At Galaxy Unpacked 2023, Samsung unveiled its latest Galaxy S series flagship smartphones — Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+ and Galaxy S23 Ultra. The Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ feature an updated rear camera design with individually placed camera lenses. Additionally, the headsets are powered by the most powerful chipset available for the Android ecosystem — Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. Other features include a 50MP triple rear camera setup with improved Nightography. Samsung Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+: Specifications In terms of specifications, the two Galaxy S23 smartphones aren’t that different. The entire Galaxy S23 lineup, including the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+, is powered by Qualcomm’s latest and most powered Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset clocked at up to 3.36GHz. The handsets come with 8GB RAM and up to 512GB UFS 3.1 storage. The Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ feature a 6.1-inch and 6.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X FHD+ display, respectively. The display supports a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. In addition, the display on both handsets is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. In addition to that the displays also support Vision Booster and Enhanced Comfort features, which claim to optimise the displays for a better viewing experience. In terms of camera, the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+ retain the same camera setup as their previous generation counterparts. The handsets feature a 50MP primary shooter, a 12MP ultra-wide sensor and a 10MP telephoto sensor with 3X optical zoom and 30x hybrid zoom. Samsung claims that they’ve improved low-light photography and video capabilities by adding features like noise-reduction technology, Astro Hyperlapse and more. Samsung has upgraded the front camera setup on both devices with a new 12MP sensor compared to the 10MP sensor from the previous generation. The handset runs OneUI 5.1 based on the Android 13 operating system out-of-the-box. Samsung has increased the battery capacity on both handsets by 200mAh. The Galaxy S23 is now backed by a 3900mAh, while the Galaxy S23+ comes with a 4700mAh battery. The Galaxy S23 supports 25W fast charging, while the Galaxy S23+ comes with 45W fast charging support. Also, both devices support wireless charging and wireless PowerShare. (Disclaimer: The author is covering the Galaxy Unpacked event at San Francisco, USA on the invite of Samsung India.)
Twitter CEO Elon Musk has been experimenting with the platform ever since taking over. From introducing differently coloured verification ticks to tinkering with the algorithm, he has actively engaged with bringing new changes to the social media giant. Musk’s latest experiment involves checking the impact of account privacy settings on tweet visibility. In a recent tweet, he shared that he was making his Twitter account private for a day to test this. He wrote, “Made my account private until tomorrow morning to test whether you see my private tweets more than my public ones.”
The backstory of Musk’s latest move Musk’s decision to change his profile privacy setting to private stems from one of his recent interactions. Earlier, Twitter user “Libs of TikTok” – an account having over 10 million followers – tagged the billionaire and enquired about an odd observation. The user claimed that its tweets were not getting enough visibility until the account privacy was switched to private. Following this tweet, the comment section was filled with users resonating similar concerns. A user reported not being able to post something on Twitter despite trying twice. Another one hinted that the platform may have reduced his tweet visibility by shadowbanning his account.
