Hasta La Gadget!

It goes without saying that software will always come with its fair share of bugs and quirks, although the way those bugs affect a piece of written software varies – some are more harmful than the rest, while others are […]

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Some Pebble owners were understandably perturbed when their smartwatches seemingly went dead after a shutdown — that’s not the best first impression of an emerging technology. Some credit is due for a rapid turnaround, however, as the Pebble team just delivered a 1.9.1 firmware upgrade that should tackle the problem. It fixes a bug that occasionally prevented the microcontroller from reconfiguring itself before the watch went dark, leaving the buttons unresponsive on wake and the Pebble more of a paperweight. You’ll still have to swap out for a replacement if your watch has already fallen ill and won’t recover, but the experience should be more reliable for already functional watches from here on out. Let fellow owners know how well the upgrade worked in the comments.

[Thanks, Daniel]

Filed under: Peripherals, Wearables

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Source: Pebble

It appears that Pebble’s smartwatch is officially feeling its largest growing pain since debuting just two months ago. A five-page long (and growing) thread on the company’s forum has some owners describing a bug that’s leaving their Pebbles pebbled bricked after shutdown. Pebble’s Eric Migicovsky let us know that the company is actively replacing affected units, while examining those being sent in to find out the root cause:

We’ve had reports of this issue, and we understand of course that it’s annoying for users. We’re replacing any Pebbles for users who report this issue. We’re reviewing the Pebbles that get returned, working to get to the bottom of the issue. We have our support team ready to follow up to any user that reports this issue.

As it stands, there’s no word on whether firmware update 1.9 has any role in keeping the devices from turning on after being shut down. Owners have further reported that no amount of charging their Pebble will help it to actually come back to life. We’ve reached out to the company for more info on the matter (including nailing down how many units the company has replaced so far), and we’ll be sure to keep you updated. For now, let us know whether your experience with Pebble has been rocky at all so far.

Update: That was fast — apparently Pebble has received about 30 reports of this issue since Friday. Here’s the official word from Migicovsky:

We’re tracking a few reports of this issue. Up to Friday, we’ve had 20-30 reports (out of 30,000+ pebbles in the field). We’ve gotten several back to the office, and we’re getting to the bottom of it.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Wearables, Mobile

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Source: Pebble (forum)

The emergency contacts (ICE) menu is proving to be a Pandora’s Box of lock screen vulnerabilities on several Samsung Galaxy handsets. Users are finding ways to exploit this weak point and the latest flaw that’s come to our attention employs the pop-up browser on the Note II as an accomplice. It requires the information ticker to be active (found in lock screen settings) so news bites and such are displayed on the screen you encounter when waking the device. Touch upon something to find out more and you’re sent to the lock screen; from there, head to the ICE menu to find a pop-up browser window containing the item you chose in the ticker. Within that window, anyone can access the handset’s clipboard or point the browser to sites holding personal data. Sure, it isn’t as bad as the bug that completely disables the lock screen — identified on the Galaxy S III, but also found to work on the Note II — but is just another reason to hope the mythical box is almost empty and at the bottom lies a fix.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Samsung

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Source: Ganesh’s Blog

Lock screens are around for a reason: to keep people from getting where they shouldn’t. They aren’t always infallible, though, and a few weeks ago, we saw a vulnerability in several builds of iOS 6 that granted access to the phone module without a passcode. Then, a couple of days ago, we reported on a Galaxy Note II bug that allows the quick-fingered to launch anything immediately behind the lock screen. Now, a similar flaw has been found on the Galaxy S III that breaks the lock screen altogether, permitting full use of the phone. To replicate the bug, you’ll need to tap the “Emergency Call” button on the lock screen, then go into the ICE (emergency contacts) menu. From there, press the home button, followed quickly by the power button, and that’s it. If successful, pressing the power button again will bring up the home screen straight away, and what’s more, the lock screen won’t return until the handset is restarted. Sounds worryingly simple, right? In our experience, not so much.

We first tried this method on an S III running Android 4.0.4 ICS, and a Note II for good measure, but to no avail. Then, we had a crack at an S III running 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, and were close to giving up trying to replicate it when voilà, it worked. We hoped to provide you with a video of the bug, but it must be camera shy. Despite literally hundreds of attempts in front of the lens and several more behind it, we’ve only managed it once — we found it impossible to nail down the correct timing between the home and power button pushes. Samsung’s likely aware of the bug already and when quizzed about the Note II vulnerability, said a fix for lock screen issues on affected “Galaxy devices” was in the works (read: they didn’t say the Note II specifically). We’ve reached out for comment just to be sure, but until a patch is provided, keep your phone concealed from nosey types who read tech sites and have saint-like patience.

Update: Samsung has responded, confirming a fix is indeed on its way:

“Samsung considers user privacy and the security of user data its top priority. We are aware of this issue and will release a fix at the earliest possibility.”

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Samsung

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Via: SlashGear

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