBH20 in your pocket or clip it to your bag. Thankfully, you can still connect any pair of headphones you want. As long as they have a 3.5mm jack you won't have any problems.

Here's how it works: The SBH20 clips onto your shirt, then you plug a set of headphones in, so you're not tethered to whatever additional device you're connected to. I found the clipping mechanism easy to use, and wide enough to accommodate most types of fabric. The SBH20 is automatically set to Bluetooth pairing mode the first time you use it, but you can always reenter pairing mode in the future by turning it on and holding the Play button down for a few seconds. Once in pairing mode, just pair it the same way you would with any Bluetooth device. An added bonus is NFC support. If you have a device with NFC, simply tap the SBH20 to it in order to pair.

For this review, I tested the SBH20 with an Apple iPhone 5, a Sony Xperia ZL, and a laptop PC running Windows 8. I didn't experience any pairing issues or audio dropouts.

Sound Quality, Additional Uses, and Conclusions
For calls, the microphone is built into the corner of the SBH20 right next to the headphone jack, so you need to wear it as close to your mouth as possible for the best voice quality. I always find it a bit awkward to make calls using an in-ear headset, since the sound of your own voice is so prominent in your head, but that's inescapable here. For calls made indoors, voices sound somewhat digitized, but overall clear and easy to understand. Outdoors, however, is a different story. Noise cancellation is terrible. Voices became virtually inaudible over wind and background noise, even in areas that weren't terribly noisy. But this isn't the type of headset you should use in a car, since the in-ear headphone design would make for unsafe driving conditions. So as long as you don't plan to make any calls mid-jog you should be alright.?

For receiving calls over the included headphones, the SBH20 sounds average. Voices are a little thin and robotic but otherwise clear. At top volume, the headset lasted for exactly five hours. At mid-volume, it should be able to reach Sony's quoted six hours of battery life, and Sony claims up to 200 hours of standby time.

For music, sound quality is surprisingly good. All of the songs I listened to, across a number of genres, sounded rich, powerful, and clear, and the bass didn't distort, even at top volume. Don't get me wrong; these aren't headphones for bass fiends, but there's enough bass response to please casual listeners. And the best part is that you can always swap out the bundled earbuds for another pair you prefer more. For a brief comparison, Sony's bundled buds sound better than Apple's new EarPods, but can't hold a candle to a pair of Bowers & Wilkins C5 In-Ear Headphones.

All of the controls on the face of the device work as you'd expect. The only bummers are the aforementioned sticky keys, as well as the fact that there's no way to trigger voice dialing from the SBH20 itself. You can still use it to complete voice controlled tasks, but you need to initiate them on your phone first. Range is average; I was able to walk about 10 feet away from a paired phone before the sound started to stutter. Within another 10 feet it dropped out completely.

And here's a cool feature Sony doesn't highlight: You can connect the SBH20 to any set of speakers you like, provided they use a 3.5mm jack, to make them Bluetooth-compatible. That means your computer speakers, for instance, can be plugged into the SBH20, through which you can then stream music from your device. You can even use the speakers to receive calls, although you still need to be clipped onto the SBH20 to talk back. Still, when you consider that devices created expressly for this purpose, like the Logitech Wireless Speaker Adapter, cost virtually the same amount, you realize that this is a pretty good value.

The SBH20 does a lot more than most other stereo Bluetooth headsets, and in most instances Sony hasn't piled on features at the expense of quality. With better noise cancellation and less finicky controls, the SBH20 would be a shoo-in for our budget-priced stereo Bluetooth headset of choice. As it stands, it is still a very good choice for many buyers. The Jabra Clipper is a similarly solid option, with near-identical capabilities but a slightly different look and design. The Plantronics BackBeat Go?remains our Editors' Choice for its superior voice performance, excellent noise suppression in both directions, and clear sound quality.?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/NNbcQDzxlfg/0,2817,2417963,00.asp

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White House mulls plan to halt FAA furloughs

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Under growing pressure, the Obama administration signaled Wednesday it might accept legislation eliminating Federal Aviation Administration furloughs blamed for lengthy delays affecting airline passengers, while leaving the rest of $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts in place.

The disclosure came as sentiment grew among Senate Democrats as well as Republicans for legislation to ease the impact of the cuts on the FAA, and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood held talks with key senators.

"I think there was a meeting of the minds" on steps to remedy the situation, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said after the meeting. He said he hoped for a resolution before the Senate begins a scheduled weeklong vacation at week's end.

Said LaHood, "There are too many delays and common ordinary citizens are being affected."

According to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, which is privy to FAA data, there were 5,800 flight delays across the country for the three-day period beginning Sunday, when the furloughs took effect. Some were caused by weather. The union said that compares with 2,500 delays for the same period a year ago.

