A few days after it became available directly from Motorola in the United States, the Moto G also made its way to Amazon. The retail giant now has the budget-friendly Android smartphone up for pre-order unlocked, free of any contract commitments.
Amazon has the Moto G priced the same as Motorola’s own online store. The 8GB version starts at $179.99, while its 16GB sibling goes for $199.99. Both versions are scheduled to ship on December 4 – two days after Motorola’s own online store is scheduled to dispatch its pre-orders.
Unlocked HTC One devices, as well as their Developer Edition siblings are now getting updated to Android 4.4 KitKat with Sense 5.5 in the United States. HTC USA announced the pleasant surprise on its official Twitter account.
HTC surely isn’t wasting time in updating its flagship smartphone to the latest version available. The Sense-d version of the HTC One saw KitKat only four days after the Google Play Edition got treated to the update, and barely a month after Android 4.4 made a debut on the Nexus 5.
Carrier versions of the HTC One in the United States are due to get the update by the end of January. HTC vowed to do so earlier this month.
The rear-mounter volume rocker is the G2's calling card
LG has offered the first indication of when its impressive LG G2 handset will be furnished with the new Android 4.4 KitKat update.
The Korean company told Mobile Syrup that the new version of Google's operating system will begin hitting Canadian networks sometime during March 2014.
While the representative failed to mention US and UK networks it seems reasonable that we could expect the update around the same time, if not a little sooner.
Currently the highly-rated G2 remains on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, so fans of the uniquely designed handset will be hoping for a finger or two of KitKat as soon as possible.
Opinion splitter
The handset arrived in the UK last month, following its launch in August, packing a full HD 1080p 5.2-inch display with a pixel resolution of 424ppi.
It's also got plenty of power, thanks to a with a 2.26GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 CPU and 2GB of RAM.
Aside from its top specs, the G2's calling card is undoubtedly its rear-mounted volume rocker that has so far split opinion among smartphone enthusiasts.
We have some good news for the LG G2 users. The Android 4.4 KitKat update for the Korean unit has been finalized and is already seeding to the the smartphone in its home market. If you live in Korea and you own an LG G2, the new firmware is already waiting for you to get it. You just need to use the official LG Update Tool on your computer instead of the over-the-air service on your phone.
In the beginning of November we also saw a leaked roadmap of the French carrier SFR. It showed us the SFR users with LG G2 will be getting Android KitKat in November or December this year. There is still nothing official though, but December is upon us, so we guess the SFR G2 owners will get to experience the latest Android build soon enough.
Finally, the guys over Mobile Syrup have received some interesting info straight from LG Canada. According to their information, the Canadian G2 smartphones will be getting Android 4.4 KitKat in late Q1, 2014 (that's late March).
It seems the LG G2 around the world will be skipping Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and that's not bad given that it has helped it get Android 4.4 KitKat so soon after its release.
Xolo unveiled a new addition to its smartphone lineup. The Xolo Q500 is an affordable, compact dual-SIM Android phone, which has a 4" screen and measures 118.5 x 63 x 10.7mm.
The screen has WVGA resolution for 233ppi pixel density. The Q500 is powered by a Snapdragon MSM8225Q S4 Play chipset with four Cortex-A5 cores running at 1.2GHz, 1GB of RAM and Adreno 203 GPU. The phone runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
On the connectivity side, the Xolo Q500 offers two SIM cards with 3G with HSPA (7.2Mbps downlink, 5.76Mbps uplink). There's also Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, A-GPS and FM radio.
The Xolo Q500 has a 5MP camera on the back that can shoot 720p videos and a VGA camera on the back.
A cool software trick lets you snap a photo with Hindi text that will be automatically translated into English. You can have the phone read the translation out loud too. This feature is called X-TransPic and will be available on other Snapdragon-based Xolo phones.
The Q500 packs 4GB of storage that can be expanded with a microSD card (up to 32GB). The battery has 1,450mAh capacity.
The Xolo Q500 is priced INR 7,999 ($130) and is available right now in India.
The LG G Flex could start arriving on our doorsteps as early as December if you're living in Europe.
As flagged by 3G.cn, LG has sent out invites for an LG G Flex event in Hong Kong on December 3, which is reportedly to mark an international launch.
Currently, the phone is only available in Korea, where it went on sale in early November for the eye-watering price of 999,900 Korean Won - about $940 in the US, £583 in the UK and AU$992.
The G Flex will be available in France on Orange towards the start of December - that much we know - so we're hoping to see it hop over to the UK around the same time. As for the US, the flexy phone won't be making its way over until early 2014.
Out of shape
The G Flex, LG's first curved phone, has a 6-inch curved OLED, a 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM and a 13-megapixel camera.
It also has a rear case that can heal itself when scratched, which might be even more exciting than the bendy headline feature.
And let's not forget about the Samsung Galaxy Round, which curves along a vertical axis instead. Although there's no guarantee we'll be seeing that outside of Korea any time soon.
Samsung Argentina has unveiled two new colors of the Galaxy Note 3 flagship. Currently the phablet is selling in black, white and pink, but it seems Samsung will be adding more options to the pallete.
