Saturday, May 5, 2012
Android Alert: Fake Instagram App Hits Android Users
Instagram recently released its first version of the application for Android smartphones, and within the first week, it gained five million downloads.
The step to becoming a part of Android’s network coincided with the news that Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion.
A day after Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, made this announcement, Instagram jumped to the top spot on Apple’s App Store.
These feats created the perfect storm of publicity, as the company grew its user base 10 million more people in 10 days.
Now, cybercriminals are cashing in by creating fake versions of the app on Google Android’s marketplace, designed to earn money from users.
A user who downloads an app from a site other than the official Android marketplace like Google Play is running the risk of infecting their smartphone with malware.
A report by security firm Sophos found that the fake app did not do a very good job of emulating the genuine Instagram app because it failed to find the correct network operator.
The report said that the malware seems to be relying on background SMS messages to earn its creators revenue.
Security firm Sophos identified several fake Instagram apps across the Internet, according to analyst Graham Cluley.
Instagram is not the only popular app being exploited on Google’s Android smartphones. Sophos recently reported that apps claiming to be Angry Birds Space may not be the safest download for a phone either.
“It’s quite likely that whoever is behind this latest malware campaign is also using the names and images of other popular smartphone apps as bait,” Cluley wrote in a blog post.
The fake Russian Instagram app also includes a photo of an unidentified man in the .APK file, possibly the app’s creator, friend, enemy or a Russian celebrity.
“Maybe the reason why his picture is included multiple times is to change the fingerprint of the .APK in the hope that rudimentary anti-virus scanners might be fooled into not recognizing the malicious package,” Cluley speculated.
Apple users do not need to worry about downloading malware because the company only allows its users to download applications through its App Store.
Google’s game plan is to open up its Android Market place so that it allows more applications to come in for its devices. However, the company added a new layer of security to Google Play in February to address some of the malware issues it has had in the past year.
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2012 Tech War: The Quad-core faceoff for Samsung Galaxy S3 and HTC One X (Auckland, New Zealand)
The S III packs a 1.4GHz quad-core chip, as the company indicated last week. Samsung obviously believes that kind of horsepower is necessary to drive a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display with 1,280 x 720 resolution, among other things.
The One X, with a 4.7-inch screen and an identical 1,280 x 720 resolution, also sports a quad-core chip in its European variant--but opts for dual-core in the US More on that in a moment.
Samsung has gone into some detail to explain why it has gone quad-core for the first time in the Galaxy S series.
Samsung Galaxy S III (European variant) with Exynos 4 Quad highlights:
Full-speed video: Uses HD 30 frame per second video hardware codec engine for 1080p video recording and play-back. Also includes an embedded image signal processor interface for a high-quality camera and an HDMI 1.4 interface.
Speed jump: Owing to its 32-nanometer tech, the Exynos 4 Quad has "two times the processing capability over the 45-[nanometer] process based Exynos dual-core while consuming 20-percent less power," Samsung said.
Ready to plug into new phones: Exynos 4 Quad is "pin-to-pin compatible" with the Exynos 4 Dual, allowing smartphone and tablet suppliers to adopt the new solution without additional engineering or design efforts.
Based on ARM Cortex A9 design: Based on the current Cortex A9 tech from ARM. The latest and greatest ARM tech is called Cortex A15 but those chips won't emerge as commercial products for a while yet.
Because the Galaxy S III is so new, more in-depth reviews about performance are on the way. (See Galaxy S III performance preview here.) But the HTC One X is a known quantity. Let's look at performance and the processor internals of the European/International variant.
HTC One X (European variant) with quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3:
Needless to say, fast: "Blazingly fast -- you won't feel any Android "lag" when using this phone," said CNET Reviews. "HTC also claims a fast camera startup of 0.7 second and 0.2 second autofocus," CNET said.
