There's a new type of worm that can break into Apple computers without being detected — and the creators say virtually the only way to get rid of it is to throw your laptop in the garbage.
Known as Thunderstrike 2, the worm was developed by security experts Xeno Kovah and Corey Kallenberg to raise awareness about Apple's security flaws. They say the worm is capable of spreading from one Mac to another, even if the computers don't share a network.
"[The attack is] really hard to detect… it's really hard to get rid of," Kovah toldWired, explaining that the worm embeds itself in a computer's firmware, the software that comes pre-installed and loads the operating system. "It's really hard to protect against something that's running inside the firmware… for most users that's really a throw-your-machine-away kind of situation," he said.
The problem is that Thunderstrike 2 can't be removed with software or traditional anti-malware programs; cleaning a machine requires programming the computer's chip. "Most people and organizations don't have the wherewithal to physically open up their machine and electrically reprogram the chip," Kovah said.
What makes Thunderstrike 2 so insidious is that it can spread between computers that aren't connected on the same network. To spread the worm, an attacker must first undermine the firmware on a Mac by sending malware through a phishing email or link. The malware could be programmed to infect the firmware — known as the Option ROM— of anything that's plugged into the computer, such as an Ethernet adapter. If that adapter were plugged into another computer, the malware would spread. When the second machine is turned on, the worm would spread to its firmware and become undetectable.
Kovah and Kallenberg say the implications of their discovery could have wide-ranging implications.
"Let's say you're running a uranium refining centrifuge plant and you don't have it connected to any networks, but people bring laptops into it and perhaps they share Ethernet adapters or external SSDs to bring data in and out," Kovah said. "Those SSDs have Option ROMs that could potentially carry this sort of infection. Perhaps because it's a secure environment they don't use Wi-Fi, so they have Ethernet adapters. Those adapters also have option ROMs that can carry this malicious firmware."
Kovah and Kallenberg say that the worm was developed to showcase vulnerabilities in Apple devices. They've notified Apple of their discovery, and the company has already fully patched one type of vulnerability and partially patched another, but three still remain unresolved.
This isn't the first time that Kovah and Kallenberg have revealed a gaping hole in computer security. Last year, they test a series of major PCs for a similar vulnerability and found that 80 percent — including brands like Dell, Lenovo, Samsung, and HP — were vulnerable to firmware worms.
"It turns out almost all of the attacks we found on PCs are also applicable to Macs," Kovah explained.
Kovah and Kallenberg plan to unveil their discovery in more detail on August 6 at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas. The goal is to push tech companies to take security more seriously.
"Some vendors like Dell and Lenovo have been very active in trying to rapidly remove vulnerabilities from their firmware," Kovah said.
"Most other vendors, including Apple as we are showing here, have not," he added. "We use our research to help raise awareness of firmware attacks, and show customers that they need to hold their vendors accountable for better firmware security."
As reactions to the government’s move to block porn sites rose to a crescendo on Monday, top communications ministry officials said it was merely meant to comply with the Supreme Court’s observations and not to curtail internet freedom.
“We are not a control-freak government and strongly object to the word Talibanisation,” communications minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said. “On the contrary, we are pushing for higher levels of internet use through Digital India.”
The Opposition had raised the T word to liken the restriction on porn sites to the ways of Afghanistan’s oppressive grouping.
According to data from Pornhub, one of the world’s biggest porn sites, India ranks in fifth place for the most daily visitors to the website. The website saw a total of 78.9 billion video views globally in 2014.
Prasad refused to go into the details of the action being taken, but a communications ministry official said an ombudsman could not be ruled out. “The ombudsman can hold discussions with parents’ associations, NGOs, journalists and other stakeholders on the issue,” said the official.
The Supreme Court, slated to take up the matter on August 10, had however issued no direction to block or ban porn sites. On the last date of hearing on July 8, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India HL Dattu had only asked the government to clarify its stand on a petition seeking to ban pornographic websites across India on the ground that they fuel crime against women.
