ios

The online world is under siege. Computers, laptops, and mobile devices are increasingly being attacked by worms, viruses, botnets, Trojans, spam, and more.

According to a new report by McAfee (PDF), Malware is multiplying at a faster pace now than any other time in the last four years. There has been a 1.5 million increase in malware over last quarter, along with growth of newer threats, including "ransomware" attacks, thumb drive corrupters, and botnets.

While Windows PCs remain the hardest hit, there's a growing trend of attacks on Apple's Mac devices and Android smartphones.

"… Read more

Facebook released an updated version of its iOS app, one that it says should be twice as responsive as before.

The new app, which Facebook said it has "rebuilt from the ground up," will open quickly and allow users to scroll through stories smoothly and load photos instantly, the company said in a blog post.

This should mean a better user experience for those who want to use their iPhones and iPads to browse Facebook.

CNET's Sharon Vaknin tweeted that she's definitely seeing an improvement:

Facebook was not kidding -- the new iOS app is much … Read more

Skype users can now send and receive photos via the latest update to the Internet communication service's iOS app.

Available in Apple's App Store as of today, Skype version 4.1 kicks in a few enhancements. But the most notable one is Photo Share.

You can grab an existing photo from your iPhone or iPad gallery -- or snap a new one -- and then IM that photo to friends and family via Skype. The company says there's no size limit on the photo. So this is one way to bypass the file attachment limitations often imposed … Read more

The latest rumors say so, but we'll explain why the latest rumors are probably wrong. Also on today's episode, we learn why IBM might want to buy RIM's secret treasure chest, and we decipher the tea-leaves of iOS 6. What is Apple not telling us about the new OS for fear of giving away iPhone 5 secrets?

And finally, the next Xbox may hit soon, another rumors suggests. This tweeted image of a swirl of colors supposedly indicates that the Kinect 2 might be awesome. To us it just looks like, well, modern art. But you guys … Read more

Every smartphone available today (and even the not-so-smart ones) comes equipped with some sort of GPS or A-GPS system that allows it to be aware of where it is in the world and where it's headed. Likewise, most of these phones have some sort of mapping and navigation software to allow you, the user, to take advantage of that positioning data to get from where you are to where you want to be. In the case of most Android phones, that software is Google Maps.

Google Maps is great. We love it and we know that most of you love it -- most users will probably never really see a need to use another navigation app and that's perfectly fine. But there are a number of reasons to look beyond Google: maybe you're a navigation geek; maybe you're just curious; or maybe you're just nostalgic for the days when MapQuest reigned supreme. If, for whatever reason, you would like to try an alternative to the stock Android navigation app, there are a number of free options available for you to play with.… Read more

Tuesday's top tech stories are out to disrupt your world:

Oh Amazon, what don't you do? Well cross off game development, as it just launched its own studio to make Facebook games and compete with Zynga. It also joined the textbook rental service to face off with eBay's Half.com and BookRenter.

YouTube will no longer be a pre-loaded default app on Apple devices. Apple is dropping the YouTube app for iOS 6, and Google will create a separate app you can download. It's all part of Apple's mission to distance itself from Google.

If … Read more

Downloading free Android apps could make you vulnerable to aggressive adware, according to San Francisco-based security firm Lookout.

In fact, as much as five percent of those free apps have spammy ads that may be parceling out your information to third parties according to CTO Kevin Mahaffey.

That number may seem small at first, but not after you consider how many hundreds of millions of times those free apps are downloaded. To combat the problem, Lookout has developed its own app that scans other apps to tells you which ones are engaging in bad behavior. It's up to you … Read more

This Wednesday's top stories are sharing the love of data (but not the love of sharing data):

It began with Verizon, and now AT&T has joined the data-sharing movement. Starting in August, new AT&T customers will be signing up for "Mobile Share" plans. All have unlimited voice and text, but you pick how much data you need, and up to 10 devices can share from that bucket of data. Generally speaking, AT&T and Verizon's plan prices are pretty similar in the lower data tiers. Depending on your needs, one can … Read more

PayPal announced today it has agreed to acquire Card.io, a company whose technology allows credit card information to be captured by a smartphone's camera.

Terms of the deal were not announced.

The acquisition is an apparent move to bolster its position against mobile-payments upstart Square, which revealed in March that it was processing $4 billion a year in payments. Square, which recently announced plans for international expansion, also offers an accessory that connects to mobile devices and lets people swipe their cards to pay for purchases.

The San Francisco-based startup attracted PayPal's interest when the two companies … Read more