[Q] [Advice needed] Question about NFC vs. BLE beacon use case - NFC Hacking

I am working on a graduate student project potentially involving NFC and/or Bluetooth BLE technology. Details as follows:
Main idea: Create an onsite donation system to replace physical cash donation boxes, using mobile payment technology.
Example use case and user flow:
1) We'd set up one of our "boxes" in a local or regional park, or indoor space (where connectivity isn't an issue).
2) Users would have our app installed (a platform that charities/nonprofits would use).
3) User would see our physical "box", along with a call to action.
4) User would put phone on top of box, which would send info to the app, either via NFC or BLE (not sure which is better), which organization the donation is going to, along with some sort of message.
5) For the fun/experiential part: user could swipe up on phone in the app to donate 1 dollar at a time. App would prompt user to confirm total donation amount.
6) Once user has confirmed donation, the physical "box" responds with a confirmation, either via LED lights lighting up, some sort of sound, or some other sensory stimuli.
The piece I'm most unsure about tech-wise, is Step 6. My main question is, is there any way for the user's phone in this case to transmit a signal BACK to the NFC tag in the physical box after the donation is complete, which the tag could then take and somehow use to activate lights, a sound, etc.? From what I've gathered in my research thus far it seems like NFC is a cheap/easy way to handle the first part of the experience, where an NFC tag could be programmed to open the app and let it know of the box's location, but I'm not sure how to then have the app send a "donation confirmed" message back to the box to then trigger the sensory response. I've been reading up on NFC tech and Bluetooth beacon technology but it's been a bit confusing and tough to find an analogous use case.
Any insights/pointers here would be very much appreciated. Thank you!

Related

EVO Security Questions

This is not troll baiting or OS Slamming...
Looking for knowledgeable and constructive feedback regarding device security. I'm thinking in terms of an Executive or VP or Network Admin or such loosing the device. a piece of software
1) to do more to control access than a squiggly line
2) to allow for remote GPS tracking and/or device data wiping
3) that is stealthy and/or hard to remove.
I know there are a few "security services" out there but that leads me into "how do i know whose who and who can be trusted in the android segment". I place a great deal of trust in the developer of my ROM. That he/she/they are benevolent and not including by intent or negligence loggers or other malware. then i have a companies like Wave and Norton and Good all angling to get installed on my device. i don't know Wave nor Good and I have no luv for Norton.
The EVO allows for RDC and VNC sessions. It allows for VPN access and has the pwd's to my personal and work email. meebo has me signed into all my chat networks. As a long time Windows person I guess it's just a lil disconcerting when i stop and think on it. this device can easily be configured to hold everything needed to access a secured network. Perhaps this is a reflection on my lack of understanding the system in depth. perhaps i'm not sure how well the opensource community will communicate "problem" apps and developers.
Also, and kinda sorta related. Applications in the marketplace. sometimes you get an application and the types of security access it is asking for seems a bit "off". occasionally in the comments the developer may comment that "i need to access X in order to provide Z". It usually makes sense (whether true or not i cannot say), but is there any nice cross-reference of what types of actions require what access level. or why so many apps need to know the phone state and identity or general location or full network access and what exactly that means to me as the end user. this second paragraph is proving difficult to put to paper..i may come back and edit for clarity.
and lastly, i guess is a question on how to protect from apps like this...
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/060210-android-rootkit-is-just-a.html?page=1
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/commercial-spying-app-for-android-devices-released/4900
looking for something kinda like this, but useful...
http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/06/28/understanding-the-android-market-security-system/

