Unknown Samsung handset scores a benchmark of 95,972 on AnTuTu
This evening, an unknown Samsung handset underwent a benchmark on AnTuTu, scoring a whopping 95,972 points. That score is apparently the highest benchmark score ever for a smartphone.
The handset has model number SM-8508S. Note that this can’t be the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge Plus. The two upcoming handsets’ scores have already popped up, scoring very similar to that of the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge . That leaves only one prediction that could be made. Signs point towards this being the Galaxy S7.
Recently, we heard the Galaxy S7 could be arriving earlier than its usual release date. Normally, an event is held at Mobile World Congress early in the year. The reports said that the handset could be ready as soon as December of this year. However, this is very unlikely to be the case.
No further details have been leaked containing any of the device’s dimensions or internal specifications. Whatever is powering this handset, it must be stronger than anything that is currently on the market even more than Samsung’s own Exynos 7420 chipset. We are talking about some serious power in this thing. Time will tell what Samsung has up its sleeve.
Source: WCCFtech
Via: Phone Arena
Come comment on this article: Unknown Samsung handset scores a benchmark of 95,972 on AnTuTu
Tesla considers its own autonomous ride-sharing business
The best music often comes from the notes left unplayed, and so it was with the Tesla Motors Q2 earnings call with financial analysts this week. While we heard upbeat news about the Model X delivery schedule – and downbeat news about the company’s vehicle output forecasts and profit margins – perhaps the most interesting hook came from a question left unanswered.
Adam Jonas from Morgan Stanley brought up a recent report about Uber CEO Travis Kalanick telling venture capitalist (and major Tesla investor) Steve Jurvetson that he would like to buy 500,000 of the automaker’s autonomous vehicles in five years time. Jonas then queried Elon Musk as to whether he saw supplying vehicles to ride-sharing companies as a good business opportunity or whether Tesla might just “cut out the middle man and sell on-demand electric mobility services directly from the company on its own platform?”
After a four-second pause, Musk responded with, “That’s an insightful question,” then went on to say, “I don’t think I should answer it.” Which, to our ears, sounds like Musk has already had this epiphany and at least one future ride-sharing provider might be vertically integrated. Still, such an eventuality is still some years out, with its exact arrival dependent upon technological and legislative breakthroughs.
For those more interested in more near-term developments at Tesla, here are the other most pertinent points from the call.
- The Tesla Model X configurator should be live on the website before the end of August, with the first vehicle deliveries beginning near the end of September.
- Tesla has adjusted its estimated deliveries of Model S and X, now saying between 50,000 to 55,000 instead of just 55,000.
- Tesla’s GAAP automotive gross margin fell from 25 percent to 22.9 percent, due mainly, the company says to higher than expected costs of the smaller drive units used in the front of its dual motor vehicles. This, combined with the reduced production expectations, made the stock market very sad, and TSLA shares traded down -$24.00 (-8.88 percent) yesterday.
- For the Tesla Model 3, the automaker will introduce a new-generation motor.
- Autopilot will begin to be made functional for a small number of beta testers on August 15, with wide release happening in late September or early October.
- Tesla is likely to develop its own detailed map data for autonomous driving in the future. Taken in conjunction with this earlier report, we suspect it will use its fleet to do this.
- Biggest challenge with Model X production is the second row seat, rather than the “falcon-wing” doors. Musk referred to the seat as a “sculptural work of art” and a “very tricky thing to get right.”
- It seems likely that Tesla will do another cash raise sometime soon. Questioned about the possibility directly, Musk said he couldn’t answer, but earlier had mentioned that such an event would probably be of value for the company, even if it wasn’t strictly necessary.
The call ended with all the questions in the queue being addressed. However, had we been allowed to slip one in, we might have asked how closely the production Model X will resemble the various prototypes that have been spied recently, among other things. Given the opportunity, we imagine you might have had an inquiry or two yourselves. If that’s the case, tell us what you’d like to know in Comments, and we’ll see if we can’t get you some answers.
