Samsung’s Tizen said to be riddled with vulnerabilities. Is your smartwatch safe?

A report from Motherboard is some very bad news for fans of Samsung’s other operating system, Tizen.

Speaking with Israeli security researcher Amihai Neiderman of Equus Software, Motherboard tells us that there are currently 40 unreported security vulnerabilities that would allow remote execution and hacking of every Samsung TV, watch or phone that uses Tizen as the operating system. More serious are some allegations about the how and why behind many of these exploits.

It may be the worst code I’ve ever seen.

While Samsung may not be thinking about replacing Android with Tizen on its phones and tablets, the current ecosystem is about to be expanded in a big way: Samsung is committed to using Tizen on most every smart appliance it sells going forward. Smart refrigerators sound like a great idea until someone hacks your email through one.

It may be the worst code I’ve ever seen, Neiderman tells Motherboard. Everything you can do wrong there, they do it. You can see that nobody with any understanding of security looked at this code or wrote it. It’s like taking an undergraduate and letting him program your software.

Any large software project will have its fair share of bugs and exploits. While some are more serious than others, most researchers aren’t looking at Tizen the same way they are focused on Android, iOS, and Windows. That’s largely because Samsung will sell more Galaxy S8 phones in a week that it will likely ever sell of phones running Tizen. But that overlooks several of Samsung’s successful product lines including the Gear S3 smartwatch that many of us have on our wrist right now. Neiderman goes on with some serious shade towards Samsung’s development team for Tizen.

[Neiderman] says much of the Tizen code base is old and borrows from previous Samsung coding projects, including Bada, a previous mobile phone operating system that Samsung discontinued.

But most of the vulnerabilities he found were actually in new code written specifically for Tizen within the last two years. Many of them are the kind of mistakes programmers were making twenty years ago, indicating that Samsung lacks basic code development and review practices to prevent and catch such flaws.

This is particularly worrisome for several reasons. Firstly, the code Samsung adds to Android has no peer review process as it’s not open source. If Samsung, as claimed, is lacking when it comes to coding and review techniques, the same sorts of mistakes could be abundant in its Android portfolio, too. Even if this isn’t the case, the Samsung Gear family of watches is connected to quite a few Android devices and shares a lot of information that could be open to someone with the right tools and a little bit of know-how.

An attacker can install any software they like through the TizenStore application.

Even tokenized financial data through Samsung Pay has to live on your watch at some level, even if only long enough to transmit to a payment terminal or back to your bank. Thankfully, it is stored is a way that makes it mostly worthless without the keys to decrypt it and a reference to what the token is for.

All this aside, the biggest issue is a problem with the Tizen application store and installer.

One security hole Neiderman uncovered was particularly critical. It involves Samsung’s TizenStore app—Samsung’s version of Google Play Store—which delivers apps and software updates to Tizen devices. Neiderman says a flaw in its design allowed him to hijack the software to deliver malicious code to his Samsung TV.

This is a show stopper. The TizenStore app runs with absolute system privileges and can install and run anything with no secondary input from the user. Hijacking this process and using it to install tools for remote access and grant them system privileges means an attacker can do just about anything they like. Every device with access to the TizenStore or another way to install Tizen applications is potentially vulnerable, including the Samsung Gear family.

We’re not advising anyone throw out their watch or television. We’ve reached out to Samsung, which tells Motherboard that it is working with Neiderman to get everything in shape, and we’ll update when we hear something.

For now, exercise the same caution you would with a Windows computer or when sideloading Android applications while you’re using your Tizen-powered gadgets.

Samsung Galaxy S8+ vs. Galaxy S7 edge: Should you upgrade?

Do you really need all the latest and greatest Galaxy S8+? Or will last year’s model suffice?

It’s that time of year again. Spring has sprung and so has Samsung unearthed its new flagship smartphones. This year, the Galaxy S8+ was announced as the larger sibling of the Galaxy S8 for those who like to wield bigger smartphones. It’s also the follow-up to last year’s Galaxy S7 edge.

