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In an ironic twist, it appears that the Emergency call screen – a feature designed to help and be safe for people in need – may in fact be one of the least secure features of the iPhone. There have been issues in the past where, either through Siri or another aspect of the Emergency call screen, it was possible to access select information from a device…
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Adding to the stream of reports about how people do more and more on their mobile devices, mobile ad network Greystripe just released the results of a survey about the movie research process.
The network says it recruited participants through, yes, a mobile ad in its network, ultimately surveying 248 smartphone users (including iPhone, iPod Touch, and Android) and 298 iPad users in November of 2011. It found that those smartphone and iPad owners are indeed movie goers, with 39 percent of smartphone respondents and 41 percent of iPad respondents watching movies more than four times a year. And they’re using their gadgets to decide what and when to watch, with 52 percent of smartphone users and 27 percent of iPad users who see movies in theaters saying that they searched for listings or times on their devices.
In both categories, apps were used more often than the mobile web for research. The breakdown was 30 percent apps vs. 23 percent web on smartphones, and it was 17 percent vs. 10 percent on iPads.
Of course, the real message of this survey is the fact that Greystripe (which was acquired by ValueClick last year) wants movie studios to spend their ad dollars in its network, so there were some ad-specific questions, too. It found that more than 60 percent of respondents in both categories hear about movies from ads, and that 52 percent of smartphone users and 44 percent of iPad users make decisions on what to see based on those ads — so they’re not quite as influential as friends’ recommendations, but they’re more important than reviews or the movie’s cast.
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Adding to the stream of reports about how people do more and more on their mobile devices, mobile ad network Greystripe just released the results of a survey about the movie research process.
The network says it recruited participants through, yes, a mobile ad in its network, ultimately surveying 248 smartphone users (including iPhone, iPod Touch, and Android) and 298 iPad users in November of 2011. It found that those smartphone and iPad owners are indeed movie goers, with 39 percent of smartphone respondents and 41 percent of iPad respondents watching movies more than four times a year. And they’re using their gadgets to decide what and when to watch, with 52 percent of smartphone users and 27 percent of iPad users who see movies in theaters saying that they searched for listings or times on their devices.
In both categories, apps were used more often than the mobile web for research. The breakdown was 30 percent apps vs. 23 percent web on smartphones, and it was 17 percent vs. 10 percent on iPads.
Of course, the real message of this survey is the fact that Greystripe (which was acquired by ValueClick last year) wants movie studios to spend their ad dollars in its network, so there were some ad-specific questions, too. It found that more than 60 percent of respondents in both categories hear about movies from ads, and that 52 percent of smartphone users and 44 percent of iPad users make decisions on what to see based on those ads — so they’re not quite as influential as friends’ recommendations, but they’re more important than reviews or the movie’s cast.
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Samsung’s next flagship smartphone needs to be huge, iPhone 4 huge. It needs to be as competitive as the Galaxy S II as its set to go head-to-head with the iPhone 5. But success won’t be found as easily this time. Samsung had nearly a full year to design and release Galaxy S II after the iPhone 4′s release. The company doesn’t have that luxury this time around.
South Korean news outlet Electronic Times News just published a report that pegs the S3 as a superphone on a diet. The report states that printed circuit boards, chips and connectors allowed for an overall thickness (or thinness) of just 7mm. That’s 1.9mm thinner than the current Galaxy SII — not that several millimeters really mater. But even though the phone is thinner overall, Samsung is reportedly packing their next flagship to the gills.
Inside the svelte body is a quad-core CPU of unknown pedigree or clock speed running Android 4.0. The new model will use the same 8MP camera as the S II, which will result in a slight extrusion on the phone’s backplate. Inside is the usually assortment of an LTE radio, WiFi, GPS, and, although not specifically mentioned in this report, NFC is highly likely. No word on screen size.
But early adaptors might want to hold off. Samsung is reportedly set to launch a large line of Galaxy S3 phones in 2012.
etnews states that Samsung is preparing several S3 flavors. One model will have a better camera and one will use a stylus (like the Note!). There will even be 3D variation. The exact release schedule is not mentioned but expect a steady stream of S3 phones this year and early next.
The Samsung Galaxy S II was a massive success but it could have been better. The company announced the phone at MWC in late February 2011 but it didn’t hit markets until May/June. The company is seeking to eliminate that lag by not launching the S3 at MWC this year. The phone will instead get its own event closer to launch, and if etnews is to be believed, the phone will be released this coming May.
The scene is set. The lines are drawn. The summer of 2012 is set to play host to a massive battle: the iPhone 5 vs the Samsung Galaxy S III. But don’t get caught up in the nonsense war. Stand on the sideline and watch as two, likely awesome, smartphones trade shots. In the end it doesn’t really matter. The consumer wins no matter what.
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The amount of stuff we trust to fly in and out of our smartphones is astounding. Just look at what happened when a couple of reporters got access to an unwitting (and rather unlucky) Apple employee’s iMessages alone — within days, they learned more about him than most people know about their closest friends.
Now, imagine all the stuff that could fly in and out of a government official’s phone, or that of a highly-ranked member of the military. Forget saucy texts and booty pictures — we’re talking about state secrets, here.
Looking to keep their secrets underwraps while on the go, the U.S government is working on a build of Android custom-tailored to meet their security requirements.
Word of the project comes from CNN, who notes that U.S. officials/soldiers aren’t currently allowed to send any classified data over their smartphones. If they need to transmit anything that might sink ships (so to speak), they currently need to find a secured (generally meaning hardwired) line hooked to an approved device.
Here’s the gist of the project:
Most of the project’s details are still underwraps, but this is all still rather interesting. What hardware might they use? If DARPA makes any substantial security improvements to Android’s kernel, might that work make it back to the official branch? Might this work eventually be monetized (remember, Siri was born as a DARPA project) and offered to enterprises looking for a locked-down version of Android — and what does that mean for RIM/BlackBerry?
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