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Today’s topics include Facebook targeting IoT developers with new SDKs, Microsoft backing the FCC’s affordable broadband proposal, Skype unveiling its redesigned and improved Android iOS App, and Mozilla announcing that its bug-tracking system, Bugzilla, was hacked.
Facebook announced it has expanded its Parse for IoT toolkit with new SDKs supporting additional platforms for Internet of things (IoT) app development. With this expansion of the Parse for IoT SDK line announced at Facebook’s F8 developer conference in March, developers can now build even more connected devices with Parse, using new dedicated SDKs for Atmel, Broadcom, Intel and TI hardware.
In May, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler unveiled a plan to expand the Lifeline program to include broadband Internet service. Last week, Microsoft voiced its support for the plan.
Established in 1985, Lifeline provides low-income Americans with affordable access to phone service. Decades later, the Internet has not only reshaped telecommunications, but it has also had transformative, wide-ranging effects on commerce, education, careers and everyday living. Wheeler wants Americans across the entire economic spectrum to have access to this increasingly vital resource.
Skype has redesigned its Android and iOS apps to make them easier to use and more intuitive for mobile users who want to contact friends, family members and business associates on the go. The reworked apps, Skype 6.0 for Android and Skype 6.0 for iPhone and iPad, were announced in a Sept. 3 post on the Skype Big Blog. The key updates in the Skype for Android app include a redesign inspired by material design practices, making its user interface simpler and more elegant, according to Skype.
Mozilla admitted on Friday that its Bugzilla bug-tracking system was breached by an attacker, who was then able to get access to information about unpatched zero-day bugs. While Mozilla doesn’t have finite timelines on when the breach occurred, it may well have happened as far back as September 2013. According to Mozilla, the attacker was able to breach a user’s account that had privileged access to Bugzilla, including the non-public zero-day flaw information.