Top Android news of the week: Cyanogen, Verizon on security, install apps in search
In Android this week we had news of Cyanogen teaming up with Microsoft, Google will let searchers install Android apps from within search results, and Verizon says Android security is not very good.
Verizon says Android security is a mess but mobile malware is not prevalent
We often hear warnings about Android security and how mobile malware is everywhere. A security report from Verizon says that yes, security in Android is not very good. It goes on to state that serious malware on mobile devices is not very widespread, contrary to what was previously believed.
The Verizon report is important as the researchers gathering informaton had millions of data points due to the size of the Verizon network to help reach the conclusions.
Cyanogen Android OS to integrate Microsoft services and apps
Cyanogen has been in the news a lot lately with its stated mission of taking Android away from Google. It will be introducing its Cyanogen Open OS Platform later this year intended to entice device makers away from Android proper.
It has entered into an agreement with Microsoft to include Office, Skype, OneDrive, OneNote, Outlook and Bing services with the new OS platform.
A couple of months ago Google launched the Android for Work initiative aimed at helping BYOD programs keep personal information separate from corporate data. It lets corporate IT control BYOD phones used in the workplace, while keeping them out of owner's personal date.
To help in this effort, Google released the Android at Work app for phones running Android 4.x. This brings benefits of the program to those using pre-Lollipop devices.
Google opens app indexing to include install buttons in search results
Google has been indexing apps for a while now and including pertinent info from apps in regular search results. Users running a search would only see app information in the results for apps they had installed.
The company sent a message to app developers on one of its blogs that says app info will now appear in results for apps the searcher does not have installed. The results will include a button to install apps in search results. The intent is to reward Android app developers by letting Google searches pitch apps that folks don't have.
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