Samsung delays Galaxy Tab 2 launch until end of April

Samsung’s low-cost tablets, the Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) and Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1), have been delayed, and will now start shipping in the U.K at the end of April, the company said Tuesday.
When Samsung announced the two products in February, it said they would arrive in U.K. stores in March, and then be rolled out globally. But the end of March came and went, and the tablets didn’t go on sale.
The reason for the delay is that Samsung and Google need some more time to work on the Ice Cream Sandwich version of the Android mobile operating system, according to a spokesman at Samsung, who didn’t want to elaborate on the details.
Both tablets will run the latest version of the Android OS. When it was launched, the Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) was expected to be the first Samsung tablet to get the latest version of Android.
This is the second official setback for Samsung as it rolls out new devices based on Android 4.0 and upgrades existing products. Last month, the company said the upgrade for the original Galaxy Note would arrive during the second quarter, later than its original plan to begin the upgrade process during the first three months of 2012.
However, Samsung has started upgrading the Galaxy S II phone.
Other phones and tablets that will at some point be upgraded include the Galaxy S II LTE, Galaxy R, Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, 7.7, 8.9, 8.9 LTE and 10.1, according to Samsung.
When they eventually ship, the Galaxy Tab 2 models will be available in 3G and Wi-Fi versions. The Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) has a 7-inch screen with a 1024-by-600 pixel resolution and weighs 345 grams, while the Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) has a 10.1-inch screen with a 1280-by-800 pixel resolution and weighs 588 grams.
Apart from their screen size and weight, the two tablets have a very similar hardware specification, including a 1GHz dual-core processor, two cameras, internal storage of up to 32GB and a MicroSD card slot for added capacity.

Motorola RAZR Maxx coming in may

Motorola has announced that the release of the Motorola RAZR Maxx outside the US will begin in May 2012, so those looking to get a little more life from their Android are in luck. The phone will be landing across select markets in Europe and the Middle East.

The Motorola RAZR Maxx takes the Kevlar and Gorilla Glass-clad RAZR and packs in a higher-capacity battery, aiming to outlast other large-screened Android smartphones.

Marketed as a 4G device in the US, the 3G version takes the design of the original Motorola RAZR launched back in October 2011 and boosts the battery, adding a couple of millimetres to the thickness of the device.

It’s only a small increase, however, moving the handset up to 8.99mm from the original 7.1mm. Motorola has officially confirmed that the battery capacity will be 3300mAh like the US model. Motorola says we’ll get 17.6 hours of talk time from the RAZR Maxx compared to the 10 hours of the original.

Elsewhere you get a 960 x 540 pixel 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Advanced display and that slick design with clipped corners and an 8-megapixel camera around the back.

One of the advantages that the RAZR Maxx offers over some other top-tier smartphones is that it still has a microSD card slot, so you’ll be able to expand the memory at your leisure.

Sitting at the core of the Motorola RAZR Maxx is a 1.2GHz dual-core processer and 1GB RAM, so while it might not rock the latest quad-core hardware, or the highest-resolution display, you’ll still be connected when others are hunting for a plug socket.

No precise word on which version of Android this phone will launch on either, but Motorola’s Ice Cream Sandwich update is due any time soon.

Samsung Galaxy S III (i-9300) to Launch in 2-5 Weeks

It is rumored that Samsung will launch Galaxy SIII superphone at the Samsung Unpacked event (May 22).

A lot of ink, both virtual and physical was spent on speculations what the specifications of one of hottest smartphones, or “superphones” will be. Samsung  i9300 or Galaxy SIII was originally planned to launch on May 22, 2012 at the Samsung Unpacked event, but it looks that Samsung moved forward the date when the new smarphone will be released.

Furthermore,  the new Galaxy SIII will follow with almost immediate retail availability in APAC and EMEA, with North America to follow. Samsung allegedly decided to enter the European market ahead of the American market due to a multiple sports events that will take place throughout summer.

Samsung is a major sponsor of Olympics 2012 and one of their largest competitors, SHARP – is the key sponsor of Euro 2012. However, Samsung and its marketing agencies are preparing to blanket the airwaves with Samsung Galaxy SIII taking the key place with telco partners such as Orange, Vodafone and T-Mobile. First and foremost, Galaxy SIII will be advertised with soccer players from Samsung-sponsored clubs (not country representatives, as Samsung has no rights for EURO 2012), and then those ads will be replaced with Olympics 2012 signage.

