Goliath new Samsung Note phone causes rift amongst gadget junkies

Goliath new Samsung Note phone causes rift amongst gadget junkies

Tech lovers split over whether 5.3-inch Galaxy Note is just too much phone
When Apple introduced the iPhone way back in 2007, many consumers with tiny-screened feature phones wondered why they would ever need a huge 3.5" screen on a mobile device. Fast forward to 2012, and almost every new Android handset to hit the market pushes display size past the 4" barrier, and smartphone users have seemingly grown accustomed to lugging widescreen hardware with them wherever they go.
Samsung — the company behind the 4.65" Galaxy Nexus — has no problem pushing the envelope, and that's exactly what it did with the Galaxy Note. Sporting an almost laughable 5.3" screen, the gigantic 4G LTE phone could easily be mistaken for a tablet, and even Samsung's own marketing suggests it's meant to occupy both spaces. Its display is 51% bigger than the iPhone's, making it a challenge to hold for those with modestly-sized mitts.
The Note's split personality has also seemingly split the gadget community over how big is too big when it comes to a phone. Some of those who have laid their hands on it, including Tecca's own Taylor Hatmaker, are delighted with with the new tablet phone hybrid. In Hatmaker's own words: "The heavily marketed new member of the ever-growing Galaxy family is a 5.3" experiment in cross-breeding a phone and a tablet, and I for one really enjoyed the result."
Is the Note more to love, or just too big?And she's not alone. Engadget's Tim Stevens boasts "It's a device with a lot to love and is the kind of phone that would make almost every Android aficionado swoon."
But not everyone is on board with the trend toward massive handsets. Slate's Farhad Manjoo suggests that smaller is better, noting "A larger phone is more trouble to carry around than a small one, it's harder to hold and use with one hand, it usually gets worse battery life, and when you put it up to your ear, you're liable to get swept up by a strong gust."
Jonathan Geller of Boy Genius Report goes a step further, calling the Galaxy Note the "most useless phone" he's ever used, adding, "The phone is too big. You will look stupid talking on it, people will laugh at you, and you'll be unhappy if you buy it. I really can't get around this, unfortunately, because Samsung pushed things way too far this time."
It seems there isn't much middle ground on this issue; either the Galaxy Note will change your life for the better, or you'll regret ever considering purchasing a phone larger than a slice of pizza. But where do you stand? Is the Galaxy Note on your radar, or is Samsung's new megaphone simply too much to handle? Let us know in the comments!

Your ANDROID 'smart' phone can be hacked

Hackers are now re-angling sophisticated techniques they use to break into personal computers to target and steal information from unaware smart phone users, a report shows.

And internet security specialist AVG says the number of cyber assaults on those with smart phones is likely to soar this year as more people upgrade to the technology.

The AVG report highlights the risks of quick response codes, stolen digital certificates and rootkits - all of which hackers are targeting to covertly break into smart phones.

Michael McKinnon, AVG security adviser, said because many big-name brands were using QR codes as an additional marketing and information tool people were inherently trusting of them.

But he said a malicious QR code sticker on existing marketing material or replacing a website's bona fide QR code with a hacked one could trick many.

"We want to build awareness that while QR codes are very convenient, we are making it stupidly easy to infect these phones by having these codes with web addresses that can point to malicious software.

"The giveaways really come back to the URL, it is a two-step process. The first step is scanning the code and the next is then tapping on the URL to be directed to the website. You want to be careful that it's a web link that looks legitimate."

Mr McKinnon said because modern smart phones were, hardware-wise, the equivalent of desktop PCs of five years ago it was not surprising that sales of them had outstripped the sales of PCs in late 2010.

Smart phones such as those running Google's Android software have WiFi connectivity, integrated GPS, mobile broadband and are becoming increasingly mainstream among consumers.

The growth in sales of Android devices continued last year with 200 million sold worldwide by November - and more than half a million people activating a smart phone each day.

Mr McKinnon said this in turn was attracting cyber criminals who were making greater use of stolen digital certificates, which are used to verify the identity of the author of applications used on smart phones.

He said the issue was already a pressing one in the PC world where legitimate certificates were being illegally obtained by hackers who develop their own malicious applications for the smart phone market.

"These developers create variations of legitimate applications and embed some nasty stuff in them and sign them cryptographically so they look valid but they just send people to a link to download the rogue application," he said. "The person on the smart phone is none the wiser."

Mr McKinnon said that while applications similar to anti-virus software applications were available for smart phone users, some people were not taking the same precautions they would when downloading material from the internet on a PC.

"They're not considering there's that potential risk but luckily the majority of these people choose to download from the known, official marketplaces so the risk is quite low."

The report showed Facebook received the greatest volumes of spam which usually comes from the US, followed by the UK.

It also focuses on one of the latest rootkits - which allow hackers remote access to computers - called ZeroAccess.

The rootkit allows hackers to spy on users and is controlled from a remote server or to use the infected machine when and how they wish.

New technology a challenge for cyber police

QR codes
What are they?

Quick response codes are a unique two-dimensional bar code on the lower right of a sticker (known as a QR code) seen on many products, advertisements and other forms of marketing. They let customers - and potential customers - learn more about a business by visiting a mobile version of the business' website on any supported smart phone.

How do they work?

A smart phone scans the QR code with its camera either with a downloaded application or via software that's already installed.

After scanning the QR code the smart phone user is taken to a website.

Rootkits

What are they?

A rootkit is a piece of malware (malicious software) that allows root level access to a computer while hiding its presence from administrators.

It does this by subverting standard operating system functionality or other applications.

How do they work?

A cyber criminal installs a rootkit on a computer after first obtaining root-level access by exploiting a known vulnerability or by getting a password.

Once installed, it allows the cyber criminal to remotely mask the ongoing intrusion and maintain privileged access to the computer.

Why you may never need a new mobile phone

The mobile phone that a Danish firm hopes will last for ever.
Some things, such as furniture or jewellery, are made to last a lifetime – yet despite being equally pricey, it is hard to find an electronic gadget that can hope to outlive a goldfish. Mobile phones are usually upgraded every few years, and there are few personal computers that aren't riddled with viruses or just plain knackered after a decade.

But now a counter-movement to technological disposability is emerging, promising electronics that can last for ever. Leading the charge is Danish firm Æsir, which claims to have invented a mobile phone that will never need to be replaced. It has a pared-down design carved out of surgical-grade steel. "There's a long tradition in Denmark to build things that will last," says Thomas Møller Jensen, Æsir's founder. "So we tried to design our mobile phone like you would a chair, boiling it down to the essence of what it should be."

And it turns out that the essence of a mobile phone … is a phone. Æsir's device does little more than make calls and send texts, like a luxury watch that only tells the time (and like a luxury watch, it costs €6,000/ £5,200). It is proof, though, that simplicity is the key to longevity.

Despite having the sophistication of a pocket calculator, for example, Pac-Man has remained one of the world's most popular video games for 30 years. And Amazon's Kindle comes closer than any multifunctional tablet computer to achieving lifelong appeal by sticking to the basic job of displaying books.

Everlasting gadgets, however, need tough hardware. In the future, science may provide us with machines that don't wear out. This year, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology in Germany unveiled a plastic that heals itself like skin, while Australian researchers have shown it is possible to design batteries that never need recharging.

Jensen, whose favorite gadgets include his 20-year-old handbuilt turntable, believes that consumers and manufacturers must first change the way they think about electronics. "There's an obsession with obsolescence. I'm sick of opening the newspaper and having adverts for 200 new televisions in my face," he says.