Looking for a developer resource

We have a patent pending on an app suitable for Android, iPhone, etc. It requires manipulation of the outgoing audio stream during a telephone conversation.
If this is within your capability, and your team:
1. Has a proven technical capability in this area.
2. Can pass a background check.
3. Is willing to execute an NDA/NCA.
4. Is in the continental U.S.
Then we would like to talk with you. Please respond to notaguruatgmaildotcom to initiate a dialog.
Thanks!
Not to discourage you or anything, but a developer who meets those requirements is probably going to be asking for at least $150k a year.
Not only that, if your goal is to make changes to an audio stream before it goes over the air, it's probably not possible; certainly not for Windows Phone 7 or iPhone.
The way phone calls work on cell phones is that the mic is wired directly to the internal modem hardware, the sound doesn't go through the OS on its way over the air, so it can't be intercepted, modified and resent. That's how it's worked on the phones I've worked with. At best you will only be able to get a copy of the audio stream, and even that would take a jailbroken phone.
Or you could rewire the insides of your phone, but that would require another $150k engineer.
Thanks.
This is a single task, though as usual there must be ongoing support and evolution. I was hoping that an app company would respond, but that hasn't happened.
We have built prototypes using landline phones, with great success. In a cellphone, this could become a killer app with wide usage. But if the OS cannot gain access to the audio stream prior to the modem, that's a problem that can only be solved by incorporating the invention in hardware. A possibility, but it requires relationships above my pay grade.
Perhaps we need a consultant, not an app developer...
noguru said:
Perhaps we need a consultant, not an app developer...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Either way, be prepared to shell out cash, or stock options if your idea is really good.

[Q] How to write an app

Ok its not note2 specific just that I have a note 2....
I need to create an app that can read a text, send a text, and read/write a file from an external usb stick, it sounds easy but.....
So I'm open to suggestions as to what IDE/toolchain I should be aiming at, I have wrote ''an app'' that does this, but its actually in picbasic and runs on a pic 18f2550 with a serial modem and internal flash
I want to do away with the pic/modem and just an android phone.
One other thing, the file on the usb stick, the usb stick isnt, its actually a controller for other hw devices, i just make the controller appear to usb as mass storage as that makes a simple text file an easy way for it to communicate, if its possible...I'd sooner make the controller appear as a serial coms device like the 9600 8n1 standard but I dont know if i could get away with that via OTG where as I know OTG can read write a text file..
I haven't started playing with it yet, but you might find Intellij Idea to be a tool you can learn to use.
For Open Source Projects it's free.
Grant Barker said:
I haven't started playing with it yet, but you might find Intellij Idea to be a tool you can learn to use.
For Open Source Projects it's free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'm not too bothered what I write it in anything from C to zx81basic would do the job, its just getting it into a form the phone can execute
..
Just wondering if you tried using google for your question.
-----
I would love to help you, but help yourself first: ask a better question
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
If I were you, I would check out Tasker on the play store. Theres a huge following with tons of available and customizeable profiles.
If you haven't heard of it, it's an extremely powerful app that allows you to write (or apply) various profiles to automate almost anything, whether youre a beginner or advanced user.
http://tasker.dinglisch.net
spycedtx said:
Just wondering if you tried using google for your question.
-----
I would love to help you, but help yourself first: ask a better question
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I half agree, but for a generic question like this, it's much more effective to ask in a community of mobile enthusiasts who might have a little more insight. Imo.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
Thanks guys, I just had a look at app inventor and it made me want to cry...
I'm used to c/basic/asm (dare I say cobol, well i am 46....) so anything drag and drop I find infuriating/restrictive/non intuative, even tough there supposed to simple to use, I find them not...
you will no doubt be aware of such apps as prey, find my droid, wavesecure, they all can read an incoming text for a keyword and if present perform an action, thats similar to what i am trying to achive, well its part of it etc
easiest way to simplify this is imagine a lighthouse for boats, I need to be able to send a message to my phone at the top of a lighthouse, to turn the light on. I also need to be able to query the light status.
now doing this with a arduino/pic and a bag of relays was no biggy, what was the issue was the phone was connected via its connector running serial data at 9600 and modem AT protocols from the 1970's....
this all worked fine, 100% working, but the phones had the issue that after a random amount of days they would stop responding to commands, but would say 'ok' to every command given...
so replaced with a modem module and a seperate 2 line lcd, this worked fine, but put the cost up....
so decided that as old android phones with damaged screens are often very cheap, and most support OTG, the way is open to try doing this once again, using the phone to receive a text, reply to the text, and control the light by writing out a txt file to the ''usb mass storage stick'' thats simply light.txt and is a txt file containing the word 'on' 'off' or 'status'
The pic controller which is happy to pretend to be USB storage, and look for this file, and take the required action, if it sees 'on' or 'off' it simply toggles a pin to on or off, if its 'status' it sense the light, and creates a file of answer.txt with 'yes' or 'no' as content
the app can look for the answer.txt, and depending on it being 'yes' or 'no', send a replay text with 'ok' or 'bring a spare bulb'
of course I dont have a lighthouse, but you see what i'm trying to achive with an android phone over the old working but unreliable T68i (I have a few of them about a dozen left I think, all have same firmware bug)
Wow. I hope you're not making anything dangerous. SMS text `cancel'. SMS text `bang'.
Seriously though, I'm 44. So respect to any middle-aged dudes in the house. :good:
Grant Barker said:
Wow. I hope you're not making anything dangerous. SMS text `cancel'. SMS text `bang'.
Seriously though, I'm 44. So respect to any middle-aged dudes in the house. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol no its a replacement for a circuit that of all things originally started with a motorola startac and a relay across button '5' to dial help
I dont want to be too open about the 'final design' as I want to present it to the forum as a working prototype that others can copy/use and dont want beating to the finish etc.
I've put many years of work into this on and off, even bought 20 2nd hand phones for the 'beta test' which then 'cancelled' due to the phones not being able to be left on 24/7 without locking up, and i killed a few making them 'battery free' and some more making a reboot circuit that just pulled power which they didnt like happening too often, so I abandoned it till now, I now think I'm onto a winner with the new 'design'