The phones will be in stores during early weeks of May, and we expect a major push. Remember, rumored specifications cite a 4.7″ HD Ready (1280×720) Super AMOLED+ display, quad-core Exynos processor ticking at 1.5GHz, 1GB of system memory and 16-32GB Storage (expandable to 64GB with microSDHC cards).

When it comes to connectivity, it was originally rumored that the Galaxy SIII will only support LTE at 700MHz (US Market). That however, is not true. Galaxy SIII will support LTE over European 1800MHz band as well, which is the reason why the European telecoms are eager to get as much units as possible.

The question now stands – can Samsung Galaxy SIII beat the iPhone 5 in number of units sold during 2012?

Samsung GALAXY Ace Plus In India For Rs 16,300

Samsung has added to its Android portfolio with the new GALAXY Ace Plus, an enhanced version of the GALAXY Ace. Based on the Gingerbread platform, it comes with all the Samsung services offered by its predecessor. Sporting rounded edges and minimalistic design, this phone sports a 3.75″ HVGA display. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 1 GHz CPU with 512 MB RAM. In contrast, the older Ace had a 800 MHz CPU and 278 MB RAM. Connectivity is taken care of by high speed HSPDA at up to 7.2 Mbps and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with DLNA and hotspot support.

The Ace Plus has a 5 MP auto-focus camera with LED flash and geo-tagging at the back and a 30 fps VGA camera at the front for video calling. Samsung has incorporated the TouchWiz UI to differentiate from run-of-the-mill Gingerbread devices and has included ThinkFree, a tool to view and edit Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF documents right on the phone. Social networking has not been ignored with support for Samsung’s Social Hub and ChatOn services. The Samsung GALAXY Ace Plus is available at an MRP of Rs 16,300 and there is a limited time offer of a free Samsung bluetooth headset BHM1000 worth Rs 1300. You can grab it for even less at just Rs 15,500 at HomeShop18.com.

Hackers Can Make $250,000 Selling iOS Exploits To The Government

iOS hackers are some of the most sought after individuals in the security research community. Geniuses like Comex who come up with jailbreaks used by millions of iPhone and iPad users are offered incredible sums of money to sell their exploits to powerful and high profile clients.

Sure, you could win a decent amount of cash at a security conference for showing off the exploits you’ve uncovered, but why not make $250,000 and secretly sell your stuff to say, an entity like the U.S. government?

That’s exactly what a security researcher/middle man by the pseudonym of “Grugq” did for an unnamed iOS hacker. Located in Bangkok, Grugq made 15% commission off negotiating a $250,000 deal with a contact in the U.S. government. Grugq facilitated the transaction of the exploit information from the hacker in exchange for the 6-figure payout from the client.

Andy Greenberg from Forbes has put together a rundown of how much the average exploit sells for these days. The different price ranges are arranged by platform:

Windows exploits have always sold for more because of Microsoft’s larger market share presence in the PC space. Since Macs still only represent a fraction of desktop PCs sold every year, it’s much more cost-effective to create malware for the OS that the most people are using. You don’t see many viruses in the wild for OS X because there hasn’t been enough reason to target the platform.

What’s more surprising about Greenberg’s calculations is how little Android exploits are sold for in comparison with iOS. In fact, the average iOS exploit is worth far more than even a Windows exploit. It makes sense that browser are high up on the list, as they run on multiple platforms (for the most part) and serve as gateways to the internet. iOS, on the other hand, is the crème de la crème of platforms if you’re looking to sell an exploit.

Apple keeps iOS locked down tight. That’s why new jailbreaks always get so much coverage — they are feats of masterful hackery. Comex, the maker of the once-popular JailbreakMe tool for iOS 4.0, was reportedly offered 6 figures by multiple agencies to sell his iOS exploit. He ended up interning at Apple to help the company fortify the very platform he reverse engineered.

The people that make jailbreaks and find these kinds of exploits typically do security research work and consulting on the side. It’s a very lucrative, professional market that brings in millions and millions of dollars. Think about that next time you’re jailbreaking your iPhone.