Related Video:
[Image credit: AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu]
Filed under:
Transportation
Source:
Autoblog
Tags: autoblog, AutonomousVehicles, autopilot, earnings, ElonMusk, followup, Model3, syndicated, Tesla, Uber
We have the OnePlus 2: ask us anything!
OnePlus unveiled its new flagship smartphone just a few weeks ago, and so far, it’s proven to be quite the device. The OnePlus 2 features some of the best specifications and build quality on the market, starting at the low price of just $329. Even though there’s been tons of content on the OnePlus 2 so far, we’re sure you have some questions.
Will this phone fulfill your needs? Is there a catch? Featuring a super quick fingerprint scanner, a handy alert slider on the left side, and a new USB Type-C port, it seems as though the OnePlus 2 is working hard to adopt as many new technologies as it can. With that said, quite a few features are missing from the device, which has become a major point of contention among fans of the handset.
Don’t miss: OnePlus 2 unboxing and first impressions
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So are you curious about the OnePlus 2? Our own Joshua Vergara has just unboxed the device and is in the process of constructing a full review, but in the mean time, he’s willing to answer your questions! If you have a specific question and would like it answered by Josh or any other member of the AA team, either leave a comment on this post or head to the OnePlus 2 forum page to post your inquiry. We’ll do our best to answer everything in a timely fashion!
Android vulnerability can lead to stolen fingerprints “in a large scale”
Biometric security is on the rise as more manufacturers adopt advanced security systems. The most popular method is the use of fingerprint sensors, a technique that has proven to be among the most secure and accurate. But is it really the safest authentication technique?
According to researchers Tao Wei and Yulong Zhang, from FireEye, there is a significant vulnerability in Android devices with fingerprint sensors, which can lead to mass fingerprint data theft.
This research was to be announced at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas, and it’s said to include four methods hackers can use for stealing fingerprints. One of them is particularly worrisome. It is named the ‘fingerprint sensor spying attack’, and it can remotely steal fingerprint data “in a large scale”.
The attack has been confirmed on two popular smartphones – the HTC One Max and the Samsung Galaxy S5. This is not an isolated issue, though. It seems this is a problem that affects most Android smartphones with a fingerprint sensor, especially the popular ones from Samsung, HTC and Huawei.
The issue lies on the fact that most of these sensors are not fully protected on both a root and system level. Yulong Zhang goes on to mention that Apple’s iPhone is actually more secure, as it encrypts data from the scanner. Even if a hacker gains access to the reader, he would not be able to obtain a clean fingerprint image.
This news is especially bad right now, as we finally start to get over the Stagefright pandemonium. And an attack on this biometric information would be critical, because fingerprints are something that lasts a lifetime. Hackers would be able to harm you for an indefinite period of time.
It’s said affected manufacturers have patched the vulnerability by now, so you don’t have much to worry about now. But the issue does continue to have relevance for future security concerns. As devices become more secure, we tend to trust them with more personal information and private data. This means that when we do get attacked, the results will be more significant.
Those who want to read all the details can take a look at the presentation slide show and research paper. There’s more than enough details there, so have at it!
What do you think? Should we trust our devices with our biometric data? Should we just dump these systems and stick to our antiquated PINs and passwords?
Twitter hires developer of Falcon Pro to help improve the official Android app
The official Twitter application for Android isn’t necessarily bad, it’s just not the most intuitive or attractive option in the Play Store. There are a multitude of great third party Twitter apps available, most of which bring some handy features to the social network that aren’t available through the official app. So if you’ve been disappointed with the progress of Twitter’s official app, here’s some good news – Joaquim Vergès, the developer behind the popular Falcon Pro app on Android, has just been hired by Twitter itself.
In a series of tweets, Vergès explained to his followers that he’ll be joining the Android core UI team at Twitter, which means he’ll be working on the official Twitter app from here on out.
Guys, big news. It’s finally official. I’m joining the @Twitter Android core UI team!