You might be wondering: Is it worth upgrading to the Galaxy S8+ if the Galaxy S7 edge is already on sale everywhere else? Well, that depends entirely on how big you like your display.

Hardware, specs and features

The Galaxy S8+ will undoubtedly remind of you the fabled Galaxy Note 7. But after you’ve shed a couple of tears for what could have been, wipe them away with your shirt sleeve and give the Galaxy S8+ a good once over. Notice its smooth edges, stunning chassis color, and recessed camera lens. This is an improved smartphone, and although the S7 edge is a looker in its own right, there’s something inherently more polished about the design of the Galaxy S8+.

If you’re looking for a pocket dweller, you might feel better suited with a Galaxy S7 edge.

The real question here is how big do you like the screen? The Galaxy S7 edge’s Quad HD display is certainly large at 5.5-inches, but the Galaxy S8+’s 6.2-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED display offers significantly more screen space for watching movies, editing documents, and taking part in brawls on social media. It also supports HDR, which Netflix and Amazon are supporting.

If you’re looking for a pocket dweller, however, you might feel better suited with a Galaxy S7 edge. The Galaxy S8+ is certainly packs plenty of screen space into a thin chassis, but its tall, narrow body requires a bit of space to burrow inside a pair of pants.

The Galaxy S8+’s fingerprint sensor is on the backside, high above the area where your index finger normally rests.

Now, let’s talk about specifications. The Galaxy S8+ doesn’t offer anything particularly groundbreaking when pitted against its predecessor. Despite the larger screen, it is not equipped with a larger battery, nor does it offer more RAM — though you do get a faster processor and an extra 32GB of internal storage. And like the Galaxy S7 edge, it offers wireless charging, an SD card slot, and waterproofing, as well as all the other marketable bells and whistles, including Samsung Pay. Regardless of which one you choose, you’re not getting too much of a difference in terms of marquee Samsung features.

Samsung Galaxy S8+ specs

Software and experience

This is a Galaxy S8 and a Galaxy S7 edge, but you get the idea.

The Galaxy S7 edge is turning into the trusty old steed that’s adopting what it can to remain as capable as the fawns who’ve since been introduced into the barn. It has Android 7.0 Nougat now, which is great if you’re considering a smartphone at a discount but are hoping to avoid regressing on software updates.

When it comes to the day-to-day, there’s not much difference between the software on the Galaxy S8+ and Galaxy S7 edge, and especially not if the latter is updated to Nougat. You’ll get access to Samsung’s lighter layout if the latter is on Android 7.0, though the Galaxy S8+ will have a couple of additions that have carried over from the Note 7’s short-lived heyday.

You won’t get iris scanning and facial recognition on the Galaxy S7 edge because it’s not equipped with the right hardware.

Also, while the camera hardware may not have advanced much, the camera application did receive a bit of an interface trim and some silly feature additions. There’s nothing particularly revolutionary that you’re missing out on.

You are missing out on one software feature, however, that’s possible only because of the hardware inside the Galaxy S8+. The phone features iris scanning and facial recognition to secure your files and folders. You won’t get that on the Galaxy S7 edge because it’s not equipped with the right hardware.

Bottom line: The Galaxy S8+ looks great in Orchid Gray.

The Galaxy S8+ comes with Bixby, Samsung’s new on-device voice assistant, which promises to help you navigate your new smartphone and keep you privy to your town’s weather forecast. The chances are slim that Bixby will make it to the elder Galaxy smartphones, so if you’re keen on living in the future with your favorite device maker, you’ll want to get the phone with the hardware button dedicated to this feature.

The Galaxy S8+ positions itself as a better productivity machine by way of the fact that it’s equipped with Samsung DeX capabilities. DeX is the Galaxy S8’s hidden desktop interface, and you can unlock it by plopping the phone into the sold-separately dock. The DeX dock is a USB-C peripheral, so it’s not inherently meant to work with the Galaxy S7 edge. Even if you inserted a Micro-USB to USB Type-C adapter, it’s unlikely Samsung would spend much time optimizing DeX to make it compatible with older hardware.

