Good Morning! Epic Games is shaking things up with its new mobile app store, but Samsung's Auto Blocker is throwing a wrench in the works. Meanwhile, the Flex-RV chip is bending the rules of wearable tech, promising a future where your health tracker might just disappear into your clothing. And in the world of cybersecurity, Black Duck is spreading its wings as it flies solo from Synopsys, ready to make some waves in the AppSec ocean.

— Forrest Knight & Meghanadh Vasireddy

Epic Games Takes on Google and Samsung in New App Store Battle

Epic launched its own mobile app store in August, finally bringing the Epic Games Store to Android devices worldwide. But just a month before the launch, Samsung introduced a new wrinkle: the Auto Blocker feature.

What's New: Epic claims Samsung's Auto Blocker, which comes enabled by default on new phones, is making it unnecessarily difficult for users to install third-party app stores. According to Epic, it now takes a whopping 21 steps to bypass this security measure and install their store.

The Techy Bits:

• Auto Blocker flags non-Google/Samsung apps as potential malware

• No whitelist process exists for legitimate third-party stores

• Epic alleges the feature doesn't actually scan for security threats

Epic's CEO, Tim Sweeney, didn't mince words: "The thing's not designed to protect against malware... The thing's designed to prevent competition."

Of course, Google and Samsung are pushing back. They argue it's all about user safety, not stifling competition. Samsung even points out that users can disable Auto Blocker during initial device setup.

As this legal battle unfolds, it'll be interesting to see if Epic can prove collusion between the tech giants. For now, it looks like sideloading your favorite apps just got a bit more complicated on Samsung devices. Stay tuned, folks!

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Flex-RV: The Bendable Brain That Could Revolutionize Wearable Tech

Wearable tech has been crying out for truly flexible components, especially for medical applications. Imagine sensors that can conform to any body part without feeling like you're wearing a circuit board. That's where this new chip comes in.

What's new:

• The Flex-RV: A 32-bit RISC-V microprocessor that can bend around a pencil without breaking a sweat (or a transistor)

• Made with indium gallium zinc oxide instead of silicon

• Runs on just 6 mW of power (your smartphone is probably jealous right now)

• Potentially costs as little as $1 to manufacture (disposable tech, anyone?)

The specs might not blow your gaming rig out of the water (60 kHz clock speed, 12,600 logic gates), but that's plenty for monitoring your vitals. The team envisions this tech in ECG patches that could track your heartbeat without needing to phone home to a smartphone for processing.

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Black Duck Takes Flight: Synopsys Spin-Off Soars into AppSec Independence

Context:

• Synopsys is selling its Software Integrity Group to Clearlake Capital and Francisco Partners

• The deal is expected to close in the coming months

• The group has been a 7-time Leader in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for AST

What's New:

• New identity: Black Duck Software, Inc.

• Leadership: Jason Schmitt continues as CEO

• Portfolio: Includes Polaris SaaS Platform, Coverity SAST, Black Duck SCA, WhiteHat DAST, Seeker IAST, and Defensics Fuzzing

This move positions Black Duck to double down on innovation in the AppSec space. With their comprehensive suite of tools covering everything from SAST to SCA, they're ready to tackle the evolving challenges of securing modern software supply chains and AI-driven development.

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🔥 More Notes

• Microsoft unveils AI updates for Windows PCs

• Sonos Promises to Recommit to Software Quality and Customer Experience After App Disaster

• Meta is Probably Training AI on Images Taken by Meta Ray-Bans

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