All Eyes May Be on Security in Samsung's S5

Mobile device security is a major issue for the enterprise as the BYOD trend gains momentum, because personally owned mobile devices increasingly are being used to access enterprise systems and cloud-based data, according to the Cloud Security Alliance. The leading mobile threat is data loss from lost, stolen or decommissioned devices, it found. Information-stealing mobile malware is second.

RRumors that Samsung will include iris-recognition technology in its forthcoming Galaxy S5 smartphone, widely expected to be launched in April, were given a boost on Thursday through a Bloomberg interview of Lee Young Hee, executive vice president of Samsung Mobile.

People are "fanatical" about iris recognition technology and Samsung is "studying the possibility," Lee said, but he would not confirm its implementation in the S5.

The S5 will be paired with the successor of the company's Galaxy Gear smartwatch, which has not fared as well as hoped.

The chances of Samsung's implementing iris-scanning technology are fairly good as smartphone manufacturers keep introducing innovative security features in their ongoing battle for market share.

"We're seeing a race among manufacturers, particularly between Samsung and LG in Android phones, which are inherently secure, and between Apple, BlackBerry and Samsung on the others," Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, told TechNewsWorld. "Samsung has been particularly aggressive."

The Galaxy S5's Rumored Specs

The S5 reportedly will have a metal frame, unlike the plastic mold used in earlier models.

There is speculation that Samsung is working on a Quad HD screen, which has a display resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels -- four times as many as in the 720p HDTV video standard.

Samsung reportedly began production of a 5.25-inch QHD display for the S5 back in December.

The S5 will trail behind China's 6-inch Vivo Xplay 3S smartphone, which was released with a QHD display in December.

Everything Old Is New Again

Reports that Samsung might implement iris scanning in the Galaxy S5 first surfaced in October.

Patentbolt in November published Samsung's patent application on iris scanning, which gave credence to the rumors.

Many Asians do not have sufficient melanin pigments in their eyes to use a general flash for illumination in iris scanning, so a separate built-in infrared ray source of illumination is necessary, Patentbolt said. That would increase the weight and bulk of a mobile device.

Samsung's technology gets around this by using a proximity sensor.

The company's patent application illustrates a smartphone that includes standard features such as a camera, light-emitting and a light-receiving units, and a power supply. It also includes an illustration of an iris-sensing unit.

The input unit may be a soft button, a virtual button, or an icon of a touchpad or touchscreen; a keyboard; a microphone; or an action or gesture sensor.

Samsung's patent was filed in the U.S. in Q2 2013, and in Korea one year earlier, Patentbolt said.

Samsung and Smartphone Security

Samsung's earlier effort to provide security for mobile devices in the enterprise, the Knoxservice, has been troubled.

Initially scheduled to be preloaded with the Galaxy S4, which was unveiled in March, Knox's launch was pushed back to the end of 2013. Then security researchers discovered a critical vulnerability in the devices that made it easy to intercept data communications.

That caused the U.S. Department of Defense, which had approved Knox-based mobile devices for deployment on its networks in May, to investigate the claims of vulnerability.

"Samsung has this nasty habit of bringing out stuff before it's ready, like the Galaxy Gear, so the first implementation [of iris recognition] will likely be problematic," Enderle remarked. "It will either be insecure or won't work properly."

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Samsung's New Galaxy S5 Might Ship Bathtub-Ready

ot everyone wants to go swimming with their smartphone -- but everyone wants a smartphone that can survive the occasional dunk or deluge. Samsung may fulfill that desire with its Galaxy S5, expected to appear next week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Neither rain nor snow nor a sudsy kitchen sink or bubbly bathtub would do it in. Still a good idea to keep the toilet lid down, though.

 all the Samsung Galaxy S5 rumors to hit this week, the one that had me sit up straight and pay close attention is the rumor that the new Galaxy S5 may be both waterproof and dustproof.

This is a big deal, because it would be the first major flagship smartphone with wide and popular distribution to be waterproof.

Of course, Samsung last year offered the Galaxy S4 Active, which was a variant of its regular Galaxy S4. The Active version had a slightly bigger case and was IP67 certified: It could withstand a 30-minute submersion down to about 3 feet of water.

Unfortunately, you could still void the warranty if the unit actually failed and water seeped inside, killing your Galaxy S4 Active and leaving you high and dry with no recourse other than shelling out for a new phone.

In fact, there were some reports of Galaxy S4 Active units failing under normal, expected underwater use, which surely didn't help launch sales to true outdoor enthusiasts.

Still, the Galaxy S4 Active was a fine start, and while Sony's Xperia ZR and Z1S are also "waterproof," they aren't nearly as influential as the Samsung Galaxy line.

Bring It to the Bathtub, Baby!

While having a truly waterproof smartphone that you actually could snorkel with -- shooting photos and video of turtles and fish -- would be particularly fantastic, I'm not holding my breath.

For most people, simply being able to use their smartphone in the rain or snow would be a great leap forward. I once dropped an iPhone in a kitchen sink filled with soapy water. Although I snatched it out in time to save its life, my blood pressure skyrocketed while I frantically performed the smartphone equivalent of CPR.

Similarly, drinks get spilled on tables -- and at bars -- and who wants to be the clumsy guy who destroys a US$600 smartphone that belongs to the girl you just met?

Have you ever tried reading an e-book in the bathtub? Old-school paper is a lot less risky. Even so, all those nooks and crannies in smartphones and their cases could use a good dunking every now and then just to wash off the germs.

At the very least, it would be nice for active people who exercise with their smartphones -- just putting a smartphone in a front pants pocket and then hiking can introduce enough moisture from vaporous sweat to void your warranty.

A mostly waterproof smartphone is about peace of mind.