Among all these concerns popping up, Elon Musk chipped in and replied, “Something is wrong.” Not long after, he went ahead and made his account private as highlighted by the ‘lock’ next to his Twitter name. The tweet where he revealed this move has 18 million views at the time of writing. Interestingly, this amount is close to the combined views (21.3 million) received by the three tweets before it. Musk’s followers replied to this tweet apparently acknowledging they saw it without any delay. A few people also noted they have been observing seeing less of his tweets. Some others didn’t find any particular increase in tweets from Musk in their feed. Also watch
Twitter blue tick subscription: All you need to know
Alongside the Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S23+, Samsung also announced the top-of-the-line Galaxy S23 Ultra, the Galaxy S22 Ultra successor and its first 200MP camera smartphone, at the Galaxy Unpacked 2023 event. Apart from the new 200MP camera and improved camera capabilities, the Galaxy S23 Ultra retains the same industrial design language with a curved display and individually placed camera setup at the back. Apart from that, the handset also comes with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, 5000mAh battery and more. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: Comes with a new 200MP quad camera setup The biggest highlight of the Galaxy S23 Ultra is its new 200MP ISOCELL HP2 sensor, announced last month. It packs 200 million 0.6-micrometre pixels in a 1/1.3-inch optical format that’s basically the same sensor size used in the company’s own 108MP sensor, which helps reduce the camera bump on smartphones. The new 200MP ISOCELL HP2 sensor comes with advanced pixel-binning technology — Tetra pixel, allowing it to produce details and sharp images in different lighting conditions. The company claims that the sensor transforms into a 50MP 1.2-micrometre or a 12.5MP 2.4-micrometre image sensor by binding four to 16 surrounding pixels together into one large pixel to improve lightning. This also allows the sensor to transform into a 50MP sensor to minimise cropping while shooting videos, according to the company.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra also comes with an improved Night Portrait mode with an improved bokeh effect in low light conditions. Another major camera improvement in Galaxy S23 Ultra comes in the form of improved video stabilisation with Adaptive VDIS. It comes with a 2x wider OIS angle, that according to the company, allows the handset to offer better and improved video stabilisation even in low light conditions. In addition, the Galaxy S23 Ulta also comes with a new Noise Reduction technology to offer improved sharpness and reduced noise levels in the videos. The company has also added a new Astro Hyperlapse that let users shoot Astro hyper-lapse videos without the need for additional equipment. Samsung has also added support for 360-degree audio recording for videos with Galaxy Buds2 Pro. Samsung has also updated the ExpertRaw app with support for 50MP sensor, Astrophotography and Multi exposure mode. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra: Specifications Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra features a 6.8-inch Edge QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate and 360Hz touch sampling rate. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. It now features a newly shaped curvature that offers more flat screen estate compared to the Galaxy S22 Ultra. In addition to that the display also supports Vision Booster and Enhanced Comfort modes for an improved viewing experience. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform clocked at 3.36GHz. The handset is paired with up to 12GB LDDDR5 RAM and 1TB UFS 3.1 onboard storage. The handset is backed by a 5000mAh battery and supports 45W fast charging along with 15W wireless charging and Wireless PoweShare. The handset runs One UI 5.1 based on the Android 13 operating system.
Galaxy S23
Galaxy S23+
Display
6.1-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X Display Super Smooth 120Hz refresh rate (48~120Hz) 240Hz Touch Sampling Rate in Game Mode Vision booster Enhanced comfort
6.6-inch FHD+* Dynamic AMOLED 2X Display Super Smooth 120Hz refresh rate (48~120Hz) 240Hz Touch Sampling Rate in Game Mode Vision booster Enhanced comfort
Dimensions & Weight
70.9 x 146.3 x 7.6mm, 168g
76.2 x 157.8 x 7.6mm, 196g
Camera
12MP Ultra-Wide Camera · F2.2, FOV 120˚ 50 MP Wide Camera · F1.8, FOV 85˚ 10MP Telephoto Camera · 3x Optical Zoom, F2.4, FOV 36˚ 12MP Front Camera · F2.2, FOV 80˚
AP
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy
Memory
8 + 512GB 8 + 256GB 8 + 128GB
Battery
3900mAh
4700mAh
Charging
Wired Charging: Up to 50% charge in around 30 mins with 25W Adapter and 3A USB-C cable Fast Wireless Charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare
Wired Charging: Up to 50% charge in around 30 mins with 25W Adapter and 3A USB-C cable Fast Wireless Charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare
OS
Android 13 One UI 5.1
Android 13 One UI 5.1
Network and Connectivity
Wired Charging: Up to 50% charge in around 30 mins with 25W Adapter and 3A USB-C cable Fast Wireless Charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare
Wired Charging: Up to 50% charge in around 30 mins with 25W Adapter and 3A USB-C cable Fast Wireless Charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare
5G, LTE, Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi Direct Bluetooth v 5.3
5G, LTE, Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi Direct Bluetooth v 5.3
Security
Samsung Knox, Samsung Knox Vault
Water Resistance
IP68
(Disclaimer: The author is covering the Galaxy Unpacked event at San Francisco, USA on the invite of Samsung India.)