— Joaquim Vergès (@joenrv) August 7, 2015
Falcon stays with me. IMO It’ll be a great place to try new experiments without the slowness of a big company.
— Joaquim Vergès (@joenrv) August 7, 2015
He goes on to say that he’s “grown tired of all the third party limitations”, and that he wants to “make a killer official app with full API and a modern UI.” He also clarifies that his own application, Falcon Pro, isn’t going anywhere. In fact, he plans to use Falcon Pro for experiments without getting slowed down by a big company.
Related: Joaquim Vergès explains how he created Falcon Pro 3 in only three weeks
Falcon Pro is arguably one of the best third party Twitter apps for Android, so it will be really interesting to see what comes of the official app in the years to come. If you haven’t yet tried Falcon Pro, now is a good time to do so. Head to the Play Store link below to check it out!
Intel’s pro-level Xeon processors are coming to laptops
Intel’s professional-grade Xeon processors are no longer confined to fancy workstations or quiet data centers. The chip designer has unveiled its first-ever Xeon processor family for laptops, the E3-1500M v5. The Skylake-based part is meant to deliver the kind of heavy lifting that you’d want as a pro (such as rendering 3D models or crunching big data sets) while giving you a laptop that’s still thin and light enough to carry around. It has Xeon mainstays like error-correcting memory and remote management, but it also rolls in support for brand new features that any self-respecting techie would like, such as the new Thunderbolt 3 connector. If you want, you can drive dual 4K displays, USB-C devices and more from a single port.
The semiconductor firm isn’t talking about everything the E3-1500M can do just yet, and you won’t the chips in shipping laptops until the fall. However, their existence shows that even the high-end computing world is affected by the shift from desktops to laptops. As IDC notes, the mobile workstation market is one of the few areas where Windows PC sales are growing — it only makes sense for Intel to court the increasing numbers of creatives and engineers that want to do their jobs away from the office.
Source:
Intel
Tags: cpu, e3-1500m, intel, laptop, processor, skylake, workstation, xeon, xeone3
Remix OS now out for Nexus 9 and Nexus 10
Remix OS is a custom version of Android aimed specifically at devices with bigger screens, which aims to give a more desktop-like experience to tablets. There’s a taskbar, multi-window support, and even window size management.
Remix OS has even ported across 15 of the most common keyboard shortcuts and enabled them on Android to make it feel even more like the desktop experience we’re used to.
The best way to get Remix OS on your Nexus 9 or Nexus 10 is to use Fastboot and ADB from your PC over USB. For more detailed instructions, check out the source link as grab the downloads while you’re there.
Let us know what you think of Remix OS in the comments below.
The post Remix OS now out for Nexus 9 and Nexus 10 appeared first on AndroidGuys.
OnePlus 2 unboxing and first impressions
OnePlus took the wraps off of its latest “flagship killer” a couple of weeks ago, and the latest iteration continues to offer what we loved about the original, with some refinements and useful additions along the way, while also maintaining its biggest selling point, an unbeatable price tag. Before diving into the full review, we take a quick look at the unboxing, and give you our first impressions, about the OnePlus 2!
More OnePlus 2 videos
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Unboxing
While the packaging still features the signature red color that OnePlus uses, it is not quite as unique as the box was for the OnePlus One. Opening the top reveals the OnePlus 2 in all its glory, and what is nice to see is that the plastic cover that is around the phone marks out the position of the various buttons and ports around the display, such as the volume rocker, the power button, and the headphone jack, with the new additions to this phone being the alert slider and the fingerprint scanner up front, that is integrated into the home button below the display.
The box includes the different documentation that we usually see, such as the Quick Start guide, the user manual, and the warranty information. Another unique feature of the OnePlus 2 is the USB Type-C port, making it one of the first smartphones to adopt it, and in the box is the AC adapter and the cable that is compatible with this new standard. The flat cable is similar to what was seen with its predecessor, and helps keep things tangle free, with of course, the fact that the port is now different. You do only get the bare essentials in the box, but even that manages to be unique with the introduction of the reversible USB Type-C cable.