NFC IDs + Arduino

I have a project (NFC Vending machine) based on Arduino which calls a function called nfc.readPassiveTargetID(PN532_MIFARE_ISO14443A)
Which returns a simple UID of the device that is tapped to the NFC antenna. This is used to identify the user, display their name and account balance, relay to coin acceptor and then saving the new balance back to an SD card.
This application works perfectly with my Nexus 4, a friend's stock Nexus 4, as well as any NFC Tag.
When I try using a new Galaxy S4 however, the application finds an ID from it, however it CHANGES every time it's scanned? Does anyone have any idea how to stop this from happening? I'm not opposed to writing an app if I can write an app that stops this from happening (some function in code that can set the UID to a static unchanging value, maybe using wifi mac address as a base)?
When I try scanning a co-worker's Droid DNA, NOTHING happens. NFC is on, beam seems to work, but nothing happens. I'm wondering if I install an app that reads/writes cards and tell it to perform an activity maybe that will 'wake up' the nfc chip making it active and forcing it to spit out an ID?
I have a feeling I'll have to use an "if id is not found, try ndef" and write an app that can send an ndef message that is the wifi mac address (so it'll be unique), though I haven't done much in the way of app development, though I'm very familiar with playing with all kinds of nooks and crannies in the filesystem to do fun things in android. I'm not opposed to learning, and have been trying, just not too familiar with java which certainly doesn't help... In any event, I'll be diving in and punishing myself with more hours of reading soon...
I realize this is a rather unique project and I may not find a resolution here but any ideas anyone can offer would be a big help. In the meantime I'll continue reading up on the various actions that are available to the programmer regarding nfc in the android sdk...
Thanks for any suggestions!
EDIT: I forgot to add, while I realize NDEF is an option (one that will require me learning a fair bit), it adds a great degree of difficulty in working with Arduino, which doesn't seem to have much in the way of libraries/code for handling NDEF, particularly peer-to-peer...

[Q] how hide apps in start menu of Windows 10 Mobile "or" add whitelist to Edge?