Samsung has unveiled its latest range of notebook PCs at the Galaxy Unpacked 2023 event. The Galaxy Book 3 series includes a total of four devices — the Galaxy Book3 Pro 14, Galaxy Book3 Pro 16, Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 and the top-of-the-line Galaxy Book3 Ultra. Galaxy Book3 Pro is a thin and light laptop with a portable form factor, the Galaxy Book3 Pro, on the other hand, features a 360-degree hinge design in a compact form factor and the Galaxy Book3 Ultra is the most powerful laptop in the company’s lineup. The entire Galaxy Book3 lineup is powered by Intel’s latest 13th-generation Intel Core processors. The Galaxy Book3 Ultra also comes with dedicated Nvidia GeForce RTX 40 series graphics. Another major highlight of the new Galaxy Book3 series laptops is the integrated multi-device experience. Samsung Galaxy Book3 series: Multi-device experience Samsung has integrated its Galaxy ecosystem into the Galaxy Book3 laptops. It comes built-in with Samsung’s own apps and services like Samsung Gallery, Samsung Smart Switch and more. In addition, it also includes Multi Control and Second Screen features that allow users to control other Galaxy devices right from the laptops and also use features like copy, and paste from one device to another. The Second Screen feature lets users use their Galaxy Tab as the secondary screen. In addition, the laptops also support Expert RAW Auto Share feature. This let users automatically share photos captured using the Expert RAW app directly with their Galaxy Book3 laptops via Adobe Lightroom. Samsung is also offering two months of free Lightroom subscription with the purchase of the Galaxy Book3 laptops. Samsung Galaxy Book3 series: Features As mentioned, Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra is the most powerful laptop in the lineup. It is available in two processors — 13th-generation Intel Core i7 (45W) and Intel Core i9 (45W) and also two dedicated graphics card options — RTX 4070 and RTX 4090. Samsung claims that the laptop offers up to 50% faster multi-thread performance and up to 15% faster single-thread performance compared to the Galaxy Book2 Pro series laptops. Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 and Galaxy Book3 Pro are powered by up to 13th-generation Intel Core i7 processors with integrated Intel Xe graphics. In terms of display, the Galaxy Book3 features a new Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with 3K (2880 x 1800 pixels) resolution with 500nits of peak brightness, 1M:1 contrast ratio and 120Hz refresh rate. The display is also VESA Clear Motion Ration 5000 and VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certified. The Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 comes with a touchscreen display and supports S Pen. The laptop comes with USB Type-C charging port that allows users to charge all Galaxy devices with just one charge. In terms of ports, the Galaxy Book3 Ultra and Galaxy Book3 Pro series come with two USB Type-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 support, 1-USB Type-A port, an HDMI port and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
The laptops are equipped with 1080p FHD webcam with Studio quality dual microphones and Active Noise Cancellation. The laptops come with quad-speaker setup which includes AKG-backed two 5W woofers and two 2W tweeters with Dolby ATMOS support. Talking about the design, the Galaxy Book3 Pro 14 is just 11.3mm thick and weighs 1.17kg. The Galaxy Book3 Pro 16, on the other hand, has a max thickness of 12.5mm and weighs 1.56 kg. The Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 is 12.8mm thick and weighs 1.66 kg for the non-5G variant, while the 5G variant weighs 1.71 kg. Galaxy Book3 Ultra measures 16.5mm in thickness and weighs just 1.79 kg. Following its sustainability program, certain parts of the Galaxy Book3 devices are made using recycled materials. Samsung Galaxy Book3: Availability The Galaxy Book3 Ultra will be available in 16-inch in
Graphite
, the Galaxy Book3 Pro will be available in 14-inch and 16-inch
Graphite and Beige
colour options and the Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 will be available in 16-inch with 5G connectivity options and
Graphite and Beige
colour options. Galaxy Book3 Pro, and Pro 360 will be available in select markets starting on February 17 followed by Galaxy Book3 Ultra starting on February 22. (Disclaimer: The author is covering the Galaxy Unpacked event at San Francisco, USA on the invite of Samsung India.)
