Follow TechBlips on Twitter
Google Android: Kill switch done right
TG Daily - All News —
Chicago (IL) An eagle-eyed reporter found a kill-switch mechanism for downloaded applications in the terms of service of Android Market, the application repository for Google Android-bases smartphones. The discovery is reminiscent of the discovery of the software kill switch in Apples iPhone, but it is less secretive and Google of course has a responsibility to include such a technology because of legal reasons. Is this a sensible approach to a kill switch or is there still reason for concern? Image Nancy Gohring from Computerworld was first to stumble across ...
Google implemented remote kill switch in Android, those rascals
Engadget Mobile —
Filed under: HTC, Android
Remember the outrage at Apple's inclusion of a sneaky application kill switch in the iPhone 3G? Yeah, well, Google's got one too. This time, however, it wasn't discovered by some meddling developer, Google owns up to it from right inside the Android Market terms of service: "Google may discover a product that violates the developer ...
Android Market has a killswitch, but Google will refund your money if they use it
Boing Boing Gadgets —
... at its sole discretion... [and make] reasonable efforts to recover the purchase price of the product... from the original developer on your behalf.
Also! You can return any application within a 24 hour period for a full refund. That's neat, but I can't imagine they won't tighten that paperwork nightmare up to something that discourages trying, then returning. Most of the iPhone apps I've bought I'd probably have returned within 24 hours if I'd had the option.
The Android Fine Print [Computer World]
Android Market Terms of Service Confirm Googlephone Kill Switch
Wired: Gadget Lab —
It looks like the Android Market, the Googlephone equivalent of the iPhone App Store, won't be quite the un-policed, anarchic free-for-all we expected. While anybody can still post any application for download to an Android-based device, the Android Market terms of service state that Google can kill, from the comfort of the armchair in its secret control room, any application which violates those terms.
As these are the terms of service for the Market, they of course don't apply to applications downloaded from elsewhere. If Google gets serious about throwing the kill switch for apps which violate the agreement, there is likely to be a fuss, from the technology blog world at least. Exhibit A: the furore ...
Android’s remote kills switch for rogue apps
Android Authority —
[image] It seems that Apple is not the only player in the mobile world that has implemented a kill switch to disable/remove applications that are discovered to be dangerous. While we don’t know if the functionality is actually in the Android OS yet, Google mentions it in its terms and conditions. Computer World has posted a piece on the details. The important point, I suppose, is that in the event of a “recall” of a rogue app that had to be purchased, Google will try to recover the purchase fees from the developer. If they can’t recover all of the fees, the money they do manage to recover will be split among those impacted. With a far more open system, the Android Market seems much more at risk for such issues ...
Android Kill Switch Discovered - Is Google Evil After All?
AndroidGuys —
Remember the big stink about the “kill switch” discovered with the iPhone? It was somewhat of a hullabaloo for a while when people saw that Apple had the right to basically disable applications it felt were malicious or did not match up to a database of apps listed in a repository of those on a blacklist.
Will it be the same uproar when people find out that Google has put in a little caveat of their own with the Android Market? Has Google finally done some evil? Nope. Not really. ...
The Google Phone Has iPhone-like Kill Switch
AppScout —
... Will Google receive the kind of flack that Apple did? Computer World thinks the outrage may be dulled for a number of reasons. First, the company has made no effort to hide the kill switch. Second, Google says it will make a "reasonable efforts to recover the purchase price of the product ... from the original developer on your behalf."
Google Loaded Android With A Remote Kill Switch
InformationWeek - All Stories And Blogs —
... , Oct 16, 2008 09:37 AM [image] This isn't going to make people happy. Remember the furor when people discovered that Apple could remotely kill applications running on iPhones? Well, Google has decided to implement the same type of action. It can remove programs it deems "bad" from your HTC G1. Now that reviews of the G1 are hitting the Web, we're quickly going to know everything there is to know about the Android platform. ComputerWorld ...
Android App Kill Switch Noticed
WebProNews Feed —
[image] Reach limited, refunds available The term "kill switch" isn't too friendly-sounding, and the idea behind it - that some entity can step in and shut things down whenever it pleases - doesn't do much for most people, either. But following the discovery of an Android kill switch, it looks like everything's going okay for Google. One factor that works in the search giant's favor is its openness. A proclamation of its "right to remotely remove" applications bought through the Android Market is in its terms of service for everyone to see. Another thing is Google's willingness to get users' money back. If an app violates the Android distribution agreement, Google will try to return the full purchase price from its ...