“Such interim orders cannot be passed by this court. Somebody can come to the court and say, ‘Look, I am an adult and how can you stop me from watching it within the four walls of my room? It is a violation of Article 21 (right to personal liberty) of the Constitution.’ Yes, the issue is serious and some steps need to be taken… the Centre has to take a stand... let us see what stand the Centre will take,” Justice Dattu had observed.
Appearing for the Centre, additional solicitor general Pinky Anand had told the court the government was willing to take action against the “offending websites”.
The matter has been pending before the court since 2013. In an affidavit filed in August last year, the department of telecommunications had told the court it had constituted a cyber regulation advisory committee under the Information Technology Act to look into the issue.
Earlier, the Centre had expressed its inability to clamp down on such sites, saying it was technologically impossible.
It could well be."It is extremely easy to circumvent these blocks, using virtual private networks and proxies that anonymise your traffic," said Pranesh Prakash, policy director at the Centre for Internet and Society in Bengaluru.
A cursory Google search on how to unblock porn websites throws up millions of how-to and guides. These make a users’ web traffic anonymous by routing it through foreign servers.
The government can try to keep up with proxies and block them, too. But proxies change every day and there are dozens of functioning proxies to choose from.
But is it legal to circumvent blocks put in place by authorities by using VPNs and proxies? There is no law in India that prohibits viewing pornography, experts say. Section 67 of the Information Technology Act only deals with "publishing obscene information in electronic form".
This has been interpreted as a measure to criminalise the posting of pornographic content online. However, accessing that content privately – such as in one’s home – is not illegal, say experts.
OnePlus launched the much talked about OnePlus 2 in the world’s first virtual reality launch eventon July 27. The Chinese company has promoted over a million people to register for the new device in a mere 72 hours. At the launch event, the company had stated that it sold 1.5 million OnePlus One smartphones since its launch. In comparison, then new phone has already received such a huge number of registrations or an invite to purchase the latest OnePlus 2.
OnePlus will be hosting a pop-up event in New York, San Francisco, London, Paris, Berlin, Milan, New Delhi, Bangalore, and Jakarta on July 31 where fans can experience the new OnePlus 2 smartphone.
The 64GB OnePlus 2 will be available for purchase with an invite in India starting August 11, exclusively on Amazon. The 16GB OnePlus 2 with 3GB LPPDR4 RAM will be available later this year. The company has also taken out the logo from the front. It sports a 5.5-inch 1080p display. As promised, the smartphone also comes with a fingerprint scanner and USB Type-C port. The fingerprint scanner is faster than the iPhone TouchID and lets you save up to five fingerprints, says OnePlus.
On the camera front, it comes with a 13-megapixel snapper. It also gets a new camera and a new solution that allows you to take 50MP photos and there’s also the slow motion mode. It comes powered by Snapdragon 810 coupled with 4GB of RAM.
It runs OxygenOS, and says it isn’t your pure Android. It comes with some significant changes. It allows you drastically change the look and feel of the device with a single switch. The colour mode will let you select custom accents colours, or even use dark mode. The OnePlus 2 has a 3300mAh battery.
A recent report suggests that after the launch of OnePlus 2, the company plans to offer a price drop for the OnePlus One. In conversation with Business Today, Vikas Agarwal, General Manager, OnePlus-India confirmed that the company will not discontinue any storage variant of the OnePlus One. However, he stated that consumers can expect a price drop for the OnePlus One in the coming days.
As is Apple’s typically strategy, this year’s iPhone will have the same outward appearance as last year’s model. Recent leaks seem to confirm that. Those leaks do, however, also point to a different logic board internally. One of these improvements should give the iPhone 6s double the LTE speeds compared to the iPhone 6.
