It's also working on an updated privacy policy that spells out what data it collects.
Blu CEO Sammy Ohev-Zion also pledged the company will no longer install any third-party service on its phones for which it does not have source code and a full understanding of the functionality. The company will no longer use Adups to push OTA updates, instead using the standard Google OTA method. With shipping, I could conceivably effect repairs on my phone for about 40. Blu updated the R1 HD and other phones to stop the data transmission, but the damage was done.īlu is now looking to convince everyone that it is doing all it can to address the issue. An official battery for the Z2 play costs about 30 a new set of adhesive costs about 5. Blu now says it explicitly stated that it did not want Adups to do any data collection on its phones, but apparently it happened anyway. It was previously the best selling unlocked phone on Amazon because it cost as little as $50. Blu has now promised to get rid of the Adups software after previously neutering it.Īmazon halted sales of the popular Blu R1 HD following news of the spyware threat.
The offending service was part of the OTA update module provided by third-party company Adups. You can uncheck the box and the battery will charge again. If you check the box (on the Battery Life tab), you can disable charging.
Try to be careful around the side buttons as the plastic is weakest there. However, there are still a few ad-laden apps that fall through the cracks particularly the kind that bombard your lock screen with ads. Things have gotten to the point to where these nuisances are largely a non-issue for most of us. You will need to use the thinner plastic prying tool to slowly outline the seem of the case starting from the top (near the camera). Android has gotten significantly better at handling intrusive ads over the years. The Battery Meter has a checkbox you can use to select whether the battery charges or not. After removing all 16 screws you can begin the process of removing the battery housing panel. Blu would not comment on the reason for the continued unavailability, though the phone had returned on Amazon as of December 15th.īlu took a substantial hit last month when security firm Kryptowire discovered a pre-installed service on several of the company's phones was sending users' data to a server in China. After the install and a reboot, both the Alienware OSD Battery Enabled indication and the Battery Meter app will pop up.
However, the R1 HD continued to remain out of stock for a full month after it was revealed the phone contained software sending customer data back to China, and the phone missed the crucial Black Friday and Cyber Monday holidays as a result. As such, its removal from sale may not have been associated with the security issue at all. As pointed out to us by Blu, the R1 HD actually went out of stock on Amazon several weeks before the security story broke.