Android has kill switch; G1 review mixed
MacNN | The Macintosh News Network —
... , according to the search engine producer's notice in the Android Market user agreement. The company claims the right to "sole discretion" for remotely removing any app from phones that violate the Market's distribution agreement, such as malware or other potentially damaging software. Google attempts to reassure users by noting that customers should be refunded for any paid app revoked in this way. Extra support is also put in place to support customers in a way not present with the iPhone App Store: customers can ask for a refund within 24 hours of downloading a paid app ...
Android has kill switch; G1 review mixed
Electronista | The Macintosh News Network —
... , according to the search engine producer's notice in the Android Market user agreement. The company claims the right to "sole discretion" for remotely removing any app from phones that violate the Market's distribution agreement, such as malware or other potentially damaging software. Google attempts to reassure users by noting that customers should be refunded for any paid app revoked in this way. Extra support is also put in place to support customers in a way not present with the iPhone App Store: customers can ask for a refund within 24 hours of downloading a paid app ...
Android Marketplace gets a 'kill switch'
Download Squad —
Filed under: Google, MobileRemember back in August when Steve Jobs confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that a "kill switch" existed within the iPhone API, allowing Apple to remotely disable malicious third-party applications distributed through the App Store? A big brouhaha ensued with lots of hand-wringing about how a closed marketplace wasn't acting like purely free market (shocker). Nevermind that the "kill switch" hasn't actually been used to remove apps from user phones and is actually just a security precaution to protect users against programs that might do actual harm to software devices (or I guess, potentially, mine data), its mere existence was decried and lambasted -- you know, until ...
Google See, Google Do: T-Mobile G1 Has Kill Switch Similar To Apple iPhone
ChannelWeb Complete Feed —
... Android phone won't be publicly available until next week but it's already embroiled in its first controversy. Did you expect anything less? Like the Apple iPhone, the T-Mobile G1 has been tagged with rumors, criticism, but, perhaps ultimately most importantly, buzz long before the final design was even finished. Now, ComputerWorld has reported that the first device to run on Google's Android ...
Google Android also includes “kill switch” for unwanted apps
Gadgetell —
Section: Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile, Web, Google It seems that the Apple iPhone is not the only handset to feature include a remote kill switch. A small but revealing piece of the Android Market terms of service has revealed that the remote removal of an application may be possible.
“Google may discover a product that violates the developer distribution agreement . . . in such an instance, Google retains the right to remotely remove those applications from your device at its sole discretion.”
Hopefully this will be used for apps that may do some damage, or cause issues with the handset and ...
Why Android's 'Kill Switch' Is a Good Thing
PC World Latest Technology News —
[image] Everyone's all a-twitter over the so-called "kill switch" found in Google's first Android phone, the T-Mobile G1 . Here's the thing, though: Not only is it not a big deal -- it's actually a good thing. The story, in case you haven't heard, broke this morning when PC World sister publication Computerworld noticed a clause in Google's Android Market terms of service, linked to the new phone. The line states that if Google finds "a product that violates the developer distribution agreement," it "retains the right to remotely remove those applications from your device at its sole discretion." In other words, Google can delete stuff off your phone without your permission. At ...
Why Android's 'Kill Switch' Is a Good Thing
Today @ PC World —
[image] Everyone's all a-twitter over the so-called "kill switch" found in Google's first Android phone, the T-Mobile G1 . Here's the thing, though: Not only is it not a big deal -- it's actually a good thing. The story, in case you haven't heard, broke this morning when PC World sister publication Computerworld noticed a clause in Google's Android Market terms of service, linked to the new phone. The line states that if Google finds "a product that violates the developer distribution agreement," it "retains the right to remotely remove those applications from your device at its sole discretion." In other words, Google can delete stuff off your phone without your permission. At ...
Google Android iClones iPhone App Store Kill Switch!
Top iPhone News —
Title says it all, and you know what? Good for Google. While the holier-than-geek community criticizes Apple’s admittedly adamantium grip on the iPhone App Store while raving about the “open platform” of Google’s Android, the harsh realities of internet existence — including malicious code and apps — means that no playground can be entirely free of adult supervision, lest it quickly degenerate into Lord of the Flies land. Says Computerworld (via Macrumors):
In the Android Market terms of service, Google expressly says that it might remotely remove an application from user phones. “Google may discover a product that violates the developer ...