According
to9to5Macand images they were provided, the new
iPhone logic board includes a Qualcomm MDM9635M chip. This chip,introduced in 2013,
was designed to be backwards compatible with slower networks while still
supporting newer LTE options. All of this is in a design that is also supposed
to optimize power usage. For iPhone users, this can mean improved battery life,
though with the current iPhone 6 battery life, we can also assume Apple will
put those savings into powering some other new feature.
In terms of speeds, the chip has a potential download speed of
300 Mbps thanks to LTE Advanced. Upload speeds are no slouch, either, at 50
Mbps. In real world situations, users should expect to see download speeds
closer to 225 Mbps. That’s still faster than what users typically would see at
home on their wifi. Of course, even in areas where there is no LTE Advanced
coverage, users can still get great speeds thanks to support of dual
carrier HSUPA and dual band multi-carrier HSPA+.
The
latest buzz is around OnePlus’ upcoming smartphone – the OnePlus 2. While
we’ve been hearing about its build and specs, the newest tidbit is about is
pricing.
The company’s CEO Pete Lau has now confirmed on Twitter
that the new smartphone won’t cost more than $450. This works out
to approximately Rs 28,500.
The
device is slated to launch on 27 July and the expected price was
touted to be more than $322 that is approximately Rs 20,500. So, this
piece of news isn’t really surprising. Many tech enthusiasts are assuming it
will be priced at $449. However, this would mean a way higher pricing tag than
the One that carried a base price of $299 that translates to roughly Rs 19,000.
It was recently known that the
OnePlus 2 may feature a metal build. The company has already confirmed
QualcommSnapdragon 810 v2.1 SoC, USB Type-C port, and
fingerprint sensor. In a recent post, OnePlus also claims that the fingerprint sensor will be
better thanApple’s
implementation of TouchID.
After a successfullaunch
of the OnePlus Oneflagship
device and anexclusive
agreement with Cyanogen, OnePlus is now trying out new and
innovative ways of marketing its next flagship. The company has announced
that the One Plus 2 would be launched on 27 July via the world’s first VR
product launch. At Rs 99, OnePlus Cardboard VR headset is up for grab
Google has just announced aprice drop on its Nexus 6handsets and rumours are flying around thatHuawei will be making the next Nexusflagship device. These points hint at an apparent new Nexus device launch. But according toAndroidPIT, LG may be making the next Nexus phone, tentatively called Nexus 5 (2015).
According to the report, the LG
Nexus 5 (2015) design will not be based on the LG G4. In fact, LG will work
from scratch for the new Nexus design. There were reports that Google is
planning to launchtwo
Nexus devicesthis
year.
Considering the LG made Nexus 5 was quite popular in comparison
to the Motorola made Nexus 6, it is not surprising that LG has been chosen to
make the next Nexus device. Although neither Google nor LG have confirmed the
same. Google’s next mobile OS – Android M – is set for an August release
date, so it should not be stretch to imagine a phone launch around that time.
According to a report byAndroid Police, the device manufactured by Huawei
will be codenamed Bullhead and will sport a 5.7-inch display, while LG’s device
is dubbed Angler and will feature a 5.2-inch display. The Angler is also
expected to sport Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 SoC and a 2,700mAh battery. The
company’s flagship tablet Nexus 9, will continue to run for another cycle which
implies that there will be no new addition to the tablet series, as of now.
AppleiPhoneusers will now have the option of
voice-calling on WhatsApp as well. The featurehad already been rolled-out to Android
users.
According to theApple itunes store, thelatestiOS version of WhatsApp, version
2.12.1 brings voice-calling to the app. The itunesstoredescriptionreads, “Call your friends and family
using WhatsApp for free, even if they’re in another country. WhatsApp calls use
your phone’sInternetconnectionrather than yourcellularplan’svoiceminutes.Datacharges may apply. Note: WhatsApp
Calling is rolling out slowly over the next several weeks.”
While we updated
the app, the voice-calling option hasn’t yet gone live for us on the app, so it
could take several weeks for the complete roll-out to take place.
