{
  "id": 12882771,
  "title": "Old Android phones make better smart home wall panels than any $200 displays",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/old-android-phones-make-better-smart-home-wall-panels-than-any-200",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-08T14:01:17.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "XDA Developers",
    "slug": "xda-developers",
    "url": "https://www.xda-developers.com/old-android-phones-make-better-smart-home-wall-panels-than-any-200-smart-display/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Old Android phones can be repurposed as smart home wall panels. According to XDA Developers, this can be a convenient way to control multiple smart home gadgets with a single interface.\n\nResearchers have discovered a malware campaign, dubbed Midnight Mimosa, affecting some low-cost Android phones. Android Authority reported that this malware is embedded in device firmware and can install apps, grant permissions, and turn phones into botnet nodes. The malware has been found on thousands of devices across more than 150 countries.\n\nThe malware, as reported by The Record and Android Authority, is difficult to remove as it resides in the system partition and can't be uninstalled. It is installed on the phone before the owner even uses it for the first time.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 4,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Record",
        "title": "Thousands of cheap Android phones shipped with ad-fraud malware",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/thousands-of-cheap-android-phones-shipped-with-ad-fraud-malware",
        "published": "2026-10-08T13:00:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Android Authority",
        "title": "Some cheap Android phones are shipping with malware baked in",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/some-cheap-android-phones-are-shipping-with-malware-baked-in",
        "published": "2026-10-08T13:00:22.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Android Police",
        "title": "Midnight Mimosa malware is preinstalled on cheap Android phones",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/midnight-mimosa-malware-is-preinstalled-on-cheap-android-phones",
        "published": "2026-10-08T16:05:10.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}