"Five" cores: Nvidia calls it "Super 4-PLUS-1" Quad Core. The fifth processor core is much more power efficient than the others and is used--when performance is not required--to boost battery life. "The single battery-saver core... handles low-power tasks like active standby, music," says Nvidia.
DirectTouch tech: Nvidia DirectTouch is a patent-pending technology that improves touch responsiveness and reduces power consumption by offloading a portion of the touch processing onto the Tegra 3 chip.
Based on ARM Cortex A9 design: Like the Samsung quad-core, the Nvidia also uses a Cortex A9 design. But Nvidia is undoubtedly working on a next-gen Cortex A15 chip; Nvidia is very quick at getting next-gen chips out the door. The Tegra 3 is manufactured with a 40 nanometer fabrication process, a slightly older technology than the 32 nanometer process used to make the Exynos 4.
Battery life: "Top-shelf components and a massive 4.7-inch screen take a toll on this pricey superphone's battery life," said CNET Reviews.
In the US market, HTC chose to go with a dual-core Qualcomm S4 processor paired with LTE in the One X. It's not clear yet what Samsung will opt to do in the US, although the specs of the HTC One X may be instructive.
LTE and dual-core seem to be a good fit because the Qualcomm S4 squeezes LTE and the processor onto one piece of silicon. (That's just not possible with quad-core and LTE at the moment.) That's quite a feat and something that Qualcomm has done first. That level of integration not only allows for more compact designs but it doesn't compromise on performance, as many reviews attest to.
"I know many HTC fans are disappointed that the US version of the One X has a dual-core CPU instead of the much-hyped quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3," said CNET's Brian Bennett. "Well, I'm here to wash that bitter taste of sour grapes away. Equipped with a powerful 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor... this phone seriously hums," he wrote.
Bennett continues. "It flies through Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and HTC's Sense overlay with oomph and agility."
And battery life? In anecdotal use both over LTE and Wi-Fi, the handset got through an 11-hour workday of running tests, opening apps, and playing music, CNET said.
The upshot is that US-based consumers that opt for Qualcomm's LTE and dual-core in the HTC One X don't have to sacrifice much. And may be able to expect better battery life than quad-core.
That said, quad-core is inevitable for more high-end smartphones. And Qualcomm will be going quad-core, too--when it's ready
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Who is the Boss? Samsung Galaxy S3 vs HTC One X vs iPhone 4S
The Samsung Galaxy S3 is here. It's big, it's bold and it's probably going to be one of the best-selling phones of the year. But how does it compare with the HTC One X and the iPhone 4S?
We've dug into the spec sheet, fondled the phone itself and mused deeply on what a smartphone is to find out. Here's what we found… Body and buildSamsung Galaxy S3 - Plastic, Gorilla Glass II
HTC One X - Plastic, Gorilla Glass
iPhone 4S - Metal, Gorilla GlassIf you want a giant-screened phone, you'll have to accept that your mobile will have a plasticky finish that probably won't feel quite as good as the hard and dense vibe of smaller metal phones. It's not a hard and fast rule that big phones can't use a metal like aluminium, but most manufacturers stick with plastic to keep weight down.
The HTC One X has taken a leaf out of Nokia's book, with a Lumia 800-like plastic finish. Samsung's Galaxy S3 comes in two shiny plastic finishes - white and a dark blue brushed metal-effect, but it's still definitely plastic. LIke the Samsung Galaxy S2 before it, the battery cover is a very thin piece of plastic. It looks nice, but doesn't feel a million dollars converted into phone form. On the other side of the fence, the iPhone 4S is covered on each side by layers of toughened glass. It helps to keep the phone feeling ultra-premium, but doesn't half make you worried about dropping the thing. Dimensions and weight
Samsung Galaxy S3 - 131 x 63.7 x 8.9mm, 133g
HTC One X - 134 x 70 x 8.9mm, 130g
iPhone 4S - 115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3 mm, 140gUsing plastic as the main body material pays off in weight. Both the Samsung Galaxy S3 and HTC One X are significantly lighter than the iPhone. We say significantly, but its only so in phone design terms. The sub-20g difference is only worth worrying about if your arms are weaker than our puns.