The other
interestingfeatureof this update is that WhatsApp is now
finally making use of iOS 8’s Extensions, which means that you can now directly
share a photo, video, links to WhatsApp from the Camera, Photos app in iOS.
Users can also
edit contacts directly from WhatsApp itself. The otherfeatureis the ability to send multiple videos
and to crop and rotate the videos before sharing them. We also saw that you can
add a caption to a video before sending them to a user.
Thelatestupdate comes soon after WhatsApp
co-founder and CEO Jan Koum announced on Facebook that the messaging app now
has 800 million users.
Koum wrote on Facebook, “WhatsApp – now serving
800,000,000 monthly active users. Reminder for the press out there: active and
registered users are not the same thing.”
This is abigmilestone
for WhatsApp, since thecompanyhad announced in January that it had
the 700 million monthly active users. That means in a span of over 4 months,
they added another 100 million monthly active users.
As if3D TVandLED
LCD vs. OLED vs. plasmaand120Hzand theSoap Opera Effectweren't
confusing enough, in the last year we have seen the rise of a new HDTV
technology called 4K. Or if you use its official name,Ultra High Definition (UHD).
UHD
is an"umbrella term" that encompasseshigher resolutions (more pixels) than
HDTV, as well asmore realistic color and higher frame rates.
Today and this year, pretty much the only one of those improvements available
in new TVs and content is 4K resolution, so that's what we'll talk about here.
Judging fromthe new TVs shown at CES 2014, manufacturers are tripping
over themselves to bring you a new array of 4K compatible products.
But
just like 3D and HD before it, 4K has a case of putting the hardware chicken
before the software egg. About 15 months after4K
TVs first appeared on the market, there's little consumer 4K content
available: no TV channels or Blu-ray discs, just a few specialized video
players, YouTube and other clips of varying quality, and promises of streaming
video.
Still,
the shift from 1080p to 4K TV hardware is inevitable. This year 4K TVs will
replace high-end 1080p models as the best-performing LED LCD-based sets on the
market --although the reason they're better will have nothing to do with
resolution.
Confused
again? Don't worry, we'll walk you through, starting with the question: So what
is 4K anyway, and what makes it different from high definition?
Today, the TV industry supports two HD formats; often referred to
as 720p (1280x720 pixels) and 1080p (1920x1080 pixels, Full HD). All our HDTVs
come with Full HD resolution but content – movies, TV shows, games etc. – is
720p in many cases. There are, in other words, two sides of the equation: our
screen and the content. Both are important but the truth is that content is
often the bottleneck. Here is a short overview of the typical resolution
classes for content.
·
SD: DVDs, standard TV channels
·
HD 720p: Most HD TV channels, some streaming services
·
Full HD 1080p: Blu-ray, some streaming services
Ultra HD is the next step on the resolution ladder. It also goes by the name
UHD or 4K (4K is actually a movie theatre format but the name is often used for
Ultra HD). Just like the HD standard, which covers both 720p and 1080p, Ultra
HD covers 4K (also called 2160p) and 8K (also called 4320p). As you might have
noticed by now the naming methodology is not straightforward and the industry
likes to refer to things in different fashions. Again we can offer a roughly
outlined overview.
·
Full HD = 1920x1080 pixels = 1080p = 2K
·
Ultra HD = 3840x2160 pixels = 2160p = 4K
·Ultra HD = 7680x4320 pixels = 4320p = 8K
What's in a name? '4K'
versus 'UHD'
In
August 2012, the Consumer Electronics Association introduced the termUltra
High Definition, partly defined as resolutions of "at least 3,840x2,160
pixels". The idea was to replace the term 4K. The CEA's name lasted less
than a day, as Sony then announced it was going tocall
the technology "4K Ultra High Definition".
This is the term now used by most other TV manufacturers too, who seem
interested in covering all the buzzword bases at the expense of brevity.