The Rumor and Ramifications

The waterproof rumor comes courtesy of reports from two tech news sites in Samsung's home country: ZDNet Korea and ET News.

Because this rumor comes just days before Samsung's big "Unpacked" product announcement -- set for Monday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona -- I'm inclined to give it a high chance of being true.

As for effects on the industry, this possible feature carries more weight than a snappier processor, better camera, or even a Samsung fingerprint sensor. Why? Everyone wants their smartphone to be essentially waterproof.

Not only would it add pressure to other Android competitors, it could become an interesting advancement over Apple. After all, if Apple is so obsessed with amazing industrial design, why can't it create a waterproof iPhone, too?

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Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Review (2014 Edition)

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Full Review

When it comes to modern technologies and mobile device innovations, I think we will all agree that Samsung always manages to surprise us. In recent years the company has turned into the main leader on the market of mobile devices. Their main purpose has always been to impress their customers and bring mobile device productivity to a whole new level. Today, Samsung are among the most powerful smartphone and tablet manufacturer.

Last year when the company released their new Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, we all fell in love with it. But the truth is that we have always though Samsung can do much better. And we were right! This time they have decided to hit the market with something much more impressing. Here is a short review of the newGalaxy Note 10.1 Edition 2014. It has plenty of new improvements and innovations and we are absolutely sure that this time, Samsung will manage to blow their competitors away. Here are some of its main features.

he new Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet has a lot of changes. One of the main differences is its new design, which has a thin elegant frame and a better 10-inch Super clear LCD display with WQXGA (2560×1600) resolution. Also, the processor of the tablet has been significantly improved – it is a quad-core, but with an operating frequency of 2,3 GHz. In terms of the RAM, Samsung offer us the impressing 3GB. There is no doubt that the company has a decent reason to advertise the significant improvement in terms of the device’s performance. But these are just a small part of the new improvements.

The new interface allows users to organize their favorite resources much easier. They can use a “dashboard” which will give them quick and easy access to their data content. According to Samsung, the multitasking options of the device are also worth our attention: with the so-called Multi Window function, users can start one and the same application more than once; they can use the improved S Pen stylus to drag and drop content from one window to another. The Pen Window option gives consumers the opportunity to outline the screen window to any size and immediately enter their favourite applications such as YouTube or calculator. The tablet also includes the upgraded features of GALAXY Note S Pen – Action Memo, Scrapbook, Screen Write and S Finder.

The new Samsung GALAXY Note 10.1 offers content from Samsung’s partners. This improves the features of entertainment, productivity and creativity of the device. Another great thing about the device is in terms of the security. If you have some important documents, videos or personal pictures, you can store them in a special security section. This way you will never have to worry that someone can get access to your personal information in case of a hacker attack. Furthermore, if you run your own business, you can store there your company’s applications and information, eg. corporate emails, contacts and calendars. The device gives you a huge number of options. It will be available in two colors – Jet Black and Classic White.

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Comparison Of Major Features! iPhone 5 And Galaxy S III !!

Apple and Samsung, both competing to provide the consumers with high tech mobile devices. Apple has declared its latest iPhone 5 as the best device they have ever made. Compared to that, Galaxy S III is also experiencing the best sales record with its multicarrier availability, 4G LTE capability, larger display, and robust performance. The comparison of both phones is presented in the lines below!

Display
The new screen of iPhone 5 is 4 inches, compared to 3.5 inches of the iPhone 4S. Although, Galaxy S III has 4.8 inches screen, and many other Android phones have larger screens, iPhone 5 seems bit smaller, but it all depends on the choice of the consumers. iPhone 5 is handy, whereas the larger screens can’t be used by one hand. However, for business owners, larger screens means larger display, that’s what they want.
The pixel density of iPhone’s retina is 326 pixels while Galaxy S III has 306ppi.

Cameras
Cameras are what give the iPhone 5 an edge over Galaxy S III. The rear-faced camera is 8 mega pixels and front faced camera is 1.2 megapixels. The front camera is dynamic, work excellent in low light, and can support videos upto 720 pixels. All it makes the FaceTime chats bit better. The Galaxy S III doesn’t work well in low light, although it has 1.9 megapixels front-faced camera.

Performance
The processor of iPhone 5 is A6, that is better than iPhone 4S. It ensures better gameplay. The dual core chip of GSIII is better than iPhone 4S; however, it’s given a tough time by iPhone 5. The Ram of GSIII is 2GB, whereas, iPhone 4S has 512MB and iPhone 5 has 1GB. It gives Samsung an edge over iPhone 5. The battery life of iPhone 5 is 8 hours) despite being LTE capable). However, GSIII has 8-12 hours of battery, depending on how much a user uses the device.

Operating System
iPhone 5 has the latest operating system, iOS 6. There are many additional features offered in new OS. The Google maps and YouTube app are the most interesting features.

The bigger screen makes the apps appear clearer, but if they are updated. The older apps appear in a letterbox mode.
Siri is also updated in iPhone 5 that enables the users to search for movies or score sports. The voice quality is made excellent even with 3 mics. One can realize that while being in a noisy area. The voice quality of GSIII is not as good as that of iPhone 5.

Price
iPhone 5 starts with $199 (16 GB) and $399 for 64GB. The company offers two-year contract. Galaxy S III is available at $199 (16GB version); however, the 32GB version is being sold at $249. It shows a less price compared to iPhone 5. GSIII doesn’t have the 64GB version.

Both iPhone 5 and GSIII are the popular devices among mobile consumers around the globe. The benefits of both are huge; however, one device may have an edge over the other device due to the users’ preferences. To gain maximum advantages of iPhone 4, you will have tounlock iPhone 4 by using authentic software. Go to the vendors that are reliable and ensure guaranteed satisfaction.

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