Popular live-streaming app arrives on Android almost a month after its top competitor Meerkat.
Twitter is launching its popular live-streaming app Periscope for Android users.James Martin/CNET
After weeks of speculation and anticipation, Twitter is launching its wildly popular Periscope live-streaming app for Android users.
The microblogging service announced Tuesday its broadcasting app, which lets users stream and edit live video, will be available on the Google Play store. Periscope's debut on Android devices comes less than three months after its launch and less than a month after after rival Meerkat appeared on Android.
Periscope has been a huge success for Twitter since its debut on iOS hot on the heels of Meerkat. The social network said Periscope had more than 1 million users within its first 10 days. Periscope's app for Android will comparable features to its iOS counterpart, including allowing users to tweet a link to their broadcasts and have optional location sharing.
The app also will give Android users more specific control over notifications, including when a follower goes lives, shares a broadcast or is followed by someone else. Also, if an Android user leaves a broadcast to answer a text message, they will get a notification inviting them back to the broadcast they were watching.
"It will be unmistakably Periscope with a look and feel that is Android-specific," said Sara Haider, Twitter's lead engineer for Android.
Live video is quickly becoming an important elements for social networks as more people are broadcasting their personal lives -- from celebrating at parties to demonstrating at protests -- on the Internet. There are also potential revenue opportunities as marketers look to how they can make money and advertise with individualized video feeds.
Periscope founder Kayvon Beykpour said he understands the public demand as the startup quickly began working on the app for Android earlier this year. Beykpour said he's been astonished to see the reaction.
"The reception has been overwhelming in the most positive way just by the sheer magnitude of users," he said. "We're seeing people using in ways we never thought of, it's been actually quite mind blowing."
So much so that Periscope came under sharp criticism earlier this month after many users illegally live-streamed the highly anticipated Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao boxing match that cost $100 to watch on pay-per-view. Beykpour said they received 66 requests to take down broadcasts and took action against 30 within minutes. The rest were already removed.
Twitter CEO Dick Costolo fanned the flames by tweeting "And the winner is...@periscopeco."
Beykpour reiterated prior to Periscope's Android launch that it is operating in compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and is working to ensure there are tools in place to respond to illegal streams.
Google, Apple among tech giants urging US to support encryption
The companies, along with security experts, say President Obama should protect user data, putting them in direct competition with the country's top law enforcement officials that may want access to that data.
Apple's iMessage will keep your data private.Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET
Some of the technology industry's largest companies have applied pressure on President Obama over the issue of data encryption.
A total of 140 companies, including Apple and Google, joined security experts and former government officials in co-signing a letter to the White House, urging President Obama to scuttle any law or action by law enforcement that would weaken data encryption. The letter, which was sent on Tuesday to the White House, calls data encryption the "cornerstone of the modern information economy's security," according to the Washington Post, which obtained a copy of the letter.
The letter is just the latest salvo in an ongoing battle over data encryption. One side of the battle is made up of companies like Apple and Google that encrypt data communications between users. The companies argue that such data encryption is not only justified, but necessary. Law enforcement officials, including FBI director James Comey, however, have said that data encryption on applications like Apple's iMessage instant-messaging software, provides a gateway for criminals to communicate with each other without fear of law enforcement oversight.
Apple's iMessage has been of particular concern to Comey and his cohorts. The instant messaging application allows iOS and OS X users to text each other messages. Apple has encrypted those communications from one end to another and only the user holds the key that would decrypt those messages. That creates a scenario in which the US government could technically obtain a warrant for a user's data, but would be unable to access that data, since Apple has no way of retrieving it.
Similar data-encryption is running on Google's Android, the world's most popular mobile operating system. Together, Apple's iOS and Google's Android owned 96 percent of the worldwide smartphone market in 2014, representing more than 1.2 billion devices.
That scale has prompted Comey to speak often and loudly about his concerns with data encryption. In a talk in October, Comey said that "justice may be denied" because of strong encryption. He added that while he's not seeking a backdoor to easily access servers and obtain messages, he would like "to use the front door, with clarity and transparency, and with clear guidance provided by the law."
Comey has bolstered his argument by pointing to the US Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994. That law mandates that telephone companies build wiretapping backdoors into their equipment for officials to listen in on suspected criminals. No such law mandates a similar backdoor for mobile devices.