First impressions
Taking the OnePlus 2 out of its plastic cover, the first thing you’ll notice is how substantial the phone feels in your hand. Even if it isn’t particularly heavy, the metal frame makes the device feel very solid, and not something you would generally expect from a smartphone available at its affordable price point. While retaining a lot of the design elements of the original, a few noticeable changes is the lowering of the camera optics on the back, as well as the inclusion of a home button up front, that houses the fingerprint sensor. On the left side is the new alert slider, that lets you silence the phone, or set it to allow only priority notifications, quickly and easily. On the other side is the volume rocker found above the power button, placed ideally to be within comfortable reach.
This review unit is of the sandstone black variety, but the back cover is now very easy to remove and doesn’t require any additional tools, making it very simple to switch out the back cover for the various other color and material options that OnePlus has available under its StyleSwap covers series. We got to get a look at the different cover options during our first hands-on with the device, which you can check out here.
Powering on the device gives you the first introduction to the latest version of the Oxygen OS, based on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop. Of course, the presence of the Oxygen OS is because of the falling out between OnePlus and CyanogenMod, and we will find out during the comprehensive review whether this OS version proves to be a worthy replacement. You may have noticed at the top right corner the presence of two SIM card icons, indicating that the OnePlus 2 comes with dual-SIM capabilities.
Jumping into the setup, it’s great to see the device allow you to pick and choose which features you want to use. You have the option to pick between hardware or software navigation buttons, with our choice being the former, allowing us to take advantage of the full real estate that this 5.5-inch display has to offer. You can also pick a choose between the various gestures you want activated, which the options available including double to wake, drawing an O to launch the camera, drawing a V to toggle the flashlight, and drawing two vertical lines to control your music.
Testing the gestures showed everything to work quickly and easily. The final choice available to users out of the box is with regards to the default keyboard, with the options including Swiftkey or the Google keyboard. You can also enable Shelf during this setup process, which is essentially two widgets, with one housing the most frequently used apps, and the other listing your favorite contacts.
So there you have it for this quick look at the unboxing of the OnePlus 2! Stay tuned with Android Authority for more great OnePlus 2 coverage, including the in-depth review, a camera shootout, and a few comparisons to see whether this latest “flagship killer” from OnePlus manages to stand up to its claim.
Here are the videos you don’t want to miss this week – August 8th, 2015
We’re in the midst of wrapping up yet another busy week in the Android world. This week didn’t provide us with as many major product announcements as last week, but that doesn’t mean the news stops there.
If you’ve missed any of our video coverage throughout the past few days, we’re here to help. Below you’ll find our full reviews of the Motorola Moto G 2015, as well as two lesser-known smartphones, the ASUS ZenFone 2E and the Lenovo K3 Note. We’ve also rounded up some of the best Android smartphones, applications and games and put them in video form for your viewing pleasure.
Here are the videos you don’t want to miss:
Reviews
Motorola Moto G 2015 review
Although Motorola just recently announced the budget-friendly Moto G 2015, we’ve already gotten to spend a significant amount of time with the affordable handset. Previous Moto G models have been widely known as the “king of the budget smartphone”, but can Motorola’s newest model keep the crown? Nirave puts the phone to the test in our full review.
ASUS ZenFone 2E review
At just $119.99, the AT&T-exclusive ASUS ZenFone 2E offers users a premium design and a solid user experience at an incredible price point. Take a look at Josh’s full review to find out if this new device is worth your money.
Lenovo K3 Note review
Offering users a great high-resolution display, smooth performance, and impressive battery life, our own Bailey Stein says Lenovo’s K3 Note is one of the best Android smartphones available in the budget market. Check out the full review to see if you agree.
The best smartphones, apps and games
Best Android smartphones (Summer 2015)
With tons of newcomers making their way to the high-end market, our list of best Android smartphones has changed quite a bit over the past few months. Check out the full post and video overview to see which smartphone reigns supreme.
