Tag Archives: googl

AT&T Mulling Own Android Smartphone Play, Despite Amazon Flop?

AT&T ( T ) is in talks with startup Cyanogen, which has already partnered with Microsoft ( MSFT ), to bring a smartphone to market powered by Cyanogen’s version of open-source Android, not Google’s, say reports. Amazon.com ( AMZN ) flopped with its “Fire” mobile phone, which used a variant of Google’s Android operating system. Well-funded Cyanogen’s technology, though, could give AT&T an edge. Spain-based Telefonica ( TEF ) in late 2015 was the first European wireless firm to launch a smartphone running the Cyanogen operating system. Cyanogen, which has raised $115 million in funding, aims to sell handset makers a version of Android that doesn’t include Google’s services and online store. Under parent Alphabet ( GOOGL ), Google has been asserting more control over Android devices,  giving AT&T motivation to seek alternatives , said a report on The Information news site. Besides Cyanogen, AT&T would also work with China-based equipment maker ZTE to develop the smartphone. Microsoft has partnered with Cyanogen to make apps for Skype, Cortana and OneNote available on its Android-based OS. One problem with Amazon’s Fire phone was that its online store did not have all the popular apps from Google and third-party developers. Amazon ended Fire Phone sales last September. Image provided by Shutterstock .

Like Apple, Google Android Said Ordered To Unlock Smartphones

Apple ( AAPL ) isn’t the only tech giant to face government demands to unlock cellphones. Alphabet ( GOOGL ) unit Google reportedly has been ordered to help federal agents open cellphones in seven states. The American Civil Liberties Union found 63 instances stretching back to 2008 where the government sought a court order to help it access data from a locked cellphone, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. Apple’s first iPhone was released in mid-2007. Details of the cases came after the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday told a federal judge that it no longer needed to compel Apple to help unlock  the password-protected iPhone 5C used by Syed Farook, one of the two now-deceased shooters in the San Bernardino, Calif., massacre. The DOJ said the FBI was able to access data on the iPhone with the assistance of an unidentified outside party, without Apple’s help. Apple had argued that a court order forcing it to write software to bypass its own security protections would have set a dangerous precedent. Creating a “back door” for the government’s use would have made all iPhones more vulnerable to hackers, criminals and spies, the company said. Google told the WSJ: “We carefully scrutinize subpoenas and court orders to make sure they meet both the letter and spirit of the law. However, we’ve never received an All Writs Act order like the one Apple recently fought that demands we build new tools that actively compromise our products’ security. … We would strongly object to such an order.” Google is among the many tech companies that have backed Apple in its fight with the FBI. The ACLU, though, says the All Writs Act was used in the Google cases, which involve investigations by the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security Department, Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Land Management, the WSJ said. Prosecutors have sought to use the All Writs Act, a law from the 18 th  century, to compel the smartphone makers to allow access to data, unleashing a massive privacy debate. The first cases relying on the All Writs Act date back to 2008. In one of the Google cases, a 2015 drug investigation in California, prosecutors got a court order compelling Google to provide assistance in getting data from an Alcatel and a Kyocera cellphone, that used Google’s Android operating system, the WSJ said, citing court records. The ACLU found Google was also the subject of All Writs Act cases in Alabama, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon and South Dakota, according to the report. A court filing last month from Apple indicated there were about a dozen cases in which the Justice Department was pursuing similar orders involving Apple iPhones. Google’s Android is an open source operating system that runs on phones manufactured by a number of companies, while Apple’s iOS is used just on its iPhones. Apple stock was up 1% in early afternoon trading in the stock market today , near 109. Alphabet stock was up a fraction, near 771.  

Square Challenges PayPal In Web Checkout

Square ( SQ ) is intensifying its offense against PayPal ( PYPL )’s Web checkout products. With details in a blog post early Wednesday , Square says that it has created a new tool that can process payments from any website after the seller adds several of lines of code. Called E-commerce API (application programming interface), it marks the first time that Square has offered sellers the ability to put a Square checkout page on any website. Square’s announcement mounts pressure on PayPal, which already is facing stiff competition from tech titans such as Apple ( AAPL ) Pay and Google’s Android Pay, among other offerings. Google is a unit of Alphabet ( GOOGL ). Prior to Wednesday, Square offered its merchants two Web checkout options using its own prebuilt store and two third-party options for using websites prebuilt by BigCommerce and Weebly. But the San Francisco-based company did not have solutions for merchants who opted to build their own websites. Square has more than 2 million merchants and is adding about 100,000 every quarter. PayPal has more than 13 million sellers. Both companies charge 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction in the U.S. for website sales. Square — which is run by CEO Jack Dorsey, who is also top boss at Twitter ( TWTR ) — also is announcing Register API, a method to integrate Square’s payments processing into any iOS point of sale. Square says that it’s adding Register API in recognition of the fact that some sellers have specialized needs for point-of-sale applications. Square stock closed up 2.5% at 13.74 on Tuesday. The company has an IBD Composite Rating of 51, where 99 is the highest. Wedbush analyst Gil Luria said that the stock’s recent volatility is largely because the company has a small float — relatively few shares are traded publicly. The float will change once the lockup period expires in May. Luria also has previously told IBD that Square is popular among short sellers.