Microsoft deems Windows Gadgets vulnerable to hacker exploits, issues fix

Gadgets were Microsoft's answer to Apple's Widgets. Mini apps that could run on top of your desktop and give you weather and news updates, flight information, stock tickers, webcam feeds, you name it

Aside from being an unwelcome reminder of the train wreck that was Windows Vista, it seems these Gadgets are extremely dangerous and should be removed completely.

"An attacker who successfully exploited a Gadget vulnerability could run arbitrary code in the context of the current user," company officials declared in an advisory issued yesterday. "If the current user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker could take complete control of the affected system." To be successful, they added: "An attacker would have to convince a user to install and enable a vulnerable Gadget."

Bad Gadgets! The best way to deal with this is to disable them completely and Microsoft has pulled the Gadget library altogether. In order to fix the situation Microsoft has enabled a quick fix that disables the sidebar and the widgets altogether. 

Starbucks App finally comes to Android devices in Canada and the UK

For many months now, Android users had to watch longingly at their iPhone-toting counterparts as they whipped out their devices to quickly scan and pay for Starbucks drinks and food. Android users in Canada now have the same priviledge and can set up the official Android app for mobile payments.

Available now at the Google Play Store, the Starbucks app brings all the key features to Android such as location information, the ability to pay using bar codes on the screen as well as integration with PayPal for re-upping the coffee fund.

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Android OS 4.1 Jelly Bean update available to Nexus devices

The word on the street is that devices like the HSPA+ variants of the Galaxy Nexus as well as the Nexus 7 tablets out in the wild. 

Google explained that  the over-the-air update process will be completed in the next few days, before it comes to the non-HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus handsets and to then its predecessor the Samsung Nexus S.

"If you've got a Galaxy Nexus HSPA+ device, you will receive a prompt alerting you to the update over the next several days," the company posted on the Google+ Nexus blog. I've been neurotically checking my Galaxy Nexus for the update but nothing happens. Has anyone in Canada received the much anticipated Jelly Bean update on their HSPA+ device?

Update on Friday, July 13, 2012 at 11:20PM by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

After turning my Galaxy Nexus and turning it on again, I checked the system update and voila! Updating to Jelly Bean now!

First Canadian Samsung Store opens in BC

Will having its own stores bring Samsung the lines of customers?Not to be outdone by Microsoft, Sony and Apple, Samsung's gone ahead and opened its first Samsung Retail Store in Burnaby’s Metropolis at Metrotown. A report from the Vancouver Sun states that:

"The store launch comes as the company celebrates its latest patent victory over Apple’s attempt to block sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus smartphones; its phone sales have driven the company to a record $9.5 billion US quarterly profit and its newest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S III is flying off the shelves.

A showcase for all that is mobile in Samsung’s growing lineup of consumer products — from smartphones, to tablets, notebook computers and digital cameras — the Metro Vancouver store could be seen as a legacy of the 2010 Olympic Games"

The Samsung Store is said to have been put up in partnership with one of Canada's wireless carriers, although who this silent partner is has not been revealed.

Photo from Mobile Mag