Bottom line

New things are really nice to have, and shiny things can help attract new friends. But if it’s the latest technology you’re looking for, the Galaxy S8+ isn’t too much of a leap forward to consider trading in a perfectly capable Galaxy S7 edge. The Galaxy S8+’s performance will be slightly better in the longer run by virtue of the fact that it’s running a newer Snapdragon 835 chip, but its battery life will remain relatively the same, and the photos you take with it won’t look too much different.

If you simply don’t care for a larger display consider saving your money.

You aren’t skimping out on any essential software features, either. Samsung DeX and Bixby are certainly interesting new offerings, but they’re still in their first generation, and it’ll take some time to see how each evolves.

Ultimately, whether you’re looking to switch from a Galaxy S7 edge or are deciding whether to upgrade to the Galaxy S8+, consider your stance on wielding a taller phone. Smaller hands might find difficulty wielding the device one-handed, particularly if they plan to use the oddly located fingerprint sensor. The tradeoff is the Galaxy S8+’s bigger screen, which will net you more multitasking abilities in the long term.

See at Samsung

But if you simply don’t care for a larger display, consider saving your money and adopting the Galaxy S7 edge.

See at Amazon

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

• Galaxy S8 and S8+ hands-on preview!
• Galaxy S8 and S8+ specs
• Everything you need to know about the Galaxy S8’s cameras
• Get to know Samsung Bixby
• Join our Galaxy S8 forums

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The Morning After: Tuesday, April 4th 2017

Apple’s dreaming up its own graphics chips for future iPhones, SEALs are using brain-zapping tech to learn and train faster and our parent’s parent company has decided to give Aol a new name, after buying Yahoo. Call it Oath.

New chips.
Apple will dump Imagination, design its own iPhone and iPad GPUs

Even if you haven’t heard of Imagination Technologies and its PowerVR graphics processors, if you own an iPhone or iPad then you’re using its technology. Yesterday, the chip company announced that Apple plans to change that and has notified Imagination that at some point in the future, it will design the mobile graphics hardware on its own. Making the switch could be complicated since Imagination floated the possibility of patent infringement, but stay tuned.

You might want to be careful about docking your Switch for too long.Nintendo Switch owners report yet another issue: warping

The Nintendo Switch is the fastest-selling console in the company’s history, sure, but it hasn’t been all roses. Gamers have already encountered significant problems with the dock and Joy-Con controllers. Now, the Switch that has some warping woes. Some users are reporting that their machines are noticeably bowing, particularly after being used in docked mode. Some speculate that this could be because the console works harder while outputting video, so it gets hot enough that internal components are more likely to expand. On the plus side, the bending doesn’t seem to affect the Switch’s functionality.

It’s done.Trump signs bill rolling back FCC internet privacy rules

With the stroke of a pen, the president undid privacy rules created by the FCC last year, potentially allowing ISPs to sell customer data including their browser history without asking first. Consumer rights groups are up in arms about the move, but after it had passed the House and Senate, its fate was pretty much assured. The new FCC chairman says he wants to work with the FTC to implement new regulations, claiming the Obama-era regs disadvantaged ISPs versus Google and Facebook. The problem is that until and unless that actually happens, customers and their data are pushed back beyond square one.

Tests with “Seal Team Six” and other units are promising so far.
Brain zapping helps US Navy Seals learn faster

The Navy wants soldiers who can concentrate better and learn faster, and it’s looking at a controversial piece of tech to do that: transcranial electrical stimulation. It has been testing a passive brain-stimulating device from Halo Neuroscience with “a small group of volunteers” from Seal Team Six, the group that killed Osama Bin Laden, and other units, according to Military.com.

We just work here.Yahoo and AOL are part of Verizon’s new ‘Oath’ brand

Yesterday, Tim Armstrong announced that “Oath: A Verizon Company” will be the umbrella brand covering AOL properties (like Engadget), and Yahoo. Reportedly, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer will not be under that umbrella, but otherwise we don’t know much. What we do know, however, is just how many jokes the internet can make about “Oath.”

