News Google I/O Update : Google I/O 2017 Is Coming: What To Expect From The Future Of Android And Chrome

Google's annual I/O developer conference kicks off Wednesday, May 17 in California, and continues through the end of the week. We'll be on the ground at the show covering all the breaking news, but before then we're taking a closer look at what we can expect from this year's conference. more

Big products like Android and Chrome will likely get a bulk of the attention, and there will surely be at least a parting note about newer endeavours like virtual reality. So what are we most likely to see at the event? Here's a solid bet.

New details about Android O

It wouldn't be a proper Google I/O conference without an update on one of the company's most popular products, Android. The operating system is due for version 8.0 this year, and Google has already given us a peek of it with the developer preview that launched in March. We know the update will improve battery life on older devices; add picture-in-picture to Android TV products; and let users snooze notifications for 15 minutes, 30 minutes or 1 hour. We're hoping to learn even more about the update at the show.

Then there's the name. For now, the operating system has been unofficially dubbed Android O, following the company's alphabetical naming scheme. But Google has a history of paring the releases with a tasty dessert to make the name a little catchier. So what will the actual name be? Android Oreo? Mmm, Oreos...

A Google Home and Wi-Fi Router in One

Google debuted its artificially intelligent speaker at Google I/O last year, and rumours indicate that we could be seeing an updated version this year. As we said in our official review, Google Home was better at understanding voice requests than the Amazon Echo, but fell short of our expectations because it couldn't do enough.

We suspect that Google will be adding considerably more skills to the speaker this year, including the ability to make phone calls, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report. Another rumour we've seen floating around is that Google could debut a new version of the smart speaker that doubles as a mesh Wi-Fi router, according to a CNBC report. The device is rumoured to work exactly like Google Wifi from last year's conference, only this time it would double as a smart speaker.

Chrome gets a major update

A couple of years ago, Chrome was just a tiny blip in the Google universe. Now, it's one of the company's most popular products, and that is in some part due to the increasing popularity of Google Chromebooks.

This year's conference will most likely feature some news about Chrome OS and its ability to run an increasing number of Android apps, at least based on speculation. The expectation for a couple of years now has been that Google will combine Android and Chrome into one operating system unofficially referred to as "Andromeda". One of the key pieces to this is getting more Android apps to work on Chrome.

Nothing about the Pixel 2

Google launched the very first Pixel phone back in October, so it's unlikely that we'll see a new version at Google I/O this year. Google senior vice president of hardware Rick Osterloh has even said in an interview with Android Pit that there will be a second version of the search giant's phone later this year.

The phone "will stay premium" according to Osterloh's interview with Android Pit, and that lines up with other rumours about the device. The most exciting news is Google's recent investment in LG Display, which many believe is an indication the Pixel 2 will have a curved OLED screen. With all of this said, we probably won't learn anything else at the conference.

Google Assistant gets much smarter

Google launched a competitor to Apple's Siri last year called Assistant which we thought was a little too dull to be a truly useful digital assistant at the time. That should change quickly because in April, Google launched a developer preview of Google Assistant SDK, which lets developers build new skills for the platform.

Updates on virtual reality

Google launched its new Daydream VR headset one year ago at Google I/O, so it's unlikely that we'll see any new hardware. Still, it's clear that Google is deeply interested in virtual reality. Since Google Cardboard debuted at the 2014 conference, it's become somewhat customary for Google to update us on where it thinks the future of virtual reality is going.

The company will also likely talk about less exciting products like Hangouts, which recently became an enterprise product. There could also be updates for more consumer-focused Duo and Allo messaging apps, especially since Google just announced it can make custom emojis based on your selfies.

Then there are projects we most certainly won't hear anything exciting about. For example, Android Wear 2 launched at last year's event and is still working its way onto older devices, so we don't expect to hear much news on that front. Also the Chromecast Ultra launched in October, so it's unlikely we'll get any new streaming devices.

We'll be on the ground at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Google's hometown of Mountain View, California on May 17 (May 18 in Australia).

Posted by Unknown Tuesday, May 16, 2017

News Technology Threat Update : Dangerous Backdoor Found In About 3 Million Android Smartphones, BLU Affected The Most

Just a few days ago, a backdoor was discovered in various Android smartphones that was being used to send call logs and text message archives to servers hosted in China. Now, an even more dangerous rootkit has been discovered, with devices from US-based smartphone brand, BLU, being found to be among the most affected.