Google Android possui “interruptor de desligamento”, tal como o iPhone OS X
BLOG.MACMAGAZINE —
Há quem tenha paciência para ler cada um dos termos de serviço de produtos como o novo sistema operacional móvel do Google, o Android. Eis que os caras do Computerworld o fizeram e descobriram algo bastante interessante: se um software violar seu contrato de distribuição, a gigante de buscas tem o direito de removê-lo remotamente de quaisquer aparelhos rodando o SO.
Google may discover a product that violates the developer distribution agreement [...] in such an instance, Google retains the right to remotely remove those applications from your device at its sole discretion.
Sim, sim, igualzinho à Apple. No caso de aplicativos pagos, o ...
Google Android possui “botão da morte”, tal como o iPhone OS X
BLOG.MACMAGAZINE —
Há quem tenha paciência para ler cada um dos termos de serviço de produtos como o novo sistema operacional móvel do Google, o Android. Eis que os caras do Computerworld o fizeram e descobriram algo bastante interessante: se um software violar seu contrato de distribuição, a gigante de buscas tem o direito de removê-lo remotamente de quaisquer aparelhos rodando o SO.
Google may discover a product that violates the developer distribution agreement [...] in such an instance, Google retains the right to remotely remove those applications from your device at its sole discretion.
Sim, sim, igualzinho à Apple. No caso de aplicativos pagos, o ...
Google Android ‘Kill switch’: Why it’s a Good Thing?
D' Technology Weblog —
The kill switch meant that any applications Apple did not approve of or were dangerous could be disabled remotely by Apple themselves, confirmed by Steve Jobs.
Google Android G1 Market terms of service clause states that if Google finds “a product that violates the developer distribution agreement,” it “retains the right to remotely remove those applications from your device at its sole discretion.” In other words, Google can delete stuff off your phone without your permission. At least, that’s how a lot of people interpreted it.
That cursory explanation, while not entirely untrue, leaves out one important thing: the fact that the clause ...
Google Android iClones iPhone App Store Kill Switch!
Top iPhone News —
Title says it all, and you know what? Good for Google. While the holier-than-geek community criticizes Apple’s admittedly adamantium grip on the iPhone App Store while raving about the “open platform” of Google’s Android, the harsh realities of internet existence — including malicious code and apps — means that no playground can be entirely free of adult supervision, lest it quickly degenerate into Lord of the Flies land. Says Computerworld (via Macrumors):
In the Android Market terms of service, Google expressly says that it might remotely remove an application from user phones. “Google may discover a product that violates the developer ...
Why the Kill Switch Make Sense for Android, and Not for iPhone
Technologizer —
[image]“Gasp!” went the collective Internet on Wednesday when the IDG News Service spotted a clause in the terms of service for Google’s Android Market stating that: Google may discover a product that violates the developer distribution agreement … in such an instance, Google retains the right to remotely remove those applications from your device at its sole discretion. In other words, Google has a built-in “kill switch” to remotely disable applications that violate their developer agreement. While the terms of this agreement certainly seem reasonable, tech critics thought back to February, when Apple explained its own terms of service for the iPhone, which also seemed ...
Google Android iClones iPhone App Store Kill Switch!
Top iPhone News —
Title says it all, and you know what? Good for Google. While the holier-than-geek community criticizes Apple’s admittedly adamantium grip on the iPhone App Store while raving about the “open platform” of Google’s Android, the harsh realities of internet existence — including malicious code and apps — means that no playground can be entirely free of adult supervision, lest it quickly degenerate into Lord of the Flies land. Says Computerworld (via Macrumors):
In the Android Market terms of service, Google expressly says that it might remotely remove an application from user phones. “Google may ...
Android's kill switch controversy
PalmAddicts —
Here's a new feature that comes along with every cutting-edge mobile platform: 'kill switch'. iPhone has it, and now Google also admitted that Android has it too.
There was a small rupture of ruckus in blogosphere when the finding of iPhone's kill switch broke out, but how about when you find out about Android's kill switch? Do you think it's ...
Will People Line Up For The T-Mobile G1?
mocoNews —
When I got home today, a little package wrapped up in a white bubble-wrap envelope was waiting for me, holding inside my own T-Mobile G1. As a current T-Mobile USA customer, I was able to pre-order the device when it was unveiled late last month. Since then, T-Mobile said it has sold triple the number of phones to its current customer base than it had originally anticipated. The G1 pre-orders weren't supposed to be available until Wednesday, when the phones go on sale, but apparently they are running ahead of schedule. It's hard to say how much excitement is mounting for the device's launch in two days. A T-Mobile spokesman said he was anticipating some lines forming when the ...