Comey's statement was echoed by US Deputy Assistant General David Bitkower in March who said that data encryption that doesn't allow for law enforcement access gives a criminal or terrorist the opportunity to act at their will without fear of any prying eyes, effectively putting the US in danger. Giving law enforcement access to suspected criminal information, Bitkower said, is the "standard American principle for the last couple of hundred years."
The debate over data encryption and privacy is even more concerning in light of the Edward Snowden leaks. The former NSA contractor, who is currently living in Russia and away from US law enforcement, revealed several US government surveillance programs, including the National Security Agency's PRISM program. Those programs have been heavily criticized by people around the globe for scraping any and all data that hits foreign servers and allows the US government to access any communication it desires. The leaks, which have been ongoing since 2013, have shined a bright light on US government activities and data privacy. They've also provided ample fodder for technology companies like Google and Apple to justify their data-protection efforts.
In an interview in September with Charlie Rose, Apple CEO Tim Cook chimed in on his company's policy on data privacy. He said that Apple's "business is not based on having information about you," adding that the iPhone maker is "not reading your email. We're not reading your iMessage."
"If the government laid a subpoena on us to get your iMessage, we can't provide it," Cook confirmed. "It's encrypted and we don't have the key."
Cook also took a shot at the US government, saying that it has "erred too much on the collect-everything side."
Ultimately, whether the letter and overtures made within the technology industry prove fruitful will depend on how President Obama decides to respond. In an interview with the Washington Post, privacy expert Kevin Bankston, who drafted the letter, said his goal is to put the issue back in front of President Obama, who he says, "has been letting his top law enforcement officials criticize companies for making their devices more secure."
Whether Bankston and his co-signers will find a sympathetic recipient, however, remains to be seen. In an interview with Recode in February, President Obama said that he's a "strong believer in strong encryption" and he's sympathetic to companies "properly responding to market demand." Still, he sees the other side of the argument and isn't so sure either side is entirely correct.
"I lean probably further in the direction of strong encryption than some do inside of law enforcement," the President said. "But I am sympathetic to law enforcement because I know the kind of pressure they're under to keep us safe. And it's not as black-and-white as it's sometimes portrayed. Now, in fairness, I think the folks who are in favor of airtight encryption also want to be protected from terrorists."
Facebook aims to host full news stories, will let publishers keep ad revenue, says report
Hosting stories on the social network -- and not just links to outside sites -- would cut page-load times for users, encouraging them to stay on Facebook. The benefit for publishers would be more money from ads, says The Wall Street Journal.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The social network is reportedly in talks with sites like The New York Times to host some of their content on the social network.Claudia Cruz/CNET
Facebook wants to publish news articles and other content from sites like The New York Times and National Geographic directly on the social network. And in return, it's offering to let those third-party publishers keep all the revenue from some of the ads associated with their content.
That's the word from The Wall Street Journal, which cited unnamed sources in reporting that the deals -- involving a Facebook feature called Instant Articles -- are still being finalized and that some publishers remain "wary of tethering themselves more tightly" to the social network.
The feature could kick in as early as this month, the Journal reported, though it remains unclear what control publishers -- some of which now draw more than half their traffic from links on Facebook -- would have over the experience.
By placing news and videos from other websites directly on Facebook, the Instant Articles feature would speed up the often frustrating experience of trying to click to an article from a link in the Facebook feed -- particularly on a mobile device, where, the Journal said, the process can take about eight seconds.
The move is aimed at improving the user experience on the world's largest social network. Today, clicking on a news story on Facebook directs you to the news publication's website, adding additional time as that site loads and -- more importantly for Facebook -- taking users away from the social network. With Instant Articles, all the content would load more or less immediately, keeping users engaged on Facebook's site.
The upside for publishers would be increased money from ads, the Journal said. With one of the versions of Instant Articles that's being considered, publishers would keep all the revenue from associated ads that they sold. If Facebook sold the ads, however, the social network would keep 30 percent of the revenue.
Earlier this week, Facebook began testing a new feature that would let users prioritize updates from particular friends. That feature, alongside something like Instant Articles, could prompt people to spend more time lingering on Facebook.
Google pushes Chrome OS software, with or without Chromebooks
Google announces new Chromebook laptops and an intriguing new device called the Chromebit that pushes Google's operating system without trying to sell you a laptop.
Google is making a push to get people to use its Chrome operating system, which powers its Chromebook laptops.Richard Nieva/CNET
Move over, Android.