In
practice, you will often see UHD used interchangeably with 4K, whether
describing TVs, source devices, accessories or content. We at CNET say
"4K" instead of "UHD" almost exclusively, and ourreadersandGooglestrongly
agree.
Digital resolutions: A
primer
The
latest in a line of broadcast and media resolutions, 4K is due to replace 1080p
as the highest-resolution signal available for in-home movies and television.
With
the arrival of 4K there are four main resolution standards for use in the home:
standard definition (480p/540p) , high definition (720p), full high definition
(1080i/p) and ultra high definition (2160p).
When
used in a home context, 4K/UHD means the TV's screen has a minimum resolution of
3,840 pixels wide and 2,160 pixels high, making it the equivalent to two 1080p
screens in height and two in length. This resolution was originally known as
"Quad HD," and it's used by basically every 4K TV.
Another
resolution, known as 4Kx2K (4,096x2,160 pixels), is used by someprojectorsand many professional cameras. It also
falls under the umbrella of 4K/UHD. Other shooting resolutions are also employed
in the pro realm, depending on the camera.
While
4K is relatively new, high definition (HD) itself has been with us for about a
decade, and is the format used in Blu-ray movies and HD broadcasts. There are
three main versions of HD: full high definition 1080p (progressive), 1080i
(interlaced), and 720p (also called simply "high definition").
Despite
the existence of HD and 4K, many television programs, online videos and all
DVDs are still presented in standard definition, loosely defined as 480 lines.
Standard definition began life as NTSC TV broadcasts before switching to
digital with theintroduction of ATSCin
2007.
The beginnings of digital
cinema and 4K
While
it's currently being touted as a new broadcast and streaming
resolution--particularly with the appearance of theHEVC
H.256 codec--the roots of 4K are in the theater.
When
George Lucas was preparing to make his long-promised prequels to the "Star
Wars" movies in the late '90s, he was experimenting with new digital
formats as a replacement for film. Film stock is incredibly expensive to
produce, transport, and store. If movie houses could simply download a digital
movie file and display it on a digitalprojector, the industry could save a lot of money. In a time when cinemas
areunder siege from on-demand cable services and streaming video,
cost-cutting helps to keep them competitive.
How 3D drove the takeup of
4K
Do
you remember seeingJames Cameron's "Avatar 3D"in the theater? Cameron's movie about
"giant blue dudes" helped drive high-resolution 4K Sony projectors
into theaters around the world. Movie studios keen to maintain that momentum
then released a slew of 3D films -- mostly converted from 2D -- and continued
the expansion of 4K cinemas. While3D has declined in popularity, 4K movies are here to stay.
The
industry has been quick to distance itself from 3D, and has taken care not to
make the same mistakes by equating 4K with 3D. But there are obvious benefits
for 3D on a 4K TV screen. In our extended hands-on with theSony
XBR-84X900, we saw the best3D TVwe'd
ever tested. It delivered the comfort and lack-of-crosstalk benefits of passive
3D, while delivering enough resolution (1080p to each eye) to be free of the
interlacing and line structure artifacts inherent in 1080p passive TVs. Higher
resolutions like 4K are also necessary for new implementations of glasses-free
3D TVs.
From theater to the home
While
4K resolution makes perfect sense for huge theatrical screens, its benefits are
less visible on TVs at home, watched from normal seating distances.
ULTRA HD IS ABOUT MORE THAN RESOLUTION
In the last section we told you what Ultra
HD is, measured in pixels. But the Ultra HD standard covers more than
resolution. Ultra HD was recently approved as the official name, and in the
latest BT.2020 recommendation from ITU (who is responsible for the standards)
other exciting elements are included.
FRAMES PER SECOND
With Ultra HD it has also been proposed
that we increase “frames per second” (often referred to as frequency, Hz or fps).
We need to once again look at the history of fps to understand the future.