Security research firm, BitSight has released an advisory about a rootkit found in the Ragentek firmware used in certain Android smartphones, mostly manufactured by Chinese OEMs. The firm carried out extensive tests using a BLU Studio G smartphone, which involved installing a tracking file using the exploit. Since the firmware allows installation of apps with elevated privileges, a compromised device can be used to do a lot of harm.

By monitoring the data transmitted to a couple of domains, BitSight identified nearly 55 smartphone models, which feature the backdoor. Many more devices with unknown identifiers were also discovered. US-based brand, BLU, is the worst-affected with about 26 percent of its smartphones found with this backdoor. The other brands include Chinese vendors such as Doogee, Leagoo and Infinix. BLU is said to be addressing the issue, but no details of the process are available yet.

According to BitSight, requests to the remote servers were largely made from phones used in institutions such as banks, hospitals and governments, where these devices probably were deployed in bulk due to low prices. Network admins or enthusiasts can monitor their traffic for requests to the following URLs to find out whether they have any affected devices in their network:

• oyag[.]lhzbdvm[.]com
• oyag[.]prugskh[.]net
• oyag[.]prugskh[.]com

The recent discoveries about backdoors in smartphones coming out of China will surely raise concerns in the global market, where many of these devices are being sold with local branding as in the case of BLU.

Posted by Unknown Sunday, November 20, 2016

News Samsung New Handset Update : Samsung Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge Images Leaked And More Details Emerge

Samsung on Monday confirmed its pre-MWC "Galaxy Unpacked 2016" event for February 21 in Barcelona. Now, more details about Samsung's upcoming "Next Galaxy" flagship have emerged.

One of the most reliable phone tipsters, Evan Blass aka @evleaks has shared images of the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge alongside claiming other details about the handsets. The shared images show the front panels of the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge smartphones in full glory and also corroborate to earlier claims that said there will be only two high-end Galaxy phones unveiled this month in Barcelona.

In a report Venture Beat's Blass cites a person who was briefed about the company's plans and claims that the South Korean company has added some of the features that were missing from the 2015 flagship pair. One of the biggest additions is microSD card expansion support, which was being rumoured for long. Both the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge are said to come with microSD card slots with a capacity of up to 200GB supported. Another notable addition is the IP67 dust and water resistance in both the new Galaxy phones. Notably, both the features were rumoured to be included in the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge phones.

According to the leaked images, both the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge look to retain the same design language as their predecessors. The Galaxy S7 is likely to sport a 5.1-inch screen while the Galaxy S7 Edge is said to come with a 5.5-inch screen. Both the handsets are said to sport QHD (1440x2560 pixels) screen resolution.

The report says that this year Samsung may use the always-on display (AOD) functionality on both the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge phones. The feature however is said to consume around one percent battery every hour.

The report adds that both the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge will get a bump in the battery capacities and will feature 3000mAh and 3600mAh batteries respectively. If this comes out to be true, the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge will pack large batteries than their predecessors Galaxy S6 (2550mAh) and Galaxy S6 Edge (2600mAh). Both the smartphones are also said to sport wireless charging functionality with as little as 2 hours for full charge on the Galaxy S7, and as little as 2.2 hours for the Galaxy S7 Edge.

Samsung is said to use the in-house SoC (system-on-chip) on the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge phones. Both the devices are said to pack Exynos 8 Octa 8890 processor with four cores clocked at 2.3GHz and four cores at 1.6GHz. The company is also expected to unveil a different model featuring the Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 processor in some regions. All the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge variants are said to pack 4GB of RAM and are expected to come in 32GB and 64GB storage options.

For the camera, Samsung is said to have downgraded from the 16-megapixel rear camera seen on the Galaxy S6 to a 12-megapixel camera sensor on the Galaxy S7. The company is also rumoured to get rid of the camera bump which was present on the Galaxy S6. The rear camera module is said to gain f/1.7 lens aperture, a bump from last generation. The front camera is said to remain unchanged from the Galaxy S6, which sport a 5-megapixel front-facing camera.

MWC 2016 is already gearing up to be the year's biggest mobile launch extravaganza with companies such as Sony, LG, Gionee, Xiaomi, and now Samsung confirming their presence at the event.

Posted by Unknown Monday, February 01, 2016