Google's mobile operating system may be the most popular software in the world for powering phones and tablets. But Google is also making a push for its other operating system, Chrome OS, which mostly powers laptop and desktop computers.
Consider a few of the new devices the search giant announced Tuesday. The Asus Chromebit is a small device that looks like an oversize flash drive that turns any screen or monitor with an HDMI video port into a full-blown computer. With the Chromebit, you can connect to a Wi-Fi network and run Google's Chrome browser, check Gmail and watch YouTube -- all through Google's Chrome operating system.
The device will sell for less than $100, Google said. It's set to be released this summer.
Then there's the Asus Chromebook Flip, an all-metal device that's a cross between a laptop computer and a tablet, which will sell for $249. Google also announced two new laptops from manufacturers Hisense and Haier. The companies' $149 Chromebooks, designed for the education market, are available for pre-order today on Google's online store. The Haier laptop is available on Amazon, while the Hisense one is available at Walmart.
Google announced the Asus Chromebook Flip, which serves as both a laptop and tablet, and will sell for $249.Richard Nieva/CNET
Those products are all part of Google's effort to get its Chrome OS -- and by extension, its suite of software products like Gmail and Google Docs -- into the hands of as many people as it can. That includes trying to reach students in classrooms, as well as people from emerging markets like India and Thailand. The company said it will release around 10 new Chromebooks in the next few months.
"Our goal is not just to sell some of these products, but to make computing accessible to more people," said Caesar Sengupta, a vice president of product management at Google.
Google first introduced the Chromebook laptop in 2011, but its market share remains small. Of all laptops sold worldwide in 2014, only 3.5 percent were running Google's Chrome OS, according to research firm IDC. PCs running Microsoft's Windows software, the market leader, accounted for 86 percent of laptops sold, while Apple's MacBook notebooks had an 8.7 percent share.
But Chrome OS devices have gotten much better traction in the education market in the United States. In 2014, Chromebooks accounted for about one third of the education market with a 29.9 percent share. Windows still had the majority with 39 percent, while Apple had 32 percent, according to IDC.
Google's Chromebit turns any computer monitor with an HDMI port into a full-blown computer.Richard Nieva/CNET
Chrome, minus the Chromebook
Google has good reason to tout Chrome OS. The software is the entry point to people using more Google apps and services. The more information the company can glean from users, the more potential revenue it can make from showing them targeted ads, which marketers deem the most valuable.
To that end, one of Google's newest additions to the lineup of devices, the Chomebit, hawks Chrome OS without even trying to sell a Chromebook laptop.
The company said the device holds appeal to for someone in an Internet cafe in, say, Indonesia, who wants a fast Internet experience but is stuck using old computer equipment. The Chromebit could also be used to replace the aging computer in your living room -- all you need is the monitor, Internet connection, keyboard and mouse you already have. Or, schools could use the Chromebit to revamp an old computer lab.
"You can instantly update it to a modern computing experience," said Sengupta.
The device has a USB port at one end and can connect to other accessories via the Bluetooth standard for connecting wireless devices. The Chromebit also works similarly to Google's $35 Chromecast, which is used for streaming videos from the Internet to a TV and also connects to the screen from an HDMI port.
The company also showed off other non-laptop devices that are powered by Chrome OS. Google has touchscreen kiosks that retailers can use on their store floors. The company said it has deals with the clothing store Chico's and some other retailers to use screens running Chrome OS to power digital signs.
Tired of companies tracking when you've read their email? Check out these steps to avoid many of the tracker services available to marketers.
Nicole Cozma/CNET
Read receipts are useful when you're talking to friends on an IM client and each party wants to know if their message was seen. However, you may not want this same feature to work in your Gmail.
Many marketing companies are using trackers in their promotional email to learn whether or not you've looked at their message. One technique involves placing a small image within the message that can be monitored for activity (when you load it on your computer).
As Ghacks.net points out, Gmail does try to help you avoid trackers, but it doesn't catch them all. Instead, a tracker-blocking extension, and a few adjustments to the way you read Gmail messages, are the most convenient methods to dodge many of the available tracker services. Here's how to get started:
PixelBlock running in Gmail.Screenshot by Nicole Cozma/CNET
First you'll want to start with a tracker-blocking extension for Chrome, like PixelBlock. Whenever you open an email containing trackers, a small red icon will display to the right of the sender's name. Clicking the icon displays how many trackers were blocked, and which services were used to create them.