Today, pretty much all Hollywood movies are shot
at 24 fps (24 new pictures per second) and TV programs at 25 fps or 30 fps (25
pictures per second in PAL countries and 30 pictures per second in NTSC
countries). Games are typically rendered at a frame rates between 30 and 60 fps
on a game console and up to 120 fps on a PC. In other words; there is a huge
difference between the frame rates; and therefore how smooth you will perceive
motion. Ultra HD proposes that movies and TV programs can be recorded and
reproduced at frame rates up to 120 fps; 120 pictures each second. Ultra HD
will support 24, 25, 48, 50, 60 and 120 fps if the full recommendation is
implemented in practice.
If you have watched The Hobbit in HFR format you
have experienced a movie shot in true 48 fps, and then you probably know what
48 can do for picture quality and the movie experience (read our thoughts on
theThe Hobbit in HFR here). The two coming Avatar movies will most likely
be shot at 60 fps so we are not even close to 120 fps yet. Some movie producers
even believe that a higher frame rate is a far greater improvement in picture
quality than a step up in pixel resolution is right now. And yes, the move from
24 Hz to just 48 or 60 Hz is truly a small revolution in picture quality.
COLORS
But what about colors? Well, major
improvements are proposed in this area, too. With Ultra HD a new color gamut
called Rec.2020 is introduced. Today, we use the so-called Rec.709 color gamut
for Full HD. Do not mind the names, as it is relatively simple. It is best
illustrated with a graph.
The human eye can only perceive a specific set of
colors. We cannot perceive, for example, infrared (you cannot see the infrared
light coming out of your TV remote) and there are other ”colors” that are
invisible to us, too. The typical human eye can perceive all the colors
illustrated in the color spectrum graph below.
However, our TV screens,
projectors and cameras cannot match all these colors so the industry has
defined a smaller color gamut that movie folks and TV manufacturers can
implement in products and productions; a color standard so to say. We need this
standard to make sure that movie and TV productions appear correctly on our TV
screens. In the graph above you can see both Rec.709 (used in the Full HD
standard) and Rec.2020 (that can be used in Ultra HD).
Rec.2020 is the larger of the two and as you can
see Rec.2020 gives us many more colors to work with. It gives us a larger color
gamut to pick colors from, so to say. So, therefore Ultra HD also proposes an
extension of what is often referred to as color depth; an increase from the
current 8-bit to 12-bit per color (and a change from 24-bit to 36-bit for all
colors combined). This may sound very technical but with the color gamut
explanation in mind it is fairly easy to grasp. When a TV or camera uses 8-bit
per color it means that it can define 256 shades (2^8 = 256) of red, green, and
blue, respectively. These three colors are used as basic colors to create all
other colors. In other words; it allows us to create 256 shades of red, 256
shades of green and 256 shades of blue. In total this gives us 24-bit or 16.777
million (256x256x256) colors. The 16.777 million colors can be “picked” from
inside the color gamut defined in Rec.709 that is used today for Full HD.
BARCELONA, Spain -- Metal body design? Nope. Eye-wateringly crisp 2K+ display? Nuh-uh. Overhauled Android interface? Only a little.
After all the rumors and hype, the Samsung Galaxy S5 revealed with much fanfare at Mobile World Congress on Monday is more an iteration on the Galaxy S line than the fresh, whiz-bang package we'd all come to hope for and even expect.
Yes, it has a fingerprint scanner, and a heart rate sensor, too, not to mention Android 4.4 KitKat and a roster of muscular specs. From what I've seen, the Galaxy S5 shapes up to be an excellent device that will keep Samsung at or near the top of the smartphone heap. Yet the been-there, done-that design isn't novel enough to trample rivals the way Samsung might hope.
