Google's ‘One Pass’ subscription solution for publishers

Just one day after Apple made its App Store subscription service available to publishers, Google has already responded by announcing a similar service for its Android platform. The solution will also work in Web-based clients, allowing publishers to reach users on multiple platforms with a single solution. Much like Apple’s implementation, Google’s One Pass provides users with a single interface where they can access and manage all of their digital newspaper, magazine and other content subscriptions. Unlike App Store subscriptions, however, Google gives publishers much more freedom with regard to pricing models and flexibility. Publishers will also be able to give free or reduced subscriptions to paid print subscribers, and they can even utilize a freemium model if they so desire. Hit the break for a video from Google outlining the One Pass product.

Google maps 5 offers 3D vector maps, offline caching

Google's Andy Rubin gave attendees of the D: Dive Into Mobile event, as well as the entire internet, a look at the new Google Maps software while demonstrating a Motorola prototype tablet running a development version of Android Honeycomb. (Check out the video at the bottom of this story for a demonstration of both.)

The fifth iteration of Google Maps for Mobile will feature an overhauled visual style that is based on vector graphics rather than the flat, bitmap images of the current version. The upshot of this change in graphic architecture is that maps now require much less storage space and less bandwidth to download.

Overall performance of the Google Maps software should be improved, but more importantly, lighter map data requirements makes possible the offline caching of routes. This means that once a route is locked in, users will not need to maintain an internet connection for the duration of the trip, which will make Google Maps navigation much more useful for those of us who stray off of the cellular grid occasionally. Of course, altering the route or choosing a new destination will still require a connection, but small re-routes for a missed turn or two may not.

The other advantage of the vector map data is that Google Maps will now offer 3D building data for over 100 cities. These 3D landmarks can be tilted, rotated, panned and zoomed with multi-touch controls. It's a neat feature that may be useful for users who prefer to navigate visually, but we've always felt that 3D landmarks on maps are more eye candy than a useful navigation tool.

Google Maps for Mobile 5 will be available for download in the coming days. However, while compatible phones will benefit from the improved performance and possibly map data caching, features such as advanced multi-touch controls and 3D rendering may be restricted to handsets with the hardware to support them.

Fixing a Hole in the Web

It could take a year to patch up a flaw to a key Internet protocol.

Late last week, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) approved a fix to the protocol that guards most sensitive transactions and communications online. But experts expect it to take a year for the fix to be fully applied.

The patch repairs a flaw in the protocol that encrypts sensitive communications, including most banking and credit-card transactions. It repairs the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol, which has superseded the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol. TLS is built into Web browsers and Web servers and protects high-value information.

The current flaw, discovered by Marsh Ray and Steve Dispensa of a Kansas-based authentication company called Phone Factor, gives an attacker the ability to hijack the first moment of the encrypted conversation between a Web browser and a Web server. This allows the attacker to add a command of his own, which could be as serious as an order to withdraw money from the victim's account. One security researcher demonstrated the attack on Twitter, showing that the flaw could be used to command the server to reveal a user's password.

"The reason it's striking is that it's actually a TLS error, or at least arguably so," says Eric Rescorla, a security consultant at a company called RTFM and one of the authors of the draft fix to the protocol. Rescorla says the flaw shows how difficult it actually is to design security protocols for the Internet.

To make use of the flaw, an attacker would first have to set up a "man in the middle attack" and intercept traffic between the client and the server. This might be done by hijacking a particular server on the Internet, for example.

The Alchemist Review Online

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