Adjust Gmail image load settings.Screenshot by Nicole Cozma/CNET
The second method for avoiding trackers involves adjusting the image-loading settings for Gmail. Head to Settings > General > Images. Set this to ask before displaying external images. If the PixelBlock fails to block a tracker, this serves as a backup method.
Finally ready to get off the grid? It's not quite as simple as it should be, but here are a few easy-to-follow steps that should at the very least point you in the right direction.
1. Delete or deactivate your shopping, social network, and Web services accounts.
Social networks include sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn. Shopping accounts include information stored on Amazon, Gap.com, Macys.com and others. And Web services might include cloud storage accounts such as Dropbox and OneDrive.
To get rid of these accounts, go to your account settings and just look for an option to either deactivate, remove, or close your account. Depending on the account, you may find it under Security or Privacy, or something similar.
If you're having trouble with a particular account, try Googling "How to delete", followed by the name of the account you wish to delete. You should be able to find some instruction on how to delete that particular account.
If for some reason can't delete an account, change the info in the account to something other than your actual info. Something fake or completely random.
Using a service like DeleteMe can make removing yourself from the Internet less of a headache.Screenshot by Eric Franklin/CNET
2. Remove yourself from data collection sites.
There are sites out there that collect your information, mostly in order to sell you stuff. They have names like Spokeo, Crunchbase, PeopleFinder, as well as plenty of others.
Now you could search for yourself on these sites and then deal with each site individually to get your name removed. Problem is, the procedure for opting out from each site is different and sometimes involves sending faxes and filling out actual physical paperwork.
An easier way to do it, is to use a service like DeleteMe at Abine.com. For about $130 for a one-year membership, the service will jump through all those monotonous hoops for you. It'll even check back every few months to make sure your name hasn't been re-added to these sites.
3. Remove your info directly from websites.
First, check with your phone company or cell provider to make sure you aren't listed online and have them remove your name if you are.
If you want to remove an old forum post or an old embarrassing blog you wrote back in the day, you'll have to contact the webmaster of those sites individually. You can either look at the About us or Contacts section of the site to find the right person to contact or go to www.whois.com and search for the domain name you wish to contact. There you should find information on who exactly to contact.
Unfortunately, private website operators are under no obligation to remove your posts. So, when contacting these sites be polite and clearly state why you want the post removed. Hopefully they'll actually follow through and remove them.
If they don't, tip number four is a less effective, but still viable, option.
Google's URL removal tool is handy for erasing evidence of past mistakes from the Internet.Screenshot by Eric Franklin/CNET
4. Delete search engine results that return information about you.
This includes sites like Bing, Yahoo, and Google. In fact Google has a URL removal tool that can help you delete specific URLs.
For example, if someone has posted sensitive information such as a social security number or a bank account number and the webmaster of the site won't remove it, you can at least contact the search engine companies to have it removed from search results.
5. And finally, the last step you'll want to take is to remove your email accounts.
Depending on the type of email account you have, the amount of steps this will take will vary.
You'll have to sign into your account and then find the option to delete or close the account. Some accounts will stay open for a certain amount of time, so if you want to reactivate them you can.
An email address is necessary to complete the previous steps, so make sure this one is your last.
One last thing...
Remember to be patient when going through this process. Don't expect it to be completed in one day. And you may also have to accept that there some things you won't be able permanently delete from the Internet.
Dominate Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with automated tasks.
The secret to winning at social media is being, or at least appearing to be, constantly present. As in, never sleeping, never eating (unless you're Instagramming that food, I suppose), never taking a bad selfie, and never doing anything except Tweeting every second of your life.
The easiest way to cultivate a flawless online presence is to hire someone else to do it for you. But if you're not a Kardashian, you probably don't have the funds to pay a PR person, so instead there's IFTTT -- a handy little automation tool that can help you stay on top of the eight different social networks you manage on a daily basis.
IFTTT, which stands for If This Then That, is a tool that automates tasks using triggers and actions. IFTTT connects two services, and then triggers an action on one service when you perform an action on the other service. It works with all of the major social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and YouTube.
The key to successfully using IFTTT with social media is to avoid overusing it. If you use IFTTT to automate every single thing you post to social media, you will quickly start looking like a spambot. I like to avoid any IFTTT recipes that trigger automatic replies -- for example, there's a recipe thatautomatically tweets a thank you message every time you get a new Twitter follower. To me, this kind of automatic thanking reads as disingenuous, and it also has the potential to backfire.