Samsung still has a ways to go to re-inspire jaded followers and fans. And those who value luxury materials and crafted designs over Samsung's stamped-out phones should keep the door open for Apple's iPhone 6 and HTC's forthcoming sequel to the beautiful HTC One
Design: More of the same In designing the Galaxy S5, Samsung didn't go very far for inspiration. In fact, the Galaxy S5's body looks even more like the Galaxy S4 than the GS4 looked like the GS3. It has rounded edges, the same steep sides with shiny and ridged silvery trim, and a slightly more rounded central home button shape to the S4's more rectangular outline.
The back panel motif is different, I'll give Samsung that. Tiny dimples cover the rear, and in addition to white and black (oh excuse me, Charcoal Black and Shimmery White), the GS5 will also launch in enticing copper and bright blue. Not every market or carrier will sell each shade, but at least Samsung has decided to expand its color palette to some more lively hues.
At the end of the day, the phone still feels like it always has: plastic. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but if Samsung is at all striving for loftier ambitions, it hasn't reached those heights.
Samsung has also slightly redesigned the Micro-USB housing on the bottom of the phone; it now has a cover. Up top the IR blaster makes its triumphant return, and on the back, the heart rate monitor cleverly integrates with the camera's LED flash.
Samsung will initially launch the Galaxy S5 in four colors.
(Credit: Andrew Hoyle/CNET)
The GS5 is only a fraction larger than the Galaxy S4 -- 5.1 inches versus the GS4's 5-inch display. This new phone, too, has a 1080p HD AMOLED display, so the screen's pixel density will be just a breath looser, though you'll never notice the difference.
The Galaxy S5 measures 142mm by 72.5mm by 8.1mm -- or 5.59 inches tall by 2.85 inches wide by 0.32-inch deep -- and weighs 145 grams, or 5.1 ounces. It's taller and heavier than the Galaxy S4 as a result of its extra hardware.
Break out the supersoakers, kids. Feedback about the waterproof Galaxy S4 Active prompted Samsung to make the Galaxy S5 waterproof and dust-proof in alliance with military spec IP67, which means that it can take a bath for up to 30 minutes at about 3 feet down.
TouchWiz gets a facelift We'd heard rumors that Samsung was overhauling the TouchWiz interface that rides over Android, something I've been wanting for a long time now. While the changes aren't sweeping, there are some tweaks that freshen up the look and feel, and it's the one area that gets a complete visual redo.
Samsung reskinned a few menus, like this Setting menu, for the Galaxy S5.
(Credit: Andrew Hoyle/CNET)
Of course, you'll want to know that the GS5 runs Android 4.4 KitKat and has all the same functions as Android's OS. It also carries over Galaxy S4 elements like the expandable quick access settings in the notification tray.
What is different is mostly subtle, like a Google services folder loaded onto the home screen of the demo unit I saw, and new icons in the notifications panel, including new quick access buttons for Quick Connect and S Finder. Likewise, the homepage overview you see when pinching in on a home screen now appears as panels, not a grid.
You still swipe right in the app tray for your list of programs and widgets. Any rumors of Samsung cutting back on its own apps have been greatly exaggerated, at least in this phone.
Samsung Hub looks like it has changed names to Samsung apps, as has WatchOn to SmartRemote; my demo unit still has S Health, S Voice, S Planner, S Note, and the Knox security app.
One area was drastically altered: the Settings Menu. Instead of settings broken out into four tabs, you see a vertically scrolling menu of round icons that float over a black backdrop, organized by collapsible sub-categories. It's the boldest new design, but I find the infinitely scrolling list a lot more space-consuming and visually confusing than the GS4's tidy tabs.
Another new area is a Kid's Mode, which creates a sandbox for tykes to play with approved apps while keeping the rest of the phone's contents out of bounds.
Core components Samsung has blessed its GS5 with top-of-the-line specs befitting a flagship device. There's the 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 chipset for a start, a 16-megapixel rear-facing camera (up from 13 megapixels), and a 2-megapixel sensor on the front.
