BGR Daily Breaking Stories

Daily Headlines WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2014

50 must-have iPhone apps that you need to check out right now We spend tons of time here on BGR covering apps. We tell you when nifty paid iPhone apps go on sale for free, we share lists of the best Android apps in the world, and we cover cool new individual apps that are worth checking out. There’s a reason we spend so much time here on BGR discussing apps: Each new app you install on your smartphone or tablet instantly transforms your device and extends its capabilities in one or more directions that are limitless. Of course, we also tip our collective hat when another site assembles a great list of apps, and this latest offering might be one of the best we have seen all year.  MORE → One image tells the terrifying story of how Android apps can ‘spy’ on you Handling app permissions on mobile devices might be a difficult chore for users looking to further protect their privacy, as many applications collect a huge amount of user data for various purposes, without always specifically explaining why. Vocativ checked 25 of the most popular Android apps in the Google Play store, counting the number of permissions they require and looking at the kind of data they can collect once the users agrees to them, often without even reading them.  MORE → New report says Samsung won’t be a key chip supplier for the iPhone 6s and iPad Air 3 Samsung will not be the only company entrusted with orders for the next-gen A9 processors that will go inside Apple’s 2015 iPhone and iPad models, as a new report from Taipei Times says that TSMC is likely to win the bulk of new chip orders.  MORE → Meet the smartphone of the future that no one would ever buy Smartphones have increasingly become more and more similar over the years, as manufacturers have had difficulty finding new ways to offer users unique capabilities. Bigger screens with increased resolutions, faster processors, cameras with more megapixels, biometric sensors and increased battery life are some of the things handset makers constantly try to improve, though most devices still share many common characteristics.  MORE → Find out what your state Googled more than any other in 2014 Each of the 50 United States of America has a unique personality. Estately, a real estate search site, recently put together a revealing graphic that attempts to prove this using Google searches. What did the denizens of each state Google more than those of any other state in the country throughout 2014? You’re about to find out.  MORE → Microsoft’s most ambitious Xbox One plans appear dead Remember back in long-ago days of 2013 when Microsoft was pushing the Xbox One as an all-purpose cloud-based entertainment system that wasn’t just for games but also for movies, music and television shows? Well, those days appear to be over and Microsoft for now seems happy for people to think of the Xbox One as just a gaming console. The Verge’s Nilay Patel notices that all of the key executives behind the push to make the Xbox One more than a gaming console have either been reassigned to new positions or have left the company.  MORE → Here’s one Mac hack you’ll never see coming Hackers at the popular Chaos Computer Congress in Hamburg, Germany, managed to demonstrate an interesting type of attack on some OS X computers that, if successful, cannot be detected or removed.  MORE → What if Microsoft caved and allowed Android apps on Windows 10? Microsoft is still considering allowing Windows 10 to run Android apps next year, but only as a last resort. ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley reports that Microsoft may let Android apps on Windows 10 and Windows Phone next year but that the company will first try different ways to increase developer enthusiasm and close the “app gap.”  MORE → The last PlayStation Store sales of the year have been extended following massive hack Sony announced on Monday that it would be temporarily extending the final week of the Holiday Sale and the most recent Flash Sale on the PlayStation Store following the PSN outage resulting from a massive hack. The Holiday Sale will now end on January 6th at 3 p.m. ET and the Flash Sale will end on New Year’s Eve at 3 p.m. ET.  MORE → New reports reveal a possible link between the PSN and Sony Pictures hacks Sony has been hit by two different hacker groups in a month, as Guardians of Peace (GOP) and Lizard Squad have targeted Sony Pictures and PSN, respectively. Of the two attacks, the former was more disastrous for Sony, as hackers managed to steal a massive amount of personal and business-related information, and convince Sony to briefly cancel the release of The Interview, a controversial comedy about the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.  MORE →

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