Twitter is set to introduce a feature whereby it’ll show a badge to indicate that an account has been ID-verified, at least going by a new leak.
Jane Manchun Wong, a software dev and reliable source of spillage on the social media platform in the past, just shared this info in a tweet which we should naturally regard with the usual skeptical stance that all rumors deserve.
Twitter is working on showing you whether an account is ID verified pic.twitter.com/t8Qo5uT0B9February 1, 2023
Wong further explains (opens in new tab) the process of getting ID verified: “There’ll be a flow for uploading your legal ID and your selfie for the purpose of confirming your identity.”
Analysis: Making Twitter a less toxic place, perhaps?
ID verification would obviously mean a level of surety that any account which is verified is who they claim to be, and could have ramifications for lessening the overall toxicity of Twitter (which is definitely a problem). Attacking or trolling other denizens of the platform is generally carried out under the cover of anonymity, after all, and with an ID-verified account, that would no longer be possible – with Twitter potentially deprioritizing non-verified posters eventually, perhaps.
In the same kind of vein, this could also be used as a weapon against misinformation, another serious issue that Twitter struggles with. At least in theory anyway, although just having your identity verified is no guarantee that an account holder won’t be a pedlar of ‘fake news’ and the like – as we’ve seen, there are plenty of folks across all social media platforms who are happy to stand fully behind, shall we say, dubious assertions (at best).
If you’re worried about privacy or other issues from trusting Twitter with your ID info, you’re not alone. As one reply to Wong read: “Are the ID images stored in Twitter servers? Cause chucklehead seems to just walk by and shut them off on a whim.”
Wong assures (opens in new tab) us that: “A third party will handle that.”
All of this is rather talking like this is a done deal, mind, which it most certainly isn’t. Watch this space…
Cybersecurity researchers have spotted new versions of a known Point of Sale (PoS) malware (opens in new tab) that blocks advanced features to be able to steal credit card data.
The team from Kaspersky observed the Prilex PoS malware versions 06.03.8070, 06.03.8072, and 06.03.8080, in the wild. These versions were released in November 2022, and prevent the terminal from accepting contactless credit card transactions.
Contactless transactions, made possible due to near-field communication (NFC) chips found in both PoS terminals on one end, and credit/debit cards, smartphones and smart watches on the other, exploded in popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic. The technology allows consumers to purchase goods and services without actually inserting their credit cards, making it almost impossible for hackers to steal the data via PoS malware.
Swiping away the data
However to work around this issue, the threat actors deployed a new version of Prilex, which blocks PoS terminals from accepting contactless payments.
If a user tries to initiate such a transaction on a compromised endpoint, it will only get an error message, forcing them to swipe their cards and, ultimately, share sensitive data with the attackers.
After stealing the data, the researchers say, the attackers can run cryptogram manipulation and “GHOST transaction” attacks.
Prilex operators have been busy, the researchers say. They’ve been adding new features for months now, and before these, they added EMV cryptogram generation which allows them to evade getting detected and initiate “GHOST transaction” attacks even on cards protected with CHIP and PIN. They also added a way to filter cards and grab data only from specific providers.
“These [filtering] rules can block NFC and capture card data only if the card is a Black/Infinite, Corporate or another tier with a high transaction limit, which is much more attractive than standard credit cards with a low balance/limit,” Kaspersky said.
Microsoft has revealed it is tracking more than 100 threat actors deploying ransomware (opens in new tab) against businesses around the world.
In a recent Twitter thread (opens in new tab), the company discussed the current state of ransomware, saying the Ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) ecosystem continues evolving and expanding.
The threat actors (of which the company tracks more than 100) are bringing “varying techniques, goals, and skillsets” to the fray. Right now, more than 50 unique ransomware families are active and in use, the company said.