A 2,800mAh battery may not be the largest in all of smartphonedom, but it's a little larger than the Galaxy S4's 2,600mAh ticker. Then again, the new phone is a bit bigger, too. Samsung says that its Ultra Power Saving Mode will double battery life when you're running low. It also promises 21 hours of talk time and over 16 days of standby time on a single charge.
As in past years, there are 16GB and 32GB storage options, with an SD card that supports up to 128GB. Other incidentals include 2GB RAM, NFC, Wi-Fi, USB 3, Bluetooth 4.0 low-energy, and support for the fifth-generation Wi-Fi 802.11ac standard for faster Wi-Fi delivery.
In fact, Samsung says that its Galaxy S5 will combine Wi-Fi and LTE to download items even faster, theoretically up to 600-650Mbps. (They're calling this marvel Download Booster.)
Fingerprint and heart rate scanners Following in the footsteps of Apple, HTC, and Motorola (the way distant footsteps), the Samsung Galaxy S5 has its own fingerprint scanner for unlocking privileges and mobile payments.
The scanner integrates into the screen above the home button, so that you swipe your finger down half over the bottom portion of the display and home button. You can add profiles for three fingerprints, and you get a backup password in case the identification fails. The fingerprint reader scans your finger eight times before crystallizing your profile.
I locked and unlocked the phone at least a dozen times. It worked well most of the time, but didn't read my finger in every case. You do need to keep your finger centered on the screen, which would make thumb swiping more of a challenge.
I didn't see it set up on a phone, but this partnership with PayPal means that Galaxy S5 owners will be able to authenticate transactions with the brief press of a finger after signing onto PayPal's program.
Fitness fiends get a friend in the heart-rate monitor that's part and parcel with the camera flash. You hold your finger over it to take your pulse; the area glows red when activated when you launch it from the S Health 3.0 app. As a reminder, S Health also gives you a pedometer, fitness coach, and exercise tracker.
You wouldn't know it, but there's a heart rate monitor built into that camera flash.
(Credit: Andrew Hoyle/CNET)
Camera and video Samsung's cameras are typically very good, especially for outdoor shots. What hasn't typically been so great is low light. Samsung didn't address that in the briefing we got here at MWC, but the company did tout a whole mess of new fun performance boosts and software trinkets.
The one I care about most is the lickety-split autofocus, just 0.3 second, which Samsung cites as being three times faster than autofocus on the Galaxy S4. This is due to the addition of what Samsung calls Phase Detection autofocus, a feature usually found in DSLR cameras making its first appearance in a smartphone. That means you'll have a higher success rate capturing the moment with squirmy dogs and kids.
A new on-screen control comes to the camera app, and it's a pretty good one. Tap it and you're turning on real-time HDR, so you can preview the results before committing. It works for stills, video, and even burst mode pictures, thanks to an extra chip within. Samsung also notes that the GS5 uses a more sophisticated HDR technology that makes images look even better.
Selective focus is a post-editing trick that Samsung gives you, and on that you may find familiar if you've seen the Lytro and the Nokia Lumia 1020. With it, you'll set the area of focus after you take a photo, say for a shallow or long depth of field. There's also a new tool called Virtual Tour, which cobbles together a 360-degree view. It isn't clear yet how this might differ from Google's Photo Sphere.
It looks like Samsung took a hint from Windows Phone OS with this last highlight, the ability to download other modes to and through the native camera app.
Galaxy S5 4K video test. check out in the video below
How does it stack up? It may not be the most exciting new smartphone there is, but from what I've seen so far, the Galaxy S5 earns keeps Samsung's legacy of high-end Samsung smartphones strong. The specs are high end, and enough has changed on the hardware and software fronts to seem worthy of an upgrade when your contract runs its course.
However, those tiring of Samsung design sameness and looking for a radical new look and feel don't have as many reasons to stay if they aren't moved by the phone's fingerprint scanner or heart monitor. Samsung, perhaps a victim of its own hype machine, opens the door for phone buyers to hold off making plans until HTC announces its One 2.
