Android in 2013 [Happy New Year 2013]

Sony releases Gaikai for Android devices

   Gaikai is the most amazing cloud gaming service I have ever tested and it’s a crime that Android version has not been publicly released. Sony acquired Gaikai for $380 million this year and I think they have big plans for them in 2013. Look for Sony to bring the greatest PS3 hits and future PS4 games to mobile devices with the public release of Gaikai for Android in 2013.

2013 Android Malware AlertAndroid gets first Trojan-SMS Virus

   According to a new threat coming to light this week, a pretty nefarious trojan for Android has been discovered and should be guarded against in the coming days and weeks.
   The trojan is capable of executing Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. Based on what little we know, the malware can also receive commands and distribute text messages for advanced spamming efforts.
With Android malware up a reported 700% in the last twelve months, this newest threat – “Android.DDoS.1.origin” – comes as no surprise. The same goes for the method in which it is purportedly spread – through social engineering guises. Specifically, the malware dupes users by appearing to be a legitimate app from Google.
   It’s a bit of bad news for the Android community as the virus are seeping their way into the little green robots functions. The latest report is straight out of Kaspersky Labs who have announced that the first malicious program, a Trojan-SMS has been detected for smartphones running on the Android OS. The Trojan-SMS.AndroidOS.FakePlayer.a, has already infected a number of mobile devices. Disguised as a media player application the Trojan is actually malicious program that, if installed, will start sending SMSs to premium rate numbers without you even knowing resulting in your money passing from a your account into that of the cybercriminals.

Intel inside Android phones in the US

   It feels like every year I write some story about Intel that says this will be the year they break into Android. We finally saw a couple Intel-powered smartphones show up overseas, but none of them made there way to the US. Since the next version of Intel’s mobile chip should feature an integrated LTE modem, we expect to finally see some design wins in US carrier stores.


Amazon releases an Android phone

   The Amazon smartphone has been rumored for a long time and some predicted it would be announced back in September. It’s easy to guess that 2013 will finally be the year, but I would be shocked if there is not a Kindle phone on sale this time next year.