Samsung Galaxy Note 5 rumoured specs and renders leaked

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 rumoured specs and renders leaked

Amid speculation that it was moving the launch of its Galaxy Note 5 - and possiby S6 Edge+ - up in order to give some breathing room from Apple's iPhone 6S launch, Samsung finally announced its 'Unpacked' event, which will be held on August 13. The company is expected to launch its upcoming flagship and a possible larger version of the S6 Edge on that date. Earlier today, images of an alleged press render were leaked to the Internet.

Now, a leak from the ever-reliable Evan Blass (@evleaks) has outed the specifications of the device before the launch. The device is said to be sporting an octa-core Exynos 7420 processor, with 4 cores clocked at 2.1GHz and the other four at 1.5GHz in a typical big.LITTLE formation. Featuring 4 GB of RAM, it will also have a 5.66-inch display with a resolution of 2560x1440p.

Regarding the camera, Blass claims that the Note 5 will have a 16MP main shooter and a 5MP module for the front-facing camera. It will also run the latest Android 5.1.1, with internal storage starting at 32 GB but with no SD card support.
After another disappointing quarter and the release of its S6 and S6 Edge flagships not helping the company's bottom line significantly, the company is pinning its hopes on the release of new devices like these to turn its fortunes. 

Source and Image: @evleaks

Major Android security flaw leaves 950 million phones vulnerable to being silently hacked

Major Android security flaw leaves 950 million phones vulnerable to being silently hacked

A huge security vulnerability in Android has been uncovered by a researcher, who revealed that devices can be hijacked using nothing more than a simple MMS message. The exploit is believed to affect almost all Android devices currently in use today, including those running all versions of the OS from Android 2.2 FroYo onwards.

Joshua Drake, VP of platform research and exploitation at mobile security specialists Zimperium, discovered several vulnerabilities in a core component of the OS called 'Stagefright', which is used to play, create and edit multimedia files. He describes this latest Android security flaw as "the worst Android vulnerabilities discovered to date", adding that "if 'Heartbleed' from the PC era sends [a] chill down your spine, this is much worse."

He found that some of these vulnerabilities could be exploited to remotely run code on the device, simply by receiving an MMS message, or by watching a specially constructed video file in a web browser, or even viewing a seemingly innocent web page with embedded media content.

As PC World explains:

The library is not used just for media playback, but also to automatically generate thumbnails or to extract metadata from video and audio files such as length, height, width, frame rate, channels and other similar information.
This means that users don’t necessarily have to execute malicious multimedia files in order for the vulnerabilities found by Drake to be exploited. The mere copying of such files on the file system is enough.

What makes this threat particularly troubling is that it doesn't require any authorizing action on the part of the user at all. Drake points out that your phone could receive an MMS while on silent as you're sleeping, execute malicious code on the device, and then set the MMS message to delete itself, so you'd never even be aware of the fact that your device just got pwned.

However, attackers are limited in the capabilities that can be exploited using this vulnerability; some devices afford higher privileges to the Stagefright framework than others, so the extent of the vulnerability will differ between devices. On most of them, the camera, microphone and and external storage partition will be vulnerable - but Drake believes that around 50% of affected devices run Stagefright with higher privileges, making it easier to gain root access and fully take control.

Drake didn't only publish information about the vulnerabilities - he also created patches and gave them to Google in April. He says that Google added the fixes to its internal Android code base within 48 hours.

However, the rate at which Android updates roll out is notoriously slow - eight months after its launch, Lollipop had only reached 12% of current devices. Drake believes that around 95% of Android devices in use today - around 950 million in total - are still affected.
You might want to blame the carriers for that, but even Google's own Nexus devices remain impacted today, as the company has not yet patched all of them against this vulnerability. Drake told PC World that the Nexus 6 was the only device in Google's range to have received fixes so far, and on his blog post, he even includes screenshots (shown at the top of this article) captured on a hijacked Nexus 5 running the very latest Android release, 5.1.1 Lollipop.

And because many manufacturers and carriers abandon their devices after 18-24 months, rolling out no further updates after that initial period, he believes that it's optimistic to believe that even 50% of Android devices vulnerable to this threat will actually be properly patched, which - if accurate - will leave a huge number of users at risk.
Drake will present more details on his research into the vulnerability at the Black Hat USA security conference on August 5, and at DEF CON 23 on August 7.

Source: Zimperium via PC World

Microsoft promises “a more delightful experience” in latest Skype update on Android

Microsoft promises “a more delightful experience” in latest Skype update on Android

Microsoft released the latest update for its Skype app on Android this week, with a refreshed UI design that the company says “brings a more delightful experience” to the app. In fact, Skype for Android 5.6 doesn’t include any new features – but the changes aren’t all skin-deep.