10 best new Android apps and games from July 2015
While summertime is normally a slower time in the technology community, there have been a slew of awesome games making their way to the Google Play Store. Joe rounds up the 10 best new Android apps and games that you don’t want to miss.
How to…
How to install a tablet in your car
Looking for a DIY alternative to those expensive Android Auto head units? Look no further – our own Taylor Martin is here to walk you through how to install an Android tablet in your car.
Android Apps Weekly
Square Enix sale, a new Humble Bundle, a new celebrity shooter game (yes, really) and more – you don’t want to miss Joe’s newest episode of Android Apps Weekly!
Opinions and news
How can HTC turn the ship around?
HTC has just revealed its Q2 financial results, and they aren’t pretty. While Bogdan takes a good look at what’s going wrong for the company in the full post attached below, Jayce does a great job at walking us through HTC’s woes in this video.
Leaked: Galaxy Note 5, Xperia M5 & C5 Ultra, NVIDIA Shield Tablet runs hot
Last but not least, Jayce put together an informative news roundup video that’s filled with stories you don’t want to miss. From Galaxy Note 5 leaks to NVIDIA Shield Tablet overheating issues, this video covers it all.
Carphone Warehouse data breach affects millions of phone customers
Hackers have breached the personal data of up to 2.4 million Carphone Warehouse customers, the technology giant has admitted today. The company – who merged with Dixons to form Europe’s largest electronics retailer last year – said a sophisticated hack allowed hackers to gain access to the systems which power its retail stores as well as its e2save, OneStopPhoneShop and Mobiles.co.uk websites.
The company reached out to affected customers (like myself who has shopped at the latter of the three websites in the past) via email and revealed the attack was discovered on Wednesday. The breach is said to have included names, addresses, date of birth information and back details of up to 2.4 million customers as well as the encrypted credit card data of 90,000 customers.
In its email to affected customers, the company said:
At this stage, our investigation indicates that some of the data held on our systems from customers and people who have previously provided information to the company has been accessed. This may include some of your personal details, including your name, address, date of birth and bank details.
We take the security of your data extremely seriously, and we have put in place additional security measures to prevent further attacks. Nevertheless, we felt it was important to let you know as soon as possible.
Talking to The Telegraph, Dixons Carphone chief executive Sebastian James, said:
We take the security of customer data extremely seriously, and we are very sorry that people have been affected by this attack on our systems . We are, of course, informing anyone that may have been affected, and have put in place additional security measures.
Top Phones of 2015:
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He then went on to add that information of customers who have shopped at Dixons’ brands Currys and PC World and the “vast majority” of Carphone Warehouse customer data is housed on separate systems and wasn’t affected by the hack. Looking through social media, customers are naturally outraged at how the UK’s only major independent retailer has let this happen, as well as why it took the company three days to reveal the hack given credit cards details are involved:
Buying a phone via the internet is a fast growing trend in the UK as deals are often cheaper thanks to less overheads but it does come with a security risk; while firms do their best to ensure data is secure, a breach can often lead to the personal data of millions of customers being made available as has transpired here.
If you’re one of the customers affected, there’s a few things you can do to reduce the risk of fraudulent activity:
- Notify your bank and credit card company, so that they can monitor activity on your account
- Checking for suspicious or unexpected online or account activity
- Be wary of anyone calling asking for personal information, bank details or passwords
- Check your credit rating to make sure no one has applied for credit in your name. You can do this by visiting Experian or Equifax
For most customers in the UK, choosing to avoid Carphone Warehouse will significantly limit the number of available choice as – following the sudden collapse of rival Phones4u last September – the company is the only independent retailer on the market and offers the widest range of phone subscriptions and packages.
Related: Carphone Warehouse to run over 60 Samsung stores across Europe
In the UK, Samsung Experience Stores are also run by Carphone Warehouse and it’s not immediately clear whether those customers have also been affected; we’ve reached out to Samsung and Carphone Warehouse for a comment and will update when we hear back. Did you receive the email (which you can see in full below) letting you know you were amongst those affected? Let us know in the comments below.
AIVAnet 