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Samsung joins hands with Korean premium jewelry brand Stonehenge to offer very special experience to Galaxy Note II purchasing customers. Samsung Electronics announced the arrival of the limited edition of “Galaxy Note II with Stonehenge Earcap,” the earphone jack accessories. The limited edition of Galaxy Note II with Stonehenge Earcap has simple but graceful design highlighted by sterling silver Cubic Zirconia.

The art of smishing (SMS-Phishing) has been practiced for some time, but a discovery by the wizards at NC State University has uncovered a new vulnerability that could bring the aforesaid act back into the spotlight. Xuxian Jiang’s research team recently identified the hole and confirmed that it impacts Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean. Put simply, if an Android user downloads an infected app, the attacking program can “make it appear that the user has received an SMS, or text, message from someone on the phone’s contact list or from trusted banks.” This fake message can solicit personal information, such as passwords for user accounts. The team isn’t going to disclose proof until Google patches it up, but the school has said that Google will be addressing it “in a future Android release.” For now, however, Jiang recommends additional caution when downloading and installing apps from unknown sources, while also suggesting that folks pay close attention to received SMS text messages.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Google

Android ‘smishing’ vulnerability discovered by NCSU researchers; Google has a fix incoming originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Nov 2012 14:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Despite being involved in a recent national security controversy in the US, Huawei isn’t quite ready to slow down its plans to bring as many handsets as possible over to Stateside shores. Today, the Chinese company is making its Gingerbread-packing Huawei Ascend Y available to US Cellular subscribers, giving folks who want to keep spending to a minimum yet another Android option on the regional carrier. The Ascend Y itself boasts a 3.5-inch, 480 x 320 screen, which is paired alongside a 3.2-megapixel rear camera and, for audiophiles, DTS Envelo — a technology “for virtual surround sound to enhance audio experience.” The Huawei Ascend Y is up for grabs now at a decent price of $30 (with a two-year contract, of course), though the carrier’s site currently has it listed for a mere one cent. No word on how long this promo will last, so those of you interested may want to check out the source link below right about now.

Continue reading Huawei Ascend Y heads to US Cellular, is available now for $30 on contract

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Huawei Ascend Y heads to US Cellular, is available now for $30 on contract originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 23:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We first laid eyes on Parrot’s first Android-based Asteroid car infotainment system a couple years ago at CES. Then, at this past year’s show, we got a sneak peek at a trio of successor Asteroid devices. Now, a mere 10 months later, the Asteroid Smart, Tablet and Mini have finally arrived in consumer-ready garb. First, there’s a flagship in-dash system, the double-DIN Asteroid Smart. It features a 6.2-inch 800 x 480 capacitive display, a Texas Instruments 800MHz processor and runs a heavily skinned version of Android 2.3. The Smart also has four USB 2.0 ports (one which pushes 5V to charge an iPod) for connecting external devices like the included GPS antenna or a dongle for cellular data. Plus, there are 3.5mm line-in and microphone jacks to go with a host of RCA connections and a micro-USB port round the back. Bluetooth 3.0 is baked in, and an SD card slot sits behind the detachable security strip to the left of the screen.

The Smart’s siblings, the Asteroid Mini and Asteroid Tablet are also coming to North America this month. The Tablet packs similar specs as the Smart, only it’s got a 5-inch capacitive screen and is portable, as opposed to an in-dash solution. It runs the same skinned version of Gingerbread, has GPS and Bluetooth radios, and packs 512MB of RAM and 1GB of on-board storage, plus an SD slot. It also comes with a wireless touchpad remote so you can control the system straight from your steering wheel. Meanwhile, the Mini, with its 3.2-inch, non-touch screen has a similar form factor to the Tablet and comes with a wireless remote as well. However, its OS is built on Android 1.5 and it relies upon an external GPS antenna like its bigger, double-DIN cousin. The Asteroid Tablet will retail for $399, and the Mini will cost a hundred bucks less when they go on sale in a few weeks.

We got to swipe our way around the Parrot Smart, so join us after the break to see it in action.

Continue reading Parrot unveils Asteroid Smart, Tablet and Mini car infotainment systems, we go hands-on

Filed under: GPS, Transportation

Parrot unveils Asteroid Smart, Tablet and Mini car infotainment systems, we go hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 20:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you didn’t get enough in mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we’ve opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This past week, Dan Hesse shared his turnaround vision for Sprint, Jim Allchin revealed where T-Mobile stumbled and AT&T welcomed a new GoPhone. Not to stop there, we discovered two updated launchers that’ve piled on inspiration from Jelly Bean. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the “best of the rest” for this week of September 24th, 2012.

Continue reading Mobile Miscellany: week of September 24th, 2012

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Software, Mobile, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile

Mobile Miscellany: week of September 24th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Sep 2012 21:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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