But so long as you don't think of IFTTT as a full-time human personal assistant, you should be fine. Here are five of my favorite IFTTT hacks for social media:
Post Instagram photos as native Twitter photos
Instagram and Twitter don't play too well together -- when you share an Instagram photo to Twitter from the Instagram app, your meticulously-edited photo shows up as a link in your Twitter stream, not as an image card. With this recipe, your Instagram photos will be automatically posted to Twitter as native photos (just remember to uncheck the "share to Twitter" box in Instagram, or you'll end up sharing the photo twice).
Update your Twitter profile pic when you update your Facebook profile pic
Keeping profile pics up-to-date is a hassle, unless you're using this recipe, which automatically updates your Twitter profile pic whenever it detects a change to your Facebook profile pic.
Photos added to a specific album in iOS automatically upload to Facebook
Instead of tediously uploading pictures to Facebook one-by-one, just add them to a specific iOS album on your phone and they'll magically appear on your Facebook page. To add a photo to an album in iOS, go to open up an album, hit Select, select the photos you want to add, hit Add To at the bottom of the screen, and choose the album you want to add the photos to.
Save your wedding's Instagram hashtag photos to Dropbox
Is it just me, or have weddings gotten super socially-connected these days? This IFTTT recipe works for any custom hashtag you've created (Pro-tip: search for your hashtag before you give it out to people, just to make sure it's unique), and will automatically download any Instagram photos it finds with that hashtag to your Dropbox account.
Automatically wish people happy birthday on Facebook
I don't usually like IFTTT recipes that automatically post without an active trigger, but this is an exception -- after all, you can't really mess up a simple "happy birthday" message on Facebook, right? This recipe actually connects to your Google Calendar and uses any birthdays you have marked there as triggers. This way, you're not constantly wishing your 5,000 Facebook friends happy birthday, and hopefully your real friends are in your Google Calendar.
Eradicate your egg followers on Twitter with a simple Google Script
With a clever yet simple Google Script, you can identify and remove any Twitter bots that are following you by the default egg profile image they use.
Matt Elliott/CNET
If you'd like to cull your flock of Twitter followers by removing any fake accounts, bots or inactive accounts, have a look at this Digital Inspiration post from Amit Agarwal. He has written a Google Script that scans your Twitter followers and finds those who use the default egg profile picture. The thinking being that any real user on Twitter will have replaced the default egg with a real profile picture.
After the script runs, it will then email you a report in the form of a Google Spreadsheet that shows all of your egg followers with a few columns of useful information, including when they joined Twitter, how many times they've tweeted and how long it's been since their last tweet. Each egg follower on the report features a linked username, which you can click to open their Twitter page, at which point you can block them from following you.
Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET
On Agarwal's post, he provides a link to his Google Script and outlines the four simple steps needed to run the script and generate your egg report. If you have a large Twitter following, it may take some time for the report to show up in your inbox. You'll get an email immediately confirming the report is being generated, followed some time later by the actual report. In my case, it took 13 minutes to scan my roughly 1,500 Twitter followers and identify the 135 eggs that follow me.
The Internet will vanish, says Google's Eric Schmidt
Technically Incorrect: Speaking at Davos, Google's executive chairman explains that we'll all be experiencing our digital connections as a seamless part of our everyday world.
Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.
The Internet? It's like a horse-drawn carriage.ZeitgeistMinds/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET
Digitally speaking, we're not even plodding along yet.
Why, AT&T is throttling my data this month and my phone still won't work too well in half of California's Wine Country.
However, Eric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman, is very well connected to the future. And he'd like you to know that the pesky Internet thing will soon be a digital dodo.
I know this because today he said: "The Internet will disappear." As the Hollywood Reporter offers, Schmidt was schmoozing and strategizing with the hive mind of world leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
He made a few more brushstrokes to contribute to his picture of Futureworld: "There will be so many IP addresses (...) so many devices, sensors, things that you are wearing, things that you are interacting with that you won't even sense it."
Surely you will sense it, because you'll find this magical at-oneness with the digital world far more interesting than, say, the humans in a room who are also finding their own magical at-oneness with the digital world.
Schmidt explained: "It will be part of your presence all the time. Imagine you walk into a room, and the room is dynamic. And with your permission and all of that, you are interacting with the things going on in the room."
Permit me a dynamic guffaw at the mention of permission. Humanity has long ago bared its chest and dropped its trousers, merely for the opportunity to post images of its tanned toenails and to buy some strawberry-flavored toothpaste.
