Google refuses Android patch for bug hitting a billion devices

What happened?

Google has said it won’t fix a bug in Android, despite the fact that it will leave a billion phones and tablets vulnerable worldwide.

The bug, discovered by researchers at security firm Rapid7, is in a component called WebView, which Android uses to show web pages in apps that aren’t browsers, such as when you click a link in Twitter. It affects versions of Android older than KitKat (4.4) which, Google claims, is now too old for the company to invest time and resources to fix.

Inside the Dark Web

The Dark Web is supposed to be the Internet’s seedy back alley, where everything from drugs to assassins to child pornography can be obtained for a price. But the real Dark Web is a lot more complicated, and it’s growing—because we need it more than ever. BY MAX EDDY

If our popular culture is to be believed, most people assume there’s a place online where the worst of the headlines you read about drugs, money laundering, murder for hire, and vast child pornography rings are born. It’s called many things, though “Dark Web” is the most dramatic.

Although it’s true that this Dark Web exists, it’s much larger and more diverse than merely these illegal activities. What’s more, the same technology that makes it possible for such marketplaces to operate in secret is also protecting political dissidents overseas and hiding everyday Internet traffic from surveillance. It may be that this digital back alley is the path toward a more secure Internet.

Samsung Galaxy Note 4

Samsung's latest phablet gets nips and tucks rather than a big makeover

The Galaxy Note phablet is one of Samsung’s most popular products and it’s easy to see why. In theory, it combines the best of a smartphone and a tablet in one 6in device. The Note 4 isn’t dramatically different from its predecessor the Note 3, offering a number of modest improvements rather than an overhaul.

Previous Notes have felt cheaply made, but that’s not the case with the Note 4. It’s bounded by a metal band that runs around its edge, providing welcome rigidity. The Note 4 retains the plastic rear that’s meant to resemble leather, but the absence of fake stitching makes it far less tacky than the Note 3.

Asus ZenFone 5 LTE

A cheap Android 4G phone with one critical flaw

There are plenty of cheap Android phones and the standard by which we judge all of them is Motorola’s Moto G 4G. While it’s by no means perfect, its combination of performance, responsiveness, battery life and price makes it hard to beat. This means Asus has its work cut out with the ZenFone 5 LTE. Not to be confused with its cheaper 3G-only stablemate (which has a different processor), it costs £200 without a contract - £50 more than the Moto G.

Apple Mac mini (2014)

Apple's smallest and cheapest desktop computer

Although there are smaller desktop computers, this one is still compact enough to fit inside a laptop bag. There are several variants of the Mac mini but we tested the mid-range £569 version which comes with 8GB of memory, a 2.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 4278U processor ana а 1TB hard drive.

There is an even cheaper version available for £399, but it’s not great value. Equipped with 4GB of memory a 1.4GHz dual-core i5 processor and a 500GB hard drive, it’s almost 50 per cent slower yet only costs 35 per cent less. The drop-off in performance is significant, especially if you want to edit photos and movies or run multiple programs simultaneously, so the cheaper model is best avoided unless you’re really strapped for cash. Both are sold without a keyboard, mouse or monitor so you’ll have to supply your own.