The red Galaxy Note 3 is rumored to hit the shelves in the first week of January, while the rose gold edition will launch two weeks later. Both version will be available globally, but some carriers and retails may get some exclusivity deals for a month or two.
Here are some official images of the new flavors.
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 in red and rose gold
There is still no official info on when those new colors will be hitting Argentina and the rest of the world.
We all know the dangers. The smartphone is the portal to online shopping, our bank accounts and all manner of social network profiling – for many, it is our digital identity.
We know what we have to do: make sure it has a lock code, and never share it with anyone.
But…what if even that isn't enough?
Researchers at Cambridge University recently proposed a method of discovering the PIN on your Android phone by using a malicious app to capture data through your smartphone's camera and microphone. This technique made headlines as it was able to correctly identify a 4-digit PIN, from a test set, 30% of the time after two attempts, rising to 50% after five attempts.
Flanking manoeuvre
The reason this technique, known as a "side-channel" attack, is so noteworthy, is that it circumvents the supposedly secure split between the Android system and the trusted zone on your smartphone.
"Side-channel" attacks use sensors like the gyroscope and accelerometer, or hardware, like the microphone and camera, in order to capture data that's uploaded to a remote server where an algorithm is used to take an educated guess at your PIN.
The 'trusted' part of your phone is separate from the main OS and is designed to isolate sensitive applications, such as banking apps. This is all part of a move to keep sensitive data like your PIN on separate hardware, with companies like ARM inventing technologies such as TrustZone to ensure this stays secure.
However Laurent Simon, one of the authors of PIN Skimmer: Inferring PINs Through The Camera and Microphone, told us, "it's not obvious that the accelerometer or the microphone could be used to leak information…the focus is on the touchscreen, on securing the screen."
How does it work?
This attack involves using the PIN Skimmer app, which is malware disguised as a game, to record users interacting with the touchscreen.
The front-facing camera can be used to capture a shot of the user and determine what they look like when pressing a specific point on screen. This data can then be used to build a model and analyse a video of them entering their PIN.
This is further bolstered by using the microphone to capture audio of the haptic vibration feedback when the user presses the screen in specific spots.
In fairness to phone developers, victims have to download the app and grant it permission to access the microphone, the camera, and the Internet in the Android system.
Once the attacker identifies a likely PIN, they still need the smartphone physically in hand before they can try it, as Simon explained, "in that sense it's limited, you can't do everything remotely; you would need to [inadvertently] collaborate with thieves."
Before you dismiss this idea as never going to happen to you, consider that malware could also be used to track your location, and smartphone theft is at an all-time high. Earlier this year the Met revealed that there are more than 300 mobile phones stolen every day in London alone.
How can you protect yourself?
Marc Rogers, Principal Security Researcher at Lookout (WHICH IS?), told us "The absolute, most common, method of compromising your smartphone is installing something from a third-party store that will send out your phone number, your contacts list, your SMS messages, and allow someone to remotely control the phone.
"We did a study on the likelihood of encountering this kind of malware and we found in the US and UK that the likelihood of encountering something nasty (a phishing link, adware, or malware) is around 2% to 3%. Your probability of actually encountering malware is about 0.5%."
Those figures are based on data captured from millions of Lookout Mobile users, with Rogers suggesting that to protect themselves users should "stick to [Google's] Play Store and don't go to third-party stores. These don't necessarily have the same level of protection and that's why the probability rises from 0.5% in the UK to around 40% in the Russian Federation and Ukraine."
Simon agreed that "in general Google Play is a safe bet, but that doesn't mean you can't be compromised a different way", citing a Chrome exploit that enabled attackers to gain control over a Nexus 4 and a Galaxy S4 after getting people to click on a link.
Is anyone trying to protect us?
The researchers at Cambridge University are focused on what OS vendors and smartphone manufacturers can do to combat this threat.
The PIN Skimmer research paper suggests various countermeasures, but concedes that one of the main ways is blocking access for various sensors during sensitive transactions, or randomizing the placement of digits on the PIN pad, which would have a detrimental impact on usability.
As Simon suggested, "when you're typing a PIN you don't really need to have access to anything, it takes a few seconds, but it's a big decision for them to say 'we're going to block everything', people might start complaining if they miss a call."
What about biometrics?
Could developments like Apple's Touch ID be the answer? Rogers suggested "it's a really good way to bring security to the masses. It's convenient, it's easy to use and it fits within the user's normal processes.
Is Touch ID the answer?
"The biggest risk you face with the PIN code is that someone is going to trick you into surrendering your PIN, via a website or app. A PIN can be tricked out of someone, but you can't trick a fingerprint out of them. If you marry the two, so that now you need two credentials to gain access, I would rate that security as pretty high."
So biometrics, which also recently debuted on the HTC One Max, are the mobile industry's way of addressing this issue, but it remains to be seen if this is the answer, or if multi-factor authentication is a step further than users would accept for everyday smartphone use.