Also: change horses into zebras‘Reverse Prisma’ AI turns Monet paintings into photos

Impressionist art is more about feelings than realism, but have you ever wondered what Monet actually saw when he created pieces like Low Tide at Varengeville (above)? Thanks to researchers from UC Berkeley, we can get a close guess. Using “image style transfer” they converted his impressionist paintings into a more realistic photo style, the exact opposite of what apps like Prisma do. The team also used the same AI to transform a drab landscape photo into a pastel-inflected painting that Monet himself may have executed.

Anyone within WiFi range could peek into your intimate moments.
This connected vibrator’s camera is disturbingly easy to hack

While your microwave definitely isn’t spying on you, it’s always important to make informed choices about which connected devices you bring into your home. Case in point: the $249 Svakom Siime Eye, WiFi-enabled vibrator — which comes with a built-in camera for livestreaming and, according to security researchers, an interface that can be easily hacked by anyone within wireless range. The “hack” is remarkably simple, because the smart dildo creates a wireless access point with the easily guessed default password of “88888888”. Anyone picking up the signal can simply tune into the video stream.

But wait, there’s more…

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Verizon adds cult TV shows to its Go90 video service

Go90, Verizon’s homegrown video network, is making a play for fans of cult TV all across the country after signing a deal with Warner Bros.. From today, the service is the new home of classic shows like Babylon 5, Fringe and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Then, in May, the beloved detective drama Veronica Mars will land on the service.

Verizon’s Chip Canter believes that the deal is a great opportunity to “attract users” to the platform with genres that have “performed well for Go90.” The deal includes seven shows in total, with Almost Human (detective flop starring Karl Urban), Believe (supernatural flop starring Kyle MacLachlan) and Stalker (crime flop starring Dylan McDermott) rounding out the list.

The network, which owns Engadget’s parent company, came under fire for offering Go90 to its customers as a zero-rated service. That, according to the FCC at the time, was a violation of the principles of Net Neutrality that ensured an open and fair internet. With the appointment of Ajit Pai as commissioner, however, the commission ended its investigations into potential violations by T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon.

Via: AV Club

Source: Warner Bros.

WhatsApp Likely to Launch Peer-to-Peer Payments in India Within 6 months

Mobile chat platform WhatsApp could be set to roll out peer-to-peer payments in India, which is home to its largest market with over 200 million users (via TechCrunch).

According to India-based media company The Ken, WhatsApp plans to use a cross-bank payment system called UPI, which is backed by the government, to enable payments between users within the next six months.

WhatsApp has neither confirmed nor denied the claim, but there are precedents for the messaging service to move into mobile payments. During a visit to the country in February, WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton met with India’s IT minister and said the company was “in the early stages” of exploring how it might incorporate payment systems into the platform.

Last week, Swedish-based phone number lookup service Trucaller introduced user-to-user payments in India via a tie-in with ICICI Bank, which makes use of the same UPI system WhatsApp is said to be integrating.

Facebook has had a payments system in its Messenger app for some time in the U.S., but WhatsApp is far more popular in India and is already being used there as an e-commerce portal despite not yet offering any features that explicitly support the practice.

Samsung launched Samsung Pay in India for select Samsung Galaxy series devices last month, after it partnered up with Axis, HDFC, ICIC, SBI and Standard Chartered banks, and embraced the UPI standard. Apple spoke with the Indian government about introducing Apple Pay back in 2015, while talks with several banks in the country about incorporating the system are said to be ongoing.

Tags: WhatsApp, India
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Reddit law enforcement requests have tripled in two years

Reddit has just released its 2016 Transparency Report showing how many times US and foreign governments or law enforcement demanded private user information. Given its size (274 million users) the site is a pretty decent “canary in the coalmine” for privacy and government overreach. If so, governments are getting more nosy: Reddit said it fielded 170 requests for account information, over triple the 55 it received in 2014, the year of its first transparency report.