Focusing on the build-up
While phishing remains the number one way for hackers to deliver ransomware payloads to victims, they’re “increasingly” relying on other techniques, as well, Microsoft added.
Among others, they’re using malicious ads to deliver victims to websites hosting ransomware and other malware. Some are looking to exploit recently patched vulnerabilities, in hopes that their targets did not get the chance to apply the patch on time. Others are trying to distribute malware that poses as software updates.
Among the most popular ransomware variants these days are Lockbit Black, BlackCat (aka ALPHV), Play, Vice Society, Black Basta, & Royal.
To defend against ransomware, Microsoft says, businesses should not focus on these payloads. Instead, they should focus on the “chain of activities” that lead to the final compromise. In other words, businesses need to make sure their endpoints are always updated with the latest patches, and that their employees are well-trained and always on the lookout for a potential phishing attack.
In phishing attacks, emails usually carry a sense of urgency, demanding the user to immediately download and run a file, or visit a website. Most popular phishing themes include a DHL parcel pending delivery, an unpaid invoice, or similar.
However, that doesn’t mean businesses should not deploy malware protection and other cybersecurity solutions. A solid backup solution is a must, in the combat against ransomware, as well as a firewall and an antivirus solution.
The Russian censorship machine has struck again, this time banning a new secure email service.
The block order against Skiff comes only seven months after the encrypted collaboration platform was launched. Now, its Russian users need to use a VPN service to carry on using their account.
The news was first reported by Russia-based digital rights NGO Roskomsvoboda in a blog post (opens in new tab). It found evidence of the ban dated on January 19 carried out by an “Unspecified state body.” Skiff would later confirm the ban, as more and more users lamented the struggle to access their accounts.
No official reasons were given, but Roskomsvoboda assumes that this might be amid reports of false mining. At the time of writing, the Skiff domain is yet to be included to the list of blocked sites (opens in new tab) compiled by Russia’s media-monitoring agency Roskomnadzor.
Skiff isn’t the first security service the Kremlin has banned. In a continuous effort to curb encrypted communications, authorities previously blocked Proton Mail, Tutanota and Mailbox.
Accounts unavailable
“It’s clear to us that building privacy-first, simple, and intuitive products has struck a deep chord. We’ve found an incredibly broad audience of individuals who want to live in a more private, freer world and switch to products that protect these freedoms,” Skiff’s CEO Andrew Milich told TechRadar.
Together with its CTO Jason Ginsberg, Milich founded the encrypted collaboration platform in 2020 to give users more control over the information they share online. Both Skiff Mail and Drive were then publicly launched in 2022.
Skiffs operates under a zero-trust privacy approach, meaning that the provider doesn’t store nor collect any sensitive user information, like location. However, based on traffic data coming through its website, at least 50 thousand users appear to be based in Russia.
“Although our team did not anticipate that this block would occur after only a few months, we have been surprised by the incredible enthusiasm from hundreds of thousands of people around the world and only more motivated to make them more accessible,” said Milich.
The provider began to receive reports around a possible block on January 25 at around 10am PT. Later, they saw the Roskomsvoboda post confirming that skiff.com (opens in new tab) was no longer accessible from Russia.
In the following hours, more and more users reached out both via its in-app support requests and online communities as they couldn’t use the service. The traffic on the Skiff website from Russia drastically dropped.
“We anticipate that the banning authority did not want Russian internet users to have the rights and freedoms of communication and expression associated with this level of privacy, although no reasons were given,” said Milich.
Now, Skiff users in Russia may be unable to access the provider’s website and mobile apps, as well as using its products. It may also be the case that other Russian email servers are unable to send or receive mail from Skiff. Even though people have managed to login to their account, the service could function unreliably or not at all in Russia.
Skiff is now working with its advising team to figure out a way to restore its operations within the country. “Unfortunately, this does not appear to be simple,” said Milich.
Today, we learned that Skiff has been banned in Russia.There is an urgent need for more privacy-respecting communication tools.In 7 months since we launched Skiff Mail, we’re lucky to count over half a million users 💌January 25, 2023
See more
The provider now urges users to get in touch with their technical team if they have trouble using the service. In the meantime, when its apps appear to be blocked, it recommends downloading a reliable VPN service.
