« Posts tagged Google

[LINK] Google Purchases Motorola Mobility

More recently, Motorola stepped once again into the Google limelight with the introduction of the Xoom, Google’s flagship Honeycomb tablet. Despite an ambitious launch, even the Xoom could not escape Motorola’s flawed support system with advertised features and upgrades taking months to arrive. In the wake of news that Motorola once again seems to be going under (losses of $56 million in this year’s second quarter have been reported, indicating a return to the pre-Droid dark ages), the company lashed out and threatened to fire IP lawsuits at fellow Android manufacturers, a move which had the potential to severely cripple the platform.

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Google removal script for Android

This is an update on my Google removal script I use on updates of the OxygeN ROM as I don’t use or like most the Google stuff installed so it easier to remove on the first boot after ROM update and before unlocking SIM. This will probably work on other ROM but I hold no guarantee that it will, as per usual use at your own risk.

#!/bin/sh
#       This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
#       it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
#       the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
#       (at your option) any later version.
#       
#       This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
#       but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
#       MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
#       GNU General Public License for more details.
#       
#       You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
#       along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
#       Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston,
#       MA 02110-1301, USA.
## Author:
## Dale http://dale.id.au

## edit path to adb
PATH=/your/path/to/android-sdk-linux_86/platform-tools

$PATH/adb remount

echo "Removing Genie News and Weather Widget..."
$PATH/adb shell rm -f /system/app/GenieWidget.apk
$PATH/adb uninstall com.google.android.apps.genie.geniewidget

echo "Removing Gmail..."
$PATH/adb shell rm -f /system/app/Gmail.apk
$PATH/adb uninstall com.google.android.gm

echo "Removing Google Backup Transport..."
$PATH/adb shell rm -f /system/app/GoogleBackupTransport.apk
$PATH/adb uninstall com.google.android.backup

echo "Removing Google Calendar Sync..."
$PATH/adb shell rm -f /system/app/GoogleCalendarSyncAdapter.apk
$PATH/adb uninstall com.google.android.syncadapters.calendar

echo "Removing Google Contact Sync..."
$PATH/adb shell rm -f /system/app/GoogleContactsSyncAdapter.apk
$PATH/adb uninstall com.google.android.syncadapters.contacts

echo "Removing Google Partener Setup..."
$PATH/adb shell rm -f /system/app/GooglePartnerSetup.apk
$PATH/adb uninstall com.google.android.partnersetup

echo "Removing Google Talk..."
$PATH/adb shell rm -f /system/app/Talk2.apk
$PATH/adb uninstall com.google.android.talk

wait 1

echo "All Done, rebooting now"
$PATH/adb reboot

Google starting to ‘peer into our phones.’

It is nice that Google is being so vigilant about malicious applications, but I personally don’t think this should give them the right to peer into our telephones and remove said infected applications at there own accord. I think it better that they release a removal tool for the malicious application or provide information on how to remove it.

Below is a copy of an email that is getting sent out by Google.

Hello,

We recently discovered applications on Android Market that were designed to harm devices. These malicious applications (“malware”) have been removed from Android Market, and the corresponding developer accounts have been closed.

According to our records, you have downloaded one or more of these applications. This malware was designed to allow an unauthorised third-party to access your device without your knowledge. As far as we can determine, the only information obtained was device-specific (IMEI/IMSI, unique codes which are used to identify mobile devices, and the version of Android running on your device).

However, this malware could leave your device and personal information at risk, so we are pushing an Android Market security update to your device to remove this malware. You will soon be receiving a notification on your device that says “Android Market Security Tool March 2011″ has been installed. You are not required to take any action from there, the update will automatically run. You may also receive notification(s) on your device that an application has been removed. Within 24 hours of receiving the update, you will receive a second email confirming its success.

To ensure this update is run quickly, please make sure that your device is turned on and has a strong network connection.

For more details, please visit the Android Market Help Center at

http://market.android.com/support/bi…answer=1207928

Regards,
The Android Market Team

©2011 Google, Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043

Please use any or all parts of this message to warn people what is going to be happening within the next 24 hours, if you’re an Android user..

Reference:
http://www.xda-developers.com/android/android-market-malware-removal-update/