[Q] how hide apps in start menu of Windows 10 Mobile "or" add whitelist to Edge?
Hi,
is it possible to "hide" an app from the W10M start menu? And I don't refer to the home screen, I mean the full list of apps.
Or would there be a way to let the browser only work with a whitelist? .. No, Microsoft Family does not work properly on W10M.
Background - feel free to call me soft:
- Bought a Lumia 640 XL for my wife and a 2nd hand Lumia 535 for my daughter (to be her first smartphone, getting 9 end of the month) so that they could "share" the same experience, more or less.
- Played around with the "Microsoft Family" feature, and, to make it short, it doesn't work properly, not nearly close to what was expected or advertised. That might change ... in a few months. Maybe.
At least the URL filtering does not work "at all".
- So, in short, in order not to instantly fall back to pick an Android based device for my daughter (one beloved Razr i still in close range...), I was wondering if it was possible to "hide" one or the other thing from the start menu instead, the Edge browser in particular. Uninstallation I don't expect to be possible, probably being a deeper chunk of the OS, but only touching the start menu I concluded "should" be possible, one way or the other. At least I hope so.
Would I start to deal with the "full file system access" approach or rather try to dive into registry fiddling? Any help or maybe clear hint would be highly appreciated.
By now I did not find anything related to this. Neither here at xda or somewhere else. Probably no one considers doing something like that for his kids on Windows 10 Mobile ...
Who would want to hide a browser on a smartphone, anyway? .. yeah, I can't keep my kids "off" of the bad Internet, but I can at least keep an eye upon as long as possible.
Thanks in advance,
regards,...
bloodot
additional remark:
... after adding "a few" URLs to Microsoft's web interface for blocking URLs (via a web automation tool, yeah, I'm lazy...) it stopped working at 1003 regitered URLs. So, as long as they don't come up with something that works (whitlist... external service for checking URLs... whatever...) any help on this matter would be highly appreciated.
You want to keep her off the "web," correct?
Change your Mobile Data & Wifi DNS to 127.0.01
(You will need interop/FS access: )
Create a hosts file in C://Windows/system32/drivers/etc
Determine what sites you want to *allow* and find their IP. For example, if you want to whitelist Facebook, open cmd.exe from your PC and type:
Code:
ping facebook.com
You'll see:
Code:
C:\WINDOWS\system32>ping facebook.com
Pinging facebook.com [31.13.76.68] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 31.13.76.68: bytes=32 time=75ms TTL=82
Reply from 31.13.76.68: bytes=32 time=76ms TTL=82
Reply from 31.13.76.68: bytes=32 time=79ms TTL=82
Reply from 31.13.76.68: bytes=32 time=74ms TTL=82
Ping statistics for 31.13.76.68:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 74ms, Maximum = 79ms, Average = 76ms
C:\WINDOWS\system32>
So, you'd add:
Code:
31.13.76.68 facebook.com
31.13.76.68 www.facebook.com
to your phone's host file.
If you can create profiles on your router, you can also do the same (DNS to 127.0.01 for her phone's MAC address)
Doing this would make all of the web unresolvable, except facebook.com
To change the Wifi DNS:
Settings -> Network & Wireless -> Wi-fi -> Static IP -> fill your info
*If your router doesn't support static IP, you should check and see if your router supports profiles, and build one to target her phone mac address.* (If you don't target her mac address/other phone identifier and set your router to 127.0.01, all of the devices on your network will encounter blocked access to the web)
For Mobile Data:
I don't see an immediate switch for this (at least with my provider), it's routed through a network port on their servers. Unless something changes in future builds, it's probably best to just turn mobile data off and use the Wifi/hosts to keep control of what sites she can access.
Thank you very much!
Point is, I don't want to keep her off completely, and the major issue would be to keep control once she's "not" inside our home network but on cellular.
So I think I need to start investigating on my own whether I can manipulate the start menu or even the browser itself.
The local DNS lookup, which would only work on WiFi anyhow, would also result in me analyzing all communcation end points for "any" kind of
app I'd like her to use. Doable, but still the mobile part would be open. Beyond that I cannot block here "re-enabling" the cellular data connection,
the system isn't that strict in that matter. Would be nice, though, ...
@home I already use OpenDNS, probably should have mentioned that, so that's more or less under control.
Let's see if some other ideas or approached pop up from xda; I'm actually trying to get in direct contact with one of the Microsoft Family team