At the White House, press secretary Jay Carney said that if Congress "wants to address specifically the problems caused by the sequester with the FAA, we would be open to looking at that.

"But that would be a Band-Aid measure," he added. "And it would not deal with the many other negative effects of the sequester, the kids kicked off of Head Start, the seniors who aren't getting Meals on Wheels, and the up to three-quarter of a million of Americans who will lose their jobs or will not have jobs created for them."

Officials estimate the FAA furloughs will save slightly more than $200 million through Sept. 30, a small fraction of the $85 billion in overall reductions that stem from across-the-board cuts, officially known as a sequester, that took effect in March.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and the other top Democrats have consistently expressed opposition to piecemeal legislation aimed at easing the impact of the spending cuts, a position that congressional officials say reflected the administration's position.

But support for that view among Senate Democrats has eroded in recent days as airlines reported thousands of flight delays and industry executives pressed for a restoration of full funding for air traffic controllers.

"I think it's better to do a big deal, but as we work toward that big deal we have to admit that there are some things that are very problematic," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat who helped write legislation to give the FAA flexibility to switch money between accounts and permit full staffing by controllers.

At least three other Democrats support the measure, which Klobuchar co-sponsored with Republican Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota and several other GOP lawmakers. "This is a very simple bipartisan bill that fixes the problem," Hoeven said, adding he had informed the White House of his plans.

Rockefeller, who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, was joined at the meeting by Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the panel's senior Republican, as well as LaHood and Michael Huerta, the FAA administrator.

Referring to the lawmakers, LaHood said he and Huerta "offered our apologies to them for the fact that we had not kept them informed about all of the things that we had been discussing. We talked about some fixes and we'll see where it takes us."

Echoing Carney's remarks, he also said he had told Rockefeller and Thune "if there were a fix, the White House would consider it."

It was not clear whether supporters of the legislation or of similar proposals could gain a vote in the Senate before Congress begins its vacation, and if so, what the prospects might be in the House.

Nor was it clear whether any FAA-related measure might include a provision to keep open smaller towers that the agency says might be closed as a result of the spending cuts, a provision that numerous lawmakers in both parties favor.

Democrats said it was unlikely any FAA bill would be expanded to offset the impact of the cuts on Head Start or other programs that draw more support from Democrats than Republicans.

Apart from the inconvenience caused by delays, some lawmakers have criticized Huerta, saying they were blindsided by the flight delays. Republicans have been particularly vocal.

Huerta got a public tongue-lashing during the day when he appeared before the House Appropriations Committee.

"You didn't forewarn us this was coming. You didn't advise us how to handle it. This imperial attitude on the part of this administration ? you are the latest example of it ? is disgusting," Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., said.

Huerta said LaHood had warned at a news conference in February that the furloughs were coming and could create flight delays of up to 90 minutes.

He also said he had testified about them at a hearing before a different committee earlier over the winter.

"It's fair to say the thing that captured the media's attention was the" threatened closure of small towers, he added. "The furlough problem didn't sink in with Congress and the public until recently."

___

Associated Press writer Joan Lowy contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/white-house-says-open-fix-faa-furloughs-203548947--politics.html

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U.S. drops charges against Mississippi man in ricin letters case

By Robbie Ward

TUPELO, Mississippi (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors dropped charges on Tuesday against a Mississippi man accused of sending ricin-laced letters to President Barack Obama, a U.S. senator and a state judge, according to court documents.

The surprise decision came hours after Paul Kevin Curtis was released from a Mississippi jail on bond.

Prosecutors said the "ongoing investigation has revealed new information," but provided no additional details, according to the court order dismissing the charges.

Curtis told reporters he respected Obama. "I would never do anything to pose a threat to him or any other U.S. official," he said. "I love this country."

He said he had no idea what ricin was. "I thought they said 'rice,' I told them I don't eat rice," he said.

Curtis, who is 45 and known in Mississippi as an Elvis impersonator, had been released from jail on bond earlier on Tuesday after a judge indefinitely postponed a court hearing on his detention. The case was later dismissed "without prejudice," meaning the charges could be potentially reinstated if warranted.

Later on Tuesday federal law enforcement officials searched the house of a second Mississippi man, Everett Dutschke, Lee County Sheriff Jim Johnson told Reuters.

It was not clear if the search was related to the ricin case.

A representative for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Oxford, Mississippi, did not return calls for comment.

Dutschke is "cooperating fully" with the FBI, his attorney Lori Nail Basham told the Northeastern Mississippi Daily Journal. Dutschke has not been charged in the ricin case, she said.

Basham said Dutschke and Curtis were acquaintances and believed the two men had known each other for several years.