137 of the requests, including subpoenas (69), court orders (8), search warrants (32) and emergency requests (19) came from the United States. The rest (38) came from foreign countries, with the UK, Australia and Germany leading the way. The firm also received six non-governmental requests in the form of subpoenas and petitions.

Reddit complied in whole or part with 62 percent of the requests, roughly the same as what it produced in the last two years (58 percent in 2014 and 60 percent in 2015). As for the six private requests, in furnished information in two of the cases “as they were legally valid” and objected to the remaining four.

In one of the latter cases, a Reddit user linked to a band’s unreleased song, so its record label demanded private information that could identify the user. Reddit objected, calling it an “impermissible fishing expedition” and prevailed. In a similar vein, a company requested private information about a user who criticized it. Reddit fought the demand, arguing the post was protected first amendment speech as it was “based in fact and expressed the user’s opinion.” It won that case too and “was not required to produce the user’s information.”

So what about the famous national security letter (NLS) requests? In its first year of government disclosures (2014), Reddit said it had never received an NLS letter. Such a paragraph serves as a “warrant canary,” in that if it disappears, it means the site has had at least one request. That canary was gone in its March 2016 transparency letter, meaning Reddit was likely served at least one NSL in 2015. It’s not clear, however, whether it updates its canary every year, so it’s hard to say if it received an NSL request in 2016 year or not.

Source: Reddit

YouTube mobile live-streaming has just opened up to lots more users

Why it matters to you

If you’re in the early stages of a building a YouTube channel, chances are you can now use its mobile live-streaming feature.

YouTube has long offered its users the opportunity to launch live-streams, but until recently the feature was only available via its desktop site.

It was only after Periscope made a name for itself for mobile live-streaming, and after Facebook rolled out a similar feature to regular users in early 2016, that YouTube finally saw fit to offer mobile live-streaming starting in February this year. But only to creators with channels that had at least 10,000 subscribers.

The limited rollout allowed the Google-owned company to iron out any kinks as it prepped mobile live-streaming for more of its users, and in the last few weeks some creators with more than 1,000 subscribers noticed they, too, could use the new feature.

YouTube has now confirmed this wider rollout with an update to its support page. To broadcast live from your smartphone, you need a verified YouTube channel and at least 1,000 subscribers. This opens up the feature to a huge number of new users, offering YouTubers the chance to broadcast in real-time, on the go.

The feature is part of the YouTube app, so there’s no need to download separate software to get started. To launch a live-stream, tap on the “camera” icon at the top of the display, tap “go live,” and then add a thumbnail image for the stream. After that it’s simply a matter of tapping out a title and choosing whether you want the stream to be “public” for everyone, or “unlisted” where only people with the link can watch.

More: Instagram rolls out a new -live-streaming feature

In a message posted earlier this year, YouTube said live-stream videos “have all the same features as regular YouTube videos. They can be searched for, found via recommendations or playlists, and protected from unauthorized use.”

It added that the feature “uses YouTube’s rock-solid infrastructure, meaning it’ll be fast and reliable — just the YouTube you know and love.”

YouTubers who want to make use of mobile live-streaming require at least iOS 8 or Android 6.0, and the channel must be free of any live-streaming restrictions for at least 90 days.

This guy went to bed with his iPhone and almost died for it

Why it matters to you

As Wiley Day himself says, best you charge your smartphone

For the vast majority of smartphone owners, charging a handset is nothing more than a mundane necessity. You plug it in. You wait a while. You unplug it. You go about your day.

But very occasionally, for the unlucky few, this unavoidable chore turns into something more eventful. More dramatic. Even horrific.

Take Wiley Day. One evening last month, the Huntsville, Alabama man took his iPhone to bed as usual, leaving it on charge via an extension cord as he slept.

Neck burns suffered by Wiley Day.

Wiley Day

Wiley Day

On any normal morning, he would’ve awoken refreshed, ready to begin the day with a fully charged phone.

But on this particular morning, as he rolled over in bed, the dog-tag necklace he was wearing accidentally connected with the exposed prongs of the charger head, which had loosened from the cord as he slept.

