Earlier this year I found a security flaw in Samsung's handsets. Of course, I responsibly reported the flaw to them. It would have been nice if Samsung offered a Bug Bounty like so many other companies - but I was satisfied having helped save the world in my own small way. However, last week I received an unexpected email from Samsung: This year you helped us secure Samsung mobile devices for our customers and would like to thank you for your contribution. As a small token of appreciation,…
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Like many people, I used to be a slave to my work inbox. It's hard to maintain a decent work/life balance when you're receiving business emails during evenings and weekends. Sometimes it's due to a workaholic colleague, or someone in a different timezone, or just those damned automated reminders from the finance system. I don't want to carry a separate device, and I know I can't rely on will-power alone. So, I've been using Samsung's "Peak Schedule" feature for its Android phones. I know I…
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Well, this is annoying! "You can enter up to 100 characters" Why? Why this silly limitation. This isn't 1974 - we're not exactly limited in memory. This limitation only appears on Samsung's Android phones - not on the Google calculator app. It would be interesting to see if it's a limitation in any other Android phones. …
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I have discovered another security flaw in Samsung Android phones. It is possible to completely disable the lock screen and get access to any app - even when the phone is "securely" locked with a pattern, PIN, password, or face detection. Unlike another recently released flaw, this doesn't rely quite so heavily on ultra-precise timing. Video. Of course, if you are unable to download a screen unlocker, this security vulnerability still allows you to dial any phone number and run any app! …
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Here's a rather nifty security flaw I discovered on Samsung's Android 4.1.2. It allows you - in limited circumstances - to run apps and dial numbers even when the device is locked. Video: This attack works against Pattern Lock, PIN, Password, and Face Unlock. There is no way to secure your phone against your home screen being accessed. Notes HOWTO Lock the device with a "secure" pattern, PIN, or password. Activate the screen. Press "Emergency Call". Press the "ICE"…
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Last week I blogged about a pretty severe flaw in some of Samsung's phones. If you use copy & paste too many times - the phone reboots or resets. So, I ranted and raved on my blog and in the press. Samsung wouldn't respond to me - either through customer support or through their PR team. Nice way to treat a paying customer, guys! There is an OTA update for the Galaxy Note II - taking it to 4.1.2. Sadly this isn't yet being pushed out via all UK carriers (including O2, who I work for). As…
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Samsung phones crash if you use copy & paste more than 20 times. http://t.co/2OnBwo86Shockingly bad engineering.— Terence Eden is on Mastodon (@edent) February 20, 2013 Sounds crazy, doesn't it? If you copy and paste text more than 20 times, your phone will restart! Some people have reported more severe crashes than that - but for me it is only (!) a soft restart. This affects the Galaxy Note II, as well as the SIII and Note tablet. Other Samsung products may also be broken in this m…
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After posting about using the Galaxy Note II for a full day of work, someone asked me why I didn't just plug in a proper keyboard and mouse to it. To be honest, I'd never even considered that as a possibility! In order to plug in USB peripherals to an Android device, you'll need a USB-OTG adapter (OTG stands for On The Go). One end plugs into your Android's charging port, the other end is just a regular USB port. The total cost for a USB A 2.0 female to Micro USB B male Cable Adapter on…
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Like a prize idiot, I went to work yesterday, but left my laptop at home. Prat! So, time to put the Samsung Galaxy Note II through its paces. I've had the phone for a couple of months and been really pleased with it. But I sensed that I hadn't really used it in anger. I decided to spend the whole day trying to do my work only using the GN2. And, to make the challenge more exciting - no recharges! Let's kick things off! To help with my blogging, I used the official WordPress for Android…
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Compare and contrast... [The] Xerox 914 copy machine [...] was used in soviet embassies all over the world. The machine was so complex that the CIA used a tiny camera designed by Zoppoth to capture documents copied on the machine by the soviets and retrieved them using a "Xerox repairman" right under the eyes of soviet security. Xerox Helped Win The Cold War And Samsung printers (as well as some Dell printers manufactured by Samsung) contain a hardcoded SNMP full read-write community…
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Last week, I posted this tongue-in-cheek suggestion. Terence Eden is on Mastodon@edentPrediction*: iPhone5 & Samsung Galaxy S 3 to have IDENTICAL hardware. Battle of the OS / ecosystems!*Well, wishful thinking!❤️ 0💬 0🔁 008:22 - Thu 26 April 2012 Wouldn't it be great if there was a proper show-down between the two major players? You could really compare which OS was best given the same hardware. Is iOS's camera software better than Android's when given the same lens and CCD? Which runs faster…
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You may have heard of "Range Anxiety". It's the worry that your car will run out of petrol before you have a chance to find a filling station. I have "power anxiety" - the crushing realisation that my smartphone's battery will be dead by lunchtime if I use it for more than five minutes. Over to Ben Smith: ... a frequent complaint is that we don’t want thinner phones. We’d rather manufacturers used space savings to provide larger batteries. You know… ones that last more than a day like they u…
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