as, on a business level, we're currently working closely with some of the Microsoft 10 teams.
If they, if connected that is, tell me that they're aware of the bugs and that they're actually part of a road map, I'd be happy, too.
However, for the time being I expect I have to sort it on my own.
I'll give it a go with interop and see what I can find to deal with.
So, any other ideas?
Regards,..
bloodot
How about interopunlock and use your own hosts file?
How about App corner inside settings?
augustinionut said:
How about interopunlock and use your own hosts file?
How about App corner inside settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
... the hostsfile will only work via WiFi, at least that's my current understanding as for cellular one cannot change the DNS settings, meaning, you can't make them point towards 127.0.0.1.
App Corner I already "played" around with - it has some other issues
- it's buggy, sometimes it doesn't even start.
- can be bypassed by just restarting the device
- everything "allowed" is available to public, more or less.
- the App Corner does not allow "games" to be made available ...
... hey, so what about the kids' corner?
- well, that doesn't allow the phone app... but still, that would also be a half-baked approach again.
I hope it were at least three different teams designing those packages, the kids' corner, the app corner and the family safety integration.
As a whole, NONE of them delivers what a parent needs when actually "permanently" giving a Windows based phone to one of his children.
bloodot said:
... the hostsfile will only work via WiFi, at least that's my current understanding as for cellular one cannot change the DNS settings, meaning, you can't make them point towards 127.0.0.1.
App Corner I already "played" around with - it has some other issues
- it's buggy, sometimes it doesn't even start.
- can be bypassed by just restarting the device
- everything "allowed" is available to public, more or less.
- the App Corner does not allow "games" to be made available ...
... hey, so what about the kids' corner?
- well, that doesn't allow the phone app... but still, that would also be a half-baked approach again.
I hope it were at least three different teams designing those packages, the kids' corner, the app corner and the family safety integration.
As a whole, NONE of them delivers what a parent needs when actually "permanently" giving a Windows based phone to one of his children.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PIN + kids corner. Can't bypass it.
-W_O_L_F- said:
PIN + kids corner. Can't bypass it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
... it's not my phone she should use. She should be able to use her own phone.
That includes calling her mum or me.
"Phone" is not an allowed app for the kids corner, it ain't listed when setting that up.
And even if it was, it would allow "anyone" who would steal that phone to directly use it's SIM card hazzle free.
And, as a minor annoyance, anything else that would be allowed via that mechanism.
It's just the current truth to deal with, W10M is not child-ready by any means.
If I want more control, I need to switch the phone.
Or start trusting a 9year-ish old girl to deal with the Internet without restrictions.
... so fiddled around with a few things, though interop is active according to the tool itself after sideloading it, wconnect won't work at all (crashes, no proper error given and before that IpOverUsbInstaller won't finish installation), so I can't get that key to get the SSH connection done and therefore I can't get full file access.
I think I'm done with this now. Selling the phone, using the Razr I instead, already have the proper system locking tools in place for that, bye bye Lumia 535. I would have loved to see my child deal with such an "easy" OS interface for getting used to smartphones, but I can't let her have access to the Internet while "not at home" without restrictions. No way.
... went so far and tried miradore to restrict the system via MDM. And guess what ... the f'n browser CANNOT be blocked via MDM. At least miradore has a free trial of 14 days. I was even willing to pay the damn 2$ per month for that service. *sigh* MAYBE it has a URL filter SOMEWHERE ...
... however, at least one can disallow the "usage" of the browser. MAYBE that works. Trying...
Yes. Works. JESUS ... what a mess. Let's see if I can get that done somewhere / somehow via MDM "without" another monthly fee ...
yeah, worked. Pitty though, they want "10$" minimum fee per month.
BUT: ... I stumbled over https://www.manageengine.com/mobile-device-management/
Free for up to 25 devices. Either cloud based (not supporting W10M for now) or Windows based installation (supporting W10M, more up2date...).
And it works. Thank you very much. Case closed.
Though I cannot restrict the URLs ... I can blog the Edge browser. And the Microsoft Store. Happy bunny.

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