What's less easy to forget is that the Samsung and HTC are both very large, on account of their oversized screens. Two centimetres in length and one in width makes the larger phones completely different to hold. In our experience, though, larger phones slip into most pockets fairly easily because they're so thin. The iPhone 4S is the thickest device of the three and - let's face it - it's hardly a porker. Screen
Samsung Galaxy S3 - 4.8in Super AMOLED, 720 x 1,280 pixels
HTC One X - 4.7in Super IPS, 720 x 1,280 pixels
iPhone 4S - 3.5in IPS, 640 x 960 pixelsAn important question for phone buyers in 2012 is - IPS or Super AMOLED? As more manufacturers start to move on from the so-so S-LCD screens of 2011, these higher-performing screen types are becoming the standard at the top-end in 2012.The HTC One X and iPhone 4S use a variation on the IPS type - which stands for in-plane switching. These screens are also used in iPads, and most top-end tablets. Benefits include excellent viewing angles and great overall picture quality. The one chink in the IPS armour is the use of a universal backlight. In a dark environment, the luminescence of the backlight is visible - appearing greyish or blueish.
The Samsung Galaxy S3's Super AMOLED screen avoids this effect. It uses light-emitting pixels rather than a standard backlight, letting pixels displaying black stay perfectly dark. Another big consideration in screens here is, of course, size. To watch movies or play games on, the extra screen inch of the HTC and Samsung Android phones comes in seriously handy. In the iPhone 4S's defence, the ultra-high 326 dpi pixel density lets you get your face pretty close to the screen without any eyestrain. While the HTC and Samsung feature many more pixels than the Apple device, their pixel pack-ness it actually a smidge lower - per inch - at around 319dpi. Power
Samsung Galaxy S3 - Quad-core 1.4GHz Exynos 4212, Mali-400 GPU
HTC One X - Quad-core 1.5GHz Tegra 3, GeForce GPU
iPhone 4S - Dual-core 1GHz Apple A5, PowerVR SGX543MP2Cores are the new megapixels in the phone world. If you don't have four cores at the very least, you're not going to be able to hang with the cool kids. Of course, this theoretical power doesn't amount to much if it doesn't translate to real-world performance. Of the three processors, the Tegra 3 is generally thought of as the weakest for graphics. It's routinely outperformed in benchmarks by Apple's current devices. Early benchmarks show that the Exynos 4212 is also significantly faster than the Tegra 3 - this time across the board rather than just in graphical performance.
However, in terms of getting apps and games that'll actually make full use of the power, you’re much better off with an iPhone. Android developers have to consider the masses of different chipsets Android phone and tablet owners might use, where iOS devs only have to consider the last few generations of A-series chips. Devs don't just think about the lowest comon denominator, but they can't always max everything out for the luckiest phones owners out there.StorageSamsung Galaxy S3 - 16/32/64GB, microSD
HTC One X - 32GB, non-expandable
iPhone 4S - 16/32/64GB, non-expandableA disturbing trend has begun in top-end Android smartphones. They've started leaving out the memory card slot that was once the staple of every Android phone. They have fallen to the way of the iPhone. Apple's iPhone has never had expandable memory, and it's not something that's likely to change with this year's iPhone 5, either. However, leaving out the microSD card slot in the HTC One X is arguably even more annoying than it is in iDevices. You can buy a 64GB iPhone, but the HTC One X maxes-out at 32GB. That's not really enough to house a large music collection, plus apps and games. The Samsung Galaxy S3 continues the trend of its predecessor the Galaxy S2, with at least 16GB of internal memory and a microSD card slot. Best of both worlds? Yes, although the 64GB does not come cheap. This post sponsored by:
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