The Flappy Bird giveth, and the Flappy Bird Taketh Away

As you all probably know by now - the creator of Flappy Bird had the game removed from the App stores a couple of days ago. As I understand it, he was not comfortable with the hype and attention that suddenly sprung up around the game. Each to their own I guess.

One crazy thing I over heard at work yesterday though, which I just had to post about, was how many people are selling their Apple and android phones/devices on the likes of Ebay for a rediculous markup because it has Flappy Bird installed. (Linked example selling for £800 rather than the more normal £350...) It seems a little crazy. It is just a game... an addictive one maybe, but one that will undoubtedly be recreated a bajillion times - then probably improved upon.

Just my 2c

-Velk

Apple v Samsung: $1 billion to Apple...

Warning:: Rant incoming!

Reading this article... seriously? They had the jury review over 700 patent questions, and assign dollar values to each of the patents in question, and they tallied it up to over $1 billion... in two days... I cant help but call a lil bit of BS on this one. Sounds a bit too fast to be legit.

Patent wars across varying companies have been on going for years, (Here is an interesting article, if dated.) and in most cases its more of a 'patent arms race' used as a defensive measure to prevent all the companies from suing the pants off of each other... I get the impression at some point down the line this is going to fall apart. My guess is that it will be found that its a bit of dodgy dealing, or it sparks a more aggressive approach to patent issue resolutions. Perhaps not a bad thing, but the biggest company with the most bucks is likely to be standing dominant on a heap of broken companies, not exactly good for the consumer.

Boom?

Android V IOs - the battle to date.

Another news article inspired post Im afraid! A post at GamesIndustry provided some information relating to current IOs and Android numbers. (Go take a peek, Ill wait. I'm not reiterating the numbers :p )

The claims are nothing new - Android's figures seem to peaking whilst Apple's climbs at a relatively linear rate, this has been fairly consistent for the last few months. What is interesting is the upcoming Iphone release... I posted about it a week or two back, and I must say it looks tasty. It looks like they are foraying into the grounds of new screen sizes and phone designs. Im sure it will hold the usual Apple quality but with a bigger screen, and hopefully, a bumper so the screens stop smashing so easily. If these things are true, I could see myself converting - or at least giving apple a shot down the line.

I have only used Iphones in a work environment, testing games before release and playing around with them. They have worked well but i have not been that keen on the look and feel. I am not ashamed to say I have leaned more towards Android over the last few years, but I am getting a bit fed up with how quickly the phones go buggy.

Anyway, I ramble. New Iphone due out - potentially breaking the mould and if its making me think of converting, it will do for others too... I wonder how things will go from here... On the contrary. BusunessInsider has posted >this<... same phone... if thats the case, I think they may be correct in their claim...

Stay tuned! :-)

-V

Iphone 5. The first I-anything that may have piqued my interest...

So, I have never really been into the range of Apple IPhones. Maybe it was because they were seen as the snobby choice, maybe its cos Im not keen on carrying the thick brick in my pocket - maybe its just cos everyone I know that has ever owned one has managed to smash the screen by dropping it.

Anyway. I caught a facebook post today about the IPhone 5 - so I went googling... It is looking Fine!


I like the style, I like the size (assuming they go with the larger screen and dont keep it the same for their previous reasons of not wanting to create an Iphone heirarchy although that exists anyway surely with memory sizes and versions.... anyway I digress!), and as long as it does its job I have never really cared about the manufacturer or the internal workings. Here are some links to check out what news I found :)

Techradar - release date, news and rumours.

T3 - more of the same

I guess the only thing concerning me now - is the price tag!

Apple V Samsung. Samsung did not sleep with their designers guv!

Interesting articles from Hexus.net and DailyMail. Apple was ruled to state on its website and in newspapers that Samsung did not copy the design of the IPad when making their tab. As a fun twist, the judge ruled that the tablets have a different feel and that the IPad is basically a superior device.