Deborah Madden, an FBI spokeswoman in Jackson, Mississippi, declined to comment. Phone calls to a number listed for Dutschke and his attorney went unanswered.

In 2007, Dutschke ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate against Stephen Holland, an incumbent Democratic state representative from the Tupelo area. Holland's mother, Sadie, is the judge to whom one of the ricin-tainted letters was mailed this month.

During the state campaign Dutschke produced a video titled "The Aliens are Coming," attacking his opponent for being soft on immigration, which stated that Holland was a "friend" of the September 11 hijackers.

LAWYER SAYS CURTIS WAS FRAMED

Christi McCoy, Curtis's attorney, told CNN she believed her client had been framed.

"I do believe that someone who was familiar and is familiar with Kevin just simply took his personal information and did this to him," McCoy told CNN. "It is absolutely horrific that someone would do this."

Curtis was arrested on April 17 at his home in Corinth, Mississippi. He was charged with mailing letters to Obama, Republican U.S. Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Sadie Holland containing a substance that preliminarily tested positive for ricin, a highly lethal poison made from castor beans.

The letters were intercepted by authorities before they reached their destinations. The poison scare put Washington on edge during the same week the Boston Marathon bombing occurred.

Over the weekend, investigators searched Curtis's home, his vehicle and his ex-wife's home, but failed to find any incriminating evidence, McCoy told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.

In a statement last week, Curtis's family said they had not been shown any evidence of the charges against him. They said he suffers from a long history of mental illness.

Typewritten on yellow paper, the three letters contained the same eight-line message, according to an affidavit from the FBI and the Secret Service filed in court.

"Maybe I have your attention now / Even if that means someone must die," the letters read in part, according to the affidavit. The letters ended: "I am KC and I approve this message."

The initials "KC" led law enforcement officials to ask Wicker's staff if they were aware of any constituents with those initials, and the focus of the investigation then turned to Curtis, the affidavit said.

Also on Tuesday, a Pentagon spy agency said tests found no suspicious letters after an alert during a screening of incoming mail at a military base in Washington, D.C.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Defense Intelligence Agency had said security personnel detected a potentially harmful substance during routine screening of incoming mail at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, and initial tests indicated the presence of "possible biological toxins."

(Additional reporting by David Adams, Tom Brown, Phil Stewart, David Lawder, Emily LeCoz; Writing by Kevin Gray; Editing by Jane Sutton, Gerald E. McCormick, Andre Grenon, Dan Grebler and Mohammad Zargham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-drops-charges-against-mississippi-man-ricin-letters-010343216.html

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'Toggle switch' to burn fat identified

Apr. 23, 2013 ? For a long time, scientists have dreamt of converting undesirable white fat cells into brown fat cells and thus simply have excess pounds melt away. Researchers at the University of Bonn have now gotten a step closer to this goal: They decoded a "toggle switch" in mice which can significantly stimulate fat burning.

The results are now being presented in the journal Nature Communications.

Many people not only in industrialized nations struggle with excess weight -- but all fat is not alike. "Love handles" in particular contain troublesome white fat cells which store excess food. Brown fat cells are the exact opposite: they burn excess energy as the desirable "heaters" of the body. Scientists at the University of Bonn working with Prof. Dr. Alexander Pfeifer, Director of the Institute for Pharmacology and Toxicology, have spent years using animal models to explore how the undesirable white fat can be converted into sought-after brown fat. "In this way, excess pounds may be able to simply be melted away and obesity combated," says Prof. Pfeifer.

A kind of "trigger switch" spurs fat burning

The researchers have now decoded a "microRNA switch" in mice which is important for brown fat cells. Micro-RNAs are located in the genome of cells and very quickly and efficiently regulate gene activity. The researchers studied a specific microRNA: microRNA 155. The gene regulator micro-RNA 155 inhibits a certain transcription factor, that controls brown fat cell function. Surprisingly, Prof. Pfeifer and his team found that the transcription factor also regulates the levels microRNA 155 establishing a tight feed-back loop that works like a toggle switch: When the microRNA is highly expressed brown fat cell differentiation is blocked; conversely, if the transcription factor wins the upper hand, brown fat is produced at an increased level and this in turn boosts fat burning in the body.

In knockout mice, the gene for Micro-RNA 155 was silent

The researchers at Bonn University and their colleagues from the Federal Institute of Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) and from the University of Regensburg worked with so-called transgenic and knockout mice in whom the gene for micro-RNA 155 was either increased or silenced. "The mechanism was already set in motion when the micro-RNA 155 was only halved in the mice," reports lead author Yong Chen, graduate student of the NRW International Graduate School BIOTECH-PHARMA. The mice then had significantly more brown fat cells available than did the control gro up -- and had even converted white fat cells into brown fat cells.

