Microsoft is expanding the geographic reach of its Android app testing program on Windows 11 PCs.

Back in October 2021, Android apps for Windows 11 finally became available to members of the Windows Insiders Testing Program. Then, after months of testing, they became available as a public preview and in a stable version of the OS, but only for users in the US. Microsoft today announced that it is expanding this program to more countries.

As a result, Windows 11 users in five more countries will now be able to enjoy Android apps right on their PC. These include France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK. Although Microsoft hasn’t announced a specific timeline, the company has noted that this should happen before the end of 2022.

The Google Street View feature turns 15 today. To celebrate this occasion, Google has added the ability to view street photos on mobile devices. This feature has been around on computers since 2014, but it’s only now being rolled out to iOS and Android.

Google is making an important improvement to the way it captures Street View data for Google Maps with its new camera. In the image below, it’s a new modular system that weighs around 7kg and is no bigger than a house cat, according to Google. The new camera can be installed on any car with a roof rack and controlled from a mobile device. Previously, Google Street View cameras required a special vehicle mount and sophisticated processing equipment to operate.

The new camera will allow Google to expand the Street View feature. Google says the new camera will be in use next year.

It is also announced that Street View Studio will allow users to quickly and bulk upload panoramic image sequences to Google Maps.

Apple registered with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) a network adapter with model number A2657, and this happened at the beginning of the year.

The description of the device is of interest because it is equipped with two Gigabit Ethernet ports, one USB-C port, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NFC support. The device is running iOS 15.5 operating system, has 1.5 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal flash memory.

The documents also describe the second version of the accessory with a Lightning connector instead of USB-C and 1 GB of RAM.

There are no details about what this device is yet.

Android users have been targeted by a new spyware called Alien that can download malware or the Predator virus. The spyware was allegedly developed by Cytrox in North Macedonia.

Google claims that several exploits, which collectively fall under the Alien spyware category, were sold by Cytrox to various government-backed groups. CitizenLab, an online security research company, has also discovered several attacks, and Google claims they are all related to Alien spyware.

Google claims that zero-day exploits based on Alien spyware are used alongside some older exploits. It appears that malware developers are actively trying to take advantage of the time difference between when some critical bugs were fixed but not flagged as security issues and when those fixes were fully rolled out to the Android ecosystem.

The virus spreads mainly through email. Victims receive email messages with suspicious links. Either link redirects victims to a website that installs malware.

The virus can potentially record audio, hide applications, and perform a number of other actions. Google claims to have sent out patches to fix the vulnerabilities. However, it is important that Android users remain cautious when opening emails from unfamiliar sources. Also, email users should never click on links embedded in emails without first verifying the identity of the sender.