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"Freeform Window Mode" running on the Android N Developer Preview.

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Last week we wrote about the "Freeform Window" mode in the Android N Developer Preview. Brief mentions in the developer documents and hints in the code pointed to Android someday displaying apps in resizable floating windows, just like a desktop OS. Freeform window mode isn't normally accessible in the current dev preview, but shortly after the post, we were contacted by reader Zhuowei Zhang with instructions on how to make it work.

We'll get to the instructions, but first let's talk about what's actually here. Freeform Window Mode is just what we imagined. It's a dead ringer for Remix OS—multiple Android apps floating around inside windows—and it might be the beginnings of a desktop operating system. It works on Android N phones and tablets, and once the mode is enabled, you'll see an extra button on thumbnails in the Recent Apps screen. To the right of the "X" button that pops up after a second or two, there will be a square shape—the same ugly placeholder art Google used for the split screen mode in the Android M Developer Preview.

Press the square symbol for an app and you'll be whisked away to a screen showing that app in a floating window that sits on top of your home screen wallpaper. The windows aren't floating above the Android desktop; the background is just a blank wallpaper without any of your icons or widgets. The floating apps all have title bars like in Recent Apps. You can drag the apps around by the title bars or use the close and maximize buttons. Apps can be resized exactly how you would expect—press or hold on the edge and move your finger, and you'll see the app change shape. Just like in split-screen mode, apps will auto-switch between their tablet and phone layouts (with some apps dealing with this better than others). You can only resize in one direction at a time, though; there doesn't seem to be a corner hotspot that will let you adjust the width and height.

Apple's widely used iMessage communications platform contains a currently unpatched flaw that allowed attackers to decrypt a photo stored on the company's iCloud backup system, according to an article published by The Washington Post.

The vulnerability was discovered by a team of researchers from Johns Hopkins University. According to the Post, the researchers were able to exploit the bug by mimicking an Apple server and then painstakingly chipping away at the encryption protecting the photo, which was sent as a link over iMessage. They eventually were able to obtain the encryption key used to protect the photo by guessing each of its underlying 64 digits in what's known as a brute-force attack.

The vulnerability came to light as the FBI is trying to force Apple to write software that defeats security features built into an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters. Apple, joined by many security and privacy advocates, has bitterly opposed the move and warned such action can ultimately diminish the security of smartphones everywhere. This iMessage flaw is probably of little benefit to FBI in pulling data from the iPhone of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farouk, who along with his wife took part in a shooting rampage that killed 14 people. Still, the bug underscores what security people have long known—cryptography is excruciatingly hard to get right, and common bugs often leave an opening for law enforcement agents and criminal hackers.

If you've been dying for an Android Wear watch that can withstand the most treacherous adventures, your search ends soon. Casio announced that its rugged Android Wear smartwatch, the Smart Outdoor Watch WSD-F10, will be available to purchase on March 25 at its website, Amazon, Rei, and Google's online store.

Casio first unveiled the WSD-F10 at CES and made it clear that the company isn't targeting the majority of people interested in Android Wear. The WSD-F10 is made specifically for the most outdoorsy users, featuring a 1.3-inch, 320 x 320-pixel dual-layer LCD display designed to be readable even in bright sunlight and a fairly chunky case that's water-resistant up to 50 meters. The case is also military-tested to withstand shocks, vibrations, and other disturbances that could come while trekking in the wilderness.

The watch will include an app called Tools that provides nature-based updates including sunrise and sunset times, altitude and atmospheric pressure measurements, and tide graphs. These stats are meant to help adventurers on their trips, as are the physical buttons on the side of the device that can be used to control the watch even while wearing gloves. In addition to the standard features of Android Wear, you'll also be able to track basic fitness including steps and distance and specific-activities like trekking (hiking), cycling, and fishing.

(credit: Aaron Gustafson)

New details of the Paris attacks carried out last November reveal that it was the consistent use of prepaid burner phones, not encryption, that helped keep the terrorists off the radar of the intelligence services.

As an article in The New York Times reports: "the three teams in Paris were comparatively disciplined. They used only new phones that they would then discard, including several activated minutes before the attacks, or phones seized from their victims."

The article goes on to give more details of how some phones were used only very briefly in the hours leading up to the attacks. For example: "Security camera footage showed Bilal Hadfi, the youngest of the assailants, as he paced outside the stadium, talking on a cellphone. The phone was activated less than an hour before he detonated his vest." The information come from a 55-page report compiled by the French antiterrorism police for France’s Interior Ministry.

Will the future of doping involve zapping your brain with electrical current? If one believes what San Francisco-based company Halo Neuroscience is claiming, it might well be so.

The firm manufactures devices for transcranial direct stimulation (tCDS)—namely the usage of low-current electrical pulses to fire up certain areas of the brain. The practice is thought to bolster specific neurons and create additional neural connections, improving some cognitive abilities—such as memory, concentration, and learning skills.

Halo’s first product Halo Sport, released last month, focuses specifically on boosting sport performances by delivering 2.0mA pulses to athletes’ motor cortex, a brain area in charge of movements and coordination. The wearable looks essentially like a pair of headphones, but if you look at the underside of the headband you'll see that it's lined with spiky foam-clad electrodes. According to Halo, if an athlete wears them while training, their neurons will react much faster, maximising each session’s gains.