Such security software spoofs people’s IP address locations so that they can appear as if they are browsing from a totally different place in the world within seconds.
Some VPNs have reportedly been unable to bypass such a block, though, Milich told us. For this reason, we suggest heading to our Russia VPN explainer to help you pick the right software.
As of today, Russia is the only country effectively banning the platform. But, as Milich said: “Given that social media, collaboration, and communication products are frequently blocked by various countries, it seems possible that this may happen again.
“However, it only makes us more determined to press forward with uncompromisingly secure and intuitive products that protect privacy.”
Despite having well-defended digital premises and endpoints (opens in new tab), many firms are at risk of cyberattacks because they work with different vendors and third parties that aren’t as secure.
This is according to a new report from cybersecurity ratings firm SecurityScorecard, which analyzed more than 235,000 organizations worldwide, as well as 73,000 vendors and products they use, to find that virtually all firms (98%) have vendor relationships with at least one third party that suffered a data breach in the last two years.
What’s more, half of the organizations have indirect relationships (as in used by the third-party vendors) with at least 200 companies that suffered a cyberattack in the last two years.
F for security
For every third-party vendor in a supply chain, businesses usually have indirect relationships with 60 to 90 times that number of fourth-party relationships, the researchers have found. With third parties being up to five times more likely to exhibit poor security, the risk quickly compounds.
Roughly a tenth (10%) of all third parties analyzed for the report were rated F for security.
Looking at different industries, the information services sector has an average of 25 vendors, while the finance sector has 6.5 on average. Healthcare averaged 15.5 vendors, while insurance has 11. Each one poses a significant risk to the original organization.
Cybercriminals seem to be well aware of these facts, as supply chain attacks became one of the most devastating forms of cybercrime lately. The SolarWinds attack, in which just one company had its software compromised, and which resulted in tens of thousands of organizations worldwide being affected, is probably the best example.
“An organization’s attack surface spans beyond just the technology that they own or control, ” said Aleksandr Yampolskiy, co-founder and CEO of SecurityScorecard.
“Organizations need visibility into the security ratings of their entire third and fourth party ecosystem so that they can know in an instant whether an organization deserves their trust and can take proactive steps to mitigate risk.”
Lenovo has unveiled details of its latest all-in-one video conferencing system that it says will fit in a wide range of setups, including hot desking, phone booths, executive desks, and the home office.
The company took to the stage in Barcelona at ISE 2023 to take the lid off its latest project which it calls the ThinkSmart View Plus running Microsoft Teams display.
On initial inspection, it looks to be packed with features that promise to deliver top-quality video calling performance and an attractive modular upgrade setup, all for a comparably reasonable sum of money.
Lenovo ThinkSmart View Plus
Most interactions are likely to occur on its 27-inch multi-touch display which comes in at 1920x1080p (note the distinct lack of 4K), though it does have USB-A and -C, HDMI, DisplayPort, and Ethernet ports for connecting up to other devices. IT departments with limited desk real estate will also be pleased to know that it’s VESA-mountable.
While there’s a 3.5mm audio connector, a pair of 5W stereo speakers adorn the bottom of the display. These (which sit in one neat unit) and the 4K webcam are both detachable and upgradeable. This modular approach is designed to see businesses needing to spend less on hardware upgrades.
Inside the unit are four mics, a Qualcomm QCS8250 SoC processor with Wi-Fi 6 capabilities, and an Android-based operating system.
Lenovo expects the ThinkSmart View Plus to be available in “select markets” by the middle of 2023, and it’s set to cost $2,345. TechRadar Pro has asked Lenovo whether it plans to expand its ThinkSmart View range with upgraded display sizes and resolutions, and further accessories and upgrades.
Besides this, its previously announced ThinkSmart One and controller is available this month from $2,899, and the ThinkSmart One with the IP Controller from $3,100 in Q1 2023.