Wiley suffered a huge electric shock, the force of it causing second- and third-degree burns to his neck and hands.

“I just thought, that’s how you die,” 32-year-old Day said in a recent interview with local media.

Describing the highly unfortunate episode as “the most scariest morning I’ve ever been through in my life,” Day said the severe shock jolted him out of his bed and onto the floor.

He managed to end the agony by yanking the chain from his neck, but the burns he suffered required immediate medical attention.

According to the Washington Post, “Day’s shirt was singed, with a small hole burned out.” It described “strips of skin and flesh missing where the metal chain had scorched his neck,” adding that “the pattern of the necklace was burned into parts of his hands where he had gripped the chain to try to tear it off.”

Day clearly had a lucky escape and is now recovering from his ordeal.

More: Digital Trends’ pick of the best smartphones

It’s not the first time for a smartphone to be linked to an electrocution incident. Last year a U.K. man died as he attempted to charge an iPhone while taking a bath, while a few months earlier a woman in Malaysia was killed in another phone charging incident.

Keen for others to avoid what he went through, Wiley Day urged other handset owners to “charge your phone away from you … charge it the next day. It’s not worth your life.”

Has your Nintendo Switch warped? New bending problem reported

After the dead pixels issue several Nintendo Switch owners have suffered, there are now reports that some Switch consoles are bending when docked.

Reddit user _NSR posted an image of his Switch with a clear bend in the middle, saying that it “started to warp while in docked mode”. Others soon followed suit to also complain that their consoles have exhibited warping signs too.

Fellow user Magnaha23 claimed his was bending too: “I actually checked my switch after seeing this. Its starting to do the exact same thing just not as bad as yours yet,” he posted.

• Nintendo Switch: Price, specs and everything you need to know
• All the Nintendo Switch games: Launch titles and every game for 2017 revealed

Others have reported similar issues on Twitter, including TechnoBuffalo’s editor Joey Davidson.

My #NintendoSwitch is warping. Others are warping. Contacted Nintendo. If your system is doing this, let me know! https://t.co/lCLhxYbV5g pic.twitter.com/on9eTFHFbg

— Joey Davidson (@JoeyDavidson) April 3, 2017

Luckily though, Nintendo will repair this issue, unlike the dead pixels problem of before: “I called Nintendo and got a repair set up in 10 minutes,” Magnaha23 added. And if it cannot be repaired because the warping is too severe, it will be replaced, he was told.

The problem is thought to stem from the fact that, when docked, the Switch graphical processing unit works harder than in handheld mode, so runs hotter. And with the dock offering less free-flowing air to the device, there’s a risk it could overheat and warp.

It is not a widespread problem at present though, so there could be other contributory factors, such as the external temperature. Let’s see what happens during the summer.

How to take long exposure photos on a smartphone

If you’ve ever looked at photos of your friends painting their name with light Instagram, Facebook, Flickr, or any other social network feed. Or if they’ve managed to shoot a starry night sky that actually looks good, and wondered how to do it yourself, the answer is long exposure photos. And it’s actually quite simple, once you know where to find the settings, and have the right equipment.  

Long exposure on smartphone: What you need

Before you get started with the process of taking long exposure shots on your smartphone there are some essential pieces of kit you should have, because it doesn’t matter how steady your hands are, even the smallest vibration will be enough to ruin the photo. In short, you need something to mount your phone on, to keep it still.

A mount – if you have a tripod already:

• Mudder Universal smartphone mount – £4.99 from Amazon.co.uk or $6.98 from Amazon.com
• iStabilizer mount – £17.95 from Amazon.co.uk or $14.99 from Amazon.com
• Joby GripTight Mount (recommended) – £10.36 from Amazon.co.uk or $16.49 from Amazon.com

A tripod – If you don’t have one already:

• Joby GripTight GorillaPod Stand – £19.99 from Amazon.co.uk or $19.95 from Amazon.com 
• Manfrotto PIXI Mini Tripod – £17.95 from Amazon.co.uk or $15.99 from Amazon.com

A memory card – if you need extra storage space:

• 32GB Sandisk Extreme card for £15.29 from Amazon.co.uk or $18.99 from Amazon.com.