Just to underline this, the Davos forum also heard from Harvard professor of computer science, Margo Seltzer. The AFP reported two of her more charming statements.
First: "We live in a surveillance state today." Second: "We are at the dawn of the age of genetic McCarthyism."
This latter thought portends a world, she said, where tiny drones are flying through the air checking you for a pox of one kind or another. On behalf of, say, your health insurance company.
All for the greater good, you understand.
Yesterday, with its HoloLens, Microsoft showed one small step toward walking into its version of a dynamic room. Most who saw it found it exciting.
For Schmidt, the idea of a dynamic world represents "a highly personalized, highly interactive and very, very interesting world."
With all the recent kerfuffle over Comcast's horrendous customer service (and the recorded calls that let the world share in the unpleasantness), it stands to reason you might wonder how to record a phone call of your own.
After all, if you're on the receiving end of such disastrously bad service, you might want audio proof.
Of course, there are other, more innocuous, reasons for recording calls, like if you're interviewing someone for a story. Whatever your plans, there are plenty of tools available. Before you use any of them, however, make sure you're legally allowed to do so.
Know the law
Sure, the NSA can get away with recording calls, but can you? As noted by the Digital Media Law Project, "From a legal standpoint, the most important question in the recording context is whether you must get consent from one or all of the parties to a phone call or conversation before recording it."
Photo by Evan P. Cordes
There are both federal and state laws pertaining to this, and it goes without saying that you should investigate them before recording any phone conversation.
That said, when you call a customer-service number and hear the message, "Calls may be recorded for training and quality purposes," that's the company's way of obtaining your consent. (If you don't consent, you obviously have the option of hanging up.) To my thinking, this also implies consent on the part of the company, meaning you should be free and clear to record at your end. But I'm not a lawyer.
Likewise, if both parties verbally consent to the recording -- like if you're conducting a phone interview -- and you capture that consent within the recording, that should be sufficient to absolve you of any legal complications. Again, consult a lawyer if you have concerns.
Tools for recording calls
Assuming you're squared away with the law, how do you actually make a recording of a phone call?
The most obvious method: Enable speakerphone mode on whatever phone you're using, then using a second device to record the call. This could be anything from an old-school tape recorder to your PC's Webcam to an iPhone running the stock Voice Memos app.
The downside to this approach is that the speakerphone picks up all other ambient noise as well. If you're typing while talking (like during an interview), the clack of your keys might be an unwelcome addition to the recording.
NLL
A better option: Google Voice. The service makes call recording insanely easy: Just press 4 during a call to start recording, then press 4 again to stop. When you're done, you'll have an MP3-formatted file you can listen to online or download.
Unfortunately, this works only with incoming calls. If you're making an outbound call, like to a customer-service line, the feature won't work. (Tip: Use GetHuman to set up a customer-service callback using your Google Voice number. Now you can record away.)
You can also try some app-powered recording options. RMC: Android Call Recorder, for example, can easily preserve both incoming and outgoing calls, but like many similar apps forAndroid, it captures only ambient sound -- meaning you have to enable the speakerphone, otherwise you'll get only your voice.
iPhone users can try something like Call Recorder Free, which relies on three-way calling to merge your call with a recording line. But take note that the free version is fairly limited; to unlock most features, you'll need to unlock an in-app upgrade ($9.99).
For the best results, consider a voice-over-IP app that supports call recording. WePhone, for example, offers competitive rates for both long-distance and international calls, and starts/stops recording with just the tap of a button.
Free public Wi-Fi is incredibly convenient, but security can be an issue. Here's how to minimize the risk, whether you use a laptop, smartphone, or tablet.
Stuck without a data connection on the road? Free public Wi-Fi is one of those little luxuries that can make travelling easier, but you do need to exercise caution in how you use it.
Here are some tips on what to look out for when using public Wi-Fi, whether you use a laptop, smartphone or tablet.
Choose your network wisely
Dave Cheng/CNET
Tempted to connect to that elusive "Free Wi-Fi" hotspot? It's worth doing your homework before selecting any network that's open or not familiar to you. For example, if you're in a coffee shop or public library, make sure to verify the name of the network with staff or on signage before connecting.
It's pretty easy for someone who wants to intercept your data in a man-in-the-middle attack to set up a network called "Free Wi-Fi", or any other variation that includes a nearby venue name, to make you think it's a legitimate source.