Interesting :D

Im not an apple fan by a long shot, but it will be interesting to see where this leads ^.^ Or how it affects both companies :o

Windows 8 and browser blocking ??

Stumbled across this article on C-Net. 

If it is true that Microsoft are attempting to block other browsers to work on this OS... Wow... What can I say. Firstly Internet Explorer is the worst browser I know of. No HTML5, it requires web-pages to have specific code written for many functions on the Styling Sheets and if I remember correctly, its a bit bulky (a memory hog) and runs Java programs much slower than the competition.

Whilst I am sure it would only be a matter of time before someone finds a proper way around this, (lookit! Chrome for Apple machines!) I think this would be a bad move from Microsoft. Ok, they would have a monopoly for a little while, but I think it would stop many people from getting Windows 8 for as long as they could hold out.

On the flip side - I have not research IE10 - perhaps they will release a version of Internet Explorer that meets the standards laid out by the rivals. Personally I prefer Chrome(41% of market), and then Firefox (34% of market) - and I design my websites to work with these browsers first as they hold the monopoly of the market. (16% for IE) >Linky to browser stats<

...

Time will tell, but for sure it has my attention! (Perhaps this is what they wanted :p )

-V

Apple In-App purchasing hack? Naughty naughty ZonD80. (But good reveal!)

I'm too lazy to make a 'these are not the servers you are looking for ' pic :p

So i was introduced to an >Article< about how a Russian hacker has managed to perform man-in-the-middle attack methods to trick Apples servers used for handling transactions between users and the apps that they are performing in-game purchases within.

This >Article< from ItWire explains quite well how it came to be, though I have some additional thoughts on the matter. I thought where else better to air them than this here blog? ^.^

What the article touches on but does not explain in detail is the 'layers of security' that some app developers use. I'm not sure if this is the only form of protection against this, other than implementing extra steps in the process of making in-app purchases to verify the user and the transaction, but the area I am going to (briefly) discuss is that of where data is stored... Client side data storage, or server side data storage.

Whats the difference?

As best as I understand it (Correct me in the comments please if I am wrong!): Client side data storage is where chunks of user data are stored on the users device, and when the user uses the app and connects up to the internet with it. The client side storage could hold information of transactions performed, user scores, personal information, etc etc.

Server side storage is where this information is stored within the database server of the app making company or some 3rd party company.

When an app using client side storage connects up to the App database, only as much information as is required to reveal the identity of the device/account connecting is needed, and any data that is to be updated is done in the one chunk, not at regular intervals as with server side storage. This makes for a quick and simple set of communications. As you can imagine, with server side storage, the servers could be hammered if there is a large user base making regular updates to their account information.

The issue here arises when someone performs this Man-in-the-middle attack... The clients device attempts to connect to the servers database to perform a series of data transactions that are required to make the purchase, but instead meet the man-in-the-middle that appears to the clients device to be the servers they are looking for. It then completes the transaction. As the information is stored on the client side, many of the devices will then have the data they need to perform the in-game-update of gold, upgrades, whatever it is the user was wanting as the calculations are all done at their end.

So what can we learn from this?

Server side data storage is SLOWER but is MORE SECURE. I suppose you could think of it as a good old asset(?) triangle, or pyramid:

As they say - pick two of three. If you want fast and secure, it costs a lot. If you want secure and cheap, it will be slower and if you want fast and cheap (the standard I suppose if the data is not deemed a critical security asset) - then you lapse in security.

In conclusion:

So what can be done about this security issue?

Two things that I can think of. Either the app developers need to change the structure of their games - which may be difficult, if not impossible, or Apple needs to patch the system to prevent these security attacks from working.

I am not sure if ZonD80 - the Russian Hacker that got this working was looking to make a buck, show off, or was trying to point out the security flaws so that they can be patched. Kudos if he was making the reveal so it could be repaired, but I think from what i have read, he put tutorials up for others to use, he may have been being a little bit naughty naughty ^.^

-V