Why take long exposures on your smartphone? 

For those who look at the phrase “long exposure” and think it’s some photographer jargon, it basically means holding the shutter open for longer than usual. It enables the kinds of effects you can’t get by just pointing and shooting at something, and means you can take better photographs in extremely low light situations.

You can create light trails, cool cloud-like effects shooting moving water, create your own “ghost” photos, or just shoot really great photos of the night sky laden with stars.

Long exposures on smartphone: The method

1. Find your manual mode

A lot of modern Android smartphones now have manual controls built into their camera apps. Whether you go with something from Huawei, OnePlus, Samsung, LG or others, there are plenty out there already capable of taking a long exposure photograph. Head to your default camera app, look through the camera modes and see if there’s one named “manual” or “pro”. 

2. Locate shutter speed

We’ve been using the LG G6, Huawei P10 and OnePlus 3T in our testing, among other cameras. Once manual mode is activated, you’ll see a number of options. The most important to take note of are the ISO and Shutter Speed settings. Shutter Speed is normally indicated using a shutter icon (circle formed of interlocking segments), or an “S”. 

Once you tap on the shutter speed icon you’ll get a list of speeds, ranging from fractions of seconds as fast as 1/3200 of a second, all the way up to 30 seconds. Needless to say, the longer the exposure you choose, the more time the sensor is exposed to light.

3. Adjust ISO

This is why it’s also important to adjust the ISO, which defines how sensitive the sensor is to light – it’s a hangover from the days of film. With a really high ISO, you not only run the risk of over-exposing/having too much light and ending up with a bright white image, with no detail, but also you will increase how much noise appears. For any long exposure, it’s good to take the ISO relatively low. For most of ours with the G6 we selected one of the two lowest options: 50 or 100. 

4. No manual mode? There’s an app for that

If you don’t have a manual mode, either because you have an iPhone or a lower-end Android, there are third party apps available.

• Manual Camera on Android (FREE – Play Store link) is compatible with a lot of phones.
• Slow Shutter Cam (£1.99 – App Store link) on iOS is designed specifically for these long exposures. 

Pocket-lint

Long exposures: Starry Nights

Taking your tripod, pointing it up to a clear night sky and taking a picture without a long exposure normally means a grainy, noisy picture showing no discernible stars. Set the shutter speed to 20 or 30 seconds, tune down the ISO to its lowest settings and then be amazed as it uncovers stars you can’t even see with your eyes.

Pocket-lint

Long exposures: Ghosts

The technique for creating ghostly images (ie. semi transparent people) is the same as taking any other long exposure shot. The only difference being that you have to ask your subject to stand still for a few seconds, then get them to move away really quickly out of shot. If your subject is a child, that latter part can be a challenge.

With the photo above we set up a five second exposure, and got the subject to move away after three seconds. With a slightly slower moving child, as you can see, it creates ghostly, whispie trails which kinda add to the effect. 

Pocket-lint

Long exposures: Light painting and light trails

Using the same combination of long exposure and low ISO, you can point a flashlight towards the camera and use it to paint your name in the air. Some phones, like Huawei phones for instance, have a light painting mode optimised for this, but it can be done manually. 

The same technique can be applied to busy roads at night time, which will then give you those red and white light trails with “ghost” cars. 

Long exposures: Cloudy/frosty water

Bodies of water, whether they be lakes, the sea, waterfalls, rivers or just running water from a tap can create a really eerie cloudy effect using a long exposure photo. Since it’s transparent, the movement can make the water seem cloudy or milky when a camera shutter is open for a few seconds.

The only tricky part is ensuring light levels aren’t too high. With a 2-3 second exposure you can often end up with a completely bleached image if you take it in the day time, even with the ISO set at 50. So your best bet is heading out at sunset or sunrise, when it’s not completely dark, but just enough light to capture something.