Clues to the causes of lipid metabolism diseases

The micro-RNA functions as an antagonist to the brown fat cells. "As long as enough micro-RNA 155 is present, the production of brown fat cells is blocked," says Chen. Only if it falls below a certain proportion does this brake let up; the blueprint for brown fat can be read and implemented by the cell -- the desired fat burners can develop. These findings help scientists better understand the causes of lipid metabolism diseases.

Hope for new therapies against obesity

The scientists at the University of Bonn see in their results a potential starting point for drugs to combat obesity. The researchers have clues to the fact that the results, if anything, can be transferred from mice to humans. Thus, for example, researchers in Leipzig found increased levels of micro-RNA 155 in significantly overweight patients. This corresponds to findings from animal models: A lot of micro-RNA 155 is associated with reduced fat burning. "However, we are still in the basic research stage," says Prof. Pfeifer. The path to suitable drugs is still a long one.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Universit?t Bonn, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Yong Chen, Franziska Siegel, Stefanie Kipschull, Bodo Haas, Holger Fr?hlich, Gunter Meister, Alexander Pfeifer. miR-155 regulates differentiation of brown and beige adipocytes via a bistable circuit. Nature Communications, 2013; 4: 1769 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2742

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/2asP3gl0lPk/130423110742.htm

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PFT: Goodell?is close with suspended players

Getty Images

There will be ?enhanced? security guidelines for the NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall in New York, the league said Tuesday.

According to the NFL, those entering Radio City Music Hall for the draft must consent to searches by security personnel, with pat-downs and metal detectors among the measures that can be employed.?What?s more, all items brought into the building will be inspected, the league said.

The draft begins Thursday and runs through Saturday in New York.

The league, along with Radio City Music Hall and New York City police, are recommending those attending the draft to limit the number of objects brought into the building.?No containers will be allowed inside, with backpacks among the excluded items.?The NFL?s statement on the security measures has a list of banned items.

?Fans are urged to bring nothing larger than a very small purse,? the league said.

The league noted it already had security procedures in place before these additions.

?The NFL and its clubs have operated with a very high level of security since 9/11 for all of our games and events,? said Jeffrey Miller, NFL vice president and chief security officer in the league-issued statement. ?With the help of the FBI, New York Police Department, Radio City and our private security partners, we will enhance our already comprehensive plans for the safety of our fans and other attendees.?

A noticeable security presence at major sporting events doesn?t figure to go away anytime soon, and the NFL?s enhancements make sense, considering recent events.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/04/23/goodell-says-hes-close-with-players-he-suspended/related/

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Can brain scans accurately detect lies?

If we were all like Pinocchio, it would be easy to spot when someone was telling a lie. ?Their noses would grow. ?But we?re not like Pinocchio. ? So for many years, scientists have been trying to pinpoint the telltale signs that someone is telling a tall tale.

Besides intuition or visually observing a person?s behavior, the most common method of lie detection is the polygraph. ?It?s been around since the early 1900s and measures things like your heart rate, respiration, perspiration and overall anxiety to determine if you're telling the truth.

But some scientists aren?t satisfied with that.

In this Just Explain It, we?ll look at how a new way of measuring brain activity may help researchers actually see when a person is lying.

It?s called functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI. ?I know, that's a mouthful, but one company, No Lie MRI, believes the technology can expose a lie using scans of the brain?s activity. ?Here?s the theory. ?When someone tells a lie, their brain has to do more work than when they?re telling the truth ? the blood flow increases. ?fMRI scans expose that extra work. ?Areas of the brain where blood flow has increased indicate deception and are highlighted with bright colors.

The company also claims that fMRIs are accurate 90 to 99% of the time. ?That's pretty remarkable when you compare that to polygraphs, which perform with about 60% accuracy.

But studies of the brain have found that no two brains are alike - they?re like fingerprints, but more complex. ?The patterns of brain activity are actually different depending on the lie being told. ?A little white lie might look different from full on deception.?

And that leads many in the neuroscience field to think companies like No Lie MRI might themselves be stretching the truth a little bit. ?They believe more research is needed to draw indisputable conclusions on a regular basis.

The debate has also spread to the courtroom. ?Some lawyers and judges aren?t convinced the technology is foolproof either. ?In recent court cases, fMRI evidence was ruled inadmissible because the findings aren?t widely accepted by the scientific community.

In the end, the data collected might help researches begin to understand the truth about lies. ?And at some point, experts say they can see a time when brain scans will replace the polygraph. ?

But does all of this mean that people will stop telling lies?

Let us know what you think. ?Give us your feedback in the comments below or on Twitter using #YahooNews and #JustExplainIt.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/just-explain-it--your-brain-on-lying-173120468.html

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