So in the short term the only option may be to sacrifice some convenience for peace of mind. As Simon said: "anything you can do to make things harder for the bad guys is always a good thing."
Some users are seeing their Samsung Galaxy S4 and S III receiving the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update in Europe.
The update was first rolled-out but was shortly found to be infested by a lot of bugs and was since pulled. Not after AT&T resumed seeding the fixed version of the update. And now the update has started making its way to other regions.
The update brings improvements to performance, the Galaxy S4 gets Galaxy Gear and Knox support along with Group Play 2.5 and more.
Users that have installed the buggy 4.3 update should shortly receive a small patch update through Samsung Kies. And the Galaxy S4 should receive Android KitKat soon as well so this isn't the last one.
This just in from our existing-phones-in-different-colours correspondent: looks like Samsung is going to release the Note 3 in both red and white gold next year.
Samsung is prepping to launch two new colors of the Galaxy Note 3 flagship, according to inside sources. Currently the phablet is selling in black, white and pink, but it seems Samsung will be adding more options to the pallete.
The red Galaxy Note 3 is rumored to hit the shelves in the first week of January, while the white gold edition will launch two weeks later. Both version will be available globally, but some carriers and retails may get some exclusivity deals for a month or two.
The images you are seeing below are just renders made by the guys over at Android Authority and are for illustrative purposes only.
We still don't know what this white gold version is supposed to look like. The champagne which the rendered image suggests isn't quite what white gold looks like but who knows. Anyway, January is just a month away, so we'll find out soon enough.
Leaked images of a Huawei smartphone going by the G750 codename have surfaced. The smartphone is running on MediaTek's new true octa-core MT6592 chipset.
MediaTek has been high on praise for its new chipset, which it claims is the first "true octa-core" solution, being capable of running all eight cores simultaneously. This is in contrast to chipsets like Samsung's Exynos 5 Octa SoC, which runs either its four faster cores or four slower cores depending on processing needs.
The new SoC from MediaTek also has the ability to support 4K video playback and cameras that do up to 16MP stills and fullHD recording,.
But going back to the G750, the device is expected to sport a 5.5-inch screen of a rather disappointing 720p resolution, alongside 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal memory. According to the about screen, Android 4.2.2 is the OS version.
The G750 shares many of the internals leaked from Huawei's unannounced Glory 4 handset, so it's possible that we're seeing that same device under a new name here.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 launched on Verizon in the US early last month on $300 with contract. In the spirit of Black Friday, the price of the flagship phablet has dropped to $170 on the same deals.
The $170 price comes from Amazon and doesn’t seem to be a part of the etailer's Black Friday promotions (meaning it should be available even after today). This price is for new Verizon accounts.
Upgraders will have to pay a bit more - $200. The Galaxy Note 3 is also available from Verizon's own site at that price.
For comparison, the Note 3 is $220 with a contract with Sprint for new accounts and $300 for upgrades. On AT&T it's $250 for new accounts, $260 for upgrades.
Note that all these prices require a 2-year contract. But don't forget that Samsung will give you $50 Play Store credit.
A new leak from Hungary details the Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2, the successor of its popular dual-SIM Android-powered phone.
It has a 4" WVGA screen (480 x 800) and runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. It's powered by a dual-core 1.2GHz processor with 768MB RAM, though the exact chipset isn't clear. Anyway, the phone has a 5MP camera, 4GB of built-in storage, microSD card slot and a 1,500mAh battery.
The Galaxy Ace 3 has virtually the same specs and it has a dual-SIM version (LTE version too, but that's single-SIM only). The Galaxy Duos 2, as the name suggests, comes only in dual-SIM flavor.
The Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2 was unveiled in Hungary but it will reportedly be available in a few days in India too at INR10990 ($175 / €130). Also note that the phone is very different than the Galaxy S II Duos for China Telecom.
If you're rocking a Samsung device which hasn't yet been upgraded to Android 4.3 you might want to count your blessings, as it appears the Korean firm is still having issues with the latest version of Jelly Bean.
Samsung has admitted to TechRadar there is a new issue, which we were tipped off about. Our tipster highlighted that since the Android 4.3 update on his Galaxy S4, Outlook no longer syncs with the Samsung Kies desktop software or the handset.
It appears that this problem isn't restricted to just S4 handsets, with many Samsung owners reporting similar issues over on the Android Central and XDA forums.
What does this mean for users? Well anyone who relies on Outlook for contacts, calendars and email will be unable to sync these details with their Samsung handset - if it's running Android 4.3 that is.
Fix coming in "near future"
We contacted Samsung to try and find out more, and a spokesperson for the firm told us: "In the near future, an improved Kies tool which will also support 'Outlook sync' will be released.
"This new version of Kies 3.0 will be available in due course from www.samsung.com."
Unfortunately Samsung was unable to tell us an exact date for the new Kies tools, but it's yet another embarrassing turn of events for the Korean firm, so surely it won't be too far off.
Are you having issues with your Samsung post-Android 4.3 update? Let us know in the comments below, on Facebook or via Twitter.