If you are connecting via Windows, make sure to turn off file sharing and mark the Wi-Fi connection as a public network. You can find this option in the Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center > Change Advanced Sharing Settings. Under the Public heading, turn off the file sharing toggle. You may also want to turn on the Windows Firewall when connecting to a public network if it's not already activated. These settings are also found in Control Panel > Windows Firewall.
Screenshot by Lexy Savvides/CNET
On Mac, open up System Preferences and navigate to the Sharing icon. Then, untick the checkbox next to File Sharing. Here's a full rundown on how to disable sharing and removing public home folder sharing options in OS X.
Use a VPN
Creating a virtual private network (VPN) is one of the best ways to keep your browsing session under wraps. A VPN client encrypts traffic between your device and the VPN server, which means it's much more difficult for a would-be intruder to sniff your data.
Setting up a VPN on Android.Screenshot by Lexy Savvides/CNET
If you don't already have a VPN set up through your employer or workplace, there are other options available. One free implementation is SecurityKISS which offers ad-free VPN access with data limited to 300MB/day. That's plenty of scope for checking email, looking at maps and other casual Wi-Fi uses.
There is a dedicated Windows client available, but for iOS andAndroid devices, you can sign up for a free account which will generate a unique username and password. You will then be sent a list of servers that you can manually enter into your device to set up the VPN correctly.
There are many other VPN services available, including paid and free options. It's worth doing your research to work out which is best for your needs, especially if you are a heavy-duty user.
Disconnect.me helps to protect against session hijacking via browser extensions for Chrome, Opera and Safari, but on the VPN front it also offers a standalone Android app called Secure Wireless that automatically detects unsecured Wi-Fi and activates a VPN where needed.
Check for HTTPS
Like the old saying goes, check for the lock in your browser to make sure it's secure. One way you can force your browser to use HTTPS is through an extension, such as HTTPS Everywhere. This is available for Chrome, Firefox, Firefox for Android, and Opera.
It's important to note that HTTPS Everywhere works by activating encryption on all supported parts of the website. As outlined in its FAQ:
"HTTPS Everywhere depends entirely on the security features of the individual web sites that you use; it activates those security features, but it can't create them if they don't already exist. If you use a site not supported by HTTPS Everywhere or a site that provides some information in an insecure way, HTTPS Everywhere can't provide additional protection for your use of that site."
Patch it up, check your apps
It's time to start forming some good patching habits. Keep your browser and internet-connected devices up to date with the latest versions, but make sure to do this on a trusted home or work network -- not on public Wi-Fi.
There have been instances of travellers being caught off guard when connecting to public or hotel Wi-Fi networks when their device prompts them to update a software package. If accepted by the user, malware was installed on the machine.
Also, if you're on a mobile device, don't assume that your apps are automatically secure or using HTTPS. Unless outlined by the app developer, it's safest to presume that the app is not conducting a secure transaction. In this case, you should use your browser to log on to the service, and check for a HTTPS connection in the status bar.
Enable two-factor authentication
It's good practice to enable two-factor authentication on services that support it, such as Gmail, Twitter and Facebook. This way, even if someone does manage to sniff out your password when on public Wi-Fi, you have that added layer of protection.
On the topic of passwords, try not to use the same password across multiple services. There are plenty of password managers available to make your life easier -- here are six of our favorites.
Forget the network
Once you are all done with your web browsing, make sure to log off any services you were signed into. Then, tell your device to forget the network. This means that your phone or PC won't automatically connect again to the network if you're in range.
In Windows, you can untick the "Connect Automatically" checkbox next to the network name before you connect, or head to Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center and click on the network name. Click on "Wireless Properties" and then untick "Connect automatically when this network is in range".
Screenshot by Lexy Savvides/CNET
On Mac, head to System Preferences, go to Network, and under the Wi-Fi section click Advanced. Then untick "Remember networks this computer has joined". You can also individually remove networks by selecting the name and pressing the minus button underneath.
In Android, you can do this by entering into your Wi-Fi network list, long press the network name and select "Forget Network". On iOS, head to Settings, select Wi-Fi networks then select the network name and choose "Forget This Network". As an extra precaution, you should also turn on "Ask To Join Networks" which is also found in the Wi-Fi networks menu.
Finally, be very careful with what you do on public unsecured Wi-Fi. It's best to save that internet banking session for when you're able to connect via cellular data, or on a secure network.
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