Microsoft says that the update makes the app “even more beautiful to look at and even easier to use”. Its release notes explain how the visual changes improve things:

See more chats at a glance

When you have multiple chats going at the same time, it could be challenging to follow along. In Skype 5.6 for Android, we’ve updated the app to let you see more chats on the Recent tab. Now a quick glance allows you to catch up on more conversations, and you can easily jump in to start chatting.

See friends’ online status with lovely round avatars

In addition, we’ve made updates so you can easily see which of your friends are online, no matter where you are in the app. We have also polished and unified the avatar pictures, giving the app a simpler and more consistent look and feel.

See chat messages more clearly

Within each chat, you’ll notice that we adjusted the color of chat bubbles to make the text pop more. Now, not only can you read messages with added clarity, you’ll find it easier to tell what you said from what everyone else said. You’ll find this update particularly helpful if you have group chats with lots of participants.

But while most of the changes in this release are cosmetic, Microsoft says that version 5.6 “also includes a number of fixes and improvements to make the app more stable.”

The update is already available for existing users, but if you haven’t got the app installed on your Android device, you can grab it via the link below.

Download: Skype for Android (Google Play)
Source: Microsoft via Android Central

Sony is testing a 'stripped back' version of Android

Sony is testing a 'stripped back' version of Android 

If you've ever wished that Sony would ditch its custom Android interface in favor of Google's 'pure' experience... well, you'll want to book an impromptu Scandinavian vacation. Sony is launching a 500-person Swedish trial of Concept for Android, a "stripped back" take on Android 5.1 for the Xperia Z3 that looks and feels like the stock Google interface while including Sony's more popular apps and features.

If you're fortunate to be part of this test run, you'll both improve the software itself and shape Sony's overall strategy -- it's moving toward development based on "real user input" that will hopefully lead to more meaningful upgrades. And don't despair if you don't get in right now. The company is promising trials for more areas and more devices if this catches on, so you may still get a sneak peek at Sony's Android plans.

SOURCE: Sony Mobile Blog

Microsoft combines OneNote for iPhone and iPad, updates Android app too

Microsoft combines OneNote for iPhone and iPad, updates Android app too

Hot on the heels of releasing a new version of OneNote for the Mac, Microsoft is pushing out some updates to its corresponding iOS and Android apps. For starters, there are no longer separate applications for the iPhone and iPad; in fact, iPad users will be prompted to re-download the app the next time they launch it.

The main benefit here seems to be that Microsoft has an easy way of porting over all the features from the more advanced iPhone app, without having to re-code them for the tablet version. That means, for instance, that you can now access OneNote from the Notification Center on the iPad, the same way you already can with the iPhone. Microsoft also brought over the "recent notes" view, along with the ability to see page previews in landscape mode. Lastly, this update fixes a bug that caused problems with the whiteboard camera.

Meanwhile, the Android version adds what was apparently a much-requested feature: the ability to move or copy a note from one section or notebook to another. To do this, just press and hold on whatever it is you want to copy, select the action (move or copy), and then choose the destination. 
If you want, that destination can actually be the home screen instead of another OneNote notebook. Basically, it's like creating a shortcut to a specific note. Other than that, it's mostly bug fixes for Android, though Microsoft says that a meaty Android Wear update is also on the way. You can get a sneak peek of that if you join the beta community.

SOURCE: Microsoft, iTunes, Google Play

Nhờ Google chọn đúng điện thoại Android theo nhu cầu của mình

Google online tool makes it easier to find the right phone

Google vừa tung ra một website giúp chọn lựa đúng điện thoại Android theo nhu cầu và sở thích của mỗi người. Điều này rất cần thiết vì số lượng máy hiện giờ quá nhiều mà không phải ai cũng theo dõi hết.
Chỉ cần vào website bên dưới, bấm chọn 2 hoặc 3 sở thích sau đó Google sẽ dựa theo cấu hình của từng máy mà liệt kê ra. Xong bạn còn có thể lọc lại lần nữa theo kích thước máy và giá.
Website:
https://www.android.com/phones/whichphone/

Google liệt kê rất đầy đủ các nhu cầu ví dụ như thích chụp hình, chơi game, xem phim hay tự sướng. Sau một hồi làm thử thì mình cảm thấy công cụ này khá chính xác khi trong số kết quả trả về có đến 2 máy mình đã từng xài và thấy hài lòng đó là One M9 và Note 4.

Theo : Android Authority​